Annex 020: Just as Bittersweet
Breakfast at the castle was becoming a common event for the five duelists. It was a shame that it could not last. The tournament was coming and some would have to head north to witness the official opening ceremony. Others, were forced in another direction. "I must be cursed." Erics successes had been nonexistent so far. He was not sure if he could ever break through. He tried his fifth deck in the castle's training rooms, undergoing the same kind of trials that Emily had experienced. He did not succeed. "The cards are not the problem, I am." Alice had offered to let him borrow her deck, which he rejected. All attempts to get in any guild failed. All he had waiting for him now was a guild-escorted return-trip home and mother. He was very quiet this morning.
Uno did not say much either, but he had options at least. Too many options; he was lost in his own thoughts. "Uno? Are you going to finish that?" Uno hadn't touched his food. "Alice, finish your own plate first." Emily admonished her sister for her prodding. Yet Alice was not after a second meal. "Mean! I wasn't gonna do that." She took a very deep breath, to steady her voice. "I just wanted to say something!"
"Okay, you don't have to yell!" Emily covered her ears. "Huh?" She got Uno's attention as well. "I want to.. I want to enter the tournament too!" Alice lowered the volume a notch, but she kept the resolute tone. "You what?" Emily's first reaction was surprise. Her second was alarm. "You didn't want to join the guilds before. You changed your mind?" You had to be a guildmember to enter; Alice could not have forgotten about that rule. "I didn't want to join any of the big guilds; too many things to worry about." Alice was notorious when it came to following regulations or schedules. With that it mind, it was logical which guild she did want to join. "You want to be independent? But, Alice, then we wont be playing for the same team. You're going to have to duel each guild too." Alice did not have a single Medal yet. Emily considered it a lost cause. "That's not true. Aaron told me that two people or more can start a free guild together!" Alice winked at Uno. He caught her plan. "With me.." He had two of the Medals already, he only needed the XYZ-medal. If he had to speak freely, he would say that he preferred being a free duelist as well. But letting others do his dueling was not part of that. "Alice, you don't have to do something like that for me."
"No. This is for me too. I can't join if I don't at least duel one of the guilds by myself. Aaron, helped me with my deck. I'm sure I can handle it now!" All Cassius had done was switch out a few cards from her structure deck. Only because she couldn't part with her Mermails. She had used them for so long. "You have been helping her a lot." Emily did not know what look to give Cassius; not one of joy. "She asked me, over and over.. how could I say no?" As a guildrunner, he wanted to have more people in his guild. But as a childhood friend, he wanted both sisters to be happy. "Alice. Have you thought this through? This wont just be all fun and games." Her big sister said the things she usually said when Alice got a crazy idea. "I did! All night I was thinking about it. And I want it. I want to be a part of it, even if it means dueling against you and Aaron. But I wont be your enemy, it's still a game! If mom let you do it, she'll let me do it too!" That was her final word. She would not be talked out of it by Emily.
"Mom huh..fine. We will just call her and dad, and see what they think." The two were working, as usual. Only on a Sunday could he could drop by, and that was tomorrow. But a phone call could always be made.
...
She wished she hadn't. "I still can't.." She had called them both, and they both condoned it. "Alice.." Now here she was, with Aaron/Uno and her sister, at the golf course that the XYZ Guild had taken over only three days ago. "Don't they know.." All her parents had said was that this would be good for their daughters, both of them. Her father also asked to look after Alice if anything went wrong. That was it, that was the exact opposite of what they should have said. "What don't they know?" Uno wondered why Emily seemed so stressed and why she talked to herself so much. It was a rare sight. "Nothing. Alice is just.. she gets upset just as easily as she gets happy. I don't want her to become scared of something she likes so much. Jet was bad enough. This guild is nothing but bad people."
"Well.. at least it does not seem like the worst are here." The golfcourse had changed a bit these last few days. The entire course had been dismantled and the people who worked here were nowhere to be seen. Neither was Adamant or most of his 'soldiers'. "Adamant never sticks around, he always moves from one prey to the next." Cassius said with scorn. He hated seeing what the XYZ-guild had done to this place. They were not just content with being a sponsor, they wanted to re-purpose everything. "Now I will never get to play golf. Aw..well.. Excuse me!" Even the man behind the desk, whose attention Alice was trying to get, had a new face. "I want to duel someone here! If I can." Her cries were heard by a thin shorthaired man in black uniform. One of the few XYZ-guilders still present. "Oh my oh my. You want to join us?" He looked down on Alice with narrow eyes. "Uh yeah.. Oh..no! I just want to have your shiny badge, so I can start my own guild!" Alice explained. A snake-like smile appeared on the mans face. "What a shame, I do not have time to duel applicants. But I know someone who can. Oh Liza!"
"What do you want Ichirou?" A blond ponytailed woman answered the mans call. "We have visitors." Ichirou said and went back to his own tasks. "Oh? Ah, good good.. I was beginning to get bored here." Liza walked in further and spotted the four duelists. "Oh I remember you. You were that pendulum guy. You here for a retry?" She asked, with a hopeful glow in her eyes. "Maybe." Uno did have his deck with him, but not his own dueldisk. "But someone else asked first." That way he could show how confident he was in his 'partner'. Uno took a step back. "Someone else? Well not you two then." Liza could spot synchro guilders like Emily and Cassius a mile away. "So you're the lucky one." Her eyes fell on Alice. "Yep! Nice to meet you Liza! Your name is kinda like mine. Mine is Alice." Liza seemed a little disappointed, but still satisfied. "Cute. Well, follow me." She nodded to Ichirou and led the duelists deeper into the clubhouse. "Wow." The inside looked just as different, the guildsmen were rebuilding the poolhall into an exercise room. They were the only ones inside right now though. "Kay, Alice. You up for this?." Liza activated her dueldisk, a simplistic grey model. "I do." Alice turned on her synchro guilds disk. "Ah. No going back now then."
Alice's LP: 8000 Liza's LP: 8000
"Let's get down to it." The disks connected and started the fight. "Good luck, Alice." Uno and the others stood against the walls and watched. Emily was silently praying for a good end to this. "Before we begin, what do you want for my ante?" Liza had already decided what she wanted. "Oh, the ante... Uhhh.. If I win, just give me what you will miss the least." Alice had little interest in that aspect of the duel. "Hmm. You are right to not want to be one of us, sweetie. Too bad that also means you do not have much hope against us." The first turn was given to Liza. "I shall activate Madolche Ticket." The nature of her deck was revealed with a continuous spell card. Its effect went unused this turn as Liza played defensively. She placed a trap card down and set one monster before her. "Your turn, little Alice."
"Okay. Here I go!" Alice drew her cards. "Oh..mmh." She had so many things she could try, she did not know where to begin. "I will use your card, Aaron! I summon Deepsea Diva!" So Alice summoned a pink-scaled mermaid(2/200/400); a tuner monster. "Diva will summon a level 1, 2 or 3 seaserpent from my deck. I choose this guy: Neptabyss The Atlantean Prince!" Deepsea Diva's song summoned the prince of Atlantis(1/800/0) in defense mode. "Just level 1?" Liza had expected something with more weight to it. "Is she going to summon a synchro monster?" Uno realized that with the Diva and Prince, Alice could perform a level 3 synchro summon. "No. She wouldn't, because she can't. She did not want any synchro monsters from me." Even though Cassius was allowed to give non-guild duelists their own extra deck monsters, Alice had adamantly refused them. "I have a different plan! Neptabyss' can send a seaserpent from my deck to the grave, and add another one to my hand. That's what I will.."
"Eh. I was going to let this play out, but it seems you won't bring out any big target, so.." Liza flipped a counter trap card. "I strike Neptabyss down instead. Madolche Nights! Since there are no monsters in my graveyard, your monsters effect will be negated!" A dark shadow fell over the Atlantean prince. His effect was shut down by Madolche Night. "Well that's not good." Alice's grand scheme had been cut down before its prime. "I will.. set this card down! Now its your turn." She placed a trap of her own, but things looked pretty bad for her monsters. "Such small critters. I don't need my XYZ-monsters for them." Liza's lips curled into a smile, and she drew her card. "I flip my monster card; Madolche Marmalmaid!" The first monster that she summoned was revealed was a tiny housemaid(4/800/2000) with short red hair. "Oh, that's adorable." Alice was happy to see a monster like that. It was not something she expected out a duelist like Liza.
"Yeah, so I keep hearing. But, sweetie, I am not using her for her looks." The monsters effect was activated. "Marmalmaid adds a used up Madolche card back to my hand when she is flip summoned." The trap card, Madolche Nights, was taken from the graveyard. "And now Madolche Ticket's effect joins in on the chain. Whenever a Madolche card is returned to my hand or deck, I can add a new Madolche monster from the deck to my hand! This card will do, Madolche Butlerusk!" Liza pulled a monster from her deck that she immediately normal summoned; a monocle-wearing buttler-type spellcaster(4/1500/800). "Butlerusk finds a field spell for me!" The butlers effect searched the deck and found the spell Liza desired. "Spell card, Madolche Chateau! My Madolches will all gain 500 attack and defense points!" A tall castle, made entirely out of cake and frosting, rose up towards the ceiling. Butlerusk(2000/1300) and Marmalmaid(1300/2500) enjoyed some of the cake and strengthened themselves with it. "Brace yourself, Alice darling. This is the battle phase!"
"Wait!" Alice held up her hand. "Hmm?" Liza's monsters paused mid-charge. "Before you attack, I want to use a trap. Spiritual Water Art Aoi." Her set card spun around and targeted Deep sea Diva. "I'll tribute one water monster, to send one card in your hand to the graveyard. So I need to see your hand." The Diva was absorbed by the water which splashed Liza's cards. "You wanna take a peek, do you?" Liza revealed the three cards in her hand; Madolche Messengelato, Jar of Avarice, Madolche Teabreak and Madolche Nights. "Can you discard the monster?" Messengelato was the one she forced Liza to let go. "Clever little girl. You only caught a glimpse and you already figured out that both my traps will be useless with monsters in the graveyard. Still.." The battle phase could now continue. Marmalmaid smacked prince Neptabyss with her book, to knock him down. "If it means a little more damage, you wont hear me complain." Butlerusk threw his teacup at Alice, shattering it to deliver direct damage. "Eeh. I almost thought that really would hurt me.." Alice had covered her face as a reflex. "You're not used to dueldisks or something?" Liza placed her two trap cards down and ended the turn.
Alice's LP: 6000
"This is only my third duel with them." She admitted. "But, I have been using these cards for longer than that. I know a few cool moves." It was her turn again. "Mermail Abyssnose!" Alice normal summoned what appeared to be nosefish/man Mermail(4/1500/1500) in armor. "Like I know the Atlanteans best friends are the Mermails! When Abyssnose attacks.." Her counterattack commenced. The Mermail moved through the room as if the air was water.. "You don't have to tell me, darling." Liza already knew that Abyssnose could special summon Mermails in defense, whenever it destroyed a monster as a result of battle. So when Mermail Abyssnose killed Madolche Marmalmaid with a smack from its tail, Mermail Abysshilde (3/1300/400) was special summoned from Alice's deck. But Alice had to discard a level 3 or lower water monster to use Abyssnose's power. "I discarded Atlantean Heavy Infantry!" Heavy Infantry destroyed face-up cards whenever it was sent to the graveyard to activate a water-monsters effect. "I destroy Butlerusk!" The Atlantean's spirit resurfaced to crush the Butler with his shield.
Liza's LP: 7800
"Oh. You shouldn't have done that, Alice." When the two monster cards died, they left their platforms behind; puzzle pieces made from a waffle and a sandwich cookie. "Madolches do not stay in the grave, when they are destroyed. They return to the deck right away!" The cake chateau absorbed the puzzle pieces. "And by the effect of Madolche Chateau they return to me instead!" Any Madolche sent to the deck, by the effect of a Madolche monster, could be placed in their owners hand instead. Chateau's effect activated for both Butlerusk and Marmalmaid. "In addition to my field spell, my continuous spell uses its power!" Because a Madolche card had been returned from the graveyard, Madolche Ticket gave Liza another new Madolche monster to pick from the deck; Madolche Anjelly. "Oh no." Alice would have been wiser to destroy one of her spells. "Hmm. I will set these.. and end my turn." A spell and two traps were placed face-down. "Three of them? You must be getting nervous, sweetie. Well, it will not take much longer now."
"Draw!" Liza added another card to her bountiful hand. "I summon this card, Madolche Anjelly." A piece of red jelly landed on the floor. A tiny angel(4/1500/1500) in a white dress frolicked on top. "Anjelly may sacrifice herself to special summon a Madolche from my deck." The angel disappeared into the ground, and the gelatin transformed into cake. "Madolche Hootcake." An bespectacled Owl(4/2000/1100) in dapper clothes perched down on the cake. "Hootcake banishes one Madolche from the graveyard, to special summon another from my deck." The Cake owl consumed the first Madolche Messengelato in the cemetery, and connected a biscuit piece to his own platform. "Madolche Messengelato!" A second Messengelato, the caped mailman(4/2100/1500) of the Madolches, was summoned. Its effect activated whenever someone special summoned it to join a beast-type Madolche monster, like Hootcake. "Messengelato will 'mail' me a Madolche spell or trap card from my deck." The mailman handed Liza the Madolche Waltz trap card.
"Ugh. She is playing with the gloves off." Emily had almost forgotten how insane the turns of an XYZ-duelist could get. "She still has a chance, Emily." Cassius said with a little more optimism. "I heard that." Liza glared at her audience, at Uno in particular. "This duel is just about wrapped up, darlings. Alice here is precious, but she is no match for me. No, I have my eyes set on some bigger fish." The bigger fish could tell who she was talking about. "I am not here to join you, Liza. Alice is your opponent." Uno still had faith that she would be able to take care of this. "No? Nice try hiding it. You may not have your disk with you, but I can tell by your face that you want to fight." Liza turned back to face Alice. "But first, I will settle with you. You knew this was going to happen." The woman placed Madolche Messengelato on top of Hootcake. "I will use these as materials for a rank 4 Xyz-monster!" A colorful portal was created, the two monsters were overlayed to start the XYZ-summon process. "Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!" The queen of the Madolche(4/2700/2600) arrived, seated on a throne of tiramisu cake.
"Probably bad news." Alice loved Tiramisu, but the way things appeared... she wouldn't love this monster.
...
Eric was still at the castle, packing up his stuff. There was not much of it, just his collection of failed decks. Had he not been told by his mother to come back home, he would not have gone with Alice and the others anyway. He knew he stood no chance. "Guess this is as close as I will get to being a real duelist." Eric looked at a pile of dueldisks on the table. Cassius let him keep one as a memento, and Uno had left his. "...Hello?" He only one had one more chance. Eric turned Uno's disk on and started talking at the thing. "Hey, lady Silver? Anyone? I know you said you'd be listening in on us. I'd like to talk with you about something, I could help you. Maybe not with Uno, but something else.. those counterfeiters, the guilds maybe... I don't know." Eric stopped once he realized how crazy he must be looking right now. There was no guarantee anyone was listening right now. Mom would probably say he was playing his games too much. "Just give it up Eric. You.. ey?" The disk was flashing a blinking red light. "Oh no! Did I break it?!" Red lights were never a good sign. The light however was indicating an incoming transmission.
"You are alone." Uno's disk shot out light to project the image of a woman; Iria Silver. "Oh my god. It is you!" The female disciple was here, albeit not physically. "You are Eric Stonewell. You ask for our help? What do you expect from us? That we arrange a seat for you at the tournament? What would we get in return?" Her steely gaze sent shocks down Eric's spine, despite him being the one to summon her. "Uh..I.." Eric took what felt like hours to collect his nerves. "Name anything, I will do anything you ask! Just let me be of help to you.. to dreamworld!"
(To be Continued in Annex 021: Part of their World)
Cards used by Alice Brandt
Deepsea Diva
Neptabyss the Atlantean Prince
Mermail Abyssnose
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Spiritual Water Art - Aoi
Cards used by Liza
Madolche Marmalmaid
Madolche Butlerusk
Madolche Hootcake
Madolche Anjelly
Madolche Messengelato
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Madolche Queen Tiaramisu
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Madolche Ticket
Madolche Chateau
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Madolche Nights