Private/Closed Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Duel Academy RP

[Godjacob]

"Yes, a great evil threatens this school. What you have heard is not the extend of what they will do, and you must be prepared for it." Duck Crow informed as it seemed the Dark Masked HERO had some insight into what had happened previous, and it seems what may happen that had yet to come which both confused and concerned the Obelisk Blue.

"W-what can we do? Who is this "evil" and what is their goal?" Bella asked, hoping for more info but much as Dusk Crow wished to there was only so much it had been able to provide.

"All I can say is that you, and whoever you can get to fight with you, must prevent them from squiring the three souls of the pure..." Dusk Crow explained but this only confused her more.

"Three souls of the pure, what does that mean?" Bella asked, though it seemed whatever force Goule had used to summon this Spirit faded or something else caused this as slowly the Duel Spirit vanished.

"Wait!" Bella called out but for naught as the card was gone, which left Bella without answer as she glanced at the actual card it came from with her expression a mix of concern and doubt.

What did he mean...

----------
Zack seemed to smirk a bit as the monster was cut to pieces and soon Sunburner returned to his side of the field, but it wasn't fair he alone got the fun now was it? No this Battle Phase had not ended yet and he seemed eager to get all his monsters in the act as he quickly identified his next target.

"Now then, Gorlag time for you to show your power, I attack Silver Gadget! Blazed Lashing!" Zack called out, and the demonic Gorlag seemed to produce a whip of red flames in its palms as it reared back and launched it towards the Gadget monster as it aimed to slam the whip and bash the Machine monster to pieces!

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The paranormal feeling in the room eventually subsided, the spirit having appeared to left the willing body of Lance, who lay in the chair, however in the pitch blackness. Only when Goule got up and pulled back the black out curtains did this situation have light shed on it.

"Now...wasn't that a fascinating encounter? Keheheh... " He remarked. "I take it this solves your little debacle...mmmm...yes?"

looking down at the still unconscious Lance, he got reminded that they were still very much unconscious. Laughing a bit under his breath, he pulled out a small potion like vial. Popping the lid off, he put it under the Senior's nose. These were a specially made assortment of smelling salts just for this type of occasion, however strong they may be.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"I'll take it from here! I banish Electromagnetic Turtle from my graveyard to end the battle phase!" A ghostly apparition of Electromagnetic Turtle showed up and created a wall of electricity, blocking Gorlag's attack. Zack could clear his monster zones, but only under Bob's ruleset. He had kept his lifepoints intact whilst stopping his opponent from destroying Silver Gadget. He wanted full value out of it, something that could not be achieved at the moment. "Go on, continue your turn."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Lance slowly opened his eyes, blinking. He felt... sore. Coughing slightly from the strange, strong scent of the smell salts, the third year student waved away Goule and sat up in the seat. He tried to think back to what had happened. Although he had been unconscious, Lance had certainly felt... something. A presence. Adjusting his glasses, he looked over at Bella and Goule.
"Well, judging from your expression, I'd say something certainly happened." Lance said to Bella and Goule. "So, what was it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tracy couldn't help her surprise when Bob suddenly swarmed the field with powerful machine monsters. Talk about a power play! Dahlia looked up from wrestling with Maya to cheer on Bob.
"Alright! Hey, I suggested that strat!" Dahlia called over to the two duelists.

Just when Tracy had thought this duel was going to end in a one-turn kill, Zack managed to stop the attack. Tracy let out a breath. That had been close. Cataclysmic Scorching Sunburner... Tracy tried to remember if she had seen that card before.

 

[EnviousWorm]

The spectating Ra boy let out a soft sigh and made a tsk, tsk, tsk sound with his tongue as he shuffled some new cards into his deck.

"Ah-ah, mis-ter Bob," He said, mostly to himself, "Quite a strong start, but may-be too strong, too quick? I guess we will just have to see, non?"

Speaking to the air around him, Jacques held up a copy of Reasoning into the air, inspecting it against the sun like someone would do to check if paper money happened to be counterfeit.

"But no-one asks Jacques what he thinks, ay! A shame, I say." The French (Canadian) Ra chuckled, shrugging his shoulders as he returned the copy of Reasoning to his deck, shuffled some more, and dealt himself a new test hand.

 

[Godjacob]

Bella had no answer for Goule, at least not a verbal one, but her expression said everything and slowly it was followed with a nod. Yes, she did get her answer of this feeling and it had been far beyond what she expected it to be and really had no way to comprehend everything as it seemed so surreal and his warnings had been cause for alarm but she knew so little she had no way to really act upon this.

However, Bella's head snapped as Lance seemed to be revived by Goule and asked about what she had seen. Which yeah, a lot did but how Bella expected to be able to explain any of what she had seen to anyone was another matter as she sheepishly rubbed the back of her head while she tried to die down her bewildered look.

"Y-yeah, you can say that..." Bella said, before she began to try and summarize her experience; the appearance of her Masked HERO Dusk Crow, his warnings about a dark group and need to find "three souls of the pure" and everything that happened in their conversation. At this point her saving grace had been Goule as a witness to all this so she was not least deemed insane.

---------
As the flame whip aimed for Bob's Magnet monster, a wall of electricity seemed to rise from the effect of the Electromagnetic Turtle which stalled Gorlag's attack and ended the Battle Phase which caused Zack to sigh; annoyed, but resigned as he still had one more trick up his sleeve.

"Quite annoying, so I think I'll answer with something as annoying. I activate Swords of Revealing Light." Zack called out, and as he placed the spell card on his duel disc, several swords of light rained down and covered Bob's field as they worked to provide him a barrier to protect against attacks for the next three turns, in the ideal scenario anyway.

"I'll then set one card face-down and end my turn." Zack called out, as the holographic image of a face-down card appeared on his field and he seemed to be in a much better position than he had been the previous turn. But Bob still had a dangerous field, so anything was far from certain.

LP: 3400
Field:
-Cataclysmic Scorching Sunburner (2600 ATK/200 DEF), ATK
-Gorlag (2000 ATK/1000 DEF), ATK
-Swords of Revealing Light, Face-Up Spell
-Face Down Spell or Trap
Hand: 2 Cards
GY: 1 Cards

 

[DarkHydraT]

Of course Zack had to have Swords of Revealing Lights, every burn deck had a way to stall. Since he could not beat over the Cataclysmic on the field, his plan did not change too much. "My turn, I draw!" Bob looked at the card he drew and judged it. Not quite what he needed, but he could use it later. "I shift my entire field into defense position and end my turn." It was a simple turn, but he needed to open up his monster spaces and he simply did not have Dark Hole available. For now, he would be safe.

LP: 2550
Field: Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo (def) : 2000 atk, 2000 def.
Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo (def) : 2000 atk, 2000 def.
Silver Gadget (def) : 1500 atk, 1000 def.
Green Gadget (def) : 1400 atk, 600 def.
Hand: 3
GY: 3

 

[Godjacob]

"My turn draw!" Zack called out as Bob finished his turn; a basic but expected move, had to protect life points as Bob seemed to be waiting for the right card to flip the situation, so Zack needed to build on his advantage while he could. Zack glanced at his card, not really much help in his current situation so he tucked it in his hand as his focus moved to working to clear some of Bob's field as his two monsters seemed more than eager to get to thrashing the machines.

"Cataclysmic Scorching Sunburner, attack Boot-Up Soldier. Scorching Volley!" Zack called out, with a bit of an evil grin as he always enjoyed watching his beasts go to work, and from two exposed hands Sunburner produced a pair of fireballs and launched them at one of the Boot-Up Soldiers.

But Zack had more than just one machine to break to pieces, now didn't he?

"Gorlag attack Silver Gadget! Inflamed Impact!" Zack called out, as the Fiend monster let out this unearthly scream before it flapped its wings to fly high in the air as its body was coated in flames before it sailed down as it aimed to slam right on top of Silver Gadget as it aimed to drive its full burning force in one impact attack!

 

[DarkHydraT]

The Boot-Up Soldier could not withstand the attack, melting into a puddle before being destroyed. The Silver Gadget was quickly met with the same fate, though it let out a last cry before melting down to liquid. The silver gear in the remaining Boot-Up Soldier turned into a green gear before a ray of light filled the zone that Silver Gadget was in just a moment ago. "When Silver Gadget is destroyed, I can special summon a level 4 or lower Gadget monster from my deck! I choose Gold Gadget and summon it in defense position!" Gold Gadget had arrived and a ray of golden light was fired from its back, attaching to one of Bob's cards. "When Gold Gadget is normal or special summoned, I get to special summon a level 4 or lower Machine monster from my hand. The monster of my choice is Twin-Barrel Dragon!" The ray of light pulled the card out of Bob's hand and put it on the field, revealing a mechanical dragon without any arms kneeling down. "When Twin-Barrel Dragon is summoned, I can target one monster on the field that you control and flip two coins. If they are both heads, I can destroy your card. I target your Cataclysmic Sunscorcher!"

Bob flipped two holographic coins, decorated with a Milennium Eye and a Millenium Puzzle. One coin landed on the Milennium Eye whilst the second one took a while to land, before ending on the eye as well. "Double Heads! Twin-Barrel Dragon! Twin-Barrel Blast!" The machine monster raised its head and fired two purple lasers from its head at the Cataclysmic Sunscorcher.

This was a very lucky sequence of events, but Bob was not out of the woods quite yet. That Gorlag could still be a problem, and Zack could easily have two of those Sunscorchers in his deck. It honestly was a miracle that he took down one of those things. He needed a tribute summon or something, and fast.

LP: 2550
Field:
Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo (def) : 2000 atk, 2000 def.
Gold Gadget (def) : 1700 atk, 800 def.
Green Gadget (def) : 1400 atk, 600 def.
Twin-Barrel Dragon (def) : 1700 atk, 200 def
Hand: 2
GY: 5

 

[Godjacob]

Zack of course smirked as he managed to destroy two of the monsters on Bob's field, but just as quickly as his smirk grew it vanished as Bob managed to strike back as not only did he special summon 2 monsters in response, but one of the monsters happened to have a luck-based destruction effect and in a flash his strongest monster was blasted twice by Twin-Barrel Dragon and just like that had been destroyed which caused Zack to frown as he seemed visibly displeased with the turn of events.

"You lucky little..." Zack mused, as to make things worse now that his field had one less FIRE monster on it his Gorlag powered down as its muscles and size seemed to decrease.

LP: 3400
Field:
-Gorlag (1500 ATK/1000 DEF), ATK
-Swords of Revealing Light, Face-Up Spell
-Face Down Spell or Trap
Hand: 3 Cards
GY: 2 Cards

However, Zack managed to recover some composure as the Battle Phase came to an end, which meant it was time to reveal Gorlag's final ability as he grinned. "Well, since you removed a favorite of my from the field, I have to make up for the loss somehow. I activate Gorlag's ability. Hellfire Calling!" Zack called out as Gorlag produced a flame whip and slammed it on the ground while Zack himself had began to walk over to Bob.

"See at the end of the Battle Phase if Gorlag successfully destroys a monster by battle, I am able to Special Summon that monster on my side of the Field with its effects negated and it becomes a FIRE monster." Zack explained as he moved by Bob and extended his hand out with only a slightly smug grin.

"So I'll be taking one Silver Gadget to go, if you'd be so kind~."

 

[DarkHydraT]

An effect that steals destroyed monsters? Bob's mind rattled at speeds saved only for those special occasions as he gave Zack the Silver Gadget card. The maximum attack that Gorlag could get was 3500, but that would be a huge commitment. It was a lot more likely that Zack had DNA Surgery in his deck to make all monsters FIRE attribute to strengthen Gorlag even further. Typically these kind of effects had a downside too, aside from negating attacks. He doubted that the monsters would come back after a turn like what happens after using Brain Control, and being unable to attack with the stolen monster was too harsh of a restriction. If Bob had to hazard a guess, the effect of Gorlag was similar of Call of the Haunted or Premature Burial, where the revived monster gets destroyed if the card responsible for the revival gets destroyed. Since Gorlag makes itself more powerful after destroying cards, Zack would be tempted to keep attacking. He would have to use that to his advantage. "Do not damage the card, got it?"

 

[Godjacob]

"Oh relax, what am I gonna do tear it?" Zack joked as he none the less accepted the card with care and walked back over to his area. Indeed, Gorlag's effect allowed it to feed its own power up effect by turning destroyed monsters into new allies, but much as Bob suspected their lives were linked to Gorlag's, but this seemed to not concern Zack whether Bob had known that or not as he grinned a bit and placed his new FIRE Gadget on his Duel Disc.

"I Special Summon Silver Gadget!" Zack called out, and from a surge of flames Silver Gadget rose as it faced its former partner and now current opponent and Zack figured he should mention the obvious.

"And, since Silver Gadget is now a FIRE monster, Gorlag gets his power boost. Inferno Overdrive!" Zack called out, as the FIRE Fiend roared out as he was coated in flames and once more his size expanded as his muscles grew and his power rose back to 2000 from 1500 ATK. Zack then put the finishing touches of his turn as he set another face-down card in his Spell/Trap zone.

"I then set one more card face-down, and end my turn." Zack mused, as he still had the protection with Swords of Revealing Light and now two mystery cards to have Bob guessing while he seemed pleased with his field, even in spite of losing his strongest monster.

LP: 3400
Field:
-Gorlag (2000 ATK/1000 DEF), ATK
-Silver Gadget (1500 ATK/1000 DEF), ATK
-Swords of Revealing Light, Face-Up Spell
-Face Down Spell or Trap (x2)
Hand: 2 Cards
GY: 2 Cards

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Of course I had to put Elemental Absorber in the side deck for this duel." Bob mumbled. "My turn, I draw!" One look at the card in his hands caused a certain laugh to fill his ears as the spirit of Blowback Dragon looked at him from the card.

"Well well well, looks like you're in quite a pickle. How's that Jinzo treating you? Can't get rid of a simple card like that?" Blowback Dragon heckled, causing Bob to raise an eyebrow.

"Are you jealous? You sound like you are."

Blowback Dragon looked away from Bob as they answered the question. "No. Maybe. Yes. Come on man, I was always there for you and this new, powerful DARK machine shows up. How do you think I feel? I feel like I've been replaced!"

As the spirit vented their worries, Bob merely chuckled, causing them to get angry. "Hey! What's so funny, big guy? You think my concerns are stupid, huh?"

"No no, your concerns are valid. It's just that I didn't expect it from a big, bad machine like you. Don't worry, I will not replace you. In fact, let me show you what I'll do."

Looking at Zack, the Ra Yellow spoke up as he held Blowback Dragon's card between his fingers, concealing the identity of the card to his opponent. "I tribute Twin-Barrel Dragon to tribute summon Blowback Dragon!"

"Aw hell yeah!"

Twin-Barrel Dragon faded into millions of small particles before they were reassembled into the more powerful Blowback Dragon who let out a triumphant roar. "And just like Twin-Barrel Dragon, this card has an effect. Once per turn, I can target a card and flip three coins. If I get two heads or more, that card is destroyed." Blowback Dragon chuckled as their body clanked from the constant up and down motion they were performing.

Bob looked at the field to decide his target. Silver Gadget could not do much in Zack's deck, even with its effect live, and there were enough cards in Bob's deck to destroy it. Swords of Revealing Light was annoying, but would be destroyed after two turns. The set cards were scary, but no cause for concern just yet. The biggest threat was Gorlag who could beat over any monster on the field after just one more turn. He had two turns to land the 50/50 correctly, and those odds were decent to him.

"I choose Gorlag as my target! Let Lady Luck decide your fate!" Bob let three coins flip with the same motive as the first two, and he hoped that at least two of them showes the Millenium Eye. Come on Lady Luck, lay your eyes on me. The first coin landed, heads. So far, so good. The second coin landed, tails. He was 1 for 1, the next toss would decide it all.

Never before did the coin toss take this long. Bob always felt like the last coin toss was delayed on purpose, but there was a point where it was just torture. Eventually the coin landed, revealing a Millennium

...

...

...

Eye.

Letting out a silent sigh of relief, Bob pointed at Gorlag. "Your days of thievery are over, fiend! Blowback Dragon, Blowback Bullet Barrage!" The Machine looked like it grinned with its minimalistic facial design as bullets got loaded into their face, the sound clear to hear to everyone before they were fired at the demon.

Whilst the attention was on the field, Bob wiped his forehead with his hand. This Slifer was strong, no doubt about that. If he truly was allied with Weasel, what other allies did that vermin have? It was clear to him that Zack was more compotent than Bix and Braxer, not that that was very hard to achieve. Perhaps if this was a casual duel, he could enjoy it, but his pride was on the line here. It was his first duel in ages, and he was not going to lose to some red boy.

LP: 2550
Field:
Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo (def) : 2000 atk, 2000 def.
Gold Gadget (def) : 1700 atk, 800 def.
Green Gadget (def) : 1400 atk, 600 def.
Blowback Dragon (atk) : 2300 atk, 1200 def
Hand: 2
GY: 6

 

[Godjacob]

Zack raised an eyebrow and clutched a hand to an ear, a bit of an dramatic way to convey his point but he seemed curious at what Bob was mumbling over. It almost seemed like he was having a conversation with...himself? Zack had no way to know if he had been assuming things or that this guy just had been crazy. Eventually he shrugged as he watched this little lull in the action play out and had been about to call out to him to get a move on when he drew his card.

And then everything went to hell.

As if some divine force shoved a horse shoe right up where the sun don't shine, Bob drew upon what seemed to be an upgraded version of his Twin-Barrel Dragon in Blowback Dragon. A problem but not too concerning, a single additional summon or capture would allow Garlag to surpass its power but it seemed to share the same luck-based destruction effect. And what are the odds he managed to get the virtual coin to flip right twice which caused Zack's eyes to widen.

Oh you got to be kidding me!?

The bullets landed on his Garlag as the Fiend cried out in pain before it faded in shattered digital pieces, and because of its effect the Silver Gadget he had control off also shattered like proverbial glass as it was destroyed and now his monster zones had been cleared just like that.

"You damn fluke...I activate my Trap Card Backfire!" Zack called out, as one of his two set Spell/Trap cards flipped open as the art of what seemed to be a criminal giving a chop to something only for fire to be blasted in its face was displayed.

"When a FIRE monster or monsters I control is destroyed, I get to inflict 500 points of damage to my opponent. So I'd brace myself~" Zack mused, though there had been a subtle degree of bitterness as this does not make up for the loss of his monsters but seemed to provide a slight consolation prize. The card then produced a stream of virtual fire that launched and aimed to slam into Bob at full force to get its due piece of his LP.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Lance listened to Bella's explanation, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. This... This was not good. Gathering three souls of the pure... The enemy was looking to gather souls? Did that mean their objective wasn't the meteorite? Lance wished that the spirit had given more information. He couldn't rule out that this group would target the meteorite, but for now it appeared that their main targets would be people on the island. Students and staff. That also would check out, and explain why the raiders seemed to arrive at the Academy only to duel the students and faculty.

"This is... troubling, to say the least." Lance said, sitting up in the chair. The Obelisk Blue student stood up and began to pace around the Occult Club's room.
"Until we have more concrete evidence that students or faculty are going to be targeted, I don't believe we're going to convince many that there is a danger." Lance said, sitting back down on the chair. He thought for a moment more before looking over to Bella once again. "You're investigating Weasel, aren't you? Did you know, that shortly after the raiders attacked a second time, he went missing? He claims that he was kicking them off the island. It might be something to look into... I'm going to try to do some investigating myself."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though Bob was keeping up the pressure, Zach was managing to resist and even push back. Bob even managed to bring out Blowback Dragon, but its arrival was mitigated by the presence of the Backfire trap card. A staple in fire-based burn decks. With Gorlag on the field, that could have been a killer combo. Upon summoning Blowback Dragon, Tracy looked back over to Bob. So that's what he had been doing right before he summoned the monster. Talking to Blowback Dragon...

"Woo! Go, Bob!" Tracy called over to the duelists. With Blowback Dragon on the field, Tracy kind of wanted to 'cheer on' the monster as well. Would the monster even hear her? She still wasn't quite sure how this whole thing worked. "Blowback Dragon, awesome!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Willow began to get on Tobias shoulders, Jira looked nervously from his friends to the meteorite stuck in the wall of the arena. Letting out a small conflicted grunt, Jira walked over to Willow and tugged on the girl's sleeve.
"Hey, just..." Jira hesitated, looking back to the space rock. "Just... be careful, okay? Don't do anything to dangerous..."

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Call me names all you want, words don't hurt." Bob said as he took the fire to the face, a drop of sweat streaming down his face. He could take 4 more of those before he would lose, but the other set backrow was scarier. Perhaps Jinzo could help, it sure would help extend his timer a bit. Swords of Revealing Light would falter after his next turn, then it was time to strike. "I switch all my monsters to attack position and end my turn, Swords of Revealing Light can only keep you safe for one more turn." Bob crossed his arms as all of his monsters took on an offensive posture, choosing to ignore Tracy's cheers to focus on the match in front of him. Blowback Dragon on the other hand decided to show manners and looked at Tracy for a second before facing Zack again. There was no going back now, one of the two duelists had to emerge victorious.

LP: 2050
Field:
Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo (atk) : 2000 atk, 2000 def.
Gold Gadget (atk) : 1700 atk, 800 def.
Green Gadget (atk) : 1400 atk, 600 def.
Blowback Dragon (atk) : 2300 atk, 1200 def
Hand: 2
GY: 6

---------------

"Is it just me, or did that monster just look at Tracy?" Maya questioned, unaware of what Dahlia and Tracy knew. "That's a first, most of the time monsters remain focused on the field."

--------------

Willow looked down at Jira and gave him a comforting smile. "Of course I will be careful. I appreciate the concern, but I can take care of myself. You know what? When we get back, we're continuing those kaiju movies. You may have gotten me hooked." Placing both her hands on the meteorite, the Slifer exhaled harshly. No going back now, she needed to know what was happening.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Once again, as Willow touched the meteorite everything around her seemed to change. Just like last time, she found herself in arena filled with seeming Duel Monsters, many of them training and sparring. There were quite a few lounging about in the stands, or having quiet conversations. Willow herself was standing in the same place she was in the real arena, and appeared to be floating a couple feet off the ground. However, if she looked hard enough, Willow could spot ghostly, barely visible figures where her friends were standing in the real world.

There was the sound of whooshing air, and an arrow whizzed past Willow's head from above and struck a target. A Gladiator Beast training closeby glance back in the direction the arrow had came.
"Excellent shot, Sagittarri! A- Oh!" The winged, centaur like Duel Monster paused as he spotted Willow once again. "Sagittarri! Do be a bit more careful next time!"
The second centaur-like Gladiator Beast flew overhead, seemingly galloping on the air as they drew another arrow from their quiver.
"Apologies!" Sagattarri called back to Willow.

Equeste trotted over to Willow, looking up at the 'floating' human and leaning on his halberd.
"Well, hello again. You certainly vanished in quite a rush. Back again so soon?" Equeste called up to Willow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dahlia folded her arms, watching the duel between Bob and Zach carefully. Bob certainly had been lucky this duel, with both Double Barrel Dragon's effect activating and Blowback Dragon's effect activating on the first try. Then again, Zach hadn't exactly been unlucky either, having Scorching Sunburner in his hand when he needed it and drawing a Swords of Revealing Light. The Obelisk Blue girl felt a shiver down her spine when Blowback Dragon appeared to look at Tracy right after her friend had cheered, but quickly shook it off.
"Yeah, I saw it too. I dunno, maybe it was an idle animation? Or just a glitch in the hologram system?" Dahlia said. It was one thing for a spirit to somehow read her cards, but making the hologram system do that? No way.

Tracy was also a little taken aback by Blowback Dragon seeming to look at her, before smiling and continuing to cheer on Bob.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, don't say stuff like that!" Jira said to himself quietly as Willow faced the stone. "People who say stuff like that are the ones that end up getting killed off!"
Jira watched nervously as Willow touched the meteorite. There wasn't much he could do now, just sit and wait. Jira sat down on a rock, nervously watching and tapping his foot.
"Just, uh... let me know if you need to switch out or something." Jira said to Tobias.

 

[Godjacob]

"Yeah, troubling.." Bella said sighed, as she realized Lance had a point. It had been a hard prospect to go to the schoolboard and say "but a Duel Spirit said so!" and expect them to believe that. This meant that they had no way to contact reasonable authority figures on this they needed to get that proof themselves. That meant double duty on that end and it seemed her path was destined to cross with Weasel's all the more as he alleged to have forced off the raiders on what Bella had been informed was a second attack. Needless to say this bit of info had made this a more pressing concern than expected as Bella thought over his advice and nodded.

"I see, I will be sure to ask that about him. Do you know anyone else who has had encounters or even alleged encounters with these raiders?" Bella asked, as she wanted to get the full picture since she had been a new face to campus and needed to be brought up to speed in a hurry.

----------
"You did call me a thief first..." Zack mused, as he walked over to hand Silver Gadget back to Bob as he offered his weak "justification" before he returned to his side of the field. Bob's little fan club on the side and their gossip had not been a thought on his mind as currently he had more pressing worries, like a cleared monster zone and all of Bob's monsters ready to pounce as when his next turn ended his protection from the swords would fade.

LP: 3400
Field:
-Swords of Revealing Light, Face-Up Spell
-Face Down Spell or Trap
Hand: 2 Cards
GY: 4 Cards

He needed a way to stave off destruction or turn this around, and the next card he drew would be crucial in that one way or another.

"My turn, I draw." Zack called out, as he glanced at the card he drew before he set it in his hand and scanned what he had to work with. It had not been what he hoped for as far as an answer for his current situation but he seemed to recognize he had no better options at the moment so he worked to place a face-down monster on his duel disc.

"I set one monster and end my turn." Zack said, as to say he had been in a pickle would've undersold it yet he still seemed determined for whatever that had been worth.

Guess we'll see where his luck takes this next turn.

LP: 3400
Field:
-Face Down Monster
-Swords of Revealing Light, Face-Up Spell
-Face Down Spell or Trap
Hand: 2 Cards
GY: 4 Cards

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Wow..." Willow looked around, impressed by the scenery before noticing that she was floating. "What the?" Looking down to her feet, the Slifer vaguely saw ghostly figures underneath her, but she did not have time to react before an arrow flew right past her. The owner of said arrow had the decency to apologize, as Willow could only stand still with wide eyes. "I-It's okay." It really just was one thing after another, as Gladiatot Beast Equeste approached her again. "Y-yeah, I had a bit of an accident which forced me to leave. However, things should be fine now. My name is Willow Bretton, pleased to make your acquaintance. If I may be so rude, where are we right now?"

Although Willow knew that Equeste was not a huge threat by itself, it had a powerful effect and she really did not want to face a horde of angry gladiators. She'd play it safe for now and be as polite and friendly one could be after narrowly dodging an arrow.

---------

"My turn, I draw!" Bob had no desire to play into Zack's little taunts, he did that once before and look where it got him. Looking at his hand, the Ra Yellow judged his options. One card was pretty much useless now that Zack no longer had big threats on the board, one was the Yellow Gadget he searched with Green Gadget and that Zack knew about, not that it was the best card in this situation, and one was the card he just drew. All in all, he had a relatively comfortable position. Let's see, what is that face-down card? A trap? I know he plays Draining Shield, but how many copies? It could be a battle trap that has yet to spring, given I have yet to attack. It is not something like Compulsion Evacuation Device or Divine Wrath, as Blowback Dragon would not have been allowed to see the light of day in those cases and I doubt that it is something like Backfire. Having run through his options, the boy concluded that the set card probably was a battle trap of some kind, and he really did not want to run into Mirror Force.

"I set one spell or trap and set one monster face-down." The first backrow for Bob had hit the field, and so had a mystery monster. "I activate the effect of Blowback Dragon, targeting your set backrow! Let the coins decide your fate." Three coins were flipped, it was a 50/50 from now on out. The monster was tempting, but he'd rather get rid of it when he could use the opening rather than just take 500 burn damage. The coins landed and revealed triple tails, annoying but expected. Luck had a habit of changing frequently, and even if it was a battle trap, delaying its destruction for one turn was not the end of the world. Next turn, he would destroy it and attack as Swords of Revealing Light would be gone. "I end my turn."

LP: 2050
Field:
Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo (atk) : 2000 atk, 2000 def.
Gold Gadget (atk) : 1700 atk, 800 def.
Green Gadget (atk) : 1400 atk, 600 def.
Blowback Dragon (atk) : 2300 atk, 1200 def
Set monster (def)
Set Spell/Trap
Hand: 1
GY: 6
---------

"I wish my monsters had those, Phantasm Spiral Dragon would be that much cooler if it moved whilst waiting." Maya seemed to be oblivious to the shiver that ran down Dahlia's spines, focusing more on the duel. "Do you think either one of them has a stronger monster in their decks?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"Heh...I think a little bit of everyone encountered those miscreants." Goule chuckled hoarsely. "They caused a lot of trouble, rounding up many people and being attacked by a free brave souls...heh, I even hear one chased some off with a sword."

He cackled a bit more, taking a swig from the peculiar green flask that was always with him. Hitting his chest a few times so the fluid would go down, he cleared his throat.

"Ahem! But that's not here or there. What's REALLY the matter is that our foe believes truly in the matters of the beyond...which is troubling. That doesn't strike out the possibility of a higher power guiding their hand...or not. Heh...heh..."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Lance nodded with what Goule was saying, and paused when the Ra Yellow student brought up his second point.
"A good point, Goule. Our enemies are looking to obtain souls, then it must be for some reason. A reason I don't want to see them fulfill." Lance said. He turned to Bella. "The student who chased off the raiders with a sword, Tobias Kodai. He's a Ra Yellow student that also did some investigation into the raiders when they first attacked. He should be open to help you, also being concerned about the school and the safety of the students."

Lance rubbed his chin, walking around the room as he thought.
"Some students also reported fainting or losing consciousness after being defeated by some of the raiders. Goule, you helped one of the students that happened to, didn't you? It might be a good idea to find those students, see if there was anything in common in their cases that others had missed." Lance said. "The nurse might have a list of the students that were affected."

~~~~~~~~~

Dahlia looked from Bob to Zach before shrugging again.
"I'm not certain. I got a chance to see Bob's deck not too long ago, but it seems like he just made some changes to it. I don't want to spoil too much, in case something else does end up coming out. As for Zach, well... Gorlag and Scorching Suburner were pretty strong. But maybe he's got some more powerful monsters lurking, it wouldn't surprise me." Dahlia said. She turned to Maya. "What do you think?"

~~~~~~~~~~

"Well met, Willow Bretton. I am Gladiator Beast Equeste, at your service." Equeste said, bowing slightly. The Gladiator Beast gestured to the rest of the arena. "As for where you are, welcome to The Auditore Arena! Training grounds for Gladiator Beasts and any others looking to hone their martial prowess. Are you looking to train here as well?"

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Hmmm, personally I am expecting Barrel Dragon to pop out from that deck of his. He already uses gamble cards, which gives him a minus score in my book, but I can respect the hustle. I am unsure of any Gadget boss monsters, other machines? Perhaps a Jinzo? I have no clue, I don't know the kid. All I know is that he uses machines, which is respectable." Maya admitted as she shrugged, awaiting the duel's conclusion. "He is ahead in field presence, which is generally a sign of a capable duelist, but I feel like his deck is missing some power cards."

------------------

"Nice to meet you, Gladiator Beast Equeste. To be honest, I just...kinda stumbled upon this place." Willow admitted, scratching the back of her head. "As you can probably see, I had quite the journey before I arrived here." She gestured to her body, scruffed up from the journey to get to the colosseum in her own world. Scraped knees and scratches covered her exposed skin, the Slifer student surely had seen better days before. "Some training wouldn't hurt though, are there any rules I should be aware of?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Gladiator Beast Equeste shrugged.
"Be courteous to the other monsters. Don't try to kill anyone, unless its a challenge that's being officiated. Even then, we don't really like those settled here during training hours. Other then that, not much." Equeste said. The centaur-like monster pointed over to a shaded area of the arena, where weapons and supplies could be seen. Armor of various sizes and types stood on stands, a majority of the armor looking like it was better fitting on monsters that weren't exactly human. Among the weapons displayed, there were even what appeared to be a few archaic 'duel disks'. "We have some spare armor and weapons, but I see you have your own duel weapon. So feel free to borrow those."

 

[DarkHydraT]

"That sounds reasonable." Willow nodded once as the fact that she was talking to an actual Duel Monster was slowly sinking in, what was going on here? Something that Equeste said caught her attention, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow. "Duel weapon? I don't have any weapons on me, what do you mean? All I have is this thing, and it is barely a weapon. I suppose it does resemble of the weapons put on display, but what even are they? I've never seen anything like them."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Equeste cocked his head as Willow voiced her confusion.
"My apologies, that device on your arm? Is it not a duel weapon?" Equeste said. The winged centaur flew up, hovering next to Willow to get a closer look at the Slifer Red's duel disk.
"Others call them Summoning Disks. Apparatuses that utilize either magic or technology to call upon other Duel Monsters, to fight for them. We don't have many that use those around here though, as most focus on their martial prowess. But we keep some around to train with when we need to." Gladiator Beast Equeste said. The Gladiator Beast floated around Willow before descending back to the ground, picking up the Battle Halberd. "Most of use are adequate at using them, but in truth they're better suited for commanders or mages. Like Octavius or Augustus."

Equeste gestured further up into the stands, to an area that appeared to be marked off. Two Gladiator Beasts appeared to be discussing something, the first one hawklike with green armor, and the second one raven or lizardlike with dark purple armor. Augustus nodded, finishing the conversation before spreading wing and flying out of the arena. To Willow, everything outside the arena seemed to be obscured with a strange, grey mist and clouds.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Willow's eyebrows raised as she listened to Equeste's explanation. "I didn't know that you also used them, I only ever used this in matches between friends. Though I did just use it to defeat some ruffians, so I suppose it could be considered a duel weapon. If it is a weapon meant for generals or mages, isn't it disrespectful for me to wear it? I wouldn't want to offend anyone, I'd much rather use weapons I am not as skilled with if me using this breaks any rules."

Following Equeste's gesture, Willow looked at the two Gladiator Beasts. Octavius and Augustus, two cards she would love to have, especially Augustus. Something else caught her attention though, the thick grey fog and clouds outside. It was certainly odd, but she asked too many questions already. Asking about this would only make things more awkward for her.

 

[Godjacob]

Seemed the situation was a bit more dire than Bella had expected, as it seemed not only more students than she could've guessed had seen these Raiders, but it seemed they had been causing real harm as some students seemed to pass out as result of whatever they did during these encounters, which only seemed to make anyway to combat them more urgent.

"Alright, thank you that info will be of vital help..." Bella mused making note that she'd need to speak with this Tobias Kodai and the nurse to collect that invaluable information. "...is there anything else about these Raiders I should know about? Or just any info that might help?" Bella asked both Goule and Lance as she wanted to gather what she could to try and help with this crisis.

--------
A face-down huh? Well now Zack had something he needed to guess at which only served to make things more bothersome, indeed on his next turn his swords of revealing light would be gone and he'd have nothing to defend himself from the wave of monsters that Bob seemed eager to send his way.

"Alright, my turn, draw!" Zack called out and as he drew the Swords on Bob's field faded as his monsters had no longer faced the restriction before them as he added the card to his GY.

LP: 3400
Field:
-Face Down Monster
-Face Down Spell or Trap
Hand: 3 Cards
GY: 5 Cards

Zack scanned his card and it seemed to be, interesting, to say the least. Granted he had no way to know what surprise Bob had hidden and it failed to solve the biggest threat of Blowback Dragon, but at the moment he had been in a tight spot and he needed to take a chance if he wanted any chance to improve his position.

"I summon Flamvell Firedog, in Attack Mode!" Zack called out and as if the beach itself had a sudden volcanic hot spot, out from the fumes was a enraged hound who seemed to be made of lava as it unleashed a nightmare howl.

Flamvell Firedog
4 Star, FIRE, Beast/Effect
1900 ATK/200 DEF

"I attack Gold Gadget! Hell Fang!" Zack called out, as he seemed either to disregard his face down or perhaps dared Bob to use if if it was a Battle Trap as his molten hellhound charged for Gold Gadget and aimed to clamp down on the Gadget with its fangs.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"They've been rather...messy to say the least. Not much rhyme nor reason to what they've done recently." The occult enthusiast spoke. "Outside that, the rest of my leads are...dead. He he he- sorry."

It didn't seem as though Goule had much a stake in this fight, rather acting as a hands off guide than an actual contender. He was a very weird guy, as one would suggest by his appearance. Despite the fact he never mentioned Raven in the conversation was something he kept in for... 'Exorcist patient confidentiality'.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Bob involuntarily whistled at the 1900 attack normal summon in Zack's deck, his own deck capped out at 1850 without any modifications. The dog was about to chomp down on the Gold Gadget, but Bob did not allow it to get away scot-free. "I activate my trap, Metalmorph!" A green monster was summoned to the spell and trap zone, not being much more than a head and arms. Flying over towards Gold Gadget, it liquified and engulfed the monster, giving it a green tint. "Metalmorph equips itself to a monster of my choice and gives it 300 attack and defense! That means Gold Gadget has 2000 attack versus your 1900!"

Gold Gadget's hand grew claws as the monster slashed at the dog, intending to put it down. If the face down card on Zack's field was a way to get rid of Metalmorph, he'd have to use it now to maintain field presence which in turn would make Bob's job of clearing the field easier. There was only so much left to do before the match was over.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Equeste chuckled, scraping the ground with one of his hooves.
"My apologies once again, that was not my intention. I suppose I meant that they were uncommon, after all. It takes a bit of aptitude to use them that is not too common, it's not disrespectful or against any rule here in the arena." Equeste said. He gestured to the spare armors and weapons once again. "But as I said before, any of what we have is free to use."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance rubbed his chin, trying to remember any other information that could be of help to Bella. Goule didn't seem to respond to Lance's early question, so the third year student let it rest for now. He'd just have to ask about that later...
"I believe that some of the raiders may have been former students that went here. It's just theory, and I haven't had any proof to back it up. But the way they were able to navigate around the academy so easily made me believe they had some prior knowledge of the layout. I'm not sure how much that will be able to help you... But I'll try to go through some of the old student files, see if I can figure anything out." Lance said. "Other then that, that's all I can think of."

 

[DarkHydraT]

Something about Equeste's behavior made Willow feel at ease, the fearsome gladiator felt more like a dork than a fierce warrior. "So I can use this thing then? That would be a lot more convenient, I have no experience with the other weapons and would probably hurt myself more than my opponent." Even though she just got out of a duel, the idea of dueling an actual Gladiator Beast got her blood boiling again and the girl spoke up. "Excuse me for such a bold question, but are you capable of using a summoning disk? If so, I'd like you to be my sparring partner if it is not too much to ask."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Equeste gave Willow a small smile and bow.
"I would be honored, Willow Bretton." Equeste said. The Gladiator Beast galloped over to the weapons area and deposited the halberd he was practicing with. He picked up a summoning disk and inspected it for a moment. The centaur-esque duel monster made his way over to a small rectangular field in the arena, gesturing for Willow to follow him.
"Over here! This sparring zone will work fine." Equeste called. "You probably already know this, but this won't be like those fancy simulation holograms the Machine Army uses for training. These are the real things."

As Willow has been holding onto the meteorite, she could no doubt feel that it was rather lose in its display. If she tried, the meteorite would be able to slide out rather naturally.

 

[Godjacob]

Bella nodded, she had not expected them to be able to give everything in detail given anyone could only know so much so anything at all had been a godsend as she took note of Lance's account and seemed to ponder the thought. Former students who turned to criminal activity? This whole thing seemed to get crazier with each new piece she got, and the severity of the situation only seemed to increase as she faced Lance and Goule.

"Thank you both for this, for all of this. One question was answered, but now a bigger concern may hang over us. No matter what happens I am determined to do my part to ensure nobody else suffers at these raiders hands." Bella said as she seemed to find a firm resolve; as insane as this had been, she knew she'd have to get involved for the sake of the school.

----------
Zack frowned when he saw Metalmorph on the field, not only had it allowed the Gadget to resist the attack from his Flamvell Firedog but next turn he'd be able to feed off half the ATK of his monster which only seemed to promise pain. Its bite only seemed to cause virtual molten teeth to break as it jshattered and Zack had been forced to take a penalty damage on top of the loss of his monster.

LP: 3300

"Well that is a shame..." Zack mused, as he seemed to not like the situation he was in but he had little he could do in this situation. He sighed as he had nothing else he could do and turned to Bob.

"I end my turn."

LP: 3400
Field:
-Face Down Monster
-Face Down Spell or Trap
Hand: 2 Cards
GY: 6 Cards

 

[DarkHydraT]

"My turn, I draw." Bob looked at the card he drew, perhaps it could be of use later. "I set one card face-down and activate Blowback Dragon's effect, targeting your set spell or trap." Blowback Dragon roared as three coins were tossed in the air. Two tails and a single heads. Blowback Dragon fired, but there were no bullets sent flying. A dud, Zack's set card would live to see another day. "I will attack your set monster with Blowback Dragon! Steel Bullet!" Blowback Dragon roared once again and fired live bullets this time, ready to destroy the monster.

LP: 2050
Field:
Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo (atk) : 2000 atk, 2000 def.
Gold Gadget (atk) : 2000 atk, 800 def.
Green Gadget (atk) : 1400 atk, 600 def.
Blowback Dragon (atk) : 2300 atk, 1200 def
Set monster (def)
Metalmorph (Equipped to Gold Gadget)
Set Spell/Trap
Hand: 1
GY: 6

--------------

"I expected nothing less, shall we?" Willow stretched her back and arms, making herself ready for the upcoming duel. When she tried to walk forward though, she remembered she was in the air. Quickly taking a step to the side, she looked at Equeste with surprise in her eyes. "I can't get over there, I forgot how to move."

Back in the real world, Willow moved as the Willow in the Duel Monsters world stretched, causing the meteorite she was holding onto to slide towards her. When she tried to walk, one of her feet lifted from Tobias' shoulder and tried to stand on a floor that did not exist before quickly refinding her footing.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

"Ngh..."

Grasping Willow's foot, Tobias began to sweat at the close call. Just what had the girl found herself in? It's not like she was struggling to let go with the stone. He'd let this continue...for now.

"What a predicament..."

Tobias took out a belt that had been attached to his right arm inside of his jacket. He put the belt around Willow's right foot, tightening it just to make sure she wouldn't try and fall off him again.

"Is there a reason to her movements...?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Jira couldn't help but to panic slightly as Willow moved. But Tobias was quick to compensate, and the teen let out a sigh of relief.
"I hope she knows what she's doing." Jira said, before looking back to Tobias. "Is there any way I can help?"

~~~~~~~~~

Equeste gave Willow a skeptical grin as the Slifer Red student confessed she was unable to move.
"Very well then. I'll come to you." The centaur-like Gladiator Beast said. Flapping his wings, Equeste took to the air and made his way over to Willow. He stayed hovering off the ground a few feet, just as Willow appeared to be doing. He brandished his summoning disk, an excited grin on his face.

"Let's duel!" Equeste exclaimed. "I'll go first! I draw!"
The Gladiator Beast drew a card from his summoning disk, looking over the cards in his hand.
"Hmm, I suppose this will have to do. I'll set one monster face down, then two other cards!" Equeste said, placing three cards on the summoning disk. On the arena floor below, three face-down duel monster cards appeared. One in a monster zone, and two in spell and trap card zones.
"Now, Willow Bretton! Show me what monsters your deck contains!" Equeste exclaimed.

LP: 4000
Hand: 3
Field: One set monster, two set spells/traps
Grave: 0

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance nodded to Bella, a small smile on his face. Masked Heroes certainly seemed to fit her. She would be a good ally... perhaps another candidate to reveal the meteor to? He'd wait a bit longer. The more people that knew a secret, the hard it would be to keep.
"I'll be sure to keep in contact. Good luck." Lance said to Bella.

 

[DarkHydraT]

Willow let a silent sigh of relief as Equeste was willing to duel her without asking any questions about her predicament. Equeste had a strong opener, with three set cards. The thing she had to worry about was if she could get through that set monster. They likely used Gladiator Beasts as well, and that set card could easily be Hoplomus with its gargantuan 2100 defense. "My turn, draw!" Looking at her hand, a plan formed inside Willow's head. She was known for over-commiting at times, and she could not risk being punished. Who knew what unknown rules they had in this place? Keeping a back-up plan in mind in case things went horribly south, Willow played her first card.

"I normal summon Gladiator Beast Sagittarii in attack position!" The same kind of monster that almost shot her in the head when she arrived had hit the field, with a mere 1400 attack. That could not hit over a potential Hoplomus, but she had a plan. "I equip Sagittarii with Gladiator Beast's Battle Gladius, increasing its attack by 300!" The bow that Sagittarii was wielding no longer was loaded with an arrow, but with a sword of all things as the equip spell was used. "I also equip my monster with Horn of the Unicorn! Sagittarii will be at 2400 attack now!" Sagittarii grew a large, golden horn on its forehead as it finally was able to beat over just about any monster Equeste would have been able to set on turn one.

"I set one card facedown and proceed to battle. Gladiator Beast Sagittarii, attack that face-down card! Electric Sword Shoot!" Sagittarii's horn shot electricity at the sword before Sagittarii shot the electrified sword at the set monster in hope of destroying it. Willow wanted to get tagging out as soon as possible, so that she could go into her extra deck and use her new card. Nerokius was practically burning a hole in her extra deck, and she wanted to see it in action.

LP: 4000
Hand: 2
Field: Gladiator Beast Sagittarii (atk), 2400 atk, 1700 def.
Horn of the Unicorn, Gladiator Beast's Battle Gladius.
GY: 0

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Gladiator Beast Equeste watched in shock as this human summoned... a Gladiator Beast monster?!
"A Gladiator Beast Tamer...?" Equeste muttered to himself. So shocked, he did nothing as Sagittarrii attacked the face-down monster. The monster flipped up to reveal a rhinoceros-like Gladiator Beast, Hoplomus, kneeling in a defensive position. Sagittarii's Gladius struck the rhino-like monster, electrifying it. Hoplomus let out a cry before exploding into pixels. Equeste could feel the crackle of electricity and smell the ozone in the air.

Equeste was quick to recover from the surprise, his smile quickly returning.
"Well done, Willow Bretton! A Gladiator Beast Tamer! You certainly gave no indication of that. It is an honor to duel you." Equeste said, readying himself for whatever Gladiator Beast Willow would tag out. Perhaps Bestiari, to destroy a spell or trap card? Dimicari, to ready multiple attacks? Laquari, for powerful attacks? Equeste did not know what battalion of Gladiator Beasts Willow commanded, but was excited to find out.

 

[DarkHydraT]

"Hoplomus, as predicted. It will be fun to duel against a fellow Gladiator Beast user. I assume that you will know what happens next, Sagittarii will tag out for a different Gladiator Beast in my deck. I choose Gladiator Beast Bestiari!" Sagittarii dove back into Willow's deck, its equip spells breaking as Bestiari took its place in attack position. "I destroy your leftmost spell or trap with Bestiari's effect, Gale Bullet!" Gladiator Beast Bestiari fired off a bullet of wind at the set card, hoping to destroy it. "Battle Gladius goes back to my hand as it was sent to the graveyard when equipped to a monster that went to the deck and Horn of the Unicorn goes on top of my deck, so I have lost nothing and gained everything."

Willow smiled at Equeste, waiting to see if he had any response to this. "I think you'll soon find that I am quite used to the power of the Gladiator Beasts, for they have been by my side for multiple years now. I hope that you can put our bonds to the test in this friendly match."

LP: 4000
Hand: 3
Field: Gladiator Beast Bestiari (atk), 1500 atk, 800 def.
Set spell/trap.
GY: 0

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Bestiari appeared, its Gale Bullet attack smashing through Equeste's set card. Bestiari, just as Equeste had anticipated. And if Willow had Bestiari, it was quite possible that she also had Gyzarus on her side as well. Not great... but not terrible, either. With Battle Gladius returning to her hand and horn of the Unicorn returning to the top of her deck, she stood to keep powering up her monsters.
"Well played, Gladiator Beast Tamer! Yes, show me what you have! Let me see your strength!" Gladiator Beast Equeste called back to Willow.

In the stands, Gladiator Beast Octavius turned his attention to the sparring duel commencing. He watched with interest...