Chapter 10: Acclimation

A week after evacuation to Frontier...

Yusei sat on a grassy knoll in Griffith Park, looking out over Island 1's cityscape during one of Frontier's faux sunsets. Many thoughts clouded his mind as he stared at the ID that was issued to him. It seemed that a great deal of effort was put in this for something that was "temporary". As he saw it, they were going to be on Frontier for quite a while.

At last update from Amber Squadron, an electronics warfare and surveillance unit onboard from Frontier that was stationed above Neo Domino City, the quote-unquote "Mystery Duelist" was actaully controlling many of the duel monster spirits using Aphos' powers, which would explain why Stardust Dragon attacked the Koenig Monster. It seemed that the Mystery Duelist's control wasn't exceptional, though, seeing as Stardust did halt it's attack. There had to be a way to break the Mystery Duelist's control of the spirits, but what was it?

"Aimo, aimo, netel lhushe"

Yusei paused, noticing the singing. He felt as if he'd heard it before, in a duel. That was it, it must be Ranka, although this time, it seemed... different. Maybe this is what she sounded like in real life and the recording was slightly distorted? Yusei pondered this as he followed the singing, coming upon a monolith that stood on top of of the tallest hill in the park.

"Noynar milia ehndel protea"

"Huh? Luna?" Yusei inquired as he found the fellow Signer sitting next to the monolith. "Was that you singing?"

"Well... Yes..." Luna blushed. "I heard Ranka singing it, and I thought it was so beautiful... So... I..."

"It's nice..." Yusei chuckled. "Who knows? Maybe Ranka will invite you on stage next time?"

"Who knows, I may just," a feminine voice laughed behind the two.

"Ranka?" Luna squealed as her face turned an even deeper shade of red. "No, no... I couldn't..."

"If you really want to, then I have no problem with it," Ranka assured. "Everyone has their dreams, but sometimes they just need a little push to move down that path towards achieving them... I mean, that's what Sheryl did for me... She was the one who encouraged me to enter the Miss Macross Frontier contest last year... If you love to sing, well, it's just a thought, you know? I hear they're still accepting entries..."

"Oh, Wyvee?" Luca inquired as he poked his head into the SMS lounge. She was at her usual spot at the far end of the long table. Gry was sitting across from her, passed out with his head on the desk, and she seemed thoroughly entertained attempting to put braids in his short hair.

"Yes?"

"I have a surprise for you. Come with me." The hyrbrid let go of her friend's hair with a sigh, utterly defeated in her attempts. She followed Luca to one of the labs, where there were a few technicians from L.A.I. standing around an odd device.

"What the..."

"This is a prototype hologram projector," Luca stated, gesturing to the device. "It's similar to the solid-vision that duel disks use to visualize duel monsters. What's it's going to do is actually project human features over your machine parts. If it works as it's supposed to, you should be presentable enough to go into public..."

"Really?!"

"Yes, however... It won't work for extended periods of time. 4 hours at most before it will initiate an auto-shutdown to prevent over-heating. We managed to work around your wings and canards with these special fold wave generators. What they do is create dimensional faults around them, which should let everything else pass through them. Think of it as, you're here, but they're in the spirit realm."

"Intriguing... No catches, right?"

"No catches... Spending too much around a military base can drive anyone insane, and then everything rolls downhill, eventually driving down the sanity and morale of the entire unit. So, for all of us, please, accept this."

"Alright, alright..."

"Okay, so we'll just attach this to your lower back and... done. This button here on the right side is the activation button. Try it out" Wyvee pressed the button, and was instantly amazed. She stared in awe at her arm, which now looked entirely human. The space-age metal-alloy armor was no where to be seen, replaced by smooth human skin.

"I don't believe it..."

"Ahh, the wonders of L.A.I. technology."

"Oh my god, thank you! I have to show Gry!"

"You're welcome," Luca uttered as he slowly waved as the hybrid darted away quicker than a bullet. Wyvee re-entered the lounge, giddy as a schoolgirl, jumping up and down, an expression of pure glee on her face.

"Gry, wake up..."

"Meh..."

"Gry, wake up."

"What did I tell you about waking me up... Let me sleep, dammit..."

"Gry, wake up," Wyvee ordered as she became more irritated and began poking at the sleeping person. Gry slowly roused, looking up at the hybrid in a half-asleep stupor. When it finally struck him that he didn't entirely recognize the face, but knew the voice, a shock overcame him, causing him to fall back in his chair, clattering against the ground with a thud.

"Oww... What the hell?" Gry watch as Wyvee turned the generator off, then back on. "Well, well, look who has a new toy... Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Nope!" Wyvee exclaimed as pulled Gry to his feet. "You said during this trip, your sole purpose is to make amends, and I intend to have you keep that promise. To start, you're going to show me what it's like to live as a human."

"Fine... First stop, convience store..."

"OOOooo... What kinda fun stuff are going to do at this "Convience store"?"

"I need an energy drink... Maybe two to keep up with your hyper ass..."

The Galactic Fairy, Sheryl Nome, sat in the SMS lounge entirely confused. She had more or less given herself and all-access pass to the SMS base to pester Alto and the likes. Mr. Birla, the owner of SMS, and Capt. Wilder had turned a blind eye to this after the events above the Vajra homeworld, where Sheryl's singing had a major impact on troop morale and disrupted the Vajra's neural network, making victory possible. If it hadn't been for her, they may be dead. Although, it seems even Sheryl had met her match, as Jack and Crow attempted to teach her the rules to Duel Monsters.

"When I thought I finally had it all down with the Monsters, Spells and Traps, you spring these "Synchros" on me... So many things to try to understand..."

"Synchros aren't that hard to understand," Jack replied. "It's just simple math. You take the Level of the Tuner, and add it to the Level of the one or more non-Tuners, and that should equal the Level of the Synchro monster. For example, If I tuned my Lv 3 Dark Resonator with my Lv 5 Vice Dragon, I can Synchro Summon my Lv 8 Red Demon's Dragon. Three plus five equals eight. Get it?'

"Somewhat... Gawd, this is confusing... Why can't it be simpler?"

"Complexity is half the fun. Simple games are too easy to win, and don't bring the same enjoyment," Crow replied.

"Riiight..." Sheryl sighed. "How about you two duel, then... Maybe I'll learn better by watching rather than listening... "

"Not a bad idea... Although, we should probably refrain from using the duel disks... We can't risk the dimensional faults causing another duel spirit to be stuck in this realm. Wyvee was one thing, but what if, say, Red Demon's Dragon or Black Feather Dragon were to be stuck here..."

"Yeah... No duel disk."

"Duel!" Each player drew their five cards.

[Jack 4000 LP / Crow 4000 LP]

"Why don't we let our enchanting guest decide who goes first?" Crow suggested.

"Hmm... Crow can go first."

"Alright, I draw. I summon Blackwing - Mistral the Silver Shield in Defense Mode. [Lv 2; DEF 1800] I set two cards face down and end my turn."

"My turn. I'll start by Special Summoning Vice Dragon from my hand with it's effect. Then, I'll summon Dark Resonator [Lv 3; ATK 1300] Now, I'm tuning my Lv 3 Dark Resonator with my Lv 5 Vice Dragon.

The ruler's heartbeats begin now! Bear witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro summon! My very soul, Red Demon's Dragon!" [Lv 8; ATK 3000]

"Jack, no need to yell that loud... I'm right here..."

"Sorry, got caught up in the moment... I'll have Red Demon's Dragon attack Mistral the Silver Shield, Absolute Power Force!I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"My turn. When you control a monster and I don't, I can summon this card with Release, Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn [Lv 5; ATK 2000]. Activate Trap, Delta Crow - Anti Reverse. When I control a face-up Blackwing monster, this destroys all face-down Traps on my opponent's side of the field." Jack sent Prideful Roar to the Graveyard. "Now, I'll Special Summon from my hand Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind. Once per turn, Gale can halve the ATK and DEF of one of my opponent's monsters, and I choose Red Demon's Dragon. [Red Demon Dragon, ATK 1500 DEF 1000]

Sirocco the Dawn, attack Red Demon's Dragon! [Jack - 500 LP = 3500 LP] Gale the Whirlwind, attack directly! [Jack - 1300 LP = 2200 LP] Now, activate the Trap Urgent Tuning. With this, I can perform a Synchro Summon during my Battle Phase. I tune my Lv 3 Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind with my Lv 5 Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn.

Darkened gales, become the wings that soar from resolved hope! Synchro Summon! Soar, Black Feather Dragon! [Lv 8; ATK 2800]

Black Feather Dragon, attack directly for game! Nova Stream!" [Jack - 2800 LP = 0 LP] Jack stared blankly at the table, still lost in thought in how he had lost so quickly.

"That was... fast..." Sheryl mused.

The boredom had begun to set it on the Signers as the day slowly passed. Living in a completely new enviroment was proving hard to adapt to for them. Things were especially hard for Akiza. Making friends was never one of her strong points after the long period of her life where she was always alone, but now that she relied on them, yet they were all away on their own things, severe boredom was beginning to set in.

Yusei's technical skills had earn him a place down in the hangar on the maintenance team in charge of the up-keep of SMS' fleet of valkyries. Jack and Crow seemed to spend their entire time trying to earn brownie points with Sheryl. Luna was off on some secretive project, and only Leo was allowed to tag along. Gry was out with his duel spirit, attempting to teach her the ways of human life. Johan was visiting the main cemetary in Island 1, presumably visitng the graves of his wife and daughter.

Akiza lazily wandered the streets of Island 1's Shibuya district. A few hotdog stand were scattered along the street and the crowds moved steadily along with their daily tasks. Akiza stopped in front of a chinese restaurant, noticing a 'Now Hiring Evening Shift' placard placed in their front window.

"Nyan Nyan?" she mused to herself, reading the restaurant's name. "Could be worse..." She grabbed the sign and walked inside.

"Good afternoon, ma'am. Table for one?" Akiza didn't respond as she slipped the greeter the sign. "I see. Come with me please." The greeter led Akiza through a cluster of tables, eventually coming to an office nestled in the back corner. The greeter knocked on the door, which opened to reveil the boss sitting at his desk.

"Yes? How may I help you?"

"She wants the job."

"About time... First applicant we've had in months. I'm at the point where I'll take anyone. What's your name?"

"Akiza Izinski"

"Well, Akiza, all you have to do is show up on time each day and do as your told by the head chef. Can you do that?"

"Of course, sir."

"You're hired. You start tomorrow. Working hours will be 3 pm to Closing. Show up half hour early tomorrow to be fitted for your uniform."

"Yes, sir."

"Next please." A single figure entered the room, sitting down in the chair in front of the long table of judges. They were obiously extremely nervous as they fidgeted their hands.

"Entry Number 114, please state your name."

"Luna..."

"Well then, Miss Luna, why don't you tell us why you decided to enter the Miss Macross Frontier contest?"

End Chapter.