Overlap [IC/PG-16/Accepting]

[radio414 903]

While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”
-Luke 20:45-47 (NIV)

---

Melissa found herself awash with nostalgia. There were many such stores back home on Ambrosia, most of them more Duel-Monsters focused than this one seemed to be what with its figurines and comics and such, but the aesthetic was still all the same. Everything was just a bit cramped and the light was just a bit too artificial. She inhaled through her nose, though, and immediately regretted it. That was a difference. In a world where just about everyone had to visit a store like this at one point in their life or another, everyone at least had the decency to shower first. Not so here. If she had to describe it (and she really didn’t want to think about the smell for longer than it took to get it out of her system), it was like sweat, peaches, and onions. Somehow, the combination of those three things was worse than any of them individually.

It was the sort of thing that immediately made Melissa want to turn around and find another store, but something told her that all stores would be like this. This was just how it was here. Also, she was with Fen, and she didn’t want to drag her friend and squad leader around searching for some imagined ideal. This was just something she would have to deal with.

Anyway, Fen had asked her a question. “I guess we go to the counter?” Melissa said. “It looks like there are cards there, we can get a closer look at them, or maybe they have packs or starter decks behind the counter.” There was a little rustling from some faraway shelf which Melissa heard but tried to ignore. Talking with whoever was running the shop about recommendations was going to be a hard enough challenge as it was.

Misplaced nostalgia, breathing, talking, being a good friend… The obstacles had increased dramatically since Melissa had stepped into the store. Much of that went away, though, when she got a good look at the cards in question. “Oh, this is Duel Monsters,” she said. The way she said it the first time was in a way like she didn’t really believe it, like she hadn’t quite processed what that meant. It took a second utterance for it to actually take hold. “Oh,” she said. “This is Duel Monsters.”

“Fen, this is the game I was telling you about,” Melissa said. Even though she was crouched down in front of the case she was visibly bouncing up and down with excitement. All these cards with font sizes that made words barely legible, she could read them. It was like a whole extra language class was unlocked. And this was for a game she barely played! Just being born and raised in a culture that sorted itself primarily through card play was enough. So it was nostalgia again, but it was of a different kind. “Yeah, I can definitely show you how to play this.” Her eyes finally noticed the price tags attached to the singles. “Wait, Graceful Charity costs how much here?”

“Excuuuse me.”

Melissa shot straight up. It was the same sort of feeling she’d had when Julian surprised her, only this time she’d just managed to keep Zadkiel from appearing and wrecking the store with its size alone. She almost dared not turn around, eventually only doing so out of a sense of politeness.

Describing the speaker required processing him for longer than Melissa could stand. He had a hat Melissa couldn’t describe, a sweatshirt with faces on it she definitely didn’t want to think about, a voice that had already had a negative effect on her, and, as he got even closer, she noticed that the store’s pungent odor had gotten even stronger. And yet, he persisted. Worse, he persisted by mangling a perfectly good poem. “And what should my wandering ear but a-hear,” he said, “but the voice of a lovely, female dear,” A snort. He actually snorted. “Or two dears, as the case may be.”

He took one final step forward, and Melissa pressed her back against the counter as if it would give her any extra distance between herself and the stench. “I don’t mean any trouble, but did I hear you call the greatest card game of all time ‘Duel Monsters?’”

“Um,” Melissa said. She wasn’t sure what else she could say to that.

“I’m a nice person by nature,” he said with a leering smile that was anything but nice, “so when I hear a grossly unfactual statement such as that, I can’t help but correct it. It’s only called ‘Duel Monsters’ in the show, you see. All real fans know that in real life it is named after the show itself: ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’”

Melissa. Of all the times for the angels to speak up, this was not a great one. We cannot help but notice your heart rate has spiked dramatically. Do you need us to-

“No,” Melissa muttered. “I know.” It was unfortunate that she said it out loud because it meant he heard it too.

“You know? Well, if you know the objective truth, why would you say otherwise? People might think you’re talking about some other game, like ‘Duel Masters,’ which, as we all know, had to be renamed because of this exact problem. Here:” He pulled a pen and a piece of paper from the pocket of his sweatshirt and scribbled on it. “If you ever want to know more about the greatest game in teh world that is Yu-Gi-Oh! give me a call. We can talk about it among… other things.”

“Hey!” It was another voice, this one coming from behind her, and it was mercifully normal-sounding. Another benefit to the new voice, as soon as the man heard it, whatever color his face had instantly disappeared. He flicked the paper Melissa’s way and didn’t even watch to see if she stopped it from fluttering to the ground (she didn’t) as he awkwardly shuffled out of the store and disappeared into the crowd.

Melissa exhaled, partly to release all that wound-up tension and un-contort her body and partly because, well, again, that smell. She’d been holding her breath as much as she could. The rescuing voice spoke again, “He’s banned from the store and he knows it. I wasn’t paying attention, sorry.” She turned around to see the speaker behind the counter, a perfectly normal man in his thirties whose most notable features were some particularly wild hair and a name tag that said “Nelson” attached to a black shirt that said COACH in block white letters. “Are you alright?” he said.

“Um,” Melissa said. Her heart was still racing, and measured breaths weren’t helping. It was all she could do to manage a “Thank you.” She bent down to pick up the paper now that the guy wasn’t around to see her do it, mostly out of a sense of cleanliness, and she noted the scribble on it.

“bradley l braderson” the card read. Then, in brackets, “(the l stands for leigh).” There was a phone number below that.

“If you want my advice, you should get rid of that,” Nelson said. “You don’t know where that paper’s been. Hell, give it to me and I’ll burn it for you.”

“Thank you,” Melissa said again. “Um, actually, do you know where the restroom on this floor is?”

---

It had been a while since Melissa had had a good scream. As the world came crashing down on her, all she could really do was let it all out. Every so often, she’d hear sounds from outside her stall -- from the rest of the restroom. Most of the time, it was people trying their best to not pay attention, but occasionally she got a knock on her stall asking questions like “Are you alright?” or “Is there anything I can do to help?” Those people were met with a meek “No, thank you.” On one occasion, a woman was like “Hell yeah, let it all out, sister,” which got a half-laugh from Melissa, though it quickly turned into a coughing fit.

“You know, I actually thought I was past this,” Melissa said as she finally exited her stall. “I don’t- I guess that I thought I handled being taken from my home okay, and that was the worst thing that could happen to me. Plus, with all the fighting…”

The angels, at least, were sympathetic. You have been focused on other things. they said. But after spending time creating a new normal for yourself, it is only natural that old issues would come back to the fore.

“I guess,” Melissa said. She turned on the sink and started washing her hands. “Now that I’m thinking about it more, Mauvache did summon us while I was in a restroom, and that wasn’t that long ago.” Also included in her hand-washing procedure was splashing water on her face a few times.

You were also in a highly emotional state, having just discovered another thing reminding you of your home. Anyone might have been affected by someone or something disrupting that.

“Mm.” Melissa moved on to drying her hands, opting for the automatic towel dispenser over the high-tech air drying machine. “Also, you don’t have to warn me about my heart rate or other things that happen when I’m stressed, you know. I know when it happens. I think being reminded just makes it worse.”

You have our apologies.

“It’s alright. We’re still working things out.” The last step of this restroom trip was a few deep breaths. Speaking of her heart rate, Melissa had a hand on her heart as she inhaled so she could feel herself returning to normal. “I left Fen alone there,” she said. “I hope she’s okay.”

---

The game store still had a stench to it, but it was the residual kind, where all the clutter made it impossible to aerate properly. It probably wasn’t just Bradley Leigh Braderson that made it smell like that, Melissa realized. It was probably a bunch of different people who either didn’t know their own personal hygiene or didn’t care. It was a little judgemental of her to think that way, she realized, and she made a mental note to remember it in case she ever did find a proper capital C Catholic priest on Prana, but in the moment, she felt like she deserved to feel a little scorn. 

She shuffled back into the store with a mumbled apology, but she realized she probably should give a proper one not just for herself but for the hobby she was supposed to be introducing. “I’m sorry, Fen,” she said. “My world has people like that too, but everyone plays this game so they’re more of an outlier. I wasn’t really expecting it.”

“You’re guardians?” Nelson asked. “Actually, no, I recognize you now that I think about it. I just read a bunch of interviews with Mauvache’s latest crop, and you were in there, I think.” He pointed at Melissa. “I think I’ve seen your picture floating around the mall too. Some amateur photographer is selling prints?”

Melissa winced, but she still managed to make a snark. “I think if you tell me that I might have to go hide in the bathroom again,” she said. “I’m especially glad Bradley didn’t recognize us, then.”

Nelson laughed. “Well, I’m certainly not going to tell him,” he said. “Honored to have you in the store all the same, though. What can I get for you?”

Melissa scanned the wall behind the counter, full of various packs and decks that she didn’t recognize and a few that she did. “I’ll take, uh, that one,” she said, pointing to one of the starter decks. It had a picture of a young woman and a fairy on it, back to back and striking a dramatic pose. “Fen? I’m sure they’re all fine so does any of the key art strike your fancy?”

[LordCowCow 840]

"Thank you for your riveting insight, my leather-bound friend. Not exactly helping."

When Trevor closed the book he would find that Lacie had gotten closer to him and was leaning forward. Close enough that her face was right in front of the man in fact. "Hmmm." She raised a hand and poked Trevor. "Boop." After this she straightened up and moved her finger to tapping her temple. "You know, I think I just remembered. I was going to go have a chat with Mauvache over a cup of tea. Something important I was going to tell her I think. Wow, and here we are right at her house isn't that convenient!" Lacie gestured over at the Arena. "If I had to guess I'd say you were planning on doing the same right? Is that why you wanted something to drink before?"

She began to stroll towards the entrance then seemed to notice the sign for the first time. "Hmm, interesting." She spun around to face Trevor again. "But you know what the best parts of signs like this? If you ignore what they say, they have no power over you! How about we just go on in anyway? What's the worst that could happen?"

[Skaia 578]

Fen was surprised that the card game they had been looking for had been the one that Melissa had been familiar with this whole time. There was something interesting to her about something so common place in one person's world becoming a hit new phenomena in another, but she supposed if this were a crossroads of sorts and people came with what they had on them then perhaps people often shared fads with one another as well. Though she was also curious if this card game were something unique to Melissa's world or if it was something in other ones. She had certainly never heard of it before, with either name, but there were card games from her world and she also knew that some people could use cards as a medium for magic so perhaps such things weren't that far removed from other worlds. Nevertheless, the girl marveled at all the cards displayed only for her browsing to be halted as her nose was assaulted. 

Fen wasn't quite sure what the deal with the fellow that had come up to them, berating them about the "proper name" of the game they were looking at. She figured such a thing was a matter of language, or colloquialisms , and found it quite rude to just start making fun of someone for not knowing local customs. The man seemed to outwardly have good intentions as well, though only if one were to take his words at face value. The girl narrowed her eyes at him the more he spoke, feeling more at unease the longer his presence remained - and not just because of the smell - and could see that Melissa was starting to feel uncomfortable as well. A rising disdain, an instinctual feeling of protecting and just the general pride she felt as a service worker against this man's attitude made Fen take a step forward, ready to speak up to him only to be interrupted by someone who had actually worked here. 

Fen was left to look at the cards on her own for a bit as Melissa ran off to go to the bathroom. Perhaps she had taken Nelson's advice to heart and went to wash the hand, but this unfortunately caused the young chef to be left all alone. She felt like she was in the middle of a market with no shopping list or clear goal, being unsure where to even start with all of the cards. And so, rather than hastily do anything else, Fen started looking at all of the packs, displays and boxes of cards that were around. After a bit of time, though, Melissa had eventually come back from her trip and upon asking Fen if anything caught her eye the girl looked towards one box in particular. 

The girl picked up a box of a rather demonic looking chef flipping a patty of some kind with some vegetables in the foreground. She wasn't quite sure, from the demon chef's face, if he was angry or happy but he certainly seemed to be energetic about whatever he was doing and so there was at least some form of kinship she felt with this chef man. The girl showed the box to Melissa saying, "I uh, guess go with what you know and all." After paying for the cards the girl looked to Melissa asked, "so uh, how do you play the game?" 

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"Hmmm. Boop. You know, I think I just remembered. I was going to go have a chat with Mauvache over a cup of tea. Something important I was going to tell her I think. Wow, and here we are right at her house isn't that convenient! If I had to guess I'd say you were planning on doing the same right? Is that why you wanted something to drink before? Hmm, interesting. But you know what the best parts of signs like this? If you ignore what they say, they have no power over you! How about we just go on in anyway? What's the worst that could happen?"

"Honestly, I would advise against that. I'm sure there's a reason why they have the Arena closed. Aside from that, part of me is unsure what will happen if we disobey our fellow top-hat wearing employer." he sighed, tipping his hat over his eyes for a bit. This had to be the worst idea that anyone had...and that went without saying on him asking Grigoriy to train him. This...this however was something completely different.

"Hmmm, but, is that fun?" Lacie asked, tapping her forehead as though she had come up with a brilliant response.

"...would it really though?" Trevor asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"Don't know if you don't try, come on magic man! I tried to go in through the roof but a rather rude storm tried to zap me."

"A storm? Puzzling...there's no cloud in the sky. Hmmm, must be a perfectly placed electric defense spell to keep out intruders..." Trevor lulled this thought in his mind, rubbing his chin slightly.

"Yeah, that, electro de-fence, exactly." Lacie said. "And then I saw you down here and well, came to say hi!"

Trevor sighed a bit, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "...I'm afraid to ask that you possibly show me...but my curiosity is getting the better of me."

"Oho there's the adventurous spirit I know you for." Lacie said despite having only just met Trevor now. "Follow me!" She began to form what Trevor could then see were simply saucers that she was using as platforms to jump higher.

The adventurous spirit I know you for? But we've never met...something is truly puzzling here with Lacie...a mystery even. I'll have to make a few notes about this later... "Very well..." Trevor sighed, beginning to follow after Lacie, though he was a bit clumsier in the execution of following. He fell face first towards the ground, only grabbing one of the saucers to stop himself. "...pray tell...how in the world do you make it look so easy?"

"What do you mean?" She said, turning around and looking down towards Trevor while continuing to jump. "I don't make it look anything I simply do it."

"Yeah...and apparently you're doing it better than meeeeee...!" Trevor attempted to get his balance and follow Lacie once more, though he was doing it on a crawl's pace...though at the last word in that sentence, he almost fell again. It almost didn't help that the saucers were disappearing after she generating, so it was obvious why he wasn't able to properly follow after her.

"Come on come on, what will you do if you take too long and all the fun is over before you make it?" She doesn't seem to intend to stop and help.

"Then at least I'll get my workout for the day..." he huffed, finally pulling himself back up and continued to follow after Lacie. What kind of sorcery is she working with and where on this plane of existence can I learn it... he thought, shaking his head slightly.

As they reached the top, having to cling to the side, Trevor sees there shouldn't be anything blocking the way to the roof. However up this close he could see clouds located entirely above the building. If he tried to climb higher a bolt of lightning would fall from said clouds.

"Hmmm...storm clouds, huh?" the young sorcerer watched the clouds with intent. He began to rub his chin slightly. "Hmmm...okay, this should be interesting. Let's see what we can find out about this." With a quick flick of his wrist, his yellow-gemmed ring began to glow and Trevor began to cast a simple Thunder spell towards the clouds. The Thunder spell went into the clouds, crackled in the process, but nothing else occurred. "Hmmm...curiouser and curiouser."

Edited June 13, 2023 by Chaos Sonic

[LordCowCow 840]

Is it time to duel yet?

Melissa's first trial upon getting a new deck was to teach Fen, who knew practically nothing of card games in general let alone one like this, how to play the game. Eventually the two made their way to the park that was indicated in the message.

The first time they were here there was no one around. This was probably due to the fact they were summoned there, and the whole area was shielded from the outside. This time...it also seemed like no one was around. At first this made it seem like the park wasn't a popular place to be but then they could see various items on the ground that implied people had been here and perhaps left in a hurry.

The reason why became clear soon as a couple of figures stepped from the other side of the fountain and approached them. Melissa would recognize them as belonging to the same gang that she had encountered when they arrived here. This time their hair spikes numbered seven and eight and they didn't seem to recognize Melissa.

"Ha, looks like it was true huh Eight?"

The one with eight spikes nodded. "Just like we was told, couple of fresh fish without a clue in the world comin' right here. The boss told us we'd get a reward for beating these two down. So let's teach em a lesson, Seven."

The other laughed and cracked his knuckles. "Get ready girlies cause you're about to get a major beat down courtesy of the Spike Brothers."

The two approached at the same time, raised their arms, and Melissa would see a holographic device appear there which looked incredibly similar to duel disks. "Time to duel!" both of them shouted.

---

In such an hour, beneath such dreamy weather

While his spell didn't seem to actually cause any major effect it also didn't result in any sort of retaliation from the storm ahead. Still it crackled ominously as if warning off any would be intruder. "Oh I see, fighting fire with fire, or lightning with lightning, I guess. You're a funny guy aren't you, magic man?" Lacie seemed more amused than anything as she watched Trevor trying to figure it out.

"Watch, it's pretty exciting when you try to do this!" Without warning Lacie propelled herself up towards the roof and immediately a bolt of lightning went right for her. The girl produced a saucer like before, only this time in front of her and with the flatter side facing forward, and kicked off it to avoid being struck by the lightning.

She continued to fall and for a moment it seemed that she wasn't going to stop, until suddenly she made another saucer and launched off of it to go back to her previous spot.

The lightning hadn't struck anything however. The moment that Lacie was clear of the rooftop it disappeared entirely which seemed to imply that it would only strike if one was in the area on or above the roof.

[radio414 903]

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
    I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
-Psalm 32:8 (NIV)

---

Thankfully, the starter decks came with a little rulebook explaining the rules, so Melissa wasn’t left completely helpless in the teaching process. Also helpful was discovering a little app on their watches that could replicate any sort of dueling field they wanted, whether that was just a playmat with all the little zones labeled (though without any pendulum zones or extra monster zones, Melissa noticed) or replicating an actual duel disk. had little AR elements that made the monsters pop out of the cards, which was flashy, but Melissa worried they were distracting when actually going through a teach.

Problems arose, though, when the Duel Monsters in Melissa’s head contradicted what was actually in front of her. There were a bunch of little inconsistencies that Melissa was sure wouldn’t have flown in her world, little bits of card text that were just a little off. Sure, she wasn’t the most skilled player on Ambrosia -- she wasn’t even the best player in Blue Yonder, not by a long shot -- but even she could tell. The four thousand life points instead of eight was one thing, but the first player getting a draw step? That one really threw her for a loop. Melissa wasn’t a game designer. She had no desire to ever be a game designer. But it still felt like a violation of some principle. People wanted to go first even without the extra card, why add that in?

And speaking of extra cards, the starter deck she had bought came with forty-five in the main deck so she had to take a little extra time finding which of the dozen or so normal monsters were actually worth keeping to slim it down to a proper forty. The rest of the deck seemed interesting with some cute synergies already provided, but she didn’t really have the time to learn them at the moment. 

In any case, the aids made teaching Fen go faster than it could have, and even then, well… “Normal Summoning is just playing the monster. You put it into play or Set it, though if it’s a higher level it takes one or two tributes to do so. You get one of those per turn,” Melissa said. She wasn’t frustrated, but there was still a hint in her tone that she had explained this before. “Cards will tell you how to Special Summon something, and most of the time that will be face up and oriented how you like, but some cards will say otherwise. And Ritual Summoning is a type of Special Summoning and is how you summon these blue cards here --” she pointed at Hungry Burger again “-- and cards like this with the little campfire symbol will tell you how to do those. Depending on the card, you can cheat that a bit, but the game wants you to do it like that. Otherwise, things get even more complicated.”

“Oh, hm. I see.” Fen nodded her head, trying to take in the information. Thinking on it for a moment, she looked at her cards saying, “You know, there are a uh, lot more ways to Special Summon than Normal Summon, right? Doesn't that make the Normal Summon feel more Special?”

“I like to think of it like this:” Melissa said, “Any monster- uh, almost any monster can be Normal Summoned. It takes a special effect to make a Special Summon.”

Fen looked at the two ritual cards laid out in front of her. “Hm, I guess it does take more effort to bring them,” she said. She smiled. “Thanks, Melissa. I think I'm starting to get the hang of these terms.”

Melissa smiled back. “You’re very welcome. I’m sure you’ll have more questions, but that should just about cover things. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

---

They did have to go somewhere eventually, though. Melissa and Fen made sure Bradley wasn’t lurking around anywhere before leaving the card store, and, after making sure they didn’t have anything else that needed doing in the megamall, they went over to the park with the fountain. Melissa still remembered crossing that threshold the first time and having the park literally disappear behind her back. The fact that it was an ordinary park when not welcoming people stolen from other worlds was surprising to her, though perhaps not as surprising as finding it clearly used but abandoned. Everywhere Melissa looked, there were signs of people, and yet there were no Pranans (Pranese? Pranians?) to be found.

She was about to ask if there was a bingo event or something they were missing when the Spike Brothers appeared. “Oh no,” Melissa whimpered. She had just gotten used to being “known,” but there were still people she didn’t want to “know” about her, and that list included the gang that had harassed her on her first day. She almost let Sandalphon out to scare them off once again, but a few things stopped her. The first reason was that these Spike Brothers didn’t actually recognize her, they just seemed to recognize the idea of her. “Fresh fish without a clue in the world,” one had said, missing any of the “freak” rhetoric that she still remembered so vividly. So her immediate fear was assuaged.

The second reason was, well, with those fears gone, she was left with a confused sort of curiosity. How did the Spike Brothers get her number? How did they get Fen’s when they definitely hadn’t met her? She wasn’t sure the Spike Brothers were the sort of people who would answer questions like that, but it was still a thread she was willing to pull.

Lastly, well, this was what she was taught back on Ambrosia. The reason she learned how to duel in the first place was because dueling was so ingrained as a replacement for physical violence. It was better for everyone to settle things with a card game like this. Even with all these new and terrifying things, this was the one thing familiar to her now. She’d been challenged to a duel, and the consequences for declining a challenge were worse than just going along.

Melissa looked at Fen with a sheepish, calming sort of smile. “This is a bit more live fire than I was hoping,” she said. “But, um, it’s a good thing we downloaded that watch app, I guess? Here, let me-” She helped Fen make sure her duel disk app was set up right and reminded her how it all worked. “The monsters will be bigger than the ones in the store, but they’ll still be fake,” she said. “Probably. Um. At the very least, it shouldn’t be worse than anything we’ve seen already. Remember, I’ll be right next to you, too, if you run into any other questions, okay?”

[Skaia 578]

Fen did her best to learn all of the rules of the game as Melissa explained them and read the rulebook. It didn't seem like it was an overly complicated game at first, with perhaps the primary barrier of entry being the knowledge of basic arithmetic (which Fen most certainly had experience with.) There were three basic card types between Monsters, Spells and Traps. Each turn you drew a card, you summoned a monster and you saw if your monster was had higher numbers then the opponent's. That was the basic gist of what she got and it seemed to be a simple enough game at first. But the more she looked into it the terminology there seemed to be, in regards to all of the different summon types, subtypes of all the three basic card types and the several phases that were in this game. She was pretty sure she had as good a handle on it as she could get, though, and so without further delay the two made their way to the meeting place. 

Once they were there they encountered a group of people who seemed to know who they were, though Fen hadn't the slightest idea who they or their boss was. Though she supposed it made sense, they did have a reporter come and interview them so they were probably well known in some regard. There was something off about the two of them as well; she couldn't help but feel like they were trying to be some kind of hostile or aggressive with them but she also couldn't feel any kind of threat from them either. As such, she assumed that this was just how they talked when they wanted to battle, a habit she wasn't unfamiliar with, and didn't feel on guard to start with. As Melissa walked over to her and helped her with her watch, the girl's expression became more surprised and concerned. "Eh? This uh, creates monsters? Hm, and here I thought this was just an ordinary card game. Even if they're just, well, copies of an original monster that's still amazing. Summoning magic in my world is - well, uh, let's just say you're world sounds like it's filled with a lot of talented mages."

With her own "duel disk," as the watch had called it, conjured Fen seemed ready to begin. Looking to one of them, she said, "um, Seven? Was it? If you don't mind I'd like to be your opponent. Now uh, let's see. First we..." The girl pulled out her rule book and reviewed it for a moment, nodding to herself. Drawing five cards she then said, "so uh, to start the duel with I go into my draw phase. And draw a card." And so she did. "Then next is the Standby phase. So uh..." the girl paused, after a few moments saying, "I stood by. So uh, next is the main phase one which means I can normal summon. So..." The girl looked at her cards muttering, "only four stars and under so, I think..." Pulling a card from her hand she said, "I will uh, normal summon Interceptamato. Oh, in attack mode." A football helmet wearing tomato appeared, looking ready to fight before the girl smiled saying, "oooooh, these things truly are powerful magical devices. And what a cute looking tomato. Ah well, uh, let's see. It's the first turn so - ah, oh, sorry Seven. I think I just went a did the first turn myself because I was getting too far ahead of myself. But uh, yeah, I cannot go into the Battle Phase so I think next is the Main Phase 2 and then...End Phase. There we go." The girl smiled and nodded, having gone through her first turn before asking, "did I do that all right?" 

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"Oh I see, fighting fire with fire, or lightning with lightning, I guess. You're a funny guy aren't you, magic man? Watch, it's pretty exciting when you try to do this!"

Trevor watched intently on the situation that Lacie seemed to produce...and was both dumbfounded and amazed. When she moved over the roof, the lightning struck her, yet when she was clear of the roof, the lightning no longer was a threat. "I see now. Unless one is on the roof or in the area of effect with the lightning rod...it won't strike. So it would seem that this way is nigh impossible to try to get around. Quite the ingenious security system..."

"Impossible is just a faster way of saying I'm possible you know!"

"While I admire your gumption, I don't think that's quite how that works..." Trevor sighed, deciding to test a theory. He, himself, hopped onto the roof proper. As if on cue, the lightning immediately attempted to strike at the young sorcerer. He immediately moved back, returning to the hanging off the edge of the roof again. "Okay...so it's every and all intruders...good to know." he sighed, shaking his head. "I'd rather not have to break their security system to just get inside."

"Well come on now, no one likes stopping before you even start, maybe I can try and dodge lightning that might be fun." It looked like Lacie was debating going back onto the roof.

"...unless you have a better idea, my dear." Trevor glanced at Lacie, already seeing she was debating going back onto it. "I mean, aside from just letting the lightning rod doing it's thing...again?"

She'd end up on the roof and dodging a bolt then being hit by another, and then she goes soaring off the roof, waving as she falls past, not seeming too bothered by it.

"I believe the term I'm witnessing here...is the definition of insanity..." he sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Are we good over there, my dear?"

"Shockingly!" She called out as she spins through the air.

"...was that an magic based pun?" Trevor asked, legitimately surprised to hear a pun like this. "Any more bright ideas and theories you wish to test out?"

She began to make her way back up. "Try try again!" is all she says

"Oooooooor...perhaps we could try an alternate route? Maybe one that doesn't require the same thing over and over again?"

"If you want!" She's back up at the top...wonderful.

"Now, do you see any other spots that could be used as an entrance?" Trevor asked, peeking over the roof to investigate the area. As far as Trevor can see, while it resembles a coliseum, it doesn't have the openings like one. Instead those areas are covered in some kind of black screen. It looks like there's simply an entrance at three sides which are all locked with the same signs as the front. "...right. Well, it seems like we're not getting in there through there." he sighed, shaking his head some. "So the doors are locked, the roof is protected by the security system in the electricity...and the doors up here are locked too. Wonderful..." Meanwhile, Lacie was just trying to get on the roof...again...insanity, we have arrived.

[LordCowCow 840]

The Duel Must Go On

"did I do that all right?"

"What the freak, you really are freaking new at this aren't you? Ha, looks like I'll be able to finish this real fast huh bro? How about we make it a race to see who can win first."

"Sounds good to me bro, this girl doesn't look that tough, especially compared to the Boss."

"You got that right! Now, check out this move!" Seven put down a Monster. "I summon Battle Warrior!" What appeared from the card looked like, frankly, just some muscular dude. Fen would notice that it had 100 less attack than her tomato but the thug didn't seem to be done. "And then I equip it with Gravity Axe, making it stronger than your dumb veggie."

Indeed it looked like Battle Warrior was now at 1200 Attack. "Now slice it up!" The Monster moved forward, holding the double edged axe, and brought it down on the tomato, destroying it and inflicting 400 damage on Fen.

"How about that huh?" Seven said as he ended his turn.

---

"Let's get this show on the road, I got a movie to catch after this that I ain't gonna miss for nothin." He looked at his hand and frowned, then, with a shrug, "Well I guess I can give you some time to try somethin, I put this Monster face down in defense mode, and also this card here." He set the face down monster, as well as a card in the spell/trap zone, before ending his turn. "I bet you don't have anything strong enough to beat my cards anyway."

Spoiler

Fen: 3600
5 cards in hand
Interceptomato in GY

Seven: 4000
Battle Warrior, Equipped with Gravity Axe
4 cards in hand

---

Melissa: 4000
5 cards in hand

Eight: 4000
One Monster Face down defense position, one card in spell/trap zone.
4 cards in hand

---

Bad boys bad boys

"So the doors are locked, the roof is protected by the security system in the electricity...and the doors up here are locked too. Wonderful..."

"That sure is what's happening! But you know it's not all bad. Besides the roof the weather is so nice, and look, we have a friend coming to visit us!" She waved at a vehicle approaching. A vehicle with red and blue flashing lights and "Police" written across the side of it.

Trevor heard a female voice from inside of the floating vehicle. "Return to the ground then keep your hands in the air, this is private property, do not resist. I repeat return to the ground then keep your hands in the air, this is private property, do not resist."

[radio414 903]

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
-Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

---

Melissa bit her lip as Fen made her first turn. It wasn’t the play she would have made. She didn’t get a good look at Fen’s hand to see the rest of her options, though -- maybe it was the only play? The biggest worry in her eyes was the eight hundred attack, but then again, it was a card Fen probably wanted to get into the graveyard anyway, and if cards like those in her starter deck were common to all decks -- if this version of Duel Monsters was actually balanced around starting with four thousand life points -- Fen couldn’t even be punished all that hard for it.

The Spike Brother wound up having to equip an otherwise normal monster just to crack through, confirming Melissa’s suspicions, so while Melissa did make a mental note to go through the differences between combat with Attack-position monsters and those safely in Defense-position, she didn’t want to keep her opponent waiting. He said he had a movie to catch, and there was a competition between the two brothers besides. The least she could do was be courteous and respect that.

“You know, there were legends back home of people with multiple consciousnesses inside them, switching personalities the moment they started dueling,” she thought to the computers in her head.

Would you like us to try this activity for you? It would require some reconfiguration on our part to avoid our manifestations, but it could be done if-

“No, no,” Melissa thought. “I was just- I don’t know what I was doing. I should be fine.” It was all coming back to her. She liked to be like the Brothers, at least in the “wanting to finish duels quickly” way, anyway. In her case, it was so she could get it over with and move on before she could get trapped in a rematch. She’d end up a bit reckless and uncaring about the result. But she was still riding a familiarity high with the confidence to match.

“Before we start, I worry I haven’t made something quite clear,” Melissa said as she drew her first few cards, cradling them in her left hand like she was used to back home. “I have played this game before. I don’t want to shark you into thinking our duel is going to be easy. I want to be upfront about that.” She surveyed her hand. “I, um, I suppose I will play this Spirit of the Fall Wind.” It was a different Fairy than the type she was used to, this one more pagan in its inspiration, but it was the face card of her deck, and with an apparently hefty eighteen hundred attack points, she was happy to have drawn it so soon. “It also has an effect that lets me add a monster with a FLIP effect to my hand,” Melissa said. Now she just had to remember what was all in there!

As the Spirit waited patiently, Melissa tried to go through the list of cards on the back of the box in her head, making sure that she didn’t include any of the cards she had cut in the meantime when she was slimming the list down to forty. None of the cuts had been flips, right? One card stood out in her mind, and she settled on that out of want for anything else. “Magician of Faith, I suppose,” Melissa said. The card popped out of her deck and she shuffled it in with the rest of her hand.

“Now, Battle Phase. I’ll have Spirit of the Fall Wind attack your face-down.” And just as she spoke it, it occurred. The Spirit took a deep breath and blew a gale out ahead of it. The wind picked up the Spike Brother’s monster and spun it around briefly before it finally shattered into pieces.

“Okay, okay. Maybe your monsters are a little bigger than I expected,” Spike Brother Eight said, “but how about this!” He held the card up for just long enough for Melissa to vaguely recognize it before two more cards popped out of his deck and he slammed them into play. “I get two more of these D-boyz out onto the field! I guess I take damage or something, but prepare to be outnumbered!”

Suddenly, Melissa wished Jun were here. There were obviously ways to deal with a D-Boyz, especially two that had been summoned in Attack position -- they only had one hundred Attack! -- but Melissa’s mind still drifted to the Masked Piper incident. “Civil servant and God’s little chosen,” she muttered under her breath. “The real deal, a darklord that ain’t posin’.” She was in a bit of trouble, though, from what being outnumbered represented elsewhere. Two monsters that she couldn’t attack and didn’t want to spend cards removing could be turned into one big monster, and if it was the right big monster… well, she supposed she’d have to get to that if it got to that. She had tricks still, and the D-boyz had dealt two thousand damage to the Spike Brother in the meantime, halving his life total. “I will, uh, set two cards and end my turn,” Melissa said, and the face-downs materialized behind her.

“Ha! That’s all? Alright, draw!” Spike Brother Eight said. “Now, check this one out. I’ll sacrifice one of the Boyz to bring out this bad boy!” He did just that, and out came a hulking machine with flails instead of arms. It was a Spikebot, and Melissa noticed that it, like her Fairy, had eighteen hundred Attack. The Spike Brother had done all this with much more confidence than he should have, though at least he wasn’t finished. “I’ll equip it with this Big Bang Shot and attack your weak little spirit. Crush it, bro!”

One of the flails on the Spikebot’s arm glowed with power. It was only four hundred Attack’s worth of power, though surely the additional piercing added some aesthetic when the only attack target wasn’t in Attack Position already. The Spikebot whirled its flail around and around, then above its head before crashing down on Melissa’s Fairy, who bravely tried to guard against it, but couldn’t stand up to the extra energy.

“Losing four hundred life hurts, but I have a response to my creature getting destroyed,” Melissa said. “I’ll activate Setup- er, cut? Set uppercut?” She got it on the third try. “Setuppercut. Because a monster of mine was destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a monster from my hand or deck in face-down Defense position. I’ll choose…” This one she remembered. There were only so many tribute monsters in the deck, and not all of them could even be grabbed by Setuppercut most of the time. “uh, Nobleman-eater Bug,” Melissa said. The card briefly flashed on the field before folding down in front to guard its controller.

“Tch, fine, guess D-Boyz don’t get to attack. Guess I’m ending my turn, then.”

One thing Melissa noticed was Spike Brother Eight actually pronounced the word “Tch,” he didn’t just tisk as some sort of interjectory sound. Another thing was that he didn’t switch his one hundred Attack D-Boyz monster to defense position when he had the chance, so maybe Fen really was okay even with her Interceptomato play. She’d have time to check in just a moment, the writing was on the wall over here. Melissa drew a card and said, “First thing: I would like to Flip Summon my Nobleman-Eater Bug. It destroys two monsters, so I’ll choose your two.”

The description of a giant bug devouring a group of gangsters and their pet giant combat robot was too graphic to comprehend, much less put into words, but the end result came out as expected. “The other thing I would like to do is Summon another monster,” Melissa said. “This one’s just a Normal monster. It’s Shining Friendship.” It was another Fairy-type, this one even less like the ones Melissa was used to. Shining Friendship was more of an abstraction of what it even meant to be a Fairy-type monster. It was a small little blob with wings and a friendly smile plastered across its body. What mattered here, though, was that it had thirteen hundred Attack, and that combined with the Nobleman-Eater Bug’s… “I would like to go to my Battle Phase now,” Melissa said, “and I will have my monsters attack your Life Points directly.”

If the Nobleman-Eater’s attack was indescribable, Shining Friendship’s was even worse. Spike Brother Eight reeled as the two attacks struck home and the holographic images of the cards fizzled and went out. “I can’t believe you. You got so freaking lucky!” he said. “What the freak are those crappy cards doing winning, huh?”

“Um, good game,” Melissa said. “I hope you enjoy your movie.” She couldn’t stay to do much more than that, though. She had to go check on Fen.

[Skaia 578]

Fen braced herself as the monster went towards her own, slashing through her tomato like it was nothing, expecting some kind of follow up or destruction from the summoned beast and its axe. As Melissa had stated, though, it didn't seem like there was any real damage to be had from them and she didn't feel anything strange as her "life points" - a rather ominous sounding name thinking on it - ticked down. Perhaps she was thinking of this in the wrong way, and rather than then the cards and device being mediums for conjurations and summons they were instead vessels to create predetermined illusions. Once the man had finished his battle phase, the girl responded to his question saying, "oh uh, that was quite impressive. I hadn't familiarized myself with all the different kinds of spell cards yet, so it was good to see something like that in action." After a moment had passed and the man seemed to do nothing, the girl then asked, "um, was there anything else you wanted to do on your turn? You still have your main phase 2 and end phase, correct?"

"Huh? Isn't it obvious I was done, the freak you waiting for?"

"Oh, uh, sorry. My turn then. Draw Phase and," with a "hup" she drew her card. "And now  Standby Phase." A few more seconds had passed of nothing. "Alright, I think I'm getting the hang of this. So, for my main phase I'll normal summon Sonic Duck." The girl seemed in thought for a moment as the green feathered duck took the stage. "And now I'll switch over to my Battle Phase and have it attack your monster." The duck scraped its talons across the ground a few times before speeding forward and crashing its beak into the monster and destroying it, and dealing 500 points of damage to the Spike Brother. Fen also noted that the axe was gone with it, chocking it up to a gimmick of the spell type.

Once that concluded she said, "alright, so Main Phase 2...hmmm...Oh." After scanning her hand she found what she had drawn this turn and thought it to be pretty important to her deck. She couldn't make it work right now and she knew that there was a limit to the amount of cards she could have in her hand at any given moment, so she figured placing it on the field made it better safe then sorry. "I'll just uh, set this one card face down. And then I'll move to my End Phase. Your turn." She smiled and motioned for him to go.

The thug stared at Fen for a few moments before shaking his head, "Whatever, fine, I just have to finish this up quickly and put you outta your misery. Not gonna let a freaking bird do me in."
He drew a card and laughed, "ha, guess I can break out the big guns now, check it, I summon Vorse Raider!" The fierce looking monster with a fiercer looking weapon appeared, and Seven called out to it to destroy the Sonic Duck.

The Raider destroys her duck, and the girl lets out an, "ooooh. They really do come that strong just in a normal summon." After being slightly impressed by it, the girl gave an encouraging smile to the thug as if to tell him to keep going on.

"Uh, that's...that's all." He said, looking somewhat deflated at her response.

"Hm, hm..." the girl drew her card, seeming to pick up that she no longer declare her every phase, but still seemed to wait a few seconds during what was supposedly the standby phase. Then, after a bit, said, "this monster is pretty strong so um, hmmm. I guess, oh! I see. Okay, so I shall uh, first normal summon Mystic Tomato. And then...wait just a moment, sorry." The girl then flipped through her rule book again, trying to make sure of something before saying, "okay. I shall attack your Vorse Raider with Mystic Tomato." 

The tomato launched itself at the raider, though notable it had 1400 attack to Vorse Raider's 1900, a fact that thug did not miss. "Ha, guess you wanna lose real fast then don't ya, my monster is way stronger than another freaking veggie."

"Actually it's closer to a fruit." The girl corrected, before saying, "oh but, no, I do intend to win. So if I'm reading this correctly then I can play Rush Recklessly now during the Battle Phase. And so my Tomato is now stronger than your Raider." With the Tomato's attack raising to 2100, it smashed into the Vorse Raider destroying it and dealing 200 more damage. A proud smile on her face as her play went through, the girl said, "oh um, right. That would be my turn. So, your turn." 

OOC

Spoiler

 

Fen: 3400
4 cards in hand
Mystic Tomato 
1 Card Face Down 

Graveyard
Interceptomato
Sonic Duck 
Rush Recklessly 

Seven: 3300
4 cards in hand

Graveyard 
Gravity Axe 
Battle Warrior 
Vorse Raider

 

 

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"That sure is what's happening! But you know it's not all bad. Besides the roof the weather is so nice, and look, we have a friend coming to visit us!"
"Return to the ground then keep your hands in the air, this is private property, do not resist. I repeat return to the ground then keep your hands in the air, this is private property, do not resist."

This could not be happening right now...Trevor blinked a few times, just staring at the Police vehicle that was beginning to descend onto the roof. "...I knew this was a bad idea..." Trevor sighed heavily, looking at Lacie as he slowly began to lift his hands up. "So, do you have any ideas on this...preferably ones that don't involve invoking the wrath of the authorities?"

"Oh, it'll be fine, they're just here to say hi right, you need to loosen up." She waved at the car.

"...did the 'Return to the ground then keep your hands in the air, this is private property, do not resist' declaration not tip you off that this isn't the case?" Trevor muttered with a heavy sigh. Apparently, Lacie didn't care...she began to approach the car that is now reaching the ground. "She's insane...she's absolutely insane..." he muttered, his face now going into his hand. He was a Guardian and now he was going to be talked to by the law enforcement for breaking and entering. This had to have been the worst day...maybe he should've stuck with Fen and Melissa...might've had more luck. Regardless, he immediately got down off the roof...doing his best to stop his fall...using the grimoire to be covered in Aerora to where it could just simply float down. Once he made contact on the ground, Trevor watched the vehicle slowly descend in the process.

A woman, who seemed to have a metallic arm, stepped out of the vehicle, holding a gun at her side. "Both of you stop and explain yourselves before I'm forced to restrain you."

"Ooooh, do you think you can? That sounds more fun than breaking into a building doesn't it buddy?" Lacie said to Trevor.

"..." Trevor exhaled loudly. "Lacie my dear, you really aren't helping the case here." He said, before showing the watch to the woman. "Trevor Masters, sorcerer and newly recruited Guardian, at your service ma'am. I'll be happy to answer any question you may have."

The officer grimaced. "Are you saying you're one of hers then?" She gestured towards the building.

"Yes ma'am." he nodded. "Was planning to see Mauvache to speak with her, but didn't realize her Arena was currently under construction."

She seemed to hesitate, then, "Prove it."

"As you wish...what would you like me to do?" Trevor asked, slowly lowering his hands in order to comply with the officer's demands.

She looked confused. "...Prove it?"

He looked at her, and sighed. "I was referring to how you wished for me to prove it."

"I'll give you ten seconds to figure that out before I am forced to bring you in." she said.

Trevor began to rub the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. "I swear..." he said, beginning to fiddle around with the watch, deciding to bring up one of the messages Mauvache sent out to his squad from the other day. He moved slightly, proceeding to show the officer. "Would this suffice?"

She hesitantly took a look, and frowned. Then she stepped back and looked around, "Where did the woman with you go?" Lacie had vanished...so she left him with the officer.

He glanced back and just blinked a few times, noticing the fact that the woman was just gone. "Would you believe me if I said I have no idea, officer?" Trevor turned back around with a face that said he was basically done with the situation. "I'd also like to make mention that she attacked me before this present moment."

The woman raised an eyebrow, "Are you wanting to file a report?"

"Unless the woman in question, Lacie by name, is of someone of interest to you or the department...I'd say probably not." Trevor shook his head some. "In any case, I don't believe I got your name, officer."

She gave Trevor an odd look. "You don't really need to know. If you're one of hers...that means you're free to go."  She seemed somewhat annoyed by this. "But if you must know, my designation is K-8."

Trevor crossed his arms some, looking at K-8. "Something tells me that you aren't too thrilled about that..." he started. "...is this a common occurrence that happens with other Guardians?"

"I just don't like anyone being above the law." She replied coldly. Then, "I am saying too much. Try not to break any other laws today, if you could."

"At your request, K-8." Trevor nodded, providing K-8 a card with the number his watch had designated. "If you need any assistance, I'll happily help...not as a Guardian, but as just a regular sorcerer."

[LordCowCow 840]

Take two duels and end one and you still have one duel, quick math

“I hope you enjoy your movie.”

"Oh you'd like that wouldn't you." Eight said, glaring daggers at Melissa but not following through. He seemed to be a sore loser but more than that he looked concerned. "The Boss is gonna be so freaking mad at me, I was supposed to win that and teach them a lesson, and I went and lost cause this girl got a bit luckier than me..."

Seven seemed also to be a sore loser. When Fen destroyed his Monster he stomped his foot and said, "Oh c'mon, that's lame, Vorse Raider is so freaking cool and he was stopped by...a freaky tomato? This ain't right."

He drew a card, glanced at another card in his hand, and seemed to waffle a bit before saying, "Well whatever, first I'll summon my favorite Monster, check it, Cyber Raider!"

A muscular, blue, man with body paint and a rather unusually shaped helmet, or was that his head, appeared on the battlefield. Only after it was summoned did the Spike Brother seem to realize something. "Wait it has the same Attack? What kinda...ya know what, freak it, I set this card, you can go now but it's not cause I'm running away got it?"

Spoiler

Fen: 3400
4 cards in hand
Mystic Tomato 
1 Card Face Down 

Graveyard
Interceptomato
Sonic Duck 
Rush Recklessly 

Seven: 3300
3 cards in hand
Cyber Raider
1 S/T Face Down

Graveyard 
Gravity Axe 
Battle Warrior 
Vorse Raider

---

If you can't do the time, don't do crimes with insane strangers who tried to kill you

"If you need any assistance, I'll happily help...not as a Guardian, but as just a regular sorcerer."

"I knew she was arrogant but I didn't think it extended to all her people." The officer muttered. "Telling a cop to ask for help..." She seemed to realize she was saying this out loud and straightened up, her voice becoming more monotone and professional, though a bit of sarcasm seeped through. "That won't be necessary. If YOU need any assistance, contact ME, the POLICE."

She then went back towards her car. "And don't think this means you can keep getting away with things, even if..." She shook her head and decided to end the conversation there.

It was only moments after the car vanished from sight that Trevor would hear a voice behind him and practically next to his left ear. "What business do you have here, didn't you see the sign?"

As if he had just appeared out of nowhere a man had appeared.

If Trevor thought a moment he would remember him from the first day they had come here, the man that led them to the Arena, who Mauvache had referred to as Nezar.

[radio414 903]

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
-1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)

---

Melissa made it over just in time to see Fen’s Rush Recklessly play, and she clapped her hands as soon as she saw it. “Well done!” she said. She also made a note of the Spike Brother’s Vorse Raider; it appeared there were still reasonable cards even in decks like these. Well, her deck had felt alright, but that was probably just because she had won with it. Even just recalling the list on the back of the box, she was pretty sure she could imagine some particularly clunky opening hands. That was something to improve on. She’d have to figure out just what cards were available to her in the first place, though, especially at her price range. She had an income and room and board, but it certainly wasn’t enough to justify some of the prices she’d seen already, and besides that, there were still so many other things to explore.

She wanted to give advice. Melissa wanted to be as useful as she could be to Fen as she navigated her way through her first real test in this game Melissa knew. She couldn’t, though. For one, the sheer awkwardness of going up behind someone and looking over their shoulder to get a good look at all of their hidden information was too great, not to mention the nebulous nature of the sportsmanship involved. The stakes involving these Spike Brothers was a little nebulous in Melissa’s eyes. What was the nature of their challenge? If Melissa had somehow lost, would that have meant she got beat up? Mugged? Or would they have just laughed at her and continued to bully her for the duration of her stay on Prana? Both were equally bad options, but one of them was a little more open to “outside interference/win at any cost” than the other.

Another thought Melissa had was one that had come bubbling back up to the forefront of her mind, pushed onward by one of the Spike Brothers making a comment making an allusion to the Brothers’ enigmatic “boss.” “How did your boss know we were coming?” she said before she started running after the Spike Brother she had just beaten, looking for more answers. “Hey!” she said as she got nearer. “Hey! Um, sorry but things are just going to keep coming up, I think. I know you don’t have to do any of this, but, like, how did your boss get our phone numbers? Or do they just go through random numbers and challenge whoever might pay attention? Are they just you but with a slightly different hairstyle? I'm not mad, just, like, it's kind of a freaky thing to do, right?”

[Skaia 578]

Fen stood by, curious to see what the Spike Brother had planned with his turn though with nothing having come to pass she simply went over to her turn. "Okay, draw." The girl took a moment, standing by, before taking stock of the field. While her opponent had a card face down he also had a monster that had the same attack as her own. She wasn't sure what exactly a tie in attack meant, thinking that it may have just resulted in a no result stalemate, but that was why she kept her rule book on hand at all times for this. After looking more into the rules she nodded saying, "hm, alright." Taking a card form her hand she continued, "so um, for my Main Phase I will normal summon Oyster Meister." The bipedal crustacean wielding an enlarged oyster like a chakram had been summoned onto the stage. "And then uh, going to my battle phase, let me just - sorry," checking one last time to make sure she continued, "I'll attack your Cyber Raider with my Mystic Tomato."

"I ain't letting him go out like that, I activate my Trap Card!" He then revealed his face down, Armory Call. "And with it I can get an Equip card and put it on my Monster, check this out, Mask of Brutality!"

"Ooooh, I hadn't seen that coming." The  girl remarked, then frowning she said, "though, those arms look awfully uncomfortable coming out of its eyes," she remarked at the design of the card. "Hm, I suppose that puts me in a bit of a uh, bad situation." Her Tomato had been destroyed by the counter attack of the monster, causing her to lose 1000 life points as well, bringing her down to 2400. 

Frowning she said, "well, it is uh, unfortunate but with it I get to activate my monster's effect. When Mystic Tomato is destroyed I can bring out another Tomato, see." Pulling out the card Inmato from her deck, she summoned it onto the field in attack mode before commenting, "this deck sure has a lot of tomatoes in it, hm. Well, that appears to be all for my battle phase, so on my main phase 2..." the girl looked at her hand before finishing her turn saying, "I'll uh, place 1 card face down, and end my turn."

"Yeah yeah alright lets get this done then why don't we, shoulda already blown you back by now." Seven drew and as he entered the Standby Phase said, "I could get rid of the mask but I ain't dumb, I can take the damage." And the Mask seemed to shoot out some sort of energy towards him, lowering his Life Points to 2300. "Looks like I drew a card that'll put an end to you for sure. I summon Spiked Snail! And then I give him the Axe of Fools!" Instead of holding it the odd snail creature had one arm replaced by said axe. "I attack your tomato with my snail, cut that freak in half bro!"

Smiling, clearly a bit excited, she said, "oh, but this time I uh, activate my trap card! Reinforcement. With it, my Inmato gains 500 attack and so he's stronger than your snail. Who uh, salts your snail now." Inmato's attack jumped up, bringing it to 1900 and greater than the axe wielding snail. as the tomato convict headbutted the snail into nonexistence and bringing the spike brother down to 2100 life points. 

"Oh come on! Fine, get revenge, Cyber Raider, kill that freak!" 

"Oh, that's a shame. But good work Inmato," she said encouragingly as her monster was destroyed, bringing her down to 1900 life points herself.

"Then, my turn. Draw." After a moment of looking at her cards she said, "oh, I drew it." An excited smile formed on her face as she said, "well, uh, right. Main phase. I activate my face down Spell Card, Hamburger Recipe. And so I uh, discard the Ancient One of the Deep Forest in my hand, because it has uh 6 levels or more - well, it just has 6 levels. And so I can summon Hungry Burger." Falling in one piece at a time, a burger formed on the battlefield, only to then have the buns open up to reveal their sharp teeth. 

"Ugh, now I'm getting freaking hungry..."

Giggling a little she said, "well, I'm uh sure you're about to be served your uh, just desserts. I activate the spell card, De-Spell. So, it destroys your mask lowering your monster into uh, burger range. So, get vengeance for your fallen tomatoes Hungry Burger. And next, Oyster Meister attack him directly." When all was said and done, the Spike Brother was left with 100 life points left. "Oh, I suppose that wasn't quite enough. But um, now with my battle phase done, I enter my main phase 2. And uh, activate Sparks. Which means I uh, I win?"

"What, no! That's freaking impossible, what kind of stupid deck is that?"

"Um..." The girl wasn't sure how to respond to that at first, before remembering something and pulling out the box that it had come in. After reading it for a moment she said, "um, it's 'Burger Beatdown.' See," she showed the man the box and traced her finger across the name on it. 

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"I knew she was arrogant but I didn't think it extended to all her people. Telling a cop to ask for help... That won't be necessary. If YOU need any assistance, contact ME, the POLICE."

Trevor was a bit...puzzled by all this. At the same time, he knew that she was a cop and she was the authority around here, but he was genuinely offering his assistance if anything happened. It wasn't out of the ordinary, he offered his help to those he visited in the Ever with the countless worlds. And yet, she was basically taking his offer to help and just...throwing it to the wind. He wanted to ask more about this, but she was already turning around and walking off.

"And don't think this means you can keep getting away with things, even if..."

Yet again, Trevor wanted to say something...but K-8 left without much of another word. He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, already seeing the grimoire raising upwards beside him. "...what do you have to say, my leather-bound companion?"

The more we see in this world, the more things continue to be different than anything we've dealt and seen...

"That seems to be the situation." Trevor sighed a bit, watching K-8 driving/flying off. "I don't understand why apparently the police and Mauvache's Guardians don't get along...it baffles my mind in every sense of the word..."

Perhaps we aren't meant to understand...perhaps the answers will arrive to us in due time...

"What business do you have here, didn't you see the sign?"

Trevor and the Cabanomicon jumped a bit at the sudden voice behind them appearing as the young sorcerer turned around suddenly, preparing to fire off a Fire Spell...except he noticed the individual who was appearing behind him. It was... "Nezar, correct?" he asked, slowly lowering his hand before adjusting his tie and clearing his throat. "Yes, actually I had business on behalf of my team...they wanted me to come talk to Mauvache about our new team name. Unfortunately, I didn't know about the signs until I arrived...plus we had the issue with the quite mad young lady, Lacie...annnnnd after that, the meeting and encounter with K-8..."

[LordCowCow 840]

The Boss

“Hey! Um, sorry but things are just going to keep coming up, I think. I know you don’t have to do any of this, but, like, how did your boss get our phone numbers? Or do they just go through random numbers and challenge whoever might pay attention? Are they just you but with a slightly different hairstyle? I'm not mad, just, like, it's kind of a freaky thing to do, right?”

"Huh?" Eight said, giving Melissa a look that was a mixture of apprehension and disbelief. "What do ya mean, the boss knew cause the boss knew, that's just the kind of boss they are! You really don't know nothing do ya? See the boss got connections ya hear me, connections!" He said this as if it explained anything.

Seven still wasn't over his loss, and Fen's casual answer didn't seem to help much. "Oh Burger Beatdown is it that totally explains everything. Argh, I can't believe we both lost. Boss! Boss these freaks are way tougher than you said they'd be!"

Seven spun around and shouted out. "C-come on Big Sis, I know we were supposed to teach em a lesson but you'll show them what we're made of, right?"

At first it seemed like he was talking to himself, but then they all could hear a long, loud, sigh.

"I told you, don't call me that." A female voice could be heard from the other side of the fountain. Then a girl stepped out from behind it, rubbing her forehead as she made her way closer. Melissa and Fen would both recognize her as one of their fellow Guardians, the girl they met the other day named Fiona. "It makes me feel old..."

She walked up and the two Spike Brothers hurried to fall in line on either side of her. The pair gave Fen and Melissa smug looks. "Uh, hi." She said awkwardly. "I...didn't intend to come out at all but....after these two messed up so badly..." Her voice trailed off and she gave a sheepish smile. "So...yeah, don't really get how it happened but I sorta became the boss of the Spike Brothers after I came here." She gestured to the two. "I knew you were interested so I thought I'd have these two TEACH YOU HOW TO PLAY." She glared at the two of them, who both cringed and shrank farther back, before looking at the girls with a pained expression, "guess that wasn't necessary, though. Uh, sorry?"

---

The Butler

"Yes, actually I had business on behalf of my team...they wanted me to come talk to Mauvache about our new team name."

Nezar looked annoyed. Though that seemed to more so to be his usual look rather than something caused by anything Trevor said specifically. "That seems like it could have been a message."

He shook his head. "I'm sure it must seem very important to you but coming all the way here for that...Wait, did you say Lacie?" He furrowed his brow. "She doesn't usually...then maybe it was about that..." He took a step closer to Trevor. "Do you know where she went? She was supposed to report to Mauvache yesterday and never showed up." He seemed more annoyed now.

[Skaia 578]

Fen frowned as the man seemed to still not be over his loss. She didn't mind that he was upset about it, such was the nature of competition, but calling a pair of relative strangers "freaks" as a result was hardly respectable. She was about to get ready to give him an earful when he called out to his mysterious boss to take them on next. The girl looked around at first, a bit confused as to who this "Big Sis" and "Boss" was as there was nobody else around currently. It was then that from behind the fountain came this mysterious figure, causing a surprised look to cross Fen's face. 

Fiona wasn't exactly first on her list of suspects, and she had hardly seemed the type to be the leader of some kind of gang at that. She supposed it made sense, as far as people who knew about their interest in the card game and also had their phone number, Kelsey and Fiona were the only ones that fit both of those. She didn't know much about Fiona at all, outside of their brief interaction, but she was sure that Kelsey would not have been so roundabout in actually challenging them. She either would've gone to the shop with them in the first place or just proudly stood by the fountain and waited to challenge them directly. So, while the suspect made sense in the end, she still couldn't help but let out an awkward, "um, hello." 

As Fiona went on Fen was able to see where the misunderstanding had come from. As she apologized Fen held her hand up and said, "oh, no, it's really uh, no issue. Melissa is actually quite a good teacher at this and I wouldn't have been able to win without her." Fen smiled at her teammate before looking back to Fiona saying, "and um, besides. They say that live experience is one of the, um, best teachers there is." She waved to the spike brothers, "so thank you for setting this all up. But uh, I suppose there is well, one thing I'm confused about. If you uh, just wanted to teach us how to play, then uh, why were you hiding? Since um, well, I really wouldn't have minded shopping with you, or learning from a match from you either."  

[radio414 903]

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
-1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV)

---

Okay, the answer of “connections” was one of the vaguest answers the Spike Brother could have given, but at least it made sense. If they, as Guardians, were famous, getting in contact with them was surely something to be sought after. For a delinquent organization such as the Spike Brothers, getting a hold of their numbers would understandably boil down to “knowing a guy who knows a guy who heard a thing.” Maybe she had to be a little more careful with handing her number out, though she was still unsure when someone might have overheard it in the first place.

Melissa’s preoccupation with this new information almost made her miss the final turns of Fen’s match, but the flashy ritual animation bringing Hungry Burger into play recaptured her attention. If Melissa were the cheering sort, she probably would have, but she settled for as good an applause as she could muster being just one person instead. The fact that Sparks was the decisive card wasn’t enough to dampen things (even as Melissa wondered how she was going to get Fen to cut the card from her deck now), Fen had won her first game! That was cause for celebration enough.

Of course, the continued existence of the Spike Brothers hindered all the celebrating at least a little bit. Spike Brother Seven proved to be just as much a sore loser as Spike Brother Eight was, and the two combined started calling on an unseen boss to enter the picture and really teach Melissa and Fen a lesson. Nobody, especially not Melissa, of course, was going to tell them that after falling from literally throwing a pipe at Sandalphon to challenging its host to a card game, they couldn’t really climb back up to a threatening presence again, but Melissa still braced herself to see what horrible person was waiting for them in their next confrontation.

When it turned out to be Fiona, the woman who they had met just yesterday and had, in fact, offered numbers in her presence, everything clicked into place. Well, not the “Fiona as the leader of the Spike Brothers” part, but she hand-waved that away, so Melissa didn’t question it. And as the explanations further rolled out, Melissa allowed herself some measure of pride. Some was the key word there. “Don’t sell yourself too short, Fen. You’re picking up the game much quicker than I did,” she said. “But yes, it’s not quite the game I remember, slightly different rules and a different name and everything, but it’s more than close enough.”

Fen asked why Fiona had been hiding behind the fountain and sending her lackeys instead of meeting and teaching them herself, to which Fiona’s answer was noncommittal. “Ahaha that’s, ya know it… doesn't really fit my… vibe,” she said.

“I understand completely,” Melissa said. “I probably would have done something similar if I were in your position.” Fiona was braver than Melissa, really. The fountain was such an easy place to be spotted. Melissa would have hidden herself in a bathroom stall and watched a live stream or something, and then refuse to come out until well after everyone had left. “Which is to say, I also accept your apology. Um,” She tried to think of what sort of thing she was supposed to say next, but all that came up was more about this Spike Brother thing. Maybe she hadn’t let it go after all. “So, the Spike Brothers. One of them threw a wrench at me the other day but were they just going to challenge me to Duel Monsters then too?”

[LordCowCow 840]

The Fiona

While the three of them talked the Spike Brothers continued to hover behind the girl, making faces at the two girls behind Fiona's back.

“So, the Spike Brothers. One of them threw a wrench at me the other day but were they just going to challenge me to Duel Monsters then too?”

Fiona suddenly seemed to get more awkward, not looking directly at Melissa and instead a bit above the girl. "Oh is that so. I don't really know anything about that, these boys were a bit...unruly when I met them...and I guess they still can be. It's not like I can watch them all the time you know, ahaha...ha. I guess they were just, you know, trying to flex their muscle or something....But I'm sure they would have dueled if you asked, they really seem to like the game." She gave an awkward laugh again, "but you know I don't like violence at all, honest, so....it's not like I haven't told them to cut it out."

She glanced at the other two, nearly catching them in the act, and sighed.

"Boss! You're gonna show em what's what, right?" One said.

"Yeah, I bet you could beat them both at once no problem! After all you're way more into the game than anyone else!"

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Fiona said, sounding annoyed. Melissa and Fen couldn't see the girl's expression as she turned towards them but the Spike Brothers stiffened up, then ran off with a "Y-yeah catch you later!"

When she turned back she had a smile on her face. "Sorry, they can be such a hassle. What a couple of...goofs, no way you'd want to duel again so soon right?"

[Chaos Sonic 442]

"That seems like it could have been a message. I'm sure it must seem very important to you but coming all the way here for that...Wait, did you say Lacie?"

"Oh so you have the same thought I had. But alas, my teammates were avid in just having me speak to Mauvache regarding it." Trevor let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose slightly. It definitely seemed like this was a simple situation in where he could've just messaged the top-hat ringleader, yet he found himself in this strange situation. He shook his head some before finally returning back to Nezar's last question.

"Hmm? Lacie? Yes I mentioned that name specifically." he nodded, seeing his brow furrow.

"She doesn't usually...then maybe it was about that...Do you know where she went? She was supposed to report to Mauvache yesterday and never showed up."

The young sorcerer looked at Nezar, only to shrug. "She was here one moment and gone the next. A few saucers short of a full dish as well...but I digress." Trevor began, shaking his head. "Truth of the matter is that the moment that the officer, K-8, showed up...that's about the time she vanished."

"She never did like the police...Whatever the case, you don't intend to try and break in again, yes?"

"My intention was never to break in the first place, I unfortunately was caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time..." Trevor shook his head. "But I don't plan to, no."

"Good. That would not end well for you." He replied bluntly.

"With that security system, I don't doubt that." he tipped his hat slightly, the brim shielding his eyes slightly. "In any case, I suppose I'll take my leave and do things the way I was intending to."

"Send a message next time." He said, and the turned and he was suddenly gone.

...thaaaaaat was the intention, yes.... he thought, sighing heavily as he looked over at his leatherbound book now floating up to him. "Now, let's return back to base as it were...this has been a day to where I need a stiff drink...if I did much of that." he said, already beginning the trek back to their home base.

[radio414 903]

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
-Genesis 50:20 (NIV)

---

Melissa waved her hand, brushing away Fiona’s concerns. “I don’t think I was ever really in danger, even if I thought I was at the time. Devin -- oh, you haven’t met them, but they were there to assist me and I think the Spike Brothers were distracted by Sandalphon anyway.”

Speaking of Devin, Fiona did something much similar to the shapeshifter when confronting the two Spike Brothers behind her. Though Melissa couldn’t see the woman’s face, whatever she was showing Spike Brothers Seven and Eight was enough to get them to immediately about-face and indeed, as she suggested, find something better to do. Again, Melissa accepted Fiona’s apology. “It’s alright,” she said. “The more I see of these Spike Brothers, the less I feel particularly threatened by them. You said it yourself, they’re just goofs with an aesthetic now. Do you think they will always exchange threats of physical force for Duel Monsters? I should just keep my deck on me.”

Which led neatly into Fiona obliquely rejecting the option to play more. In the past, Melissa would have welcomed this, but the reasons for otherwise had already been litigated -- they did not need to be listed so again. She also, in the more recent past, had learned what this sort of language entailed. The word had already been used. Fiona was being oblique, Melissa thought. The way to get the best results was to just play along. “We can play if you want to,” Melissa said. “My duel was pretty short, though maybe all duels are like that with four thousand life points? Fen, maybe you would like a little bit more experience, you’re also welcome to take a slot.

“But we don’t have to,” Melissa said. “If you would rather not, we could just do something else to hang out. I still have not explored the various food options Prana has to offer, do you know any cute cafes, Fiona? Oh, before I forget,” She opened up her watch and made sure to associate the mystery number that had texted them that morning with Fiona. “Or if you’re tired, we could also just go home. It has already been such an exciting day, maybe we can’t take any more.”

[Skaia 578]

Fen was a bit surprised to hear that Melissa had already had violent dealings with the group they just dueled. She wasn't really sure what manner of gang it was that Fiona was running, between seeming to resort to throwing things at young girls at first meeting, as she hardly doubted Melissa was the kind that would've provoked them to do such, to also using cards to flex their muscles within the same few days. The Spike Brothers were truly a mysterious gang to be certain, and more then that was their mysterious leader. All the same, as the duo mentioned her dueling both of them at once, Fen spoke aloud saying, "are you uh, able to duel two people at once?" 

As Melissa spoke about what to do next and responded to Fiona, Fen thought about it for a second, before saying, "well, I certainly wouldn't mind another duel. Oh, that uh, goes to both of you, really." The girl looked to the both of them before saying, "I thought it was, well, pretty fun, so I'd be glad to go again. And I don't think my duel was particularly long either? I'm uh, not sure how long these things are usually supposed to go on for, admittedly." Thinking more on it the girl asked, "are you allowed to play this game in a cafe?" 

[LordCowCow 840]

Homeward Bound

Upon coming back to the home base he would find that the others had yet to return. So in that large building it was only he who occupied it. At least that might be the first thought. However he very nearly tripped over the one other resident of the building.

Bartleby the Slakoth was laying there in the middle of the hall. Though that was not quite the proper wording. He was moving. Incredibly slowly. Across the floor.

The creature had begun its journey from his bed in the rec room on the left. And for much of the time they were away he had been making his way across the room and hall. Heading, presumably, for the kitchen on the other side of the hall. He only made it about to the middle of the hall when Trevor came in.

Bartleby slowly turned his head to look at Trevor blankly. Staring at the magician for a good while. If Trevor did nothing, eventually, he would turn away and continue down his path.

---

Two v one?

“If you would rather not, we could just do something else to hang out. I still have not explored the various food options Prana has to offer, do you know any cute cafes, Fiona?"

"Ah, of course I do. I suppose if you'd rather do that than duel that's fine by me, I was leaving it all up to you it doesn't make a difference to me at all." Fiona said in a voice that made it sound like it did make a difference to her.

To the point where, when Fen brought up not minding another duel Fiona perked up. "Oh I thought you might." She said, despite that she had said the opposite just a bit ago. "Ahaha guess you must enjoy the game then, I suppose if you twisted my arm I could be convinced to play you...."

"are you allowed to play this game in a cafe?" 

"Well....you can, the holograms are a lot smaller though. But we could head over to one if that's where you want to go. Or we can go after, if you wanna duel right now."

She just then remembered the other thing Fen had asked. "Oh, yeah, you can duel two on one. Rules are a little different but I don't mind...and it might be more fair for you so it's not completely one-sided." she muttered the last bit, before shaking her head and giving a 'shy' smile. "If you want to, that is."

[radio414 903]

“Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’ But the people said nothing.”
-1 Kings 18:21 (NIV)

---

The conversation still felt like a tightrope, but it was a tightrope that Melissa was used to walking, so while she could feel her breath tighten up at the fear of saying or doing the wrong thing, it was still a tightrope she had walked before. “I don’t actually think I know how two-on-one duels work,” she said. This was mostly true -- true enough to not be a lie, anyway. She’d been told how they work, but her up-to-recently lack of close friendships with anyone who would get in enough trouble to warrant one, not to mention her own aforementioned conflict avoidance meant that the need to know all of Duel Monsters’ variant rules fell by the wayside, replaced by more important things like, say, the Epistle of Jude. “I’m more than willing to learn, though,” she said. 

Here was the tricky part, though. Now she had to actually make a suggestion. Melissa looked around the desolate park, once again observing all the abandoned picnics and disrupted dates (the romantic kind, not the fruit) that could have been caused by the Spike Brothers but could have also been caused by something worse. “I would rather go somewhere else, if it’s all the same, then. I don’t need to see the big flashy holograms, personally. I get enough of that, from, well…” The angels weren’t really holograms, right? But it was funny to Melissa. She smirked even though she didn’t complete that thought out loud. She also felt the absence of humor coming from foreign thoughts inside her own head, like, they neither laughed along nor admonished her, but the lack of reaction was a reaction in itself. “But we should play. You came all this way out here. You invited us. It would be rude not to.

“We could also turn lunch afterward into part of the game?” Melissa suggested. “Loser --” She caught herself, “or losers -- have to pay for lunch or have to put honey in their coffee or something. I’m not a big gambler but those are pretty small stakes if team pride isn’t enough.” She caught a glance of Fen and realized what she had just done. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to involve you in a bet. I can just- I can pay for lunch or drink doctored coffee. You don’t- You’re our team leader, I…” Whatever fire Melissa had had was gone, replaced by stammering. She’d made it that far, though, which she’d probably find impressive once the situation cleared itself up.