CARD GAMES

[Scarlet Weather]

OOC: AUGH!

Okay.... whoops. I meant to put Beat Rush in Achan's hand from the beginning, but I somehow missed that part, and I've never played Ben Kai OTK so I improvised. I'm going to need to rewrite part of that duel now, dagnabbit. I'll try to improve on the idiocy there. Heheh. *sweatdrops*

Okay, I've figured out a way to come up with a different duel with the same ending moves and result, so my post will be edited shortly to reflect this. In the meantime, now that I'm not beating myself up I'm going to actually put a post in here. XD

IC:

Achan's cheek was stinging, true, but his honor was doubly bitten. Not only had he earned a second slap (from somebody he actually respected, no less) but his entire team had been watching. (Well, at least the members he had met so far.) It was bad enough when Michel had swaggered up to him and teasingly asked "Friend of yours, Achan?", but when Tacey started lighting into him, the last straw fell and broke not only the camel's back, but also collapsed the bridge that the entire caravan was standing on. Achan's frustration seemed to take physical form as he whipped around to face Michel, the wind around him blowing his hat off. Struggling to keep himself calm, Achan all but choked as he snarled "Never... say... that.... again." With that, he proceeded to march out of the alleyway, his hair still ablaze. Without meaning to, however, he slammed directly into a passing pedestrian. "Oomph!"

Achan's anger evaporated, for the most part, as he picked himself up. "Are you okay?" he asked, proffering a hand to the man he had just downed.

"Fine, thanks. Hey, do any of ya know the way down ta the Statue of Liberty?"

Achan's mouth dropped open as he stared at the person who he had carelessly crashed into. "J-Jonouchi Katsuya?" he stammered, taking three steps backward.

"That's my name, don't wear it out, nyeh." The older duelist replied, straightening himself up. "Love ta stay an' chat, but I've got a meetin' ta get to, so I'm gonna have to skip out on ya. So, do ya know the way to the Statue of Liberty?"

Achan slowly shook his head, before a flash of inspiration struck him. Immediately, he withdrew his GPS and called up the map. "Here it is," he said, showing the device's screen to the older duelist. "Right around here."

Slowly, a smile spread out across Jonouchi's face. "Thanks, kid. I really owe ya for that, nyeh."

Returning the device to his pocket, Achan smiled modestly and held up his hands in protest. "Oh, really, it was nothing..."

"It was? In that case, see ya!" Jonouchi interrupted before taking off running in the direction Achan had indicated.

Achan stared at the street. "Okay, so maybe it was nothing... but would it kill you to be civil enough to chat?" he groaned. Before dissapointment could fully kick in, however, Achan's mind pounced on what Joey had said before. He's going to a meeting at the statue of liberty. What on earth could that be about? With this on his mind, he walked back into the alleyway to face his team mates. In breaking the news, he decided to take the tactful approach. "Hey, you guys... I know this might be a little hard to believe, but I just ran into Jonouchi Katsuya. Literally. Anyway, he let it slip that he's heading to a meeting of some sort near the Statue of Liberty, and I know that we're supposed to be looking for our team mates, but... do you want to check it out? We could send an E-Mail to them or something saying we'd be there, so it wouldn't be too hard."

 

[Alter Ego]

"Excuse me?" Tacey began levelly at Achan's rant, "All this vulgar shouting must indeed have damaged my sensitive ears; for a moment there I thought I heard you suggesting that we interrupt the search for the people we need to find to stay in this tournament and instead tail an official tournament guest speaker - albeit a very poorly picked one - to eavesdrop on a probably top-secret meeting which we were most likely not intended to even know of, fully aware that should we be caught we may very well be shut out from the tournament or worse." her eyes were shooting unspoken accusations at the poor boy. Who did he think she was? Some rule-breaking little gossip who'd risk her shot at the world championships for a few tidbits of classified information? Someone who'd risk everything she had worked for for a guilty little thrill? Someone who-

Oh, let's face it: Tacey was a sneaky little snoop if there ever was one.

The girl burst out into a dainty little gigglefit, "Smith, you're finally beginning to speak my language." she replied. Goodness, that was almost a compliment; would wonders never cease? "Well, what are we doing waiting around here, then?" she inquired, "If we delay this any further the juicy bits will all be gone by the time we get there. Come on, we've got an underdog to track."

With that, she strode out of the alley, "Oh, and you four." she added in her guards' direction, "Stealth, please, I don't want you blowing our cover. That goes for the rest of you too." she added to her teammates.

 

[Phanima]

Hmm, I'm not very popular today, although, I guess that's nothing to be surprised about…

The fiery straw hat seemed to have lost one of the few screws keeping his head from erupting and spewing molten crazy on everyone around him. He then somehow found his target in the line of Michel and was apparently upset about the snide comment he had made. Seeing the younger boy's reaction, several flags were triggered in the teenage businessman's mind. He was beginning to grow tired of having to put up with the continuous outbursts from his much younger team mates, all of them having had one in the last hour or so. He had gotten angry himself and the cause was due, but he had managed to compose himself physically and emotionally in front of the others, in respect to maintaining his profile. However, so much had happened in so little time that he had begun to feel extremely pressured, more so than what he was accustomed to. And the causes were these three kids, these self-absorbed, overconfident and irrational brats. His patience was wearing thin, very thin.

It's only been a few hours, but this day has been dragging on way too long. And we still haven't found the other three team members either. The sooner we end this round the better and the sooner I'll be able to get some time alone without these brats interfering. Now, I suppose I should have a word with Smith, his attitude is starting to piss me off…

Sliding off from the brick alleyway wall, Michel turned to follow Achan's lead when another scenario presented itself, and an unexpected one at that. Returning from his storm off, Achan launched into a pitch about overhearing details of a meeting concerning the tournament's spokesman, Jonouchi Katsuya, and other related individuals. Michel found it an interesting proposition that could well provide useful information on the tournament and its conduction. Deciding on this however, he realised that he would be forced to remain in the company of his dismembered group for an even longer period of time, which was something that he did not hold in high regard. The chance of unveiling more about the tournament's proceedings however, had become unexpectedly enticing to the teenage businessman.

Damn…alright, I suppose going on a little longer won't cause too much more intellectual damage, but this better be quick. The sooner we get on that plane, the-

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the familiar and prissily toned voice of Tacey Edgeworth, who had quickly taken Achan's proposal on board and without argument. She then addressed her four guards to maintain a low profile and to act as "stealthy" as possible, as she had so aptly put it, before turning to himself and the coated boy behind him with the same message.

Being advised and ordered how to behave by children was certainly one of the factors Michel had taken into consideration when he was preparing for the tournament. His ability to react appropriately however, was unexpectedly growing out of his control. But for the time being, he had managed to restrain himself enough to compose himself appropriately in accordance to the younger duellists' requests, his current mindset focused on discovering the secret meeting of the tournament.

With a quick glance over his shoulder to see if the other member of his team, Rurian, had recovered from his recent misadventure and was following behind him, the teenage businessman turned to follow his two main rivals for the tournament thus far; the corporate high-horse riding Tacey, and the miscreant tourist Achan.

Damn kids…

 

[Scarlet Weather]

"Smith, you're finally beggining to speak my language."

Achan smiled teasingly. "And what's this? Tacey Edgeworth, did you just come close to complimenting me? Well, will wonders never cease. I'm deeply flattered." Jauntily, he stepped over to the fallen straw hat beside him and placed it in its old, familiar position on his head. "Anyway, we seem to have one issue: How on earth are we going to get to the statue of liberty in one trip? I mean, it's out on Ellis Island, so it isn't like we can just walk all the way to the ferry. Besides, if we do that we're bound to run into another duelist with some kind of mental issue if we go on foot, and we don't have that kind of time. So we're going to take the route that Jonouchi probably took." Achan paused for effect, before pointing to a passing yellow vehicle. "New York's taxi system. Of course, there are enough of us that we're going to need two cabs. Tacey, you can ride with the rest of the group or with your bodyguards, whatever you want. Michel, Rurian, and I should probably stay together just to avoid confusion. Got it? And now that that's settled, I'm going to show you one sure-fire way to hail a cab without being female. I'm going to swear you all to secrecy on the use of this trick: word gets out, so many people will start using it that it will become useless. Watch closely."

Achan strode forward with determination written on every line of his face, and what strands of his hair that stuck out from his cap blazing in the sun. As soon as he reached the curb, he steeled himself, concentrating as much of the air in his body as he could to the middle of his diaphragm while thinking loud thoughts, for the loudest possible yell. With this accomplished, he cupped his hands to his mouth, took one more deep breath for good measure, and shouted "HEY, LOOK! IT'S PEGASUS! HE'S STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO ME!"

Immediately, a good number of the passerby stopped in place, and two taxicabs came screeching to a halt. Achan smirked. The old celebrity bait-and-switch: gets 'em every time.

 

[Alter Ego]

OOC: Eh-he-heh, sorry for the lateish post. My graduation was today so I've been spending the past five hours hugging and shaking hands with relatives and acquaintances all the way from my grandparents and uncles/aunts to my old psychologist and the person who used to live next door to me back when I was, like, seven or something. xD

Anyways, things are calming down now so I snuck down to get a break from the festivities. IC time! :3

IC:

Tacey merely returned Achan's smile, albeit in a slightly more dignified manner, "You should, Smith, you should." she replied, "Odds are you won't be getting many, so savor it."

The girl had half a mind to give the boy a few choice words about so impudently assuming leadership, but seeing as how he had caught wind of the scoop in the first place, she was feeling charitable for a change. His method certainly proved efficient, but it was the complete opposite of stealth. Tacey didn't really see a need for such tricks, though; after all, she was a girl - and a pretty one at that, if she did say so herself - a dueling celebrity, and filthy rich to boot. The cab driver who resisted the magical combination of looks, fame, and money had surely yet to be born.

"I'll be taking my own, if you don't mind." she remarked at the discussion on how the cabs would be divided up, her tone making it quite clear that she'd be doing it regardless of whether someone minded or not, "I say, you there!" she walked over to the cab driver, receiving a bleary-eyed stare in return.

"Yeah, what'cha want, kid?" he inquired flatly, sloppily tilting his head out of the open window, "I've got customers to find, so unless your daddy is around here somewhere and is ready to pay, quit bugging me."

The suits flinched in unison.

"What I want, my good man..." Tacey continued silkily, the familiar vein above her right eyebrow flashing like an alarm light as she approached the cab driver, "Is for you ignorant louts to grasp the concept of manners!" with the same ferocity that she had slapped Achan, the girl grasped the taxi driver by the collar and yanked his head forward until their eyes were inches from each other, "Now get this straight: I am Tacey Juliet Edgeworth, daughter of William Edgeworth; the electronics tycoon who will soon have bought up your sorry excuse for a taxi company, and by line of heritage I will be your future boss, so unless you want to spend the rest of your miserable little life scrubbing dirty cars with your toothbrush I'd suggest adopting a more civil tone when addressing me. Do I make myself clear?"

Tacey might have been a dainty, unarmed little girl but from the cab driver's point of view the situation was hauntingly similar to a knifepoint threat. Make that a knifepoint threat from someone with a very good attorney, "Y-yes, ki-"

"Miss." Tacey hissed, tightening her grip of the terrified man, "Now stop your lallygagging and get back to your job while you still have one. I and my escorts." she nodded towards the suits at this point, "Are in need of transport to the Ellis island area. Does this pose a problem?"

"N-no, miss." it was hard to tell whether the quiver in his voice was out of fear or lack of oxygen.

Tacey relaxed a bit. Good, this lout was fairly easily tamed at least; teaching these plebeians was usually such a bother.

"Good." she replied sweetly, relinquishing her grip and wandering over to the door on the other side, "Oh, and the polite thing would be to hold the door up for me." she added as an aside.

Fortunately, the cab driver was fairly quick on the uptake and caught the hint, rushing out and holding up the door as Tacey stepped in daintily while the four suits filed into the backseats in perfect formation. Inwardly, the poor man was cursing his cheap decision not to go with full driver protection gear on the car.

"Alright then." Tacey trilled, "Follow that cab over there, my good man." she pointed a dainty little finger at the car Achan and the others would be riding in.

 

[Scarlet Weather]

OOC: Happy occasion for you, huh? I've got an excuse for posting this late, too. I collapsed in the middle of Border's yesterday. Turns out that either I had a one-time blood sugar tank or I'm hypoglycemic. Either way, it was pretty freaky. 0_o

IC:

Achan smiled as Tacey stated that she would be taking her own cab. "Go ahead, I don't mind." he said, one again assuming the jaunty air of a moment ago. After all, it wasn't as if he was attempting to assume leadership of the group. He considered himself a logistics expert, true, but not really a leader. On the other hand, with a ragtag group of two rich people, one ninja, one tourist, and three people as of yet undiscovered, he had no idea who the leader was. Was there really any leader at this point? As these questions bounced around through Achan's head, he turned to see the taxi driver Tacey had just hailed being subjected to what could only be considered a legalized form of extortion. Achan felt his skin prickle. And this girl needs bodyguards because... why?

The cab driver next to Achan honked. "Hey, Buddy! Ya want a cab or somethin'? We don't got all day!"

Oh, right. My cab. Yes. Achan turned to the older man and nodded. "Yeah. Four people to the ferry to Ellis Island. Got that?"

The cab driver stared at Achan's floral-print shirt. "On vacation? Gonna go see the statue o' liberty?"

Achan felt his eyes rolling, a reaction that was almost automatic to questions he considered unnecessary. "Yes, sir, that's exactly what I'm doing. Look could you just open the cab?"

The cab driver pointed to Tacey's suits, who were, at the moment, attempting to blend into the background by holding newspapers in front of their faces as they edged toward another cab. Achan's hand immediately slapped his forehead. "Jeez..." he muttered. Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck the duelist. Turning his head quickly to ensure that Tacey wasn't watching, he leaned up to the cab driver's ear and whispered "They're my bodyguards. I'm the child of a famous foreign dignitary, and I'm in disguise in order to enjoy my vacation here. But, see, my dad is really eccentric, so if you give me a great ride, he may pay you back..." He paused for effect, "In spades."

The cab driver's eyes widened as he opened the doors to his vehicle. Achan slid in, before pointing to the other two soon-to-be passengers. "Do you mind if we pick up my friends, too?"

The cab driver shook his head solemnly. His reaction was understandable- he had never met a real, live dignitary's child, after all.

 

[Jim]

[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]OOC: I hate starting things..............[/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]IC:[/FONT]
"[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]Jet, Skunk of the Sea, attack him directly!" bawled the incredibly broad male standing menacingly at one end of the duelling field. In between this boy and another boy was a giant blue holographic skunk. The skunk was an electric blue colour with a long beige stripe from its' head to its' tail. It's face hidden behind a snorkel and a diving mask. It sprayed bubble from its' mouth which collided with the small boy at the other end of the field, his life points depleted to zero. He fell too the floor as the skunk vanished in a flash. "I won the card game, I won the card game!" Ed (the tall broad boy wearing a bright yellow blazer and Jeans darker than the night sky) yelled as the small crowed cheered and booed. The other young boy stormed off swearing furiously under his breath, knowing his professional career, in playing Duel Monsters, was over. [/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]The miniature crowed dispersed as Ed pushed past them, on a busy New York street he marched on confidently.[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif] I hope my new team is better than that... Well, as long as they're not rich and bossy then that'll be fine... Or in a worse case scenario a Ninja; I don't like Ninjas... They're so.... Intimidating, even more intimidating than a short farm boy.[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif] Ed laughed out loud as he continued to press on down the overloaded and industrious street. The boy found himself a park bench and progressed to sit down. As he did he whipped off his Academia style duel disk and shoved it aggressively into his bag and then he reached for his PDA, given by the tournament officials. He opened up the surface and a smooth and extremely annoying female voice bawled from the speakers. [/FONT][/FONT]

"[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]Welcome to AOL. You have E-Mail," she screeched.[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]Ed considered throwing the device in a nearby pond, or feeding it to the Ducks, or Pigeons, or the old lady -that stunk of cat food- sitting next to him. Ed groaned as thudded the E-mail button with his thumb, nearly destroying the device.[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]From: [email protected][/FONT][/FONT]
"[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]Your new team has been located, if you look to your left you'll notice some tall guys wearing suits and reading newspapers inconspicuously, if you follow the line of them you'll locate your team. Have a nice day x. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]-Tournament Administrative Staff[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]" [/FONT][/FONT]

"[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]This is going to be emotional, and a very long Tournament," [/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]he thought to himself as he started to follow the long line of Men in black, one of which was eating a Kebab. [/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]OOC: UGH! ME CAN'T RP GOOD RIGHT NOW! WHY!?!*coughs*[/FONT][/FONT]

 

[Scarlet Weather]

OOC: Alright... that was random. But that was seriously a funny post for a starter. Short, but amusing. Short farm boys? Ninjas? Other various, assorted peoples? Get ready to rumble.

Oh, and Omega? Could you post the conclusion to your duel earlier as part of your next post, and then sort of have Rurian catch up with all the goings-on? Last thing we need is our resident ninja to go AWOL.

IC:

Achan prepared to slide into the worn beige-leather seats of the taxi cab when his PDA set off a burst of beeping that caused it to nearly leap out of his pocket. Achan removed the device, which immediately called up the E-Mail screen.

From: [email protected]

Attention, duelist! One of your team mates is in incredibly close proximity to you! Just turn around- he's following all the "inconspicuous security guards!

-The Tournament Administrative Staff

P.S. My remote control is definitely not being used to set off your PDA at inconvenient moments!

Achan turned to stare at the Academia-blazer wearing youth directly behind Tacey's suits. He was a bulky teen, no mistake, and easily a bit taller then Achan. The clothing scheme definitely indicated he was a former student at Duel Academia, specifically from Ra Yellow, the intermediate house. In fact, Achan considered, he might still be a student, but with Duel Academia's way of setting up classes it was hard to tell. Either way, it was time to introduce himself. "Could you hold on a moment, my good sir?" he asked the cab driver sweetly, performing his best possible imitation of Tacey, "I've got one more passenger for you."

The cab driver, still dazed by the fact that some rich guy's kid was his first passenger. Imagine- he had just started, and already he was going to make a bundle in tips. Those veteran drivers would die of envy when they saw how much money he was going to get.

Achan slipped over to the blazer-wearing youth's side. "Um, excuse me?" he asked, tapping on his team member's shoulder, "I'm Achan Smith, and I think we're team mates."

 

[Jim]

"[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Wow, someone important must be in town, with all these unnoticeable guards hanging around." Ed muttered to himself staring at the suit that appeared to be talking to his upside down newspaper. As he wheeled around the corner the line of guards thickened, whistling and kicking dust as if they weren't there. Suddenly he was approached by a small and young looking boy with a floral shirt and straw hat. Ed flinched "F-farm boy," he thought to himself. He slowly edged backwards, hoping to be as invisible as the Men in Black. The boy came to a halt in front of Ed and communicated in some strange farm language. [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]"I'm Achan Smith, and I think we're team mates." [/FONT]


"[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It imitates our language, I'd better play along,"[/FONT]


"[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]My name's Ed, Ed Pepper," he stated as he stared down at the creature before him "Nice to meet you," he exclaimed as he looked upon the boy he so obviously dwarfed; he tried to make pleasantries with it. "I don't want to get on its' bad side, they have powers," "So, are these your bodyguards, and where are you going, in that cab, is it something to do with the tournament? I lost the brochure," he stuttered as he kept eye contact on the boy. "Where's the rest of the team?" [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Ed looked over the shoulder of the boy. There was a living doll and that's about all he could make out that was distinguished from the crowed. "This will be emotional," [/FONT]

OOC: I couldn't finish this post because my keyboard is playing up. Hence my current RPing skill lack >.>

 

[Scarlet Weather]

OOC: Achan is a tourist, not a farm boy, silly little man. Hooboy, Achan is going to have fun with your character.

IC:

Achan stared at the bigger guy in front of him. This "Ed Pepper" character was obviously scared out of his wits, though Achan couldn't for the life of him figure out why. And why on earth did this guy think that a kid in tourist clothes could afford a set of well-trained bodyguards in Armani suits? Once again, the small ocular appendages in the twin sockets of his skull commenced movements in a circular motion. Great. First the bossy, scary rich girl, then the older rich guy with bad timing, then the ninja on a caffeine high, and now the kid from paranoiasville? Jeez, I'm going to have a hernia. It was at this point that the tourist extrordinaire figured that he'd have to step in. "No, they aren't my bodyguards. They work for Tacey Edgeworth. She's the girl over there who looks like some kind of living doll, and not exactly in the 'super-attractive' way. How on earth would a kid like me afford bodyguards without being obscenely rich? Anyway, the rest of the team is over there. First, we have Rurian," Achan began, pointing at the Asian teenager, "He's our resident ninja. Next we've got Michel- he and Tacey are both incredibly rich. I mean, they're so rich, I'm starting to wonder whether or not Kaiba and Pegasus are rivaled. Then there's me, Achan Smith. I'm a small-town kid from Virginia, here in the United States, and I'm our resident expert on this city of New York. As for the cab ride, we just ran into Jonouchi Katsuya and he let slip that there's some kind of secret meeting going on, so we're going to go see if we can't crash the party. Care to join us?"

 

[Alter Ego]

OOC: Umm...guys, Tacey already ushered her suits into the car. How come they're out on the streets again? xD

IC:

At Achan's scathing remark concerning his teammate's looks, a dainty but clearly noticeable cough emerged from the cab's front seat - quite the feat considering the general din of the place - and was soon followed by Tacey's head poking out from the window.

"I heard that, Smith!" she announced in her usual lethally sweet voice, "And don't you know that it's rude to keep a lady waiting? If you do not cease your inane drabbling with the peasantry and get into the cab right this instant, I shall be forced to come over and slap some sense into you again." she gave a slightly over-dramatic sigh, fanning her face with one hand, "Oh the toils I have to endure in this uncivilized backwater...and to be stuck in this cramped, stuffy car too. What indignity."

The cab driver and the four suits crammed into the backseat very prudently held their collective tongues at this statement.

 

[Phanima]

The straw hat had once again run off, but this time he had found something particularly overdue. Edward Pepper; the extra member of their team who had been added under the order of the tournament's administration, had finally arrived. Seeing the newcomer, Michel recognised several familiar characteristics him and the new teenager shared, appearance-wise. Their hair stood similarly in style and in colour, while their eyes also shared similar tones. His attire however, was something that resembled a punk who had spent the last month on the streets after being kicked out of school and home. It was unimpressive, but the teenage businessman wasn't exactly the role model of modern fashion either. His attire had become worn and tattered in various places, but he paid little to no mind in keeping his clothes in any kind of presentable condition. He instead focused on other people's appearances and criticized them accordingly, despite how hypocritical that might seem.

Returning his attention to the current situation, Michel turned away from the straw hat and yellow jacket before pulling open the first cab's passenger door and prepared to take a seat. The arrangement of the cabs was not something he had approved upon, but he was determined to find out more about the tournament meeting being held near Ellis Island, and whatever method got them there the quickest, was good enough for him.

"Smith, hurry up and bring Pepper with you. We're leaving."

 

[Scarlet Weather]

OOC: I'm going to randomly use this space to announce that Porygon-Z and I have a Pokemon RP plot in the discussion thread. And that we're going to Ellis Island plot-twist style, so we don't have any time to argue about it. [/shameless advertisement coupled with nothing in particular.)

IC:

SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME PLOT TWIST!!!!!​

With the majority of the members of the team packed into the yellow vehicles which made up a good part of the public transportation system for New York, the chase was on. The mission? Catch up to Jonouchi. The problem? Following his cab. The green-shirted duelist was hard to keep up with, easily outdistancing the vehicles Achan and co. rode in. As the group continued moving towards Ellis Island, they passed multiple landmarks of New York, in fact, they passed so many that describing them would take up an unnecessary amount of space. Finally, however, the group arrived at the site of the ferry which would be transporting them to Ellis Island, where the giant copper monolith known as the Statue of Liberty stood. There, they disembarked from the taxicabs (with Achan subtly passing the cab driver who had transported him a note explaining that his father was probably going to take a while to repay the poor man, but he would eventually) and boarded the ferry, along with a sizable group of tourists. The ferry ride was longer and more boring then expected, so Achan spent most of the voyage attempting to figure out the functions of the PDA: so far, the only ones he had discovered were a text program, E-Mail, and GPS. At last, however, the ferry docked, and the group just managed to catch sight of Jonouchi slipping around the corner of the statue. Stealthily they followed, and by hiding themselves behind a conveniently place group of shrubberies, they were able to make out the executives of the meeting that took place.

First, and most obviously, was Jonouchi Katsuya, drumming his fingers against his KC-issue duel disk as he laid back against the base of the statue, looking more relaxed then anything else.

The second attendant of the meeting was just as iconic as far as proffessional dueling went, but had never been personally seen by Achan before. Kaiba Seto was probably the first person Achan had seen who wore coat-tails in the summer time. His short, brown hair seemed to hold its position even when a gust of wind rattled past the statue, and Achan wondered what kind of hair gel the older duelist was using. Unlike Jonouchi, Kaiba wore a slightly more expensive-looking duel disk of a style that Achan couldn't recognize. As far as he could tell, it looked like the original except with far more streamlined and metallic edges, and etchings of a duel monster that Achan easily recognized: Kaiba's famed Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Achan almost had trouble recognizing the third member of the star-studded party. He had never actually seen a picture of Pegasus J. Crawford's face, but he recognized the distinctive hairstyle and blazer for a few moments.

Kaiba was the first to speak. His english wasn't accented in the slightest, but his voice was deep and grating. "So, Pegasus. What's the reason we're all here for? I hope you didn't call us across the Atlantic just for a bit of a reunion."

The owner of Industrial Illusions shook his head. "Patience, Kaiba-boy," he said, rolling his eyes, "I simply have a very important announcement concerning the deck types currently in this tournament." Achan was surprised. Pegasus pronounced the English words correctly for the most part, but his accent was apparent much moreso then either of the other two. Was he just not making a conscious effort to hide it, or had the multibillionaire simply skimped on his English classes?

Jonouchi removed himself from his slouching position by the side of the monolith's base. "And why the heck does it have ta involve me? I'm just the MC, afta all, once this here round's over I'm headin' back to Japan."

Pegasus faced him as well. "Patience, Jono-boy, patience. This announcement is going to affect the entire tournament in two ways, and I need you to make it known to all the competitors. You are the MC, after all. Kaiba-boy, I called you here since we're going to need to borrow that wonderful helicopter fleet of yours."

The captain of industy slapped his forehead. "Pegasus, I respect you as a business partner and I've actually developed a bit of respect for you since we began a partnership- but this is just too much. You're a multibillionaire, why can't you just invest some of that hard-earned yen and buy your own helicopter fleet?"

"Says the guy who painted dragons all over his own!" Jonouchi interjected, grinning.

Irate, Kaiba wheeled and pointed at the blond-haired duelist. "Listen, Jonouchi, if you make one more comment about me and the blue-eyes, I'm going to leak the information about you being a furry all over the internet."

Obviously embarassed, Jonouchi jumped back. "Hey, that was just a phase! Ya don't catch Jonouchi Katsuya wearin' a dog-suit anymore, now do ya?"

Pegasus stepped between the two. "Kaiba-boy, Jono-boy, we're going to attract unnecessary attention if you two keep bickering. Now, is everybody going to listen?"

The smaller group was silent for a moment. Pegasus chimed in. "Good. Now, get ready because this is going to be a bit of a surprise. First of all, I just finished a new banlist. Starting now, the following changes will be enacted to decide which cards a duelist can play in their deck." With that, the older man opened a briefcase and passed two sheaves of paper to Kaiba and Jonouchi, both of whom were surprised.

"We're limitin' Gadget? And we're bringin' back Magician o' faith? Anzu's gonna love ya for this, but there are gonna be a couple o' duelists who're gonna want ta tear our liver out for this, Pegasus." Jonouchi said, staring at the sheet of paper in his hands.

"Metamorphasis is gone? You just love messing with my deck, don't you Pegasus." Kaiba snarled, tossing his sheet of paper aside. Conveniently, it landed directly on top of Achan's head. The teen managed to grab the object and slip it into his hands before it blew away. Kaiba continued, angrily. "So you called me halfway across the world just to tell me that a new banlist is being enacted and borrow my helicopters?"

"Well, not exactly, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus admitted, "And I don't personally do these banlists. You know that. Usually I just get some experts to make recommendations and do the editing. And you have to admit that Demise is still fairly powerful, even with Metamorphasis taken away for the most part. But I'm digressing here- we need to talk about something serious. You see, just before the tournament started a thief broke into Duelist Kingdom and stole a set of cards one of my designers had recently developed based on a newly discovered set of hieroglyphs in an ancient Egyptian tomb, and-"

"Woah, woah, hold it right there Pegasus, nyeh!" Jonouchi interrupted. "I thought we had finished with this kooky Ancient Egyptian business, so how come it's suddenly poppin' up again?"

Pegasus turned to Jonouchi, his once-smiling face now dark and brooding. "Those cards were based on the last remaining untranscribed hieroglyphs in the tomb nearest the one where the Sennen items are now buried. If we don't find them, and there's a connection between them and the items, we could quite possibly be looking at, in worst case scenario, a revival of the items. It would mean Yami no Game events all over again."

Jonouchi and Kaiba stared at each other for a moment before leaning in and beginning a hurriedly whispered conference in a language Achan didn't understand, presumably Japanese. After a moment, they returned their gaze to Pegasus. "We're in." the two rivals stated in unison, an almost unprecedented event.

Pegasus nodded, his face still grave. "Good. I need you two to spread the news. If any of the duelists encounters and plays a duelist using this deck, they are to report to me immediately so that I can disqualify him for his unlawful practices. If he gets away, we'll simply have to hope that he never makes it to Egypt. Whatever he has up his sleeve, he must be stopped. Understood?"

Kaiba and Jonouchi nodded.

"Then we'll get started. Kaiba, we'll need to hook up the monitors on your helicopter fleets and scatter them over the city. Jonouchi, come with me. We need to record your message."

WOW! THAT WAS A PLOT TWIST!​

Achan stared at the sheet of paper in his hands. "Did you guys hear that?" he whispered, "This is the latest banlist! If we use this to prepare our decks, we'll be one step ahead of the competition!"

OOC: Pegasus's role in moving the plot along is largely finished with for the most part, so he's all yours from now until Japan, Alter Ego. In addition, Jonouchi and Kaiba are now up for dueling should your characters choose to challenge them. Their respective deck types are:

Kaiba: Demise OTK with Blue-eyes support.

Jonouchi: Warrior's Toolbox+REB Dragon and Jinzo.

 

[Phanima]

OOC: Kaiba finally joins the fray, although it'll be a while before Michel even considers taking him on, and it'll be even longer before his reasons for wanting to duel him are even revealed. Oh wells...

.3.

IC: "Did you guys hear that?" Achan whispered to the group, "This is the latest banlist! If we use this to prepare our decks, we'll be one step ahead of the competition!"

Michel, after listening to the conversation that had been held between the three tournament officials, remained standing in his place as he watched Achan analyse the new sheet of paper, detailing each card that was 'in' and 'out' of the current metagame. It was true that the newly acquired banlist would provide them with a distinct advantage over the competition, but its effect was only temporary, short-lived at best.

"It's useless Smith. Jonouchi will be announcing the new banlist soon, so unless you intend of duelling another team before then, there's no point in getting our hands dirty. Personally, I've had enough. We should gather whatever remains of this dismembered team and submit our winnings."

Closing his eyes for a moment, as if taking an internal breath, Michel regained his composure and looked over his team to gauge their response, before continuing without waiting for a reply.

"In the worse case scenario, if both Daniels and Ritham, who have still yet to arrive, have already duelled and lost, we're out of this tournament. Securing our place in the second round should be our top priority. Playing card games with weaklings can come later…"

The teenage businessman shot Tacey a short but stern look as he finished his sentence, before relaxing back into the groove that he had been resting against during the duration of the secret meeting. The Duel Disk clamped to his left forearm, sat protectively against his chest as he folded his arms and leant back. Tuning out of the reactions that followed his statement, the sharp-haired suit closed his eyes and began mulling over the situation in his mind.

He had his sights set on his two new targets; Seto and Pegasus, and both held pivotal roles in his plan.

Following the plan, Kaiba should become my next target. His attitude is his main flaw and his ego is easily manipulated, but he can also hold his own in a duel, which will be problematic without proper preparation. In response, succeeding Crawford would prove to be the next best-case scenario. He holds a lot of credibility in this game, so defeating him only guarantees my meeting with Kaiba. But challenging him will be my main concern, because of his public status. And then there's Edgeworth. I've become too emotional in wanting to duel her in the finals, but defeating her also has its benefits. Plus, a public defeat might help that attitude of hers, and if not, the humiliation will be reward enough.

Opening his eyes, Michel reached into the heart-pocket of his blazer and withdrew his vibrating mobile-phone. Turning away from the group, the teenage businessman took several steps away from the other four duellists and accepted his call.

"Hey Michel, Gregorovitch has just finished his duel with Dogolas. He lost as requested."

"That's good to hear. Was he able to draw out his entire deck?"

"As far as I can tell from his report, Dogolas was forced to use his entire deck and defeated Gregorovitch in his last turn. So yes, we were able to detail all of his cards."

"Alright, thanks Jose. Now, send me the report and have Gregorovitch track Kaiba Seto. He's in New York City for now, but I'm unsure for how long. Details would be good."

"No problem, but…"

Michel suddenly stopped in thought as he heard the voice on the other line pause. The teenage businessman knew he had been putting Jose under a lot of pressure as of late and that he had more than enough work to do, but something suddenly stirred in his mind that he had finally asked too much of him. Unwilling to provoke the voice on the other line, Michel hesitantly awaited a reply.

"But, I'll need more time on the report before its ready. Gregorovitch scribed the duel from memory, which is some feat, but his hand-writing is atrocious. It should be ready in about an hour, more or less."

Michel breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's fine Jose. And if the situation calls for it, you might need to come down, you're not that bad of a duellist."

"A company-paid trip to New York, Japan or Egypt to play a card game? I'll need some time to think about it."

Concluding the call, a small smile crossed his face as he pocketed the phone and brushed away his doubts. Everything was under control.

 

[typeZERO]

OOC:I'm sorry, you guys. I'm busy writing my plot for my soon to be RP. I give ACC permission to control my character though. Until I come back, only he can control Rurian and maybe Yuri.

 

[Alter Ego]

OOC: Augh, could we please try not to do that sudden jump through time and space thing too often? It's always so confusing to make a post after one of those. xP

Oh, and Land of Legends really needs an OOC thread. Notifications by PM are like, so five minutes ago...[/Randomness]

Anyways, my plans for Pegasus were actually meant to unfold a bit later, but ehh...depends on what the plotline has in store next, I guess.

IC:

Tacey, currently perched behind a convenient nook in the statue, raised an eyebrow at Michel's comment, "Are you implying something by that remark?" she demanded, "If you said that simply to cover yourself from the humiliating duel loss of the century, at the hands of me of course, then it's quite unnecessary; I already told you that I don't intend to duel my teammates until the finals. Really." Tacey huffed, "And stay still, Raymond; I really don't get why you have to be so fidgety all the time."

"Yes, miss." mumbled the grunt-reduced-to-stool whom the girl was currently standing on.

"At any rate." Tacey continued, finally skipping down from her makeshift seat and nonchalantly snatching the banlist from Achan's hands, "I concur with the cheap suit for once; the local populace of card game lunatics seems to be disturbingly high and quite frankly I'm getting tired of them. Let's just go get our first round win announced so that we can leave this filthy backwater behind us."

In reality, Tacey's motives for wanting an early conclusion lay quite elsewhere. New cards...not yet on the market, who knew what kind of powers they could possess? Not even Tacey had heard anything about this new set, and she took great pride in knowing - and getting a hold of - every card ever planned for commercial release. This simply would not do; not at all. This mystery thief must have left some kind of trail after himself, and she would dig it up and shake the lout down on her own. After all, Tacey was obviously the only one worthy of whatever power those pre-release cards held. The whole Yami no Game bit had apparently passed in through one ear and out the other. It was all just nonsense and superstition, anyway.

This would have been the que for someone to inform her that the same went for talking with imaginary friends featured in children's playing cards, but unfortunately the hypothetical someone didn't seem to be around.

"Well?!" the girl demanded, turning to her team, "Are we going or not?!"


OOC: By the way, seeing as how Lex and Peace are still MIA, how are we going to solve the team situation? =O

 

[Scarlet Weather]

OOC: They have until this weekend is over to post, or I'm going to officially disqualify both of their characters. That way, we can move on with a five-man group, or in this case a three-man party since Jimz and Omega aren't all that active. I should have made an "activity" requirement part of the rules...

As for the plotline, our characters are going to encounter the freaky bad guys soon enough, never fear. But as for your duel with Pegasus, if Tacey wanted to fight him... yeah, you might want to makethat fairly soon, as in "just before the round changes." Yeah, because the odds of running into him again in a different country aren't gonna be all that great...

IC:

Achan straightened up, blushing as Michel pointed out that knowing the banlist was only a temporary advantage at the moment, since Jonouchi was planning to announce it soon. He should have thought of that himself. Really, he was in a pro-level tournament right now, and he could stand to have a little bit more logic behind his actions. Then again, everything that had happened so far had slapped logic in the face several times. After all, they had just encountered a random master of disguise, played a card game over life or death, been yanked around the city, encountered Jonouchi, Kaiba, and Pegasus... sometimes Achan felt like somebody else was controlling everything that happened to him, and secretly laughing about it. It was then that Tacey piped up, suggesting that they report their first-round win and get out of New York. Achan turned to his fellow duelist. "I actually agree with you on that point," he sighed, "But we're not going to leave New York quite yet. Don't forget, the tournament round isn't officially over for another three days, so we're stuck here until the rest of the contestants move on. Still, I guess it would be a good idea to report our three wins..." Achan removed his PDA from his pocket, and opened the E-Mail function. The instant he did so, his eyes met a surprising sight:

You've Got New Mail!
Wheelerdealer124 has sent you a message!

Achan glanced quickly to both sides of him before opening the folder, and began scanning the E-mail.

From: [email protected]
Subject: Gotcha!

Hey, short person with the funky hair!

I know that you and your team followed us here, but don't worry, it's not like you heard anything you really shouldn't have. Anyway, I have two suggestions to make for you all. That whole "Yami no Game" stuff? Ignore it completely, if you know what's good for you. If you really want to find out more, I'm sure that Kaiba would love to tell you. After all, he's the one who was connected to it the most, not me.

Either way, try not to get too heavily involved in all this. If you see a duelist with a deck full of Dark-type monsters that don't look like they've been released, though, report him to us immediately.

-Jonouchi Katsuya

"Um, guys? I think we just stumbled into a conspiracy." Achan said, pointing at the screen.

OOC: Yes, I know, Jonouchi's E-mail looks like a logic break right now, but it is important to the plot that we find out a bit more about these whole "Yami no Game" things... and I don't want to introduce my villain until later, anyway.

 

[Alter Ego]

OOC: Awright, soonish duel it is, then. Would it be okay if she did it like...the next morning (RP time)? Tacey would want to walk in properly prepared when discussing things with someone of comparable wealth and social standing, and she probably wouldn't want to have her team around to cramp her style either. (Although of course this doesn't mean that they can't follow just to see what the heck she's up to. x3)

IC:

Tacey's spirits sank at Achan's reply, "Three days?" she moaned, "Inexcusable; all this city dirt and uncouth sunshine is already tarnishing my image and I have to endure it for another three days because the buffoons I have to share this tournament with can't find anyone to play a children's card game with? Where's that silly Pegasus?!" she demanded, haughtily scanning her surroundings and finding them irritatingly devoid of eccentric millionaires, "I swear I SHALL COMPLAIN!" the innocent pavement under her feet was subjected to a crushing blow from her right heel. Having to stay in America was bad enough, Tacey realized, but there was an even worse prospect on the horizon: because of the need to stick together for their team to remain legal, she'd have to spend those days with-with them. She cast a glance at Achan, Rurian, Michel, and the fat kid whose name she couldn't remember and didn't much care about for that matter. They might even have to sleep in the same hotel.

Tacey shuddered at the thought. Those boys were obviously having enough trouble with keeping a lid on their passions as it was; what if someone actually spotted her in one of her prettier outfits, lost control and tried to ravage her or some other indecent behavior like that? This team was bad enough as it was; she didn't need any unrequited passions to turn it into a worse nuisance.

The rich girl was so wrapped up in this horrible scenario that the e-mail Achan pointed out seemed trivial in comparison.

"Yami no games are just a bunch of superstitious nonsense." she scoffed, waving the matter off, "I don't need a second-rate hack with a bad hairdo to tell me that, and that description on the banned cards was hardly precise." she mentally made a note of the Dark attribute thing, blanking out the part about reporting it.

"So, what do we do now, then?" Tacey demanded, now that the "We've got three more days in this dump and nothing worth spending them on. And please don't say 'Yami no Games' or some other fairy tale nonsense like that. I demand something worthwhile to do with my time."

 

[typeZERO]

OOC: Okay! I'm finally back. Since I'm a bit of a lazy person right now I'll skip the end of the duel part. Darn school and plot writing...

IC: "Geez, why is the Yami no Games thing popping up all of a sudden. I've been content for a while without hearing about it and such. I have to agree with Tacey that I wanna spend my three days not talking about it. Don't ask why I don't, just don't mention it, at least around me." Rurian just closed his eyes and sat in a state of reverie. Bad memories were popping up, and he tried to force them back. He hated the thought of it, and didn't want to talk about it.

Snapping out of his meditation, he grabbed his bag and grabbed a lunch box full of delicious food from Japan. His favorite, though, was the sushi. he took one and plopped it in his mouth. He savored the great taste and just sat there, eating until he finished. "Well, the thing that interests me the most was the deck part of the message. I think I saw a cloaked person with a deck full of Dark cards that I've never seen before. But who knows? Maybe it isn't the same person, but I did see the guy back at Domino City." Rurian put his bag back on and placated himself, or at least he tried to.

He smelled pollution, he saw pollution, he even heard pollution. He smelled gasoline throughout the streets and has seen black smoke rising from factories into the air. It disappointed him that nobody cared about the pollution that most big companies are causing. Shoot, it was even estimated that there wasn't that much time left till pollution filled the world and killed everyone off. Roughly only a few thousand years left. He again snapped out of his state and just sat with a quiet and thoughtful expression.

"I'm gonna head to a hotel and grab a room. I'm very tired right now, and I have a lot to think about and plan out for the next three days. Syonara!" Rurian shot up and ran into the depths of the city, looking for a place to stay for the time he was in America.

 

[Scarlet Weather]

OOC: Fine, next morning it is. But please, somebody post in the OOC thread so it doesn't expire...

Omega, you're back. Goody!

Okay, Lex and JBCPeace are MIA too long, so they are now presumed dead. We'll be sending word to their parents and writing them out of the RP shortly. In the meantime, I'm going to try moving the plot along. (Le Gaspe!)

IC:

Achan's face fell as both Tacey and Rurian flatly refused to have anything to do with the new information received from Jonouchi. In his opinion, anytime you had an E-mail telling you to talk to a celebrity, it was a good idea to just go ahead and talk to them. After all, it wasn't like you met one every day. Still, he had to admit that the two of them had a point. Whatever these 'Yami no Games' were, they weren't any of his business anyway. He still had one thing to ask, however, and he determined that Rurian was just the person to inquire it of. Before he could do so, however, the shinobi had sped off into the distance, heading for a hotel room. Achan managed to call "Meet us here tomorrow at ten!" before his team member was lost in the distance. Achan scratched his head and rolled his eyes, before turning to face Tacey. "Okay, Yami no Game is a bust. But if you want to do something worthwhile over the next three days, I suppose we could try stalking Pegasus or Kaiba. I mean, Crawford is a total recluse, and it isn't often that he comes into an area where the public actually gets to see him. Plus, since we've already scored for the first round, we can duel anyone we want with impunity. What's to stop us from challenging him?" Achan paused to allow his words to sink in, praying that Tacey or Michel would take the bait. Aside from seeing one of the two upper-class duelists in action, he wanted to get close enough to ask Pegasus what the heck these "Yami no Game" things were anyway. He had heard vague rumours about them, but that was all. The moment passed, and he continued. "Anyway, it's getting a bit late, and we're all going to be tired of each other's company if we keep hanging around here discussing what to do. Why don't we go back to our hotel rooms, or wherever it is we're staying, and do some thinking there? Tomorrow we'll get up and meet back at this spot. In the meantime, I vote we just lay low and let nature take its course. Besides, my deck took a hit with the new banlist, so I have to make a slight modification or two."