Hours later, when John finished recovering and Jessica had opened enough cards to cover the hotel table, things got a bit more confusing.

Because John was trying to build a deck. "At least it is blatantly obvious when you face an opponent with an insufficiently powerful Soul."

Jessica was still happily sleeving her cards and sorting them. "Hmm?"

He gestured to the side, information scanned from online deck lists scrolling by in the background. "These people have connected strongly with one card." Another list. "On the other hand, THOSE idiots have barely been influenced by these things at all!"

More and more captured duels and deck lists streamed by. "See the difference yet?"

Jessica blinked. "Umm… Well, obviously they lack a theme."

Hmm? Oh yeah, good point. "Yes, but that's not what I'm getting at here." He quickly summarized and displayed a number of decklists into card names and count. "This makes it more obvious I think."

His sister leaned closer… "I'm not sure I'm catching it."

John tapped the number. "Three of a kind. Which they do for most of the cards in their deck."

That got her to raise an eyebrow. "So?"

He gestured at her deck. "Would you put in a duplicate Agent into your organization?"

The response was sudden. Instinctively, instantly: "No, of course not!"

Then she fell into confusion. "Wha?"

John grinned at her. "Unless a specific Duel Monster Soul fragment was bound by Lore, Tradition, Mythos, or Legend… They reject duplicate fragments. They consider them pointless and excessive, and it divides the benefits of connecting with the Duelist."

She narrowed her eyes. "But what about stuff like that trio of Dragons that one famous guy online is obsessed about? The guy who built a plane shaped like his card? Or even you with your three T.A.D.P.O.L.E.s in your deck?"

He waved that off. "Those three dragons are literally components intrinsically bound to one near god-like monster, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. All the benefits are devoted to one powerful entity, who is connected with that Duelist directly."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "So what, you have a Wriggly Ultimate Tadpole in your deck somewhere?"

…What an odd mental image. "No, in my particular case it is connected to some of the field spells and the Frogs themselves. See, the T.A.D.P.O.L.E. monsters represent the 30,000 tadpoles that can spawn from one mating session... It's why they don't care that more than one fragment is currently coexisting in my pond."

She blinked. "What?"

Huh? Oh, oops. "My deck, I meant my deck." Darn it, was the connection still messing with his Mind?

[[Mind is currently uncompromised. HOST is still feeling echoes of recent deep connection with the traces of binding with new 'Boss Monster' of his primary deck.]]

Huh. "Anyway, Duelists who DON'T connect deeply with their Deck have to add extra copies of their cards because they play the game using the most difficult of handicaps."

His sister began shuffling her sleeved cards. "Less synergy with their cards? Since they don't share a theme I mean. That would mess up a lot of the potential combo plays, I think."

John shook his head. "No, far worse than that: Those players are subjected to probability."

The lists came up again. "Unlike powerful Duelists, they can only draw cards that are statistically possible. For key combo pieces or win conditions, they have to play duplicates to increase the odds of having what they need when they are needed… As for the rest of their decks?"

Famous online examples continued to flicker by. "Cards that increase consistency by searching out other components from your deck. Cards that thin out the deck, by replacing themselves when played or that can discard copies of themselves to hopefully increase the chance of drawing something useful. Cards that stall out a Duel for several turns, so you can frantically search for what you need as fast as possible."

More and more images appeared as John watched them pass by. "There are some decks that are basically designed to commit suicide! To hatchet up their entire library and hurl stuff into the graveyard until they can dig up the two or three cards they need to hopefully win as soon as possible, theoretically before their opponent can connect with THEIR deck and draw the perfect counter to instantly win a game. It's all a bit crazy, honestly."

Lounging on the hotel bed, Temptation idly hummed. "What do the strong people do then? For their deck I mean."

John swapped the lists to a new list. "Like Jessica and I, they connect with one or more Archetypes. Families or related networks of cards, ones that have individual components that support each other."

Oh, right! "Just a side note: There are still a few oddballs, like my Treeborn Frog for example, that likes to go play with OTHER decks and act like an 'engine', using his ability to hop back out of the grave to supply Tribute fodder so powerful creatures can be called forth that don't even belong to the Frog family in any detectable way… But those that do that always tend to be a bit strange to begin with. Apparently being tributed to the graveyard to summon something stronger is a bit of a power rush for those used as materials, and some Duel Monsters chase that thrill."

Apparently Substitoad felt exasperated but fond concern over Treeborn's antics. The amphibian acted like a tadpole on a sugar rush though, or something like that… Hyperactive to the extreme! Energy to the max!

Still, they were both close friends.

Which was good, considering that Substitoad ended up being pushed into using his Tributing ability on that guy often enough in most duels to call forth family members while allowing that goofball to constantly hop in and out of the graveyard like a maniac.

Anyway! "For people with our level of Soul empowerment, probability isn't the issue: It's strengthening the narrative that wins you the Duel. Each battle is a conflict of Concepts and Legends and stuff… The use of our Themes allows us to push our opponent until they lose the fight, sometimes before they can even take a single turn."

Some of the online videos made that VERY clear, with opponents too terrified to even draw barely able to even summon a Monster before they attempt to throw the match or concede the Duel directly.

John carefully spread out his cards. "My way of playing this deck is to emphasize its nature: Tons of mostly small hopping creatures that constantly move cards from my deck to my hand to my graveyard and back again. It doesn't really rely on spells or traps, in fact most of those can actually mess up my pace if I use them wrong… Thankfully, just the act of frogs and toads moving about can alter the game state heavily."

Hopping opponent cards back into their owners hands, stealing enemies as they hop the fence, relying on the T.A.D.P.O.L.E.s in the graveyard to enhance the combat potential of the amphibian frontline or to alter interactions of frogs on the board…

John glanced at his sister's deck. "As for yours?"

She hummed. "A central command of secret agents and spies, ones that use gadgets and other resources to support the Super Agent out to get things done and boost the effectiveness of it all. Then, when I've secured the battlefield or if some emergency comes up? We call out SPYRAL Sleeper, and he dominates the chosen targets and defeats all foes."

Hmm, he had seen that one before, right? System?

[[SPYRAL Sleeper: Level 8 Light Fiend, with 2,800 attack and 1,200 defense. Can only be Special Summoned by banishing three SPYRAL cards from the graveyard. Once per turn, during either player's turn, Sleeper can target one SPYRAL card the Duelist controls on the field and sacrifice it to destroy two cards of any type your opponent controls on the field. When Sleeper is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, wipe the Duelist's board of all cards and summon forth one SPYRAL Super Agent from the hand, deck, OR graveyard to hopefully complete the mission!]]

Good grief! "Yeah that… That's kind of a massive threat right there."

His sister chuckled before glancing over at his deck. "What about you? Got some mountain sized frog to squish opponents?"

John hummed. "Because most of my Frogs are so weak, there are a lot of support cards out there that are considered 'useless' that I can use to great effect. They were formed to be very powerful to make up for the restricted uses they theoretically can have, and my pond takes advantage of that. Plus, I've got a couple of surprises when needed."

He randomly drew a card from the deck, and of course it was the one he wanted to show off. "First off, this is Sea Lancer! A level 5 Water Beast-Warrior, he can increase his 1,300 attack by 1,000 as long as a banished aqua type monster is attached to them as equipment."

Just a couple of those would make the dude a HUGE threat on the board. "If you try to smash him, he can sacrifice one of those attached frogs instead to survive… Which sends my frog back to the graveyard instead of exiled again, and I've got several little guys who LOVE the graveyard and can do all sorts of neat things there!"

John grinned as he glanced at the trident wielding mermaid dude. "This one guy not only gives me a huge beat stick if I just need to smash something, but he lets me use several strong but dangerous cards that have the nasty detriment cost of banishing stuff… Now the banished frogs can not only support the pond in battle, but can return triumphant to our family's graveyard while further protecting our defending fighter. Win win baby!"

He started to show off the second card and… hesitated.

This was the one that he hadn't drawn. Nor placed down.

Ignoring that. Move to the third! "And last but not least, at the end of it all… We have my go-to party hopper: 'Amphibian Angel - Mifrog'! He's not powerful himself, as a level 5 Water Aqua with only 1,400 attack, but he gains more abilities the more Tributes are used to summon him."

Kind of an odd frog, considering how little time he usually spends outside of the pond. "His main feature is using the power of the ones who were tributed to suddenly swamp ALL spells and trap cards on the field while calling forth the ENTIRE host of frogs in the pond graveyard back to the fight!"

True it needed a bit of setup to get him empowered enough to pull that off, but the benefit literally pays for itself if you went through that hassle.

Unfortunately Jessica noticed the one card that John was NOT touching. "What about that one?"

Ah. "Still having my System analyze that one… It's strong, but… He follows different rules."

The card shivered and somehow turned itself face up.

Without flipping itself, and without moving.

It exposed the creature within, and John frowned at it. "This is 'Toadally Awesome'. Substitoad says they are great guys and most of the others agree, but…" The image flickered. "The issue is not the toads themselves. No, they are amazing!"

Like, they had to be right? It was smack dab right there in their name!

Or did the name only reference the big toad at the bottom, both that toad and the smaller one sitting on his head… Or even the fruit thing on THAT little dude's head? Some combination? All together? Whatever, they all seemed to be a unit: Substitoad didn't have a clue either. Those oddballs.

And what kind of fruit was that anyway?

[[The depicted fruit is a 'Daidai', a bitter Japanese orange. This card is inspired by the famous desert, Kagami mochi, which is composed of two stacked Mochis, one Daidai fruit, and a little leaf.]]

Yep. Odd as all get out.

But that wasn't the main issue here. There were OTHER cards with multiple people represented, or abstract concepts or whatever… No, it was more than that.

Something felt strange.

John tried to focus on the stupid thing one more time.

…Yeah, he was pretty sure 'Toadally Awesome' was mostly referencing the big fat one on the bottom being used as a resting spot by his friend and the fruit on top.

A ŗ͉̖͎͖̰͘͢a̟n̢͇͙͖̱͈̞k͎̥͇̭̝͘ͅ 2 Water Aqua/X̤͖́͠Y̼͉͢Z̶̙ monster, one with a pretty good 2,200 attack and no defense… But why did it cause such unease?

John idly touched the card, seeing it vanish and return. "You can special summon…" No, that was not right. "You can X̢̘͉̤̻͜ͅỲ̢̧̪̝̣͙̘̭̹Z̙̗̺͓͖͉̪͞ ̰͕̞̻̲͜͜͝summon this guy by Tributing… No, that's wrong too!"

He GLARED at the strange fragment. "It isn't Tributing at all! Instead, it can utilize two level two Aqua monsters on my field as X̤͖́͠Y̼͉͢Z̶̙ materials, which special summons this guy and shifts both of those two monsters underneath Toadally Awesome to act as a resource!"

Forget this guy not counting as Tributing those cards, which was important to remember… It barely counted as 'Special Summoning to begin with! "He's not really part of my Deck. He never will be! He lives somewhere else, like an Extra Deck that I can barely interact with or understand! If I even TRY to put him into my hand or Deck, he will just hop off to… Somewhere. Not banishment though, and he can be sent to the graveyard like any other toad or frog…"

With a snort, John leaned back. "Anyway, you bring this dude out and two of my guys get turned into X͚̜Y̸̖̖͚̼͕Ź͓͇ materials. If they are used up, or if he dies, they go off to my pond graveyard as usual, so whatever."

Jessica's eyes were wide as they both watched Toadally Awesome begin to exist elsewhere on the table top. "...He seems like a bit of a handful."

Sigh. "True, but his ability makes putting up with all that… Strangeness… Worth it in the end."

He began summarizing what the dude could do. "First of all, he can transform ANY two level 2 guys I got into his big ole chunky boy to smack someone. Suddenly turning two 100 attack or 500 attack guys into a massive 2,200 attack beat stick can make a heck of an impact!"

But that wasn't even the best part! "Once every turn, by detaching one of the guys bound under him as materials and sending them home to the graveyard? He can call forth a frog from my deck straight to the battlefield. ANY of them!"

He poked the card again, making it vanish to some unseen Extra Deck and return. How did it even get SLEEVED in the first place? John hadn't done that! "Or, if the other Duelist uses a magic card or a monster effect or trap or whatever, I can send an Aqua card from my hand or face up on the battlefield to STOP my opponent, destroy their card… And set it to MY side of the field instead! Just… Yoink!"

Crazy stuff right there. "Even if you DO manage to blow him up, he can use his tongue to snag any water type monster from my graveyard before he enters it and snap it back up into my hand! Except for copies of himself I think? Maybe? Because that would send him off back to that Extra deck instead… CAN there be copies of him? Are there OTHER cards in my Extra Deck!? How would I KNOW!?"

And he felt Grace glomp him from behind. "Shh, it's alright… Just breathe in… And out…"

Jessica on the other hand was looking more than a little concerned. "Are there… Are there a lot of cards like that? Ones that don't actually exist in your deck?"

Grace hummed. "None in your Deck, we adjusted your defenses to prevent that sort of thing after our Lord had an… Extreme reaction when connecting with his Duel Monsters."

John kept sensing SOMETHING out there, flickering. "Beyond Normal summoning and Flip summoning, further than Special summoning and Tribute summoning… I touched the echoes…"

Not simply X̢̘͉̤̻͜ͅỲ̢̧̪̝̣͙̘̭̹Z̙̗̺͓͖͉̪͞ summons, but R̢̟i̦̯̤̻͓̖͜ͅt͙͇̤̣̹u͔̘̼͍̭a̸̭̰͖̭l̡̟̪͍̗̝ͅ summons, ̩̲͚͙̞͇̯L͏i̴ṇ̸͓k̷͍̲͓̯̤ summons, ͈͔͡F͚̝̜̤u̦͖̬s͉̜͈̹i̶o̬̙n͔͉͘ summons, ̶͈̮̘̳S̠̰̻͈̦̫y̭͎̭͓̣n͖̱̣͜c҉̪͈̞̼̜̘h̷̺̻̳̻̭r̛͈̖͇̜̠̣o̻͔͉̙̙ summons, ̸̺͕P̺͇̫͝e̙̖̪̪̬̼̲n̦̥͚̣̯̱̤͝d͖̻͉u̶̪̹̣̤̦̰l͓̱͉͟u͇̭͍̱̫̱̕m̵͉ summons…

.

[[My mind, it wandered as I set off to sea... A drifting horizon we thought it would be... Yet all storms did collapse and blue skies descend... Mind lost and wandering these seas once again...]]

.

His Mind began to strain… T̲̻̺̲̰r͉ḁ̢͙͚̙͕͕̟n̬̯̮̥̥͞s̳̟̺͢f̹̗̣͔̫͖o͍͜r̺̗̠̩͠m̤̺̩a͏̣͇̰t̠̝̼̬̜ͅiọ̤ṇ̪̮̗͇̞͟ summons? Ov͔̜͝e̠̻͉͙̥̗r͖̗̫̘s̛͖̮ć͚͎͇̬̣͕̤a̗̭̮l̥͉̥̥e̦̺ ̲͕͖̫̭͚͞P̼͔̪̯͚e̞͔͇̻̗̗̤nd̡͕͖͓̩ú̖͙͍̺̱̫̱l̰͓͕̖͎͞u͝m summons… R͇͇͟e̱̭̰̯͓̠̕i̳̞̥͉͖̯n̖̖͇̳̪c̝a̤̺͙̖r̲̗̦n̛̗̲ͅa̞̝̗̰t̶̘͇̼̤͚i͠ǫ͙̳n̺͡ ͇͡L̵̺̻͖̼͔i͎͇n͏k̼̫̯̝̯̝ summoning!?

.

[[For distant of shores I found out there were more... Entwined and yet twisted, cause lost at the core... These seas, they are endless! A maze to be sure... Yet others go sailing, none knowing this Lore…]]

.

"Shh, my Lord… Let it go, don't listen or look…"

That… that was better… Calmer…

And something unseen was not seen once more.

Another pair of warm arms wrapped around them both. "Would you like me to step on the toad, master?"

John couldn't help but snort. "It isn't Toadally Awesome himself that is the problem…" Focus. Find balance. In. And out.

Right.

Looking over at a VERY tense and worried sister, he attempted a smile. "Short answer is: Yes, there are a few cards that can end up in this sort of 'Extra Deck' thing. But me and Grace have got this in the bag! A bit more testing and some research and that whole 'existential crisis' issue will be patched and done with, no problem!"

The card on the table flickered out of existence once more.

John didn't even glance at it. "Get back here or I won't take you with me when we leave existence."

And it was back. And looked a bit sheepish, which was impressive for a toad.

Progress!