Mai, dressed as Mind on Air, duels Espa Roba

"Beeeeh... I've fooled enough with Joey Wheeler for now. If I can't reap a bountiful grudge there, perhaps I can foster a new one from one of his friends. Who to pick...? They all look so delightfully easy to manipulate..."

Alone in his dark dimension, Heishin searched through the many souls available for his perusal. There had to be a powerful duelist here somewhere that would take Mai Valentine to her limits and give him the grudge, as well as the fap session, that befit such a prime soul. "Hm hm hm... A psychic? That sounds promising! Huh... but not a real psychic. What a letdown... Well, he will have his chance to see what it's like to really exert your influence over another person! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Mai awoke in another dark place, but not Heishin's tiny dimensional pocket that served as his voyeur lounge and fap den... instead, she found herself in an over-sized arena. The architecture was gold, but it was dirty, dusty, and mostly hidden by an oppressive layer of shadow. She couldn't see any entrances or exits, only a massive dueling field, similar to the ones KaibaCorp had developed in the past. Feeling groggy, she stood to her feet, trying to shake off the sense of total displacement... hadn't she been headed to an official tournament? This looked more like something out of the shadow realm... The already unmanageable darkness was made worse by a sort of green, glassy filter that seemed to cover her entire view, like looking through a set of thick goggles.

It didn't take her long to realize that some time, during her unconsciousness, she'd been redressed. The wardrobe reminded her a bit of a duel monster, but she couldn't place the name. It didn't look like it was anything from one of her decks. It was, altogether, even a bit more revealing than the skirt and bustier she normally wore to catch men off guard. The outfit consisted of a black leotard, reminiscent of one you might see in an outdated exercise video, revealing most of the legs and arms with the coverage of a one-piece swimsuit. Black, thigh-high boots, with a latex look to them, ran from the upper thighs to high-heeled boots, accenting the curves of her legs well. It created a somewhat more erotic effect than if she had just been bare-legged. A cruel looking whip, made of metallic tubes, was rolled around her waist. She couldn't imagine what human could survive a real whipping with something like that. Finally, she reached up to her head, to try to figure our what the source of the green filter was... but whatever was on her head wouldn't come off. Any viewer could see it was a black, metallic helmet with a single, eye-like camera on the center. It was likely she was seeing through some kind of camera feed, not her own eyes. Thankfully, there was no exposed brain to be seen on her outfit, unlike with the monster her new clothes had been based on.

"What is this? I can't get it off..." Mai muttered to herself, tugging on the helmet device. Instead of internalizing that thought, she'd spoken it aloud, hoping someone was watching in the vicinity who might be able to explain it to her.

As if in answer, a voice came from the other side of the field. "Oooooooooohmmmmm," a young man's voice droned. Mai squinted her eyes, hidden behind the helmet, as she looked across the field. Based on his pale green hair, styled with thick bangs like he simply refused to get a haircut, and given his bright pink blazer jacket, this could only be the flashy "psychic" duelist, Espa Roba. Mai had heard about someone like that... Joey had dueled him pretty early on in Battle City. When Espa Roba lost, Joey had taken his Jinzo card and received plenty of use out of that. Apparently, Espa Roba was now a friend of his. Considering he didn't look distressed by Mai's situation or particularly as though he planned to help her, however, she had to doubt he was going to extend any of that same friendship to her. Instead of any recognition for her peril, his cocky smile looked as though he was playing to the crowd. "With my psychic powers, I see everything!"

She knew that the guy must have grown up a bit since the tournament, but he still looked like a pipsqueak. Mai couldn't help but smirk. "Yeah, well, this outfit doesn't leave much to the imagination, does it?" the veteran duelist smirked, placing one hand upon her hip.

For a moment, Espa Roba's face turned a little red, but he laughed it off and wagged one finger scoldingly. "Oh, Mai, Mai, Mai... You know, we both started our careers as fraudulent psychics. However, since that time, I've improved my skills and am now a real, card-carrying super-psychic!" the young man boldly proclaimed, throwing both arms out to the side and throwing his head back. "If you think you can distract a super-psychic with that sexy skirt, you're way off base!"

Mai raised one eyebrow. It sounded oddly as though Roba's software was a little out of date... he didn't seem to comprehend the odd situation they were in- dueling in an empty arena- nor the wardrobe she wore. "For a psychic, you sure don't see things very clearly, do you? Don't you understand the situation you're in, kid?" she questioned, shifting her weight on her legs and switching her other hand to her hip, while rolling one hand impatiently.

"O-O-Of course I understand it! And I'm very psychic!" Espa Roba complained, looking thrown off his game already. "I know the situation I'm in! You may be a veteran duelist, but this duel is mine! I'm using real psychic powers now and real psychic monsters! Duel Monsters has changed a lot since your hay day, you know?!"

"... Are you calling me old?" Mai questioned, her hand reaching for the whip at her side. Espa Roba recoiled and shook his head back and forth furiously. Mai gave him a slight smile, signalling for him to calm down. "Doesn't matter. Look, I've seen these shadow games enough to know that dueling is the only way through them. We may as well get started."

"Shadow... game? I don't know what you're talking about..." Espa Roba remarked, his face dropping into a sullen pout, like a confused child. "Whatever! I already foresee your loss... I can tell I'm going to have a perfect hand!" he announced confidently, drawing his cards to start the game. His grin returned. "He he he... It's time for you to see what a super-psychic is capable of! I set a monster in defense mode, then set a card into my spell and trap zone. I end my turn."

"Hey, is that your idea of showing me something? What a lame opening move," Mai taunted her opponent, soliciting an immediate look of frustration from him. Smirking, she drew her own cards. "Honey, face-down cards are not what you want to bring to a fight against me. You'll see why soon enough." She picked through her cards for a moment, then decided on the right opening move. "I'll open with Amazoness Swordswoman! If you're psychic, you must know about her effect already, right?" Roba nodded, but seemed to be staring hard at his duel disk anyway, obviously trying to read the effect text before she got moving.

"Next, I'll set two face-down cards. Now, it's time to battle! Amazoness Swordwoman, attack!" Mai announced, pointing her finger across the table.

Roba looked unfazed; he tilted his head back and pressed two fingers to his temples. "Bi... bibibi... Yes... It's exactly as I foresaw!" he spoke to some unseen audience. "If only you could have seen this coming!"