Picking up Carbuncle, Sarah gave a quick twirl on the heel of Audrey’s old sneakers. “One down ‘Buncle!”

The young man, having lost his hat, strode forward. His grip around the k-bar tightened with every step. Locked onto where he wanted to plant the blade, he took step after heavy step. Finally, only a few feet from the girl about as tall as his current form, he lunged.

“Squeak!”

Turning to see the boy jumping towards her, she quickly spun out of the way, narrowly avoiding the knife falling towards her throat. “What the absolute fuck?!”

With another lunge, he reached towards her shoulder, just falling short of her once again. “Shit. I’ve got no reach.”

Creating enough distance, she turned around, Carbuncle buried within her chest, “Seriously, what the fuck are you doing? “ She knew there was nowhere to run. She was trapped in the endless void with him until the conditions for the World Game were met. “We’re supposed to be duelling, you fucking idiot!”

Wiping his hand across his face, he finally changed from the young cowboy and into the lean gentleman he was at the beginning of the day. The spitting image of Timothy Weatherford.

Holy shit. The idea of someone who looks like my dad is some Freudian shit.

He dashed towards her once more, a cold stare piercing through the thick glasses. With longer limbs, he closed the distance twice as quickly, causing Sarah to scream as she ran somewhere,

The old man grasped her shoulder, turning her around as the knife plunged towards her artery. Closing her eyes, her knees collapsed.

“Fucking shit!”

Opening her eyes, she looked up to see Carbuncle biting his hand, leading him to dropping the knife. With his free hand, he tried to pull the rabbit sized creature free from his hand. With a chunk of skin coming free with the purpled furred creature, he dropped ‘Buncle before punting a sizable distance. “I’m sick of you and your fuckin’ rodent! What tha’ fuck does she see in you?”

Bending over to pick up his knife once more, Sarah found her legs unable to move from underneath her.

Taking a few steps towards her, he flipped the k-bar a few times, savoring his own kind of victory, “I’ll start by cuttin’ off those tits o’ yours…”

“Terrence!” The blue robed woman reached out from behind him, holding his knife arm. “What are you doing? You can’t do this!”

The eyes of her father glared into her. Draining all heat from her, she met his gaze, terrified of the intentions behind it. Drops of water were the only thing her useless legs beneath her could feel.

“We’re already in enough trouble engaging with the enemy! What would our superiors do when they find out you killed this one too?”

Carbuncle hobbled his way between Sarah and the restrained murderer. Mustering a growl, he stood with his fur puffed out.

“Melt… They fuckin’- She fuckin’ kept pushin’ me. This bitch kept makin’ fun o’ your death!” He half-heartedly tested her grip, never once breaking the white hot eye contact with her.

Meltlilith let go of his arm to cup his face with her long fingers, “Terrence… Terrence… It’s okay, I’m here…” Forcing him to look at her, he seemed to relax his short, ragged breaths. “I’m not dead… I’m right here…”

The gentleness of her voice reached Sarah. Despite only existing within her mind, the emotion she conveyed felt genuine.

With her hands still cupped around Terrence’s ears, she directed her voice towards the girl barely sitting upright, “We will give you the chance to escape. Please, just wait a little longer and someone will get us-”

“No.”

Somehow finding the strength to stand, Sarah wiped the tears away, steeling her resolve, “No. I want to continue the World Game.”

Receiving her card, Sarah shuffled her hand before quickly collapsing the fan she held them in, “Pass.”

“I…” The man resembling her father stole cold glances at her while looking through his hand. With Meltlilith placing her hand on his shoulder, he seemed to have calmed down a bit. “I’ll summon a Nix, Firmament’s Blade. Go.”

The strange avionic structure descended from the white abyss above, falling in a corkscrew before hovering its master’s shields.

“Squeak?” Carbuncle sat by Sarah’s side. Looking up at her, he twisted his head in question.

Wiping her eyes once more, Sarah met his concern, “I’m sorry about what just happened…”

Placing a paw on her shoe, Carbuncle chirped brightly.

“Alright, I cast Rapid Growth!” Another play point joined the two already orbiting around her, already dimmed but ready for use on her next turn. Shit. My hand is fucking awful. If I want to take care of this guy before who-knows-what happens to get us out of here, I need to pick up the pace.

‘Tim’ shuffled his hand. The stern look on his face almost led Sarah to believe it actually was her father before her. It’s like I’m duelling a whole ‘nother person.

With one play point dimming, a second jet flew down to join the first, “I’ll summon another Nix, Firmament’s Blade.”

Sarah scowled. “Just because you look like my dad, doesn’t mean you need to play boring like him!” With the card appearing in her hand, she grinned, “How about I play your favorite card again?”

Descending from above once more when the card shattered, another tiny bird person appeared, spinning his knife between his feathered fingers. Appearing on the other side of the field in the blink of an eye, Ankleslicer quickly slashed through the two jet planes.

“Now, all your [Blocker]s are negated! As well as any keyword your cards might have!”

The old man grimmaced. Gaining his third play point, he paid no mind to the card that jumped into his hand. “I’ll summon a Starlight Palm.”

Once more, the spongy yellow mass dropped from his hand and quickly ascended towards the shifting white sky, it’s fronds spreading outward, forming a canopy. Normally, the creature would give any of its allies with [Blocker] +2 attack points, but with Ankleslicer on the field negating them all…

“Alright!” Sarah shouted, wrapped up in the game once more, “I’ll summon a Sixth Storm Oracle, gaining me yet another play point!

That’s not all!” Another card shattered that was pulled from her grip, “I’ll cast another Rapid Growth as well, bringing me up to 7 play points!”

“She seems to be quite fine after almost being stabbed…”

Ripper shook his head, “You’re right. She should be pissin’ ‘erself.” Pulling out his k-bar, she continued to play the game as normal, “Fuckin’ weird is what it is.”

“Hey Mr. Slasher!” Sarah rested her hands on her hips, “It’s your turn! I don’t fucking have all day!”

A decorative wooden chair appeared for Melt to sit on, gracefully taking her place by her still rattled partner, “I’ve never seen someone bounce back like this. Fascinating…”

“I’ll go a’ead and evolve one o’ my Nix, Firmament’s Blades into a Pluto, Firmament’s Chariot.” Transforming once more from plane mode into an upright robot, the ‘old man’ flipped the knife in his free hand, “And it’s fuckin’ Ripper, not ‘Slasher’!”

“Squeak?” Carbuncle tilted his head.

“I don’t think they knew your street name, Terrence…”

“Eugh!” Smacking his face with both his hands, he lingered within them. “Today’s the worst fuckin’ day, Melt!”

“Fucking right?” Sarah shouted from across the field, “It was bad enough I had to go through a piss poor managed tournament for 16 hours yesterday, but I have to duel your dumb ass that looks like-”

She stopped for a moment.

Joining in the abyss’s first ‘Facepalming Club’, it finally hit her, “I didn’t run into my dad earlier! That was you!”

Easily becoming the reddest thing in the endless void they found themselves in, Sarah sputtered, “I’m going to beat you so bad, fucker.

Let’s go Carbuncle!” As her ACE creature’s card shattered, the housecat-sized creature bounded on the field, granting 9 lit pearls orbiting around her. Suddenly, he shifted into the tall bird woman from earlier. “Let’s evolve him into Kellja, Night’s Wing Leader and end my turn!”

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Kellja, who was once Carbuncle, turned around, giving Sarah a thumbs up with her feathery fingers. Shooting one back, Sarah forced up a smile. That’s so weird he can just do that…

Just barely getting his 5th play point, Ripper gained his card for the turn.

Melt sat back in her chair, her noble robes fluttering with every gentle kick she made. “I hate to say it Terrence, but today’s going to continue its downward spiral. We still have Miranda’s right hand outside, trying to drag us out of this.” She sighed as her head tilted back as if to look at the churning white sky above.

Wait. Sarah collapsed the cards in her hand. Miranda’s right hand is waiting outside? With Jesse and Orty? She could only imagine what went on outside of their little interdimensional bubble.

“What do you mean she manifested her ACE?”

Jesse looked to her partner who was off in her own world once more, “I mean, she’s had ‘Buncle for as long as we’ve known her! Which was only since yesterday, but still…”

Rebecca grew impatient. Having to call Imaishi who had to get Clyde over to rural St. Louis certainly was going to take a while, even with the former’s teleportation skills. “And she has the Carbuncle of all things?!”

She paced a small rut into the dried out dirt of the empty field. “Holy poop! First daddy kicks her out and now she’s wrapped up in The World Game? Worse yet, she’s trapped in a World Game with a convicted serial killer?!”

While the loose haired girl pulled out her phone for the umpteenth time, Jesse leaned over to her partner, “Orty, what do we do? This chick’s with that Miranda girl Sarah said to look out for.”

Taking her hand off of the storming bubble, Ortelanus sighed, “There’s nothing we can do, short of dueling this raving lunatic. But between the backup she’s calling for, the powerful creature not even trying to hide his observations, and definitely not least, the foe our new partner wrapped herself in, I’d say we’re definitely fucked.”

The Sea Sage swore as she wrote in the air before her, lights emanating from her fingertips lingered as she deftly scribbled, “I don’t know about you, my dear wielder, but I feel we should dissolve this impromptu allegiance and high tail it out of here…”

Between the stakes and the heat, Jesse was sweating through her black t-shirt. “We can’t!” She tried to keep her voice down, lest their very enemy might hear them only a few feet away, “Orty, these are the first people we can actually trust! Everyone else sees us as their enemies! Sarah and Carbuncle are the only ones who haven’t tried to kill us!”

Ortelanus swore. “You’re right. We also can’t stand to lose The Treasure.” She tried her best not to forget how soft ‘Buncle’s fur was when she carried him.

“Hey other ACE girl!”

Rebecca stopped her pacing. Looking at the two closest to the bubble she crossed her arms, her cardigan drenched.

“Tell us who Sarah is to you. You seem to care more about her than the Gemless Carbuncle.” Jesse tried her best to square up, despite being taller than the already lanky girl.

“Wielder, we must maintain our tactical advantag-”

“She’s my sister.”

“I’ll cast Second Sun’s Light!”

Once more, the white void shifted to black before stars twinkled into existence around them. The two suns broiled and radiated behind Sarah as the two stood on some invisible platform as the world spun underneath them.

Thank God Ankleslicer gets rid of that [Blocker] keyword or all his creatures would gain another 2 attack points!

“I’ll break one of your shields with Pluto!”

The robot ascended higher than it’s spot above the battlefield before firing a barrage of missiles. Spreading out, the smoke trails behind the rockets obscured the vision of the strange creature before they converged on one of the five hardlight planes before her, shattering it and reforming in her hand. With no reaction from his opponent, ‘Tim’ passed his turn.

With only four shields compared to his five and my now 10 play points, I could bring out my Strike Leader. But, I think one of these two I had since the start might be a better idea!

“I’ll use all 10 of my play points to summon Sterben, Keeper of Fiction!”

And once again, the stars faded from existence and they found themselves within the palm of a gargantuan purple being once more. A series of panes appeared and were promptly shattered beside Ripper once more, this time unphased by the occurrence. “You got three turns again! Use ‘em well…”

Despite his loss to the effect in the last round, his face remained unphased. I almost miss him faking his excitement.

“You best not fuckin’ do it again.” A halo appeared under her feet, prompting Melt to step onto the field, “I’ll summon Meltlilith, Artificial Justicar.”

With a singular hand wave the two bird people and the giant notably slumped in posture, placing three cards in the old man’s hand.

“Now why don’t we clean up the field a little?”

The strange mechanical structure took off flying in a sheer upward manner, defying all known laws of physics. Slamming into Ankleslicer at supersonic speed, nothing remained of both creatures after the impact. “Now with that shit’ead off of the field, both my Starlight Palm and Second Sun’s Light pump up every creature with [Blocker], includin’ my Nix!”

Shooting up from 2 play points to 6, the creature eclipsed Leilah’s 5. Flying through the bird woman at supersonic speeds, ‘Tim’ grinned wildly once more, “And there goes your lil’ partner! ‘Ow’s that feel, bitch?”

Carbuncle’s calls could still be heard, echoing through the dark space around them.

Clearing her throat, Sarah pointed at the man who still looked like her father, “Sorry, you’re the bitch here! ‘Buncle’ll be back when I fucking kick your ass!”

The giant holding their battle’s eyes gleamed in the distance. Just as Pluto looked as if it should have exploded from her Sterben’s attack, time slowed. Oh shit… I don’t miss this feeling…

Within the blink of an eye, the smaller bone ship exploded. “I’ll ‘ave Nix block the attack!”

As the tenth of Sarah’s play points joined in the orbit, she chuckled after seeing her opponent’s seven. “Alright, well, let’s put us on equal footing!”

Suddenly, the halo beneath Melt turned pitch black. The distant low notes of a church bell rang in the distance, echoing from the void beyond the safety of the giant’s hand. Small nebulous hands reached upwards from the portal beneath her feet, grasping onto her azure robes. Pulling her in, she reached towards her partner who wordlessly stepped forward to pull her from the pit.

“Terrence!” Was all she could manage once more before dying once more.

Sarah felt a pit in her stomach. Or, at least, she felt like she should have felt something. Instead, she felt perfectly fine. Not even Carbuncle’s defeat phased her. I- It’s different from the last time. That big turtle pushed Bruno into fighting, but Meltlilith…

Eyeing her opponent closely, she held a card once more before it splintered and faded, “I’ll summon Kellja, Night’s Wing, who’ll negate your Starlight Palm’s effects.” The young cloaked bird girl swooped down, slicing the gross palm tree.

As another card in her foe’s hand, Sarah could not help but nod her head. I’ve got four shields and he’s only got 2 cards left in deck. With his ACE hitting the grave twice already, this should be it.

“I’ll summon a Malkuth, Firmament’s Lord and another Nix, Firmament’s Blade.” Five of his seven play points dimmed.

“With only two play points, it looks like I don’t have to worry abou-”

“I’ll cast Echoing Order. Since I’ve only got ‘Miracle’ creatures, I’ll ‘ave both [Float] effects at the end of the turn. Until then, Starlight Palm and Pluto will break two of your shields.”

As both cards entered Sarah’s hand, she spit.

“Echoing Order lets me regain three play points, bringing me to five at the end of my turn, and has a [Float 2] letting me draw a card.” Just like the last round, Malkuth pointed towards the monumental being in the distance and fired a finger lazer towards the creature. “Malkuth’s [Float 3] lets me kill your Sterben.”

With the hand gone from beneath them, they stood in the pitch black void. Okay. Okay. He still only has two cards left, three turns. I’ve got two shields I can easily keep up!

Nine of the ten comets haloing around her dimmed as the familiar sound of a walking suit of armor emerged from behind her, causing the space around them to glow white and feel the sensation of falling once more. “I’ll call forward my Strike Leader, High Prosecutor Judgement!”

This time, four dim pearls of light burst from her ring, their remains flying to the giant purple automaton. Plunging the beam sword into the ground, all four of Ripper’s creatures were destroyed. “And since I’ve got two shields versus your four, Judgement gains [Sonic Strike]!”

The massive suit of armor did not need to take more than two steps to clear the field and plunge it’s blade into one of the panes glass protecting the old man, leaving him with three left.

Unperturbed, the card entered Ripper’s hand. His gaze no longer looked like that might also tear Sarah’s throat open, but the look was night and day compared to the young boy hooting and hollering less than an hour ago. “I’ll summon two Topaz Spellbots, foregoin’ the shield swap effect.”

The two robots were identical in looks and in function. “In addition, I’ll summon me another Starlight Palm and my last Nix, Firmament’s Blade.” The jet plane flew in as the grotesque plant bloomed once more.

Shit. I just got rid of four of his creatures and he just plopped down four more?! Shuffling through her hand, she swore as she found the perfect card to get her out of this situation. But I only have seven play points and Revolution Guillotine costs eight… Shit. I got too excited with Judgement.

“Shit, I guess that’s it for me! One more turn and you would’ve decked out. I’ll summon a Sixth Storm Oracle, gaining me an empty play point!” The shamanistic furry man appeared once more, handing her a dim pearl to add to her orbit. “In addition, I guess I’ll cast Death is But a Fiction and return my Gemless Carbuncle to my hand!”

Carbuncle’s chirps grew louder as he emerged from the same space Sixth Storm Oracle emerged from, his hair falling upwards with Sarah’s pigtails. “Squeak!”

Picking him up, she pinched his nose and wiggled it around a bit, “I missed you too, you little shitter.

Finally, I’ll have Judgement break a shield!” At her exclamation, the knight destroyed another glass pane, leaving her foe with only three remaining. “Go ahead and take the round, shithead.”

Barely acknowledging her, the image of her father flipping around a k-bar sent shivers up her spine. “I’ll ‘ave both of my Spellbots break your shield and Starlight Palm will strike for game.”

With both one round going to each participant, the final game was about to be underway.