If one wants to get news out quickly they go to Vox.

If one wanted to get news out without having the entire message altered they found some other method.

Some resorted to the internet, though there was always the risk that Velvette would get involved. While her word had made more than one demon she had ruined countless others and, through the other Vees, claimed the ideas of others for herself. Others independent channels that flew under the radar of Vox. Another risk as he was known to create fake stations just to catch people trying to avoid him. Going to the Radio Demon was… never a good idea.

But Cecelia had realized that sometimes the old ways were the best ways.

"After all," she informed Stallen, "we do have a newspaper. As well as an entire crew of paperboys that do nothing but sit around jerking themselves off."

"Literally," Greta complained, closing the door to the paperboy breakroom. "We might want to invest in some cleaning products…"

And so, on an average day in Hell, trillions of its citizens woke up to find flyers in their mail boxes…

~MC~MC~MC~

"Well well well," Alastor said, looking over the sheet of paper that had been waiting for him in the hotel's mailbox. "And everyone got the same thing… how interesting."

"Its just junk mail," Husk complained with a roll of his eyes, taking a bite out of his bacon. It was just him, Charlie, Vaggie, Edwin, Aria, and Alastor having breakfast that morning. Sir Pentious had taken the Egg Bois out for breakfast, since they'd been whining that they wanted some donuts but despite what Charlie bought they kept claiming 'Those aren't donuts!'. Angel Dust was still asleep and no one knew when he'd be up and Niffty… well, no one was for sure what she was doing only they kept hearing her demented little giggles.

"Come now, just because everyone got it doesn't mean its useless. In fact I'd say you'd be rather interested in this." He suddenly looked up at Aria, the hellhound letting out a yelp and ducking her head as the Radio Demon stared at her intently, stabbing into the barely cooked rotting deer head that was his normal breakfast. "Tell me, my dear, what do you know of this… Duel Monsters?"

Alastor waved the flyer about. The background had been done to look like the wall of some ancient Egyptian Tomb, the text having a decidedly old timey feel as it advertised the newest card game to come to Hell, along with a picture of a few cards. There was little else about the game, other than a note about where to go if you wished to order cards. A tease, nothing more.

And Alastor HATED to be teased.

For Aria though she was already finding it hard to get through breakfast. It hadn't really hit her, when she had rushed to find Edwin, that her friend was surrounding himself with some VERY powerful demons. Aria had always been a bit of a fangirl when it came to the higher ups in Hell, learning the names and deeds of powerful Sinner Demons. Unlike most she hadn't been to the Pride Ring until she had been released from the orphanage and thus they weren't an actual threat to her for much of her life. That naivety had nearly cost her before Bianca had helped her escape to Earth but the knowledge about the Overlords, Ars Goetia, Kings and Queens of Sin, and of course Lucifer himself remained.

So after the night before had seen Aria learn that, in every way but title, one of her closest friends and adopted family was now an Overlord, she had found herself enjoying breakfast with Overlord Husk, Overlord Alastor, and the Princess of Hell itself.

It was a wonder she hadn't been reduced to a quivering puddle of jelly yet.

"Uh… yeah," Aria said nervously. "Its… a card game."

"Is it now?" Alastor said, raising an eyebrow.

"You'd hate it," Edwin replied casually, reaching over and placing his hand over Aria's larger one. "Doesn't involve stealing souls at all.

That made Alastor chuckle. "Such a dry wit!"

"That's me," Edwin said with a smirk, realizing that letting Alastor know just how many times Duel monsters had been used to steal people's souls might not have been the brightest thing he could do. "Honestly though it's a fun game… at least when people aren't using it to settle ALL their problems."

"All of them?" Charlie asked, blinking in surprise.

Edwin began to tick off the points. "Well, since I began playing it was used to decide who had control of a multi-billion dollar company, who was the better dancer, and who got the last chicken at a grocery store."

"Cassie?" Aria asked.

"Cassie."

Charlie considered that, a smile slowly forming on her lips. "Oh… oh that would be wonderful! Instead of everyone resorting to violence people could use the card game to settle their differences!"

"Actually-" Aria began only to clam up when Charlie turned towards her. "Meep."

"You okay?"

"Mmmhmmm," the hellhound managed to get out, blushing under her fur.

Charlie turned to Edwin. "You and Aria played Duel Monsters, right? Will you teach us?"

Edwin forced himself not to grimace. He had been looking forward to NOT having his life revolve around the damn trading card game but it seemed like Heaven wanted to make his punishment even worse. But he really didn't have a way out of things; there was no good reason for him not to show Charlie, and anyone else interested, in how to play Duel Monsters. And Charlie did have a point that; while Duel monsters did tend to end up with a lot of soul stealing and mind control and the like… that was common in Hell. He'd already felt Vox trying to take control of his mind thanks to his hypnotic stare through the TV screen and it was only the Millennium Key that had prevented that. And soul stealing? Well… Edwin couldn't actually preach how evil that was when he now controlled millions of souls.

"Yeah, sure," Edwin said. "We'll have to get cards though."

"Please pick some up for Husker and I, would you?" Alastor stated, pulling out an old fashion change purse and selecting a few hundred dollar bills. "Whatever we'll get from this, of course. We would love to join you but we have other things to take care of."

"We do?" Husk said only for Alastor to turn to him and flash a darker smile than was the norm for him.

"We do," Alastor said and Husk at once shut up. "Fair thee well, chums! We'll see you all at supper!" With that Alastor left, dragging Husk along with him.

"…so can we get Niffty to clean that up?" Edwin asked, staring in disgust at Alastor's breakfast.

~MC~MC~MC~

"And with the latest disaster to strike KaibaCorp one has to ask: when will its CEO, Seto Kaiba, be forced to answer for his continued mismanagement. Reporting from Domino, this is Nick Nappa."

Seto turned off the tv, his face a dark glower.

"Well," Pegasus said over the speakerphone, "I didn't quite get ALL of that but it didn't sound good from my end."

"Kipling Chaos is going scorched earth on us," Seto growled. He had been forced, thanks to the KaibaCorp headquarters blowing up, to move his office to one of their satellite buildings. It was farther out than he wanted, meaning he had to be driven far longer and while he could do work from the back of the limo it still wasn't as good as his office. He had considered working from home but with CCN now going on the attack he'd been forced to remain active, not wanting anyone to claim he was shrinking from his duties as CEO.

And the office wasn't even up to snuff, in his opinion. He didn't have the dedicated hardrive system that could handle the design programs he liked to use, so he was forced to make do with the ones that were on site; they would be installed in a week. Other departments, all headed up by newly promoted heads, were stationed at other buildings so he couldn't simply talk to them face to face. Even the chair wasn't the one he liked.

"And why wouldn't he?" Pegasus asked and Seto could see the man in his mind's eye. He was probably sitting on a beach somewhere, wearing a silk bathing robe and drinking some fruity little drink with sunglasses perched on his nose. He should have been in Domino, helping Seto deal with the mess he found himself in, but Pegasus had merely stated that it wasn't his problem. His company made Duel Monster Cards... and Seto had been quite clear that despite their merged businesses KaibaCorp belonged to HIM. "His nephew, his heir, died on that gaudy blimp of yours. You didn't even manage to bring home his body. The man might be a touch clumsy but he is still ruthless."

"Then maybe you should leave your little vacation and talk some sense into the man," Seto snapped. "Don't you think you've spent enough time frolicking in the sun?"

Pegasus was utterly quiet at that. A surprising twist that Seto wasn't used to. Normally the man couldn't keep his mouth shut. It pleased Seto to no end that he had finally-

"Seto," Pegasus said slowly, coldly. With none of the normal mirth that he adopted whenever he spoke to others. Him saying Seto's first name, with none of the playful teasing that he knew irritated Seto to no end… it was like opening an oven door expecting a blast of heat only to be hit with an arctic storm. "I have been in America meeting with Arno and Josiah Chaos, letting them know how sorry I was that their son died. I was on my way back to Domino to meet with Kipling Chaos when KaibaCorp was bombed. I have… I have been meeting with the families of those lost." His voice grew softer. "I have mourned those that were lost."

And then his voice changed again. Though now… it was full of fury. Not burning. Still utterly cold.

"Have you thought for one moment about them? Any of them? Aria Potts. Cassie… Cassie Garnet. Martin-"

"They're dead," Seto replied just as coldly. "I do no favors to the living by wasting my time focusing on the fallen."

"…why am I not surprised," Pegasus said in a resigned tone. "You wondered about Kipling? Spoke about how he was coming after you? He is fighting like a man that lost his child. Even if Edwin wasn't his son he cared for him as such. You… you simply have no idea what lengths a father will go to in order to protect their child. Or avenge them."

"And god willing I never will," Seto said with mild disgust. "I am no one father's. Not the type."

"Oh, on that we agree." Pegasus paused. "How is Mokuba, by the way?"

Seto hung up the phone and stormed out of his office.

About a mile away Moxie glared at his boss. "Sir, Seto Kaiba is leaving his office-"

"Shhhh!" Blitzo said, covering the phone with his hand. "Listen Mox I know when you fuck Mils you tend to finish in ten second and force her to break out whatever vibrator she has shoved in her nightstand but I'm not one to rush things! Let me seal this deal, would ya?"

"Considering how much you SPY on us you should know none of what you said was true."

"Darn tootin'!" Millie declared, giving Moxie a sidearm hug. "Ain't no piece of plastic that can beat my Moxie!"

"Then you've never tried the Gal Pal 8000," Loona replied with a lazy yawn before returning to filing her claws.

"I most… they have an 8000?"

"millie!"

But the female imp merely squeezed him tighter. "Not for me, silly."

"Oh?" Moxie blinked. "Oh! Ooooooh."

"Would you all shut up about making Moxie's ass so gaping we could drive a semi through it!" Blitzo complained. "I… ah, there it is! Yes, I'm willing to remain hold."

"You've just been on hold!?" Moxie shouted, setting the sniper rifle down next to the detonator that Millie and Loona had set up. The plan was to make sure Seto Kaiba was really, really, really dead. So Moxie would shoot him in the head and then they'd blow up the building, just so there was no chance he could come back as a zombie like the last time they had tried to kill someone in Japan. Then the ashes would be lit on fire before being used to make a clay statue of Seto that would be given to Gozaburo to do with as he wished. A Number 3, as Blitzo had termed it.

Blitzo glared at them. "Hey, I'm trying to do something nice for all of us here but you are making me think I should leave you out of this!"

"Aw," Millie said. "Well, not aw to you leavin' Moxie out but aw to you doing something nice for us! What are you doing?"

"I'm order us all a box of those new Duel Monster cards. Supposed to be all the rage!"

"Oh! I heard 'bout them!" Millie said excitedly. "Supposed ta be a real fun game! Lots of strategy and the like!"

"Exactly. Will be a good way to kill time between clients showing up."

Loona didin't even look up. "And I suppose it has nothing to do with you finding out that some of the cards feature centaurs?"

"not at all!" Blitzo lied. "I mean sure, its nice that there will be some half man/half horse on a card… all the joys of a horse but also handjobs but-yes, I'm still here! I'd like to order 5 boxes of Duel Monster cards?" He paused. "Yes… yes… so its 1111, 22, 3-"

"THAT'S MY CREDIT CARD NUMBER!" Moxie screamed, leaping at his boss who quickly got out of the way.

"Of course it is! What, you thought I'd buy you all a box of cards? Come on, Mox, not all of us are as generous as you!"

"Then why did you say you were doing something nice for us!?"

"I'm on hold, aren't I?" Blitzo said, leaping away from a thrashing Moxie… and landing on the detonator.

The members of IMP stared as the satellite building exploded.

"…at least we killed him?" Millie offered.

"Nope," Loona said, having grabbed some binoculars and looking down at a road that led away from the building, "he managed to leave while Fatty was fighting with Dumbass."

"You're fatty," Blitzo replied before focusing on the phone again. "Yes, I'd like rush delivery…"

~MC~MC~MC~

"A card shop, huh?" Cecelia said, doing her best to remain utterly aloof and collected. She had a lot of practice with that from her human life; while her family had been very rich and powerful it still remained that there was more powerful people out there. Richer people. There always were in life and you couldn't believe that you were always the top dog so it was best to teach your children humility lest they cause an international incident when meeting some warlord's pride and joy.

That said… meeting the Princess of Hell, daughter of Lucifer himself?

That required her to REALLY call upon her skills.

"Yeah!" Charlie exclaimed. "Aria suggested it! It would give you a place to sell your cards that was deeper in Pentagram City and you would help me get more demons into my hotel!" Charlie beamed at that. "Your game is also a perfect way for them to blow off stress."

Cecelia considered that. It was a good option… the newspaper offices weren't exactly in the greatest of locations. And it would be nice to have a dedicated place for people to go so it truly felt like something everyone should get…

"And you could sell other stuff too," Aria suggested as she waited for Greta to box up her cards; already Vaggie had her's, as well as the ones they were getting for Niffty, Angel Dusk, Sir Pentious, Husk, and Alastor. There had been some discussion on whether they should get the Egg Bois cards but in the end Edwin had argued that they'd probably just end up drawing on them to make their own 'new cards' and it would be better to wait and see if they could handle the responsibility. Vaggie had agreed with that, as she was already annoyed Charlie had agreed to buy Edwin cards; Alastor had at least paid for his. Charlie had argued though that Edwin had given them so much in rent that they could do a favor for him.

"Other stuff?" Cecelia asked.

"Yeah!" Aria said happily. "See, on Earth card and game shops have all sorts of other things in them. Action Figures, clothes, comics… you could sell those."

"How would we make money though?" Greta asked as she finished getting Aria her box, Edwin stepping up and getting his… and quietly slipped her an order form for several more boxes; he might have been annoyed that Duel Monsters would be invading his life again but he was no dummy and knew he needed to make sure that he was able to be at the top of the heap when Hell went insane for the cards.

As such Edwin said, "You overcharge."

"Edwin!" Charlie complained.

"Its true," he said with a shrug. "You buy up a bunch of stuff and charge a bit more. But because people can't find the rare things or because you have stuff that is no longer made… well, you are able to charge more."

"That doesn't seem nice though," Charlie argued.

"Its capitalism. You think that the demons you buy your food from aren't making a profit?"

"Well… I mean…" Charlie finally let out a huff. "Okay, fine, you win!" She jabbed a finger at Greta. "But you two better not price gouge!"

"We won't," Cecelia lied. "I'll come by in a few days and we can look at what you have set up. Right now I'm kinda busy with all of this but I really do what to see if your hotel will work for our needs."

"Right, sounds good," Vaggie said. "Now let's go before the nerds drool over us a bit more." She looked at the next group of demons coming in, the imps licking their lips at the sight of Vaggie, Charlie, and Aria. Even Edwin was getting stares.

At least until he snarled, eyes flashing and, for a brief second and only to the nerdy imps, several of the Kul Elna thieves appeared behind him with their weapons at the ready. Then they hurried to go about their business.

Cecelia waved before leaning into Greta and hissing, "This is fucking amazing! Lucifer's daughter is going to be playing out game! I thought it was going to be big when Fizzarolli came in earlier getting several boxes but Lucifer's kid… this game is going to explode."

"Aw shit, really?" Cherri Bomb said, pushing her way to the front of the line.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Why are we still investigating this?" Husk asked as he and Alastor hunkered down in an abandoned apartment building. "We now got that hellhound who knew Edwin before he died. Just pull some of your voodoo bullshit on her and get her to talk."

"First of all, Husker, that isn't sporting at all," Alastor stated. "After all, I could just torture Edwin to get the information out of him. But where is the fun in that? No no no… far more entertaining to sniff out his secrets. Why be a hammer when I can be a chisel? Slowly carving away at the rocky façade he has made until not only are his secrets laid bare before me… but all the rest of him as well? Who knows what else he might be hiding?"

"Fine… then we do this dumbass investigation." Husk let out a sigh and pulled out a flask, taking a drink.

But Alastor laughed at that. "Oh my dear Husker… this has nothing to do with Edwin anymore!"

"…what?" Husk said slowly.

"All of this. It has nothing to do with Edwin. I will learn his secrets, yes, but this is an entirely different case."

"…are you fucking kidding me?!" Husk shouted, throwing his arms into the air. "What the fuck are we doing here if this has nothing to do with your man crush on Edwin!"

"It isn't a man-crush. There is no need to be vulgar. Furthermore-" And with that Alastor summoned the chain the represented his deal with the former overlord, holding it tight in his hand as he slowly pulled Husk towards him. The feline-looking demon grew quiet and scared as Alastor loomed over him, eyes blazing red even as he smiled. "-it is not for you to question why I do anything. You remember well the stories of what I did to the other Overlords… after all that is how you and several others got their positions… before I decided to clean house once again. That time I showed a kindness by yanking you from your thrones in the most humane way possible. You wouldn't want me to regret that choice… would… you…?"

"No… no…" Husk got out, trembling, panting rapidly.

"Good!" Alastor said, the chain disappearing and his smile becoming far less harsh. "I'm glad we understand each other, old chum!" He waved his hand and Husk blinked even as he rubbed his throat, staring at the selection of booze that appeared on the table. "Though I suppose I should be more open with you if you are to be chronicling my exploits." Alastor glanced over his shoulder. "You… are doing that, correct?"

"You forgot to tell me to do that," Husk said, mind racing to keep the Radio Demon from killing him. "I didn't think you'd want to leave evidence behind."

Alastor hummed at that… before nodding happily. "Very good point! But this time, and only this time, I'd like you to record our cases together." A pad of paper was thrown over by his shoulder and Husk took it. "Now then, we know that multiple Sinner Demons have been killed in The Burrow. They are all connected to a group called The Rare Hunters. I've done some digging, however, and found that far more Sinner Demons, along with Imps, Hellborn, and Hellhounds, have been disappearing. But, oddly enough, NOT succubi or incubi. Curious, isn't it?" he gazed out the window. "I have learned that another Rare Hunter recently made their way into The Burrows. We are going to watch their every movement until they lead us to their killer."

"And… then what?" Husk asked.

"Why… that all depends on them…"

~MC~MC~MC~

"Ooooooh, maybe this one… or this one… or…"

Asmodeus frowned as he walked into his office, Lucifer just behind him. The King of Hell had come to him to discuss some updates he wanted to do on his Embassy in the Lust Ring; while it was Lucifer's right to just do whatever he pleased Lucifer tended to ask the other Sins their thoughts as a matter of politeness. It was one of the reasons why Ozzie was always quick to accommodate him.

But rather than finding his office empty he instead found his boyfriend currently sitting on the floor, a ton of foil wrappers spread about him as he looked at stacks of… cards?

"Fizz?" Ozzie said, confused. "What's going on?"

"A snack break of epic proportions, if I had to guess," Lucifer stated. "Are we sure Bee isn't here?"

"I'm sure," Ozzie said. "My servants have standing orders to let me know if she's here so I can warn the kitchens." The Prince of Lust walked over to Fizzorolli, concerned that the imp hadn't bothered to look up at him. He was wearing one of his more casual outfits, having decided that since he was retired from the circus he didn't need to dress up ALL THE TIME. He still liked his jester hat, as he still felt nervous about his broken horns, and was wearing his face paint to cover up the burn scars, but he had on in addition to that a hoodie with the words 'Clown Around And Find Out' printed on it and a pair of sweat pants. Utterly unattractive clothing all around.

It made Ozzie so delighted to see his love all dressed down and comfy.

"Fizz?" he said again, taking a step forward.

"Oh, hey Ozzie," Fizzorolli said once more, not bothering to look up from the cards. "I'll be with you in a second, okay? I'm working on making my deck!"

"You're… deck?" Ozzie said dumbly.

"Yeah. New game that came out. Being made by a Sinner Demon. Its going to be AMAZING and I want to be on the ground floor! Well, to start… because then I'm gonna be at the penthouse! I think this might be the perfect thing for the next phase of my life."

"That's… that's great," Ozzie said at once, feeling his heart swell with joy. He had been so worried after everything with Mammon that Fizz would just retire from the outside world and remain in his palace for the rest of his days. And if that was what Fizz truly wanted he would have done all he could to support him… but he also knew it wasn't good for him. Fizzorolli thrived on the laughter and cheers of his audiences and to suddenly no longer have that? It would be like stealing water from a fish.

"So what? You're going to collect colorful pieces of paper?" Lucifer asked, leaning over Fizz to look at the cards. Ozzie had to admit the cards did look interesting. They depicted all manner of different monsters. Some dark and grim and dangerous, as was expected in Hell, but other ones were light and cheerful and probably would have been better suited in Heaven. The cards were different colors too and he figured that must mean something but he wasn't for sure what.

"Ha!" Fizz said, sorting through the cards. "I mean, yeah, sure you can do that. Trade them. Sell them. All that. But the real purpose is to duel with them. Build a deck and then take on other people! And I think I am going to be able to do just that! I just need to figure out what theme my deck will have. Apparently you don't have to have a theme for your deck but sometimes if you do its more fun and the deck works better. I will pick out a theme, get rid of the rest of these cards to buy more…"

"Seems a little odd," Lucifer said casually and Ozzie just kept watching on, wondering how long it would take Fizz to realize he was blowing off the King of Hell. Also what his reaction would be to said blowing… and not the fun kind of blow either. "But I guess some people can find amusement in the most-ARE THOSE CUTE LITTLE BIRDIES?!"

Ozzie frowned, looking down to see the card that Lucifer was staring at intently. It… did feature cute little birds on it…

"Oh yeah, Flowdereeze. I really wasn't thinking of using them so…" Fizz slowly trailed off, the imp staring finally at Lucifer as it slowly dawned on him just WHO he was talking to. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee," he got out.

Lucifer though didn't even notice, examining the card. "Are there more of these?"

"Eeeeeeeee."

"There are?"

"Eeeeeeee."

"Okay, I want this card. Is this enough?" He tossed a wad of cash at Fizzorolli, the former clown still letting out a high pitch whine even as he caught the money, counted it, and nodded. "Awesome. You know, I've been thinking that I needed to find something to get me to go out more… been hiding away in my design room for a touch too long, beginning to go stir crazy, might have made a rubber duck that looked like Lilth, had a long dinner with her, then not taken her to bed because she is NOT a whore but… this Duel Monsters might be a fun thing to get into."

Ozzie just stared at Lucifer as he began to look at the rest of Fizz's cards, the imp still whining softly.

~MC~MC~MC~

"You know," Sir Pentious said as he looked over at Edwin, "I think you must have the worst luck I've ever seen."

Edwin shot him a dark look but found himself agreeing.

Everyone had decided that they would open their packs together, that way they could not only see a ton of new cards but also make any trades they wished. As such they were all gathered in one of the empty suites in the hotel (not wanting to draw attention from anyone that might come in and deal with someone potentially stealing their cards) sitting on the floor as they opened packs and sorted through their cards.

Alastor and Husk were still out and Angel had left before they got back but Niftty had joined them along with Sir Pentious; the Egg Bois had been sent off to do… well… whatever they wanted to do. None of them really wanted to know WHAT Pentious' little minions did for fun.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Its clear that the message of the work is about how fleeting childhood is!"

"And I keep telling you," Egg Boi Ralph complained, "that the work WANTS you to believe that but in reality it is saying the reverse!"

"So you just ignore all the evidence until it fits your views?"

Egg Boi Tom spoke up. "Can we all agree that there is a deeper meaning to Pooh not having any pants?"

The Egg Bois all nodded.

~MC~MC~MC~

Aria had been the first to get a majority of her deck built. While she didn't have all the Red-Eyes Black Dragon cards that she wanted she had been able to make trades with the others in order to get something that would work well enough until she could collect the rest.

Charlie…

"Its so cute and fluffy!" Charlie squealed as she held up Melffy Rabby. "Oh, this is so going into my deck!"

"Along with all the other cute and fluffy monsters," Vaggie stated. She hadn't decided what deck she would be building BUT had managed to pull some rather rare looking cards that would allow her to make plenty of deals with others, should she choose. Sir Pentious had managed to get the beginnings of a Machine Deck going though…

"And this device… this 'Duel Disc'… you say you still remember the schematics?"

"Of course!" Aria said with a roll of her eyes. "I had to test that thing so much I could build one with my eyes closed. Actually no, because the screws are really small but I could do it."

Pentious rubbed his chin. "I wonder if I could improve upon the design. I have developed some new energy sources."

"I'm willing to try if you are!"

Edwin smiled at Aria and Pentious bonding before he opened another pack of cards. "Garbage. Garbage. Garbage… and Dark Blade. A normal monster with barely there attack. Yaaaaaay."

"Seriously?" Vaggie said. "You have the worst luck." Edwin hadn't been able to pull a powerful card or even get two cards of the same archtype during his entire unboxing. "Even Niftty managed to do better."

"Exodia obliterate!" the maid cackled, throwing her hands in the air as she spread out all five pieces of Exodia.

"I know," Edwin said darkly.

"Aw… maybe you just got a bad box," Charlie stated. "Hey, why don't we trade packs?" She held out one of hers and, after a moment, Edwin accepted.

"Alright… so garbage… garbage… garbage… oh!" His eyes lit up. "A Kuriboh!"'

"A what now?" Vaggie said, confused.

"A Kuriobh. A little furball. He's weak but a lot of famous duelists tend to get their own version of him."

"They do?" Aria asked, breaking away from her conversation with Pentious. "I didn't know that."

"Uh… year. Totally." Edwin mentally slapped himself for letting future knowledge leak through. "My own little Kuriboh. That's-"

He pulled the card out fully.

"Uh, that says 'Wretched Ghost of the Attic'," Vaggie stated.

Edwin pressed his lips together. "Seriously? What the fuck?"

Charlie, oddly, was very silent.

"…what did you pull?" Edwin said slowly.

"Nothing?"

"What… did you pull?"

Charlie slowly revealed Harpie's Feather Duster.

"FUCK!" he roared, throwing his head back.

"Ooooo," Niftty said, staring at the card. "I want THAT card…"

"We could trade…"

Edwin stood up, grabbing all the cards he'd pulled. "I need some fresh air."

"Oh, do be like that, Edwin!" Charlie called out but he waved her off (fighting the urge to flip the bird) and headed out into the hall. "It's all… oh, there were two Harpie's Feather Dusters suck together! That's cool!"

Edwin rolled his eyes as he made his way back to his room. "Okay, you are acting like a little bitch. You can easily get whatever cards you want, zero problem. There is no reason to be throwing a fit over anything that just happened." He shut the door and had Jackie seal the room. "Mother fucking lucky jackasses," he grumped, laying out a few of his cards. "Goblin Calligrapher. Key Mace. Tri-Horn Dragon. Dear lord these cards suck."

He had made due with bad cards before. Duelist Kingdom had seen him using his uncle's deck and while he had augmented it with cards he'd bought from different card shops it still hadn't been the best deck ever. Still, he had been hoping that he might be able to do more in Hell than struggle by with a shit deck.

"Seriously…" he muttered, reaching out to collect the cards… only for his finger to light up and consume them in flames. "And there goes 80 dollars. God damn… it?"

He stared at the cards as the fires began to die down. They weren't burned at all… rather they were instead transformed. Altered. The Normal Monsters turned into effect cards and all the monsters seeming to have, for lack of a better word, calcified. Bones covered them, as did jewels, like they had been left to slowly rot away until parts of them had become skeletalized.

Edwin slowly picked up a card.

"Mementotian…" he murmured.