Dragon Empire Branch Hub Field

Karin absolutely hated it here. What possessed the Association to agree to such a ridiculous construction plan in the first place?

The Dragon Empire Branch's secretary flipped through various files, filled out forms, and sorted out documents. All the work you'd expect a secretary to do (even though the Branch Director was supposed to be doing a portion of it, Karin was usually the one doing most of it anyways). She understood that all this work had to be done at some point, and that it was better to get it done sooner rather than later, but she was leaning on depression in this place. It wasn't due to the heat, though- At least, not exactly. The heat didn't bother Karin at all.

Who it did bother, however, was literally everyone else. Dragon Empire's headquarters was almost entirely deserted, save for the staff members, due to how out of the way it was to reach it, and how hot it was once you were inside. If someone ever came here, it was for something important, and that meant that Karin rarely saw any visitors. If Cero would just agree to fix the air conditioning...

Karin let out a sigh and shuffled a few more papers into a folder before tucking it away.

"Don't look so down, many of the new fighters are running around card shops." Solis Guren'ou, the ancient Sun Knight who once stood as one of humanity's greatest enemies stood here today in formal clothing as one of the employees of Dragon Empire. While not quite Cero's right hand, he was a secretary himself, and worked to try and take chunks and chunks of Karin's paperwork. He didn't mind it at all, wanting to contribute. Though, he seemed to be contributing a lot considering he was one of the pretty faces of the branch, being a rather handsome, bespectacled redhead in dark colored, formal clothing. Taking a stack of papers from his co-worker, he lugged them over to his own desk. Admittedly, he was a bit tired himself. Unlike Karin, he couldn't handle the lack of AC forever, even if some cool air did some in from the spring weather every now and then.

Taking a seat, he was a bit concerned with what would happen when people do actually arrive. With no air conditioning and being in a mountain... well, their target audience wasn't children, he supposed.

Xat walked up and looked at the branch with a smile her cloke and hood covering her body, the heat around here didnt really bother her due to how much she was in the ice due to being with shirayuki alot, and her new partner Tsurumaru.

"Wow this is a suprise who knew that it was so hot here." The spirit of Tsurumaru said appering from his sword form along with shriayuki both in spirit form.

"It dosn't really matter where it is, to be honest this seems like a great place to start dispite the heat." Shirayuki said.

Xat sighed and looked at her two spirit companions while reaching up and petting the creature that appred on her shoulder. "Now now you two dont fight lets just go in." she said dismissing her two sprit companions who returned to there spot, Shirayuki in her card, Tsurumaru in his sword.

With that settled Xat walked up to the dragon Empire branch and opened the doors walking in, her compaion Kao looking around the place from his perch. She walked over to one of the cardfight tables gently touching it. "how long has it been senced i cardfighted?" she asked softly while her tail begans to wag in excitement under the cloak.

"Yeah, you're right. We'll see more activity here later... Hopefully." Karin shrugged as she grabbed another stack of papers to sort through. Solis' words helped a little, as they always seemed to, even if the smug way he spoke irritated her to no end. The two knights who both wielded the power of the Winds of Apocalypse had become relatively close friends over the years, but they still got on each other's nerves all the time, occasionally arguing like some old married couple. But ever since the "Crisis Messiah" event, where the Reaper Overlord made her presence known once again, looking at Solis always reminded Karin of the same thing.

The war from five years ago sprung to her mind once again. Bits and pieces of memories popped into her head, reminding her of all that happened back then, and all that she did. She winced visibly, as if a headache was coming on, trying to force the memories back down. She hated remembering the war- loathed it- despised it. Each memory that surfaced dragged another one up with it, each one just as painful as the last. The Reapers descending upon them, wiping away entire cities in their wake. The clutches of a God of Destruction that had once grasped at her heart, compelling her to fight against her friends. The flame that still burned inside of her heart, and the relics from that time shrouded in those flames, still sleeping silently within her. She hated all of it, but all those memories were scars on her mind. They would never go away, they would never heal. She would likely have to suffer the memory of despair for the rest of her life, and she hated it.

As she did every day, Karin shook those thoughts from her mind and left them to be forgotten again, flipping through the next stack of papers.

"So this is the Dragon Empire branch huh? At the top of a mountain right above the red hot lava. Seems the Branch director outdid himself."

That is what Neo Isamu said as he walked towards the entrance of the Dragon Empire branch. He was wearing a red t-shirt with black jeans and white sneakers. He then noticed that there was a sign on the door of the entrance and walked up to the door and read the sign:

"Weakness is a Sin. There is plenty of fitness equipment for everyone but don't expect any air conditioning"

After reading that sign, Neo let out a big smirk as he clapped his hands with excitement.

"What are you so excited about?" Blitzkreig said to Neo

"What am I excited about? You dare ask me that bro? Im excited because this sounds like a challenge from the Dragon Empire branch that's what!" Neo replied

"It sounds to me you want to come to Dragon Empire just to show off your abs rather than your cardfighting skills." Blitzkrieg said

"You know Blitzkrieg you are absolutely correct. I must agree" Altmile said

"Shut it you two." Neo replied

However with the annoucement of the new generation of Cardfight Vanguard starting soon, Neo was very excited for what road would come in front of him and what new adventures were waiting. With a pep in his step he marched toward the entrance and made his way inside to see if anyone else was here at the branch.

Entering the Dragon Empire branch was another one of its employees: Bashiro Hakaisha, everyone's favorite sleazebag from Umano Slums. With his brother partaking in events as a member of the new generation, it was just him as a veteran today to meet up with the other on-goers of the branch. "Geez, feels like someone died here. That or suffered from a heat stroke." He joked, his rugged appearance remaining mostly the same over the years, even after the Messiah Scramble. His hair was a bit longer, a little more unkempt, and he no longer had his eyepatch that he had thrown out long ago. "Good to see you, Xater- somethin'. Sorry, I heard about you from my brother and Aoi, but your name is a bit of a tongue twister." He greeted Xat as he went further in, seeing the others at work, along with his fellow Brawler player that had come in. "Good to see you too, Neo! Hope that hot-blooded personality of yours can survive workin' out in this place with no AC, because I sure couldn't do it."

"You say that like you've tried." Solis smirked, adjusting his glasses as his jab was his 'welcome' to the delinquent he had befriended over time.

"What can I say, the battle was over before it began?" Bashiro shrugged, earning a chuckle from the sun knight. "Karin sure looks like she can handle it. What's happenin' girl, how's the desk life?"

He kept them from their boredom at least.

Karin looked up from her desk, coming face to face with the biggest sleazebag in Umano. If it weren't for the fact that she had literally nothing else to do, she might've been a little annoyed at him showing up. He wasn't a bad man, per say, just difficult to deal with if you were a relatively attractive woman (which Karin was). But as it stood, it was unlikely Dragon Empire would see any other visitors today, so Karin was willing to take whatever she could get at this point.

That, and it helped keep her mind off the war.

Karin pushed the papers aside and hopped over her desk, taking a seat on top of it, crossing her legs and leaning forward with her head against her hand. "Boring as hell. Probably hot as hell too, judging from how Solis is looking." She shot a glance at her rival secretary. "The boss isn't around as usual, and hardly anyone's stopped by. Turns out sticking our base in the middle of a damn volcano, manmade or not, was a terrible idea! Who knew?" Karin was really only a little annoyed with her situation, but it made her feel a little better to vent some of her frustrations. "Ugh. Speaking of getting out of the heat, I was thinking of going out for a drink tonight." She looked back and forth between Solis and Bashiro, making eye contact with both of them. "Wanna come along? I'll treat you guys. Anything to make today not a complete borefest."

"Ah, no, I'm fine. Just... a little winded." Solis tried to play it off, but the sweat gradually getting to him betrayed his words. Poor guy had to take off his glasses, wiping away the residue of steam from them. Karin was right, building this place where it is was a terrible idea, but it is very much like Cero and very much like Dragon Empire, so it made a sort of sense. He didn't have to agree with it, but it was probably not changing. "You know we're going to be under fire if he comes back and sees we're not here."

"I mean, dude, is sitting here in the heat not already being under fire?" Bashiro gave a shrug. "I feel you, Karin. It's why I'm always goin' out. Dunno why you two wanted desk jobs, but hey, it's your fix."

"A drink wouldn't sound bad, honestly." Solis added, not wanting to outright agree with Bashiro, but didn't dismiss him. He wasn't wrong, and that led him to put his pen down to at least have a break. "Bashiro?"

"Oh, I'd love to go out for drinks, but I just came on by to see what's goin' on. I got plans involving drinking though, gonna get some people together for a fiesta of a time."

"What, and get yelled at by your brother again for getting plastered beyond belief?"

"Nah, I'll be responsible about it."

"You? Responsible? I must be in a dream, next you're going to tell me the AC actually works and then I wake up."

"Cut me some slack, man. I''m serious, I wanna do somethin' fun, and lord knows we need it. So I'll get back to you guys on drinks."

What was this? Bashiro, turning down an offer for drinks? Free drinks at that? Karin had to blink a few times in disbelief. Karin hopped off her desk and went over and pinched Solis' arm just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "Wow. You're the last person I'd have expected to turn me down." She put her hands behind her head, leaning back against her desk. "Well, whatever. If you've got plans, you've got plans. Just let me know when whatever it is you're doing is done, I guess. I'm gonna need a drink eventually." She shrugged and cocked her head towards Solis again. "Guess we're stuck here all day then, huh?"

As Hikari approached the Dragon Empire branch headquarters, the first thing she noticed was the incredible heat. A man-made volcano, constantly blazing hot. Sweat poured from Hikari's face in buckets, and she swore she saw some turn into steam when it hit the ground. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, then turned her head skyward, "ALRIGHT!" she roared, slamming her right fist into her left palm, "This is the perfect place for a hot blooded battle! I LOVE IT!". Her expression changed into an excited grin, and she took off sprinting towards the entrance.

Hikari threw open the doors of the Dragon Empire branch headquarters dramatically, took one stomping step inside and shouted "I came here to throw down! Who here's got the guts to take me on?!" Unfortunately, the Dragon Empire building seemed largely abandoned. There was hardly anyone around to hear her declaration of war, much less accept it. Disappointed and annoyed, Hikari went stomping in further into the building, searching for anyone who would accept her challenge.

"Ow!" Solis reacted to the pinch, giving Karin a look of irritation. Honestly, he should've shouted for her to do that to herself, or even Bashiro, but this was a bit of a stressful environment, so he just let it go. Giving his arm a quick, nursing rub, he bit his tongue for now. "If you feel you still need a drink or even just a break, you should still go out, even if Bashiro here won't." He recommended to his colleague, putting his glasses back on. Though, as luck would have it, someone finally showed up to the branch - a new face no less! They're pretty fiery too from the way they were yelling. A nice change of pace, finally. "If only I could share the enthusiasm in this heat..."

Bashiro was just hanging around now, thinking to himself as he took a seat on Solis' desk, who didn't seem to mind it.

Xat watched the others come in and when someone called her name she looked at them and waved to Bashiro, not to sure who he really was. Kao then spoke up.

"man people are odd, we should be on gaurd." he said and jumped from xat's shoulder and to the table she was at. Xat sat down and began to look at her decks Tsurumaru appering beside her in full materilized form. Kao meanwhile heard  Hikairi speack and shook his head, however upon seeing Neo he rembereed him from the tournament on the island and ran over to him.

"Neo!" he called stopping in front of him.

Neo was walking around the Dragon Empire branch to see what the place truely had to offer. Little did he know that sign about no A/C in the place was actually true. It was burning hot in here.

"Its getting hot in here~" Neo said

Then out of nowhere Neo looked up and saw Kao appear in front of him with excitement.

"Hey Kao! Good to see you! Neo said

Kao's tail waged in excitment, the carbuncle glad to see someone else here. "How are you?" he asked as he sat down and tilted his head. "if you hot, im sure xat wont mind sharing the coldnest from shriayuki." he offred to Neo, not wanting him to suffer from the heat and get heatstroke from this branch with broken AC, and he looked back over at his comapnion and was suprised to see Tsurumaru in material form, and her sword no longer at her side, before turning back to Neo.

Xat called Kao back to her and dismising Tsurumaru who went back to sword form decided to approch the front desk to regester for FICA. Kao jumped onto her shoulder as she walked stopping at the front desk. "I would liek to regester for FICA please." Xat said to teh person at the desk.

And the person at the desk was still Solis, he and Bashiro letting Karin go off to fight the enthusiastic new girl. It sounded like they had a good time, and it did alleviate the clan leader of her boredom. In the meantime, the boys had been talking about various things like the thug's special plans for drinks, how his little brother is doing, how Solis'... err, "colleagues" were doing, and more. An unlikely pair: the God of the Sun had made friends with an infamous sleazebag.

If that drinking plan doesn't work out, Solis is positive it's coming out of his wallet. Sighing over this revelation, the two turned to the approaching Xateramusa. "Yes, of course. Just sign here and I can get you registered into the system." The sun knight said to the girl, digging around his desk for an order and registration form.

"You sure you wanna make Dragon Empire your home branch? I mean, you know who the branch director is, right?" Bashiro joked, questioning Xat's sanity. Most people who knew Cero would probably think twice about willingly following under his banner. Then again, they did it willingly...

"I assure you, Cero is a fine director... If you want to get stronger anyway. If you're looking for a more relaxing environment, I'd try Magallanica or Dark Zone." Solis spoke honestly, though he had to pause to think of a compliment. Cero was definitely your man if your sights were set on a path to strength. But casually, no one can survive in this heat. "I'm calling someone to fix the AC." He's not getting paid enough for this, man.

Xat took the paper and kao jumped down onto the desk. "We have indeed heard of Cero, however Xat is training to be stronger, and this seems liek a good place." Kao said as Xat spoke.

"I dont remember much however i do know that i wasn't strong enough in some of the previous battles, i let my allies down, and i can't do that anymore, so if this place is indeed to get stronger then its perfect." she said as she filled out the form, "Besides a little heat wont kill anyone, especally if they have winter on there side." she said as Kao spoke.

"if you want until you can get the AC fix we can ask Shirayuki fi she minds casting a spell to cool it down in here if you want." he offered as xat finished filling out the form and handing it back to Solis

"By all means, please do." Solis responded to Kao, his voice a bit strained as he began setting up Xat's FICA and putting in her information.

"It's gettin' to you, huh?" Bashiro laughed, taking the raspiness of Solis' voice to be more irritation than anything. "What, I thought the 'God of the Sun' would be able to take this heat?"

"I'm still human. Human enough to get sick of this heat after how many days I've been in here. You were with me and others in setting up offices!"

"Hahaaaa, I can't believe Cero is breaking you."

"You try sitting around here most of your day without a fan, which I do need to purchase. Anyway, Xateramusa is your name and Fantasy Petal Storm, Shirayuki is your avatar, yes? If so, you're good to go for quests and events." Solis finished, handing her the new, popular device required to participate in the new era's storm.

"Thank you." Xat said taking the device as Shirayuki appred next to them all.

"I can make it cold in here though I wont do it often only when my vangaurd is here." She said as she floated upinto the air and moving her hand created a winter like wind flow through the building."It should last a few hours at most." she said looking at them.

Karin poked her head out of her office the moment she'd felt the cold breeze slip through the door's cracks. She stepped out and slowly made her way over to Solis, Bashiro and Xat, her eyes darting around the room as if she'd seen a ghost. "Hey, uh, Solis... You didn't actually fix the AC, did you? It got a hell of a lot colder all of a sudden." The clan leader spoke with hesitation, still scanning the room. She shivered a little, wrapping her arms around herself, before she noticed the two extra faces who'd shown up; faces she recognized from both the war and the Messiah Scramble. "Oh, you're... Xat and, ah... Kao, right?" Karin recited their names, eyeing the fresh FICA device in Xat's hands. "Oh, joining up with Dragon Empire? Well, good luck on the quests, and stay hydrated to beat the heat. At least, when it isn't so cold..." The Overlord shivered again, rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm herself back up. For all the heat she could handle, she lacked any sort of tolerance for cold weather.

Karin glanced back at the sun knight momentarily before taking baby steps towards the exit. "Hey, I'm heading out... Solis, Bashiro, I'll treat you guys to drinks another time."

"It is actually Shirayuki who is making it cool in here, its no AC but it works to keep the heat out." Xat said as shirayuki left them going back to the spirit relem. Xat held out a hand and summoned a fox fire sending it to fly around Kairn hoping it would help give her some warmth before lookng back at the two males as kao spoke up.

"Why dont you guys fight Xat? i'm sure she can use the practice" he said to them.

"Haaaaa..." The boys leaned back, relaxing in the winter breeze. It would be a little too cold normally, but it should be balanced out by sitting in a man-made volcano of sorts. Solis took off his glasses and let the cold air wash over him with a wave of relief. Getting relaxed in his chair, he decided now was a good time for him to go on break. It took them a good few moments to acknowledge Karin had come out of her office. That was when the sun knight remembered Karin's... sensitivity to weather. She could handle the heat due to special circumstances, but the cold was like a gradual hell for her, he assumed. So, he straightened his posture in his chair, "Didn't fix the AC yet." He informed.

"You okay, Karin?" Bashiro inquired, a tad oblivious to the special circumstances. He knew that she was an Overlord, but didn't see how that related.

"I'll tell Cero you're talking the rest of the day off. I'm sure he'll be fine with it." Solis didn't want to keep Karin here if she couldn't take the cold, so he offered to make sure she was cleared before waving her off.

"Fight? Nah, we got cool air now, we wanna relax!" Bashiro responded to Kao, embracing the chill.

Kao just shook his head and jumped back onto xat's shoulder. "anyways ty for helping us." he said as xat spoke. "I remember you, weren't you the one who helped me escape the guards during the tornament?" She asked Solis, before turning to Bashiro. "And your the prevert that kept hitting on girls, not to mention you were an ally in a war...." she trialed off as a memorie hit her full force

"Ah, no. You're thinking of Enma, the first seat of the Grand Sanctuary. He told me he remembers you." Solis corrected, putting his glasses back on as he began to work in a much more comfortable environment.

"Come on, 'pervert that kept hitting on girls' is so vague. At least mention how I punched stuff silly." Bashiro complained, but didn't deny he was a pervert.