"There! That's the last of the homework," said Trixie, setting her pencil aside as she closed her textbook and binder. Pushing herself away from her desk on her chair, she wheeled off over to her bed, where she had laid her backpack. She reached into the back and pulled out a deck case, carefully laying out and sorting the cards inside on her bed.
This was essentially her daily ritual. She would run through her cards and see if she could boost her deck's power, looking up forums and guides on her phone. Safe to say, she was in love with Duel Monsters, as was almost everyone else at her school. In fact, she only worked at the local café a few blocks down just to get some cash to buy the card packs her deck needed.
She looked outside her trailer window and saw that the sun had just begun to set. The little trailer parked on the outskirts of the central park was not much to look at, but the locals were kind enough to let her stay there, and Trixie felt perfectly comfortable in her little home.
She opened her laptop next to her cards and lay down on the bed, typing as she took another glance at the cards.
"Let's see... what can I get today?" She opened up a few tabs to see if anyone had put up some good cards to sell. Trixie scanned the forums, going from page to page in search of anything that could synergize with her deck, but she had no such luck.
She sighed as she closed her laptop. "Let's see if that card pack will give me something nice," she said, reaching into the pocket of her hoodie. She had picked a pair of card packs from the corner store on her way home, and wanted to wait until after she had finished all her schoolwork to open them. Trixie knew that if she opened them first, she probably would have spent the entire evening trying to see if she could make new combos with them, or sell them online.
"Come on, cards," she mumbled, "Don't fail Trixie now..."
She scolded herself internally for referring to herself in third person, as she tended to do whenever she was excited or nervous. Tearing open the card packs, she quickly scanned through them and read the text on the cards.
"A Salamangreat monster? Not helpful... Knightmare Phoenix? That's a solid effect, I guess.... and who the heck still plays Ice Barrier outside of Trishula?" She mumbled, setting the new cards beside her. The final card caught her eye. She immediately recognized it as a Kuriboh, but it was dressed up with a curved pointed helm that she could recognize, and it held a small staff in it's claw the size of its body. The helm was that of the Dark Magician, and she had a model of the same helm that she would wear at times, just for fun.
She read the card name aloud."Magikuriboh..." She scanned the card text. "The effect is alright, and works well enough with my other monsters."
She continued to stare at the furball in the card's artwork. "Oh, but Trixie thinks you are simply adorable!" she giggled, hugging her pillow while still holding onto the card. She slid the card into her deck and put the other cards in her binder, where a bunch of other cards were waiting to be traded someday.
Trixie grabbed her phone, deck, and duel disk, shoving them into a small purse she kept. Today was Friday, and with her homework done, she could head on down to the community center next to the park to meet up with her fellow members of the "Duelist" club. She locked the door behind her, hopped onto her bike, and pedaled off. He light blue skin gently shone in the setting sun, and her soft white hair sparkled like the surface of a pond. Her blue hood fluttered gently, and the wind blew a late spring breeze that would make anyone sign with content.
It wasn't long before she arrived at the community center, and saw her friend. Locking her bike, she ran to her, careful not to let the contents of her purse shake too much. "Hey, Maud!" she called out.
Maud Pie was unlike anyone she had ever met, but that's what made Trixie appreciate her so much. Her clothes were gray, save for her slightly pink skirt, which matched her skin tone and long hair perfectly. Her eyes were green, but always looked so tired, one might believe she might collapse at the faintest breeze. Yet she stood, still as a rock, with no emotion on her face.
"Hey, Trixie," Maud replied, betraying absolutely no emotion in her voice. "You ready?"
Trixie nodded, patting her purse. "Heh, heh, yup!" she giggled.
Maud's face did not change. Instead she simply turned around and said, "Cool," before walking down the hallway with her best friend.
The room where the club was meeting was unusually busy, as most of the members were gathered around a single individual, who seemed fairly embarrassed at the amount of attention he was receiving. At the door, another boy was leaning on the doorframe, happily watching the club members interact. He was taller, and his skin toned yellow and his hair loosely combed back. His yellow hoodie was unzipped, revealing his green t-shirt, and his jeans were very light and thin with age. He spotted Trixie and Maud as they approached and waved at them.
"Hey, you two! You're just in time!" he said.
Trixie greeted back, then looked at the commotion inside.
"Heya, Hitch. What's going on?" she asked.
Hitch Trailblazer pointed at the boy at the center of the crowd, and said, "That right there is our newest recruit. I'll introduce you guys."
He led them into the room and to the boy, where Trixie could get a better look at him. His skin was a lighter shade of gray than Maud, but his eyes was grey too, and his shirt was red with more white strips down the sides. His pants were black and military-style, and his hair was jet black, save for a red streak down the middle. Wrapped around his neck He smiled when he saw Hitch and timidly walked up to Trixie and Maud.
"Hi," he said softly with a small wave, "Its nice to meet you."
"This is James Chroma," said Hitch as the other two exchanged handshakes with the new boy.
"Just call me Mona," said the boy, still slightly scared.
After Trixie introduced herself and Maud, she turned to Hitch. "Does he know about the initiation?"
Hitch shook his head. Mona's face changed slightly, and looked scared. "I-initiation?"
Trixie scoffed and waved her hand in dismissal. "Relax," she said. "It's just a duel with the club representative."
"Oh, alright," said Mona, with a hint of excitement in his voice. "Who would that be?"
"The great and powerful TRRRRIXIE, of course!" she trilled flamboyantly.
Before Mona could even express his confusion, he was led away by the group, through the back door. Past the doors was an empty gymnasium, with bleachers and stands already set up.
Trixie slipped on her duel disk and set her deck in the slot as the other club members sat on the bleachers and benches. "You all set?" she asked Mona, who was looking around and admiring the place.
"Huh? Oh, right," He fumbled through his bag, and pulled out a shiny black duel disk and a deck case. After he slid his cards into the duel disk and strapped it on his arm, he nodded and said, "Okay, I'm ready."
The two walked to opposite ends of a "court", made by tape lined on the gymnasium floor. The duel disks hummed to life, and the holograms of a playing field faded into existance.
Hitch picked up a megaphone set on the bleachers, and said into it, "Are both duelists ready?"
The club members cheered loudly, save for Maud, and the two of them nodded, and took ready stances.
"LET'S DUEL!" shouted everyone.