It was lunch break at Catalyst Academy. A red-haired young man was stapling a poster to the billboard.



Akira Uematsu had formed the Tabletop Game club. When he started school, he'd found a gift-wrapped box under his bed, with a note.

Good luck starting school! I hear this game is popular. Make lots of friends, okay?
-Love, Mom

He hadn't met a lot of people that liked to play it. He supposed it was his own fault. He had a bit of a reputation as a troublemaker. Not an undeserved one, though. There had been the incident with the thumbtacks, or the one with the spaghetti in the locker rooms, or...

He regretted nothing.

They assumed he had learned to drown out all the whispering. They assumed that he couldn’t hear them or that he was ignoring what they had to say. It hadn’t gotten any better nor any worse than before. He just kept his head down and buried in the textbook for their English class. Preparing for tomorrow's test a failure in grade now would only meet the yelling of his mother. And other punishments. He simply had to continue to do his best.

He knew kids in the past who probably asked him, didn’t he want his freedom or his independence. He wasn’t sure if he had the answers to those questions. It wasn’t a hard yes nor a firm handed no. Either way it was the way things were to be and he didn’t particularly care for the conflict. Both his parents could be downright mean if he tried to say anything.

It was best he wasn’t heard. Just seen. Even if that meant other kids got to talk behind his back and call him odd or weird. He didn’t mind it. It had become something so commonplace in his life that their chatter was like a spring breeze. Every now and then you’d hear something, but then it pass you by. There was no reason to talk to the wind.

That’s how he dealt with it. That’s how he coped with it. He was still uncertain about a lot of things currently in his life. The deck of cards he found on the bench hadn’t been claimed by any owner. And being near the deck made him feel odd about the situation. Like there was someone else inside of it. He tried to ignore it because anything that detracted him from his studies meant a poor future. Or so his family would tell him.

He in a sense believed it. That video games and trading card games were distractions. He found himself escaping into their reality whenever he had a chance to play them. Clearly something that could so easily have someone succumb to their presence was a distraction from an expected perfect future.

He only glanced away from his textbook once. He wondered if any of the other students had a deck of cards? He wasn’t confident enough to talk to anyone himself, but he saw one of the students pinning up a flier. Trading Card Game Club? Maybe he’d be able to give the deck to someone else. Someone more appropriate. It just wasn’t something he was interested in or knew too much about.

Standing up and walking towards the redheaded student. He felt his heart racing. All the students eyes on him. All the snickers. The whispers. The murmuring. Was less easy to drown out when he wasn’t so focused on something. He wished he knew the student’s name. He wished he didn’t feel so weird and awkward. Or so strange.

Butterflies forming in his stomach that made speaking the same as feeling like you were going to throw up.

@HeroicSociopath

“Um,” he muttered, “about the trading card game club.” he paused, “are there a lot of people? I...would...like to return something.”

He could hear his own heartbeat in his ear. His heart racing. His chest tightening. Socializing with others wasn’t exactly an easy feat. He was hoping that this would go over smoothly. That he’d somehow be directed to a few people. Maybe someone missing a deck. He didn’t want to believe or really didn’t believe he was meant for this deck, this ring he kept in his pocket. There felt like another person budging their way in his subconscious, but he tried to ignore it.

Obviously, obviously it needed to be someone else.

'The Tall Man'

He infiltrated the school posing as a supply teacher, the school was alive bustling, the smell of cheap deodorant and fast food was think in the air, and the students had no idea of physical space, all packed together and scurrying in every direction like labrats. The Tall Man was irritated but was deeply regretful that the panel had sent him here of all places. His hand began to tingle, the ring on his finger seemed to be buzzing slightly, which could only mean that he was approaching someone else with a similar ring. Internally something in him was stirring, he needed to find this person, no matter what.

After a little more walking he found himself in a comparatively empty corridor with only a few rooms, his hand buzzed a little more viciously as he came upon one room which had a boy sitting inside and reading. The energy resonating off the boy was immense, but he was so calm, he didn't even seem to notice the Tall Man enter the room.

Ermmm excuse me student, I'm Mr Kuro a supply teacher for today.....I've noticed a few students wearing rings like the one you have on right now, is it some sort of fashion statement? Because I'm certain it isn't part of school uniform.....

The Tall Man slowly reached for his deck as he spoke, he could hear a humming sound from both his ring and the boy's ring grow louder.

@Ammokkx

Akira turned around, to be greeted by a zombie. Akira was worried that the black haired student would keel over.

"Did you say something? Speak up." Akira asked. He hadn't quite been able to make out what the student muttered, though he thought he said something about Trading Card club. "I just started it. Here, you can be treasurer." He said, handing him a stapler and some more posters.

@AngelofOctober

Kyogi had watched his classmates pour out of the classroom, scrambling to go anywhere else for the lunch break. He liked that they did that, it made the room a lot more relaxing and quiet. Perfect for reading, perfect for being left alone. He recently picked up a new book that dived into the history of entertainment, seeing how people kept themselves busy throughout history. Most, if not all entertainment was naturally exclusive to the rich, but seeing what the common folk came up with to amuse themselves was simply fascinating to the boy.

However, Kyogi stopped paying attention to his book when he heard the door open.

Footsteps soon followed. Not of a student who forgot something, they were too calm for that. Not from the teacher either, they never stuck around the classrooms. No, these footsteps were clearly coming toward him. Kyogi didn't move an inch, he wanted to pretend to be engrossed in the book. It makes people think he is off-guard, makes them feel better for being able to grab his attention.

"Ermmm excuse me student, ..."

Kyogi perked his head up when the other person spoke, looking in their direction. Two things immediately jumped out to him; They were not a face he recognized, and they had a ring similar to his own around their finger. Both observations were immediately reinforced by the man introducing themselves as a replacement and addressing Kyogi's ring. Ah yes, the ring. The one that's against school regulations, yet none of the teachers seemed to mention it. The ring who had cousins walking all over the school, with one of them even hiding in someone's pocket. Kyogi had eyes like a hawk, and he wasn't a fool. This 'supply teacher' wasn't going to have accidentally noticed it, but Kyogi decided to play along anyway.

"Ah, I'm sorry Sensei. I did not hear you come in."

Kyogi put on a smile and moved his bookmarker, placing the now-closed book down on his desk. He stood up, scanning the tall man's body language as he did. He could see the ring finger subtly tapping against the man's leg, showing unrest. Kyogi had to admit he felt a similar unease around his own finger, but he had become used to it from always feeling the same when getting close to another one of its kind. All these rings were metallic and came with a gemstone slotted in, of course color coded. It was for the owner's convenience, no doubt. But the boy couldn't scan anymore, as he had to make eye contact with this new person.

"I am Genjitsu Kyogi, it is nice to meet you."

Kyogi placed his right hand, the one he used to wear his little accessory, on his chest and gave a short but respectful bow toward the stranger. Then he rose again, continuing where he left off.

"I know it is against school regulations, Sensei, but my other teachers have allowed it so far. I also apologize if I'm being rude, but I have noticed you are wearing a similar one. I am sure it is a coincidence, after all, it is not that strange to wear the same ring as someone else, is it?"

Kyogi's polite smile didn't waver, and he was looking forward to seeing which direction the other person's eyes decided to dart.

He didn’t respond at first, instead he was too much in a state of shock that the student even responded to him that he couldn’t think of what to say next. Instead he stared at the red haired young man and wondered if he came from somewhere else. Was the red hair natural? He wondered. How about the green eyes? He wasn’t sure. He also felt his hands becoming sweaty wrapped around the handle of the stapler.

Treasurer? Him? His intentions were misunderstood. He should be focusing on his studies and going to college, the things his parents told him were his main focus. He didn’t see that as either a bad or good thing, they just wanted a good future for him. And this Trading Card Game Club? This was just a distraction. It was not school related.

“No..I..uh,” he tried to speak up a little louder, “Was trying to return someone’s deck.”

He was feeling really uncomfortable drawing this much attention on himself. His chest constricting he really just wanted this to be done and over with.

@HeroicSociopath

Saito immediately noted it was lunch time and made his way to his usual spot on the roof. He opened his lunch, which only contained bread and was about to take a bite. Unfortunately, a bird swooped in and snatched his entire lunch before he could, then flew off before Saito had any time to react. It left Saito without lunch, but he appeared to be unfazed by the event. “Well, I was looking forward to that.” Saito said himself, even though nobody would hear him and quickly made his way back downstairs. He was going to go back to class so he could sit at his desk, but on his way down he happened to trip over his own feet, barreling down the staircase. “Whoa, WATCH OUT!” He called out to the poor student he saw as he rolled down the staircase, unable to stop himself from potentially crashing into them.

Akira responded by reaching into his pocket and taking out a deck. In a second, he'd pulled free the rubber band that held them together, and started to quickly shuffle through them.

"Nope, all here." Akira said, smiling slightly. "You can give them to me and I'll see if anyone at club lost them. Ooooor. You could come to trading card game club." He said. He took a seat on the stairs, cards still in hand. He was now just idly shuffling them.

"There's a lost and found, isn't there? But if you can't find out who owns them, you may as well keep th-DAMN" Was all Akira could say as he was sent sprawling to the floor, cards scattered around him, Saito on top of him.

"Saito, if you want to get on top of me like this you need to buy me chocolate like everyone else." Akira said, trying to get the blonde off.

'The Tall Man'

The Tall Man gripped his ringed hand in slight frustration, slightly taken aback by the observation the student was able to make so quickly, this was no normal teenager, but the Tall Man knew that only special individuals would have possession of a mythic ring. 'Mr Kuro' who's voice was once soft and inquisitive was now more of an assertive growl.

Very perceptive Master Kyogi, I do indeed have this ring, which I confiscated from a young person just like yourself who went to this school. And now young man, I'm going to confiscate yours too, but don't worry, I don't expect a strong willed individual like yourself to go down without a fight... I wont take your ring until I've left you in a coma....now lets duel

The very fabric of reality was torn asunder and two battle mages stood across from each other in a frozen wasteland in an instant.

Enter The Duel

@Ammokkx

'Yojima Nishikii'

@TaroAndSelia@AngelofOctober
The day had been going by fairly quickly, this was usually the case for Mr Nishikii when he was wrapped up with a good book to read. He had been glued to Volume IV of Orcs & Empires a charming fantasy novel about an Orcish Civil War that was borrowed to him by Hiriko the Rep of the class opposite to his. Even though he didn't teach her, they had always got on well, often having conversations about fanatsy novels during lunch time and breaks. She also happened to have a insanely large book collection and would often lend them to Yojima when she could. He also noticed she started wearing a new ring only a month ago....

Another student that Yojima was fond of was Yue who was in his class. He sat at the back and spoke very little, but occasionally after class Yojima would exchange stories with him about his younger days, mainly because he reminded him of himself at that age. Yojima also would occasionally mention his interest in the Mythic Legends trading card game, even though he didnt collect the cards himself, he would always talk about a particular creature that had its roots in real world mythology. Yue also started wearing a ring to school around the same time as Hiroka, and he had been doing his own research on the matter ever since.

On both the students private emails, Yojima had left them a message around 12:30 asking them to meet him.

<Hello Yue & Hiroka

I realise contacting you through this private server might seem odd but something urgent has come up, and its not something we can discuss with other students or staff just yet, I've sent a letter to your respective teachers excusing you from the next lesson so that you may come join me at the Mochavine Cafe just outside of the campus. The door will be locked, please knock 3 times, and then twice. Please come, it concerns the rings I have seen you wearing...

Kind Regards

Yoji>

“Can you cover a smidge more of rent this time?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he tried to mumble quietly on the phone hidden in an alcove between two school buildings.

“Oh honey thank you,” his mother replies with breathiness. Exactly did she expect him to do? He had school and then had to go to work immediately after.

Seemed the only thing he had to himself these days was this stupid deck and even that didn’t seem like it was worth anything. A few kids had already begun to talk about the past, which is the reason why he wasn’t in any clubs. He was called The Student Killer Transfer Student. Long winded titled that irritated him.

“Yeah no problem, I’m at school though so don’t call me in class,” Katsunosuki told her. He hears his mother scoff on the other end.

“I am your mother, I’ll call you when I want,” she tells him.

“And that gets my phone taken away then you can call me all you want, but that time I really won’t answer,” he tells her.

“When did you get so rude?”

When did she gets so naggy? When he was younger he was the one taking care of her. He remembers her coming home drunk and how them living together now was some kind of redemption for her. And his second chance for her. She may not be drinking any more, but she always found a way to dodge responsibility. Nothing seemed to have changed and he felt rage boiling over at every slight indiscretion.

“I’m at lunch, I want to enjoy it,” he tells her and hangs up before she can say anything else. When he was younger he probably would have sought to seek hitting some punching bags. But these days that didn’t seem to do it with being overtired from school and juggling work. Paying the bills and other adult responsibilities. Maybe he should drop out?

But imagine how he’d look in Japan then? The things people would say about him then. They already called him a lazy student, who didn’t care about his education. Who didn’t put any effort into his work? Yet here he was trying to take a call from his useless mother and study for this next big test. He spent most of his lunch hour trying to catch up.

But it was tiresome and he couldn’t focus because he was tired and unfocused. How did they expect him to get home at 9 pm, to do homework, and somehow manage four to five hours of sleep and focus in class? Fuck them all. Fuck them. He wished to see them get their just desserts. Or something in this world to make them understand his position.

They try being a student, an employee, doing homework, taking care of their mother, making dinner, paying the bills, and then ask them to focus in school when you have all these other worries. He needed something to punch or beat on. He felt so bottled up most of the time.

What was this dumb card deck anyway? And why couldn’t he throw it away? He had never had interest in this sort of stuff before. Now he was holding onto in his backpack as if it were anything important. Maybe he should join that stupid Trading Card Game Club. The very thought made him laugh though. What a lame thought.

@Ammokkx

'The Tall Man'

There was a great wooshing sound that rang in Kuro's ears as both him and Kyogi returned back to reality. Everything was the same, no time had passed in the real world, it was still lunchtime in the classroom, and they were standing in the same place, only now the intense buzzing of their rings had become a subtle hum. The Tall Man was in a stance of weakness, staggering back and in a cold sweat, the spiritual damage he endured in the battle was very visible on his face, and he was in shock that a boy who never battled before just defeated him with such ease.

A curious situation.

Youre....you're not normal boy...I haven't been beaten since....well a long time, you may be strong, but you don't know what sort of powerful people are gathering. Even some of your very own Classmates will be coming for you and you mat even be coming for them....this game, these battlemages, they make you strong, but they also turn you into something else, something war-like I hope you retain your humanity kyogi, we may meet again....keep an eye out for the clumsy one he's not to be taken lightly.

And just like that the tall man made his escape from the classroom and vanished into the hallway, but on the desk he left behind a card. Kygoi's ring started to buzz again, but now it was more soothing than intense, and he felt a surge of power in his soul.

New Card:



Rank Up: F+

@HeroicSociopath@Satoshi Kyou@HumanMusic

And once again....time froze in place....

Balaz Cormium, the White Battlemage of the Arcane.

Ranca The Scorned the Blue Battlemage of the Island

Makayla Voss the Red Battlemage of the Sand

All three figures appeared in what seemed to be a spiritual dreamworld
Saito, Akira, and Zeger were all floating naked in the ether opposite them, and although they did not speak, the battlemages communicated to their minds the same message.

We must have war! Find our opponents....defeat our rivals, bring us victory.....they are in this building, only through battle will you find answers.......and beware of the artificial rings they must be wiped out of existence....your lives depend on it.....

The dream world became a backdrop of a mythic war, the sound of screaming soldiers, burning spells, and clashing steel echoed through the minds of the 3 young men, and started to feel like their own memories, ingrained in their very thoughts and psyche.

Mythic Skirmish


The volume of the war started to slowly rise until it became deafening, and then the very dream world began to shatter.....

...and then the 3 young men were back where they were, no real time had passed.

Catalyst academy, a strange place, never had Zeger been around so many occult and fantasy fandoms in one place, at lunch breaks the youth would play some form of dungeons and dragons, magic, yugioh, some even found sanctuary only speaking of the subject. Zeger sat tight in his chair as an even stranger tall man entered, then, almost as if he had been put in a coma, he began to see visions, his avatar/battlemage stood before him, no, floated, a battle raged around him, fire and steel against each other. Time began again, like a dream ending, an abrupt end at that, though, Zeger couldn’t help the feeling of forever, he always felt this way after dreams.
“You alright?” Said his faceless friend, one of his only friends since coming to the island.
“Yeah, I’m alright, the question is, though, who’s that tall guy?”
“Dunno, new Teacher perhaps.”, Zeger stared intently as the conversation between the two ensued, the student and the man, before he knew it they had dueled, strange, why would someone just walk into a school And duel a student...

Saito picked himself up hastily after being told to get off. “Sorry, I must have tripped.” He apologized immediately after and noticed the cards on the ground. The boy decided to help pick them up, checking them out on occasion.

As he was gathering it seemed like time stopped for a moment. Saito saw what he presumed to be a dream. The blue mage inside of it seemed particularly familiar to him, although he couldn’t figure out why. After it passed, Saito looked at the other two people that were nearby. “Hey… did I fall asleep? Or did you guys have that weird, odd feeling as well?” Saito scratched his head, curiously passing the cards he picked up back to Akira. “You play this too? I’ve got a deck myself. Not that I bought it, it just arrived a few months ago...” Saito spoke, trying to strike up a conversation before lunch ended.

It was a terrible mix of emotions Hiroko was faced with. Part was shock, part was joy, several parts were awe, and a very controversial part was anticipation. All of these swam together as she felt herself standing on a solid floor once again.

Hiroko was breathing hard. Her knees were unsteady. Her pulse was racing. The girl leaned gently into the wall and closed her eyes, giving her body time to calm itself and let what she could guess was adrenaline drain away. She was hoping to calm her mind, too, but after-images of spouting flames and pseudo-flying knights danced unendingly across her mental stage. The only word she could find to describe it all, looping around and around again, was 'fantastic.' It was all so very, incredibly, beautifully fantastic!

The sound of the door rattling open snapped Hiroko back to the present. Her eyes came open and her head came up, but she was too late to see a face; she only saw the back of the retreating figure--a figure definitely of an adult, but not one of the staff. She felt a pull to chase after him (quite literally, her finger that bore her ring was rising, straining to pursue the opponent, then dropping impatiently with a light tap-tap-tap); however, Hiroko had grown used to the irksome ring's urges and readily ignored its whining. She had a promise to keep to a... well, not a friend, but an ally.

The class rep turned through the doorway to see how Kyogi was doing. He appeared entirely unfazed, undamaged, unperturbed, un-everything. If Hiroko hadn't just witnessed him being spiritually slashed with a medieval war axe, she never would have believed it. (And the small voice at the back of her head commented on exactly how absurd that statement was.) "You did well," Hiroko congratulated, well aware of how much of an understatement that was.

"Do you know why he came after you?" she followed up quickly. She had a dozen questions she wanted to ask, but she was forced to contain herself to the most important one; Nishikii-sensei was waiting for her. He, too, was inordinately interested in these rings, but the email he sent made Hiroko believe he had found something important. That he had sent any email at all, actually, set off alarms in Hiroko's thinking; asking her to skip a class for it was nearly frightening.

And time flowed once again.

Kyogi's head was throbbing, a piercing pain stabbing through it from one end to the other. The mental flashback wasn't a joke; it felt like all the pain that had come to his body had been bottling up in one tiny part of the brain, which then exploded into a gory mess as soon as Kyogi regained his true form again. He took a few sharp breaths, trying to get his bearings back on the situation. His actual pose didn't change however, as he still stood as calm and composed as before. He couldn't let Kuro see what the effects of that battle had done to him, although it seemed like the other man had it worse. He had stumbled back, a mix of shock and awe evident on their face... as well as fear. Useful fear, but Kyogi had best not push his luck.

"You're... you're not normal, boy..."

The man had begun a monologue and Kyogi listened only half-heartedly. He continued to stare the man down, making sure to have an imposing figure that this infiltrator wouldn't dare think to lash out against again. From the snippets Kyogi cared to remember, this man said something about his classmates, how these battles would change Kyogi and that he should watch out for the 'clumsy' one. Before the boy had any time to ask what this all meant the man had already dashed off, tossing a card on Kyogi's desk in what he assumed to be a diversion. The boy didn't have any intention of chasing after the figure as his fatigue was still settling in. He picked up the card from the desk and inspected it, finding it to be the Glacier Shield that gave him quite a bit of trouble in that fight. How ironic that his Mars deck would now have a card weak to that element...

Kyogi pocketed the card and began to think about what the man meant, standing there with his index finger covering his lips. He knew that his classmates had rings like his, he had seen them on Uematsu, Zeger and even Fujita, even though the latter kept trying to hide the object. Not that Kyogi blamed the poor soul, but he found that having it on had its own little perks. The tingle in his finger would alarm him to another ring-bearer's presence, which had clued him in to Fujita's ring to begin with. Speaking of the buzzing, he still felt it, indicating that someone was still nearby. He had a feeling who it was too and looked towards the entryway as another figure stepped forward. Kyogi made sure to smile as the person walked in, trying to make them feel comfortable.

"You did well," Yamada congratulated Kyogi as she entered the room.
"Ah, Yamada-san! So you came to help after all... thank you, I feel much safer knowing that you were looking out for me."

It wasn't a total lie, Kyogi thought. He did feel safer in knowing he had a backup lying in wait, but he wouldn't really care if it had been anyone other than Yamada. The 4th year's class rep just seemed like the safest option at the time he approached her and that hunch turned out to be correct. Kyogi needed to be careful with his words, however... Yamada was one contact he did not want to upset. She was going to be a very useful ally, as she just proved.

"Do you know why he came after you?" Yamada asked Kyogi and he shook his head in response.
"No, unfortunately... although I may have a hunch that it's because of our little trinkets,"

Kyogi lifted up his right hand, showing the ring to Yamada. Then, he continued.

"However, that man- ah, his name was Kuro-san before I forget- did give me one warning. He said our classmates would be coming for us. There was something about a clumsy one, too... was he perhaps talking about one of your classmates, Yamada-san?" Kyogi asked inquisitively, looking the younger student in the eyes as he did.

"Ah, I'm sorry. It is rude of me to suspect your classmates. I just hope we can continue to keep each other safe, now that we know about these battles..."

Kyogi gave a short bow and a polite smile to Yamada as he apologized, hoping to lure her into a sense of comfort.

She walked fast, so fast it looked unnatural, she took big strides at a very high pace, it got her a few odd looks but she was in a hurry. The click clack of her dress shoes ringing off the pavement, the afternoon sun reflected off the ring on her hand. It had no color, it was a completely clear ring. After more power-marching she finally came upon her destination, a very secluded Cafe tucked away near the outskirts of the 'student' district. When she approached the door she already knew it'd be locked so she knocked first 3 times and then twice...

Yojima Nishikii opened the door and before he said a word, his face went white with horror. The lady's eye's narrowed and the she simply pushed him back to enter the cafe. His body seemed to made of cardboard when she shoved him, he flew backwards and luckily landed in a chair behind him, she slammed the door behind her and cracked her knuckles. Yojima's words were breathless and panicky.

How....how did you find me!? Damnit you can't be here I'm expecting some important people and we have to....

A large click clack sound was heard from behind the cafe's counter, there was a girl holding a shotgun and pointing it right at the tall woman in front of Nishikii.



Maybe you didn't see the sign on the front door bitch, we are closed, now get out of my fucking Cafe!

The Tall woman stared at the surprise armed school-girl for a while, seeing if she could pickup any trace of weakness or nerves, but there were none, she suspected that maybe this young lady cared very deeply for Nishikii, or at least the cafe. She took a deep breath under her mask and began to pace backwards...but not before speaking once.

Yojima, one of the kids from your school just defeated Kuro, and he's not happy at all. I know you don't want things to end up like last time, so I'm warning you only once, leave the ring-bearers alone. Let the board handle this matter....like they always do.

And like that, tall woman dashed out of the Cafe, leaving Yojima stunned and the Cafe girl, breathing in relief. Yojima turned to her with a look of guilt on his face.

Rei, I'm so sorry, I had no idea they still kept tabs on me, I suppose I have a lot explaining to do..

Rei holstered her gun and folded her arms with a huff.

Save it, teacher we have more important things to do, like keeping these kids informed before crap like this finds them. Pull yourself together, Yue & Hiroka will be arriving soon and you need to be strong. Also I found another ringbearer a few hours ago, he didn't spot me following him thanks to this school uniform. His name is Sugita Katsunosuki and I sent him a text to come here the same time as the others, I'm sure you can arrange for him to be excused from his after lunch classes?

Yojima sighed as he walked to his laptop and pulled up a file on Sugita and checked his schedule.

Yes, Sister. I'm sure I can.

@TheRedWatcher

Akira had no idea what happened. One moment, Saito was on top of him. The next, he was Tripping the Fuck Out. The other two were naked, and below him was a battlefield. Just as quickly, he was awake. Saito was helping pick up his cards. Akira pulled himself up and started to gather them too.

"Uh. If that little encounter gave you an 'odd feeling' that's really no business of mine." Akira said. He wasn't just going to admit he'd just randomly had a vision of two other guys naked. Or the beautiful woman in red. "I play a little Lost Empires, you could say that." He said. Then he posed so he was pointing finger guns at the poster. "I'm president. And that" Now he was pointing at Yue. "is my treasurer."