Police sirens rang out in the distance as the train rattled on the thin railway above. Muffled dogs barked and howled in their apartments as the sun began to set, setting the sky ablaze.

“Are you sure you have this?”

“Are you sure you’re a worthless waste of space?”

Rebecca stood against her foe in the void, but had learned to make it emulate the space they had just left. It looked like a grimy alleyway in Queens, New York, but thankfully no longer smelled like one. She had taken the first game handily, but the second proved to be a bit more challenging than she thought against this opponent. Thankfully, she had the upper hand in this third game, despite having two shields to her opponent’s three.

“I’ll cast Death is but a Fiction!” The card that was previously in the graveyard was quickly added back into her hand, shattering in reverse like she had seen hundreds of times now. “After adding Spirit of Rebirth back to my hand, I will summon it!”

As she held the card aloft, a bright yellow wisp in the shape of a phoenix sprung out from Rebecca. Her shoulders flung back as she expelled the spirit from her mouth, complete with a gutteral retching.

Her opponent recoiled in disgust, shocked to see something else in this surreal space he found himself in. Adjusting his red cap, he looked over to his own ACE, a shirtless barbarian-esque man with a gnarly blade of crimson who shrugged in return.

Rebecca continued, “Are you tired of seeing it yet? When I summon Spirit of Rebirth, I can summon one creature from my graveyard that costs 4 or less play points!” She wiped her mouth of some spittle as a dark void appeared between the two player’s shields. Emerging from the brackish puddle on the ground, a mangled humanoid creature covered with shredded cloth and long wispy hair growing out of the light spots of flesh melting off of a metallic skull. “I’ll bring out Machine Skull!”

She felt elated she had grown so strong in so little time. Playing the card game was one thing, but travelling out to New York, even going as far as skipping an assignment sent by her father, gave her quite the rush.

“Alright, weirdo…” The young man received his card into his hand, after a quick shuffle and wiping his half-grown-in moustache. Looking over to his partner, he pointed forward triumphantly, “I’ll call forward my Strike Leader, Red Sword Raider!”

“Augggghhh!” Surging forward from behind the panes, the eight-foot tall muscular man took his spot before the young man, ending in a wide stance.

The young man grew confident, turning his hat backwards, “Using up my last four play points,” Dimming four of the seven play points, he held a card above his head, “I’ll play Revelry Starling!”

A twinkle in the sky above glimmered as something quickly descended into the alleyway. Stopping right before hitting the ground, a plump yellow bird wearing a buckler worn as a chestplate fluttered before his shields. With a loud ‘squawk’, a red mote of light emerged from the bird and was absorbed by the brutish man beside him.

“Revelry Starling lets me give one of my creatures [Sonic Strike], allowing them to attack the same turn they’re summoned!”

With another shout of fury, the man tightened his grip on his sword that looked like it belonged in a pawn shop. His sunken-in eyes narrowed in on Rebecca. Before, she would have immediately ran away, but now she stood her ground.

“I’ll have Raider break your last two shields!” The brute charged forward with an inhuman speed towards her, stopping short and slicing the two panes in a single strike.

The cards appeared in her hand as usual, allowing her to see them before dissipating into a red mist. “When Red Blade Raider breaks your shields, they’re sent to the graveyard instead of your hand!”

Crap. The swear tingled in her mind, I could’ve used that Quartz Deathclaw.

She looked over at the young man, glowing with elation. He did not seem to know what losing a World Game meant, given that his ACE’s most complex vocabulary sounded similar to the morning after eating too much Mexican food the night before.

“Do not tell me you’re feeling remorseful now?”

The only thing I’m regretting is not finishing this sooner. She thought.

“You are absolutely right. It is terrible manners to keep our superiors waiting…”

“Right!” She mistakenly shouted, having received the card in her hand, “Well, first things first, I’m going to have Spirit of Rebirth break one of your shields!”

“Wait. I am not quite sure that is-” The ethereal creature was suddenly compelled forward, almost falling towards one of the adversary’s glass panes.

After waiting for her opponent to see if there was any response, Rebecca continued, “Following that up, I’m going to summon Meatgrinder Fibre!”

At her call, what appeared to be a large hand-cranked metal tool with one forward facing exit filled with many bloody holes slowly hopped down the alley towards them. The metal tool appeared to be possessed by some poltergeist, irrational moving this steel item down towards them. Most crudely of all however, was the smile etched into its side. A wide grin and beady eyes as if drawn by a four-year-old.

“When I summon Meatgrinder Fibre, I choose to destroy one of my creatures on my side of the field, and you choose which of yours gets destroyed. But, since you only have one,”

Upon hearing the last part of her declaration in a sing-song tone, the barbarian man had bubble black puddle form underneath, slowly dragging him down, screaming, until he vanished within.

“Next time, please inform me before killing me. Again.” The voice rang in her mind, echoing after supposedly being sent to the same plane as the giant muscular man was just forced towards. As Rebecca learned, for these creatures at least, there was an afterlife. Something of which Spirit of Rebirth could apparently just defy.

Shut up. I’m winning the game for us, aren’t I?

“Next, I’m going to spend two of my eight play points to cast Death is but a Fiction, bringing back my Spirit to my hand, which I will summon to the field!”

As she vomited out the bird-shaped wisp once more, it opened the void, letting in a massive hermit crab-like creature, much larger than the one she saw in one of these games before. “I’ll bring back Quartz Deathclaw from my grave with Spirit’s effect. Lastly, let’s break your two shields with Machine Skull!”

The half-decayed corpse screeched loudly, something Rebecca had gotten used to by covering her ears, shattering the last two glass panes protecting her opponent. After another pause, she pointed towards the semi-sentient minced meat maker, “I need to sacrifice a creature when Machine Skull attacks, so I’ll destroy my Meatgrinder Fibre!”

Her opponent drew his card. Now alone, he seemed to be struggling to make his decision, even though the most help he would have gotten from his partner would have been akin to monkey shouts.

After some heavy deliberation, he held a card forward, between his pointer finger and his middle finger, bound with the ghostly red ring he received from being challenged to this game in the first place, “I cast Overpower! Overpower lets me-”

“Hey dumb-dumb!” Rebecca’s words echoed slightly in the alley way, “You can only destroy a creature with [Blocker] and with four or less attack! My guy has five!”

“Oh!” The young man immediately rang back, “Sorry!”

Geez. I almost feel bad for the guy. He doesn’t really know what’s at stake, huh?

“It appears so. You have much to be grateful for, as I-”

Hey.

"Ye-"

Shut up.

“Alright!” The boy in the red cap continued, breaking Rebecca out of her mental fight, “Well then, I’ll summon Shēngtiān, Reality's Bane!”

From behind the corner leading to the street, a strange blindfolded man turned into the alleyway from behind the young man. A pale man in a different sense than the Sea Sages, he appeared mostly human aside from the ease of counting every rib he had. With a cheeky grin and wave, he stood in front of his summoner.

“Now, I’ll attack you with my Revelry Starling!”

The chubby bird lifted itself off of the ground, causing Rebecca to inwardly coo. As it quickly flew towards her, she took the opportunity, “I’ll block with my Quartz Deathclaw!”

With five whole attack points versus the bird's paltry single point, it was turned into paste in an instant before shattering like all the creatures in the last duel she observed and this one.

“Aw geez!” The young man put his hands behind his head, “I guess you got me! Good game!”

“Yeah.” Rebecca felt a quick ache before it quickly vanished, “I’ll finish you with Machine Skull, sacrificing my Spirit of Rebirth.”

The moon rose over the bright lights dotting all over the city as the cars drove themselves to and from their destinations below. As the elevator doors opened to a lavish penthouse suite, something Rebecca was certainly used to, but was curious who Spirit of Rebirth so determined to meet.

“I must ask that you be on your best behavior. These are the ones who it is my sole mission to report to.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rebecca waved her hand as she walked into the garishly decorated five-star hotel room. She walked past paintings of crocodiles on their stomachs and a stick enshrined in a box of plexiglass. “I’m mostly just curious who the hell would want to actually hear from you.”

As they stepped into the main part of the room, the windows before them held a picturesque image of New York at night stretched out wide before them. A fire was roaring to their left, as the right side of the room was seemingly made to entertain guests in a rustic bar setting. Rebecca admired the hardwood floor they stepped on and other choice materials around the room. Someone clearly paid quite a bit for this room to be made.

“Ah, it appears our expectants arrived, my partner.” The last part seemed awkwardly stated as Rebecca turned to find a woman lounging before the fireplace, enjoying a crystal-stemmed glass of wine.

“Yes, yes Hermes. You’ll need to be quiet here, the adults will be talking.”

The woman stood from her reclined position. She unceremoniously brushed off her designer dress as she adjusted the long socks that worked their way back up to her thighs. She was obviously a bigger girl, but one could not tell by the sheer speed and control she weaved into each meticulous movement.

Her long black bangs covered her eyes, but still made Rebecca feel like every action, every move, and every thought was seen and scrutinized. As she sluggishly moved up to her, it felt strange to see someone try so little, but come off as so graceful. Finally making her way up to her, Rebecca may have stood head and shoulders over this girl, but felt small in her presence. On a closer inspection, they looked to be around the same age.

“So…” She spoke slowly, eyeing Rebecca up and down, “You’re the one Hermes wouldn’t shut up about? I can’t really say I’m really impressed.”

A now familiar indignance found its way to Rebecca’s mind, causing her to interject, “You’re right. The only thing impressive in this room is how much you look like you eat.”

The black haired woman’s gaze intensified from behind her bangs. If they were x-rays before, they were plasma cutters now.

“PLEASE! Please forgive my new holder! This one asked for confidence and I seemed to have made a mistake giving it! I will exit the game immediately after giving you my information!”

What was strangely a water puddle on the hardwood floor beside the two quickly stretched up, forming a tentacle with a razor sharp point at the end and stopped on Rebecca’s jugular before she even noticed. “You DARE ask for even a breath around our quee-”

“Hermes.” Both aliens clammed up, “You’re being a fucking simp again. Adults are talking.”

As quickly as it found its way to her throat, the water lash retracted back to the conspicuous puddle on the floor of this premiere room.

“It’s so weird being around someone who’s not sucking me off every five minutes.”

The woman smiled.

For the first time since meeting with Spirit of Rebirth, Rebecca felt fear.

“I’m sure our ACEs want to talk, but I am more curious about you. Actually,” The young woman turned around once more to head back to her spot in front of the fireplace, “I do have to actually do some work for once and ask: What do you know about this ‘Gemless Carbuncle’?

"So, uh, he's a Shitland."

"Those are called 'Shetlands’ Sarah. Shetland ponies."

"Shit."

"No, it's 'Shet'." Aubrey found her face buried deep in her palm.

"Those are at least small right?” Sarah adjusted her shorts as the two stood in the kitchen, “Look, I’ll admit I’m shit at animals, but ‘Buncle’s great! He doesn’t eat much, he’s housebroken, and...”

She picked up the now tangible rabbit-fox-like creature and stood him on his hind legs.

“He can do this!”

As she clapped in a steady beat, Carbuncle began to kick one of his hindlegs out at a time. He danced absently, keeping in time, his ears and tail bobbing with every motion.

“Ta-da!” Sarah held out her hands in a jazz wave, “So, we can keep him, right? Good luck finding something that can do a fuckin’ prisyadka!”

“That was actually pretty cool…” Aubrey looked around the living room, finally landing her eyes on Mr. Harrison, “I’m fine with you keeping him, but you better feed him and make sure he doesn’t fight with the dog, alright?”

“No worries! I’ll be sure to-”

“But now you need to ask Albert. We both need to remember this is his house.” She looked around the room at the new curtains and ottoman skirt she knitted. She apparently had improved, as there were actually comprehensible patterns fairly uniform across the entire structure. They still were strange color combinations like hot pink and baby barf green.

I wonder if Aubrey is either some sort of misunderstood genius or just colorblind.

Snapping Sarah out of her thoughts, the loud crack of the screen door announced Albert coming in, sweatier and somehow smellier than usual. “Hey babe, worse sister, cat.”

Carbuncle returned the man’s nod.

“What’s for supper? You know I’ve had a hankerin’ for some chicken!” He tracked in what was hopefully mud across the carpeted floor as he made his way to the small dining table they had set up.

“It’s in the oven, dear.” She quickly answered, “I was just talking to Sarah here about letting the… Cat? Letting the weird animal stay indoors with us.”

“Mmm?” Albert looked up from admiring the flies dying around his freshly freed foot, released from the shackles of the Sloggin’ Toes.

Sarah strode forwards and placed her hands on her hips, making sure to stay out of the kill zone of his stench, “His name is Carbuncle, ‘Buncle for short, and he is a ‘Shitland’.”

“Shetland.”

“Squeak.”

“Yeah, I think I’ve heard of a Shetland cat before. The head hole is kinda new, though.” He shook out the boot, almost excited to see what creature’s corpse would come sliding out, “But ‘Buncle’s kind of a dumb name. Why not name him something like, ‘Ol’ Catsie’ or even just ‘Mr. Buncle’?”

“Ugh, dumb dumb!” Sarah stomped, “He has a name already! You can’t just rename something because it sounds stupid!”

“Well,” Albert grinned mischievously, “Why do you think I call you ‘Worse sister’?”

The fire had since died down since she started talking to Miranda. What had felt like five minutes was in truth over five hours, vomiting information and giving nothing but the truth to her. It felt as natural as breathing. Something about this woman compelled her to do any and everything she could to please her. Thankfully, it was only information she was after.

“So Rebecca, let me make sure I have this straight…” Miranda thoughtlessly played with her bangs, lounging in her seat, “You’re saying you’ve observed a World Game with your sister, the ACE holder of the Gemless Carbuncle, and her opponent didn’t die after losing?”

“Yes. A strange light emerged from the creature, sending the giant monster to… somewhere?”

Rebecca had learned nearly everything that was supposed to happen from her overly chatty new friend, but he was completely stumped as to what occurred at that moment.

Holding her chin in her hand, Miranda sat back in her recliner, “I’ve heard rumors about a treasure in the center of a far-flung place in the other world.” She continued to muse as Rebecca shifted on the weirdly shaped ottoman once more, “Supposedly, this treasure can grant the wish of any creature that weathers the seven storms and reaches the center. The native guides say it’s an object so powerful, it could create an entirely new universe. Those in their long slumbers say it is actually a creature of great benevolence. We clearly don’t need that last part, but the first…”

Miranda’s irises glowed red as Rebecca could finally peer behind the veil of her pitch black bangs, “The first could be what we need to end the World Game.”