CAMPUS WIDE EVENT: EVERYTHING AND THE KITCHEN SINK

[intercom_voice]

[Hopefully everybody likes waking up outside.

Because as it were, in the middle of the night when everybody had been asleep or lulled into a sudden one by the sheer weight of the air around them...the Campus disappeared in its entirety. Left behind was only the cool surface of the concrete foundation.

For now it seems the residents were left to fend for themselves in the wilderness of the island. Not even the voice from over the intercom would comfort them.]

((ooc: the school has disappeared, along with all the NPCs and everything that was inside! no opt-out areas this time around. The temperature is cool during the day, and colder at night.

The event will last until October 20th, and I'll post a closer to signify it. Everything will be returned to its rightful place then.))

Comments

[obeytherod]

... [Malik's eye twitches as he shoots Harriet a scornful glare. Just thinking about what happened had his arm throbbing in pain. Healing had closed the wounds, gotten rid of the worst of the pain...but not all of it. It was as if those scars were only a thin covering to a bleeding gash beneath.

He waits for Harriet's cue.]

[whiterosefoes]

[After the circles finish, Harriet lets out a slow exhale. Even after the nice break, using this much magic is wearing on her... she shows no other signs, but with the reminder of Malik's inuries, she's actually thought and prepared a countermeasure against another rabid behemoth: her Infinite Dismissal waits as a wisp beside her this time. Once again, she counts down]

Three...

Two...

One!

1/2

[obeytherod]

[On cue, Malik is thrust back into the darkness, settling down on the mountain littered terrain below. He looks straight ahead at Twin-Headed Behemoth, knowing and feeling the presence of his other half without even turning his head.

It's that other side of himself that speaks first.

The third time is the charm, right? At least I got to say something before you fled like a frightened child.

Malik found it hard to find the words to speak at first, but as his other half moves to speak again he interrupts him.

What are you doing here? This doesn't involve you!
Huhuh...it doesn't, does it? But you need this monster to bond to your soul, don't you? The whole of it! Our interests don't always have to be at odds, you know...
Feh... Even if that's true, why would you want to help me?
I don't want to be trapped here any more than you do. This is the easiest way, isn't it? You don't always have bad ideas, they just tend to be underdeveloped...not nearly malicious enough!
I don't need your help. Why don't you just get out of my body?!
Sorry...it's a bit of a permanent residence. Besides...

The other Malik sticks his tongue out and steps closer to his dominate half, curling his arm over the other's shoulders and up so his hand rested atop his head in a possessive, but lazy sort of headlock. Malik himself had tensed at the approach, and jerked away almost immediately afterward.

His darker half steps back, holding his hands out with somehow menacing nonchalance.

Huhuhu... Like I was saying...you need me. You're too afraid of the darkness, my child-like self! But I love it..I take pleasure in it. If anybody can help you summon Ra, it's me who can already do it, and me who can wield the darkness like a plaything!

If you can summon Ra already, then so can I. It's just a matter of time. Do you think I'm that desperate that I'll risk throwing everything away on your word?
Yes.
...
See? You're already considering it! You're impatient...you've been here far too long, and you know you can't go on without my cooperation. Huhu, even that pathetic parasite you call a boyfriend isn't enough entertainment for you. We're in the same mind, Malik, you can't hide anything from me.
It has nothing to do with desperation! You bonding with that monster...it's just a necessary evil.
That's just a nice way of saying "I'm desperate," but whatever makes the pill easier for you to swallow~

Malik grits his teeth, waving a hand dismissively at his other half as he approaches the monster.

Just shut up. If you're going to do it, then just do it.
Gladly... ]

[obeytherod]

[Malik's eyes snap open once the armor is fully intact, his gaze shaken with a mix of perturbation and anger. Trying not to dwell on it, he instead focuses his sights on what he's done.

Those pointed claw-like tips to his loosely armored hands, the heavy spikes on his shoulders, the chain mail across his arms...! He'd done it, at last!]

Kyahaha! I did it! Keheh..! [But at what cost--comes a thought, quickly extinguished.] I did it...I'm one step closer to my grand escape!

[whiterosefoes]

[Harriet was starting to get nervous watching the armor swirl and delay over Malik as he made weird faces. All she could do was stare and wonder if this time her shortcut would work.

When it finally took shape, though, she had to be impressed. He actually learned it in a day... of course, credit was due to the method she came up with, but damn. They're such geniuses. Even if he's looking kinda crazy, he's earned her compliments.]

You've done very well, haven't you? It looks badass. How do you feel?

[obeytherod]

[How did he feel? Arrogance and excitement seemed to be the whole of it, but beneath the surface sat those concerns... That conversation with his other half.]

Amazing! It's heavy, but it doesn't feel uncomfortable. We should keep going, I have at least another hour. What's next!

[whiterosefoes]

[That's right... with this part over, they can already move on. Harriet gestures toward him with her hand]

Why don't you try summoning? You're one with your monster - now you can use it as a medium to call to the rest of your deck. You don't have to touch the cards. They'll appear in front of you, but only you can discern their true shape. To everyone else, it'll just look like a sort of ... wispy thing until you activate it. As you can see.

[She nods downward in an indicating fashion to the Infinite Dismissal trap still wisping about at her side.]

[obeytherod]

Hmhmhm... Is that it? I already know how to summon, so this shouldn't be a problem at all.

[Malik holds out a hand, about navel level, for effect as he summons Thunder Nyan Nyan. Or...tries to summon Thunder Nyan Nyan. Unfortunately, nothing happens.]

... [Maybe he needs to speak to his Deck Leader some how? Malik closes his eyes a moment to try this.

Oy, Twin-Headed Behemoth...call forth Thunder Nyan Nyan!

He opens them again to see...a whole lot of nothing.]

It's not working! [His patience is already lost! After all that trouble for his armor, he can't even summon right away?!]

[whiterosefoes]

What?

Hmm... The way you're used to summoning must work differently from this, then. What did you try to do?

[obeytherod]

I just told Twin-Headed Behemoth to summon a monster. [And before that, he literally just held his hand out and thought of a card, expecting something to happen.]

Hm...usually I'll just open a "door", so to speak, and draw the monster out by force if it's stubborn, or it'll come out willingly as long as I have the strength. It feels strange to try and summon without that...

[whiterosefoes]

You told it... [pffft.] Okay, I see where the mistake is now. You can't just order your armor around. You have to synchronize with it!

[obeytherod]

What the hell was I just doing if not synchronizing with it just a minute ago?! [Malik curls his lip, but ultimately sighs and lowers his head, attempting to... "synchronize" further. However that was done.]

[whiterosefoes]

Don't think of yourselves as separate entities. Reach out vicariously... but don't force it. The energy should flow naturally.

[She hopes this makes sense. It's a bit of an abstract process to have to try and explain.]

And another thing... You're not calling it temporarily. It's simply going to stay dormant within your deck. It's quite different from what you're accustomed to... you'll need to get used to the feedback.

[obeytherod]

Ah, that's right. Bakura told me something about your monsters always being in this world, and from there you only needed to use the energy to call them forth physically.

Okay... [He thinks he gets it now. All he needs to do is use his Twin-Headed Behemoth as a medium. If he thought of it that way, it wasn't much different from using the Rod in conjunction with a soul fragment to control one of his Ghouls.

That's right...this was easy. All he had to do was apply that logic to it, and...

A wisp appears at his side, indicating the presence of a hidden monster. Malik knows he's succeeded even before he opens his eyes, and his smirk betrays the fact.]

There we go.

[whiterosefoes]

At least you're a fast learner.

[Harriet holds her chin, curious about the wisp.]

Well now. You've got a card, and so have I. The eye's in the sky, and an hour left to kill... shall we duel?

[obeytherod]

I have to be.

[Malik glances over at his hidden monster, thinking on it.]

My deck is built for summoning Ra, I'll be at a disadvantage without it. But I suppose that'll just make my victory that much sweeter, won't it? Hmhmhm.

[Pulling out his deck, he begins to shuffle it...and then he pauses.]

Wait, we still draw cards, right?

[whiterosefoes]

The deck I have with me is the one I used in the wars. I'll have to hold back...

[Harriet chuckles a bit at that.]

...You can for now. It's not practical in an actual war to be physically holding a hand of cards while you fight, so we draw out the card wisps through our mental link with the deck. But it will still work with the physical cards.

[obeytherod]

Hm...traps and spells work differently too, don't they? You don't just set cards down, you move them around like the field like pawns.

[Finishing up with his deck, Malik draws his first hand.]

[whiterosefoes]

That's correct. The traps have to be triggered within range, so you place them strategically just as with your monsters, who also move. And monsters may benefit from the terrain... typically the challenged summons a field that gives them a home field advantage, but as we're on the roof, I won't. It will all be considered "normal" terrain.

[obeytherod]

Hmhmhm, I see...I should have brought my duel disk. Oh well~ Since we're using "wisps" on the field, I guess I can just hold my hand and keep my set cards in one pocket, with my deck in the other...

[It definitely sounded convoluted, but he wasn't quite ready to duel without physically touching his cards just yet. The idea of not physically drawing was a bit jarring.

Despite all that, Malik still seemed confident as ever.]

Let's start then, shall we?

[whiterosefoes]

[Harriet tilts her head at the mention of a "duel disk"... but she is ready to get started, having been shuffling while explaining. She smirks]

All right. We'll continue the order from before, [meaning she goes first. She draws, pulling five wisps at her fingertips]

Duelist, en garde!

[and they play for some time...]

[obeytherod]

[Malik seems to have a decent strategy at first, but it soon becomes clear that even that is rather amateurish. His "strategy" involves using rare and powerful cards more than anything, and the one or two combos he utilizes aren't very effective in this new dueling style, and they leave him utterly vulnerable once broken.

It's a losing battle, even if he initially puts up a fight and seems to be a worthy threat, everything eventually falls apart on him.

Ultimately, he loses horrendously once Harriet powers up her fairies.]

Tch...you're a skilled duelist, Harriet! That was exciting...

[And now that he's seen first hand how these duels work, he has an idea of how to reorganize his deck. Or rather, make a secondary deck just for this.

...Not that dueling in this style was something he needed to do, but he couldn't just let Harriet have her victory without an attempt to snatch it back.]

[whiterosefoes]

It was a fine duel! You have some rather impressive cards at your disposal, as well...

[Harriet's grinning with satisfaction befitting a sound victory. She genuinely enjoyed herself - something that surprises even Harriet. Come to think of it, it's the first time she's played a war duel that didn't carry with it the consequences of a war. A teaching game against a good opponent was a totally different feel. Although she couldn't deny that part of her also liked beating him down because she owed him one. She may have stopped holding back at some point toward the end, as monsters in the 6000s power bracket could attest to.]

Heh heh.

...Well, that should do it for now. We'll need to duel again if we are to promote your deck leader. You've chosen a good type to bond with - I believe a dragon deck leader can eventually reduce summoning costs. It's certainly helped Rosenkreuz a lot with his Blue Eyes.

[obeytherod]

Hmhmhm, you could say I'm a collector of rare and impressive cards...

[Not that Malik had bought or traded for a single card he owned. All of these were thanks to his rare hunters, and anything else he owned he'd simply piled in as filler.

Back to business, he flicks through his deck thoughtfully as he speaks, stopping just short of drawing the actual Ra.]

If Twin-Headed Behemoth reduces summoning costs, that means I'll be able to summon Ra in no time. Good... I'll have to start making arrangements~

[whiterosefoes]

["you could say?" usually that means there is more to be said. She raises an eyebrow.]

You don't say... putting it that way, it sounds a bit shady. I don't know what I expected from you, though.

[Malik, you sure are trouble. At least in training him, Harriet will be keeping tabs on his progress. She'll just have to make certain she stays stronger than him.]

Well, don't pack your bags just yet. It'll take a lot of hard work to get to that point. But I suppose we'll both have loose ends to tie up...

[And Harriet's mostly revolve around Henry. Aah.]