[♰ NEW CONNECTION: CHAT ESTABLISHED BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS ♰]
[♰ USERS: HEK'TAN KONN, TONY STARK, DIANA PRINCE, YUGI MUTO, MINDY MACREADY, EZIO AUDITORE, LIU KANG ♰]
[♰ LINKS ESTABLISHED. STATUS: ONLINE ♰]
[♰ NEW CONNECTION: CHAT ESTABLISHED BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS ♰]
The text hung in the air, a semi-transparent royal blue overlay that followed Tony Stark's line of sight. It didn't matter where he turned his head; the Ledger stayed perfectly centered, burned into his ocular reality.
Tony was bewildered—if that word even began to cover it.
He had faced his rogue uncle in a titan-sized suit of armor. He had escaped a terrorist organization in a cave with nothing but a box of scraps. He had survived the prying eyes of the global press and the crushing weight of his own legacy. By all accounts, nothing in this world should have been able to surprise him anymore.
Well, that was until today.
"JARVIS, tell me you're seeing this," Tony muttered, rubbing his face. He was back in his Malibu workshop, the smell of ozone and expensive espresso grounding him, but the blue text remained.
"I am seeing... something, Sir," JARVIS's voice sounded thin, like a recording played over a bad radio. "My core processors are attempting to categorize the 'Ledger' interface, but it appears to be operating on a frequency that shouldn't exist in our dimension. It isn't code, Sir. It's... intention."
"Intention. Great. I've been hacked by a philosophical ghost," Tony sighed, walking over to a holographic terminal. He tried to swipe the Ledger away, but his hand passed right through it.
TONY STARK: "Testing, one-two. Is this thing still on? Or did the 'Benefactor' leave us with the multiversal equivalent of a sticky note?"
A response flickered to life almost instantly, but it wasn't from the Admin.
HEK'TAN: "It is on, Stark. I am back in the trenches of Calypsos. The air is thick with the scent of promethium and the dying screams of the Xenos. And yet, your voice—and this blue sorcery—persists in my mind."
EZIO AUDITORE: "As it does in mine. I stand before my brothers and sisters in the heart of Rome, and they look at me as if I have seen a phantom. I suppose, in a way, I have."
YUGI MUTO: "This is weird. I'm back on Duelist Kingdom, sitting on my sleeping bag."
TONY STARK: "Sleeping bag? You don't have a tent, kid? Wait, what's 'Duelist Kingdom'? Are you in a war zone? Are you fighting?"
HEK'TAN: "Who are your enemies, child? Tell me their names, and they will feel the might of a Son of Vulkan! No fledgling should face the dark alone."
DIANA PRINCE: "I agree. No child should be in a battle. If you are in danger, Yugi, speak plainly. We are bound by this Ledger now; your safety is our concern."
YUGI MUTO: "Oh! No, it's not like that! Well, it is a battle, but more like a free for all really but we use Duel Monsters. It's a card game... but with the Millennium Items, the stakes are real. People's souls are on the line. I have to win to save my Grandfather."
TONY STARK: "A card game. We are in a multiversal life-and-death chat and your on a island fighting for your life in the most high-stakes round of 'Go Fish.' Fantastic. My life is a fever dream."
MINDY MACREADY: "Hey, don't knock it. If the kid is fighting for his family, it's a war. Doesn't matter if you're using a gun or a piece of cardboard. Though, kid, if someone tries to shank you, the cardboard won't help. Aim for the throat."
LIU KANG: "Peace, Mindy. Yugi, I sense a great spirit within you. Do not let the surroundings intimidate you. Focus on your discipline."
HEK'TAN: "I do not understand this 'card' warfare, but if souls are the currency, then the Archenemy is near. Be wary, Yugi Muto.
YUGI MUTO: "I will! Thank you, everyone. But Hek'Tan, what is the 'Archenemy'? I saw you say it once before and I was curious. Are there many enemies in your world?"
HEK'TAN: "…The Archenemy is the servants of Chaos, young one. They are the rot in the soul of the galaxy, the whispers in the dark that turn brother against brother. They do not just seek to kill; they seek to unmake. And as for other enemies? My life is a tally of them. The Orks, the Xenos, the heretic... in my world, there is only war."
TONY STARK: "Only war? That's a bit bleak, isn't it? Even I take a weekend off to go to Monaco or tinker with a vintage engine. You're telling me you don't have a hobby? Painting? Gardening? Extreme knitting?"
HEK'TAN: "My hobby is the forge, Stark. I craft the armor that keeps my brothers alive and the hammers that crush our foes. That is the only peace a Salamander knows."
EZIO AUDITORE: "It sounds like the Templars of my world, but on a scale that beggars belief. To fight a war that never ends... it takes a toll on a man's spirit. How do you keep your humanity, giant?"
HEK'TAN: "By remembering the people we shield. If we become the monsters we fight, then the Emperor has already lost.
DIANA PRINCE: "Your Emperor would be proud to have warriors like you guarding his people. You are very noble, Hek'Tan."
LIU KANG: "Yes. Many monks strive for the nobility you possess. If even a shred of it came to them, I know they would be grateful."
TONY STARK: "Okay, enough with the Hallmark cards and the 'Warrior's Code'—it's getting a little thick in here. The big question remains: the voice, the machine, whatever that 'Benefactor' was—it wants us to be a team. How? Why? I don't exactly see us carpooling to work anytime soon."
MINDY MACREADY: "Yeah, Tony is right. How are we going to be a team? I honestly don't know any of you—no offense, but I usually work with people who have a pulse I can actually see. Right now, you're all just glowing text in my mask."
EZIO AUDITORE: "Trust is not a bridge built in a day, especially when the bridge spans across different worlds. But if the darkness this 'Benefactor' spoke of is real, we may not have the luxury of time."
YUGI MUTO: "Maybe it's like a Duel... we have to learn each other's strengths before we can play as a deck?"
EZIO AUDITORE: "The Admin earlier spoke of 'Cohesion,' and the 'Benefactor' spoke of a chance to get stronger. I would suggest we all be ready for anything."
The Ledger suddenly flared, the royal blue turning into a pulsing gold.
[♰ MISSION ISSUED: THE KING OF GAMES ♰]
MISSION: Yugi Muto is in a life-and-death free-for-all on Duelist Kingdom, but he has lost his prized Exodia the Forbidden One cards.
OBJECTIVE: Help Yugi Muto win the Duelist Kingdom tournament and retrieve his grandfather's soul.
REWARD: More functions will be awakened.
[♰ PARTICIPANTS: 0 / 5 ♰]
EZIO AUDITORE: "Like that."
TONY STARK: "You've got to be kidding me. We're being drafted into a children's card tournament to save a soul from a pyramid-wearing billionaire? Is this the 'Tide' we were warned about? Because I can handle aliens, but magic cards are out of my pay grade."
HEK'TAN: "If a soul is in peril, then the mission is clear. A Son of Vulkan does not let the innocent suffer while he has the strength to stand. I am ready. How do I... 'sign up'?"
MINDY MACREADY: "A tournament on a private island? Sounds like a target-rich environment. If this 'Pegasus' guy is holding a soul hostage, he's got a date with my combat knife. Count me in."
LIU KANG: "I have fought for the fate of Earthrealm in tournaments before. This feels familiar. I will join you, Yugi."
DIANA PRINCE: "As will I. No grandfather should be separated from his kin by the whims of a tyrant."
EZIO AUDITORE: "Then it is decided. I shall go as well. To walk in a world where cards are weapons... it will be an interesting change of pace from the blade."
After explaining to Hek'Tan how to sign up the chat collectively agreed that Diana Lui Kang Hek'Tan Ezio and Mindy were going but then as the last person accepted the mission something happened
As the last participant accepted the mission, the Ledger didn't just pulse—it roared.
In their respective worlds, the five chosen warriors were suddenly engulfed in a blinding, royal blue shroud. They didn't feel the agony of death, but rather a strange, weightless compression, as if the very atoms of their bodies were being rearranged into a new form of logic.
In the quiet darkness of Duelist Kingdom, sitting by his small campfire, Yugi Muto felt his deck vibrate against his hip. It hummed with a heat that shouldn't be possible. Perplexed and confused, he fumbled for his card case and pulled out his deck.
The top five cards were glowing with an intense sapphire light. As the glow faded, Yugi's eyes widened to impossible levels. His hands trembled as he scrambled to open the chat interface.
YUGI MUTO: "Ummm... Mr. Stark?"
TONY STARK: "Yeah, what is it? Did something happen? Are you okay? What about the others? My sensors just lost their signatures—they're off the map."
DIANA PRINCE: "We are fine, Stark. We are right next to Yugi now."
HEK'TAN: "Yes, the young one is safe. Though I do think he should eat more; his frame is far too slight for a warrior."
LIU KANG: "This 'Duelist Kingdom' looks much like my home in Earthrealm. Many trees... a perfect place to meditate."
EZIO AUDITORE: "It is quite peaceful here. The air is clean, though the lack of stone walls to climb is... noted."
YUGI MUTO: "But... you guys aren't here! I'm looking at the woods and you aren't standing there!"
MINDY MACREADY: "Turn around, kid. We're right behind you."
YUGI MUTO: "No, you aren't! Because... you're here!"
Yugi held his hands up toward the blue light of the Ledger's interface. In his trembling fingers, he held five cards. They weren't standard Duel Monsters. The art on the cards was high-definition, moving with a life of their own.
Hek'Tan sat on a card with a gold border, his ember-eyes glowing in the artwork. Diana stood tall in her Amazonian plate, her lasso shimmering. Liu Kang was surrounded by a dragon of fire. Ezio was perched on a gargoyle, hidden in the shadows of the card's frame. Mindy looked bored, leaning against her nameplate with a butterfly knife spinning in her hand.
HEK'TAN: "By the Throne... what sorcery is this? Why am I trapped in a sliver of parchment?"
TONY STARK: "Wait... he 'drew' you? You're the cards? I am so glad I stayed home. I don't fit well in wallets."