"GOD DAMMIT!!"
Alex grit his teeth hard as he stared at his phone screen.
Right now, he was so angry that if he had had any less self-control or was a bit more angry, then he might have said to hell with it and just thrown his phone across the aisle.
Thankfully, he had enough forethought to not to do that, and instead, he just settled for only slightly cracking the screen.
But seriously, Alex growled, what the hell was-
"Hey! Keep it down over there."
Alex looked up, a frown clear as day on his face. Now what?
A few seats up, a rather heavy-set man had turned around and was now glaring at Alex. Staring him down like an unruly child that for some reason he had to put up with.
With his bright orange hair and well-ironed shirt, the man was practically shaking with indignation over having to deal with such disrespect.
He got a middle finger for his trouble.
"W-What?! Why you!-"
Rolling his eyes, Alex turned back to his phone.
Ignoring the other people around him, Alex tried to take a deep breath.
It's fine, he told himself, just some bad luck. It's not the end of the world, he can try again later.
He'll do a bit of dismantling, spend a few points, and see what he can scrounge up so that he could get some better cards. Hopefully, he's got enough.
He was kind of scraping the barrel last time, and he hadn't had a chance to recheck.
More than likely, though, he was probably going to have to get rid of a couple of things that he's been saving up.
He didn't want to, he had wanted to find some room for them later, find some way to use them. But he also knew that if he didn't, then they'd just be sitting in the back collecting the proverbial dust.
Plus, if he really wanted to, then he could always get them back later.
Right now, though, he needed a win, and not just any win but a win that he's earned.
But Alex swears, if one more-
" Hey! Look at me when I'm talking to you! I don't know how you treat your elders in America, but here we-"
Alex's head shot up like a rocket.
Eyes, blazing behind his rainbow-tinted glasses, dared the little man to say something else. Anything, just the slightest little utterance to give him an excuse.
The rest of the words seemingly died in the man's throat. Sweat dripping down his face, he quickly turned back around. His bright orange hair shaking like a bonfire.
Snorting, Alex shoved his cracked phone back into his pocket.
Whatever, not like he can log back in anyway, he practically put his thumb through it earlier.
He'll have to wait to get it fixed later. Hopefully Japan has some cheap phone repair places cause this was going to be the second time this month that he's had to get his phone fixed.
Dammit. Alex clicked his tongue. He was supposed to call home when they landed. Mom's gonna get mad when he doesn't call. Also for breaking his triple-enforced, steel-coated Xphone.
Damn thing's supposed to be able to stand a tank rolling over it, and yet they still break.
Those bastards at AL&L. They say they can't make anything stronger, but Alex seriously doubts that.
What? He's supposed to believe that a billion-dollar company can't make a phone that can withstand a good hundred pounds of pressure? Get out of here.
Nah, they just want to squeeze as much money out of the people with strength-related Quirks as they can. Forcing them to buy overpriced garbage covered in lies just so that they can sell it to you again when it breaks.
Alex felt a hand grab his shoulder.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Next to him, an aged voice breaks him out of his in-mind rant. "You seem upset."
Alex froze. He had completely forgotten about the lady sitting next to him. Great, Alex felt his ears droop down beside his head, now he feels even worse.
Looking over, Alex sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Right next to him, sitting on the aisle seat, was a little old woman, probably no more than 4' tall and at least eighty years old or more.
With her legs barely reaching the edge of her seat, and her old pale yellow summer dress plus the shawl that she had draped over her shoulder, she looked almost like a little old doll.
A tightly bound bun of white hair sat comfortably on her head. Her large coke bottle glasses, resting on her sagging cheeks, took up almost her entire wrinkled face, enlarging her bright blue eyes to epic proportions.
But don't let her old visage fool you. She was as energetic and curious as a five-year-old child.
Currently, she had a half-finished scarf that she had been knitting before Alex had his little temper tantrum.
"Sorry, Mrs. Henderson. It's nothing, just a stupid game." He apoligized bowing his head a little.
"Oh, stop that, Mrs. talk I already told you to call my Granny. And I don't think it's silly at all. Not if it's something making you that upset." She smiled.
Alex gave a little smile back as he fixed his glasses.
Lexi Henderson was the kind, older lady that you'd meet just out and about, happy to talk to anyone that happened to come by.
With a gift for storytelling, she could tell you her entire life story within an hour and then have you sharing yours by the next hour.
He had first met her over in Hawaii when she asked if they could switch seats. She had wanted the aisle seat but had gotten the window seat, and Alex hadn't cared. So they switched.
And that had been the beginning of a ten-hour flight to Japan.
During which Alex learned she was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, had a family who worked in the entertainment industry, and was blessed with two children, five grandchildren, and a great-grandchild on the way.
And now she's traveling by herself to Japan to fulfill an old childhood wish.
And here he was screaming at his phone like a child. Ruining her trip before it even touched down.
Alex chewed on his cheek for a minute. He didn't want to tell her. It was embarrassing. But he also knew that she would keep hounding him for the answer until he finally broke down and gave it to her.
It wasn't a question of if, but when. Spending ten hours sitting next to her let him know just how determined this little old lady could be when presented with a problem.
And honestly, Alex didn't know if he had the heart to refuse her.
So with a heavy heart, he opened his mouth.
"Duel Masters." He hesitantly said.
Mrs. Henderson leaned forward, interested. "Oh, and what's that?"
Alex sighed. Looking out the window, Alex looked over a white sea of clouds.
Man, he really didn't want to say this out loud. Why does saying it out loud always make it seem sillier than it felt?
"It's a game on the phone that lets you play an old card game from, like, a century ago."
Alex wanted to show her, but his phone was still busted.
"Hmm, Duel..Duel-Duel….Oh! You mean Yu-Gi-Oh?" Mrs. Henderson thought about it for a second before snapping her fingers.
Alex turned to her wide-eyed.
"You know it?"
"Oh, of course I do. My father used to play it all the time when I was a kid. Even showed me how to play it. I was pretty good at it too, though I remember it being a fun game to play, not something to get so worked up about." Mrs. Henderson raised an eyebrow at Alex.
Alex snorted. If only it was that kind of game.
"Yeah, well, maybe back then it was like that. Now they've come out with so many new cards with multiple effects that its imposisbel to play. I looked up the old game, from what I've seen, it used to be like poker, where you try to bluff, combo, and luck your way through a game. Now it's a pay-to-win Uno with nothing but draw fours and skips, especially on the phone."
Gritting his teeth, Alex tried to stay calm. Man, even thinking about it was getting him heated.
"And the worst part is, is that on the phone people aint building their decks, not really. They're coming out with cookie-cutter decks containing all the popular and most bullshit cards that all the other cards are left in the dust."
Alex clenched his fist.
"I mean, where's the originality, your pride in doing it yourself. No, instead, everyone's got the same twenty cards as everyone else. And don't even get me started on the company that designs the cards. What's the use of making these thousands of other cards if you're just gonna turn the same five cards from centuries ago into your main ones? I'm so sick and tired of Blue-eyes, Red-eyes, and Black Magicians."
Aiee, taking off his glasses, Alex tried to massage the bridge of his nose. He was getting that headache again, right behind his eyes.
"It's just…I try. And I know it's just a stupid game, one that I should probably stop playing. But I'm really trying. I like my cards, I don't want to throw them away and just start following everyone else, but-"
"But when you work hard on something, and it loses to someone you think didn't, it feels hopeless, like what you did doesn't matter, right?"
Alex nodded, resting his head against the headrest Alex closed his eyes and sighed.
Mrs. Henderson frowned.
"Well thats not right, here let me try." Pulling out an old Iphone Mrs. Henderson handed it over to Alex.
Alex looked at her in confusion.
What-
"Come on, hurry now, I want to see what all the big fuss is about."
Taking a second to see if she was being searious Alex unlocked her phone and quickly downloaded the app.
After getting her logged in and through the tutorials, Mrs. Henderson immediately gathered up her started deck and started building.
From the start, Alex quickly realised that Lexi clearly still had a deep knowledge of the game. Already she had sold off most of the starter deck and had bought a lot of old cards, some of which he's never even heard of.
And once she finally had her deck ready, she clicked on the tab and started Dueling.
(\YY/)
( -.- )
0_(")(")
"I-I can't believe it." Alex muttered as he stared at Mrs. Henderson's screen.
It hadn't even been an hour, and already she was past Plantium rank, way further than he's ever gotten with his White Forset/Azamina Deck.
"Hohohoho, see boy, some of these old cards still have their uses." Mrs. Henderson laughed. "It's not so hard once you start getting to know your cards."
Alex rubbed the back of his neck "I guess so."
Man, some of those combos were plain brutal. Especially coming from such a kind old lady.
"Hohoho, stick with me, boy, and I'll take you to the top. I'll show you why they used to call me the Queen of Games." Pointing at herself with her thumb, Mrs. Henderson smirked at him.
"Jehahahaha, I don't know about that, I think I'll just drag you down. Oh, great Queen of Games."
"Don't be like that. Every Queen still needs her loyal subjects."
Well, even if he never gets good at this game, it was worth showing it to her. She looked so happy playing this old game. Like the years had washed off her as soon as she started playing.
Immersing herself in the game, it was like she was forty years younger.
"Disrespectful brats and now crazy old ladies." Someone muttered.
Alex's ears twitched towards the front.
Sighing, Alex got up out of his chair.
Smiling down at Mrs. Henderson, Alex squeezed himself out into the aisle.
"Sorry Granny, I got to go do something."
Mrs. Henderson waved him off, concentrating on the new match she had started.
"Oh, don't mind me. Go do what you got to do. Just make sure it's not too messy."
Smiling Alex let his canines show.
"I don't know about messy, but I'll be sure not to disturb you."
Outside, the sun washed over the plane on a cool winter day as the plane started to descend below the clouds.
"H-Hey, wait! W-What are you doing?"
"Come here dumbass, I wanna talk to you."
"N-NO GET AWAY!!"
"THAT'S RIGHT, YOU BETTER RUN!"
Below, the city of Hiroshima welcomed its new arrivals.
"Good morning, passengers, this is your Captain speaking. We have begun are descend into the city, so please follow the indicators and return to your seats."
"AWWW LET GOOO!!"
"JEHAHAHAHAHA!!"
"...."
"Ha! Take that, you stupid Dargoon, nothing beats Kuribo."