The Ocean Floor Explorer

The harbour, a usually quiet place, kept afloat many small fishing vessels, and the usual high-flier of the dock was a medium-sized yacht owned by a wealthy family living in a large house on top of a hill near the harbour town.

However, this day, a huge, pearl-white hull dominated the attention of passers-by. The gargantuan cruiser was pristine, with a long streak of blue, lining the upper deck. Hundreds of windows bedded themselves in the ship's bodies, offering poor fishermen and members of public an enticing glance at a life of luxury. A large metal staircase attached itself to a walkway, where guards wearing smart blue uniforms, complete with white officer's hat and gloves, stood watch over the gangway, and half a dozen more stood around the boat itself. The cruiser had, painted in large letters across its bow;

The Ocean Floor Explorer

A sign posted next to the ship asked for all duelists to keep their passes ready, to board the ship, and to settle down in their given rooms quickly: they would be leaving in just a few days. The duelists were to be fully accommodated, from boarding to departure and eventually to arrival.

The invitations to Duelist Empire, a large island owned entirely by one mysterious man, had been received by many duelists, but all of them were well-known to the world. It was rumored that these duelists were hand picked by the owner of the island, a huge dueling enthusiast, for a massive event that would take place on the whole of the island itself. Boarding passes had already been handed out to all duelists participating in the event, and enclosed with those had been the time of boarding and departure.

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In front of the vessel, the captain conversed leisurely with a member of the harbour administration, who was obviously in awe of the ship.

"So Captain... Papandreou, was it? Yes... I notice that the ship is an S-Class Cruiser, capable of travelling at up to 35 knots. A tour one of your fine young men gave me revealed that the luxury is so great, it even has on-board dueling facilities!"
The captain chuckled "Yes, my friend, yes it does."
"But I have one question, Captain."
"Oh?"
"Why is it named The Ocean Floor Explorer? As far as I can tell, it's no submarine."
The captain gave a short, sharp bark of laughter . "It is an ironic name", he politely responded, "The man who named it recognised that everything must eventually sink, and so he named this fine vessel after the one thing he knew it would, at some point, do."
The man laughed heartily. "I do hope it doesn't sink any time soon!"
"Oh, we'll see about that", Captain Papandreou replied with a face of stone, "we'll see about that indeed."

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Sailing

If you weren't to look at the water below it you'd think this ship were standing still on the unchanging scenery of the open sea, a cruiser of its class shows no disturbance as it speeds along the ocean, even as it goes at massive speed , easily surpassing common transport ships, sea travel for the normal men and women.

Enjoying the abnormal serenity of their vessel, the chosen duelists, the seekers of adventure, almost waste the serenity and elegance as they spend that precious time of peace as they will before reaching their destination.

I travel a lot, but no matter how much travelling experience I have accumulated I still hate it. One could say that a relaxing transition from point A to point B could be enjoyable so long as it's not done on your own two feet, but that is only the case when it is done in luxury, and by luxury I mean anything from a bed to your own privacy or the luck of being only among friends. However after a certain point the seat of a bus or the aircraft seat of a ship can become unbearable. And the point I'm getting at is, I'm exhausted, I'm pretty certain the hours of sleep I've had in the last 72 hours are not in the double digits and all of them were while sitting on a chair.

Of course I will not say it was not worth it. I was surprised when I saw mail actually managing to find me, which should be impossible considering how much I move, but the invitation inside was even more surprising. By now card games earn me money instead of draining them, and while it is not something one can live by, it is some welcome spending money. I'd say though that between free cards, cash, game consoles and anything else that I have gained from my hobby this is probably the best to date. Free travel to Duelist Empire with full accomondation, this is my very needed and well deserved vacation time at long last. Even though I find travelling a pain this time is different, very different. Just thinking about traversing the seas on a soft bed for the first time almost brings tears to my eyes.

And so, along with my few belongings, all with me, I board the Ocean Floor Explorer early, headed for the promised "given room" and the rest it could hopefully offer me.

"Name - Heero Riser.....
Age: 15
Country of Origin: United Kingdom........"

"I'm from america not England..... I have false information on my ID card...... and worst of all I can't believed i was picked....... You go to a game store and win and you're suddenly top guy material...... What a drag!"
Heero moves the wall of his room closest to the porthole and just stares outside of it.
"This really is a drag having a whole trip but having nothing to do...."
Heero pulls out his deck and stares at the top card.
"You guys haven't failed me yet so let's do this. I have a couple of hours i'm going back to bed because of the time changes......."
Heero puts his deck on his room's table, locks his cabin's door, and heads to bed.

During the day Chad got his invitation to his island, his mother basically pushed him out the door to leave. He was conflicted about the whole situation. The duelist's he heard that were invited were well heard of in his school, and he was a low class duelist with a stolen deck.

He kept quiet about it as he entered the ship. He looked back and waved, expecting to see his mother there, but there was nothing. He walked in disappointingly. What do I expect? Has she ever done anything important for me? Chad thought. A woman smiled happily as she took his bags and lead him to his room. He gave her a small smirk as he got there.

In his room, he pulled out his deck, looking at his cards. Sometimes he felt that his cards was the only thing that understood him. He then realized that they were cards, and had no emotions. Even if they did have emotions, they would just blow away in the wind, like everything else I loved. He layed his head back and took a nap, hoping to wake up realizing that his father's death, and everything else, was just a nightmare.

Sentan always moved alot but he never been on a boat, so on the morning of the trip he was kind of nervous but then he took one look at the deck he had in his holder, the insects on steroids people called them, Sentan called them family, he had those cards since he started to play the game and they were his soul now, Sentan whent downstairs And kissed his parents good bye, he left the front door and used a taxi to get to the harbour.


Sentan came in with his usuall White jacke that agent down to his legs, he walked around the harbour a sec and finally found the ship he was looking for "the ocean floor explored ey, just another place to show what these insects can do"

He show'd his pass and was taken to his room, there he unloaded his luggage and sat down on his nice bed, he flickerd through some channels on the tv, he decided to watch a bit of a tournament that was being held. After that finished he grab his deck holder and spread out his deck on the bed , he looked at his deck deciding combos afte combos . He stayed there for a while

16 year old Core Sabershrown stood in his room, laying motionless on his bed. I can't believe I was chosen. The invitation said all the duelists chosen was known to the world. Wait, I was known? He shifted off his bed. Core pulled out his deck. At first, I thought this was just a game. My first deck, my X-Sabers saved me from losing my soul many times...

Yeah,yeah,ocean...good old ocean. I always went to the beach myself,back in Croatia,or took the ferry with my grandparents,since my parents,brother and sister get seasick incredibly fast. The first time we found out my little sister is seasick,is when I was 13,she was only 7 back then. Wow,there was vomit all over the place! I couldn't believe that a person could throw up so much... I really couldn't. After that,my brother got seasick from... naturally the sea but from seeing the vomit too then he started throwing up as if he had a gallon of Jack Daniels. Then my mom started to feel sick... damn,and my dad was seasick since the start of that trip. Not to forget to mention the trip was like... not even a mile off the coast in my hometown,geez. So I had to clean the entire boat by my Goddamn self. Ever since then,whenever I go to a boat trip,I just go with my grandparents,so I don't have to carry a mop,in case of the obvious and most likely.

Oh look at me,I've been talking about nonsense the entire time. Silly me. So,I was invited to some Duelist Empire thingy. Probably some big tournament is going on,with powerful players from all around the world. Scouts probably recognized my power to draw some fantastic cards. People never believe that its NOT pure luck,or cheating. Its definately from Above! But,lets talk about that some other time. Like I was saying,I was invited to Duelist Empire,and had to travel by boat,which made me very happy because I got to travel by boat... with no family! What a blessing. Of course I've been living without my family for quite a while so its normal to travel alone,but still... boat,no family,heaven! Anyways,I didn't provoke any public attention with some great duels in the open or anything,but a real scout looks everywhere and anywhere,right? I am honored to be invited. I rushed to the harbor,to make it on the ship in time. Oh that ship looked great! It said ''The Ocean Floor Explorer'' on it,if my memory is sharp enough. Still,great ship. I took some of my stuff,such as some clothes,some First-Aid and survival items... I have no idea what I did that for,I felt like I was going to the Marine Corp. Oh yes,I also took my most valubale: My duel disk and Deck. I boarded the ship I think pretty early,but some duelists were going at the same time as me,so I didn't feel like an idiot.

''My pass? Where's my pass??'' I was panicking at the entrance,then I remembered! ''Oh yes... its in my pants back pocket... silly me.'' And I boarded the ship,but I had no idea where's my room,so I wandered around for a while,hoping for someone to assist me. I always had trouble finding stuff,they just seem to hide from me in the smallest hiding spots on the planet!

Interesting enough,some guy approached me,he seemed pretty...average. He didn't seem like a guy who knew where does everyone on the ship stay,but who knows? Don't judge a book by its cover. ''Oh hello,indeed I am lost.'' I gave one of those fake smiles,damn it looked convincing,the reason it was fake is because the situation really annoyed me,I felt pretty tired and wanted to sleep,so I was cranky. ''Judging by the way I look? Nevermind. Here is my invite.'' I was digging in my backpack for a while,I found it after a good 15 seconds of digging. To be honest,I was worried more about my luggage than sleeping,but those are 2 vital things for the trip. ''So,Bob,what room am I in?'' I like to make jokes so I called him Bob,I didn't catch his name yet so I had to think of something,and calling him something other than a name is pretty rude. ''I hope you don't mind me calling you Bob. What is your name anyways? I am Marko. Enough for now.'' I usually love telling stories about myself and my past,but I wasn't in the mood.

[REDACTED]

Chad decided to leave his room and explore the ship. He learned many different things about ships at school, but never saw a real size ship. He put his deck in his pocket and left his room.

After leaving, he headed towards a staircase. Chad accidently bumped into a guy about his size and age with short dark brown hair. Chad knocked himself over. He looked up and said
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" Chad didn't know this guy, but because they were on the same boat going to the same place, he thought he would get to know him. He looked away out of embarrasment.

Don't be mean, don't be mean.... Chad thought in hope.

Sentan piled his cards and put then in his deck holder , duel disk in his backpack he put on the white jacket and headed toward the main deck , he looked around at the few Duelists who had came, competition ? Maybe, threat? possibly, gonna be able to kick his but left right and center now that was a different matter, even if they gaine the upper hand , the deck Sentan had would regain advantage in a instant given the chance, he just grabbed a lounge chair and sat down surveying his surroundings.

Sentan saw the guy who asked him for a duel before he had fully walked up. He surveyed the guy for a second before getting up, he took off his jacket revealing a black t shirt with a viper on it. He grabbed his deck and looked the guy in the eye

"heero riser eh? Well man nice to meet you , now let see what you got " Sentan put his deck into the duel disk and activated it, the hologram disk flew to each side and he waited for heero to do what he wanted.

''Thank you,Heero.'' I replied to the all-of-a-sudden-lifesaver. I noticed how he challenged a guy to a duel,even though I didn't know where would they duel... Didn't seem like much space around. ''I will catch you later.'' I took off to C5. It was very close,so I saved myself from the trouble. ''Ah,there's my luggage! What a relief.'' I was glad some thieves didn't grab my stuff first,because Croatia is a country full of them. True story. I wanted to sleep,but the fact that someone is dueling... I couldn't ignore that. I didn't feel tired all of a sudden so I returned to where Heero and the other guy are,to see if they will duel. ''I am back guys,oh good you already started!''

"I am in great debt to your generous support and remarkable help in showing me the way to my room, Miss..."
I was walking along the main deck of the ship, along with a lovely young mistress of short curly brown hair, dressed in the formal suit designed for the ship.
"Sarah, Sir," she continued.
"Ah, what a remarkable name you have, Miss Sarah," I replied. I could easily see that her cheeks did quite redden a bit.
Earlier today, I arrived before most of the attendants for the grand tournament. I was escorted by the lovely Miss Sarah to my room, and after two hours of unpacking and writing my notes, I simply walked up to the main deck, and by chance, bumped into her once again.

"I'll let you be now, Miss Sarah," I said, "I don't want to hinder your own progress as a guest attendant for this ship, not to mention that I have my own work to do now."
"Yes, Sir. Thank you. Please excuse me," she answered back before heading off. I simply stopped and did not follow her, but I did take a good final glimpse at her before my attention was snatched by the mechanic sound two unfolding Dueldisks emitted. I turned to my right and saw two young fine gentlemen preparing for a duel. Their left arms, which carried the devices, were held up, both were in that kind of stance you would normally find in two Roman warriors preparing for battle, and each with a smirk on their faces. One of them seemed like a punk of immense human build and unusual spiky hair, with the other being a teenager of ordinary height, fair build, and blond hair.

"This is my chance!" I spoke in my own conscious. With a sleight of hand, I pulled out my notebook tucked into a hidden pocket found in the right side of my vest, and unfolded it open. I had already used my black ink pen's hook as a marker to indicate where I had last left off in my own journal. I picked up the pen and pulled off the cap, safely tucking it back into my hidden pocket. I held my own pen up and began taking notes.

Chad walked up on the deck, after the scuffle with the guy. He saw people preparing for a duel. This'll be a good opportunity to see my competition. Chad thought. He stepped over to the crowd, and was looking for the duelist's. He found them and was waiting for them to start.

[REDACTED]

Chad saw the guy walk off. Darn, he looked powerful too. Perhaps I'll duel him on the island. Chad walked off as well, looking for a good place to explore. Perhaps I could sneak into the boiler room? Or check out the rudder? I'll just explore whatever I find first. Chad walked to the back of the ship, passing by and ignoring Heero.

Chad found the edge of the boat, and started by watching the rudder, and then decided to look for dolphins and whales. There doesn't seem like much animals around here.