Vanessa was not a competitive card game player.

"Booker, I hope you know I'm doing to demolish your boomer deck."

Okay. Vanessa was not a professional competitive card game player. She had the same competitive spirit with cards that she had with video games. She might not be some big-name player who poured hours into learning combos, but when she heard about a big regional Chō-No-Joō! tournament, she leapt at the chance to take part. Even if she did poorly, it would be fun seeing what a big tournament was like in 2020 when she was used to card shops and twelve-person tournaments.

It took her time, but she was fascinated by all the ways they changed the game since her... er, age nap? She quickly used a small chunk of her saved money to order a ton of cards, playing around with them. Some people, however, seemed more averse to change despite being around for all those years Nessa missed.

Like Booker. Stubborn nerd. As tempting as it was to invite Agnes, this was far more nerd than she was ready to sign the insect girl up for, and Chō-No-Joō! was always something she geeked out about with Booker. It was as much a fan event as a tournament, so she also finally had a chance to do a cosplay with her brother for the first time in a while. She picked the first series protagonist, a young girl named Yuni Mocho and her brother, naturally, decided to crossplay as her rival, Seiko Taiga.

The excited younger duelist flipped through her deck again, trying to convince herself she had good ratios and all the other things Chonotubers talked about. "I mean, you have a cool deck, but it feels kinda... old school? Amalgam Calling when there's Attunement, Overlay, Chain?" She left off Metronome Calling, because it was the one Booker disliked most, and to be fair, Nessa still barely understood it. "You'd think you were the one who woke up plopped in Twenty-Twenty after eight years."

Booker loved card games. For him it started with Witchcraft: the Collection. Oh he had so many decks. His favorite, of course, was a combination Marsh and Peninsula deck. They worked surprisingly well together and helped him to win quite a few college tournaments.

Gotchamon was another fun card game. Really the video game was better but he could understand the appeal of someone wanting to turn it into a card game. It was a collecting cash cow.

But did Perry Hotter really need a collectable card game? Whatever. That was besides the point. The point was that Chō-No-Joō was a in a league all its own.

He loved the game. Little more simplified than W:tC but fun nonetheless! The cartoon was great (well the first run was) and the game was fairly complementary. He couldn't count the amount of money he spent buying boxes of cards in those early days, just to formulate the perfect deck. They certainly had his number. And then...things changed.

New gaming aspects were created, some more complicated than the last. Booker could follow the rules pretty easily but it was all just so unnecessary; attempts to make the game more interesting. It was all so frivolous. So while the game changed, Booker only followed by a limited degree. He would stubbornly remain the last of the old guard - even in the face of his teasing sister's rhetoric.

He scoffed, looking to his sister dressed as the series protagonist. "I'd be more impressed if you actually remembered what Metronom summoning does." He did. He just didn't believe it to be a valid form of the game.

For his biting words, Booker still smirked. Dressed in his splayed white leather trenchcoat, bound black top, and far too tight slacks, he was the living facade of the genderswapped antagonist. Though he was supposed to be arrogant and stubborn, his smile to his sister was genuine. So much weird has been going on that he was thankful to have this semblance of normalcy.

Touring the tournament grounds elated Booker. He grinned and gave thumbs up to the number of players who milled about. For as competitive as the game could be, Booker didn’t call in for that. Whether he was playing against a friend or a hated rival, he was the epitome of good-natured cheer -- which was probably what was throwing some people off of his cosplay choice.

Of course, Nessa still tried to get under his skin with every step. He snickered, waving off her comments about the various other summoning methods and how he seemed to be the player caught out of time. His response was merely a shrug and a bright smile.

”Yeah, yeah,” he chuckled. ”Mock all you like, dear sister, there’s nothing wrong with the classics. Besides, someone here has to represent the superior way to play.” He gave her a cheeky grin as they pressed on. It didn’t escape his attention that he was receiving some rather odd looks. With a sigh he whispered to his sister. ”Had a feeling this would happen. People generally love a gender-swap cosplay but portraying Seiko Taiga as a dude is causing a stir in the ero-lesbian-fandom lurking about. Guess they don’t want to imagine Yuni in a Cis relationship.” A pause. Then a shudder. ”Eh. Maybe I should have gone for a different character.” Another pause and then a sigh. ”Then again, is there any character in that cartoon they don’t ship Yuni with?”

It was still kind of weird for Nessa. Booker used to be four years older than her and now he had over a decade on his younger sister. It took time to learn who Booker became after all those years and she was glad to find out he was still the goofy yet kind-hearted guy she remembered. He had done a lot of maturing, as was to be expected, but he was not some serious adult forgoing his nerdier pursuits. Clearly, since he jumped at the chance to come to a card game tournament.

After an eventful Europe trip, it was nice to spend time with her brother again, in many ways like old times. Even better than old times, since her parents were nowhere near interfering with their fun.

”I have the basic gist. Champion cards that are special Magic Cards and can Call Champions based on their Signature Numbers.” Nessa was stubborn, given Booker’s snarky tone. ”I just don’t think I have the kind of brain power to figure out how to do that well, and I’d like to win some games today.” Besides, from what she read, Metronome Calling was not as good since they added Chain Calling.

The supposed looks from some show fans earned an eyeroll from Nessa. ”Honestly, there are so many bigger things to get mad about these days. Like, go do an activism.” She was joking, but spending some time at Haven, talking with people in social activism committees put some of the sillier things Nessa used to get upset about into perspective. ”Besides, everyone knows Yuni and Anzu were endgame.”

Nessa holstered her Riot Girl deck back into the deckbox on her belt. ”I hope Javier doesn’t mind me borrowing you for the day. I’m still so glad you settled down with such a sweetheart. Given some of your exes… I had my concerns.” Of course, they shared two good ex-girlfriends, but Booker had some of his own exes and they varied in quality, to say the least. The dangers of being handsome and popular, she supposed. ”How has domestic life been, anyway?”

Ugh. Nessa started talking about Champion cards and Booker immediately heard static. It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to play those aspects of the game, he just chose not to. After all, there was nothing wrong with the classic way of playing! It was even better when he came across other like minded players who went with the truly classic version and just made shit up as they played, like the anime it was based on.

Really? Stabbing a Field Card with a Monster? Made perfect sense in the anime. And so long as you could bullshit your way talking, it could be a fun way to play.

Alas, that wasn’t the way anymore. Booker had resigned himself to being on of those last bastions of true gameplay and would represent as best he could. Even if now or days it took two minutes for your opponent to make an opening move. Ugh. Sickening.

Anyways…

He snickered a little at Nessa’s comment as they wandered the floor. The odd looks he received weren’t as numerous anymore but pointing them out to his sister immediately lit a fire under her. He chuckled. ”Ever the activist. Some things in you, my dear sister, are timeless.” He gave her a crooked grin as they continued on.

Flipping through his Secret Library deck (surprising, no?) a final time he sighed readied himself for the games that would be had. He didn’t know how the games would develop today but his sole purpose was to have fun. Of course he wanted to meet Nessa on the battlefield but it would depend on how they do. He would cross his fingers nonetheless.

A smirk instantly flew across his lips thinking of Javi. ”Oh we’ve been great! Finding a good vibe together. Definitely not like anyone else I, and of course we’ve, dated,” he snickered. ”He’s sorry he could come to cheer me on. He had a bunch of work he was behind on. And, you know, crowds.” He said, gesturing about. ”So I said I’d give him a free pass. But he’s been...amazing…” Booker said with a grin. With a dreamy sigh, he continued. ”Pretty sure I’m in love with him.” He paused for a beat before continuing. ”And yooouuu? How was…Europe?”

Vanessa laughed at the accusation, because the longer she lived in Twenty-Twenty, the further she delved into activism. "Psh, no offense to old me, but she had her toe dipped into activism." It was not entirely her fault; for a long time, Nessa went without coming out as a mutant or a trans woman. She was visible, but playing things safe. Now, she was out so might as well be loud about it. "I actually joined up with Haven after that hot tub party, so I'm hoping to really make some noise now."

Catching up with her brother would always be an important time, wherever their lives were taking them. He joked about their exes, and Nessa chuckled, but unless they got way worse in her lost time, he was probably over-exaggerating. Chloe and Shelby were good exes, all things considered! And what were the odds they both dated another girl? Actually. Maybe she should ask.

But talking about exes could happen later, because her brother was in love. He also tried to spin this into a conversation about Europe and Agnes. Nessa's cheeks pinkened, but she was not quite ready to talk about all that just yet. "It was certainly interesting. Enlightening, maybe. But nothing definitive, so let's focus on this love thing. That's genuinely sweet, you big softie." She nudged his shoulder, grinning. "It's nice seeing you with someone who treats you so well, Book."

There were times when she was at her low points where she wondered if there was hope for the future. Lots of trans kids did. It took weight off her shoulders knowing she did end up surviving and thriving and her brother was reaching the prime of his life. Things were looking up in Twenty-Twenty, and she was pleasantly surprised.

And thus, it was almost fitting when shouts and a haunting cry echoed through the building. Eyes wide, Nessa realized the sound was coming from the main hall just up ahead. Curiosity got the better of her, Nessa ran to the main entrance and looked around the door frame.

"Book. Can you tell me I'm not crazy, because I think I'm looking at Chō-No-Joō! monsters." The Archfiend of Lightning she hoped she was imagining growled, striking down a small dragon, creating a small shockwave that washed over the people watching the duel and knocking the duelist off his feet.

Booker was glad that Nessa had found a cause and, essentially, picked up where she had left off. That was good for her. Nessa (no matter which age he knew her at) always loved to be involved and having her voice heard. This was a good sign that she was reclaiming a piece of herself that had been lost when she deaged. It was encouraging, to say the least. He had heard of Haven, too, and hoped that they were certainly all that they were cracked up to be. And they better make sure his sister didn’t get into trouble.

Of course that wasn’t the conversation that Booker wanted to have. She had just recently come back from Europe with her bestie and, apparently, it seemed more had happened. Really it wigged Booker out a little bit, considering that the girl Nessa was hanging out with just so happened to be the deaged girl that her last girlfriend cheated on her with. Talk about a soap opera!

But Nessa was still a little unsure of how much she wanted to say. Fair. Instead she wanted to focus on something else, namely Booker’s own admission of love for her latest relationship, Javier.

It was true. Thinking of the tailor brought a smile to the librarian’s face and a little flutter in his heart. He was happy. Truly happy to have someone like Javi in his life and sincerely hoped that this was really and truly it. His own heart had been broken many times but it didn’t seem like that would be the fate between he and Javi.

”Thanks,” he said with a soft smile. ”It’s a good feeling to be treated so well. I hope he feels the same way,” he admitted with a blush. Quickly, though, he cleared his throat. He needed to focus. There was a game to win after all!

And, of course, enter the screaming. Really, at first Booker wasn’t going to think much of it. Cosplaying / anime / card game tournaments were bound to bring out the dramatics in some of the more rabid fans. People shouting in defeat, cast to the dark world because of their loss. It was all in good fun, mostly. But this sounded more fearful; less high school drama club. Considering this was New York, that was a bad sign.

Then Nessa pointed it out. The Archfiend of Lightning. Booker whipped his head towards where she pointed and, sure enough, he saw the towering, skeletal demon encased in lightning as it stood menacingly in the room.

”Whoa…” he said in wonderment. ”T-They...kinda went all out on the decoration and animatronics for this tournament. Didn’t they?” He was grasping at straws. Not surprising considering he was staring at card art come to life. Could there be another explanation?

It would have been just grand if today could have just been a day where Nessa and her big brother caught up, talked about relationships, and played a children’s card game. Nessa did not sign up for this anime insanity.

”Has… has tech really moved this far since I’ve been gone?” She knew technology evolved exponentially, but this seemed like more than she was ready for. The way the monsters moved, they seemed too solid to be holograms and too natural to be robots.

The duel devices strapped to the wrists of the duelists on the floor ticked their life counters to zero. The crowd gasped and the hooded figures held their hands out. “Your souls will feed the shadows!” Before anyone could act, the Archfiend tore a rip into the space before it and the defeated duelists were sucked into the maw, shouting and fighting the whole way.

“You will ALL feed the shadows.” Horrified, Nessa expected the rip to close, but darkness seemed to seep from it, swirling around the room. The ceiling and walls of the room disappeared, replaced with violet and black emptiness. Everything behind Nessa and Booker was suddenly gone, and they were in his smoky void with the crowd of duelists, confused and scared.

Nessa felt her anxiety flaring up; how the hell did they end up walking into actual, for real hell? ”Book… I don’t like this. I really fucking hate this.”

The taller robed man called out, “We will sacrifice each of you for the sake of the spirit realm. There’s nowhere to run. Come face us and meet your fates.”

Everyone was frozen, panicked, and unsure of what to say in the face of that. “If no one steps forward, all of your souls can be considered forfeit to the maw! Will you all so meekly submit?”

Nessa was shaking. Surely this was a trick. This felt so… not real. Nothing like a mutation—hell, Booker was right here. She was close enough that he would protect her. But… maybe if no one said anything, they could not do anything? Or maybe she should step forward? How though? Her legs did not seem to want to work.

Booker still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The darkness was encroaching on all sides. There were seemingly monsters sprung to life. And all around, people were screaming in terror before stopping, seemingly unable to escape the surrounding horrors. But that wasn’t what was most disturbing. What was most disturbing was that Booker himself was in the midst of it and his adapted field did nothing to halt the onslaught.

It was a terrifying prospect to say the least. Booker had gone his entire life looking at mutant abilities from the outside but never had he been privy to them. Now that he was staring at something that could very much be like that, he didn’t know if he should be excited, scared, or a little bit of both.

Scarecited? Could he make that a word?

He shook the thoughts away. He could feel the anxiety folding over from his sister. She had a look about her of terror and a desperate need to escape the confines of this realm. With no idea what to do, Booker thought it best to just focus on her and whatever he could do to help.

”Hey, don’t worry,” he smiled softly, turning her face to look at him. ”I’ll get you out of here, okay? I’m going to go talk to them, maybe figure out what’s going on. I’m an adapted, remember? I’ll probably just cancel them out as I get closer. Probably just out of my field.”

He flashed her another warm smile. God he hoped he was right.

The duo of robed duelists demanded a challenge from the cowering crowd. Booker took a deep, calming breath and stepped forward. He probably looked fairly comical in his cosplay attire but he hoped that whoever the two mutants were that they would listen to reason before he was forced to walk over there and knock some sense into them.

”Hey guys! Listen. I know we all love Cho-no-Joo but there’s not reason to carry this on farther than it’s gone.” He spoke firmly and with authority. ”So let’s just all take a breath, step back, an--”

“The first challenger has stepped up!!” one of the duelists shouted. He cackled menacingly. “Who else? Or shall we defeat him two on one and send his pathetic soul to the Shadow Realm?!”

”Hey! I wasn’t volun--” He doubled over for a split second before he straightened up again. Standing there, confused, Booker blinked, unsure of what just happened until he looked down. There extending out from his chest was what seemed to be a tether made of pure, magenta colored energy. The chord extended outward disappearing into the ether around them. Crap, he remembered this from the show. How...was it possible?

As Booker looked dumbfounded, the duelists all peered about, cackling at the remaining ship. “Time’s running out! You really want to trust your fate to a single man? Fools! If no one else volunteers in the next twenty seconds, the duel shall commence and you’ll all be sent to the Shadow realm!”

People joked about wanting to enter into their favorite anime worlds. In this moment, Nessa could now confirm the notion was not all it was cracked up to be. Being surrounded by darkness with the prospect of losing her soul was far more terrifying when it was not a hypothetical.

And as always, her older brother was there to protect her. Nessa forced a tentative smile, hoping he was right. This had to be mutant-created, and as long as that was true, Booker was the perfect person to be here with.

Booker tried to confront the dark duelists, standing tall and confident as she always remembered him back in school. Imagine her shock when a tether of energy fixed itself to his chest. It should not be able to do that. What on earth were they dealing with?

The duelists found their challenger, but they called for another. Everyone was silent. Nessa could not blame them; she was terrified. That much pressure, putting everyone’s lives on your shoulders. Her anxiety was at an all time high.

Still, she could not leave it on Booker to duel the two men alone. Biting back her fear, she stepped forward, trying to muster up her voice. ”I-I’ll duel with him.” She was trembling, but she pulled her deck out and secured it in her duel disk. ”I don’t know what you’re doing here or what your trick is, but I won’t let my brother face you alone.”

The words barely left her mouth before she felt the pressure like someone palmed her in the center of the chest. Now she was bound by a tether too.

“Glorious. We can finally move on. The maw yearns for your energy.” The taller duelist raised his own device. “Shall we? Duel!”

The man did not draw, being turn player one, so he set two cards in his backrow and one card on the field. “And with my champion in face-down defense position, I end my turn. And in a battle royale duel, no duelist can attack until each player has had a turn.”

Vanessa took a deep breath, trying to figure out how the hell she could get herself out of this trouble. ”Then I draw.” She looked over her hand, then to the mystery face-down card. She did not want to commit to a big board if she could not attack, but she needed to apply pressure. ”When I have no champions, I can Call Riot Girl Gabby from my hand!”

When the card was placed on her disc, a young woman with pink hair, a cell phone, and a star pistol appeared in front of Nessa. For all the stress of the situation, that was pretty cool. ”I can only Call Psychics from my Extra Deck for the rest of the turn. I Normal Call Riot Girl Sybil from my hand, and she adds a Magic or Surprise card to my hand. I add and activate the Field Magic, Riot Girl Streets!”

Around the pink and blonde rebel champions, the space warped to an urban setting. ”With Level 3 Gabby and Sybil, I bring them together to Overlay Call Riot Girl Jo!” The two girls became energy and from a portal they created emerged a more mature champion with dark hair and a bladed weapon with two balls of energy circling her. ”By detaching a material, I can destroy a Riot Girl in my hand or field to destroy one monster. I destroy the Riot Girl Manuela in my hand, and when she is destroyed, I can add a Riot Girl from the grave to my hand!”

Collecting Gabby back, things were going well! Nessa pointed at the face-down target and Riot Girl Jo tossed her tethered blade, destroying the creature.

The man, rather than being concerned, chuckled. “Good work. When Cultica Acolyte is sent to the grave, I can force each other player to discard a card.”

Nessa winced, looking to Booker as she discarded a card. ”Sorry…” Starting a card down was unfortunate.

The other duelist chimed in. “And when I discard Fiend of Discord, I can turn one champion on the field to defense. I target your Riot Girl Overlay Champion.”

Another unfortunate thing. Jo’s Attack, which hovered over her, was a respectable two-thousand and changed to her paltry two-hundred Defense. Grumbling, Nessa muttered, ”I set a card face-down and end my turn."

This was it. This was actually happening! What was going on in his life!? Booker couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Whenever he had been privy to mutant abilities, whether from a significant other, a sibling, or a stranger on the street, Booker was never affected by it. He knew he was safe. It was a little disappointing in some respects but it others it was a godsend. Now, however, he was in the midst of what could only be mutant abilities, but...why was he being affected? He really didn’t know if he should be excited or terrified. Probably a little bit of both.

But that excitement quickly turned to terror when he realized what was happening next. Nessa was volunteering. Did he really think they would be sent to the shadows if they lost? Maybe not, but those two duelists really seemed like they meant business. Who knows what they had planned if they failed.

Booker wasn’t going to let that happen to his sister. He tried to reach out to her, to tell her to stop and he’d handle it himself. But before he could pull the words from his mouth there it was -- that gut-punching feeling of another tether being pulled from his sister’s chest. He watched enough of the cartoon to know that this was, in fact, too late.

”N-Nessa…” he started to say. Sadly he didn’t get much more out. Their opponents seemed pleased with having a fully table and immediately announced that the duel was going to commence. Grinding his teeth, Booker slipped his deck into his duel disc and turned forward. There was no going back now.

The duel was off to a start. Booker admittedly watched with a little bit of excitement as the cloaked figure set down a pair of face-down cards. It was Nessa’s turn after that. She immediately set the precedent that this wasn’t going to be an easy fight. Her “Riot Girl” deck was amazing to behold. In one move she managed to summon one of her most powerful champions and destroy the opposition’s face-down card.

”Yeah! you got this, sis!” he triumphed.

But his victory lap was shortlived. As the champion vanished from the field and effect was put into play. They all had to discard a card from their hand. He frowned. That was not cool. However, when Nessa offered him her apologies, he merely shrugged and gave her a thumbs up.

”Don’t stress! Just the opening moves. Plenty of time to turn things around.” He sounded confident as he pulled a champion from his hand and slipped it into the graveyard. He hoped he could keep it up.

The came to his turn and he gulped. After drawing he glanced down to the cards in his hand and a plan began to form. Lil Petshop Guinea Pig should help to mitigate any damage once the attacking began -- plus it could help with his plan further down the line.

”I place one champion in facedown defense mode,” he said. He glanced at “Lil Petshop Neuter / Spay Appointment.” ”And I set one Surprise card facedown”. He sucked in a breath as he stared the opponent across from him. ”You’re up, Chunky.”

The rotund duelist grumbled. “You’ll pay for that remark!!” He snarled. “I summon Fiendish Mime in attack mode! I also set two cards face down.” His backrow was filling. With a glance to the slimmer duelist his nodded. “You ready to claim more for the shadows?”

Booker looked between them before he turned and gave Nessa a comforting nod and smile. They could do this. He knew they could.

As terrifying as the duel to the death sounded, Nessa could not leave her brother to deal with the problem alone. Knowing this somehow was not caused by mutant powers made everything more stressful. What could they be dealing with? Radical augmented reality? Technology was taking leaps and bounds since her day, so maybe this was experimental technology.

Whatever this was, they would deal with it together.

By no means was Nessa a master duelist, but stakes like these would get anyone on edge. After her unfortunate discard surprise, she wanted to be more methodical. First, she would have to deal with the cultist’s turn.

“It’s my turn now, so I draw! And now that everyone’s had a turn, we can attack during our turns.” Nessa grimaced at that, knowing her champion had weak defense. She would have to pull an ace in the hole earlier than she wanted.

The man placed one champion on his field. “I Call Cultica Recruiter to my field. When he is successfully Normal Called, I can Special Call one Champion from your Grave and treat it as a Cultica monster.”

Vanessa thought about her Grave, where she just detached a Sybil. That was not so bad, but the other monster in there, destroyed from her hand…

“I take your Riot Girl Manuela!” On command, a dark-haired woman with a hoodie and leather jacket appeared on his field, with a cultist robe materializing over her garb. The image made Nessa queasy. “And when your Manuela is Called, I can destroy one champion on the field. I’m not here for surprises, so I target your brother’s face down card!”

”Not so fast!” She would not have her brother deal with the consequences of her actions again. She hit the button to activate her face down card. ”I activate the Surprise, Riot Girls Inciting Incident! By targeting one Riot Girl on my field, in this case Jo, I can destroy her. In doing so, her sacrifice disables the effects of two face up cards and destroys them. I target Recruiter and Manuela!”

The field filled with rose petals, setting the dramatic scene where a stray bullet struck and destroyed Jo, followed by a flurry of bullets that tore through the cultist’s monsters. ”When Jo is destroyed, she allows me to Special Summon a Riot Girl from my deck—“

“Nice try!” The squat one activated a Fast Act Magic Card. “Called by the Grave targets a champion on your Grave and banishes her, negating her effects! Bye bye, Riot Girl Jo!”

Frustrated, Nessa muttered, ”Well, I still add Manuela back to my hand thanks to Riot Girl Streets.” Not that she had not lost plenty that turn anyway.”[/color]

The tall one smirked. “A momentary setback. I activate Cultica Ominous Amalgam, banishing Recruiter and Acolyte from my Grave to Amalgam Call Cultica Leader!” The large Champion wore ornate robes and held a staff radiating dark energy. Its wicked grin and glowing red eyes inspired unease. It sat in Defense, but it had a gargantuan three-thousand Defense Points. “Leader can’t be destroyed by card effects while there’s a Fiend on the field, which my partner thankfully took care of for me. Good luck, duelist. You’ll need it.”

Nessa nearly snarled at the tone, but she had better things to focus on. ”It’s back to me, so I draw!”



“I should also let you know each time you activate a Champion effect, you’ll be losing two-hundred Life Points.”

Of course. Ugh.

”Well, first thing’s first; I reveal the Manuela in my hand and target Riot Girl Streets; I destroy my Magic to Call her.” And lose two-hundred Life Points. She groaned as a shock came through the tether on her chest, but she powered through. ”When Streets is destroyed, I can destroy up to two Champions, but I can’t target your dumb leader, so I’ll settle for targeting the Fiendish Mime!”

“Tsk tsk,” said the Mime’s owner. “Clearly you’re missing the invisible walls. Once per turn, Fiendish Mime can protect itself from destruction.”

”Obviously. That’s why it’s a good thing Manuela can also activate her effect on Call. She’ll try to destroy your Mime, too. The chain resolves and her effect fails, but Streets succeeds in destroying your creepy Champion!” And thankfully, after all of that, she succeeded in killing one obstacle, at the cost of another two-hundred Life and some more pain.

And she was unfortunately not done yet. ”I… activate Sybil’s effect in Grave, paying a thousand Life atop the two-hundred from your Leader to Call her to the field.” Vanessa was nearly halfway through her Life and needed to hurry with her plan before she drained her own life away. ”She banishes herself when she leaves the field, and she’s about to, because I Attune Level Three Manuela and Level Three Tuner Sybil to Attunement Call! Riot Girl Angie!”

Sybil became energy, swirling around Manuela, absorbing into her and causing her to grow. When all was said and done, a tall, tattooed woman with shades, a red jacket, and two holstered pistols appeared. ”I know it’s two-hundred more life, but Angie gets a Riot Counter for each Riot Girl used when she was Called.” The Champion brandished both her guns since both materials were Riot Girls.

”I discard Riot Girl Charlie from my hand, adding a Riot Girl Susie to my hand, taking two-hundred more Life Points of damage.” The pain was starting to accumulate, and Nessa noticeably wobbled.

“Are you in a rush to die? I didn’t think it’d go this quick.”

”Oh, it’ll be worth it. I activate the Magic Card Foolish Burial, sending a Sybil from my Deck to my Grave. I now have a Manuela, Gabby, Charlie, and Sybil in my Grave. Angie gets two-hundred attack for every fallen friend in the Grave, bringing her to thirty-two-hundred. Perfect for attacking over your Leader! Angie, time to pop off! Battle!”

The Riot Girl leveled her pistols at the big Champion, finally taking down the hassle. She could have attacked the other man, but leaving the Leader alive would drain them to death in the long run. ”I set one face down card and end my turn.” She wanted to get damage in, but for now, playing this slow was the way to go.

Booker winced. This was definitely not like any duel he had been a part of before. Sure he had gone up against his fair share of overly eager duelists but never to this capacity. And it wasn’t even that which freaked him out the most, it was the fact that he was being affected by something that most certainly seemed mutant related. What was that about? Over the years Booker had been privy to tons of mutant effects, but never had experienced them first hand. He was an adapted, he wasn’t supposed to.

But this? This certainly felt real and Booker didn’t know how to feel about it. He was excited, he was scared, he had no idea where things were going to go from here. It was such a whirlwind that at times Booker felt those old anxieties attempt to rear their ugly head. He could feel the shaking in his limbs and the tightening in his chest. Booker was brave, or at least acted brave, most of the time, but this...was scary.

As the battle waged on, Nessa trying to claim some ground the disturbing duo, Booker watched in awe the way that she played. She always played beautifully, but right here and now? She very much looked like the hero that she embodied. He would have applauded her! Cheered her name! Then he saw the wince of pain and watched her life points draining dramatically.

”Ness!” he called out to her. But no. This was how she played. She always played fast and loose with life points, trying to get her heavy hitters out there to decimate her opponents quickly.

It was a good strategy in a game, but quite different in reality.

Booker’s role was more conservative and, seeing as either of their assailants took his obvious bait, it was time for him to flip the tables.

”Alright, you bastards. Maybe it’s time to pick on someone your own size!” He drew a card, looked to them, and then winked. ”Try this on for size. I play...polymerization!”

Slipping the card into spot, the card he had face-down turned over to reveal a round and furry guinea pig of brown and black. From his hand, Booker turned a card over and a yellow and beige, fat canary fluttered onto the scene.

The two robed duelist stared, gawking, before breaking out with laughter.

“BAHAHAHA! This is who challenges us!? Who bothers to collect Lil Petshop Champions? What do those cards even do?!!”

“HAHAHA!!!”

Booker smirked. ”You’re going to find out!” he shouted and held his card up. ”I fuse Lil Petshop Guinea Pig and Lil Petshop Canary and bring forth…” He slapped the card on his disc. ”...Lil Petshop Griffighter!”

In a burst of smoke and cartoonish stars, the two pets vanished into the Grave and, in their place, was another cute monster -- only this one had a more menacing edge. The brown feathered, winged creature marched onto the field, eyeing the two, now exposed duelist with a snarl.

”And that’s not all! When I destroyed Lil Petshop Guinea Pig, I activated his special effect…” He pulled a card from his hand and set it on the field. ”...and I can summon, Lil Petshop Newt!” A big-eyed, orange lizard appeared on the scene, licking one of its massive eyes. ”...and in summoning a Lil Petshop champion from my hand, I can active Lil Petshop Guinea Pig’s second effect, and draw a Magic card from my deck!” Booker pulled his deck, flipped through for the card he wanted, smirked and set it back in place after shuffling it thoroughly. ”Boys...welcome to the pet store. I play the Field Magic, Lil Petshop Around the corner!!”

As he did so, the field altered and instead of the beat up streets, the space around them was filled with high shelves filled with pet food and toys, a glass door with a bell over it, and a window box filled with shredded paper. Booker cracked his neck to the sighed and smirked as his two monsters seemed to grow in size a look...stronger.

”Lil Petshop Around the Corner has a great effect,” he said. ”So long as I control a Lil Petshop champion, all champions on the field swap Attack and Defense! Now, with no champion to defend you…” Booker pointed at one of the duelists. ”...Griffighter! Newt! Take ‘em to the pound!!”

Booker shouted as the two monster ran and flew forward. With no champions on the field in attack or defense mode, the two slipped back, Newt climbing onto the duelist’s face, licking his eyes, while Griffighter delivered a powerful swipe to the duelist’s exposed body. Their combined attack power delivering a devastating 3000 attack against their unprotected enemy.

As both monsters returned to Booker’s side, he smirked and bowed his head to them.

”You still wanna go?” he threatened. ”Because no one, and I mean no one,” his voice grew darker. ”Threatens my sister.”

Nessa knew Booker would not be a fan of her sacrificing her Life Points, but the goal was to get rid of the threat on the field. You could not win without beating your opponent’s win condition, and the ChonoTubers all said Life Points did not matter except for the last life point.

Of course, they were playing duels where losing Life Points didn’t drain away life energy and inflict pain. Maybe that was worth changing strategies for, but Nessa knew winning was the goal, not avoiding pain.

Before Booker, the other player set another Champion in defense position, which surely waited to do something sinister when it was flipped.

After Booker nearly decimated the man whose monster had drained away most of Nessa’s Life Points, the cultist war in bad shape. He growled, drawing his card, with only a thousand life points remaining. Looking down at his drawn card, he smirked. “You think you’re so clever, but this is so much bigger than you or I…” He inserted two Magic cards into his Duel Disk. “First I activate the Magic, Gift Calling, letting me Call my next Champion to someone else’s field.” What a weird effect! Nessa had to wonder why he would do something like that.

“I activate The Ceremony of Cultist Calling! Using Tributes from my hand and my partner’s field equal to 10 Levels to Ceremony Call a Champion, alongside the fair cost of a thousand Life Points.”

Nessa gasped. ”That’s all you have left!”

“A sacrifice for the cause! To my partner’s field, I Call Cultist’s Demonic Archentity!”

Two Cultists from the man’s hand and the face-down Champion, another type of Cultist, joined together in a summoning circle. The duelist’s Life drained to fill their cauldron of blood, and all the Champions vanished, cracking the circle. From the crack, a massive demon with brutal wings and an exposed skull emerged.

Nessa’s horror almost distracted her from what happened to the man whose Life hit zero. “Finish our… mission….” The man fell to his knees, dissolving into a mist that coalesced until it vanished somewhere unseen.

“His sacrifice will be your undoing! Our Archentity cannot be destroyed by battle thanks to the Devoted Cultist I sacrificed to it. And now that his turn is over, during each of our End Phases, I can target one Champion to be destroyed by my Archentity. This effect cannot even be negated! I target your Riot Girl!”

Nessa shook off the shock of the disappeared man, activating her set card. “No way! I activate my Nimble Magic, Riot Girl Recruitment! I target my own Riot Girl and Special Call another Riot Girl with a different name from my deck! Her effects on the field are negated, but get out here, Gabby!”

The pink haired Riot Girl appeared beside Angie. “And immediately after this effect resolves, I Attunement Call a Champion with the both of them! Come out, Riot Girl Bou!”

Gabby became attunement circles, converting Angie into sparkling energy that reformed as a masked woman adorned in neon markings. ”Not only does your effect fizzle when your original target is no longer on the field, when Bou is called, I draw a card, and when Gabby is sent to the Grave, her effect can activate there to add a Riot Girl to my hand!” And like that, Nessa had three cards in her hand to work with.

The Archentity had three-thousand Attack and Defense. While Booker’s Field Magic was active, Nessa’s Champions also had their stats flipped, so Bou was in Defense. Nessa took a breath and drew for her turn.

She could work with this.

”I use Rekindling! It can bring back as many FIRE monsters from my Grave with two-hundred Defense as possible, but they’re banished by the end of my turn.”

“Go ahead—Archentity cannot be destroyed by card effects, and it is immune to damage thanks to my Tribute. Just try to be clever.”

Three Riot Girls from the Grave were called to the field beside Bou, including the Level Six Angie. ”I will! And when Manuela is Called back, I can destroy a card on the field. Since your entity is off limits, I’ll destroy my brother’s field.” It was inevitable. She did need to be able to use her own monster’s high Attack, and she knew Booker’s Griffin could do something similar. ”I use my four Called Riot Girls to Attunement Call my boss—and really, it’s just bringing the whole gang together.”

The Champions joined together as energy, but what emerged was not one Champion, but a group of armed young women collected as one Champion. ”Welcome to Riot Girls – The Rebellion! These ladies gain a hundred ATK for each Riot Girl in my Grave. With thirty-four-hundred Attack, I can beat over your Archentity!”

“Go ahead, he won’t die!”

”But you take four-hundred damage! I set a card and end my turn—”

“Which means, I can destroy one of your Champions! I choose—”

”As a friendly tip, when you destroy Champions on the field, Bou inflicts damage to you.”

That gave him pause, since he intended to destroy monsters on this turn and the next, which would stack up. “Then I destroy her!”

The life of Bou drained before Nessa’s eyes. ”The effect still applies to her! Two-hundred times her level for eighteen-hundred damage!”

The man groaned, clearly hit hard by such a steep cost, but he shook it off. “Whatever! The destruction of your Champion calls a Demon Minion to my field! I begin my turn! By tributing that Demon Minion, I drop all other Champions by a thousand Attack! Now that the annoying flying cat is at no Attack, I’ll strike your precious brother!”

The massive demon smashed the Grifighter, dealing a massive three-thousand damage to Booker. Nessa glared angrily, knowing Booker still had another monster to be targeted after that. “I end my turn, and when I do, I can destroy—”

”What, gotta pick on the animals? Not a big enough man to fight the girls?” she goaded.

The man glared, switching his sights from the Newt to the Rebellion. “Of course not. I can crush your foolish Rebellion with my end phase effect. I hope your girls are ready to be sacrificed for the cause, just like the rest of you.”

“Perfect! I chain to the activation!”

“You cannot negate this destruction!”

”Don’t have to! I activate the Surprise, Riot Girls Angst! When a Riot Girl is destroyed, you take damage equal to their Level times two-hundred and I draw a card. Level Twelve, so twenty-four hundred is more than enough to end this! Consider it Bou’s ghost haunting you for your crimes.”

As the girls withered away, the Cultist freaked out. “No! I—if I can activate Infinite Impermanence to negate my own—”

”You said it yourself. This can’t be negated. I didn’t have to defeat your entity; just the cultist who summoned him.”

A lot happened and a lot happened fast. Booker stood defiantly against the bastard cultists, staring them down as he had inflicted all sorts of pain against one of them. While Booker was normally a gentle soul, when his sister had been so thoroughly attacked, he felt it only fair to respond in kind. He wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to her; that was a promise he made long ago and it was one he had every intention of continuing to uphold.

But it seemed that whomever these jokers were, they didn’t seem to be scared of his skill -- and proved as much by decimating them in kind. One of the duelists sacrificed their life to give his partner the advantage, a powerful monster the likes of which completely overshadowed any champions Nessa and Booker had on the field. Things did not look good.

The pain was harsh. Booker watched as his Grifighter was demolished in the attack, sending him down to his knees as blinding pain raced throughout his body. To make matters worse, the librarian could have sworn that he saw streams of red smoke wafting off of his body, only to be eaten up by the shadows all around him. It did not feel good. And to make matters worse, it wasn’t even the end of that duelist’s turn -- and Booker still had another champion on the field.

It was Nessa who had turned to save him. She goaded the man into attack and, in doing so, activated a champion’s effect. It turned out to be his undoing. Booker struggled on his knee, watching as an army of Riot Girls stood by Nessa’s side and completely undid the machinations of their opponent and draining the last of his health.

Truly it was a sight. Booker snapped his attention back to the robed man as he had been too blinded by his arrogance to fully plan the ramifications of his actions. It cost him dearly. Booker watched as the man shouted and tried to escape from the field. However the shadows held him back, unwilling to release him as they began to eat away at his body. He had seen such things in cartoons and comic books -- it was far worse to see in person.

When the last ounce of the duelist vanished (the shadows saved his terrified eyes for last), to everyone’s relief the shadows began to dissipate. It was slow at first, just outlines and shapes but soon the rest of the convention center came into focus and, before long, they were all standing under the fluorescent lights again.

Booker gulped, looked around at all the shocked faces, and then towards his sister. With the shadows and the duelists gone, Booker struggled to his feet and then ran off to his sister’s side. ”Nessa? Nessa! You okay?”

It was never easy to think under pressure during a card game. Players after a game would finally recognize all the plays they could have made that the missed at the time. That kind of tunnel vision was hard to avoid with adrenaline pumping, and those duels did not risk your soul. If Nessa played the wrong line, there would be no chance to reflect on her failure.

The number behind the cultist dropped down while Nessa held her breath. Numbers ticked away down to zero. Where the anime would have had a buzzing sound, Nessa only heard the cultist scream as his body dissolved. That… was a memory she would have to deal with in her next therapy session.

The swirling darkness dissipated and Nessa finally heaved that long-held breath. The weight of all the anxiety she was pushing off hit her and the young woman dropped to her knees. She was shaking when her brother’s calls brought her back to the convention hall. Up until that moment, she failed to realize people were cheering. Well, the people who were not close enough to be haunted by the cultist’s fate.

”I’m okay. I-I’ll be okay.” Nessa needed time to wind down from the chills and thrills of that duel. ”I still don’t get what all that was. You… mutant powers should have turned off around you, right?” Whatever they dealt with in that duel, it felt… wrong.

Slowing her breathing down, Nessa looked at the crowd. ”I don’t think I have more duels in me, Book. Once we make police statements or whatever… can we go back to your apartment?”