Day 1: Complex Numbers

A lone man sat by himself in the dark, staring at nothing but the shadows in front of him. He held a cigarette between his index finger and middle finger, and blew out a puff of smoke as a dark purple portal materialized behind him. Strange purple dust began to gather, coming together to form a man wearing a hooded cloak.

"It’s about to start soon. I take it the first one is on his way?" The cloaked man asked, his voice deep and distorted.

"Yes. He left about an hour ago. I suppose I should thank you for helping us send him on his way." The man with the cigarette replied, not bothering to turn around and look at the one he was talking to. His voice was one deepened with age, and the slightest bit raspy.

"It’s the best way to accomplish both of our goals, right?" The cloaked man gave a short laugh as the portal formed behind again. "Well, I look forward to seeing the results of this week." He said as he disappeared behind the portal, his laugh echoing long after he was gone.

Alone again, the man reached into his coat pocket and took out six cards. Looking at them, he muttered to himself "Yes... me as well."

Even though it was Sunday, the city of Arcadia was full of hustle and bustle just like any other day. As the setting sun heralded the coming of evening, the streets were alive with activity as the people of the city went about their business before the day became dark.

Given any day, downtown Arcadia was a hub of activity. As the day became later, however, it felt like there were fewer people than there were in the day. Yet the streets were packed with people and vehicles heading to wherever as billboards above them advertised things like new Duel Disk models, or lawyer services, or a certain blue-haired pretty boy who happened to be the champion of Tremain Arena.

Some people were heading to the stores to get their shopping done, or maybe they had nothing else to do and decided to go window-shopping. Some others were going into restaurants, or perhaps the subway to head home. Others had work in downtown as vendors or shop-owners or some such.

It was just like any other day.

Remus wandered the shops lining the streets, his trained eye looking for holes in security to exploit. It had been a while since his latest heist... but he was still set for a while. He just missed the thrill. He puffed on his cigarette, absentmindedly taking out his tarot deck and shuffling it. "The fool begins anew. The two of cups reversed... imbalance. Fortune brings destiny. Ten of coins shows inheritence. Three of clubs warns to prepare. Six of swords brings painful rites of passage. And the devil, reversed. Breaking free to reclaim power." He replaced the cards in his pocket. "Maybe I can charm some idiots into paying me to lie to them with the cards..."

Mac sighed to himself as he wandered down the large alleyway he'd found himself walking down. That was the issue with wandering aimlessly, he supposed, that you might end up someplace without much idea of where you were, or how to get out. Still, it wasn't like he had any place he wanted to go, so here was as good as any place to be, at least for the moment.

He kicked a can as he passed it, sending it rattling down into a storm drain. He emerged from the alleyway, and glanced to either side. To his left, it looked like it was some blokes unlucky day, judging by the two rougher men that were shaking him down. Mac glanced in that direction for a moment, debating whether or not to interfere, before deciding against it. Turning to his right, he continued his walk, idly starting to whistle tunelessly as he walked.

Axel had decided to sit down at a table outside of a store in Downtown Arcadia. He had a few of his cards laid out on the table and a small drawstring bag that held his duel disk and D-Gazer was under his chair. He moved the cards around the table aimlessly as looked up at a poster that had the Tremain Arena's champion on it. "He's a champion, and I'm stuck dueling in the underground" Axel said to himself. He picked his cards up off the table and placed him into his deck before grabbing his bag and following the crowd down the street.

"So, Webbster..." The older boy chided at Randall. "...All this great Dueling you've been doing is for nothing is it? Five hundred life points my Starform Dragon can clear straight through that pathetic Zenmaioh of yours-"

The younger boy only glared back, not even gracing him with the slightest visible reaction, instead returning a voice that spat venom. "How about you quit your mewling then and make your attack? Since I'm so wide open." Randall wasn't going to let this kid get into his head. He had a duel to win and a rare card to claim.

"Hah! I don't mind if I do! Starform Dragon, tear Zenmaioh into scrap metal!" Blazing into flames, the dragon burst into life, looming down on Zenmaioh. Of course, once such a beast had begun it's assault there was no stopping it by any means. Except of course, more power.

"Sorry. But you just lost. I play my Trap Card, Overwind! It doubles Zenmaioh's attack points, making your mighty dragon nothing more than an overexcited candle to my machine. Zenmaioh, intercept the attack, and win this Duel for me. And you had better remember our agreement." The older boy looked helpless as his great dragon was torn to pieces by the wind-up robot, evaporating his last two thousand life points, presenting an equally surprised face when Randall walked up to him and shoved him to the ground with one hand. "Make with your rarest card. Now."

"Alright! You never used to be like this... When'd you get a spine, kid?" he said, forcing his Starform Dragon towards Randall, who completely ignored the question, taking one glance at the card he was presented, before tossing it back to his opponent.

"I'm not interested in it. You can keep it." Randall made the statement with less emotion than the average politician, before he turned around, leaving his schoolmate in a slack-jawed stupor. At least one good thing had come... the Duel in the middle of town, especially one carrying such a close and showy finish, it had drawn quite the crowd... but he knew he wouldn't find what he was looking for here.

edited 16th Jul '14 5:02:53 PM by Plumbum

Cole North — Downtown Arcadia

Cole North, the most boring accountant imaginable, was sitting in Arcadia City's only tea house and having a chat with its owner, a small, old woman whose hair was white as snow.
“So you have this new blend I've ordered?” he asked, and she nodded. “Good, I'd like a cup right now, if you will.”
As the owner scampered back behind the counter, Cole leaned back and sighed. He always enjoyed drinking tea, and he liked the old owner. Absentmindedly, he took his deck out of a pocket and shuffled it again and again.

I'm late, I'm late... They'll kill me if I'm late again!!

A man was making a mad dash through the somewhat crowded streets of the city, with his lab coat half on and a piece of old buttery toast clamped in his mouth. His other hand, not in the lab coat, held his coffee in an equally strong vice grip. He wasn't too important to be fired, not yet anyways, and he had already gotten shit the last few days about his recent bad habit of being tardy. But with his own personal home study constantly looming over his job's work, it was harder to concentrate on cleaning facilities and checking boxes while the other scientists got all the fun doing the actual experimentation.

But he did need the job. He had no intention of getting evicted from his house so he continued running, trying his best to avoid knocking any passerby over.

Outside a small restaurant on the side of Downtown Arcadia, a man lounged against a wall, watching groups of people pass by. The interior of the restaurant was dark, with a piece of paper stuck on the front door. The man turned around, pulled the note from the door, before reading it for the umpteenth time, and stuffing it back between the doors with a sigh.

“I come all the way out here, and then I learn he’s sick. Looks like I’ve got the whole night to waste.” He thought, watching a few duelists walk down the busy street. "I think I’ll watch some duelling, find some new cards for my deck.” He smiled before wandering out into the crowd, and began following the mass of people around the busy city. "Maybe this isn't so bad, having some time to myself."

edited 18th Jul '14 11:40:07 PM by Wordless_Summons

Downtown Alleyway

"An' whered'ya think yer goin'?" Came a voice as a figure stepped in front of Mac from the shadows to block his way. The man wore a sleeveless shirt and vest, and the shadow of a dirty baseball cap covered the top half of his face, showing only a toothy grin. The two thugs from before approached him from behind as well, having already frisked the other man for everything he had.

"Didn't think we'd find another one so soon." Cackled one of the two behind Mac. He had short dirty blond hair and green eyes. He wore a red t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "It's pretty good for us, but too bad for you!" He said as he let out another laugh, not worrying about being overheard in a place so secluded from the public.

"Hey Cole!" If Cole turned to the direction the voice came from, he might recognize the man who had just entered the shop as his co-worker, Tim. Now off work, his shirt was a wrinkled mess and he held his jacket over his arm. He could have entered the shop to talk to a friend from work, or maybe he just wanted to duck inside to escape the harsh heat of a setting summer sun. Either way, he took a seat next to Cole as he took a breath of cool air-conditioning.

"Hey, I didn't know you dueled." Cole's deck caught Tim's attention out of the corner of his eye. "You any good?"

With the excitement from Randall's duel dying down, the watchers knew better than to get more involved than they already were being there. The duel had attracted a lot of attention, even causing some vendors to leave their stands to spectate. But the crowd now dispersed, and the vendor headed back to his stand to resume his work.

"Water! A buck a pop! Stay hydrated during the summer!"

Although one person did stay behind even after all others had left. He stood quite a bit taller than Randall, and wore an identical uniform. He walked up to Randall, brushing his long black hair out of his eyes before addressing him.

"I thought you were a slacker through and through, but it seems the slacker's got some skills."

Mac looked at the trio surrounding him, and nodded slowly. "Yeah, lucky for you. Sure." He held his arms out, stretching them and rolling his head on his shoulders with a crack.

"That being said, let me introduce you to an ancient family secret for situations such as this." He smirked, and then launched forward, sending a right hook up against the apparent leader's jaw, and continued sprinting down the alley.

Randall made sure to put a note of pride on his face. "I guess you could say I'm a changed person now. So, tell me. You got business with me, or are you just looking to lose a rare card to me too?" He crossed his arms across his chest and looked the other student dead in the eyes.

Downtown Tea House

Cole raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Hello there, Tim,” he said, patting the seat near him. “Yeah, I've been duelling for quite a while now. It's a fun pastime... you could say it's tea for your mind, in a way. I doubt I'm really good, though; I just dabble in it for the giggles, not because I'm the next world champ or something.”

Downtown Shopping District

There was a commotion outside a local fish market. While the crowd that had gathered was quite large, anyone who got close could tell from the atmosphere that they were definitely not there to shop. Further driving this point home, several police cars pulled up outside the shop. In a matter of moments, the place had become a crime scene.

Two detectives clad in gray trench coats made their way out to the alley. White tape outlined where the body was on the cracked gravel. Investigators were all over the place, taking pictures from within the police tape that surrounded the crime scene. Seeing the detectives arrive, one of the investigators headed over to greet them.

"So I guess the monger finally slept with the fishes, eh?" One of the detectives joked. "So what've you got for me?"

"The victim's name is Peter Burg, age 37. Lives in an apartment on second street. No wife or kids, but his parents live out of the city. Works as a fishmonger in the market. We asked some of the employees about what happened. It seems he came out here to take out the trash, but nobody witnessed what happened while he was in the alley." He looked over at the white tape. "There's no traces of blood at the scene either, although he did seem kind of beat up. What's really curious is the ground there. The ground under him had taken quite a beating, but from the looks of it, it seems like it took the impact from some small explosions rather than anything else."

"But then how did nobody hear the explosion?"

"Exactly. Oh, and we found this." The man urged one of the investigators to come forward, carrying a large plastic bag with him. Inside contained a Duel Disk, a Gazer, and several cards, one of which was Mermail Abyssturge. "Seems he was dueling before he kicked the bucket, and the Duel Disk recorded it as a loss. But that just raises more questions about what happened out here."

The two detectives walked forward to inspect the ravaged gravel under the white tape. One detective crouched down to take a closer look before turning his head to his partner. "You thinking what I'm thinking, Detective Hell?"

"I think so, Detective Highwater." He said, looking down. "Something smells fishy about this one."

"Yeah." Said Detective Hell as he stood up. "We really caught a whopper with this case."

Detective Highwater looked his partner in the eyes. "But we can't let this one off the hook."

"But how will we-"

"Will you just let me do the zinger?"

"Sorry."

"Dammit!" The guy said as his head reeled back from the attack, dropping his cap. He didn't even have time to pick it up as he tried to catch up to the other two who ran ahead of him. "After him!" They cried.

The chase was on, and as Mac continued through the zigs and zags of the alley, he would bump into yet another man. This one looked comparatively less thuggish, with white hair and a light blue cloak. He closed his eyes as he fell on his butt, giving an irritated "Owwww...."

"All students are my business." He said as he reached into his pocket, producing a badge with the Duel Academy logo on it. "I'm with the disciplinary committee. You've skipped school for two weeks straight now, so when a little bird told me that a troublemaker like you would be dueling... well, how could I not come and take a look myself?"

He put his hands to his hips, prepared to grab the Duel Disk strapped to his belt at a moment's notice. "So, do you have the sense to come back to school, or am I going to have to beat some into you?"

"Oh, that's cool. Wish I had a hobby like that, haha." Tim said with a trace of melancholy as he gave a small laugh. However, he was interrupted as several police cars zoomed past the establishment with sirens blaring.

"Whoa, wonder what that's about."

edited 21st Jul '14 2:45:14 PM by TehStanman

Downtown Tea House

Cole sipped his tea and shrugged. “Don't tell me you actually want to go out there and check it out,” he said. “Probably some demonstration or something. I'd rather sit here, drink my tea and think about my next duel.”

Randall shook his head at the disciplinary officer. "Maybe if you'd stop trying to look cool for a second, you'd realise it's Sunday..."

Mac nearly tripped over the guy, slowing as he stumbled. He awkwardly spun around, giving a half-hearted wave at the guy.

"Sorry dude, but get out of the way, you've got more people incoming!"

Axel had decided to follow the police cars to the fish market. He quickly pushed himself to the front of the crowd that had gathered to try and get a better look. "What happened here?" Axel asked to himself, "and why target a fish market?"

Remus slid through the crowd to glance at the crime scene. Just a fishmonger. Nothing important. He then saw the D-Pad being carried away. Dueling crime? Interesting.

Downtown Tea House

"Yeah, you're right. That's not our problem." Tim looked down at his watch and saw that he still had quite a while before he had to catch the subway. "So you planning on having a duel sometime soon?"

"True, but it still doesn't change that fact that you've been a no-show for two weeks. What better time than Sunday evening to realize the error of your ways so you can start the week off fresh?"

The white-haired man opened his eyes and looked up, revealing irises that were colored bright red. He stared at Mac for several seconds before whispering, "You have it..."

At that moment, the three thugs from before appeared from around the corner. Sirens could be heard over the distance, but apparently these guys didn't care. They were prepared to charge at Mac again, but one guy looked at the man in the cloak with a confused expression on his face. "Who's the new guy?"

"Forget him! The bastard's in our sights! Let's get'im!" They rushed at Mac again, but felt something wrap around them from behind. When they looked down, they suddenly saw that they were bound by chains, chain that seemed to come from the man in the cloak behind them.

"You will not interfere." He said as he swung the chain behind him, sending all three thugs slamming against a wall. They slumped to the ground, unconscious. With the goons taken care of, he turned his attention to Mac. "I can feel it on you... A Number..." The Duel Disk on his arm activated, signifying a challenge.

"Apparently, they found a guy who works here dead in the back alley." Said a man who overheard Axel's question. "What's weird is that they're saying the guy didn't have any fatal injuries on him."

"That's not even the weirdest part." Joined another civilian, this time a woman. "They found him with a Duel Disk strapped to his arm. How weird is that?"

The policeman who was tasked with shooing away the bystanders did not do a very good job, and had pretty much given up on trying to dispel the crowd at this point. However, as he looked over the crowd, something caught his eye. He walked over to Remus with a suspicious look on his face. "Say, have I seen you somewhere before?"

edited 21st Jul '14 3:05:42 PM by TehStanman

Remus smiled at the man. "John Locke, safecracker. I work with banks, so maybe I opened a vault for an investigation of yours sometime? I'm sure anyone you see 'break in' to a bank vault get stored up here," he said, tapping his forehead. "I don't quite get the fascination these people have with this scene, though. Not really gruesome. I don't even see any blood anywhere."

Mac blinked at the sudden challenge, taking a shocked step backward. And again at the chains that had apparently appeared out of thin air.

"Ummm. Why? I mean, we just met, have no idea who each other is, and while I'm not unthankful at you for hobbling them," he gestured at the goons on the ground, "why should I duel you?"

He took a half-step backward, subtly shifting his weight toward his back foot.

Outside the Fish Market

"Oh." The policeman said, sheepishly adjusting his hat. "Yeah, I guess I do vaguely remember that, now that you mentioned it."

He looked over at the fish market. "Yeah, I suppose there's no blood anywhere, and it's not like murders involving dueling is anything new. I mean, we had that serial killer all those years back who-" He stopped himself before he droned on about things he shouldn't. "Look, I'm not at liberty to reveal too much about the case, and I don't know that much anyway, but something feels... off about this one. I dunno."

"ANDERSON! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"Sorry Chief! I'm coming." He turned to give an apologetic nod to Remus. "Sorry, I uh, gotta go."

"Because you have no choice in the matter." He held up his Duel Disk and a rope shot out like the chains from the before. Faster than the eye could follow, the rope wrapped itself around Mac's wrist. "This is a Duel Anchor, and as long as it binds you, escape is futile. The only way for you to leave is to beat me." He raised his Duel Disk arm in front of him, once again issuing a challenge.

Remus waved him off. "No trouble," he said.

Mac looked at the rope in blinking surprise, checking it on his wrist to where it was wrapped securely.

"Well, I don't know why you want to duel me this strongly, but I guess you have yourself an opponent."

He pulled his disk from a pocket in his coat, as well as a pair of sunglasses. Flipping the sunglasses onto his face, he slapped the disk onto his wrist, where it unfolded.

"Alright, let's go!"

edited 22nd Jul '14 9:24:32 PM by Krika

Remus looked over the scene again, looking for anything else out of the ordinary. "A fishmonger, though... why a fishmonger?"