Rooftop

Jason pipes up, “Uhm...hello? This is Jason Maxwell. I’m a competitor in the tournament.”

-He taps his chin-

“We ran into someone calling themselves ‘Skull’ we tried to duel them just now...but they completely trounced us.”

Rooftop

"Skull..." Mannic mused over the phone call, "That's a new one... Did they use any usual cards? Stuff that shouldn't exist?"

"Oh, and is there anyone else up there?"

Rooftop - Kara

"Seemed like they had some sort of new archetype or something... Hallowains, I think? There was this one link summon that practically blinded me and then the duel field was just totally blocked out by this dome of darkness or something..."

"Oh, yeah, we've got Yuria up here too"

"Um, hi. yeah. These Hallowain monsters impossible to get rid of, and they really disrupted me during my turn. But anyways, that's not as important as the fact that these guys have duel disks that literally fry people!"

Yuria pointed at her jacket, which bore burn marks at the edges.

Rooftop

“Or feel like you get roundhouse kicked in my case...”

-Jason pats the area he was struck gingerly-

“Totally gonna bruise.”

Rooftop

"Dammit. Ok, all of you should meet me..." Mannic went quiet for a moment, thinking, "Actually, just stay there. Honestly can't think of anything better."

"I'll-"

Garage

"-Be there soon. Keep yourselves safe."

Mannic ended the call, switching his screen over to some kind of radar. It was tracking a large signal somewhere nearby, or at least a signal that was nearby.

"They're stepping things up..." He said to himself, looking around to find the source, "Come on, they have to be around here somewhere..."

He quickened his pace, "Who's left for them to target... The wrestler, the redhead-" He stopped, seeing Jack's unconscious form on the floor, "Dammit."

He rushed over, gently shaking him, "Hey, buddy, you alright? You need help?"

Edited by Blastgamer on Mar 12th 2020 at 7:33:12 AM

Rooftoo

"So... we are gonna wait here?" Yuria asked.

Rooftop

-Jason sighs, rocking back on his heels to lean against a nearby wall-

“Got a feeling we don’t have much choice.”

Rooftop

"Doubt anyone else is gonna be messing with us up here seeing how Skull just disappeared like that..."

Kara sighed and gave a concerned glance at the injuries the duelists mentioned before the phone call ended "But are you sure you two are okay?"

Edited by BlitzTrain on Mar 13th 2020 at 4:55:28 AM

"It hurt like hell, but I'm fine now." Yuria said.

Rooftop

“Same really. Think I chomped down on my cheek when I fell, but I’ll live.”

-Jason shifts to sitting with his legs crossed-

Rootop

"Ah... I guess that's good"

Kara took a seat as well while they were waiting, and eventually spoke up again. "So... Any ideas what that weirdo was talking about with black gauntlets then?"

Edited by BlitzTrain on Mar 16th 2020 at 4:47:06 AM

Rooftop

"If I had to guess...prolly has something to do with those weird Duel Disks Timothy and the other guy used..."

Jason taps his chin in thought. "Made 'em act all strange like...I dunno, like I wronged Tim in some way by beating him in the tournament."

He takes out his phone and pulls up a search. "I wonder..."

He types the name Timothy Galio into the search bar and taps Search.

GARAGE

Jack groaned, sitting up. His whole body ached.

He looked up at the man, eyebrow raised. "Uh...Yeah?" Had he collapsed? Oh, right. He just had a dream.

The biker turned back to the man. "Hi. How can I help you?" He put a hand to his head, trying to figure out what he was doing.

Edited by TroyandHawk on Mar 19th 2020 at 1:15:22 AM

Rooftop

Judging by the search, Timothy was interested in art, fashion, and, too a somewhat lesser extent, dueling. He had a semi-popular online show where he'd discuss aesthetics, usually card artworks but also occasionally real sculptures or just pretty looking photos of nature he seemed to take himself.

The last post was him reporting that he'd been brought back into the tournament after a loss in the first round. The cause was apparently another contestant dropping out suddenly, and the organizers had decided to allow him back to replace them.

After that, nothing.

Garage

"I heard something strange going on up here and it looks like you passed out," Mannic explained, ""What happened to you?"

GARAGE

"Uh..." He looked pointedly at a puddle of vomit..."I...Are there security cameras?"

He checked his pockets and pulled out a duel monsters card. He went white as a sheet.

"Am I holding a card.?"

Garage

"Yes?" Despite the harmless statement, Mannic was slowly backing away from him. He subtly took his phone from his pocket and glanced at it before looking back to Jack.

"Is there something wrong?"

Rooftop

"Hm..."

Jason shakes his head. "Two losses in a row would be rough on any duelist...but to warrant a reaction like that?"

He places his phone back in his pocket. "Weird duel disks, weird new cards...I don't like the look of these things."

GARAGE

"Nope! Nothing's wrong." Jack said before looking around. "I, uh, are there any video cameras? I got attacked. Also, who's running this tournament? I need to talk to them about security."

Garage

"Wait, attacked?" That part of the statement seemed to draw Mannic's concern and interest, "This might sound weird, but were they using a black gauntlet or something like that?"

GARAGE

Jack's face fell, "You're 'shitting' me." He said, eyes wide as he stared at the man. "Is this a common issue? Cuz I felt 'all' the damage and that's...awful."

Garage

Mannic's eyes widened, "Well uh..." He rubbed the back of his head, "It's not exactly 'common', but it's a worrying trend..."

He took a glance down at his phone, "Look, if you don't need any medical help, would you mind coming with me? There's a few others who seem to have gone through the same thing you had, and I think it would be better to give the whole explanation to as many people at once as I can."

GARGAGE

Jack stared at the guy before waving his hand, "Fine. I might need a psychologist though." It came off as a joke, but it failed. Miserably. He sounded tired, angry and now that this was a known danger? He wasn't sure he trusted this guy.

Garage

"Alright then, let's go."

It didn't take long for the two of them to reach the hotel's lobby, which was mostly deserted save for a sole, incredibly exhausted looking clerk at the front desk. Mannic quickly found an elevator, which came down shortly after he pressed the button.

"You're sure you're ok?" Mannic asked as he pressed the button for them to penultimate floor. The elevator didn't have an option to straight to the roof, but a stairwell that did wouldn't be hard to find, "I mean, I haven't seen one of those weird gauntlet things firsthand... But I've heard they aren't exactly safe."