As the boy stood watching Melissa disappear into a time vortex, he couldn't help but feel a small sense of… he couldn't place the feeling. Pride? Regardless, he knew that he must prepare for the incoming onslaught. He grabbed his deck, laid it out, and began to work on it…
Melissa had been jogging for what felt like hours. If she wasn't taking karate, there was no telling how tired she would have been by now. Even so, she felt kind of woozy. Along the road was a forest. "Maybe I can just stop and catch my breath in there," she muttered to herself. Panting, she jogged into the forest.
Being sure to stay in sight of the road, she hid herself, and sighed as she lay down in the cool, damp-with-dew grass. Before long, she found her mind wandering, and it came up to where she was in the school. "Say, how did you guys know? Or am I going crazy, thinking that cards can have feelings." She laughed a little to herself, and fell into a long, blissful sleep.
When she awoke, Melissa knew something was wrong. For one thing, there were people surrounding her. For another, she wasn't in the forest anymore. Instinctively, she put her hand to where her deck was… But it wasn't there! Frantically, she stood up, and the people around her raised both sword and gun at her. "Now, now, no need to panic. We have those cards you were carrying right here." A man stepped forwards, holding her cards. With a yell, she jumped up and roundhouse kicked him across the face, grabbed her cards out of the air, and hit the ground running.
Of course, she didn't make it five yards before she was dog piled. Within seconds she was overpowered, and just managed to place her deck back inside her pocket when she heard slow clapping behind her. "Well done, well done indeed. Quite the performance. You will be punished for that, but who knows? Maybe we can use you." Melissa just scowled at that.
"Wahaha! We could use someone with your spirit."
"I would never work for you! Let me go!" Melissa cried, struggling to no avail left and right. The man shook his head sadly. "No, I am afraid that we can't simply LET you go, after what you did to me. However, I will give you a chance to win your freedom. Duel one person of my choosing. If you win, you go free. If you lose, you must work for me until you die!"
Melissa replied "Alright, bring it on like Donkey Kong!" Everyone looked at each other, and the man looked confused. "Like what?"
She snorted and said "Let's just duel." He nodded, then gestured to her Duel Platform on a table nearby. "Go ahead and put it back on. Then follow me."
She did as he said, and soon she was in a giant room. There were people watching from every side. "Welcome, young and old, to the first annual Rare Hunter Games! We, the Rare Hunters, will select one amongst us to fight our opponent, Melissa!" Melissa thought that she didn't tell them her name.
"Good luck, you will need it against Leroy!" Me and a man on the other end of the stadium walked to the marked-off rectangles on either side of the field, and cried "Let's duel!"