Carbuncle sniffed around the room.

With heavy rains battering the one window in their shared storage closet, both he and Sarah were locked in without much to do.

Being tangible had its pros and cons: on one hand, he got to try a glut of human foods. Braised birds to yummy gummies, weird red water to strange grains brought in from foreign lands.

On the other hand, he never realized how handsy his partner really was. Anytime she was within a twenty foot radius, you best believe someplace either on his head or his back was being rubbed. Like most things, the first few times were a treat, a welcome change after being a ghost for almost a month. But shortly after quickly became a begrudging test of patience.

“‘Buncle? Don’t tell me you’re gonna do what I think you’re gonna do…” She lowered her voice as if speaking to something that clearly did not understand her language. “I know you’re hiding your shit somewhere…”

Carbuncle kept his quip to himself, she could look forever and never find it. Most likely because it did not exist. He never felt the need to defecate, not sure of the science behind that, but he felt he could save that for someone who wanted to waste their time thinking of his waste.

“Squeak?” He motioned towards the device in her hand. Something she found herself on more and more frequently. She had shared some of the mysteries it contained before, particularly back when they narrowly avoided the path of their third ACE creature. Something about that puddle felt far more powerful than anything they had seen so far.

“This?” She lifted the glowing device in response as she laid upon her stomach on the bed with her hair down, “This is a phone. Say it with me, ‘Ph-oh-n’.”

“Squeak.” Carbuncle rolled his eyes.

“Eh, you’ll get it eventually.” She patted the space next to her, welcoming him to examine the strange machine once more. As he sidled in next to her, her hand was magnetically drawn to his spine, gently caressing him once again.

“I’m looking into some weird things seen around the world. Masked dudes running around in spandex and beating up criminals, actual alien sightings, and of course, el presidente.” She continued to look at the device pensively.

For such a simple creature, Carbuncle had a hard time figuring her out. In all his travels, in all his negotiations, and in all his years, he had given up on deciding whether or not her kind were actually the original intention to collaborate with on the World Game. They had impressively tamed the world around them into what they wanted and needed. With no predators or other intelligent species competing for resources, these strange Noble peoples had it easy. Conversely, they never seemed to be truly in control of how they act.

Regardless, Sarah and all of her handsiness allowed him to manifest through their bond. With her trust in him during their game, he was able to grant her wish. Not to the best of his ability, but enough within his current state.

“Oh shit… What if I bought you a dress? What if I entered you in a dog show?!”

“Alright Sarah! We’re headed out!”

“Don’t burn down the place, worse sister! Remember the dial on the oven is ‘degrees’ not ‘minutes’!”

As the screen door slammed shut, Sarah’s brow continued to furrow deeper and deeper as she looked at her phone. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead as her loose shirt had done little to hide the other places it had gathered.

“I’m gonna do it.” She mumbled, “I’m gonna fucking do it...” Her thumb hovered over the ‘send’ button on her phone, a simple text asking to meet up and go to lunch was all she could muster. “Remember Sarah, you did nothing wrong. Crystal said mom was asking about me. She wants to see me…”

Carbuncle watched this show from the couch as she struggled in the recliner that more than likely witnessed the end of the Great Depression. The living room continued to be filled with Aubrey’s stuff as she stayed over longer and longer, as what was a relatively bare room was now littered with knick-knacks and wine displays.

“Okay! Here it goes… Shit!” Sarah jolted up, throwing her phone across the room, “I sent it! Oh no, I sent it…”

As she grumbled, groaned and griped, the sound of a door closing lightly hit the fox-like creature’s ears.

“Squeak?” It lacked the distinct harshness of metal-on-metal Ol’ Trucksie sounded like. Just as he got up to inspect, the sound of the screen door closing could be heard.

“Ugh. Albert must’ve forgotten his wallet again. He always thinks you can just ‘buy stuff with a handshake’... You know, for the son of a billionaire, he really doesn’t get how money wor-”

A woman with long black hair stood at the entrance to the living room. A bit on the larger side, she scanned the room with piercing red eyes behind her straight black bangs before settling on Carbuncle.

“Um, who the FUCK are you and what are you doing here?” Sarah hopped up and put her hands on her hips. “And don’t fucking bother saying you ‘got lost’ or something. We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere! I’ve got guns!”

“So that’s the Treasure?” The woman whispered to herself.

Taking the corner behind her, a strange blob of water moved silently on the carpet. “Yes, my quee- partner. That is the Treasure of the Storms, just as I remember him…” It spoke with a confidence that could not be betrayed, even by the almost metallic effects to its sultry tones. The smell of salt water filled the room as it slithered further inside.

“Seriously? Listen here bitch, you can’t just fucking strut up to someone’s house like you own the damn place! I’ll fucking call the cops!”

As Sarah took a step closer, she quickly became enveloped by the blob. She swore, but the only sound she could make were gurgles as the blob lifted her while enveloping her.

“Squeak!” Carbuncle lunged forward, biting the slime to little avail.

The woman held her chin, “So this is the legendary creature we’ve been looking for? I was kind of hoping for something more… majestic?”

Sarah began to kick in the blob as she held her throat. The surface tension held, bulging out with every assault. Bubbles escaped from her mouth as she continued to shout.

“Hermes…” With a snap of her fingers, the blob receded back to her side, dropping Sarah on the ground, coughing. “You always jump the gun. We need to keep them alive, remember?”

The slime receded behind the girl, “My deepest apologies, my mistress…”

Darting into the space between the two women, Carbuncle took a wide stance and tried to appear larger.

“Wha- What the fuck?!” Sarah coughed, “Who are you? And what the fuck do you want?” She continued to sit on the ground, hacking up what she could from her lungs.

“Please forgive my associate,” The woman started, “He likes to fly off the handle a bit… My name is Miranda Moldova.” Holding out her hand, her expression remained a steely, analytical look. Her eyes cut through Carbuncle and Sarah much like how a great cat examined their prey.

Still coughing, Sarah finally stood, “Miranda… Where have I heard that before?” Shaking her head, she continued, “For real, what the fuck do you want?”

The woman strode forward, ignoring the growling creature that stood between them before sitting in Sarah’s favorite recliner, “I’ve heard a lot about you! You both won a World Game against Leben Seher and have earned the attention of many other ACE holders.” She took the bottle of wine Hermes snagged off of a rack, pouring herself a glass, “Including myself.”

“Cool shit. I’m famous.” Sarah stood behind the couch trying to put some cover before her, “I don’t think that gives you the fucking right to show up to my house and fucking strangle me!”

“Like I said, my associate has a heavy trigger finger.” Miranda shrugged, “I just wanted to see who was the new hot shit. Kinda disappointed though…”

After a sip, she examined the crimson elixir, swirling it around, “But I want to see if the rumors were true. The opposing ACE holder didn’t die when you won the World Game?”

Sarah crossed her arms and widened her stance, “And why the fuck should I tell you?”

With a quick flash of her eyes, Miranda casted a glance at the fellow ACE holder.

Inexplicably, Sarah’s bravado suddenly wavered, “I mean, yeah. Both Bronco and little Randy walked away after the game. Only the turtle disappeared.”

“Wait…” Sarah shook her head once again, “What the fuck? I didn’t want to say that?”

As Miranda handed her finished glass to Hermes, she straightened her matching black leather jacket, “What kind of names are ‘Bronco’ and ‘Randy’?” Placing her hand on her chin, she leaned back in the recliner, “So… Just the ACE creature vanished? Would that mean your manifestation allows you to banish the creatures? Or maybe dispel the Game as a whole? What if you lost? Would you be able to render the entire game null and void?”

Before Sarah could get another swear in, Miranda stood, “Why don’t we have a friendly match?” She stressed the word ‘friendly’. “Not a you-know-what, no stakes, just a quick ability check?”

“Ummm, no? I’m not going to just fu-” Her shoulders slumped again as her eyes met her adversary’s, “Sure. Let me get my deck.”

The two sat from across each other cross-legged at the coffee table. Both creatures stood by their partners in a veritable stand-off.

“Remember,” Miranda set her shields in front of her, “Just a friendly game. You won’t like the results if you were to challenge me to the real deal…”

Sarah tried her best to hide the shiver that ran down her spine. “Big talk from someone who had to choke me. You probably suck at this game!”

Despite the provocations, Miranda maintained her calm composure, “I think this would be the best way to find out, hmm? I don’t want to go and break my new toy.” She subtly licked her lips.

“Since I’m the guest, I get to go first.” Miranda spread out her hand and grinned, “I’ll spend my starting play point and call forward my Strike Leader, The Second Sun.”

Sliding out an unsleeved Miracle card, it glittered in a way Sarah had not seen before. The card text was long, but the art only depicted two suns, one larger than the other, churning away in the sky.

“So what does that do?” Sarah asked flatly.

“Well…” Miranda rolled her eyes off to her side, “You can’t attack it. It allows me to have more than ten play points. And well…” She trailed off before giving a forced smile and a wink, “You’ll find out soon.”

Unnerved, Sarah drew her card. After shuffling through her hand a few times, she looked towards the still growling Carbuncle.

This bitch had the nerve to find us in the middle of fucking nowhere just because she was ‘interested’ in ‘Buncle? I asked a million fucking times, but what the fuck does she want?

“I’ll go ahead and take my turn.”

Miranda drew her card, seemingly pleased with the result. “Let’s cast a spell I heard you’re a big fan of, Rapid Growth.” Placing one fish rock down, she passed her turn and placed down yet another .

“You know you’re supposed to only gain play points at the beginning of your turn, right?”

“Oh right. I need to tell you about the Second Sun’s third effect.” Taking a deep breath, she continued, “So you know how some Miracle cards say ‘[Float]’, right?”

Sarah nodded, not liking where this was headed.

“So [Float] means if you have a certain amount of play points at the end of your turn, an effect activates. In this case, I gain additional play points equal to the amount I didn’t use this turn. Since Rapid Growth gives me a point, I gain an additional one since that extra point was unused.”

“Uh huh…” Sarah and Carbuncle looked at each other with a shrug.

“Tch…” Miranda crossed her arms, almost giving off the opposite impression she had when she came in, “It looks cooler in person…”

“So I guess it’s my turn?” Sarah picked up her card and gained her second play point. “I’ll cast Aqua Regia, letting me draw a card.”

Wow. Compared to the whole ‘life-or-death’ thing the last game had, playing just a card game kinda makes this lame…

She looked across the table at the dark haired woman messing with her bangs once again.

But still, she can make me do whatever she says. I don’t know how, probably through that fucking blob, so I still need to take this seriously.

“Okay, my turn!” The woman excitedly drew her card. After a bit of shuffling, Miranda set her hand back on the table, “And that’s it for me. I’ll gain 4 play points since 4 were left unused this turn!”

“Holy fuck, that’s dumb!”

“Hey, I had to go through hell to get this card.” Her eyes glimmered as she spoke, “Maybe if you had half the-”

“Oh fuck, you’re that model! I remember now!” Sarah’s finger rocketed close to her opponent’s nose, causing both creatures on either side to jump.

After a brief concern, Miranda regained her composure, “Finally you get it…” She straightened her posture, “By day, I am the world famous supermodel Miranda Moldova. And by night, I am a participant of the World Game such as yourself! But instead of just your run-of-the-mill player, I aim to rebel against the World Game itself!” After her rehearsed reveal, she paused in a pose, “Are you impressed?”

“Nah.”

The whole ‘aloof’ front Miranda put forward crumbled. Even from behind her long bangs, one could easily see her sitting wide-eyed in shock.

“Yeah. I think we hired you years ago for some sort of ‘summer stock surprise’ commercial we filmed or something? That was back when pops wanted to be a director for a little bit.”

Miranda had no choice but to lean back. She seemed to be caught up in something pleasant, whimsically looking towards the old ceiling. “Yeah… That was actually my first gig…”

“Yeah! I think you were one of the few who actually went on to do something from that?”

“I auditioned online and saved up money for a Beagle bus ticket to make it here while I was still in High School…” Coming down, she held a smile. A genuine smile. “I never would have gotten anywhere if it wasn’t for that chance…”

Glancing at the two paranormal creatures on either side of the table, Sarah gestured towards the table holding the card game between them, “Pretty fucking crazy where we end up, huh? Regardless, I’m gonna take you down right here.”

With a flourish filled with renewed vigor, Sarah drew her card and played it on the field, “I’ll summon Topaz Spellbot!” Pulling another card from her hand, she placed it utop the Alcademia creature, “Next, I’ll evolve it to Spellbot Unit Medusa Emerald and [Expend] to draw a card!”

Picking up her card, she turned the evolved Spellbot card sideways, “And I’ll break one of your shields.”

Unphased, Miranda picked up her card. Without a word, she placed down yet another fish rock, bringing her to a total of 9 play points on turn 5, “Alright, I’m summoning Ortelanus, Star of the Sea for 6 play points.”

Placing down a holographic Alcademia card, she smirked, “Summoning her allows me to return your Medusa Emerald back to your hand.” After watching her opponent begrudgingly pick up her card, Miranda smirked, “Lastly, I’ll summon a Nix, the Firmament’s Blade!”

With her turn ending, she placed another two fish rocks, giving her now 11, “Imagine if we were doing this for real?”

Sarah suddenly found herself grateful that they were not.

Drawing her card, she flipped over two rocks, “I’ll summon a Pippi, Fox Maiden. And I’ll also play a Sixth Storm Oracle.”

Gaining one extra play point while her opponent gained upwards of three or more a turn felt paltry. Geez. This fucker is just toying with me and she knows it… She-

Interrupting her thoughts, an alarm chirped and echoed throughout the carpeted room. “Ah.” Miranda pulled out her phone, “I’m gonna be late for my 12:30. We need to wrap this up.”

Drawing her card, she suddenly became serious once more. “I’ll summon a Toaster Fibre for one play point. And I’ll spend 8 more…” She stacked up Ortelanus, Nix, and Toaster Fibre utop each other before setting another card on top of the stack, “I’ll Ascend Summon Hermes, Founder of Alchemy.”

The card glittered in a way Sarah had not seen before this duel. Matching The Second Sun played but a few turns prior, the two competed for dominance over the living room table.

“What the fuck is that?”

Miranda smirked once again, “That’s my ACE monster.”

“Now,” she took one of her four shields left and put it in the graveyard, “I will activate his [Sacrifice] effect to take a card from your deck and send it to your grave.”

Faking the pensive chin holding she did earlier, Miranda continued, “I think I’ll send your Gemless Carbuncle.”

“Holy fuck, that’s broken.” Picking out Carbuncle from her deck, Sarah almost was afraid to let go of the card.

“Now, I’ll [Expend] once to return every card on your field to your hand.”

Sarah’s jaw hit the floor. Some cards were busted, but this? This was just absurd.

“Lastly, I’ll break three of your shields with Hermes.” Turning the glimmering card on it’s side, Miranda’s eyes began to glow again.

“So, we’ll call that match a draw.” Miranda had picked up her cards and left Sarah sitting at the table. “You’re good, but I can’t say I’m too impressed.”

Sarah kept clutching Buncle’s card, whispering a silent prayer of thanks to whoever decided to spare her on this day.

The larger woman stood with a grace that should not be attainable. As she began to head out of the living room, her slimy assistant tapped her on the shoulder, “Mistress, shouldn’t you…?”

“Oh. Right.” Miranda uncharacteristically hit herself in the head. Sauntering over to Sarah, unable to get her legs out from underneath her, Miranda’s eyes shimmered once more. “Hey. We had a good match today. I owe your family a lot for where I’m at, so I decided to play nice.”

Holding Sarah’s cheeks and lifting her face up, the two made eye contact once more, “In fact, we had so much fun, you’re going to keep playing. You’re gonna go out there and duel every ACE card holder without holding back. That way, we both get what we want!”

Her words were like butter. Sarah could not look away from the gleaming red eyes of her former opponent. In fact, she was a friend. How could she ever let her down?

“Yeah…” Sarah muttered, “I’m not going to be afraid any more…”

“There we go!” Miranda smiled again, “But you’ve got to make sure you win! I don’t want my new friend to up and die on me, right?”

“Yeah... “

Miranda leaned in a bit, before finally letting Sarah go and joined her partner across the room, “There we go, mission accomplished! All it took was a few tickets to the Hayboy Convention and a few minutes of time. Looks like we’re on to phase three, Hermes.”