"Cardfight in Wonderland" - Zoo Branch

Winning with style wasn't the point. Satoshi's entire goal was to determine what Ahsha saw in Koga. It was evident that her passion and concern for her family transcended her guilt and pain from the war, and from this, a new woman was set to bloom. He extended a hand to her, which she took. A soft squeeze followed, and then the Clan Leader withdrew his hand to present her a gold card with the other.

"If you can prove to the rest of the branches that the former Reapers are not all that they may seem, there is hope for peace to come of it all yet. Consider this my blessing, though I must warn you..." Satoshi scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a sweatdrop forming. "The rest of them, especially those I still hold dear to my heart, may not bend so freely."

The Guardian turned away with a wave. "May we meet again, F Chopper Koga. I must go and reflect on this fight, as I told myself it was not necessary to begin with." Meditation would be necessary for the rest of his time, so he could be free of this fleeting desire to fight.

That, and...well, he really needed a better Stride phrase.

Chrisaline went against Mirai's Royal Paladin with Darkface, believing it to be a simple matchup due to the poor quality of her foe's cards shown over time. Royal Paladin would drain through her Generation Break Two faster, but... considering it looked like she was playing cards right out of a trial deck, the moth girl became radically overconfident. The game was heavily in favor of the clan leader without seeing her Break Ride, using her usual tactics, taking advantage of the opponent's lack of attacks and making them regret ever calling a rearguard. However, despite the overwhelming advantage, even with Mirai building hand through draw triggers and scoring heals, the sadist felt the slightest hint of... annoyance. The girl's personality already bothered her, and she wanted to break her like she would anyone else...

... but like Aoi Undyne, Mirai would not break.

This is when Chris' switch was flipped, furious with more nonsensical logic presented to her as she aimed to tear her adversary to shreds. With a double trigger break from Paraspear, she was definitely carrying out her intentions. Somehow, the assaults were being endured and it was getting harder and harder to break through as deck numbers were going down... and that's when it hit Chris.

Drawing cards off of the stuns was going to eventually deck her out. ... It was a mistake, a fatal misplay she couldn't make up for, and had to keep playing with it. But it ended up costing her as her deck became lesser and lesser, at a much faster rate than Mirai's until it came down to a triple drive. With Mirai unable to stop Struggle Dipper, it was a definite game over when the first check was a Critical... But then, the second check was a draw trigger, and she only had four cards left in deck to start with. Her last draw trigger... All she had to do was not see it, and she'd survive with one card in deck. Yet, because of her flying off the handle and letting her anger get the best of her, Chrisaline lost to deck out just as the mutant deity insect would have surely injured its victim, if not worse.

"Heh... Haha... hahahaha!!" Chris laughed, despite having lost the game, getting the last word in. "You're too late, little mouse! You beat me... so what? I don't have any gold cards left!" She was only given three, and two of them were handed out to surrenders while Red had taken the last. So the victory was hollow and meaningless - nothing more than a complete waste of time. The moth girl laughed and laughed...

... as horns sounded throughout the branch, signifying the event's end.

... Which left Chris alone when she got over her giggle fit. Though the victory was meaningless, the defeat... was not. The anger never left, her fists clutched tightly as she gritted her teeth with a pained expression. It almost looked like she'd break down crying - she was so upset. Losing to a third rate deck that had numerous weak cards like Brede and more... An irrelevant heart beat skill, an onhit Stride, a simple plus five thousand power G Unit, and varying factors that made it so much weaker than her deck... Yet, overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer, and she had once again learned that lesson the hard way. Mirai may have gotten a lot of draw and heal triggers, but she did not blame luck. Competitive players that yearn to be the best of the best would never put it down as merely "You only won because I got lucky". No... With a deep breath, Killer Queen accepted her defeat, knowing it was her own fault for not realizing she was drawing too many cards.

A mistake to keep in mind for next time as she silently vowed to shatter the two blindly optimistic children that faced her.

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

As everyone was returning, Aoi had gotten a sizable portion of Zoo's animals to name her their queen. Her bubbly persona has won over the animal kingdom, and her bunny lieutenant at her shoulder showed the testament of her charisma. Truly, the gumball was a force to be reckoned with... despite only winning one gold card. Jessie couldn't believe what he was seeing, but was also upset he didn't make it in time to get the fight with the branch director... because Rikuto had already left. Hana finished with three gold cards, despite her late start, Jessie made it out with two, and Aoi could only get one from a forfeit...

"Good work, everyone." Varess addressed the crowd. "While I'm glad you guys did the best you could, especially while trying to grind out as many cards and as much FICA as possible, I-"

Two people came running in while people were still making their way back, a cabbage and the lady in red to be specific. "We're here, where's Director Rikuto?!" They said at the same time, showing their five gold cards each, having dominated each zone... Well, one of them conquered every zone. The other got most of them, so it still counts.

"Ah... I apologize, but the good doctor had to run. There was an accident and-"

"WHAT?!" The girls again spoke simultaneously.

"Yeah... That, and someone got a fight with me - the replacement - before you two... Though, I don't mind fighting you guys again if you want-'

"Goddammit!! No!" Koga shouted, stomping her foot down and wrathfully huffing. "It doesn't matter if it's you - I need acknowledgment from a Branch Director - a high ranking official!" The cabbage hollered indignantly, proceeding to storm off as Varess watched curiously.

"Oh..." Hana muttered to herself, still in her idol costume next to Aoi. "So... she must be part of the revolution..."

"Huh?" Aoi chirped.

"Nothing, nothing."

"Argh, dammit!" Jessie cursed. "I just wasn't fast enough, and I barely got my gold cards..."

"Don't feel bad Jessie, I was always gonna get here before you!" Aoi bragged with a cheery smile. "Aqua Force players are naturally swift, you know!"

"The speed of sound is NOT 'natural' in any kind of way!"

The first event was over, and Tamotsu the tiger dog thanked his animal audience and excused them to go about their business in the rainforest. They dispersed with various happy noises but the dog himself was still huffing a bit at how poorly he'd performed against the various gold card challengers today. This thought was cut off as reports from staff members came in about someone attempting to run off with as many of the animals as possible. He had a feeling he knew who it was and he had to go give her a piece of his mind for never showing up to his area.

Back at the pavilion the fighters and staff were slowly trickling in as the event had ended. People had found out  that Rikuto had left before his fight had even happened. That night if people watched the news he would be featured for having saved the little girl's life but for now it just sort left everything with a confusing air to it. Tsubame had continued following Jessie despite his clear annoyance. The shonens never much cared for being observed but she didn't particularly care. She had a zone card and a gold card. Nothing super impressive but then she hadn't been looking to do much anyway.

"The nice guy is friends with the speed demon huh? Woulda figured you'd like things a bit calmer dinoboy." she said while twirling her parasol about to keep the sun off. "Then again you're also friends with a talking tiger so I guess you're more exciting than you let on."

Speaking of the tiger, Tamotsu was barreling in at the speed of fast with only one target in sight. Well he actually wavered a bit as Jessie was in view but the gumball was the target for now.

"Aoooiiiiiiiii!" came the call as the tiger dog tackled his friend. Unless intercepted somehow this was gonna send the two rolling a bit. However it played it out the dog's message would be the same between licks.

"Aoi, you gotta give the animals back." he said while looking around at the rather impressive following she now had. But that was less important. "Why didn't you ever come fight me?" he said, clearly heartbroken. He was very sad to have not seen her in the event and figured she'd have naturally come his way on sheer instinct.

"I do want things calmer!" Jessie said in response to Tsubame, clearly annoyed with the ridiculous antics of Aoi every single day. She only just got back to the country... and even worse, Tamotsu had been tainted by her hyperactive personality - it rubbed off on him! Whether it be because he was an impressionable young pup at the time or simply being a young pup again in the first place after the war... he blamed the gumball, who only tilted her head cutely with a smile. Before he could start ranting about what it's like to live with the chinese champion for your best friend, the tiger dog had returned from his line of duty, approaching the gang and promptly tackling Aoi.

"Bwaaa!" Aoi shouted a random noise as she was sent tumbling to the ground, rolling a little with him before laughing while under attack of excited licking. "I don't wanna give the animals back! Also... I kinda stopped worrying about fighting after awhile and ran around aimlessly."

"You WHAT?" Jessie isn't the only one who heard this, right? The Vanguard Idiot actually got distracted from playing?!

"Look, we can do this instead. Fuwatan! Join my army as we make for the wooorld!" Aoi pointed to the ceiling dramatically. Birds chirping, ducks quacking, and lieutenant bunny's ears perking up to show their loyalty to their new leader. Heil Gumball.

If Tamotsu intended to push the issue of Aoi not taking the animals anywhere he certainly got lost in the mix of things. He was interested to hear the girl had simply began wandering as the event went on but then he had been prone to similar things on some of his excursions about Umano some years prior. Exploration was a natural and understandable drive to the dog tiger. Much more pressing was the gumball's offer.

"Yes, General Aoi!" the dog said after doing a few circles in place out of excitement. He got off the girl to allow his commander to rise as he lifted his front right paw up in an awkward attempt at a salute. He was totally down with it. He would be the animal-human liaison for the rising Gumball Empire!

Never mind it was sort of his job to make sure the girl didn't take any of the animals off the preserve but it was far too late for that.

"So it's not just the event, these people are just crazy in general..." Tsubame pondered aloud with a curious tone. Something about the people before her intrigued her and she couldn't exactly put her finger on it. The dog looked cute but she definitely didn't want him all over her like he was the others. She didn't even want to touch him for that matter. Aoi, as the blue-haired girl was called, seemed to have borderline superpowers so that was worth attempting to comprehend at some point. "Sure, what the hell. Hanging out with you nut jobs again might not be the worst thing in the world" she said as she pulled out her phone and began perusing missed texts and other such things from the time of the event. What a clash of aesthetics. Traditional-ish Japanese attire but with a piece of modern technology in hand and at least one manga volume stuffed up her sleeve. Who knew what else was hiding in there?

"Ahaha, they're quite the characters, huh?" Hana chuckled, having overheard Tsubame's desire to hang around with the gang of nutjobs. The princess really did like these kids, seeing them goof off in their funny antics. "That Koga... It would've been nice to actually see how she'd fight against Director Rikuto... and I kind of wanna see how a doctor plays Vanguard. Only person I know who does that is my mom."

"Is she busy like him too?" Jessie asked, trying to shrug off Aoi and Tamotsu having some kind of moment. That, and he just conceded to Tsubame following him around.

"Yeah... She used to be out of country a lot, actually. But when things got more hectic, she decided to stay in Japan more with us."

"Interesting!" Everyone's favorite moth girl chimed in, passing by as she invaded the conversation. "So the illustrious Mom Espoir can take time out of her busy life overseas to be with her family! Yet, our old boy Rikuto can't make time for his-"

"Chris." Varess intervened, stopping her from bringing up more on the doctor. Killer Queen merely scoffed, having gotten her wind back as everything was calming down. "By the way... Miss Gumball?" The man addressed Aoi. "You can't take the animals home..."

"But I'm not taking them home!" Aoi began to correct the secretary as even Fuwatan fell under her banner, becoming the right hand of Commander Undyne as her Gumball Armada would take the world by storm. "They're following me by choice!" The young lass declared as several animals even saluted, acknowledging and agreeing with her statement. Hana giggled and Varess couldn't help but laugh, mixed with a bit of exhaustion since this was the kind of energy he wasn't good with...

"You know, little rat. You ought to learn what an animal's life is like before trying to take one in." Chris spoke with a mocking tone, tapping a dainty digit to cheek as her alluring voice held hints of malice and disdain. "Like... a bug, for example! That way, I could step all over you." Her gaze became much more intense, wearing a grin of evil which startled the intended target.

"... Um..." Hana felt the need to speak up after a moment, seeing as Chris' violent words caused a few seconds of silence in the conversation. "... We'll return the animals, don't worry." The idol promised, and expected a whine out of Aoi. Yet... Aoi was busy meeting the Megacolony Clan Leader's glare. The gumball was not smiling, but her frown was one of fear as she held her breath. Remembering her opponent's words, there was apparently some hostility thanks to her overly bubbly personality. The hateful stare lasted for a few moments before the moth gave a lofty "hmph", departing.

"... Geez, what did you do now?" Jessie said to his friend, feeling himself exhale as the tense air finally unraveled.

"I... really don't know..." Aoi responded, folding her arms.

"Oh good, you're still here." While the group was in their own little world, the panda girl of the desert had reappeared, approaching them - Jessie specifically. "Thanks for the pudding money."

"Huh? Oh, don't worry about it-"

"Whoa!!" Aoi interrupted Jessie. "That panda is really cute!! You must become a member of the Undyne Forces! My lil' buddy Fuwatan can train you!"

"But I'm not a panda."

"What?!" Aoi felt like her entire world had been shattered.

"She's in costume you idiot!" Jessie shouted at his airheaded friend. Then came the whining gumball Hana expected and patted in comfort.

"Can you help me out of my costume, actually?" The panda requested of the brunette, turning to reveal the zipper at her back. Jessie, being the nice guy he was, complied as he pulled it down and removed the detachable head of the mascot outfit, revealing a blonde child with pretty braided hair held by a silver ornament at its end, topped by a lengthy, curved antenna. "Phew..." Like Varess, she had been getting pretty hot in it, especially with her own layers of clothing still draped on. She wore a black and blue color scheme mixed with white in a uniform dress, adorned with gold colored buttons and clips that brought her attire together at her middle and various straps. Outfitted in blue, key-shaped designed diamond shaped accessories, the pudding loving girl's aesthetic was a pleasant contrast of darker shades with her own brighter, natural colors. Bright blue eyes went along with it all, dressed with elegance down to her black tights and blue heels.

Jessie was surprised at how such a childish, sweet addicted girl was strikingly pretty. The opening in her clothes revealing a portion of her back completing a beautiful picture... or so he thought, but... Since he was taller than her, he was able to see over her shoulders without trying. It was thanks to this his eyes had stumbled upon her torso, spying a pair of... rather... large, shapely...

"Oh god." He muttered to himself, shaking his head. For just one moment, he had become his brother. "Ah..." Jessie's gonna need to cleanse his eyes and soul in holy water. He has long been at the age to start finding more interest in girls, but he was desensitized by Aoi's innocent personality and being turned off by Bashiro's perverted ways, so he tried to choke it down... But...

"Thanks." The girl expressed her gratitude, breaking him out of his trance as she turned to the group in her full appearance. "By the way, my name is Ves Yamata." Ves introduced herself to the entire gang, not just Jessie in particular.

With the event concluded before she had a chance to fight the panda, Sakuya wound up following Ves back from the desert. She rejoined Jessie and Aoi shortly after the panda was un-costumed, making Sakuya pause for a moment to take in how stunningly adorable this girl looked. Her golden blonde hair reminded Sakuya of her own, though it was less vibrant than hers, and her frilly, poofy dress complimented the girl's short stature perfectly. Although, Sakuya did wonder how that had all fit into the panda costume...

Her thoughts were interrupted by Aoi's exclamation, followed by the girl introducing herself properly. Ves Yamata, that was the name of Oracle Think Tank's current clan leader. Committing the name to memory, Sakuya approached her superior from behind, joining the group properly now. "She isn't a real panda, but she is quite adorable, isn't she?" Sakuya giggled, entering the growing circle. "But anyway, how did you do, Aoi? I'm sure you had far more fun than I ever could have." She gave more of a half-laugh this time, briefly recalling her close encounter with Chris and her Longhorns. A shiver ran down her spine, and she pushed the unpleasant memory back down. "I'd love to hear all about it. Oh, but first..."

She turned to Ves now, giving a tiny curtsy. "Truly, it was a pleasure meeting you, Ves." She began, straightening up and pulling out her phone from her pocket. "If you like, we could exchange phone numbers? We can arrange a time for our little dessert trip more easily that way." She nodded to the pudding-addicted girl, holding her phone ready. She was smiling brightly at Ves now, happy to be making yet another new friend.

Jessie was, admittedly, staring a little at the cute red ribboned torso of the pudding-demon before shaking his head again and swearing under his breath.

"Not a panda..." Meanwhile, Aoi whined as Sakuya addressed her with comical tears overflowing. "... Oh, right, I only got one gold card and I didn't get to fight the branch director!" The gumball spoke, frustrated which prompted Hana to raise her brow. It was as if the idol was trying to convey if she hadn't spent all her time running around to band the animals together for something silly and pointless, she would've done well. Alas, she decided to be nice.

"Sure." Ves nodded, still in a straight-faced tone. Seemed to just be her normal personality as even when she was happy, it was only tiny smiles instead of big ones like Aoi. The girl brandished a black cell phone with Oracle Think Tank's clan symbol drawn onto the back, proceeding to exchange numbers and fill up her very small number of contacts with Sakuya.

Once she did that, Ves moved to gather her costume as the sounds of plastic came from the pile. Jessie expressed confusion, only to see a number of empty pudding cups get dumped out. "What the- You kept those in there?!"

"Littering is wrong."

"That's a lot of cups..." Hana stated, sweating.

"Is this an addiction?" Jessie inquired.

"Pudding is not an addiction." Ves retorted. "It is a lifestyle."

"Not sure why I expected a better answer." The brunette groaned, getting annoyed as he normally would with the ridiculous quirks of the people around him.

"... Hold on, Ves Yamata... Ah, that's why you're so interested, Sakuya." Hana pondered for a moment, having recalled and repeated the name until it finally dawned on her who the child was. Naturally, the Korean champion playing the same clan would take some interest. "Oracle Think Tank's Clan Leader, Ves Yamata. "Aren't you the youngest clan leader in the association? You came out of nowhere, showing skills of a prodigy and soared far enough to get the attention of the-"

"CLAN LEADER?!" Aoi shouted, stopping Hana and causing several animals to jump in surprise.

"Oh boy." Jessie chirped, seeing Aoi's eyes light up like a kid at a candy store who just got their allowance. Ves preemptively hid behind Jessie and Sakuya as the gumball - like with Victoria - began to spitfire questions.

"You're a clan leader?! You play Oracle Think Tank too?! You're strong, right?! But you're in Zoo, that's weird! I'm Aoi Undyne, ni hao! What kind of cards do you use? Are they like Sakuya's? Are they different? How are they different? Do you like your deck? Do you wanna fight?!"

Really, they should've seen this coming.

"Uh..." Ves was kind of overwhelmed, for good reason. "My dad works in Zoo... so I stay here."

"Varess Yamata, Ves Yamata. So your dad is the number two of Zoo... Makes sense why I've never heard of you in the United Sanctuary branch." Hana noted.

With numbers successfully exchanged between her and Ves, Sakuya stowed her phone away to ensure her hands were free for just this occasion. When Aoi learned Ves was the clan leader for Sakuya's own Oracle Think Tank, she exploded with questions, just as she'd done when she encountered Victoria the other day. This meant it was time for the shrine maiden to intervene, and save her new friend from the ball of overwhelming enthusiasm that was Aoi Undyne.

"Aoi-chaaaan~"

Lightly pinching the gumball's ear, Sakuya tugged Aoi back from the pudding lover, keeping up a happy smile for her. "What did I tell you about giving our friends some space, dear?" She said with a stern, but quiet tone, keeping a firm hold on the hyperactive child. "If you're so truly interested, you may join us for our little pudding trip. We can all enjoy a sweet treat together while we chat. Alright, Aoi?"

Ves' reveal was something else. That panda costume hid a lot, both her figure and discarded pudding cups to name a few things. How strange that a cute girl like this was the one who most felt in place as an anime character. Tsubame couldn't help but find it amusing.

"To think people like you actually exist. If I knew vanguard players were this shonen I'd have gotten out and about with them more often." the kimono girl said playfully while twirling the ends of hair with a free hand.

Tamotsu however wasn't quite as eager for how this introduction to the Oracle Think Tank clan leader was going. Aoi seemed really impressed and started rapid-firing questions to this important figure in the association.

"I'm a clan leader too..." he mumbled to himself with his head held low. This managed to catch Tsubame's attention who then had a question for the Great Nature Clan Leader.

"Don't you wanna get out of costume too tiger?" she said with regards to how the others had helped Ves. This helped keep the pup from getting too low-spirited for very long as he perked up when addressed. It was a chance to brag about his handiwork.

"There's nothing to get out of! This is an elaborate paint job by yours truly!" he said while holding his head high and twirling about slowly so the others could appreciate the work he'd done. The ends of his sash waved about as he did so acting like the arms of a person bowing.

"Huh wow... a talking dog with that kind of devotion to cosplay. Definitely a new one." Tsubame said in reply to what probably should have freaked her out more. It was all whatever really to her. Just more things to make mental notes of. The world had a whole host of ways to upset the sacred tropes. Like this idol girl that was hovering around the group. She didn't seem very idol-y off stage. Highly suspect.

More important was a proposed pudding trip by Sakuya which caught Tamotsu's excited attention and appetite and confused Tsubame until she remembered that was Ves' defining characteristic.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Aoi cried in pain as Sakuya had once again stopped her barrage of questions, feeling the pinch at her ear growing more painful as it lasted. "Stop! Stop! I was just askin' questions!!" Her arms flailed about wildly as she complained, pulled away from the clan leader. "Fine, fine, I'll ask over pudding!"

Hana observed the kids but then looked to Tamotsu every now and then since he was part of the gang too. He seemed crestfallen over something... She listened and heard him mention he's a clan leader too. With a comforting laugh, she crouched down to pet the young canine. "Sorry, you're a pretty big name in the association too." The idol spoke, letting him know he was just as important as the prodigy. Though, she perked up with curiosity as Tsubame asked about his costume, and her eyes widened as he explained it was an elaborate paint job. Since she was petting him, she could tell it wasn't just a mascot's uniform... As Tsubame said, that was incredible devotion. "Though, uh... how exactly did you pull off dying your own fur in such a complex way? I would think that's kinda hard."

"Pudding!" Ves chirped, raising her hand in response to Sakuya's words of the pudding trip.

"Actually," the brunette re-entered the conversation. "You guys mind if we stop at Card Capital Two first? I wanna get an update on our FICA scores and check quests."

"Eh?" Aoi mewled. "... Are you trying to get ahead of me in score, Jessie?"

"... Maybe."

"I cannot allow you to!"

"Too bad! I did better than you this event! I beat Tamotsu and Ves!"

"Whaaaat?!"

"Heh... Well, it was still hard. Clan leaders are strong... It's been hard enough trying to understand Great Nature and their new cards, but I only saw Oracle Think Tank from Sakuya, so I had no idea how to fight Ves. All I know is she's really good."

"All the more reason for us to fight!"

"I don't mind going to Card Capital Two with you weird people." Ves stated, which confused them as she called them odd. "You guys are loud, but you seem fun... It was... 'typically shonen', I think I heard?" The blonde stated her observation as she added a tidbit of Tsubame's speech.

"Oh look what you've done." Jessie lamented, turning to Tsubame and blaming her.

"What's shonen?" Aoi inquired.

Tamotsu felt a bit better as Hana paid him some attention and acknowledged his position. At least someone thought he was great. And she came with a great question. How did he manage to dye himself so well?

"Oh that's easy!" he said as his sash snapped from its motion to be square in front of the idol. With it he produced his deck from seemingly nowhere and began showing off with shuffling and fanning out the deck. "These are kinda my hands. I spent aaaalllllllll night getting my fur just the right colors all over. Didn't sleep a bit! And I ran over here to get the animals ready as soon as i was done." he said, pretty cheerfully for how tired he must have been. He certainly wasn't showing it but probably would when he and Jessie got home.

Tsubame meanwhile was more caught up in this little rivalry between Jessie and Aoi. FICA score didn't mean a ton to her as shown by her general lack of enthusiasm for excelling at the events. Ves however made her laugh when she attempted to talk something like her and used the phrase 'typically shonen'. It sounded hilarious out of someone else's mouth, but especially Ves'. She snickered at Jessie's pain and enjoyed the idea of invading their vocabulary in this way.

"Heading to a card shop sounds fun enough. I'll tell you all about shonen along the way." Tsubame said to the excited gumball. She had much to teach and she was sure most of it would go over the girl's head. She'd never really tried to explain shonen to overtly shonen people before so this was going to be a trip.

"Don't worry, my dear, you'll get your pudding in time." Sakuya said with a laugh, patting the excited little girl's head before her attention was drawn to Jessie. He suggested stopping by Card Capital to update their FICA scores, and look for potential quests to take. "Oh, of course. We should all take this opportunity." Sakuya nodded. With a plan of action settled, her focus shifted back once again to Ves. "They are an eccentric bunch, aren't they? But I think you'll fit right in with us" She began, gesturing to the rest of the group. Indeed, a number of peculiar folk formed this group, ranging from gumballs and shrine maidens to dogs and now pandas. "Going anywhere with Aoi is certain to brighten one's day, and Card Capital is the perfect place for us to enjoy ourselves together, don't you think?" She beamed radiantly towards Ves, smiling down at her.

"You must be tired after all that work and no sleep... Though, now I'm curious about this sash. How does it work?" Hana commended his effort, believing he deserved a good rest... which he'll probably get immediately after his abundance of energy ran out. That left the mystical accessory effectively working as Tamotsu's hands. The princess was no stranger to magic, but there was always an explanation and the young girl in her that was always curious inquired of it.

"I must know of this 'shonen' you speak!" Aoi replied to Tsubame, holding her up to her promise. "Does it help you get better at Vanguard?" Then came the obvious game-related question.

This left Ves to Sakuya, who noted that it was a jolly, odd bunch of characters in their little circle. Between Aoi and Tamotsu being hyperactive children, Jessie was probably the most normal person among them and he was easily sucked into the gravitational pull of their queer personalities. And as Sakuya looked at her with a shining smile as Ves stared at her blankly. "You're calling me weird, aren't you?" The shrine maiden said she'd fit right in... The pudding lover picked up on the potential implication.

The squad left for Card Capital Two, but not before staff had to take the animals all from Aoi. Varess promised she might be able to adopt one later, they'll work it out.

The event ended and the blond felt empty from it. Coming all the way here, super late of course, just to walk away feeling empty handed. Mirai "defeated" the bug lady Chris but not the way she wanted. Despite always being carefree, this result got to her a little. It was clear that the fight was basically one sided. Her Royal Paladin deck struggling to fight through the stuns and not being able to do big plays. Only reason she won was by a Lady Luck blessed deck out on the finishing attack. Even though there are no ties in Vanguard, this clearly felt like one. But even then, Mirai actually lost. The fact that if the draw trigger wouldn't show up, she would upright lose. Not only that, but being fooled that the bug lady didn't have any gold cards to help her complete the event.

"Mean bug lady... but she was strong... too strong! And I have to get stronger myself if I ever fight her again!" Mirai said to herself. From a small depression to hyped up energy once again, she looked up to the sky with a fist in the air. Her determination now ever more unbreakable, she will work on the weaknesses of her new deck and become a better fighter than she ever was.

This event might of ended at a weird and sad note, but sometimes the greatest stories begin with adversity and hardships. With that, she went off to find the nearest card store and find ways to strengthen her deck while meet new people!