[hider=A man who delves too deep]
Joshua walked through town, towards the Industrial Illusion branch that helped out around this area. Something about this tournament was off. Though he didn't know what, something in his gut told him it was, especially given the inccident in the warehouse before Phase Shift came out. How could a summoning method exist before it was released? Well, testing, of course, but the cards wouldn't be able to be taken out of Industrial Illusions. Then leaks and other things the company might want to avoid would occur.

Sighing, he looked at the building in front of him, trying to figure out how best to approach this problem. Thinking about it, maybe asking a few questions would be the best place to start really. Walking into the building and looking around the lobby, he spotted a receptionist and approached her.

"Excuse me ma'am, who is in charge of this building?" he asked.

The receptionist was absentmindedly typing on a keyboard, inputting various pieces of information into certain areas, when a man came over to ask something. "Well, sir, the President of this branch of Industrial Illusions is Mr. Baubles," she replied. "May I ask who you are, sir?"

"No one special, but I do have a question for the president: Why was Phase Shift summoning announced after it's release and not on the day of it?" Joshua said, deciding on a direct approach. Stir up the nest enough and some bees were bound to come.

The receptionist was confused at the point. This conversation was taking a rather odd direction, and she was not trained to deal with it. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about, sir," the receptionist said. "However, I can pass along your message to the President the next time he becomes available." At this point, though, the electronic lock on the front door engaged, unknown to both Joshua and the receptionist. The elevator numbers above the elevator door also showed the elevator going down.

"You do that. I'm sure he'll find me if he needs or wants to." Joshua said, going to leave. He tried to open the door, only to find it locked. Chuckling to himself, he turned around and looked at the elevator coming down. "Now, did I catch the queen bee or a mere worker bee I wonder."

A dinging noise sounded as the elevator reached the lobby floor, and the elevator door opened, revealing a man with a rather well-made suit. "Sir, I think you have an appointment with me, do you not?" the man asked. The receptionist looked up, surprised to see all this going on. "M-Mr. Baubles! What are you-" the receptionist tried to say before being interrupted. "Now, now, Ms. Liu, this man is a [i]very[/i] important person, and I'd hate to see him leave so soon, and before even coming to greet me," Mr. Baubles said. The receptionist hesitated for a second, then said, "Y-yes, Mr. Baubles." 

Mr. Baubles then gestured to Joshua and asked, "Now then, why don't you come to my office? We have some important things to discuss." He had been holding the elevator doors open the entire time, waiting for Joshua to come through.

"Queen bee it is," Joshua said, moving forward and into the elevator. He would wait until the President got in and the doors were closed before speaking again. "So... Mr. Baubles, seriously? How much random stuff do you collect to get that name?"

Going back into the elevator, Mr. Baubles pushed the button for his floor and waited for the elevator to take them to his office. As classical elevator music played, Mr. Baubles extended a hand for a handshake and introduced himself, "Let's get the formalities out of the way. I'm sure you know already, but my name is Mr. Baubles. Don't make fun of the name or I will make you regret it." All of which was said with a smile.on his face.

"Too late, already did." Joshua pointed out before thinking things over. "Name's Joshua, but beyond that, I'll only say if things turn out for better or for worse. Now, formalities are out of the way, correct? Then I suppose we can get to business before or after we're out of this elevator. Which would you prefer, as you are the one in charge here."

"Let's get into my office first before we get to business," Mr. Baubles said, his smile now slightly strained. 

"If you stress out too badly, you'll likely ruin your face." Joshua said, noticing the force behind the smile.

"Believe me, you don't want to make an enemy out of me," Mr. Baubles said, his tone of voice making it clear he wouldn't stand for any more. "Now then, I believe we're here," Mr. Baubles said as the elevator dinged and the doors opened, revealing his office. In many places there was a tv screen, most of which were off, of course. On his desk were a few electronic gadgets, most of which were phones and tablets. "Now then, business," Mr. Baubles said as he walked over to his desk. "What problems are you having regarding my lovely Phase Shift Summoning method?"

"I don't. I just question why you're lying about when it came out. I seem to remember see two duelist using them a few days ago while dueling. Maybe you will know the cards. One deck was demons based off the Seven Sins. The other deck was Azure Flames. I assume your company made these cards?" Joshua said, relaxing in a chair on the opposite side of Mr. Baubles' desk.

"Those were the first prototypes for Phase Shift Summoning," Mr. Baubles said, thinking quickly. "They were supposed to be used for testing purposes and nothing more. Would you be so kind as to explain how you heard about them? I was sure they were supposed to be airtight secrets, and I'll reprimand whoever was foolish enough to leak them out to the public." 

"Well, judging by the looks of things, it looked like a kidnapping scenario. I suppose you were shooting a movie as well?" Joshua asked, crossing his arms.

"A kidnapping?" Mr. Baubles said, his feelings of confusion and surprise genuine this time. "This is the first time I've heard of it. To think, our prototypes being used for such purposes..." Mr. Baubles was silent for a moment, then continued, "Were any names mentioned? Maybe an appearance? Something to help pinpoint whoever it was that caused this [i]stain[/i] on Industrial Illusions." 

"What makes you think I'll tell you?" Joshua asked.

"Seeing as we're on the subject, why wouldn't you tell me?" Mr. Baubles asked back.

"Same reason you won't tell me the whole story. Niether of us trust one another," Joshua said.

"To be fair, you're not exactly someone of great importance, now are you?" Mr. Baubles said. "I can't just explain all these company secrets to a complete stranger. Heck, I may have already said too much about the prototypes already."

"And if I said I think that those weren't prototypes, I assume your response would be that I'm wrong?" Joshua said.

"Of course," Mr. Baubles. "Where would you even get that ridiculous idea?"

"How about I ask you something in response: How long has Phase Shift been under development then? Surely that fact won't hurt t tell since it's officially out now." Joshua said, resting his chin on a hand.

"A couple years," Mr. Baubles said, waving his hand dismissively. "The idea just came to me, and I thought, why not make this idea a reality? And then, here we are."

"Then I'm sure you remember the first monster you came up with. It's name, effects, type, attribute, and stats. Care to fill me in?" Joshua asked.

Mr. Baubles' eyes shifted up and to the left, then returned to Joshua and he said, "Well, th-the first monster was... Well, I-I wasn't d-directly involved with that. I was too busy dealing with... o-other matters. You know, financial ones."

"Oh, but it was your idea right? To ensure your vision came across just fine, you had to be involved. Or, if what you said was the case, they would've brought the first cards to you to make sure they matched your vision." Joshua said. "So, care to try again?"

Mr. Baubles looked away again, realizing he was caught. He began to sweat nervously, frantically thinking about how to save his reputation, and more importantly, his career. Before he could come up with something, though, a voice behind Joshua said, "Allow me to explain." Behind Joshua was a figure wearing a simple brown robe, with a hood that prevented people from seeing much of his face. "Please forgive Mr. Baubles. I asked to keep this matter secret, but it seems you have began to know a little too much."

"No, I'm just not an idiot like the others. Not to mention I've seen my share of trouble." Joshua said, standing up and turning to face the new figure while also making sure he could keep an eye on Mr. Baubles. This new stranger gave off a bad vibe and he didn't like it. "So, Cult Man, care to explain what's going on here? Or do I have to do something to earn that information?"

Ignoring the jab at his outfit, the man merely shifted his gaze and asked, "You are a Duelist, are you not? For someone like you, there is only one way to convince you that what I say is true." The man then flung his left arm out, revealing the equipped Duel Disk. "With a Duel. Simple terms. Win, and I tell you everything. Lose, and you leave without complaint."

Joshua smiled.
"Sounds good enough to me." He said, raising his duel disk. He reached for his Gem-Knight deck when his disk's silver outlines emited pale, bluish flames. He looked at it for a bit before smiling. "Guess their hungry. Alright, the Knights have played enough. Time for some real fun."

He reached for his Infernoid deck and put it in, the deck becoming surrounded in pale flames as well.

Mr. Baubles,  who had his head down in worry throughout this entire exchange, then raised his head and interjected, "Not in here! We have facilities for such things!" Walking past Joshua, he grabbed the robed man's shoulder and led him to the elevator, speaking to him in a hushed tone, "You better convince him to leave without spilling our secrets, or else my aid to you is cut off." Opening the elevator, he held the door open and turned back to Joshua, saying, "Get in here. Get this Duel out of the way, then get out of my sight." 

"You seem certain that I'll lose this." Joshua said, walking into the elevator and waiting for them to arrive at their arena.

The trip was silent, perhaps uncomfortably so, but it was a short trip. With a ding, the doors opened, revealing a room with plenty of machinery, and in the center was a large Dueling ring. 

Once they arrived, Joshua exited the elevator and walked to the otherside before turning around and facing his opponent, his duel disk activating, summoning a disk made of the same flames coming from the device.

"Come on then. Step into the Void." He said.
[/hider]