Fine Dining and Card Games (Hikari and Jace)

Things seemed sort of rough for Hikari. Despite technically being a "winner" of the Zoo event, the actual fight she earned had gone disastrously. As she walked through the busy downtown streets, she thought about where she had went wrong. Was it the mistakes she made? Perhaps she had just gotten unlucky? Or Varess had gotten too lucky? Maybe it was just a bad match-up, and she wouldn't have won anyway. Her deck needed reevaluation. Suddenly, Hikari's train of thought was interrupted by a fascinating smell. It wasn't something she recognized. Looking up, she saw where it was coming from. "Antonis Noodles and American Wonders," the sign read. An American restaurant, huh? Hikari had eaten at McDabbles before, of course, but never a restaurant that had described themselves as American. She decided to take a closer look.

It looked like a pretty standard place, on closer inspection. Like any other stereotypical noodle shop you'd see on any street in Japan. What stood out was the menu, and what was cooking behind the counter. Hikari was unfamiliar with American cuisine, but whatever it was, it smelled delicious. She eagerly took a seat at the counter and called in, "Yo! Can I get a..." she looked at the menu. She recognized none of these things. "A double bacon cheeseburger?" she read out loud, simultaneously placing an order and trying to comprehend what she was reading. Well. She would find out soon enough.

While she waited, she reached into her pocket and took out her Nova Grappler deck fanning it out on the counter in front of her. As she stared at it, trying to understand where she had gone wrong, she had an idea. She retrieved another deck, one that she had built, but never used. "Dimension Police..." she muttered, and placed the deck next to her other one, "Maybe you're the answer..."

The tall snow haired boy responds in english at first, to tease at the uncertain request. "Ah yes, a classic! Coming right up!" After chuckling to himself for a moment, and placing the patties on his hot side of the stove and the buns on the cooler side to toast, he spins on his heels to greet the customer. "Pardon, that was 'Right away young miss.'" He laughs again as the Japanese cook with him shakes his head. "I am surprised someone ordered that at all today... what would your grandfather say..."

"He would probably say 'Wow Jace, you are bringing such great variety and good food to the Japanese people, thank you." Jace replied, a tad bit sarcastically. Realistically he is not sure what he would say, but he hoped that he would at least be a little bit proud, if not amused. In truth he didn't know him much, and only knows what the older customers have told him and complimented him on.

He then turns his head back to the new customer, nodding and smiling. He can't help but be a little bit excited, this is one of the first days he added his new menu items, and until then people only ordered the Ramen they were familiar with before. A day dream of the smell of the burger attracting a large crowd and proving his risky move correct began before it was cut off by what he saw in his peripheral. "Oh, are those Vanguard cards? I had heard about that game when I came here, you play it?"

Hikari was taken somewhat aback by the sudden English. At least, she thought it was English. She didn't know very much, either way. Though, she realized, it probably shouldn't have surprised her, given that she was in an American restaurant. It stood to reason that the owner would be an American. His slight accent also betrayed his nationality, though his Japanese was surprisingly good regardless. At his mention of Vanguard, Hikari grinned at him and nodded, "Yeah, that's right!" she said, [color=#6600FF]"It's awesome! I'm still pretty new to it, actually, but now that I've started, I can't stop thinking about it!" She motioned to the two decks she had laid out, "I'm trying decide what I want to do for the next event, but there's just so many options, y'know? Between all the different clans... Just gotta go with what your heart tells you, I guess." Hikari's grin faltered for a moment, as she realized this guy probably didn't really know what she was talking about, but she quickly recovered, "But, hey, that probably doesn't make a lot of sense to you, does it?" she chuckled.

Jace leaned against the counter and took his tooth pick out of his mouth to fiddle with. With a lazy hand motion he beckoned the cook to take over for him, seeing as the stand wasn't particularly busy. He lazily looked over the cards and reflected as she explained, then nodded.

"Actually, I was quite the card gamer in America. So I understand the struggle of picking a deck before an event." He sighs and looks between the two. He then thinks back to his pre tournament preps. "With all other factors like viability, archetype and meta aside. The last thing I thought of was, does this deck feel right. Half of the game is your own mind. If you aren't psyched for your deck you will have a disadvantage."

Jace turns to check on the burger, that bacon sizzling and creating a colorful greasy aura. "I am sure you will make the right decision for you." He then starts to prepare her dishware, and lays out a napkin and a glass. "A drink?"

"A card gamer in America, huh?" Hikari repeated back. His advice was sound, and it was clear he knew what he was talking about. Nova Grappler did feel right, she thought. But at the same time, maybe she was getting too attached to her first deck. Maybe Dimension Police would feel even more right, if she just gave it a chance. "If not Vanguard, what'd you play?" she then asked. There was tons of successful card games across the world, of course, but Vanguard was by far the most popular in Japan. Hikari wasn't sure what the climate for Vanguard was like in America, nor did she know what other kinds of card games would be popular there, or if they were at all similar to Vanguard.

Regardless, she nodded at him, "Yeah, a drink sounds good. Do you have Hill Sweat?" she said. As a self-respecting gamer, when it came to carbonated beverages, Hill Sweat was the only choice. Anyone could tell you that. After a moment, she asked, "So, do you know anything about Vanguard? If you like card games so much, you really have to check it out. Everyone's crazy for it right now!"

Jace quietly takes out the tap and presses the Hill Sweet button, filling the glass with the carbonated beverage. "I was rather successful in Sorcery: The Congregating. I hear it doesn't really play anything like Vanguard... we have Vanguard in the states, but it isn't nearly as popular as Sorcery."

He turns to receive a completed burger, stacked high with beef, cheese and bacon and places it delicately in front of her. "I'm mostly retired now, but would like to try out the card game. I just don't really have someone to play it with or get me introduced."

Sorcery: The Congregating. Hikari was only passingly familiar with that game. Apparently it was some old American card game? Hikari didn't know the specifics, but what she did know was pretty in line with what this guy knew. It certainly wasn't Vanguard. She accepted her burger with a nod, took a big bite out of it, and washed it down with her Hill Sweat when she was done. After she swallowed, she said, "You could probably find someone willing to teach you at a card shop, or one of the branches," she took another bite, swallowed, and continued, [color=#6600FF]"Or if you got registered, you could put up a quest asking for someone to help you figure out it. And the association is rolling out all these events now, so there's no shortage of opportunity to play." She continued to tear into her burger, "Wow this is actually really good, you know?" she said, her mouth still full, "Why have I never had one of these before?"

Setting her burger down, she looked at the man thoughtfully, "Come to think of it, if you don't mind being taught my a newbie kid, even I could teach you," she suggested, "It's a pretty simple game, really. I make dumb mistakes all the time, but I know enough to teach." Actually, Hikari kind of liked that idea. She could take the role of the veteran player (Even though she'd only been playing for about a week), who would point out all her student's newbie mistakes. Yes, that would make her feel much better about her own shortcomings.

He nodded and smiled. "You know, you are brimming with good ideas." Jace enjoyed passing on his knowledge to the new generation when he played Sorcery, and still does through his streaming. Seeing the young girl brimming with excitement at the chance to teach made him chuckle. "So, which one am I playing? Unfortunately I don't have a deck to play against you with." He points at the decks curiously, while wiping his other hand off with the towel.

Hikari thought about it. On one hand, she already knew Nova Grappler, and it'd be easiest to teach him if she knew the deck she was playing better. On the other hand, she did want to try out Dimension Police. And using a new deck would be a suitable handicap, considering this guy had never played the game. Plus, if it turned out this Dimension Police deck was completely unusable, it'd be unfair to the newbie to make him use it against her somewhat competent Nova Grapplers. That was it, then. She collected her Nova Grappler cards and slid the deck over to him, "You'll be playing my main deck, Nova Grapplers, led by Exxtreme Battler, Victor," she told him, "I can explain the deck as we play." She brought her Dimension Police cards together and placed them aside on the counter, "You ready to throw down?"

Jace smirked and smiled as he looked through the cards. The Nova Grapplers... the cards look very masculine, and was not something he expected from the small girl. The deck seemed jam packed with warriors and swordsmen and... weird looking robots. He felt the texture and rotated it around his fingers... they are stiffer than Sorcery cards. The odd graphics and wordy text with weird symbols discouraged him, but at the same time intrigued him. He flipped through the cards and nods. "Sounds pretty cheesy but sure, I am ready to throw down."

The cook rolled his eyes and continued to run the store, as if he wasn't there. This must happen often, as the store seems more efficient now with Jace no longer in the way. "This will be a nice test for you anyway, seeing your decks compete against each other to prove themselves to you." Jace suddenly realized how cringey that was, and was visibly ashamed of the odd analogy. He lays the deck down gently after a generous shuffle. "But I must warn you, you may be teaching me, but I will do my best to provide to you a challenge." Just like that, a small competitive spark lights in his eyes. His posture and confidence into a game he has never played is either dumb overconfidence or a tell of his experienced past.

The fight was particularly intense for what was just supposed to be an introductory fight. Both fighters were unaccustomed to their decks, Hikari playing Dimension Police for the first time, and the man playing Vanguard in general for the first time. Slowly teaching him how the game worked, Hikari took the first turn. At first, he seemed a bit hesitant to play along with the "Stand up! Vanguard!" chant, but once he gave in, he seemed to enjoy it. The first few turns went by slowly as they played few cards and traded attacks. On the second turn, Hikari got carried away with teaching the man how to play, and threw away a 10000 shield blocker to give him a practical demonstration of how blocking works. It was important to teach him, she thought, even at detriment to herself. On turn three, she called her new avatar, Grandgallop, regretting that she wasn't able to play Daikaiser first for the breakride skill. After she called out her chant for Grandgallop, the man seemed a bit taken aback. He called it cheesy, which sort of offended Hikari. After a moment, though, he admitted it was actually kind of cool. Hikari took that opportunity to explain the concept of avatars to him. It seemed that was a foreign concept in Sorcery.

More important was her opponent's turn 3. Hikari was forced to fight her very own avatar, Exxtreme Battler, Victor. Worse than that, he strode into Victplsma, then called White Hank and Sazanda, the two cards Hikari knew to fear better than anyone, and placed Final Wrench behind Sazanda, making it even scarier. What followed was a terrible onslaught that boosted Sazanda to nearly 40000 power. Although she was able to hold out, the entire turn gave Hikari shivers. This was what Nova Grappler was made for. This was Hikari's passion.

Finally, it came back around to Hikari's turn. She strode into Super Cosmic Hero, X-Rogue, and then began her counter attack. A series of attacks and generation break abilities caused an avalanche of increasing power and skills to trigger, boosting her vanguard over the 40000 power mark. She unleashed an unstoppable attack that forced the man's Sazanda and another rear guard to retire, while also drawing her two cards. Luckily for him, though, she got no triggers. Also luckily for him, he got a trigger that put his vanguard outside the range of her other rear guard. She launched an attack at White Hank, which was blocked. Despite her explosive turn, she as ultimately defended against. It was his turn once more.

He strode into Tribrute, which Hikari wasn't too worried about. What she was worried about, however, was that the man called another Sazanda. Oh no. With a hand filled with no shields better than 5000, and no perfect guards, she was forced to use her entire hand and intercepts to attempt to block the assault, but it was all for naught. In the end, she couldn't check the heal trigger she had hoped would save her. She was defeated.

She pumped her hands into the air. That fight was awesome "Hell yeah!" Hikari cheered, "That was so hype!" Even though Hikari lost, it was to her own deck, and it was such an exciting fight. Plus, she was happy her opponent had gotten such a great introduction to the game. She grinned wildly at him, "You're a fast learner," she said, "You picked up on how Nova Grapplers work really quickly!" Hikari took back her Nova Grappler deck. She wasn't sure how to feel now. She felt really good playing Dimension Police, but Nova Grappler was showing how strong it could really be. It seemed she would just have to use both. She looked at the man again, "Now, you've just got to find what clan you think really suits you. You seemed like a natural fit for Nova Grappler, but maybe I'm just biased. You can get started with pretty much any clan at the various card shops, she told him, "Or you can visit the local branch building and see if the clan leaders can help you out there."

Jace's old instincts kicked in, and he began observing... everything. Taking in her words, and seeing the triggers go off. He was pretty surprised with how much card advantage everyone had when striding. But also... how much of her hand he actually knew about. He could predict her guards, and even predict her targets for rear guard retiring. He had the game mapped out for the last two turns, and had a convincing win lined up, even if he hadn't gotten any triggers. Sazanda was STRONG, and Nova Grapplers felt very strong and rewarding. The multiple attacks were fairly strong, and after learning the G deck was a deck he could actually use and WASN'T a sideboard? It opened up a lot more possibilities for a deck he didn't even look at before playing. Once he was taught the basics, he read the abilities and understood their intent. This game was nothing like Sorcery, but the synergies were clear.He debated feigning ignorance when he saw he could likely win, but then had a second thought. He enjoyed it when his students proved themselves, and denying her that satisfaction would be terrible.

So he demolished her with attacks to spare, and as he waited for tears, he got what he was hopping for, an excited card game teacher. "Your deck is very powerful, and is a reflection of your deck building skills. No matter what, this victory was yours. Not only did you teach someone new... but this hype game might of created a new Vanguard player."

He chuckles and digs into his pocket, searching for a card. "I need to be honest, as I wasn't being very forthcoming. I debated telling people this, since I feel like this doesn't count for much here, but I figure you would like to know." He pulls out a trading card, purple in color that says "Sorcery the Congregating: Pro Tour World Champion Jace Antonis" with his picture in the corner, and a small bio... written in english.

'Jace Antonis, now two time Pro Tour World Champion in Sorcery the Gathering, after his first win when he was thirteen. He has made over $500,000 dollars worth of winnings from various tournaments including the Pro Tours. He credits his success to the Darby brothers, who each share varied Pro Tour successes, and forming their team 'Trinity.' On the back of the card, is a Itch url written out, and a signature.

Although most of the card would be illegible to someone who spoke Japanese, the high dollar signs are discernable, as they break down his winnings between seasons and tournaments. "I am kind of a highly ranked player in Sorcery. I didn't tell you cause I didn't want you to feel nervous or compare yourself to me. I hope you would like to play with me again in the future... when I develop my own deck and find a path I like. I will probably take your advice and visit a branch building."

Hikari read the card she'd been handed. It was in English, which made it pretty hard to read, but she recognized two parts. The first part matched up with the name of the restaurant, which implied that "Jace Antonis" was probably the guys name.The other part she recognized was the giant number with the dollar sign before it. "Fi-... fi-..." she sputtered, "FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND?!" She was blown away. She didn't know the exact conversion rate between dollars and yen, but she knew that was a crazy amount of money, especially for someone who looked as young as this Jace guy. "Wow, no wonder you're such a natural. That's absolutely crazy." She had no idea you could make so much money from card games. She knew Vanguard was a viable career in this era, but apparently Sorcery was too, at least in America. "Well, I definitely look forward to taking you on again, Antonis-san! I hope we meet at the Magallanica event!" She finished her burger and Hill Sweat and payed for her meal. As she began to leave, she looked back, "Oh, yeah! My name is Hikari Sugimoto!" she called, "You can call me Sugimoto-sensei!" she said with a wry grin, then ran off with a wave.

Jace holds up the Yen and starts to protest. "You don't need to pay, y-" but then sighs, she was energetic and fast. He wasn't able to explain how unlikely it is for anyone to make that much, but then again that would seem like bragging. Or exchange contact information... or any way of getting in touch. He laughs, and yells back towards her.

"See you soon, Sugimoto-sensei!"

The cook grunts and shakes his head. "I thought you were done with card game foolishness. You finally have a steady income, and you are now only encouraging the youth to go down a path of disappointment." Jace shrugs off the comment, and shakes his head. "I don't plan on being that serious, but I can't just let this trend pass me by without partaking in it at least a little bit."