Oh great...only a few minutes into this important Duel League of Justice (name pending) and there were already two people storming off angrily to go do that angry brooding thing that seems to come naturally to talented duelists. Maisy just kinda stayed in her seat, sipping on a glass of orange juice as Andre and Hayate's brother stormed off. "It always takes a big 'ol terrorist attack and vehicular manslaughter to bring people together." she thought to herself before she finished drinking her juice. Her butt still hurt from yesterday, after she'd thoroughly had her ass kicked in the gymnastics competition...ah well. At least she got an invitation to the basketball team. That's a nice fallback plan.

Figuring it'd be best to speak once all the arguing and brooding was done, Maisy gave Haas a smile as she held up her camera, opening up the shutters and extending the lens out. "If you need snooping done, I'm your girl. I've been stalking almost everyone in this room for at LEAST Six hours this month,even. Haas, your underwear is white with blue pinstripes." she said, grinning as she gave him a thumbs up. Her tone of voice was confident, although in the back of her mind, Maisy was thinking: "I wonder if this is how you DON'T make friends...probably. Definitely.

"Buuuut then again...if I get caught, they'll probably break my camera..." Maisy added, humming as she crossed her arms, the strap for her camera now slung over her torso. Closing her eyes and holding her chin in her hand for a moment, Maisy spoke once more: "The best place to start looking around for information is always with people who you THINK have nothing to do with this...So, maybe some Light Dorm students have an idea?"

Camryn was uncharacteristically quiet, sitting near Megan and Nathaniel. She was all for infiltrating Dark Dorm and kicking some butt, but she figured it'd be best to see how many of her fellow students were also into that idea, and so far, not many of them were. She decided to go ahead and speak up, or else her opinion might be lost amidst the others'. "Personally, I agree with... Er, sorry, I don't know your name." She indicated Michelle (@Scarifar) with a tip of her head. "But she's got the right idea. As long as we're not too obvious about it, we should be fine, especially if we happen to learn something important! I'm sure that the teachers and principal will appreciate it, right?" She asked with a smile.

Well. Haas' plan wasn't going totally wrong, but it was going very wrong indeed. Two people up and left, some made a commotion and others raised concern. Seems like the entire room couldn't decide. "H-Hey... Lemme explain-" Haas tried to defuse the situation, but then Brooklyn tapped him on the shoulder. She wanted to leave it to security as well. Haas let out a deep sigh, his eyes starting to droop and a hand shooting up to rub his hair back once. His shoulders started to slump and his entire face was sinking, with two dark bags suddenly appearing under his eyes. "Ugh... Okay, I get what you're all saying," the boy spoke up, shutting everyone up for a second. "But c'mon. It seems like they're not even doing anything. Three days into the school, we're on lockdown. A week later, dark dorm is starting to play mafia and establishing gangs to come out on top in the academy, with some rumors going around they're using shock devices. A few days ago we find a girl crashed outside, and it couldn't have been a regular accident either."

After the small recap over the strange occurrences, Haas put the hand he used to brush his hair back in one of his pockets. "Like... I don't think anything's going to be solved if nobody does anything. I can't do it on my own either." Haas shrugged, then looked away from the crowd. "It sucks to lose Andre, even though I kind of saw it coming, since he's infamously good around the academy. Hayato's help would've been appreciated too..." Haas' voice trailed off and he shut up for a bit, looking back to the crowd after a few seconds. "I can't force anyone to help. But maybe Maisy is onto something. We could ask people around the academy, see what they know. If we find something out, we could always bring it up with security later. Just... Gimme a chance, alright?"

---

In the infirmary, Ignia was still distraught and didn't know what to do. The nurse, Dell, was too busy checking medical records. Her assistant, however, noticed that the girl had come to visit again. Mike sighed and pulled his hands out of the lab coat he liked to wear, calmly walking up to Ignia. Somewhere along the way he picked up a stool, placing it down next to the girl's chair and sitting down on it. "Come to visit your friend again, eh?" Mike asked Ignia rhetorically, rubbing the stubble on his chin with the right hand. "She's a strong one. We managed to deduct that she'd been lying in the desert for hours, yet she's recovering fast." The man reassured Ignia, pulling out his white D-Ceiver. They scrolled through something. "She'll be right as rain soon. Her condition's stable, she's just... sleeping for now." He looked at the girl and gave a reassuring smile, then pushed himself off the stool. "Dell's going to need to do a check-up soon, so you'll need to leave in a few minutes. It's nice to see that the girl has a friend like you, though." The man gave a thumbs up and walked off, scrolling through his D-Ceiver some more.

Ignia had been leaning back in her chair slightly, Her mind still as chaotic as ever as the person she considered her only real friend was unconscious and so Ignia was without direction. It wasn't that she just wanted Ethel, it was just that she needed her to rely on. Ignia shook her head. She was being selfish. Ethel needed rest and Ignia herself had to keep by her side and not think about her own wants and needs. That's what a good friend would do right? right? A few more moments passed of Ignia observing the sleeping figure of 9/10. As long as Ethel was okay, she would be fine herself... hopefully.

A figure wearing a lab coat pulled up a stool next to Ignia and tried to make small talk.His words only confirming what Ignia already knew. She knew Ethel was strong, that pretty much went without saying at this point but Ignia appreciated the reassurance the lab assistant was giving her. However what he finished with struck Ignia deeply. She nodded when he gave a thumbs up and walked away to assure him she had been listening but she didn't say anything in reply. Packing up her stuff Ignia got ready to leave the infirmary her mind reflecting on what the assistant said.

Walking out the door Ignia took one last glance at her friend. before she walked down the hallway. Ignia was nothing but lucky to have such a strong. awesome and cool friend like Ethel. "Get well soon friend." Ignia said to herself as she kept walking.

@Ammokkx@vancexentan

Angelo watched as everyone had their opinions about what to do. He couldn't stand that these people were just going to let this slide and not do anything. Angelo wouldn't stand by not anymore he was going to take action with or without help. If the dark dorm started a gang then they will start a action force or something along those lines. Sometimes justice means taking the law into your own hands or so they say at least. Angelo went over to Haas and patted his shoulder knowing that he should be having a hard time with people here not wanting to join them. "I'm right behind you. I'll work the turbo circuit to see what I can find whatever you do I'm going to work till we find something" He told him before going over to ben.

"Ben wind dorm we are going to take work on it. I'll follow your lead I'll do what I can with checking with the duel runners" He said getting his D-ciever out and showing Ben his number to contact him. He never had a partner before but he hoped they could both work well together. After all Angelo always believed Ben was a friend since their first duel together. They were both born for entertainment after all. Once Ben had his number he stood next to Ben "Lead the way to the wind dorm my friend" Angelo said to him with a smirk. He didn't think he would be a part of an investigation in a dueling school but then again that's what made being a duelist fun, all the unexpected twists and turns.

"Look Haas I've heard what everyone has said here and while I can see the points of the counter-arguments I still got your back. I want to trust security but sometimes the best way to confront a bully is to prove he isn't as big as he thinks. If we can find proof on Dark Dorm, or we duel them into submission than maybe they'll back off a little. We just can't do anything reckless. I got your back for what it's worth but even I'm not capable of holding up the world." Ben said firmly as he threw his hat into the ring more definitively. However as Angelo spoke up he groaned silently he was going too far ahead of himself. He turned his head over to his good friend and shook his head. "Whoa there jack rabbit where are you going to go in wind dorm in such a hurry? My team is there if they see anything they'll report it too me I'm sure. Until then let's see what Haas has to say. I want to have faith in her that she put some sort of plan together. We can't just go in blind without thinking everything over first." Ben said gently as he stood firmly on the ground.

====

"God damn idiots playing HERO. They should leave that to Avian and Sparkman. They'll end up like a freaking bubble man if they don't look over their shoulder." grumbled Andre as he took out a packet of homework he had and started to look it over. Calling him a teacher's pet wouldn't be wrong in the traditional sense but he really couldn't give less of a crap about what they thought about him unless he needed them as a reference. His plan was to secure his future, why anyone in this school wouldn't think about that was beyond him. He needed too finish what he could in order too get better grades. Memorizing materials was the quickest way too get better. Even the dumb stuff people typically screwed up on. Andre had his deck at his side too just in case someone got a bad idea on who they wanted to pick on. Andre wasn't afraid of trash, he never would be. Besides he was walking fast a quick corner turn and he'd be shouting distance away from Light Dorm. "Level 5 synchro monster worth it's boots? Scar Warrior, and Ally of Justice Castator. Level 6....hmmm maybe goyo guardian? he's pretty solid..."

Megan nodded. Haas was right, even with all this weird stuff happening. Speaking of weird stuff some sort of tremor that felt like an earthquake ran through the building and Megna briefly considered running for cover, but it seemed no one else had noticed. Weird stuff. Megan noticed the Brooklyn girl for the first time and she didn't really like what she noticed. She looked and talked like an airhead who cared about her looks and knew she was pretty. Exactly the kind of girl Megan disliked immensely. Whatever, not like they would be forced to work together or anything. "Haas is right. All this weird stuff and the school's just brushed off anyone who asks about it and they aren't doing anything. At the very least we shouldn't travel alone that way no one gets ganged up on between classes or something like whatever happened with the most recent incident." Megan said confidently, traveling in groups wouldn't hurt at the very least. "If we need to sneak into somewhere I can be a distraction so Maisy can snoop around, I bet I'm faster than any of those Light Dorm students at least." Megan offered, willing to take what she viewed as a minimal risk if necessary.

Brooklyn Voyle

Brooklyn shifted her weighty eat again, her feet clearly sore from standing around for so long. Giving an exhausted sigh, she set her purse on a nearby chair, resting her hands on the table. "Fine, whatever. I guess there's nothing else to do." She shrugged half-hesitantly, nodding at Haas before flicking her gaze at the supposed 'Megan' girl. Sneering her eyes, she rolled her lips to the side, clearly some bad vibes between the two. While she didn't particularly like Megan at first glance, she hadn't really met her, so she couldn't judge a book by its cover. Even then, she was particularly wary about Megan.

"Just, tell me what I have to do. Not like I know what's going on, to be honest."

Nathaniel sighed. He had made his point, but it seems like everyone was quite adamant about doing this. It seemed the new girl was on the same page as Nathaniel, but it wasn't likely that a mere two people will be able to convince the room to back out when they seemed to jump at the opportunity.

What's more, Haas did have a point. There has been so much chaos at the school these past few days, yet classes continue as usual, and the school has done barely anything. They have not even increased security at all, which is pretty strange. Nathaniel had heard about schools being lax in enforcing anti-bullying policies, but one would think that they would take more action when the school gets attacked and the students start forming gangs. Nathaniel had his reservations about doing anything too drastic, but maybe the situation calls for it this time.

"Alright, fine. Just try not to get into too much trouble. And don't do anything crazy or dangerous." Nathaniel said, before giving Maisy and Megan the stink eye.

Hayate was about to approach Haas with some ideas but was shortly interrupted by her D-Ceiver. It was a message from her brother "Ha- huh...? A message from Hayato?" Hayate quickly checked her D-Ceiver, reading her brother's message. "Hayato is definitely acting weird... Haas, Hayato wants you to meet him in his room... alone... say you will tell me whats up, right? I'm a bit worried about him, he has been behaving weirdly these few days. On some, he seems to be fine... but others, he just seems like he's angry about something." Hayate said, worried about her brother's behavior despite joking about him a bit earlier. "Well... Hayato wants you to speak to him, why don't you take this chance to get him to help us anyways? I was going to ask you to talk to him before I got this message. We do need as much help as we can... we are just one group of students, after all." Hayate suggested and shortly added that she could spread the word to try and grow the investigation group.

Haas sighed in relief when Brooklyn and Nathan spoke up again, deciding to give him a shot. He'd also gotten a chuckle out of Angelo's antics, but it wasn't very surprising considering that boy had kind of a reputation around the school for being a hothead. "Alright, thanks everyone! Let's try to get to the bottom of these mysteries! I was thinking to-" Haas begun to explain his plan, but was cut off by Hayate who seemed a little concerned. She told Haas about Hayato's message, and how the samurai suddenly wanted to meet him in... private. Hayate could have maybe put it a little better, but Haas got the point. Then she talked about trying to get more people involved, which raised some red flags in Haas' mind. "N-No, that's quite alright! I want to keep this group to people I know for now. I-It might get a little out of hand if more people get involved..." He said with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head. He tensed up a little at the idea of more people than is needed, thinking about how much trouble he'd be in if such a large group caused issues.

Haas shook his head to get back to his senses, softly laughing to himself for getting so silly in a rather serious moment. "Y-Yeah, alright... I'll go and drop by Hayato's after this. Now uh, where was I...?" The boy went silent for a few moments, trying to recall his plan after getting sidetracked. He then tensed up again, as if a bolt of electricity shot through his spine. "Oh, yeah! So, everyone here is really good at something I've noticed," Haas begun explaining. "Ben is social and is good at gathering info, Nathan is a really good entertainer, Angelo has his own shop tinkering with Duel Runners, Maisy has shown her... vast knowledge of underwear and so on. I was thinking maybe we could all put our heads together, and use what we have to our advantage." Haas snapped his fingers. "Like, Angelo could try to find something about what happened to Ethel if he maybe checked her runner... Maisy's offered to sneak around, same with Megan, though I'm still iffy on that. Stuff like that."

"As for how to tackle the Dark Dorm..." The boy bit his lip when he got around to that part. "I don't like it, but... Those guys refuse to talk to anyone normally lately. Unless they're less than stellar at dueling, they won't even look at you unless you duel them. So... if we want to get an idea of what's going on, we might need to talk to them with these." Haas raised up his Duel Disk, the diving one he'd earned from the swimming competition. "Those rumors worry me, though. If it's true that they're using shock devices, then it might be more dangerous than I thought, ahaha..." the boy laughed nervously, looking away again. "So... maybe we could split us up into two groups for now. Some who gather information on what happens with those attacks, and some others who investigate the Dark Dorm. Is... everyone alright with that?" Haas was a little concerned when he asked his question, feeling uncertain still even though people have told him they're on his side.

Haas tried to get his mind off of the inherent dangers, which led him to think of something which was mentioned earlier. "Ah... We could also use this group like Joshua said, as a social thing. Just in case it doesn't amount to anything, or if it's more dangerous than it's worth, we could still help each other vai practice and helping each other study..." the boy tried to suggest, though he couldn't exactly take credit for the idea. It was also then that something else popped into his mind. "A-Ah, right... I should probably go and check on Hayato. I'd prefer to investigate the strange occurrences, so I'll put myself in that group... unless you guys want me to help with the Dark Dorm. A-Anyway, I don't want to force people to get along, so I'll let you guys form groups on your own." Haas tried to brush everything he just said off as casually as possible, then made his way to the door. "Let's try to meet up here every week and share our results!" With that final line, Haas walked through the door and made his way to the dorms, going to see what was up with Hayato.

---

Back at the dorms, Andre was walking around with his homework in hand and trying to mentally solve it before he got back, due to a lack of a pen. His concentration wasn't quite meant to be, though. Just a minute after he began, students all around started to gravitate towards one particular area, causing quite the ruckus. If it wasn't hard enough to concentrate already, several students bumped into Andre and didn't even bother apologizing as they rushed off down the halls, seemingly following the Dark Dorm line painted on the floor. It was strange, considering you weren't supposed to go to dormitory hallways unless you belonged to that dorm. If Andre had followed the crowd, he'd see quite the... shocking scene. Several students from dorms ranging from Earth to Fire were collapsed against the wall, some with pretty bad wounds all over. It didn't seem like the fun was going to end there, though, as a solitary Wind Dorm student was brave enough to take on not one, not two, but three Dark Dorm duelists, evidenced by the three wires running from his disk and connecting to the others. The Wind Dorm student just grinned, with a few strands of brown hair covering his eyes.

"What are we waiting on?" Vincent said in an almost scarily oblivious tone. The other three students, the Dark crew, looked a lot more on-edge. A frown was all over there face, with all three of their ridiculous pompadours doing a pathetic job of hiding it. "Shut up!" one of the three yelled, with another butting in right after. "W-We've beaten more duelists than you! T-That Fire Dorm punk was just a fluke!" The only noticeable difference between this pompadour student and the first is that his was just a tiny bit shorter, compared to the rather phallic image his friend presented. The third one then speaks up, hardly having a bit of hair that sticks out to the front. "We'll put you in your place with these rare cards we got! Just like we did those other punks!" The third was a lot more confident compared to the one who spoke just before, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. It seems like a duel was about to start, judging from the Duel Disks that were at the ready from both sides. Someone should probably interject, but the staff was nowhere to be found and the students seemed to be more interested in watching. So interested that they made a near impenetrable wall, in fact, so it didn't look like anyone was going to be able to stop this.

DUEL!

Megan gave Nate a devious grin in response to his warning, yeah whatever. Her eyes shifted to Brook briefly as she talked, then rolled away. Airhead. Megan turned to Maisy excitedly, "So you wanna go sneak around? Where do you want to go first? Both the Light and Dark dorms seem like a good place to start. Hm..." She scanned those left in attendance and stopped on Leander, "Hey!" She exclaimed, pointing at him. "You could totally help us sneak around the light dorms so it seems more normal. Though if you don't want to you don't have to, we could do something else I guess. But you'll totally help, right?" Megan asked, with a confident smile. She was kinda pumped for this, it was good to have something to focus on after loosing the contest. Besides, she was defiantly curious to find out more about all this weird stuff. If they got caught they could just duel their way out at worst, it wasn't like they'd get in major trouble for snooping. Heck the teachers probably wouldn't care anyway.

The meeting seemed to be mostly over. While Joshua had been called out on being a jerk to Andre, he just shrugged and dismissed it. He didn't regret what he did, and he was sure Andre regretted nothing either. The guy had too much pride and when he fell from grace, it was be glorious. And Joshua would certainly not lend a hand in helping the guy back up if he was going to keep that attitude. Then again, Joshua was sure several people felt the same way about him on some accounts.

Glancing around, Joshua quickly spotted a familiar face that wasn't occupied and moved over to Michelle, lightly tapping her shoulder from behind.
"Hey there, it's been a while. Not since the tag duels if I recall." He said, a small smile on his face. "How you been? Holding up okay with all the weirdness going on?"

Amelia had remained silent the entire meeting. She found the concept interesting but she highly doubted that she would be of use to anyone. She still largely lacked confidence in her dueling skills and with her heart... if things got too out of hand, she was certain she would be a burden. She knew she was one of the Earth dorm members here, but she was certain she was weaker then all the other members in her dorm. Silently, she got up from her seat and made to leave the room. She had no idea where she would go, but if would be somewhere.

"Well look at we have right here. A group of degenerate scum bags picking on one student all by themselves? I'm not some hero but I don't like bullies." Andre said stepping into the spotlight with a frightening frown plastered on his face. He cracked his neck and fingers moving his arms around and preparing for a good fight should these idiots try to get into one with him. "I just got back from meeting with a bunch of losers who thought they were going to take you on and so it happens that I ran into you first. I really wanted to just ignore you sick idiots but if you're going to be doing stuff like this...well I'm not afraid of sending you face first into the pavement. So how about it? You losers got what it takes too take on an actual duelist? Or are you just all talk? Or maybe you'd prefer a fist fight. I'm not afraid of the odds." Andre growled as he prepared himself for whatever came next. He didn't care for any incoming insults or mockery coming his way but he had no intention on letting these punks pick on the weak like this so brazenly.

Maisy puffed her chest out proudly as Haas started to speak, only to sharply exhale as Haas said that her talent was ONLY in underwear. It kinda sounded like someone just punched her in the gut. She was also great at finding out what socks people wore! Letting Haas finish his speech, Maisy had her arms crossed. Maybe if she showed them that newspaper article from middle school they'd believe in her stalking prowess...no wait, that'd make them think she was just a by-the-book reporter. Maisy was frustrated that nobody TRULY understood the amazing thrill of stalking someone for a scoop, sticking to them like glue, and acting like an overly dedicated gumshoe. Lifting her index finger as she meant to spoke, she was cut off at the start by Megan. Oh, that was nice. Someone was actually going along with her idea. Smiling once more in spite of the interruptions, Maisy put her hands on her hips. "Alright! Maisy McKellen and Megan Clarinet are on the case!" she finally said, not remembering Megan's last name. But hey, she was close. Like...6/8 is a passing grade.

Hearing Megan then suggest that they get Leander in on the sneaking, Maisy's eyes lit up. "Yeah! If we have a Light Dorm pal showing us around and we keep a low profile, we can ask anybody we want! We'll just say that we were going to Leander's room to hang out. But...how many Dark Dorm kids are really gonna pick fights with Light Dorm students?" she said all in a long, drawn out breath. Catching said breath once again, Maisy flicked a pen out of her pocket and pushed the pin in on her cheek, her tongue pushed out of her mouth a bit and off to her side as she started writing something on her notebook.

Step 1: Find Dark Dorm info
Step 2: Don't get caught
Step 3: Find Leander's underwear drawer Find a way to sneak around and get info from dark dorm students directly.

That seemed like a good list for now. Clicking her pen shut, Maisy stuffed it back into her pocket. This'd be fun!

Andre tried to get into the duel with the four-man group, but the smalles pompadour decided to open his mouth. "Shut up you lone-wolf loser! Since you're so dumb, lemme point out we couldn't duel you even if we wanted!" The boy raised up his right arms and grabbed the chain running from his disk. "I'll deal with you after this, if you're so eager to taste the sand!" With that, the boy turned back to Vincent as he prepared for the duel, hovering over his deck.

Before Vincent had even begun to draw his starting hand, he made his eyes glance at his opponents. All three of them. Was it suicide to be in such a situation? Perhaps it was, but Vincent didn't really care. "I guess we need to decide who goes first," he said, his voice still calm. Yet, to an outsider, it could come across as oblivious. The student with the phallic pompadour looked to his side, nodding at the other two. "It's three-on-one. We'll show you a bit of kindness, wouldn't be fair if we all ganged up on you at once. You can go first," they said with a cocky grin. The less-phallic one continued where his friend left off. "Unless you feel like losing before getting a chance!" they laughed at Vincent. "Oh, but it wouldn't be very smart of you to let me go first. You saw what happened to the last guy." He said as he gestured to a Fire dorm student whom was resting against a wall, partially hidden by the growing crowd.

The small pompadoure'd male growled, falling for the provocation. "Are you mocking us?! We'll show you!" The Dark Dorm student turned his head over to the other two. "You heard him! Let's finish him off before he even gets his turn," they shouted over. The other two nodded, and together they all laughed maniacally as they drew five cards from their deck. Vincent then proceeded to do the same, his eyes staring at his opponents unblinking.

Turn 1: Phallic Pompadour
Phallic Pompadour: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand
Standard Pompadour: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand
Pathetic Pompadour: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand
Vincent: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand

"I'm up first! I'll activate the spell, Charge of the Dark Brigaders! With this, I can send the top two cards of both our decks to the graveyard," the Phallic pompadour opened, placing two cards in his graveyard and taking out a card that jutted from his deck. Vincent proceeded to comply putting the top two cards of his deck into his graveyard after a quick glance. "And I'll add my Raven, Foundation of the Darksworn to my hand! Next, I'll summon him too!" The boy slammed down the card on his gray folding disk, it projecting the hologram of a male human wearing a raven's beak as a helmet. Their body was covered in dark green feathers, with a long spear being clutched tightly in his right hand.

Raven, Foundation of the Darksworn: 1900 ATK 1000 DEF Level 4 DARK Warrior

The boy then picked up a card from his hand, showing it to vincent. Depicted on it was a mad-looking dog with purple fur and large fangs that look like they came from a sabertooth. "If I summon Raven, I can reveal this Ryse, Darksworn Hound and set it!" A card was placed face-down horizontally on the Duel Disk and it proceeded to project that image onto the floor in front of the student. "Next up, Raven's effect! I'll lower it's attack by 200 and send the top card of your deck ot the graveyard! You should've taken the first turn and used those cards, 'cause now you're gonna lose 'em!" The phallic pompadour'd male cackled as he watched Vincent put his card into the grave, though not without a brief glance at it first. "Oh, by the way? If a card is sent to your graveyard by the effect of this monster, I can Special Summon my Zephyr, Darksworn Lycanthrope!" A werewolf with gray fur and ripped pants rose up next to Raven, arms crossed to assume a defensive stance.

Raven, Foundation of the Darksworn: ATK 1900 > 1700
Zephyr, Darksworn Lycanthrope: 300 ATK 1900 DEF Level 4 DARK Beast-Warrior

"We're not done yet! I'll overlay my Level four Zephyr and Raven!" Phallic pompadour shouted, a black hole forming in the middle of the field. Zephyr and Raven turned into two purple beams of light and mixed inside of the vortex. "One who ends all life, take away your opponent's! Leave not even a blade of grass in your wake! Xyz Summon!" A bright flash of light erupted, after which a demon rose from the black hole. Clad in golden armour and mounted on an equally armored steed, this man managed to wield his blade backwards. "Rank 4! Evilswarm Thanatos!"

Evilswarm Thanatos: 2350 ATK 1350 DEF Rank 4 DARK Fiend / 2 overlay units

Vincent smirked slightly at his opponents play. Darkswarm? He had never seen that archetype before. He hadn't even heard of them until now. Guess spending a week away from civilization puts you out of the loop. Vincent looked at the crowd. It seemed this match was more gladiatorial, what with the duel chains and the unfair odds. It seemed some people just wanted to watch the world burn.

Phallic Pompadour clicked his tongue, seeing as how Vincent was only mildly paying attention to them. "Tch! You might not be shaking yet, but you will soon! I'll set one card, then end my turn!"

Turn 2: Standard Pompadour
Phallic Pompadour: 4000 LP, 1 card in hand, 2 monsters (1 Set), 1 S/T
Standard Pompadour: 4000 LP, 6 cards in hand
Pathetic Pompadour: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand
Vincent: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand

"Then it's my turn! Draw!" The Standard Pompadour yelled, with the Phallic Pompadour clicking a button on his Duel Disk. A card flipped up depicting a dead Dovahkin beckoning someone closer. "I'll activate the trap: Skull Invitation! I said I'd make you shake, and this card will made you!" The boy looked to his side at the turn player, who looked back. They grinned at each other and nodded. "I'll activate my spell card: Book of Taiyou!" Suddenly, Ryse came out from under his card by violently throwing it off them, growling at Vincent. Drool was coming out of their jaw as they rushed forward and bit into his Duel Disk. Vincent had raised his arm to protect his face. "With Ryse"s effect, I'll discard a second Ryse and send the top four cards of your deck to the graveyard!"

Ryse, Darksworn Hound: 200 ATK 600 DEF Level 2 DARK Beast

As Vincent placed his cards in the graveyard after taking another quick glance at them, the trap card on the field suddenly started to ominously glow. Instantly afterwards, the two who worked together had a small electrical surge delivered to them while Vincent got a larger one. Vincent only winced at the pain, being able to remain perfectly standing even as 1200 lifepoints worth of damage were delivered to him. "Grgh... Skull invitation deals 300 points of damage to a player whenever a card of theirs hits the graveyard. Since you lost four, that gave you the biggest shock!" Phallic Pompadour laughed, followed by a grin from his ally. Vincent's face was curled downwards into an annoyed frown.

Phallic Pompadour: 4000 > 3700 LP
Standard Pompadour: 4000 > 3700 LP
Vincent: 4000 > 2800 LP

Standard Pompadour seemed to react positively to the change in expression. "Hehehehe... Regretting it already? That's too bad, because he's not the only one with Raven! I'll summon my own and activate it's effect, sending another card to your graveyard!" The same bird-clad human rose up from the ground, sporting a sinister smile. They threw their lance into Vincent's deck, causing one card to glow and need to be put in the graveyard. Vincent briefly glanced at it, then felt a short shock rippling through his body again.

Raven, Foundation of the Darksworn: 1900 ATK 1000 DEF Level 4 DARK Warrior
Raven, Foundation of the Darksworn: ATK 1900 > 1700
Vincent: 2800 > 2500 LP

"When I control only Darksworns, who's total levels are four or lower, I'm able to Special Summon this Tuner monster: Tigris, Darksworn Ranger!" A humanoid feline rose from a vortex in the ground, having brown fur and emerald eyes. They were wearing a hunter's clothing, with a green cap covering her ears.

Tigris, Darksworn Ranger: 1700 ATK 700 DEF Level 4 DARK Beast-Warrior Tuner

Standard Pompadour extended his arm and pointed at Tirgris. "I'll tune my level four Tigris to my level four Raven!" As soon as the boy announced it, Tigris winked at Vincent before shooting an arrow in the sky. It came back down on her, causing the feline to burst into four futuristic looking green rings. Raven snickered and walked in, turning translucent. A bright flash of light enveloped the four stars that came out of Raven. "Laugh! Dance! Spread your madness! Cause grief to those watching the show, rain down your power on any who try to escape! Synchro Summon!" From the light came a magician of sorts, with a classy black top hat and a rather tattered yet classy attire. Their skin was sickly green and the nose was cartoonishly long, as well as the rod in their hands having a skull on the end of it. "Level 8, Blood Mefist!"

Blood Mefist: 2800 ATK 1300 DEF Level 8 DARK Fiend

An electrical current ran through the cables as Skull Invitation glowed again, shocking Standard Pompadour. "Ghaargh!" After the shock, some smoke rose from his body against all laws of physics and chemistry. "S-Since I tuned my two monsters, I'll take the damage... But it's worth it. Now, each time you set a Spell or Trap card, you'll take 300 points of damage!" The boy grinned and picked up three cards. "I'll set three cards and end my turn!" Vincent's frown of annoyance was slowly turning into a pissed scowl. Did they ever shut up?

Standard Pompadour: 3700 > 3100 LP

Turn 3: Pathetic Pompadour
Phallic Pompadour: 3700 LP, 0 cards in hand, 2 monsters (1 Set), 1 S/T
Standard Pompadour: 3100 LP, 0 cards in hand, 1 Monster, 3 S/T
Pathetic Pompadour: 4000 LP, 6 cards in hand
Vincent: 2500 LP, 5 cards in hand

"My turn's up next! Draw!" The third student yelled, just in time for the one who went before to activate his face-down cards. There was a second copy of Skull Invitation, alongside a card depicting a graveyard with a mysterious hooded figure. "I'll tell you what the new one does. Each time monsters are sent to the graveyard, my opponent gets dealt 300 points of damage." The standard pompadour explained, leaving the rest to his compatriot. "I'll keep it short and simple. I'll Normal Summon my Dire, Darksworn Geist!" The smoke that had risen to the sky from Standard Pompadour suddenly came down and formed into something recognizable. It took a legless human shape, with white dots forming on top of the 'head'. Bright red streaks were shooting through the rest of Dire's body.

Dire, Darksworn Geist: 400 ATK 400 DEF Level 3 DARK Fiend

"He doesn't seem like much now, but this is where his effect kicks in! He'll gain 300 Attack for each monster in your graveyard that doesn't share a name!" Vincent's graveyard slot started to glow, and holographic images of his cards appeared above his head. There were seven monsters and one spell card, with nothing sharing a name. "Seven cards? It's my lucky day! Geist's attack raised to 2500!" The bright red streaks became brighter, and now blue and green was starting to mix in as well. Geist became larger and his form more refined, with legs and visible muscle. A small horizontal line formed on its face too, making for a stoic expression.

Dire, Darksworn Geist: 400 > 2500 ATK

"We're not done! I'll activate the Darkworn's Cursed Tome from my hand! I'll equip Geist with it, giving him 500 additional points of attack!" An altar rose from the ground in the middle of the field, modeled after a pair of grissly hands which tightly clutched a book. Geist walked over, the hands starting to flip open the pages to let Geist read the knowledge within.

Dire, Darksworn Geist: 2500 > 3000 ATK

"Since I don't want to take damage, I'll end my turn here. Thanks to Geist's effect, you'll lose two cards from your deck... But with Cursed Tome, that number goes up to three!" Pathetic Pompadour laughed and outstretched his hand, holding up three fingers to illustrate his point. Vincent looked at his cards, then put them in the graveyard. Geist rose to 3600 attack soon after, evidenced by a nose that formed on its face. "Seems like I dragged some monsters down into the grave. That means my friend's Coffin Sellers will deal 300 points of damage to you, each! And with Skull Invitation, you'll take 900 damage... Twice!" The Dark Dorm student cackled, watching as the cables started to electify Vincent. The shocks proved too much for him to endure and he screamed it out, his voice lingering in the halls for nearly half a minute.

Dire, Darksworn Geist: 3000 > 3600 ATK
Vincent: 2500 > 100 LP

The three Dark Dorm students laughed, and Pathetic Pompadour decided to throw Vincent some abuse. "What, can't handle it anymore? Is the pain too much? Poor thing. Can you even still draw in that condition?" They mocked Vincent, before being interrupted by Standard Pompadour. "You don't stand a chance. You can't use spell cards because of Skull invitation, and my Mefist makes your traps worthless." Picking up on the last one, Phallic Pompadour cuts in. "Even then, you can't possibly get past our three monsters. You should've just ran, instead of challenging us like that." The three laughed in unison, with the crowd booing at Vincent. At least some of them, anwyay. Some even tossed junk at him, though the boy didn't seem to mind. Others in the crowd started to murmur to each other. Vincent could catch some snippets of people calling him crazy.

Turn 4: Vincent
Phallic Pompadour: 3700 LP, 0 cards in hand, 2 monsters, 1 S/T
Standard Pompadour: 3100 LP, 0 cards in hand, 1 Monster, 3 S/T
Pathetic Pompadour: 4000 LP, 4 cards in hand, 1 Monster, 1 S/T
Vincent: 100 LP, 6 cards in hand

Vincent's head hung down. That really hurt, a lot. So did the empty plastic bottle that hit him on the side of the head, but it would be nothing compared to what his opponents would feel. He just needed one card. Snapping his head back up, Vincent looked at his opponents with a glare. "My turn, Draw!" His eyes showed a very noticable change in expression as he smiled. To the crowd it might have looked like he had mentally snapped from the electric shocks.

"Let's get this show on the road." Vincent's voice was slightly hoarse from his earlier screaming. "Do you three remember or know what Deck I even play?" He questioned as he looked over to his opponents as if to say "idiots". The three Dark Dorm students flinched and looked at each other, with Standard Pompadour switching between the two on either end. "I-It doesn't matter what deck you play! No deck can get out of this combo! This perfect lock!" Standard Pompadour replied, smirking. "Oh? Well, that makes this even better then." Vincent said as he held up a card. "First, I am going to banish my Effect Veiler from my Graveyard to Special Summon my Black Dragon Collapserpent."

Vincent smashed his first monster onto his Duel Disk. A dark rift appeared on the field with Effect Veiler spinning into non existance inside of it. From within a dragon erupted out onto the board. It reared its black and orange scaled head and it let out a roar which could be heard by the entire crowd and most of the hallway.

Black Dragon Collapserpent: 1800 ATK 1700 DEF Level 4 DARK Dragon

"Y-You... Banished?!" Phallic Pompadour yelled in surprise, suddenly sweating profusely. Pathetic Pompadour seemed to feel the same as his ally. "T-That... gets around our perfect lock..." Pathetic Pompadour watched as his Geist dropped by 300 Attack points, losing the nose it once had.

Dire, Darksworn Geist: 3600 > 3300 ATK

"G-Guys! Pull yourself together! That monster has only 1800 ATK, not nearly enough to get around ours!" Standard Pompadour tried to reaffirm his teammates, but was clearly just as panicked.

Vincent was visibly enjoying himself. "What is it boys? Is something wrong, or did you make a mistake? Maybe that perfect lock isn't as perfect as you think." Vincent held up another card in his hand. "I banish my Battle Fader and my Chaos Emissary - Nameless," Vincent began as he pointed upwards. "Come greatest preformer, Show my enemies the true delight you take in removing their hope. I special summon Chaos Sorceror!" From nowhere, Chaos Sorceror walked out. A smile appeared on its leather covered face. Its hands swirled with chaotic energies. "The effect of Chaos Emissary - Nameless, when she is banished from the Graveyard I can destroy one Spell or Trap card my opponent controls. Of course, I target your Cursed Tome." Vincent said as the wrathful spirit of an angelic figure appeared. Its features were hidden by its speed, but its claws were very visible as they tore through the tome Dire was carrying before the wraithful spirit disappeared back into the nothingness once more. Vincent grinned. "Guess who takes damage from Skull Invitation this time?"

Chaos Sorcerer: 2300 ATK 2000 DEF Level 6 DARK Spellcaster

"I-I do..." Pathetic Pompadour said, with his eyes starting to widen in fear. Electric shocks ran through the cables, making him groan from the pain.

Pathetic Pompadour: 4000 > 3400 LP
Dire, Darksworn Geist: 3300 > 2200 ATK

As soon as Geist's mouth faded back into nothing, Pathetic Pompadour pointed at Vincent. "But that's all you'll be able to do, right?! There's no way you have any more monsters to summon!" They boldly proclaimed.

Vincent's grin wasn't going from his face anytime soon. "I am the Chaos Ambassador. Do you really think two is all I can do?" He held up another card. "Ready for round three boys? I banish my Thunder King Rai-Oh and my Chaos Emissary - Different Dimension Gateway." Vincent pointed towards his opponents. "Brace yourselves. Envoy of Creation, bless this battleground with your presence and return all those that oppose you to the very nothingness from which they was birthed. Special summon, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!" The atmosphere of the room seemed to become heavier as a heavily ornate soldier took his position on Vincent's side of the field. He looked very menacing, though perhaps it was because his name heralded a sense of dread.

Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning: 3000 ATK 2500 DEF Level 8 LIGHT Warrior

"Black... Luster... Soldier..." Phallic Pompadour managed to utter out, looking in fear at the monster. "A R-Rare card with unmatched power... Where the hell did you get such a card?!" The boy was starting to freak out and tried to remove his disk, but the chain wouldn't allow it. "D-Damnit... I didn't even want to be a part of this!" The crowd started to whip up into a maelstrom of voices, each talking about something different. Some were in awe of the envoy, others were ridiculing the Dark Dorms, others were saying Vincent still didn't stand a chance. Some were even talking about how crazy it was to willingly chain yourself into a duel.

"I haven't even gotten started yet." Vincent said, going on a roll. His tone of voice was still happy but was also starting to have some slightly dark undertones, like a predator playing with his food. This had to have been one of his best ideas yet. "Next, I activate the effect of my Chaos Emissary - Different Dimension Gateway. When it is banished from my Graveyard I can target one monster on the field and destroy it. I choose..." Vincent delayed his answer before pointing at Mefist. "Mefist." Suddenly, a lot of shrapnel of what appeared to be a mechanical device appeared from a tear in space, hurtling a bombardment at Mefist.

This time, it was Standard Pompadour's time to freak out. The shrapnel caused an explosion, with the two coffin sellers on the field making sure he feels it. The guy screamed, both in fear and pain until the shocks died out. Geist was starting to become simpler and simpler as well, the muscles starting to be drained from its body.

Standard Pompadour: 3100 > 2500 LP
Darksworn Geist: 2200 > 1600 ATK

Pathetic Pompadour's face was twitching, but he hadn't lost his nerve completely just yet. "F-Flukes! You've shown your ace, but you can't beat all three of us like this! E-Even if you beat some of us, one of us will beat you on our next turn!"

Vincent had begun chuckling to himself. "Ace? Black Luster Soldier isn't my Ace. He's my strongest monster, sure, but Ace? No. Not him." Continuing onwards, Vincent held up yet another card. "As the Chaos Ambassador, Three just isn't enough. Besides, I am in a bad mood. Three little nuisances just made me scream for half a minute. So, I banish Chaos Emissary - Prophet and Chaos Emissary - Chaos Caller!" A Dark rift suddenly appeared in front of him. Two orbs appeared in front of it, with a mouth filled with demonically shaped teeth devouring them. The dark beast took its spot on the board. "Dark Dorm? Meet Amon." The large beast bared its fangs at its opponents and snarled. Meanwhile, Geist was simplifying even further by having its legs removed.

Chaos Emissary - Amon: 2500 ATK 600 DEF Level 8 DARK Fiend
Darksworn Geist: 1600 > 1000 ATK

Standard Pompadour was completely losing his mind, driven home even further when he saw the beast appear on the field. "G-Get me out of here! Please!" They started to try and tear off the disk on their arm much like Phallic Pompadour earlier, but to no avail. The chain was firmly keeping them in it. The crowd started to laugh again, not at Vincent this time, but at the Dark Dorm students."You should'nt have been so cocky, otherwises I could've drawn out your loss. Sadly, you Idiots forced my hand." Vincent was laughing at them himself now.

"Now then. I activate the effect of my Prophet in the graveyard." He said, as a sigil appeared above him. "It allows me to add one Chaos Emissary - Emperor Dragon Omega from my deck to my hand." Vincent said, it slowly making sure his opponents took that name in. "Now then, I banish my Chaos Emissary - Umbra and my Chaos - Emissary Split Persona!" Vincent said and placed his last card on the board and stood cross armed. A massive gate that had two large opposing torchs of white and purple appeared on his board. "Ruler of Chaos, show these mortals the true law of nature and destroy their false order! Return them all to chaos under your rule! I special summon my Chaos Emissary - Emperor Dragon OMEGA!" The gate was smashed open by a large tail as a collosal dragon moved its hulking form onto the field. It reared its head and roared. Not a pathetic, tiny roar, but the roar of a leader. The whole floor and a few above and below could hear it. With the last two monsters gone, the blue and green streaks running through Geist faded with them.

Chaos Emissary - Emperor Dragon Omega: 3000 ATK 2500 DEF Level 10 DARK Dragon
Darksworn Geist: 1000 > 400 ATK

Now it was time for Pathetic Pompadour to lose it. He lost his balance and fell onto his behind, trying to crawl away backwards but finding himself unable to due to the chain. He looked down at his lifepoints, a cold sweat running down his forehead. 3400, the highest total out of all three of them. "S-Stop! STOP IT! We didn't even want to duel you, what the hell is wrong with you?!" The student shouted at Vincents, cards falling out of his hand and scattering face-up across the floor. Vincent's face was straight. "What the hell is wrong with me? Nothing is wrong. I was just looking for a fight and three targets waltzed into my firing range. Perhaps next time you act tough on a challenger maybe you should wonder why they are so confident." Vincent finished with a small sneer.

"B-But chaining yourself to three people... Y-You're some kind of monster!" Phallic Pompadour threw at Vincent, ignoring the hint of irony that came with such a statement. All Vincent did was laugh for a good few moments at the compliment. "I wanted a fight against some Dark Dorm students and besides, you were acting so bloody confident before, so why the sudden change? What happened to your will to fight? Cowards."

"We didn't even want to fight! T-The boss was done with all the higher up duelists, a-and we just mopped up the trash!" Standard pompadour tried to defend themselves, but couldn't really say much as he was staring down Vincent's monsters, with no way to protect himself. "We were leaving, damnit! W-Why us?!"

Vincent said nothing else to the, in his eyes, worthless lackies. "Battle. Phase." He said, with what can only be described as relish. His monsters seemed to ark forward slightly, ready to charge down his enemies. "Let's start off with the King himself. Chaos Emissary - Emperor Dragon Omega!" The beast roared in response. "Tear asunder his Geist in the name of conquest!" Vincent said, as he pointed to the helpless spirit. "Chaotic Break!" The Dragon, upon hearing the command, swiped its large tail across Pathetic Pompadour's board, picking up the Giest with the motion. The Dragon then proceed to flick the Giest into the air before slamming the tail down onto it and by extension, its controller, with great force. The two Skull Invitations and Coffin sellers on the field started glowing, with Pathetic Pompadour looking down at his Duel Disk. He choked and saw the lifepoint counter slowly tick to zero, after which he was assaulted by the recoil of the shock device. "GUWAAAAAAAH!" They screamed in terror and pain as the full force of a 3400 lifepoint shock hit him, frying not only the duelist but also his disk as it broke down under the pressure and fell off his arm. The student himself remained standing for a good minute before collapsing face-first onto the floor, smoke rising up from his unconscious body.

"Target two. You," Vincent said pointing at Standard Pompadour. "Amon, Beast of Dark. Maul this man into the ground. Make him fear the name of the Chaos Emissary." The large black beast rose up on its hackles as it pounced ontop of the Dark Dorm student making a terrifying attempt to bite him in half but failing as its a hologram. However the pain was there as the Duel Chain cackled into life. Standard Pompadour was desperatly punching his disk now to try and get it off, failing to do so as his points hit 0. All at once the shock hit him like a thunderbolt, not as painful as Pathetic Pompadour's but still an incredibly large amount. "AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGH!" The scream echoed in the hallway and seemed to linger even after it was over, with the boy falling backwards as his chain disconnected from the disk. They seemed to be concious, still, but barely.

"You." Vincent said, talking to the last man standing. "Tell your boss, whoever he is, he better watch out for the Chaos Ambassador." Vincent command as he put his Duel Disk down to his side. He looked like a commander, but not those nice ones you see in movies. "Black Luster Soldier. Execute this man for being a complete waste of space and time." Vincent said with a shrug at the end. His ornate soldier brandished its large sword, running forward it and swung at the great knight, the swords clashed with sparks as the knight tried to defend itself from a creature of legend. A few moments passed by and in a single stroke it was cut down, after all, order of death mattered. Vincent wanted his opponent to feel it, a sweet revenge for the pain he took. Following through with its movements, Black Luster Soldier stood over his opponent's Ryse. There was a flicker of disgust in the soldiers eyes. A loud crunch could be heard around the dormitories, after which Ryse burst into sparks.

Now it was Phallic Pompadour's time to repent. All the color drained from his face as he shakily looked down at his Duel Disk, seeing the largest number slowly trickle down. When his lifepoints reached zero, Phallic Pompadour screamed it out as he was hit with the full force of 3700 damage, electric shocks messing up his body pretty badly. "GRRAAAAAAAAAAAH!" They screamed and screamed until their lungs ran out of air, the duel disk on his arm forcefully snapping in two and falling to the ground. The phallic pompadour's, well, pompadour didn't get saved either as the gel seems to have evaporated and letting all that hair loose, covering his face like a ghastly figure. The boy quickly followed, falling on his back with the arms in a cross-shape. One turn was all Vincent needed, leaving three unconcious and damaged boys on the floor. His messed up hair fell in front of his face as he dropped to one knee, grinning as the satisfying feeling of victory washed over him once again.


The monsters faded away from the field as two members of security, who were drawn here by the dragon's roar pushed the crowd away, finding Vincent on one knee surrounded by near-mountains of unconcious student bodies. The hallways burst into loud chatter, with everyone throwing either how brutal or downright crazy that victory was. The two securty members stood paralyzed for a moment, shouting "Did you do this?!" to Vincent, who didn't reply. The boy was breathing heavily, exhausted from how taxing that was on his body. Even as the securuty questioned him, Vincent didn't answer. So, the boy found himself pulled up by two strong pair of arms, probably unable to escape even if he tried to struggle. Vincent didn't resist being dragged around, his legs weak and jelly-like from the shocks he had taken. However, he had only one last thing to do before he could be dragged away in peace. Looking at Andre, Vincent decided to leave him with a parting shot."Who's the actual Duelist now, Tough Guy? Don't get cocky like these guys." Vincent said with a grin as he motioned his head to the Dark Dorm's collapsed figures before wincing in pain and hanging his head satisfied. Then, the boy dissappeared into the elevator, dragged away by security.

"Certainly not you dumbass." Andre said as he spit on the ground and turned his attention to the others. Vincent had trounced them but it wasn't exactly unexpected. If Andre had any sense of hypocritical bull shit inside of him he'd call out Vincent on treating him like that when he intended to actually try to help someone for once in his life. He wasn't afraid of Vincent. He wasn't afraid of anyone anymore not after all the things he's been through. Andre looked over to the poor crew and shook his head before turning away. He wanted no part in this if anyone of the guards came along to bark at him he'd tell them exactly what happened without lying. He saw three jerks trying to confront a fellow student, and he moved in to stop it in his own way. Still seeing as he wasn't in the hot seat just yet Andre turned on his heel and went back towards light dorm. He pulled out his homework yet again and prepared too finish the last parts of it. He may as well get some rest afterwards. He was feeling pretty tired already with all this commotion going on. Inwardly Andre figured he'd best go and transfer out of this school as soon as possible. This place was full of trash students, trash people, and trash teachers. He may not be a bucket of god damn sunshine and rainbows but he wasn't doing anything wrong. He wasn't forming some weird ass inquisition, he wasn't hunting down other students, and he did his studies like a proper student. No point in dealing with all of this crap for longer than he needed. He'd have a reference to tell prospective students to stay away though.

"Achoo!" Nathaniel suddenly covered his mouth as he took a big sneeze. It caught him completely by surprise, since he was definitely healthy. Super weird, and super embarrassing. In an attempt to save himself some face, he cleared his throat and decided to speak up.

"Okay, while you guys do your weird... sneaky... stuff, I'll go ahead and see if I can find out a little more about the incident this morning." He said, gesturing his hands towards the group that Megan had formed before crossing his arms and thinking about what to do himself. Not being someone who enjoyed sneaking around or getting into trouble, Nathaniel figured he could at least go see the girl and see how she's doing. And maybe ask the faculty some questions. He looked around at the rest of the students gathered. "I should probably ask. Does anyone here actually know the girl they found this morning?"

Leander had let his mind wander during the discussion, having taken out his deck to look through the cards. Shuffling through each one, Leander smiled at each one. It was nice to look at his cards. They gave him a sense of comfort, and at the same time, Leander wondered how he could make his deck even better. Leander was then brought back to the real world when Megan began talking about him. Upon hearing her request, with Maisy's added suggestions, Leander answered, "Sure, I don't see why not. Sounds fun." Putting his deck away, Leander got up from his seat and continued, "We could go right now, if you want. I don't think anyone would stop us, anyway."

---

Michelle listened silently to everyone during the meeting, taking in the information and suggestions everyone was giving. As the meeting drew to a close, Michelle felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned around to face Joshua, who had been trying to get her attention. Michelle gave a small smile back to Joshua and said, "Things are alright. The meeting could have gone better, I suppose, but everything seems fine for now. Uh, how about you?"