Between My Brother and Me: Alea Iacta Est

by Green Phantom Queen

Part of the "Between" series. Duels can happen any time, anywhere and against anyone. The duelists of tomorrow never have a dull moment with Duel Monsters nor does the fun stop after the duel ends. (Fifth Roll: Molly Hale spends a night in Domino City Museum trying to stop a thief from stealing the Sphinx's Heart!) Please Read and Review!

3. A Little Princess

Note: The opponent of the day hails from the Horror Visual Novel "Higanbana no Saku Yoru Ni" ("On the Night the Spider-lilies Bloomed")

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Whenever I look at my deck, my mind drifts onto two thoughts.

The first one is how important this deck is to me. It used to be Serena's deck, before she received the Ghostrick monsters, and was given to me as a gift so I could defend myself from harm. So what if the monsters are sugary sweet and look out of place against Fiends, Dragons and Machines? It's my deck and no one can say otherwise!

The second thing I think about is my deck's theme of princesses and royalty. As it has been said when it comes to stuff like this, you can tell how a girl is a princess if they "wear a dress and have an animal sidekick."

What girl back then didn't want to be a princess and have her dresses, her animals, her jewelry, and, most important, the love and attention from her loyal subjects? I fully admit that it is fun to be pampered and be fawned over, and I did read plenty of fairy tales growing up, but in my case, I rather be someone to look up to; a model for good behavior. Give me Joan of Arc over Sleeping Beauty any day of the week.

Unfortunately, while the girl I'm dueling has the wardrobe and wealth of a modern day princess, I could care less of her flaunting. And yet... something tells me that this is no ordinary case.

Either way, if I want this party to be oh so "satisfying", I'll have to deal with this uninvited guest as soon as possible.

Very well, then. Time to duel.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Roll 3

0-0-0-0-0-0

A Little Princess

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Millefeui unleashes an annoyed sigh as she turns to her sister. "Can you tell me again why I'm standing here with you, Kanata?" she asks.

Kanata, with a video camera in hand, just smiles. "This is important!" she exclaims, recording her sister's movements "You have to explain to them what they're supposed to do. I mean, I'd be tongue-tied if I tried."

"But to wait in line for two hours carrying this in my hands?!" Millefeui shouts, showing the gift box in her hands to the camera.

Kanata giggles, recording the frustrated look on her sister's face. "Trust me, that's normal compared to what people like them are asked to sign."

Millefeui rolls her eyes as she looks back at the people queued in front of her and her sister. The two are currently at the Domino City shopping center and today there is a special meet and greet with a very popular group of duelists that have recently made waves across Domino's female population. Many of the people in line have their cellphones ready for photos or calling their friends as to what they are doing while Millefeui takes hers out from her purse just to look at the time.

"Haruka will just love the surprise we're getting her," Kanata adds. "Just seeing her happy will be worth the wait, like how we waited in line to get a copy of Splatoon. Remember that?"

"Definitely, but I don't see the appeal in these guys, though," says Millefeui, slipping her phone back into her purse. "They look like a boy band who just took up dueling for the publicity."

"These guys are said to be really good. One of them has a strategy based on having no cards in his hand! I would hate to have to duel someone like him!"

Millefeui just looks ahead as a girl (around 15 or 16) poses with the four duelists as someone takes their picture. As the girl forms a V sign that she places over her eye (which Millefeui finds to be absolutely tacky and unoriginal), her mind flashes back as to how the situation even started.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"So Haruka," says Kanata, during lunch at school one early March day. "What type of present would you like for your birthday this year?"

Haruka takes a bite of her cream crab croquette and looks up to the sky in thought for a minute or two before swallowing and answers, "Satisfy me!"

Serena nearly spits out her sip of water. After a few seconds if coughing out water in her lungs, she asks,"W...what did you just say? Okay, what type of books have you been reading during homeroom?"

Masato rolls his eyes. "She's talking about that group of duelists known as Team Satisfaction," he elaborates. "You know, those guys who enforce order in Domino Below and run the bar called Satisfaction Town?"

When he gets no reply from Kanata, Serena and Millefeui, Haruka pulls out her cellphone and shows a picture of four duelists on motorcycles (D-Wheels for those in the know) that was posted online a month ago, with each duelist having a different colored arrow and name attached to them.

"These guys!" Haruka exclaims, her mouth in a broad grin that stretches from ear to ear. "They are just the most amazing, awesome and awe-inspiring group of duelists ever! They inspired me to go and try dueling on motorcycles (or a skateboard when I have the money to do so) and their decks are so...wow!"

Serena takes a good look at the photo. "So...are they all..."

"They consider themselves brothers in arms, but…" Haruka squeals. "Kiryu and Yusei are a couple and Crow and Jack are going steady!"

One thing to note about Haruka; she is known for being a fan of boys' love and one surefire way to get her angry is to mimic a phrase from a magical girl anime stating, "Boys can't love boys! Boys can't love boys!"

The last person who sang this to her was challenged to a duel during lunch just last week and subsequently had their ass handed to them when Haruka's Prophecy monsters obliterated their foolproof Hand Destruction strategy. (Apparently, trying to outdeck her is a very stupid idea as it gives her High Priestess of Prophecy more firepower to kill anything that even looks at her funny).

No one has dared to utter that phrase again, lest they find themselves nothing more than stepping stones in Haruka's long running win-loss streak. With emphasis on the "win".

"I hear that they are just as skilled as Kaibaman when it comes to dealing with threats in Domino Below, but they don't use any fancy gadgets or whatever the dragon-helmed defender of Domino Below uses to fight," Haruka adds. "They're also extremely good cooks and make some sweet mocktails too!"

"Seems like you know them well," Millefeui comments, scooping omelette and fried rice into her mouth. On days like this, she would usually make something more creative, but omurice is her favorite comfort food.

"I do! Masato and I go there almost once a month for Duel Night and hone our skills. In fact, I dueled four people on my first night alone! Jack Atlas and his Red Archfiend Dragon was a site to behold…" Haruka sighs, hearts floating around her as she recalls the memory.

"So, let me get this straight...You want us to get you presents revolving around the theme of four guys getting their 'satisfaction' on?" Serena asks, raising an eyebrow.

Haruka nods her head and pumps a fist in the air. "Yep! So satisfy me everyone!"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Next!"

Millefeui looks up as one of the members of Team Satisfaction (the one with blue-silver hair, Kiryu Kyosuke, was it?) beckons her to approach them, hand waving like lucky cat statues that she sees in restaurants. Millefeui nods her head as she walks toward them, setting the gift box in her hands down on the table, Kanata close behind. She takes a good look at the four and raises an eyebrow.

From what she recalls from researching these "Enforcers" (their unofficial nickname due to how they help enforce order in the chaotic land known as Satellite), from left to right, the one with the red hair and piercings is Crow Hogan, the one with yellow spiky hair and the white coat is Jack Atlas, and the one with black hair with gold streaks styled to resemble a crab is Yusei Fudo. They, along with Kiryu, have been the subject of many rumors lately due to their interviews containing a reference about "Gates that shall lead to Satisfaction" that has baffled many people (including those who work for Chasing Shadows, Domino City's online site for any and all things supernatural, paranormal and just plain odd. If Chasing Shadows can't get to the bottom of something, then it's definitely a cause for alarm).

And Millefeui can sense something off when Yusei takes a glance at her. Those cobalt eyes of his resembling glass, the way the corner of his mouth twitches, the jerky movements of his arm as he starts signing his name for an autograph...they remind her of the actions of a karakuri, or an animatronic. If she looks closer, maybe she can…

"Millefeui!" Kanata shouts in her sister's ear. "The autograph!"

Millefeui blinks as she notices a picture of all four members of Team Satisfaction sharing a fist bump in front of her with the autographs of each member signed on it. She takes the autograph and pulls something out from her sister's backpack, a picture frame, and slips said autograph inside for safe keeping.

"Always come prepared, eh?" Crow chuckles. "Does that thing come with snacks?"

"Sure does," says Kanata, rummaging through the backpack and pulling out a bag of macarons tied with a ribbon (and a business card depicting a white rabbit and pocket watch with the words "Café in Wonderland" along with its address, phone number, email and social media pages, typed in yellow font stapled to the front) that she places in Crow's hands. "Here. These are samples of the macarons mom makes at our café. Come visit us when you can."

"Hmph," Jack grunts as he carefully opens the bag and picks a blue colored macaron. He pops it into his mouth, chews, then his eyes widen before he stands up and proclaims, "Never in my life have I tasted something so bold, so daring, so...sweet!"

Millefeui giggles as she takes note how this reaction will be recorded. "That's our newest flavor, Blue Mountain Coffee macarons. The bag also has Red Velvet, White Chocolate, Cookies and Cream, Salted Caramel, Toasted Marshmallow…"

"We can advertise later, sis," says Kanata, camera pointing at her sister. "Remember what we came here for?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"So," says Kiryu, a smirk on his face as he glances at the aquamarine colored box with a silver bow in top. "What do we have here?"

Millefeui sighs. "My sister and I have a friend who is 1) a huge fan of you guys and 2) celebrating her birthday today and we're throwing her a party. So, would it be okay if…"

"Please autograph my sister's gifts if you can!" Kanata blurts as she opens the lid of the gift box and presents its contents to Team Satisfaction. One by one, she sets each item down as the people in the queue behind the sisters are also curious as to what is in store. As Kanata sets the last item down, Team Satisfaction tilt their heads at the items.

"Are these...dolls? Of us?" asks Yusei, picking an item up.

Kiryu, Jack and Crow also look in confusion. Staring back at them are cloth dolls versions of themselves, their outfits sewn with great care and adorned accordingly (from the piercings on Crow's doll, the headband for Kiryu's, the purple fabric that ties a strand of Jack's hair on both sides and the yellow mark going down the left eye of Yusei's and one on the right eye of Kiryu's) and each having small oval bead eyes and stitched smiles that just scream to be hugged. Wrapped around their left arms are name tags.

"Yep!" Kanata answers. "Millefeui made these for our friend and we were wondering if...well, could you…"

Millefeui sighs once more. "These four compose of my birthday gift to her, and all you need to do is sign your names on the name tags. That's it."

Kiryu picks his doll self up and pokes it in the stomach, expecting a response. He chuckles. "I have to admit, Molly would love to have these in her hands if she knew about them."

Millefeui raises an eyebrow. "Molly?"

"A girl we know who we go see every now and then," Kiryu explains, quickly signing his name on the name tag of his doll then sets his down.. "She loves dolls just as much as she loves Alice in Wonderland."

"She should come visit our Café sometime," says Millefeui as she watches Crow, Jack and Yusei follow Kiryu's example (but not before Crow teases Jack by having his doll place a kiss on Jack's own, causing some fangirls to coo). "All of our waiters and even our cashier dress up like they're residents of Wonderland. And we even hosts events like tea parties and birthdays, and provide catering if need be."

"Huh. Maybe we'll tell her next time we see her."

"Or, you can give us her address. We could leave her a gift basket and everything."

Then, Kiryu's expression darkens...but slightly so not to raise suspicions. Still, it doesn't go unnoticed by Kanata or Millefeui.

"Well, uh, thanks for everything," says Kanata, helping slip the dolls back into the box. She then places the lid on with one hand, smiling at the gift tag on top that reads "To Haruka, from Millefeui" in her older sister's handwriting. "This will help us out for sure."

"No prob," says Crow, brushing it aside. He takes a bite out of a Toasted Marshmallow macaron as he adds. "Oh, man, this is good."

Millefeui carefully takes the box back into her hands while Kanata zips up the backpack. But just as the sisters are about to leave, Yusei suddenly snatches Millefeui's hand. "Wait," he says.

"Huh?" Millefeui asks, startled as she whips her head around to face him. Kanata also looks shocked, her camera on Yusei's calm, almost emotionless blue eyes as he briefly stares back at the camera before he slightly relaxes his gloved grip and nods his head.

"Please," he whispers. "For your kind gift of macarons, Miss…"

"Millefeui," Millefeui answers. "Millefeui...Sakamoto."

She tries to move, but Yusei's gaze locks her in place. In fact, it seems like all of Team Satisfaction have stopped their goofing off to look at her.

It reminds Millefeui of that one time she dueled against Shooti and his Batteryman deck; how all three of his Batterman AA stared at her before attacking directly in an OTK. Yes, she survived that turn (thanks to her face-down card), but the feeling of dread back then is all too similar to the situation now.

"Yes, Millefeui." Yusei opens his gloved hand then stands up and brings his hands toward the back of his neck. "Please take this for the road."

He unclasps a necklace around his neck (a golden dog tag that depicts a circle with two branch-like wings on a silver chain) and clasps it around Millefeui's neck. When she feels the charm press against her heart, she thinks she feels a pulse radiate through her body.

But just as it appears, it vanishes before she can ask what she just felt.

And before she can ask what Yusei did, her sister grabs her arm.

"Um, thanks for the jewelry, Yusei," says Kanata, looking embarrassed at how quiet her sister has become. "But, er, we better get going. See ya later and hope you get some satisfaction going on!"

"May the Gates of Satisfaction be open for you!" Crow shouts as they head off. Kiryu waves them good-bye (and blows a kiss with his pointer and middle finger) before he glances at Yusei. As the next girl in line asks if she can get a photo of Crow and Jack kissing, Yusei returns the glance and says within his mind,

As long as she has that charm on her today, she'll be safe.

Kiryu nods his head and adds, No kidding. Who would have known that Domino can be such a hotspot for summoning rituals and the like?

Yusei chuckles slightly, his blue eyes flickering like a television screen briefly before he adds, Are we gonna tell Molly about that place after we're done here?

Kiryu grins. Of course. The girl would absolutely love to venture in Wonderland for her birthday next week. Might wanna keep that card and ask Kamitsure to make a reservation tomorrow.

Yusei returns the smile with one of his own as he reaches out to Kiryu and kisses his cheek, to the surprise (and delight) of various fangirls.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Millefeui…" says Kanata, seeing her sister looking at the present in her hands. The two have been walking back to the Café in Wonderland for the past ten minutes. "What's eating you? You've been like this since we left!"

Millefeui looks up and stares at her sister. "Um, nothing."

"Nothing?" Kanata repeats. She scoffs. "This isn't 'nothing'! This is more like 'I feel as if my world view has been shattered significantly'. You only act like this if something wicked this way comes."

"I know. It's just...do you have the feeling that…" Millefeui looks up at the sky. "That there's something more to those four than what meets the eye?"

"Come to think of it," Kanata looks at her video camera. "The way Kiryu paused about us delivering a basket for that Molly girl... Jack's overreacting to the macarons…"

"Stephanie's Blue Mountain Coffee apparently can knock someone's socks off even in macaron form."

"Or Crow and that 'Gates to Satisfaction' line…"

"Or Yusei...something about his eyes…" Millefeui shudders as she recalls the almost robotic way that Yusei moved and spoke, as if he is more machine than human. Sure, from the interviews she found online, Yusei was normally the quiet one, barring that "Gates" line...but seeing him up close like this seems like he is masquerading as someone he's not.

And if he, and the rest of Team Satisfaction aren't what they seem...then, what are they?

Millefeui looks at her sister. "Maybe…" She begins. "Maybe he's…"

Kanata tiles her head and then snaps her fingers. "...autistic?"

Millefeui gasps and punches her sister in the arm. "Kanata!"

Kanata shrugs her shoulders. "What? That is a possibility!"

Millefeui groans. "You shouldn't be saying that about anyone out in the open without proof. Still, all the same, we shouldn't be jumping to conclusions until we…"

Without looking, Millefeui collides with someone, said someone falling on their butt with pain. Millefeui hands Kanata the gift box.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" she says, stretching a hand out. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," the person answers, rubbing the side of their head. "I'll be fine. Ooh, Aura did not see this coming…"

The girl blinks as she stares at at the sisters. Then, she gasps.

"Aura's instincts were right after all!" she exclaims. "They would lead Aura to you!"

Millefeui looks at the girl in confusion. She looks about the same age as Masato, with red curly hair falling to her waist and a black bow on her head that resembles cat ears. She wears a dark violet dress with light purple ruffles and a white blouse underneath it, a red ribbon tied around her neck and a gold coin pendant hung by a thin silver chain. She also wears white socks and brown dress shoes. The most striking thing about her are her green eyes: they remind Millefeui of peridot gems, and combined with the girl's black bow, gives the impression of a black cat that has passed by to give someone bad luck. In her hands is an apple carved out of a bright blue crystal and strapped over her left shoulder is a purse designed with a green six pointed star with a flower in the center .

"Hello, little girl," says Millefeui. "Aura, right?"

"Yes, this is she," says Aura, curtseying to the sisters.

"Okay, Aura. I'm Millefeui and the one with the video camera is my sister, Kanata. What are you doing here all by yourself?"

Aura narrows her eyes and points a finger at the two. "Aura Sentia has come to warn you both of a dark force," She answers.

"A dark force?" Kanata repeats, looking around. "Where?"

Aura looks all around her before she leans close and says, "Aura can't explain this here. Please, we must speak somewhere else."

"Do you think it can be related to Team Satisfaction?" Millefeui asks, quickly hiding Yusei's charm underneath her blouse.

"No, it's…" Aura gasps. "Did you say 'Team Satisfaction'?! Aura is such a huge fan of them!" Her eyes sparkle as she adds, "Kiryu 'Shinigami' Kyosuke, Crow 'The Bullet' Hogan, Yusei 'Shooting Star/Stardust Accelerator' Fudo and King Jack Atlas!" She squeals and spins round and round. "Aura wishes to bring one home to her mother and father to approve of marriage!"

"Sorry to say this but…" Millefeui giggles. "They're already...taken."

"WHAT?!" Aura screams, hand on her cheek. "Oh no...it can't be...you mean to say…" She shakes as she screams, "They have girlfriends?!"

"Well, no. What I mean to say is…" Millefeui sighs, opens the lid of the box and pulls out two dolls, one of Kiryu and one of Yusei. "See these?"

"Aura does see them and she thinks they're so cute!" Aura coos, taking the Kiryu Doll into her hand.

"And I bet you would love it if I did this, right?" Millefeui has the Yusei Doll lean close before placing a kiss on the Kiryu Doll.

"How romantic!" Aura squeals.

"So, let's pretend that, instead of these two dolls, it is actually the real Kiryu and Yusei kissing. Get the picture?"

Aura nods her head before it finally hits her, nearly dropping her precious crystal apple onto the sidewalk. Instead, the Kiryu Doll falls from her hand as she registers what Millefeui said.

"They're... together?" Aura asks.

Millefeui nods her head as she picks up the fallen doll and dusts it clean before slipping it and the Yusei Doll back into the box.

"That is…the most amazing thing ever!" Aura shouts, hearts appearing in her eyes as her mind begins into project various romantic daydreams of the two. "And are Jack and Crow also…"

"Um, girls," Kanata interrupts, shoving the gift box back into her sister's hands. "I hate to ruin a moment like this, but we have to get back to the Café in Wonderland so we can dress up and all."

"That's right!" Aura gasps. "Aura is supposed to warn you that something dangerous is going to enter that place! Hurry, we must go!"

"Wait, hold on," says Kanata, grabbing Aura's hand. "How do you know about this? And why are you carrying a glass apple?"

"Aura comes from the Fortune Prep School in Maiami City, and she was asked by Madam Divina to warn you two. Plus, Aura uses her crystal apple to help with her fortune telling. But now isn't the time! Please, take me to that Café!"

Both sisters turn to one another, one believing in Aura's warning, the other not so much. Still, the two nod their heads before Millefeui slips her hand into Aura's.

"Come on," she says. "Ready to take a trip to Wonderland?"

Aura enthusiastically nods her head as she carefully wraps her crystal apple in a violet silk cloth and gently places it back in her purse before they head off, unaware of the figure observing them while sipping a cup of black tea in their hands.

"Well," says the figure. "That was quite informative."

They chuckle to themselves before vanishing into the darkness.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The Café in Wonderland is closed for the day, but inside, work is being done for Haruka's birthday party.

While Millefeui and Kanata hurry back, their mother, Hanako, works on baking the cake just right. In the meantime, Haruka's little brother, Masato, dressed as a magician in a white tunic and red cloak with a crown bearing the infinity symbol on his head, looks out the window for any signs of his sister (who is getting fitted into a special dress made for the occasion).

"Masato!" says Senri, father of both Haruka and Masato as he moves a table to the front. He is dressed as the Emperor of Tarot, with a long red robe and gold crown on his head. In his right hand, he wields a golden staff topped with an ankh. "I could use your help over here!"

"Coming!" Masato exclaims as he rushes toward what needs his attention. All around him, other people are preparing for the party, dressed in costumes. Hikari is dressed up as The Star, with a shimmering tunic and necklace decorated with stars. Shinji is The Hermit with a hooded cloak, shepherd's crook and lantern. Serena, representing Death, hums to herself while wearing a black reaper cloak and a scythe in one hand, her mother Saki as The Chariot, wearing a tunic, circlet and widing a whip strapped to her waist. Mokuba, in one of the few chances that he gets to go out these days, is The Devil, with a black tunic, fake horns in his hair, and a spiky collar. Trova is decked out as The Hanged Man (with a rope wrapped around his left leg), Tierno is The Fool, and Sana cheerfully lifts the blindfold covering her face in her Justice themed outfit.

"This is going to be amazing!" Hanako cheers, dressed in a white flowing tunic and a flower crown adorning her auburn hair. Attached to her shoulder via velcro is a stuffed lion plushie. "Haruka should be arriving any minute now."

The door suddenly opens, and there enters Millefeui, Kanata and Aura. Aura gasps as she looks around her.

"Whoa…" she whispers.

Kanata and Millefeui share a smile at one another. They spent the last two or three weeks with their mother laying out what they wanted the interior of the café to look like, along with going through online articles of Tarot interpretations to ensure things were mystical and... satisfying.

For example, in the area that is usually where a variety of beanbag chairs and mushrooms stools sit, Hikari and Shinji prepare four poles with a garland of flowers and leaves tied to a large net rests above the top of the poles like a roof. The area for the children's play zone, marked with fake shrubs and a gate, is decorated with nine golden circles with pentagrams in the middle. The tables have a different number of goblets (the table piled with numerous gifts is protected by a ring of seven goblets, each of them topped with a different item), and banners of golden circles with pentagrams hang over everyone's heads. Chairs decorated to resemble thrones are moved about (the most prominent one being draped by a cloth patterned with peacock feathers that sits in-between a black pillar and a white pillar). On one wall, Tierno and Trova work to hang four toy swords while Sauna drags a fainting couch underneath them.

"Aura finds this amazing!" she exclaims. "What is going on?"

"My sister's birthday," says Masato, approaching the three girls. He smiles widely as he sees Millefeui's gift. "So...were you able to…"

Millefeui winks. "Of course. Now…" she hands the box to Masato. "Place it with the other presents, and no peeking, okay?"

"Promise!" says Masato, racing towards the presents table. As he does, Hanako approaches her daughters as Aura looks all around.

"You're just in time!" Hanako cheers. "And you brought a friend, too!"

"She says her name is Aura Sentia, from the Fortune Prep School in Maiami City," says Kanata. "Said something about something dangerous about to enter the shop."

"I see…." Hanako smiles. "Well, if such a thing happens, Mitsuko is a powerful witch and we have plenty of duelists who can fight this threat head-on!"

"Really? There's a witch here?" Aura looks around in confusion amongst the people in their costumes setting everything up nice and neat.

"She's currently with her daughter getting their outfits ready for today. Oh, that reminds me. You better get dressed if we want to really surprise her!"

"On it, mom!" says Millefeui. "This way, Aura. To the dressing room!"

Aura is quickly lead to the back of the Café as Kanata removes her backpack and unzips it, pulling out the framed picture of Team Satisfaction's autographs before she approaches the presents table (narrowly avoiding a collision with Mokuba and the punch bowl) and sets her gift down amongst the various presents. She smiles as she imagines how happy Haruka will be when she sees it…

And then, she is suddenly interrupted by something tapping.

Kanata looks around, thinking it is Mitsuko and Haruka arriving earlier than expected. When she doesn't see them walking by, she shrugs her shoulders and heads off to get dressed just as she hears her mother exclaim how she nearly let the cake be burnt in the oven.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Mom, can I take this blindfold off now?"

"Not yet, sweetie. Just a few more steps and we're there."

"But the blindfold doesn't work with the High Priestess! It goes well with Justice!"

"You'll understand when we get there and...ah, here we are!"

Haruka pouts as she hears a door open and her mother, Mitsuko, dressed in a white robe decorated with roses while a shield is strapped to her side, chuckles.

"Just take three steps and you can remove that blindfold."

"Finally," Haruka mutters. Today has been a strange day for her. Since morning, her family has been acting off (especially her father),, asking her to go out and practice her dueling in the park (which was difficult since she has a reputation for being practically undefeated and barely anyone wanted to challenge a duelist whose deck didn't have so many obvious weaknesses in them) instead of allowing her to go see Team Satisfaction at the Domino City Shopping Center (even though she goes to their bar once a month for Duel Night) and then her mother drags her to a costume shop so she can be fitted in a white dress with a crescent moon headdress like the High Priestess of Tarot before being blindfolded and dragged off to who knows where.

"All right," Mitsuko says cheerily as she opens a door. "You can remove the blindfold."

"About time!" says Haruka, removing the blindfold. "Now, what the heck is going o-"

"SURPRISE!"

The lights switch on as Haruka looks in shock. There, she finds her friends and family dressed up in costume in the Café in Wonderland, which is now decorated as a tea party with tarot imagery. Even the stoic Shinji can't help but crack a smile!

"Happy birthday, Haruka!" Kanata shouts, dressed as The Moon, wearing a dark blue dress with a crescent moon pendant and two wolves sewn onto the gown. "Are you surprised?"

"Of course I am!" Haruka answers. She then notices Aura as the Sun (wearing a white tunic, a sun mask covering the right side of her face, and carrying a red flag in her left hand) and smiles. "I've never seen you before."

"She's Aura," says Millefeui, dressed as Temperance (wearing a white stola with red feathery wings attached to her back and a gold aureole behind her head). "She said something about some dark force coming here and all that."

"Dark force?" Haruka looks at her mother who just shakes her head.

"Don't worry," says Mitsuko. "Your father and I would know if anyone was coming to spoil your birthday. Now come on, dear. Your throne awaits."

With Masato grabbing her hand, Haruka is gently guided towards the throne with the peacock feathers, seating herself down on the throne's red velvet cushion. Everyone applauds her while she looks embarrassed at all the attention.

"This is all so amazing!" says Haruka. "Thank you, everyone!"

"It's time to open your presents," says Masato. "Come on, mom! Show nee-san what you got her!"

"Presents so early?" asks Haruka. "I thought presents were for the end of a party."

"Not in the Café in Wonderland!" Hanako giggles. "Now, come on. Don't you want to know what you got?"

Mitsuko approaches the table of presents, takes hers off of the pyramid of brightly colored boxes with ribbons, and raises the gift to her daughter on bended knee.

"This is an important day for you, dear," she says, showing off a long, thin box. "On a witch's 13th birthday, she is to be given her most important gifts: her craft and her familiars.

"The craft is a magical artifact that will help amplify a witch's power and grant her the ability to conjure her magic circle, a form of magic that is said to be like their magical thumbprint, capable of creating anything that the witch desires. Once the witch has her craft, she can start undergoing training to improve her skills and unlock the mysteries of the arcane world.

"And so, Haruka, my blooming blossom, it is my honor to present to you your craft."

Haruka takes the long thin box into her hands and opens it. There, she finds a pendant, a mirror-like emblem with three aquamarines set in a frame that resembles a fleur-de-lis on a matching silver chain. Mitsuko smiles as she watches her daughter clasp it around her neck. Immediately, Haruka feels a rush of power coursing through her veins as she finds herself floating in the air for a few seconds before gently dropping down. When she brings her hand out, a flaming red circle the size of a dinner plate with a fleur-de-lis in the center and numerous five petal flowers forming a ring around said fleur-de-lis materializes, causing everyone to look in awe.

"Wow…" Haruka gasps as she concentrates. Then, the magic circle vanishes in a blink of an eye. "So, what about my familiars?"

"Familiars take many forms," says Senri, in the air of a teacher (seeing as he is one). "While many famous familiars are known to take the forms of animals, some witches (and a few wizards) can enchant dolls who usually perform the same function. Most of the time, a familiar will respond to your magic aura and act as your assistants in everyday life from being indicators for large sources of magic to making sure you don't sleep in on a school day."

This causes Haruka and Masato to laugh a bit. Despite their father being born as a normal human, he has extensive knowledge on magic on par with their mother's. Plus, he dabbles with potion making when he has the chance (as potion making is similar to cooking and those with the determination and focus to cook can easily translate that to brewing cauldrons of plants and other mystical ingredients into bottled hopes and dreams).

"But, how will I know they're right for me?" asks Haruka, tilting her head to the side as she ponders on what shape her familiars will take.

"You'll know eventually. Now," Senri smiles. "Let's get on with the other presents first. Here is mine."

He walks over to the pile of gifts and picks one that is long and, upon closer inspection, has wheels. Haruka gasps.

"A skateboard?" she exclaims. "For me?!"

"A witch is nothing without a means of transportation," Senri chuckles and wraps his daughter in a tight squeeze. "Happy birthday."

Haruka inspects the board. It is a normal black colored skateboard with white wheels and red five petal flower decals, but to her, it is magical. It is her first step to becoming as amazing as Team Satisfaction and how they ride their D-Wheels.

"And of course," says Saki, nodding to Serena. "You must always have safety gear for whenever you go out."

Serena picks up a gift bag from the table and hands it to Haruka. Haruka pulls out the contents, revealing a black and red helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards.

"Something so that you can keep yourself looking good when you head out," Serena says with a wink.

"Only when on her skateboard," Hikari butts in, a blue and pink gift box in her hand. "I bet you that my gift will outshine a bunch of safety gear, right?"

Serena rolls her eyes as Haruka sets Serena and Saki's gift onto the table and opens Hikari's present. She gasps as she looks inside and pulls outs its contents so everyone can see: it is a belly dancer outfit of a peach top with golden hearts, a light pink veil with a green gem in the center and a pale lavender skirt with a strip of peach fabric that matches the blouse. There are also a pair of sandals and a red heart pendant on a gold chain to complete the look.

"You made all of this?" Haruka exclaims, looking at each item separately.

Hikari nods. "Well, except for the sandals (obviously), I figured that with your use of Tarot and everything, a gypsy outfit would work perfectly whenever you go out for one of your duels. After all, if you're gonna be known as a well-known duelist, you better do it with style!"

As she gives a smug grin to Serena (who just rolls her eyes), Shinji tries to hide the blush on his face as he hands his gift. Compared to Hikari's, it is much smaller, the size if a book all wrapped up in purple tissue paper, causing Haruka to tilt her head in confusion.

"No offense, Shinji," she notes. "But you couldn't afford anything…"

She trails off as she sees Hikari give the mother of all death glares. Shinji has been living with Hikari for the past year or so after the disappearance of his older brother, Reiji. The brothers didn't have a lot of money to begin with, and Shinji closing himself to others prior to being taken in by Hikari and her mother meant that it was hard for him to socialize with others.

Not to mention that the last time he and Haruka dueled, it started when Haruka noticed Shinji was stalking her for no apparent reason, always scribbling something down in a black book. When she asked him why he was doing so, Shinji stubbornly refused to tell her. It boiled down to a duel where, if Haruka won, he would have no choice but to spill the beans. Shinji agreed and, after a harrowing duel which Shinji would've won had it not been for Haruka's Spellbook of Wisdom, he would only admit that he was scribbling "something for her" and left in a huff.

"Open it," Hikari snarls.

Taking the hint, Haruka unravels the tissue paper and looks in amazement. Inside is a sketchbook that looks similar to the card Spellbook of Secrets. When she unclasps it, she sees a pencil sketch of herself in Hikari's present, brandishing a card in her hand and a magic seal underneath her feet.

"Shinji...did you do this?" asks Haruka, showing the sketch to her parents and to Masato. Then, Serena takes the book into her hands and her eyes widen.

"Yeah…" Shinji answers, taking a sideways glance. "They say that pictures are worth a thousand words and all…" He clears his throat. "In truth, I've been taking art lessons and have been trying to make money by asking commissions from people at school. If anything, I just wanted to get my mind off of…"

As he trails off, Hikari places a comforting hand on his shoulder. At this, Shinji turns to her and smiles softly.

"Check it out…" says Serena, flipping through the sketchbook. "He's got so many good sketches here…"

Everyone crowds around her as they look at Shinji's gift: sketches of Haruka performing on stage, Haruka and Masato at school, various pictures of the Prophecy monsters and more. Serena closes the book halfway and hands the book back to Haruka, who places it on top of Hikari's present and hands them to Masato.

"So, uh," she says. "Who's next?"

The gifts keep on coming. Masato's gifts for his big sister are a parasol decorated with the Wheel of Fortune and a satchel with the imagery of The Moon Tarot card painted on it. Sana's gift is a book of puzzles and brain-teasers and a shower kit scented with lavender (Haruka's favorite scent), Trova gifts Haruka with a book on coding ("So you can make your own app for Tarot readings one day!"), Tierno's gift is a copy of The Night Circus (a book that Haruka has been dying to read for quite some time) and a book of magic tricks ("Something to do with your hands while you duel," he notes), Mokuba hands her a locket in the shape of a Tarot card that has a picture of the two of them from a few months ago, when Mokuba and Haruka stayed up late studying for a history test and Senri took a photo of them asleep amongst their books and papers ("Don't ask how I got that off of your father's hands," Mokuba notes), Hanako's gift is a cookbook with recipes for some of Haruka's favorite foods so she can cook these without burning the house down ("Some" since Haruka is a bit of a foodie) and one of Kanata's is a scarf she knitted, decorated with golden coins at the ends as tassels.

"Check this out," says Kanata, handing Haruka the autographs of Team Satisfaction. "Aren't they cool?"

"Ah!" Haruka squeals, taking the framed autograph into her hands. "Team Satisfaction's autograph! How awesome! How long were you in line for?"

"Oh, about one to two hours," Kanata answers. "And that's not the only thing they signed."

"Hmm?" Haruka tilts her head to the side. "What do you mean by that?"

As she ponders, Kanata lightly jabs her elbow into Millefeui's side, the older girl picking up her present and saying, "I think that's my cue."

Haruka opens the lid and gasps as she picks up the doll of Jack Atlas, inspects it at all sides (even marveling at the 'A' earrings!) before setting it down on the table to take a better look at the other dolls of Team Satisfaction, arranging them in a circle with their backs facing each other so her friends can get a better look. She coos at them and shakes one of the doll Yusei's mitten hands before noting how each doll has a name tag signed by the respective Team Satisfaction member they represent.

"It took me awhile to get these little guys made," Millefeui admits. "Aside from making their doll bodies and designing their clothes so they were up to scale, I also added something cool. Look!"

She turns the doll of Kiryu around and places a hand over one of doll Yusei's. There's a small 'click' as Millefeui picks them up and shows them to Haruka, whose mouth makes her resemble a bass. To everyone, it looks like the dolls are holding hands.

"I put wires in their arms and legs so that you can pose them however you want, and little magnets in their hands so they all connect!" Millefeui explains. "So now you can pair them together, have all four of them holding hands or mix them up for a little more 'Satisfaction'."

She then proceeds to rearrange the dolls so that they all face each other to recreate the image of the real Team Satisfaction performing their signature fist-bump (or finger-bump, seeing as they can't form fists with those hands of theirs).

"These. Are. The coolest!" Haruka squeals as she takes doll Kiryu and doll Yusei into her arms. She spins round and round and exclaims, "I love them!"

"And we love you too!"

Haruka stops her joyous twirling, blinks and looks around. "Did...any of you say that?" Everyone shakes their heads.

"Down here! Down here!"

Haruka looks down and jumps in alarm as she watches both of the dolls in her arms climbing onto her shoulders to sit there. Everyone else jumps back as the dolls for Jack and Crow stand up and stretch and mew like kittens snoozing under the sun.

"What the…" Haruka gasps. "Are they...alive?"

"Of course we're alive!" says the doll of Jack Atlas looking at his surroundings. "Hmph. This place will make a fine castle for me. You there…" he points to Hanako. "Bring me something sweet that goes with coffee this instant!"

"Hey, don't boss mom around like that!" Kanata snaps, picking up doll Jack and shaking him slightly. "If you want something, you have to be polite about it."

"Fine," grumbles the Jack Atlas doll. "Please give me something sweet that goes with coffee this instant?"

"Why of course!" Hanako coos, picking up a cookie decorated with an icing pentagram. "Eat up!"

"No fair!" says the doll of Crow Hogan, whining as he sees Doll Jack take the cookie into his hands. "I want one too!"

"Us too!" Doll Kiryu and Doll Yusei chime in. This causes everyone to laugh a bit.

"I think we all agree that it's time to feast," says Saki. "Who's with me?"

Unsurprisingly, everyone in the Café shouts their answer.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The party-goers split into two or three groups (the parents at one table, Sana, Tierno and Trova in another, and everyone else at a third), their plates piled high with the various goodies everyone helped Hanako cook while Haruka was away. Sandwiches with various fillings (from prosciutto and watercress to goat cheese and tomato, even the chicken salad ones were delicious with loads of creamy mayonnaise), homemade gazpacho served in ramekins, bean salad with couscous, a cool pasta salad with shrimp and salad made with dandelion greens, a colorful fruit salad with honey, antipasto plates (layered with cured meats, crackers, olives, artichoke hearts and cheese cubes) and biscuit cookies with different fillings ranging from lemon cream to chocolate. Snacks like potato chips and popcorn are also served on the side. Punch and strawberry lemonade float in large crystal punch bowls as everyone talks about anything that came to mind.

Haruka, or rather her Cloth Doll familiars, are the center of attention. The kids can't help but coo over how the four run across the table in a game of tag, or try out various foods (how do they manage to eat when they have those stitches for smiles, anyhow?) or the kids just decide to poke them in the stomach to get reactions (even Shinji, who usually doesn't show a soft side unless it's to take care of the school's rabbits, can't help but poke Cloth Kiryu and laugh!)

"But how exactly did they come to life?" Hikari ponders, taking a cracker topped with smoked salmon and cream cheese into her mouth. "Millefeui doesn't have any magic talent...no offense."

"She does, she does!" Cloth Yusei cheers. "How else would she have the time and energy to sew us all?"

"She poured her heart and soul to make us," Cloth Kiryu chimes, holding Cloth Yusei's hand. The blue-haired doll blushes before placing a kiss on his partner's cheek, causing Haruka to swoon. "Because she knows what it's like to want a companion when you're alone in the world. That is her magic!"

That makes Millefeui pause and looks at her hands. It's true; before she (and later Kanata) was adopted by Hanako, she was shy and lonely, usually having tea parties with various discarded dolls and stuffed animals that she could relate to. It wasn't until she learned how to mend them, sewing buttons for eyes, mending tears in dresses or pants, washing them until they were nice and clean, did she feel like that she was doing something good. If not for herself, then for the inanimate companions that made her feel a little less lonely while she waited for the one day someone would bring her home and perhaps bring joy to a future lonely boy or girl waiting to be given a loving mother or father.

And the night before she would place these Team Satisfaction dolls in the gift box, she kissed them on the forehead and wished, with all of her heart, that they would be helpful to Haruka and cheer her up whenever the girl was down. Did she really have that type of magic in her? Or did some supernatural being overheard her simple wish and granted them life?

Millefeui sips her punch as she looks at Cloth Crow take a bite out of an olive. "But, when exactly did you know that you were alive?"

"When we got our names!" Cloth Jack answers triumphantly, waving his arm where the name tag is. "Everyone has to have a name; that's what makes them know they are somebody. When we knew our names, we became aware of who we are and knew that we were going to be Haruka's familiars."

"That is true," says Masato. "The first thing that mom taught Haruka and I about magic was that names are important; if you know someone's name, you can have control over them."

This makes Aura flinch, but no one sees it. Meanwhile, Mokuba folds his arms over his chest, glaring at the dolls in some one-sided staring contest.

"I don't like the aura they emit," he mutters, feeling something swell within him. He bites his tongue to suppress any thoughts that come to mind, like the dark whispers from the demons that watch over him wishing to devour their souls or bring them to their home to be played with. "Aside from Haruka, you and your sister, Kanata, who else held them?"

"Aura did," Aura answers timidly.

"But I don't sense anything off about you," Mokuba notes. Aura sinks into her seat, not sure what to make of the comment. "Who else took them into their hands?"

"Team Satisfaction, duh," says Kanata. When she sees Mokuba turn to her, his grey eyes staring at her as if he wants to see her spontaneously combust, she quickly pulls out her video camera. "Here, you can see it for yourself."

She sets the video camera on the table and, with the use of Wi-fi, connects it to her cellphone. Then, she props the phone down and lets everyone watch the recording. It starts out innocently enough, with both her and MIllefeui talking over how they're excited (or not) to see Team Satisfaction…

But, when it gets to the point where Yusei suddenly snatches Millefeui's hand and hands her the necklace, the group can't help but feel a chill fall down their spines, Haruka especially. Millefeui pulls out the gold tag from beneath her stola and stares at it, wishing that it is like a locket so that she can open it and see what type of image lies beneath it.

"That's so weird," Serena mutters, taking a glance at the tag on Millefeui's neck. "Like "Funhouse" from The Haunting Hour weird."

"When exactly did those Enforcers first start talking about the Gates of Satisfaction?" says Hikari, pulling out a notepad from her purse.

"I think it was sometime last November/December, if I recall," Haruka answers. Being a huge fan of Team Satisfaction sometimes has its benefits. "And, when I asked them about those gates at Satisfaction Town, they all seemed so distant...as if they're seeing something I'm not supposed to comprehend.

"But that can't be right! How can the most epic team of duelists to ever grace Domino City be something so odd? I mean, it's not like they're trying to harvest souls in a Black Paradox sort of way, but…" Haruka bites her lip. "I don't want to believe that these guys I'm looking up to are really something bad…"

As she stabs her dandelion salad with a fork, Kanata places a comforting hand on her shoulder. Millefeui just stares at the Cloth Dolls (with Cloth Kiryu attempting to juggle two olives in his hands) before she takes Cloth Yusei into her hands.

"What do you know about those four?" she asks. Cloth Yusei just tilts his head to the side.

"I only know that they're...different," Cloth Yusei answers slowly. He rubs his hand over his chest, right where his heart would be if he had one. The same goes for the other Cloth Dolls. Millefeui sighs as she places Cloth Yusei back on the table; of course a bunch of dolls wouldn't have an answer for this sort of phenomenon.

"Different how?" asks Shinji, raising an eyebrow.

Aura's eyes widen. "Aura knows! Aura can use her crystal ball and see inside them!"

Aura rummages through her purse and pulls out her blue crystal apple. She unties the purple cloth that protects it and places both on the table right in front of the four Cloth Dolls that begin to poke at it curiously. Then, with a sigh, she places her hands over the apple and watches it glow.

"Great crystal," she chants. "Aura commands you, show us what lies beneath these vessels of cloth and buttons. Show us what connects them to the Enforcers!"

The interior of the apple darkens like ink mixed with water. A small pinpoint of light flickers within the apple and a blurry image forns. Everyone crowds around Aura as the image comes into focus. After a few seconds, they all gasp to see an eye with a thin red pupil, like one from a serpent, staring right back at them.

"Ah!" Aura shrieks. "W...what is that thing?"

Just as quick as it appears, the eye blinks out and the black smog inside the crystal apple fades. There is silence from everyone as Millefeui fiddles with the tag around her neck before she makes up her mind to remove it right there and then…

Or she would have, if she didn't find her hands unable to move.

No one notices the panicked look on her face, so she decides to stay quiet about it. If anything, it makes her even more suspicious on what Yusei said in regards to giving it to her in the first place.

"These guys…" says Masato, staring at the Cloth Dolls ignoring the apple and deciding to cover themselves in paper napkins like blankets. "What's going on that we don't know about?"

"Better yet…" says Haruka, looking back at her autographed photo. "Why are they acting like this?"

No one knows what to say.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

An unspoken agreement between the group is to ignore everything regarding the weirdness of Team Satisfaction and focus on the party. They spend their time taking photos, looking through Shinji's sketchbook, and even duel (except for Haruka, who is to sit out on dueling today and watch everyone duel for her entertainment. Her little Cloth Doll companions look in awe at the variety of monsters and cheer for whoever landed an attack) before Hanako decides that it's time for everyone to eat cake.

Everyone crowds around a deliciously frosted chocolate chip walnut cookie cake marked with a large pentagram symbol and candles for the numbers '1' and '3' perched in the middle. Surrounding the candles are four fondant figurines of Team Satisfaction that point their arms out to the candles. Hanako quickly lights the candles and everyone sings "Happy Birthday" to Haruka, who just smiles in return.

But just as Haruka is about to make a wish and blow out the candles, Millefeui sniffs the air. For some odd reason, it smells like a rich and fragrant black tea, even though no one is brewing such a thing right now.

"Something is up," she mutters, looking around.

Aura's green eyes shoot to the door as she clings onto Millefeui for safety. "She's here!" she exclaims. "Look out!"

The door suddenly opens, a huge gust of wind blows throughout the café and snuffs out the candles on Haruka's cake just as Haruka has enough time to blink. Then she collapses to the side, and so does everyone else…

Everyone except for Millefeui and Aura and the Cloth Dolls who poke Haruka, but find no response. They quickly huddle in fear and mew like kittens stuck in the rain without a cardboard box to shelter them.

"W... what's going on?" asks Millefeui. "Kanata! Serena! Mom!"

She approaches all of them, but each of them have empty expressions on their faces, as if they are dead, or worse…

And if this dark force could strike a family of witches, then how is she, a baker, capable of fighting back?

Millefeui's heart beats in her chest as tears form in the corners of her magenta eyes. Then, she wipes the tears from her eyes, snarls and turns to the door.

"Show yourself!" she screams. "Who are you?!"

"I thought you never asked," a voice giggles.

Entering the Café are two figures. The first is a young girl, around the same age as Haruka, with brown wavy hair that falls to her shoulders and a yellow headband topping it to keep her bangs away from her face. Her dress is elegant: a crisp white dress with large folds s of fabric that covers her shoulders lined with blue, a powder blue bow sewed on the left hip, ten blue buttons like sapphires that trail to the bottom of the dress lined with blue ruffles, and her sleeves are folded back with blue lining. Even her shoes follow the color scheme: white dress shoes with blue straps and a bow on each of them. Strapped to her arm is a Duel Disk that matches the dress; white with blue trim. Her brown eyes flicker with utmost glee at seeing the shocked expressions on both Millefeui and Aura's faces.

The second figure, at least twice the size of the girl, is an elegant man dressed like a butler with a teacup and saucer in one hand and a teapot in the other. He wears a white buttoned blouse with a blue and black vest of the finest silk in front of it, and a black tuxedo with blue notch lapels ending with white ruffled cuffs, where two leather bracelets (a spiky cyan one for the right, and a normal red one) are strapped around the wrists, a pair of white tuxedo pants and black dress shoes. Decorating the left notch lapel of the tuxedo are numerous pins, he wears various bead necklaces over his heart (one bearing a gold inverted cross, another has a gold key, a third has a silver peace sign of all things) and around his neck is a black leather choker with a golden lock as a tag. His hair is neatly combed; a bright red color with a prominent long white strand hanging over the right side of his face. His eyes are closed shut, yet he is able to pour a hot cup of tea in his hand, the teapot never missing its target. The teapot vanishes into thin air, and then he takes a slurp of the tea and sighs.

"Oh my," says the gentleman, with the hint of a British accent. "It seems as if we have a few stragglers here, milady."

The girl pouts. "I thought you said that this spell would cause everyone to fall asleep." she says.

The gentleman chuckles. "I did, I did. But it seems as if there are other forces at work."

Aura steps back and hides behind Millefeui, who snarls at the white-dressed girl with that smile on her face.

"All right," she says, picking up the cake knife and pointing it at the two strangers. "Who are you and what have you done to my friends and family?"

"Where are my manners?" asks the girl. She grabs the sides of her dress and curtseys toward the two-member audience. "The man you see before here is my friend, the Black Tea Gentleman. And my name is Midori Kusunoki, the one and only Prediction Princess."

At this, Aura snarls. "That's a lie! Aura is the only Prediction Princess! You're nothing but a sham!"

"Am I?" Midori giggles. "Well, answer this: out of the two of us, who has the Prediction Princess deck?"

"That's only because you stole it!" Aura snaps, green eyes glowing like flames. "Give it back right now!"

"I'm sorry," says Midori. "I'm afraid that it belongs to me now, along with the most important thing you had going to you."

Millefeui frowns. "And what's that?"

Midori smirks. "Her name."

The Black Tea Gentleman snickers once more, his mouth stretched wide into a sinister grin. "Names are such trivial things. They are just like clothes; you can easily get out of them and put on new garments whenever you wished. Or an actor going through various roles in theater. As that famous English Bard puts it, 'All the world's a stage'.

"But I am curious though...how do you suppose that the only one immune to the sleeping spell, aside from Miss Aura here, is a simple cake-sniffing orphan?"

At this, Millefeui clenches her hand into a fist and snarls, making the Cloth Dolls huddle behind Aura. If there is one thing that irks her, it is how one looks down on her for being an orphan.

And a cake-sniffing one? Insulting her because she likes cooking is enough for her to want to strangle Midori where she stands.

Unknown to her, the tag around her neck flickers a bit, causing the Black Tea Gentleman to pause.

"Well, well," he notes. "It seems that this 'cake-sniffing orphan' in front of us is protected by a higher power."

"But what could be more powerful than a youkai?" asks Midori, tilting her head to the side, eyes looking at the ceiling as she taps a pointer finger to her chin.

"A... a youkai?!" Aura exclaims, looking at the Black Tea Gentleman. Normally, she will swoon at someone as handsome as him, but instead, she shivers as if she has been dunked into a lake in the middle of winter. "You unleashed a youkai just so you could take my name?"

"I had to," Midori answers sternly. "If it would give me the power to go after the Princess of Prophecy, I would sell my very own soul."

Millefeui takes a glance at Haruka, her face on the table, her blue eyes empty, before she turns back to Midori and snarls, "What do you have against Haruka? Why do you hate her so much?"

"She humiliated me," Midori answers, clenching her teeth. "She showed no mercy when it came to our encounter, boasting about her abilities as everyone showered her for being such a 'Princess'."

"Get in line with every other duelist who shuffled cards with her," Millefeui replies dryly. "Haruka's an expert duelist, but she's no braggart."

"But you have no idea how much it hurt to be in my position," Midori hisses. "I was the Princess of our class back at school, and princess of the Drama Club also! Then she arrives and steals what is rightfully mine."

"She didn't steal anything," Millefeui retorts. "And how do you know so much about the Drama...wait a minute," her eyes widen. "I remember you now! You're the same Midori who tried to duel Haruka over who would play Sara Crewe in our school's production of A Little Princess last year!"

"So good that someone remembers me," Midori sneers, slowly clapping her hands. "How dare her father automatically give her the role as Sara; that role should have belong to me!"

"You were only in Drama Club due to your wealth, not your acting talent," Millefeui snaps. "Haruka practiced that role until she could utter those lines in her sleep! And the only reason you lost your duel to Haruka was because you decided to go for a 'dramatic ending' by trying to control her High Priestess of Prophecy without thinking that she'd have some contingency plan if someone decided to use her best monster against her."

"It's unfair that she had to have a Magic Cylinder of all things!" Midori screeches, stamping her foot like she's a young child. "And despite how I was one of the only few duelists to actually use that atrocious High Priestess against her, she gets fawned over how she turned the tide against me! After that, I had to watch the way she has everyone praise her, the way when she appeared under the spotlight with grace...the 'Princess of Prophecy' that everyone worships but doesn't deserve one iota of love from. I hate her. I hate her!"

She screams so loud that her voice echoes briefly. Midori pants slightly as she lifts her Duel Disk and points to her deck.

"You thought you saw the last of me when I left the school," she says, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You have no idea how much I suffered; how people bullied me for my wealth both at school and at their Drama Club." Midori's hands started to tremble. "I always got to be the chore girl, and any time I tried to audition, I was shot down! I love acting and all I wanted was to be under the spotlight and forget about my situation. But no….I could never have that, could I?

"And just when it felt like I was going to die alone and kill myself, that's when I met The Black Tea Gentleman." At this, Midori tilts her side to the right where said Black Tea Gentleman takes a sip of his tea. "He had the power to grant me any role I wish. Anything from a princess to a dragon, a beggar to a warrior...if it exists, the Black Tea Gentleman can give it to me."

"You give me so much credit, Midori," The Black Tea Gentleman notes, sipping his tea. "In exchange for my power, all I asked was just the tiniest sliver of your soul; so small that you don't even know that it's gone."

"And when I heard about the power of the Prediction Princess that is Aura-" Aura glares at Midori and even hisses at the girl like she is a cat. "I knew what I wanted to be...a Princess with equal powers to that of that 'Princess of Prophecy' so that she'd have no choice but to acknowledge me and prove that I am better than her in every single way. That's why I asked the Black Tea Gentleman to grant me power...the power so that I could take back what should be mine. The right to be called Princess Midori!"

"And you show your power by unleashing a spell that causes her, her family, her friends and even my sister and mother to fall into an eternal sleep like in Sleeping Beauty?" asks Midori, growing angrier and angrier by the second.

"The Prediction Princess can see and create futures of her own liking," Midori boasts. "So I made the future that would cause Haruka to fall into a never-ending slumber when she blew the candles off that cake of hers and I would have obtained her very soul to empower me! And judging by how even she had no idea what I could do, I say that my plan was a success! I proved that I could see the future better than she!"

As she says this, Millefeui takes a better look at the pins on the Black Team Gentleman's notch lapel...and places a hand to her mouth in horror when she can see the images of everyone who fell asleep looking in panic on each and every surface.

"You monster…" she whispers.

"Kukuku...not monster, youkai," says the Black Tea Gentleman. "And you should know where this is going, correct?"

"...You're not satisfied with just the Black Tea Gentleman, are you, Midori?" Aura says. "You're going to plan on summoning even more and more youkai and offer up all those souls as payment!"

"Yes, that's correct!" Midori cheers. "How could you see that far ahead into the future?"

Aura snorts. "That was pretty predictable; all people who gain a bit of power desire more and more of it until they find out that absolute power consumes them when it's too late."

At this, Midori bites her lip.

"Your words fall on deaf ears, Aura Sentia," she says. "And so will your screams of terror when I rip your soul out of your body!"

As a dark aura manifests around Midori, Millefeui, without hesitation as to why she does it, hurls the cake knife at Midori. It's not enough to hurt her, but it's enough to make Midori stare Millefeui down with a look that could melt ice.

"If you want to take her soul, you're gonna have to go through me first!" says Millefeui, stretching her arms out to shield Aura. "I don't know how I survived your spell, but I'm going to request something.

"I challenge you to a duel; if I win, you free all of those souls you took and you give back Aura's real name and deck. And if I lose, take my soul and use it for your next sacrifice."

"Millefeui, don't do that!" Aura exclaims. "This is my fault! I predicted that someone would steal something precious from me, but I ignored it and now you're caught up in this mess!"

"Don't worry," Millefeui smiles. She turns to the younger girl and pats her shoulder. "I'll make sure to fix this mistake and get us back to our party. Just stay back and keep those dolls company, all right?"

Aura bites her lip as the Cloth Dolls jump onto her shoulders to get a better view. Millefeui takes her place and activates her Duel Disk, while Midori just nods her head and draws a hand of five cards.

"All right, then," she says. "But just remember that when you find your lifepoints down at 0, this was all because of you.

"Now Millefeui, your fate is in the cards."

"Woman up!" cries Millefeui, drawing five cards. "Let's Duel!"

(Millefeui: 8000) - - - - - - - (Midori: 8000)

The Black Tea Gentleman sighs as he takes another loud slurp of his tea. "This is going to be such an interesting challenge, don't you agree?"

Aura says nothing, but instead grips onto her purse tight.

"Go get her, Millefeui!" Cloth Crow cheers. "You can do it!"

Millefeui turns around and nods her head before returning her gaze back at Midori.

"I'll go first," says Midori, drawing a card. "And I summon Spirit of the Fall Wind in Attack Mode!"

A gentle breeze kicks up throughout the café before it settles in front of Midori, coalescing into the image of a young girl with fair skin whose hair and dress are a light shade of green. Both the top of her head and dress look similar to the leaves that fly around her. (1800 ATK)

"And when she is summoned, I get to take a Flip-Effect monster from my deck and add it to my hand."

A card pops out of Midori's deck, which she daintily takes.

"Then, I play a card face-down and end my turn. Your move, then."

"No duh," says Millefeui, drawing a card. "I set a monster face-down and two more cards face-down alongside it. That's all."

"Tch," says Midori, drawing a card. "How sad to think that a friend of Haruka can use such a move on their first turn."

"I think I recall you performing a move like this when you dueled Haruka," Millefeui responds. "And then that move was essentially wasted when Haruka's Fool of Prophecy came knocking."

Midori snarls. "Spirit of the Fall Wind, attack with Autumn Breeze Slash!"

Spirit of the Fall Wind performs a slashing motion with her hand, releasing a diagonal attack of wind that strikes the face-down card...which turns out to be an adorable sheep with fluffy snow white wool and two large cornets for horns. The sheep bleats happily as it enjoys the gentle breeze from the female fairy. (1800 DEF)

"Too bad," says Millefeui. "Seems like my wooly friend here is too strong for you to knock over. And it's about to get even more fun when I activate Madolche Waltz!"

Millefeui's first card flips, showing a happy Madolche Puddingcess dancing with an equally flustered Madolche Chouxvalier with floating music notes surrounding them.

"Now whenever a Madolche monster attacks or gets attacked during the Battle Phase, you lose 300 lifepoints!"

The Trap Card glows as Madolche Baaple bumps into the Spirit of Fall Wind and they spin around as if dancing. Midori flinches slightly.

(Millefeui: 8000) - - - - - - - (Midori: 7700)

"I shall end my turn there," Midori huffs. "Make your move."

"My draw, then," says Millefeui, drawing a card. "First, I activate my face-down card Ultimate Offering."

The well-known Continuous Trap Card appears as Midori frowns.

"Next," Midori continues. "I place Madolche Baaple in Attack Mode…"

The sheep stands up, wagging its tail. (0 ATK)

"Then i activate his effect: when Baaple and a monster you control are both in Attack Mode, both of them shift to Defense Mode until the end of your turn."

Baaple bleats before the two monsters fall to Defense Mode. (Baaple: 1800 DEF, Spirit of the Fall Wind (900 DEF)

"But hold on, I now summon Madolche Butlerusk in Attack Mode!"

Appearing next to Baaple is a butler in a black suit and grey pants, skillfully pouring a cup of tea from his fine china teapot into a fine china tea cup. His short cinnamon colored hair is combed back and a monocle covers his right eye. (1500 ATK)

"And when Butlerusk is on the field while I have another Madolche monster in play, I can take a Madolche Field Card from my deck and add it to my hand."

Butlerusk hands Millefeui a card from his breast pocket, which she gladly accepts.

"But why stop there?" Millefeui smirks. "I think I'll play the card! So now, let me take you on a tour of Madolche Chateau!"

Soon, the scenery changes as a large mansion made entirely out of different layers of cake emerges behind Millefeui. The windows have white icing window panes, the roof is layered with chocolate bars, there are pillars of white chocolate and it all smells like a hot cocoa topped with peppermint.

"It looks so tasty!" says Cloth Kiryu, reaching out for a slice. However, we he tries to pull a chunk of cake out for himself, he finds himself unable to, as it's nothing more than a hologram. "Aww…"

Millefeui giggles "When Madolche Chateau is on the field, all Madolche monsters gain an additional 500 attack and defense points. So these guys are gonna be giving you a nice pounding in the future, Princess."

"Ha ha," Midori notes.

Both Baaple and Butler nod their heads as sugar falls down on them like snow. (Baaple: 0/1800 -) 500/2300, Butlerusk: 1500/900 -) 2000/1400)

"And I haven't finished yet. Now I offer 500 lifepoints to summon Madolche Chouxvalier in Attack Mode!"

The new monster arrives, a young boy with wavy blond hair and blue eyes, dressed in an outfit similar to what Napoleon Bonaparte wore centuries ago (with a bicorne lined in gold and a red feather sticking out, and a long coat with golden epaulets and piano keys decorating the bottom) riding a blue-grey plush horse with a lime green mane and tail. In his right hand, the boy wields a peppermint stick sword. (1700/1300 -) 2200/1800)

(Millefeui: 7500) - - - - - - - (Midori: 7700)

"Chouxvalier is the leader of the Madolche Royal Army and as long as he is in the field, you can't attack any other Madolche monsters I control.

"So now, Chouxvalier...attack Spirit of the Fall Wind with Spearmint Slash!"

Chouxvalier rides his trusty steed into battle, grabs the hand of said Spirit (as Madolche Waltz glows) and spins her around before he slices his opponent in half with a single slash of his sword. Then, his horse trots back to Millefeui's side of the field.

(Millefeui: 7500) - - - - - - - (Midori: 7000)

"All right, then. Butlerusk, are you ready to knife that face-down card?"

Butlerusk sets the teapot and teacup down on a table that materializes out of nowhere before he pulls out a few table knives hidden in the sleeves of his suit. With narrowed eyes, he throws them at the face-down monster, which reveals itself as an adorable fairy with magenta hair set in braided pigtails and topped with a green twin tailed jester cap with white pom-poms and tails of strings of coins. She wears a yellow shirt, white shorts and brown boots while she carries a large gold coin that she uses as a shield, which doesn't help her as she's thrown into the graveyard. (1400 DEF)

And again, Madolche Waltz glows and inflicts more chip damage.

(Millefeui: 7500) - - - - - - - (Midori: 6700)

"My, my," The Black Tea Gentleman snickers. "I never thought that butlers can be so deadly."

"And he was very helpful, too," says Millefeui. "When Prediction Princess Coinorma is Flip-Summoned, I can Set a Level 3 and higher Flip-Effect monster from my deck into the field. Can you predict what this card shall be?"

I can't. Millefeui thinks while signaling the end of her turn. But if it turns out to be a 4-Star Ladybug of Doom, then I'll be in loads of trouble.

Midori draws her card, then smiles. "First, I play Pre-Preparation of Rites!"

The Spell Card appears, depicting an oblivious Ritual Raven stuffing itself in front of an extravagant feast as many black robed cultists look on.

"This allows me to take one Ritual Spell and Monster card from my deck to my hand…" Midori takes two cards from her deck to her hand. "And here comes the next card, I Flip-Summon my monster...Pot of the Forbidden!"

The monster flips over, showing a large black pot decorated with leering faces with red eyes and dark blue accents. Inside the pot is a creature similar to that from the Morphing Jar monsters, except its lone eye is red and its maw consists of sharp teeth that can rip someone's arm off if not careful. (2000 ATK)

"Ew!" Aura exclaims. "How dare you place something so horrifying into Aura's deck!"

"This is my deck now, and this monster, when flipped, allows me one of three effects," Midori smiles. "And for this, I command that all your Spell and Trap cards return to your hand!"

A black cloud of smoke erupts from the pot and flies towards Millefeui, hurling Madolche Chateau, Madolche Waltz and Ultimate Offering back to her hand, the scenery returning to the decorated Café in Wonderland and the Madolche monsters losing their power boost.

"Next, I play my Spell Card...Prediction Ritual!"

A Spell Card appears, showing a deck of cards on top of an altar etched with a magic circle, surrounded by a ring of red and blue flames. Four more magic seals of varying colors hover around the deck.

"This allows me to summon the leader of my Prediction Princess monsters. And all I need to do is offer a Level 9 monster to unleash my ultimate monster!"

Pot of the Forbidden erupts into flames before it is sucked into the Ritual Spell. Then, the card itself burns up and the Ritual Monster emerges.

"Priestess of ancient times who foresees everything! With the ancient description, now, be revived! Ritual Summon! Level 9! Prediction Princess Tarotrei!"

Calling it a "Princess" is a bit of a stretch; It is ten feet tall with long, long black hair and a black dress with golden accents on the torso, along with purple flowing streams of fabric and a large '8' on the skirt composed of glowing rectangles. Decorating her hair is what looks like a navy turban fused with a golden astrolabe, and the only thing that can be shown of her face are two red glowing lights and a golden veil covering her mouth. Her skin is a pale blue color, her thin arms clasped tight. And, somehow, attached to her hair are devices similar to phonograph horns where two pairs of thin mannequin arms move about in an erratic dance. (2700 ATK)

"She's…unique," Millefeui comments. Aura gulps. The Cloth Dolls huddle in fear.

"And she comes with a powerful effect," Midori giggles. "Once per turn, she can either flip a monster face-up or face-down, depending on my wishes. And I wish that your Chouxvalier hits the straw right now!"

Millefeui gasps as Tarotrei uses her extra arms to flip Chouxvalier into a face-down card. Madolche Butlerusk drops the teapot in his hand, where it shatters into shards of holographic porcelain.

Oh no! Millefeui thinks. Now Chouxvalier can't protect my other monsters from being destroyed! This is turning out to be like a monster version of Ghostrick-Go-Round and I hate it whenever Serena used that card...no offense, love.

"Now Tarotrei," says Midori. "Attack Butlerusk with Waite Wave!"

Tarotrei raises her (real) arms above her head before a crescent of magic forms above her. Then, she brings her arms down, and the magic swims across the floor like a shark in the ocean before it strikes Butlerusk in the chest and he shatters.

(Millefeui: 6300) - - - - - - - (Midori: 6700)

Millefeui takes Butlerusk's card to her hand and then slips it back to her deck where her Duel Disk shuffles it. This causes Midori to look in alarm. "Hey! He's supposed to go to your graveyard!"

"Normally, that's the case," says Millefeui. "But Madolche monsters have the ability to be shuffled back into my deck if they're destroyed."

"Ergh…" Midori mutters. "Why that archetype?"

"Ask Pegasus yourself," Midori answers. "But you better think twice before attacking me now, because my monsters can hold a grudge for a very long time.

The Black Tea Gentleman smirks. "Oh my. This is becoming really interesting. Midori, what shall you do?"

"I'll place one card face-down and end my turn," Midori answers, daintily placing a new card on her Duel Disk. "Oh, and before I forget, I should add that when I end my turn, I can Set a Flip-Effect monster from my graveyard facedown on the field. Guess who's making a return?"

"I'll pass," Millefeui answers, watching a face-down monster appear next to Tarotrei. "And now, I draw!"

She draws a card and takes a good look at it. "But before I play the card, I'll take us back to Madolche Chateau!"

She slaps the Field Spell Card onto her Duel Disk and the massive cake mansion rises once more. This time, the Cloth Dolls don't try to take a bite.

"And next, I'll Flip-Summon Madolche Chouxvalier onto the field!"

"Not so fast!" Midori shouts. "Prediction Princess Tarotrei, activate your effect and unleash Pot of the Forbidden's dark magic!"

Tarotrei closes her eyes as a green aura surrounds Pot of the Forbidden's card before it flips over. (2000 ATK)

"Wait, you can use her effect on my turn too?!" Millefeui exclaims.

"Yep!" Midori answers. "And now, I use his effect to destroy all monsters you control! Au revoir, you two!"

Pot of the Forbidden cackles as a bolt of lightning strikes both Madolche Chouxvalier and Baaple. However, when Millefeui takes their cards into her hand, they stay in her hand.

"Oh, I forgot to mention," says Millefeui, noticing Midori's look of astonishment. "If Madolche Chateau is on the field, all Madolche monsters that are destroyed can skip the deck and go back to my hand. Sort of like having toys go into the hands of the next person that's going to play with them instead of being put on a shelf."

"I don't wanna be on a shelf!" Cloth Crow whimpers.

"You won't have to," says Millefeui. "But first, let me have a change of hand. I play Magical Mallet to replace four cards in my hand!"

The Spell Card of the red mallet with wings appears as Millefeui swiftly chooses four cards from her hand and places them back onto the top of her deck. Seconds later, with her deck newly shuffled, she draws four more cards.

"And now, I summon Madolche Mewfeuille in Defense Mode "

Appearing in a puff of smoke is an adorable pink plush kitten wearing a purple vest with a biscuit as a button. It is propped up against some pillows and looks ready to take a catnap. (500/300 -) 1000/800)

"How fluffy!" says Aura. "Wait a second... Mewfeuille...Millefeui…"

Millefeui smiles. "The names are based on the mille-feuille dessert, translated as 'thousand leaves'. I sort of named myself since I didn't have a name before."

Aura blinks. "You didn't have a name?"

Millefeui slowly shakes her head. "Neither did Kanata, who named herself after the superhero Katana. She says that her name comes from the phrase 'Haruka kanata' or 'faraway' because to her having a home, a loving mother, even a sister, sounded nothing more than a collection of faraway dreams (and coincidentally, she has a crush on Haruka, but don't tell her I said that)."

"Were you two close growing up in that orphanage?" asks Aura, unsure if it's okay to bring the subject up. The Cloth Dolls also look at Millefeui with concern.

"Of course," Millefeui answers, briefly staring at the unconscious forms of her little sister and mother, her heart breaking at how they were affected by Midori's spell. She then averts her gaze and focuses on Midori. "So close that we saw ourselves as sisters. So close that mom decided to adopt both of us instead of just adopting me all by myself. That made me happier than I ever was; to not only have a mother, but a sister as well.

"Everything I ever wanted...a warm home, a loving mother, a little sister, friends by my side, someone who loves me with all of their heart...I don't need riches or fancy gowns. I have all that I have here in this little Café in Wonderland."

Aura smiles as she watches Millefeui wipe away the tears using a corner of her stola and the Cloth Dolls cheer for their friend. But, soon enough, the happy moment is ruined when Millefeui hears Midori slowly clapping.

"Very convincing story," Midori says, with a roll of her eyes. "But in case you haven't noticed that little pussy cat of yours isn't strong enough to fight off against my two monsters."

"Mewfeuille's not gonna be attacking," says Millefeui, wiping the last tear away. "When he's Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon another Madolche monster from my hand. And the monster that I choose is…" she chuckles as she takes the card. "Well, I think the two of you share quite a bit in common.

"So, put your hands together for the one and only Madolche Puddingcess!"

Appearing in a swirl of sugar is the newest monster: a girl with fair skin and blue eyes, with hair the color of a bright yellow custard adorned with a silver tiara and a cherry sunk into her hair so only the stem sticks out. Her dress resembles the dessert she is based on, colored a creamy light yellow with a ring of dark brown half-circles at the top of the skirt and small dollops of whipped cream acting as lace that lines the bottom of the torso and skirt. Completing the look are the white gloves and white socks that end in brown heels. (1000/1000 -) 1500/1500)

"And check this out. When I have no monsters in the graveyard, Puddingcess gets a bonus of an additional 800 points for her attack and defense. Cool, huh?"

Puddingcess giggles behind her gloved hands. (1500/1500 -) 2300/2300)

"Puddingcess, attack Pot of the Forbidden with Sucre Shimmer!"

Princess Puddingcess clasps her hands in prayer before she raises them into the air, a shimmering ball of light materializing. Then, she brings her arms out as if unleashing a Hadoken (Millefeui had to admit that she has a soft spot for the Street Fighter series) before Puddingcess thrusts her arms out and the white orb flies toward the ominous pot.

"You're not the only one who likes video games," says Midori. "I activate my face-down card, Enemy Controller!"

The face-down card from the beginning of the duel flips over. Soon, a video-game controller appears, and Millefeui doesn't need to know what happens next.

"Up up, down down, left right, left right, B, A, Start!" Midori chants as if the Konami Code is some sort of ancient spell. "Now your little princess is stuck in Defense Mode!"

The white orb dissipates with a "poof" as Puddingcess drops to her knees as if a tower of heavy books has been pressed upon her head. (2300 DEF)

"I end my turn by placing these cards face-down," says Millefeui, placing three cards into her Duel Disk. "Make your move."

"Gladly," says Midori, drawing her card. "First, I Flip-Summon Prediction Princess Arrowsylph."

The face-down card turns over, revealing a woman with long teal hair, wearing a flowing lavender dress wrapped with a long light green strip of cloth like vines around a pillar. Her weapon is a wooden longbow. (1000 ATK)

"And when she is Flip-Summoned, I get to take a Ritual Spell Card from my graveyard and add it to my hand." Midori giggles as she takes the card ejected from her Duel Disk. "And you know what that means!"

Millefeui makes no comment as she watches Midori play Prediction Ritual. Pot of the Forbidden burst into flames before a second Prediction Princess Tarotrei emerges. (2700 ATK)

Two Prediction Princess Tarotrei? Aura thinks. Aura only uses one in her duels. How will Millefeui stop them?

"Double the trouble, double the fun!" Midori states. "But before I go on the offensive, I have to get rid of the obstacle in my way."

Midori plays Shield Crush (showing a beam that pierces the Millennium Shield) before a concentrated beam of magic flies from the card towards Madolche Puddingcess. Puddingcess covers her eyes and clasps her hands in prayer.

"Not so fast!" says Millefeui. "I activate Madolche Tea Break!"

The card depicts Madolche Magileine arriving in a room where Madolche Puddingcess sips tea and Madolche Butlerusk looking in alarm at the unexpected guest.

"This card only works when I have no monsters in my graveyard," Millefeui explains. " With it, I can negate your Shield Crush and send the card back to your hand."

The Shield Crush card flickers slightly before it is flung back into Midori's hand. Madolche Puddingcess slowly opens an eye and sighs in relief when she finds the card gone.

"And then, if Madolche Puddingcess is on the field when I activate this card, she can destroy one card you control, like, I don't know…" Millefeui smirks. "...Tarotrei?"

Madolche Puddingcess points her finger and a beam of magic flies towards Midori's side of the field. It strikes a Prediction Princess Tarotrei in the heart, shattering the taller monster.

"You may have destroyed one of my monsters, but that won't save you now!" Midori screams. "Tarotrei, attack again!"

The remaining Prediction Princess Tarotrei fires her own blast of magic, only for Millefeui keep that smirk on her face.

"Card number two," she says. "I activate...Defense Draw!"

A barrier is erected around Millefeui's monsters as Millefeui draws a card.

Midori snarls. "Arrowsylph, turn that cat into violin strings!"

Arrowsylph prepares her bow and notches an arrow conjured by the wind. She pulls the drawstring back, closes an eye for better aim before letting go. The arrow zips through the air and lands right into the plush kitten's heart. Mewfeuille lets out a tiny mew before exploding, and Millefeui takes his card to her hand.

"Hmph," says Midori. "That wasn't fun at all. But I predict much more fun in my next turn, so I command Tarotrei to flip Arrowsylph face-down once more…"

Tarotei chants a spell as a breeze flips Arrowsylph's card over.

"Then I play one card face-down and end my turn. And you know what that means…"

Perfect. Millefeui thinks as she sees Pot of the Forbidden's card Set on the field. She draws her card and nods her head.

"I play Card of Sanctity!" she announces. "Now we draw till we have six cards in hand!"

Millefeui draws four more cards while Midori slowly takes two to her hand.

"Next I summon Madolche Mewfeuille once more!"

The kitten appears, but this time shivering underneath his pillow. (500/300) -) (1000/800)

"With Mewfeuille on the field, I'll use his ability to summon Madolche Chouxvalier again! Come forth and protect the princess!"

With a whinny, the horse-riding Madolche monster appears, narrowing his eyes and preparing his sword at Midori's monsters. (1800/1300) -) (2200/1800)

Madolche Puddingcess turns to see Madolche Chouxvalier and squeals before tackling Chouxvalier in a hug that causes him to gasp for air.

"What's this?" asks Midori, raising an eyebrow. "You sent him to protect the fair maiden who is stronger than she?"

"It's part of my strategy," Millefeui replies. "Next, I place Madolche Puddingcess in Attack Mode…"

Puddingcess rises to her feet and slips her hand into Madolche Chouxvalier's. (2300 ATK)

"Not so fast!" Midori declares. "Tarotrei, use your ability and Flip-Summon Pot of the Forbidden."

Once more, Prediction Princess Tarotrei glows green, and the demonic pot reveals itself. (2000 ATK)

"And Pot of the Forbidden, consume their souls!"

Pot of the Forbidden chuckles and opens its mouth. Numerous tentacles rise and reach toward the three Madolche monsters. Millefeui smirks.

"How predictable," she mutters. "I activate... Madolche Nights!"

The lone face-down card flips over, revealing Madolche Puddingcess, Chouxvalier, Mewfeuille and Magileine as (unmoving) dolls in boxes inside a neat and tidy bedroom at night.

"This card is sort of like Madolche Tea Break, except this works on Monster Effects. Not only is Pot of the Forbidden unable to destroy my monsters, but since Madolche Puddingcess is on the field, I can also send a card from your hand to be shuffled back into your deck."

Pot of the Forbidden's tentacles suddenly recoil when Madolche Puddingcess erects a barrier to protect the field while one of Midori's cards is shuffled back into her deck.

"And I hope you weren't too attached to some cards in that hand of yours," Millefeui continues. "I play Hand Destruction, meaning we send two cards to the grave and draw two new ones."

As the Quick-play Spell Card of Sasuke Samurai surrounded by four cards appears, and both Millefeui and Midori discard and draw their two cards, it looks as if Madolche Puddingcess is upset about something.

"Sorry," says Millefeui. "I had to send those two monsters to the graveyard. But I promise you that you'll kick ass once more."

Despite Millefeui's reassurance, Puddingcess folds her arms over chest and pouts. (2300/2300 -) 1500/1500)

"Next, I play Harmonic Waves, which will change the level of Mewfeuille to 4 until the End Phase."

A Spell Card of orange waves of energy flying across the ground emerges as Madolche Mewfeuille meows. (LV: 3 -) 4)

"And I know what you're thinking, so let me answer that question lingering in your mind by unleashing the Overlay Network!"

Both Madolche Mewfeuille and Chouxvalier leap into the portal as a brilliant light shines across the field. Millefeui clears her throat and clasps her hands in prayer.

"Righteous queen of sweets and innocence. Your loyal subjects need your help once more! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! May the gods save you, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!"

When the light fades, the Xyz Monster appears seating herself on an elegant throne as two birds circle her. The woman has shiny silver hair topped with a matching tiara, and wears a coffee colored dress with a yellow skirt and dark brown tassels tied around her waist. Draped over her shoulders is a chocolate colored cape trimmed with white and in her left hand she wields a magenta-colored staff topped with a chocolate egg and two curved ladyfinger cookies to resemble prongs. Near her feet are an adorable grey rabbit and yellow squirrel while two brown orbs float around her scepter. (2200/2100 -) 2700/2600)

"Yes, I can easily see that my Queen Tiaramisu and your Princess Tarotrei have the same attack score, so if they went into battle right now they'd destroy each other. But…" Millefeui chuckles. "That's if both of them were to go into battle."

"W...what are you saying?" Midori asks.

"Because if I detach an Xyz Material from Queen Tiramisu, I can return up to two 'Madolche' monsters from my graveyard to my deck to shuffle two cards you control back to your deck. So, let's see if I'm lucky today!"

Queen Tiaramisu vanishes an orb with a wave of her hand before she points her staff at Midori's cards. Then, two bolts of lightning strikes a face-down card and Prediction Princess Tarotrei, where they are shuffled back into her deck.

"Looks like Lady Luck has a shine on me today," Millefeui cheers. "And now, Puddingcess, attack with Sugar Rush!"

Madolche Puddingcess snickers as she leans forward and dashes toward the face-down card (Prediction Princess Arrowsylph, 1400 DEF) and gives the monster a good kick in the shin, destroying her. Meanwhile, Midori wordlessly takes a card from her graveyard into her hand.

"Queen Tiaramisu, attack with Café Crush!"

Queen Tiaramisu raises her scepter into the air before she brings it down and a blast of energy strikes Midori in the chest, knocking her off her feet and into the hands of the Black Tea Gentleman.

(Millefeui: 6300) - - - - - - - (Midori: 4000)

Midori struggles to stand up, clutching her stomach with a hand and wincing in pain. For some odd reason, that feels a little bit stronger than it's supposed to be.

In fact, ever since she met the Black Tea Gentleman, she's had pain everywhere. From her arm, to her hand, to her back. He always tells her that it's part of being so powerful to unleash these spells, but something about it feels off.

Still, she can think about it later.

"My...draw!" Midori snarls, drawing her card. "And now, I play…"

"Yeah, yeah, Prediction Ritual," Millefeui interrupts. "But in order to do that, you need monsters whose levels equal 9, and I highly doubt that you have a spare Pot of the Forbidden in your hand."

"I don't," Midori sighs. "But if you knew what I held in my hand what you played Hand Destruction, you wouldn't have let me choose what to send to the graveyard."

"What are you saying?"

Midori chuckles as she plays Prediction Ritual once more. Then, a card ejects from her graveyard.

"One of the cards I discarded to the graveyard was Djinn Releaser of Rituals," Midori answers, taking the card to her hand (depicting a small purple djinn) and showing it to Millefeui. "And when he is in my graveyard, I can Banish him for an offering.

"Plus when I use his ability, as long as this particular Prediction Princess Tarotrei is on the field, you can't Special Summon any monsters!"

"WHAT?!"

Sending two more cards to the graveyard, Midori watches as three orbs of flame circle her before they fly up and collide, coalescing into the form of Prediction Princess Tarotrei. (2700 ATK)

"So what?" says Millefeui. "In case you forgot, both she and Queen Tiaramisu have the same attack."

"Not for long," Midori snickers. "First, I play Megamorph to double Tarotrei's attack!"

As Midori plays the Equip Spell Card, and Tarotrei's attack shoots to 5400, Millefeui sighs.

"I've seen this move so many times," she says with a groan, placing a hand to her forehead. "Can't you do something more...unpredictable?"

"Unpredictable?" Midori screams. "I'll show you unpredictable! I play Riryoku so that half of your queen's attack score gets added to Tarotrei's!"

"Say WHAT?!"

Queen Tiaramisu gasps as she feels her strength leaving her (2700 -) 1350 ATK) and Prediction Princess Tarotrei just smiles as her aura radiates brighter. (5400 -) 6750 ATK)

"Kukukuku…." Black Tea Gentleman snickers. Then, it rises into full-blown laughter. "Oh Midori, I knew I made the right call in making my contract with you!"

Midori's smirk grows wider, so it makes her seem more like a demon instead of the princess she tries to project. Aura huddles in fear as Millefeui grits her teeth, the charm around her neck glowing red as Millefeui braces herself for the attack.

"Ready to taste my steel?" asks Midori. "Prediction Princess Tarotrei, attack Queen Tiaramisu with Rider-Waite Wave!"

Prediction Princess Tarotrei raises all her arms into the air as a large sphere of energy forms, shimmering with multiple colors before she hurls it at the queen. Queen Tiaramisu screams in terror as the attack disintegrates her, Madolche Puddingcess cries in horror and Millefeui feels like she is smothering a bonfire with her own body before she collapses to her side.

(Millefeui: 900) - - - - - - - (Midori: 4000)

"Millefeui!" Aura exclaims, rushing towards Millefeui. "Millefeui, say something!"

The Cloth Dolls hop off of Aura and mew in worry for their friend. Millefeui pants for breath as the fire in her eyes starts burning more before she slowly rises to her feet, slightly wobbling before she grasps onto her right arm and practically roars at Midori.

"You are gonna pay for that!" Millefeui screams. "And I'm gonna have fun pounding your pretty little face into the ground until it's pancake batter after I win!"

"What the…" Aura gasps. "Millefeui, calm down!"

"No, I won't!" Millefeui snaps, turning to the younger girl, her eyes briefly glowing the color of embers. "This little princess has stolen the souls of my friends and family and she's prevented me from summoning more monsters to stop her! I have to win! And I have to make her PAY!"

"Aura knows you're angry, but violence won't solve anything!" Aura exclaims, watching Millefeui heartlessly shake the Cloth Dolls off her. The dolls cry in terror as they fall, but Aura immediately leaps towards them and catches them before they hit the ground.

Millefeui pants for breath, seeing nothing but red as she waits for Midori to finish her turn. Usually she is calm when it comes to duels, but there's no way to act calm when there's just one turn separating her from losing everyone she holds dear.

"Well, this is about to end soon," says Midori, oblivious to the fury on her opponent's face. "But to give myself a refresher, I play Emergency Provisions to offer Megamorph in exchange for 1000 lifepoints."

Megamorph disintegrates into sparkles as Midori sighs, feeling much more refreshed than before. Meanwhile, Prediction Princess Tarotrei has her attack score back to her original 2700.

(Millefeui: 900) - - - - - - - (Midori: 5000)

"And with that, I end my turn. So Tarotrei...do the thing!"

For what is either the fourth or fifth time this duel (Millefeui lost count), a face-down card (definitely Pot of the Forbidden) appears. This irritates Millefeui; bad enough that Midori is just one turn away from winning the duel, but to end it with the same tactic? It just grinds her gears.

As she takes a deep breath, Millefeui feels something warm pressed against her heart. She looks down, seeing Yusei's charm glowing brighter than before. She can feel her anger wash away, as if the damned thing is absorbing her rage. She places a hand over the charm and feels its warmth. But the warmth isn't comforting..

It feels like its ready to burn her alive.

Those guys...Millefeui thinks. Just what are you?

The question can be answered later. She looks at her deck and draws her card before frowning.

"Madolche Chouxvalier," she says. "Come on out!"

For the third time, the equestrian Madolche monster gallops onto the field. (1700/1300) -) (2200/1800)

"Not so fast!" says Midori, wagging a finger. "Tarotrei…"

And again, Prediction Princess Tarotrei flips Pot of the Forbidden over (2000 ATK). As the Pot summons its tentacles to wrap around the ankles of Millefeui's monsters, Millefeui smirks.

"I activate...Destruction Jammer!" she announces.

Soon, a barrier is erected around the two monsters and fire sparks when the tentacles reach it. Then, the Pot of the Forbidden explodes into a shower of pottery shards as Millefeui calmly discards a card to her hand.

"Didn't think I had something else up my sleeve, huh?" she says. "Well, now that Tarotrei is your only monster, it's time for me to make sure she can rest after all that work done on her."

"My monster is stronger than yours!" Midori states, biting her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. "How will you be able to stop her?"

"With my face-down card. Time for me to teach you that messing me is a horrible idea, Midori! Go, Madolche Lessons!"

Millefeui's face-down flips over, revealing a very bored Madolche Puddingcess seated at a dinner table while various pieces of silverware are laid out in front of her. To her right is someone wielding a black book.

"All I have to do is return a Madolche monster from my graveyard to my deck (or hand) and all Madolche monsters I control gain 800 attack and defense points until the end of my turn! And then, I can return another card from my deck to the graveyard. If you combine that with how Madolche Puddingcess gains 800 attack and defense points when I have no monsters in the graveyard, then you realize that it's just enough to leave a serious mark."

Millefeui takes the card ejected from her Duel Disk and places it into her hand, as Madolche Chouxvalier and Puddingcess close their eyes and feel power wash over them. (Chouxvalier: 2200/1300 -) 3000/2100, Puddingcess: 1500/1500 -) 3100/3100)

"Wait, no!" Midori gasps.

"Too late!" Millefeui snarls. "Chouxvalier, Spearmint Slash!"

Chouxvalier's steed rears up and then dashes towards Tarotrei, who cannot stop the attack as Chouxvalier simply performs a horizontal slash that causes Tarotrei's body to split in half before shattering.

(Millefeui: 900) - - - - - - - (Midori: 4700)

"Puddingcess, attack directly!" Millefeui shouts.

Puddingcess once again performs the hand motions of a Hadoken, but this time the orb she creates is the size of a globe. She twirls around then flings the orb, striking Midori in the solar plexus and causing the girl to scream.

(Millefeui: 900) - - - - - - - (Midori: 1600)

"I play one card face-down and end my turn," says Millefeui, slipping a new card into her Duel Disk. "Now, I'm giving you one last chance to end the duel and give me back my friends and family. If you do, I'll spare you the humiliation that comes when I activate this face-down card. I don't want it to end like this."

"You're right…" Midori says, body bent forward, her lovely brown hair covering her face. A blue eye glares at Millefeui before she draws her card. "I'll make sure it ends with your defeat!

"I play Pot of Greed and draw two new cards."

The well-known Spell Card appears as Midori makes her draw. Then, her smile turns wicked like one a witch would wear.

"Then, I play Mystical Space Typhoon to knock that little mansion of yours down to the ground!"

The well known Quick-play Spell Card appears, blowing Madolche Chateau away, leaving behind the Tarot-based Café in Wonderland and dropping the Madolche monsters' attack scores.

Madolche Chouxvaler: (2200/1800 -) 1700/1300)

Madolche Puddingcess: (2300/2300 -) 1800/1800)

"And then, I play Fulfillment of the Contract! With the price of 800 lifepoints, I can Special Summon a Ritual monster from my graveyard onto the field. Guess who's back?"

(Millefeui: 900) - - - - - - - (Midori: 800)

"I guess Tarotrei," Millefeui answers, seeing Prediction Princess Tarotrei rise from the ground (2700 ATK) "And I guess that this is when you decide to flip Chouxvalier face-down and go for Puddingcess, correct?"

"Mm-hmm!" Midori answers.

Madolche Chouxvalier gasps as he finds himself flipped into a Set card as Madolche Puddingcess looks in horror.

"Let's end it here!" says Midori, her eye twitching as she points at Puddingcess. "Tarotrei, destroy her and prove that you're the one and only true princess!"

Tarotrei raises all six of her arms in the air once more as she unleashes an orb of light like the sun, filled with scorching energy as Puddingcess drops to her knees and covers her face with her hands.

And as this goes on, Millefeui...chuckles.

"W...what's so funny?!" Midori snaps. "You're about to lose the souls of everyone you hold dear and you're laughing?!"

It's true. Millefeui is laughing so hard that her sides are sore. Aura, the Cloth Dolls, Puddingcess, even the Black Tea Gentleman look at how Millefeui continues to laugh as if she has been tickled non-stop for fifteen minutes. Then, after Millefeui has calmed down, clutching her sides, she snickers a bit.

"Haha...how could you…hahaha...not realize what you just walked into?!" Millefeui answers. "I gave you a warning about how you should end the duel and you didn't listen, now did you?"

"W...what are you saying?" asks Midori. "What type of trick are you pulling?"

"The type of trick I'm pulling...it's like something from the past!" Millefeui answers. "You're so focus on the future that you never learned from your mistakes, and that is gonna cost you big time."

"Enough riddles!" Midori screams, balling her hands into her fists. "Reveal your face-down card this instant!"

Millefeui calms down, still with that sadistic smile on her face "...Okay, but don't say I didn't you. I reveal face-down card...Magic Cylinder!"

Midori can only place a hand to her mouth, as if a toad has escaped from it. The dreaded Trap Card from her duel with Haruka appears, and Tarotrei's attack cannot be stopped.

So she can only watch in horror as Tarotrei's attack is sucked into one cylinder and the interior of the second one lights up.

"Know the basics of karma?" asks Millefeui. "It basically means 'what goes around, comes around'. Well, I think we can take that literally here."

The second cylinder fires the magic attack that strikes Midori down, causing her to fall on her back in pain and take her lifepoints with it.

(Millefeui: 900) - - - - - - - (Midori: 0)

"She did it! She did it!" The Cloth Dolls cheer, hugging each other as Aura sighs in relief. Meanwhile, the Black Tea Gentleman smirks as Midori struggles to stand up. She looks in confusion as she sees a hand extended out in front of her-Millefeui's.

"I don't want your hand!" Midori snaps, slapping the hand away. "How...how could someone like you defeat me? I had the deck for it. All you have are cookies and cake!"

"You wanna know how I knew how to beat you?" Millefeui asks, folding her arms across her chest. "I didn't win because I could predict the future; I won because Tarotrei was just a monster version of Ghostrick-Go-Round, a card that is prominently featured in my girlfriend's deck. Not to mention that the gimmick of the Prediction Princess cards are essentially a Flip-Effect version of a Ghostrick deck. Most of the cards I had countered it because I dueled and dueled with this deck until it's just an extension of my own arm.

"You hyped Tarotrei to be so powerful, but you clearly lack the skill to wield her properly. I don't know what you were thinking that you could challenge Haruka with that deck, but that endless Pot of the Forbidden combo you were using proves that you wanted to count your strategy on the same actions without changing it up at all. And yes, Haruka has a penchant for using the High Priestess of Prophecy in her duels, but you could probably make the same argument in regards to Seto Kaiba and his Blue Eyes White Dragons or Yugi Muto with his Dark Magician. Hell, I've lost track as to how many times Serena has used combos regarding Ghostrick Witch and Ghostrick Mummy or Ghostrick Alucard together!

"And FYI, you made a huge mistake on the turn you used Megamorph and Riryoku together; if you played Riryoku first and then equipped Tarotrei with Megamorph, I would've lost the duel no questions asked."

Midori looks in horror as she recalls that turn; doing some mental math, Millefeui is correct. The Black Tea Gentleman cannot help but snicker at this while Millefeui adds,

"But that's beside the point. We had a deal - release everyone or I will make sure your face looks like pancake batter."

Midori grits her teeth, all while the Black Tea Gentleman snickers.

"Midori, you must honor your agreement," he says, taking another sip of his tea. He then turns to Millefeui and bows to her. "You are quite feisty for a cake-sniffing orphan, if you don't mind."

"I do," Millefeui replies, glaring at the youkai with her crimson eyes.

The Black Tea Gentleman stands up. "Ah, well. I shall complete the bargain in Princess Midori's steed, and we'll be on our way. Please step back for a moment."

A swirling mist surrounds the youkai as the numerous buttons on his notch lapel madly glow like lights at a rave show. Then, beams of light escape and enter the bodies of all of the victims until the surfaces of the buttons are blank once more.

Aura turns to see Haruka slowly wake up as if from a dream, rubbing an eye with her hand.

"What happened back there?" she asks, looking around. She then notices Midori. "M-Midori? From Drama Club?"

"What's that little rich girl doing here?" asks Hikari, looking up.

"It's a long story," Aura answers. Meanwhile, Millefeui clears her throat at the Black Tea Gentleman before jerking a thumb at Aura.

The Black Tea Gentleman snickers. "Right, right. I almost forgot about that. Now then, Midori...please hold still."

"No…" Midori whimpers. "I...I can't lose this! My role to be the Prediction Princess! I'd rather die than lose it!"

"Don't worry, don't worry," The Black Tea Gentleman whispers, patting Midori's shoulder "As long as you desire it so, you'll always be a princess. Now, take a deep breath."

Reluctantly, Midori does as he says, placing her hands on her heart to calm herself down as the Black Tea Gentleman places his own hand over them. Then, he pulls the hand away and a gold orb of light escapes her chest and flies directly into Aura's chest. Aura winces as she feels like spilling out all of her life story right there and then, while Midori's Duel Disk vanishes and reappears on her arm.

Aura places a hand on her forehead. "That really hurt. I'm gonna feel that in the morning."

"Aura!" Kanata gasps, standing from behind the table. "You're speaking in first person!"

"Aura?" Aura blinks. Then she smiles. "Actually, my real name is Mieru Hochun; I had to go under an alias after that witch-" Mieru stares at Midori. "Took my name and my deck. But you can still call me Aura if you want to."

"Millefeui!" Serena cries, tackling Millefeui from behind. "Sweet Stine, what happened to you? Midori didn't hurt you, right?"

Millefeui smiles and relaxes into her girlfriend's hug.

"I'm all right," she says. "Just had to vent out a bit of frustration in me."

"What in the name of…" Mitsuko gasps and, as if summoning it from thin air, pulls out a long, slender magic wander from the sleeve of her dress. She points it at the Black Tea Gentleman. "Leave this instant!"

"I'm just about to," says the youkai. "Now come, Princess Midori...your palace awaits."

Midori groans, placing a hand to her forehead as she opens her eyes. She blinks slowly, as if fully registering the site of various people in Tarot related costumes staring at her (Serena on the verge of teaching her a lesson, and Mitsuko's wand emitting sparks). Then, she smiles.

"I'm sorry if I have done anything to disturb you," she says, bowing her head. She then stands up, her face serene and lacking any of the anger and envy from minutes ago. "Please excuse me for my intrusion."

"What the…" asks Masato, staring at his mother. "Mom, what's going on?"

"She contracted herself with me," Black Tea Gentleman explains. "In exchange for a little bit of her poor unfortunate soul, I let her enter her own world, where she can live out in the role she pleases, saving her from a suicide most foul.

"Of course, you all wouldn't have known that she was having those types of thoughts. How could you? You saw her wealth, her haughtiness, her failures...you did not see the girl she desired to be. How could you not see the passion she put into being a role, or how much the Drama club meant to her?"

"I gave her a fair evaluation like every other student," Senri answers. "I accepted the duel between her and my daughter in order to see if Midori had what it took to be an actress. I applauded her when she decided to use my daughter's High Priestess of Prophecy against her. She has a passion for acting that I had never seen before and I let her know it."

"Your praise wasn't enough for Princess Midori," The Black Tea Gentleman spits out. "Nothing is ever enough for her. Such a shame, really. If she were to finally wake up and face the real world, I'm sure the strength she puts in living her ideal dream world would make her capable of wearing multiple masks. But alas, as long as she is sees that the real world has people bullying her for her wealth and not accepting her for her passion, then she'll be in contract with me. Kukukuku…"

The realization hits Haruka the hardest. Sure she's known to be exceptional at dueling, but she honestly felt that Midori should have received that role for Sara instead of her (in her mind, she's a better duelist than actor). And while she duels with so much passion and has her winning streak, she feels slightly guilty that her opponents are remembered as stepping stones to her long chain of victories instead of their heart and passion to duel. Sometimes, she feels like her dueling prowess is a curse.

And she does recall Midori having the script for A Little Princess while she worked on chores (she was always placed on chore duty by some of the nastier and lazier students, something that Senri could never stamp out) but practice with her father to get the lines ready made it hard for her to confront Midori about what troubled her. Not to mention that Midori left the school on the day of opening night. Not a lot of students didn't miss her at all, and Haruka did feel concerned but completely forgot about her since, as the play's star, she was needed for the productions and needed to focus on the play.

Still, to see Midori so desperate to contract a youkai (whom her mother instructed her and her brother to never do, as contracts with those types of creatures end up backfiring spectacularly), makes her feel that she should have done something to help her. She should've asked her father to let Midori take the role (after all, Midori was her understudy) and she would've been fine working on chores.

But no, the Princess of Prophecy shouldn't have had to sully her hands, her fans said. We have a personal chore girl that would do everything we ask her to, her fans said.

That, as she sees now, was complete and utter bullshit.

"Midori…" says Haruka, looking at her pile of gifts. She then picks up Masato's parasol and approaches her rival for acting, despite Millefeui looking as if Midori didn't deserve pity, before she slips the parasol into Midor's hand.

"I'm sorry if I offended you," she says. "If I had known that you were going through so much bullying problems, or that you really wanted to be Sara more than I did. I don't know when or if you'll ever awaken from your dream, but I hope that you can see this gift of apology from one princess to another. Okay?"

Silently, Midori takes the parasol into her hands and, for a moment, her glazed over eyes are filled with life. Then, the tiniest smiles forms on her lips.

"I thank thee, fair maiden," she says. "This parasol will be perfect to protect my fair skin."

"Yeah…" Haruka says, looking away.

"Come, come," says the Black Tea Gentleman, patting Midori on the shoulder. "I will prepare a delicious pot of black tea and we can feast on scones and jam if you want."

"Thank you, Black Tea Gentleman," Midori answers, turning toward the door. "I'm so glad to have someone like you."

And with that, the princess and her butler left the Café in Wonderland, leaving everyone in shock as the door closes with a slight "whoosh". After a few awkward seconds, Hikari is the one to ask the obvious question.

"What just happened?"

"...it's a bit of a long story," Millefeui answers. "Mieru and I can explain it over punch."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The next hour has Millefeui and Mieru recreate the entire conversation and duel that took place. The Cloth Dolls had their own little comments for everything, but all in all, the audience is captivated by this tale. Millefeui doesn't mention anything about the charm around her neck, feeling the strange presence on it now gone.

"I hope that she'll be okay," Haruka mutters. "I feel bad for her; I should've done more to help her."

Mitsuko places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We'll make a protective charm for her, if it'll make you feel better. Hopefully it'll counteract against some of that youkai's spell over her."

Haruka lightens up slightly. Slightly, though. "Yeah, I always wanted to make something like that."

"I'll see if I can contact her and look into her situation," says Senri. "Maybe I can pull a few strings and get her a scholarship into the Domino Academy of Performing Arts. I honestly did see her potential...and maybe finding herself in an environment with people like her would keep her away from that youkai."

That makes Haruka brighten up a bit more and she hugs both of her parents. "Thanks, mom. Thanks, dad. You guys are the best."

Mitsuko smiles and pats her daughter's shoulder. "Anytime, love."

"Now come on!" says Kanata, standing up. "We shouldn't waste the rest of the day moping around. Let's party! I'll get the music playing!"

In minutes, the party atmosphere is back, as if the duel and the princess never appeared. As everyone else is either eating, chatting or dancing, Millefeui sits at a table, looking at the charm on her neck, wondering whether or not to tell everyone about her anger subsided thanks to this thing. Sure, it's nice, and the emblem makes her curious as to its history, but how does she explain about its strange and mystical properties that came from a member of Team Satisfaction of all people?

"You don't," a voice whispers behind her.

Millefeui gasps and turns around, and sees Yusei sitting at a table, head tilted to the side and his blue eyes looking more like lenses than real eyes. She prepares her Duel Disk in an attempt to defend herself, but Yusei just states, "I'm not here to fight. I came to talk."

Millefeui looks behind her but no one seems to notice him. She grips the charm in her hand, half-expecting Haruka to see a member of Team Satisfaction in plain sight and shout his name. Instead, Yusei smirks and curls a finger toward himself to beckon her.

Seeing as she has no choice, Millefeui approaches the table, seats herself across from him and hisses, "How did you get here?"

"...I walked," Yusei answers simply.

"I mean, how did you know where to find…" Millefeui doesn't finish her sentence as Yusei pulls out something from a jacket pocket; a business card. "Oh, right."

Yusei chuckles. "We'll be making that reservation for Molly's birthday tomorrow, FYI."

"Good to know. Now listen, what was with this?" Millefeui shows him the charm around her neck.

"It's a lucky charm," Yusei answers. "And it has served its purpose. You can remove it now."

Millefeui blinks as she finds her arms finally obeying her and unclasping the chain. Then, her arms slowly fall to the table where she slides the charm bracelet across to Yusei, who easily catches it, looks at it with a tilt of his head, lifts his head up and…

Loosens his grip as the necklace drops into his open mouth, where he swallows it whole.

Millefeui looks like she has seen a scene in this anime she once saw, of how a girl got her head bitten clean off, as Yusei gulps then wipes his lips with the back of his hand.

"Tasty," he says with a chuckle. "You did good today, Miss Millefeui."

"What the…" Millefeui stammers. "What are you? Who are you? How did you get in here? Why doesn't anyone else notice you?!"

Yusei clasps his hands over his face and leans forward. "I am an Enforcer, my name is Yusei Fudo, I walked here, and I have a glamour on my face that makes people unaware of me...except for those who I wish to have a conversation with."

"...You're lying," Millefeui whispers. Outside, she can feel everything muted around her. She can barely hear the music playing from the stereo (though judging by what she can hear, it's the Franz Ferdinand song "Do You Want To", seeing as the band is one of Haruka's favorites), paralyzed by Yusei to even escape.

Yusei's blue eyes glaze over, that lens-like gaze penetrating deep into Millefeui's soul. "I am sorry if you think I am, but I can assure you that I am an honest soul, doing a good day's work as best as I can, working with my hands just like any other man would do." When Millefeui doesn't respond, he sighs and holds up three fingers. "I suppose you have more questions, but I will only answer three of them.

"First, the charm I gave you would protect you against that girl and her demon butler's sleeping spell along with anyone who is making physical contact with you. It also absorbs the sins that reside in people's soul (Midori is filled with wrath and envy and she tastes like a bittersweet tea alongside your wrath that adds a subtle floral fragrance. That little girl has a bit of lemony lust on her) and the wearer finds clarity in darkest days. Plus, I could get a glimpse of your duel and, I gotta say, your speech about her being so predictable made me laugh. Not a lot of people can do that to me, you know?"

At this, Yusei chuckles, baring his teeth. To Millefeui, it sounds like he is laughing at how someone has been murdered.

"Second," Yusei continues. "I am fully human...in appearance. Kiryu, Jack, Crow and I have changed into something...different. To explain everything will reveal too much right now, but let's just say that it is by Fate that the four of us are known as 'The Enforcers'. Our job is to make sure Satellite is ready for when the Gates of Satisfaction finally open.

"And third...yes, we know of this girl who you were going to gift the dolls to. And after we finished our meet-and-greet, we decided to get her a present."

Yusei pulls out something from behind his back, a brown gift bag decorated with the logo of Team Satisfaction: four fists pressed together as a set of eyes looks above. Millefeui is still too shocked to speak, especially when Yusei leans forward, presses a finger to her forehead and whispers,

"You will forget our conversation in a few seconds. All you will remember is that you came here because you found this present and that you were thinking about how Midori was doing, hoping that she will eventually move on. And whenever you think about me or the other members of Team Satisfaction, you will imagine us as the Enforcers of Satellite, nothing more and nothing less. You will learn the truth in the near future but in the meantime, you have a party to get back to."

The only action Millefeui is capable of doing is gasping before she hears a voice call for her.

"Millefeui!" Kanata shouts. "What are you doing there?"

Millefeui blinks and looks around, trying to figure out an answer to the question. Then, she sees the gift in her hand and smiles.

"Look what I found in the corner!" she says, walking to her sister. "Another gift for Haruka!"

"Ooh!" Kanata exclaims. "I wonder what it is?"

Seconds later, Haruka screams for joy when she finds that the gift is a light brown sleeveless vest with faux fur trim and a patch that shows the symbol of Team Satisfaction on it, alongside a birthday card signed by all four members of said team wishing her a satisfying birthday and that they hope to see her again at the next Duel Night in Satisfaction Town (with coupons included for free appetizers when she and her family dine there next time). She immediately tries the vest on and pretends she is riding her new skateboard before said skateboard slips out from under her feet, flies towards the sea of beanbag chairs and she lands on her back. This doesn't upset her; instead, she laughs out loud, her Cloth Dolls hopping off a table to comfort her, and everyone else laughing alongside her.

And, as Millefeui looks back a few weeks later, it really was a satisfying birthday after all.

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At the house that Team Satisfaction shares, the four members are split into two pairs. Crow and Jack in the living room, trying to kill each other in a Best of Five game of Skullgirls (although if one doesn't know that, one can conclude that there are two guys going through a round of loud love-making and, ten minutes later, it does dissolve into a round of loud love-making) while Kiryu is in the bedroom he and Yusei share, emerging from the shower a few minutes ago in nothing but a towel over his wet body. He lays down and sighs, not even turning around when he senses someone else in the room. He chuckles as he turns around and sees Yusei standing there, blue eyes drifting towards Kiryu's wet naked torso.

"Man," says Kiryu, turning to the side as Yusei sits down at the edge of their bed. "That was a pretty close call. Thank goodness the little princess didn't want something that crazy. And I bet the delivery went well, right?"

Yusei nods his head as he removes his jacket and flings it aside. "But there will eventually be someone who contracts a being that even we won't be able to stop by ourselves. I worry for how we can open the Gates at this point." Then a smile appears on his face. "That Princess of Prophecy loved our gift though."

Kiryu sits up, wraps his arms around Yusei's neck and nuzzles him. "Worry about that later. Today's threat is gone, and we're not needed for a nightly patrol. So," Kiryu chuckles. "Are you willing to satisfy me tonight?"

Yusei smirks and turns his head so their lips are pressed together and Kiryu can taste the delicious sin Yusei swallowed back at the Café in Wonderland. After a minute or two of this kiss, they lean back, their blue and grey eyes darkening into a shade of black as Yusei whispers, "Always."

And it quickly becomes a very satisfying night.

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Next time: Hikari is off to find strange monsters to duel against for her blog, and meets with a scientist who has been researching a variety of monsters that have been photographed but never scientifically proven. Will the dawn of a new duel be on the horizon for this intrepid reporter?

"So Weird" coming soon.