(A/N: Before we begin, here's an interesting little tidbit I found out Christmas Eve morning. This website disabled PM email alerts due to spammy protocols. This has been in effect since November 30th. I have been wondering why, since November, I have not been chatting with a lot of you, though I have been responding to a significant number of your reviews.
The official statement on twitter is thus: Out of caution, we have disabled PM email alerts until a more secure anti-spam feature is installed which can thwart the continuing efforts by some nefarious spam bots.
So, for those of you that think I'm ghosting the whole fanbase. I'm not. This website is taking "cautionary methods" and it's taken me away from all of you. I only noticed the problem because one of my reviewers, Warrior of the Healing Flame, only sends their reviews to me by PM and when I was checking my inbox, I noticed messages from the 18th – 20th that I did not get email alerts for. So, if you want to stay in touch with me over the course of this e-mail alert silence nightmare, be sure to check your inboxes.
I respond to new reviews generally within 24 hours. If it takes longer than that, I've either buried myself in videogames for the day, or there's a family outing, both, or I'm just exhausted and have seen the review, but haven't taken the time to respond. Conversations after that are at my discretion if I think there's more to be said to keep the conversation going—that is, of course, a two-way street.
Please spread word of this to your own fandoms if you're writers of your own accord and enjoy talking with your fans. I am uncertain what else to do in this scenario other than encourage you all not only to follow me on this website, but also on deviantART, which is where I post status updates, journals and the like.
Sorry for the whole PSA or whatever, but I felt this was important. Let me know if you think I should also post information about this on my profile as well. And without further delay, let's get started).
Serenity Wheeler was caught in a bind. She had 3 scapegoats on the field protecting her from direct attacks, but as Miaka had a monster that could deal piercing damage on the battlefield, and another monster face-down, that may as well not even have mattered.
Confidence shaken, Serenity felt weak in the knees.
In the dimly lit room, her friends missed Miaka licking her lips. This duel was just about wrapped up.
"Serenity!" Hajime shouted.
Joey and Serenity both looked at the father to be.
"No duelist should ever look how you look right now," Hajime told her with a serious look. "That drowning feeling about worrying about winning and losing. You'll lose for sure if you keep thinking and playing like that. Just have fun."
"Just…have fun?" Serenity asked.
Hajime nodded, "Yeah. Just have fun. Don't fret over a loss. A loss is a loss. Winning's fun, but even a loss can be a learning experience. So, calm down," he said, giving her a thumb's up, "And just have fun."
Joey put a hand on Hajime's shoulder. "Hajime's right, Serenity. Don't worry so much. But, if ya really wanna win, do something Yug taught me. Lookit all yer options. And if dat fails, just believe in the Heart of the Cards."
"Oh yes, your standard anime shonen power up speech," Miaka said. "I saw how well that went for you in Canada."
"Excuse me, I don't remember you competin'," Joey said.
"I know how to crawl a web browser, smart ass," Miaka snapped back. "So, little miss prodigy in the making, you got your pep talk all squared away, or am I just gonna roll you over like a seaweed wrap?"
However, Miaka saw the look in Serenity's eyes. Her brows were furrowed. Hajime and Joey had helped her find her footing. The game was back on. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I draw!" Serenity exclaimed. Hand replenished for the turn, she quickly scanned her hand for options.
"Huh, that's odd," Mahiru said, snapping a photo.
"What's odd?" Hajime asked.
"It's just, I've dueled Serenity plenty of times and I've never seen her that focused," Mahiru said. "You guys must've really got to her."
Hajime examined Serenity and the way her eyelashes were moving. She was thinking at a rapid pace. "I dunno. I think there's more going on. I can't place my finger on what though."
What's with me? Serenity thought, looking at her cards. It's like I know what cards to play before I even play them. I've never felt so focused. "I activate the magic card Dark Hole!" she shouted. "This will destroy every monster on the field including my own sheep tokens!"
A singularity appeared over the battlefield, sucking up every monster and destroying it.
Miaka shielded her eyes from the bright particle effects. "Ngh, impressive."
"Next, I summon to the field my Fire Princess!" Serenity shouted. A platinum blonde woman wreathed in a cloak of smoldering flames appeared in attack mode with 1,300 attack points and 1,500 defense points. "Next, I activate my face-down card: Bad Reaction to Simouchi!"
Everyone watching was surprised.
"This trap card causes any increases to your life points to result as damage," Serenity stated.
"Joke's on you, I don't play with life point gaining cards," Miaka said with a straight, if but apprehensive face.
"No, but I do," Serenity said.
Ugh, stepped in that one, Miaka thought, growling under her breath. She was pretty sure what was coming next.
"I activate the spell card Rain of Mercy!" Serenity declared, "Normally we both gain 1,000 life points, but since my trap card, Bad Reaction to Simouchi," she said, making a sweeping motion with her arm to indicate her card, "is in effect, you'll actually lose 1,000 life points."
Serenity's life points restored to 2,750 while Miaka's dropped to 3,000.
"And, since I gained life points, Fire Princess' effect activates! That means you lose 500 life points!"
Fire Princess shot a fireball at Miaka. The cosplayer took it rather well, all things considered as her life points dropped below Serenity's to 2,500.
"And now, I attack directly with Fire Princess!" Serenity declared. "And thanks to Banner of Courage, she gets even more powerful!" Fire Princess' attack points shot up to 1,500.
Igniting her staff on fire, Fire Princess released a flaming stream of heat at Miaka's chest and knocked the cosplayer to the edge of her sign of the arena.
"Guh, cheap shot," Miaka said as her life points fell to 1,000.
"Me? You're the one using my monsters against me!" Serenity declared, swatting her arm across the air like she was trying to hit an invisible fly.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! There's a big difference between strategy and one of the oldest tricks in the book," Miaka said. "Let me show you!" Miaka exclaimed, drawing the top card of her deck. With five cards in hand, she had plenty of material to work with.
"First, I'll start by setting this card face-down," she stated as a face-down hologram appeared. "Next, I'll activate Yellow Luster Shield!" Miaka slapped a magic card into the card reader. "This magic card increases all defense points of monsters on my side of the field by 300 points. And, when coupled with my Chorus of Sanctuary field spell, that's a grand total of 800 points."
"That means all of her charmer monsters are going to have 2,300 defense points," Mahiru said, worried.
"Yeah, but Miaka's strategy requires playing her monster face-down first. Barring playing Book of Taiyou, which flips face-down monsters into attack position, she has to give Serenity another turn," Hajime pointed out.
"Don't jinx it," Joey groaned.
"I'm not. There'd be no point in playing defense stat boosting cards if she had one in her hand already. It's either that or she doesn't have Hiita in her hand to stop Fire Princess," Hajime pointed out.
"So she could just be stalling?" Mahiru asked.
"Possibly, we'll see," Hajime said. And yet that face-down card really worries me. Something's up.
"Next, I'm setting one monster face-down," Miaka said as the sideways card hologram appeared. "All right my amateur little protégé, you're up."
Serenity nodded and drew. 2,300 defense points means I won't be able to destroy it this turn and if she has Hiita the fire charmer, she'll take control of Fire Princess and possibly beat me next turn. Serenity looked at her new hand. In order to go for the best possible outcome of victory, I should summon a new monster.
She has to sacrifice Fire Princess, Miaka thought. It's her only option. She glanced at her face-down card, the continuous symbol in the corner, the image of a wind, earth, fire and water elemental monster depicted in the artwork. And she'll walk straight into my trap.
"I sacrifice Fire Princess," Serenity stated, swiping the card off the reader. "In order to summon Iris, the Earth Mother!" A blonde woman wearing a blue and purple dress appeared on Serenity's side of the field. She had 2,400 attack points and 1,200 defense points.
"All right! That monster's strong enough to take out any charmer monster, even with its boosted defense points!" Joey exclaimed.
"Iris! Attack with Rainbow Burst!"
Attack points increasing to 2,600 for the attack only, Iris focused light energy into her hands and then unleashed a blast of energy in all the colors of the rainbow that utterly disintegrated Aussa the Earth Charmer, even with her boosted defense points.
In commemoration for Serenity keeping her momentum, Mahiru snapped up a photo.
"My turn is over," Serenity stated.
"Not bad," Miaka stated. She drew the top card of her deck. "Not gonna be good enough though. I set another monster face-down," Miaka said slapping a new monster sideways onto the duel disk. "That ends my turn."
Joey laughed. "She's stallin'. Serenity's monster's too powerful. She's got nothing."
I'm not sure about that, Hajime thought. I've got a bad feeling about this.
"I draw!" Serenity declared. "And I summon to the field my Element Valkyrie!" A fairy carrying a baton with pink hair and wearing red and blue armor with a blue sash appeared on Serenity's side of the field. She had 1,500 attack points and 1,200 defense points.
"And now, Iris! Attack Miaka's face-down monster."
"Exactly what I'd hoped for," Miaka stated. "Time to activate this trap card!"
"Trap?" Serenity gasped.
"Behold the power of the continuous trap, Unpossessed!" Miaka declared as her trap flipped face-up just in time for Lyna to emerge from her hidden position. Iris' attack blasted into the light charmer, but a barrier of light blocked the attack, emitting from Lyna's staff.
"What? How can that be?" Joey exclaimed. "Iris has 2,400 attack points and that charmer only has 2,300 defense points. Miaka's monster should have been destroyed."
"Under ordinary circumstances, yes," Miaka stated. "But my trap card Unpossessed makes all the difference. For you see, Unpossessed allows any charmer monster I control to be unable to be destroyed by battle. And now, since Lyna is still on the field, well," Miaka smirked. "You know what that means."
"No! Iris!" Serenity exclaimed.
"Lyna, take possession of Serenity's monster!" Miaka exclaimed. Lyna performed a pirouette and waved her staff around, taking possession of Iris' mind and convincing it to join Miaka's side of the field.
Serenity looked frantically at her hand. Having already summoned a monster, none of the magic or trap cards left in her hand would allow her to get out of this crisis this turn.
"What's the matter? Got nothing to play?" Miaka asked. "Very well, my turn then. Draw!" Miaka pulled the top card of her deck to her hand. It was time to finish this, and it didn't even matter what she drew. "First, I wave goodbye to Lyna and your own monster to special summon from my deck her Familiar-Possessed Ultimate form."
Lyna and Iris vanished in a cocoon of light, leaving behind a taller version of Lyna with the light faded from her eyes, lightning crackling around her and a burst of golden energy emanating from her body. The monster had 1,850 attack points and 1,800 defense points thanks to Yellow Luster Shield. Since Lyna wasn't in defense position, she didn't gain the bonuses of Chorus of Sanctuary.
"I don't get it, why'd she play a weaker monster?" Joey asked.
"There's more to Unpossessed than she described earlier," Hajime said, gritting his teeth. "Additionally, this comes with the added benefit of not letting Serenity get her monster back." Of all the scenarios, this is the worst one.
"Since Lyna was special summoned by her own effect," Miaka said. "I can add any spellcaster in my deck as long as it has 1,500 defense points," Miaka ejected her deck and fanned it out. "Lucky for me, all of my spellcasters have 1,500 defense points." She plucked one card from her deck. "And I'm picking my favorite one. I summon Familiar-Possessed Hiita!"
In a blaze of flame, Hiita took to the field, surrounded by the aura of a fiery fox. Her stats were identical to Lyna's.
"Hiita may not gain the same benefits Lyna does from being special summoned, but that won't matter. Because once I enter into combat, Unpossessed's other effect activates! Whenever one of my monsters with Familiar-Possessed in its name attacks one of your monsters, my monster gains 800 attack points.
"It's too bad you played a fire monster," Serenity said. "Because Element Valkyrie gains 500 attack points as long as there's one of them on the field."
Miaka smirked. "Too bad I have that all taken care of. Because before I start my battle phase, I activate this spell card Blustering Winds! This will increase the attack and defense points of one monster on the field by 1,000 points until my next turn! And I choose Hiita!"
Boosted by a tempestuous wind, Hiita's attack power surged to 2,850. "And now, Hiita, attack and destroy Element Valkyrie!"
Boosted by the power of Unpossessed, Hiita's attack power climbed to a tremendous 3,450, allowing it to utterly annihilate Element Valkyrie with a destructive force of fire and wind. The resulting blast did tremendous damage to Serenity's life points, bringing her down all the way to 1,300.
"You're wide open! Lyna! Finish this duel! Light blast!"
Lyna shone her staff as beams of light twirled around the floor like horses on a carousel before the attack was focused directly into Serenity's chest, knocking her onto her back and bringing her life points down to 0.
The lights on the floor became green on Miaka's side of the field indicating she had won.
"Serenity!" Joey scrambled towards his sister to help her up. "You all right?"
Serenity sat up and let Joey pull her to her feet. She then started laughing.
"Serenity?"
"I totally lost," she clapped her hands. "Wow, Miaka. You're really good. I guess that's why you're competing."
Miaka folded her arms, threw her head back and laughed. "What can I say? I know a thing or two about the game. Now if this had been your brother or Hajime, things may not have gone so smoothly for me. You're not a bad duelist, Serenity." Miaka slapped her hand gently on Serenity's head, patting it. "You're just inexperienced. Once you get better, let's have a rematch, okay?"
Serenity nodded.
"Hope to see one of you guys in the finals," Miaka said, stretching her hands up behind her head, "But I probably won't make it that far. Chances are high you two will probably be the finalists."
"You think?" Joey asked.
Miaka shrugged. "Eh, seems likely. Now if you'll excuse me, nature's calling. See ya!" she then walked away.
"You and me in the finals, huh?" Joey pondered to Hajime.
"Well, I'll look forward to the challenge," Hajime said.
"Yeah!" Joey exclaimed. He and Hajime then shook hands like they were about to start an arm-wrestling match.
Meanwhile, while the dueling tournament raged on, Chiaki continued to battle her way through Blazing Emblem. Unleashing an air combo, she set herself up to use a Hyper Attack after leaving her opponent prone.
"AHHHHHHH!" her on-screen avatar screamed and unleashed a powerful, quickly growing blast of air in the corner, depleting the last of her opponent's HP.
"KO!" Went the machine as her opponent's character crumpled to the ground.
"Sorry about that," Chiaki's character apologized.
"Nino wins! Hyper Finish!"
Chiaki's opponent, disgruntled, threw the controller down on the desk and walked away.
Chiaki sighed. People could get so uptight when they lost.
"How are you holding up?" Eliza asked while simultaneously tapping the back of Chiaki's head with the cap of an unopened water bottle.
"Winning," Chiaki responded. "I just wish all my opponents could show good sportsmanship."
Eliza tapped Chiaki on the forehead with the flat of her hand. "No frowning."
"But—"
Eliza tapped her forehead again. "No buts."
Chiaki smiled. "Thank you, Eliza." She opened the water bottle and took a drink.
"We're in the quarter finals now," Eliza said. "We're all moving to the big screen."
"Any close calls?" Chiaki asked.
Eliza shook her head. She then folded her arms and smirked. "I've been playing this game repeatedly since it came out." She looked around the game room. "Everyone here may as well be a scrub if I can win with Lyndis consistently."
"You're not one of those people that automatically picks Idunn or Hector when you're losing, are you?" Chiaki asked, puffing her cheeks.
"Of course not. I've even beaten a Hector player today," Eliza responded.
Chiaki sighed, but kept her smile. "People need to understand, just because a character is top-tier, that's entirely dependent on your own skill level."
Eliza nodded. "Too true."
"Will all eight Blazing Emblem finalists please make their way to the stage?" The event coordinator announced.
"Guess that's our cue," Chiaki said. She got up from her chair, only to bend over and wince.
"A-are you all right? Should I get your husband?" Eliza asked.
"N-no. I'm fine. My baby just kicked is all," Chiaki said and stood up straight. "I'm good," she panted and fanned out her skirt. "I'm good. Let's go."
Eliza nodded and the two made their way to the stage to compete with their six rivals. Of course, "rivals" was being generous. The other eight contestants had skill levels far and below Chiaki and Eliza. And Chiaki's fans were all hyped up to see her competing in the finals against Eliza.
"Select your hero!" the game's female announcer declared at the character selection screen.
Eliza wasted no time picking her alternate main Karla.
I can't use Nino against Karla, Chiaki thought. Karla's combo game and long reach and speed make it difficult for Nino's combos to go off. I can't underestimate Eliza. Rather than selecting Nino, Chiaki scrolled over to another character that, while not her best, was a character she was at least good at: Igrene.
The Archer? Eliza thought. Igrene was certainly not a top-tier pick, so seeing Chiaki pick her was a bit of a mystery.
"Let's Blaze!" the female announcer declared. And then, the match began. Predictably, as she was playing a ranged character, Chiaki started by pressing backwards on the control stick to get some distance. However, Eliza was already closing in via Karla's unparalleled wave dash and running speed.
Just as Eliza was within striking distance, she hit Forward and heavy attack on the controller, but Chiaki performed Igrene's reverse "fireball" special attack. Igrene's character model jumped backwards and fired an arrow down at an angle towards Karla, causing the model to reel. This game Chiaki the chance for an opening. As Igrene was equipped with a bow—a weapon decisively not suited for close range combat—she opted to perform her ground and air combos with kicks. Chiaki landed a 17-hit combo as she finished it with an aerial charged shot from Igrene's bow as Karla lay prone on the ground. Chiaki immediately decided now was a good time for one of Igrene's Hyper Attacks and began the animation, but her inputs were too slow. Eliza managed to get up and guard just in the nick of time and now, during the ending lag of the attack, Chiaki was wide open.
Karla immediately began showing her ambidextrous skills with a blade and began slashing at Igrene with merciless speed, even nailing a "critical timing" that drained more than half of Igrene's health bar. This caused the dark-skinned blonde to bounce off the wall and Eliza made good on Chiaki's situation. Striking forward, she stabbed at Igrene with Karla's sword and caught her in another fierce combo.
Sighing, Chiaki tried to tech out of it, but Eliza's fingers were too good and too swift. The fight was over before it had even begun.
"It's over," Karla declared, initiating one of her own Hyper Attacks. She struck past and to the other side of Igrene, delivering a brutal, swift slash that depleted the rest of the Archer's health bar.
"Karla wins! Hyper Finish!" The game went.
Eliza smirked. She was feeling pretty confident.
Chiaki puffed her cheeks. That hadn't gone as well as she had hoped. The screaming fans with her back to them made it impossible to tell if Hajime was in the audience. Additionally, the tournament commentators were not in an area where the contestants could hear them to let them focus on the match.
One loss. I can't get three more, Chiaki thought. She decided to cut her losses with the bad match-up and pick Nino anyway. Sure, she did better, but Nino's poor matchup and frail health against Karla's amazing speed and combo game just left Chiaki with a knocked out illiterate child character on screen.
"Brush up on your skills," Karla said, turning her back to the screen, wind blowing fiercely at her robes.
For her third round, Chiaki thought to break her treaty with Eliza and pick Hector or Idunn, but no. Even if she lost the match, that would be wrong. She could never do that to Eliza. She could never compromise her pride. Another gamer might go for the ultra-tier trash pick, but she was Chiaki Nanami, the fair and square gamer.
Picking Lyndis is out of the question. She's Eliza's second main, she'd know all her techniques. And if I simply counterpicked Karla by picking Dorcas, Karel, or Ursula, that would just be bad sportsmanship.
"Chiaki, you have ten seconds to pick your character," Eliza said.
Chiaki gasped. Freedom of choice was disappearing. Random would be the worst option. Quickly, she scanned the roster for any glimmer of hope. She attempted to hedge her bets on a wild card: the dragon girl Ninian.
"Ninian?" Eliza asked. She bit her lip slightly. Ninian was absolutely deadly in the right hands and Chiaki's skill at games was no joke.
I know Ninian's basic combo game and I know how to zone Karla. …will that be enough? Chiaki thought.
The match started with Ninian transforming into her wingless, draconic state during the countdown and Chiaki immediately fired a beam from Ninian's mouth at Karla. The swordswoman blocked, Ninians attack dealing chip damage. Chiaki began wave dashing towards Karla, watching Eliza's character carefully. Then, just as Karla got too close, Chiaki hit down and special on the controller and Ninian growled, slamming her palm down onto the ground, launching Karla skyward. While Ninian's air combos were trash, Chiaki still managed to get a few good hits in on Karla, ending with a midair beam breath attack.
I just have to keep this up, Chiaki thought.
However, during Karla's next approach, Chiaki missed the timing for her launcher attack and Karla caught Ninian in a fierce combo.
"I told you, I've trained my eyes to read frame by frame data. I can react at superhuman speeds in a fighting game," Eliza said as Chiaki horrifically watched Ninian's health bar slowly deplete. "I'm almost as good as a speed tool. So. How? Do you? Like? This?"
Chiaki almost dropped the controller as Karla dashed past Ninian, causing the same Hyper Attack she'd used to finish off Igrene. Chiaki miserably watched her life bar deplete.
"Karla wins! Hyper Finish!"
Eliza chuckled. "I know you're not going soft on me," Eliza said with a smile. "You're not doing a bad job, Chiaki. You're doing fine." Her grin turned a bit demonic as Eliza became swept up in the sensation of victory so close and so sweet, she could taste it like fresh strawberry cheesecake.
Chiaki sighed. "Hey, Eliza. This is the definitive version of the game, right?"
"It is, why?" Eliza asked.
"Then I have no choice," Chiaki said.
At the character selection screen, Eliza watched Chiaki press up on the controller 6 times and her cursor disappeared. "Cute, you know the hidden selector Easter Egg. That barely helps in local multiplayer."
Eliza, however, watched as Chiaki's hands moved on the D-pad like lightning.
"Hey, what are you doing? You only have 20 seconds to pick a character. That's barely enough time to…" Eliza trailed off. Chiaki couldn't be. "Chiaki, you're going to end up with a random character," Eliza stressed.
But Chiaki had blocked her rival out. "Eliza, we both have our strengths in gaming. While you were learning to watch frame by frame data, I was training too. Training so that I could memorize long, complex passwords," Chiaki said as she suddenly selected a hidden character with a black silhouette as her character selection area caught fire, "without ever needing a cheat sheet."
Chiaki's pick was clear as day: the hidden character Blazing Roy. Blazing Emblem had several hidden characters, but they rarely saw tournament play. They required insane button combinations to select, but they were still part of the roster.
Eliza started to sweat. I haven't memorized anything for hidden characters! They're tournament legal, but no one uses them because they're almost impossible to select. She glanced at Chiaki as the two were brought to the countdown screen. But you did…with just one second remaining. You did it like it was breathing air. Eliza smiled with pride. You're incredible, Chiaki Nanami, no…Chiaki Hinata. She faced the game screen with a competitive stare. I could call no one else my rival.
The battle was on. While Eliza was able to trust in her training, her lack of experience fighting Blazing Roy's—compared to the standard one—left her in problematic situations. While similar, the Blazing version hit harder, had elemental blows that covered his strikes in area of effect fire, and moved just slightly slower with some of his attacks in exchange for a bit more HP and defense.
Having spent three matches memorizing Eliza's Karla strategy, Chiaki was more than ready to counter her foe's seemingly uncounterable blade with a blade of her own. Roy's Dragonbind clashed with Karla's Vassal Blade on screen. As Eliza closed in on Chiaki for another Hyper Attack, Chiaki was more than ready.
Not this time, Chiaki thought and guarded to keep the attack from smashing through her HP. Then, with Karla now in her lag of the end of her attack animation, Chiaki turned and struck with a heavy attack, causing a wall bounce.
"No! No! No! No! No!" Eliza exclaimed, trying to tech out of Chiaki's combo, but it was pointless. Karla's fragility meant she wouldn't get the chance to escape the one hole in Blazing Roy's wall bounce combo with the amount of HP Chiaki had already depleted.
"You're finished!" Roy exclaimed, charging his blade into a giant one made of fire and igniting Karla's whole body, taking out the rest of her HP.
"Blazing Roy wins! Special Finish!" the announcer chimed.
"That was a great fight," Roy's avatar said.
Eliza shook the controller furiously.
"Eliza?" Chiaki asked.
Eliza's grin was now addled like the closed maw of a demon. "Yes! What a rush! This is the challenge I've longed for since you left! I will not yield to you, Chiaki!"
Eliza switched to Lyndis to face-off against Chiaki to throw off her strategy of using her knowledge of her Karla playstyle against her.
However, even with Lyndis, with mere slivers of HP left, Eliza just could not edge a win out over Chiaki.
The fans were so excited the ballroom had become exceptionally noisy. From the back, Chiaki, Hajime, Serenity and Mahiru entered to see what all the fuss was about.
"What's going on?" Serenity asked, covering her ears. "it's so loud in here."
"What? I can't hear you!" Mahiru shouted.
"Whoa! Check out the scoreboard!" Joey shouted.
Hajime gasped when he saw the situation. "Whoa! It's down to the last match!" Hajime exclaimed.
The group was near the announcer's table and heard even more details. "Unbelievable! After three straight losses, Kitty Bat has managed to turn the entire tournament back in her favor. She has Titania on the ropes."
"I tell you, Tai," the other announcer said. "It takes a special kind of gamer to be able to memorize the code of a Blazing Emblem hidden character, let alone use one in tournament play."
"Whoa, Chiaki picked a hidden character?" Hajime asked.
"That difficult?" Joey asked.
"No, not particularly," Hajime said. "You just have to enter a secret code. The problem is, this isn't just your simple up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B, start. It's way more complicated."
"So?" Joey asked.
"So," Hajime stressed. "In official Blazing Emblem tournaments, to discourage the use of hidden characters because of how good they are, instead of outright banning them, they allow any player who has the code memorized to use them if they want to main them since none of them are outright broken."
"And?" Joey asked.
"You don't get to use a piece of paper to help you, Joey. Think of it like Duel Monsters. If I asked you to spell Red-Eyes Black Dragon backwards, could you do it in less than half a minute?"
"Well I…uh…"
"Clock is ticking, Mr. Wheeler."
"Nyeh! N…O…G…A…R…D…uh..uh…K…C…"
"This is painful to watch," Mahiru sighed.
"Now imagine that you have to enter those letters on a controller and if you slip up once, you won't know until you enter the whole code and then you have maybe 2 seconds to pick a good character or get stuck with random if you don't make it in time," Hajime said.
"Wow, Chiaki sure earns her Ultimate Gamer title then," Serenity said with a smile.
"Heh, don't I know it," Hajime chuckled. "Who do you think helps her practice?"
"Well, let's go see her win," Joey said as the group found seats to watch the final match.
Back on stage, Eliza wasn't sure what to do. Chiaki knew how to pick a hidden character and her hands were already moving like lightning to do it again. I can't believe she can put in the combination for a hidden character, Eliza thought.
20 seconds left on the clock.
Even if Eliza was a competitive gamer, that didn't mean she wasn't good at casual play as well. But even she wouldn't dare break her promise with Chiaki to not use Idunn or Hector. Heart pounding, Eliza struggled for a good option before she was out of time.
Wait a second, Eliza thought. Suddenly, with the sweat dripping down her face, a thought struck her. She did know a combination for a hidden character, but she had barely fifteen seconds left.
If Chiaki can do it, Eliza thought as she hidden her cursor. So can I.
Uh oh, Chiaki thought when she saw double black silhouettes. She was even more floored when she saw Eliza's hidden pick: Tempest Lyndis, Lyndis' bow variant.
The 99 second battlefield became a whirlwind of tornados, flames and tornadoes wreathed in flames. Lyndis' arrows firing against Roy's blade, the game became a showdown of keep away versus rush down, of hand-eye coordination versus passion, of practiced skill versus grit and determination.
"Find your target," Lyndis barely whispered as her Cyclone Arrow Hyper attack whistled through the air just when Chiaki was off guard, leaving Roy with just a sliver of health. All Eliza needed was a tap, even chip damage would take Roy down and seize her victory in this tournament. However, Chiaki was having none of it. To rush down, Roy flowed across the screen towards his and his controller's foe. His fiery blade struck home, launching Lyndis skyward. Eliza furiously attempted to get Lyndis out of Roy's combo, but Chiaki was too focused to make mistakes this time. Her inputs were frame perfect. Sweat was soaking through her whole body. If she wanted to beat Eliza, she had to focus with everything she had.
Sure, winning and losing meant nothing to Chiaki, but Eliza would not be happy if she did not take down Chiaki at her best. And Chiaki's best was making sure she didn't lose.
As Eliza bounced on the ground with both characters' HP bars mostly depleted, Chiaki held down the shoulder buttons and proceeded to push down on the analog sticks after a few seconds of charging. There was nothing left to be done. The game was over
But Eliza was not going to go into that goodnight. She was not the type to just roll over.
"Cyclone Arrow!" Lyndis shouted, unleashing her Hyper Attack, but it was overwhelmed when Roy's blade came in contact with her arrow and then her shoulder, causing the background to go dark. Chiaki had initiated the Finishing Attack.
"By my blade!" Roy shouted as the background caught fire and he unleashed a 56 hit combo before setting Lyndis on fire in cinematic glory.
The fans exploded.
"Roy wins! Critical Finish!"
"Unbelievable!" the announcers commented. "After three straight losses, Chiaki Nanami, sorry, I mean Chiaki Hinata, comes from behind and wins the whole tournament! You saw it here folks, this is Tai "Shadow Hadoken" Yamamoto, signing off!"
Eliza stood up and bowed to Chiaki. "I have been bested. The tournament is yours."
Chiaki reached out to give her rival a handshake. "Come on, it can be appropriate."
Eliza shook her rival's hand firmly. The two then posed for pictures as confetti rained down from the ceiling.
Once all the hype and festivity died down, Chiaki, Eliza and the former's friends exited out into the hall where Mahiru took even more pictures.
"Thank you for such an unforgettable match," Eliza said. "I will cherish our battle until next time."
"I'm looking forward to it," Chiaki said with a smile.
Eliza turned around and stared down the hall. "Chances are we will likely see each other on your home field next time, Hajime."
"Huh? Duel Monsters? Why?"
"Rumor has it that Seto Kaiba is planning another tournament. This time it's invite only."
"And what makes you think you'll be invited?" Joey asked. "I'm a pro duelist, so if anyone's gonna be invited to an exclusive tournament, it's me. Plus, I made it to the finals in Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, and the Canadian Nationals."
"Don't let Eliza's placement in Battle City fool you," Chiaki said. "I wouldn't be surprised if Kaiba invited her."
"Why's that?" Hajime asked. Having faced down so many challenges, he wasn't sure what made Eliza so special.
"Well, well, if it isn't the Crimson Devastator in the flesh."
The group was unceremoniously happened upon by Celeste.
"The Queen of Liars," Eliza said. "Not often I see you outside the underground rings," Eliza stated.
"You two know each other?" Joey asked, head whipping back and forth.
"Right after Battle City, I asked Eliza for a favor," Chiaki said. Hajime gave her a peculiar stare. "What? Just because you haven't seen her, doesn't mean I didn't contact her a few times."
"My rival gave me a gravely important task."
"Yes, one that has caused me no shortage of discomfort," Celeste said. "Shutting down underground dueling arenas by wagering land deeds with the folks that run them, as well as their biggest competitors."
"Those arenas are a menace to society. Health problems and crippling debt pile up and run amok. As a morals committee member and a Student Council President, I cannot turn a blind eye!"
"Some of us prefer the dark," Celeste said, glancing to the side. "It lets us hide our true natures. Nothing wrong with that."
"Queen of Liars, one day you will see just how liberating the light can be!" Eliza exclaimed. "Fear not!" she said, putting her hands on her hips. "For I shall pave the way towards freedom and longer life expectancies!"
"Sheesh, put a flag behind her and you'd think she was a superhero…or running for office," Joey remarked flatly.
"It's too bad Hope's Peak already has a Student Council President, Eliza…and that we're getting a Morals Committee member, you would've been a good fit," Chiaki said.
"No, no," Eliza said, getting overdramatic, bending back, fingertips over her face, "It is not meant to be! But fear not my higher class rival," Eliza put her knuckles on her hips again, "for I will do all I can to help those that cannot help themselves! For I am Eliza Se Arc, Student Council President of Mashima Academy!"
Serenity clapped her hands. "You should go into politics, Eliza."
"Thank you, thank you. But please, no donations accepted," Eliza smirked, her ego more than fed.
Mahiru snapped up a photo.
Miaka could not look more bored.
"Joey Wheeler. Hajime Hinata. Please report to the Duel Monsters tournament hall for the finals match."
"Guess that's our cue," Hajime said.
"May the best man win," Joey said as he and Hajime shook hands.
Five minutes later, Hajime and Joey had their duel disks set up and their decks primed and ready. All that was left was for hands to be drawn and for the duelist going first to be randomly selected.
The lights on the floor bounced back and forth until Hajime was selected to go first. "All right, here we go!" Joey exclaimed. "Time for Joey Wheeler to raise the roof and show you don't gotta be an Ultimate to be a great duelist."
No, but it does help, Celeste thought, sitting with Mahiru, Serenity, Chiaki and Miaka.
"Good luck, big brother!" Serenity cheered.
"You can do it, Hajime!" Chiaki cheered as well.
Click! Went Mahiru's camera. She figured she'd watch in silence. She really didn't want to pick sides.
With 4,000 life points apiece, the finals of the convention's duel tournament began as Joey drew the top card of his deck, ready to make his first move. "I summon Tiger Axe, in attack mode!" Joey declared. "Then I'm settin' two cards face-down and ending my turn."
"Joey, just because these aren't the national finals doesn't mean you can afford to take it easy," Celeste scoffed.
Joey blew her a raspberry, pulling his eye down.
"Hey! What are you? Five?" Mahiru snapped at him.
"What the—she started it!" Joey responded, pointing.
"I don't care who started it, I'm ending it!" Mahiru exclaimed.
"Thank you again for sitting with us, Miss Celeste," Serenity said.
"Oh, trust me. I wouldn't miss a chance to watch Joey fall flat on his face for 100,000 yen," Celeste said, sipping freshly prepared tea.
"You like him, don't you?" Miaka asked bluntly and out of the blue.
Celeste almost spat her tea back into the cup, but she was able to make it look like her hand slipped and it startled her. "I don't know what you're talking about," she responded calmly.
Uh huh, sure, Miaka thought, unconvinced.
"Well, Celeste might be rude, but she's got a point," Hajime said. "I draw!" He nodded at his hand, adding his newly drawn card to his strategy down the line. However, he already knew his opening move. "I summon to the field Red-Eyes Black Chick, in attack mode!"
A red-eyes black dragon still half inside its shell emerged on the battlefield. It had 800 attack points and 500 defense points.
"Awwww, it's so cute!" Serenity exclaimed, clapping her hands together.
"Hajime, buddy. Did you forget how to do math this morning?" Joey asked, feeling cocky.
"Uh, no, my math skills are quite fine, thank you," Hajime said. "Besides, I'm not done. My little dragon chick is about to evolve with its special ability. As long as I have a Red-Eyes Black Dragon in my hand, I can swap it with my chick and put it straight onto the field!"
"What?!" Joey gasped.
People cheered when Red-Eyes stormed the field. It was such an iconic monster to the world of Duel Monsters.
"Hey, hold up! Where did you get a Red-Eyes, Mr. Poor as Dirt? I seem to recall you said you had no money at one point," Joey snapped.
"Joey, I get an allowance from Hope's Peak to buy whatever I want. You can make a safe bet I was going to use it to improve my deck! It's almost required of me," Hajime explained, pointing at Joey, arm bent at the elbow. "I managed to get into Hope's Peak with a deck I put together with all the money I could scrounge together, much like you. When we entered Noah's virtual world, I learned that it's not just enough to litter my deck with fusion material monsters or I could have the wrong combinations at the wrong time. However," Hajime said, his face rather serious. "Red-Eyes is different. I have so many monsters that require it as a fusion that making an investment in buying one was a sure improvement to my deck."
"Investments? Required? You sound like a corporate robot. What happened to the Hajime that had heart?"
"Joey, there's nothing wrong with improving your deck. Yugi does it. Kaiba does it. Heck, even Chiaki does it. If you think I've forgotten everything you and Yugi taught me, you're dead wrong," Hajime declared. "My heart still pumps strong with my cards. You were bound to run into another Red-Eyes user eventually, Joey Wheeler. Don't freak out just because it happened when you least expected it."
"Hrrrrngh," Joey growled. He hated to admit it, but Hajime had him there. He was just complaining about Hajime not treating Red-Eyes as special.
"All right, Red-Eyes," Hajime said, "Attack with Inferno Fire Blast!"
"Not so fast!" Joey exclaimed. "Reveal face-down card! Kunai with Chain!"
Tiger Axe grappled Red-Eyes with the weapon to switch it to defense mode and boost Tiger Axe's attack points.
"Not bad," Hajime said. "I'll set one card face-down on the field and end my turn." That could've gone way worse, Hajime thought. Let's see what Joey's next move is. I'll counter it with everything I've got.
Joey drew the top card of his deck and looked at it. "Awrite! Time to turn up the heat! Literally. I sacrifice Tiger Axe to summon Flame Swordsman!"
Kunai with Chain vanished as Joey's swordsman took to the field.
"And I'll give him a little fire in his spirit with this: Salamandra! This'll raise my swordman's attack power by 700 points!"
Flame Swordsman was now strong enough to burn Hajime's Red-Eyes to a crisp with 2,500 attack points.
"Flame Swordsman, take 'em down! Flaming sword of battle!"
Joey's swordsman swung down into Red-Eyes' neck and ignited the dragon aflame, destroying it.
"Don't worry, Hajime. You can come back from that easily!"
Hajime looked at a trap card in his hand. Yeah, I'm aware. I just gotta set the field right and use this when Joey least expects it.
"I end my turn," Joey said, sitting comfortably with full life points and two cards in his hand. "It's your move."
"All right then," Hajime said. "I draw!" He now had four cards in his hand. "I'll set one monster face-down," Hajime stated. "Then, I'll set one more card face-down. Then, I end my turn."
Two cards face-down and one monster. What's Hajime up to? Joey wondered. He drew the top card of his deck. Better play it safe. "I set a monster face-down!" Joey declared. "Then, I'm activating the spell card: Giant Trunade, returning all magic and trap cards to the hand!"
Hajime's trap cards were returned to his hand as he raised his arm to block the holographic dust from his eyes.
"Next, I replay Salamandra on my Flame Swordsman, and reset my face-down card!" Joey declared, resetting his field. "And now, Flame Swordsman, attack! Flaming Sword of Battle!"
Joey's swordsman cleaved straight through Hajime's Witch of the Black Forest.
"Thanks for that," Hajime stated. "Now, thanks to Witch of the Black Forest's special ability, I'll add Summoned Skull to my hand!"
Summoned Skull? Joey thought, but Hajime doesn't have any monsters on the field and I already destroyed his Red-Eyes. What's goin' on?
Joey's Giant Trunade bought him a turn, but it won't last, Hajime thought.
"I end my turn!" Joey declared.
"All right then, here I go!" Hajime exclaimed, pulling the top card of his deck. He nodded. "I reset my two cards you returned to my hand face-down," Hajime stated. "Then, I activate Future Fusion, sending five dragon monsters to the graveyard." Hajime held up the dragon monsters revealed to be Fairy Dragon, Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress, Meteor Dragon, Curse of Dragon, and Baby Dragon. "You know what'll happen in two turns, don't you?" Hajime asked. "Now, I set one monster face-down onto the field and end my turn."
Joey was feeling pretty smug right now. As he drew his card, he spoke like he had complete control of this duel. "Sorry, Hajime, but we're not gonna see yer Five Headed Dragon taday. I activate Mystic Space Typhoon!"
The spell card slammed into Hajime's Future Fusion, destroying it. Hajime flinched to shelter his eyes from the bursting hologram, but he was also smirking behind his arm. Got you.
"And now, I activate Pot of Greed, letting me draw two cards," Joey declared as he drew two cards to his hand. "Next, I summon to the field a new monster. Go, Gearfried the Iron Knight!" Joey declared. Gearfried stood solidly on the battlefield. "And next, I activate this magic card: The A-Forces!"
"Here's how it works," Joey said. "For every warrior or spellcaster monster on my side of the field, my warrior monsters gain 200 attack points per monster. That means Gearfried and Flame Swordsman gain 400 attack points each!"
Gearfried the Iron Knight's attack points increased to 2,200 and Flame Swordsman now had 2,900.
"All right, Gearfried!" Joey declared. "Attack!"
With the boosted power from A-Forces, Gearfried the Iron Knight cleaved through Hajime's attempt at defense with Giant Soldier of Stone.
"And now, Flame Swordsman, attack!" Joey shouted. "Direct attack!"
"I don't think so!" Hajime declared, pressing a button on his duel disk. "I activate the trap card Call of the Haunted! This lets me return any monster in my graveyard to my side of the field. And I choose: Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
"What? Red-Eyes?" Joey gasped.
Red-Eyes' tombstone appeared from under the ground and the monster then dug its way out of the ground, looking perfectly fine, but the empty grave remained.
"And that's not all, I also activate my other face-down card: Negate Attack!" Hajime declared. "This will stop your attack dead in its tracks!"
"Wait, what?" Joey stammered. His Flame Swordsman had his attack blocked by Negate Attack's swirling barrier. "Nnngh, I end my turn."
"Everything according to plan," Hajime said as he drew the top card of his deck. Yes. This was exactly what he needed. "I activate Heavy Storm!" Hajime shouted. "This will destroy every magic and trap card on the field, including A-forces and Salamandra!"
"No! No! No!" Joey declared as a powerful storm utterly destroyed everything left on the field. Without anything in his path, Hajime was free to attack with Red-Eyes.
"You fell for my ruse, Joey," Hajime stated. "By placing Future Fusion face-up, I created a dangerous situation that became a threat to you in two turns, but that means you would be forced to neglect my plan that was already in place." Hajime held up the remaining two cards in his hand. "Go, Polymerization! Summoned Skull! Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Merge together to form Black Skull Dragon!"
Black Skull Dragon emerged on the battlefield with a triumphant roar and a beefy 3,200 attack points.
"You played me!"
"I did, but that's just part of the game. I'll be honest, if you were a better duelist, you might've realized what was going on and played with a cooler head."
"What do you mean?" Joey asked.
"If you had held onto Giant Trunade and stalled for a turn, you would've forced me to lose a turn by sending Future Fusion back to my hand and, right before you used it, you could've used Mystic Space Typhoon to destroy Call of the Haunted or Negate Attack. Instead, now you're facing down one of my strongest monsters."
"Wow, Hajime really knows his stuff," Mahiru said.
"Of course he does, he's the Ultimate Duelist," Chiaki and Celeste said almost at the exact same time.
Joey grit his teeth and sweated. Hajime got him good.
"Don't let him psyche you out big brother!" Serenity called with a smile on her face. "I believe in you."
Joey blinked at his sister. "Serenity." He smiled and nodded. He then smacked his chest with his palms and stuck out his chest. "All right, Hajime! Bring it! I ain't afraid of ya!"
"Happy to oblige," Hajime said pointed to Gearfried the Iron Knight. "Black Skull Dragon, attack! Crush Gearfried with Molten Fireballs!"
Joey had no way to defend himself as Hajime laid waste to Gearfried and Joey's life points, bringing them down to 2,600. First blood was Hajime's.
Joey wiped his lip with the back of his hand. "I may be down, but I'm not out," Joey said and drew the top card of his deck. "I draw!" He marveled at what he drew. He had just the cards to turn this duel around. "Awrite!" Joey exclaimed.
Hmm, Hajime thought, watching Joey carefully.
"I sacrifice my face-down monster and Flame Swordsman to summon my powerful Thunder King, the Lightningstrike Kaiju!" The white kaiju roared as it stormed the field with 3,300 attack points, just enough to wipe out Hajime's dragon.
The audience cheered at seeing Joey use a kaiju to counter Hajime's Black Skull Dragon.
Uh oh, Hajime thought.
"Go, Thunder King! Triple Lightning Blast!"
As a powerful lightning blast struck from each of Thunder King's mouths, Black Skull Dragon tried to fight back with its Molten Fireballs. However, the size difference was clear and Black Skull Dragon only had one head against three. It managed to counter one of the lightning blasts, but the other two slammed into each of its shoulders and destroyed it, bringing Hajime's life points to 3,900.
"Yeah! How do you like that?" Joey shouted. "So much for your little strategy, huh?"
"Maybe," Hajime said. "But that was just the first round. There's always round two!" Hajime declared and drew the top card of his deck. "I activate Card of Sanctity! Now we keep drawing until we're both holding six cards!"
Joey and Hajime drew new hands and Hajime was more than ready to counterattack. "I activate Polymerization again!" Hajime declared.
Uh oh, Joey thought.
"This time, I'm fusing together the Buster Blader in my hand with Versago the Destroyer, substituting for Dark Magician. This will let me form Dark Paladin!"
Hajime's Future Fusion! Joey realized how much trouble he was in right now.
"Thanks to Dark Paladin's effect, since I have six dragon monsters in my graveyard, his attack power increases an additional 3,000 points."
With no cards face-down, Joey had no way of stopping what was coming next. With 5,900 attack points, Dark Paladin had just enough attack points to end this duel.
"Go, Dark Paladin! Take out Joey's Thunder King, and end this duel!"
With one powerful strike, Dark Paladin utterly blasted Joey's kaiju, destroying it and taking out all of his remaining life points in one mighty blow.
"Hmm, how anti-climactic," Celeste mused. "Full life points and then a big blast to end it. Where's the usual tension?"
"Sometimes it happens," Chiaki said.
The duel ended as Dark Paladin's hologram faded from view. Hajime then marched over to Joey and offered him his hand. "Great duel," he said.
"Thanks, Hajime," Joey responded, shaking his hand.
Chiaki smiled. Even though the tournament was over, the rest of the weekend looked like it was going to be a lot of fun.
Chiaki's prediction proved correct. The entire weekend was filled with laughs, photographs and smiles. Before everyone left, they all took a photograph together. Even Miaka and Celeste were in it. Mahiru set up a tripod and took a photo with everyone, multiple times.
"Joey! Stop giving Hajime bunny ears! What are you? Six?" Mahiru had chastised.
In the end, the group each got a copy of the photo to signify the end to an amazing weekend.
Joey and Serenity rode in a taxi together to the Mutoh Game Shop. Ms. Wheeler wouldn't be able to pick up Serenity until after dinner and she had locked the door. Serenity didn't have her own key. And it was safer to wait for her at the Mutoh Game Shop than stay at their dad's place with all his drunk behavior. Joey listened to Serenity ramble on and on about how much fun she had. It filled him with brotherly pride.
After getting out of the taxi, the lights were on at the shop and Joey and Serenity helped themselves in.
"Yo, gramps!" Joey said to Solomon, seeing him behind the counter.
"Oh, if it isn't Joey and Serenity. How good to see both of you. Yugi just returned home an hour ago. Would you like some tea?"
"I'd love some tea!" Serenity exclaimed.
"You can just get me a soda if that's all right," Joey said.
Solomon nodded and then gestured to the living room. "Well then, come on in."
Yugi was sitting on the couch watching TV, a thick manilla folder sat on the coffee table. Yugi's duel disk and deck were also present.
"Sup, Yug?" Joey asked.
"Oh, hey, Joey! How was the convention?"
"It was the best!" Serenity exclaimed.
"I'd love to hear about it," Yugi stated.
Joey and Serenity took a seat in the living room and Joey listened to his sister talk about how much fun she had for the second time. She was, however, cut short by her mother arriving to pick her up. After saying goodbye to his mother, Joey then sat back down in a chair across from Yugi.
"Sounds like it was a lot of fun," Yugi said.
"We had a great time. So, why couldn't ya make it, Yug?" Joey asked him. "You wouldn't tell me before, but now yer home so…"
Yugi nodded. His face grew stern. "Well, Kaiba came the other day."
"Kaiba? What for?"
"He said he needed me to be at Kaiba Corp all weekend. He said it was important."
"Important? Kaiba? I'm confused. Normally Kaiba won't touch you with a ten foot pole."
"I know," Yugi said. "But he was really insistent and, well, he also offered to pay me." His face grew softer momentarily. "I actually thought he was coming around."
"So, what did he have you do?" Joey asked.
"Lots of stuff. I had to duel a lot of different AIs and figure out a lot of different puzzles based on specific situations in Duel Monsters."
"Oof, sounds rough," Joey said.
"It was actually a lot of fun," Yugi said with a smile. "But…Kaiba's actions weren't just a courtesy call."
"So, what did he want?" Joey asked.
"Actually, Kaiba was just acting as a mediator. I was being scouted."
"Scouted?" Joey asked.
"Joey, I want us to always be friends," Yugi stated. "so, I hope you won't think less of me when I say this…" Yugi swallowed. Whatever was about to come out his mouth, it was hard for him to say. "Starting in April, I won't be attending Domino High. I'll be enrolling at Hope's Peak Academy!"
(A/N: Yup. Yugi's going to be part of Class 78. For those of you that have been paying attention, Yasuhiro Hagakure managed to get into Hope's Peak Academy one year early and is part of class 77-A. This lets Yugi take his spot in Class 78. I picked Hagakure because he's just…so…DUMB! And my co-captain didn't want me to just unperson him so we moved him instead. So yes, going forward Yugi will be part of Makoto and Junko's class and everything that comes with it!
It's time to ring in a new school year. I hope everyone has properly braced themselves. The real wild ride starts now.
Next chapter, we will begin with a very familiar scene for those of you that have watched Danganronpa 3 and from there…well…I'd hate to spoil the surprise.
Happy New Year. 2020 is upon us. And with it, you can expect all kinds of crazy shenanigans from this story. And from all of me, to all of you, let your hearts stay human and your wrath draconic. Ja ne!)