Yu-Gi-Oh! Codex of Shadows [IC / PG-13 / AC /Co-Host: Zaiduck]

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

 "...But I'll take you on, Sakata. Making a statement out of you sounds like the perfect distraction."

 

Yuuji was about to shoot a response back at her when he felt a hand grab onto his shoulder. He turned around to see a familiar face: Kentaro Fujiyama, though Yuuji (and most other people) referred to him almost exclusively as "Coach". Dressed tacky, as usual, though he could certainly rock the maroon suit he was wearing. "Hey, Yuuji my boy, glad you could make it, you look great by the way!"

 

"Uhh no. I look like a clown." Was the thought that inhabited Yuuji's brain. Before he could say hello back though, Coach Fuji said something to Yoko and spun him around.

 

"Hey, mind telling me why you're starting a match with heckin' YOKO AMARI of all people?! This isn't exactly the kind of night where you want to be gettin' yourself in trouble!"

 

"Did you seriously just use the word 'heckin''?" Yuuji whispered back. "And because I want to, duh. She's got it coming, and just imagine the press it'll net me if I beat her here. Plus, its not an official game. What's there to lose other than face with people who probably won't take a second look at me anyway? And besides..." Yuuji leaned a bit over his coach's shoulder and spoke just a little louder, so Yoko could for sure hear him messing with her. "she's totally into me." He punctuated it with a wink in her direction, though the gesture was meant much more as a taunt than anything else, then returned back to the huddle. "Have a little faith in me and Odd-Eyes, would ya? I got this."
 

[👀 REP 👀]

 

 

As she was walking around the crowd, casually making small talk with some of the other guests, her eyes caught a rather interesting trio of people. She noticed that the two girls of the group were heading out to where she had come from, leaving the tall gentlemen of the group alone. She was certain that the other one of the group was a duelist, just like the ones that walked to, at least she assumed, duel. She wasn't sure if he was about to follow them or just stand around, but this was her chance to talk to another one of the duelists here; maybe even duel in the holoboxes! With glee, she skipped towards the man.

 

"Hello there!" She eagerly greeted, walking next to the tall man. When she was next to him, she turned to face him, giving him a smile. "This is a pretty nice party, huh?" She turned to look around her, before returning her gaze back at the guy. She gave the man a smile, waiting for his response. Subconsciously, she started reaching into her back to get her deck.

[~Faytl~]

As Tomoya moved past him to look over the balcony, Jin acted. He lowered himself to one knee, as if he was tying a shoelace. He palmed a small, round gray sphere, flicking it onto the floor of the room through the cracked doorway. The sphere rolled innocuously over the surface of the floor, coming to rest under one of the monitor-laden desks, hidden in dark shadow from sight.

 

Just as planned, he thought, eyes narrowing as he feigned the final cinch on his laces, straightening up and looking with wide eyes back at Tomoya, projecting an air of nervousness across his features. 

 

 "Whoa, security? I'm sorry, man, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be here. I'll get out of your hair, man."

 

Simple fool, he thought scornfully as he turned, hurrying back down the stairs to the level of the patrons, coming to a halt by the duel boxes. You won't be so keen on your security soon. His thoughts were interrupted as he knocked into someone who was skipping through the hall.

 

"What- Oh, it's you," he said, sighing as he realized it was the enthusiastic green-haired girl he had spoken to before. "It's a bit rude to just skip through where you can run into anyone, don't you think?"

 

- - - - - - -

 

Sachi took her spot in the Duel Box across from Cadence, looking around at it with wide eyes. 

 

"I've never been in one of these before," she commented, shuffling her deck. As she placed it on the table with Cadence's, the box hummed to life, traces of light moving throughout the table before them, small lights in the upper corners of the box turning on to show a duel was in progress. Some of the patrons turned to watch, interested in the duel; One of them was Jin, looking sharply into the box, searching for any sign of a rare card.

 

It'll be fine, she thought to herself as she drew her cards, her hands shaking slightly. Mr Bunder will take care of daddy... We don't need Mr Kaiba... Just... Just enjoy the duel, Sachi.

 

"I summon Fortune Lady Light, in attack mode!" She placed her first card on the field, and a glowing light appeared underneath it. From the surface of the card rose a small pixie-like creature, blonde of hair and twirling on the spot, winking at Cadence. 

 

Fortune Lady Light

Level 1, ?/?

 

"Fortune Lady Light's attack power is determined by it's Level; It gains 200 for every star, making it have 200 attack points." She took another card, placing it behind her Fortune lady, the front face hidden. "I play a card face-down and end my turn."

 

Jin snorted, looking away from the duel. "An obvious trick," he commented. "That set card is clearly a Trap card she wants her opponent to trigger. There's no other reason she would summon such a weak monster in attack mode." He looked over at the green-haired girl and the larger man she had been talking to, Bunder. "I don't suppose there are any opponents here less predictable?" he asked, loudly enough for them to hear, expression blank but his tone speaking volumes.

[◇ Void ◇]

Tomoya could feel a miniscule ripple of air graze his back in the wake of Jyn’s departure, concluding that the misplaced guest had come to realize that maybe sneaking into the ‘secure’ section of the chateau was not the greatest idea one could have. Using the heel of his right boot Tomoya swung back to face Gekko, who still had a displeased face from the disturbance. While the intrusion had appeared to be unintentional, the pair simmered thoughts of what is going to either disrupt or frustrate them. Tomoya had to break the silence first. “Well.”
 
“Well, what?”
 
“Who do you think cocked up and let him in?” Tomoya inquired.
 
Gekko just lets out a breath and knew what to do. “I have no idea, but I’m going to find out. You can cover things up here, for now, right?”
 
“Yes, Yes. You go and kick some backsides.” Tomoya joked.
 
Gekko passed by and descended the stairs into the staff corridors, turning in the other direction that Jyn had backtracked, while Tomoya re-entered the control room. The wheels of the office chair gave a slight squeak when he lowered himself into it, chained with light tapping as Tomoya assumed control at the main control desk. Below his desk, Jyn’s orb rattled and sprouted 4 mechanical legs from its undercarriage, then a single panel to extend out a red lens. It jittered around silently from his desk and down through the others one at a time until it reached the server rack on the wall beside the big monitors. The red lens bolted up and seemed to amaze itself at the height, then scrambled up the wall to cram itself into the racks themselves through the 5^th row.
 

 
Outside the perimeter of the park, a little smartphone pinged inside someone’s pocket. A slender figure extracted it from the breast pocket of their charcoal motorbike leathers.  The tempered glass screen illuminated the tinted visor of their helmet, showing the lock screen with one new text notification:
 
“EYE BLINDED < 5”
 
“Why did it send me a heart?” They mumbled through the padded helmet. An identical figure approached from behind and looked over the first one’s shoulder, then reached out to point at the symbol.
 
“There’s a space therebetween them, you moron.” The second one insulted back.
 
“Shut up the pair of you. Just get ready.” The third figure interceded as they emerged from the shadows. The leathers on this one strained under the muscular bulk it contained, draped under a full circle deep purple satin cloak that even adorned the helmet. Intimated by it could be assumed their superior, they all mounted themselves onto the seat of a classic Harley-Davidson motorcycle and kicked started their motors. The window of opportunity was approaching.
 

 
Marik navigated through the guests with grace and approached the duel boxes. Having to pass the time until the exhibition of the Millennium Items began, it was more considerate than just going into a corner and browsing Imgur on his smartphone. He approached the nearest duel that was going on – the one that had just started between Sachi and Cadence. Marik took the position at the corner to the right of Cadence, which also happened to be on the opposite side of the arena to Jyn, and crossed his arms while pondering how things would play out: both in this duel and tonight’s events.

[VCR_CAT]

“Look, I’m just giving you a fair warning, is all,” Coach Fuji whispered back with a shrug. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you so!”

 

“Hey, are we getting this show on the road or what?” Yoko chided the group. “This galla isn’t going on all night!”

 

“Damn you’re impatient.” Yuuji said as he turned back to Yoko for a moment. Then to his coach: “Gonna stick around and watch?”

 

“And miss the chance to talk stocks and market shares with the rich and famous? I don’t know, sounds like I’ll have my plate full for the evening,” Fuji joked, chuckling to himself in the process.

 

“You do you man.” Yuuji said as he turned around and walked back toward the arena. “You good and ready, Miss Amari?”

 

“I was born ready. In fact, I’ll even give you the first move,” Yoko replied, placing her deck on the old tabletop in front of her.

 

“Nah.” Yuuji replied, rather bluntly. “Ladies first.” He placed his cards in front of him as well, then drew his starting hand in one motion, correctly counting the number of cards by feel. “Don’t want them to say I got lucky after I win this thing.” 

 

“Aw you’re too kind,” Yoko replied with snide in turn, drawing her opening five cards. She hardly looked at her hand before setting one monster face-down. “Now it’s your move, show me watchyu got.”

 

“Did she seriously just pass her first turn?” The playful expression Yuuji had been wearing soured. It was one thing to snub him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to her opening move than being coy. 

 

“Draw.”

 

He looked over the six cards in his hand, and didn’t like what he saw. Most pro duelists didn’t need to worry about dead hands, but due to having to scrape his deck together piecemeal, Yuuji was still occasionally dealt cards that were hard to make use of together. Still, there was at least one move open to him. “Let’s start off with an old favorite of mine.” Normally, he’d add to the summon with some kind of flourish (or a feat of athleticism if the monster he was summoning was larger), but due to the size of the arena and the stiffness of his tuxedo, Yuuji was forced to settle for simply placing the card in the play area in front of him. A moment later, Zombyra the Dark appeared in his monster zone.

 

Zombyra the Dark 

Level 4

ATK: 2100

 

“And I’ll follow it up by setting two cards. You’re up.”

 

“Aw that’s it? Fine fine, guess I’ll have to take it over from here, I draw.” Yoko drew another card and glanced at her hand once more. “I activate Core Codex from my hand.” She placed the spell card on the field, and a dark cube with lines of purple code running along its faces floated up from behind her monsters. “I use its effect to banish 1 DARK monster from my Deck to summon a Bot Token on my field.” She looked through her deck, picked a card and placed it off the field. Next to her set monster what looked like a mechanic eye with various spider legs sticking out of it appeared and landed. “Next I tribute that token to summon Splicer Dragon from my hand.” The token vanished in a cloud of sparks, and in its place a mechanical dragon with a mix of white and bright red armor plates took its place. The dragon led out a loud, heavily distorted roar that soon began to draw the attention of various Gala-goers.

 

Splicer Dragon

Level 6

ATK: 2000

 

“And thanks to Core Codex, this beauty gains 200 ATK.” Splicer Dragon let out another roar, as the red portions of its armor glowed brighter for a second.

 

ATK: 2000 -> 2200

 

“Neat.” Yuuji was quite obviously not impressed, though that might have had to do with the fact that Splicer Dragon’s hologram was maybe three feet tall, as opposed to the orders of magnitude larger it would have been had they be using newer duel disks. “So does it actually do anything?”

 

“Well, beggars can’t be choosers. And no, for now it attacks your Zombrya,” Yoko replied with an equally unimpressed tone. Splicer Dragon began to flap its wings, pitch black and lined with neon-red lights. “Now, hit that bargain-bin special with your Black Hole Breath.” Splicer Dragon made the act of inhaling, a sphere of dark energy collecting at its mouth before it fired it off towards the weaker monster.

 

“That’s too bad. I was kinda hoping I’d see something cool.” Yuuji flipped one of his set cards as he spoke. “I activate Shrink. I’m sure you know what it does.”

 

“Oh no whatever will I do,” Yoko feigned terror as Splicer’s attack was reduced to 1200. 

 

“You’ll stop playing around and take me seriously.” The playfulness was gone from Yuuji’s voice as Zombyra, who was equally unimpressive and diminutive, sprang up and, after dramatically posing in mid air, delivered a drop kick to Splicer Dragon’s head, knocking it into the ground of the playing field, where an explosion and dust cloud conveniently hid the arena erasing its hologram from view.

 

Zombyra the Dark 

Level 4

ATK: 2100 -> 1900

 

Yoko seemed to only chuckle, with a smirk spread across her face, her lifepoints dropping down to 7100. “I think you’ll have to make me. I end my turn.”

 

“Fine. I’ll make you.” By now, a decently sized crowd had begun to gather around the arena, mostly drawn by recognizing the celebrity standing across the arena from Yuuji. Still, an audience was an audience. 

 

“Draw.” 

 

Thankfully, Yuuji’s deck had been nice enough to give him something a but more substantial for him to work with this turn. “I’ll start with a dragon of my own, since yours was so lame. Eclipse Wyvern!” On cue, the strange dragon, its colors divided evenly between black and white down the middle of its hide, appeared. 

 

Eclipse Wyvern

Level 4

ATK: 1600

 

“And now that it’s upstaged your Splicer Dragon, Yoko, I’ll add to the gang by special summoning Apex Arsenal- Brawler Buffalo from my hand.” A metallic, armored buffalo charged onto the field from just outside of its monster zone, its horns resembling curved metal spears. 

 

“And since its a Union monster, I can equip it to one of my monsters, like Zombyra over here.” On command, Buffalo leapt into the air, transforming itself into an oversized metal gauntlet, with both horns protruding as blades from the first two knuckles. As it fell, Zombyra, in typical dramatic fashion, struck a pose and jumped up once again, extending its arm upward at just the right moment for the Buffalo gauntlet to fall into place around it. 

 

Zombyra the Dark 

Level 4

ATK: 1900 -> 2700

 

“It's action time! Zombyra, attack her set monster!” Three extravagant poses later, Zombyra was in the air, oversized fist outstretched and falling toward the flashing white monster zone where Yoko’s card was hidden.

 

The monster revealed itself to be BM-4 Bomb Spider, but with only 2200 defense the monster was shattered into pieces. Yoko’s expression continued to look unchanged. 

 

Zombrya the Dark

Level 4

ATK: 2700 -> 2500

 

“Now for Eclipse Wyvern! Hit her directly!” The dragon did as it was commanded, breathing a hazy, grey flame toward Yoko’s side of the arena.

 

Yoko’s lifepoints dropped down further from 7100 to 5500. “Was that it?” She asked with a smirk.

 

“Keep pretending you’ve got the upper hand until your life points hit zero. Turn end.” Yuuji had his poker face on now. He didn’t want to give anything up to Yoko, least of all the lack of resources in his hand, and he was trying his best to get her to start using hers.

 

“Nobody’s pretending, I draw,” Yoko looked at her hand and smiled. “Remember how I said Splicer Dragon did nothing for now? By discarding 1 DARK monster from my hand, I can Special Summon him from my Graveyard. So I discard Slash Trooper from my hand to bring him back. Why don’t we give him a warm welcome?” Yoko discarded 1 card and a summoning circle appeared on her side of the field, with Splicer Dragon rising from it once more, his attack raising to 2200 again. “Next, I activate Splicer Dragon’s other effect. By revealing a level 8 or higher DARK Machine in my hand, I can Special Summon the monster I discarded for his summon from the Graveyard, but its effects are negated and its attack and defense become 0.”

 

“Finally decided to start playing the game, did you?”

 

Yoko laughed, as she revealed Floodnet Carrier in her hand. “You have no idea. Slash Trooper returns to my field.” A robotic soldier with energy swords rose from a similar summoning circle, but as it was fully summoned it powered down completely. “Next, I activate the field spell System Core.” Placing the field spell on the tabletop, the hologram projectors formed a large, alien-like craft that slowly descended from holographic clouds above the arena, with curved apendages reaching towards the field itself. “Finally, I tribute my Splicer Dragon and Slash Trooper to summon Floodnet Carrier.”

 

Both Splicer Dragon and Slash Trooper vanished in sparks, and in their place a much larger robotic dragon took its place, its circular wings forming together at a cannon on its back. “Ah but don’t think it’s quite over. Thanks to Core Codex he gains 200 ATK, and thanks to System Core he gains another 300 ATK and DEF.” Floodnet Carrier roared as black-and-red lightning peeled away from its wings. “Awww, isn’t he a cutie?”

 

Floodnet Carrier

Level 8

ATK: 2800 -> 3000 -> 3300

 

“Certainly better looking than you with that awful grin on your face.”

 

“Don’t be angry, Sakata. It’s not over yet! I activate Floodnet Carrier’s effect. During either player’s Main Phase, I can Special Summon one DARK Machine from my Graveyard in Defense Position, but its effects are negated. I think I’ll bring back Bomb Spider.” Floodnet brought its paws together and lightning sparked between them, forming a sphere of energy from which a powered-down Bomb Spider dropped down to the field with a metallic crash. “Now then, down to business. Floodnet Carrier? I think Eclipse Wyvern deserves a bit of punishment for daring to attack me directly. Hit him with your Carrier Cannon, if you please.”

 

Floodnet Carrier roared in agreement and leveled the large cannon on its back down at Eclipse Wyvern, charging a blast and firing off a searing bolt of red energy, once again followed by an explosion and dust cloud to hide the Arena’s slow load times. Yuuji’s lifepoints dropped a moment later, down to 5300. 

 

“You know I get to banish a dragon from my deck when Wyvern hits the graveyard, right? Or were you not paying attention?”

 

“Oh I was paying attention, but if you think you can bring something out to stop my monster feel free to try.”

 

“Trust me, I’ll do more than try. I banish Odd-Eyes Dragon from my deck.” Yuuji waited a moment, then remembered the arena had no auto shuffler, and so fished the card out himself and manually shuffled his cards. Hopefully, it would improve his luck. “You done?”

 

“Almost. Because I Tribute Summoned a DARK Machine monster, System Core lets me draw up to 2 cards depending on how many monsters I tributed. Now, because I tributed 2…” Yoko drew two more cards from her deck. “Now then, you thought you had a plan?”

 

“Of course I’ve got a plan. But first, tell me something. What do you get out of playing someone who you clearly don’t see as an equal? Too scared to play in the actual big leagues?”

 

“I enjoy the hunt, Sakata. Those tournaments only happen so often. Besides, all these new players get big ideas now that they’ve hit the big leagues. I’m here to show them the top, and how far below it they stand.”

 

“Man, you really are as full of yourself as I’ve heard. And here I was thinking you might actually have been a decent human being under that bad attitude of yours. Damn shame, too. You’d almost be my type.”

 

“You won’t make it anywhere if you’re afraid to step on toes, Sakata. Now make your move.”

 

“Sure. Draw!” Yuuji had a bit of a grin on his face again. Even though Yoko was making him angry, he was enjoying the challenge. The card he drew only made it widen. “Well whaddya know, just what I wanted. First lets unequip Brawler Buffalo from Zombyra, shall we?” Zombrya looked a little sad as Buffalo detached from his arm and transformed again.

 

Zombyra the Dark 

Level 4

ATK: 2500 -> 1700

 

“Sorry bud, I need you to take one for the team this turn. Now, lets banish Eclipse Wyvern from my graveyard so I can add Odd-Eyes to my hand, and special summon Black Dragon Collapserpent.” A black hole appeared over Yuuji’s third monster zone, out of which another, serpentine dragon with a similar anomaly embedded in its chest slithered. “Next, I tribute Collapserpent and Zombyra, and when I do, Collapserpent lets me add A White Dragon Wyverburster to my hand.” Yuuji quickly fished the card out from his deck and shuffled. 

 

“With a dragon’s drive, I’ll tear down every wall in front of me! Summon! My blazing red soul!! Odd-Eyes Dragon!” 

 

Yuuji’s tributes disappeared dark magical vortexes, and above where Zombyra stood, a bright red flare appeared, crashing into the ground like a meteor. A moment later, Odd-Eyes appeared from within the flames, letting out a roar that shook the arena, and most certainly drew more onlookers.

 

Odd-Eyes Dragon

Level 7

ATK: 2500

 

“My ace. Hope you’re ready for him, Yoko.”

 

Yoko laughed as the monster appeared. “Well there he is, and what with such a theatrical entrance! Please Sakata, please tell me you learned how to duel at a proper duel school and not fuckin’ theatre camp!” Odd-Eyes let out a second, defiant roar, clearly as amused as Yuuji.

 

“If you think Odd-Eyes is just for show, then you’re in for a rude awakening. But first, let’s banish Collapserpent so that I can Summon the Wyverburser I just added to my hand. And then we’ll rinse and repeat by tributing it, so I can special summon Apex Arsenal- Samurai Smilodon!” A blue and white robotic lion leapt onto the field, clad in armor plates shaped like samurai gear, and holding a katana in its mouth.

 

Apex Arsenal- Samurai Smilodon

Level 5

ATK: 2300

 

“Now lets give Odd-Eyes his battle gear! I equip both Brawler Buffalo and Samurai Smilodon to Odd-eyes dragon!” Both monsters transformed, with Buffalo’s gauntlet form attaching itself to Odd-Eyes’s tail and Smilodon breaking apart and becoming several pieces of armor plating, which attached themselves to Odd-eyes in various places, giving the dragon a silhouette similar to a fully armored samurai, albeit one with a tail and a giant fist attached to it. Smilodon’s katana also landed in front of the dragon, who stepped forward and picked the weapon up in its right hand.

 

Odd-Eyes Dragon

Level 7

ATK: 2500 -> 3900

 

“And next, it's action time! Odd-Eyes, lets cut Floodnet Carrier down to size!” Odd-Eyes roared in response, then slammed the fist on its tail into the ground, using the sheer force of the blow to propel itself forward and into the air, katana at its hip ready to strike. In a flash, it was over, with the armored dragon sheathing the blade behind floodnet carrier, which broke into two clean cut pieces, as if on cue.

 

For a brief moment, Yoko’s expression darkened, but it wasn’t long until it was back to her typical smirk. Her lifepoints went down to 4900 from the attack alone. The duel wasn’t over, and this just meant she had to bring out the big guns. 

 

“And now Odd-Eyes’s effect kicks in. When he destroys a monster, you take damage equal to half its original attack.” Odd-Eyes roared, then blasted a fireball toward Yoko. Her life points dropped to 3500 as it impacted. “Your turn.”

 

“I draw,” Yoko said, and smiled as she looked at the card she drew.

BGM:https://youtu.be/jNfFVh1zg74?list=PL5PW5TdgaMAQ1fWyrLW5tBBRpIVLDZ3f5&t=132

 

“I activate Dark Conversion Core. This lets me banish a DARK monster from my Graveyard, then add a DARK Machine monster from my Deck to my hand whose Level is equal to the banished monsters. I banish Floodgate Carrier.” Yoko picked up her deck and rifled through the cards before finding what she wanted. “So I can add Cracking Dragon. Now, I activate Slash Trooper’s effect in my Grave. While I control a DARK Machine, I can Special Summon him, but he’ll be banished when he leaves the field.”

 

Another summoning circle appeared and Slash Trooper rose from it once more. “Now then, I tribute my Bomb Spider and Slash Trooper.” Both machines began to spark with neon-green lightning before being sucked into a black-and-green vortex in the middle.

 

“Play time’s over, Sakata. Time you said hello to my ace, Cracking Dragon.”

 

Erupting from the vortex with a loud roar, the multi-spined black-and-green serpentine body of Cracking Dragon burst into the air, circling around the field once more. “But let’s not forget the cards I have on the field to give him a little boost with."

 

Cracking Dragon

Level 8

ATK: 3000 -> 3200 -> 3500

 

“Now, Cracking Dragon, you want to cut Odd-Eyes down to size?” Cracking Dragon let out another roar as its eyes seemed fixated on the other dragon. “Awww I thought you’d never ask! Now then, Cracking Dragon? Attack that third-rate excuse for an ace!”

 

Cracking Dragon turned and a light began to glow in its mouth brighter and brighter.

 

“Forget how to count, Yoko? Cracking Dragon doesn’t have enough attack points to take down Odd-eyes.”

 

Yoko feigned shock. “Oh my goodness! You’re right! I’ll have to do something about that! I activate, from my hand, the quickplay spell Limiter Removal.” Yoko placed the card on her field, and the lights that ran along Cracking Dragon’s body began to glow even brighter. “Now please tell me you’re not so out of the loop to know what this card does.”

 

ATK: 3500 -> 7000

 

“I know it doesn’t give you enough juice to win, and that you’ll lose Cracking Dragon to limiter removal at the end of the turn. Willing to bet I won’t bounce back?”

 

“Oh I’m more than willing. Cracking Dragon? Hit him with a Limitless Traffic Blast.” Cracking Dragon released from its mouth a torrent of fire on Odd-Eyes that seemed to fill the entire field. Before it impacted, however, Brawler Buffalo detached from Odd-Eye’s tail, diving in front of the red dragon and taking the brunt of the firestorm, which enveloped them both. When the smoke cleared, Odd-Eyes was still standing, but Yuuji’s life points had gone down to 2200.

 

Odd-Eyes Dragon

Level 7

ATK: 3900 > 3100

 

“I’m not done yet, Yoko, and Neither is Odd-Eyes. You’re gonna have to blast off all of his armor before you can take him down. Guess your big move didn’t work out.”

 

“Oh no, guess I’ll just have to set this card face-down and end my turn.” At the end of her turn, Cracking Dragon’s lights seemed to glow even brighter, until… they fizzled out into their normal brightness.

 

Cracking Dragon

Level 8

ATK: 7000 -> 3500

 

“Oh, and I forgot to mention; System Core means my Tribute Summoned monsters can’t be destroyed by card effects. Sorry! And because I Tributed two monsters, I draw two more cards. Your move, Sakata.”

[Dova]

While many other guests chatted amiably as they waited for the gala to begin in earnest, or passed the time with a duel or two, courtesy of the provided holo-boards, one man present failed to engage with the rest of them. He didn't seem to be making an effort to set himself apart, but his uninterested, hard gaze made sure that most who caught sight of him weren’t encourage to talk with him, even if the thought crossed their mind. However, a closer look would yield dull eyes flickering from one side of the room to the other, seemingly searching for something, or someone. Or both.
 
Hiyaki had spotted a few items missing from his personal collection, either of jewelry, or now, as he neared the holoboards, the occasional rare card in play. Occasional being the operative word, as it seemed that most of these duelists didn’t have the funds or skill necessary to collect a decent amount. The aqua-haired man sighed a little at the lack of targets, but continued his way around the duelists. He really shouldn’t be attempting to snatch anything tonight, to lower suspicion, but it would only take one deft movement after any duel had finished and decks were packed in their owners pocket. One quick snatch, and nothing would seem awry. And none of them even took any notice of him; well, he would soon fix that.
 
Regardless, there seemed to be two duels going on at the moment. The first had quite a crowd, with one of the players having a vaguely familiar face. White hair, generally sharp attire…probably a pro duelist, especially with the skill clearly evident in her performance. It didn’t matter; pro dueling had quickly become tiresome for Hiyaki, and there had only been one rare Machine so far. He didn’t even spare a glance for her opponent before moving over to examine the next duel.

"An obvious trick."
 
The voice gave Hiyaki pause. He definitely knew this one, but it was hard to tell over the hubbub. He stepped in closer to the admittedly lackluster duel, only on its second turn, searching for the source.
 
"That set card is clearly a Trap card she wants her opponent to trigger. There's no other reason she would summon such a weak monster in attack mode."
 
Jin. Finally. Hiyaki took a place opposite his small friend across the table, his gloved hands remaining behind his back. The smartphone clutched within one remained dark, save for the "MESSAGE DELETED" slowly fading from it.
 
"I don't suppose there are any opponents here less predictable?"
 
"I think we all got the message the first time." Hiyaki responded, his expression as flat as Jin's and his tone even more so. "If there's nothing interesting here, why not go enjoy yourself someplace else?"

 

The hunger surged briefly, and he found himself drawn again to the vaguely familiar duelist and his escapades at the sight of Odd-Eyes Dragon, a decently valuable card. One he had yet to own. He forced himself to keep an eye on Jin and his reaction, but couldn't help planning an eventual snatch. Hopefully he would have time, and if so, it would satisfy for a while.

[BatMed]

"I summon Fortune Lady Light, in attack mode!"

 

Even though Sashi tried to have a good time, Bunder was able to see her trembling hands and sense her anxious voice. "YOUR'RE DOING GREAT! A FLAWLESS MOVE I MUST SAY!" He shouted "THOSE ARE MY GIRLS" he said proudly to the guests nearby him. Well it was obviously a Trap, like the first trick you might learn if you decide to learn the game from a booklet, but Bunder decided to support the little girl and send her the good vibes, but who knows, maybe it's more than just a trap.

Bunder was in the midst of ACTION, in the area between both Duel boxes. It gave him a great view to watch both the duels that were occurring while enjoying his 5th plate of fried nuggets. Then suddenly, he heard the nearby crowd's murmuring

                                           *he is here*                       *oh mon dieu ... c'est lui*               *gasps*                         *was macht er hier?*   

                        *planning for another rampage now... are we*                          *giggles*                                       *Dayum his hair is indeed white!*

 

*Marik Ishtar is here*

 

Bunder spied with his little eye his main reason while he decided to attend the gala ... not "to have a day off from work's stress ... pfffffffffffft did you believe that  ... silly" but to meet the only person that could give him and also Sashi the answers they need: Marik Ishtar, the Gravekeeper.

 

"Now Bunder, man up, take a deep breath, dont ruin this ...." and indeed he did took a deep breath and went to Marik, trembling. The guy was contemplating and scanning the entire entourage, the duels, the guests, everything, which made Bunder even more uneasy. "M-Mr. Marik" Bunder saluted him, and offered him a handshake "I'm Bunder Breckenridge ... and I work at KC" he halted and anxiously fixed his GODdamned tie "I hope you're enjoying the party" and then he smiled like the dork he is. 

[Yui]

---

"I summon Fortune Lady Light, in attack mode! Fortune Lady Light's attack power is determined by it's Level; It gains 200 for every star, making it have 200 attack points. I play a card face-down and end my turn."

 

The face-down card is obviously bait. She wants me to do whatever will cause it to go off. Alternatively, she just wants me to think that and cause me to waste some sort of spell/trap removal on a useless card. Either way, the best way to deal with it is to just play normally.

 

Cadence drew her card, bringing her hand size up to six, and glanced over her starting hand. This was a hand that could let her deck really go off, but it would need some setup first.

 

"I don't suppose there are any opponents here less predictable?"

 

Cadence glanced in the direction of the question. How rude! While Cadence did admit that her playstyle was a bit predictable, her deck was built a certain way for a certain job, and that was that. Most decks were like that. Right? Let's not get caught up on that. It was better to just play the game. And so, Cadence got started. "I'll open up by activating the spell card Foolish Burial, and use it to send Mezuki from my Deck to the Graveyard. Next, I'll summon Zombie Master, and use his effect." This was far from the first time Cadence and Sachi had dueled. She probably knew what every card in Cadence's deck did by now, and vice versa. For some reason though, she felt compelled to explain every card's effect despite that. One of those mysteries of the universe, I guess.

 

"By discarding a monster card, I can summon a Level 4 or lower Zombie monster from either Graveyard. I'll discard the Getsu Fuhma in my hand, and then summon the Mezuki in my Graveyard!"

 

Zombie Master: Level 4 | DARK | Zombie/Effect | 1800/0

Mezuki: Level 4 | EARTH | Zombie/Effect | 1700/800

 

"And now to put those zombies to use. Battle! I'll start by attacking your Fortune Lady Light with my Zombie Master."

 

"Hold it! I activate Slip of Fortune, negating the attack and banishing Fortune Lady Light until my next Standby Phase!" Sachi watched as the little yellow-clad monster disappeared just as her own monster was about to strike it down, before Sachi continued "And now Fortune Lady Light's effect activates, allowing me to summon a Fortune Lady from my Deck. I choose Fortune Lady Fire, and activate her effect to destroy your Mezuki and do damage to you equal to its attack points!"

 

Fortune Lady Fire: Level 2 | FIRE | Spellcaster/Effect | ?(400)/?(400)

Cadence: 8000 - 1700 = 6300

 

Not bad. Sachi had effectively stopped Cadence from doing any damage that turn, while also managing to deal 1700 points of damage herself. Still, was destroying Mezuki really the best idea? It's smarter to keep him from going into the Graveyard if the opponent can help it, I'd think. Oh well. "I'll set one card face-down and end my turn!"

---

[👀 REP 👀]

 

 

"Not again!" She let out, stomping her feet as she watched the man that had ignored her walk towards where the duels were taking place. Was boys walking out on her going to be a thing here? She sure hoped not. Still, she couldn't quite blame him - after all, it makes sense that he'd be going to where his friends were. Still, it was a bit frustrating. "Well, I might as well watch the duels happening." She said slightly defeated, making her way back where she had come from. She'd duel in one of them soon enough!

 

When she got there, there were two battles going on, one of which being with the girls that she had seen earlier. Both of them were in the middle of their duel, although one of them had clearly been going on longer than the other. She decided to stick with the one that had been going on for less time with the two girls. As she got there, she saw the Mezuki get destroyed by Fortune Lady Fire. "On her opponents turn too..." She muttered under her breath, admiring the fires of the dueling box. She wondered where the duel was going as the zombie girl ended her turn.

[◇ Void ◇]

Marik was a little surprised at the timidity that came from Bunder, who was more physically impressive then he himself had been during the Battle City tournament, let alone now. With no need to vent his anger anymore, Marik had abandoned a rigorous exercise regimen involving plenty of push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and long-distance sprinting. While he continued to have a slim physique, much of his impressive muscular definition had wasted away. Thankfully for the small shred of vanity in him, the crisp suit he was wearing hid that from everyone else.

“Well, a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Breckenridge.” Marik extended his hand out for a handshake, not sure if Bunder would reciprocate with one that matched his tone, or that which his body suggested would do. “As for tonight, I’m tolerating it so far. These things are tedious, whether if they are in Domino or Cairo.”
 

The little spider-bot crawled had crawled deep into the tangle of cables behind the server racks to find its objective at rack #131. Lurching forward, its big red eye approached a single line of text to a comically tiny distance: “Master CCTV”. Pinning its two hind spikes into the wall, the front two reached down to its undercarriage and flipped open a square cover. Carefully it drew out a short Ethernet cable from it towards the existing connection, twitching its remaining spike in anticipation, and then pounced. In the blink of the eye, it switched the connections, then locked up into a static position. The single red eye looked upwards and pulsated as it executed its programming.

One by one, each camera inside and surrounding the chateau locked up, and as the red LED indicators on them faded away, all of the live footage was flawlessly switched with looped recordings generated from everything they had captured tonight up to that point. The first stage of the plan was now set.

[~Faytl~]

Sachi giggled a bit at Bunder's shouts of encouragement, then smiled with some satisfaction as she destroyed Cadence's Mezuki. Good! Now I can keep Fortune Lady Fire on the field! she thought, looking down at her hand. She isn't going to know what hit her! 

 

"My turn; Draw!" She looked at the Trap she had drawn. As she did her eyes fell on the small bracelet on her wrist, and she pursed her lips as suddenly she felt the fear and worry bubbling up underneath. Her father had given that bracelet to her as a birthday present... Was it only a year and a half ago?

 

"During my Standby Phase, a monster banished with Slip of Fortune returns to the field. Fortune Lady Light!" She declared as she shook her head, trying to will tears out of her eyes. Her monster appeared on the battlefield, twirling her staff as she returned to the zone she had previously occupied.

 

"Still a weak monster, the both of them," Jin commented bluntly to himself, pensively surveying the duel. 

 

Sachi noticeably winced, before gesturing to her monsters as they began to glow without explanation. "Fortune Lady monsters base their attack points off their Level... And they increase in Level each turn! Fortune lady Light will rise to Level 2, and Fortune Lady Fire to Level 3!" Her monsters spun on the spot, raising their staffs as the glow sparked around them, the readouts on the side of the table showing their power increasing.

 

200 > 400

 

400 > 600

 

"Oh?" Jin asked, face unreadable, though the lack of any impressment was notable. "A minor boost," he commented, sounding annoyed. It was then his eyes lighted on the man across the table, and his eyes blinked simply as he was addressed. 

 

"What else is there to do around here?" he asked, skirting around the edge of the box to join Hiyaki, a notable two feet between the two, as if Jin didn't want to get too close. "All these ancient relics we came to see and I'm watching unimpressive dueling like this? You would think Kaibacorp would attract duelists of a higher caliber..." he trailed off as his eyes drifted over to an adjacent box, catching sight of the two monsters inside, their duelists practically invisible to him. 

 

"Cracking Dragon, eh?" he muttered, eyes locked on the duel just like Hiyaki's were. He flashed his colleague a noted look, one that spoke volumes: Those ones. 

 

"I take it you want to take on that boy, is that right?" he asked, his seemingly innocent words carrying hidden meaning. "Be my guest... I think his opponent is far more promising. After all... I haven't got anything else to do." With this last remark he flicked his eyes in the direction of the nearest camera. Hopefully his point was clear to Hiyaki.

 

"I sacrifice Fortune Lady Light, and summon Fortune Lady Dark!" Light vanished as a new fairy appeared in her space, one of purple hair and black robes... And a much higher attack score.

 

Fortune Lady Dark

Level 5, ?/? > 2000/2000

 

"Forune Lady Dark's attack power is equal to its Level times 400, giving it 2000 attack points and making it the strongest monster on the field! Battle! Fortune Lady Dark attacks Zombie Master! Dark Misfortune!" Dark leveled her staff, a ball of pitch-black energy collecting at the end of it before she cocked her arm, lobbing it across the table to explode in the space Cadence's monster occupied.

 

Cadence: 6300 > 6100

 

"When Fortune Lady Dark destroys a monster in battle, I summon a Fortune Lady from my Graveyard!" Fortune Lady Light reappeared as Sachi returned her card to the board, attack power once again at 200. "Battle! Attack her directly!" Her two monsters surged toward Cadence, who's hand inched towards the card she had face-down before halting, considering, then pulling it back as two orbs of red and yellow energy exploded into sparks against her chest.

 

Cadence: 6300 > 5900 > 5700

 

"I place a card face-down," Sachi finished, her monsters returning to flank Dark, "and end my turn."

[Dova]

Hiyaki noticed the distance maintained by Jin as he approached, but paid no mind to it. Anyone who really got to know him, especially within their...organization, eventually kept far apart anyway. He was used to it, and it didn't really matter, especially at the moment. A good way to keep up their cover by acting unfamiliar, regardless if that was Jin's initial intent or not.

 

"I take it you want to take on that boy, is that right? Be my guest... I think his opponent is far more promising. After all... I haven't got anything else to do."

 

"If you insist." Hiyaki nodded, playing along. He followed his accomplices gaze upwards, taking note of the camera in the shadows, and the lack of a red light winking beneath it. Jin had clearly succeeded in his mission; not that he expected anything less from one of the top members of the Rare Hunters. It was almost too kind of the Chateau's security to let them know when their systems were down without having to do any other complicated hacking. And now, to wait.

 

As he stepped away from the previously observed duel, he had a quick glance at his phone, or more accurately, the time presented on there. Although he was pleased with the display, he didn't smile. There was more to be done, both by him and others. Hiyaki sidled over back to the first duel, this time properly examining both duelists.

 

The white-haired girl called up the name "Yoko" in his mind, although it took a few more seconds to properly place her. She was one of the many pro duelists adept at collecting rare cards in her duels, something that had put her on his organization's, and Hiyaki's own, watch list. Also rather controversial, if memory served him correctly, showing him a few neat tricks to be learnt here and there for when he was less direct in his thievery.

 

“I’m not done yet, Yoko, and Neither is Odd-Eyes. You’re gonna have to blast off all of his armor before you can take him down. Guess your big move didn’t work out."

 

Hiyaki didn't grant the other one, wearing basic formal wear, anything more than a cursory glance. Judging from that medley he called a deck and the lack of any trainer or anyone particularly cheering for him, he almost certainly had nothing of interesting. Crackling Dragon, on the other hand...Jin had a point. He slowly shifted over to Yoko's side of the table, mingling with the present crowd while throwing a single glance to the windows present. Hopefully he still had a little time of his own before all hell broke loose.

 

[spoiler=OOC]Changing Hiyaki's text color to this, because I didn't realize two others had the same one as him.

 

 

[Yui]

---

"I place a card face-down, and end my turn."

 

"That means I'm up. Draw!" Cadence looked over her hand. Then to her Graveyard. This wasn't the best of situations to be in, but absolutely something she could turn around. Especially with this convenient draw. Barring something disastrous going on with that face-down card Sachi had just put down, in fact, this was shaping up to be a great chance for Cadence to pull the duel back into her favor.

 

Laying down the card she'd just drawn, Cadence stated "I activate the field spell Terraforming, which allows me to add one field spell from my Deck to my hand. I'll search out, and then activate, Zombie World." The small duel field between Cadence and Sachi took on a purple, fleshy appearance, dotted with skulls and other bones. A lake of blood was roughly in the middle of it all.

 

BGM

 

"Now all monsters on the field and in both Graveyards are treated as Zombie monsters. Next up, I'll activate my face-down trap, Call of the Haunted, to bring Zombie Master back from my Graveyard, then use his effect. By discarding the Marionette Mite in my hand, I'll summon the Getsu Fuhma I discarded last turn. But that's not all."

 

As Cadence put her two monsters onto the field, Cadence continued "Normally, a Level 7 monster requires two monsters to be tributed. But not always. By tributing one Zombie monster - like my Zombie Master - I can Tribute Summon one of my strongest monsters: Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon!" Cadence took a moment to applaud herself in her mind as the decaying dragon made its presence known on the field, with a shrill roar and a hungry gaze directed at Sachi's monsters. And Cadence could still keep playing.

 

"Next step: I use the effect of Mezuki in my Graveyard, banishing itself to summon back my Zombie Master. And then I'll go into the Battle Phase."

 

Zombie Master: Level 4 | DARK | Zombie/Effect | 1800/0

Getsu Fuhma: Level 4 | DARK | Warrior Zombie/Effect | 1700/1200

Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon: Level 7 | DARK | Zombie/Effect | 2400/2000

 

"First order of business. That Fortune Lady Dark has to go. I'll attack it with Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon. Go, Grim Fire Blast!" And thus the battles began, with Cadence's dragon rearing its head back before unhinging its jaw and spawing forth a stream of light blue fire onto Sachi's most powerful monster. She could have sworn that she saw Sachi reaching for a face-down card, but for some reason, nothing happened.

 

Sachi: 8000 > 7600

 

"And now, Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon's effect activates, allowing me to summon your Fortune Lady Dark back to the field, under my control."

Fortune Lady Dark: Level 5 | DARK | Fairy Zombie/Effect | 2000/2000

 

"Next, I'll attack Fortune Lady Fire, using my Getsu Fuhma."

 

Sachi: 7600 > 6500

 

"And then I'll attack Fortune Lady Light with my Zombie Master."

 

Sachi: 6500 > 4900

 

"Last but not least. Now that your field is wide open, I'll attack you directly with your own Fortune Lady Dark."

 

Sachi: 4900 > 2900

 

"And that'll have to do it. I don't want to end this turn without a hand, so I'll end my turn there."

---

[BatMed]

"And that'll have to do it. I don't want to end this turn without a hand, so I'll end my turn there."

Sachi LP : 2900

 
“Well, a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Breckenridge.” Marik extended his hand out for a handshake, stressed Bunder reciprocate poorly. “As for tonight, I’m tolerating it so far. These things are tedious, whether if they are in Domino or Cairo.” "Y-yeah I agree, nothing but plain old artifacts tha-" Bunder halted for seconds, firmed his facial expression and pose "They wouldn't hurt a fly now ... would they?" he said in a serious tone. Bunder crossed his arms firmly and added "It's not like things got weird after the latest excavation or anything! RA forbi-" ...  oh no
Bunder gasped and covered his stupid word hole, blushing. All his seriousness faded away as he apologized to Marik for the unintentional bad joke he said. Bad to the bone!
 
"So! killing the time until the exhibition of the Millennium Items began? amiright?" he said, blushing and embarrassed, and trying his best to avoid eye contact.

[◇ Void ◇]

 
"So! killing the time until the exhibition of the Millennium Items began? amiright?"

“This exhibition should not even be happening. The items should have been left undisturbed.” Marik turned on the spot to a nearby waitress and swiped a flute of champagne from her tray, promptly emptying it in a single swig. “There are so many international laws against doing this, but Seto has enough money to make everyone not give a damn about it.”
 

Gekko had weaved through the corridors hidden beyond the main hall where the guests had gathered, micromanaging anyone he found along the way, and then arrive at a locked fire door. Having extracted a set of keys, Gekko slotted in one with a brass tone and turned the lock. It gave a satisfying click as the mechanism gave way and opened the way into a corner of the ballroom which serves as tonight’s exhibition hall.

It had been intended to be the chateau’s ballroom, where Pegasus would have entertained his friends and guests in the grandeur that rivaled Buckingham Palace’s own ballroom. With crimson wallpaper and scagliola pillars, every edge was guilt with golden depictions of duel monsters of all varieties. Velvet curtains draped beside several windows with a grand view of the chateau Versailles-inspired garden, which also happened to border with the northern edge of the Lake Pegasus center. Posted on the ceiling was a grand Renaissance-style fresco depicting how Egyptian kings and sorcerers played a game of great and terrible power, then how it threatened the world until a Pharaoh came and locked it away.

However, the grandeur was nothing to Gekko but a sour reminder on how his adoptive father never got to enjoy it. Gekko, Yako, Richie, and Derpe had all contributed to the design, so Pegasus had a chimera of their respective signature monsters in each corner of the room, with Gekko’s ‘Angel 07’ looking down on the case that held the Millennium Items from the top-left corner of the room.

Accommodated in a secure display case, the items glistened in the glow of the crystal chandeliers. Well, most of them. While the Eye, Scale, Key, Rod, and Necklace wherein a good condition despite their burial, the Ring had been shattered into several pieces and encased in a single thick piece of a transparent resin for “preservation”. The absence of the Millennium Puzzle had been filled with the most unusual of companions.
 

 
To call it a simple leather book would be an insult. A thick book of at least 100 pages, bound in deep purple leather then embossed around the edges with the purest gold that twisted into spindly edges and unnatural curls. A symbolic eye that matched those on the Millenium Items was endlessly glaring on the cover, shimmering in the light. The whole thing was clamped shut by a golden lock which conveniently lacked the key, forbidding anyone to reveal its contents. To himself, everyone, including the archaeologists, it was completely out-of-place. The ancient Egyptians used papyrus scrolls and not books. Basic leather bound books arrived 1000 years after the civilization fell, and then such the metalwork of such craftsmanship would not even arrive until the Renaissance. The lock seemed feasible on paper: tumbler locks were used on palace doors, but never with such compact and sophisticated engineering for the time.
 
Yet the historians and scientists had thrown their best tests and studies at it and came back as authentic. How could such an anomaly exist? Gekko couldn't glare in its direction for more than a few moments; it just seemed to click some urge in his head to turn away and not believe in it.
 
The rest of the ballroom was filled to the brim with historical exhibits from many eras and cultures; from suits of Roman armor to tapestries depicting the crusades, and then Egyptian tablets and sarcophaguses. Most of the portraits that would have hanged around the walls where replaced with enlarged photographs of the sites they came from, excluding for two portraits hanging above the Millennium Items: One of Maximillion Pegasus on the left in his velvet , then one of a young woman with long blond hair, fair blue eyes and in a periwinkle victorian blouse.
 
“We are just about ready for public viewing, Mr. Tenma.” Said one of the representatives from the Domino City Museum, who were assisting with the exhibition tonight.

“Okay then.” Gekko activated his KC communicator lapel with two taps, tuning into Tomoya's own lapel. “Everything is set to open down here Tomoya. Have you got any news on Mr. Kaiba?”

Tomoya straightened his posture back in the office, taking a couple of blinks to de-tune his eyes from the pure-light monitors. “Only bad news. HQ is saying Kaiba hasn’t even left yet. We can’t keep the guests waiting forever, can we?"

"No, we can't." Gekko gave a slight sigh from the frustration. "We go in 5 minutes then."

[~Faytl~]

I'll activate my Trap now! Sachi reached forward as Cadence declared her attack, her hand darting out, and resting on the card-

 

An Error message appeared on the table surface beside the card, flashing red briefly before flicking off again. Sachi's brain scrambled, completely thrown off guard, before she remembered: Her Fortune's Gift Trap required her to have a monster in the graveyard. And her graveyard was empty.

 

No... I forgot! She thought, seeing her monster vaporize before rising on Cadence's side of the field again. Now Sachi, her father's voice rattled in her head. You must be mindful. It doesn't pay to forget details. Not like me. I can't remember any details anymore.

 

Sachi sat frozen as her monsters all shattered into pieces, her Life Points plummeting as she stared wordlessly down at the table. Only the flickering light beside her deck signaled it was even her turn.

 

"I... draw." She saw the card and hastily acted, trying to not think about what had just happened. "I play Monster Reborn, bringing back Fortune Lady Light!" Her monster returned, instantly losing her aura of light as Zombie World took effect, shrouding her in blackness. "I sacrifice Light to summon Fortune Lady Earth-"

 

"ERROR" flashed up beside her monster again, followed by an image of Cadence's Zombie World card. "TRIBUTE FOR NON-ZOMBIE MONSTER PROHIBITED." Sachi drew her hand back sharply from her card, her fingers shaking. "I... I made a mistake," she said quietly, looking like she had just been slapped across the face, barely keeping it together.

 

"Pathetic," Jin sighed, turning away. He bumped into the green-haired girl from earlier, and he drew back, frowning. "Ah, you again, eh?" he asked Hotaru, raising an eyebrow. "I would think you'd realize this duel has nothing to offer... But then, you thought these antiques..." He gestured to the Battle Boxes. "... were impressive enough, so what do I know?" He caught sight of Hiyaki, and narrowed his eyes when he saw his colleague was taking a look at the one Jin had marked as his quarry. He gave a flat glare from across the room, the meaning clear: Back off.

[BatMed]

---

“This exhibition should not even be happening. The items should have been left undisturbed.” Marik turned on the spot to a nearby waitress and swiped a flute of champagne from her tray, promptly emptying it in a single swig. “There are so many international laws against doing this, but Seto has enough money to make everyone not give a damn about it.”
Bunder gasped, eyes widened, and gazed in excitement at Marik like a little child who's about to get a pony ride. "That's an agreement! WE BOTH AGREE THAT THIS EXCAVATION WAS A MISTAKE." Bunder halted to fix his tie "Those damned holograms, I knew it has something to do with this excavation! It's like if they have their own conscious! Crazy I know!". He grabbed his pen & another piece of paper from his pocket, and rapidly wrote his number and name on it and gave it to the Egyptian. "Mr. Marik I believe we have the same interest", he took a look a the Duel and proceed "We should stay on contact to-"

 

"I... I made a mistake ..."

 

 

The easily to distract Bunder got distracted by the quite shivering Sachi, barely keeping herself together. But Sashi's situation was a déjà vu: A well recognized memory of Bunder. A flashback occurred.

"I ... I failed ..."

 

"Daddy's girl" he smiled sadly. But what possibly could Bunder do to help a friend in distress? ".. this is bad" Bunder thought anxiously. His eyes slipped to the slender Egyptian man on his side "ooh... of coOoURse" he murmured, or at least tried to. "If you excuse Mr. Marik, I'll be right back!". He quickly made his way through the guests, making a dramatic pass due to his serious face-expression and his floating coat. He accidentally bumped into a frowned slender boy in a blue tuxedo on his way, but he was way focused on Sashi to realize that.

4 feets away from Sashi, just behind her, he tried to reach the girl in the Duel Box. "Sashi! Sashi! Sash .... Soooshi *giggles* no stay focused SASHI!" he shouted in an attempt to get the frozen girl's attention "You see that guy over there! It's Marik Ishtar!", his voice-tone then became cheerful and warm "He will help you to get your father back!"

[Yui]

---

"I... draw. I play Monster Reborn, bringing back Fortune Lady Light!"

 

Oh? What's Sachi got in store for me this time?

 

"I sacrifice Light to summon Fortune Lady Earth-"

 

Wait, she couldn't do that. It seemed she got the message, and an error on her side preventing the tribute summon of Fortune Lady Earth. She could hear Sachi saying... something, but not quite well enough to make it out. "Zombie World," Cadence said, tapping her finger on where the field spell was on her playing field. "It prevents the Tribute Summon of any non-Zombie monsters. You know this." Something was suspicious about all this. Normally, Sachi was the type that would have a plan to get rid of Zombie World the moment Cadence played it, even if it would take a couple turns.

 

Something was off about her dueling today. She first thought it when she saw Sachi reach for a trap card last turn, without actually activating it. This just now, with Fortune Lady Earth, confirmed her suspicions. Whatever was bothering Sachi, it was bothering her enough that she wasn't dueling right. "I think that's enough for now," Cadence said, gathering up her cards from her side of the duel box and returning them to her aged deck. Even if she won this duel, would it really feel like a win? It would be like winning an eating contest against somebody who just had lunch a few minutes ago. Not fair.

 

She made her way around the duel box, to where Sachi and Bundy were. Bundy seemed to be saying something about her father, but Cadence only caught the tail end of it. Someone who could help her get the guy back. Get him back? That's strange. She hadn't heard any word of Sachi's father going missing. There must have been some complicated circumstances surrounding the two. Her gut said not to get tied up in it. Not yet anyway.

 

"Pssst," she whispered, nudging Bundy with her elbow. "Sachi's pretty distracted by something today. Try to get her mind off it if you can. From what bits and pieces I've been picking up, you probably have a better idea of what's bothering her than I do, so I'll leave it in your hands, m'kay?"

 

As much as Cadence would have liked to help, this didn't seem like her battle to fight. And then, it was away with her. Back into the crowd of the party, making her way through, intent on getting to the food. She still hadn't had her fill of upper crust delicacies!

---

[◇ Void ◇]

Blunder grabbed his pen & a piece of paper from his pocket, and rapidly wrote his number and name on it and gave it to the Egyptian. "Mr. Marik I believe we have the same interest", he took a look a the Duel and proceed "We should stay in contact with-"

As he was distracted, Marik cautiously took the note from the ecstatic gentlemen and tucked it into his breast pocket. It was a little unnerving to have a relative stranger come up to him, aware to some degree about the terrible secret behind Duel Monsters. It would never be possible to forget what the monsters did to himself and ‘it’, wherever it suffered now.
 

“Clannnnnnngggggggggg...”

The reverberating ringing of metal on champagne flute attract everyone’s attention to Gekko and the two security officers that flanked him, who had emerged through a lanky mahogany door that lead to the ballroom. “If I may have your attention, Ladies, and Gentlemen.”

The hall fell quiet as almost everyone turned their attention to Gekko.

“On the behalf of the Kaiba Corporation, the Lake Pegasus Center and the Domino City Museum thank you for attending here tonight. Our main exhibition is now ready for your viewing in the ballroom.”

Gekko and the officers stepped aside and observed quietly as his guests flowed through at a dignified pace, taking in the surprised and impressed expressions they made from their first sight of the exhibition. However, Marik’s taut face as he passed through proved to be the sole exception, with a anxiousness in his stride as he approached through the doorway and towards the Millennium Items, then stopped before them. Marik could not ignore the idea that each of their unblinking eyes seemed to pass cold judgment on him. The thought was not just a sense of guilt and regret: in the not-to-distant past did two of the items possessed spirits of their own, so why not the others?

Back outside at the perimeter of the park, the temperature had continued to drop. While the motorcycle engines produced sufficient warmth for the majority of the mysterious trio’s bodies, the exhaust fumes were condensing into chilly plumes at their feet. The smaller two bikers crouched beside the chain-link fence, snipping away at it with a pair of bolt cutters each, while their imposing superior persevered in using a petite smartphone with a set of bulky fingers, eventually texting a simple message to who those who needed it.

“Make your final move.”

[👀 REP 👀]

 

 

Hotaru watched as the duel unfolded, completely engrossed in the action. She sighed as she saw the zombie girl start to panic a bit - she felt for the girl. While she was watching the battle, she felt someone bump into her.

"Hey, watch where you're go- It's you again!" She shouted, noticing who it had been that bumped into her. Her cheeks puffed up as he talked.

 

"I would think you'd realize this duel has nothing to offer... But then, you thought these antiques..." He gestured to the Battle Boxes. "... were impressive enough, so what do I know?" While he was off looking at somewhere else she responded.

 

"What's that suppose to mean!?" She crossed her arms. "How can you see this and not be impressed!? You...you dummy!" Suddenly, a realization struck her. "That's right! We still need to duel so I can show you just how impressive my fire is!" A hint of mischief crossed her face. "This time I'll make sure you don't go running off again!" She said triumphantly, before grabbing him by the arm in an attempt to drag him towards the box in front of them as she saw the two duelist moving out. "Let's go! I've been itching to duel since I got here."

[~Faytl~]

"Cadence?" Sachi asked, taken aback by the sudden surrender. No, surrender wasn't the word, she realized. Cadence hadn't surrendered, she had ended a duel who's conclusion was a foregone one.

 

She hung her head, feeling small. I'm a mess, she thought. How can I ever help dad like this? She gathered up her cards silently, exiting the Duel Box in a daze. It took a second before she fully registered what Bunder was saying to her.

 

"Huh? Who? Marik Ishtar?" The name wasn't familiar to her, not at first. Then she remembered that he had been one of the Battle City finalists, though she had never seen him duel before. He had been the runner-up, after Yugi Moto, she now recalled. "But... What's he going to do? How can he help?" she asked, suddenly paying rapt attention to Bunder. She turned her head, trying to catch sight of Marik among the attendees now pressing towards the door.

 

- - - - - - -

 

"They're FOSSILS," Jin replied matter-of-factly, gesturing again to the Duel Boxes. "The current model of Duel Disk is merely superior, I don't know why they even dug these up. They already have far more fascinating items behind those doors."

 

It was as Jin said this that the doors he was talking about were opened. His eyes darted up as Gekko announced the opening, and finally Jin looked like he was looking forward to something. The expression didn't last. Hotaru grabbed onto his arm and started pulling him towards the infernal boxes. He frowned, pulling himself free, with difficulty. He was a relatively small fellow, after all. 

 

"I came here for a different set of relics than these," he said simply, striding towards the doors. "Maybe we will duel someday... With Duel Disks, like civilized people."

 

He received the message then, pulling out his phone to see the words. Make your final move. He smiled thinly as he walked into the room, the Millennium Items spread before him on the displays. He swept his eyes over them, surveying them with great interest. He had never seen these before, not in the flesh. He had seen Yugi Moto's Millennium Puzzle in tournament footage, slung around the King of Games' neck, but seeing this many assembled together was something different. His eyes swept over the Millennium Rod, the Millennium Necklace, the shattered remnants of the Millennium Ring, encased in resin. He was only now learning their names, reading them on the displays, but their import was clear to him even before that. No wonder Panik wanted them. There was just an alluring quality to them. A quality that spoke of power.

 

He broke away from the throng of people swarming around the Millennium Items, drifting towards the edges of the room. A few brief glances out the glass revealed which ones faced towards the back of the Chateau, and he made for one of them, drawing a curtain aside to get a better view of the night outside. His hand drifted down the curtain, the cloth sliding against his fingers. But his hand left something behind. Something hard and metallic that stuck to the cloth surface, hidden from the view of the attendees by the thick velvet, the metallic disk facing directly towards the window.

 

His task done, Jin smirked, removing his hand and drifting back towards the exhibits. He eyed the block of resin that housed the Millennium Ring. Probably too heavy for him to carry easily. He situated himself nearby the Millennium Rod and Necklace he had been eyeing earlier. With any luck he would be able to take more than that, but that remained to be seen. 

 

He scanned the crowds, looking for any sign of Hiyaki. He would be making his move now as well.

[👀 REP 👀]

 

 

She didn't care if they were fossils or not - she wanted to fight in one! She tried her hardest to keep her arms locked onto him, but eventually he was able to break free from her not-so-iron grasp. "I came here for a different set of relics than these," he said simply, striding towards the doors. "Maybe we will duel someday... With Duel Disks, like civilized people." 

Her cheeks puffed up again. No, she wasn't going to let him go again; she was going to get her duel one way or another. "You're not getting away again!" She said, following the boy. She trailed him into an exhibit, somewhere she wouldn't of entered on her own volition, but found herself attracted to what was being displayed. Her eyes were glued to the millennium items - she had heard about them, but seeing them in person was something else...

 

"Focus you dummy!" She thought to herself, scanning the crowd for her target. It was a bit difficult to find him, considering he wasn't the tallest, but eventually she did managed to spot Jin near the Millennium Rod. She walked up to the boy before speaking. "You didn't think you'd get away from me that easily, did ya~?" She said, her voice a strange combination of annoyed and cutesy. Her eyes turned to the rod they were situated next to. "Hmm... maybe we can stick around here just a bit longer..." She spoke, her eyes glued to the Millennium Rod for a bit, before snapping out of it and turning Jin. "...but don't think you're leaving today without dueling me, box or not!"

 

 

[Dova]

Make your final move.

 

Hiyaki didn't register the message at first, still glancing over the antiques indicated as by Jin. Although his previous target had been clearly declared off limits by a look from his partner, it didn't mean it was out of the question for him. Jin wasn't always watching, and neither were their sponsors.

 

But the chaos later would certainly provide him the opportunity, and for that he needed to be prepared. Not only to do his part in it, but to have a snatch ready that PaniK and his crew wouldn't notice. A priceless artifact might go unnoticed, but the Millenium Items weren't viable targets, no matter how much they called for perhaps the smallest hint of satisfaction. Unobtainable...for now.

 

As Gekko stepped forward, making his opening announcements, Hiyaki stepped past a briefly distracted Jin. Some girl was talking to him, begging him for a duel while sounding extremely annoyed. Hiyaki took a moment to savour the situation; while he would get along with the rest of the Rare Hunters for the sake of a mission, even admire their talents, he rarely completely clicked with anyone any more.

 

"I came here for a different set of relics than these," Jin was saying, as he pulled himself away from the little girl's clearly strong grasp. "Maybe we will duel someday... With Duel Disks, like civilized people."

 

"You should feel honored." Hiyaki added in a deadpan manner. "He rarely offers us mere mortals a chance."

 

A little backhanded compliment in exchange for that lovely denial from earlier.

 

With Jin now finally heading off to complete his task, Hiyaki pushed forward through the current of the crowd filtering past the various displays around the room. Nearing the edge, his hand reaching into his jacket pocket, the urges rose again. The Millenium Puzzle, right there, glimmering with a mysterious aura; the Necklace, the lightning playing so tantalizingly along its surfaces; the Rod, so beautiful-

 

No. Not now. Soon.

 

His motion completed, the hand then brushed against the window frame. Now his pocket was a little lighter, the memory of metal on his fingertips, and a slight bump under the window's covering. He didn't even bother to lift up the curtain; there was far more obtainable things around him for him to feast his eyes on. Regardless, the task was done. Now, to wait.

 

Turning away, he caught sight of the green-haired girl approaching Jin again. Although it would surely be fun to watch him being overwhelmed by her tiny antics, it would be better for the plan if neither of them were occupied. And so he glided over, walking through the ever-growing crowd among the artifacts, before he was able to catch the words of the one-sided conversation.

 

"...but don't think you're leaving today without dueling me, box or not!"

 

"Can it not wait until after the gala?" Hiyaki asked in the same calm manner. "I can understand if there's not plenty to do for you at the moment, but we came for the experience here." He gestured around himself at the many Millennium Items. "If you're that determined to duel him, surely you'd like his heart to be in it?"

[◇ Void ◇]

“The cell in the bug won’t last much longer. We have to move.” The biggest biker commanded to his subordinates. They had managed to cut a reasonable hole through the fencing to pass through with their bikes. Mounting them, the engines roared into life as they twisted the throttle with anticipation. Their hearts pumped in-synch to each revolution of the single-cylinder engines, forcing the adrenaline through to ignite their senses. They all knew the risks of tonight job, and this was the point of no-return.

 

 

Tomoya picked up a faint vibration running through his desk and perched up. Had one of the computer fans begin to rumble? Pushing back from his desk and disengaging his headset to the desk, he proceeded to dismount his chair and crawl underneath to examine the back case fan. Despite a few clumps of dust, it didn't seem to be producing the resonance he could feel. In fact, it was now getting stronger and complemented with a deep roaring of increasing volume.

 

“What the f--” There wasn’t enough time to finish cursing before they struck.

 

“Csssshhhh!”

 

Pandemonium erupted across the chateau. Vicious shards of glass and charred wooden window frame flew across the ballroom, striking down those who were unfortunate enough to be in their volatile path. The trio struggled to get traction on the polished marble and slid across the ballroom, bumping into exhibits like bumper cars, and eventually ending their wake of destruction at equidistant points from the main display. Marik stood his ground beside the items, unsure of what was the best course of action, but minding for a fight to break out. He seemed to be the only one prepared, as the security team was overwhelmed by panicked guests fleeing the chaos with reckless abandon, barging and shoving them all to the floor with no regard for the evacuation procedure they where attempting to execute. Yet even the great Kaiba Corporation had not prepared anyone for the current scenario.

 

“G-Gekko?! You there? Gekko?” crackled through his communicator, but Tomoya only got an ominous static in return. Gekko had been bashed brutally onto the door joining the ballroom and the main hall, before slumping down as the world around him turned into a muted haze. He could only watch on and guess what was about to happen.

[~Faytl~]

Jin nodded in assent to Hiyaki's statements. "Besides, I told you. Those antiquated boxes are nothing special. It would just be boring." He raised a hand dismissively. "Take a number. I've got more important duels on my docket," he said breezily, eyes moving to the girl with the Cracking Dragon.

 

It was then that the Rare Hunters made their move. Explosions of sound and chaos rained across the room, and Jin took the opportunity to reach into his pocket, pulling out a pair of tinted glasses that he slid calmly over his face, ignoring the loud noises all around him. He reached down and picked up a piece of the busted window frame, brandishing it as he tossed Hiyaki another piece of the blasted window.

 

"Let's get this over with," he snapped briskly, raising the wooden pice over the display case and bringing it swinging down towards the glass, eyes locked on the Rod and Necklace that lay within.

 

- - - - -

 

Sachi was making her way towards Marik when the chaos began. She balked, falling to the ground as the windows shattered, motorcycles driving in, and people started attacking the display cases. What the hell was going on?

 

She had fallen near Marik, and she scrambled to her feet, one of her heels falling off, the other quick to follow. She fell behind him, looking out from behind his slim frame at the multitude of enemies before them.

 

"Who ARE they?" she asked, fear in her voice as she looked around desparately for Cadence or Bunder.