Yu-Gi-Oh! Skies [IC/R-16]

[The Warden]

After the Reversed Judgment had left, Alison had kept to herself, enjoying the calm of Coffee Cards, and also a muffin to go with a chocolate milk, because chocolate milk is good. Time went by as she amused herself with pointless readings, but as some new people entered, the cards took a turn. A Fool and Reversed Temperance has appeared. Looking up from the cards, the source was found in two rather mismatched people. A meek boy with a strong air of chance to him, and a rather vulgar girl. Well, love takes all forms, and a fool and his rage are just as easily matched as they were parted.

 

Taking out her phone, the duel between the Emperor and the Hermit was soon to begin. The Blue Yonder Duel App was quite handy for that, but if anything Alison was intrigued. An undefeatable emperor takes on a scared and lonely hermit. Quite the unusual match and... Strength? Having turned over another card, the visage of a lady and a lion became visible. And another card and... another Strength? Curious. This group was tied by fate, at least for today. Funny though that the small boy seemed lost among a trio of Oni. "I'm sorry!"

 

Well, isn't that funny. A Reversed Wheel of Fortune acting as they did, marring the beauty of the Oni Queen. If not for the duel that had begun, this alone would have made for quality entertainment.

[radio414]

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
-Galatians 6:9 (NIV)

Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!

Melissa raced around the mezzanine searching desperately for a concessions stand without a miles-long line. Sure, some were shorter than others -- the one area that had just about everything would of course attract more attention than the small ice-cream stand hidden off in some far corner of the arena -- but the difference was in proverbial inches. It felt like none of them were worth waiting for, especially with the duel about to start.

But she wasn’t waiting for herself. No, now she was trying to fix her own mistake. How could she have forgotten? She’d let herself get caught up in all that “helping Gabriela” business that she’d lost track of why she’d actually been out there in the first place. She had to pay back Yusuji, and if she couldn’t pay with cash, she’d have to do it with snacks.

The general concessions stand -- or whichever one was the one with “CONCESSIONS” above it in neon red letters, the E and I flickering a little, begging to be replaced -- was the largest she could find in the arena, so of course it also had the longest line; the queue snaked back and forth through an area cordoned off by what looked like bike racks. This would certainly take the longest, though it also had the best chance of having everything she needed. Melissa certainly didn’t want to talk with more cashiers than necessary, so she got in line and waited.

And waited.

And waited. The one benefit to all this was that it gave her heartbeat ample time to slow down. By the time Melissa was halfway through the line, it’d almost returned to a normal rhythm. There was still the stress from the time pressure and a little more from having forgotten in the first place, sure, but almost-normal was good enough. And now that she could think almost-clearly, she could remember that she wasn’t just buying snacks for three people now. Gabriela was up there too.

To: Jun
From: Melissa

Hey, can you ask Gabriela if she wants anything?

From: Jun
To: Melissa

gotcha

A few moments later:

Gabby says she wants rock candy
or chips
whatever works

Melissa kept her phone out. Some of that was to make sure she had everything down, that she remembered everything she was supposed to order. The rest of that was, well, there was still half of a line to get through before the actual hard part.

From: Connor
To: Melissa

Awesome, see you then!

“Next!”

Now that she wasn’t waiting for it, the line seemed to move quicker, and pretty soon Melissa found herself face to face with a kid maybe only a year or two older than her who looked like he wanted to be talking to her even less than Melissa did. Ordering Jun’s chips and soda elicited nothing more than a “‘Kay” and a few beeps from the register. Yusuji’s cotton candy went similarly, though he did ask “Pink or blue?” quietly enough that Melissa had to ask him to repeat himself at least twice before she finally understood the question.

She chose pink.

Problems arose with Souji’s order. Ordering a pretzel, it seemed, came with its own questions, starting with “Salted or unsalted?”

Melissa froze. She didn’t know a lot about pretzels, but she did know that this was one of those questions that had oddly strong opinions attached to it, like pineapple on pizza or anything to do with artichokes. Personally, Melissa hated how much salt pretzels tended to get, but would Souji? And if she did buy a salted one, would he complain if he had to wipe all the salt off before actually being able to eat?

“Is there a, um, a partial-salt option?” she said.

The cashier looked at her like she was crazy.

Salted it was, then. The next question was “Any sauce?”

Melissa could feel her heartbeat quicken again. She’d made it to three-quarters of the way through this ordeal, but whatever protection being prepared had provided her was rapidly fading away. “No sauce, I think,” she said, but it was clearly shaky. The cashier, for his part, acted like he didn’t notice, even if he clearly did.

Lastly was Gabriela’s order, and Melissa was able to save herself the embarrassment of asking if they had any rock candy with a quick look to the menu board, even if she did feel guilty wasting the cashier’s time for what would inevitably be just another order of chips. But she managed, and after a few more questions (including the dreaded, “Anything else?”), Melissa paid, dropped her change into a cup that said “Every time somebody tips, a puppy smiles”, and waited for her name to be called.

Which, for how busy the concessions stand was, was pretty quick. Melissa chalked it up to the fact that everything she’d ordered was either already in a bag or could easily be transferred to one with some wax paper. She filled the soda cup at the nearby machine -- Melissa assumed Jun wanted some sort of cola, though maybe caffeine wasn’t something Jun needed right now? -- and, careful not to drop anything, slowly made her way back.

[Yui]

---

"She has strength to her hits, but her technique was very sloppy, and from there did nothing to improve in that way, just focused on hitting harder and faster."

 

Because that's how you win in a no-rules fight.

 

"I, Katsu the Strong, appreciate that you have made an effort to turn from those days, but forgive me if I don't lower my guard. Also what are you doing sitting in a booth, the duel is starting right away!"

 

"Honestly, I'd be disappointed if you did let down your guard." As much as she wanted to be a better human, that didn't mean Kyouko had any intention of going soft. Soft was what turned someone into a pushover who lets people walk all over them. No thanks. Although, now that she'd mentioned it, that duel was indeed a thing happening today. Eh. Might check it out. Maybe.

 

"The woman Katsu has a point, you should probably get going before---"

 

SPLASH!

 

The cookie that Kyouko had in that moment been bringing up to her mouth shattered into a million crumbs as her hand reflexively balled up into a fist, and very clearly almost swung out in the direction the flying cup of hot chocolate had come from, without so much as looking at the source first. She did manage to stop herself at least - partly because she didn't want to start a scene in a nice public place like CoffeeCards - and looked at the actual source of where the surprise beverage-bomb had come from. Some boy on the floor. He must have tripped.

 

"I'm sorry!"

 

She wanted to hit him. Really bad. But it wasn't right. He hadn't done anything on purpose (right?), and even if Kyouko did try to make this physical, both of the martial arts clubs' leaders were here. They'd try to stop her if Kyouko didn't stop herself. That would probably hurt more than simply not punching this timid kid who clearly didn't want any trouble. Scooting her way out of the booth, Kyouko made toward the restroom, but briefly stopped at the boy, looking around his new spot on the floor. He must have tripped on something...

 

There!

 

Kyouko bent over, and picked up a small purse. "Get up," she said. "If anyone should be apologizing, it's whoever this belongs to. Watch where you're stepping from now on." With that, Kyouko set the purse down on the counter, and made directly for the restroom. She had to dry off.

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"yeah, Captain. One of the guys dueling today. He's really great at dueling and brewing, and I'm like his right hand man, his go to guy, the almost top dog of the duel team just under him."

 

This caused Gabriela to pause. So this girl was the second in command then? The underling to the man she wished to make her underling? Suddenly she started to grow more curious.

 

Though before she could ask anything the match looked to be about to start, drawing the girl's attention. So this was Hitomu and...who was the other one? She didn't remember if her roommate had mentioned the girl he was facing. But it was apparently a big deal of sorts. Whatever the case she was mostly here for one person.

 

Who, Gabby noticed in the back of her mind, was kind of...cute?

 

Jun once more got Gabriela's attention by asking her what snacks she wanted that nervous girl to get her. Clearing her throat, Gabriela declared proudly. "I would like the sugared blood crystals from the mines of Morean....Or whatever your common-folk eat. I have to sample your culture after all."

 

Though in truth Gabriela didn't really know what kind of snacks she liked. They usually never had much money to waste on things like snack food. So she'd be happy getting anything.

 

The girl decided to keep some distance from the one male in the group. Both due to the awkwardness of the young girl being around an older male and for the fact that he seemed to rather...dislike her.

 

Before the match truly got underway the shy girl had returned with an armful of snacks. Gabby stood up to help her with them before, mid-step, realizing that Gabriela wouldn't be likely to do that. "Er, welcome back, lost lamb, I shall give you the great honor of my assistance. Lest you ruin the bounty by dropping it over the floor."

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

The latest one? Don't remember the details. We've settled all sorts of problems by trading blows though; must be one of the few things we can agree on or something, that it's better to settle it that way instead of playing a card game."

 

Yushiro nodded. That sounded like Katsu, though he knew the girl could duel pretty well too.

 

"First time we had one was back in freshman year though. I was starting something with some snotty kid who thought he was so much better than everyone, and she showed up, told me to leave him alone, and we started swinging at each other. First fight I've ever lost, and I admit I wasn't a very good person back then. I've been working on it though."

 

"She has strength to her hits, but her technique was very sloppy, and from there did nothing to improve in that way, just focused on hitting harder and faster," Katsu said. "I, Katsu the Strong, appreciate that you have made an effort to turn from those days, but forgive me if I don't lower my guard. Also what are you doing sitting in a booth, the duel is starting right away!"

 

 

Did she really need to keep calling herself that? When Akira did it it was awesome, but it always felt... forced when Katsu did it.

 

"Honestly, I'd be disappointed if you did let down your guard."

 

"The woman Katsu has a point, you should probably get going before---"

 

SPLASH!

 

The next thing Yushiro knew, there was hot chocolate all over Kyouko- collateral damage resulting from some guy tripping and falling in a rather cartoonish fashion. KNowing almopst for certain what was next, Yushiro shot a furtive look over in Kyouko's direction, though the girl didn't seem to notice.

 

"I'm sorry!" It honestly sounded like he was begging for his life. The more Yushiro thought about it, the more he realized that that was exactly what the guy was doing. He was about to leap to his feet to try and remedy things, but Kyouko, in a move that no doubt shocked everyone present (except maybe Akira, who probably wouldn't even flinch if someone tried to drop a building on him) beat him to it.

 

"Get up," she said. "If anyone should be apologizing, it's whoever this belongs to. Watch where you're stepping from now on." She said as she bent down and picked up what appeared to be a purse from off the floor, and then made her way to the bathroom, probably to clean herself off. Crisis averted, for the moment at least. The next moment, Yushiro was hovering over the boy, offering him a hand to help him get up.

 

"Looks like you dodged a bullet there dude. Need a hand?"

[a coffee]

 

"I'll go first." Elizabeth looked at her hand; her eyes began to glow slightly as she realized the gravity of just how good her hand was. Guess it really is going to come down to turn three. Go figure.

 

""I'll start off my turn by normal summoning Lunalight Kaleido Chick!" A short, punkish looking beast with a resplendent, rainbow-colored veil appeared, and let out a taunting giggle towards Hitomu, "Kaleido Chick is special, because she allows me to send another Lunalight monster to the graveyard, and I choose Lunalight Wolf! That doesn't do anything just yet, but we'll get back to him. In the meantime, we've got some fusing to do. Let's start by using polymerization on Kaleido Chick and a card in my hand, Lunalight Black Sheep!" Just as quickly as Kaleido Chick had appeared, she began to melt away and twist into a green portal, which the silhouette of Black Sheep had also started melding into. The portal burst into a flash of light, and an elegant, feline beast emerged. Tassles flew from the feminine's creatures hips and laid themselves gently on the ground.

 

"Now, don't get too distracted by my lovely Cat Dancer, as sending Black Sheep to the graveyard as a Fusion Material allows me to return Kaleido back to my hand, and since Kaleido was sent to the graveyard by a card effect, Polymerization will also return to my hand. For now, I'll leave tricks as just that. Wouldn't want to end this little shindig too fast, now would we?" Elizabeth playfully winked as confidence rushed to her chest. She was feeling alive out there on the stage, and the stunned cheering from the crowd had empowered her, even if she was far from winning this duel. Elizabeth nervously shuffled her cards around in her hand repeatedly; could she actually win this duel?

 

Deep breaths, don't get ahead of yourself. It's gonna be at least another two turns before we can turn this all the way.

 

Hand: Kaleido, Poly, ??, ??
Field: LL Cat Dancer

GY: LL Wolf

LP: 8000

Hitomu LP: 8000

 

note: tricks is british slang for "business" or "things"

[radio414]

“‘The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,’ says the Lord.”

-Isaiah 65:25 (NIV)

“Welcome back, lost lamb. I shall give you the great honor of my assistance, lest you ruin the bounty by dropping it over the floor.”

 

“Thank you,” said Melissa, even if she was a little confused at Gabriela’s particular phrasing. She wasn’t a lost lamb, at least she didn’t think so. A lamb, sure, but if she were still lost that would mean all the services and the confessions and the Bible studies didn’t matter, right?

 

Right?

 

With Gabriela’s help, Melissa distributed her purchases amongst those gathered, though Melissa felt the need to apologize for every potential misstep she might have made. “Sorry if you wanted blue cotton candy, Yusuji,” she said. “I guess you can just wipe off the salt if you don’t want it, Souji.” And on and on down the line.

 

It took a moment, but as the bag emptied Melissa realized she hadn’t actually purchased anything for herself. Which was fine, she wasn’t that hungry, but it did make the moment more than a little awkward having to sit next to all these other people who were, or, were at least hungry enough to accept the snacks in the first place. Besides, it looked like the duel had just started. She didn’t want people missing something they anticipated just because of her. She could manage.

[Alaina]

 

Jun merely nodded at Souji's comment about the captain's duel. After having exchanged texts with Melissa about snacks, the girl then paid attention to the duel proper getting underway. Jun wasn't super familiar with Elizabeth's playing style, but she was still thrilled to see that the girl had started with speed and bringing out one of her fusion monsters and practically recycling her whole play back to her hand. While Jun was with the crowd's enthusiasm at first, as the girl ended her turn, Jun couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this, thinking both about what she sent out and what she was against. All same, she didn't say much, but  turned to see her more quiet friend return saying, "oh thanks Lissa!" Opening her bag of chips, the girl began to eat them one at a time, not really paying much attention to the girl and instead the duel. She seemed to be far more calm then just a few moments ago.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Gabriela settled down in her seat as she examined the chips she had been given. She hesitantly took a bite and, as she did, her eyes widened a bit. "Oh, it's good." She said. Then, realizing she said it out loud, coughed and, in her previous tone. "These are to my liking, I approve of this first example of your people's cuisine. And I look forward to sampling many more."

 

Though that was about when the match started, and Gabriela found herself leaning forward. The girl went first, which she felt a bit disappointed by, and right from the get-go summoned out a Fusion Monster. She had to admit, that was a sort of intimidating lead. She looked over to see how the one she was here for reacted to it...when she noticed Melissa out of the corner of her eye.

 

It seemed the girl hadn't gotten anything for herself. On purpose? No, it didn't really seem like that.

 

After a brief hesitation Gabriela held her chips out towards the girl. Without looking directly at Melissa, Gabriela said, "It would not do for someone of my noble stature and bearing to eat while those lower class go without. I will allow you to partake in some of my bounty, if you wish."

 

She wouldn't be able to stop feeling guilty about eating in front of the girl who had gone out of her way to help them.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

“I guess you can just wipe off the salt if you don’t want it, Souji.”

 

Souji glanced over, seeing Melissa handing him a pretzel...with a LOT of salt. He took the pretzel and chuckled. "To be completely honest, these things taste much better with a lot of salt anyway." he said, taking a bite of it. "Thanks."

 

Now he had to assess the situation that Hitomu's opponent, Elizabeth Hall, started the Duel off with. To his surprise: Lunalights, a Fusion oriented deck. Of course, this made the HERO Duelist smirk whilst he continued to eat his pretzel. The turn started with Elizabeth, of course, Fusion Summoning Lunalight Cat Dancer after a successful combination with Kaleido Chick and Black Sheep. Right now, this helped her get Kaleido Chick and Polymerization back to hand, while also having Lunalight Wolf in the grave thanks to Kaleido Chick's ability.

 

"Hmm...not a bad opening turn." Souji said, in between bites of his salty pretzel. "Though I'm curious at the moment on why she chose Lunalight Wolf to be sent to the grave by Kaleido Chick. It would've been perfectly fine for her to just use Black Sheep and then fuse the monsters she wanted and recycle the cards back to hand." He paused, just shaking his head. "...there's obviously a play she's setting up for if she tossed Wolf in there."

[Hakima]

---

The Duel Stadium changed drastically under the effect of Duel Space. Hitomu’s side was predictable; drab concrete and muted grays had been replaced by the physics-defying aesthetic of a cartoon or comic book, this time in particular that of a countryside of rolling hills. Not even his clothing had been spared from the changes, as The Blue-Eyes White Dragon mascot on the back of his jacket had been turned into his much loonier cartoon form, who (while still 2D) waggled his tongue and sneered at the crowd.

 

Even the Masked Chopper on his beanie had come to life, running around to back of the cap and reaching down to bop Toon Blue-Eyes on the head with his cleaver. The cartoon dragon squawked and then glared at the cleaver-wielding offender, leaping off the jacket and onto the Hitomu’s beanie to chase him around.

 

The shenanigans were met with thunderous approval from the crowd. “Shindig? Really?” Hitomu laughed. Even Masked Chopper and Toon BEWD had stopped to gawk at the use of the outdated slang. “Anyways, guess that means it’s my turn now. I’ll gonna start things off simple. I’m gonna set a monster and play a card facedown, then I’ll activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards, bringing my hand up to five cards.”

 

In a flash of light, two huge cards appeared facedown in front of him, leaving his field painfully bare when compared to his opponents. Hitomu seemed cool and confident in spite of this. “That’s all. It’s your move, Lizzy,” he said, but before she would have time to start, a high-pitched shriek interrupted them.

 

It was Toon Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Masked Chopper had swiped his scales off from the neck down, and his pink and mottled abdomen was reminiscent of a plucked chicken. Toon BEWD covered his torso with his hands, flushing red, and Masked Chopper doubled over with laughter.

 

“C’mon guys, knock it off. This is a serious duel, y’know!” Hitomu complained.

 

Toon BEWD ignored him in favor of burning Masked Chopper with a mouthful of white-hot fire.

 

Masked Chopper squealed and clapped a hand over his burnt rear, leaping into the air and accidentally throwing his cleaver. It came out of the jacket and immediately became three-dimensional, hurtling toward the crowd and narrowly avoiding a young student holding a bag of concessions. It did, however, hit the bag in her hands and slice it in half before embedding itself between two seated students beside her.

 

“... Sorry about that!” Hitomu shouted, too far away to see who the people in question were.

---

[King K. Azo]

 

 

---

 
"Get up," The voice of the Demon of Blue Yonder herself filled Sai with fear like he never knew. She was going to force him to watch himself die instead of just killing him now, wasn't she? "If anyone should be apologizing, it's whoever this belongs to. Watch where you're stepping from now on."

 

Wait, what?

 

He looked up, seeing Kyouko tower over him. She was holding a purse, walking away and... letting him live? He couldn't believe it. He lived by doing absolutely nothing. The grand traditions of the second fiddles lived on! 
 
"Looks like you dodged a bullet there dude. Need a hand?" Sai looked over to see a rather plain looking guy holding out a hand. It struck him as odd that someone like him would be with the Demon of Blue Yonder. Come to think of it, the other two around him were also really big, like they fought a lot. Wait...

Was this the leader of a gang?

No way, that was too comic book-y. There was no way... but why else would Kyouko hang out with this guy? Oh man, what did he get himself into?! Sai took the hand, being pulled up to his feet.

"Th-thanks," Sai said, rubbing the back of his neck. Keep the mood light, he was obviously overthinking this. Even the Demon of Blue Yonder had friends... right? "Man, I saw my life flash before my eyes there... it was actually kinda boring," He joking, putting on a small goofy grin. "A-anyways, I'm Sai... thanks for the hand," 

 

The Man Akira had been on guard during most of this exchange. He had no idea if the spilling was an accident, or an attempt to rile up the woman Kyouko, and frankly, he was ready to stop things should things get out of hand. However, the moment he heard the newcomer speak, he relaxed some. This kid reminded him of the man Yushiro, so there was no way he was a bad guy. 

"It is nice to meet you, the man Sai!" Akira got out of the booth, grinning and giving a hearty slap to Sai's back. One that sent the smaller boy rocketing back to the ground.

"Ow...," Sai moaned. Akira sheepishly helped the orange haired boy back to his feet, dusting him off. 

"Sorry about that. I, the man Akira, sometimes forget the man Akira's own strength," Akira apologized.

"I-it's fine... I'm okay, I'm okay...,"

[VCR_CAT]

 

 

"I'll go first."

 

Hiraku watched the duel with his arms crossed and right foot propped up on the back of the seat in front of him, scrutinizing Elizabeth's turn. Once she had summoned Cat Dancer and completed her turn, Hiraku pulled out his phone and did a quick search, pulling up Lunalight Cat Dancer's effects, reading the text out loud quickly under his breath.

 

"What? Why would she open with that?" He said, looking over her field once more. For all intents and purposes, she was wide open. Sure Cat Dancer had... some stats on it, but protection from battle wasn't anything a proper duelist would worry about. He did his best to recall if Lunalights had any effects in the hand or graveyard that would protect her from any sort of opening-turn blowout, but had trouble remembering exactly how that deck played as it is.

 “Anyways, guess that means it’s my turn now. I’ll gonna start things off simple. I’m gonna set a monster and play a card facedown, then I’ll activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards, bringing my hand up to five cards.”

 

Hiraku narrowed his eyes at the set cards. This was one of many reasons he disliked Hitomu's dueling so much. Any other good player would have seen this opening and committed to crashing down their opponent's door as soon as possible. The first player to seize advantage seizes the game.

 

But that wasn't how Hitomu played.

 

 

Katsu the Strong

 

SPLASH!

 

Just as the conversation had begun to lighten up, another student had gone and tripped, spilling the entirety of their drink all over Kyouko. Katsu tensed, ready for action, but her face betrayed the shock she felt as Kyouko simply stood up and addressed the groveling student.

 

"Get up," she said. "If anyone should be apologizing, it's whoever this belongs to. Watch where you're stepping from now on."

 

Kyouko left for the rest room, leaving a surprised and somewhat disappointed Katsu as Yushiro and Akira addressed the student that had tripped.

 

"Man, I saw my life flash before my eyes there... it was actually kinda boring," The boy joked with a nervous grin. "A-anyways, I'm Sai... thanks for the hand."

 

"It is nice to meet you, the man Sai!" Akira announced happily, smacking Sai on the back just a tad bit too hard. "Sorry about that. I, the man Akira, sometimes forget the man Akira's own strength."

 

"And I'm Katsu, the Strong," Katsu said, giving a short, courteous bow. "You should count yourself lucky to have gotten away so unscathed. But, fear not, for I, Katsu the Strong, would have leaped to your defense without a second thought!"

[👀 REP 👀]

 

---

 

Hoshiko watched as the duel started, applauding as she did. The girl was playing Lunalights. She didn't know much about the archetype, not seeing it in action in her time idoling. It would be interesting to see how this duel unfolded. It seemed to be a fusion-based deck though, as Elizabeth Fusion Summoned Lunalight Black Sheep. "I wonder how the other one is going to respond..." Hoshiko thought out loud, turning her attention to Hitomu. She didn't know much about the other students in this school, but from what she was able to gather during her first day of class, Hitomu was the best duelist around here. 

 

Who had a rather interesting get-up. He seemed to have two cartoon versions of monsters with him, their antics causing Hoshiko to giggle. Hitomu spent his turn setting two cards while also activating Pot of Greed. She had heard about the card, although she never knew what it actually did. "Draw two, huh... that seems really powerful." She said, before scratching her chin. "Still, he didn't really... do much this turn." Her attention shifted towards the two face-downs. "I wonder what he's got up his sleeves."

[radio414]

“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

-Hebrews 13:16 (NIV)

“It would not do for somebody of my noble stature and bearing to eat while those lower classes go without. I will allow you to partake in some of my bounty if you wish.”

 

Admitting that Gabriela’s actions were not something Melissa had expected required admitting to having a host of other, poorer assumptions regarding Gabriela’s character, which of course would in turn reflect poorly on her own character and, well, surely there were better interpretations of the mood Melissa found herself in.

 

For example, she could simply be surprised that she was getting any food at all. It was as welcome a surprise as any, at least. Maybe that was better? Actually, now that the food was there in front of her, she was starting to actually get hungry, and the hungrier she got, the more tempting Gabriela's offer was.

That wasn't to say Melissa needed all that tempted in the first place. This wasn't some trial she needed to overcome to demonstrate her piety, this was a gift from a new acquaintance. So why shouldn't she say a quick “Thank you,” reach out and…

 

“Look out!” somebody said.

 

Not that Melissa had any chance to react anyway. Masked Chopper’s cleaver was already careening towards her. All she could do was watch (and maybe flinch a little?) as the knife went cleanly through Gabriela’s bag and into the wall behind it. The net result was one cartoonish butcher knife in the back wall (that would fade away at the end of the duel, right?), half of a bag in hand, and a countless number of potato chips all over the ground.

 

“Oh dear,” Melissa said, almost instinctively. Most of her hoped that nobody heard, but it very quickly occurred to her that she wasn’t the only one still trying to take in the situation.

 

“Sorry about that!”

 

Hitomu was apologizing.

 

Somebody had tried to warn her.

 

Everybody was looking

At

Her.

 

Melissa’s, what, third(?) exit from the stands was much more of a struggle. A lot of her focus was on just going towards the stairs, but there was a not insignificant part of her acutely aware of the hundreds of eyeballs on her back. She didn’t blame them, sure, like, Hitomu’s turn hadn’t been all that interesting so of course they’d been drawn elsewhere, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t rather they didn’t.

 

There was also that part of her that wanted to break down right then and now, but she knew that all those eyes would stay on her until either the most interesting thing in the arena either left or wasn’t the most interesting thing in the arena anymore. And sure, Elizabeth was in the process of taking her turn and maybe that was attention-grabbing enough, but Melissa really didn’t want to look around and check.

 

The feeling did dissipate a little when she did finally enter the mezzanine, or rather, it localized itself in her gut, sapping feeling from the rest of her body. Continuing forward was less like actual walking and more like a limp sort of shuffle that required one shoulder against the wall for additional support.

 

This wasn’t a feeling Melissa was unfamiliar with, though her hunger did compound it slightly; that little extra cramp made each step sting slightly more than normal. It was also one of the easier things to rectify, and if she managed to remember this time, she could even solve a multitude of problems.

 

All the lines were shorter now that the duel had started. There was still a brief wait due to an assortment of the late stragglers who had only just reached the front of the line, the hipsters who thought nobody else would be out here with the main attraction going on, and the people like Melissa who found themselves in need of more food, but it wasn’t the kind of wait that required pulling out her phone. Pretty soon, she found herself face to face with the exact same cashier.

 

Either he didn’t recognize her, didn’t care, or both.

 

Probably both.

 

The ordering process was much simpler this time. It was only two things, they were the same thing, and Melissa had the specifics down pretty well this time. Not only that, but the complete lack of caring from the cashier somehow managed to lessen her non-hunger stomach ache as well.

 

Melissa didn’t know what it said about her that she felt better knowing somebody didn’t care about her, but she was grateful for the ability to properly walk again. She took a brief detour to the restroom to splash a little more water on her face, then made her way back to her seat.

 

“Here you go,” she said to Gabriela, passing the girl her bag. “I, uh, I also bought a bag for me, so, um, you get that bag all to yourself.”

 

She still didn’t feel all that great, but at least things were getting better.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

“Thank you,”
 
That small response was all Gabby needed to know she made the right choice. In fact she felt a small thrill as the girl began to reach out for some chips. Was this how she'd make her first friend? Why, this wasn't so hard after all...
 
“Look out!”
 
And then the cleaver made its way through the air and ripped into the bag of chips, spilling the contents all over the ground. Gabby stared at it for a long moment and felt her heart sank. She was enjoying those...

 

“Sorry about that!”

 

Gabby noticed the girl run off. However she was already turned towards the voice of the one who caused this, Hitomu, and she was struggling to decide how to react. She didn't want to argue with anyone. She'd much prefer to keep things civil and stay out of trouble.

But that was what the past her would have done. And look how well that had worked out?

 

So Gabriella glared at the offending man and pointed at him. Even if he couldn't hear her she would say what she had to say. "You dare to attack a princess of darkness in such a manner? Were you in my home country you'd be hanged! But I, being the generous ruler I am, will settle for a repayment of lost nourishment."

 

She then glanced over at Jun, whom she remembered had mentioned knowing Hitomu, and told her "And you, you shall introduce me to this brutish man so that I may officially grant him the honor of serving under me...after he has repaid me of course."

 

When Mellissa reappeared Gabby realized that she probably should have followed her and not let her run off on her own like that. Feeling guilty, she smiled at the girl. "Your kindness will not go unrewarded if the time comes that my country decides to have dealings with your own."

[The Warden]

Alison nodded thoughtfully as the duel unfolded. The Hermit took the lead by conjuring up a Lunalight Cat Dancer, and not much else. Bringing up a console, the young girl perused the cards Elizabeth had used, and frowned. "With the combination of cards she possessed, she easily could have brought out the mighty and difficult to remove Lunalight Leo Dancer by using Kaleido Chick to copy Panther Dancer instead of Wolf. And further just recovered cards only to not use them again. There might indeed be a plan with the Lunalight Wolf sent to the graveyard, but to leave the Cat Dancer undefended and out in the open is foolish. But, in hindsight that is to be expected of a Hermit; they make reserved plays."

 

And so in anticipation, the Emperor made his move, albeit in just a reserved way. "Pot of Greed? What an old, rare, and powerful card to have; as expected of a mighty emperor. But his first move was shallow, though I suspect the two cards set will bait the Hermit. This will be far more interesting than I thought, though I wonder what the Hermit is truly up too."

 

Looking away from the duel, it seemed the comedy of errors was continuing on nearby. And to think, all this fuss over spilled milk?

[BANZAI!!!!]

 

 

"Th-thanks," Sai said, rubbing the back of his neck.  "Man, I saw my life flash before my eyes there... it was actually kinda boring. A-anyways, I'm Sai... thanks for the hand," 

 

"Yushiro Midori." Yushiro replied, helping the other boy to his feet. "And yeah that's my real name." The second remark was his usual deterrent to the inevitable "but you don't look Japanese" he tended to get when introducing himself.

 

"It is nice to meet you, the man Sai!" Akira interjected, giving Sai a pat on the back that immediately sent him back to the floor. "Sorry about that. I, the man Akira, sometimes forget the man Akira's own strength."

 

Cue a good laugh from Yushiro, who leaned back over and teamed up with Akira to help Sai up again.

 

"I-it's fine... I'm okay, I'm okay...,"

 

"And I'm Katsu, the Strong," Katsu said, giving a short, courteous bow. "You should count yourself lucky to have gotten away so unscathed. But, fear not, for I, Katsu the Strong, would have leaped to your defense without a second thought!"

 

"Awww nuts, guys. Guess we missed out on the catfight this time." Yushiro said, suppressing another laugh as he looked at Sai, Akira, and then Katsu in turn. "My money was on you too Katsu."
 

[Alaina]

 

As Souji made his commentary on Elizabeth's turn, Jun didn't do much more then put a finger to her chin, but quickly returned to her neutral expression. She, similarly, didn't seem to have her face give way to any form of expression as Hitomu made his move, and didn't seem much phased by his toon's antics. Though, it was impossible to ignore it as the cleaver had ended up landing in close proximity of her. More specifically in someone's bag of chips. Looking at Melissa, Jun simply said, "oh, that sucks." As the girl ran off, Jun couldn't help but wonder if she really needed to go to the bathroom again. 

 

While she was ready to simply turn her attention back to the duel at hand, Gabriela stood up and began shouting towards Hitomu, making her declarations of being a princess of some faraway kingdom once more. Jun's expression turned to a mix of a smile filled with some kind of surprise and confusion at the girl, but as she turned back towards Jun, the girl couldn't help but laugh at the whole thing. Calming her laugh down a bit, she said, "sure, sure thing Gabby. We'll go see Captain first thing after the duel." The girl giggled to herself once more, before seeing Melissa return back again. 

 

After Gabriela had said her piece, Jun smiled and said, "oh, and you can come with us after the duel to see Captain. That way you can give him a piece of your mind too." Jun kept up her smile as she playfully punched her own palm as she made her comment. With that resolved, the girl's attention turned back to the duel at hand. 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

With Elizabeth's turn done, Souji's eyes started dragging over towards Hitomu's side of the field. The Duel Team's captain...this man had a hell of a way of Dueling. With enough discipline and work, he honestly believed Hitomu could be an amazing Entertainment Duelist. The way his deck and monsters utilized the playing field to bring joy and mirth to the masses baffled and astounded him.

 

However, that was something he didn't want to do, least from what Souji remembered of the last time he asked. That type of talent would be amazing to use...but that just wasn't his style. Nevertheless, his turn...this should actually prove to be an amazing first turn for hi-

 

“Anyways, guess that means it’s my turn now. I’ll gonna start things off simple. I’m gonna set a monster and play a card facedown, then I’ll activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards, bringing my hand up to five cards. That’s all. It’s your move, Lizzy.”

 

...god...damnit Hitomu... he immediately had his hand on his face. That opening turn was like...just bland. Of course he knew good and well that he had things planned, seeing the face that there was a set monster and Spell or Trap...but just ending it like that after using Pot of Greed?

 

Souji's thoughts were "cut" short as apparently through the whole situation, the Masked Chopper and Blue-Eyes Toon on Hitomu's clothing were screwing around to a point and Melissa was the butt of the joke...with Gabriela being pretty steamed in the process.

 

"You dare to attack a princess of darkness in such a manner? Were you in my home country you'd be hanged! But I, being the generous ruler I am, will settle for a repayment of lost nourishment."

 

"Relax...it's a Duel Space." Souji waved his hand at Gabriela, munching down the salty pretzel yet again. "The captain's intentions and will aren't to harm...so neither would they. It was just an accident is all." ...why the hell am I trying to defend Hitomu? He doesn't need it...

[Dova]

---

The first turn had seen a distinct lack of “ba bam!” and “kapow!”, although the cuteness of Elizabeth’s Lunalights made up for it. Unfortunately, it seemed they had taken a leaf out of Souji’s book, with the black and purple spawning a pout from Yusuji until it was wiped off by the luminescent fusion between the creatures. Just then, she caught sight of the influence of Duel Space on Hitomu’s side of the field.

“Those toons are even MORE adorable!” Yusuji cried, barely able to keep herself from bouncing up and down even as Captain did little more than pass. Yet, like the furry warriors before, the antics of these new monsters caused her to watch with rapt attention, certainly fulfilling the requirement of “boing-oing” missing most of the actual happenings going on, until..

"oh, and you can come with us after the duel to see Captain. That way you can give him a piece of your mind too."

“Absolutely!” Yusuji agreed enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to see his toons up close! Actually…” she paused, finally turning away back from her duel to her awesome friends. “It’d be amaze-naze to see him again! He’s always really sweet when we’re painting together, and I can’t believe I haven’t properly talked to him this term.”

"Your kindness will not go unrewarded if the time comes that my country decides to have dealings with your own."

The paintress beamed at Gabriela’s words. “Hooray, another friend for Melissa! Today just keeps getting better. We should do some more hanging out later!” Another moment of pondering. "Gabriela, can you tell me about Romvania? I don't think I've heard of it, and it sounds so exotic. You must've had so many adventures as a princess!"

---

[a coffee]

Todd groaned, "Would you shut your damn gob for a minute, Beth?! I'm trying to say something serious!"

 

Elizabeth could only giggle in response, "Oh word, I've really gotten you worked up, haven't I? Alright, alright, I'll be good. What's it you've got to say?"

 

Todd pulled out some cards from his deckbox, facing the backs towards Beth, saving the reveal for later, "I've given some thoughts to changing my deck; these cards I just pulled are the best in the type, and I think they'd match up brilliantly against Hitomu." He handed over the three cards to Elizabeth; they were Lunalight Cat Dancer, Panther Dancer, and Leo Dancer, "Plus, they remind me of you and your activity, there's no way Hitomu could beat us both, right?" Todd flashed a goofy smile to try and lessen the blow of the proposal he had just sent Beth's way.

 

Beth, for all of her understanding of the game and why staying current is such an advantage, remained flabbergasted, "Change your deck?! Todd we've dueled the same cards since primary! How could you even think about changing your cards now?" Elizabeth looked down at the cards and read their effects; even for her stubbornness, she had to admit they were strong, "Heavens. 3500 attack and two swipes a turn? This game has gone barmy. You could finish a whole duel in one turn with these things!"

 

Todd nodded in agreement, "Use your noggin, Beth. Hitomu's control would never have a chance to get set up against something like this. You would blow him out of the water before he even gets a Toon down! I want to run them. Thinking of putting it together sometime next week."

 

"Ugh. If you have to, Todd. But I'll always favor the classics." she looked down at her purse, thinking about the deck on her hip, "Still... I guess you can't stay the same forever. Maybe there is something to the idea that you could beat Hitomu before he's ready."

-----------

"That’s all. It’s your move, Lizzy.”

Elizabeth simply raised her eyebrow,  That's it? He must be planning something. She drew her card and chuckled in response to what she saw, "Well, it would seem like you've left me with a bit of a choice, chap! I either get the immeasurable luxury of charging head first into the unknown, or affording you an extra to do whatever it was you had planned with what you've set there. You sure know how to make a girl feel lucky." she twirled Kaleido Chick around in her hand a few times, "And the worst part is this card is really what decides it. On one hand, Todd always felt as if I was too conservative when playing against you, but on the other, I don't envy the position I've been put in with this hand and your field."

 

She pursed her lips, looked up at the sky as she knew she had already philosophically disagreed with the plan she had set forth for herself, and continued onwards, "Perhaps another time I'll have to pick your brain on what you would have done, but given that complete success and total failure are my only options remaining with this turn, I suppose it's time to walk you through it."

 

Elizabeth quickly began placing cards down onto her disk, speaking just as fast as her hands were moving, as if she had wanted to just get through the turn as fast as possible so that she could be done with it. It was difficult to discern whether or not her decision making was simply that automatic, or if she was avoiding the idea of thinking entirely, but there was no turning back from her pace, "I'll start my turn by summoning Kaleido Chick and throwing Blue Cat into the graveyard, and polymerizing her with Cat Warrior, bringing forth none other than the mighty Panther Dancer!"

 

Quick flashes of light popped from in front of Elizabeth, signaling cards being thrown to the grave, as well as the fusion of her two monsters being completed, only to reveal a tall, tan-skinned humanoid with accompanying flowing skirt and armored strapless top. Elizabeth snickered as she continued, "While beautiful and certainly nothing to scoff at, avoid becoming too attached to her, as she shan't be staying for long. You may recall that last turn, Kaleido Chick allowed me to return polymerization to my hand. Well that will be happening again, and with the last use of Polymerization, I'll be sending Panther, Purple Butterfly, and White Rabbit to the graveyard."

 

This time, Elizabeth looked up from her own disk, and straight into Hitomu's eyes, "Now it's been a while, so you may not recall. Allow me to introduce to you the irresistable Lunalight Leo Dancer!!"

 

Elizabeth threw her hand up into the air as the ground tremored slightly, and out from the blast of light in front of her stepped the tall cat-humanoid known as Leo Dancer, adorning a risque piece of clothing that only truly covered up what would be considered her privates, although straps of various kinds crossed her body, and she also had the Lunalight signature skirt. A shining ringed tail came from her backside and extended some distance, matching the brilliance of the saber she held in her right hand. Her battlecry would be nothing more than a playful roar and an excited stare as thorned petals fell from the sky, matching Leo Dancer's image of beauty and strength.

 

"Truthfully, the thing giving me the most pause is that rotten Set monster. were it not there, I would simply summon Blue Cat from the graveyard and double her attack, certainly spelling your doom. But with that there, I must resign myself to summoning Wolf by way of my Lunalight Perfume, which will give my monsters piercing damage, and turn up the heat on that bum of yours a tad!"

 

One final flash of light and a pink mist later, Wolf rose from the ground with a similar, feminine physique, although much smaller than Leo Dancer. It made no noise, instead baring its teeth and giving a menacing stare. Elizabeth shot her arm out towards Hitomu, "No more wasting time! Ladies, attack and show Hitomu what we came here for! Wolf, take care of the Set Monster, and Leo Dancer, go straight for the enemy!"

 

Not long after her command, Wolf and Leo Dancer both launched from their positions. The flurry started with Wolf lowering to all fours and unleashing a ground-shaking howl that, if it were successful, would send pieces of the Set card flying back towards Hitomu, resulting in little more than a brief chill or the feeling of being pegged with a handful of grapes; Elizabeth meant no harm towards HItomu and harbored no ill will, so she would never even consider harming him in a Duel Space environment, no matter how intense her emotions were at the moment.

 

Next up would come Leo Dancer, who would attack with a sweeping slash from left to right, only to quickly bring it back to center on her target, sending petals exploding off of the impact of her blade. Were it to make contact with Hitomu, this would feel like little more than an ice cube being drawn across bare skin. Uncomfortable, maybe, but far from painful.

 

Elizabeth simply stood there, fixing the bangs she had displaced during her shouting and gestures. She could do little more than wait for Hitomu's response from this point onward; either the attacks would land and he would be left with under 2000 Life Points, almost certainly spelling doom for Hitomu, or she would be left with nothing more than a packed graveyard and strong field. There was little to no chance of her rebuilding a board or bosltering it from here, short of a serious miracle. Complete success or total failure, right?

 

~~~

 

Attacking: Wolf (2000) ---> Set Card, Leo Dancer (3500) x2

Hand: 0

GY: Kaleido Chick, Cat Dancer, Panther Dancer, Black Sheep, Blue Cat, Purple Butterfly, White Rabbit, Polymerization, Perfume

Field: Wolf (2000/1800) / Leo Dancer (3500/3000)

Elizabeth: 8000

Hitomu: 8000

[Yui]

---

Several paper towels, a quick washing of the face, and a sizable fist-shaped dent in one of the stall doors later, Kyouko was about as dried off as she was able to get right now. She'd have to take a shower when she got back to the dorms, though. As the girl stepped out of the restroom, she saw everyone else was still doing just fine. And spill-free. Why her? Maybe today just was one of those unlucky days for Kyouko. Hopefully the bad luck ended here. She sat herself back down, grabbing both of the remaining two cookies from her small pile and shoving both of them into her mouth. Followed by another large sip of coffee, once those had gotten down her throat.

 

"Doesn't look like I missed much," she commented. Then her gaze turned over to the boy that tripped earlier. ...and promptly away from him, and back to... Yusuke? "So, what's the big deal with this duel you wanted to see?"

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"sure, sure thing Gabby. We'll go see Captain first thing after the duel."

 

"Very well, I shall await that time. Beware, 'Captain', a dark cloud approaches..." Gabriela paused, listened over to Jun's words again in her head, and then "H-hey, don't call me that! My name's Gabriela. Gab-ri-el-a."

 

Turning her head from the laughing girl she glanced over at the boy in the group, and instinctively stepped a couple steps away, as he essentially told her she shouldn't be worrying. "Tell that to the bag." She responded, crossing her arms and pouting at the boy.

 

"Gabriela, can you tell me about Romvania? I don't think I've heard of it, and it sounds so exotic. You must've had so many adventures as a princess!"

 

Smiling, she turned towards the girl who had been oddly quiet for a while now. "Finally, someone who can appreciate my greatness. There's much about Romvania I could tell you. Books I could write about it, in fact, but er...right now is not the place for such a discussion. For...it requires a more mystical and private setting. To...fully soak in the glory and mystery."

And she needed time to make up more things about the phony land she hadn't given nearly enough thought to.

"Right now, I must keep at least some of my, rather vast, focus on this match after all."

 

She looked over in time to see the girl's new Monster attacking. Frowning, Gabby wondered what this Hitomu could possibly do to counter this. With so few cards on the field....did he have a trick in his hand perhaps? He certainly didn't seem very worried...

[Alaina]

 

Jun merely smiled and nodded, saying ,"right right," as Gabriela tried to correct her on how to say her name. The girl then looked to her painter friend as she spoke, nodding along. "Then it's settled! We'll all go and have a fun time with Captain once this duel is over!" She shot a look to Souji, as if to tell him that the decision to go was already made. As Yusuji kept talking to Gabriela, Jun looked eagerly, waiting to see just what kind of details the girl had on her country she was the princess of, and only chuckled as she seemed to deflect the question.  "Well, I'm sure well have plenty to ask once you're ready, Gabby." 

 

As Elizabeth's turn came around again, Jun also decided to focus on it and, quite like the rather eccentric girl she was with, frowned at the sight of the turn. Now that Jun was seeing these monsters fully in action, it was pretty clear what kind of deck the Lunalights were. Focusing all of their resources on getting a single monster out to destroy someone in one go - a one turn kill deck. And with Elizabeth having gotten her combo fully off and was going for the kill now, it was very likely that she had gone all in on this play. Sighing in disappointment, Jun stood up. "Well, let's get going. Gotta make sure we don't get stuck in a huge crowd right?" Without much warning or waiting, the girl began making her way out of the stands.