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Vanessa empathized with Agnes’s situation. How would it have affected her if she learned her future self abandoned her internet life and dropped off the grid? Maybe she would be apprehensive to return to that life as well. All the more reason for Nessa to be supportive.

”I think it’s worth realizing we shouldn’t put pressure on ourselves to make all our choices here.” This trip could give them a good leaping off point, but life was a process. That was what everyone told her since her return, but seeing the situation from the outside, it made more sense. ”I can help you find your voice and what you want to talk about. And if that doesn’t work, there’ll be something new. Heck; I know how you feel about music, but it’s Twenty-Twenty. Orchestras aren’t the be-all-end-all of music.” Just something to consider.

Spotting Agnes’s hand on the table, Nessa took it and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. ”And for the record? You’re the only high-quality honey I see.” A beat passed and her tan cheeks turned red as a strawberry. ”And that was just… so dorky. How did anyone become a fan of me?”

Amsterdam was a great place. And sure, there were some cliché benefits to being in Amsterdam, and yes, that made it easy to relax and enjoy the trip. Even beyond that, the city itself was relaxing. She could picture her time spent in coffee shops daydreaming her way through her sketchbook.

It was good having a calming place to think. The trip had been fun, but… distracting. Now that kissing was on the table with Agnes, having a train of thought derail was easy. They were taking bigger steps slower; Nessa was still anxious about sharing more intimate aspects of herself and Agnes was understanding.

Flirting was good, but they did come to Europe for a reason. Having a peaceful moment with a coffee scent wafting up to her, Nessa’s mind reflected on America and the New York she would soon return to as they entered the second half of the trip.

Agnes’s voice called her attention back to Amsterdam. ”Sorry. It’s easy to get spacy here,” she joked. Often with a little assistance. ”I’m just thinking about what happens when we get home.”

Sipping her coffee, Nessa realized there was something worth correcting there. ”Not with us. Not yet.” There was no reason to rush figuring that out when they had so much time and things were in such a pleasant place. ”I figured I should start thinking about the thing I took this trip for; what I’m going to do with my life when I get home.” She had put off the thought long enough. The longer she waited, the more uncertainty would loom over the rest of their trip, and she wanted to enjoy the last weeks as much (or more) as the first.

Nessa nearly choked on her bread when Agnes compared herself to a hooker. Once she recovered, the choking became a fit of giggles. Agnes was not always smooth. Sometimes she could say the wrong thing in the right way, and Nessa loved that. She, of course, had a knack for saying the wrong thing in the wrong way, but so far, Agnes did not seem to mind.

Of the topics the girls spoke about often, family came up rarely. Well, parents at least. Booker came up and had even met Agnes by now, but they shared tragic backgrounds when it came to bad parenting. Nessa almost felt bad complaining about what she went through after Agnes offered some insight into who her parents were and what they did. Agnes obviously would hear none of it; pain was not a contest.

They both had baggage from their parents, so Agnes understood where Nessa was coming from. She bit that beautiful, full lip, fixating Nessa's gaze on her mouth before she refocused on the words that followed. Maybe this was something worth considering. They were starting new lives, so why not start fresh? Chop your hair off, metaphorically. (Nessa was quite attached to having long hair.) "You're the one person I know who can wear Agnes as well as you do. But maybe we can find who we are along the trip. We can even go to the courthouse together; I already know how to navigate the pain in the ass of changing your name legally." And just like the first time, this felt like the start of a new journey.

And that deserved a toast. Nessa raised her glass. "A toast. To Paris, a lovely first date, and new lives for Agnes Something and Vanessa Something." Vanessa paused. "But like. Two different somethings. This night is amazing, but I'm not that crazy." Yeah, she'd invite a girl halfway across the world for the Summer, but apparently "getting married on the first date" was still a bit much.

"I look gorgeous? I can't stop looking at you in that dress," Nessa admitted incredulously. "And I still can't get over your haircut. Not that you weren't incredibly cute before, but this look just fits you. Like, perfectly."

Vanessa had chances to compliment the surprise haircut Agnes greeted her with between the house and the restaurant, but it was not hard to get caught up in how captivating Agnes was in a way that felt so effortless. Sitting out in the open air, they could take in the evening lights of Paris and the gorgeous Seine River, and it all felt so secondary to the woman sitting across from her at the small table.

Sipping her own wine, thankful for the staying power of the shimmering raspberry-colored lipstick, Nessa sighed. "Is it bad of me as a friend to admit I want to run my fingers through it? It definitely is, but if I get handsy after a glass or two, at least I've warned you," she joked. "Can I ask what made you decide to make such a big change?"

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.

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."