Such hurtful things you say, Plox. I'm tempted to have Jack offer Emily a complimentary band-aid with her breakfast. ;P
Cam
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Jack hadn't slept. Frankly, there was no need to. He had been far to busy trying to find even a scrap of information on his host, but to no avail. The man was a ghost, as they say.
No matter. Jack would not be deterred so easily.
As the sun began to rise over the horizon, Jack heard the sound of music. It was a gentle tune, almost comforting even, but it would have been loud enough to have roused him from a deep slumber. "It must be time for breakfast," he thought.
Wandering aimlessly through the halls of Shambala, Jack eventually ended up in the same entrance hall where the Khan had made his first appearance. It seemed he had arrived just in time to hear The Khans plans for the day.
So the first round was to be a cooperative effort?
Jack had to admit, it saved him some time. He did not have to go and search out Fubuki, now she would come to him. Still, though, the whole situation was discomforting.
What if the ride in the limo was no coincidence? Jack thought.
But even if they were all playing directly into the Khan's hand, what did any of it mean? What could the mysterious brute of a man hope to achieve? The event was not just an ordinary tournament, that much was clear. But what, in fact was it?
Jack's deliberation was interrupted by the arrival of his Injection Fairy Lily. "Shall I introduce you to your partner, Mr. Jack?" she asked with far more pep than Jack could stomach.
"That will be unnecessary, Lily." he replied. "I believe we've already met."
"I should think you're correct, sir." Lily beamed.
"We'll meet up with Miss Motorei soon enough. First, I have some questions to ask you."
"Of course!" Lily exclaimed, "Anything you need!"
"Yes, yes, quiet down." Jack shushed her. "I need to know if you can show me a map of the palace. Floor plans, an architects sketch, anything like that."
"Well.." She hesitated, "There is a directory near the main enterence..."
Jack cut her off, "The directory is no good. I need to see something more detailed."
"Well, sir, I don't have anything like that." she answered in a sad tone that apologized for the failure on its own.
"That's quite alright, Lily." Jack said. It wasn't a huge loss, it wasn't really even surprising. He simply wanted to push the limits of her usefulness, and clearly that limit had been met.
"But I can take you to someone who does!" She cried excitedly.
Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Interesting, Jack thought, perhaps I've judged this monster too soon.
"That would be wonderful, let's go."
As you learned the other day, my deck's strategy is simply try to banish everything before it has the chance to get to the field.
I don't know how well it's going to stand up, though. I'm not familiar with the cards the rest of you are using. I've been out of the game for a really long time.
Jack followed his monster quietly to what would be his bedroom for the foreseeable future.
Jack was cautious not to utter so much as a single word. The situation, for the time being, was completely out of his hands. Even so, he was reluctant to surrender even the slightest bit of intelligence to his foes.
Jack supposed it would have been a simple enough task to figure out what a duelist's favorite card was. All the Khan really needed was access to Industrial Illusions tournament database.
That was not a complete answer, however, and Jack was not satisfied.
There was no Jack DuBois to find in I.I.'s records.
So, then, how could Khan know so much?
"Your room, sir" Lily interrupted as they arrived.
"Thank you," Jack responded. "You're dismissed."
Within the threshold, he found the lights and revealed quite a luxurious setup. A four post bed draped with what appeared to be fine silk commanded the centre of the room. Say what you want to about the man, Khan really knew how to treat his guest. Understanding now what was meant by being customized to fit each duelist’s needs, Jack noticed a small desk and lamp off to the corner of the chamber. This would be his destination.
Could The Khan have known his intentions here? It was a terrifying thought, and it certainly seemed to be the case. There would be time to address this later, however.
Jack allowed his bag to drop gently at his feet as he himself dropped into the overly cushioned chair. Wasting no time, he opened his backpack and retrieved his laptop. It would be a vital tool in his investigation. The device instantly linked up with the mansions own wi-fi connection, but that would hardly do. Jack could not afford to let his host know what work he was up to, so instead he connected to his own cell phone’s hotspot. Meanwh, he used the phone’s browser to connect to the local internet and searched for some rather suggestive videos involving women and pasture animals.
Safe, now, from any prying eyes, the real work could begin.
This was not Fubuki’s first tournament, Jack had remembered her saying as much. If that were true, finding a lead on who the girl was should be as simple as logging into the Industrial Illusions database and finding her name. The irony was bitter, as Jack suspected that his rival may have already used a similar tactic, but the exercise should yield results all the same.
Jack’s fingers were well practiced at the motions, and he typed information into the required fields quickly. Fubuki… Motorei… search.
Loading… Loading… yes, there she was.
Interesting, Jack thought, and not exactly what he had expected to find. It appeared that in her earlier duels, Fubuki had required a financial sponsor. Some kind of corporate interest, by the looks of it.
This didn’t make much sense to Jack. She did not seem like some kind of corporate pawn, only in it for the money; for personal gain. And she certainly didn’t seem like the type to rely on others to get what she needed. There must be more to it than this..
Conducting a search on the company itself now, he found mentions of a dueling academy and ties to Industrial Illusions. Apparently, Fubuki’s prize winnings had been used to fund the academy. This, at least, began to paint a better picture. She duels so that others might learn, how quaint. Still, though, Jack felt he was missing pieces of the puzzle.
No matter, though, he had gathered enough to make his next move. On to other matters then.
Leaning over to dig in his bag again, he had noticed something had fallen from it and into the floor as he had brought out his computer. It was a small photograph, meant to be carried in a wallet.
The portrait was of a young woman, probably in her twenties. The edges were worn and yellowed, but other than that great care had been taken of it. Gently, Jack picked it up and smiled, beginning to let his thoughts wander to better times.
No, no, not now. He could not afford to be lost in his own memories at the moment. The game had to take priority right now. He needed to know more about this Khan fellow.
Setting the photograph aside on the desk, he returned his focus to the computer and his work. He had found his angle to approach Fubuki with relative ease. Finding something to use against the Khan would be a much greater challenge.
Was that all? Jack asked himself, taken aback by the whole situation, questions buzzing through his head at warp speed.
The entrance was flashy and showy, and fell exactly into what Jack expected. However, it surprised him that the Khan would keep them up all night only to then dismiss everyone. Would there be no speech? No announcement? Perhaps the man kept to himself because he didn't like to talk.
But that was the least of Jack's concerns as his table was joined by an Injection Fairy Lily, his favorite monster from his deck. "I've missed something huge." he murmured quietly. How much did the Khan know?
Jack was a move behind, a feeling he did not have often.
"Very well, then," he said, turning towards the Lily. "You're to take me to my quarters?"
The monster nodded happily and cartoonishly, jumping to her feet. Jack much preferred her as a card.
"If that concludes the excitement here," Jack said with a sigh, "I suppose you should lead the way.
I'm about done with Joseph and Fubuki as well; waiting for progression now.I know how you feel. I've got a post pre written already.
"Hmm... Are you trying to sound funny?" Emily said, still inspecting Jack with her eyes. "I was just trying to start a friendly conversations... Where are your manners, boy?" She said, with an angry tone in her voice this time, still staring at Jack, taking a sip of her red wine this time. "Anyways, I shall teach you to have some respect when addressing the Bloodriver." She said, with a smile on her face, putting her deck onto the table. "Unless you are scared that is.." Emily said, her face changing to a sadistic smile now.
Duelists are so predictable, Jack thought. "Listen, lady, I'll duel you. Hell, if you win, I'll even let you stare at these pretty blue eyes all night. However, If I win, you're going to walk away. Understood?"
"Don't test your luck. Your eyes aren't even that nice... And sure, if you want me to go away, you could have told me from the start... But the fact that you are offering to let me stay means that you must be interested in me." She said before finally breaking eye contact with Jack.
"Don't flatter yourself too much, cupcake." Jack goaded her on. "Frankly, I would have thought seeing a man drinking alone in the corner might have been cue in itself to leave well enough alone. But you wanted to chat, and I'm a fair man. I'm offering you the chance to win that right."
"Well, I'll teach you some manners, you arrogant pig... First lesson, ladies first!" She exclaimed as she drew 6 cards from the top of her deck and gave them a glance. "Yes... this one shall do well!" She said, as she put a monster Face-down on her side of the field. "Lets see how you manage in a duel!" She said, as she took yet another sip from her glass.
Jack drew his hand and it couldn't have been any more perfect. "First things first, I'll set a couple cards face down. But, darn, I just can't help but think how lonely your monster looks over there all by itself. I think I'll give you another one." Jack placed his Grinder Golem on Emily's side of the field, attack position. "But that's not all, I now have two Grinder Tokens at my disposal, and I think one of them should attack."
"First of all.. my monster doesn't mind the loneliness.." she started with an air of uncertiaty growing in her voice. "Second of all, are you completely insane? That will cost you 3000 life points in your first turn!" She shouted.
"Am I insane? Probably so, but I've also activated a powerful spell card called Inferno Tempest. When I lost the 3000 life points for attacking Grinder Golem, it's effect was triggered, banishing all monsters from both of our decks and graveyards." Jack laughed, it was too easy.
"So what?" Emily demanded. "I am running a mill deck, you fool! That was even worse than your first move!" She said, as she started to laugh, after which she took another sip from her glass.
Jack signals to Emily that his turn had ended, but as she tried to draw a card, Jack spoke once more: "And then, before you even draw a single card, I think I'll just go ahead and end this duel. Activate trap card D.D. Dynamite! That ought to wrap things up."
Emily was silent for a moment, taking in what just happened.
"Well... You were boring anyway..." She said, as she picked up her cards, leaving the table, looking around for somebody else to sit to her.
"What a rude boy..." She thought to herself.
_________________________________________________
As she departed, Jack had already begun to drift back into his thoughts. Taking a refil from the busy little Time Wizard, he noticed that Emily had left her own unflishd glass on the table.
Red wine was what she had ordered, but wine didn't cling to the side of the glass like that. This cocktail was far too thick.
Suddenly, the aroma of copper hit his nostrils, and he cringed.
Duelist were predictable, yes, but people like Emily?
They were truly disgusting.
Finishing his second drink, Jack made note of yet another name that needed investigating.
I just want you to know, I would have killed you to death that next turn.
Two dd dynamites and inferno tempest in hand.
God damn connection.
JackDuBois seemed like the simplest rout to take.
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