1, Summon out Petra. Leaving Reefa her full board might mean leaving her the resources to play through our defenses and make us pay. We need to start cutting through her forces as soon as we can.

1: Summon Petra immediately! giving Reefa more time will just let her play more defensive cards!

1. Look how profanely she displays that slaughtered bird!

1, if only to reunite Dotti with Petra!

Serah v. Reefa Pt. 3 (1/7) Art by Clockwork Seal 2024/01/28(Sun)19:44 No. 1082047 ID: 75b262
File 170649989814.png - (0.96MB , 1200x1200 , hors.png )

Serah decides to play to her outs. In layman’s terms, she’ll play according to the path that will lead to victory, regardless of how rough a journey it will take to get there. Keeping her board wipe will require Petra to be attacked while Dotti is on the field, and if Petra has an Exposure Counter on her before Dotti shows up, then there’s no reason to attack Petra again. Serah decides to take the risk.

“I Special Summon Petra, Devoted Mother by tributing Starving Fox,” Serah says as the little fox disappears into thin air. “Sorry, Dotti, but you’ll have to wait two turns to be reunited with Petra. It’ll just be a little while.”

“Who’s Dotti?” asks the newly-summoned Petra.

“The fox who saved you,” Serah sighs. “From those awful creatures in the woods?”

“Oh!” Petra says. “You mean Foxie. Such a wonderful, fluffy fox; I miss her dearly. She was so precious, letting me pet her soft little tummy and squeaking her little fox squeaks. My children love to hear stories about Foxie. Why, there was this one time I brought along a boy from my village and she chased him away, would you believe that? So protective and fierce, but she calmed right down whenever I brought food. Her favorites were…”

Serah and Reefa exchange a glance. Neither wants to interrupt a Mom Story, so they whisper to each other as Petra rambles.

“Do you intend to declare an attack?” Reefa asks.

“Um, yes,” Serah whispers back. “Taranis will steal Tirzaea’s Suspicious Vial, and once he’s done that, Petra will attack Tirzaea to put an exposure counter on her.”

Taranis nods in agreement, swooping in toward Tirzaea, but not finding the vial anywhere visible. He decides to do some up-close investigation.

“Aaaahh!” Tirzaea shrieks in a flurry of slicing and dicing talons. Taranis shreds her dress, revealing a racy leather set of underwear where she keeps her deadly implements. He swoops in and promptly swipes the vial from the panicked noble as she tries in vain to re-clasp her buckles.

“Oh, dear,” Petra says, her story trailing off. “Is that hoofer clutching the scandalous hallmarks of an assassin, with all that leather and space for hidden vials? I’ll have none of that in my household. Come on, drop those! No leather for you, and no poisoning at the dinner table!”

Though Taranis was the one to strip her of her equip spell and clothes, Petra is the one who applies the Exposure Counter with two swift, firm slaps to Tirzaea’s trembling hands clutching the scraps of her secret assassin underwear. She drops the garments in shame.

Serah ends her turn, leaving Trizaea to deal with her dressing-down and Reefa’s Royal Guards cowering in justified fear of an irritated mother.

Serah v. Reefa Pt. 3 (2/7) Art by Himitsu 2024/01/28(Sun)19:46 No. 1082049 ID: 75b262
File 170650000337.png - (252.08KB , 628x1000 , Oh_Is_This_Yours_s.png )

“I should summon my own mother to deal with this situation,” Reefa muses, “But I hesitate to put her at risk for a second round of clothing damage this tournament. It just isn’t right what you’re subjecting our minions to, Lady Kensington. Your tactics are crude and uncouth, and you’ve forced me to take drastic measures. I’ll have you know I only drafted this card so no one else would see it.”

Reefa carefully places the card so that its image can only be seen for the briefest of moments before she resolves its effect by taking Tirzaea’s vial spell from Taranis.

Oh, is This Yours? Target one equip spell attached to an opponent's character; equip that spell to a character on your side of the field. If you are the owner of the targeted spell, draw a card.

“Why, yes,” Reefa says, drawing a card. “That is my equip card. Tirzaea, I have returned your equipment spell to you, and as such, you may now attack proudly.”

“But I’m still naked,” Tirzaea whimpers.

“Well, then you shouldn’t have chosen to moonlight as an assassin,” Reefa shoots back. “Don’t you want to be a fille fatale?”

“Not like this,” Tirzaea says, holding her vial gingerly while also trying to cover her chest with her golden mane. “C-can you get me my old dress back?”

“When we win,” Reefa replies. “We still have work to do here. Let’s deal with the biggest threat first.”

“That bird!” Tirzaea says with an angry nicker. “He shred my clothes!”

“I said the biggest threat.”

Serah v. Reefa Pt. 3 (3/7) Art by Himitsu 2024/01/28(Sun)19:47 No. 1082050 ID: 75b262
File 170650004799.png - (413.76KB , 1000x1000 , Petra_Stripped_s.png )

Serah straightens up. She needs to activate her trap card to protect Petra immediately after Taranis is attacked. So long as Reefa attacks Taranis, everything will go according to plan, and-

“Azzeki, attack Petra!”

“What?” Serah gasps. “Wouldn’t you rather go for Taranis? He steals panties, you should attack him! He’s a lewd bird!”

Taranis squawks.

“Do you take me for a court jester?” Reefa says. “I made it to the second round of this tournament, did you honestly think I got here by not reading the card text? I know a board wipe combo when I see one, and I’m defusing that bomb now. Azzeki, continue!”

“Oh, goodness!” Petra squeaks as Azzeki swoops in. “Stop that! Keep your mitts away from that clasp, or I’ll- ahh!”

Serah pulls at her blouse strings nervously. This wasn’t the plan!

“Now for the bird,” Reefa says. “Tirzaea, you may have your revenge and pluck that chicken! Go forth and-”

“Uh… time for plan B!” Serah declares. “I activate my trap card anyway!”

Alluring Defense: Continuous Trap Card. This card’s controller’s attack position characters cannot be targeted for battle while there are face-up defense position characters on the same side of the field.

“What is this?” Reefa examines the card closely. “So… you’re forcing me to only attack defense-position characters, which is Petra… and because of Clothing Damage Quest, all combat damage is prevented… and she already has an exposure counter. What good would giving her an additional exposure counter do?”

“Nothing!” Serah says. “So you now have no way of applying exposure counters to my other characters, and therefore no way to deal damage to my Life Points. You should give up now.”

Serah v. Reefa Pt. 3 (4/7) Art by Himitsu 2024/01/28(Sun)19:48 No. 1082051 ID: 75b262
File 170650010953.png - (226.42KB , 628x1000 , Alluring_Defense_s.png )

“Why would I give up?” Reefa asks.

“Well,” Serah says, “I haven’t actually lost any life points yet, and neither have you. Alluring Defense means you can’t attack anyone but Petra, so your attacking is useless while I work toward my win condition. Don’t you worry about losing LP when Clothing Damage Quest is on the field? What if what happened to Petra happens to you?”

“I presume you mean to intimidate me,” Reefa sniffs. “From such a weak position? I think you are bluffing. Clothing Damage Quest says nothing about what happens to duelists when attacked. Do you intend to call a judge to obtain a ruling and find out?”

Serah pauses. She can’t see any judges nearby other than one particularly goofy-looking bird whose name she remembered as Phail Yurr, and she definitely does not want to have that particularly named judge making the rules for this game. She searches for the friend-shaped blue bird and has no luck spotting it.

“I thought as much,” Reefa says. “So, as you say, there’s no reason to attack Petra again… but there’s also no penalty.”

“Wait, what?” Petra clutches her chest.

“Guards! Give this woman more exposure counters!” Reefa orders, and Gerbera obliges with a quick tug on Petra’s pantaloons.

“Hey! Let go of those!”

Petra Exposure Counters: 2

“Go on, you’ve got three more attacks,” Reefa sighs. “Make an example of this misguided commoner and take her boots.”

Petra Exposure Counters: 3

Tirzaea takes a little too much enjoyment in getting her revenge for Petra’s earlier attack.

“Yiee!” Petra squeals. “Oh, you’re so lucky that Usiel isn’t here right now!”

Petra Exposure Counters: 4

“She’s already naked, Princess Reefa. Should we handcuff her?”

“There has to be a tactical advantage to the extra counters, I’m sure of it,” Reefa says. “That does seem lewd, but by all means, please restrain this criminal who dared to lay hands on a noble.”

Petra Exposure Counters: 5

“You, Reefa!” Petra shouts after the deed is done. “I’ll make sure you go to bed without dinner! You’re so skinny, your tummy will hurt all night!”

Reefa ignores the toothless promise from the apprehended criminal.

Serah ducks her head and begins her turn, trying to ignore the sight. She draws a card; and then, right on time, the triggered effect of Starving Fox two turns ago summons Dotti, Trash Fox. The pink-bedazzled Dotti pops onto the field with an excited sniff of the air: Petra is here! At last, her journey is complete and she can live happily with the best, most generous, most loving woman ever, and… and… she’s been stripped and bound! Humans are NEVER supposed to be naked in public, especially not the best mom ever!

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” Dotti wails with magic and a full-throated animal scream. She tries to jump out of her card frame and cover Petra up, but her card’s border locks her in like a cage. “Petra, I’m so sorry! I couldn’t find you in time to save you from everyone seeing your saggy boobs!”

“It’s not your fault, but, ah…” Petra huddles low to the ground. “You didn’t need to say that so loudly, Foxie.”

“Noooooooooo,” Dotti says very quietly.

Serah v. Reefa Pt. 3 (5/7) Art by Himitsu 2024/01/28(Sun)19:52 No. 1082052 ID: 75b262
File 170650033534.png - (290.58KB , 628x1000 , Consumable_Combustion_s.png )

Serah sets a trap card, hoping to catch Reefa off-guard later:

Consumable Combustion: Trap Card. Any effects in the current chain that would make your opponent gain Life Points makes them lose Life Points instead.

Unfortunately, it does nothing to clear Reefa’s board so that she can strike at Reefa’s LP directly, and nothing else in her hand can summon out enough characters to put Exposure Counters on all of Reefa’s army. Reefa has also played around Dotti’s board wipe effect by putting Exposure Counters on Petra. Even if she's the only attack target now, due to Alluring Defense, there's no guarantee Serah's trap will remain by the next battle phase.

There’s no point waiting any longer to activate Free Art. Serah activates the trap to provide a whopping four Link Material to Link Summon Zinnia, Guardian of Melodies.

[ Zinnia, Guardian of Melodies, Link 4, Type:Fairy, Attribute:Earth, ATK: 1300. ]

Must be Link Summoned. Your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to the Special Summon of this character. Unaffected by your opponent's card effects. When an opposing character declares an attack (Quick Effect): You can send this card to the GY. If you do, banish cards from your opponent's field up to the number of materials used for this card’s Link Summon. During your standby phase, you can draw 1 card. You may banish this card from your GY to use it as two Link Material for the Link Summon of a Link Character.

Serah v. Reefa Pt. 3 (6/7) Art by Lonelyworld 2024/01/28(Sun)19:53 No. 1082054 ID: 75b262
File 170650041839.png - (624.49KB , 628x1000 , SolventBombTrap_s.png )

“And now,” Serah says with a grand gesture, “Prepare for my all-out assault! You may have the numbers, Princess, but I have one advantage you sorely lack: fairies! Go, Zinnia!”

“Hey!” Zinnia objects. “Don’t say that so loud, you jerk! My public name is Clover. Do you really want my in-box to be full of spam now that everyone knows my true name? There’s gonna be auto-contractors flooding my summoning line now!”

“Oh. Uh, sorry. I’m just reading what’s on the card. Could you please attack Tirzaea anyway?”

“Hmf!” Zinnia zips over to Tirzaea and gives her a tiny kick, shattering the suspicious vial and spilling it all over the nude blonde hoofer.

“No! My vial!” Tirzaea gasps. “That could have been poison!”

“But it wasn’t,” Zinnia says, as if it was obvious. “Oh yeah, I gotta ask! Do you wanna join my bard companion’s band? He could use a backup dancer with huge boobs. We’re a little short on cash, so we’ll pay you in exposure.”

“I have enough of that now!”

Serah, meanwhile, decides the time is right to set Solvent Bomb now that Reefa’s board is vulnerable to another all-out attack. Next turn, Serah will be able to spring the trap and attack Reefa directly by AOE-ing three of Reefa’s remaining clothed characters with Exposure Counters with Solvent Bomb:

Solvent Bomb: Put Exposure Counters on one character as well as any adjacent characters.

With that and just one more attack from Taranis or Dotti Serah can deal direct damage to Reefa’s LP. Unfortunately, Petra is adjacent to the target AOE, so she’ll be caught in the splash, destroying the very last shreds of her outfit she’s managed to scrape together despite the handcuffs- and Dotti will have a front-row seat to the horror.

Serah tries to remind herself that Dotti, Trash Fox isn’t really Dotti, and that Petra, Devoted Mother isn’t really Petra… but Dotti’s whining and failed attempts to leave her card to go cover Petra up are doing a fantastic job of pretending.

Serah v. Reefa Pt. 3 (7/7) Art by Donut 2024/01/28(Sun)19:54 No. 1082055 ID: 75b262
File 170650045830.png - (158.13KB , 630x1003 , Pride Goeth.png )

Reefa, for her part, has reached the bottom of her well of patience with Serah’s lewdity.

“I have had enough of this clothing damage debauchery!” Reefa declares. “Lady Kensington, you have combined your cards to essentially prevent me from ever dealing damage to you directly via battle. Well, if you shall build an impenetrable wall around your life points, then I shall simply fire my troops right over it!”

Reefa tributes Tawny Lanix to summon:

Lord Lung, Invader of Beta-Earatone: 5 stars, Type: Aqua, Attribute:Water, 1000 ATK, 2000 DEF

You can Tribute 1 character to inflict damage to your opponent equal to half of its ATK.

“Oh, dear,” Serah says upon reading the card’s effect. “But you can only use that effect once per turn, right?”

Reefa smiles.

“...Right?”

“I tribute all four of my loyal guards!” Reefa announces. “Lord Lung, launch Tirzaea (1500 ATK), Azzeki (1700 ATK), Snowpea (1800 ATK) and Gerbera (1600 ATK) straight at this lewd Lady’s life points!”

“Wait, wait, wait! Please don’t shoot, I still need to get a favorable rules interpretation from a-”

Lord Lung flings Tirzaea at Serah, who tears off Serah’s belt and pouch. Serah shrieks, realizing what’s next as Azzeki goes for her corset. Gerbera flies in and seizes her blouse, and Snowpea shreds Serah’s skirt with a skillful strike, leaving her standing in naught but her boots, garter belt, stockings and a pair of woefully undersized panties.

With 3,300 LP of clothes gone, Serah is at 2,700 LP. Less than half her LP remain, and a bare fraction of her dignity.

“No!” Serah wails, covering herself up as best she can. “This wasn’t supposed to happen! Judge! Judge! I need a judge! Clothing Damage Quest card says nothing about stripping the duelists! Oh, where are those birds when you NEED them?!”

“No judge can save you from the consequences of your actions,” Reefa sniffs. “You played the lewd cards, now suffer the lewd consequences. I play Render Unto Chinzebeth and end my turn.”

Render Unto Chinzebeth What is Chinzebeth’s: Each time your opponent Special Summons a character, you gain 500 life points. If that character is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, you instead gain 1000 life points.

“W-w-well, then…” Serah stammers. “Y-you’ve left yourself open to an attack! I still have Taranis and Dotti, and can summon another character. You’ll take clothing damage too when I attack, with only Lord Lung out on your field.”

“No, I won’t,” Reefa smiles. “As soon as your turn began, I activated Pride Goeth, which prevents you from declaring an attack this turn. I’ll have plenty of time to build up my board again, and remain fully clothed while doing so, thank you. And while I’m at it, why shouldn’t I build my clothing defenses up even more? Need I remind you of the continuous spell card I placed last turn: Render Unto Chinzebeth. Now, if you try any special summon shenanigans, you’ll only be buying me more fancy accessories to wear!”

Serah v. Audience Pt. 1 (1/1) Art by Lonelyworld 2024/01/28(Sun)19:56 No. 1082057 ID: 75b262
File 170650061214.png - (1.48MB , 1256x1335 , Serah_Audience.png )

Sweat slides down Serah’s brow. She’s standing here in a quite compromising position, and things are only about to get worse if Reefa has her way. She has to focus on victory, not her lack of clothes. She takes a deep breath and tries to calm her mind…

“WHOO!” calls a kangaroo from the audience. “Take it off, girl!”

“I thought I would be the only duelist getting stripped today,” Momo adds with an enthusiastic double thumbs-up. “What a delightful surprise.”

“Please don’t look!” Serah says, shocked.

“What’s happening?” Warwick asks. “Miss Strawberi, may I look?”

“NO,” Strawberi says firmly. “Didn’t you hear what the Lady said?”

“Why, Serah, I’m ashamed of both myself and you.” Petra gives Serah a disapproving glare as only a mother can. “Thank you oh so much for giving them yet another denuded blonde to gawk at. You’re not helping prove any stereotypes wrong today.”

“It’s not my fault!” Serah whines, trying to cover herself while drawing a card and coming up short.

If Reefa draws another two-for-one Royal Guard or summons more cheap minions, Serah will be in danger of losing the duel to burn damage from Lord Lung. She prays for a card that will help turn the tables. What kind of card does she draw?

1. Serah draws removal that will get rid of Lord Lung, but it will also damage Serah’s LP- and her clothes, too. This is a terrible option for Serah’s dignity.
2. Serah draws a very strong fairy-themed card that will draw her a lot of cards, but will give her fairy allies a chance to embarrass her further. Can she trust them?

And finally…

Does Serah have the heart to activate Solvent Bomb, even if it will cause Petra to get yet another Exposure Counter right in front of Dotti?

1. We need to get rid of Lord Lung asap. drawback is the loss of all our clothes, but it's a sacrifice we need to make at this point

and go ahead and activate the solvent bomb. don't worry, these aren't real petra and dotti.

>>1082050
I did not expect the quest to use this level of sexual liability.

Oh well.

>>1082057
Screw it, we've already entered "By the Book" territory.

2 and yes.

Option 2, but hold the solvent bomb back.

>>1082057
2. You have a trap card that will spell doom for your opponent if you can summon a bunch of characters, even if you have to sacrifice those characters to summon more.

And yes, if solvent bomb needs to be played, then it gets played. You can talk to the cards beforehand to tell "Dotti" it's not as bad as she thinks.

1: gotta get rid of Lung

with him gone you'll go back to being invincible.

also use solvent bomb! Petra and Dotti can take it

2. We can trust fairies that aren’t Landi, right?

Throw the solvent bomb. In for a penny, in for a pound.

2, We haven't gotten to see Serah dig into the Extra Deck much yet. I want to see fairies, certainly, but I also just wanna see her start Link climbing a bit. Show off some of what her deck is capable of!

Serah v. Reefa FINALE (1/7) Art by Himitsu 2024/02/20(Tue)20:00 No. 1083870 ID: 75b262
File 170848805888.png - (370.09KB , 628x1000 , Material_Cannibalism_s.png )

Serah is in a precarious position. Her board is stronger than Reefa’s since she has Taranis, Dotti, Petra and Zinnia, compared to Reefa’s only monster of Lord Lung. However, Reefa has the potential to deal direct damage to Serah’s LP if she has even the slightest chance to summon more characters.

Serah’s reputation and outfit is already in tatters- she has to end this as soon as possible. If that means putting poor Petra through some friendly fire, then she’ll have to suffer through it. These simulacra aren’t really her friends and compatriots, they’re just elaborate replicas, no matter how lifelike they look. Once they’re gone, they’re gone- unlike Serah herself, who has to live with the consequences of losing more LP. They’ll understand. Right?

Serah draws Summoning Salt, a Ritual Spell that, uh, summons Salt, a great Djinn with 3500 ATK and immunity to Reefa’s card effects. Summoning Salt needs Salt herself in Serah’s hand, plus Moonshine, Responsible Adult on Serah’s field- meaning Serah will have to find a way to get all the way up to a Link-6 fairy. It’s very, very powerful- but it’s very hard to pull off, and prone to interruptions. Thankfully, Free Art and Zinnia both make getting up to Link 6 a lot easier, but if Reefa somehow gets rid of Zinnia, Serah’s work could be undone. Serah decides to keep Free Art set face-down and not activate it this turn- that way, in case Reefa gets rid of Zinnia and Serah’s other characters, she will still be able to get up to Link 6 quickly with Free Art’s 4 free link material.

“Time to climb the link ladder,” Serah says to herself, then clears her throat and summons all her courage to speak up in her current state of affairs. “I send Taranis, Clothing Thief[/i] to the graveyard in order to summon Rocio, Workout Trainer, a Link-1 fairy from my Extra Deck! Rocio’s effect special summons her boyfriend, Mr. Armstrong, from the deck to the zone her link arrow points to.”

“Thank you for the 1500 LP,” Reefa smiles at the activation of Render Unto Chinzebeth. “I think I’ll invest it into a nice necklace.”

“Not so fast,” Serah says. “I activate my trap card, Consumable Combustion! Your 1500 LP gain is 1500 loss instead.”

Reefa’s bracers and her overcoat are blown away from her LP going down to 4500. She grimaces, but knows Serah will be summoning more fairies to gain her life back.

“Now,” Serah says, “I send both Rocio and Armstrong to the graveyard to Link Summon Genice, Ice Djinn, a Link-2 Djinn with 1500 ATK. In addition to preventing you from attacking with any characters her arrows are pointing to, her effect allows me to add Salt to my hand, a Ritual Character who requires the spell Summoning Salt in order to be summoned. And then, I place a card face-down in my final open spell zone.”

“Thank you kindly for the additional extra 1000 LP from your Link Summon,” Reefa says, going back up to 5500 LP. “You’ve so rudely destroyed my overcoat and bracers, but I have plenty of adornments I can put back on. As for that card you just placed… you could be placing the ritual card, Summoning Salt... or you could be trying to convince me it’s a ritual, and instead placing a deadly trap card. Either way, my best strategy is to not play around that potential trap, since you already have another face-down card that could also be a trap. Are you trying to look smart? Because you certainly aren’t smartly dressed. You’re making a fool of yourself, Lady Kensington. Please, surrender now. Spare yourself and your characters further embarrassment.”

“Yeah!” Dotti growls. “Serah, you have to let Petra go! Please, please, please stop using her as a shield!”

“I’m sorry, Dotti,” Serah says. “I would, but… Alluring Defense is a very good combo with-”

“You’re being mean!” Dotti growls. “Really mean! I knew humans were all mean except Petra! Serah, you should be the one tied up and naked! Petra doesn’t deserve it, but you do!”

“Dotti, be quiet!” Serah huffs. “Just attack Lord Lung to put an exposure counter on him right now!”

Dotti is forced to shut up and attack Lord Lung- and Reefa laughs a high, noble laugh. “You silly Lady!” Reefa says, smiling broadly. “You didn’t have to use Dotti to do that. You could have used Clover instead and done an extra 1200 damage directly to me.”

“Ooh, Serah’s tilted for sure!” Charisse calls out. “Get your head in the game, girl! C’mon, put on a better show!”

Serah flushes. “Sh-shut up! It’s hard to focus like this! I… I command Zinnia to-

“Hey! Rude!”

“Ahem. I command Clover and Genice to attack Reefa directly, since she has no other characters on the field to put exposure counters on. Then I end my turn. Ugh!”

Reefa takes 1300 damage from Zinnia and 1500 damage from Genice, bringing her down to 2700 LP, which knocks off the extra adornments Reefa just put on from earlier as well as the remainder of her overcoats, leaving her in a simple purple dress and crown but still decent. Serah wonders if she’s just lost the match with her incredible unforced error, and missed the chance to expose Reefa’s undergarments- she’d lose her concentration for sure.

Reefa begins her turn and smiles at her draw. “Oh, Lady Kensington. You’re not the only one who can play with summoning shenanigans. I’ve just drawn the spell The Termination Orders were Terminated: "Special Summon two level 4 or lower monsters from your GY, but negate their effects.”

“S-so?”

“So I can now play it to Special Summon Tirzaea and Azzeki, who are both Level 4, to use them to Xyz summon Ulric Ikenhart, Nurturing Groundskeeper with 1500 ATK and 2100 DEF. He allows me to draw a card when my hand is empty, and also draw a card when he leaves the battlefield.”

Reefa draws a fresh card and laughs again. “What luck! I’ve drawn Material Cannibalism: “Target one Xyz character on the field. Send all material attached to that card to the graveyard. Then, draw one card for every material sent to the Graveyard by this effect. If this is the only card in your hand, then you may play this card directly from hand (without needing to set and then activate it).”

Serah v. Reefa FINALE (2/7) Art by Lonelyworld 2024/02/20(Tue)20:02 No. 1083872 ID: 75b262
File 170848815563.png - (2.36MB , 1256x1335 , YuGiOhPetra2.png )

With this, Reefa has two cards in hand, and two characters on the field: Ulric and Lord Lung, the latter having an exposure counter. Critically, the counter does not prevent him from activating his card effect; meaning Serah is still in danger of being dealt damage, even through Alluring Defense and Petra, Devoted Mother acting as a shield (with a board wipe from Dotti) and Zinnia, Guardian of Melodies threatening a second board wipe if Reefa declares an attack.

“I will normal summon Noovin Sett,” Reefa says.

[ Noovin Sett: Warrior-Type, Level 4, ATK: 800 DEF: 1000 ]

“Normally, I would Xyz summon my mother, Queen Gorgammar Multero, but in this case with Clothing Damage Quest, having multiple level 4 characters is superior to having one single, stronger character. Once your board wipes are gone, you’re mine to attack with these characters, no matter how weak they are. And with both my remaining cards in my hand, I can-”

“No! No, no, no! No, you don’t!” Serah interrupts. “I activate my trap card, Solvent Bomb: Put Exposure Counters on one character as well as any adjacent characters. No attacks for you, no matter what your last card is! I’ll finish you next turn, and you can’t defend!”

“What?” Petra says, noticing that she’s in the blast zone. “Serah, you don’t have to- Ahh!”

Dotti watches, horrified, as Serah rushes to activate her trap to put exposure counters on Noovin and Ulric… and catches Petra in the blast, melting the final scraps of her barely-there clothing.

Petra Exposure Counters: 6

“Oh, not again!” both Petra and Noovin cry out.

Serah v. Reefa FINALE (3/7) Art by Donut 2024/02/20(Tue)20:03 No. 1083873 ID: 75b262
File 170848820436.png - (307.60KB , 628x1000 , Change of Heart.png )

Dotti lets out an enraged yowl at Serah’s utter disdain for the dignity of her own cards. She curses Serah, stomping her feet, threatening fire and fury, and her undying hatred of someone who would do such horrible things to the best mom in the whole world.

“You… you… horrible human! I hate you!” Dotti says after she’s done yammering, gekkering and yapping. “I wish I was on Reefa’s team. Then I’d show you, Serah! I wish Reefa was the one who drafted Change of Heart, not you, so I could be the one to burn your clothes to ashes!”

“Dotti, shush! I command you to shush!”

“Interesting,” Reefa says. “Dotti, are you certain Serah has Change of Heart in her deck right now?”

“Yeah!” Dotti nods.

“Then I will play one of the two remaining cards in my hand: Lure of Laterna,” Reefa says proudly. “With this spell card, I can name a specific card, and if it’s in my opponent’s deck, I can add it to my hand. I choose Change of Heart!”

Sure enough, a card flies out of Serah’s deck and straight over to Reefa’s hand.

Change of Heart: Target 1 monster your opponent controls; take control of it until the End Phase.

“Dotti, why? Why would you tell her about my deck?!” Serah wails.

“Because Petra’s a better mom than you! You treat me and her and all your cards like we don’t matter. Well, right now you don’t matter! How’s that feel?!”

“Now, to choose which of your characters would suit me best,” Reefa ponders.

“Pick me! Pick me!” Dotti says.

“Are you sure?” Reefa asks Dotti. “You would need to attack your beloved Petra.”

“Oh,” Dotti pauses. “Um… but I have 2500 ATK, and you could throw me and Ulric at Serah using Lord Lung to win!”

“Even if I use Lord Lung’s effect to launch himself at Serah’s LP, that would only do 2,500 damage. She would have 200 LP left.”

“But she’d be naked!” Dotti points out.

“Yes!” a foxy member of the audience agrees. “She’ll be knocked even more off her game. Easy pickings.”

“As much as I would like to take you up on your offer, brave Trash Fox,” Reefa says sadly, “Zinnia is the card that gives me the most trouble at the moment. Her board wipe triggers any time I take an attack, and I can’t remove her with any of my own cards.”

“You can’t remove her at all,” Serah says.

“Oh, I think I may,” Reefa says, and plays Change of Heart targeting Zinnia.

Serah v. Reefa FINALE (4/7) Art by Sarcopholacooda 2024/02/20(Tue)20:04 No. 1083875 ID: 75b262
File 170848829749.png - (594.55KB , 600x810 , serah-small.png )

“Judge!” Serah shrieks. “I need a judge right now!”

A particularly goofy-looking bird flaps down from the rafters. He’s wearing a lanyard around his neck reading Judge Yurr. “Whut seems to be the problem?”

“Princess Reefa just played Change of Heart targeting Zinnia, and Zinnia’s card states: ’Unaffected by your opponent's card effects.’ Zinnia can’t be affected by Change of Heart.”

“Oh, I see,” says Judge Yurr. “Who drafted Change of Heart?”

“Um…” Serah pauses. “Me.”

“Then it’s not your opponent’s card. It’s yours. Zinnia’s not being affected by Reefa’s card.”

“But… but… that can’t be how it works! Come on, really?!”

Not a single member of the audience steps in to defend Serah’s position.

“The ruling stands!” Judge Yurr declares. “Princess Reefa, Zinnia is your royal subject now.”

“Excellent,” Reefa smirks. “Zinnia, would you like to be returned to Lady Kensington’s side of the field?”

“Yeep!”

Lord Lung grabs Zinnia and launches her straight at Serah, causing 650 damage directly to her LP. She also launches Ulric for 750 LP damage, leaving Serah with a mere 1300 LP and just her stockings and boots remaining. If Reefa finds a way to deal just 800 more damage, she can use Lord Lung’s effect on himself to finish the duel and bring Serah to 0 HP.

“And now, I set the final card in my hand face-down in my spell zone,” Reefa says. “I only have Lord Lung on my side of the field, and he cannot defend me since he has an exposure counter. Surely you want to attack me with all your characters, yes? Oh, I hope you do.”

Serah v. Reefa FINALE (5/7) Art by Donut and Himitsu 2024/02/20(Tue)20:06 No. 1083876 ID: 75b262
File 170848836122.png - (38.04KB , 750x518 , CoverupSerah.png )

“Whoo! Go Reefa!” Conway cheers.

“Very nice, Princess,” Selma says appreciatively.

“Justice for the best mom!” Dotti declares.

“Serah’s posterior is modest, compared to her bosom,” Basmati observes. “I did not expect this disparity. Very curious.”

The audience is rooting against her- Serah finds it even harder to acknowledge them now. She’s living a waking nightmare of nudity, and this time it’s not Landi’s fault: it’s hers!

Their disapproval and stares weigh heavy on Serah. Is this how it feels to be a bad card mom? Is there even such a thing? No, that doesn’t matter!

Or does it?

If Serah had treated Petra better, kept Dotti happy, would things have gone better? Would Serah have messed up twice in a row with attack order, and with unnecessarily Solvent Bombing too early, and Dotti’s betrayal leading to Zinnia being launched out of a cannon?

Serah prays for some way to negate Lord Lung’s effect. At this point, all Reefa has to do is summon a character with 1600 or more ATK, and Serah can do absolutely nothing to stop it. It’s all up to the luck of the draw, now. She begins her turn and looks at her card:

Serah v. Reefa FINALE (6/7) Art by Himitsu 2024/02/20(Tue)20:06 No. 1083877 ID: 75b262
File 170848840268.png - (185.45KB , 628x1000 , Ass Day_s.png )

Ass Day: Quick-play spell. Target 1 face-up monster on the field; change that target to face-down Defense Position.

“This card is useless,” she mutters. She has no way to play around Reefa’s face-down card, and if she did nothing, she’d probably lose anyway.

“Don’t worry, Petra,” Dotti reassures the bound woman next to her. “Serah’s gonna lose soon, and you won’t have to be naked any more.”

“Finally,” Petra says. “I’ve spent enough time in handcuffs in my youth; I didn’t expect to have to deal with this again.”

Serah considers using Petra to summon a more powerful Link fairy, but she doesn’t need to, now that Free Art has recharged and is ready to go with 4 free link material. If Petra disappeared, then she would be at risk of getting exposure counters on Dotti. Serah needs all the ATK she can get to chew through Reefa’s healing from Render unto Chinzebeth.

“I send Genice to the graveyard and activate Free Art again to summon Moonshine, Responsible Adult!”

[ Moonshine, Responsible Adult, Link 6, Type:Fairy, Attribute:Wind, ATK: 2500 ]

This Link Summon cannot be negated. You may choose to have this card not be affected by any effect that affects more than one card. If any card effect or declared attack would target Moonshine or any other character that this card’s link arrows point at, you may instead choose a character pointed at by any link arrow to be the target of that declared attack or card effect. You may move counters from one character whose link arrows this card points at to any other character whose link arrows this card points at, or Moonshine herself. Once per turn, you may place a Summoning Salt Ritual Spell from your graveyard to your hand.

“What?” Dotti blinks. “That doesn’t make any sense. Landi’s never gonna be responsible.”

“It’s a lot of work,” Moonshine says. “Dunno if it’s worth it. Way easier to be a lazy fairy.”

Serah’s summoning activates Render Unto Chinzebeth once more, bringing Reefa up to 3200 LP.

“And now,” Serah says, “I activate the ritual card Summoning Salt I placed earlier! It requires me to have Moonshine, Responsible Adult on the field and not Special Summon any more characters this turn, but there’s no way you’ll survive this attack now, Reefa! Even with the 500 LP gain you get from Chinzebeth, you’re done for!”

[ Salt the Greater Djinn, Djinn-Type, Level 8, ATK: 3500 DEF: 2800 ]

Special Summon only. Cannot be affected by your opponent’s card effects. If this card is sent to the graveyard by battle damage, send all characters your opponent controls to the graveyard.

Salt can’t be affected by your cards, just like Zinnia. Um, I mean, Clover. That reminds me… do you have a Change of Heart? I don’t want that judge coming back.”

“Not this time,” Reefa says. “I suppose you win…. Or do you?”

“Stop messing with me!” Serah shoots back. “If I really win, then just surrender!”

“You were the one who played that clothing damage card. Not me. If this round goes on forever, then it’s only fitting that you’ll have to suffer the consequences. If you’re truly committed to ending this, Lady Kensington, then attack!”

“Ugh!” Serah hisses. She’s been misplaying so many times this game, but she won’t be baited again. “You want me to attack with my most powerful card, Salt? No, I won’t fall for that. Dotti, attack Reefa directly.”

Dotti gekkers at Serah, and a cold, icy hand closes over Serah’s heart. Dotti raises her paws to summon fire at Reefa, but then...

“And here it is!” Reefa declares. “The final showdown, but not the one you were expecting. I activate Kalez’s Cunning Misdirection!”

Kalez’s Cunning Misdirection: When an opponent's character declares an attack while they control 2 or more face-up monsters and you control a character: Target 1 face-up character your opponent controls, except the attacking character; change the attack target to it and perform damage calculation, with your opponent taking the resulting damage.

Dotti cackles in glee and lets loose her attack at not Reefa, but Salt! Dotti’s difference in ATK is a full 1000, meaning that if the attack goes through, Reefa will be able to tribute Lung to end the duel!

“Dotti, no!”

“Dotti, yes!”

Serah v. Reefa FINALE (7/7) Art by Sarcopholacooda 2024/02/20(Tue)20:08 No. 1083879 ID: 75b262
File 170848853935.png - (636.78KB , 600x810 , reefa-small.png )

“You shouldn’t be able to target Salt with a card effect!” Serah hisses.

“Attacking isn’t a card effect.”

“Damn!” In the moment before Dotti fires at Salt, Serah makes the only move she has left: “I quick-play Ass Day on Dotti!”

Dotti is flipped face-down ass-up and placed into Defense Mode, canceling her attack and shoving her into a foxhole, with only her tails popping out. There’s the sound of rabid gekkering from inside.

“Oh,” Reefa blinks. “The attack doesn’t go through, then. And… you’re free to attack with Salt and Moonshine, for…”

“6000 damage,” Serah says, raising her arm to blast away Reefa’s remaining LP- and outfit. “Salt, Moonshine! End this!”

Reefa looks at her extra deck for options, her cards fluttering in the wind as the attack hits. There’s no options left, and the attack wipes out both her LP and her outfit.

The light settles after the attack. Both duelists have vanished.

“Oh, my,” Momo motions to Judge Yurr. “Did they both disappear?”

“Gak! They did!” the bird squawks. “They’ve vanished into thin air! This is horrible! Pan will be so upset… Oh! I know! Can you pretend to be a busty blonde to fill in for Serah?”

“Oh, I would be delighted to,” Momo says gleefully.

---—---

Meanwhile, the two indecent hide under the bleachers, huddled under a scrounged blanket.

“I don’t think anyone saw us sneak under here,” Reefa whispers. “Thank goodness for small favors. Did you really have to play that field spell?”

“The combo was too good. But, um, the price was a bit high,” Serah agrees. “Princess, you could have activated Lord Lung at the last moment and stripped me even more,” Serah says, grateful for even the smallest shred of dignity. “Thank you for not doing that.”

“Royalty should always show mercy to the lesser nobility and the commoners. That is the essence of noblesse oblige.”

“I… didn’t really deserve the win, did I? I misplayed. I treated my commoners, um, cards horribly. The audience was even rooting for you by the end.”

“Sometimes one does one’s best and still loses,” Reefa says. “That is, sometimes, also a princess’s duty. To see things through to the end. Perhaps you can seek forgiveness from your commoners the next duel.”

“Oh.” Serah grimaces. “I don’t think I can go out there again.”

“We don’t have to leave just yet,” Reefa nods. “At least, not before we find something to wear…”

[SERAH WINS!]

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse START Art By Himitsu 2024/03/31(Sun)17:19 No. 1087558 ID: 056492
File 171193074641.png - (280.67KB , 500x500 , Angy.png )

“Please understand… I’m not trying to discriminate against you for your age. I was actually the biggest advocate for not placing an age requirement on the tournament.” Companionship says. “Although, it was partly required, just due to the different lifespans of all these different species… You two are considered to be adolescents by human standards though, and your culture finds this content explicit.”

The explanation did little to lessen the affronted glares being pointed his way. Companionship withers under their gazes.

“I wanted to keep watching.” Enid says. “I wanted to see what the pretty dragon lady and Ms. Serah would play.”

“I understand…”

“I also wanted to see how other people play, so that I could figure out how I should be playing.” Franklin says. “And watching the holograms was a lot of fun.”

“Y-Yes, I can see how you might be disadvantaged by this…”

“What about their decks?” Enid asks. “We might have to play against whoever wins, right? Won’t it be unfair that they’ll get to see our decks when we duel, but we don’t get to see theirs?”

“W-Well–”

“Actually, that’s if we get to play against them. If we aren’t allowed to look at their ‘adult cards’, then we won’t really be able to duel them at all, will we?”

Companionship shrinks into the floor. “I’m sure we can fix any issues with that beforehand.”

“...If you could have fixed it before, then couldn’t you have also fixed it before this duel? Then we would have been able to keep watching, right?” Franklin says.

“Good point, Franklin. He also messed up during our duel last round with those cards Bonnie had. Gee, it sounds like the ‘biggest advocate’ for children to play in the tournament is actually the one most responsible for us kids not being able to enjoy it, huh?”

“Yeah, I think you’re right about that.”

Companionship is about ready to cry, as Tianna comes out of the arena with a similarly displeased Bonnie. Ever the weakling at heart, Pan immediately seizes the opportunity to take the heat off themself. “Tianna! Wasn’t it your job to filter out the inappropriate cards? What happened?”

Tianna levels them a flat look. “Sorry, was I supposed to do that before the draft, when you kept changing the rules and had me adding and removing cards from all the tables; or during the first round, when I was busy arranging for a replacement duelist after you let the kids play together?”

And suddenly, Pan is right back in the hot seat. The small bird nearly faints under pressure.

In a moment of mercy, Tianna speaks up. “Alright alright, let’s give the dummy some space. Making sure all the cards were age-appropriate was my job, not his. How about this? Between rounds, we’ll put on a tastefully edited projection of the last duel for everyone present, that way nobody misses anything. Would that satisfy everyone?”

The children confer for a moment, before collectively approving her idea.

“Tianna! Thank you!” Pan wraps their wings around her in relief.

“Yeah yeah, you can thank me by getting all that set up.” She brushes him off. Pan dutifully flies off to do just that.

“This isn’t gonna happen next game too, will it?” Enid asks. “You’re going to check their decks this time, right?”

Tianna considers how much of a hassle it would be to censor all cards that have NSFW materials on them. Combing through everyone’s draft pools would take long enough, actually censoring the cards would add a bit too, but none of that even accounted for putting up with any of the adult duelists who had complaints about the change. The whole process just screamed “too much hassle”.

“...Ehhh, we’ll figure something out. Y’know what, why don’t we bump Selma and the masked guy to the end, just to give us a bit more time to prep for that?”

“That would be fine…” Enid pauses, realizing that the change would mean her and Franklin going next. A small pulse of anxiety goes through her, which she brushes off. It’ll be fine. They worked hard on their deck, and now it’s better than it was before. They don’t have anything to worry about.

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Art By Poltergeist Ethanoic Acid 2024/03/31(Sun)17:23 No. 1087561 ID: 056492
File 171193098072.png - (116.56KB , 1280x720 , CCG is now Streaming.png )

…

“You seem worried.” Franklin says.

Enid looks up at him, puzzled. Where did that come from? She was just going over their deck for the fourth time, and asking very reasonable questions such as “What if we don’t draw cards we can play, and lose instantly?” It’s a very real concern, she doesn’t understand why Franklin is looking at her like she’s… freaking out about……

“...Oh. Yeah, I guess I am.” She puts the cards down, handing the deck over to Franklin. “Sorry, the waiting is getting to me. We already registered our deck for the round, so it’s too late to make any real changes… It’s like there’s nothing to do but worry.”

He pats her on the head, as one would to calm down a pet. It calms her down a little.

Eventually, people begin entering the room, filing into the audience stands. Among the wave stands one purple-furred kangaroo, who splits from the mob to join the kids on stage. Her attention is focused squarely on her phone, as she talks to her followers.

“Welcome to the show! For those just joining in, we made it to round 2 of this Multidimensional Duelist Invitational Tournament! Not sure how, considering how bad our original deck SUCKED, but we pulled it off somehow. As fun as it would be to make you suffer through that again though, I’d actually prefer to win and stay in the tournament, soooo we’re taking some advice from chat. But that does mean that if I lose this round, it’s on YOU!”

Franklin and Enid stare at her in bewilderment, unable to make sense of what she’s doing.

“Anywho, you all voted that I should stick with the PLANTIMALs, but you had some very helpful recommendations on how to amp it up! Turns out these guys have had a ton of support over the years, and the newer cards change things up in some fun and powerful ways. A lot of you also recommended adding cards from the Fandom archetype to the deck, as they play pretty well together. Apparently, in the lore–”

“Um… Excuse me?” Enid calls out, catching Charisse’s attention. “Who are you talking to?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s just my stream chat. Gotta keep ‘em up to date, y’know?” She replies, pausing to squint at Enid. “Wait, does ONLYFAUNUS have rules against kids in safe-for-work streams?” She scrolls around on her phone, searching around for any mentions in the terms of service agreement.

“...Franklin, did any of that make sense to you?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Charisse nods. “Alright, looks like we’re clear, since I put a split in after that last match and re-labeled the stream as SFW for now.” She pockets the phone and extends a hand towards the kids. “I’m Charisse. It looks like we’ll be playing against one another this time. You excited?”

“Yes?” Enid hesitantly responds, shaking Charisse’s hand. Franklin just nods, awkwardly gripping Charisse’s thumb while Enid is still mid-shake, moving his hand up and down with the motion. “I’m Enid, and this is my friend Franklin. We’re playing together.”

“...Aren’t we all playing together?” Franklin asks. “Since you’d say you were playing together, even if you were playing something like Monopoly, where everyone’s on their own team, so it’s more like playing against each other…” His thoughts trail off into mumbles, before he goes completely silent with contemplation.

Charisse chuckles. “He has a point, but I get what you mean. My first round ended quickly, so I was able to catch the tail-end of the other duo versus the dragon gal. Seeing that really made me feel like I was playing a totally different game. Those three really knew how to play!”

Enid giggles. “I know what you mean. This game is really complicated, so it’s hard to know what’s good or not.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty much relying on stream chat to make sure my deck isn’t garbage this round.” She looks off in a seemingly random direction. “Although, for everyone saying it was dogwater, don’t forget that I’m still here in round 2! So you know, it wasn’t completely worthless.”

“Um, I didn’t say it was bad.”

“I know, just talking to chat again. Look, the birds set up a nice 360° camera over there for my stream setup. It’s pretty neat stuff.”

Enid observes the box Charisse points to, feeling slightly closer to understanding, but still quite a ways off. “That’s a camera? So, you’re recording everything?”

“Well, it will end up in my vods when this is over, but it’s setup for livestreaming right now.” Charisse explains.

“What’s livestreaming?”

Charisse lets out a low whistle. “That’s a first. Your parents don’t let you go online much, do they?”

Enid’s face scrunches up. “If your explanation includes other words I don’t understand, then it isn’t helping.”

“Sorry, you got me there. Livestreaming is basically what it sounds like. People at home get to watch what’s being recorded with almost no delay. It’s like… the news?”

Charisse wasn’t sure how much better she could explain it, but Enid seemed to get it with that. Mostly. “So, you’re talking to a bunch of people at home, but how can they talk back?”

At that, Charisse flips her phone around to show off the waves of chat messages being sent in. She couldn’t help but be stunned by the amount, and then quickly overwhelmed by how quickly they went by. “How can anybody read them before they go away?”

“Practice. That, and letting people donate to highlight their messages. I’ll show you more after this duel if you’re interested.”

“I’d like that! Come on Franklin.” Enid pulls on his tail, dragging him back into the moment.

“Oh, are we starting?”

Both parties take their positions at opposite ends of the arena. They shuffle their decks, and both reveal cards until a character comes up.

Charisse: [ Holly-Headsplitter: Beast-Type, Level 7, ATK: 2600, DEF: 2000 ]
Enid: [ Xolotl’rainaxl Shterot, Level 4, ATK 1000, DEF: 1900 ]

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Art By Nalthar 2024/03/31(Sun)17:28 No. 1087565 ID: 056492
File 171193132767.png - (687.78KB , 628x1000 , PLANTIMALS Theme Song s.png )

“Great! I was hoping I’d get to start us off.” Charisse says, shuffling her cards one last time, before drawing an opening hand of five. In her hand is:

Durian-Skunk (Level 2 Character Card, 500 ATK 300 DEF)
Who’s That PLANTIMAL? (Spell Card)
Corn-Quasidragon (Level 4 Character Card, 1500 ATK 1000 DEF)
PLANTIMALS Theme Song (Continuous Spell)
Unceremonious Offscreen Death (Trap Card)

“I can work with this!”

Enid and Franklin draw their cards, sharing their opponent’s sentiments. “I think we can set up a really good board with this.”

Jhonen, The Freak (E) (Level 3 Character Card, 800 ATK 400 DEF)
Piter (Level 3 Character Card, 700 ATK 500 DEF)
GOTCHA! (Trap Card)
Anti-Individuality Classroom (Spell Card)
Perrine (Level 3 Character Card, 200 ATK 200 DEF)

[Charisse: 6000 LP - 5 Cards in hand]

“Can’t think of any better way to start things off than by activating PLANTIMALS Theme Song!” Charisse declares, as a television appears on the field. “Hit the music! (And sorry to those watching at home, but I gotta mute this because it’s copyrighted.)”

Jump back, what’s that sound?
Here it comes, thorns up, roots down
Hot sun, beats you down and makes them tough
Weed invaders, young crusaders: CAN YOU WHACK IT HARD ENOUGH?

Plantimals, Plantimah-als
Plantimals, Plantimah-ah-uh-ah-ah-als

“That’s catchy,” Franklin admits, “but what does it do? I wouldn’t mind if it just played nice music, but…”

“Nah, it’s got a real effect too. Check it: If I don’t control any characters at the start of my Main Phase 1, I get an extra normal summon to use on a PLANTIMAL. It’s a Continuous Spell too, so I can do it again later if you wipe out all my guys.”

“I bet that would be really good if you have Tribute Characters in your deck, huh?” Enid says. “You could get a level 5 or 6 character onto the field in just one turn.”

“You’re not wrong, but that’s not my plan for this turn. I’ll keep it simple, and just stick with two guys. Back to back, I’ll normal summon Durian-Skunk and Corn-Quasidragon!

[ Durian-Skunk, Plant-Type, Level 2, ATK: 500, DEF:300 ]
[ Corn-Quasidragon, Plant-Type, Level 4, ATK: 1500, DEF:1000 ]

A small and spiny skunk appears on the field, looking friendly despite its exterior. Beside it, a dragon-like creature just barely taller than Franklin roars onto the field. Unlike Bonnie’s characters (or Charisse herself for that matter), these seemed far more like actual animals to the two kids standing across from them.

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Art By Himitsu 2024/03/31(Sun)17:29 No. 1087566 ID: 056492
File 171193136551.png - (1.12MB , 1000x1000 , PLANTIMALS Explained.png )

“Do they have any effects?” Enid asks. “We’re supposed to know what they are, right?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not planning on hiding them.” She steps forward, petting her projected creatures. “Durian Skunk applies a debuff to any character who battles it, dropping their attack and defense by 500 until they get off the field. You wouldn’t fight a poor innocent creature like him though, would you?”

“We made fake representations of our friends and selves fight to the death in our last duel,” Enid bluntly responds.

“Oh, well he’s probably dead then.” Charisse moves on, scratching her other beast below the chin. “Corn-Quasidragon digs for treasure whenever he attacks you directly, letting me draw a card.”

“That’s not so bad,” Enid says.

“Well hang on, that’s just their individual effects. There are some effects shared by pretty much all my PLANTIMALS.”

“Shared effects?” Franklin asks.

“It’s like how most of our characters that are tuners can be treated as non-tuners when we use them to summon aged-up versions of them from the extra deck,” Enid explains. He nods in understanding.

“First off,” Charisse starts, “even though their listed type is plant, PLANTIMALS are also treated as Beast-Type characters at all times. Hand, deck, field, etc.”

“Okay…”

“Second, when these guys are destroyed, they go right back to the hand instead of the Graveyard.”

“What?” Enid exclaims. “What does that have to do with being animals that are also plants?”

“I don’t know, I never watched the show. My friend Jackie wanted me to play them, so I can probably ask them…” She types a quick question into her phone, getting a near-immediate response. “Ooh, they must be watching. Hey Jackie!” She waves to the camera.

“Umm…”

“Oh right. Uhh… Whenever a PLANTIMAL gets defeated, they leave behind a seed so that you can regrow them to fight another day. So it’s like that basically.”

“Ohh, that makes sense then.” Enid nods approvingly. “Is that all?”

“One more actually: When a PLANTIMAL is in combat, unless it’s a direct attack, neither of us will take any battle damage from it.”

“I– Huh? What’s the reason for that one?”

“Jackie– Didn’t even have to ask. Thanks bud!” Charisse blows a kiss to the camera. “It’s a game reference. The Kudzu and other PLANTIMALS only attack the PLANTIMAL you have out, so you can’t take any damage until you’ve used them all up and got nothing left but seeds. Except in the most recent game where– Okay, more information than I need right now Jackie, but love the enthusiasm.”

Enid blinks, not completely making sense of the explanation, but deciding to accept it without argument.

“Now, I’m gonna set one card face-down, and we’ll call it there for that turn.” Charisse sets her card, before pointing forward dramatically. “Your turn to show off what your cards can do!”

“R-Right. I’ll do my best!”

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Art By Himitsu 2024/03/31(Sun)17:30 No. 1087567 ID: 056492
File 171193140567.png - (658.05KB , 628x1000 , Jhonen The Investigator (A) s.png )

Enid draws, smiling at the card she’d picked up.

[Enid: 6000 LP - 6 Cards in hand]

“...So, what do we need to do about the monsters on her field” Franklin asks.

“Wait, is it monster or character, because I feel like I’ve heard both used today.” Enid says. Franklin scratches his head, not being sure.

“I mean… I don’t want to call our friends monsters, so… Characters then?”

“I could have sworn most of our cards said monster before…”

Pan begins whistling with complete innocence from the rafters, as the other judges shoot them accusing looks.

“Anyways, I think our goal should be to get at least three characters on the field. That would give us enough to destroy all of her Plantimals, while also dealing some damage.”

“...Won’t this card give us that for free?” He asks, holding up one of their spells. She shakes her head.

“Not exactly, but it’d be a pretty good start.” She nods. “Let’s play it.”

“We activate the Spell Card Anti-Individuality Classroom.” Franklin says, placing their card. “It lets us summon three level three characters with different names and less than 1500 ATK from our deck.”

“For free?” Charisse whistles. “Hey Chat, why aren’t we using that?”

“The summon is free, but there are conditions.” Enid says, while looking through the deck. “The characters we summon will have their effects negated, and they’ll be banished from the field at the end of the turn.”

She shows three cards to Franklin, who nods in approval. “We’ll be summoning Franklin, The Alien (E); Clive, The Antisocialite (E); and Lemmy, The Class Clown (E).”

The three boys in question appear on the field, looking around at the current state of things. “Aw crud, I’m just here to be used as material, aren’t I?” Lemmy asks.

“That is exactly why you’re here.” Enid confirms.

“Am I at least important enough that you’re gonna put my stats in the text?”

“Read ahead and find out. Now, because Franklin is on the field, I can use the effect of Jhonen, the Freak (E) in my hand to special summon him to the field.”

[ Jhonen, The Freak (E), Rapscallion-Type, Level 3, ATK: 800, DEF: 400 ]

“BUSTED!” Jhonen shouts, appearing beside the projected Franklin. “I’d always theorized that if we cut off your tail, your split parts would both regrow. What other explanation could there be for there to be two Franklins in this room?”

Franklin takes a cautious step away from the projections, holding his tail.

“When Jhonen is summoned, his effect lets me see a random card in your hand.” She points to Charisse’s sole card in hand. “You only have that one left. What is it?”

Charisse doesn’t get a chance to respond, as the projected Jhonen bounds over right beside her, and peeks over her shoulder. “The card is ‘Who’s That PLANTIMAL?’! It’s a Spell Card that lets her name a PLANTIMAL character, and reveal the top five cards of her deck. If the card she named is there, then she gets to special summon it to the field.”

“Good to know.” Enid says, while pulling a card out of their extra deck. “Now, while treating Jhonen as a non-tuner, I’ll sync him and Franklin off to special summon Jhonen, The Obsessive (M).”

[ Jhonen, The Obsessive (M), Rapscallion-Type, Level 6, ATK: 1000, DEF: 1800 ]

“Should we use his effect on her face-down?” Franklin asks. The middle-school Jhonen would be able to destroy a face-down spell or trap on the field. Not an unhelpful ability, but Charisse only had the one.

“Hmm… I don’t think we should. She could activate it in response, depending on what it is. She’s probably holding it for when it’ll hit our board the worst.”

“Ohhh, so are you going to–”

“Yep. Now, using Jhonen as a non-tuner again, we’re gonna combine him and Lemmy this time to bump him up all the way to adulthood. Franklin?”

He pulls out the card in question. “Jhonen, The Investigator (A).”

[ Jhonen, The Investigator (A), Warrior-Type, Level 9, ATK: 1800, DEF: 2600 ]

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Art By Donut 2024/03/31(Sun)17:30 No. 1087568 ID: 056492
File 171193143731.png - (64.07KB , 500x650 , Trap Tricked.png )

As Jhonen and Lemmy vanish, an adult takes their place. An aura of confidence surrounds them, as they look across at Charisse’s field. “Hmm, I sense danger on the horizon.”

“I was waiting for you to make something big like that!” Charisse says. “My Trap Card–”

“Won’t activate.” Franklin completes. As he says it, the adult Jhonen stomps his foot down on the card in question, keeping it from flipping open.

“Huh?”

“Jhonen’s effect lets him choose between destroying all face-down cards on your side of the field, or destroying just one. If we choose to only destroy one, then you aren’t allowed to activate the card we target in response.”

The card breaks beneath Jhonen’s shoe, revealing it to have been Unceremonious Offscreen Death, a trap that would have let Charisse destroy one of her opponents’ characters, in exchange for banishing the top three cards of her deck face-down.

“Man, you saw right through me. You kids have got game!”

Feeling more confident, Enid pushes through with the rest of her plays. “I activate the effect of Glum Plum in my hand. Once a turn, she can special summon herself to the field by returning one level 3 monster back to the hand. I choose Clive.”

[ Glum Plum, Rapscallion-Type, Level 3, ATK: 1200, DEF: 1000 ]

A plush doll standing at about Enid’s height appears on-field in place of Clive. She looks around with slight confusion, before shrugging and letting things play out.

“We still haven’t used our normal summon. I’ll use it to summon Piter.”

[ Piter, Rapscallion-Type, Level 3, ATK: 700, DEF: 500 ]

A young energetic boy with silver hair appears, as Enid explains, “whenever Piter declares an attack, he gains 300 ATK points before the damage step. Speaking of which: we’re switching to the battle phase.”

“Piter should attack the skunk, and… I guess Jhonen has to attack the corn one, leaving Plum to attack directly?” Franklin says.

“I completely agree,” she says. “Piter, you go first. Attack Durian-Skunk!”

The sporty boy kicks a soccer ball into the skunk, knocking it off the field. His celebration session gets interrupted by a spray of stench from where the skunk landed, souring his mood quickly. As a result of the battle effects, he’s left at 500 ATK and 0 DEF.

“Then Jhonen.” Franklin commands. Jhonen approaches the Quasidragon with a pair of cuffs, managing to slap them around the corn-beast’s legs and dragging him away.

“And finally, Plum for direct damage!” Enid calls out, spurring Plum to rush forward. The plush girl throws her whole bodyweight into Charisse, winding the roo slightly.

“Geez, I know it’s just a hologram, but still. Ouch.”

[ Charisse LP: 4800 ]

“Finally, we’ll set a card face-down, ending our turn.”

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Art By Nalthar 2024/03/31(Sun)17:31 No. 1087569 ID: 056492
File 171193146892.png - (794.81KB , 628x1000 , Who's That PLANTIMAL s.png )

Summary: Charisse shows off what her deck is capable of (with some help by chat), by getting the characters Enid got rid of back to the field, and adding a few more. Her end field is Kiwi-Molebeast (equipped with Durian Skunk as a rider), Corn-Quasidragon, and Banana-Lyluk. Enid and Franklin are left with just Glum Plum on the field at the end of the turn.

Charisse brushes herself off. “That was a pretty nice turn. Gonna need a good draw if I wanna do you one better.”

In one swift motion, she draws the top card of her deck and examines it. Her face lights up. “Talk about perfect timing!”

[Charisse: 4800 LP - 4 Cards in hand]

“Let’s start it off with a Sneak Preview!” She says, while activating her Spell Card. “We get to have a nice look at what the top three cards of both our decks are. Flip ‘em up!”

From the audience, Selma clicks her tongue. “That’s pretty lucky. She can’t be running too many cards like that, unless she’s trying to brick.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Bonnie asks, sitting beside the rodent.

“Well, knowing the top of your deck isn’t very useful most of the time. Especially since any time you search it for specific cards, you reshuffle it afterwards. It only really matters in specific circumstances, like if you have a card that relies on you knowing what is there.”

“Oh!” Warwick exclaims, catching on quickly. “The card Jhonen revealed before.”

Satisfied with what she saw, Charisse does exactly as the audience had predicted. “Let’s follow that up with ‘Who’s That PLANTIMAL?’! And I know for a fact that Kiwi-Molebeast will be one of the top five cards on my deck.”

Once more, cards from the top of Charisse’s deck begin to reveal themselves. The cards are, from top to bottom:

Fan Backlash (Trap Card)
Author’s Original Ending Plans (Trap Card)
Kiwi-Molebeast (Level 5 Character Card)
Fertilizer Ray (Equip Spell Card)
Banana-Lyluk (Level 1 Character Card, 100 ATK 100 DEF)

“Since I called it right, Kiwi-Molebeast gets Special Summoned straight to the field!” Charisse announces. On cue, a massive beast burrows its way up from the floor onto the field.

[ Kiwi-Molebeast, Plant-Type, Level 5, ATK: 1800, DEF: 1400 ]

“I’ve never seen a mole before. Are they normally that big?” Enid asks. Franklin shrugs.

“I’ve got two effects to trigger now. When my Molebeast is summoned, I can equip any lower-leveled PLANTIMAL monster from my hand to it as an Equip Spell, adding that monster’s attack to it. I also get to chain one of the cards I just sent to the Graveyard though, Author’s Original Ending Plans. When it gets sent there without me having activated it, I can add a PLANTIMAL from my Graveyard to my hand.”

“The ones we destroyed last turn went to your hand though.” Franklin points out.

“True, but my Spell tossed one in there. I’ll add Banana-Lyluk to my hand, and Normal Summon it to the field!”

[ Banana-Lyluk, Plant-Type, Level 1, ATK: 100, DEF: 100 ]

“...Does it do anything?” He asks.

“Nope, it’s just just shitty!”

“Bad language!” Franklin calls out.

The projected Banana-Lyluk falls over pathetically.

“As for my Molebeast, I’m going to equip Durian-Skunk to it, bumping it up to 2300 Attack Points.”

“That’s going to be a problem.” Jhonen mutters, glancing at his own listed attack points.

“Since I didn’t have any characters when my turn started, I get my extra normal summon from PLANTIMALS Theme Song. I’ll use it to bring back Corn-Quasidragon.

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Art By Edmango 2024/03/31(Sun)17:31 No. 1087570 ID: 056492
File 171193149966.png - (878.16KB , 1000x1000 , Perp Podcast.png )

Despite having cleared her field in the previous turn, Franklin and Enid are stunned to see that Charisse hadn’t just set her field back up, but improved it. The strength of her PLANTIMALS’ resource loop starts to set in, revealing the true difficulty of the battle ahead.

Charisse calls out attacks on Jhonen and Piter, using Kiwi-Molebeast and Corn-Quasidragon respectively. Only Glum Plum and a face-down trap remain, as the battle phase comes to an end and Charisse’s turn follows.

“O-Okay, this doesn’t look good, but we still have plays we can make.” Enid says. “This isn’t over yet.”

“Pause!” Charisse calls out, strolling across the field to the children. “Before you start your next turn, can I ask a favor?”

Enid blinks. “Um… Yes?”

“Rad! I was wondering if one or both of you wanted to talk to Stream Chat while playing out your turn? I’m fully ignoring the fact that you’re kids right now, and all the weird legal and social issues that would spring up around that. I just think it’d be neat to get your commentary in the mix, make it more of a collab, y’know? Especially since there are two of you, so hopefully it won’t be too distracting.”

Enid and Franklin share a look. The request doesn’t sound completely unreasonable, but neither of them have ever been in this kind of situation. What would be the best way to handle it?

How should Franklin and Enid handle stream commentary?
1: Enid duels, while Franklin chats
2: Franklin duels, while Enid chats
3: Enid and Franklin duel and chat together

ALSO! Suggest potential stream viewers that Enid, Franklin, or Charisse might talk to next turn.

3. Iraphena calls in!

1. Enid is the best at focusing so she should play. And I am really interested in seeing what sorts of weird conversations Franklin can have with others.


Who is chatting? Grace from DO NOT FILE. She's watching the stream when she is supposed to be working

1) Konda from A Most Holy Quest is in the chat. She's watching the stream on her orb when she should be doing sorcerer things.

2, and it's time for ANGRY DEER WIFE from ANGRY DEER WIFE to show up in chat!

`1

3! 3! and for the third time, 3!

And Raine from Return to Sender joins the chat. She suggest all kinds of ways to sleight-of-hand and cheat under the kangaroo's long, long nose.

Definitely 3, as this enables them to swap roles as needed, if they’d like. As for who’s watching… I second the motion of Iraphena!

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Pt. 2 Art By Himitsu, Arhra, Giant Hat, Magpie, and Sarcopholacooda 2024/04/28(Sun)20:11 No. 1089954 ID: aa9ce9
File 171436031818.png - (1.27MB , 1500x1000 , Stream Chat.png )

Franklin & Enid’s Field:
Glum Plum [1200/1000]
1 Face Down S/T

Charisse’s Field:
Corn-Quasidragon [1500/1000]
Kiwi-Molebeast [2300*/1400] (Originally [1800/1400])
Banana-Lyluk [100/100]
Durian-Skunk (Currently an Equip Spell, equipped to Kiwi-Molebeast)
1 Face Down S/T

“What do you think?” Enid asks. Franklin pauses, taking a moment to consider.

“I kind of want to understand what ‘stream chat’ is. I could look at her small TV thing–”

“This is a phone!” Charisse cuts in to clarify. The children pause to stare at her like she’d grown a second head.

He shakes his head. “...Well, I’d like to look at whatever it is. Do you think I could duel while you do that?”

“Um, did you mean the opposite of that?”

He pauses, reviewing his sentence in his head with several gestures. “...Yes.”

Enid nods. “Okay, I don’t mind. I kind of had an idea of what I wanted to do this turn anyways, so just leave it to me!”

Franklin accepts the device from Charisse, and after some brief hardware explanations (“Where are the buttons?” “It’s a touch screen.” “They make screens just for touching?”) he’s able to pull up the stream chat and read through messages.

He flashes Enid the thumb’s up, signaling her to start their turn. She draws a card.

[Enid: 6000 LP - 3 Cards in hand]

{ Bored@work says: What happened to the kangaroo girl? }
{ Puffb@ll says: aww just realized this was a SFW stream ;( }
{ LongLongTaillll says: The kids stole her stream, very relatable. One of my boys steals everything that isn’t nailed down. }
{ jackieLantern says: Sh3 pass3d th3 str3am ov3r to th3 mostly-human boy }
{ xXx_DUNG30N_DW3LL3R_xXx says: is that a Housetrapped typing quirk? }
{ jackieLantern says: ~^v^~ Ar3 you a fan too!?!? }
{ xXx_DUNG30N_DW3LL3R_xXx says: O_O yeeeeeeeeees }

Franklin has immediately lost track of chat. Waves of text blow by him without a single word actually finding purchase within his brain.

Meanwhile, Enid is looking between her cards and making a tough decision, She sees a couple different lines she could take, and has to weigh the odds between them. One would get a character on-board that could counter most of what she’s seen from Charisse so far, but if Charisse does have an out then the punishment will be brutal. Still, the alternatives aren’t that much better, and if she doesn’t go for it now then she might not get the chance later.

“I’ll start my turn by activating the Spell Card, Anti-Individuality Classroom!”

“Huh, that’s interesting…” Franklin mumbles. He notices chat latching onto his comment, and finds an opening to talk to them. “We talked about that spell earlier. It’s great for setting things up, but it has some downsides too.”

Three generic children begin generating on the field, as he continues his explanation. “That spell creates three tokens on your field, all of which are Level 3 and Rapscallion-Type. That’s pretty good for our deck, but there’s a catch. Um, three actually. The first is that you can only use it if you have no characters, or the only ones you do have are Rapscallions. We play a lot of them, but not every character we use is like that.”

{ DefinitelyPascoe says: Does anyone even check card types? Why not just say all your cards are Rapscallions? }

“...Because that’s cheating. There’s one other problem too. For the rest of the turn…”

“...you can only summon Rapscallion-Type characters” Enid finishes. That was the real downside, as it put a hard limit on how far Enid could push their combo. She wouldn’t be able to summon out an (A) character, since their characters all change types when they reach adulthood. “Plus, the tokens only last until the end of the turn. If I haven’t used them by then, they leave the field.”

“Those tokens must be a pretty big boon for your deck, if you’re willing to go through that much to summon them.” Charisse says. “So what are you gonna do with them?”

“I’m going to summon the card I just drew, Lillian, The Athlete (E).”

[ Lillian, The Athlete (E), Rapscallion-Type, Level 3, ATK: 1000, DEF: 1000 ]

{ Bored@work says: is this the one that summons the identical kid? }

“No, that’s what Phillip does. Lillian only has an effect in the hand that you can use during combat, but she isn’t great at starting combos. That’s probably why Enid had to use that spell first.”

{ jackieLantern says: Just want3d to say that you’r3 doing great at this ~^v^~ }
{ Bored@work says: Yeah, good explanations. }

“Oh. Thank you, that’s very nice.” The nice words definitely made him feel like he was doing this right, although a sour one popped up moments later that confused him.

{ EyeSeeAll says: She’s gonna choke. }

“...On what? She isn’t–”

{ EyeSeeAll says: To be clear, I don’t mean she’s going to start choking. I mean she’s going to make a mistake. }

Oh, that made more sense. Franklin knew exactly how he felt about that: Bad.

A few of the other chat members respond to them, but Franklin isn’t sure what to say. He doesn’t want to deny that Enid would ever make a mistake, that would put a lot of pressure on her. He also wants to tell her she’s wrong and dumb though, because Enid is playing totally fine so far.

In the end, he chooses to leave it be, turning his attention back to Enid’s turn. She finishes flipping through the extra deck, seeming to lock in on a series of actions.

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Pt. 2 Art By Himitsu 2024/04/28(Sun)20:12 No. 1089955 ID: aa9ce9
File 171436035186.png - (334.82KB , 628x1000 , Study Buddies s.png )

“I’m going to sync Lillian and one token off to make Lillian, The Amazonian (M)!” Enid says.

[ Lillian, The Amazonian (M), Rapscallion-Type, Level 6, ATK: 2000, DEF: 2000 ]

“What effects does she have?” Charisse asks. “Need to know if I should respond to this or not.”

“Nothing super proactive. As long as she was Synchro Summoned to the field normally though, she can’t be affected by card effects that don’t specifically target her.”

Charisse nods, waving Enid on to continue. “Now, I’d like to go into her next level, but I’m still locked into Rapscallions by my Spell Card. So instead, I’m going to Link off my two remaining Rapscallion Tokens.”

“Link? They have Link Characters in their extra deck?” Warwick exclaims from the audience stands.

“That’s a surprise.” Xerin agrees. “They can only have fifteen cards in their extra deck, and I would have sworn their Synchro Characters were taking up all of that room. Each one effectively takes up two spaces after all, one for the Middle variant and one for the Adult. Even just 7 lines would take up 14 spaces already.”

“It does leave one opening though.” Selma adds, pushing up her glasses. “There are a few good generic Link Characters for the Rapscallion typing, a few of which might compliment their deck.”

“I already know what it is!” Bonnie announces proudly.

The two tokens vanish, and a pair of children sitting at a table with a book between them take their place. “Using my tokens as Link Material, I special summon the Link-2 Character: Study Buddies!”

[ Study Buddies, Rapscallion-Type, LINK-2, ATK: 800 ]

“I activate their on-summon effect! In exchange for sending them to the Graveyard, I can add one Normal Spell or Normal Trap card to my hand. I won’t be allowed to activate that card or any with the same name for the rest of the turn though.” She fans out her deck, starting to search through it.

{ xXx_DUNG30N_DW3LL3R_xXx says: ANY spell or trap??? that sounds really strong! can a card that good be legal? }
{ jackieLantern says: It’s actually on th3 limit3d list at one right now, so it’s fin3 as long as this is the only copy she has. }
{ DefinitelyPascoe says: She should stack the top of her deck for the next turn when she’s finished searching }
{ ~Official_Tsuki@OWO~ says: Remember: Cheating is cool when you do it right, because it means you win! Everybody likes a winner >wO }
{ dampfeline says: nooooo cheating’s bad }
{ DefinitelyPascoe says: It’s not cheating if you don’t get caught }
{ xXx_DUNG30N_DW3LL3R_xXx says: um, i don’t think that’s true }

Franklin looks up, spotting Pan in the rafters. He calls out to the bird. “Hey, is it cheating if you don’t get caught?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, thank you.” Franklin turns back to the phone. “I hope that clears things up.”

Enid pulls out a Trap Card from her deck. “I’ve decided on adding Growth Spurt to my hand.”

“Sounds like a combat trick.” Charisse says.

“You’ll see what it does soon, but not before I deal with some of your field.”

She checks her characters again, putting special attention on Glum Plum. Her eyes then drift to the Kiwi-Molebeast, who Lillian wouldn’t be over to get over this turn. Did she really want to leave Plum in Attack Position when she only had 1200 points? Switching her to Defense would mean Banana-Lyluk stayed on the field, which would be lame if Charisse got another PLANTIMAL character to summon, but even if she didn’t her continuous spell would always let her summon twice anyways.

Nodding to herself, she commits to her thoughts. “I’m going to switch Glum Plum to Defense Position, and then go to combat.”

“Huh?” Franklin blinks.

“You what?” Charisse says.

“Tch.” Selma clicks her tongue. “That was a misplay.”

“Huh?” Enid seems to pick up the confusion her play had caused. “D-did I do something wrong?”

“Eh, nothing too bad,” Charisse assures, “but I think you might have forgotten one of the core rules of PLANTIMALS. When a PLANTIMAL is involved in combat…”

“...Neither player takes battle damage– Ah!” Her head whips towards the field, staring at Plum sitting in Defense.

They were right. Enid thought she was being cautious, but really she’d just lost track of the board state. She wasn’t protecting her Life Points, she was just preventing herself from taking out two PLANTIMALS this turn instead of one! Her Continuous Spell wasn’t even a factor, since it needs her to control no characters to activate, and Enid would be leaving Kiwi-Molebeast up.

There wasn’t any way around it: She messed up.

{ EyeSeeAll says: Told you. }

“...I guess you did.” Franklin admits.

Another message pops up from the same user, but he doesn’t read it. Instead, he pockets the phone, ignoring it to pat Enid on the shoulder. “It’s okay. Just keep going.”

“I… I go to battle, and have Lillian attack Corn-Quasidragon.”

The PLANTIMAL goes down easily, returning to Charisse’s hand. There’s nothing Enid can do about the other two though.

“I end my battle phase and set one card face-down. End of turn.”

Franklin hands Charisse her phone back, before returning to Enid’s side. The turn had ended on a sour note, but the game wasn’t over yet. Like it or not, their only choice was to play through their own mistakes.

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Pt. 2 Art By Himitsu 2024/04/28(Sun)20:13 No. 1089956 ID: aa9ce9
File 171436038457.png - (272.86KB , 628x1000 , Growth Spurt s.png )

“Welcome back, chat! You’re just in time to see my draw.” She takes the top card of her deck and adds it to her hand.

[Charisse: 4800 LP - 2 Cards in hand]

Her hand is… two character cards, neither of which being super impactful at the moment.

“Nevermind, guess you weren’t missing much with a draw like that. I’ll just summon Corn-Quasidragon back to the field, and go to the battle phase.”

“Oh, he’s back.” Franklin mumbles. “Is that bad for us?”

“...It isn’t great, but we won’t lose this turn.”

“We’ll see about that!” Charisse calls out. “Kiwi-Molebeast is gonna target Lillian!”

The massive creature charges forward, carrying the Durian-Skunk equipped to it on its back. Enid whispers something to Franklin, who nods.

“We activate Growth Spurt.” He says, flipping up their face-down.

“Called it!” Charisse pumps her fist. “So what’s it do? Give your girl more Attack?”

“Sometimes? It… Well, it isn’t doing that now, because it’s Lillian, so…” Franklin scratches his head, trying to remember why this is supposed to work. Enid pats him on the arm, and takes over the explanation.

“Growth Spurt has two different effects. Normally, it’ll just give a character card 600 Attack and Defense Points for the rest of the turn. When we use it on a card with (E) or (M) in its name however, we can level them up to their next growth stage for free.”

On the field, Lillian’s body glows brightly, as her silhouette morphs into a taller figure than what stood previously.

“Since this Lillian was already an (M), we get to replace her with Lillian, The Olympian (A),” Franklin finishes.

[ Lillian, The Olympian (A), Warrior-Type, Level 9, ATK: 3000, DEF: 3000 ]

“Heck yeah!” Lillian’s glow recedes, revealing her adult form. “...Wait a minute, I’m not a kid anymore. I can swear for real! HELL YEAH!”

Charisse blinks. “...You kids consider ‘hell’ a swear?”

The roo considers her face-down, which seems to catch Enid’s attention. “Before you respond, you should know what Lillian’s one effect is.”

“What’s that?”

“She’s unaffected by card effects,” she explains, causing Charisse’s eyebrows to rise in shock. “The only way you’ll be able to get rid of her will be through battle.”

“Speaking of battle… does her Molebeast still run into Lillian?” Franklin asks. “Since she declared an attack, but it was against the other Lillian, but we summoned this one in her place, and… Um, all of those reasons.”

Enid shrugs, turning up to the judges for a ruling. Toffles speaks up.

“Since the original Lillian Kiwi-Molebeast was targeting has left the field, it triggers a Replay. Charisse can either choose a new attack target, or cancel the attack altogether.”

“Okay. I remembered them saying something about that, but there were so many rules to learn already…” Enid sighs.

Charisse examines the field for a minute, before shrugging. “I’ll take out Glum Plum with my Molebeast then. Charge!”

The beast, having stopped in place, turns towards the doll and throws its body weight into it. Plum goes down in an instant.”

“Unfortunately, that’s gonna have to be it from me this turn.” She says, passing back to Enid and Franklin. They draw.

[Enid: 6000 LP - 2 Cards in hand]

She grimaces, seeing one of the more gimmicky Trap Cards that Franklin had pushed for. While it wasn’t useless, and could very well be helpful in this duel, it wasn’t much of a combo starter.

“So… should we play Perrine?” Franklin asks, pointing to the card in question. “She’ll let us special summon another level three character from our deck, right?”

“Yes…”

“Alright, then why don’t we do it?”

A perfectly reasonable question. They’d had the card in their hand since the first turn, as Enid had been saving it for the right moment. If they played her now, they could potentially clear Charisse’s field.

However…

“I’m worried about that face-down.” She points out the solitary card in Charisse’s Spell/Trap Zone. “I know Lillian can’t be affected by cards, but that doesn’t mean we’re invulnerable. All it would take is Charisse getting a character with more than 3000 Attack on the field.”

“Okay…” he nods along.

“If we play our only other starter and get punished for it, we’ll need to draw well to have a chance for a comeback.”

“Ahh, okay, I get it,” he nods, understandingly. “So, should we just take out her Kiwi-Molebeast then? She won’t be able to just summon it back out, since it’s a Level five, right?”

Her face twists with yet more hesitance. “No, we can’t do that either! What if she gets a stronger character to equip to it the next time she summons it out? She could take out Lillian then, and we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

“Oh… Then, what do we do?”

Attacking Kiwi-Molebeast was right out, obviously, so that just left Corn-Quasidragon again and Banana-Lyluk. After a few moments to think about it, she shares her conclusion.

“If she can put her Molebeast back into her hand, then she’d have the stronger Quasidragon to equip to it when she summoned it back out. That would be enough to go over Lillian.”

At Franklin’s nod of approval, she points to the weaker creature. “We enter the battle phase, and Lillian will attack Banana-Lyluk.”

Lillian spins around for a few seconds, before launching a shot put ball that splatters the poor Lyluk beneath it. The pathetic creature returns to Charisse’s hand.

“And… We’ll set down one card before ending our turn.” Enid finishes.

Enid & Franklin Vs. Charisse Pt. 2 Art By Buckwheat 2024/04/28(Sun)20:14 No. 1089957 ID: aa9ce9
File 171436045140.png - (6.96KB , 600x400 , Live Audience Reaction.png )

The audience loses some of its energy from the slower less impactful turns both duelists put up. “Is it just me, or have things slowed down a bit?” Ceridwen asks.

“It’s only natural. Despite her earlier mistake, the girl is making sensible plays.” Xerin responds. “It’s the kangaroo’s deck that’s keeping things to a slower pace.”

“Ehhhh, I don’t know about that.” Conway says. “The kid clearly has plays she can make. Maybe she has a reason to wait, but I was getting the vibe that she’s just scared to mess up.”

“It’s a mistake that will cost them.”

The spectators turn to The Masked Duelist, surprised to hear him share his thoughts.

“What do you mean?” Ceri asks.

“I think he means that Charisse will eventually draw an out, as long as one exists in her deck.” Selma points out. “They’re stalling, but against a deck like Charisse’s they can’t afford that. Every turn her hand will get more and more powerful, as new cards funnel out of her deck and into it, and with each bit of support it’ll be that much harder to break through.”

“Charisse holds the advantage in a drawn out match, so it is imperative that the children do not let it become such,” Basmati summarizes.

“It’s not like she can always refresh her field fully.” Warwick points out. “Even with her PLANTIMALS Theme Song still up, she had to rely on several other cards to get more than just her Skunk and Quasidragon back into play.”

While the surrounding spectators converse, The Masked Duelist silently stares down at the younger duelists. His thoughts are unreadable.

Charisse pulls the top card from her deck, smiling as she sees what it is. It seems the current stalemate wouldn’t last much longer.

What has Charisse drawn?
A: The strongest PLANTIMAL in her deck
B: A Field Spell that will make it even easier for Charisse to load up her field
C: A Spell that will let Charisse take out Franklin and Enid’s backrow
D: A Draw Spell that lets Charisse draw into two of the above

Additionally, which of these cards should Franklin and Enid draw on their next turn?
1: Big Angry Dog (gifted to the pair by Bonnie)
2: What Did You Do to Marcie!? (A Quick-Play Spell Card that sets a character’s ATK/DEF to their original values)
3: Everyone’s Favorite Mechanic (A luck-based Spell Card Franklin insisted on keeping in)

A draw spell, everyone's favorite mechanic!

I’m gonna go with A and 2, as much as I would love another Crate of Greed appearance

A, 1

D2!

The D stands for Draw

D 2
Still Rooting for Franklin and Enid, but they also Have to earn their victory