I Don't Own Yugioh
"Ah, why hello there, you must be Alex, I've heard quite the number of things about you my dear boy" You know, I don't really look like Alex, I'm a good two or so inches taller than him, my hair is many shades darker brown, my skin tone is also a lot darker, not to mention I wear glasses and a number of other smaller things. The reason why I mention this is because Pegasus was looking right at me when he said that.
"Apparently not enough things, the one next to me is Alex. I'm just a bystander in this" Pegasus just raised an eyebrow as he looked down at me for a moment before a small smile formed on his face as he said.
"I see, I stand corrected, though I must say, you remind me a tad of a young lad I know. Anyhoo, Alex my boy, sorry for the confusion. Pleased to meet you" I wasn't sure how to feel about his voice, nor was I sure what to think about the fact that I feel like he just compared me to Kaiba, which isn't that a mixed compliment. Anyway, Alex looked uncomfortable as hell as Pegasus held out a hand for him to shake.
"U-uh, um. Nice to meet you as well Mr. Pegasus" I normally found his embarrassment fun to watch but this time, I was to busy being curious as to why the actual hell Pegasus was here. Also, this situation was something I probably need to take a tad more serious than normal, so I just spent the time having my mind run over all the most likely scenarios in which the creator of duel monsters was standing in front of me... Ok I can think of about three highly likely options. So time to go fishing and save Alex from his own crippling lac of social skills.
"So whens the announcement?" Pegasus turned to face me as I looked over again, he wasn't shock surprised, that wasn't the expression I was seeing, it was closer to pleasant surprise, there is in fact a difference. Alex just looked confused which was fair, he's probably to caught up in his own mind to actually think further than panicking over his next words. That might not be fair but it does seem like that some times.
"Oh? I don't suppose you're already aware of what I'm doing here then?" I just shrugged as his expression fell into a soft smile. I always found him a tad weird and a bit creepy in the show, but in real life form, he seemed more warm and slight eccentric than just straight up weird, even with his kind of out of place accent, then again, I don't think Japanese is his first language, which is another thing, everyone here speaks Japanese even though we're in the dub, but write in English, it made less than no sense. Not to mention how weird it is to suddenly be completely fluent in another language, so much so you don't have an accent and don't even notice when your speaking in it.
"I have it narrowed down a bit. I mean your here at a house full of highly skilled entertainers, it only makes sense that your here for some help in either advertising, hosting, or announcing something, and since your Pegasus, the creator of duel monsters, it only makes since that the thing your here for would involve the card game. So I'm going to guess, from your unexplained interest in Alex, your hosting a tournament of some kind" Alex seemed a bit unable to understand what I said while Pegasus just smiled and said.
"Why aren't you just the clever little one. You are correct my dear boy, I am in fact hosting a tournament and I was hoping that the Romine family would help me out, and in return I figured this would be a fine time to have their duelist son make an appearance, but I have to say, you've also caught my interest. Sorry to have to ask this far along in our conversation, but what happens to be your name my boy?" It was a bit annoying to be referred to as boy, it was basically an insult to me, but it was just how he talked and showing my anger would just be counter productive at the moment.
"It's Kyu, Kyu Malo" He just hummed to himself before looking away for a moment as I noted Stealth also turn to look in the same direction, which also made me aware that Stealth at some point landed on my shoulder. I don't like that anything can get past my ability to notice, but I couldn't really do anything to change that so instead I just turned along with the man and spirit and saw the approaching form of Ava. Right she, like everyone else in her family, is in the entertainment field, and from research, I'm pretty sure she often does advertising and planning.
"Ah there you are Mr. Pegasus, nice to see you arrived in good health" She gave him a much nicer smile than the one she gave me, not that I really cared, because the one on her face was pretty clearly fake, and very easy to pick up on, especially when her expression flickered a moment as her eyes fell upon my form. I just gave her what was basically my signature mocking bored smile back as she said in a barely noticeable harsh tone.
"Malo, I'm sorry but you'll have to excuse us for a while, me and my brother have a few things we need to discuses with Mr. Pegasus here, in private" Hmm, I know Pegasus' personality a bit, but not perfectly so I'm going to say it's about a thirty or so percent chance that Pegasus is about to say-.
"Actually, if you wouldn't mind dear Ava, I would like Kyu boy here to accompany us. I feel like I have quite the idea brewing" Something like that at least, though I'm not really sure what exactly he has in mind, there are a few things it could be but those options aren't the most likely. I could have thought about it a bit more but I was enjoying the fact that Ava looked like she had just bit right into a lemon.
"I see... I guess that wouldn't be a problem as long as Malo here doesn't mind" She looked at me like if I said anything at all that would be considered rude in front of Pegasus then she would try to rip my throat out. Oh so many temptations, but I have other things on my mind, so I'll give her a small break for right now.
"I would have no problem at all with that" Pegasus happily clapped his hands together at that and said.
"Brilliant, glad to see we all can get along. Now then, I believe you would have a meeting room ready for us dear Ava?" Pegasus wasn't stupid, maybe a bit ridiculous looking but not stupid, he created and made a hell of a lot of things, not to mention all the things he's done, he probably has more people experience and communication skills than I do and that's a pretty difficult thing to find in a world like this. So it was just as clear to him as it was for me that Ava actively wasn't a fan of my mere presences.
"Yes Sir, please, follow me" She seemed to not like that I was following along but that was just to be expected. All in all, I think this is going to be quite interesting.
(Alex)
I wasn't sure what was going on but Kyu seemed right at home, just lazily walking on with the rest of us as the billionaire practically led the way even when Ava was the one guiding us. Frankly I was kind of panicking at the moment, I mean, who wouldn't in my situation? The man next to me apparently, as Kyu was just looking mildly thoughtful like this all was of just mild interest for him. I'll admit I'm kind of jealous of him.
He's great with people, when he bothers, he's clearly smarter than he acts, if the fact that he managed to figure out whatever is happening in the same time it took for me to stop internally screaming. And he always seems to be in control, no matter what, nothing phases him. Of course, I'm pretty sure that last one came from his inability to properly understand emotions, which was something I don't think I would ever chose to give up, even if it would help me out.
It doesn't matter, we're just different people, I'm just glad we get along all things considered. Either way, Kyu really shouldn't be who I'm putting my focus on, I think I'm just using him and his calmness to ground myself so I can think clearly so I'm not panicking over the fact that Pegasus, the freaking creator of yu- I mean, Duel Monsters is right next to me and apparently my family has signed me up for something and I have no choice along with this tournament thing Pegasus basically confirmed from Kyu.
Am I expected to compete in this tournament thing? If so, when is it because I have school... Could I use that as an excuse to not have to do that? I mean the idea of going out on stage, with thousands of people watching me as I try to duel, no, nope, I'm not doing it. I can't do it. That's my worse nightmare, what in world am I suppose to do?!...Oh great, I'm panicking again. Um, breathing, right, that's what I'm suppose to do, so why can't I?
"Well isn't this interesting, I got to say, never been to a house with a board room in it before" Kyu's voice shocked me back into focus as I looked around. We were in the board room like he had said, I hadn't even noticed arriving here... It's been a while since that happened. I really don't like it. Thankfully, no one seemed to expect me to speak up as Pegasus instantly seemed to take control over the conversation as Kyu just leaned up against the long table as no one seemed to bother with any of the chairs.
"Yes quite, now onto my point of interest for today's little meeting. Ava my dear, I'm sure you've already gotten my general plans for this event and I'm beyond certain you've already done your part like the responsible girl you are. So I won't bother repeating details that we both are already aware of and that these two don't need to know about. But I do want to talk to you to young lads about something else if you won't mind"
I minded, a lot, I had no real idea what I was suppose to say about this, not to mention I wasn't sure if I would be even allowed to turn him down for the request I'm sure he's going to give. My family would probably force me into it for publicity which I don't really want. I enjoy dueling, a lot really, this game was always a background part of my life, even before I got here, but I never even considered the idea of playing in tournaments in the real world, muchless professionally here, though I don't think I have a choice now.
"I don't mind at all, so please, say whatever it is you want to say" I wanted to be angry at Kyu for not giving me a choice to say anything but I knew I was to busy over thinking to be able to come up with something and would have stuttered something out and probably would have made a fool out of myself if I had tried. So I just continued to stand there, not knowing at all what I was suppose to be doing as Pegasus smiled and said.
"Well thank you for hearing me out. Now, I believe some background context would help you two leads out in understanding what I'm about to ask of you. I've recently created a number of new cards, mostly support for some of my newest created type of monsters, but I'm also planning on releasing a brand new structure deck for all to use... And I may or may not be planning to bring a certain monster back into circulation, I don't suppose either of you two have heard of the Dark Magician?"
Dark Magician? As in Yugi's main monster? The shock of it all actually managed to break me out of my panic as I thought about that. Why would he do that? I couldn't find a reason at all, sure Dark Magician still had support coming out and could still be found in a number of card packs but I'd think Pegasus wouldn't bring it back, just letting it stay out of normal reach out of respect for Yugi. Like why he hasn't started to reprint Blue-Eyes to not inflict Kaiba's wrath.
"Oh? Interesting, I can make a few guesses as to why you'd make that last decision but I don't really care to much about spellcasters, that's more of Alex's area. But I am curious about this new structure set, and support, anything for a dragon deck in mind?" Did Kyu figure something out or did he say that just to say it? I couldn't tell but his words did make me suddenly realize I could actually use Dark Magician, sure my ace is a warrior but my deck runs heavy Spellcaster support and a Dark Magician would be a good secondary high powered monster to use... I think I have some Skilled Dark Magicians as well which would pair great with it...
"Dragons? Interesting choice. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give a few extra spoilers... Yes why not. None of them are specifically dragon based but I do have quite the powerful Dragon monster in there with a few cards I'm sure a smart lad such as yourself could repurposed to fit your needs" Kyu leaned back just a tad as he stared up at the ceiling for a moment, like he was thinking about something of mild interest before tilting his head, looking off in the direction of his left shoulder for a moment before saying.
"Alright. I'm guessing this tournament is to show off some of these new cards, probably the winners gets one of each or something" Pegasus just smiled and nodded, like he had almost expected Kyu's reaction, I had no idea what was happening especially when Kyu continued.
"Neat, yeah sure I'll join up, and Alex was already going to have to, since I'm sure it was a requirement for Ava working for you... Out of mild curiosity, it's a tag dueling tournament yes?" Wait what? When did tag dueling come into this? I'm so lost at the moment as I looked over at Pegasus again who just clapped his hands together and said brightly.
"Yes of course, though I am curious about how you figured that one out" I really wanted to know as well but I was more focused on turning to look at Ava with a look that I hope said I wanted her to speak up and say I wasn't actually going to have to be involved. She just looked back at me without remorse as I grimaced to myself, glad that the two other guys in the room were to busy focusing on each other to notice at the expression I'm sure was on my face.
"You're too smart to miss a slip up, which you would have used to discount me a bit as it's clear your evaluating me a bit, probably because of the person I remind you of. Anyway, so you would have normally called me out on saying winners but you didn't probably just passing it off subconsciously because in this tournament there will in fact be more than one winner. A tag tournament only made sense from there, though I will admit it was a bit of a shot in the dark" What kind of logic was that? I really don't get how his mind works some times, well, most of the time. Because that was more of a shot in oblivion than a shot in the dark.
"I see. You are quite the interesting character my dear boy. Well then, I assume your asking because you would like to pair up with your good friend here?" Is that what he was doing? I'm still a bit lost but I think I might understand now what Kyu's going for now. Though I really couldn't tell if he wanted to team with me because he didn't want to deal with another person while he won those cards or if he wanted to help me out while winning those cards, but I do know his main motivation is those cards.
He's always been a bit cheap, I think I've only seen him buy stuff once in ever few blue moons when he doesn't have to. It's why I was so shocked to see all those rare cards in his duel with my three instructors. So the chance for him to actually get some free things, all of which would be pretty rare for awhile while the cards are getting into circulation, well, he's clearly going to go for it.
"You'd be correct. Our decks don't really mesh well together but I'd rather have to deal with him than some other idiot I don't know" I- I don't actually know if he's insulting me or not, but I do know he's calling most people idiots so that's something I guess. Either way, I'm just going to choose to be happy that he's all the same trying to help me out, in a roundabout way or not.
"Why that would be completely fine, in fact I could tell from the way you two seem to interact that you'd two have better teamwork than just sticking you two with some others" How does he figure that? I mean, neither of us have even said anything to the other since he's been here? How do these two come to these conclusions, it's just baffling. I don't get it.
"Cool, so when is this tournament taking place then?" Oh right, that's important important information. I would like to know when I'm going to have to walk in front of the firing squad that is the audience of this tournament thing.
"Oh yes, I nearly forgot. It'll be quite soon, this little visit was mostly to find that all things were in order though I did find an extra gem while I was at it. Nonetheless, the tournament will be held at the end of next week, I feel that is enough time for all the advertising to properly run it's course. I naturally would have preferred a bit more flare and build up but this is just mostly a card release publicity event, nothing to warrant a grand amount of effort" Oh, so sooner than I would have liked, by a lot. But at least many there won't be to many people there.
"Cool, that's right before our school's break ends so that lines up quite nicely for us. Well, I have nothing else I feel the want to talk about, so I'll leave so you and her can talk about the overview or whatever... Coming Alex?" I just blinked as I released he was giving me an out as I quickly followed after him, more than glad to get out of that room. It was kind of suffocating, but now everything that was discussed is coming back to me and I'm realizing what exactly it all means fully. Kyu for once seemed to notice, or at least comment on it.
"Stop worrying, you'll be fine" I felt like laughing at that because of how ridiculous it was.
"I'm going to die" He just rolled his eyes but he clearly didn't understand what it's like to freeze up or have to deal with the embarrassment oh stumbling over your own words and making an idiot out of yourself. It's mortifying.
"You don't get it" He just hummed at that as I noted he was leading us back to my room. My parents were spiteful enough to have Kyu be sent to the guest room on the other side of our massive house. He seemed to prefer to stay in my room anyway. I wasn't sure why, but he's always just kind of done that. I personally like to think that he doesn't like to be by himself and that's just his own way to reaching out so he isn't alone.
"Your right, I've never had much of a problem with people looking at me. But you don't have to worry to much, at worst we lose and if we do then good job to the winners, none of the focus will be on you then, and if we do win then I think it'll help you out of your shell a bit more" I just sighed at that. I'm pretty sure he thinks that he's helping but he really isn't. Why can't he understand that I prefer to just not have to deal with all this.
"I like my shell, it's nice and comfortable" He snorted at that, clearly amused by it though I wasn't sure why.
"Really? Is it nice when you start to stutter over yourself and turn bright red from you have no experience with interacting with people because of that shell?" I...I hate it when he has a point, but I still really just don't want to. The idea of it is terrifying, and I really want nothing to do with it, so the least I can do is protest every time it's brought up.
"N-no but that's my choice" Damn it! I meant to say that without tripping over myself! And now I can feel my face heating up... Why can't I ever manage to do this right? Thankfully, Kyu just smiled a tad bit, which I've mercifully come to understand that he wasn't mocking me any for it, which would have just made me feel worse, he just found my reactions funny... It also made it a bit worse as well, but he doesn't mean anything by it and let's go... while mocking is so worse.
"Yep, but it's the wrong one. We can stop talking about it though for now, it'll just lead us in circles, it doesn't really matter to much since we're both dueling no matter what. Arguing would just be pointless" I was glad that he was changing the subject, it gave me a moment to calm my burning face at least, but I did still frown a tad. He's so logical when it comes to emotions he deems pointless. I just don't get how he can do it. He just finds being angry a waste of time and just stops, it doesn't make sense.
"I-I guess...Um. Should we look over our decks then? Actually what deck are you going to use then dude?" I was curious and it let me finally take control again over my emotions so I wasn't a mess, though it was a very thin balance. So I just focused more onto hearing his answer, as both his Burn and Dragon decks would be good, though I think his Burn deck would be the better choice.
"Burn more than likely, though I might use the dragon deck later on if I get bored of using it" He seemed to think of the same thing as me. I can usually power up my Buster Blader to deal with most things so his dragon's overwhelming power would just be unneeded while his Burn deck would just add a lot of extra and needed support to protect us. Though I did just think of something else.
"By the way dude, you seemed to figure out why Dark Magician was coming back in circulation, did you actually?" He blinked at that as he seemed to think something over for a moment before saying.
"Remember in the show when in the first season that Yugi's deck went on tour or something? From my admittedly hazy memory, I'm pretty sure it happened around this time so it only makes since that Pegasus, knowing that Yugi's deck with it's ace Dark Magician, would have a lot of attention on it for a good period of time, it only makes since to bring back that ace monster for people to get, if only for a little while. It's basically just an easy way to boost sales for a bit" I remember that but I didn't even think these two things could have been related.
"Oh ok" It's all I could come up with, because I mean what else is there to say to that?
"Anyway, we should probably look over the others decks so we can see what we should switch out, I'll probably get rid of a few monsters and add a few traps and spells in to replace it" I was going to suggest that as well which was good. Maybe he can run closer to just support as well as his normal burn cards so he can chip away while I do swing damage with my own monsters. Hmm, our decks actually go together decently well, then again his capitalizes in back row plays while mine can be found mostly in the monsters and a few equips to boost power.
I was bored, nothing new there, honestly the thing with Pegasus was exciting for about an hour because I got to flex my mind a bit to jump to my conclusions but after running through the fourth combo me and Alex could use I was bored again. At least Alex was enjoying himself and it seemed to get his mind off what our alterations to our decks are for. He's entertaining when his all red and stuttering but it's not great when all that means is that he's having a panic attack. Which I'm about ninety percent certain he had an actual major one on the way to that board room.
I didn't like it but that's just besides the point, anyway, back to my main point of contention, I'm bored. Alex was off somewhere dealing with his mom about something that I apparently wasn't allowed to listen to but he'll probably tell me later, and if not then it's not my business, well that wouldn't stop me but I'll probably not be interested enough to care about it enough to figure out what it was about.
Anyways, I'm currently playing the game I like to call spot the bird. Stealth was nice enough to agree to just pop in and out of my room at times. I really didn't like not being able to spot the constantly self camouflaging bird. It's just one of those things I just don't like. My ability to obverse it admittedly up there as one of my better talents so to have it just suddenly be unreliable just wasn't a fun feeling so this was helping and it was giving my mind something to focus on.
On an unrelated note, Stealth has an interesting and pretty blunt sense of humor, he like just popping up in places and then silently laugh to himself when I notice him even when I have yet to even look remotely surprised every time I've found him. I think he gets off some what on the fact that I can't track him but like to appear omnipotent to others. I find it fun to act like I know more than I do, people's reactions are usually interesting enough, and I like Stealth knows it and likes that I can't do that around him. I personally found it rude.
Anyway, when I wasn't trying to learn me finding and spotting Stealth into something subconscious, I was looking over all the cards that Alex has extra. I got to give something close to props to him, he didn't use his frankly stupid amount of money to buy very specific cards that would greatly power up his deck. I totally would have done that but to be fair, his deck is already very solid as it is, and frankly I don't know enough cards in this time period that would greatly boost it's potential.
Back to the skimming though, looking through them all, I did find a number that I found that I would find a good spot in in my dragon deck and even a card that would work well in tandem with Momonga. And since Alex already told me I could have any of them since he really had no use for them all, I totally just took whatever caught my eye. I was kind of annoyed that he only brought a proportion of these with him to the Academy and not all, but most were useless and would just be a waste of space and the others he really didn't have a reason to bring either, so it's probably weirder he brought any extra cards at all.
Moving onto something else, I wasn't sure what I should be doing, so I don't actually know what I should be moving on to... Things to think about, I could continue to go on about the cards but I've already done that enough for today, the tournament then? No, I don't see a point worrying about it, unlike Alex...Alex, I could think about him, I've done that a lot recently though... Actually I've been thinking about him a lot, to be fair I see him for most of every day, I'm literally in his house, hell I'm literally on his bed at the moment.
Well that's something the bed thing. I don't really know why I started doing this but before long it just became a habit to do it when we're hanging on in a room with a bed, usually his. The reason it was usually his is because I have a minor thing when it comes to people in places that I designate as mine. My room has my in it so I don't really like people to be in it, even if I'm there. It just feels invasive, which I know is super hypocritical of me.
Anyway, while I do love to tease Alex about it, just to see his face turn red, I do find it comfortable. I don't know why really. It just feels like I get to have a break during those things. The two of us just talk, my bored subsides for a bit as we just idly chatter about whatever is on one of our minds as we go. Basically I did it for a bit then my mind linked it to a subconscious feeling of emotional peace. Meaning I know exactly why. Damn my technically still developing brain, it makes habits and feelings connect together easier.
I'm pretty sure that's why nostalgia is a thing, it's something our minds linked to happy when seeing something and since our brains are more easy to please and program when we are younger the feelings are more locked in and probably even stronger. So we can look back on them with great fondness. I think it's annoying really, because I have a fifteen year old body that I have to deal with. And let's say that isn't fun, I really didn't enjoy puberty the first time around and I have nothing to distract myself with here so I'm dealing with it more than I would like.
It's also one of the reasons why Alex is crippled in social areas, he probably wasn't that bad but teenagers are emotional wrecks half the time without even knowing it. And in anxiety and constant stress along with being forced in a new body and I'm sure his emotions are all over the place. It's completely natural for all that this situation can be considered natural. Personally I'm just glad I'm an emotionally stunted, logical focused jerk, it makes dealing with this all much easier I'm sure.
I almost feel sorry for him but I've never been good with pity and he doesn't need it. Sure he's a train wreck every time something stressful comes up and only really seems to be able to be himself around me, but he's getting better. Probably because I'm half the time forcing him to get better but it progress all the same. And when it's to much I'm fine with taking the reigns and controlling the conversation for him.
It's been a long time really since I bothered with something like this, usually I truly don't care if my friends some how drop kick themselves in the middle of a conversation, but Alex has that lost puppy quality to him, like he's constantly lost. I could ignore it but he's kind of my only friend right now and frankly I don't like seeing people I actually like suffer. Actually suffer at least, I totally don't count what I do to mess with Alex as making him suffer, it's just tough love. Love. Isn't that just a silly thought.
But maybe it's applicable, not romantic of course, that would just be idiotic. Closer to brotherly, maybe, never had a brother so I wouldn't have first hand experience, well a brother that I knew anyway, so I'm a bit new to this but I am surprisingly protective of my friends, or at least so I'm told. So I guess that might be the reason. I've gotten attached. Yeah I could see that. Isn't that neat, I suppose it only makes since though with how long I've spent with him.
Ehh, I'd still prefer to be player one though, sounds cooler and the cool factor clearly means a lot to me with how much I clearly care about my appearance. Which is funny because my hair is a complete mess at the moment since I apparently don't believe in these magical devices called combs. It's not anime level bad but it is a mess, I'm just glad it naturally doesn't get tangled easy or else it would be a nightmare...
I suddenly caught up with myself as a suddenly laughter fit bubbled up in my chest, god, I really am acting like a damn teenager. I'm thinking out boys and my hair while laying on a bed day dreaming. Not only am I acting like a teenager, I'm also acting like a girl. Damn I could think of so many jokes at the moment. To bad no one is here to appreciate my genius... or my comedy, hey look another joke. I'm in a weird mood at the moment aren't I?... Why?...
"Stealth?" I said it out of curiosity as I watched as from my chest floated out the bird in question... What the hell? The bird was giggling quietly to himself as I stared at the spirit for a moment before saying.
"Look, near invisibility is one thing, but I'd think I'd like to know next time you want to reveal you can fu-reaking possess people. Why can you even do that? Can all spirits do that?" The bird had the bloody audacity to just shrug, like he had no idea. I mean, I know Yubel, that weird monster, can take people over, and I think the god cards can as well but Stealth was just a common monster card... Meaning he is weaker than those ones, meaning...
"You can possess people but you can't do anything major. That's it, you can only shift their emotions a small bit, hell the only reason it worked so well on me is because boredom is basically a blank slate to work with and small emotions for normal people is basically my entire emotional spectrum, so it effects me more" Stealth actually stopped laughing to himself as he hopped a bit to face me, it was a bit difficult to tell but it was clear he wasn't expecting that.
"I'm a pretty great problem solver and in a world where everyone seems to lack common sense, basically I'm a super genius" Incorrect, I'm not egotistical enough to actually think I'm that smart, but I am above average and I am really good at connecting dots. And since Yu-Gi-Oh as a show is made for kids and has most if not all things spelled out to them, my smarts probably seem a bit amplified. Kind of like how my emotions were amplified because I don't feel much normally.
"Anyway, that's neat I guess but mind not doing that unless you have a really good reason. There is a good reason why emotions and me don't exactly bond" He just seemed confused at that but bobbed his head anyway which I'll take I guess. It was actually a cool power for him to have, the camo thing was clearly just his body's nature. But minor emotional manipulation was pretty much espionage since kind of fits a monster avian called Stealth Bird.
"Now then, I'm pretty sure that should count for three times the points because you were literally inside of my chest and I still found you" He made a squawk motion which I'm sure meant indignation on his part which I think was completely unjustified since I still caught him and he was literally hiding in my freaking soul, if that doesn't deserve a bonus then that's just stupid.
"I'm the one that made this game so I think I'm the only one here that can determine the point system of said game" He just puffed his chest feathers out before suddenly back into my chest as I felt a feeling of indignation pulse in my form. It took a moment but afterward it was pretty easy to tell my 'feelings' apart. Stealth just seemed to be mimicking the average person's feelings, but I've dealt with my own brand of emotions for a long as hell time, so while differentiating was certainly a new experience it wasn't exactly difficult, mostly just knowing that I wouldn't normally be feeling this was enough.
"I believe I just said something about you not doing this. Whatever, as long as you don't drive me crazy, I guess this might be even easier than having to decipher your body movements. Just don't spam me with emotions or you're going to find out why my mind isn't normally a nice place to be in" I got a weirdly pleasant feeling for that, it took a sad amount of time to figure out it was a mix of smug and self satisfied. Cocky bird.
...And now I'm getting the feeling which I think would basically be the facial expression of pouting. Oh joy your in my head basically so you can also hear my thoughts, well good luck then Stealth because trust me, I'm not exactly the most mentally sound person around, and I swear, your the guess here, so I better not be feeling any judgement for what I think about or I will find a way to kick you out. And that one got me a... I don't actually know... I'd say it's closest to a huff but what kind of emotion is that? This going to be really confusing isn't it.
Damn it, I'm not emotional savvy enough for this, hell that's a lot more in Alex's department with his full emotional range and ability to have empathy. Damn I know what he feels like about my ability to feel but in reserve isn't that just neat. I got a ping of amusement from Stealth at that, to which I just rolled my eyes at as I figured now that that weirdness was sorted out, kind of, I mean I do have a bird spirit in my body at the moment, I should get back to thinking of random stuff.
I just idly listened as Pegasus went over the rules, it was all quite obvious. The only main thing was that we weren't using duel disks, yeah I wish he bloody told us that so I didn't have this unneeded weight on my arm during the trip here. Thankfully I just left the freaking thing in the car, well, I had one of the henchmen of Alex's family do it. I don't think she appreciated that I called her a henchman to her face though. I wonder if henchwoman would have made her feel better about being a minion. I mean Stealth seems to find it to be an improvement, well he finds it funny at least.
"I-I don't think I can do this" I blinked as I looked over at Alex, who was completely pale as he listened as Pegasus continued to talk about the rounds. There were to be five, so thirty-two contenders, but I wasn't focusing on that as I looked at him as he began to literally shake a bit as Pegasus stopped talking and an announcer called out.
"Now then, lets get this party started boy and girls! First up is Maxy Smith and Elizabeth Jones, these two women have made a name recently for their team work, let's see how it will hold up to these two strapping young lads, Alexander Romine and Kyu Malo, both new comers but that just means we'll be in for a surprise at what they can manage!" The second our names were called Alex literally looked like he was about to fall over as the weirdly big crowd screamed out something. It was a que to walk out, and he looked like he couldn't even take a step... God damn it.
Doing my damn best to not think about it, I reached out and grabbed his wrist, his hand was way to much as I watched as he's eye shot to mine, with a mixture of surprise and panic, I just grimaced lightly at the touch as I just did my best to ignore it and make sure I didn't crush his wrist on accident as I noticed my entire arm was getting more and more tense. No time to waste then.
"Come on, just focus on me" And with that I started walking, listening to him panic without care as I was way to out of it at the moment as literally all my senses were telling me to let go to move to not be touched. It helped that Stealth was forcing calming feelings down my throat or my shoulders would be so tense you wouldn't be able to make out my neck.
Walking out on stage, ignoring everyone at what was probably an embarrassing sight as I literally dragged Alex along for a moment as he was beyond beat red. After about four seconds of dragging him in public he seemed to finally get his feet back under him and managed to walk on his own. It helped but I was still really uncomfortable at the moment. I've never really liked being the certain of a large amount of attention, and this was certainly that. This situation didn't help, even as Alex started to walk on his own.
I didn't let go though as I continued on up to the stairs as I walked up a bit until we both were in a standing box with our half of the game mat here along with two slots to place our individual decks. I also noted two small circles made out of dots on each side. Mics then. I just ignored the announcer as the other team slotted there decks into place as I placed my hand over the mic and asked Alex.
"Just shake your head, are you ok to do this? If not I know your deck, I could commentate for you" The amount of changing blood flow in his face wasn't probably good for him, seeing as it went from pale to bright red to pale in the span of about ten seconds. After a moment though he seemed to finally gather himself enough to slightly nod his head. I just gave him as much of a smile as I could as my right hand was currently biting it's own hands into my palm with how hard I was trying to hide the shaking.
"Good" He just gave me a very weak look before the announcer called out.
"Now let's see which of our two duos will go first. Time to flip a coin!...And up it goes, now red side what's your call!" It was us, we were on the red side while across from us was basically the same formatted box but in a green color instead. After a moment I called out as I removed my hand from the mic when it became clear Alex was hesitant to say anything. As I did that I also quickly pulled out my quick and slotted it in, watched as the machine shuffle the cards for me. Alex quickly mimicked me, clearly forgetting about it in his panic.
"We'll call tails" We watched as the holographic coin flung upwards for a moment before falling back down, and landed on...tails. Good, we agreed I was going to go first between us so me going first will actually help me out in getting more set up the fastest. Technically speaking, as I drew my five cards as the other three did the same, I did allow myself to note that in this situation going second might have been better to shut down anything if I got lucky with my draws, which I did decidedly lucky but it was a bit late now.
"Now, each of our constants would normally have 4000 life points each but we're going to be switching things up a bit as each team has a collective of 8000 together and when that count hits zero then both instantly lose!" I figured it would be something like that, still, wasn't this a bit nostalgic. Plus I can do this to help get Alex's mind on something else, I just dropped my hand on the mic, honestly surprised at this point the speakers around the arena didn't make a loud thump sound and said.
"Well then, doesn't this remind you of old times" He gave me another weak grin as he looked down at the board in front of us were we'll play our cards like his life depended on it. From there, when I was about to say something else the announcer just called out that it was time to duel , which I found dumb but still just looked down at my hand again as I looked it over thinking over what I should do.
"Alright, time to start things off I guess. Simple thing I'm going to do here. I set four cards on the field then play Card of Sanctity, which allows everyone to draw until they have six cards, meaning I get a whole new set while everyone only gets one. Now, I'll place one more card down on the field along with a face up defense position monster, Fire Fox(300/200). With that I end my turn" As I placed the cards onto our own mat, I noted that under them appeared the cards names so Alex could know what he had to work with, and his look of chock at everything I had placed was quite amusing. Let's just say drawing six more cards got me something for a quick game.
"It's my turn then, I draw. Now I summon Pinch Hopper before instantly using Eradicating Aerosol, sending it to my grave allowing me to special summon one insect monster from my hand onto the field and I choose Hercules Beetle, now I equip to it both with Insect Armor with Laser Cannon and Laser Cannon Armor, increases it's attack and defense up by an incredible amount!(2500/2300)"
It was an okay combo, hardly anything special though, I mean even with two equip spells helping it out, it's attack isn't even that high, sure in one turn it's kind of impressive, especially for an insect deck in this time period but it's still ind of not anything crazy.
"Now my Hercules Beetle, destroy that pathetic fox! Now with that I end my turn" Wasn't that just rude, foxes are my favorite animal after all so I think it's only fair that I just unreasonably upset that, because I'm sure that's how it's suppose to work. On a side not, Stealth wasn't happy with that comment, but I don't care if he is my sort of friend, bird's just aren't that neat in comparison in my opinion. Anyway, his turn just ended so.
"It's quite rude to call foxes stupid, you know, personally I think they might have as many lives as cats do" I just said that as Fox Fire reappeared back onto the field like nothing happened. I just shrugged at their shocked looks, I didn't really want to explain it but it was an actual rule in this tournament, and most tournaments in fact as it's not exactly right to expect everyone watching to know what every single card does.
"You see, as long as my fox over there is face up, he can't be sent to the grave by battle, well at least not for long. But I doubt we'll see that effect again, right Alex?" He seemed to get snapped out of his mind as he looked down at his deck. I had dragged my little taunt out a bit to give him some more time but it doesn't look like it did him much good. Come on dude, you don't even have to use your own cards, you know that, you just have to activate my back row and explain the effects.
"I-I draw..." He trailed off a bit from there as he looked down at his hand, I had no real idea about his head space at the moment but I can't image it's a nice place. That's when one of the two idiots across from me called out.
"Oh? Is the little man to scared to do anything?" Oh... It's been a while since I've been angry, like properly angry and in fact I still wasn't, but what I was was annoyed. My friend is probably have an anxiety attack and this idiotic side character is insulting him? Yeah, I have a lot of things I want to do at the moment, and it isn't helping that Stealth also seemed angry at that snipe at my friend. It seems we're both protective like that.
"Scared? Please, the only thing scary here is how incompetent you are and somehow you still managed to get in. The registration process must not be as high quality as I thought" He glared at me and snapped back right at me.
"How about you shut up you sad excuse for a man" Attacking my body type? Really? I go after the fact that he's so incompetent that he's entire reason for getting in is because it was a mistake and he's trying to body shame me? I was about to call out something much more scathing when Alex suddenly called out.
"I activate two traps card! Both Magical Thorn, now I play Card destruction, every card in all our hands are going to the grave and replace them, now Magical Thorn activates, for every card you get rid of you two will take 500 points of damage times two since there are two Magical Thorns out. Meaning for the eight cards you both are sending away, you're taking 8000 life points worth of damage" He sounded angry as he spoke, as the cards activated, I was honestly a bit shocked as I watched as he ripped them down as there life points went from full to empty in a moment. I knew it was going to happen but I didn't expect that much hostility out of him while he did it.
I got a minor ping from Stealth, I was quite the bit interested in what it was. It was protective rage. It didn't take a genius to know what it meant, Stealth was feeling in for my ability to not feel empathy for others. It's what Alex was feeling, he was angry that the bugman rejected had said that. It was interesting, I've never seen him properly angry before... I don't think I like it.
This one is a bit shorter but I didn't really want to write this duel out. Coming up with decks are hard ok, so I'm already kind of regretting this mini arc in this story but that's besides the point, it's arc isn't really about the duels, hell to be honest it isn't even really about Kyu. It's much more about Alex as a person and all the things he's having to deal with so that's that. Though I must say, writing Alex is difficult, Kyu is heavily based on me, so take his lack of ability to understand emotions and that's about the same as I can understand them, so writing a highly emotional leading character is pretty damn difficult, which is why I switched it up and had Kyu's POV for this duel instead of Alex's as I honestly had no idea what to really put down in terms of his thought processes about what was happening. Anyway, See ya.