Yu-Gi-Oh! The Avatar War (IC) {Arc 1: Shadow War} [Chapter 1: They Call Them Avatars]

[BANZAI!!!!]

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Avatar War

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OOC Thread

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Opening Theme

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Insert Song

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Ending Theme

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"You made a huge mistake flying all the way out here, demon."

 

Lightning flashed as white waves frothed and crashed in the ocean a mile off of the coast of Okinawa. In the howling wind and blinding rain of the thunderstorm, two dragons hovered but a hundred feet above the water, staring each other down in much the same way that cowboys of the old west would have done, each waiting for the other to make the first move. The dragon farther out to sea spoke the above words in a robotic monotone as the lightning flashes illuminated its dark metallic body. It stood stright up, appearing to be a biped, and had opposeable thumbs on its claws, in much the same way its opponent did. The other dragon, who's sharp features, red armor, and long horns made it resemble some sort of devil, narrowed its eyes at the word "demon". Despite the fact that its golden eyes lacked pupils, the expression on its face was one of undeniable disgust for the metal beast that floated before it. It both hated being referred to as a demon and hated this cybernetic abomination that had dared challenge it. The red dragon did not dignify its opponent with a response, and instead simply remained hovering, ready to strike.

 

After a few seconds pause, the red dragon lunged, it claws glowing with an orange energy that vaporized the rain that came in contact with it. Its mechanical opponent anticipated this, parrying the red dragon's claws with its own at the wrists, grabbing them, and pushing both of its opponent's arms outward so that it could clearly see its enemy's face. The metal dragon's red eyes glowed as it prepared its breath weapon: a blast of red plasma. The red dragon's facial expression remained the same as it stared into the growing, glowing ball of energy forming a few feet from its face. Then, as another thunderclap echoed throughout the area, it kneed the metal dragon in its lower jaw, forcing its mouth shut, and then quickly back flipped and wrenched its arms free using the momentum of its knee strike. Without any hesitation or pause, the red dragon closed whatever distance remained between it and its stunned foe, and ran its enemy through the chest with its outstretched right claw, still aglow in brilliant orange energy that was bright enough to be seen from shore. A look of horror came over the metallic dragon's face as it stared down at the red dragon's bicep protruding from its chest. The red dragon then pulled its claw from the metallic dragon's chest cavity, which began leaking crimson blood and sparking in places where its cybernetics were damaged. "D-da-amn yo-o-ou. D-DE-EM-MON." The metallic dragon barely managed to say through its voice modulator (which was skipping like a broken record) and its blood loss before it fell like a lead weight into the ocean below. As this happened, its victorious opponent examined its right arm, which now had metallic shrapnel embedded within it in various places and was oozing blood from newly opened wounds. The red dragon winced slightly and spat in disgust down at where its opponent fell before it made its way toward shore, flying high over the island to avoid being seen before it made its way toward the Japanese home islands.

 

*Opening Theme Plays*

---

 

The loud echo of a guitar chord played at the maximum speaker volume reverberated throughout the small, 12' by 8' room. Trey Katou awoke suddenly and buried his head in his pillow as the cacophony of the song continued to mercilessly assault his eardrums, a sure sign to him that it must be morning and that his roommate, Sho Yoshinaga, was doing his morning repetitions of pushups and crunches. This also signified to Trey that it must be Thursday, since Mondays and Thursdays were the only days that Sho woke up before he did, and Trey was most certainly too fatigued for it to have been Sunday yesterday, since his Sundays were largely spent sleeping in. After about two and a half minutes, Trey gave up on trying to fall back asleep and sat up to confirm the hypotheses that he'd made while buried under his pillow. Sho, who was shirtless and had just finished what was sure to have been his second or third set, noticed his roommate get up and stood up with a smile on his face as he spoke at such a volume so that he could be heard over his his music.

 

"Mornin' Trey! Get moving we gotta to go eat bro."

 

"Can you play that s*** any louder? I can barely hear it." Trey responded sarcastically with a not-so-amused look on his face. His thick dark hair was sticking up at multiple strange angles, a side effect of Trey's habit of showering before bed. Sho suppressed a laugh as Trey's face contorted a little further into one of annoyance. Trey continued as his eyes narrowed and his tone became slightly angrier. "Let me get dressed and shower. Meet you downstairs in ten." Trey gave Sho his best glare and proceeded to get his towel and shower caddy for his trip down the hall to where the communal bathroom was located. Before making his way out the door, Trey discreetly removed a monster card from his duel disk, and placed it in an open deck box on his desk. Sho finally let out the laugh he was holding back as he lowered the volume on his music and proceeded to go back to his workout.

 

About fifteen minutes later, Trey and Sho were dressed and on their way to the nearest dining hall on campus to get breakfast before Sho's 8:15 a.m. class.  It was a brisk morning in late September with a bit of a breeze, and the sky was pink from the sunrise. Trey didn't have class on Thursdays until 10:30, but he usually went with Sho for breakfast anyway to both give himself something to do and ensure he didn't sleep in and end up late for class. As per usual, Trey was wearing black sweatpants a black tee shirt, and a hoodie that he hastily threw on. However despite the hoodie Trey was still cold, and he shivered a bit as they made their way inside the dining hall, where a line of students had formed in the lobby.

 

After a few minutes of waiting line followed by a few more minutes of waiting on buffet lines, Trey and Sho sat down at a table located strategically close to both the Kitchen and one of the positively massive plasma televisions that played close captioned news nearly constantly. On it was a news report who's captions read "In other news, numerous eye-witnesses on Okinawa claim to have sighted what is being described as a "pair of dragons" flying over the island and off the coast during last nights storm. Witnesses claim to have seen the beasts fighting each other near shore. The local government claims the incident is merely an "elaborate hoax" pulled off with help of the Solid-vision hologram technology found in duel disks."

 

Sho laughed a bit at the caption, while Trey raised an eyebrow, attempting to give his face an incredulous look. Trey thought to himself "So that's what you were up to last night, is it Arz?"  Unsurprisingly, the deep, guttural voice that belonged to the red dragon, Arz Goedia, growled back at him in his head, and a transparent apparition of the dragon appeared sitting next to Trey, who was the only one able to see it. "What about it, Human? I can do as I please when that worthless piece of paper is on your machine."

 

"You do as you please when you're incorporeal, too. And its not good for either of us if you go around killing dragons in plain view. You're on the news you idiot."

 

"I refuse to dignify that imperial bastard by referring to him as a dragon. And you're too busy worrying about your grades and your drawings when there's a war to be fought and the fate of your worthless insignificant race is at stake."

 

"It's your war. I'm just here to help, Arz."

 

"Some help you are, I can barely fight at all when you're awake because you're so damn soft, Trey. We're lucky you weren't dreaming while i was fighting last night or  we would have been so out of synch that that imperial cyborg would have killed me easily."

 

"Well, I'm sorry that I'm not a trained killer. Get used to it. And it's your fault you chose to fly all the way out to friggin' Okinawa and take that risk in the first place."

 

"It wouldn't have been a risk if you were more in synch with me."

 

"So I'd have to be constantly angry and frothing at the mouth? Yeah let me go find a rabid squirrel and then maybe we'll get along better." Arz  let out a "hmph" and did not respond further. Out of the corner of his eye Trey could see the dragon's apparition phasing through the walls and out of the building for an early morning flight. Arz was apparently finished with this conversation.

 

Trey's attention was then drawn back to Sho, was just finishing chatting up  Mizuki Nagano, a girl that they both knew and that Sho was in to. Trey waved hi as she left and Sho sat back down. "She wants me to come over for a study session later, so it looks like you're gonna have the room to yourself this afternoon, Trey." he said through one of his last mouthfuls of scrambled eggs. Trey laughed a little.

 

"Sho Yoshinaga, always on the prowl."

 

"Me?! How presumptuous,Trey! To think that I would ever even conceive of the notion!" Sho responded in a haughty of a tone as he could muster with a straight face before both the boys had a laugh, although Trey couldn't help but feel just a little jealous. "You know, her roommate's pretty nice, dude. Next time we hang out I'm gonna bring you along. You might like her."

 

"Sho, you know I'm not good at meeting people. I'll just make it weird."

 

"Bro, you need to get out of that shell of yours. I swear your gonna end up all alone one of these days if you just stick to sketching all day and don't start connecting with people more. Besides, you, my friend, need to get laid."

 

"Quit thinking with your lower body and get to class will ya!?" Trey said, annoyed, as he gestured to the clock, which said 8:05. "You're gonna be late of you don't hurry."

 

"Yeah, I'm gonna get going. Remember what I said though, Trey. You need to get out more." With that, Sho was gone and Trey quickly finished eating and went back to their dorm room to get his things ready for his Trap Mechanics and Development class.

 

---

 

About an hour and 45 minutes later, Trey made his way to Wheeler hall, the building in which Professor Carpenter's class was located. After making his way through the building, Trey found the entrance to the lecture hall and went inside. The call was large enough for around 100 students, although this class only had about 60 in it. Trey, who was still a little fatigued and groggy, decided to forgo his usual seat located lower and closer to the front, and instead sat near the rear of the hall higher up so that if he happened to nod off he could hopefully get away with it without professor carpenter unleashing a solid-vision trap card on him. Trey was a bit early, and spent the time waiting in his seat people watching. Most of his classmates he did not recognize, but there were a couple of distinct faces he did pick out. Namely Brighton Dae, who stuck out like a sore thumb due to his flamboyant clothes and stupidly long, silver hair, and Aivea Kaiba, who Trey could almost always pick out thanks to her one red eye.

 

Professor Carpenter soon appeared in his usual grey suit and took his place at the front of the hall. He waited patiently for the students to quiet down before he began to take attendance. A few of the students let out groans at his, since they'd have to wait an extra five to ten minutes before anything of actual substance (boring as that substance would be) would occur. As the professor's attendance got underway, there were a few more names that Trey could put faces to. Aeris Nirvana, who was always wearing an eye patch, Gunther Grey, one of Sho's friends, and Elizabeth Mayley, whom Trey could remember was always chewing some guy out for one reason or another.

 

At last, Professor Carpenter began to lecture. From what Trey could see, today's focus was on the development of the counter trap, and its usefulness versus cards like mirror force. Of course, as Trey had predicted, he soon began to doze off.

 

A few minutes later, Trey was suddenly awoken when he fell backwards on to the floor and landed with a loud thud. He looked behind himself to see that his chair had been pulled out from under him rather suddenly. As trey sat up, he heard both laughter from the other students in the hall and professor Carpenter's voice from the front of the room. "Thank you for being such an excellent target for my counter trap demonstration, Mr. Katou. I do hope that this will deter you from falling asleep in my class again."

 

"Yes, Sir." Trey grumbled as he pulled his chair back into place. He saw the last vestiges of Professor Carpenter's trap, "Pulling the Rug", disappear from the room's solid vision projector as Professor Carpenter returned to his lecture.

 

 

[Love of Ghibli]

Intro Song

 

The sun was in the air and the light cracked into his room. The melody of the radiant Nessun Dorma started to play. Just like that Brighton arouse from his beautiful coffin like state with cucumbers on his eyes and face covered with what has to be some kind of sleep mask. He began to move to the melody and float around his own room with an amazing grace. His spatial recognition was amazing considering that he couldn't see a thing. First came his mask as he revealed his pretty much flawless skin. Then came the cucumbers that allowed his eyes to grace and greet the beautiful world with the openness and wonderment that it so richly deserved. Then he made his way into the shower for the quickest and most intense destruction of dead skin cells a person could probably do outside of a hazmat shower. Nessun Dorma ended by the time he had finished showering so he went back into his room and waved his arms like a conductor.

Now time for something with more speed. 

 

Dressing Song

 

As the beat began Brighton began the daily ballet that was getting dressed. First came the blouse. He literally twirled to his ornate and immaculate closet and pulled out a clean and pressed white blouse. Like magic he put it on and in the same rhythm he was able to slip on a pair of green pants and black belt. He then sat down in front of his grand vanity and was getting the make-up ready. He was so wrapped up in the momentum of getting his face right that he began to sing out loud. Pronto a far tutto, la notte e il giorno sempre d'intorno in giro sta. Tra le la Miglior cuccagna per un barbiere, vita più nobile, no, non si da. He was done with the foundation and he managed to finally find the right balance of subtlety and full on drag queenness. He managed to then get his hair immaculate and flowy like he needed it to be. He then put it on a matching green blazer to cover his blouse. He was almost ready. Just two pieces of clothing left. Sono il factotum della città! He added a very loud hat and his classic pair of black never scuffed boots. DEEEEEE LLLLAAAAA CIIIITTTAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! With that his morning ritual was done and he looked fabulous. 

Brighton was happy as he once again proceeded to be excellent as existing. As the music concluded he put on his messenger bag with light books in it. He then set out to go tackle the day. 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It wasn't long as he was walking across campus to check out the dining area for breakfast that he could feel the presence of someone coming out of nowhere and appearing right at his side. He smirked as he could clearly see that it was his oddly brutish avatar Lady Olivia Clarington of the White Lily. He could feel her frustration as she walked next to him. Come now Lady Clarington, if you keep frowning like that you will do even further damage to your face than you already have. Must you do that horrific dance every morning? Would you tell the butterfly to never come out his cocoon? Would you tell the sun never to shine and bless us all with its warming light? Ugh Olivia grunted as she rolled her eyes. No you wouldn't! Beauty is the reason why we beings were given eyes! Beauty is the true life essence that gives us shape! Beauty is TRUTH! Beauty is the LIGHT! GLORY BE TO BEAUTY!! 

 

By this point Brighton had already entered and exited the cafeteria. He simply ran in and out to grab a parfait. Double protein and no mess. Now it was time he made his way to Dr. Carpenter's trap card class. An interesting man that teacher was. Though his outfits screamed muted and dull. He was one with life and vigor. His attempts to make the most boring subject matter interesting and fun were truly beautiful. As the pair was on there way to Brighton's class Brighton pulled out his smart phone and he noticed that he got some kind of news alert. It seemed that many popular news channels are talking about seeing two dragons go at it. Brighton only shifted his eyes to the right to hint at Olivia.

 

I know it's weird, I don't understand that event either. It could have very well been a your peoples machines malfunctioning.

 

I doubt it, all of my dueling blog buddies would have told me by now. Brighton thought while still not understanding this situation. 

When you say buddies, you mean those nerds that suck up to you to get popular with the ladies. Olivia replied with a hint of disapproval. 

Interesting, I've never heard a woman refer to other women as "the ladies." That's usually a form of attraction. Brighton spoke with a cheshire grin. Olivia blushed as she didn't realize this slip of her lesbianism was caught. Of course Brighton just chuckled as he already knew her secret, but it is not his place to force into things. Hopefully this gentle nudging would help though. If they were honest with each other they could be more in synch. Anywho, those nerds come to me for advice as to how to be attractive to women. Usually its superficial things like looks, who can blame looks, but I try beautify them as whole. It is a stunning symbiotic relationship. I think it might be one of your kinfolk. 

I'm not a dragon, so I don't see how kinfolk is appropriate here. 

 

Don't stress over semantics Lady Clarington, remember those wrinkles are killer. Olivia was starting to turn red with annoyance. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Brighton had entered class with Olivia still following and he sat down somewhere close to the front...of course. All must bare witness to his beauty. All should be blessed to gaze his visage, take notes even. He did look around to notice some familiar faces. The heterochromatic descendant of card royalty, the one with the eyepatch, and the one who chews gum. All interesting characters in their own way. Pity he never noticed if they had true beauty during his freshmen year. It did take a year for him to get this routine of high maintenance all together. Of course things got slightly more interesting when Trey became the class demonstration. Slight humor to begin the day. It is always refreshing.

 

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Aivea Kaiba miserably flipped the switch to the shower and got inside. She could already tell that her first day in her sophomore year was gonna be a bore, and as hot steamy water rained down on her naked body, it was the only thing that had came across her mind. After about 5 minutes, she finally began to soap her body and shampoo her hair, but before Aivea could reach the conditioner bottle, the shower stopped running, the switch flipping itself back off again.

 

"Hey! I haven't even got this crap out of my hair yet!" yelled Aivea, "The hell's the deal with that, Mom?!"

 

"You're running late, dear," said a half-human-half-robotic-sounding Kisara Kaiba, "I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to get going."

 

"Oh yeah, let's throw our own daughter out the house before she's ready to leave,"

 

"Aivea, please..."

 

"Stop taking after your damned husband!" with that, Aivea stormed out of the bathroom, only throwing a towel over herself before leaving.

 

...

 

Next thing to be known, she was inside one of the KaibaCorp limousines, driven by the family butler. Aivea had now worn a beautiful black dress, and she at least had the chance to squeeze the last remnants of shampoo out of her gleaming silver hair. But a sour look was cast on her face.

 

"Forced out of the shower, I see?" the butler asked.

 

"Well, yeah obviously," Aivea rolled her eyes as she said this, "Running late, please. Even if we were, you can always put your foot down."

 

"True, but we must stick to the speed limit," the butler replied, "You should be fairer to your mother. She's never been the same since that dreadful accident."

 

"Um... hello? You're talking to the same girl Mom traumatized all those years ago?"

 

"Ah, yes; she told me about that too. Poor Kisara. All she has to show for herself now is that she's a survivor."

 

"Yeah..." Aivea gave a moment of silence as the butler started the engine and began to drive to the university, before realizing something, "Hey, do I leave anything to eat around here last time? Maybe some sweets on the floor or something?"

 

"I think not, but we can stop for breakfast once we get to the university if you wish," replied the butler.

 

...

 

After that, Aivea finally turned up to Professor Carpenter's class, standing right next to the door and leaning against the wall rather than taking a seat like every single other student in the room. First was the attendance call, which was dull, and then came the actual lecture, which was dull. Exactly as Aivea predicted that morning. From what she could gather, the lecture was supposed to be about Counter Traps; one of many subjects Seto Kaiba already crammed into his daughter's skull when she was 3, and as such one she consequently knew like the back of her hand. And so, as soon as she saw someone refraining from paying attention, Aivea followed suit, although instead of dozing off to sleep, she decided to give her old man a call instead.

 

"Ya mind telling me why you're calling at this time of day?" Kaiba asked roughly, "You're supposed to be at school."

 

"I am," Aivea whispered flatly, "Why else would I be bored out my skull?"

 

"Damn it Aivea, are you out of your mind?!" scolded Kaiba, "I've got work to do, and...!"

 

"SSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!" Aivea intervened, pretending to have hissed at another student that was talking at the time, but instead turning straight back at the phone, "Good grief, you're lucky we're not on speakerphone! Besides, it's just a refresher course as far as I can tell."

 

"Really? What kind of refresher course?"

 

"Does it matter? We both know I know so much about Duel Monsters like the back of my hand."

 

"Even so, you'd still be wise to show some respect to the professor..."

 

"Oh, sure, like first impressions are..." Aivea was about to say the words "that" and "important", when all of a sudden she heard a crash from the desk where the supposed slacker (Trey) was sitting, followed by laughter from the other students around him, "Actually, this is starting to get interesting all of a sudden. Call ya back."

 

With that, Aivea hung up with a smirk on her face. She almost felt proud that she got away with calling someone on the phone during class, albeit only briefly. And now that someone else had already taken the fall, Aivea decided to take the time to ask something she always wanted.

 

"Excuse me Professor, but since you were interrupted, may I ask something?" Aivea asked, "Is this supposed to be one of those refresher courses, by any chance?"

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

The bright light of the sun, the terribly annoying sound of birds chirping, the alarm clock that won't shut up, it's morning all right. Like many others, Aeris, or at least Dark Aeris, was never an early bird. She likes to sleep late and wake up well after lunchtime, so the school schedule never really clicked with her. As she slowly and lazily walked to the bathroom in a trance-like state, she failed to acknowledge the presence of Arc, who was standing near the bathroom door with her towel and bathroom kit, who merely sighed as she anticipated a scream that would indicate her owner is finally awake. 

 

"ARC!!!" Yelled Aeris from inside the bathroom. "Where did you put my towels?! I swear it was here the night before!"

 

"If by night before you mean approximately 5 days ago, then yes." Arc responded as she opens the bathroom door to a visibly disgruntled Aeris. "Here's your towel, Aeris. It now has 250% less dirt and other filth on it."

 

"Shut up, I'm not 5 years old." Aeris snarled as she slammed the door to wipe off the water from her body. 

 

"Your mental capacity seems to be at that age." 

 

​"GODDAMMIT!" Aeris' scream was followed by the thud of a shampoo bottle bouncing off the bathroom door, followed by a bigger thud. "How the crap did shampoo hit my head?!" 

 

Arc let out a small chuckle at the sight of Aeris failing to comprehend basic psychics. 

 

A short while later, Aeris, now with a small bruise on her forehead, got out of the shower and headed to the her room, which to her surprise, has been tidied up, with her usual wear of hoodie and jeans neatly piled on the blanket. "Well, that was uncharacteristic of you, knowing what my favorite clothes are." She said to Arc as she put on her clothes for school. "To be honest, it was very difficult to pick out pants you might like. Out of the choices of faded blue, faded blue, faded blue, faded blue and-" Aeris rolled her eyes and let out a small "ugh" as she listened to Arc's increasingly sarcastic remarks. Soon enough, she finished putting on her oversized orange hoodie with sleeves longer than her actual arms, pants and custom-made rollerblades and set out to sleep for some more at school.

 

---

 

Aeris arrived pretty late at Professor Carpenter's class. Her alarm was set to go off later than what would be sensible, and she never had a thing for trap cards anyway. She sat on the rightmost corner of the last row so she would have a smaller chance of being spotted dozing off. As she made her way through the rows of seats, she noticed several familiar faces. Most of them she already pegged as "uninteresting" or "hostile", so she barely paid any attention to them, especially the overdressed man with long hair sitting on the first row. Once she sat down, it only took 3 minutes before Professor Carpenter's lecture on Counter Traps successfully sent Aeris to dream land. As her consciousness slowly drifts off, she heard a familiar voice ring through her head.

 

"Hey, can I take over for a few minutes?" Said the voice, who Aeris correctly identifies as her other personality. "Come on, when's the last time you let me be dominant at school?" 

 

"Last I checked, never, and it should stay that way. I have a rep of being dangerous, and letting you take over means that image gets shattered immediately."

 

"You're no fun. Everyone's asleep anyway, so nobody would notice a thing! I wanna meet some other people!" Mental conversations like these happen all the time in Aeris' unconscious, although normally, Dark Aeris would have her way without much resistance. 

 

"Rrgh... Fine. Do what you will." 

 

"Yay~"

 

Now that she traded consciousness with her other personality, Aeris moved her eyepatch to cover her right eye, as she woke up with a large smile on her face, something which anybody who has interacted with Aeris before would find unsettling. 

[Aix]

Room 211 of the Girls' Dorm was the den of a monster.

 

It wasn’t cluttered with bones strewn across the floor, blood-splatters on the walls or whatever other strange decor one attributed to monsters, rather it was spotlessly clean, tidy and mostly sparse to the point of being depressing, however the menacing aura that could be felt from outside the door and traumatic memories from previously disturbing the deathly peace gave everyone a primal instinct to back away.

 

To the one person who could actually perceive it, in the corner of the room was an area of impermeable darkness where lay a massive strangely-shaped and strangely coloured eye. It’s sclera was an eerie magenta and it had demonic yellow irises as well as bottomless voids for pupils, but it was not this strange otherworldly apparition that caused such an fearsome air. Even had the monster manifested in its full colossal form it would not have a fraction as much of a threatening presence as the creature that lay swathed in bedsheets atop a stone-hard mattress, trembling and grumbling with annoyance.

 

The creature was fully awake now, a result of a combination of her natural early morning irritation with everything gnawing away at her, the uncomfortable mattress where she was sentenced to spend each night and the ethereal telepathic whisper that relentlessly emanated from the eye telling her to get up and ready for class. It was only trying to help, but there was no helping Elizabeth’s morning mood whatsoever.

 

“Enough already!” she cried aloud, not caring what her neighbours would think of her shouting like that when she didn’t have a roommate. “God, you’re annoying! I have an alarm clock.” With a single large and dramatic movement, she threw the covers off and jumped out of bed, landing perfectly into her pink bunny slippers. One would generally never imagine that such a foul nature belonged to a girl like this petite girl here, standing by her bed and dressed in a lace nightgown and bunny slippers, but she stood up to the anomaly in the corner with frightful bloodthirst. The eye, however, remained silent and unfettered, apparently satisfied that the girl had risen.

 

Giving an annoyed sigh the way she did a thousand times every morning, she flipped her hair pompously over her shoulder and proceeded into the small, cramped washroom of her dorm, where she ceremonially began to brush her hair and do all the other typical, daily morning activities that weren’t worth talking about. Putting the final touches on the minimal amount of makeup she bothered to put on, she walked out the door on habit giving a cold shoulder to the eye impassively staring at her from the corner.

 

============================================================

 

The sudden change in expression on the boy’s face alerted his friend of the oncoming danger and they both managed to fortunately duck out of Elizabeth’s way as she marched into the mess hall. Elizabeth smirked with satisfaction, it seemed that she had properly taught them their place.

 

With certain elegance and grace despite her rather diminutive stature, she made her way through the breakfast buffet before seating herself with a few fellow freshmen at a table near the center of the room. Her change in demeanor was extraordinary, anyone who had seen this girl moments earlier would not recognize her at all now. With a delightful and even charming smile, she greeted her classmates and engaged in polite conversation as they ate.

 

Bidding quick goodbyes as they each departed for their respective classes, Elizabeth rushed off south towards the Wheeler Hall where the first class of the morning, taught by Professor Carpenter, was held.

 

============================================================

 

Frankly, the courses here bored her to death, she was fully confident in her Dueling ability. Though no one here knew it, she was the eldest daughter of two once renowned Duelists, one of which did appear again briefly in the news a few months ago with a report of his murder, and the combined blood of champions coursed through her veins. With the same logic which Fusion Summoning created incredibly powerful monsters, Elizabeth reasoned that her talent by far surpassed mostly anyone else in this class. Though she hadn’t actually Dueled all of them before, she did have a notorious record of straight wins amongst the freshmen and even some sophomores. Her ability to switch between different Decks with prior information on her matchups, and her intimate knowledge of how a great number of different Decks operated granted her well-deserved victories unreliant on the Heart of the Cards. It helped, too, that her Ace Card, Big Eye, was one of the most powerful monsters in the game.

 

Elizabeth was broken from her thoughts by a sudden commotion in the classroom, and her eyebrows creased with disgust as she looked over. It turns out it was simply a disturbance caused by another stupid male student who dared disgrace the class with his filthy presence. “Honestly, just because you’ve gone beyond desperation because no one is willing to sleep with you doesn’t mean you should sleep now with everyone here. Of all people, I’m sure a person like you would be the one needing to pay attention the most.” She muttered it in an off-hand sort of way, but loud enough that the intended target would easily hear it, and then, she accompanied it with an exaggerated sigh.

[BANZAI!!!!]

The class's laughter began to subside. "Typical Thursday. I fall asleep in class and Carpenter knocks me on my ass with a trap card." Trey thought to himself as he was fixing up his work area. Then he heard someone speaking from a few rows ahead of him.

 

“Honestly, just because you’ve gone beyond desperation because no one is willing to sleep with you doesn’t mean you should sleep now with everyone here. Of all people, I’m sure a person like you would be the one needing to pay attention the most.”

 

"Why does everyone insist on bringing up my sex life today?"

 

Trey was not the least bit amused, and, deciding that giving in to his growing irritation was better than simply sitting back in his chair and waiting for class to be over, rested his head on his fist and made a disinterested face. "I'm so honored that you care such a great deal about my well-being. Please, enlighten me with your boundless wisdom, so that I may learn the error of my ways. And, by all means, do continue being such a b****. Its so wonderfully stimulating to my senses." Trey's response was said as sarcastically and as condescendingly as possible, and at such a volume that its intended target  and those in the immediate area could hear it, but those down near the front of the hall would be hard pressed to do so over the noise of the calming student laughter. Just as Trey finished speaking, Aivea's voice could be heard from a few rows away.

 

"Excuse me Professor, but since you were interrupted, may I ask something? Is this supposed to be one of those refresher courses, by any chance?"

 

Professor Carpenter looked up in Aivea's direction with a vaguely disappointed look on his face. Bruce disliked questions like this, since it told him that he wasn't entertaining his students enough. Of course, it was a Thursday in September, and these kids were probably getting restless waiting for the weekend, so that could also explain it. He decided to give Aivea the benefit of the doubt and, responded to her question almost immediately. "Miss Kaiba, had you been paying attention to my lecture, you would already know the answer to that question. This class pertains to the mechanics and development of Trap cards, and in this class you will learn both how how the creative process for these cards works, as well as how the mechanics of trap cards operate. So, to answer your question, yes and no. Yes because since you're all attending this prestigious institution then I can assume you've played games using these cards, no in the sense that I can assume just as correctly that none of you know exactly how these cards are created and written. Now, as I was saying before Mr. Katou so eagerly volunteered to be the target of my 'pulling the rug'...." Professor carpenter went back to his lecture, steadily gaining momentum as he spoke until his lecture was back into full swing. Soon enough he had begun a tirade against the design of "Solemn Judgement" and how it was banned in competitive play...

 

---

 

About 45 minutes later, Professor Carpenter had finished his lecture. Before any of the students could gather their things and leave, he brandished a clipboard from his desk and shouted "Before you all go, I have an assignment for you!" at such a volume and with such enthusiasm that anyone who hadn't expected it jumped in surprise.

 

---

 

Meanwhile, on a high-rise's deserted roof downtown, Grun Malo met with his commander, Emura, to discuss recent events. As his four independent segments came together to approximate a human form, Emura crossed her arms. "We've lost contact with Deimos. He didn't report in this morning."

 

"You don't say. Wasn't he tracking a resistance Avatar this past week?"

 

"Yes... A dragon like himself, from what he told me."

 

"Seen the news lately?"

 

"Yes. That was all the confirmation we needed. According to all of the data we've been able to gather so far. There are three active resistance avatars in the area. We know for certain that one is located on the premises of the local college. I've sent Gruglhag to deal with it. As for the other two, I want you on surveillance. Find them and inform me as soon as you do, Grun."

 

"Will do." With that, Grun's four parts separated and went off in different directions to hunt for the remaining two targets.

 

---

 

 "I've separated you all into groups of five. Each of these groups will be designing a trap card that will be due at the end of the semester. As we progress through the course, you'll learn about the card creation process, and will be taught the necessary skills to contribute positively to your groups card development project. Now, before you leave, let me read off the groups so that you can all get in contact with one another."    Prefessor Carpenter then proceeded to list off names in groups of five, and each group of students left as quickly as possible, as soon as their names had been called. When he was about half way through the list, he cleared his throat, and began again.   "Group 7 will be Brighton Dae, Elizabeth Mayley, Aivea Kaiba, Trey Katou, and Aeris Nirvana. Group 8 will be.."

 

"Wonderful." Trey said aloud as he got his things together. He quickly made his way out of the classroom and into the hallway, stopping to lean on the wall a few feet away from the door. This was not going any fun. At all.

 

 

 

[Love of Ghibli]

Class was getting quite ugly. The bored and savage did not display any level of tact or sense of place. Truly foul odious creatures Brighton thought to himself as he wondered how would this class turn out. 

 

“Honestly, just because you’ve gone beyond desperation because no one is willing to sleep with you doesn’t mean you should sleep now with everyone here. Of all people, I’m sure a person like you would be the one needing to pay attention the most.”

 

"Honestly" Honestly, what foul, guttered, backwater, abused home did this imitation of female spawn from? Brighton thought as he continued to keep a smile on his face and remain attentive. One must not let the ugly taint them as they rise above the fray. Speaking of rising above the fray. 

 

"I'm so honored that you care such a great deal about my well-being. Please, enlighten me with your boundless wisdom, so that I may learn the error of my ways. And, by all means, do continue being such a b****. Its so wonderfully stimulating to my senses."

 

Of course, why be above the fray when you can simple turn into the muck yourself? Brighton obviously thought that Trey's response was unnecessary. There is no need to engage with someone beneath you. If anything you are reduced to their level. Nevertheless it was already done. Brighton simply watched as Prof. Carpenter was replying to the heterochromatic one as she clearly asked a smug question. Here the professor was about to bestow the beauty and simplicity of knowledge on a group of open minds and she felt this was some review material. Someone please set her on fire. Brighton had to shake his head as he was almost disappointed in himself that he had such an ugly thought. Though sometimes that is what happens when you are faced with such an overwhelming presence of ugly. 

After that display though it seemed that the class was about to get underway. An entire lecture over one card know as Solemn Judgement. It was a powerful card of course and Brighton understood all of its merit. All-in-all it seemed like a good lecture. Brighton was gathering his notes and getting ready for the end of class as he noticed that there was some other news Prof. Carpenter was about to begin with. 

 

 "I've separated you all into groups of five. Each of these groups will be designing a trap card that will be due at the end of the semester. As we progress through the course, you'll learn about the card creation process, and will be taught the necessary skills to contribute positively to your groups card development project. Now, before you leave, let me read off the groups so that you can all get in contact with one another."  

 

Huzzah! A group project. A chance for my beauty to spread like wildfire. Purging the Earth of ugly and providing nourishment for beautiful flowers to bloom. Now which mortals will be blessed with my visage. "Group 7 will be Brighton Dae, Naturally start with the most beautiful first Elizabeth Mayley,....what... Aivea Kaiba,....no.... Trey Katou,....why... and Aeris Nirvana....how.... Group 8 will be.." By the end of the listing Brighton looked as if he had just been shot by his mother. Why would the professor do such a thing. Was this divine punishment? Was this God punishing him for not doing enough to beautify the world around him? It was SATAN clearly this was the work of Satan. Prof. Carpenter clearly must have slipped in his faith allowing Satan to come in and manipulate his mouth. This was clearly the words of evil. Brighton noticed that one of his new teammates made their way outside and he decided to follow suit. He could hear Olivia's chuckling in the background of his thoughts. Once outside he saw Trey leaning on a wall. Because what would a beast know of posture? Brighton let out a breath and made his way towards Trey. So it looks like we are in the same group. I look forward to creating a beautiful card with your assistance. Brighton spoke as he offered his hand for an handshake.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

'Yeah, this is a waste of time,' Aivea instantly decided, as she still refused to pay much attention. After answering her question, Professor Carpenter then went on to talk about Solemn Judgment and why it was banned. Solemn Judgment was always a solid card, and according to Aivea's knowledge, it was only recently banned because people got complaisant about its ability to negate anything and everything that was thrown against the wielder. Apparently paying half one's Life Points wasn't enough of a cost to keep it in check, but that may have been understandable since it was always payable, and only got cheaper as the wielder's Life Points dropped.

 

Still, a true Duelist would never blame his or her loss on a single card. Aivea learnt that the hard way, as Kaiba would never allow her to get into the university until she could consistently get past his Crush Card Virus. Eventually Aivea managed to tune her Box of Friends deck to bypass its effects, and she was rewarded for that a the start of her freshman year with her first Blue-Eyes White Dragon. That specific one was one of the first three ever printed, and up until that day, Kaiba had kept all three of them to himself. But the Blue-Eyes White Dragons were starting to lose their worth in most decks, and became easier to get a hold of as a result. They weren't as rare as they once were, and more worryingly, they weren't going to be as useful as they once were.

 

...

 

Aivea was still contemplating, staring blankly at the Blue-Eyes White Dragon that Kaiba had given her, when all of a sudden the bell rang, signifying the end of the class. However, Professor Carpenter wasn't quite done yet; he had an assignment to issue, and already separated the class into groups of five. Aivea glowered when she heard who she was assigned to group with. Sure, Brighton and Aeris weren't the problem. And even slacker Trey wouldn't have been more than a bump in the road that Aivea couldn't straighten out. But this... Elizabeth Mayley? Aivea didn't recognize her straight away, but her voice alone enabled the heterochramtic girl to remember why she despised this clear sexist that thought herself as the bees knees. If that was anyone's job, it would be Aivea's job.

 

Still, everyone left class with mixed moods on who they were grouped with... though it would be more correct to say that everyone left except Aivea. She was gonna take one stab to correct this glaring mistake, and even if Professor Carpenter wanted to keep the groups the same, then Aivea would have to take charge.

 

"Forgive me, Professor, but we need to talk," Aivea slowly descended the stairs as she said this, trying her best to hide her blatant anger with being in the same group as her supposed arch-rival, "About Elizabeth and I, to be precise. We never got along since our freshman year, and quite frankly I see no circumstance in which we will. Hopefully this doesn't cause any problems, but if it so does, will we have the option of swapping groups, by any chance?"

 

With that off her chest, Aivea awaited the Professor's answer.

[Aix]

"Any wisdom is wasted on those who reject it so, like the ancient Chinese proverb, it's like playing piano to a cow as a cow cannot appreciate music and only chases after its bestial desires. I see now that even speaking to a cow would be more productive than attempting to talk to you," she replied nonchalantly and not even turning back to taint her eyes with the sight of she obviously considered was a disgrace to the human race. She listened half-heartedly to the rest of the lecture only to confirm that she already knew what the Professor had to say.

At the end of class they were sorted into groups and Elizabeth had a sinking feeling that Professor Carpenter had heard her comments. Was this was some sort of twisted, forced way to try to make them get along? "Humans and monkeys really can't be expected to be able to communicate," she muttered to herself. "At least there is two other humans in my group... oh wait that snotty little b*tch doesn't count." She was referring to Aivea of course, who was, instead of heading out, going down to talk to the professor. At any rate, what Aivea did was none of her concern and, glancing around, she went and located the last, and only proper in her opinion, member of her group.
 
"Hey, Aeris," Elizabeth called out brightly as she walked over. "The others can't really be expected to contribute anything meaningful, so I guess it's just me and you. What do you say to eating lunch together and we can discuss the assignment then?"

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Class proved to be a major bore and pain which Aeris' other personality was she didn't have to go through. From the annoying voice and mannerisms of Prof. Carpenter, the obnoxious people sharing class with her and, most importantly, the fact that she couldn't do a thing about it. On the other side, 'Normal' Aeris was very much enjoying the class, she paid full attention despite not actually understanding the subject, and even let out a good laugh when Prof. Carpenter caused a commotion by using a trap card on Trey. 

 

"Any wisdom is wasted on those who reject it so, like the ancient Chinese proverb, it's like playing piano to a cow as a cow cannot appreciate music and only chases after its bestial desires. I see now that even speaking to a cow would be more productive than attempting to talk to you,"  

 

"Heh. Now that's some strong words. I had you pegged as a whiny twat for a while. Looks like you're that much of a twat after all." Dark Aeris mused to herself, seemingly pleased at what Elizabeth had to say. 

 

Meanwhile, normal Aeris looked dumbfounded as she tried to figure out what the meaning behind Elizabeth's words are. 

 

----

 

Before she knew it, class was over. Which is a good thing for dark Aeris, because now she can finally leave and actually do things. But, much to her annoyance, the Professor decided to give a group assignment. 

 

"I've separated you all into groups of five." 

 

"Whatever. I couldn't care less."

 

Each of these groups will be designing a trap card that will be due at the end of the semester."

 

"What the F*CK?!" As someone who literally doesn't use trap cards whatsoever, and therefore lacks any sort of experience with them, Aeris was rightfully upset. But it only went downhill from there. 

 

"Group 7 will be Brighton Dae," "Pompous asshole. I'd feel sorry for anyone paired with him"  "Elizabeth Mayley," "God, if you actually exist, I beg you not to put me on this team" "Aivea Kaiba," "Wow" "Trey Katou," "...And Mr. Dumbass. Could this group be any worse?"  "and Aeris Nirvana." "What the actual F*CK?! You're gonna f*ck me over twice, Prof. Asshat? F*ck me sideways, I 'd rather be shot and left for dead than work with these shitheads." To put it plainly, Aeris was angry. Very angry. If there was a table inside her subconscious mind, she would have slammed her fist right through it. 

 

On the other hand, Normal Aeris was more or less indifferent toward her new partners. Even if she did have a slight disdain for Brighton for being a showoff or Trey for being an idiot, but she at least she doesn't harbor some sort of hate to them. Since class was over and she saw at least two of her partners leaving, she did the same and left the class, only stopping for a brief moment to look at Aivea, who is apparently talking to the professor over something. As she figured 

 

Down the hall, she was suddenly greeted by Elizabeth.  

 

"The others can't really be expected to contribute anything meaningful, so I guess it's just me and you. What do you say to eating lunch together and we can discuss the assignment then?"

 

 

"Ah! Um... I guess we could do lunch together... Still, I'm not good at trap cards so I probably wouldn't be much help, but don't you think calling the others useless a bit.. Um, harsh? They haven't really done anything bad, except maybe for Trey, so-Ah! I think my other self wants to say something." 

 

Aeris stopped herself mid-sentence to place her eyepatch over the other eye, making Dark Aeris dominant once more. 

 

"Glad we share the same hate toward those shitheads. I think I'll have a great deal of fun working together, 'Miss' Elizabeth." Aeris said with a slight smirk on her face. "I think the other me already said it, but I'll say it again: I'm no good with traps. If you wanna talk this down at lunch, then I'm all for it." 

[BANZAI!!!!]

"Forgive me, Professor, but we need to talk. About Elizabeth and I, to be precise. We never got along since our freshman year, and quite frankly I see no circumstance in which we will. Hopefully this doesn't cause any problems, but if it so does, will we have the option of swapping groups, by any chance?"

 

Professor Carpenter let out a small, nearly inaudible sigh. He was always asked this question at least twice per semester. After a short pause, he gave his stock answer to Aivea. "While 'professional differences' can and have caused trouble for my previous students who have worked on this project, you will unfortunately have to learn to work past your disagreements with your group mates. Part of the purpose for me assigning this group project is to help prepare you for the realities of working in the card development field, where one must be able to contribute positively to their development team, regardless of whatever reservations that they may have about their co-workers." He put on a reassuring grin and continued. "That being said, if it becomes too much of an issue, Miss Kaiba, please feel free to come to me, and we'll see if we can resolve the situation. Now, I suggest you go meet up with the rest of your group. You'll need to get started before you know it." With that, he made a slight gesture with his hand toward the exit out of which the other members of Aivea's group had exited, and proceeded to pack up his lecture materials.

 

---

 

"So it looks like we are in the same group. I look forward to creating a beautiful card with your assistance."

 

His irritation having faded since class ended, Trey had no problem putting on a genuine, friendly smile. He gave Brighton a firm handshake and responded to him. "Me too, provided Elizabeth doesn't bite my head off first, anyway." Trey let out a tiny laugh at his bit of humor, then spoke in a more normal tone. "Honestly, I wonder what  her problem with me is. Was Carpenter knocking me out my seat distracting or something?" Trey seemed lost in thought for a moment before he continued. "By the way, Brighton, do you know anything about card creation? I mean, its my major, but I don't know how well versed in this the rest of you are." As soon as Trey finished his sentence, the sight of Arz's imposing form phasing through the ceiling above him and Brighton caught his eye. Of course, Arz was close to three times the height of the roughly eight-foot high corridor, and so the dragon chose to phase into the floor until two thirds of his body had disappeared into the building's foundation. Trey stared at him for a few seconds before it dawned upon him that, from Brighton and everyone else in the hall's perspective, he was staring blankly upward at nothing. Trey quickly diverted his gaze back to Brighton and tried his best to listen to what, if anything, he had to say while Arz's voice growled into his head like a wayward thought.

 

"Done wasting your time yet, human?"

 

"C'mon Arz, just lay off for once will you? Honestly you're a broken record sometimes. Don't you have anything constructive to say?"

 

"Rabid Squirrels generally aren't good for pleasant conversation."

 

"Awww. Did i hurt your feelings?" Trey's tone was sarcastic.

 

"Hardly. You simply annoy me, that's all."

 

"Just be quiet please would you?"

 

"Believe me, the less I have to deal with you, the better, but unfortunately I think that metal dragon I fought last night wasn't operating independently, and I came here to tell you to be careful-."

 

"-because you might have been followed back here and I might get targeted. You know Arz, I know its kind of hard for you to stay hidden, what with you being a dragon and all, but it would help if you didn't try and fight every single imperial avatar we come across. Finding the people they're possessing would make things a lot easier, not to mention it would save their lives if we beat them in duels."

 

"I refuse to bet my life on the outcome of a game, Trey. Its bad enough when you play my card for fun, but I'm not the least bit comfortable with taking your orders and risking death because you don't draw the correct piece of paper from the pile. Plus, this is a war, Trey, casualties are a part of that reality."

 

"You refuse to try and avoid those casualties. Arz, if staying hidden wasn't essential, I don't think you'd have any qualms about leveling Critica yourself."

 

"No, I wouldn't have a problem with causing collateral damage. But do not confuse me for a killer, Trey. I'm only doing what I must to accomplish my mission efficiently. If a few of your people have to die, then so be it."

 

Trey decided that he really didn't want to deal with Arz at the moment and neglected to respond to him. Instead he spoke to Brighton again, hoping that he hadn't been blankly staring while he was conversing with Arz in his head. "So, why don't we go find the rest of the group and grab lunch together? Might as well get to know everyone and maybe plan a bit for when we'll get this project done, right?" Arz, seeing that the conversation was over for now and that Trey didn't want to deal with him at the moment, simply stayed stationary, listening to the boys conversation and glaring at Trey, who, as often happened when Arz wanted to talk at an inopportune time, was ignoring the dragon.

 

---

 

Meanwhile, Gruglhag, who at that time was possessing the body of a student who had recently come into contact with his card, made his way onto campus from the student's residence in the city. Based on the news report, Deimos's recovered combat data, as well as the run-ins that his allies had had recently with his target, he'd been able to deduce that the enemy was indeed on the college campus. The only thing remaining for him to do now was to draw it into the open. Of course, the difficulty in this lay with the fact that Gruglhag himself had to avoid being noticed, and so he first tasked himself with finding a suitable place to make some sort of commotion. Preferably somewhere with a decent amount of people, but not so many that his actions would make him notied by the general population. Perhaps he would attack a student with this human's body first. A murder might divert enough attention away from himself that he could reliably seek out the Avatar in his actual form. According to his information, the target would be quite eager to attack him in the open. Still, he first needed to find a suitable human victim, and busied himself with walking about campus, hunting....

 

 

 

 

[Love of Ghibli]

Brighton put on a smile as Trey returned his hand shake with a firm grip. Well at the very least it would make sense to display this level of manliness. Brighton could only chuckle as he listened to Trey's inquiries. What was more interesting was that blank stare upward. Brighton noticed it, but it seemed like it was something that he could easily dismiss. Before long it seemed that Trey had insisted on having lunch with the females of the group as some form of bonding activities. All Brighton could do was nod before he gave his reply. 

Well my card making skills are probably something to be desired by commoner standards. For some reason I tend to prefer aesthetic beauty over functionality most of the time. I guess I should thank the Gods of Fortune that I was gifted to have someone who has card design as a major. Besides I would not be too concerned with the words of Madame Elizabeth. People who live in the world of ugly often try to bring others down into the depths with them. If we were not forced by academia to associate with her/it I would advise avoiding the person/thing. Then again we could use this as an opportunity to actually elevate her/it to a lady of proper standing. Brighton stroked his chin with intrigue. Hmmm I might just get an award for this. Cartoonish stars soon replaced his eyes as he daydreamed about a chibi version of himself getting a metal. Yeesss, yes indeed. 

Do you hear you? A loud voice rang in the back of Brighton's head. His happy demeanor quickly shifted to one that was annoyed. Clearly Olivia disapproved. 

 

Nevertheless Brighton had to put on the act of still being able to listening to Trey. So, I would love to partake in another meal. You'll sip on soup again won't you? Olivia asked condescendingly. Brighton could only simply form an eye twitch as he was being berated by that avatar of his.

 

As the two began to walk back into the class to approach the females he took this time to actually have a conversation with his Avatar.

Really, you detrimental shemale! You have the audacity to interrupt me while I talk to this savage. I have tolerated you ever since you appeared into my life because you were a crass lump of clay that I sculpted into a beautiful statue. Can you at least pretend to have some of the class that your title would lead people to think you have?

You tolerated me! Ever since being here I have not advanced at all in my goal of stopping the darkness that infects my world. I have been bombarded by your need to have  me meet conform to your superficial standards of beauty...

 

Let me interrupt you there. You're a spirit. No one can see or hear you in this world, but me. The so called leader of the musketeers meaning you don't have a problem making men submit and I made you conform? Foolishness. Make no mistake you, like everyone else, yearns to be beautiful. Everyone wants their insides to matched by their outsides. I am simply the conduit for it to be done. I AM THE ENVOY OF LIGHT MEANT TO CAST AWAY THE DARKNESS! FOR DARKNESS ONLY SERVES TO MASK BEAUTY AND KEEP IT SHROUDED!!

 

This stopped being about me didn't it?

That's a very fair assumption. Besides you should stay around, I am sure you may be needed to find some redeeming qualities about these unruly females.

 

Brighton smirked as he walked up to the other females.

[Aix]

"Well, I'm sure you'll be of some help," spoke Elizabeth, giving a small, reassuring smile, though she really doubted that this other side of Aeris really would need any sort of reassurance. "Right, let's head towards Madolche Cafe then. It's across campus, but their food is truly top-notch, not to say their desserts." Suffice to say, she had a bit of a sweet tooth and enjoyed nothing more than settling down with a latte and some high-class cakes. Her reverie of tables piled with tiramisu were shattered as she caught that weirdly dressed homosexual approaching out of the corner of her eye. Tilting her head and rolling her eyes at the man to express her distaste, she decided she wasn't up with dealing with him and left it at that, swiftly ushering Aeris to the door instead. "Let's get going, shall we? Cake awaits... I mean, it is good to eat a timely lunch."

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"Very well, then I shall take my leave," with that said, Aivea headed outside the classroom and made her way to where the others were gathering. As she was headed there though, she decided she'd best check on her avatar Orica Cologne, who she had already sent out to scout the others in her team.

 

'Any luck?' asked Aivea telepathically.

 

'Well I found them, but...' Orica took a deep breath before continuing, 'Poor guy; all he wants to do is get everyone together, but those other two girls just wanna skip to the other side of the street and gorge themselves on some yummy food. I almost feel...'

 

'Figures,' Aivea intervened her train of thought, 'The whole team must be more dysfunctional then I thought... then again, that snake got to one of them.'

 

'So what do we do?'

 

'You keep the slacker happy, I'll just have to make a few arrangements is all.'

 

With that, Orica, who was sitting at a table somewhere between the rest of Aivea's group, got up and moved over towards Trey, who happened to be sitting on his own.

 

"Don't worry, Mister," Orica said in a reassuring tone, "You'll get everyone back. And then maybe we can all have something yummy to eat."

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

(OOC: I'm going to start referring to the evil/dark Aeris as "Aeris" and the normal one as "Aerith".)

 

Aeris merely showed a smirk of confidence after seeing Elizabeth's smile. While Elizabeth seemed somewhat dependable to her, she needed some time before she can fully trust her new partner. When Elizabeth mentioned something about a sweets cafe, she cringed a little inside. She was never one for sweets, let alone cake. Of course, Aerith reacted the opposite way and is excited to go there, and tried to resurface again, but Aeris pushed her down since she needed some sort of interaction with Elizabeth. "Humph, I could care less about desserts. Still, if they have some double espresso or something, then it shouldn't be that bad." Aeris scoffed. On the corner of his eye, he could see a very... Peculiarly dressed man. According to her memory, the man is Brighton, someone from her class who she was never particularly fond off. But, before she could make any sort of gesture to him, Elizabeth suddenly dragged her to the door instead, accidentally causing the eyepatch to switch positions, allowing Aerith to be dominant again.

 

"Let's get going, shall we? Cake awaits... I mean, it is good to eat a timely lunch." 

 

"Mm! I can't wait to see what kind of delicious sweets they serve!" Aerith nodded in response.

 

~~~

Eventually, the duo reached the cafe and Aerith immediately went to the counter to look at some sweets, leaving Elizabeth behind. 

[BANZAI!!!!]

(OOC: writer's block sucks and this took waaaay too long to write)

 

Trey watched from outside the lecture hall as Brighton made an attempt to communicate with the rest of their group, only for Elizabeth to hastily drag Aeris out another exit with her before Brighton had a chance to get a word in. Trey shook his head. This was going to be long and annoying semester if his group mates made a habit of acting like this. Not that Trey himself was making things any easier, but he acknowledged the fact that, sooner or later, they'd all need to get along in order to get a passing grade.

 

Trey's train of thought was interrupted by the rumbling of his stomach. And he decided it was best if he went to eat. Before Trey left, however, he called over to Brighton. "Hey Brighton, I'm gonna go back to my room to get my duel disk and then grab lunch. If you wanna eat together than meet me in the dining hall in like, ten minutes. Alright?" With that, Trey began walking briskly down the hall toward the closest exit to the building, not waiting to see if Brighton heard him or not.

 

---

 

Whatever clouds had been in the sky that morning had by now blown away, leaving a clear blue sky in their wake as the sun's invigorated noontime rays warmed the crisp cool air from the morning, resulting in a comfortable temperature for the day.  didn't take long for Arz to appear in front Trey as he walked back toward his dorm. The dragon's incorporeal form towered over Trey as Arz floated backwards through the air, keeping himself at a constant five feet or so distance in front of Trey as the moved. This time, it was the human who spoke first. "Need something Arz?"

 

"Just enjoying the sunlight, actually. I saw you walking and figured I'd accompany you. It's not like i have anything better to do at the moment. "

 

"Funny. I thought you couldn't stand the sight of me."

 

"You aren't that repulsive. Your race simply angers me, that's all."

 

"Neat." Trey responded sarcastically. "Well, i'm going to grab my duel disk and your card first, then eat. Have any luck hunting?"

 

"None. Perhaps that avatar was in fact working alone."

 

"Lets keep our eyes open, anyway. Even if it was alone, I'm sure other avatars saw that news report. Stick with me for awhile, will you? Might end up in a duel today and if i play your card i'd like you to actually be there. Its kind of embarrassing when i play a card and no monster shows up because you're out flying somewhere else."

 

"Fine. A fight might be enjoyable, even if it I must act the part of a mindless hologram."

 

"At the very least you're a good actor." Arz snickered ever so slightly at this before responding.

 

"I prefer actual combat. I can be more.... creative."

 

"I know. I've seen you in action once."

 

"That fight was nothing, Trey. Back home, imperial troops fled at the mention of my name for fear of the things I could do. The statistics on that trading card do hold a grain of truth, after all." This time Trey laughed a little bit, and the pair continued ot make their way toward the dorm.

 

---

 

About ten minutes later, Trey was sitting at a table by himself in the dining hall, a plate of french fries and a cheeseburger in front of him. The dining hall was packed as per usual on a weekday afternoon, since Shian university rarely scheduled classes around mealtimes. The hall, while quite large, was actually a rather comfortable setting in which to eat. The floor was covered wall-to-wall with magenta carpeting, and the soft florescent bulbs hanging from chandelier-like light fixtures gave the dining hall a warm, homey feel to it. There were hundreds upon hundreds of square and rectangular tables packed fairly tightly together throughout the space, with enough room between them for two students walking in opposite directions to pass each other with a bit of skillful maneuvering. At one end of the massive room was the buffet, and there were two exits along each of the other three walls in the room Every so often, the sound of a plate breaking as it hit the floor could be heard. This would always be followed by a round of applause from the students within earshot, assuring that the person who dropped their plate/food would be thoroughly embarrassed. 

 

As Trey made his way through his meal, he noticed a few faces amongst the students. Elizabeth and Aeris were both here, and he thought he recognized Aivea as well. Trey hadn't seen Brighton yet though, and that was assuming that he planned on coming to lunch at all. Either way, It was of little consequence to Trey, who was simply there to eat and then maybe go outside for an hour or two and find a decent subject to sketch. Arz Goedia was present as well, half of his tall draconic form snugly fitting into the dining hall thanks to the room's rather high ceiling. His lower half, of course, was phased into the floor. Arz was stationary in the middle of one of the nearby aisles, and kept himself bemused by shoving his incorporeal horns through the faces of passing students while Trey ate.

 

While this was occurring, Gruglhag made his way into the dining hall, having decided that this was an optimal place in which to cause a panic. The boy he was in control of stared blankly into the dining hall, his unkempt blonde hair fallen over his right eye. At this point, the student's mind was mostly gone, having been slowly eaten away at by Gruglhag's presence within him. It was this exact situation that resistance Avatars like Arz were on earth to prevent. Once the possession had reached this point, there was no way to free a human from Avatar control. Of course, the symptoms of this stage of possession were nearly identical to sleep deprivation, which was a common problem among college students, and so it was next to impossible for anyone to detect that anything was wrong with the boy other than a lack of sleep and a shower.

 

Gruglhag scanned the hall for a suitable victim while secretly drawing a knife from his victim's pocket. It had to be bloody and obvious, otherwise the students in the hall fight calmly evacuate rather than panic. He toyed with the idea of pulling the fire alarm first, but decided against it as that would draw attention to the dining hall even faster. The imperial avatar found a suitable target and was about to sneak up on her when something unusual caught his victim's eye. He quickly turned toward Trey's direction and stashed his weapon.

 

"Don't worry, Mister. You'll get everyone back. And then maybe we can all have something yummy to eat."

 

Trey looked up from his food and was rather surprised to see a peculiarly dressed girl standing in front of the table. She wore a black dress with a very large, eye-catching bow around her waist, and she carried what appeared to be a stuffed Zombowwow in her hand. Plus, she had a balloon as well. Obviously, Trey had no idea who she was or why she was bothering to talk to him. Furthermore, she seemed to know something about the group project he'd been assigned today. Was she a classmate of his that he just hadn't seen before? Trey was about to respond to her to inquire but stopped when Arz's voice sounded in his head. The Dragon made his way over to the table as he spoke in a serious tone.

 

"Trey, she's an Avatar."

 

"What? You can't be serious."

 

"There's no mistake."

 

"She looks human. How can you tell?"

 

"Every Duel monster can tell the difference between a human and one of our own. She's definitely an Avatar. Keep your guard up. I don't know if she's one of my allies or not."

 

Indeed, Arz was right. Orica had also caught the attention of Gruglhag. She wasn't who he was hunting for, but she also wasn't an ally of his, and an enemy out in the open like this was too big of a target to pass up. "Change of plans...."

 

"Do I know you?" Trey asked, nonchalantly pulling his duel disk, which was on the table near him, closer.

 

Gruglhag blended into the crowd and made his way toward Trey's table, forcing his victim to strap on his duel disk as he walked. When he was within striking distance, he activated the disk and placed a  card on one of the monster zones: Gruglhag: The Red Ogre. In a flash of light, Gruglhag's imposing form appeared but a few feet from the table. Standing close to 11 feet tall, the imperial avatar's flesh was obviously long gone, and his powerful muscle tissue exposed to the air. Almost instantly the stench of his undead body filled the immediate area.

 

Gruglhag immediately took a massive swing at Orica with his club, hoping to take her head off with one strike. "Watch out!" Trey attempted to yell as Gruglhag's victim lunged at him in that same moment and tackled him out of his seat to the floor, the knife now drawn again. Trey wrestled desperately with him for the knife as the students around them ran in fear, and panic ensued. Arz looked on, hoping desperately that Trey would overpower his attacker and manage to get his card in play.

 

 

 

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Orica turned just in time to see Gruglhag's club, but unfortunately, reacting to it was a completely different story. Although she managed to shield her face, the back of her right hand took most of the brunt, and she was forced backward, and lost her balloon in the process as it continued to float up until it touched the roof. At first Orica was very sad, but soon... that sadness turned into determination, to see this Gruglhag pay for his actions with blood.

 

"Oh I see your club... and then I raise you A GUN!!" with that, Orica whipped out what looked like a toy pistol from a box that she pulled out of nowhere and started shooting at Gruglhag's legs before working her way upwards. Only this was no ordinary toy pistol; the bullets it shot were more than capable of causing the damage of a real bullet, and assuming it all went according to plan, Orica would have Gruglhag on its knees in no time.

 

"You've made a big mistake by making me lose Mista Bawoon..." Orica said in an ultimatum-esque tone, as she reloaded her toy pistol.

[Love of Ghibli]

Brighton was a tad put off by the fact that students ran at the sight of him. But he quickly rationalized the obvious reason for their fear. It was clear to him that his light shined so bright that of course they would turn their heads. He let out a sigh as he could see his Nobel Peace prize in humanitarian services walking away to lunch. I guess if they were ready to bask in the beauty then they would be beautiful now wouldn't they. I can see my battle will be a long and arduous one. He then looked at the two girls leaving like a shark would it's prey. But make no mistake ladies, Brighton Daye will not loose!

 

It was then his maniacal stream of beautification thought was interrupted by Trey. He turned around in shock for a quick second as he pretend to understand what Trey asked. Lucky he could only make out the words "lunch" and "ten minutes." That sounds like an excellent idea. Brighton replied as watched Trey leave. Now Brighton was by himself again and it seemed like he had some time to spare. So he decided to just lounge outside on the campus grounds and bask in the beautiful sunlight. He took in a deep breath and was calm. Of course that state of mind would not last for long.

Don't you have any concern for the fact that two people are repulsed by the thought of being in your presence? Olivia said as she formed next to Brighton. 

Sure, if two people were repulsed. Those two creatures you're probably thinking about have not reached the level of human or "people." 

Do you hear you! Olivia yelled.

Of course I do, it is you who does not seem to comprehend my words. Look I am doing them a service. I am elevating them to people status. Besides I think its been ten minutes we might as well make our way to lunch with Trey. 

You are insane!

 

Minutes later Brighton made his way to the cafeteria. He made his way into the slightly crowded place and he noticed Trey in the distance. It was then he noticed as everyone was making their way out of the building in a panic. He was immediately concerned with the disturbing urgency that came from this event. Olivia immediately came beside him and noticed the student with the bloody knife. Brighton something is seriously going wrong here that student has a weapon. He looked around as he noticed what Olivia was talking about. Unfortunately he sight came too late. This suddenly insane student had pulled out his duel disk and summoned one awfully odious creature. Brighton was visually shocked the way the creature was played it seemed as if it was meant to actually do harm in the real world. Then the massive ogre began to get locked in combat some girl.

Brighton was literally scared, he froze in place as Trey wrestled what seemed to be some rogue maniac. The fight or flight response in normal humans seems to be taking a little longer for Brighton. That was until he heard a nice prompt from a guide...

ON GUARD! Olivia yelled. Brighton took the standard fencer's stance. 

 

DOUBLE ADVANCE! He then made two small and rapid steps forward. This actually knocked him out of his state of paralysis. He was going to choose flight. 

Brighton listen to me, it is finally happening, I need you to get your duel disk out and play my card! 

GLADLY! Brighton yelled out loud as he jumped on the cafeteria table and ran into the fray dawning his duel disk. The flower that was his D-Pad bloomed and he only had one card in his hand. Come forth LADY OLIVIA CLARINGTON OF THE WHITE LILLY! Olivia manifested herself on the cafeteria table next to him and ran directly at the giant red ogre with sword in hand aiming a thrust at its head. Brighton tried his best to kick the knife out of the manic student's hand. 

[Aix]

The eruption of screams and panic interrupted her cake selection. What's more was the fact that the man behind the counter decided to make a run for it, leaving her with no one to retrieve her selections. That wasn't the entirety of the problems, however, there was a terrible stench of rotting flesh ruining her appetite and to top it off, some sort of ugly red demon appeared wielding a massive club. Elizabeth watched as a lady dressed in what appeared to be various plants launch an offensive on the offending creature and Elizabeth contemplated joining in the attack herself. She placed a hand into her pocket, but realized that Big Eye was too big to manifest in here, he would bring the roof down on them. Realizing that what the man behind the counter had done was the smartest course of action, she herself hurried towards the door. If anything, she would stand guard outside to prevent the monster's escape.
 
An Avatar, huh? He's the enemy, right? she thought telepathically to Number 11.