Ryuko was working away at her computer, presumably answering business inquiries. It was a beautiful Summer morning, the sun shining through the huge glass window to the right of where the woman was working and enjoying a cup of her favorite dark roast coffee. Today was the day she started sending out escorts to the lucky duelists she had picked to participate in a tournament of her orchestration, the grand prize being a whopping $1,000,000. To just about any normal human being her age, the cash would be a huge deal. For her, however, it was pocket change. She had plenty more stacks of cash to go around, just one of the perks of owning a card manufacturing company in the same vein as Industrial Illusions years and years before it.

A dark-haired man wearing a business suit and sunglasses entered the room and asked "Miss Tsukinazo, are you ready to send out the escorts and boat?"

Her gaze not shifting from her work, Ryuko responded with "Yes. I'm sending them notifications as we speak. They'll be ready to leave the island and bring back the contestants shortly."

The man nodded. "Understood, ma'am," he said as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Ryuko smiled as she began to think of the fast-approaching tournament. She had her reasons for hosting the event, but they were confidential to even her staff members. They would learn of her plans once the whole thing came to its conclusion, or at least close to it. For now, though, the woman was left to her own devices, whatever that may entail.

Eric was sitting at his computer looking at match schedules bored with his opponets in the near future until an email pops up.
He looks at it to discover and invitation to a large tournament on a remote island with a massive cash prize. Not even slightly interested in the money he still excepts it with the knowledge strong opponents would be their. He looks back at his current match schedule and grimaced.

"Pro Duelist League huh? Apparently Property is used loosely these days"

He immediately cancels all his matches for the next month and goes out to his garage to prep his D-Wheel

"Hopefully the people that this tournament attracts are more entertaining than these guys."

Before he left he got a call from his not surprisingly enraged manager. After being yelled at for like a minute he hung up him and ops to send him a text that he's going to a tournament so shut up because I'll bring back 1 million before blocking his managers number until he gets back.

"Definitely don't want him calling during this tournament"

Par the invite instructions he takes his duel runner to the docks too get on the boat with anyone else from his town who was invited

"Sir! This is absurd!"

As Masuo Itaki walked down one of the many halls of his corporate tower, a average grey-suited man followed beside him, seeming to be in a panic. Which was within his right, as Itaki had decided to take up the invitation for this children's game tournament! The man enjoyed his hobbies, yes, but this was risking the capability of the entire business while he was gone! Potential losses due to missed meetings and unsigned contracts could lead to a loss much higher than just a million dollars!

"Your losses could be well beyond a million, Masuo-Sama! We could reach a state where we can't come back from without years of effort! This is a very dangerous and unsmart move, I advise you refuse immediately!" The grey-suited man spoke with urgency, as his boss continued walking towards the elevator without much care.

Itaki smiled, looking at the man. "Nonsense! You're implying that I can't place my trust in you while I am gone, Sojiro-san?" He questioned, simple and clean. Itaki was like that: He'd say simple things, and unless you wanted to insult yourself, you wouldn't reply. It usually just made getting his way easier, which was always a plus.

The grey-suited man, Sojiro, coughed nervously. "O-Of course not! You can rely on me..." He assured, somewhat nervously.

As they approached the elevator, it opened as if on cue for Itaki. As he stopped at the doors, he clicked his tongue; A bark coming from behind the two men. Itaki turned, crouching down. A huge smile crossed his face and his eyes widened as a small, fluffy white dog with a black splotch over it's eye ran up to him, jumping into his arms.

"Shugo~!" Itaki cheered sweetly, standing with the dog in his arms. He turned back around and entered the elevator, scratching the pooch on the head. "I wouldn't forget you, boy. Whose going to come duel with papa? Is it you~? It's youuu~!"

"Sir..." Sojiro muttered, disturbed.

Itaki cleared his throat as the elevator doors closed. He pushed the button for the bottom floor, and soon they were descending. "You worry far too much, Sojiro." Itaki said, plainly, looking at the man. "Trust me; The business will be fine while I'm away. There's nothing that I can't recover from, and even if something went wrong, you know I'd have a payout lined up for you to support your family while looking for work."

Sojiro choked on air, eyes widening behind his square glasses. "You can't just talk of your own business going downhill like that! I-It's madness!" He stammered, in a bit of a panic. "But... Changing your mind has never been easy. Or even possible." He admitted, defeated.

"You've got that right! Doesn't he, Shugo?" Itaki asked, looking down at his dog. Shugo barked enthusiastically, and Itaki simply laughed. "Thassa' good boy! Yesss!"

Sojiro simply sighed, losing hope. He pushed his glasses up, shaking his head slowly. "You're really taking the dog?"

Itaki's eyes widened, as if someone had just insulted his mother. "Of course I am! Shugo and I go everywhere together! I'd never leave him, Sojiro-San..!!" Itaki exclaimed, holding the dog up as if it was some sort of hero. As he did, the elevator opened. The sight was ignored by the staff as they passed by, so it seemed that this was all normal. After a moment Itaki progressed forward, bringing Shugo close to his body, held in both arms.

"I regret asking," Sojiro said, tone mopey. "You are certain you don't wish to take the helicopter?"

"Of course! A boat is more adventurous! A sea venture, to an island! Perhaps a tropical island!" Itaki responded loudly, approaching the exit to the building. "Perhaps I can sip from a fresh coconut on the beach! Or better yet, duel on the beach! Or duel on the beach whilest sipping from a fresh coconut! The concept is amazing, isn't it?!"

The automatic doors opened and the duo stepped out, stopping in front of the building. "The message said that they would be sending someone for me. I simply ask that you watch over things for me, Sojiro-San."

"Very well. Just return as soon as you are able..." Sojiro responded, loyally.

Soon enough, a car pulled up; Sleek, and black. Boring, in Itaki's opinion, but official. He kept his smile as a man stepped out, opening the door to the backseat for him. Itaki could tell the man was surprised, despite his shades.

"We... Weren't supposed to allow pets, sir." The man spoke calmly.

Itaki narrowed his eyes. "You'll allow this one; Or you can simply leave with one less contestant. Would your boss be happy about that?"

The man hesitated, before nodding. He was informed to make sure the man arrived to the boat. That was the same for all of the crews sent out to pick up the contestants, though. "Very well."

Itaki entered the car with an overly excited Shugo, resting the dog in his lap as the man closed the door and entered the front passenger seat. Within a few moments, they were off; Heading towards the ship to the tournament.

Sojiro was left standing alone, unsure of what to make of this mess. "Why do these things have to happen...?"

A bright, perfect day. Weather that any normal person would hail as good fortune, basking in the glorious sunlight and doing something fun with their friends. Not for Shinji, apparently, as he was leaning up against the wall in a dark alleyway. He'd just finished dueling some crook who hardly put up a fight, now writhing on the ground. A classic case of being all bark and no bite. Shinji was going to stay a while, until something new came up. He didn't need to move, so he wasn't going to.

Whether it be luck or quite the opposite, a message soon reached his phone. He took out his little device and swiped a few times, reading the new e-mail. It seems the escorts to the tournament were being sent out- first by car, then by boat. On cue, a car showed up on the street adjacent to the alley; black and sleek, a typical business car. However, Shinji wasn't going to play by the organizer's rules quite yet, as he was sure he could get there faster with his own vehicle, parked just behind the crook.

"Get up, or get run over."

Shinji's threat was short and sweet as he walked past the bandit, who got up and ran away in turn. The man put on his helmet, black and with a full-face vizor. He took a seat in a one-wheeled Duel Runner, coloured a deep scarlet with orange streaks. Despite being elongated with a tip at the front and only having one wheel, the runner did not fall over due to an auto-balancer inside the front of the machine. Shinji revved it up once, twice and a third time. That should have been enough of a warning for any passerby to get out of the way. In one powerful burst, Shinji launched himself out of the alleyway. He had his runner jump over the car and then turn while it was still in the air, coming down on the ground with a loud crash as his wheel spinned against the pavement. Before anyone could blink an eye, the man was already speeding off onto the road.

Even if Duel Chasers tried to catch him, Shinji's runner isn't the most legal thing in the world. It breaks just about every speed regulation on the planet, so it would be hard to catch up if he went full power. Perfect for someone who lived on the edge. He cruised along the road without a care, the e-mail told him where to head to anyway. He could get there on his own merits just fine.

Elise woke up before the sun was out Why'd he want his repairs finished so early? she thought to herself, cursing the morning. Elise was by no means a morning person. At least she'd get to do what she loved; repairing vehicles. The man had claimed it was minor damage, and sure enough, Elise had finished the repairs by the time the sun came up. The man came to pick up his motorcycle soon after, paid her, -tipped her, even- and soon he was gone again.

After making some coffee for herself, Elise sat down behind her PC and opened her email. She had three new emails, and two of them were quickly revealed to be spam. She was unsurprised to see the third was an invite to a tournament. Elise was surprised however, when she noticed the sender wasn't her usual informant. She was even more surprised at the contents. "One m-m-million dollars..." she whispered to herself in disbelief. She'd played in a lot of underground tournaments for some serious cash, but never more than fifty-thousand. In her disbelief, she even went as far as to count the zeros an extra few times. When the amount of zeros still didn't change after counting seven times, her mind was quickly made up.

Elise scribbled a quick note saying the garage would be closed for an undetermined period of time, drew a simple drawing of a figure in an apologetic pose on it and went downstairs to put it on the garage door. After that, she went back upstairs and put some clothes (and a charger for her phone) in a bag. Elise quickly headed downstairs, shoving her phone in her pocket as she went along, headed to the garage, and put the bag next to her toolbox. Giving her D-Wheel a lookover, she was glad to see it was still in mint condition.

As Elise was finishing the check, the bell rang. She opened the garage door instead of the main house's, and saw a man in a fancy suit, stand beside a fancy car. "Yeah? Can I help you?" The man let her know he was sent to escort her, to which Elise smiled. "Well ain't that gallant? Much appreciated. Now if you could load this in, then--" She handed him her bag and the toolbox "--then I'll just grab my baby and be off." She quickly went back inside, leaving the man to his confusion.

Seeing the man's confused face when she returned with her D-Wheel, she couldn't help but laugh. "Expecting something else, were we? No matter, let me just fire her up." The man seemed as if he wanted to protest, but Elise quickly shushed him. "Look, I appreciate that you came to escort me, but I don't go anywhere without my D-Wheel." Admittedly, she hadn't really gone anywhere for a while, but that wasn't for this man to know. "Anyway, it's nothing personal, let's go."

With a sigh, her escort gave in and got in the car and drove through the narrow streets with Elise close behind him on her D-Wheel. As Elise saw the car maneuver through the narrow streets, she couldn't help but wonder how he'd reached her place to begin with--her location wasn't exactly ideal for cars after all. The question soon left her mind as she started hyping up, soon she'd get to focus on the other thing she loved after all; dueling.

Living with Toon monsters constantly playing games with each other, often very violent games, would drive almost anyone insane. In fact, thats how Lucille found her delightful Toons. Of course this coupled with almost no proper upbringing meant living in abandoned buildings, but the eerie creepiness of said places meshed well with her Toons. Even so, sometimes she had to deal with other people, mostly when getting supplies. Thankfully the world ran on card games, and her and her toons were extremely good at just that. Preferring not to use her actual name, she gave herself the nickname of Light after one of the toons suggested it, it probably being a joke knowing them, but she thought it worked well.

Today was one of those days where she needed to go to town. But unlike other days; besides the usual Toon antics, today it being Toon Red Eyes and Toon Blue Eyes playing a game of very violent Rock Paper Scissors while Toon Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl were doing a 'couple pointing out weird things' sorta gag, today was when Lucille would be getting an invite to a tournament with a huge prize pool! Of course this just didn't happen without incident. While grabbing a few potatoes and apples, Toon Buster Blader having a fun time trying to slash them up, a delivery man came up to her and delivered a letter specifying where to go and how to get there. After all, Lucille wasn't all that rich and didn't have a computer of her own.

It was probably a good thing the poor guy couldn't see what some of the Toons were doing to him. Being stuck in the middle of the Toon dragon's violent game would probably put almost anyone off. Her laughing out of nowhere when the two got really annoyed at each other and started to hit each other with mallets didn't help things either, and after giving her the message and a few tickets so she could get to the tournament, he left in a panicked hurry.

But back to the tournament invitation, much of it looked pretty standard, or at least thats what Toon Inkmaster said. Simple rules with a huge prize pool, Lucille could live in relative comfort and play with her toons with that kind of money! Maybe even find someone into their silly antics like her, but she highly doubted that. Most people were pretty scared of her as is.

"We don't have to finish this duel you know." Dan said as he drew a card signaling the start of his turn. The bully from his younger years decided to have a rematch in the center of the cafeteria after 'buying a bunch of strong cards', but he had been loosing and the duel in total had taken about 15 minutes. Truthfully Dan was kinda hungry and wanted to finish his lunch, but at the same time he didn't want someone to be embarrassed so completely. "You have a chance to save some face, if you surrender before even more people arrive.."

"Shut the fu-" The bully had started to yell back but Dan quickly interrupted him with his own shouting.

"I'm sorry but I can't let you finish that!" The card he had just pulled was O-Oversoul, he could use this to bring back Elemental HERO Neos from the grave, but his opponent only had once face down and only 1900 life points left, Daniel could use Elemental HERO Neos Alius to finish him instead since he was already on the field. The face down could be a trap, so I'll use mst to trip it to make it safe for my monsters. "I'm not taking any chances with you, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" Daniel shouted as he placed the card down onto his generic duel disk. A giant storm of lighting and thunder swept over the holographic field destroying the trap card, it turned out to be mirror force. Good call Daniel. Daniel kept the O-Oversoul in his hand and continued his turn. "Elemental Hero Neos Alius, attack with solar flare finish!" The monster let out a loud grunting before flying over to his enemy and smashing a giant orb of light on him.

"Nnnoooo!" The former bully had lost all his life points, but with no extra damage.

"Hey look at Daniel's hand, he had O-Oversoul!"

"So?"

"So he coulda smashed Jason with even more damage by bringing back his stronger Neos!"

Various expressions of surprise and awe passed around the two spectators and those around them, eventually spreading through out the room. But Daniel quickly rushed back to his seat, lunch would be over in 5 minutes and he hadn't finished his chicken nuggets, he quickly scarfed them down, completely forgetting about the duel.

3 Hours later, after school ended Daniel returned home, his brother had been strangely sick for the last few weeks so Dan decided to skip his after school activities to tend to him.

"You always had the stronger body, if I g-"

But Dan was interrupted by his brother Diego. "Don't worry about it." Diego let loose a series of coughs before continuing. "Listen, I-I got an e-mail earlier last week about a tournament, I had already agreed to join it but..." Diego intentionally paused, but it seemed as though Dan hadn't noticed and continued for him.

"I'll go in your place, I'll fulfill your obligation for you!" Dan shouted, his concern was very obvious, after hearing this Diego smiled on the inside.

"Thank you, according to the time they should be here soon." And as if on cue the Doorbell rung. "Be safe, Daniel." Diego said after coughing again several times.

"I will." Daniel left after tucking in his brother and answered the door. In front of him was an older woman holding a folder in front of her, she was a little bit taller than him, but she showed him a polite smile as he answered.

"Hello, Is there a Diego Cooper in the house?"

"Yes, that's me."

The woman looked at a photo in her folder, becoming confused.

"I look older in photos."

The woman still looked as if she doubted him, but after a minute she closed her folder. "Alright come with me, I'm here to escort you." After she said that she led the way to a white suv, and Daniel followed in after her.

Back inside the house Diego stood up, completely ignoring the sheets, and began to apparently speak to himself. "Do you think they'll televise this?"

Andrew walked out of his school building. He was nervous, even more so than normal. He knew the tournament was coming closer and he didn't know if he was up for it. There were going to be a lot of high skilled duelists there from around the globe. He was just a small, scared kid. What could he do there? As far as he knew, he was just their warm-up, and a bad one as well. They somehow got his eye on him, probably because of his recent successes. However, he was convinced he would fail there.

He almost jumped when he heard the sound of his phone. Hastily he grabbed the phone out of his pocket, almost dropping it on the ground, and opening his inbox. It was a message from the tournament. They would pick him up and bring him to a boat so he could go to the tournament. And not a moment sooner, a black car showed up right in front of him. A man stepped out with a business suit and shades on. "Are you Andrew Shade?" He bluntly asked. Andrew answered stuttering "Y-y-yes?" The man kept staring at him from behind his shades. "I am here to bring you to the boat for the tournament. Are you ready?" Andrew looked towards his feet. "I-I d-on't know..." The man raised an eyebrow above his shades. "You don't know? If you aren't sure about going to the tournament in the first place, how do you expect to win?"

He was right. There was no way Andrew could win. At least, so he thought. He clenched his fists next to his body, shaking. If I go, I will get laughed at for being so bad at it. I'm a failure... Suddenly, the voice was there again. You are no failure. You just don't know how to use your strength yet. If you give up now, that would mean you failed. Failed to see this strength. But if you go, I will be there to help you, and we will win this. Andrew stopped shaking. His stance changed from that of a scared little kid to that of a confident duelist. The driver looked at his watch. "Look kid, I don't have to time to wait for duelists who back out before it has even started..." "I'm not backing out." Andrew suddenly said in a deeper, with confidence filled voice. The driver got surprised by the sudden change of attitude. "I'm going to this tournament..." He said as he opened the door of the car. "... and I will win it."

As the doorbell sounded, Megumi's mother looked at a nearby clock and said, "Is it time already? Oh, it is. It might be them!" As she went over to the door and opened it, there was a man in a suit waiting outside. "Hello, I'm with the tournament, here for a Megumi Takaki," he explained.

The mother turned around and shouted, "Megumi, someone's here to pick you up for the tournament!"

A moment later, Megumi appeared, carrying a backpack on her, as well as lugging a suitcase. Following her was Megumi's father, who had been helping her pack. "Just in time, too," he said.

"We're going to miss you while you're gone!" Megumi's mother said as she hugged Megumi.

"I'm still a bit worried about this, but it looks like there's no changing your mind. Go out there and win that tournament!" Megumi's father said, flashing her a smile and a thumbs up. "A million dollars will get you all set for college, that's for sure."

"Mm," Megumi agreed with a nod.

After putting her shoes on and making sure that she didn't forget anything, she said, "I'm going now," before following the driver to the black car parked right outside her house. Megumi watched from out the window as her parents gave a final farewell wave before the car drove off. The ride was fairly silent, and the driver did not seem inclined to begin a conversation. Seeing as there was little else to do, Megumi reached into her pack and pulled out a small plastic bag filled with four buns that had ham and cheese fillings. Popping one in her mouth, she closed her eyes as she savored the taste before chewing and swallowing. Taking out another, Megumi stared at it for a few seconds before offering it to the driver. "Do you want one?" she asked. The driver didn't even look at Megumi, focusing more on driving and merely responded with, "No thanks." Without another word, Megumi took a bite out of that bun.

"One million?!"

"Yeah. I got an invitation today. I'm planning on joining with my heroes. It'll be a cinch."

"Careful not to get too cocky. There'll be a lot of strong duelists out to get you. Still, I wonder what you could've done to get them to notice you?"

"I've been playing a few matches here and there. My winning streak's at a good...20 right now?"

"..."

"Boss?"

"Oh, it's nothing. You just sound less excited for this than I do. I figured you'd love to make more than minimum wage for once."

"You kidding? I've got everything a guy could ask for. A million bucks doesn't make much of a difference to me."

"You're acting weird today, that's for sure."

"Whatever. Just thought I should let you know. See ya. Don't worry, I'll remember to give the shop a shout out when I win this tournament. Don't croak till then, old man."

"Pff, arrogant as ever. Best of luck."

Yo turned his phone off and checked to make sure all of the things he needed were in his bag. It was a bit dusty, yeah, but he had it since middle school and it still got the job done. He had an old-school duel disk Boss gave him as a gift for his 17th, as well as his deck, which was stuffed into a little black box for safe keeping. He would have to run it by Boss sometime soon, there were some new "Vision HERO" cards that piqued his interest. Other than that, he really just had the basics. Water bottles, candy bars, and a wad of bonus cash that Boss forced him to bring. Anything to keep him out of trouble, he said.

"Little bro, now's our time to shine." He spoke to the little black box as he took out of the bag. "We'll kick their asses before they know it. I promise, got it?"

He smiled warmly at the box before shoving it into his backpack and zipping it up. He spun the bag around onto his bag and made his way towards the door, hoping a certain someone was asleep in the living room.

"Kid..."

Yo paused as he gripped onto the door handle and replied without taking his hand off.

"What?"

"Just...uh, be safe okay?" His father borderline mumbled out, still clinging onto a beer and rotting away on his chair in front of the TV. Something about the way he said it got Yo's blood boiling. There wasn't a hint of malice to be found in his pathetic voice, but somehow, someway, it got Yo angry. So now he pretended to care, huh?

"Whatever." Yo answered aggressively. He nearly broke their old door down when he slammed it out on his way out.

Despite the issues some provided to their escorts, everyone had eventually found themselves aboard the ship that would take them to the tournament isle; The Super Sonic Bahamut Shark, or S.S.B.S if you were the lazy type. A truly marvelous and sleek vessel, obviously expensive and show-boating. Whoever had the chump change to throw a million dollars at the winner of a dueling tournament obviously had plenty more to spare if a ship such as this was their transport; Though it had reasons to be on the high end of technology aside from the flashy appearance: While certain duelists managed to be in the same general area, some didn't reside in the same place as the others; Specifically since the tournament had been not only searching for Japanese duelists, but for all nationalities.

Because of this, the ship had to make multiple stops. Thankfully it took a lot less time than with any old boring seacraft; The Super Sonic Bahamut Shark had the capabilities to speed across the water without issue, traveling from location to location to pick up contestants regardless of location. Despite the costs, it was a major save on time; Something the tournament had plenty of regardless, but a pinch of readiness for the tournament to begin went a long way, and led to a speeding ship large enough to hold a hotel's worth of people. Nobody was really arguing with it, though...

With the final stop completed after picking up the American contestants, the S.S.B.S sped off towards the seemingly endless waters. Heading for the island which the tournament would be held on, where only one contestant would be leaving with one million dollars; And the rest would simply get thanked for their efforts. It was tense among those who wanted the win; Knowing there were no second or third place prizes... The tournament clearly intended for everyone to go all out. If they decided to do so or not, was up to the individual. But now they entered a waiting phase as they headed off towards the island.

Everyone had been called below deck and from their rooms to gather in the large dining hall below deck: The large amount of food of varied nations and cultures, as well as just about anything to drink you could ask for (At least if you're old enough). It was the first actual event that had happened since people started boarding, since all the contestants were now together. There was to soon be an announcement, though some might've not cared: They might have been here for the food, or to scope out the competition. Perhaps even try to make friends within the large group of people on board. Regardless of intentions, almost everybody on board was notably present. Aside from some crew, and perhaps a few particularly rebellious duelists.

---

Itaki was at one of the tables, scoop in hand. He had been slowly progressing down the table taking everything he fancied; Mainly the seafood selection and some healthy side options. He notably had a secondary plate just for sweets, his sweet tooth being obvious as he had a slice of pie with whipped cream on top, with chocolate pudding poured over it, followed by a scoop of strawberry ice-cream being dunked on top, with three cherries crammed on there as well. Oddly enough he had two spoons in the sweet plate, but it wasn't anything to particularly note about him.

Aside from the fact he was packing up food like a behemoth, he seemed approachable by those that were curious. He was one of the older-looking individuals on board, though not much a whole lot. Perhaps it was just a bit of maturity in his complexion? His facial expression completely tore away the idea of the man being mature, as he was way too excited by the food he was carrying to seem calm or collected in the slightest.

Not to mention he had a dog head sticking out of his shirt. Shugo panted, excited as he stared at the meat on Itaki's plate. As Itaki finished scooping some steamed rice onto the side of his steak, he paused for a moment to readjust how he was holding his plates, to ensure he didn't drop them. He also took the time to pick off some meat and pop it into Shugo's mouth, much to his enjoyment.

"I'll feed you plenty more~!" Itaki exclaimed, laughing to himself as the dog rubbed it's head against his chin, lovingly. If anything, the two appeared to be very happy together. Itaki came off as a man who was perhaps really good with animals... Or at least with his dog.

The man turned and began to walk off, trying to find a place to chow down before the announcement started. Sadly a lot of these girls were too young for him; Though he kept his eye out in case a potential respectable woman appeared for him to dine with. A grin crossed his face at the thought; Though sadly he wasn't certain if women his age even played Duel Monsters. He hoped so, otherwise this trip would be slightly disappointing despite the fun he'd have...

_{"Where would be a good place to sit..."} Itaki pondered to himself, continuing along.

---

Aside from the man with his dog, there were a few other duelists notably sitting and eating, or simply walking about as well...

Eric was far less concerned about the other guests.
He was never one to fraternize with random strangers and as such simply sat at his table eating.

"Man this food is pretty amazing. Not even going to guess how much they spent just on this dinner party alone"

After he finished stuffing himself Eric took out his deck to look through it again and make sure all was in order. He had spent a lot of time perfecting his playstyle and wasn't worried about losing earlier.

Bored with just sitting there he finally decides to get up and look around. Hoping to see someone he recognized aboard the ship. After all a tournament like this would attract a lot of people so there was no telling who he would meet while there.

With that in mind he wanders about the dining room area sampling foods while searching for someone he knew.

As soon as the boat took off Daniel felt a little dizzy, although he had taken and passed swimming classes, he had never been on a boat before, especially not a super sonic boat like this one. They called this one the, behemoth shark or something right? The lady that was assigned to escort him to his room offered to bring in pills for his sea sickness, and Daniel accepted. Better to take a few pills than to start falling after every moment.

After downing the pills he decided to spend a few minutes going over his deck in his room, it wasn't very decorated, but it was still much fancier than he was used to. "I mean, I knew this was a tournament, but there's money riding on this." Daniel spread out his cards and gathered up his HEROs in his hand. "I probably should have gone with a masked HERO setup like Diego always said. Or I should have taken his Kaiju deck!" David yelled out in his room, he shuffled his deck together again and placed it in his holster. "Welp, take advantage of this, they've got food. Free food." Daniel said as he began to walk out of his room.

He definitely took advantage of the room by stacking his plate up with exotic foods, it was always good to expand ones horizons, and he could always come back for a good old steak. "Did, people bring their family? Was that an option?" Daniel mumbled as he examined the other tables, he noticed some of the tables were actually full. While wondering around he spotted something very interesting, he saw what looked like a dog with a man's face, and a man with a dogs face. "Huh?" Daniel rubbed his eyes, and the site he saw earlier wasn't anywhere to be found. Now it was just a dog and a man, no faces switched. "Maybe those pills have some side effects." Daniel mumbled as he tried to make his way to the man. "Excuse me mister! Could I see your dog!" Daniel shouted while dodging around people.

Walking into the big dining room, Andrew immediately started shaking. So... many... people! he thought. He knew these were all strong duelists, as they earned their spot in the tournament. Compared to them he was an ant. The good thing about ants though, was that they could easily go unnoticed. All he had to do was act normal and not become an easy prey for the big fish. So he tried listening to himself, keeping his cool and normally walking towards a seat at the table.

At least, that was what he told himself. When he actually started moving, he was shaking even more, having a very awkward walk. When the very long walk, that more closely resembled dragging himself across the room, finally finished, he sat down on one of the chairs. Seeing the food right in front of him, he was even more confused about what to do. What if someone messed with the food to eliminate the competition? What if it was a relaxant, making him fall asleep, staying on the ship while it already left the island? What if it was something even worse? What if someone would... It was a million we were talking about after all. He just continued shaking in his chair, not taking even a bite.

And he wasn't even thinking about the fact that he was in the middle of the ocean...

From a creepy section of town to a luxurious ship on the way to some island with a million dollar prize pool. things were getting interesting! Even better, there was actual food here! While most of Lucille toons were in her room playing poker and doing who knows what, a couple decided to follow her to the dining hall where most of the other competitors were competing.

None of the duelists really caught her eye though, most of them were your average looking ones or had a bit of an edgelord vibe to them, no one fun like the toons! Though Inkmaster, who always went with her, pointed out a few of the duelists who had far more potential than others. As well as some other offhand comments about some of the weaker ones.

Seeing all the food, Lucille was overjoyed, the two toons, Red Eyes and Dark Magician, also pretty happy to see such a spread. Though the former was more overjoyed than the latter, who was more interested in putting little toon hats on people that poofed soon after. Lucille laughed pretty loudly when this one guy in a business suit got an exceptionally silly jester hat with lots of little other hats for bells. To anyone else but her, this would be strange, as others would see her just laughing randomly.

Even if she didn't win the tournament, at least all this food, if it was a constant, would be nice.

Getting up from her seat in the dining room, Elise went to the bar. She considered whether she should just get another plate of food, or if she could also get away with some liquor. As she reached the food, she bumped into a girl, which broke out in laughter. She wasn't really sure what the girl was laughing for, so she just excused herself and got some food. Deciding it wasn't the time for alcohol, she returned to her table.

When she returned to her table, she noticed an edgy uncomfortable looking boy had taken her seat. She could probably lift the boy and toss him, judging from how he looked, but that'd be a less than acceptable course of action. Instead, Elise reached for the chair on the opposite side of the table and looked at the boy for a moment. He really doesn't seem too healthy. She thought to herself. After having poked the young man to get his attention, Elise asked, honestly concerned "Say, you don't seem to be doing so well, are you feeling seasick? I'm certain they should have some medicine for that. Should I get some for you?"

"Sir, please..."

"How many times do I have to say this? I'm 23 years old!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but without any kind of ID alcohol is strictly prohibited."

"Ugh, fine." Yo rolled his eyes and stepped away from the minibar in the corner of the dining hall. Some buffet this was turning out to be. He supposed that settling on the food wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. He had to admit it; the person who owned this giant ship must've had cash for centuries. It made him wonder if 1 million dollars was anything more than change to the guy. Yo was still a bit weirded out by how short notice this whole thing was. What kind of rich idiot could afford to send invitations out to so many competitors and throw them on some boat in the same day? It was shady, that much was for sure. He kinda doubted that this thing was any kind of scam or something, way too much effort for something like that.

He stacked as much food as he possibly could onto one plate and hurried to an empty table. Hey, if they were giving this food out for free, he was damn well taking full advantage of it. Yo then decided to scope the area out for any potential threats.

First of all, there was a guy with a dog sticking out of his shirt. He was notably older than most of the people on board and had as much food as he did. Something about the guy struck him the wrong way. Were guys like that even allowed to play children's card--er, compete in a sport as mentally exhausting as Duel Monsters? Either way, he would have to watch out for him in more ways than one.

Then, he saw what looked like a muscular kid running towards the man with the dog and screaming at the top of his lungs like a nut. He reminded him of his younger brother...kinda. Somehow, some way, he knew that those two would get along like two peas in a pod. Weirdos always stuck together, right?

And then he glanced at some purple haired lady who had burst out into laughter for no real reason. No comment. Man, did they just let anyone on this thing?

Next, he noticed a timid looking guy who looked like he was on the verge of collapse. Watching him meander towards his chair and sit down like a total wuss gave Yo flashbacks of his days back in high school. There were so many guys like that that it wasn't even funny. He had some semblance of standards so he never bothered messing with them. He didn't so much as see an opponent as he did a kid who was way, way, way out of his league and probably had some issues back home, if he were to take a wild guess.

Yo loathed to admit it, but he felt kind of jealous of the guy when he saw a total babe sit down on the opposite side of the table. Women these days liked weak-willed, kinda sensitive guys, right? Man, what a waste. He felt like inviting her over to his table but a very loud voice in the back of his mind warned him that it was a very bad idea.

"Impure of heart..."

That...definitely wasn't one of those voices. Was staying on this boat turning him into a complete loon like those other guys?

Megumi made her way through the buffet and picked up the options she thought looked delicious. In next to no time at all, she had a rather large assortment of items on her plate, and began looking for a place to sit and enjoy her meal. Well, she didn't really need to sit to do that. Already she was twirling up noodles with a fork and enjoying their tastiness. They were remarkably good, too, having a firm texture while keeping up the taste, making her only want more. The small squares of beef within the mass of noodles served to compliment the taste, creating a wondrous harmony within her mouth.

As she continued eating, a small white thing flew past her peripheral vision. Megumi turned to look at it, but it was already long gone. In its place, however, was a pair of elf women with blue and purple dresses. Megumi thought they looked like the Gemini Elf monsters, but they seemed more... cartoonish. As the elves ran off, Megumi turned to look some more and realized that there were actually a number of the toonish monsters around, most of which were playing pranks on the unsuspecting passengers of the ship. The white monster came back, and Megumi could see that it was a toonish-looking Cyber Dragon.

Megumi had heard of them before, something about Duel Spirits, but didn't think they were actually real. She had never seen one before. It was possible they were not even Duel Spirits at all. No one else seemed to notice them, anyway. Curious, Megumi spotted the Red-Eyes Black Dragon and began to follow it as best she could, half-forgetting that she was still in a semi-crowded place with people around. As a result, she collided with someone, causing them to fall backwards. Megumi managed to remain standing, with her plate of food still intact, and looked down to see a small child with a hat on. Megumi tilted her head sideways, curious about whether the kid she had bumped into was a boy or girl, and knelt down. "Sorry about that. Are you ok?" Megumi asked, holding out a hand.

@Raddum@Archmage MC

Lucille was enjoying running around trying all the new and different food. From cake to steak there was food of all kinds! At one point someone bumped into Lucille, but she paid them no mind as Red Eyes was having a fun time eating some hot food and breathing fire. while moving around, Inkmaster whispered a few things in Lucille's ear about how something like this party happened before and to be careful as things might not be what they seem. Inkmaster was rarely ever wrong, so Lucille kept his words in mind. Even so, Lucille was really interested in this chocolate pudding looking fountain thing with marshmallows on sticks nearby and made her way over to it. And then something funny happened, a kid ran into a lady and fell butt first on the ground! Shame it wasn't a complete gag, as the lady didn't drop her food, but it was still funny and Lucille laughed all the same.

Grabbing and dipping a marshmallow in chocolate, Lucille saw a couple of the older duelists oodling an attractive lady much like how some toons oodled Toon Dark Magician Girl when doing a more adult skit. Again it was a funny situation, but she had chocolate to eat! Besides, Toon Dark Magician was already doing things to mess with the group with his magic. Shame no one but Lucille seemed to see the toons. There was a rare occasion when someone else saw them, but they ran in terror soon after.

@Alternax

Itaki paused upon hearing a voice, half-turning to spot it's owner. "Ehhhh?" He voiced curiously, blinking as he spotted the young man approaching. Someone wanted to see little Shugo! He hadn't doubted that it'd happen, though the attention the dog was getting wasn't Itaki's preferred audience. He lucked out, but kept a smile as it wasn't going to change his disposition towards the young man: Since he was here he must have been a duelist, after all: That meant he'd be a potential opponent in the tournament. Dueling the youthful would be ideal for learning new strategies! Kids often spent more time on these things than adults, after all. Gave them plenty of time to develop new plays!

_{"It seems we missed our mark."} Itaki muttered to his canine companion, before greeting the young man as he got close. "Feel free!" Itaki exclaimed, joyful as per usual for him. "He's a wonderful little guy! Raised not to bite since he was a puppy, so don't worry about that!" He explained as he watched the dog in his shirt scramble a bit, the shifts in the man's shirt making it obvious that the dog was pushing against it as it attempted to extend it's head further towards the man, tongue hanging out as it panted with excitement.

Though he seemed excited to see the boy, it was clear after a moment of observation that the dog was more looking at his plate: Seeming to want to be fed. It's eyes were adorable as it stared at Daniel, begging for a treat for the use of it's time. Truly a little cute schemer, if anything. But unlike the past observations, the duo were normal: The dog had a dog head, and the older man had a obviously aged face but with a wide smile that marked some happiness and energy.

"I assume you're here for the tournament as well?" Itaki questioned, striking up actual conversation. He soon followed up with his thoughts, seemingly to be enjoying himself. "Exciting, isn't it? This is the fastest boat I've ever seen! I can only wonder what things will be like once we reach the Island."

---

@Scarifar

"Aah!"

A youthful voice cried out as it's owner fell to the ground, the kid with a questionable gender falling down onto his/her backside. The child took a moment to regain their sense before glancing up at the source that had knocked them down; A black-haired girl wearing glasses. Large eyes momentarily observing her, a light shade of red crossed the child's face at the sight of the young woman, and it flushed slightly deeper in embarrassment as she asked her question.

"I-I'm okay!" The child answered, extending a hand fairly smaller than her own; Accepting the help to stand back up. Despite being knelt down, she was still a bit taller than the child before her: But despite the embarrassment the child didn't seem bothered by this. Despite their age, the child seemed to be here alone: As there weren't many adult figures around, or really any that shared a similar appearance to the kid. The only thing to go on was the red hair; And red hair wasn't exactly uncommon. So asking would be the only way to figure out if the child was truly alone.

Observing the young woman up and down, the child seemed to come to a quick conclusion. "You're a duelist, right?" After asking that question, the child retreated slightly, realizing what had been asked was pretty stupid. If she wasn't a duelist, why would she be here? Only duelists got those invitations, or at least the child figured that was the case. The possibility of being wrong didn't seem to cross the kid's mind, as additional words came out after the initial question:

"Sorry. That was kind of a dumb question..." The child admitted, in the cute young voice that continued to leave the gender ambiguous. It wasn't overly cutesy and squeaky, but wasn't exactly firm or tough either. It was an odd middle ground, mixed with an apologetic and intimidated tone. The child seemed to firmly believe that they were speaking to a superior, or at the very least, an elder. Even if it was only by a handful of years.

---

As Yo scoped out the competition, the woman at the table wouldn't be the only 'babe' the young man would see: A red-haired young woman would easily be spotted standing, deck in hand. She glanced between the cards in her deck, seeming to be contemplating changing a few things. As if she had some sort of built-in alarm, she perked up and noticed Yo's competition scoping, and took it the wrong way. Black waist-coat swaying as she turned, the woman wasn't exactly looking like she wanted to sit down for a nice lunch. Rather, she seemed ready to complain. Or at worse, beat the shit out of Yo for what she assumed was gawking. That being said, she'd get thrown off the ship for that, so there wasn't much she could actually do... Aside from dedicate herself to throwing him out of the tournament.

"You want somethin' or are ya just gawking like a freak?" She questioned, noting the guy had a -really- badass coat. But that wasn't redeeming in the slightest unless he gave her a good answer. She stood there, at the opposite end of the table with her arms now crossed under her chest; Deck in one hand. Attached to the black leather belt around her waist was a larger than average deckbox: It seemed to have enough room for a decent amount of extra cards. It was difficult to tell if she was prepared, or just uncertain of what should be used in the tournament. Regardless, she seemed to have a fair amount of card access...

She said nothing else, simply staring at the young man across the table judgmentally.