Favorite arc so far! And yugi feels John's pain.
Pocket System
- Thread starter theaceoffire
- Start date
- Crossover Fantasy
Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls!
- Location
- Here
The bustle of the crowd was loud with murmurs and bright with chaos when the balcony above shockingly burst into fireworks and trumpets!
And suddenly everything was unnaturally quiet.
The colored smoke cleared away, and the soft croaks of unseen amphibians and the buzz of small insects seemed to echo as hanging vines were pulled back and a dapper frog with dashing attire marched forth, bugle raised.
He then stood tall! "Presenting his Royal Highness, Host of the Spiritual Wetlands and Traveler to Impossible Lands: Emperor John Doe the First!"
And the crowded courtyard was FILLED with loud croaks and chaos as a young man walked up to the balcony before the crowd.
He should have looked silly. He was wearing a bright green and brown outfit, with a royal cape and… Well, a froggy hat. One with a crown.
But something about him loomed over the world.
The sky was but a fraction of his vision, as he peered down upon them all. As if unaware of his own power, as far above them as weak minds could understand without being shorn asunder.
Despite the massive soundscape of approval, the world seemed slightly silenced just due to his sheer presence as he perched upon his castle.
Yet the froggy Herald continued. "Presenting the Royal Princess, Woman in Black, Director of SPYRAL and Guardian of His Majesty: Jessica Doe, beloved by the Emperor!
And somehow always there yet suddenly appearing, a professional woman wearing a sensual tuxedo dress was by the Emperor's side, observing them through means beyond understanding by mortal minds.
At her presence, the many men and women in suits throughout the castle stood tall and resolute, purpose marked in their Souls and dedication carved from their sacrifices.
Now the crowd of outsiders and the many Duel Monsters began to whisper once more, yet the Herald had one last pair to present. "Presenting the Royal Consorts: The Angel of Respite, Guardian of her Lord: Grace Doe, beloved by the Emperor!" He barely paused as he continued. "And the Demoness of Defiance, acolyte of her Master: Temptation Doe, beloved by the Emperor!"
And black and white beauty walked forth as the two women stood by the Emperor, the three standing against the world as a princess faded into the shadows they cast.
…Frog hats should never be that sexually attractive, but sometimes it was less about the outfit itself and more a situation related to those that wore it and how they presented themselves.
A ruler over all, a woman of guile, and two beauties supporting their rule: One through guidance and protection and kindness, the other by violence and proaction and efficiency.
What clapping had been ongoing faded away as the raw PRESENCE of this family oppressed the crowd. A look was more than enough to cause them to cower…
And then the Emperor smiled and waved! "Hey folks! Thanks for coming to my Tournament!"
Ignoring the sudden shift in tone entirely, the boy happily waved at the others. "Like Mr. Hoppens said, this is my sister, Jessica. She's in charge of security, so if you are worried or whatever that something needs looking at just let her or one of her agents know!"
He pulled the angel into a half hug. "This is Grace! She's making sure you all have rooms and food and stuff, if there are problems just let us know and she'll handle it! Again, talk to any agent or one of our Duel Monsters with a froggy hat and they will let us know."
A few of the deadlier creatures in the crowd awkwardly shifted as the audience realized the various monsters were actually wearing cheerful green frog hats for a reason. Like a sort of uniform, basically.
Then John pulled Temptation into the hug too! "And Temptation is handling the web stores, the sites, all the various contracts and merchandise and all that… Also the rules and stuff that keep getting changed, she's in charge of that too! Just a heads up: The final rules will be coming into place about 2 hours before the actual Tournament begins... So uh, yeah, Keep an eye out for that!"
Then he glanced at something unseen and hummed. "Oh: And just a reminder everyone! If you have a 'friend' or 'partner' that is biologically living but mentally destroyed or incapacitated, for ANY reason whatsoever, you ARE responsible for their maintenance during this entire event."
Again, John seemed to miss the crowd's shock. "They need to be fed, cleaned, dressed, etc. You probably know what to do already, this is a 'just in case' thing. Also! If you hurt anyone WHILE at this event, you may be disqualified, evicted, mind eviscerated, killed, Soul fragmented to an even further degree, or your existence itself may be eradicated or Consumed entirely depending on the severity of your actions and the consequences thereof."
Then the Frog Emperor happily grinned at the crowd! "There WILL be a few more elimination rounds and challenges before the actual tournament happens, but they all give prizes and rewards and stuff too so look forward to it! And if any of you DO get eliminated from this point forward, you still get free room and board until the tournament ends and discounts for a couple of friends if they wish to join you. Some Duelists may have guardians or parents or siblings or whatever that want to come watch the fun and all that, so Grace thought this should help with that!"
The boy tapped his chin… "What else… Oh! Right, uh, about the name… Originally this was going to be the 'Toad Emperor Presents: The Fight of the Ground Fable' Tournament. Because I had this idea that the top winners would be knighted and then our Froggy Fighters Knight Troup would go battle evil and… Uh."
He winced. "Long story short: I was told NOT to establish a froggy based military coalition of fighters or I would get grounded. But you WILL win some very cute froggy hats! Girls, show them the hats!"
Grace held up a few colorful options while Temptation somehow made the presentation of headwear feel sinfully corrupting and…
John quickly grabbed her shoulder. "Thank you Temptation, that's enough."
Her smirk was NOT subtle. "Anything for YOU, my Master…"
He coughed. "ANYWAY! Please check the website or take one of the pamphlets for a map, see any of our Agents or Duel Monster Staff members to receive your Froggy Duelist Card that gets you all kinds of stuff for free or at a discount, and have fun everyone! Okay, uh… Mr. Hoppens, play us off? Or whatever we do to end this thing."
Princess Jessica watched exasperatedly as the froggy Herald hesitated before playing a… A sort of reverse announcement set of notes? It was good enough.
And then the Royal Family was gone and the stunned crowd continued staring at the empty balcony, the massive Duel Monsters wearing adorable froggy hats, and each other in mostly confused silence.
On the other hand, the live stream had the internet going a bit nuts and the television announcers were doing their best to make sense of it all.
But at least the 'Toad Emperor Presents: The Fight of the Ground Fable' Tournament had officially begun! Huzzah!
~~~Pocket System~~~
Joey blinked at the empty announcement balcony. "Did he say something about properly treating brain dead people like pets and potentially killing us all if we hurt each other, or did I zone out a bit?"
The Dark Magician Girl hummed as she hugged Yugi. "Not all Duel Monsters or Spells treat their Duelist or each other well… And it's not like we all get along with everyone on our side of the Shadow Realm either. The rules in this case are to warn the more deadly and malicious of people and creatures that there are consequences if you cross a line while here. Especially if they already agreed to follow the Tournament rules."
Oh, that stuff the staff member had been saying when he exited the judgment corridor? "I admit, I sort of just said 'yeah' at the time because I was a bit distracted." The Red-Eyes in his shadow huffed in affectionate amusement. Seriously girl, being soaked in dragon saliva was GROSS!
She didn't even bother to PRETEND to care as she quietly purred in the Darkness. Sheesh.
Yugi was sort of able to work through his ongoing hugging situation to check his phone. "The listed punishments ARE pretty unexpected, but the actual rules are fairly straight forward… No one here is allowed to trick, threaten, attack, sabotage, or basically mess with anyone else competing."
The magical girl nodded. "That applies to both of you here AND your loved ones, by the way. The Frog Emperor was NOT impressed by past Duels using tricks like blackmailing opponents or threatening their parents or kids or whatever… The Princess and the Consorts didn't approve of that sort of thing either."
She gestured at the uniformed men and women around the courtyard, now wearing stylish froggy hats with sunglasses. "There's several teams of Agents already standing by to prevent anything like that happening during THIS event, at least, but even just attempting to do something awful like that would earn you some penalties."
Well THAT was a relief. "Didn't that Kaiba jerk once win a duel against you Yugi by holding HIMSELF hostage? He stood on the edge of the building so any attack you did would actually kill him."
And Yugi flinched. "That was… Well, apparently his little brother's life was on the line and I didn't know, so…"
The woman hugged him tighter. "It was a terrible situation, my Pharaoh… But not something that will happen THIS time, I promise." She rested her chin on his head. "If someone tried something like that here, agents would have reclaimed all the people in danger AND disqualified that boy. Using suicide threats to win is not acceptable, and any excuse otherwise simply exposes the ACTUAL issues that SHOULD be addressed."
Joey flinched, thinking back to his sister's required surgery and how that had driven him to extreme measures and beyond his own limits… But if he had dared to use tricks like blackmail or suicidal threats to win, she would have been horrified. And he would have lost something important too, in that process… "Yeah, I can see that."
Then his friend was pulled up into another of those over enthusiastic hugs! "No, THIS tournament will just be a battle between duelists! And before all that: games and challenges! There are all sorts of fair stalls and quiz stations and stuff being set up around the castle, and you earn more points the better you know your Deck and playing style and stuff!"
He ignored his lucky competitor and looked around for one of those pamphlets. "Points?"
She nodded! "You can either earn enough to make it through this elimination round to the next stage, or trade them between Duelists in approved kiosks, or turn them in for prizes or cash. Only people who actually want to Duel are likely to put in the effort to 'buy' a participation ticket, but lots of Duelists who are newish or not that talented can at least win some stuff during this event so they don't go home with nothing."
Hmm. "And those who love the game more are more likely to earn more points…" Hang on a tick. "What if some rich person just buys all the points or something?"
She shrugged. "Then a bunch of Duelists get some money. If you are the type of person willing to sell your chance to Duel, then you aren't likely going to enjoy the actual Tournament competition anyway!"
Fair enough. Oh, there was one of the pamphlets! "The King did say something about bringing in our friends, right?"
His sister hadn't been able to support him in person before, and this place DID feel safer than anywhere he had ever been, despite how odd things were turning out to be.
After all, if anything went wrong in THIS place, he had some serious muscle in his corner! Right, Red-Eyes?
She gave him a shifty look. And a draconic smirk. And a mental impression of a planned prank when his sister showed up…
…Don't you DARE lick me again! You hear me!? I mean it!
The 'innocent puppy eyes' look didn't work well on multiple tons of scales and fangs.
Red-Eyes, I'm being serious here! You hear me!?
She puffed thick black smoke towards his direction.
Damn it. "Those 'Froggy Duelist' cards that give us discounts on stuff, does that work towards more new clothing options like this set? Or cleaning services?" Please, let it be so!
A warm chuckle vibrated in the Darkness.
Quiet you!
And suddenly everything was unnaturally quiet.
The colored smoke cleared away, and the soft croaks of unseen amphibians and the buzz of small insects seemed to echo as hanging vines were pulled back and a dapper frog with dashing attire marched forth, bugle raised.
He then stood tall! "Presenting his Royal Highness, Host of the Spiritual Wetlands and Traveler to Impossible Lands: Emperor John Doe the First!"
And the crowded courtyard was FILLED with loud croaks and chaos as a young man walked up to the balcony before the crowd.
He should have looked silly. He was wearing a bright green and brown outfit, with a royal cape and… Well, a froggy hat. One with a crown.
But something about him loomed over the world.
The sky was but a fraction of his vision, as he peered down upon them all. As if unaware of his own power, as far above them as weak minds could understand without being shorn asunder.
Despite the massive soundscape of approval, the world seemed slightly silenced just due to his sheer presence as he perched upon his castle.
Yet the froggy Herald continued. "Presenting the Royal Princess, Woman in Black, Director of SPYRAL and Guardian of His Majesty: Jessica Doe, beloved by the Emperor!
And somehow always there yet suddenly appearing, a professional woman wearing a sensual tuxedo dress was by the Emperor's side, observing them through means beyond understanding by mortal minds.
At her presence, the many men and women in suits throughout the castle stood tall and resolute, purpose marked in their Souls and dedication carved from their sacrifices.
Now the crowd of outsiders and the many Duel Monsters began to whisper once more, yet the Herald had one last pair to present. "Presenting the Royal Consorts: The Angel of Respite, Guardian of her Lord: Grace Doe, beloved by the Emperor!" He barely paused as he continued. "And the Demoness of Defiance, acolyte of her Master: Temptation Doe, beloved by the Emperor!"
And black and white beauty walked forth as the two women stood by the Emperor, the three standing against the world as a princess faded into the shadows they cast.
…Frog hats should never be that sexually attractive, but sometimes it was less about the outfit itself and more a situation related to those that wore it and how they presented themselves.
A ruler over all, a woman of guile, and two beauties supporting their rule: One through guidance and protection and kindness, the other by violence and proaction and efficiency.
What clapping had been ongoing faded away as the raw PRESENCE of this family oppressed the crowd. A look was more than enough to cause them to cower…
And then the Emperor smiled and waved! "Hey folks! Thanks for coming to my Tournament!"
Ignoring the sudden shift in tone entirely, the boy happily waved at the others. "Like Mr. Hoppens said, this is my sister, Jessica. She's in charge of security, so if you are worried or whatever that something needs looking at just let her or one of her agents know!"
He pulled the angel into a half hug. "This is Grace! She's making sure you all have rooms and food and stuff, if there are problems just let us know and she'll handle it! Again, talk to any agent or one of our Duel Monsters with a froggy hat and they will let us know."
A few of the deadlier creatures in the crowd awkwardly shifted as the audience realized the various monsters were actually wearing cheerful green frog hats for a reason. Like a sort of uniform, basically.
Then John pulled Temptation into the hug too! "And Temptation is handling the web stores, the sites, all the various contracts and merchandise and all that… Also the rules and stuff that keep getting changed, she's in charge of that too! Just a heads up: The final rules will be coming into place about 2 hours before the actual Tournament begins... So uh, yeah, Keep an eye out for that!"
Then he glanced at something unseen and hummed. "Oh: And just a reminder everyone! If you have a 'friend' or 'partner' that is biologically living but mentally destroyed or incapacitated, for ANY reason whatsoever, you ARE responsible for their maintenance during this entire event."
Again, John seemed to miss the crowd's shock. "They need to be fed, cleaned, dressed, etc. You probably know what to do already, this is a 'just in case' thing. Also! If you hurt anyone WHILE at this event, you may be disqualified, evicted, mind eviscerated, killed, Soul fragmented to an even further degree, or your existence itself may be eradicated or Consumed entirely depending on the severity of your actions and the consequences thereof."
Then the Frog Emperor happily grinned at the crowd! "There WILL be a few more elimination rounds and challenges before the actual tournament happens, but they all give prizes and rewards and stuff too so look forward to it! And if any of you DO get eliminated from this point forward, you still get free room and board until the tournament ends and discounts for a couple of friends if they wish to join you. Some Duelists may have guardians or parents or siblings or whatever that want to come watch the fun and all that, so Grace thought this should help with that!"
The boy tapped his chin… "What else… Oh! Right, uh, about the name… Originally this was going to be the 'Toad Emperor Presents: The Fight of the Ground Fable' Tournament. Because I had this idea that the top winners would be knighted and then our Froggy Fighters Knight Troup would go battle evil and… Uh."
He winced. "Long story short: I was told NOT to establish a froggy based military coalition of fighters or I would get grounded. But you WILL win some very cute froggy hats! Girls, show them the hats!"
Grace held up a few colorful options while Temptation somehow made the presentation of headwear feel sinfully corrupting and…
John quickly grabbed her shoulder. "Thank you Temptation, that's enough."
Her smirk was NOT subtle. "Anything for YOU, my Master…"
He coughed. "ANYWAY! Please check the website or take one of the pamphlets for a map, see any of our Agents or Duel Monster Staff members to receive your Froggy Duelist Card that gets you all kinds of stuff for free or at a discount, and have fun everyone! Okay, uh… Mr. Hoppens, play us off? Or whatever we do to end this thing."
Princess Jessica watched exasperatedly as the froggy Herald hesitated before playing a… A sort of reverse announcement set of notes? It was good enough.
And then the Royal Family was gone and the stunned crowd continued staring at the empty balcony, the massive Duel Monsters wearing adorable froggy hats, and each other in mostly confused silence.
On the other hand, the live stream had the internet going a bit nuts and the television announcers were doing their best to make sense of it all.
But at least the 'Toad Emperor Presents: The Fight of the Ground Fable' Tournament had officially begun! Huzzah!
~~~Pocket System~~~
Joey blinked at the empty announcement balcony. "Did he say something about properly treating brain dead people like pets and potentially killing us all if we hurt each other, or did I zone out a bit?"
The Dark Magician Girl hummed as she hugged Yugi. "Not all Duel Monsters or Spells treat their Duelist or each other well… And it's not like we all get along with everyone on our side of the Shadow Realm either. The rules in this case are to warn the more deadly and malicious of people and creatures that there are consequences if you cross a line while here. Especially if they already agreed to follow the Tournament rules."
Oh, that stuff the staff member had been saying when he exited the judgment corridor? "I admit, I sort of just said 'yeah' at the time because I was a bit distracted." The Red-Eyes in his shadow huffed in affectionate amusement. Seriously girl, being soaked in dragon saliva was GROSS!
She didn't even bother to PRETEND to care as she quietly purred in the Darkness. Sheesh.
Yugi was sort of able to work through his ongoing hugging situation to check his phone. "The listed punishments ARE pretty unexpected, but the actual rules are fairly straight forward… No one here is allowed to trick, threaten, attack, sabotage, or basically mess with anyone else competing."
The magical girl nodded. "That applies to both of you here AND your loved ones, by the way. The Frog Emperor was NOT impressed by past Duels using tricks like blackmailing opponents or threatening their parents or kids or whatever… The Princess and the Consorts didn't approve of that sort of thing either."
She gestured at the uniformed men and women around the courtyard, now wearing stylish froggy hats with sunglasses. "There's several teams of Agents already standing by to prevent anything like that happening during THIS event, at least, but even just attempting to do something awful like that would earn you some penalties."
Well THAT was a relief. "Didn't that Kaiba jerk once win a duel against you Yugi by holding HIMSELF hostage? He stood on the edge of the building so any attack you did would actually kill him."
And Yugi flinched. "That was… Well, apparently his little brother's life was on the line and I didn't know, so…"
The woman hugged him tighter. "It was a terrible situation, my Pharaoh… But not something that will happen THIS time, I promise." She rested her chin on his head. "If someone tried something like that here, agents would have reclaimed all the people in danger AND disqualified that boy. Using suicide threats to win is not acceptable, and any excuse otherwise simply exposes the ACTUAL issues that SHOULD be addressed."
Joey flinched, thinking back to his sister's required surgery and how that had driven him to extreme measures and beyond his own limits… But if he had dared to use tricks like blackmail or suicidal threats to win, she would have been horrified. And he would have lost something important too, in that process… "Yeah, I can see that."
Then his friend was pulled up into another of those over enthusiastic hugs! "No, THIS tournament will just be a battle between duelists! And before all that: games and challenges! There are all sorts of fair stalls and quiz stations and stuff being set up around the castle, and you earn more points the better you know your Deck and playing style and stuff!"
He ignored his lucky competitor and looked around for one of those pamphlets. "Points?"
She nodded! "You can either earn enough to make it through this elimination round to the next stage, or trade them between Duelists in approved kiosks, or turn them in for prizes or cash. Only people who actually want to Duel are likely to put in the effort to 'buy' a participation ticket, but lots of Duelists who are newish or not that talented can at least win some stuff during this event so they don't go home with nothing."
Hmm. "And those who love the game more are more likely to earn more points…" Hang on a tick. "What if some rich person just buys all the points or something?"
She shrugged. "Then a bunch of Duelists get some money. If you are the type of person willing to sell your chance to Duel, then you aren't likely going to enjoy the actual Tournament competition anyway!"
Fair enough. Oh, there was one of the pamphlets! "The King did say something about bringing in our friends, right?"
His sister hadn't been able to support him in person before, and this place DID feel safer than anywhere he had ever been, despite how odd things were turning out to be.
After all, if anything went wrong in THIS place, he had some serious muscle in his corner! Right, Red-Eyes?
She gave him a shifty look. And a draconic smirk. And a mental impression of a planned prank when his sister showed up…
…Don't you DARE lick me again! You hear me!? I mean it!
The 'innocent puppy eyes' look didn't work well on multiple tons of scales and fangs.
Red-Eyes, I'm being serious here! You hear me!?
She puffed thick black smoke towards his direction.
Damn it. "Those 'Froggy Duelist' cards that give us discounts on stuff, does that work towards more new clothing options like this set? Or cleaning services?" Please, let it be so!
A warm chuckle vibrated in the Darkness.
Quiet you!
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It's too bad some of Yugi's friends, Tia? and Tristan?, don't seem like the type of people to enter a serious competition, or they likely would've been part of those getting points just for souvenirs. Of course, I could be wrong since it's been quite awhile since I saw the original Yu-Gi-Oh, and I never read the, from what I've heard, much darker manga.
- Location
- Paradise, Hawaii
A question? I see mention of booths, but will there be rides?
Did the Doe Royal Family make the humble size property an Amusement Park that outdoes Disneyland or Disney World?
I believe the next chapter we will see the viewpoint of all the Evil beings lured into this Trap set by this Froggy Emperor. And seen over by his SPYRAL sister.
Some will scoff and some will just hunker down while some will try to see if their usual shenanigans can still be done, not believing the stated 'Rules'.
Will some kids try to steal a Froggy hat from a monster? Some may do it because the monster wore it but some may do it as picking a fight or 'I no scared U!' WIth trembling legs.
If Security loses a hat, will they just pull another out to replace the one lost?
Did the Doe Royal Family make the humble size property an Amusement Park that outdoes Disneyland or Disney World?
I believe the next chapter we will see the viewpoint of all the Evil beings lured into this Trap set by this Froggy Emperor. And seen over by his SPYRAL sister.
Some will scoff and some will just hunker down while some will try to see if their usual shenanigans can still be done, not believing the stated 'Rules'.
Will some kids try to steal a Froggy hat from a monster? Some may do it because the monster wore it but some may do it as picking a fight or 'I no scared U!' WIth trembling legs.
If Security loses a hat, will they just pull another out to replace the one lost?
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- Location
- Sol;Terra;EU;D;NRW
Well, the crowd now wishes to procur brown pants.
The whole crowd.
Sadly they cant convince their legs to move or unclench since that would cause something to run free.
Also, talking to anyone with a froggy hat is now somewhat harder. 😛
The whole crowd.
Sadly they cant convince their legs to move or unclench since that would cause something to run free.
Also, talking to anyone with a froggy hat is now somewhat harder. 😛
- Location
- Paradise, Hawaii
I see mention of things to buy online, did Yugi's Grandpa set up a booth to sell Duel Monster cards like a Monster Tamer?
I mean, some wanna bes may feel a bit under armed or out muscled. ... How can a Duel Monster card make them feel 'MANLY'? No Clue! But some will try to bulk up the deck.
I mean, some wanna bes may feel a bit under armed or out muscled. ... How can a Duel Monster card make them feel 'MANLY'? No Clue! But some will try to bulk up the deck.
- Location
- Here
I will not tell you how hard it is to not try to write stuff in that Brooklyn accident. Also looks terrible trying to write the word 'yuges' the way Joey says all the time... Or how tempting it is to make him say 'forgeh about it' every five seconds...
- Location
- Paradise, Hawaii
So, curious?
When did the "Forget about it" phrase become prevalent? Was it the show or was it used local?
Who was the first notable to coin it?
Was it a mob guy or it was borrowed from a guy?
It did not "Fall off the back of a truck".
Not to be Insensitive. Just curious?
When did the "Forget about it" phrase become prevalent? Was it the show or was it used local?
Who was the first notable to coin it?
Was it a mob guy or it was borrowed from a guy?
It did not "Fall off the back of a truck".
Not to be Insensitive. Just curious?
A festival of a tournament!
- Location
- Here
John hummed happily as the chaos filling his castle/[[Home]] bustled in the background. "I think this is going pretty well so far!"
His grouchy pants sister in the background disagreed. "We got another one. Technically 'traded' for his cards, but the Duel Monsters tipped us off that the bastard has put five separate Duelist families into servitude by buying all their debt and making terms progressively worse over time."
Grace hummed in the background. "That DOES explain how someone with such weak Soul resonance patterns could have such a wide variety of cards in his deck…"
Meanwhile Temptation was almost dancing along with John's happiness as she basked in her own! "Buying out the shell lending agencies, setting up our OWN shell lending agency… Oh, that one has gone into debt legitimately due to a family member having medical issues! Grace, could you handle that? All the financial stuff is easy enough to fix on my end, but if we don't correct the core issue here this one will just fall under someone else's control sooner or later."
Her angelic sister hummed. "Sending the healing team now… Might as well just heal up the entire hospital while they are there, it may save some time."
Temptation smirked. "And then, after I negate the last of his leverage…" The smile became feral! "THEN I can hunt! Let's see what financial standing you have AFTER I devour your legs from under you! Muah ha ha ha HA!"
John glanced again at his attractive 'consort' as she maliciously saved the day in her own favorite way… And forced himself to focus.
She was awfully cute though, being malevolently helpful like that.
Jessica interrupted John's appreciation moment though. "Hey John, about the teams we've been sending out recently…"
Hmm? "What about them."
She held up some images projected from her files. "I know initially my agents could only operate in the other Dimensions when outside my range or our holographic emitters…"
Yep. "Then I came up with the emitter harness, so a portable system would allow our people to go outside our range."
His sister glared at the data. "For thirty minutes, at which point the locally utilized materials couldn't handle providing enough power. But I'm getting reports here of agents working out there MUCH longer than that."
Huh? Oh. "Well, yeah! I didn't STOP working on the mobile emitter system project, you know? After that horrible first prototype, I've been improving the HECK out of it!"
Seriously, that FIRST version required heavy capacitors and batteries to be worn and carried, only could project Duel Monsters in certain ranges from the source, and was all sorts of awkward and bulky!
Jessica raised her eyebrow. "Improvements?"
Yep! "First I rebuilt a few dozen versions until I managed to come up with stronger materials, components, and hardware while restricted to only using local stuff." Because using borg nanotechnology would have been VASTLY superior.
John pointed to one side. "But without proper setup at every stop along the way, the abilities of projected Duel Monsters were restricted to limited areas and stuff. Except for the more powerful creatures, because those guys somehow alter reality to FORCE them to be 'rendered' when they want it enough."
He pulled up more information for her to look over. "Then I sort of merged Holodeck emitter technology with the schematics of my improved stuff a bit, and had a BRILLIANT idea!"
One of his new 'Field Froggy' hats came up! "I made these!"
Jessica blinked. "Those hats you gave out to our staff?"
Yep! "Check the back bit here, the 'label' on this edge… That's a VERY specialized and hyper efficient holodeck emitter!"
The power storage unit was also amazingly powerful for how compressed it all was, enough to power this mess for 40 minutes or so between charges on average… If he wasn't cheating a LOT.
Because those hats were considered [[Home]]-made for [[Home]] employes, and thus were connected directly to the [[Home]] power network.
She frowned as she pulled up the slightly complex design documents… Well, alright, the schematics were VERY complicated, but anyway, Jessica was a smart cookie. "I'll be honest, bro, this doesn't seem anywhere enough to duplicate the abilities of your Duel Monster holographic emitters."
John shrugged. "That's because they aren't. Would be a bad idea anyway, since building one of my Duel Monster emitters causes them to be influenced by the local surroundings and all sorts of stuff, attuning them in odd ways that make reusing them all over the place VERY complicated."
He grinned! "So I cheated!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Cheated how?"
John Crafted one the caps, showing her the customized Holodeck emitter on the back. "These things are designed to project only ONE thing into reality: Another customized Holodeck emitter!"
He modified the hat to draw visual lines from this emitter to the new one on the wall to one side. "Then THAT emitter is designed to project multiple Duel Monster holographic emitters all OVER the place!"
The brilliant young man posed with dignity as one hand pointed to the complex mechanics around him! "Why bother carrying all the equipment around when I can have the equipment make the equipment to make the hardware required dynamically!? It saves SO much time and space!"
Jessica's face went blank. "You mean every one of your frog hats turns the area around the user into a small Duel Monster domain?"
Hell yeah it does! "Yep!"
She pointed to one of her agents. "And you've been sending out teams of our Duel Monsters wearing said hats to interact with the world outside!"
Who was brilliant!? JOHN was brilliant! "Yep!"
His sister leaned forward. "And these hats are emitting emitters that are emitting the monsters that are WEARING the hats that projected them?"
He nodded once more! "Ye…. Oh." Crap. "Let me check that." Give me the logs!
[[Which logs does HOST require?]]
ALL THE LOGS!
[[Confirmed.]]
John flashed through the raw data. Yadda yadda yadda… Shit. "Technically, no."
She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'technically'?"
He winced. "I mean, TECHNICALLY they aren't wearing hats that emit the emitters that emit themselves or whatever."
She raised her eyebrow higher… Sigh. "Mostly because I forgot to actually Craft the hats using real materials in the first place."
Which, to be fair: He had been fairly distracted earlier today. "The froggy hats out there are currently emitted from the castle's systems. Then control of the holographic emitters emitted from those holographic hats gets passed to…"
Well it was a tad bit convoluted and some odd protocols got involved, and at the end of this mess an automated optimizing unit gave it all a once over…
John slumped. "The hats are holograms. Ones that project emitters that project Duel Monster holograms, including the one team leader who is wearing the original holographic hat. But as long as they EVENTUALLY return to the Castle, it should revert back to the original methods I designed!"
Temptation hummed happily at the side. "I'm pretty sure it's violating the laws of conservation and stuff, and there's some odd effects with how this mess interacts with our [[Home]], but it is an AMAZING tool for me to use against our various targets! I can even have whole teams that are at risk of being exposed or trapped disengaged from their emitters entirely, causing the entire setup to shut down instantly without evidence! VERY helpful!"
Grace absently nodded along. "It does allow the castle staff to effectively teleport, as they alter which emitters in our [[Home]] they are being emitted from."
Jessica glanced at the two girls… And sighed. "I suppose it ALSO explains why my agents have been so easily deploying support staff and equipment into the field itself…"
His sister glared at the devices... "I have no idea what's powering this mess."
Uh... Maybe ambient Soul residence energy? Although it might be reality accidentally forgetting that the batteries connected need to be charged in the first place.
She pointed at her brother! "But you NEED to document this stuff when you design new features like this! Alright John?"
Designed!? She thought he PLANNED for… Oh wait, don't admit that. "Yes sis."
She nodded. "Good… And this will make it easier to counter this human trafficking ring my agents found an hour ago. Thank goodness they were ALSO smuggling Duel Monster cards, or we might have missed their entire operation entirely."
ANOTHER one!? "I got some toads and frogs who would GLADLY go on that sort of mission." Even a few of the 'unofficial' monsters would move on something like that.
Jessica sighed. "These ones are under control, but in the future…" She hummed… And paused. "Say, John… Could you Craft a few variants of those hat emitters? Ones I can attach to various electrical grids in the surrounding cities and ports and such? We wouldn't need many, just one or two to project our agents with their OWN 'Field Froggy' caps to get future missions in the area…"
Like some sort of fast travel waypoint network? That DID seem useful… "I'll see what we can do. I should be able to put together a few trickle charge solar powered units too, that can save up power to handle projecting a SINGLE hat in the field for emergencies to get things started… That way it will work in the wilderness or when there are massive power outages or whatever."
Maybe a version that worked underwater powered by sea vents? Or in volcanoes through thermal energy transfers? Oooh, flying units that used wind power! Then flying Duel Monsters with cute Field Froggy hats could spawn in flying off into the sunset!
This was going to be so interesting!
~~~Pocket System~~~
Was this a tournament, or a festival!?
There were game stalls all over the castle, bright and cheerful decorations EVERYWHERE, peppy poppy music that blended into the loud chatter and laughter and…
Men and women were leading children and friends and loved ones and carrying toys and snacks and balloons (Frog themed, of course)...
And throughout all this madness: Duel Monsters.
Creatures and monsters, wizards and plants, miniature versions of all being carried around like plushies or toys… Unless you had a DEEP connection with your Duel Monster.
That was when the summoned creatures underwent a fundamental alteration… You saw huge barbarians towering over their Duelists, or cybernetic horrors being tugged along by the family of their owners.
Massive beings with deadly ability, being warmly beloved by their tiny partners and those close to them… Fundamentally demonstrating the bond between a player and their cards in real time.
And throughout the castle, tall intimidating agents and their froggy counterparts stood ready to guide, inform, and protect all the guests within. Each wearing an adorable froggy hat, each looking very professional and yet ready to smash anyone who wanted to ruin this event.
It was too bad Serenity wasn't paying ANY of that any attention, distracted by her newest companion. "Oh aren't you just the cutest little thing EVER!"
"Prrri!"
The tiny Kuriboh in her arms wiggled its green dragon-like claws adorably, the tiny stubs of limbs easily missed as its ball of fluffy fur was squeezed by his sister.
It put Joey on edge. "I didn't know you even HAD Kuriboh in your deck, little sis…"
She hummed happily! "Oh, I don't! But when you invited me in to join you, I found this little guy's gard lost on the street outside, and it seemed so lonely…"
HIs sister happily squished the uncomplaining fluffball. "Prrri!"
Hey Red-Eyes, are you SURE there's nothing wrong with this thing?
His shadow rumbled as Red-Eyes snored, ignoring all his worries and concerns. Clearly, after having answered Joey the FIRST five or so times, she was completely DONE with his paranoia…
And he'd feel frustrated at being ignored like this, if he wasn't already SUPER grateful that she HADN'T slimed his everything earlier when reuniting with his sibling.
Seriously: Thank you for not goo-ing me, Red-Eyes.
Something unseen chuckled in her 'sleep', but she let it go.
Still… "Hey, fuzz butt."
"Pri?"
He pointed at his sister. "She's family, MY family. You harm her, we are going to have issues, understand?"
Serenity huffed! "Joey!"
It nodded… Somehow. Did this guy even HAVE a neck? Did he just rotate his whole body or… Wait, not important. "And if ANYONE gives her a shady look or tries anything, you take them out first. I mean, they won't EXIST much longer after trying shit like that, not with me and Red-Eyes here, but family comes first, yes?"
It nodded! "Pri!"
Good. "Then welcome to the family, fuzz butt."
His sister huffed as the cuteness ball in her arms puffed up in defiance to the world! "Boys…"
Meh. "Trust me, if I was an older sister I'd STILL kick anyone's butt who tried something with you!"
"Pri!"
Well said!
His grouchy pants sister in the background disagreed. "We got another one. Technically 'traded' for his cards, but the Duel Monsters tipped us off that the bastard has put five separate Duelist families into servitude by buying all their debt and making terms progressively worse over time."
Grace hummed in the background. "That DOES explain how someone with such weak Soul resonance patterns could have such a wide variety of cards in his deck…"
Meanwhile Temptation was almost dancing along with John's happiness as she basked in her own! "Buying out the shell lending agencies, setting up our OWN shell lending agency… Oh, that one has gone into debt legitimately due to a family member having medical issues! Grace, could you handle that? All the financial stuff is easy enough to fix on my end, but if we don't correct the core issue here this one will just fall under someone else's control sooner or later."
Her angelic sister hummed. "Sending the healing team now… Might as well just heal up the entire hospital while they are there, it may save some time."
Temptation smirked. "And then, after I negate the last of his leverage…" The smile became feral! "THEN I can hunt! Let's see what financial standing you have AFTER I devour your legs from under you! Muah ha ha ha HA!"
John glanced again at his attractive 'consort' as she maliciously saved the day in her own favorite way… And forced himself to focus.
She was awfully cute though, being malevolently helpful like that.
Jessica interrupted John's appreciation moment though. "Hey John, about the teams we've been sending out recently…"
Hmm? "What about them."
She held up some images projected from her files. "I know initially my agents could only operate in the other Dimensions when outside my range or our holographic emitters…"
Yep. "Then I came up with the emitter harness, so a portable system would allow our people to go outside our range."
His sister glared at the data. "For thirty minutes, at which point the locally utilized materials couldn't handle providing enough power. But I'm getting reports here of agents working out there MUCH longer than that."
Huh? Oh. "Well, yeah! I didn't STOP working on the mobile emitter system project, you know? After that horrible first prototype, I've been improving the HECK out of it!"
Seriously, that FIRST version required heavy capacitors and batteries to be worn and carried, only could project Duel Monsters in certain ranges from the source, and was all sorts of awkward and bulky!
Jessica raised her eyebrow. "Improvements?"
Yep! "First I rebuilt a few dozen versions until I managed to come up with stronger materials, components, and hardware while restricted to only using local stuff." Because using borg nanotechnology would have been VASTLY superior.
John pointed to one side. "But without proper setup at every stop along the way, the abilities of projected Duel Monsters were restricted to limited areas and stuff. Except for the more powerful creatures, because those guys somehow alter reality to FORCE them to be 'rendered' when they want it enough."
He pulled up more information for her to look over. "Then I sort of merged Holodeck emitter technology with the schematics of my improved stuff a bit, and had a BRILLIANT idea!"
One of his new 'Field Froggy' hats came up! "I made these!"
Jessica blinked. "Those hats you gave out to our staff?"
Yep! "Check the back bit here, the 'label' on this edge… That's a VERY specialized and hyper efficient holodeck emitter!"
The power storage unit was also amazingly powerful for how compressed it all was, enough to power this mess for 40 minutes or so between charges on average… If he wasn't cheating a LOT.
Because those hats were considered [[Home]]-made for [[Home]] employes, and thus were connected directly to the [[Home]] power network.
She frowned as she pulled up the slightly complex design documents… Well, alright, the schematics were VERY complicated, but anyway, Jessica was a smart cookie. "I'll be honest, bro, this doesn't seem anywhere enough to duplicate the abilities of your Duel Monster holographic emitters."
John shrugged. "That's because they aren't. Would be a bad idea anyway, since building one of my Duel Monster emitters causes them to be influenced by the local surroundings and all sorts of stuff, attuning them in odd ways that make reusing them all over the place VERY complicated."
He grinned! "So I cheated!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Cheated how?"
John Crafted one the caps, showing her the customized Holodeck emitter on the back. "These things are designed to project only ONE thing into reality: Another customized Holodeck emitter!"
He modified the hat to draw visual lines from this emitter to the new one on the wall to one side. "Then THAT emitter is designed to project multiple Duel Monster holographic emitters all OVER the place!"
The brilliant young man posed with dignity as one hand pointed to the complex mechanics around him! "Why bother carrying all the equipment around when I can have the equipment make the equipment to make the hardware required dynamically!? It saves SO much time and space!"
Jessica's face went blank. "You mean every one of your frog hats turns the area around the user into a small Duel Monster domain?"
Hell yeah it does! "Yep!"
She pointed to one of her agents. "And you've been sending out teams of our Duel Monsters wearing said hats to interact with the world outside!"
Who was brilliant!? JOHN was brilliant! "Yep!"
His sister leaned forward. "And these hats are emitting emitters that are emitting the monsters that are WEARING the hats that projected them?"
He nodded once more! "Ye…. Oh." Crap. "Let me check that." Give me the logs!
[[Which logs does HOST require?]]
ALL THE LOGS!
[[Confirmed.]]
John flashed through the raw data. Yadda yadda yadda… Shit. "Technically, no."
She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'technically'?"
He winced. "I mean, TECHNICALLY they aren't wearing hats that emit the emitters that emit themselves or whatever."
She raised her eyebrow higher… Sigh. "Mostly because I forgot to actually Craft the hats using real materials in the first place."
Which, to be fair: He had been fairly distracted earlier today. "The froggy hats out there are currently emitted from the castle's systems. Then control of the holographic emitters emitted from those holographic hats gets passed to…"
Well it was a tad bit convoluted and some odd protocols got involved, and at the end of this mess an automated optimizing unit gave it all a once over…
John slumped. "The hats are holograms. Ones that project emitters that project Duel Monster holograms, including the one team leader who is wearing the original holographic hat. But as long as they EVENTUALLY return to the Castle, it should revert back to the original methods I designed!"
Temptation hummed happily at the side. "I'm pretty sure it's violating the laws of conservation and stuff, and there's some odd effects with how this mess interacts with our [[Home]], but it is an AMAZING tool for me to use against our various targets! I can even have whole teams that are at risk of being exposed or trapped disengaged from their emitters entirely, causing the entire setup to shut down instantly without evidence! VERY helpful!"
Grace absently nodded along. "It does allow the castle staff to effectively teleport, as they alter which emitters in our [[Home]] they are being emitted from."
Jessica glanced at the two girls… And sighed. "I suppose it ALSO explains why my agents have been so easily deploying support staff and equipment into the field itself…"
His sister glared at the devices... "I have no idea what's powering this mess."
Uh... Maybe ambient Soul residence energy? Although it might be reality accidentally forgetting that the batteries connected need to be charged in the first place.
She pointed at her brother! "But you NEED to document this stuff when you design new features like this! Alright John?"
Designed!? She thought he PLANNED for… Oh wait, don't admit that. "Yes sis."
She nodded. "Good… And this will make it easier to counter this human trafficking ring my agents found an hour ago. Thank goodness they were ALSO smuggling Duel Monster cards, or we might have missed their entire operation entirely."
ANOTHER one!? "I got some toads and frogs who would GLADLY go on that sort of mission." Even a few of the 'unofficial' monsters would move on something like that.
Jessica sighed. "These ones are under control, but in the future…" She hummed… And paused. "Say, John… Could you Craft a few variants of those hat emitters? Ones I can attach to various electrical grids in the surrounding cities and ports and such? We wouldn't need many, just one or two to project our agents with their OWN 'Field Froggy' caps to get future missions in the area…"
Like some sort of fast travel waypoint network? That DID seem useful… "I'll see what we can do. I should be able to put together a few trickle charge solar powered units too, that can save up power to handle projecting a SINGLE hat in the field for emergencies to get things started… That way it will work in the wilderness or when there are massive power outages or whatever."
Maybe a version that worked underwater powered by sea vents? Or in volcanoes through thermal energy transfers? Oooh, flying units that used wind power! Then flying Duel Monsters with cute Field Froggy hats could spawn in flying off into the sunset!
This was going to be so interesting!
~~~Pocket System~~~
Was this a tournament, or a festival!?
There were game stalls all over the castle, bright and cheerful decorations EVERYWHERE, peppy poppy music that blended into the loud chatter and laughter and…
Men and women were leading children and friends and loved ones and carrying toys and snacks and balloons (Frog themed, of course)...
And throughout all this madness: Duel Monsters.
Creatures and monsters, wizards and plants, miniature versions of all being carried around like plushies or toys… Unless you had a DEEP connection with your Duel Monster.
That was when the summoned creatures underwent a fundamental alteration… You saw huge barbarians towering over their Duelists, or cybernetic horrors being tugged along by the family of their owners.
Massive beings with deadly ability, being warmly beloved by their tiny partners and those close to them… Fundamentally demonstrating the bond between a player and their cards in real time.
And throughout the castle, tall intimidating agents and their froggy counterparts stood ready to guide, inform, and protect all the guests within. Each wearing an adorable froggy hat, each looking very professional and yet ready to smash anyone who wanted to ruin this event.
It was too bad Serenity wasn't paying ANY of that any attention, distracted by her newest companion. "Oh aren't you just the cutest little thing EVER!"
"Prrri!"
The tiny Kuriboh in her arms wiggled its green dragon-like claws adorably, the tiny stubs of limbs easily missed as its ball of fluffy fur was squeezed by his sister.
It put Joey on edge. "I didn't know you even HAD Kuriboh in your deck, little sis…"
She hummed happily! "Oh, I don't! But when you invited me in to join you, I found this little guy's gard lost on the street outside, and it seemed so lonely…"
HIs sister happily squished the uncomplaining fluffball. "Prrri!"
Hey Red-Eyes, are you SURE there's nothing wrong with this thing?
His shadow rumbled as Red-Eyes snored, ignoring all his worries and concerns. Clearly, after having answered Joey the FIRST five or so times, she was completely DONE with his paranoia…
And he'd feel frustrated at being ignored like this, if he wasn't already SUPER grateful that she HADN'T slimed his everything earlier when reuniting with his sibling.
Seriously: Thank you for not goo-ing me, Red-Eyes.
Something unseen chuckled in her 'sleep', but she let it go.
Still… "Hey, fuzz butt."
"Pri?"
He pointed at his sister. "She's family, MY family. You harm her, we are going to have issues, understand?"
Serenity huffed! "Joey!"
It nodded… Somehow. Did this guy even HAVE a neck? Did he just rotate his whole body or… Wait, not important. "And if ANYONE gives her a shady look or tries anything, you take them out first. I mean, they won't EXIST much longer after trying shit like that, not with me and Red-Eyes here, but family comes first, yes?"
It nodded! "Pri!"
Good. "Then welcome to the family, fuzz butt."
His sister huffed as the cuteness ball in her arms puffed up in defiance to the world! "Boys…"
Meh. "Trust me, if I was an older sister I'd STILL kick anyone's butt who tried something with you!"
"Pri!"
Well said!
- Location
- Australia
I wonder if John's picked up the Kuribo inside his HOME yet? Because having Serenity "find" one of his cards, while she's going to his place, is a pretty decent infiltration strategy.
- Location
- Sol;Terra;EU;D;NRW
The thick plottens!
Joey was just a proxy setup all long to get Serenity up and running so the Kuribo Kluster kould klaim her!
Wait, something feels wrong, aww, whos an adorable little fiend?
Joey was just a proxy setup all long to get Serenity up and running so the Kuribo Kluster kould klaim her!
Wait, something feels wrong, aww, whos an adorable little fiend?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm surprised Serenity doesn't also have a Red-Eyes Black Chick hanging over her shoulder as well.
- Location
- Here
Gosh DANG it, this stupid game is close to unplayable while in universe.
Even doing all they can to limit 'cheating', it is STILL redonkulous! Sheesh.
Even doing all they can to limit 'cheating', it is STILL redonkulous! Sheesh.
Better redonculous than boring