Game 1 – Phase 5
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-PHASE OPEN-

“Shoot! No Range Strikes this turn. Phase Close!” Faith snaps her fingers.

It was Jacques’ suggestion to use the term Strike. Even though Faith has only said it a few times, he is beginning to loathe hearing it now.

"Phase Open!" Jacques draws his card.

Her happy face annoys him, the way she cheerfully examines her cards. ‘Brat…It’s like she flipped a switch…’

Jacques is aware of where Faith’s King is. He can deal a heavy blow, but first, there is a more pressing issue to address...

‘WHY IS THAT QUEEN CARD OF HERS STILL HERE!?’

The Queen of BurningHEARTS is casually floating in the air on her back. The King gives her a look of disapproval, not pleased with the carefree attitude.

‘Its true location on the grid has not been revealed to me yet, so it loitering around is a distraction.’ Jacques rotates the Field Dice but waits before rolling it. “Listen, brat, concealed Reserve or Royal Rank cards are not permitted to-”

*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSH* An irritated Queen of BurningHEARTS gifts Jacques a wave of fire. The Field Dice falls.

She blows smoke off the tip of her scepter while Faith holds back laughter. The King grumbles about The Queen's juvenile actions.

But Jacques, even though he is unharmed as the “attack” was only for show. To say he is fuming is an understatement, the black aura around him has a repelling effect…

His one wish right now is to march on over, rip apart that card, and choke the laughter out of the girl wearing that stupid red ribbon! ‘Make the baby beg…beg for me to let go…’

But he needs to be civilized and bide his time. “FINE. STAY. BUT I’LL KEEP MY EYES ON YOU!”

The Queen admires her nails, not acknowledging his words.

The fallen dice had landed on a 4. Rather than guard his remaining zones, Jacques comes to a different decision. “I add two cards to the grid and advance!”

Nothing in range of any Field Clashes, but he wants to teach these vermin a valuable lesson. "I give up a 3, 4, and a 5 card from my hand to call a LV. 12 strike of my own!"

An ethereal mist surrounds Jacques' half of the War Grid. Nightfall Swamp, the tiles, the stone slab. Everything! The Queen instinctively moves back to shield Faith. The King readies himself. Peeking around the skirt of The Queen, Faith cannot make out a thing from the mist until a glint can be seen deep within…

The mist slowly takes the shape of a ghostly visage, zigzagging around Faith's side of the grid. Snaking past The Queen, this phantom is a mere inch away from Faith's face before changing direction back to the air above.

The fog parts to reveal a woman’s face. Her eyes shut with a Spade mark under her left eye and arms folded, covering a seductive body shape, levitating above. Four horns on her head and a pair of bat wings nestle on her hips. A ring on her right middle finger connects to a chain that wraps around her arm, around her shoulder, and around her waist down to a ring on her middle left toe.

Faith's eyes are drawn to a red 12 on her right thigh. The number is bloody and fresh, so much so that a single droplet falls to the grid. This woman's skin is an otherworldly pale…whiter than snow…to even touch her…you may freeze just by dreaming about it…

...the cold…death…

This sensation doesn’t make sense at all to Faith. She doesn’t think this woman looks particularly powerful aside from the rank that denotes her as such. The Queen of BurningHEARTS, though to some degree, even if she doesn’t fully understand why knows to be wary.

It’s not her outward physical appearance, but when Jacques summoned this card, the vibe of the game undoubtedly changed…

THE NEW FOE’S EYES SNAP OPEN! White eyes surrounded by black scleras! A gateway to another world!

Queen_of_NightSPADE.JPG

She is staring at Faith. Gesturing with her hand to come here. Faith has to remind herself not to reach out, not accidentally, not a single motion that could be interpreted the wrong way. It terrifies her that she has to mentally make absolutely sure she won’t react as if part of her could be tempted.

The woman smiles kindly, tenderly, and motherly. The Queen of BurningHEARTS glares back.

Suddenly the pale woman cracks her neck back as her throat puffs like a frog croaking. Then she cracks her neck forward, veins swell as something beats and crunches around inside her throat. The sound is nauseating. Out pops a lengthy, writhing, drooling tongue from her mouth, and more mist creeps out. To call it a tongue may be too generous or too naive, but it does appear all stitched up with a Spade-shaped tip.

Spade_Tongue_lol.JPG

Faith begins to hear ominous laughter. This demon’s lips are not moving, but it feels like they belong to her. The laughter comes from different directions like Faith is in the center of a crowd.

“The Queen of NightSPADE!” Jacques welcomes her like a celebrity. “Beautiful, is she not? A once-in-a-lifetime standard. I think she has taken a liking to you!”

A disturbing and sensual *AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH* replaces the laughter. The Spade Queen deepens her gaze with Faith…

…caught in a trance…Faith’s eyes start to go blank, and she begins to lightly pant…

Jacques flashes a key and stands up. “I can unlock your seat if you want to get closer for a nice friendly chat…”

The gaze deepens further…Faith pants more…The Heart Queen tries to snap her out of it but to no avail…

“…or would you rather…”

“…let her taste you?” Jacques asks as The Queen of NightSPADE strokes her bottom lip with that thing for a tongue.

Faith breaks out in a sweat.

“…but only if you promise to be quick…” Jacques wags his finger.

The Queen of BurningHEARTS stares daggers at him!

Faith moves her quivering lips. “…stop…”

Jacques replies, “Stop? How come?”

He flaunts around the key. “Is the baby upset? Let her come to you then!”

“Give her a chance to say sorry…”

“Let her comfort you…any way you’d like-” Jacques notices that The Queen of BurningHEARTS is burning with bright flames.

The haunting laughter returns sharper than ever. Eerily growing louder, the sound twisting. Then, the demonic Queen of NightSPADE floats a single space forward and stabs deep into her own cheeks with her fingernails!

But in that split second, The Queen of BurningHEARTS covers Faith from the awful sight. She had been spared from that infernal image of the demon’s face slowly peeling open. Jacques is busy basking in his Queen’s shadow to not pick up on Faith, crying out of sheer terror from inside The Heart Queen’s coat…

The Spade Queen’s face returns to normal, and she looks down at Jacques as he rolls the Range Dice. It lands on a 9. He glances at Faith. No need to say anything.

When the Range Dice lands on a 9, it is an unstoppable offensive. A Critical Strike as it goes in this case.

The pressure mounts. Jacques points to The King of BurningHEARTS. “SCUM! GET OUT OF HER SIGHT!”

“NIGHTSPADE RAY!!!” In the blink of an eye, a savage laser forces its way through the air from The Spade Queen’s fingertip! Causing the atmosphere to violently warp and contort!

The King looks back at Faith and The Heart Queen, closes his eyes, and accepts his fate. At the moment of impact, a giant black orb of energy crackles. It keeps expanding. The King is gone. Even the tile he stood on has vanished.

Previously, only one candlewick above the word King was extinguished. Now the other three have blown themselves out. They leave a thin smoke trail that spirals downward on the stone.

No other cards appeared to have been harmed. The King absorbed all the power from that +3 strike. It is a blessing that this new foe is operating in the confines of the game. The blast radius could have swallowed the entire room!

Faith is gripping her chest as tight as she can, trying to keep it together. To lose three Soul Four-Ce all at once is a pain tantamount to having your right rib cage collapse without warning and crush your organs. Blood is spewing from her mouth and nose. Despite Jacques’ earlier assertions that these reactions are akin to an act and that he doesn’t intend to kill her, why do they both still bleed at these losses?

The Queen of BurningHEARTS reaches out a hand of comfort for Faith, but halfway through, she opts to stare down The Queen of NightSPADE.

The sound of laughter is still echoing. The Spade Queen lifts a finger again, beginning to charge a second laser. The Heart Queen conjures a raging fire in response. Murderous intent from both, the tiles are becoming uneven from this dangerous near-collision of power!

Jacques finds this amusing but breaks it up. “Phase Close!”

The Spade Queen turns to mist and slithers to the bog below.

Jacques pulls over an extra wood tile from the game box with his aura. “Thankfully, you came prepared!”

“PHASE OPEN!” shouts Faith, and Jacques drops the tile.

The Heart Queen is surprised to see her ready to push on! After drawing a card, she floats behind Faith, wanting to see what she’s got. Faith smiles at her, and she smiles back. They have a plan!

Faith rolls a 6 on the Field Dice! YES! “Ya won’t see me back down! GO! RANGE STRIKE!”

She is going for it again! Another LV. 10 strike. Faith subtracts an ACE and a 4 card to create a difference of 10.

It has failed once already, but perhaps this time…SHOOT! The Range Dice landed on a 2…

*EH!?!?!?!?!?!?!?* The Queen of BurningHEARTS dashes over! Scepter pointing down, ready to swing at the die like a golf ball. They need a higher number!

Before it can connect, she feels a tug at her skirt. Faith shakes her head “no” and cracks a grin at Jacques. He has not attempted to counter roll by discarding a card from his hand. His face confirms it. He won’t be doing anything about it.

The grid shakes! The ground splits! A large ruby rises from the crust and glows a brilliant light, and ignites into flames, and they rocket upward!

The flames spread open, but they do not pass as this creature is all flames! Broad fiery wings, creating a fearsome yet comforting warmth beneath it. Its head is adorned with a 10, and its breast carries the symbol of the BurningHEARTS!

Falcon_of_BurningHEARTS.JPG

“FALCON OF BURNINGHEARTS! LV. 10!” Faith naturally has a creature capable of flight too.

The Falcon circles the skies majestically, unlike its other fallen boney counterpart. It focuses on a card next to an empty III-zone. Braking to a hover, even Jacques can feel the heat.

Faith names the strike, “RAINBOW WISP!”

She and The Queen of BurningHEARTS flutter their eyelashes in sync, then smirk at their opponent and the wallop that’s about to come his way.

The Falcon of BurningHEARTS thrashes its wings, and a flurry of prismatic feathers hurtles down the grid!

The targeted card reveals itself! A tornado of rainbow feathers pummels an unassuming plain wooden doll into the air. The doll clacks back down to its tile. Battered, but not broken. It is The Jack of NightSPADE! LV. 11!

Jacques loses a single Soul Four-Ce, drips a tiny bit of blood from his lip, and flicks it off. The Falcon returns to its tile, perches on the ruby stone, and disappears back to its hidden origin. Jacques gives The Queen of BurningHEARTS a cursory glance, still wishing she would return to her card too, but he already has an answer…

Floating, as usual, The Queen of BurningHEARTS taunts him by fluttering her fingers with light sparkles.

“It’s your move, chump! Phase Close!” Faith is on fire.

The essence of games! The HEAT of battle!

-CHAPTER END-

The passionate duelist.

-PHASE CLOSE-

Queen_of_NightSPADE_and_Jacques.JPG

"There was an idea, Yugi Muto knows this, called the Card Games Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could."

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