CARD GAMES

OOC: Michel's evil plan is revealed! Slightly. Anyway, I also added Michel's full name, despite how "last minute" it sounds. His company name was also in the last few lines of his history in case anyone wants to make a reference. *Pokes AE.

IC: Michel had finally arrived in Times Square where the beginning of the worldwide tournament would begin, and after tailing two potential participants to get there, he ended up finding himself overhearing a rather forcibly subdued argument.

One of the persons who had caught his attention was a young girl, coupled with two pairs of suits that followed her every order. The other was another youngster but of the male orientation and had provided him the way to his destination. Disregarding them both, Michel found himself standing along one of the many streets that lined New York's open labyrinth of roads and skyscraper-ing buildings. His condition had lessened slightly and he was now able to focus more clearly on what was going on around him, despite the lack of said event.

"I wonder what the hold up is. They announced that the ceremony would start soon, but that was ten minutes ago-"

At this, Michel's eyes traversed over the surface of his broken wristwatch and realised that he had no idea what the time was, more or less how long it had been since the announcement. Cursing under his breath, the nineteen year old teen ripped the present he had received from his parents off of his wrist and threw the functionless device into the nearest receptacle. As he did so, a sudden voice caught his attention.

"The next King of Games…?"

Turning a full one hundred and eighty degrees, the teen businessman narrowed his attention onto two individuals who he had overheard passively arguing only moments ago, thinking that they had resolved their dispute earlier, but was obviously mistaken.

"The bodyguard girl from before…and she's with a tourist by the looks of his getup...or a fruit."

Seeing the two in a much more focused state, Michel suddenly realised that he recognised the two teens, much to his own surprise.

"The prize daughter of Edgeworth Electronics and the winner of the Industrial Illusions' design-a-card contest are both here…"

The tattered blazer wearing duellist knew these names, along with many others, due to specific preparations he had undertaken before arriving in America. With significant financial support, he had obtained vast amounts of information on all significant duellists that had participated in any official tournaments across the world in the last twelve months. This was where Achan Smith's identity was revealed. He had reached preliminary status in a Hawaiian Duel Monsters tournament in only a short period of time before his winning of the create-a-card competition was announced. Every other duellist competing in said tournament was also profiled and recorded for Michel's purposes in creating his own database of his potential opposition in the worldwide competition.

In Tacey Edgeworth's case however, her public information was obtained through different means. Edgeworth Electronics is a multimillion dollar company that, as apparent from its name, specialises in a vast amount of electrical devices and related technology. By chance, she had been added to the database simply because of her connection to her family's company, which was in league with one of the tournament's hosts, Kaiba Corp. Both of these companies stood in the way of Michel's true goal and along with the discovery of her competitive career as a duellist, Tacey was now a potential threat in both the tournament and in business.

Michel gritted his teeth as he finished reiterating what he already knew after consulting his various informational sources. His goal was straightforward and incredibly rewarding, if it were to be fully realised. After finding out that Edgeworth was now in the tournament, his own publicity had to be minimised to ensure that any risks he would be taking later on, does little to change the plan's scenario.

"I should lay low I suppose. I only need to ensure that Edgeworth and myself make it to the finals, at least at that point, I'll be able to force her into a corner. Although…it'll be harder with that Smith around though, so I guess I should get in line with him sooner or later. Haah…who knew carrying out an incredibly simple plan could be so difficult…"

Michel sighed as he finished his personal monologue, making sure that the two teens could no longer see nor hear him from their place in the crowds.

"ATTENTION, DUELISTS! THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES WILL BE HERE INCREDIBLY SOON!
"Alright, Bob, I can't delay forever. What do you mean, this guy is in his dressing room? Come on, he can't stay in there all- Oh ****, this thing's still-"

Clenching his hands in an effort to relieve the tension and adrenaline that was now coursing through him, the business-teen smiled as all physical hindrance caused by his jetlag disappeared, just as the start of the tournament drew ever closer.

"Perfect."

OOC: Pfeh, Tacey has an evil plan too, except it's not revealed at all...yet, and probably isn't as insidious. Rival minds think alike, eh? xD

Randomly, I just noticed that Michel doesn't seem to have a hair color. o.O *Double checks profile* Nope, can't seem to find one.

IC:

Tacey shrugged at Achan's suggestion, "Suit yourself." she replied, "But don't blame me if you get your cards all greasy and dirty with that. Well, what might you be waiting for, Rufus?" she cast a haughty glance at the suit, "Go get a refreshing beverage for me and some burned dead animal on a stick for my little friend here."

"Yes, miss." the suit replied, not giving any comment to Tacey's choice of words as he took his leave and disappeared into the crowd.

"Now then..." the girl turned back to Achan, "What were you saying about-" she never got to finish her sentence as she caught sight of a familiar spiky-haired individual. It wasn't one of her suits, though. No, this particular young man in his worn blazer was something quite different, and Tacey's eyes narrowed at the sight, "Arma." the name came out sounding more like a hiss than anything else, but she soon shifted to her usual sweet voice as she turned back to address Achan, "Excuse me for a moment, I have some arrangements to make." with that, she walked a bit further away from the boy, winking over the bald suit and whispering some hurried orders into his ear before walking back, the henchman once again fading into the background, somewhere in the general direction that Michel had been in.

"That's better." Tacey trilled, sauntering back to Achan, "Now we can finally get back to-"

"ATTENTION, DUELISTS! THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES WILL BE HERE INCREDIBLY SOON! Alright, Bob, I can't delay forever. What do you mean, this guy is in his dressing room? Come on, he can't stay in there all- Oh ****, this thing's still-"

"Oh for goodness' sake!" Tacey exclaimed in exasperation, nursing her right ear, "I swear if they don't drag that hopeless buffoon away from the microphone soon I shall become deaf before this ordeal is over. Do they not understand that a delicate young woman like myself simply should not be exposed to such vulgar noises?!" her voice had reached a volume almost rivaling the loudspeakers at this point and she punctuated it by stamping her right foot, leaving a small dent in the pavement, "Mark my words, if I was in charge here fools like that would be fired at the blink of an eye." it was then that Achan decided to pose his most banal question yet.

"Queen of games." she corrected with the tone of a maimed martyr, "And who else would be fit for such a position? A throne isn't something you earn; it's a birthright, and I've simply come to claim mine. Besides..." she added with satisfied little smile, "I've never lost a competitive duel and don't plant to start now, and if I don't lose that pretty much guarantees my victory, does it not?"

Achan snapped at the word "birthright". First this little insipid brat started insulting his duel disk, then she insulted his new favorite food, smacked his honor, and now she was saying "Oh, lookie, I'm the Queen of Ga-ames~" before the tournament had even commenced. Immediately he adopted a more aggresive stance and began snarling. "Alright, first off, being obscenely rich doesn't automatically make you royalty. It just means that you're granted diplomatic immunity anywhere you go. Second, the title is 'King of Games' no matter who who holds it. Get it right! And third, who says you're going to win? You've never played outside of the European or American circuits as far as I know, meaning you've got half the world you haven't dueled against!" his face began heating up as the frustration of the past few minutes erupted into words. "And you know what else? The reason I've never heard of Edgeworth Electronics is because it's a third-rate company here in America!" He stopped, panting for a few minutes, before muttering "Okay, I think that's all."

"ALRIGHT, DUELISTS! KEEP YOUR PANTS ON! THE MC HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN ASCENDING THE STAGE! Alright, Mac, are you happy? Come on, that's the best I can do. What do you mean I'm not quite as loud as- Okay, who put tape on the 'on' switch? Come on, I just want to-"

Achan stared at the now-silent loudspeakers. "Alright, what the heck was that?"

Rurian got tired of all the annoyance and decided to buy some coffee. Walking to the nearest cafe , he noticed a very beautiful girl around his age walking in the same direction as he was , to the cafe. Rurian kept on walking until he was at the counter right next to the girl. He flushed and quickly made an order.

"Yeah , I'd like a decaf latte please? Oh and with some cream too." He told the cashier.

Rurian sat at a two seated table and , by coincidence , the other girl sat at the same one. He noticed her features completely , being careful not to look like he was staring at her inappropriately. She had long blue hair , flowing in sync with the wind. Her eyes were a purple color , her body was slender and in shape , and had a skin color similar to Rurian's.

"Haji memashte , Yuri dess , dozo yoroshku." "Hello , I am Yuri , pleased to meet you." Spoke the girl.' Rurian was surprised that she spoke Japanese. He also gave her a greeting with the words "Haji memashte , Rurian dess , dozo yoroshku." and shook her hand. They both flushed and looked away for a moment. He looker at her left wrist and noticed a duel disk strapped on.

"You in this tournament too?" He asked simply. She looked at her duel disk and gave a nod followed by , "Yes. I am in this tournament." Rurian gave a slight nod and showed the deck holder part of his duel disk. "The other part is in my bag. I'll attach it later." He assured her. Both of their coffee were done so they took them and left.

Walking to the middle of the crowd , Rurian and Yuri stood , sipping their coffee every few minutes. Rurian put his bag down and waited impatiently , Yuri doing the same.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! THE MC IS NOW ON THE STAGE! Here he i- Grrrr What now!? He's still walking up!? What do you mean the stairs are too long!? They're only fifty feet up! Come on now Larry! I'm going to kick somebody's a- Wait , is the mic still on? God darn it!"

"Erm.....Ooookay...?" Rurian and Yuri spoke in unison.

"Well excuse me for being honest with you." Tacey harrumphed at Achan's comment, her tone once again making it perfectly clear that she didn't consider anyone to be in a position to excuse her. It was inevitable, she supposed, the boy had clearly succumbed to petty jealousy and was now trying to make her look bad. Sadly, this tended to be the case with most people she met. How typical for a boy not to stand being outshone by a girl, and how very disappointing. This one didn't even have the courtesy to give a longing stare first.

"First off." she raised her hand, counting the points down for Achan as she named them, "I will have you know that we Edgeworths are nobility in every sense of the word, and I have quite the extensive family tree to prove that. Second, the only reason such a ridiculous naming convention exists is because the only king of games we've yet to have is Muto, but mark my words: that change shall be made when I claim his title. Third, for your information - not that this is really any of your business - I also have quite an extensive dueling history in the tournaments of Japan, Domino City in particular, which I will have you know - in case the education system around here is as shabby as I've heard - also happens to be the home field of the former king of games. You'll have to excuse me if I don't consider not having dueled in the backward half of the globe a major handicap. And fourth..." she paused, lowering her hand, "No, on second thought I don't think I shall dignify any more of your spiteful little remarks with answers. One thing I will say, however." the hand she had just lowered suddenly lunged forward with the speed of a striking viper, delivering a stinging slap straight to Achan's face, "You, good sir, are a very impolite and envious person. I pity you, but that sentiment only goes so far. Kindly refrain from speaking to me until you've learned some manners." she concluded the statement by folding her arms, proudly holding her head high and purposefully in another direction than Achan's, her cheeks slightly flushed with righteous indignation, "Oh, and as a way to start." she added haughtily, carefully suppressing the small sting of tears in her eyes and willing them away, "When someone offers you something free of charge the polite thing to do is to say 'thank you'."

She had tried to be nice, she really had. But that spiteful little boy had thrown it in her face, just like what happened every time she tried to be nice to someone. This only confirmed what Tacey had known for a long time; nobles just shouldn't associate with peasantry beyond the purely practical and unavoidable.


Meanwhile, the bald suit made his way through the crowd. Specifically, through the crowd surrounding Michel. The task was somewhat outside the regular routine of a bodyguard, but with an employer like Tacey...well, he knew better than to argue. The girl's father he could deal with, but little miss Edgeworth - the suit had to admit - unnerved him a little, and not just because his job was on the line. He'd far sooner resort to something mildly shady than face the full brunt of her fury. Wiping a small trickle of sweat from his forehead at the thought, the suit noted that he had finally arrived at his target, nonchalantly falling into step with him and seizing on the opportunity granted by the latest announcement to take a firm grip of the boy's shoulder and unceremoniously spin him around until they were face to face.

"Mr. Michelangelo Arma." the suit said in a politely detached tone, releasing his grip before it would begin looking suspicious, although his shades still loomed ominously over the teenager, "I have a message for you."

Achan felt the sting of the pint-sized terror in front of him as her hand slapped into his cheek. It was all he could do not to respond in turn as she wheeled and walked away. Not only that, she couldn't resist a parting shot: "When someone offers you something free of charge the polite thing to do is to say 'thank you'." At that, he reached up and rubbed his hand to his cheek. Yep, I definitely deserved that one. He found himself thinking, before the proverbial "devil vs. angel" debate began roaring in his head.

Did you see that? Did you see that?, Achan's inner devil raged. That little snot totally slapped you for no good reason, and after heavily insulting you! You definitely need to do something really horrid to her.

But that would be cruel! Besides, she's a girl, and probably younger then Achan when it comes to that. We can't just waltz up and smack a girl who's littler then us! Achan's conscience countered.

Aww... You're just afraid of getting in trouble. Come on, she's a rich snob and a little- well, you know- and she totally needs to get taken down a peg or two by somebody. Argued the inner devil, who took the form of a grinning, blue-skinned vampire with a long, flowing black cloak in Achan's mind's eye.

Yes, I agree that she is a little... hard to bear with. But she still doesn't deserve to be physically assaulted. Achan's conscience replied with fervor. In Achan's imagination, it took on the form of a warrior who wore a dusty brown cloak which partially concealed the chainmail doublet and leather trousers it wore beneath. On its head, it wore a helment that appeared to be hewn from the skull of some animal which left an opening wide enough for the face, which was completely shrouded in darkness save for two staring, yellow eyes. If we want to take her down a peg or two, slapping her is not the way. Besides, I think you've forgotten the bodyguards.

Achan's inner devil rolled his eyes. Oh yeah. I knew that.

Achan's conscience, in his mind's eye, snapped its fingers. Of course! Why don't we just beat her in a duel? That'll make her get steamed no end.

Achan's inner devil smiled malevolently. And why don't I ever think of these things?

The conscience nodded. Because I'm also Achan's common sense.

Achan slapped himself forcefully, careful to do it on the opposite cheek from the one Tacey had injured, in order to bring himself back to reality. How dare this little snip walk up to him and start asserting her nobility? He'd have to remind her that here in America, nobody held titles*. Removing his deck from its case, he inserted it into the appropriate slot in his duel disk and began to run to catch up with her. His pursuit, however, was interrupted by a loud noise. "ATTENTION DUELISTS! THE MC IS NOW OFFICIALLY GOING TO BEGIN THE FREAKING CEREMONY! SO SHUT UP, STOP MOVING, DEACTIVATE YOUR DUEL DISKS, AND LISTEN! IN AMERICA!

Offstage, one announcer nudged the one who had just finished speaking. "Why the 'In America' bit?"

The other shrugged. "I have no idea, but hey, at least it sounded cool."

His partner smiled. "So true. Hey, want to go get some pizza or something?"

The other announcer nodded as the two exited the small booth they had been operating out of and beat a path for the nearest pizza joint.

Slowly, duelists around Times Square began putting away their decks, turning off their stereos, and staring at the large TV monitors placed at strategic locations around the square. Those close enough to the stage began craning their necks to see the celebrity who had been hired to carry out the formal ceremonies for this duel. There was a moment or two of silence, and then the screens flashed to life, revealing a purple-suited announcer. "Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen!" he began exuberantly. "Thank you all for coming here today!" He paused for a minute to take in the few smatters of applause that had started around various parts of the Audience. Nodding his head in acceptance, the announcer continued as various subtitles flashed at the bottom of the TV screen, translating his words into various foreign languages. "As you know, Pegasus J. Crawford has hired a famous duelist to act as the MC for this tournament, and now it's time for the big unveiling. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for- JONOUCHI KATSUYA!!!"

The crowd broke into a frenzy of screams and cheers as the blond-haired duelist ascended the stage. His trademark green jacket was replaced with a similarly colored T-Shirt, and his left arm held a KC-issue duel disk. Achan smirked. Take that Miss "Stylish". The Asian duelist walked back and forth along the stage, soaking up the applause, before he settled down and held a finger to his lips, the international symbol for "Shush, ignorant children."

The Audience fell silent as he began to speak.

"Greetin's to all of youse," Jonouchi began as he flashed a smile to the audience. "I've been here in this wonderful city of New York for the past six months, and it's been great. The way I see it, there couldn't be any place better to start this tournament, Nyeh!"

A cheer went up from most of the native New Yorkers as Achan stared at the on-screen duelist. Six months. I guess that explains the Brooklyn accent.

Jonouchi continued. "Anyway, I bet you're all anxious to get the tournament under way, so without further ado, here's the rules." Reaching into a left pocket, the duelist removed a small, silver handheld computer. "All of you signing up for the tournament received one of these, complements of my old pal Kaiba. Am I right?" he began. "Well it just so happens that these little beauties are going to be the way that you locate your team mates here in New York. Stored in them is the data for the duelists you'll be partnering with. That's right, partnering. You expected a solo tournament?

"Anyway, moving on. See, the opening rounds of the tournament, up to the finals, are gonna work like this. There are eight duelists to a team. For each location we visit, each team has to rack up three wins or more. If a team loses more then two matches in a single round of the tournament, everyone on that team is immediately disqualified. In addition, it's advisable that the teams stay in close contact all the time, since you're gonna need to keep together in order for your scores to count. Those GPS things are limited to New York as a center of operation. Once we leave, you'll be unable to communicate with the other members of your team unless you are right next to them. Got it? Good. Oh, and we had an odd number of people, so two of the teams are six-man. If either of those teams win, two of the duelists from other teams who have had a perfect win streak personally but whose teams lost out will be advanced to the finals to fill in. Got it?

"Finally, none of you are allowed to duel more then once per round. Each round begins as we enter a new location, then ends as we leave for another. Generally, you're gonna have seventy-two hours ta rack up the necessary three wins for your team.

"Obviously, cheatin' is frowned upon, and any duelists found cheating will have their entire team, including them, kicked out of the tournament. With that in mind, we advise you all play by the rules. And physical violence to other participants in this tournament outside of self-defense is strictly prohibited. Finally, if your team misses the flight, you're all disqualified. Anything else you want to know?"

The entire audience became very busy with their GPS computers.

"Good. Then you've got twenty-four hours to find your team mates before the duel starts. Got it? Good. See yas!"

The screens flashed blank.

Achan stared at a moment, surprised at what he had just heard. In a way, he was happy that the tournament had this team function built in. It meant he didn't have to rely on his own skills to make it to the end of the tournament, entirely. On the other hand, what if his partners were complete jerks? He dreaded the thought. Slipping his hand into his jeans, he removed the GPS. Flicking it on, he saw that one of the options on the desktop was a file labeled "Team Members". Clicking on it, Achan stared as it was opened.

The first person he didn't recognize. The second one was himself. But the third... Achan stared at the name "Tacey Edgeworth", which was followed by an accompanying picture and a short bio. Snapping off the palm pilot, Achan slipped it into his pocket and began running to catch up with his new team member. His outer face was calm, but inside, his thoughts could be summed up with a single scream:

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

OOC: And the award for "Longest screamed "No" in a PC roleplay goes to...

Alright folks, there you have it. We are, obviously, one of the six-man teams. That means that our next few posts deal with coming together, and our characters have a good reason to interact with each other constantly and travel together despite having incredibly different temperaments. Oh boy. Card Games meet reality TV shows, anyone?

OOC: I went a little overboard with Michel's thought processing, but I think it works. You see, I'm not as smart as him and most of the ideas I give him are simple repeats of what he tells me beforehand.

._.

Also, I added in Lex and JBC's characters since they are our teammates, but if they end up not showing, I'll edit them out.

IC: "Mr. Michelangelo Arma."

The voice penetrated his thoughts immediately and his grip assured him that he was the target of the man's cause for confrontation. He felt himself being pulled roughly around to face his captor, who surprisingly released his grip once they had become face to face, but still looked undeniably suspicious, especially with his towering height and his pair of shades that shadowed his eyes.

"I have a message for you."

The suit stood tall against him with his heavy pressed stare and shiny bald head, and to say the least, looked quite domineering. Seeing his form though, Michel realised that he had been compromised, and by the very person he had been tracking.

She found me out, although we've never met face to face, I wonder how she found out my name. Well, it can't be helped when Arma Tech is being constantly publicised, it should gain some credit around the world. But…this girl…she got to me first…

Breaking his train of thought, Michel returned his attention to Edgeworth's suit, which remained fixed in his position, awaiting a response for him to continue with his message.

He looks pretty heavy but his head doesn't seem to be screwed on properly, since he keeps taking orders from that brat. Regardless, I won't be able to take him, he's got the advantage physically. Outsmarting him shouldn't be much of a problem, but I can't discern Edgeworth's motives without confrontation...

The black-haired teen looked up to the bodyguard's face, then quickly turned away to continue pondering.

Damn it! That girl, whether she did it on purpose or because she fluked, she's trapped me. I can't assess her level of knowledge of me or Arma Tech but I can't rule out that she doesn't know anything. I'll have to assume that she's partially aware of my motives, which will force me to play along with her in order to keep my plan running properly, I can't arouse any suspicion early on, but I suppose she's already suspicious of me by sending her flunky to greet me…this could be a prob-"

"ATTENTION DUELISTS! THE MC IS NOW OFFICIALLY GOING TO BEGIN THE FREAKING CEREMONY! SO SHUT UP, STOP MOVING, DEACTIVATE YOUR DUEL DISKS, AND LISTEN! IN AMERICA!"

Michel's eyes narrowed as a smile spread across his face. The starting of the ceremony for the tournament had finally been announced and served as an unexpected but valuable excuse for Arma Tech's heir. He had no need to lie his way out of his little meeting with Edgeworth's messenger, and with the announcement, his lack of cooperation was backed, providing him with a useful getaway that aroused minimal suspicion.

"Excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

With a small adjustment to his Duel Disk, disabling its functions, Michel calmly slid his hands into his pockets and walked nonchalantly around his balding opposer.

"Give my regards to Edgeworth. She made me sweat."

Walking off, making sure that he could no longer be followed by anymore annoying suits, Michel began rehearsing the events that had just taken place, while unconsciously making his way to a position where a monitor displaying the announcement was visible.

He knew that his train of thought could be well off Edgeworth's true intentions, but he had to make sure that he was compromised as little as possible, to increase the rate of his own success. Whether the situation was harmless coincidence or a potential threat made little difference to Michel. As long as everything followed his own expectations, he would succeed no matter who got in his way.

This thought was inevitably flawed when midway during the ceremony, an announcement from one of the tournament's spokesperson, Jonouchi Katsuya, revealed that teams for the tournament were being assigned.

"Son of a-"

Trailing off under his breath, Michel reached into his bag that was strapped over his shoulder, and reclaimed one of the tournament's accessories that would tell him his future partners in the competition. He had not expected for any form of collaboration in the tournament and planned his course in accordance to being a solo duellist. This plan had now been flawed, and quite heavily, as privacy would become a issue if he were to spend his entire time with strangers. If they were to discover his plans in anyway, they would have to be taken care off, which Michel was more than less ready to do, as long as it didn't risk his opportunity of getting into the finals. He knew however, that this wouldn't work, as he needed his team mates in order to progress to the finals, and he was still unclear on how they were going to be conducted.

"I'm rooted…a damn miracle can't redeem this deadweight mission."

Scoffing his own thoughts, his anger rising, Michel activated his palm GPS computer and waited as the screen came into display under his reluctant eyes. Selecting the folder that was aptly named "Team Members", Michel analysed his five new distractions.

"Tyler Auran Daniels…Cain Ritham…Kamekaze Rurian…"

The dark haired business-teen scanned the names and realised he recognised each one of them, some a little less than others.

"Daniels; two years experience, competed in various tournaments, irrelevant personal history. Ritham; has no recorded duelling credit, has no recorded personal history. Kamekaze; Domino High student, little duelling history, twin sister duellist named Sakura…"

Pausing as he scanned the final two members, his eyes widened as they crossed the images of a male teenager in a straw hat and sunglasses, and a female teen with long purple hair and dark blue eyes. Their names sat neatly underneath their profiled pictures, and spelt out, "Achan Smith" and "Tacey Juliet Edgeworth" respectively.

His mind raced as he processed what he had just read. He had expected complete strangers and was instead handed a second chance. The plan was salvageable but was also extremely limited by Edgeworth's direct inclusion. This however, brought about several opportune advantages in the names of Daniels, Ritham, Kamekaze and Smith. Their roles would be minor is his plans, but their assistance could potentially help his future situation, so relationships would have to formed.

"My damn miracle."

Rurian pulled out the mini laptop to find out who his partners were. Five names were listed aside from his. Each of them had a small picture and a bio on each. "Tyler Auran Daniels, Cain Ritham, Achan Smith...."

He was surprised to find two of his team mates were offspring from the owners of two of the most famous companies in the world.

"Michelangelo Arma, and Tacey Juliet Edgeworth. Two of the most famous kids in the world. Yeesh, I don't wanna find out about how stuck up they are..." Rurian muttered. He looked to the side to find that Yuri was also checking her teammates, what was bad though was that she wasn't on his team, since they would've been great partners.

"I'm pretty disappointed that we're not on the same team. And I've got the eight man cell too. Well, add my number to your cell. I'll contact you later if anything happens." Yuri assured him with a grin. She told Rurian the number and added his too. After they added each other she ran off to find her teammates, leaving Rurian to find his.

"Well, guess we should look for our teammates, huh Uria?" Rurian pulled out his Uria card and the card nodded somehow. He shook his head and looked again, but nothing else happened. Putting the card away, Rurian went to locate the rest of the team. He pulled out the laptop-like device again and noticed that two of his teammates were close by. He touched the two dots on the touchscreen and the names popped up. Achan Smith and Tacey Edgeworth. He raced on until the two of them were clearly visible. Smith was running towards Tacey while she was clearly ding nothing in particular, except for walking away from Smith.

He had to catch up with them but stalled for a little bit. He noticed the annoyed face on Smith's face and the angry one on Tacey's. He ran like the Road Runner and accidentally got four feet ahead of Tacey. He took every part of his duel disk that wasn't attached out of his bag and examined it. It was a gift from someone in secret, but was kind enough to give their last name, which was Kamekaze. He looked at it for the first time with awe. The blade part of the disk was of a black and gold color and had a lustrous shine. The life point calculator/sensor was attached to the graveyard slot and was a crimson color. The duel disk attachment on his wrist was also black. He shot his left hand out of his cloak and, with his right hand, put everything together with super speed. He clacked the graveyard slot/holder on the main part of the duel disk that was on his wrist and the life point sensor on top. Finally, he snapped the card player into place and started it up. It gave a sheeeeer sound and the card player split into two. After splitting the two parts snapped together and made what looked like a trapezoid-like shape. With a grin he shut it down and waited for the team to show up.

"I guess there's no point in hiding. Whatever Edgeworth's message was, she can tell it to me in person."

With a light press, his GPS computer shuddered and all light faded from its screen. Pocketing the device, the dark haired teen reactivated his Duel Disk and turned to head in the direction where he had last seen both Smith and Edgeworth having a discussion, and to where he was confronted by the bald suit.

"Hmm? Kamekaze."

Michel had just returned to the place where he had been confronted by Tacey's bodyguard, who had now left the area but in his place stood another teenager. The teen was tall and dressed predominantly in black, bar his beige overcoat, and his hair and eyes did well to distract from his gothic look.

"White hair and red eyes, that's Kamekaze. But, what the hell is he doing?"

Approaching the other teenager, the heir of Arma Tech soon discovered that his new team mate had been preparing his Duel Disk, thus explaining the wild actions his arms were making underneath his coat. Strangely enough, the disk appeared to be unbranded, and was not of Kaiba Corp issue, further explaining its unique but bizarre design.

"Oi, you're Kamekaze right?"

With an emotionless greeting and his hands still buried in his pockets, Michel stood slightly arched as he approached Rurian from behind.

Rurian looked up from his duel disk and nodded at the question. He noticed that it was the famous child of Arma Tech, Michel Arma. "Konichiwa, Michel. It seems you're on my team. I'm waiting for two others to probably show up." Rurian spoke in a low tone. He put his arms under his cloak and walked up to Michel. He looked around to see if the others were gonna come, but there was no sign of it.

"You've got a great company being run. I'll admit that. But, we'll have to see if you own a mind of great startegics and a great deck with the right cards. No offense." Rurian told Michel with a slight chuckle. "Oh, and if you're wondering, no, I am not gothic. I just like black." He walked a few steps away, noticing that Yuri was waving at him. He waved back with a slight blush and turned to look at all the other teams assemble.

"This will be a great challenge, I hope. All my other opponents wimped out before the end of the match..." He jumped up the statue next to him and sat. He soon noticed the other girl from earlier. He was shocked to find that she was looking right at him. She also jumped onto a statue about fifty feet from the one he was on. This gave him the knowledge of the athletic skills. This was no doubt his twin sister, or he hoped.

With quick senses he noticed a dagger coming right behind him. He bent down, dodged, and grabbed the dagger in midair. A note was stuck onto it. He unraveled the note and read.

Be careful. Enemies lurk nearby. Be on your guard, for they might also be on your team. Sakura knows of this. You might not remember me, but I remember you. You'll meet me later in the tournament. Oh, and sorry if I impaled you by accident. I had no other way to get it to you. Oh, if you caught it, that's some great sensing and catching!

He noticed a hooded figure turn on his heels and leave, sticking a thumbs up sign. Rurian read it again and looked back behind him towards the other statue. The girl was gone.

"Darn it... Anyways, where are the rest of my teammates?" He muttered silently.

If someone had thought Achan's reaction to the tournament pairings overblown, they clearly hadn't accounted for Tacey.

"INCONCEIVABLE!" as the high-pitched scream of pure indignation spread across the square, a number of the people surrounding Tacey practically jumped up in shock while those closer to the stage tried to figure out who the heck had just taken the mic. The girl paid them no heed, however, as she continued venting her rage. First Achan's rude behavior, then the guest speaker had turned out to be none other than the eternal runner-up and insufferable luck-player Jonouchi - seriously, weren't guest speakers supposed to be good duelists? She had expected Kaiba, or Pegasus at least, not this two-bit hack - and as a final slap in the face: these pairings. "This is an outrage!" she fumed indignantly, the crowd wisely parting in front of her as she strode across the square, "My tournament victory is hinged on the success of Arma, that clueless lout with the bad fashion sense, and a bunch of hobby league dropouts I've never even heard of?! Kamekaze? Can't he even spell his own name?! And Cain Ritham? Who in the name of all that is sweet and sugary is that?! I've never heard of these people, have you?!" she glared demandingly at Raymond, who fortunately replied by shaking his head, "Inconceivable." Tacey continued, "Where is that silly little man, Pegasus?! I shall have a word with him about his silly arrangements, I swear! But until then..." the girl gave a decidedly dramatic sigh, "I suppose I shall have to locate my...team." she uttered the word 'team' with quite considerable distaste, "Ewans? Do you see any of the people who have been blessed with my radiant presence for this tournament?" she held up the laptop to the black-haired suit, who watched it intently, memorizing the faces displayed.

"I believe some of them are over there, miss." the guard remarked, pointing at a small clearing in the crowd, occupied by a rather Goth-like teenager who seemed to be holding a sharp object in his hand, "I swear..." Tacey mumbled quietly, "I swear if he's some kind of masochist who cuts himself for pleasure I shall demand a new teammate."

Still, she concluded for herself, she had to at least try making a good first impression. When it came to finding bearable company in this tournament, Achan was obviously a lost cause so she'd at least have to give the others the benefit of the doubt. After all...even rank amateurs could have some kind of manners, right? Besides, that Arma kid was here. She had nothing against the youth personally - were it not for the little fact about his lineage he would actually have been the most tolerable one in the lot - but he represented a rival company and thus, by extension, he was a rival to Tacey as well. This called for an authoritative yet sophisticated and elegant appearance.

"Excuse me." Tacey trilled, wandering over to Rurian and giving him one of her usual dazzling smiles, "Perhaps you could clarify what you intended to do with that?" she pointed a dainty little finger at the dagger in the boy's hand, "I certainly hope that you did not intend to use it on these teammates you mentioned, seeing as how I'm apparently one of them. Tacey Edgeworth." she introduced herself, just in case the boy was as ignorant as Achan and wouldn't know that already. She also extended a hand to him in greeting, hoping that he was a bit more well-versed in manners than the aforementioned, "Pleased to meet you, I'm sure." Perfect, just perfect. She had discreetly made the youth look - and probably feel - rather silly while at the same time maintaining a perfectly polite manner and coming off as lightly witty for having made such a clever little joke. Ohh...she was good.

As for Arma...the girl was currently politely ignoring him. After all, in cases like this it was essential not to let the other party know that you considered them worthy of any special attention whatsoever. She'd treat the boy like anybody else; what a delightful way to show him off.

OOC: And the award for 'The loudest scream'...nah, just kidding. xD Anyways, in case someone is wondering about the bald suit his comeback will be up in the next post. Just couldn't find a way to fit it in naturally at the moment. ^^

I looked over at the purple haired girl and replied with a kind response, making sure not to seem ignorant or anything. I shook her hand and spoke."Rurian is my first name. Pleased to meet you, Tacey Edgeworth. You have a great family I've heard. As for the dagger, I don't think it'd be worth my time cutting other people down to pieces. Besides, someone threw this at me."

He put the dagger on his forefinger and started to twirl it. It went faster and faster until he threw it miles away."There, it's gone." He said with a smile. Rurian took his card player off and set in his bag again. Once he reached into the bag he pulled out a pendant that belonged to his mother. With a sigh he almost made a tear go down his face, with the sorrowful look and all. He put it on and returned to his gleaming self.

"It's a great day to be a duelist." He muttered. He was right. It was the day of a tournament, no rain clouds above him, and best of all, he was gonna get to try out his duel disk and find great challengers. "Yep, a great day. Oh and I'm also not a Goth, In case you were thinking I was." Rurian turned on his heels and waited. Where was Achan? Where was Tyler? Where was Cain? "Where is everyone else...?" He spoke softly to himself.

OOC: Horrible post! All I've got to say!

((Jeez, everyone's always voting me in as funniest RPer. What's with that? BTW, I just received word that someone else wants to sign up, so I'm going to have to Deus Ex Machina their character in when they actually appear.))

IC:

Achan was almost fifteen feet away from Tacey when his foot made contact with that of another pedestrian, sending him sprawling painfully to the ground. As the ground rushed up to meet him, Achan felt a painful stab to his gut as the wind rushed from his lungs. "Guh..." he managed to gasp as he rolled over to stare at the two thugs above him. One was about the size of a tractor trailer, and wore a country-style outfit to match. The other's height was about equal to that of a three foot four inch tree. As that particular simile made its way through Achan's head, it didn't escape his notice that it basically meant the guy was three foot four and was wearing what appeared to be some kind of pinstripe suit. If any air had remained in Achan's lungs, he would have groaned. He was being assaulted by a midget gangster and a farmboy. Brilliant.

"Hey, you. Mr. Tiny." The farmboy growled in a heavy southern drawl, cracking his knuckles.

"Yeah, short stuff." The gangster-midget added in a surprisingly high-pitched squeak.

Achan rolled his eyes as he attempted to pull himself to his feet. The farmboy smashed a boot barely inches away from his face and Achan lowered himself to the ground slowly, deciding that challenging the Australopitecene beast and his tiny accomplice wasn't worth it right at the moment. "What do you want?" he managed to whisper breathlessly.

The giant and his friend looked at each other for a moment and nodded before returning their gaze to Achan. "We want to duel you," said the big one.

The little one snickered. "Yeah, duel you."

That was too much. Achan stared at the two in disbelief. "You tripped me and then threatened me with physical violence to force me to play a game with you? Why, in the name of all that is savory and filled with spice, didn't you just ask me? What are you, idiots?"

At that, the farmboy burst into tears. "Bwa-ha-ha-ah! Bwaah! Snivel, hic... you meanie!" He cried, his tears falling to the ground. "You're such a little-"

Achan pulled himself upright just in time to see the midget gangster cover his partner's mouth. "Ssh! No swearing! The pigs are everywhere!" he hissed.

Achan stared. He was looking at a pair of insane duelists with no brain. It was at that very moment something vaguely like an idea clicked in his own. "Okay, I'll duel you," he began.

"Alright then, I'll go first and I summon-" the farmboy began before his partner leaped in front of him. "You're much too slow for this kind of work. I'll-"

Achan coughed loudly, interrupting the two. "As I was saying, I'll play you, but only if we make it a four-thousand-point match and you tell me where this person is." He flipped out his handheld and pointed to Michel's picture. "The GPS on this thing isn't all that accurate."

The two antagonists stared at each other for a moment before nodding. "I'll duel ya." the farm boy replied, before reaching into a tote bag he was carrying and removing a duel disk, which he strapped onto his left arm.

Achan held out his inactive disk. For a moment, the two stood there silently, each contemplating the other's expression. (Okay, so only Achan was really contemplating the other's expression, the farmer dude was really just wondering why Achan liked sunglasses.) Then, as if they had reached a consensus, both duelists activated their disks with the familiar call: "Let's Duel!"

Achan immediately drew his cards. "I'll go first." he stated, before taking stock of his hand.

Duelist: Achan

Hand: Wandering Hero, Shrink, Ring of Destruction, Wandering Beast, Wandering Healer

Achan reached over to his deck, immediately drawing a single card, which he added to his hand.

Draw Phase->>>> Wandering Mage

"Okay, let's start this off." Achan stated matter-of-factly, before placing his Wandering Hero on the correct slot of his duel disk. "I summon A Wandering Hero!"

Immediately, the air in front of Achan began to shimmer as a brown-cloaked warrior who resembled the figure that his conscience had become took form in front of him. The warrior gave a wordless battle cry before drawing his blade from its sheath. Achan nodded. "And what's a warrior without his weaponry? Well, I guess he's still a warrior, but nevermind that! The point is, with a weapon he is much more dangerous! Therefore, my Wandering Hero gets to pull an equip spell card from my deck, and in this case I think I'll choose his sword: Excalibone, blade of the Wandering Hero!"

The blade in the hero's hand began to glow white-hot as it transformed into a much longer and sharper blade that seemed to be hewn from bone. Its pommel stone was now a grinning human skull. With a snort, the hero turned to face the opposing player. Achan selected one last card from his hand. "I place one card face-down and end my turn." With that, the air shimmered as a gigantic version of the back of Achan's card materialised.

The Farm Boy sneered. "That thing's got a snowflake's chance in hell of beatin' me," he snorted, his eyes black and piglike. "I summon my Harpie Queen!"

Once again, the air shimmered as a green-haired female in a purple jumpsuit materialised. Her hands and feet were replaced with birdlike talons, and her back carried a pair of enormous green wings. She bared her pointed teeth and snarled. Her piglike owner placed a card from his hand on the field. "I also activate Axe of Despair!"

The area near the Harpy began to glow as a large, iron axe appeared. The Harpie itself grabbed it, before straightening up and screeching. Her owner pointed at Achan. "Harpie Queen will attack your Wandering Hero!"

Achan steeled himself as he tapped a button on his duel disk. "Reverse Card, open! Ring of Destruction!"

The face-down card on the field shot upward, revealing a card that depicted a ring of fire. The card glowed momentarily before transforming into a flashing collar that attached itself to the Harpie Queen's neck. The beast screamed wildly as she attempted to remove it. Achan rolled his eyes. "Ring of destruction destroys one monster on the field, and we both lose life points equal to its attack. Sorry, farm boy."

The oversized thug had just enough time to scream as the harpie exploded, releasing a white light that covered the field. Immediately the life point counters on both his duel disk and Achan's dropped to eleven hundred.

Achan smirked as he pointed at the farm boy. "My turn. Wandering Hero, direct attack."

The Hero nodded before leaping forward and slashing his opponent, bringing the farm boy's life points to zero. With that, the duel was over. Both disks deactivated. Achan walked over to his defeated opponents. "So, do you know where my partners are?"

The Midget nodded and pointed to Michel, who was standing mere feet away, along with Tacey and some other kid Achan didn't know the name of but remembered the picture of in his palm pilot. Achan slapped his head. "Figures..." he moaned, just as the farm boy swung a hefty haymaker at him. Achan dropped to his feet, barely avoiding the punch. "Hey!"

The farm boy sobbed as he swung his meaty fist again. "That was my first time! You meanie!"

This time, Achan stepped aside, once again avoiding the fist. "Hey! Careful, you could really hurt someone." he reprimanded to no avail. His meaty opponent continued swinging as Achan ducked and weaved, narrowly avoiding each punch. Finally, the huge fist grazed Achan's face. He staggered back just as his sunglasses fell to the ground. Before he could pick them up, the big guy simply stamped, crushing them.

Achan stared in shock for a moment before some deep-seated force galvanised him into action. Grabbing his assailant's wrist, he twisted it painfully before flipping the heavier man over his shoulder. There was an audible snap as the farmer screamed "AH! MY WRIST! MY WRIST!" and the crowd broke around Achan, leaving him a clear path towards his team mates. As he strode forward, he removed a spare set of sunglasses from his pocket and placed them on his face as a thought crossed his mind. Wow. Guess that Akido elective I took paid off.

OOC: ACC, after officially giving the pointy-haired guard screen time in an RP, how could you expect me not to vote for you? I <3 the pointy-haired guard. I mean come on, who could forget the legendary "Attention mother!" speech at the end of Abridged season one? *Sniff* That was so touching... ;_;

Anyway, that's Axe of Despair; not Destruction. ;D Aaaand you so did that just to let Achan show off his wanderer, you big, meanie, wanderer-shower-offer person. xP

IC:

Tacey perked up a little at Rurian's response. He had heard of the Edgeworths, that was a good start, and unlike Achan this boy seemed familiar with the concept of a handshake. Of course, a true 100% gentleman of the highest order would have performed a flourishing bow and kissed the hand, but that would have been getting her hopes up a bit too much. Besides, the girl wasn't even quite sure if she wanted that level of courtesy from someone who looked like...well, that. What struck her was not really the Gothic look - in fact, those accessories of his were pretty well picked, although they'd look incredibly tacky on her - as much as the strikingly white hair...and the scar. Assurance or no, Tacey had not completely ruled out the prospect that the boy might have had a thing for cutting himself. This being the case, she was quite relieved to see him dispose of the dagger - even though he did it in a typically male, show-offish fashion.

"Someone threw that at you?" she echoed at the remark about the dagger's origin, completely oblivious to the boy's little angst episode, "Well, if you see the person who did it, just tell me and I'll have my bodyguards deal with him. No need to thank me for it." she added before the youth was given any opportunity to respond, "Since we're supposed to work as a team we might as well keep each other alive, don't you agree?"

"AGREED FULL-HEARTEDLY, MISS!" Raymond boomed from the background, throwing caution to the winds, "WHEN I CATCH THIS MISCREANT I SHALL FLOG-" he caught the warning glare this time, correcting himself, "I mean, with your ladyship's permission, I would volunteer to flog the person responsible for-"

"No." Tacey interrupted, sounding slightly on edge, "For the last time Raymond: no flogging. It is very uncouth and not at all acceptable in modern society."

"But..." the suit whimpered, sounding very much like a small child who had just had a dear toy confiscated, "...would, would I at least be allowed to hang him from the ceiling by his thumbs until-?"

"Raymond..." the girl's tone rose alarmingly, but before it could erupt another voice interjected. Specifically, two of them:

"Let's Duel!"

One glance at the person closer to them was enough to squash all expectations of an interesting duel that Tacey might have held, however. One of the duelists was none other than that rude little boy with the straw hat. The girl haughtily turned her head elsewhere, letting out an indignant but suitably ladylike noise of disapproval, clearly indicating that she didn't want to pay any attention to this particular duel.

"I summon A Wandering Hero."

Well, so much for zero attention. The moment Tacey heard the name of a completely unknown monster called, her eyes were once again glued to the piece of pavement that had now become a dueling field, just in time to catch sight of what looked like the monster version of Heman materializing and pulling out an equally grotesque equip spell of some kind. How fitting for a vulgar lout like Achan, but still...there was no doubt that those cards weren't an official release, perhaps they were even one of kind, like...Tacey felt a sting of envy, just like hers. No, this couldn't be. This-this affront to civilization, this bargain-bin digger, couldn't possibly possess a deck comparable to hers. It couldn't be so. She wouldn't LET it be so. In no way could Achan be her equal. The boy must have stolen those rare cards, that was the only possible explanation. Well, this match proved nothing about his dueling skills, at least. His opponent was a country hick with the intellect of a donkey's rear end and about as much in the way of dueling skills, the fact that he had ended his first turn with an empty field was enough proof of that. She would drag the truth out of Achan, even if she had to-

"Miss?"

Although initially annoyed at the interruption, Tacey's expression returned to sunny as she noticed that it was none other than the bald suit, and judging by the lack of nervous fidgeting it appeared that his little mission had been a success.

"I take it you delivered my message, like I asked?" the girl inquired in her usual sweet tone, receiving a nod in response.

"As instructed, miss." the suit replied, "The gentleman sends his regards."

"Oh, does he now?" Tacey's smile widened slightly as she gave the suit an approving nod, the likes of which one might give to a dumb dog who had just pulled off a surprisingly clever trick, "Very good, Ewans. On standby you go then." Michel might have mistakenly equated the 'message' with the feigned shake-up attempt, but that - even as her smile remained as sweet as ever, the inner Tacey was grinning maliciously and high-fiving with Curran, Pikeru sulking in the background - would be the second mistake he'd make in this tournament (the first being that he had even entered). The real 'message' was a tiny but oh-so-handy electronic device, planted on the unsuspecting youth's duel disc. On the outside it appeared to be little more than one of the countless small but incredibly important components of the holo-projector, but the moment he activated that disc to duel...Curran gave a stereotypical villain's laugh in her mind, well, suffice to say that it would give Tacey a suitable edge should they end up face-to-face in the finals.

"Well, then..." the girl remarked as the bald suit melded into the scenery with surprising efficiency for a man of his stature and appearance, "I suppose we shall have to find the remaining two...Daniels and...Ritham, was it? But first-"

"Your beverage, miss."

"Well, it's about time, Rufus." Tacey replied, completely unbothered by the sudden appearance of the spiky-haired suit holding out a bottle of mineral water and a plastic cup in one hand and three sticks of kebab wrapped in white paper in the other, "I was on the verge of sending someone to look for you."

"Sorry, miss." Rufus replied, "A few children on the way mistook me for a duelist and tried to badger me into a game. I'm afraid that carrying these things made child grabbing techniques a bit more difficult than usual."

"No matter." Tacey replied nonchalantly, accepting the bottle and pouring a bit of its contents into the cup, daintily sipping at the water "Oh, and when you hand those-" she nodded at the kebab sticks, "To that boy make sure that you get a 'thank you'." the last phrase was considerably more poignant than the rest of her words, clearly aimed at Achan whom Tacey - for all other practical reasons - was still treating like air, "He seems to have forgotten the significance of that phrase. Now, as I was saying..." she addressed the statement at Rurian and Michel, "Perhaps we should seek out the rest of our lovely little clique so we can get this silly little tournament on its way?"

OOC: Um... guess I didn't make it clear that Hero isn't all that muscular... he can't be because *ACK! SPOILER! SPOILER!*. Anyway, thanks for teh votes0rz. I'll be sure to defend my title... In America. (And Canada). I need to remember to vote Raymond as "Funniest Male RP Character"

IC: Achan walked up to his team mates just as the suit arrived. Achan was careful to act like he wasn't paying attention as he heard Tacey instruct the older man to hand him the kebabs and "Make sure he got a thank you.", an easy feat due to his extensive experience as a compulsive daydreamer. Well, then, that was one thing he knew about Tacey: She was imperious, manipulative, and generally a nasty person. Not only that, but she was prejudiced. Her opinion of him hadn't changed for better or worse after his little display, as far as he could tell. And it seemed to him as if those guards of hers... the guards! Achan snapped his fingers in realization. This was a spoiled little rich girl he was thinking about here. Take away the servants and she squeals like a stuck pig. And that was exactly what Achan planned to do, if he was able.

Achan was shaken out of his reverie as the spiky-haired suit Tacey had sent on an errand walked up to him, Kebabs outstretched. Achan accepted, politely acknowledging him as an equal. "Thanks. You're really too kind." The guard turned to go, but before he could leave, Achan tapped his shoulder. "Psst!"

The suit turned, confused. "What?"

"What did you say your name was again?" Achan asked, smiling.

"I didn't. It's Rufus." the suit replied, sighing.

Achan stared at him. "Listen, Rufus. Do you actually like working for her?"

Rufus shrugged. "It pays the bills, and gives me an excellent chance to practice my child-grabbing skills."

Achan blinked in surprise. "Child-grabbing? Get out. The last reigning master hasn't had any students for the last four years!"

Rufus was pleasantly surprised. Not many payed attention to the little-known martial art of child-grabbing. "Well, it's a good thing I studied under him seven years ago."

Achan's eyes widened beneath his glasses. "Hey, when you're off-duty, want to go get some coffee or something? My treat. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't made too many friends today."

Rufus smiled. "You and me both, but unfortunately Miss Edgeworth's security comes first. I do have some spare time tomorrow, though."

Achan's brain began working furiously. "Great, that's perfect. Oh- and tell 'Miss Edgeworth that I said that she'd better watch out. I wasn't really in this tournament for anything other then the free trip before, but now? I'm totally going to beat her, just to prove that I'm not the idiot she seems to think I am."

Rufus stared at him. "No way! I've got a job to think about. Tell her yourself."

Achan nodded "Fair enough."

With that, the two parted ways, though Rufus didn't notice the note Achan had plastered to his back. The one reading "Hey Tacey- In America, nobility is outlawed!" scrawled in black permanent marker. Achan smiled malevolently. Giving into his evil side had its benefits as well. Ignoring Tacey pointedly, he walked up to the older duelist in the blazer. "Michel, I presume? Hey. Want a kebab?"

OOC: Hmm, Tacey's one evil lass, but I do have an inkling as to what she's done. Very sly girl. Michel on the other hand is oblivious, but he is opening up to the others, sort of.

IC: "Michel, I presume? Hey. Want a kebab?"

The straw hatted teen had approached Michel after having several words with one of Tacey's guards. Edgeworth herself had begun a muted conversation with one of her other suits that Michel could all to well but remember from their previous encounter.

He watched the three other duellists who had finally arrived and rehearsed in his mind what he had learnt about them from his company. That was to say, until he was interrupted by one of the very people he was mulling over.

The Hawaiian totting clothes rack held out one of the skewers he had received from one of Edgeworth's bodyguards, whose name had come to be known as Rufus, from the conversation he had overheard only moments ago. The tattered and worn blazer wearer had been leaning against the very statue Rurian had been propped upon, during his assassination attempt and quick retaliation. Pushing himself up against the stone sculpture, Michel stepped up to face his newly arrived team mate, where the well seasoned stick remained wafting before him.

This guy's duel didn't show much of his talent, but I suppose that farm boy excuse of a duellist didn't provide much initiative. His deck on the other hand...so, he's using the cards he won in that competition in the tournament. I suppose this would've been expected, but I still have to make sure I witness another match of his where he has to draw out more of his deck. I can't risk duelling him without any information on those cards he has…

Michel gave the younger boy a hard stare. He looked harmless enough, but personally gave him the impression of one of those underdog duellists, who appeared meek and unsorted at first but could pull out massive wins under pressure. There were too many unknown factors in the equation. He had all three duellists; Rurian, Achan and Tacey, profiled in sufficient detail within his company's catalogue. This provided him with a distinctive edge in the competition, but one aspect of their profiles would always fall into the unknown; their decks. Despite their profile's information on previous deck constructions and strategies, Michel couldn't rely on past information as a reliable source. He had suspected that most, if not all of them, had already altered their decks in one way or another for the new tournament. This set back his attempts in minimising the amount of risks in the tournament, but also increased the probability of encountering a scenario he had not yet planned, eliminating all predetermined assessments. Michel abhorred what was known as chance, and despite knowing that the game of Duel Monsters relied heavily on probability, he still took measures in calculating possible scenarios and outcomes that could reduce the dangerous risks of the game.

"Keep the stick. I'm not hungry."

The tattered rebel blazer replied in a flat tone that hid his hardened thoughts and irritated expression. The boy Smith, had only shown a fraction of his new deck and with his noticeable attitude towards Tacey, could prove to be a useful ally. He still hadn't assessed Edgeworth's motives and her erratic behaviour only added to the difficulty of discerning her thoughts and who she truly was. There was an air about her that gave him the tolerance to accept her current conduct, but knew that it was solely due to her connection to Edgeworth Electronics. Then there was Kamekaze, who had learnt little about since their first meeting. His behaviour also struck him as unpredictable and his attention span seemed too distracted for Michel's liking. Added to this, he had yet to meet the other two members of their six man cell; Daniels and Ritham, and could not measure their attitudes in detail without direct confrontation.

This situation is too limited. My chances of succeeding are too low, and not enough to pursue actively. Haah…I guess I have no choice, I'll have to abandon the plan and improvise. There's nothing else I can do without compromising myself even further than I have. Damn it…

His anger had once again flared, and he was struggling to remain composed in front of the team. He had lost so early in, and had nothing to support him otherwise. The only cause for his presence at the tournament now, derived from his desire to take down everyone else around him. The plan had been revived once but before he had taken into account outside factors, which was inevitably his own fault for being unprepared. His team mates were completely irrational, and for him, discerning their thoughts would prove to be close to impossible.

Sitting down, Michel hung his head between his shoulders as his arms weighed down against his thighs. All three duellists; Rurian, Achan and Tacey stood before him, occupied with the others around them or contemplating their own thoughts in their own minds. He knew that the basis of the game relied on chance, and knew he would be taking some whenever he duelled, but it had now come down to a simple decision on his behalf, whether or not he was ready to take a risk. His head throbbed and his eyes had closed in order to remove any visual distractions, while his thoughts became his predominant focus.

All of his previous thinking and decisions provided him with enough support to get him to where he was now, and without any chance of him losing out. The situation, his team mates and the dangers of the unknown, had come together into the same scenario from where he currently stood. It had all happened in an instant and he was for the first time, unprepared. Realising this, Michel came to his definite decision.

"Hey Smith, I'll take that wrap back."

OOC: wait a sec, I don't have any characters, so I can't be OOC. Either way, you know that I'm here because I want to see teenagers role play their imagination into playing a children's card game. Besides that, ACC has always been someone I know (sort of XD) so I'm just here to take a peek. Can I just randomly make a comment?

Those decks are horribly realistic that I imagine if I'm to see an actual children's card game, I maybe reading tourney reports rather than a roleplay. Realistic deck is nice, but sometimes you gotta utilize luck *slightly within moderation* to make the duel interesting to play with. All those deck staples like ring of destruction in a roleplay deck is honestly scaring me a bit.

Just to remind every roleplayer that fact when they are writing... you are roleplaying, not card gaming. Remember,



the "heart of the cards" is with you

In America

OOC: Frostweaver... um... we have a PM system and an OOC thread for this roleplay for just this kind of post...

Point taken. Luck does need to come into play to make these duels exciting. But luck comes into play often enough with these decks on their own that it doesn't need to be as luck-based as the series has it. Basically, every facedown card may as well have been "I activate Deus Ex Machina*!" and nobody really wants that all the time. But yes, your comment is well appreciated. EVERYONE LISTEN TO FROSTWEAVER! NOW!

Long Overdue IC:

Achan's face fell as Michel refused his kebab. What the heck was it with rich people and kebabs? Was middle-eastern food considered taboo or something? Or was it the fact that he was the one who had offered it? Rich people. Hmph! The world would be just fine without them in his opinion. The least they could do was be civil enough to accept his humble gift of a kebab. Disgusted, Achan turned to go just as Michel said "Hey Smith, I'll take that wrap back."

Achan's mouth dropped for a moment before he quickly closed it in surprise. Smiling, he handed the kebab to Michel just as a conspicuous beeping noise emanated from his pocket. Removing the GPS device, Achan activated it and stared at the screen. "This thing has E-Mail too?" he muttered to himself as he saw the flashing "You've Got Mail!" message written in bright, cheery letters across the screen. Removing the stylus on the back, he tapped the mail icon.

Team Seven:

This mail is to inform you that we have discovered a miscalculation in our team divisions, and one team is currently comprised of nine members. In order to rectify this situation, we are sending a member of their team over to yours. Expect their info to be plugged into your system very soon.

-The Tournament Administrative Staff

Achan groaned. "Great- yet another team member to track down in one of the three biggest cities in America. I bet Pegasus pulled this little trick on purpose just so he could use hidden cameras to record our reactions."

OOC: We had a PM system? o.o *Shock* Anyways, I agree that the OOC thread is probably the best place for this sort of stuff. Regardless, Frostweaver's presence in this thread has earned it precisely twenty-seven coolness points. Rejoice. :3 But...I thought ACC banned the heart of the cards? =O Anyway, Tacey hates playing deus ex machina style (Just look at the bashing Joey got. XD) but yeah, I see what you mean about luck, emphasis being on moderation.

Oh, and I notice that someone has taken...liberties with an NPC of mine. Fine, but just remember that he's a bit too concerned about his own health (And future career as a professional child grabber) to risk double-crossing Tacey. My little girl rules by fear. >D

IC:

Tacey was in a huff. Not only had these louts had the nerve to completely ignore her - Arma was particularly vexing; didn't he realize that she was the one who was supposed to be doing the ignoring? How dare he try to upstage her like that? - but to top it all off, Rufus was fraternizing with the enemy. She gave the spiky-haired suit her trademark 'Get the hell over here right this minute' stare, and he fortunately had enough in the way of survival instinct to act on it, wandering over while trying not to look overly guilty.

He wasn't doing a very good job at it.

"Rufus..." Tacey began in the kind of dangerously sweet voice that never led to good things.

"Y-yes, miss?" stoic though he was, the spiky-haired suit was also all too adept at noticing his employer's mood swings.

"I don't believe I heard 'thank you'." the girl remarked calmly, "At least...not from the boy who's now playing good Samaritan with something that wasn't bought with his money." she raised her voice a bit at the last bit, just enough so it would be clearly audible for Achan and Michel, "Americans have a rather quaint idea of what good manners are, wouldn't you say?"

"I wouldn't know, miss." the suit replied noncommittally, a tiny bead of sweat betraying his facade. This was nothing but a calm before the storm, and the longer the build-up the worse it would be when it broke free.

"I see." Tacey continued calmly, slowly walking over to the suit's side - her eyes not ceasing their calculating stare for a moment - "Then I suppose you are equally unaware of what you have right HERE!" her hand suddenly lunged at Rufus' back, snatching away the note with speed and strength far more formidable than what one would have expected from someone as dainty-looking as Tacey.

"In America, nobility is outlawed." Tacey repeated monotonously, her eyes drilling back into the suit for a few more painstaking moments before she suddenly marched over to Achan, turning her eyes to directly meet the boy's and giving him a menacing stare which bore a disturbing similarity to a doll's. Well, better make that a voodoo doll's.

"I take it, this is your idea of fun?" the girl continued calmly, not relinquishing her stare for a moment as she handed the note over to Achan, "Since you seem to have an issue with me, Mr.Smith, why don't you let it all out right now? I would hate to think that there's something you think about me that you wouldn't dare say to my face." her voice was so completely devoid of anger and malice that only a true fool would not have noticed what an unstable position Achan had just managed to place himself in. A storm was on the horizon, and the boy had just foolishly seated himself straight on its path. Behind Tacey, the suits were all subtly making some distance between themselves and the soon-to-be battlefield. Even Raymond had caught onto this one and very wisely didn't volunteer to flog anyone, although considering the girl's current state of mind, she might very well come to ask for him to do it. Tacey was always temperamental, but she hadn't been pushed this far over the edge in a long while; most people in her vicinity knew better than to do that, and judging by the state of things someone was going to find out why.

The straw hatted teen seemed disgruntled by Michel's refusal but immediately lit up as he changed his decision. Despite his lack of hunger or liking of the food, the older teen decided it was best to show case his appreciation and took a rough bite as he sat back down, just as his tropical friend pulled out his own GPS computer. It had made a sound, signalling the use of its e-mailing function. Michel knew the standards of these devices since he had gotten acquainted with his immediately after receiving it, and had already sent several e-mails to certain individuals associated with his company. Achan then announced what the e-mail had detailed, explaining to an extent that there six man team would now become seven.

He ignored his own device's alert, knowing the same message would be displayed. Besides, he had become much more interested in another confrontation between his self proclaimed rival and the boy to whom he had just addressed.

Tacey seemed furious, but she was doing well in appearances to suppress it. Her attitude towards him appeared to be one of passive loathing, and the feeling was mutual on his behalf. She seemed determined not to acknowledge his existence and he was conetent in doing the same.

Several words not only confined to her conversation with her bodyguard could be heard. Michel could feel her cold attention draw towards him and Achan as she confiscated a note from her guard's hands. Acknowledging the situation, she strode over towards the still smiling straw hat before calmly addressing him in a dangerously dominating manner.

Michel remained seated as the girl began confronting their other team mate. He decided he would promote his newfound alliance in the current conflict, but decided to wait out the boy's response to the girl's demands. He needed both of them, along with Rurian, Cain and Tyler, and not to mention they're seventh team member, to get along, to an extent. He didn't really care about what the group's relationships were like, as long as they weren't distracted from his goal of getting to the finals. That was all he needed. However, knowing how proud and stubborn Tacey could be and how strong willed Achan was, the mutual disdain shared between them had to be kept under control. Michel realised that he would have to step in if things got out of hand between the two. The opportunity also allowed him to promote himself out of concern for his team mates, thus strengthening his position in the group. His intentions were nothing more than a façade, but it would help him nonetheless. Besides, he was already dealing with emotional people, and because of them, he had become restrained, something he didn't tolerate too well.

This reaction should be entertaining. I wonder what Smith will do.

With his back against the stone sculpture behind him, Michel sat back to watch the argument unfold between the two, while remaining alert for any opportunity to exploit the group's dynamics. He also gave a quick glance over to Rurian who was still standing his ground. The rebel blazer still hadn't discerned the Goth's way of thinking as much as he would have liked, but seeing as how his face would become heated at the sight of the girl he had seen earlier waving towards them, taking advantage of this situation didn't present much difficulty.

As he prepared to witness the entertaining dispute, the sound of his own GPS computer caught his attention. He had already received the e-mail from the tournament administration about the group exchange, so the only other expected message was from Arma Tech. However, he had not expected a reply as soon as it had come, something unexpected must have happened.

Reaching into his bag, Michel retrieved his sounding computer and checked his inbox. Two e-mails had been stored, one from the tournament administrators and the other from an unknown sender. Moving as discreetly as possible as to not warrant any attention from the other three, Michel briefed the message and immediately shut down the device. Pocketing the computer, Michel disposed of what was left of the kebab he had taken a single bite out of and returned his attention to the current dispute.