CARD GAMES

Alter Ego · Feb 22, 2009

'Nothing? Absolutely nothing?'

"I'm sorry, Tacey." Pikeru hung her head in shame, floating alongside her host as she stalked through the streets, paying half-minded attention to Achan at best, "I...I really can't find a trace of him."

"Same here." Miseres confirmed, popping up on the rich girl's other side, "No unusual signatures."

"Well, don't look at me." Curran huffed somewhat defensively, "Divination and tracing is supposed to be Pikeru's job, not mine."

'I don't suppose-'

"Perish the thought." the matriarch's voice at the back of her mind harrumphed, "I am here in the capacity of a supervisor; not an assistant."

It was then, as it so happened, that Achan chose to ask her to ask her about putting the spirits to work, the rich girl once again having to contain herself from giving a downright snarl in response, "Just what do you think I've been doing here, Smith? Because let me tell you, it's not admiring the pictoresque scenery of this miserable little backwater-"

Before she got to give her full, uncensored opinion on the village, however, yet another stranger with an inexplicable desire to offer 'help' - the rich girl felt like scoffing; how many of those had they encountered since this whole silliness started? And how many of these had turned out to be traitorous psychopaths? - and promptly proceeded to defy the laws of time and space to prove his point.

Tacey briefly contemplated her actions at this point, but eventually, she gave a long, tired sigh, sliding into her seat.

"Yes," she said in a world-weary voice not at all fitting for one of her age and appearance, "Let's hear some more cryptic ramblings. I can't wait to hear more cryptic ramblings. But let's get one thing straight." she glared the raveller straight in the eye, "Shadow duelist, spirit, whatever. I don't care what you are, but if I do not see time and space working precisely like they should be working the moment you are done, I swear I'll find a way to make you regret it."

Tossing her head back defiantly, she crossed her arms over her chest and leant back in her seat just a little, "Well, let's have it."

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"Sutookaa-san talks funny." Haruko remarked, snuggling back up next to Chelsea and leaning onto her much like any small child looking for a little well-deserved love and attention would, "His deck is funny too." she added as an afterthought, "There's no mustard. Don't you think that's funny too, Ata-Ata-chan?"

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"Well, that was a glorious waste of ti-" Tacey caught herself, recalling the little bit that had made them listen in the first place, "...well, it would have been a glorious waste of time if-oh, never mind!" she threw her arms out in annoyance, increasing her pace by a notch, "What's with everyone we meet suddenly making a point of defying the laws of time and space? It's-it's so...irresponsible!"

As they approached the forest-side once more, a few hopeful little woodland animals had assembled nearby - apparently guided by whatever force was compelling everything around them to tend towards the dramatic and symbolic - but the girl's exclamation sent them scampering away in fright.

"And another thing," she fumed on, "Why is it that no matter where we are or who we run into, they always have a way of trapping us and forcing us into a card game or a cryptic conversation? I swear, the next thing we know the very road we walk on will turn out to be an elaborate trap ho-"

There was a crack. Not the loud, safe, explicable crack of inconspicuous woodland activities like a raging bear rampaging through the forest. No. This was the kind of crack that was so small and inconspicuous that it had to be up to no good. And sure enough, now that she was paying more attention to it, the ground beneath her feet was giving into her weight a lot more than it had any right to.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

Is what Tacey would have said had she had the time to do so. As it was, she only managed an indeterminate yelp of surprise and a futile attempt at supporting herself on Achan's arm before the fake ground gave away beneath them and they both tumbled down into the pitfall below.

For a moment, Tacey lay completely still, contemplating the sheer absurdity of her situation. Then, she became aware of three distinct factors. One, the bottom of the pit was dirty. Very dirty. And it did not match her dress any more than her requirements of personal hygiene. Two, both her left leg and torso were being pinned down and not enjoying the experience. And three, the full body weight of one, scrawny teenage boy was rather liberally distributed on top of her, in uncomfortably close proximity.

"Smith." she said levelly, the color slowly but surely rising up her cheeks, "You have three seconds to reposition your hand and get off me. Before. I. Hurt you."

OOC:...no, I could not resist. Random encounter go. XD

Phanima · Feb 23, 2009

It was comforting to see Haruko return her often mistaken kindness with little hesitation, especially after just meeting one another. Kuso on the other hand seemed to need a little more persuasion, but alas, his attention was needed elsewhere as the abrupt arrival of one eccentric chef appeared on scene. Deciding to step back to allow the sudden challenger to accomplish whatever goal he had set in challenging her new teammate-to-be, Chelsea took her place on the sidelines, Haruko still in hand, and simply watched on. Besides, it would be exciting to see how the boy handled such an unusual opponent, not to mention allow her to see just how good Team Seven was.

It was unsettling in a way; here she was, in the middle of a foreign country with no memory of her past before the day's events, her very first tournament victory under her belt despite not even knowing how to play its game, and the cutest of girls wrapped in her arms who had just accepted her into an official tournament team, the members of which she had still yet to meet. And yet, for some reason, she knew exactly where she was going, who she needed to see and what she had to do. It was as if she had done it all before...

It took her a moment to realise Haruko had been pestering her during her brief lapse in attentiveness, to which she abruptly, albeit belatedly, responded. "Y-Yeah." stroking the girl's hair as she leant into her chest, Chelsea replied as a light laugh escaped her lips and her usual smile returned, "Sure is! A hamburger's nothing without mustard, right Haruko?"

In a place where even shadows have shadows...

"How are you feeling?" his dull resonating voice never failed to send an unpleasant chill down her spine, seeing as how each encounter led only to her venting her much unneeded and reminded frustration.

Flicking the lengths of her bubblegum-pink hair across her back as she rose into a sitting position, the girl's eyes slowly unravelled and bore into her guest's, an irritable frown cocking at the corner of her lips as her teeth grit in response. "Sanity sucks."

Unmoved by the girl's remark, the cloaked visitor unsheathed a bare hand before throwing a matching although sizably smaller cloak into hers. "If you're feeling well enough to complain, get dressed and follow me."

Her fists clenched and eyes widened as she rose bare-backed to confront her fellow Shadow Duellist's remark, the girl's expression resorting to one of utmost hate and loathing, her killing intent radiating without constraint, "Who the hell do you think you are?! Don't you freakin' order me around!"

The man remained unmoved and took in every word of the ensuing abuse the girl threw at him. It couldn't be helped after all and he wasn't going to waste his time arguing with someone so stubborn to try. He had better things to do; card games to play, souls to steal and the like. It wasn't his job to fix her attitude. Such a feat was nought possible anyway. His job, although unfortunate, was to simply cooperate with her. Of course, it helped when his apparent partner didn't utterly despise him, let alone having just recovered from a soul threatening shadow game and needing him to nurse her back to her usual erratic health, for which she was not at all grateful for. It was as if he had gone from one hell to another.

"Grow up."

"B-Bastard!" she retorted heatedly, her eyes almost reverting to their previous lunatic-inducing selves as they bore into his as if to challenge the man in some form of psychological warfare, "Get the hell out of here!!"

Bearing the exact same thought in mind, her partner simply turned and disappeared into the room's shadowed entryway, leaving the exasperated and highly agitated girl alone at last. Forcing her once deranged persona, the girl slumped to the floor, her hair a mess and falling in every which way over her exposed and recently recovered body. A clawed hand clutched her shadowed face as her eyes remained wide and her lips pursed the same words over and over.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

OOC: *supports suggestive situations*

Got a little dark there... But, never fear, new NPCs are here?

Scarlet Weather · Feb 25, 2009

Achan listened patiently to Tacey's complaints, resisting the urge to interject "At least we haven't been thrown into a pit yet," but the cracking of the ground beneath his feet and a not so subtle Uh, oh from Aku precluded any such remark. Achan didn't have enough time to curse before he found himself on the pit's bottom- which was admittedly a lot softer than he would have thought. In fact, it felt almost as if...

"Smith. You have three seconds to reposition your hand and get off me. Before. I. Hurt you."

Achan blushed furiously, and rolled to the side, attempting to put as much distance between himself and Tacey as possible in such confined space. He scrambled to his feet- and then he felt it. A twitch of pain in his lower ankle that nearly caused him to overbalance and fall on top of the heiress all over again. Thankfully, he managed to collapse the other way instead and rest against the pit's sloping wall. "Gotta hand it to you, Tacey," he managed to cough as he waved away clouds of dirt, "With you around, who needs the Raveller?" He raised his eyes to the top of the pit, scanning for any signs of intelligent life. "Only question is, what kind of idiot builds a pit in the middle of the forest? I mean, this definitely isn't Kaito's style- so is it a really stupid Shadow Duelist who failed 'make a barrier class', or is it just some idiot?" He sighed. "And even if the walls were fit for it, I'm not climbing out of here with a twisted ankle."

Looking at Tacey, a spark of inspiration struck Achan. "Tacey- climb on my shoulders and I'll see if I can boost you out. Even if we can't get out of here like that, maybe you can take a look and see if you can't figure out how many people are conspiring to be a colossal waste of our time."

Suddenly, something caugh Achan's eye. Hovering above the pit's mouth, Aku was holding up a sign that simply read "Awww..."

"And as for you," Achan growled as he pointed at the puffball devil, "When you get down here, I'm gonna rip your wings off slowly and feed them to you, unless you drop that sign."

Alter Ego · Feb 26, 2009

The moment Achan's weight left her, Tacey got onto her feet, immediately preoccupying herself with damage control. Her side still ached from where Achan had seen fit to dump a good portion of his weight, but nothing felt broken at least. Her leg, however...the rich girl barely managed to constrain the feral cry building up in her throat. A bruise! The dirt obscured it a bit, but those were definitely the beginnings of a large, unseemly, hideous bruise.

Someone was going to pay for this.

"You had better not even think of trying anything." the rich girl hissed at Achan as she reluctantly accepted the offered 'boost', bracing a foot on his hands, then the other on his shoulder, trying her best to ensure that the boy's eyes weren't straying where they shouldn't stray while simultaneously trying to get a better grip of the pit's edge. Just as she began heaving herself up, however, a pair of tanned hands suddenly gripped hers, unceremoniously detaching them from the pit's edge and sending the millionaire heiress staggering backwards.

"Now who's the idiot here, really?"

A low growl escaped Tacey's throat as she fix her glare on the culprit behind this latest shenanigans, now quite clearly visible by the edge of the pit. The new girl - and Tacey only graced the stranger with this title because of the hint of curves beneath the white, short-sleeved shirt and the fact that the forest green garment covering the figure from waist to knees was indeed a skirt - seemed to have Achan matched in stature, and - a quick glance at the sunkissed arms revealed - beat in musculature, though not by much. The hairstyle was a close call, but on balance, Tacey had to reluctantly agree that she found the stranger's shoulder-length, wavy mess of raven black somewhat preferable to the dead starfish look. Her smug attitude and grin where a completely different matter, however.

"Did you really think I'd have gone through the trouble of digging out this hole and then just let you climb out like no-one's business?"

"I think." Tacey grit back, not particularly enjoying the angle of their encounter, "That you could use a longer skirt if you're going to be posturing like that."

"Wha-" the raven-haired girl blushed furiously, instinctively trying to stretch her skirt further over her knees as she backed away a bit, "What do you know, you perverted little piece of lolicon bait?!"

"I know," the rich girl replied, whipping out her duel disc, "That I'm sick of you shadow duelist creeps stalking my every step. Let me guess, you're after my soul, duel spirits, and world domination in no particular order and won't let us get anywhere until we play a card game with you, is that right?"

"Shadow duelist?" much to Tacey's surprised, the raven-haired girl seemed genuinely nonplussed, "Duel spirits? Is that a tournament gimmick or something?"

"Wait." the rich girl interrupted, "You're not working for the shadow duelists?"

"Never heard of them." the stranger shrugged, "I honestly don't know what you're going on about, but at least you got one thing right." she pulled out her own duel disc, an old battle city edition that could quite possibly have been the grandfather of Achan's, at least if the marks of wear and tear on it were anything to go by, "As my fellow tournament players, you're going nowhere until I've taken your characters."

"Wait, that's all this is about?" Tacey fixed her latest challenger with an incredulous stare, "You set up this elaborate trap out in the middle of the woods just so you could get us to duel you?"

"Not just you," the raven-haired girl replied, sounding slightly offended, "I've been minding this little trap of mine since the beginning of the round. You guys are victims numbers six and seven."

"Six and-" Tacey could hardly believe her ears, "You...you're just trapping and duelling people at random, aren't you?"

"That's the short of it."

"You-that's-" Tacey tried in vain to find the words matching her feelings, "...are you some kind of idiot?! That's not how you're supposed to play this round at all! You're supposed to only collect the characters from your story!"

"The idiot is the one who falls into the hole; not the one who digs it." the stranger shot back, "If I have a character from every story, that means everyone who wants to pass this round has to duel me, doesn't it?" she offered a grin all too triumphant to the rich girl's liking, "Sounds like a pretty good chance to get the characters I need to me."

"You-that's-but it's not-" Tacey stamped her foot in annoyance, "I can't believe I'm even having this argument with you!" with the kind speed and certainty that only utter annoyance could afford her, the rich girl slipped her deck into its designated slot and raised the disc in preparation, "If I duel you, you'll get us out of this hole and put a stop to this silliness, is that right?"

"Naturally." the raven-haired girl replied, mimicking the action, "Like I said; I'm only interested in your characters. Win or lose, you'll be walking out of here. Well," she cast a sympathetic glance at Achan's predicament, "Limping out of here at least. Sorry about that." her moment of remorse thus concluded, she turned her attention back to Tacey, "Whenever you're ready, Lolita-chan."

"That's Tacey!" the rich girl growled, "The least you can do is get my name right!"

"Yuuka." the raven-haired girl introduced herself, seeming not to pay the remark any heed, "And now that we are on a first-name basis, how about we get down to business?"

"Fine." Tacey scoffed, "My lead! Draw!"

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 6 cards

Duelist: Yuuka
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 5 cards

"I activate the Field Spell, Magical Kingdom and summon, Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom."

At Tacey's command, the aged knight from before appeared once more, raising his shield with world-weary discipline as he eyed the field, his other hand resting on the sword by his side. Around him, the fairy tale castle and its pictoresque surroundings appeared as well, the first of the castle's spires lighting up.

Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 Atk/ 800 Def)

"Next, I activate Spell Power Grasp." she briefly nodded towards the green-framed card, another spire on the castle lighting up on queue with the first of the jewels on the judge's shield, "By this effect, I place one spell counter on a card of my choice, then add another copy of Spell Power Grasp from my deck to my hand. Furthermore, since Spell Power Grasp is a spell card, my kingdom gains a counter. I set one card and end my turn."

"Textbook openings, huh?" Yuuka replied, looking none too impressed, despite the graphical splendor around her, "My turn. Draw."

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 3 cards
Monsters: Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1900 Atk/ 800 Def, 1 counter)
S/T: Magical Kingdom (2 counters), 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Spell Power Grasp

Duelist: Yuuka
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 6 cards

"Well, I don't have any fancy knights to call on." the raven-haired girl conceeded, "Buuut...I think I've got something that will do just as well. I summon Wildkin Trapper in attack position."

As card and duel disc met, a creature that bore a rather striking contrast to Tacey's reserved-looking judge appeared on the girl's field. Its lower body and torso looked like those of a particularly muscular human, but it was covered entirely in dark gray fur, save for the creature's stomach which was a rather conspicuous white, its head bearing closest resemblance to that of a wolf, sharp fangs included, and only a simple loincloth protecting its modesty. The creature hunched over slightly, tensing at the sight of the monster on the other side, net in one hand and crude spear in the other.

Wildkin Trapper (1400 Atk/600 Def)

"And since I have no other monsters on the field, my trapper's effect lets me summon one Wildkin Hunter Token to join him."

She gave a nod towards her field as a second, slightly less imposing creature appeared next to the trapper, this one's furr a matted brown, and its overall stature and body build somewhat less impressive, though it too carried its spear in a routined grip.

Wildkin Hunter Token (1200 Atk / 900 Def)

"And that's it?" Tacey raised a sceptical eyebrow, "Your monsters are both far too weak to take on my Judge."

"I'm not done." Yuuka shot back, "Monster effect activate, Capture Net!" at her words, the gray-furred anthro reacted immediately, tossing the net it held in its hands straight at Tacey's monster and forcing the old knight onto a knee, "Instead of attacking, my trapper can switch the battle position of one of your monsters." the raven-haired girl elaborated, "It's quite handy. Now then," she snapped her fingers, "Battle Phase! Hunter Token, attack the Field Judge!"

Tacey briefly considered her face-down card, but then gave a reluctant nod, simply watching as the savage's spear pierced straight through her incapacitated monster's defenses.

"And now that that's been cleared." Yuuka flicked out her next card without missing a beat, "Magic card activate, The Chopping Block! By this effect, I place one monster card from my hand at the top of my deck, like so." she flashed her chosen monster for confirmation, "Then, I send the top three cards of my deck to the graveyard and draw one for every spell or trap I pitched. Simple, yeah?"

Effect discard: Manticore of Darkness, Icarus Attack, Rush Recklessly

The raven-haired girl's expression lit up as she took note of her discards, "Lucky." she remarked to no-one in particular, "Since I discarded two magic or trap cards, I also draw two. Then, I'll activate Card of Safe Return and set one more card. Turn end."

"Oh, but first, one more thing." Yuuka's grin widened a notch as the card in her graveyard gave a faint holographic shimmer, "Since my Manticore went to the cemetery-"

"Graveyard!" Tacey interrupted, "and that's magic card and tribute; not spell card and release. At least get the terminology right!"

"Graveyard, cemetery, whatever." the raven-haired girl waved her hand dismissively, "No need to get all prickly on me just because your translators did a sloppy job, princess. The bottom line is that I can sacrifice any animal or bird I have, such as my Wildkin Hunter Token, to bring back Manticore from my Cemetery. And I think I'll do just that."

With a simple hand-motion, the less imposing of the two anthros was replaced by a giant, lion-like beast, its black raven-like wings and scorpion's tail lending its appearance a bizarre edge as it rose up on its hind legs and gave a triumphant roar.

"And since my Manticore returned from the Cemetery, Card of Safe Return lets me draw one more card." Yuuka nodded, "Over to you, Lolita-chan."

Duelist: Yuuka
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 4 cards
Monsters: Wildkin Trapper (1400 Atk/600 Def), Manticore of Darkness (2300 Atk/1000 Def)
S/T: Card of Safe Return, 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: The Chopping Block, Icarus Attack, Rush Recklessly

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 3 cards
Monsters: N/A
S/T: Magical Kingdom (4 counters), 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Spell Power Grasp

OOC:

ATTENTION DUELISTS! THIS POST CONTAINS FAKE CARDS!

Magical Kingdom
Field Spell

This card is also treated as "Court of Nobles". Each time a "Curran", "Pikeru" or "Royal" Monster is summoned successfully or a Spell Card is activated, place one Spell Counter on this card (maximum 10). By removing one Spell Counter from this card, add a Spell Card designating a "Curran", "Pikeru", or "Royal" Monster in its card effect from your Deck to the top of your Deck. By removing three Spell Counters from this card and tributing one Level 4 or lower "Curran" or "Pikeru" Monster you control, Special Summon one "Curran" or "Pikeru" Monster with the same Attribute as and twice the Level of the tributed Monster from your Hand or Deck, ignoring summoning conditions.

Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom
Warrior/Effect
4 Star/Fire
1600 Atk / 800 Def

Once per turn, you can remove an Effect Monster in either player's Graveyard from play to place a Spell Counter on this card. (Maximum 6) This card gains 200 Atk for each Spell Counter on it. By removing two Spell Counters from this card, select one Monster your opponent controls. Until the end of this turn, all Effects of that Monster are negated.

The Chopping Block
Normal Spell

Place 1 Monster Card from your Hand on the top of your Deck, then send the top 3 cards from your Deck to the Graveyard. For each Spell and Trap Card sent to the Graveyard this way, draw a card.

[FONT=&quot]Wildkin Trapper[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Beast Warrior/Effect
4 Star/Earth
1400 Atk / 600 Def

If you control no other Monsters when this card is successfully Summoned, Special Summon 1 Wildkin Hunter Token (Beast-Type/EARTH/Level 3/ATK 1200/DEF 900)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] to your Field in Attack Position. Once per turn, instead of declaring an attack with this card, you can switch the Battle Position of 1 face-up Monster your opponent controls. The selected Monster can not attack or change its Battle Position (except by card effect) until your next Standby Phase.

And yes, I am revamping Tacey's deck because I'm an indecisive bastard and I can. I would give you all a decklist and stuff, but since the OOC thread has moved on to a better place...
[/FONT]

Scarlet Weather · Feb 27, 2009

Achan seethed as he hoisted Tacey out of the hole, leaning against the wall so as to avoid agitating his twisted ankle. "You know, you could give me a little more credit. It's not exactly like I've been panting over you for the whole tournament, or something," he groused. He did so fairly softly however, and the grouse seemed more from habit than from actual indignation. This was because Achan's thoughts were occupied by something else. Namely, the fact that in all likelihood Tacey was about to be roped into a duel. Given the varied nature of the group's antagonists so far, he was wondering who, exactly, would bother to dig a pit in the middle of the forest to hope that duelists would fall into it.

Five minutes later, Achan was stifling chuckles. He couldn't see the other person, but hearing the exchange between her and Tacey was absolutely hilarious, if only because the heiress had no way of proving that she was right for once.

Aku floated down near Achan. Dunno about you, but I think I'm enjoying this duel already. So, Tacey's usin' those new Magical Kingdom cards Pegasus gave her, eh?

"And that other girl's some sorta beast-type user," Achan agreed. "So this match is sort of like... what, princess versus barbarian?"

You know, I'm wondering something, Aku buzzed. If you two are victims six and seven, that means this girl must have been catching duelists in this pit for a while... but the round just started today, so how quickly did she dig this pit?

Achan shook his head. "Er.... y'know, I'm not too anxious to find that out," he replied. "Let's let it die."

OOC: Er... yeah, is the filler between the duel sections, and... yeah, okay, I'm kind of wondering how Yuuka dug and covered this pit on her own in such a short time frame too. 0.o

Forci Stikane · Mar 9, 2009

Kuso sighed at the conversation taking place just behind him. With that latest insert, it had become painfully obvious that Chelsea was a lost cause as long as Haruko insisted on keeping up that charade of hers.

Vhat, on the other hand, was apparently overjoyed with the girls' interest in his cards. "Ah, yez! I haf mayled zeveral timez about ze cheese. All I haf hurd iz zhat Pegazuz expectz to—"

"Do, You, Mind?" Kuso interjected with a kick at the ground, unearthing a fair bit of grass to emphasize his objection. "We are in the middle of a duel, here, after all. …Besides, I happen to like burgers without cheese, thank you very much."

"Ah, yew haf no apprecion for fyne fuud." Vhat took a depressive stance that could have even matched Haruko in terms of emotional overkill. "Very vell. Go on."

Duelist: Kuso
Field: 1 face-down S/T, 1 face-down monster
Hand: Striker's Reunion, Return from the Different Dimension, Dark Armed Dragon
Graveyard: Striker Force, Heavy Storm, Shadow Striker
LP: 5900

Duelist: Vhat
Field: 1 face-down S/T, Hungry Burger (2000 ATK/1850 DEF)
Hand: 1 card
Graveyard: Giant Germ, Giant Germ, Giant Germ, Mystic Tomato, Contract with the Abyss, Just Desserts, Emergency Provisions
LP: 8600

"Finally," Kuso sighed as he drew his card, "as if Haruko wasn't bad enough already. Well, at least I can remove that monster sandwich from the field, now. Flip Summon!"

The sole monster on Kuso's field righted itself, revealing a far more solid version of his Duel Spirit. "Now the effect of Cyber Jar #2 activates. First and foremost, he destroys all other face-up monsters on the field." Energy began charging in Cyber Jar #2's eye for a few moments, before shooting forth as a laser aimed directly at Vhat's creature.

Vhat only smiled as he raised his arm, the sole other card on his field revealing itself. "Ah, ah, ah. All guud chefz carrie backup planz. If mai bargar doez not pleaze yew, then perhapz a ztir frie? Behold: Myztic Walk!" The large burger faded away, barely missing Cyber Jar #2's laser, as it was replaced by a large pan placed on top of what could only be described as the sort of bonfire that only pyromaniac boy scouts would make. "Thankz to mai zpell, I can turn mai monzter's Attack Pointz into exztra healf."

Kuso grimaced as his opponent's Life Points reached over 10,000. "Too bad that's not all that my monster does. Next, we each get to reveal the top five cards of our decks, summon any Level 4 or lower monsters, discard any Spells or Traps, and add the rest to our hands. Now, go ahead and show your cards."

Card Effect: Sangan, Mystic Tomato, Charcoal Inpachi, Relinquished, Ultimate Offering

Vhat grinned as he flashed the cards chosen. "Ah, ze card affect haz backfirred on yew. I zummon anofer Mistik Tomado, zet two monzterz, and add won to mai hand." As the single trap reached the Graveyard, two card backs appeared on his field, followed by yet another large tomato. "Now yew."

Three monsters, huh? Not bad. Kuso closed his eyes as he reached for his deck, paying no attention to anything else. "Come on, Cyber, don't fail me now..."

Card Effect: Striker Thief, Marshmallon, Striker's Miscount, Ultimate Striker, Monster Reborn

His demeanor immediately brightened. The discard hurt, of course, yet the pull was just fine as far as he was concerned.

"I discard two cards, set one monster, and summon Striker Thief to the field in Attack position." As the card and monster appeared on Kuso's field, the latter immediately pulled out a dagger and stared anxiously at Vhat's sole face-up monster. "My Striker Thief will attack your Mystic Tomato." The monster immediately dashed forward with its signature speed, creating several slices of fresh tomato. "Now the effect of Striker Thief activates, allowing me to discard one card from your hand. However, considering that I already know what one of those cards happen to be… I discard the card on your left!"

Following Kuso's direction, his Striker Thief tossed a second kunai through the targeted card, sending a notably blue card to the Graveyard. "Sorry, but I will not be having my monsters stolen away."

"Ah yew!" Vhat snapped at both the offending monster and its controller before reaching for his deck. "Bai ze afect of mai Tomado, I zummon won mor to ze field." A third Tomato formed on the field, as eager for battle as the last.

"Alright, that ends my turn for now."

Duelist: Kuso
Field: 1 face-down S/T, 1 face-down monster, Cyber Jar #2 (1200 ATK/1200 DEF, Striker Thief (1600 ATK/1000 DEF)
Hand: Striker's Reunion, Return from the Different Dimension, Dark Armed Dragon, Striker's Draw, Ultimate Striker
Graveyard: Striker Force, Heavy Storm, Shadow Striker, Striker's Miscount, Monster Reborn
LP: 5900

Duelist: Vhat
Field: 2 face-down monsters, Mystic Tomato (1400 ATK/1100 DEF)
Hand: 1 card
Graveyard: Giant Germ, Giant Germ, Giant Germ, Mystic Tomato, Contract with the Abyss, Just Desserts, Emergency Provisions, Hungry Burger, Mystic Wok, Ultimate Offering, Mystic Tomato, Relinquished
LP: 10400

"Too bad. Yew zhould haf hit ze over card," Vhat began as he drew, "zince now I can uze it." The disfigured face set upon the summoned pot looked as though it belonged in an amusement park or Halloween store. There was a certain puffiness to it not unlike that of a baby's face, yet the long tongue and scrunched expression ruled out the cuteness also characteristic of such. "Vith mai Pawt of Africe, I can add thive monzterz from mai Graveyard to mai Dek…" Vhat pulled five cards out from the appropriate slot of his Duel Disk, showing them to Kuso before shuffling them back into his deck and drawing two cards. "…and ten draw twyce."

"For mai nexzt recipe…" Vhat looked carefully over his replenished hand before selecting a card and placing it face-up in a monster slot. "I zummon ze Dirk Hez-Zeal Fuzion." This new monster was a mass of purple tentacles, several of which immediately stretched out towards one of Vhat's other monsters. "Nexzt, I zend mai Fuzion and mai Zangan away to zummon mai Zanvhich to ze field." The tentacles wrapped around the face-down card and flipped it over, revealing and consequently snaring the small, furry creature underneath before pulling it within its larger mass. This new combination disintegrated only a second later, leaving behind what appeared to be the original fur ball wearing a magician's clothing. In its left hand was a long, wooden staff, which it pointed briefly at Vhat's deck before aiming back at Kuso's monsters. "Bai ze effect of ze Zangan, I can add mai Marzmallo to mai hand." Once it had been revealed and added to his hand, Vhat continued by placing another card into his Duel Disk. "Now I uze ze Spell card Fuifilmint of ze Contaract, paing 800 Life Pointz to re-zummon mai Bargar to ze field." With the green-backed card forming on his field came the return of the mutant hamburger, as furious and enticing as before.

"Zo…now zat mai monzters are reddy to ztrike, they zhall do juzt zat. Mai Bargar and Vhich vill attack your Fief and Jar!" Kuso had to look away as his two monsters were shattered and eaten, Cyber returning to its place next to him.

Duelist: Kuso
Field: 1 face-down S/T, 1 face-down monster
Hand: Striker's Reunion, Return from the Different Dimension, Dark Armed Dragon, Striker's Draw, Ultimate Striker
Graveyard: Striker Force, Heavy Storm, Shadow Striker, Striker's Miscount, Monster Reborn, Striker Thief, Cyber Jar #2
LP: 4600

Duelist: Vhat
Field: 1 face-down monster, Mystic Tomato (1400 ATK/1100 DEF), Hungry Burger (2000 ATK/1850 DEF), Sanwitch (2100 ATK/1800 DEF), Fulfillment of the Contract (equipped to Hungry Burger)
Hand: 2 cards
Graveyard: Contract with the Abyss, Just Desserts, Emergency Provisions, Mystic Wok, Ultimate Offering, Mystic Tomato, Pot of Avarice, Sangan, Dark Hex-Sealed Fusion
LP: 9600

"Hohohoh...I end mai turn, but nexzt turn, the feazt zhall end for yew!"

Kuso looked carefully at his opponent's field before turning back to him. There was an immediate way to make a comeback, but there would be problems with the Marshmallon that Kuso knew was coming. Granted, there would still be Kuso's copy, turning this into a stalling game…yet with Vhat's Life Points already more than twice his own, that was not something that Kuso was looking forward to. Besides, he was not about to let Cyber's help be in vain, so he was going to be ending the duel as soon as he could.

As he looked over his hand and drawn Spell, a possibility for a quick victory ran through his mind. It would need a bit of luck, but he was always up for attempting such, and so began by playing the card that he had just drawn. "Oh, you've got that right. The feast will be ending this turn. I activate Allure of Darkness, drawing two cards and then removing the Ultimate Striker in my hand from the game." As he drew his cards and placed his Ultimate Striker in his pocket, it looked as though his deck would be cooperating with him this time. "Next I set one card face-down, and then activate it: Striker's Draw." The card backing formed on Kuso's field and then revealed itself, showing another Spell as Kuso once again drew from his deck. "Since you have two more cards on your side of the field than I do, including this Spell, I get to draw two more cards from my Deck."

With all of the draws that he was going to be making this turn already made, Kuso was left with quite the sizable hand…and, as he slowly realized, just the right cards for what he had wanted. "Next I activate the Spell card Striker's Fury from my hand." For a third time, a green card showed itself to Vhat, only this time launching a bolt of dark energy directly at him. "Again, because your field has two more cards on it than my field does, you take 1000 points of damage."

Vhat growled as his Life Point counter dropped below 9000. "Zo vhut? Mai Life Pointz are ztill highar!"

Kuso smiled as he placed a monster next to his Marshmallon. "Oh, that will be changing soon enough. Because you have four monsters to my one, I can Special Summon my Fiend Megacyber to the field." The yellow-clad warrior took a battle stance next to the face-down monster, staring down all three of Vhat's creatures. Kuso continued with yet another Spell inserted into his disk. "Next, I activate my spell, Striker's Reunion. Based on the difference in cards on our sides of the field, I can summon one Striker back from my Graveyard. The thing is, thanks to the effect of my Spell, that difference is increased by 1. So, that makes a difference of two cards, meaning…" He trailed off as the target monster made a reappearance to the field, pointing its sword directly at Vhat's field. "…that my Shadow Striker can come back to the field. …Oh, and because he was summoned through Reunion," He continued as his monster moved its sword to point at the opposing Sanwitch, "that means its effect activates, returning your Sanwitch to your Extra Deck." Vhat's jaw dropped as Kuso's Shadow Striker launched a bolt of energy at his monster, removing it from the field. "And now, with only three DARK-attribute monsters remaining in my Graveyard, I can also summon Dark Armed Dragon to the field." As soon as Kuso placed his card into an empty slot, a burst of dark energy reached out from his field, forming into the massive dragon that he had called forth. "Thanks to his special ability, I can remove the three Striker monsters in my Graveyard from play to destroy all three of your monsters."

The chef hat on top of Vhat's head nearly fell over as he gawked at Kuso's dragon clearing the field, leaving him wide open for a full assault. "Oh, right, and because all of these monsters were Special Summoned, I can still Normal Summon a second Shadow Striker to the field. That means that you lose to my full assault." As soon as this fourth monster appeared on the field, all four leapt forward to attack Vhat at once, knocking him over from the resulting blast and zeroing out his Life Points.

"Maybe that will teach you not to sneak up on people."

Vhat slowly moved to get back on his feet, only taking a begging stance instead once he heard Kuso's remark. "Vut, ve vere not trying to zneak. Ve vere left here vithout fuud. Our ztepmouver left uz ztranded in ze forezt…"

It was at this point that Kuso's PDA chose to speak up, signaling that a new e-mail had arrived. Kuso pulled it out to find the following message:

Dear Tournament Participant,

Congratulations on your victorious duel. The following characters have been transferred to you:

Hansel

Gretel

Best Regards,

The Tournament Staff

Sadly, only this was when Kuso realized that Vhat had not been a Shadow Duelist, after all. "So, that was why you wanted to duel; you were part of the tournament."

"Of courze. Vhy elze vould I challenge yew?"

"Uhh..." If telling the truth to somebody like Chelsea was out of the question due to appearing insane, there was no way that Kuso was even going to begin to explain it to somebody as crazy as this chef. "...I guess you're right. Still, sneaking up from behind is hardly the right way to challenge someone to a duel. Try learning some etiquette, huh?"

Still, now that he had found two of his story's four characters with another duelist, it brought back the question of which one he had been assigned. "So that knocks out both of those two as my character, which leaves me with..." He let out a loud groan as the answer—and his hand—reached up to smack him in the face. "…They assigned me with a villain. Oh, FANTASTIC." Kuso let his hand slide away from his face as he glared up at the sky and shouted, as if the clouds themselves were Pegasus' employees. "WHAT TERRIFIC HUMOR YOU PEOPLE HAVE!!!"

------------

Several yards away, a blade of grass finally came to rest upon the forest floor, having been released of the sudden breeze that had captured it…

Phanima · Mar 14, 2009

The ensuing duel managed to accomplish two things, first; showcase her new team's duelling prowess through a rather dominating performance by one Kuso Sarasi, and second; stir up the young girl's appetite, reminding her she had not yet eaten since first awakening that day. But with Haruko still in hand, she could only deal with the first matter at the moment, and did so by offering the boy her rather rabid congratulations, petting her hands together the best she could.

"That was really great Kuso!" she cheered, seeing the two duellists exchanging some rather odd words before departing ways, the boy in question's next outburst reminding her of her own previous victory, "You're a villain? Oh! Does it have something to do with that funny fairytale message I got earlier?"

Rummaging awkwardly through her pockets with her only spare hand, juggling the still adorable Haruko and the desired device in hand, the young preteen flipped on her new PDA to check if she had received a similar message. Low and behold, as the screen flickered into life, new mail had arrived and upon opening it, revealed she had received the next part in her tale.

"I have..." she started, her attention now engrossed in the palm-sized computer, "The good fairies and-and the princess..."

It was then that her stomach decided that it had finally had enough and delivered a rather uncomfortable and audible pang. Blushing at the sound, Chelsea gave the two a nervous smile as she patted her abdomen into submission.

"Heheh. M-Maybe we should go meet up with the others," she offered in an attempt to satisfy both her current needs, "We can get something to eat too, plus it'll give me a chance to introduce myself to everyone. That is, if it's okay with you?" she added in Kuso's direction who had still not fully accepted her intrusion, despite Haruko's own raving acceptance.

Alter Ego · Mar 17, 2009

OOC: She dug it very quickly, of course. Dx

Nah, the true story is that Yuuka ran into a pair of team rocketesque shadow duelists who were preparing this heist (victims 1 and 2) and beat them, then took over and finished the hole. But shh...she's trying to make an impression here. =P

IC:

"I shall pretend I didn't hear that." Tacey grit out with barely constrained temper, reaching for her deck, "Draw."

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 4 cards
Monsters: N/A
S/T: Magical Kingdom (4 counters), 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: 2x Spell Power Grasp, Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom

"I summon Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kingdom."

At her command, the familiar Gryphon-like Monster appeared on Tacey's field, letting out a proud roar and earning an appreciative glance from her opponent.

Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kingdom (1600 Atk/1800 Def)

"That's a pretty cute monster you have there, Lolita-chan." the girl remarked, "But he's hardly a match for my Manticore."

"We'll see about that." the rich girl replied haughtily, "Since I summoned a Royal monster, my kingdom gains one more counter. What's more, I'll activate my second Spell Power Grasp, placing one spell counter on my Watchbeast and increasing my Kingdom's counters up to six. Furthermore, my Watchbeast gains 300 attack power for each Spell Counter on it."

Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kingdom (1600 ↑ 1900 Atk/1800 Def)

"Now, Watchbeast." she snapped her fingers authoritatively, pointing an index finger at the Trapper on her opponent's field, "Rend that little mongrel to shreds!"

Yuuka merely smirked, even as the gryphon made short work of her smaller monster, "Reverse card open; Retribution of Tribe!"

The raven-haired girl's smirk widened a bit as the dust from the battle cleared, leaving behind not an empty spot on her field, but two creatures identical to her token monster from before.

"When a Wildkin monster of mine is destroyed by battle, this handy little trap lets me summon two Wildkin Hunter Tokens to take its place." she announced, "Thanks for the leg up, Lolita-chan."

2x Wildkin Hunter Token (1200 Atk / 900 Def)

Tacey did not dignify the remark with a response, "Set a card and end. And with the end phase, my Watchbeast gains a second Spell Counter."

Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kingdom (1900 ↑ 2200 Atk/1800 Def)

"Tut, tut, Lolita-chan." Yuuka chided, wagging her index finger in a would-be lecturing way, "Didn't anyone teach you not to run blindly into face-downs? My turn, draw."

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 2 cards
Monsters: Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kingdom (2200 Atk/1800 Def)
S/T: Magical Kingdom (6 counters), 2 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: 2x Spell Power Grasp, Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom

Duelist: Yuuka
Life Points: 7500
Hand: 5 cards
Monsters: 2x Wildkin Hunter Token (1200 Atk / 900 Def), Manticore of Darkness (2300 Atk/1000 Def)
S/T: Card of Safe Return
Graveyard: The Chopping Block, Icarus Attack, Rush Recklessly, Wildkin Trapper, Retribution of Tribe

"Release Wildkin Hunter Token to summon Wildkin Taskmaster." she announced, the left-hand anthro on her field vanishing in a blur of graphics, only to be replaced by a far stouter figure. Though its lower body was still like that of a muscular human, it was far sturdier and more strongly built, clothed throughout with strips of cloth and armor that constituted a battle garb of sorts. Unlike the wildin before it, the creature had no coat of furr to cover its earthen-toned skin, and its head was unmistakably that of a warthog, a beaten up soldier's cap seated losely on top of it. Surveying the field, the monster let out a disapproving grunt, its grip around the large, painful-looking whip in its hands tightening.

Wildkin Taskmaster (2300 Atk/1600 Def)

"Taskmaster's effect," the raven-haired girl announced, promptly ignoring Tacey's disapproving expression at her beast's appearance as the warthog anthro cracked its whip, the remaining scout letting out a submissive little whimper as it vanished into a blur of graphics, only to emerge clad in makeshift armor of its own, a more disciplined posture and expression dominating its features and a steal spear and small shield now constituting its armaments.

Wildkin Warrior Token (1600 Atk/1200 Def)

"Once per turn, I can convert any monster I have into an obedient little warrior token. And obedien it will definitely stay." she smirked at the worried looks both of her other monsters were casting in the stern taskmaster's direction, "While the Taskmaster is on my field, control of my animals, animal warriors, and birds can not be shifted. Now, Taskmaster." she snapped her fingers in the warthog anthro's direction, "Bring that domesticated little Watchbeast back into line!"

"Who was the one lecturing me about attacking blindly into face-downs again?" Tacey retorted as her gryphon caved in under the assault, "Trap card activate! Royal Legacy! By this effect, I can summon any level 5 or lower royal monster to my field. And I choose," she flicked through her deck with trained speed, "Royal Double."

Royal Double (1200 Atk/1000 Def)

Yuuka merely raised an eyebrow as the gray-clad girl took up a defensive position on Tacey's field, hunching over and holding up the fan in her hands to shield her face, "That's it?" the raven-haired girl ask sceptically, "You got all high and might on me for something like that? Hate to break it to you, Lolita-chan, but that little wisp of a girl won't hold out for a second. Wildkin Warrior Token, attack!"

Tacey didn't even flinch as her monster shattered into pixels, returning her opponent's gaze calmly, "And I guess Manticore is next?" she asked levelly.

"Nice try, Lolita-chan," Yuuka drawled, ",but no cigar. I'm not falling into your Dimensional Prison that easily."

"Dimensional Prison?" Tacey echoed, "How'd you-"

"It's simple, really." her opponent replied with a shrug, "I saw how you twitched when I attacked your judge, like you considered flipping that reverse card of yours but didn't think it was worth it. Whatever you had, would obviously have stopped my attack, but since you didn't flip anything to my summon or my attacks just now, it's not Mirror Force or Tidal Wave. You've also let my Manticore stay on the field, so it's not a Compulsory Evacuation Device, Phoenix Wing or anything else you could flip at will. Finally, you let my Taskmaster's attack through, even though he's the same strength as my Manticore, so it's not a Cylinder or Reactive Armor. In other words, what you have there, Lolita-chan, is an attack-reactive card that affects one monster and would prevent my Manticore's effect."

The rich girl was quick to cover up her disbelieving stare at what was actually a string of quite reasonable deduction on her opponent's part, a feat she had thought quite beyond the wild-child, "My, my, sounds like you're not quite the ignorant savage I took you for." she conceded, "Well, assuming that this is Dimensional Prison..." she afforded herself a small smirk, "What are you going to do about it?"

"Force your hand, of course." Yuuka replied matter-of-factly, "Special Summon, Wildkin Raiders."

Tacey took a step back as a band of five mangy creatures that looked somewhere halfway between gangly humans and crows descended on the field, their pale brown flesh mingling with black feathers, only party concealed by the scraps of cloth covering their bodies, each of them armed to the teeth with knives, clubs, sickles, and just about any makeshift weaponry they seemed to have gotten their hands on.

Wildkin Raiders (1100 Atk/ 300 Def)

"Battle phase summon?"

"Right on, Lolita-chan." Yuuka confirmed, "Whenever I destroy two or more monsters in the same battle phase, I can summon my raiders straight from my hand. But they're more than just muscle," now it was once again the raven-haired girl's time to smirk, "When Wildkin Raiders inflicts battle damage to you, I can destroy one magic or trap card. Raiders, attack Lolita-chan directly!"

Contrary to what her opponent had expected, Tacey remained motionless as the crow-hybrids swooped down on her, lunging at the giant card back on her field and gleefully tearing it to pieces.

"Such a clever little deduction." the rich girl remarked, "...it's really quite impressive, but..." the ends of her mouth curved up by a tiny fraction, "...it's just too bad it's dead wrong."

"Hey, what gives?" Yuuka demanded as the last two spires on Tacey's castle suddenly lit up.

"A card effect you yourself triggered." the rich girl replied, holding up her freshly destroyed trap for inspection, "When Spell Power Seal Release is destroyed without being activated, I can place two spell counters on any card I wish."

"Wait," the raven-haired girl retorted, "You mean what I just did was-"

"Playing right into my hands, yes." the rich girl finished, "I knew you'd jump at the chance to destroy that card for me if I gave any indication that it could stop your monsters, and so you did."

Contrary to the temper burst the rich girl had expected, Yuuka let out an appreciate little whistle, "Pretty sneaky, Lolita-chan." she conceded, "But you forget one thing." she grinned at the last monster on her field, "My Manticore hasn't attacked yet, and you fresh out of defenses. Manticore of Darkness, direct attack!"

"Still confident, huh?" the raven-haired girl asked as her opponent retained her regal posture, "Interesting. I'll set one card and see what you've got, then, Lolita-chan."

Tacey merely reached for her deck in response, "My turn. Draw."

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 5500
Hand: 3 cards
Monsters: N/A
S/T: Magical Kingdom (10 counters)
Graveyard: 2x Spell Power Grasp, Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom, Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kingdom, Royal Legacy, Royal Double, Spell Power Seal Release

Duelist: Yuuka
Life Points: 7500
Hand: 3 cards
Monsters: Wildkin Warrior Token (1600 Atk / 1200 Def), Wildkin Taskmaster (2300 Atk / 1600 Def) Manticore of Darkness (2300 Atk / 1000 Def), Wildkin Raiders (1100 Atk / 300 Def)
S/T: Card of Safe Return, 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: The Chopping Block, Icarus Attack, Rush Recklessly, Wildkin Trapper, Retribution of Tribe

"And now." the rich girl declared, barely glancing at her newest acquisition, "I think I'll restore order back to my kingdom. I activate Rise of the Twin Queens!" she held up a green-framed card from her hand demonstratively, clicking it into its designated slot. As she did so, the luminosity of the crystals on her castle immediately intensified, beams of the same light shooting out between them and forming a complex rune shape in the air. Yuuka gaped quite openly, while Tacey gave her best impression of seeing nothing new as she elaborated, "When all the spires on Magical Kingdom are lit, this card lets me summon my strongest monsters straight to my field."

"Bring it." Yuuka replied, offering a feral grin in response.

"Special Summon, Queen Curran and Queen Pikeru."

In one last, violent burst of light, the energy of the crystals was spent, the light emanating from them dying down as they returned to their normal state, leaving behind two regal figures who looked near-identical, save for the striking differences in their dresses, one black and accessorized with matching dark-toned colors, the other white and light, the two queens opening their eyes to survey the scene in perfect unison, scepters in hand.

Queen Curran (3000 Atk/0 Def), Queen Pikeru (3000 Atk/0 Def)

"Hoo..those would be your deck's aces there, eh Lolita-chan?" Yuuka gave an appreciative nod at the sight, "Well then, guess I'll return that courtesy. Reverse card open! A Rival Appears!" she offered a feral grin at her opponent as she nodded towards her trap, its art depicting the child-form Curran and Pikeru, currently immersed in a tussle, "You're not the only one with a level 8 monster around here, Lolita-chan. Special Summon, Wildkin Chieftain!"

Wildkin Chieftain (2500 Atk / 2600 Def)

The creature who stepped out on Yuuka's field this time gave off a quite different air than its predecessors. Though it was tall, broad-shouldered and muscular much like the others, there was no hint of boisterousness in the wolf-man's appearance as he surveyed the field through his one good eye, the other covered by a jagged scar. Though its apparel was just as weatherbeaten as that of its comrades, it was obvious that the dented iron plate and tan cloak and breeches covering the creature's grayed fur were form-fitted rather than the usual piecemeal. This creature was, without a doubt, the leader of the pack, and carried itself with the dignity to match, calmly observing the two queens as it reached for the giant claymore strapped across its back.

"Oh, and you might be interested in knowing," Yuuka continued casually, "While my Chieftain is on the field, any battles you may have in mind for the rest of my animal, animal warrior, or bird monsters are to be taken up with him."

"Not a problem." Tacey replied levelly, "But first, Queen Curran's effect." she nodded towards the black-clad queen, "By giving up her attack for the turn, I can inflict 800 damage to you for every monster you control. Curran?" her smirked widened by a notch as Curran pointed her scepter straight at Yuuka, a purst of dark energy striking the raven-haired girl square in the chest and sending her life points plummeting, "And with that over with...Pikeru, attack Wildkin Chieftain!"

The white-clad queen nodded, raising her scepter and unleashing a burst of blinding light engulfing the creature as it raised its blade in an attempt at self-defense.

"So much for your ace." the rich girl scoffed.

"Oh really?" her opponent replied, flashing a smirk of her own in return as the chieftain emerged from the aftermath of the battle, completely unscathed, "The chieftain's second card effect." she explained proudly, nodding at the vanishing shape of her Manticore, interposed between the two monsters, "Whenever he would be destroyed, I can destroy any other animal, animal warrior or bird I control instead."

"Quite the resilient pest, I see." Tacey replied, "But it's hardly a match for my queen. I set one card and end."

"And with that." Yuuka cut in, "I release my Wildkin Warrior Token to revive my Manticore once more, drawing another card for Card of Safe Return."

"Summon as many of those animals as you like." Tacey replied neutrally, "Unless you find a way past my queens before my next turn it won't do you any good."

Duelist: Yuuka
Life Points: 3000
Hand: 5 cards
Monsters: Wildkin Chieftain (2500 Atk / 2600 Def), Wildkin Taskmaster (2300 Atk / 1600 Def) Manticore of Darkness (2300 Atk / 1000 Def), Wildkin Raiders (1100 Atk / 300 Def)
S/T: Card of Safe Return
Graveyard: The Chopping Block, Icarus Attack, Rush Recklessly, Wildkin Trapper, Retribution of Tribe, A Rival Appears!

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 5500
Hand: 1 cards
Monsters: Queen Curran (3000 Atk/0 Def), Queen Pikeru (3000 Atk/0 Def)
S/T: Magical Kingdom, 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: 2x Spell Power Grasp, Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom, Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kingdom, Royal Legacy, Royal Double, Spell Power Seal Release, Rise of the Twin Queens

"Don't write me off just yet, Lolita-chan." Yuuka shot back, her confidence seeming, if anything, increased by the urgency of the situation, "This is the point where I turn this game to my victory. Starting with the playing field. Field magic activate, The Tribelands!"

With a simple crash of graphics, the castle and the lush grasslands around it vanished, replaced by a windswept, barren wasteland, its craggy, dry surface extending into the distance in every direction beneath a cloudless, bright-blue sky.

"While this field is in play, Lolita-chan," Yuuka's explanation rang through from the other end of the wastes, "Our magic and trap card zones pull double duty...as monster card zones. But rather than just talking to you about it, I think I'll go ahead and give you a demonstration. Release Wildkin Raiders to summon Wildkin Hordecaller."

Wildkin Hordecaller (1900 Atk/1600 Def)

By this point, Tacey was not too surprised about seeing another muscular anthro make its entrance, though this one seemed to have inherited its features from a hyena, its clothing far shabbier than that of the other two higher level monsters, the creature immediately throwing its head back to let out an ear-rending howl.

"And now," Yuuka continued, obviously enjoying the exposition on her monser's effect, "You'll find out just where the name 'hordecaller' comes from. When my Hordecaller is summoned by releasing another wildkin monster, I can summon warrior, hunter, or scout tokens with a combined level equal to his. And now that they have some room to roam, I say the more the merrier. Summon three Wildkin Scout Tokens!"

3x Wildkin Scout Token (800 Atk/600 Def)

Heeding the call, three motely-looking crow-men similar to the raiders swept down on the field, taking up their positions at the back.

"Scared yet, Lolita-chan?" Yuuka gloated, "That's quite a few monsters you have facing you now."

"Hardly." Tacey replied, nodding towards her recently revealed face-down, "I don't think they'll have enough room."

"That's-"

"Demise of the Land." the rich girl concurred as the scenery shifted back to the magical kingdom once more, "Which means we are back in my kingdom where the monster limit is five."

"And here I was trying to finish this in style." Yuuka tutted, offering an unbothered shrug, "Fine; have it your way then. Magic card activate, All for one; one for all!" she gave a nod in her Chieftain's direction as the monster stepped forward, clearly taking the charge as its attack points rose dramatically, "By this effect, I can have my entire wildkin tribe strike together this turn, making my Chieftain's attack power equal to the combined power of all my monsters. Of course, that means that none of my other monsters can attack this turn and all battle damage I deal is halved too, but I'd say I have your queen more than match in this fight. Isn't that right, Lolita-chan?"

Wildkin Chieftain (2500 Atk ↑ 8800/ 2600 Def)

"Wildkin Chieftain, attack Queen Curran! Howling slash!"

Nodding in confirmation, the wolf-man promptly lunged forward with a howl of its own, its target barely having the time to raise her scepter before the monster was already on the other side, a fatal slash across the queen's waist promptly reverting her back to a shower of pixels.

"Not too bad for a reversal, eh Lolita-chan?" Yuuka inquired as her monster's attack power reverted back to normal, "This game is still on. Turn end."

Duelist: Yuuka
Life Points: 3000
Hand: 2 cards
Monsters: Wildkin Chieftain (2500 Atk / 2600 Def), Wildkin Taskmaster (2300 Atk / 1600 Def) Manticore of Darkness (2300 Atk / 1000 Def), Wildkin Hordecaller, (1900 Atk / 1600 Def), Wildkin Scout Token (800 Atk/600 Def)
S/T: Card of Safe Return
Graveyard: The Chopping Block, Icarus Attack, Rush Recklessly, Wildkin Trapper, Retribution of Tribe, A Rival Appears!, Wildkin Raiders, The Tribelands, All For One; One For All

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 2600
Hand: 2 cards
Monsters: Queen Pikeru (3000 Atk/0 Def)
S/T: Magical Kingdom
Graveyard: 2x Spell Power Grasp, Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom, Royal Watchbeast of the Magical Kingdom, Royal Legacy, Royal Double, Spell Power Seal Release, Rise of the Twin Queens, Magical Kingdom, Demise of the Land, Queen Curran

"I thought I already told you." Tacey replied, a nondescript gust of wind fanning out her hair behind her as she drew her card without even glancing at it, "You lose this turn. Spell card activate, Monster Reborn! By this effect, I can summon any monster from either player's graveyard to my field."

"Queen?" Yuuka asked.

"Close enough." Tacey replied, raising an eyebrow at her opponent's remark, "Queen Curran can't be special summoned except by a specific effect, but as it so happens, I already have a suitable substitute at hand. Special Summon, Royal Double." she nodded towards the familiar figure of the gray clad girl as it appeared on her field, fan raised as always.

Royal Double (1200 Atk/1000 Def)

"When my court is on the field, Royal Double can copy the name, attribute, level and effects of either princess...or queen, for that matter. Royal Double, replicate Queen Curran!" with a simple snap of the fan and loosening of the oppressive robe, an exact replica of the fallen queen revealed herself, offering a smirk quite similar to Tacey's from behind her fan, raising it up in preparation "You should know what happens now. Royal Double, finish this!"

"...heh, that simple, huh?" Yuuka asked, still maintaining her smirk, even as her life point counter plummeted to zero, the holograms around them vanishing, "...and here I thought I had finally caught my lucky break with you two."

At that moment, Tacey's PDA duly beeped to life, the rich girl raising an eyebrow at her message,

Dear Tournament Participant,

Congratulations on your victorious duel. The following characters have been transferred to you:

The Soldier

The Hunter

The Older Sisters

Best Regards,

The Tournament Staff

"Wait, you mean those other six people you duelled-"

"Only two of them had anything to give." Yuuka replied with a shrug, attaching a rope ladder to the pit's side and tossing the other end down to the duo, "This guy I ran into earlier said you two would be different, though. Guy with hair like a dead starfish and purple-haired lolita who complains all the time. Both of ya' were supposed to have characters too."

Tacey frowned, constraining the urge to say something about the descriptions as she duly climbed up the rope ladder, glaring once over her shoulder to make sure that Achan's gaze wasn't straying where it should stray, "...guy?" she asked, already half-anticipating the answer "And just what did this...guy look like?"

Yuuka shrugged, "Brown hair, red jacket, looked like one of those academia people. Kind of an oddball if you ask me, but he tipped me off about how to cover the pit better so I figured the rest of his info was good too." she cast a quizzical glance at Tacey, "...friend of yours?"

"I wouldn't go that far." Tacey replied as levelly as she could, "Smith, if you are quite done playing down in that filthy little hole, I'd suggest you get up. A certain runaway lackey owes us some answers."

OOC: ...ridiculously long duel sequence finished. And yes, I realized that I took some artistic liberties near the end there, so feel free to request edits as necessary, Thesi. XD

Fakies in spoiler tags for your convenience:

Spoiler:

Forci Stikane · Mar 19, 2009

Of course it would not have been enough that he had never liked his story, the idea of cannibalism never sitting properly with him. It was just his luck to also be stuck with the role of either the witch or the stepmother, the two antagonists of the story. Even if he was already only one character away from completing his story, it meant less to him if he was actually playing the side of the villain and not the hero. He was probably going to have something to say to Zigfried on the matter, should he ever meet him face-to-face.

It was about then that Chelsea made another remark about wanting to meet the rest of the team, picking up some food along the way. He was about to object again when his own stomach echoed Chelsea's, reminding him of his own lack of food and essentially deciding his next action for him. "I...guess that we could go and find some food, although I have no idea where a good place would be to find it."

"I know of a few good places around here, actually." Kuso immediately turned to look for the newcomer, but much to his surprise, the only viable source of the perfectly-understandable sentence was the nearby chef. That could hardly be right, since there had been no sign of the thick accent from before, and yet... "There should be a deli with some terrific sandwiches over by a nearby airstrip, ...although you've apparently just come from there." Vhat finished as he nodded towards the path of destruction that Haruko had created, as well as potentially giving a heart attack to all three duelists opposite from him.

Kuso was completely stunned, his mind focused on making sense of this sudden change and refusing to allow that reminder of his previous abuse to leak in. "Whe--Where did that accent go...?"

"It left at about the same time that you took up those characters." Vhat stated as he pointed out the PDA still in Kuso's hand, the e-mail message still fresh on its screen.

Kuso glanced back at the machine, then placed it back safely in his pocket, which was an especially wise decision in this case seeing as he felt as if he was going to lose consciousness at any moment from the shock. "...And you never tried speaking normally before, why?"

"Because we're supposed to keep in-character, duh." As Kuso continued to stare dubiously at him, Vhat added with an indifferent shrug, "I mean, isn't that why you were being so rude to those two girls?"

Kuso nodded slowly in agreement despite not actually comprehending the accusation, his conscious mind more occupied with a "freak-out" phase regarding Vhat's voice. "Well, um...thanks, I guess." As he started walking mechanically towards the pre-beaten path, his brain finally finished sorting out the almost traumatic change in Vhat's accent, afterwards reminding him about the two girls. Despite how much he would have enjoyed ditching Haruko, and as much as Chelsea was somehow oblivious to her, he would not wish the fate of being stuck alone with Haruko on anyone, especially not a girl who had as much of a problem with her memory as Chelsea apparently did. Kuso considered a life of only memories of Haruko to be equivalent to a lifetime of torture, and so turned back out of worry. "Well, are you coming along or not?"

cookie_lovr · Apr 9, 2009

Are sign-ups still open? oO;;
+
Your forbidden card link doesn't work. Use this one. :]
https://www.yugioh-card.com/en/limited/

Alter Ego · Apr 12, 2009

OOC: Wow, thanks for spamming, guys.

Really now, unless you're part of an RP's cast, posting in the RP thread is not okay at all, particularly if what you post is not even relevant to the RP. (yes, shogun, I'm looking at you <<) Questions about the RP should be taken up directly with AC since he's the man in charge here.

...that aside, we nearly hit the one-month threshold here. Come on, people! Hustle that RPing muscle! >O

IC:

"You got lucky, Bibi-Bibi-chan." Haruko remarked, not seeming nearly as thrilled by Kuso's win as Chelsea was as she skipped over to the older girl's side, "If there had been cheese and mustard, you'd have been in trouble."

Her piece thus said, the child promptly turned back to her main object of attention, latching onto her once more, "Oh, that's a great idea, Ata-Ata-chan!" she chirped, "I'll introduce you to Neko-Neko-chan and Kumo-Kumo-chan and Dai-Dai-kun and Jou-Jou-kun too once he gets better and then we can all eat and drink together and be best friends for ever and ever." the child's eyes were practically brimming with enthusiasm as she half-led, half-dragged her older escort along with her, "Happily ever after, right? Now come ooooon, Ata-Ata-chan and Bibi-Bibi-chan! Little Haruharu is hungry toooo!"

Scarlet Weather · Apr 14, 2009

OOC: One day later than I promised, so sue me. >.<

Achan nodded to Tacey, even as he felt dazed about the revelation he had just heard. Judai had told Yuuka to trap them? But... why? He shook his head. "Let's go. I have a bad feeling about this," he replied as he started moving in the direction of the rest of the group.

Meanwhile, three men stared from a distance at the two. "So they're the ones, eh, leader?" the first asked, his blue hair a dead giveaway to anyone who happened to be looking in his direction.

"Patience, Ehrez," the leader replied, his eyes gleaming with a predatory light. "To pounce prematurely could lead to disaster. We shall wait until the time is right to launch our final attack..."

The third man's eyes gleamed as well as he removed a pistol from a concealed holster within his leather jacket and loaded it. "And we'll capture all of our birds with a single stone. Brilliant," he finished.

"Indeed, Klaus." Was the leader's only reply as he watched Tacey and Achan recede into the distance. "Now... I believe our strange employer asked us to get our hands on a sealing spirit, and to delay our quarries as long as possible, correct? Now, how do you propose we do that? I have my own plans, but I'd like to hear your suggestions."

Ehrez scratched his head. "Er... we could knock 'em out and tie 'em up, same as always."

"Not a good plan," Klaus replied. "That one's just not fun enough. If we're going to do this job, we should at least try to have fun with it."

"I couldn't agree more," the leader replied mildly. "So instead, what do you two think of this..."

The other two listened, astounded, to their leader's ideas. "Boss, you're brilliant," whispered Ehrez.

"It certainly sounds interesting..." Klaus replied as he holstered his now-loaded gun. "Shall we?"

The boss nodded his head. "Of course. Sturm Hunds... move out."

---------------------

Achan pointed ahead as he and Tacey finally approached the remaining members of their team. "Well, we're back," he said. "I wonder if- hey, who's that guy?" he pointed to the strange man who seemed to be talking with Kuso. "Looks like they're talking about... lunch? What, we leave and they all decide to go out to eat?"

Suddenly, the sound of an engine's roar filled Achan's ears. "What on earth-" he began, and turned just in time to see something that caused his face to turn pale. "GET DOWN!" he shouted, tackling Tacey out of the way just as a large Harley-Davidson came roaring directly past them. Two more came close behind it, forcing Achan to scramble to his feet. "What the hell?"

The three bikes zoomed past the remainder of team seven and began circling the entire group at high speeds, as if to demonstrate that the group was surrounded. The riders of the bikes, three males in their twenties, seemed to be living it up as they gave of whoops of joy. Achan was, understandably, not amused. "Tch.... They've got us surrounded," he muttered, then turned to Aku. "And you didn't spot them... why?"

I- I don't know! The spirit replied, genuinely frightened. They came completely out of nowhere! I couldn't even sense them!

The bikes came to a stop. The three men dismounted, and two of them, a taller, blue-haired man and a shorter redhead who seemed to be the grunts of the operation, removed a pair of handguns. "Barrier's up, Boss," the redhead said. "We'll have no interference from outside parties.

"Guns loaded, too," the second continued. "None of these people are running anywhere unless they want a bullet to the brain."

"Good," the leader replied, stepping forward. "Guten Morgen," he announced to the group. "Welcome to Germany. I trust you've enjoyed your stay so far? Good, because I'm afraid that if any of you attempt to leave the illusory barrier my friends and I have set up or disobey our demands, it will come to an end very quickly." He laughed nastily. "These two gentlemen are Klaus and Ehrez. The two of them are expert riders, and marksmen. I assure you, they will not miss. As for me, I am Wolfgang, leader of this band, the Sturm Hunds. We have been requested to delay your progress in this tournament as long as possible, as well as relieve one of you of a certain card. Klaus?"

The redhead nodded and stepped towards Achan, still holding out his weapon. "Place your deck on the ground in front of you and step away. No funny business," he ordered.

"Tch," Achan muttered, before complying.

The gunman stepped forward, keeping his weapon trained on Achan, before picking up the deck and rifling through it. He turned towards his boss. "It's not in here?"

"Eh?" the Leader replied. "Then ask him to hand it to you, go on. He's probably still got it."

The man nodded. "Alright, joker, hand over the seal spirit."

Achan's eyes narrowed, and he met the mercenary's gaze. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied.

"Oh, really, then..." Klaus replied, before hurling Achan's deck into the air. "Then..."

BLAM

The cards fell to the ground, most of them in tatters. "This is a high-caliber revolver," the mercenary stated. "One bullet is all it will take. At this range, you have no hope of surviving. So..." he lifted the gun again. "I ask you again. Where is it?"

Achan stared back. "Over my dead body," he replied.

"Fair enough," the mercenary stated, and fired.

Achan flinched, just as a golden barrier sprang into existence between him and the bullet. "What on earth...?"

"I told you, no permanent damage," a voice said clearly as the barrier faded. "Killing them counts as permanent."

"Tch," the mercenary replied as he turned. "You again."

Achan stared at the man too, presumably the employer of the three mercenaries. "J-Judai?"

The older duelist ignored Achan, instead taking up business with the leader. "I told you, don't cause any unnecessary harm."

"Hmph," Wolfgang replied. "I don't like being told how to do my job, Herr Yuki. Kindly do not interfere a second time."

Judai sighed. "I came to tell you that the seal spirit is no longer a priority. We want to see how it reacts with its new partner for a time. Just delay them a bit longer."

Klaus sighed, lowering his handgun. "You all are lucky we were asked not to kill," he told Achan. "Or your corpses would be on the ground right now."

Achan was still dumbstruck. "Judai?"

The older duelist continued to ignore him, and simply waved a hand, creating a portal in the air. "....You are authorized to use lethal force against anyone except the spirit's host or the one with Miracle Draw, if necessary," he stated. "We have transferred compensation fees to your account."

Wolfgang smiled. "Ah, very good then. Klaus, Ehrez, change of plans. Let's skip straight to the entertainment."

Judai stepped through the portal and vanished. Team Seven was abandoned.

"So, my friends," Wolfgang announced clapping his hands. "The three of us are rather bored, not being involved in this tournament. And all of us enjoy a game of duel monsters. So if you wish to live, you will duel-"

"You all, right?" Achan interrupted.

"Not at all," Wolfgang corrected mildly. "You're rather rude. It may cost you your life someday. As I was about to say, you will duel... each other."

Achan stared. "What?"

"Duel each other or be shot. You heard me."

Achan thought quickly. "But I don't even have a-"

Achan, the cards! The ones the Raveller left you!

Achan reached into his deck box. "But there were only three copies of..."

The moment Achan's fingers contacted the cards, two of them began to glow, to change. He removed his hands from the deck box. One copy of The Fool was still there.... but the other cards had become...

"Far out," he muttered, inserting the new deck into his duel disk. "But what now?"

We need to break the barrier, Aku stated. I can do it, but I need duel energy. A lot of it. And the only way to generate it is...

"I see," Achan muttered. "And out of all of us, the one with the most is..."

He turned. "Tacey. I didn't mean to face you until the finals... but I think we'd better change those plans."

Wolfgang beamed, motioning for Klaus and Ehrez to join him. "Excellent. Now all of you be sure to pair up- I expect a marvelous duel."

Phanima · Apr 14, 2009

With the reluctant Kuso and overly supportive Haruko by her side, Chelsea was on her way to realising her true cause. But to be able to make two such wonderfully helpful and affable friends so quickly, especially considering her condition, put her right at ease. If everyone on Team Seven were as pleasant and accepting as them, she might be able to remember who she was and what she was doing in a Duel Monsters tournament. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long when she spotted two youthful albeit agitated faces emerge in the distance and began traipsing towards them. Achan Smith and Tacey Edgeworth had arrived, but before Chelsea could even think about greeting them, a gunshot pierced the air. It immediately became apparent that the sound resonated more like a vehicle backfire as it settled, rather than an actual gunshot and was soon followed by the unmistakable revving and engine stuttering familiar only to motorcycles as proof.

Three of them came hurtling behind the returning pair, forcing them to dive out of the way as the riders encircled the group, invariably surrounding and trapping the two within some form of force field. A lot of words were then exchanged as the situation settled and the riders confronted the group, mostly Achan, but what really startled her was how relentless the three intruders were. A gunshot was again heard and this was one was anything but fake. At this, the goggling brunette could only predict the boy's fallen body, but was fortunately relieved of such a situation when a fourth intruder entered the space, one too that she immediately recognised as the sixth member of the team. Her observation was further supported through the threatened boy's stuttering the older boy's name. But it too soon became apparent that the other brunette wasn't here to help, in fact, from what she could gather from the intruders' conversation, he had arranged the ambush himself.

Her head throbbed as the rather unfavourable situation unfolded before them. Heat invaded her senses and she felt herself perspiring under the cool morning. Something was wrong. Something about the situation seemed far too familiar to her and not in the good way. Had something like this happened before? Had she been ambushed? But that didn't make sense. She couldn't remember anything prior to the morning and all she had done throughout was meet Kuso and Haruko. Unless her spontaneous déjà vu was probing deeper into her past, to a time when an event that involved life and death as the ante of a duel had also been staked. But then, she had no recollection of duelling at all before the morning either. Things were getting complicated.

She then looked to the two she had already familiarised herself with as if hoping to realise exactly what she had forgotten, but upon seeing them, the throbbing suddenly ceased and the heat vanished from her body. In an instant she had returned to her usual self.

"S-So, what do we do?"

Alter Ego · Apr 22, 2009

"Don't worry, Ata-Ata-chan." Haruko chirped, patting the older girl's arm in a motherly fashion, "Neko-Neko-chan and Kumo-Kumo-chan have things under control. Besides..." she shut her eyes, tilting her head upward slightly, "...I think we should see about these four people behind us first."

Nearby, four pieces of highly inconspicuous shrubbery rustled in near-perfect unison, the figures within stepping into view, each clad in a black suit with matching black glasses, closing in on the other half of the group in a semi-circle that cut off by the barrier...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You..." Tacey's hands clenched and unclenched rapidly, her face even paler than its usual complexion rendered it as her gaze darted back and forth between their assailants. Part of her wanted to protest loudly at this indignity, to tell these wretched, filthy, disgusting...PEONS precisely what she thought about them and being their entertainment. Another part of her made its case more concisely:

They have guns.

Three simple words, echoed over and over in her mind. They had guns. They were right there with her. With guns. Stupid, ignorant ruffians. Her father would see them all slowly and painfully tortured to death once he caught wind of this, but that wouldn't help one key fact.

Dead. She swallowed hard. If one of those chimps acted on their stupid, primitive urges, she could end up dead...or worse. She shook her head, as if to dislodge the thought, offering the all too eager-to-please Achan a glare as he presented his case. She didn't like any of this one bit. Quite the contrary, in fact. But for now...she'd just have to do what she could to stay alive.

They'd pay, she assured herself as she wordlessly activated her duel disc. She didn't know how, but she would make them pay for this. All of this. None insulted her pride so grievously and got away unpunished.

"You won't mind the lady going first, will you Smith?" she asked, clearly a rhetorical question as she proceeded to draw her card, "My turn."

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 6 cards

"Royal Shieldbearer of the Magical Kingdom," she announced, a knight clad from head to toes in thick, steel plating - complete with a plumed helmet - taking up position on her field, a massive, wall-like tower shield with five gemstones inlaid on its surface held up in front of it, "by its effect, I can switch it into defense position on summon."

Royal Shieldbearer of the Magical Kingdom (1400 Atk/1700 Def)

"Then, I'll activate Mausoleum of the Royal Family and set one card." she gave a nod as a sizable, intricately decorated stone structure made of purest white stone emerged from the ground, a family motto inscribed in some obscure language beneath the proudly displayed royal emblem over its entrance and heavy metal bars sealing off its entrance, "Turn end."

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 3 cards
Monsters: Royal Shieldbearer of the Magical Kingdom (1400 Atk/1700 Def)
S/T: Mausoleum of the Royal Family, 1 set Spell or Trap

OOC:

Fakies for you, kiddies:

Spoiler:

Scarlet Weather · Apr 23, 2009

Achan grimaced. As expected, Tacey's not holding back at all. That Mausoleum's gonna be a serious pain in the ass if I don't do something about it... right, got it then.

He turned to his spirit partner, who was floating beside him. "Ready to kick this off?"

Aku nodded, holding up a sign: "Full Speed Ahead."

Achan turned to face his opponent. "My turn, draw!"

Duelist: Achan
Hand: 6
LP: 8000

"Hmm... gotta admit, blocking off card effects is going to be a pain in the rear, but I can work with that." Achan slammed his first card onto his duel disk. "Presenting the dramatic reintroduction... of Wandering Beast!"

The large, red creature materialized on Achan's field, roaring in triumph as it displayed its sleek, tiger-like body and twitched its long, red tail. The shock of red hair on its forehead flared as it lifted one paw to adjust the feathers it wore behind one ear. Achan nodded. Great, a solid first move... but this isn't just a duel, it's a plan. How on earth am I supposed to get it across to Tacey that the plan here is to bust our way out of the barrier with the duel energy Aku is gathering? He glanced at his duel spirit. Come on, come on, I can't leave her in the dark... I need her to go all out, to lose any inhibitions- she's trying not to show it, but she's definitely not looking her best right now. But I can't say.... Wait, I've got it!

"You know, Beast is probably my favorite Wanderer- he and I are a little bit alike. His effect's really only good for one thing- gathering energy and breaking through the opponent's defenses. It doesn't matter what barrier I'm staring at- if I have enough other Wandering monsters, Beast can easily grow big enough to smash anything in his path! And now I'm going to show you his ability first-hand: Wandering Beast, attack! Howling Moon!"

At Achan's command the beast howled and rushed forward recklessly, in a tactic that looked like it was something between a tackle and a roll, attempting to rip apart Tacey's shieldbearer. Not to miss a beat, Achan continued his running commentary. "Now Wandering Beast's effect activates- Cosmo Booster!" A red aura surrounded the charging beast. "For each Wandering monster I control including itself, I can increase the attack points of my beast by 400 when it attacks."

Spoiler:

Alter Ego · Apr 24, 2009

Tacey merely harrumphed as her knight fell beneath the beast's assault, "Still playing it reckless, are we Smith? Trap card activate. Royal Legacy! When one of my royalty monsters is destroyed, I can summon any level 5 or lower one from my deck. Come out, Royal Chevalier of the Magical Kingdom!"

The knight in shining armor with his long, billowing cloak and decided painful-looking lance were expected, the wyvern mount, not so much, but if the loyal steed was aware of any such prejudices, it certainly didn't let it show as it let out a proud roar.

Royal Chevalier of the Magical Kingdom (1600 Atk/1900 Def)

"Next." Tacey announced, "My Mausoleum's effect. When my Shieldbearer was destroyed, it left behind a spell counter in the mausoleum, which I can now transfer to my Chevalier." she gave a curt nod as the first of the five gemstone inlaid in the knight's lance lit up. She briefly locked eyes with the boy, "You're not the only one who can break down barriers here, Smith." the girl intoned evenly, "And I intend to prove that to you. Finish your turn."

Royal Chevalier of the Magical Kingdom (2000 Atk/1900 Def)

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 3 cards
Monsters: Royal Chevalier of the Magical Kingdom (1600 ↑ 2000 Atk/1900 Def)
S/T: Mausoleum of the Royal Family
Graveyard: Royal Legacy, Royal Shieldbearer of the Magical Kingdom

OOC:

Attention, duelists! My previous post has been edited with Harukoness! Please do not control the men in black, thank you. :3

In other news...

Spoiler:

Scarlet Weather · Apr 25, 2009

Achan grimaced as the Chevalier appeared. That was going to be a pain in the ass if there ever was one. Grimacing again, he selected a card from his hand. "Set one, end turn," he announced as a giant card back materialized in front of him. "Do your worst."

Do you think she got the message? Achan asked Aku mentally.

The spirit shrugged his tiny wings. Hard to say, but she's coming at you with the intention of winning- and that's a good thing. For now, forget about the plan and focus on the duel. It'll be easier for me to gather your energy if you're focused.

Achan nodded and looked at the Sturm Hunds. They seemed to be ignorant of any plan to destroy their barrier- or indeed, entirely ignorant of the possibility of such a plan. Who were these three, and what were they doing?

Wolfgang noticed his look and leered at him. "Keep your eyes on your lady friend, Herr Smith. She's your opponent after all."

"Trust me," Achan muttered, "No problems there."

Achan: 8000
Hand: 4
Field: Wandering Beast (1800/1500), One S/T
Grave: None
RFG: None

Alter Ego · Apr 27, 2009

"My turn. Draw."

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 4 cards
Monsters: Royal Chevalier of the Magical Kingdom (2000 Atk/1900 Def)
S/T: Mausoleum of the Royal Family
Graveyard: Royal Legacy, Royal Shieldbearer of the Magical Kingdom

The rich girl took a brief pause to asses her situation. Though she normally wouldn't have put any level of inane, meaningless blabber beyond him, even she had to admit that Smith's latest proclamation was more than a little bit over the top. He had been trying to say something with that long-winded rant of his, but true to his usual standards, it had been anything but clear. Something about breaking down barriers..? Could he possibly have meant..? It seemed implausible in the extreme, but after her duel for this new deck she wasn't prepared to rule the option out. Even so...she'd want confirmation before she did anything to compromise her own game position, but there wasn't much chance to ask for such. Not unless...

Tacey gave a grimace of her own. Such a fanciful and far-fetched idea it was, but then again...it was all she had right now.

"Battle Phase." she declared, "And at this timing, I activate my Chevalier's effect. Seal Evil!" she flicked her hand in the direction of her opponent's field, her chevalier raising his lance on que, the light from the solitary illuminated gem on it seeping out through the weapon and enveloping Achan's field, "By removing a spell counter from my Chevalier, I can prevent you from using any card effects for the duration of this battle phase. That includes both your face-down and your mutt's little revival trick."

Royal Chevalier of the Magical Kingdom (2000 ↓1600 Atk/1900 Def)

Chevalier, destroy his Wandering Beast! Oh, and one more thing." she added as her knight swept up into the skies, preparing to skewer its target with a diving attack, "Whenever my Chevalier attacks or is attacked, it gains one spell counter before damage calculation."

Royal Chevalier of the Magical Kingdom (1600 ↑ 2000 Atk/1900 Def)

"And at this timing; chain! Royal Inquiry!"

At her words, the shape of a large, green-framed card appeared on her field, depicting a stern-looking Curran staring down three frightened servants with an empty cookie jar in her hands, a crying Pikeru leaning to her side.

"By this effect, I can check any set card you have." she briefly made eye contact once more, "Let's see precisely what you're up to, Smith."

OOC:

Royal Inquiry
Quick-Play Spell

This card can only be activated while you control a "Curran", "Pikeru", or "Royal" Monster. For each face-up "Curran", "Pikeru", or "Royal" Monster you control, check one face-down card on your opponent's Field then return it to its original position. At the end of the turn this card was activated, draw a card.

Scarlet Weather · Apr 27, 2009

Achan grimaced as the Chevalier came in for a dive-bombing attack- especially since Tacey had just, unwittingly, strayed into his territory with that effect name and made a Final Fantasy reference. However, the moment she chained her Royal Inquiry he couldn't help smirking. He was happy to show her exactly what he had set.

"You want to check my card, go ahead," Achan announced as the purple-backed card appeared in the air beside him. "I meant it to be a surprise, but I guess I would've had to show you soon anyway."

The card displayed the image of several yellow, unbearably cute, and apparently flightless birds rushing away from a gigantic cobra as the Wandering Hero and his companions took up a battle stance.

Sudden Attack- Call for Reinforcements!
Normal Trap
When your opponent destroys a "Wandering" monster you control as a result of battle, you can search your deck for a "Wandering" monster of the same level and show it to your opponent. If this card is destroyed by your opponent's card effect, you can select a "Wandering" monster in your graveyard and add it to your hand.

Even as he grinned, however, Achan snuck a glance at Aku. Do you think she realizes what I'm up to?

If she does, you're in trouble. But I wouldn't worry- you haven't played that card yet, since you didn't have it until now. Come to think of it, most of these new supports are completely bizarre.

Well, thanks for the impromptu decklist you gave me. At least I know what I'm doing now.

Heh, we're partners, right?

Achan cringed as his Wandering Beast bit the dust. "Kind of a pity. I was hoping I'd get a search and a revived beast out of that," he complained. "Anyway, go on."

Achan: (8000-200=7800)

Alter Ego · Apr 28, 2009

Tacey raised an eyebrow at the redhead's all too compliant manner. Her Chevalier's effect had been in plain view, so what was he up to, setting a reactive trap like that? Something wasn't right here.

"Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom," she announced, "Attack Position."

Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 Atk/ 800 Def)

The aged knight looked as world-weary as ever as he made his entry, but steeled himself all the same, sword and jeweled shield raised in preparation.

"My Field Judge's effect." Tacey continued, "Soul Penance!"

At her words, the judge raised his sword, pointing it towards Achan's graveyard, a phantom version of his wandering beast emerging from within and lingering in the air for a brief moment before the knight drew it towards himself, the apparition seeping into one of the jewels on his shield which promptly lit up.

Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1600 ↑ 1900 Atk/ 800 Def)

"Once per turn." Tacey announced, "I can remove one effect monster in either graveyard from play to turn it into a spell counter for my judge. In this case, your beast. I'll set one card. Turn end. And at this point," she reached for her deck, "Royal Inquiry lets me draw one more card. Over to you, Smith."

Duelist: Tacey
Life Points: 8000
Hand: 2 cards
Monsters: Royal Chevalier of the Magical Kingdom (2000 Atk/1900 Def), Royal Field Judge of the Magical Kingdom (1900 Atk/ 800 Def)
S/T: Mausoleum of the Royal Family, 1 Spell or Trap (face-down)
Graveyard: Royal Legacy, Royal Shieldbearer of the Magical Kingdom, Royal Inquiry

CARD GAMES

that evil mod from hell

That servant of the evil one

The Game is Afoot!

that evil mod from hell

The Game is Afoot!

..

That servant of the evil one

that evil mod from hell

..

Deh Clumsy Altruistic Activist

that evil mod from hell

The Game is Afoot!

That servant of the evil one

that evil mod from hell

The Game is Afoot!

that evil mod from hell

The Game is Afoot!

that evil mod from hell

The Game is Afoot!

that evil mod from hell