A Friendly Match
POV: Eggman
Stepping before a tent, you looked at the sign proclaiming itself 'Solomon's Tent of Curiosities,' this was the place you were looking for alright. You'd been meeting with your contacts in the black market, when one of them pointed you towards a trader who'd shown up recently that they thought might have some stock you might be interested in. You'd been willing to hear them out at the time, but looking at the place now it seemed rather poorly kempt. No matter, you were already here, you could just not buy anything if the goods don't turn out to be of interest to you.
At a counter towards the back you saw a short older man with wildly spiked grey hair who looked to be sorting items in a box, presumably Solomon, without looking up he called to you "Feel free to look around and tell me if you see anything that interests you."
Hmph, well you'd just have to see what was in stock for yourself then. As you walked around the tent you spied many unfamiliar items, a golden box covered in hieroglyphics, a skull carved with runes that made you feel uneasy to stand near, a purple gem that you could swear you heard faint screaming coming from, and towards the back something of some actual use to you; a whole crate of chaos drives. You called out to the man at the counter "How much for these"
He glanced at the item you were pointing to before pulling up a clipboard and flipping towards the back and pointing towards a price... "you're seriously charging that much for Chaos Drives?!"
He looked surprised for a moment, "Is that what they're called? I just know they've clearly got some kind of power in them, and with how many there are I felt like it was a reasonable price." You just stared at the man in irritation for a moment, the ignorance on display was baffling, but before you could mock him for it he continued, "But since you clearly disagree sir how about a little wager, you beat me at my favorite card game and I'll give you the whole crate for free?"
You grinned, a chance to school an ignorant fool and get some free resources? how could you say no? "Very well old man, you've got a deal."
"Excellent, just sit right there." he gestured towards a table up against one side of a tent as he pulled a play mat and two decks out from under the counter and moved to begin setting them up.
You sat at the table and took a look at the play mat the trader had laid out, a 6 by 6 grid, the man handed you a a small paper booklet "that's the rule book, we'll both draw seven cards and then I'll make my plays while you're reading through it alight?"
"Fine." you responded and began to look through the book... why is this text so small? how much text is crammed into this tiny booklet? as you sat and made your way through the surprisingly dense booklet, the trader summoned monster after monster, using special effects and spell cards to go far beyond the supposed limit that the rulebook claimed.
It was now twenty minutes in, and you were finally done with the damn rulebook, you looked up to the field and saw the man still summoning monsters "How are you still not done yet?!"
"Oh I've only just finished my setup phase, I'll be moving onto the big plays now." The man responded, you just looked at him in confusion and growing frustration for a moment before shaking your head and deciding to just read through your card effects to make your own plan and... what the hell the text on these is even smaller?!
Ten minutes later, you were still trying to figure out how all the cards you had would work together when the man announced "Alright, now I move to battle, and I've got Lethal damage on the field so I win. Good game."
"What on Earth are you talking about, I haven't even gotten to do anything?!" you shouted.
He just gestured to the field, "See I've got more than double your lifepoints in damage, sorry but that's just how it goes sometimes."
You looked at the field... and then you flipped the table over.
Sitting at your computer and typing furiously, you grumbled to yourself "Stupid lousy card designers, I'll show you a real card game! With balance! And actual fun!"
Meanwhile Sage watched on from the security cameras, unsure if she should interfere.
