The bustle of the crowd was loud with murmurs and bright with chaos when the balcony above shockingly burst into fireworks and trumpets!
And suddenly everything was unnaturally quiet.
The colored smoke cleared away, and the soft croaks of unseen amphibians and the buzz of small insects seemed to echo as hanging vines were pulled back and a dapper frog with dashing attire marched forth, bugle raised.
He then stood tall! "Presenting his Royal Highness, Host of the Spiritual Wetlands and Traveler to Impossible Lands: Emperor John Doe the First!"
And the crowded courtyard was FILLED with loud croaks and chaos as a young man walked up to the balcony before the crowd.
He should have looked silly. He was wearing a bright green and brown outfit, with a royal cape and… Well, a froggy hat. One with a crown.
But something about him loomed over the world.
The sky was but a fraction of his vision, as he peered down upon them all. As if unaware of his own power, as far above them as weak minds could understand without being shorn asunder.
Despite the massive soundscape of approval, the world seemed slightly silenced just due to his sheer presence as he perched upon his castle.
Yet the froggy Herald continued. "Presenting the Royal Princess, Woman in Black, Director of SPYRAL and Guardian of His Majesty: Jessica Doe, beloved by the Emperor!
And somehow always there yet suddenly appearing, a professional woman wearing a sensual tuxedo dress was by the Emperor's side, observing them through means beyond understanding by mortal minds.
At her presence, the many men and women in suits throughout the castle stood tall and resolute, purpose marked in their Souls and dedication carved from their sacrifices.
Now the crowd of outsiders and the many Duel Monsters began to whisper once more, yet the Herald had one last pair to present. "Presenting the Royal Consorts: The Angel of Respite, Guardian of her Lord: Grace Doe, beloved by the Emperor!" He barely paused as he continued. "And the Demoness of Defiance, acolyte of her Master: Temptation Doe, beloved by the Emperor!"
And black and white beauty walked forth as the two women stood by the Emperor, the three standing against the world as a princess faded into the shadows they cast.
…Frog hats should never be that sexually attractive, but sometimes it was less about the outfit itself and more a situation related to those that wore it and how they presented themselves.
A ruler over all, a woman of guile, and two beauties supporting their rule: One through guidance and protection and kindness, the other by violence and proaction and efficiency.
What clapping had been ongoing faded away as the raw PRESENCE of this family oppressed the crowd. A look was more than enough to cause them to cower…
And then the Emperor smiled and waved! "Hey folks! Thanks for coming to my Tournament!"
Ignoring the sudden shift in tone entirely, the boy happily waved at the others. "Like Mr. Hoppens said, this is my sister, Jessica. She's in charge of security, so if you are worried or whatever that something needs looking at just let her or one of her agents know!"
He pulled the angel into a half hug. "This is Grace! She's making sure you all have rooms and food and stuff, if there are problems just let us know and she'll handle it! Again, talk to any agent or one of our Duel Monsters with a froggy hat and they will let us know."
A few of the deadlier creatures in the crowd awkwardly shifted as the audience realized the various monsters were actually wearing cheerful green frog hats for a reason. Like a sort of uniform, basically.
Then John pulled Temptation into the hug too! "And Temptation is handling the web stores, the sites, all the various contracts and merchandise and all that… Also the rules and stuff that keep getting changed, she's in charge of that too! Just a heads up: The final rules will be coming into place about 2 hours before the actual Tournament begins... So uh, yeah, Keep an eye out for that!"
Then he glanced at something unseen and hummed. "Oh: And just a reminder everyone! If you have a 'friend' or 'partner' that is biologically living but mentally destroyed or incapacitated, for ANY reason whatsoever, you ARE responsible for their maintenance during this entire event."
Again, John seemed to miss the crowd's shock. "They need to be fed, cleaned, dressed, etc. You probably know what to do already, this is a 'just in case' thing. Also! If you hurt anyone WHILE at this event, you may be disqualified, evicted, mind eviscerated, killed, Soul fragmented to an even further degree, or your existence itself may be eradicated or Consumed entirely depending on the severity of your actions and the consequences thereof."
Then the Frog Emperor happily grinned at the crowd! "There WILL be a few more elimination rounds and challenges before the actual tournament happens, but they all give prizes and rewards and stuff too so look forward to it! And if any of you DO get eliminated from this point forward, you still get free room and board until the tournament ends and discounts for a couple of friends if they wish to join you. Some Duelists may have guardians or parents or siblings or whatever that want to come watch the fun and all that, so Grace thought this should help with that!"
The boy tapped his chin… "What else… Oh! Right, uh, about the name… Originally this was going to be the 'Toad Emperor Presents: The Fight of the Ground Fable' Tournament. Because I had this idea that the top winners would be knighted and then our Froggy Fighters Knight Troup would go battle evil and… Uh."
He winced. "Long story short: I was told NOT to establish a froggy based military coalition of fighters or I would get grounded. But you WILL win some very cute froggy hats! Girls, show them the hats!"
Grace held up a few colorful options while Temptation somehow made the presentation of headwear feel sinfully corrupting and…
John quickly grabbed her shoulder. "Thank you Temptation, that's enough."
Her smirk was NOT subtle. "Anything for YOU, my Master…"
He coughed. "ANYWAY! Please check the website or take one of the pamphlets for a map, see any of our Agents or Duel Monster Staff members to receive your Froggy Duelist Card that gets you all kinds of stuff for free or at a discount, and have fun everyone! Okay, uh… Mr. Hoppens, play us off? Or whatever we do to end this thing."
Princess Jessica watched exasperatedly as the froggy Herald hesitated before playing a… A sort of reverse announcement set of notes? It was good enough.
And then the Royal Family was gone and the stunned crowd continued staring at the empty balcony, the massive Duel Monsters wearing adorable froggy hats, and each other in mostly confused silence.
On the other hand, the live stream had the internet going a bit nuts and the television announcers were doing their best to make sense of it all.
But at least the 'Toad Emperor Presents: The Fight of the Ground Fable' Tournament had officially begun! Huzzah!
~~~Pocket System~~~
Joey blinked at the empty announcement balcony. "Did he say something about properly treating brain dead people like pets and potentially killing us all if we hurt each other, or did I zone out a bit?"
The Dark Magician Girl hummed as she hugged Yugi. "Not all Duel Monsters or Spells treat their Duelist or each other well… And it's not like we all get along with everyone on our side of the Shadow Realm either. The rules in this case are to warn the more deadly and malicious of people and creatures that there are consequences if you cross a line while here. Especially if they already agreed to follow the Tournament rules."
Oh, that stuff the staff member had been saying when he exited the judgment corridor? "I admit, I sort of just said 'yeah' at the time because I was a bit distracted." The Red-Eyes in his shadow huffed in affectionate amusement. Seriously girl, being soaked in dragon saliva was GROSS!
She didn't even bother to PRETEND to care as she quietly purred in the Darkness. Sheesh.
Yugi was sort of able to work through his ongoing hugging situation to check his phone. "The listed punishments ARE pretty unexpected, but the actual rules are fairly straight forward… No one here is allowed to trick, threaten, attack, sabotage, or basically mess with anyone else competing."
The magical girl nodded. "That applies to both of you here AND your loved ones, by the way. The Frog Emperor was NOT impressed by past Duels using tricks like blackmailing opponents or threatening their parents or kids or whatever… The Princess and the Consorts didn't approve of that sort of thing either."
She gestured at the uniformed men and women around the courtyard, now wearing stylish froggy hats with sunglasses. "There's several teams of Agents already standing by to prevent anything like that happening during THIS event, at least, but even just attempting to do something awful like that would earn you some penalties."
Well THAT was a relief. "Didn't that Kaiba jerk once win a duel against you Yugi by holding HIMSELF hostage? He stood on the edge of the building so any attack you did would actually kill him."
And Yugi flinched. "That was… Well, apparently his little brother's life was on the line and I didn't know, so…"
The woman hugged him tighter. "It was a terrible situation, my Pharaoh… But not something that will happen THIS time, I promise." She rested her chin on his head. "If someone tried something like that here, agents would have reclaimed all the people in danger AND disqualified that boy. Using suicide threats to win is not acceptable, and any excuse otherwise simply exposes the ACTUAL issues that SHOULD be addressed."
Joey flinched, thinking back to his sister's required surgery and how that had driven him to extreme measures and beyond his own limits… But if he had dared to use tricks like blackmail or suicidal threats to win, she would have been horrified. And he would have lost something important too, in that process… "Yeah, I can see that."
Then his friend was pulled up into another of those over enthusiastic hugs! "No, THIS tournament will just be a battle between duelists! And before all that: games and challenges! There are all sorts of fair stalls and quiz stations and stuff being set up around the castle, and you earn more points the better you know your Deck and playing style and stuff!"
He ignored his lucky competitor and looked around for one of those pamphlets. "Points?"
She nodded! "You can either earn enough to make it through this elimination round to the next stage, or trade them between Duelists in approved kiosks, or turn them in for prizes or cash. Only people who actually want to Duel are likely to put in the effort to 'buy' a participation ticket, but lots of Duelists who are newish or not that talented can at least win some stuff during this event so they don't go home with nothing."
Hmm. "And those who love the game more are more likely to earn more points…" Hang on a tick. "What if some rich person just buys all the points or something?"
She shrugged. "Then a bunch of Duelists get some money. If you are the type of person willing to sell your chance to Duel, then you aren't likely going to enjoy the actual Tournament competition anyway!"
Fair enough. Oh, there was one of the pamphlets! "The King did say something about bringing in our friends, right?"
His sister hadn't been able to support him in person before, and this place DID feel safer than anywhere he had ever been, despite how odd things were turning out to be.
After all, if anything went wrong in THIS place, he had some serious muscle in his corner! Right, Red-Eyes?
She gave him a shifty look. And a draconic smirk. And a mental impression of a planned prank when his sister showed up…
…Don't you DARE lick me again! You hear me!? I mean it!
The 'innocent puppy eyes' look didn't work well on multiple tons of scales and fangs.
Red-Eyes, I'm being serious here! You hear me!?
She puffed thick black smoke towards his direction.
Damn it. "Those 'Froggy Duelist' cards that give us discounts on stuff, does that work towards more new clothing options like this set? Or cleaning services?" Please, let it be so!
A warm chuckle vibrated in the Darkness.
Quiet you!