(GS3) Field: Forest

[Cherry]

Putting the stress of war plans on Satoshi would probably cause something or two to snap, so Yugure avoided it. Neo Nectar's champion wasn't one for this, that's what she decided on. Since there was a refusal to bring that topic to light, she focused instead on this evening.

"I haven't had much contact with anyone for the past years- year." She slipped, "I would like to get back in touch with my friends. My apologies for never coming out with you just to spend time together."

This way, she wasn't lying. A couple bites of her food were taken, but it took awhile to actually make a dent in the single dish she ordered. Just not much an appetite.

[Beryl]

Satoshi chuckled. "Time's different on Cray, right?" Seph hadn't really gone into detail about the other world as much as he would've expected, but from what he understood, a lot more happened in what seemed like an instant on Earth. He took a bite of his asparagus, accidentally letting a bit of his mouth's joy escape his lips in a slight growl of approval. This was certainly a good crop this year. Props to his mother's gardening.

He gave a bit more of smile this time at the apology. "Don't worry about it. As I said, you weren't the only one who didn't say much. Haruka and Isabella didn't, and I didn't especially ask at any point. I didn't even tell you where I was." He waved his fork a bit. "This guy, I think his name was Ronald Drump...he gifted me this expansive piece of land in Hawaii for meeting with him one time. Surprisingly generous of one of America's top businessmen. And with a bit of the fortunes I got...well, I can fly people out there some time to hang out." He shrugged. "Maybe sometime I'll have you guys down there, y'know? It's beautiful."

As he ate more, Satoshi's brain worked a mile a minute. There was something Yukino wasn't telling him. He set his fork down, took another sip of chardonnay, and crossed his arms, leaning back again.

"How'd your training with the Blasters and Ezel go?"

[Cherry]

"Sort of", was her response to time working differently. She wasn't exactly at liberty to divulge in a lot of details concerning her absence. A mental note was made not to make that same slip again. Her friend seemed more relaxed and enjoying himself, but the name Ronald Drump unsettled her. What kind of dumb name is that? The soldier actually found herself in a bit of a nervous sweat trying to decipher the minds of parents who came up with it. There was relief, however, as the general happiness of others was what she aimed to bring.

"You'll have to make sure to invite all of us."

Despite being a highly esteemed, upper class rich girl... she had never been to places like Hawaii. Mostly stuck to Japan for her childhood and adolescence.

"I never made it to Cray, but I still got my training. It was successful, as I can wield several different weapons."

[Beryl]

Satoshi raised an eyebrow. "You never made it to Cray? Where'd you go, then?" He sipped at his drink again, swishing it a bit in his hand. "What kind of weapons?"

[Cherry]

"I should rephrase: different types of swords. Namely, Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark as prime examples", she answered the second question before addressing the initial one. Again, this wasn't information she could just freely give out. There was no harm in telling him, however.

"Somewhere in the mountains... Mount Fuji, if I recall."

[Beryl]

"Mount Fuji...sounds pleasant." Satoshi shivered a bit. Actually, a mountain sounded super cold.

The shiver lingered a bit. Something didn't feel right, but it hadn't fully grasped him what yet. "Good to know you have your swords together."

[Hope]

A black ring lay above the forest area.

The large figure sat upon a seat of stone in front a table, coated in a black and red aura being released from the ridges of his body. The giant impatiently tapped on the fight table, wearing metal bracelets on each of his wrists, both in such a colossal size. The monster waited for his next victim. His starting card was already on the table, and his eyes glowed red with an expression that anticipated more fun as his next toy was dragged into his den.

"BRING HIM IN!" The beast ordered.

Two beings just like him dragged a small and fragile man into the area. Oshiro took a good look at him with his eyes and a good sniff of him, getting a preview of his victim. "HIS INTENTIONS ARE PURE AND CLEAR HAHA... I CAN'T WAIT TO SHATTER YOU APART." The game had begun.

Daisuke Oshiro had no intention of bringing in reversed fighters for the invaders. What he wanted was to re-live the fun days with his friends, the old days in the slums where they would fight for the fun of it and use shock bracelets as a test of toughness... So he reversed them, all of his closest friends, and he took them with him as servants within this forest area. After setting up their own fight tables, they created their game where they even placed their money and all sorts of bets on it. They would find fighters and inspect them, dragging them here to take a beating from the demon.

"WHAT WILL TAKE YOU FIRST?... WILL YOU LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS FROM THE PAIN OF THE SHOCK BRACELETS?... OR WILL YOU STAY AWAKE LONG ENOUGH TO BECOME REVERSED AND JOIN ME AS MY PAWN...?" Oshiro laughed.
"No! Please!..." The man begged.
"TIME TO BEGIN!" The large figure stood and grabbed the man's wrists, nearly separating his arms from his body, and he forced the bracelets on.
"THIS'LL BE FUN JUST LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS! RIGHT GUYS!?" Oshiro looked back at his friends, all looking void and empty, having smiles that represented nothing.
"Yes." They responded back in a robotic tone. Eventually the man fought with his cards as he preferred it much more than a physical beating. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
"Stop! No! Stop!" As his fifth damage fell, healed. He was shocked nonetheless. Then the next, another fifth damage. Draw trigger. He was given a shock again, this time it was enough to cause the pain that would put him to sleep. His arms were fried as well.
"WINNERS TAKE YOUR EARNINGS! HE FELL BEFORE BEING ONE OF US!" The beast placed the money on the table on top of his fallen victim's cards as his friends slowly flocked towards them, also grabbing the unconscious body.

"ADD IT ONTO THE PILE! WE'LL GIVE 'EM ANOTHER TRY SOMETIME!" On his command, the new body was added among the collection of today's broken play toys.

[Lance Korilum]

  Cero had heard the sounds of a motorcycle pursuing him.  He wasn't taking chances, he had to meet back up with Yugure.  Looking to his left, he saw the forest, and decided to take a detour through there.  Motorcycles aren't exactly suited to this environment, so his pursuer would be stupid to follow him.  This, however, was not a good idea.  Inside the forest, Cero found a pile of unconscious bodies and a collection of Reverse fighters, with one atop what looked like a makeshift throne, prepared to fight. 

  "It seems I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place..."  Cero muttered aloud, realizing his situation was progressively getting worse.  He had three options:  Cut through the Reverse fighters, find a way around them, or turn back and face his motorcycle-riding pursuer.  Standing there, Cero weighed his options, doing his best to remain out of sight of the Reverse fighters. 

  He made his decision.  Turning around, Cero exited the forest and prepared to face his pursuer.

[Spectre Diamond]

"So the King has decided to hide in the forest. Its naive to think that I won't follow.." He jumps off his motorcycle as he chases Cero into the woods.

[Lance Korilum]

  "So you're the one chasing me," Cero said as he looked down from a hill upon the man that pursued him.  The suit the man was wearing prevented him from figuring out the man's identity, though that didn't bother Cero much.  He brought out his deck, and prepared to fight the man.  There was no way Cero would let himself be pushed around.

[Spectre Diamond]

He silently summoned out the floating red boards as the space around began to change into a voided space. He places his starter on the board.

[Lance Korilum]

  ...  Cero had lost.  His deck abandoned him, leaving him at the mercy of his opponent's repeated triggers while Cero had nothing to guard or retaliate with.  It was absolutely absurd, even infuriating, how lucky this person was getting.  A rush at Grade 2 accompanied by triggers every single turn.  There was nothing Cero could do, and he was left defeated. 

  The aura of reverse flowed into Cero's body, consuming him...  Or, at least it began to consume him.  The marks formed, but the aura changed from the normal one to the shape of lightning.  This lightning exploded out from Cero, destroying trees and causing him to feel three times the agony of any other fighter being Reversed...  The power was extensive, overflowing, something beyond comprehension...  It tempted Cero to give in, yet he wouldn't...  There was no way Cero would give in to this!!!  The aura continued its destruction as Cero fell to the ground, still screaming in pain as Reverse consumed him, or at least that's what it seemed like on the outside.

  Within Cero's mind, there was the influence of Reverse and his own willpower.  The Reverse took the form of a giant made of black flames crushing Cero with its grasp, while Cero struggled to escape it.  If he lost the battle in his mind, it was all over.  He struggled and struggled, every bit he tried to escape only tightening the hold on Cero.  The tighter the grip, the harder Cero fought back.  It was an endless loop with no end, though Reverse had the edge.  Cero's will was tiring, and escape was impossible.  He was unable to continue struggling, and the giant lifted him up...  Up above its head, and dropped Cero into its mouth like he was nothing...  As this happened, the destructive aura died down as Cero lost consciousness in the real world.

  However, it wasn't over.  As Cero was ready to accept his fate, just to end, the agony, a voice rang out through his mind, no, through his very Soul.

"Now is not your time."

  Within his mind, Cero was still within the giant.  However, a presence had joined him.  A familiar presence, one Cero had felt many times...  "I see...  So you never left in the first place, did you?"  From within the giant, Cero's willpower resurfaced, merging itself with the influence of Reverse with the help of this new presence preventing him from losing himself within the massive amounts of power now flowing through him.  In the distance of his mind, he saw something...  A dragon that looked familiar yet different.  It called out to the new Cero with its very soul, calling him to a world both familiar and unknown...  A world of the future.

  In the real world, the aura exploded once again, showering the area with destruction.  A card materialized within Cero's hands, but not a Reverse card nor the presence nor the dragon in the distance of his mind, but a card that embodied Cero's ambition and would grant him the power he had always been searching for:  Eradicator, Tempest Bolt Dragon.  Although he hadn't received a Reverse card, Cero still had the red marks upon him and a rather chaotic, lightning variation of the Reverse aura.  To anyone but himself, he would seem to be a Reverse fighter just like every other person that had lost one of these fights.

[Spectre Diamond]

Creating a barrier to shield him from the horrendous amounts of lightning coming out from the man's aura.

"It shouldn't take this long..." Hikaru thought as the man continued to struggle and resist the process of reverse. He should just knock him out so the process goes faster. He keeps the barrier as he walks over to Cero to knock him out. However the man's aura sky rocketing as it went to several directions as lightning lit up the trees as they begin to burn in black flames. Fortunately the flames will disappear once the aura subsides.

"What is this..." He looked at the king once more. He scoffs it off and began to leave. He went to the outskirts of the forest and drive off on his motorcycle.

[Hope]

The beast stood within the shadows, sitting his throne of stone and vine, a small laugh from the night prior still was in him. He had seen the Underground King triumph, the traitor that ended the peace of the slums, going against his duty as it's chosen ruler. His friends gathered around him as he called them close, he placed his deck on the table and prepared his bracelets, which were chained down to the table. He was like an animal on a leash.

"GO FETCH THE UNDERGROUND KING AND BRING HIM HERE, HE SHALL BE THE FIRST VICTIM OF THE DAY." The reversed fighters then set out to fetch him.

[Spectre Diamond]

Riding on the changed oblivion he rides towards to the forest. He had gotten a message from one of his former underlings. Telling him to head to the forest. He reaches his destination and got of the oblivion. He strode through the forest as he reached the clearing.