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Shining Evening Pouncer
056492
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“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 ]
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