Information

[dicer]

OOC:

Name: Duke

Are you over 16?: Yes

Personal DW: N/A

Email:

Timezone: PST

Other contact: N/A

Characters already in the game: N/A

How did you find us?: Recommended by mister_foppish

Names
English (Manga)	Ryuji Otogi
English (Anime)	Duke Devlin
Japanese	御伽龍児
Rōmaji	Otogi Ryūji
Other names
Appearances
Manga debut	Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist Duel 75: ""
Anime debut	Yu-Gi-Oh! Episode 46: "Dungeon Dice Monsters, Part 1"
Appears in Manga Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! (second series)
Personal
Birthdate	February 28
Age	16
Height	179 cm
Weight	64 kg
Gender	Male
Blood type	B
Relatives Mr. Clown (father)
Food interests Favorite Chinese cuisine Least favorite Vinegared food
Deck
Anime	Dice
Deck Master(s)	Strike Ninja

IC:

Character name: Otogi Ryuuji

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!

Timeline: Circa Doma arc

Age: 16

~*Magical*~ abilities and strengths:

While Ryuuji is just a normal boy physically, he possesses a knack for business affairs, strategy, and is extremely skilled with a pair of die. He tends to know exactly what he wants and where and how to get it; using his suave charisma to lure in crowds of people while showing off his tricks of the dice-trade to win their awe. He’s shown in the beginning to have quite the prowess for vicious emotional manipulation, but has later relied more on his simple charm to gain the attention of others, having realized and atoned for his former cruelties.

As the creator of the intricate game of strategy and luck, Dungeon Dice Monsters, Ryuuji shows he’s incredibly ingenious when it comes to complex games. His game shop, which he owns himself, specializes in rare and foreign games, revealing his want for substance and unique challenge.
He’s also shown to have quite the knack for computer programming as well as software hacking, unveiled when he manages to crack the security system of Pegasus J. Crawford’s own company, Industrial Illusions.
In addition to his physical abilities, Ryuuji is also a capable brawler, seen easily dodging the blows of the strongman Honda Hiroto. Fending off most thugs he runs into usually takes a more unconventional route: he can shoot an ivory die at a man’s head with the force of a strong sling-shot, rendering them stunned.

How would they use their abilities?:
Ryuuji would likely use his vast knowledge of games and gaming history in order to open up a foreign game trade shop, similar to what he owned in Domino City.

Appearance:
Ryuuji is an average height of 5’8’’ for a 16 year old boy. Weighting about 141lbs he’s of a lithe build, but hardly skinny. More-so he’s the build and aesthetic of a young man who cares ideally for his own looks. For instance his black hair is grown long and wavy, tamed back only by a pony-tail and a red & black bandana--his fingers are often stuck curling in it. His eyes are large and green in color, framed by thick & sharp black eye-liner, the left eye being drawn with a distinct harlequin tear-drop.

The harlequin is notable in his theme of attire, given the diamond-black pattern on his bandana, and the Venetian-mask pendant necklace he wears over a black tank while accented with a red vest. His pants are of slightly slim-fitting tapered black leather, while his shoes are a simple hair of black boots.
His finishing touches are three accessories: A dark brown wrist-bracers, a gold upper-arm bracer, and a dangling ivory die that pierces his ear.



Background/Personality:

Background:

Debut/DDM

In the Anime Otogi himself is not given any background that we know of. We don't know what his home life may have been like or what his parents are like. His father Otogi Sr. from the manga goes all but unmentioned and as far as we know he lives by himself. Come his first appearance sometime after the Duelist Kingdom tournament (a large Duel Monsters tournament that Pegasus hosts on his island) he opens his game shop the Black Crown and transfers to Domino City High. While he is seen speaking to an unknown classmate at the very beginning of his debut about his plans to rob Yuugi of his King of Games title (The Duel Monsters' ultimate title that he won from Pegasus by defeating him at Duelist Kingdom), other than that he doesn't seem to have any noteworthy friends aside from his "cheerleading team" of girls who find him attractive. He's very popular with the female student body, but those are mostly shallow interactions.

Like his manga counterpart he holds a grudge against Yuugi, but not out of obligation to his father. He doesn't want revenge solely because of an old grudge (a grudge which was between Otogi Sr. and Yuugi's grandfather due to a game they played many years ago and that Otogi Sr. lost to). Instead, the main difference as to why he wants to humiliate Yuugi and his friends is because he essentially ruined his dream of getting Dungeon Dice Monsters off of the ground. When Yuugi beat Pegasus in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament Pegasus himself disappeared, which meant that essentially Dungeon Dice Monsters didn't have a chance to get endorsed by Pegasus' gaming company Industrial Illusions.

Otogi had contacted Pegasus some time before the Duelist Kingdom tournament, and after them meeting with his proposal it had been agreed upon between Pegasus and Otogi that he would endorse his game. That didn't get to happen as a result. He was also convinced that because Pegasus was a "perfect champion" that Yuugi must have cheated, which only added to his rage towards him.

Otogi thus set up the perfect plan as a means to get his revenge, enticing a large number of girls in Domino High who become his cheerleaders and getting their attention on purpose because he knew it would incite jealousy in Jonouchi, Yuugi's best friend. Jonouchi and Yuugi's friends (Anzu who is the only girl in their circle and Honda who is Jonouchi's best friend) hear some ruckus in a classroom next to their own, which turns out to be girls squealing after Otogi is showing off with a few dice moves. Jonouchi, who got cocky because of his wins at Duelist Kingdom and the local Domino "Best 8" tournament, of course got jealous of his popularity with the girls and agreed to a little game of dice where Otogi bet that he could get the die in his right hand without moving the cup.

He says that the die has "already disappeared" which of course Jonouchi thinks is impossible, and dumbly goes for the cup so then Otogi grabs the die and wins the bet as a result. Jonouchi, angered by Otogi's "cheap methods", blindly challenges him to Duel Monsters—stumbling right into Otogi's trap. Otogi of course did this on purpose because he knew that this would involve Yuugi, who was his true target. Thus he orchestrates a way to humiliate Yuugi's best friend Jonouchi Katsuya by making a bet that should he lose a duel using only booster packs Jonouchi would essentially be his lapdop/don a puppy suit for a week, while Jonouchi would get Otogi's cheerleading squad if he won the duel. In order to humiliate him further he televises the duel on the internet so that the whole world would be watching in his game shop. It only takes him a few turns to strategically make Jonouchi underestimate him, and then he wipes out his life points in one blow. Jonouchi is thus forced to live up to his end of the bargain and puts on the infamous dog suit and only "bark" instead of saying human words.

Yuugi's other self (the nameless Pharaoh who lived in the Millennium Puzzle that Yuugi had and would come out to duel in Yuugi the normal boy's place) grew enraged that Otogi was treating his friend this way, and thus blindly agrees to playing a game he doesn't even know the rules of: Otogi's very own brainchild Dungeon Dice Monsters. This being what he originally planned Otogi readily agreed to play him, with the stakes being should he lose he'd allow Jonouchi to go free. Again, he televised the game, thinking it would be his big glorious moment to win against the King of Games. And yet, against all odds after a hard fight, with Otogi initially gaining the advantage while Yuugi struggled, Yuugi managed to make a few comebacks and win the game, after using the Dark Magician monster (a card/monster whom Yuugi was famous for using in the Duel Monsters game) that Pegasus had added without Otogi's knowledge.

After the game Otogi seems to come to his senses, and concedes that Yuugi must not have cheated in order to win against Pegasus. He apologizes to both Yuugi and Jonouchi, who do not have any hard feelings about the ordeal. After that he also worried that the entire affair ruined his dream forever, but after the game was over Yuugi and his friends assure him that Dungeon Dice Monsters has the potential to become a great game. Otogi and Yuugi reconcile, with Otogi asking to become his friend—Yuugi saying "of course" in reply. Otogi then receives word from Industrial Illusions, saying that they would contract his game and help produce DDM.

Battle City

The next time we see Otogi, he shows up sometime around when the Rare Hunters are chasing Hiroto Honda, Jonouchi's best friend, and Jonouchi's sister Shizuka. Otogi intercedes at the last second just as the Rare Hunters (an organization of card thieves led by Marik Ishtar, whose purpose was to collect the Egyptian God Cards and get revenge against the Pharaoh aka Yuugi, since his body houses the Pharaoh) are closing in on them, pelting Honda and Shizuka's assailants with a handful of dice. He then leads them out of the fray, hiding in the bed of a truck. Honda asks Otogi what he's doing there since he left to America to promote Dungeon Dice Monsters, and Otogi says he did, but he came back to Japan to take care of something and then heard about Battle City, and was hoping to meet Yuugi again. He asks Honda who Shizuka is, who informs him that she is Jonouchi's sister and "off-limits" after Otogi makes a comment about Jonouchi having "such a lovely sister". As they're running away from the Rare Hunters they run into Kujaku Mai, another notable duelist who participated in Duelist Kingdom, who takes them in her car to safety to go to Yuugi—who was at this time at the Domino Pier, dueling "to the death" against a brainwashed Jonouchi as a result of Malik Ishtar, who is the head of the Rare Hunter's, using the Millennium Rod (a millennium item with dark powers) to lock away his memories/convince Jonouchi that Yuugi is his enemy. During the time that Otogi, Honda, and Shizuka are on their way to the Pier Mai talks about what kind of person Jonouchi is, so Otogi gets some insight into Jonouchi's personality and what a good person he really is.

Otogi arrives with Mai and the others to witness the rest of the duel with Jonouchi and Yuugi, nearly ending in a near tragedy until Shizuka bravely jumps in to the water to save her brother—and it fortunately ends with the gang in Mai's convertible heading to the finals. Until they board the blimp of the Battle City finals (Battle City being a tournament hosted by Kaiba onboard a blimp but really organized by Marik's Ishtar's sister Ishizu Ishtar to gather together the three Egyptian God cards, who are the most powerful duel monsters cards in existence and also the key to the Pharaoh's memories) he is mostly a bystander/observer during this time, and he becomes a part of Yuugi's gang officially as part of the "peanut gallery/cheerleading squad". While he says that he came there to "watch" the Battle City unfold, he becomes more involved as time goes on.

He, Anzu, Shizuka, and Honda all go into Jonouchi's room at first since they aren't initially given rooms. Right away Otogi jumps in to grab Shizuka's hand and show her the view from above the city on the Battle City blimp before Honda does. That's what sparks off Otogi and Honda's competition for Shizuka's affection, and it later turns a bit violent end up having a fight where Honda nearly knocks both of them off of the top of the blimp while they're looking for the Millennium Ring (another millennium item that hosted the dark spirit known as “Yami Bakura” and belonged to Ryou Bakura, who was another duelist about the blimp) and they nearly die—but a mysterious robe-wearing man named Shadi, an egyptian who was the guardian of the Millennium items, and often appears out of no where and saves them both at the last second. Otogi himself did not see Shadi and that Honda was crazy or that he saw a ghost of some kind.

While during the rest of Battle City he is mostly seen on the sidelines watching the duels, Otogi was Shizuka's unofficial protector/her white knight all the while butting heads with Honda over it. He also is the only one a part from the others who was able to make good observations during the various duels that happen, pointing out the flaws and strategic advantages the opposing duelists have against Yuugi or visa versa. As during the first duel with Yuugi and Yami Bakura (the dark spirit that took over Ryou Bakura's body through the Millennium Ring), Otogi often states things bluntly during the duels, saying for example when Bakura summons a Oujia Board magic card that has the power to make the duel end in three turns that if Yuugi doesn't think of something he's a goner. This kind of commentary, though straightforward, earns the ire of Honda, who says he's "worrying Shizuka" and to "stop being so negative". Otogi simply sees this as "I'm just saying what is happening".

Once the duel against Yami Bakura ends, the Millennium Ring disappears along with him due to the circumstances of the Dark Game, leaving Bakura's weaker self who had, prior to the Battle City finals, been injured/unconscious in bed. This worries Shizuka, who stands up to Kaiba and says to please land the blimp in order to get him to a hospital, and Otogi agrees with her, telling Kaiba as well that he should listen to her. (Of course this just leads to another competition between him and Honda trying to tell Shizuka how impressed they were, and Otogi saying how "he was moved" by her.)

It isn't until Jonouchi and Malik's dark self (who is a result of tragic events regarding Marik's background and a separate personality altogether rather than a spirit like Yami Bakura) go head to head in the semi-finals in a dangerous dark game—due to the power of the Millennium Rod—where they feel their monsters' literal pain that he finally cheers for someone, rooting for Jonouchi himself. This is significant given that before then he hadn't really been cheerleading for anyone else, not even Yuugi. The outcome of the duel ends with Jonouchi getting struck by Malik's god card Ra, burning in excruciating agony as he was struck. It is thought at first that he'd be incinerated but his strong feelings keep him intact. Yet, just at the last second as he was about to win, Jonouchi falls and passed out near death. Otogi is also seen getting very emotional when it is thought that Jonouchi is about to die, and Honda has an outburst trying to wake him up while he's in critical condition. He's in the room looking after him with the others. After this when Yuugi expresses his concern/his feelings about Jonouchi Otogi comes to respect him more, and he ends up cheering for him towards the end of the finals, when Yuugi is finally pitted against Malik, and then Kaiba. Throughout the entire arc he witnessed the power of the God Cards, and of the Dark games, both of which were a result of the power of the Millennium Items, and the fact that the Duel Monsters cards have an element of magic to them unwittingly because they were based off shadow games played by the ancient egyptians.

Virtual World

Otogi is mistakenly taken into the "virtual world", a world designed by Gozaburo/Gozaburo's son Noah Kaiba in a supercomputer, along with Yuugi and all the others on the way to the Battle City semi-finals, though he has no direct involvement in being responsible for the fate of the Big 5, the five board members of Kaiba Corporation who worked under Gozaburo and were fired/shamed by Kaiba Corporation's successor Seto Kaiba, who blame them all for being the cause of their misfortune and want to "exact their revenge". The Big 5 challenge them all in order to "get their bodies" should they lose their respective duels against each member. While Yuugi and his friends are all forced into being separated to different parts of the virtual world, Otogi and Honda end up in the same part/get lost together and can't figure out how to escape a virtual castle, until they decide to literally break down the walls. After doing so they find Shizuka, and save her from a monster that resembles a rhino. They wander around together looking for Yuugi and the rest of the gang, but end up getting roped into a duel with the Big 5 member Soichiro Ota, the former Kaiba Corporation Vice Present of New Technology and a technical expert. Otogi had accurately predicted that, while the Big 5 was after Yuugi, they would go looking to duel with any of the gang since they said they were seeking "bodies" to exit the virtual world with.

Otogi is unfortunately the only capable one in Duel Monsters as a duelist, with Shizuka never having dueled before and Honda being an amateur at best. The duel doesn't go well initially, as Honda and Shizuka make several big blunders that forces Honda to sacrifice himself for Shizuka. Shizuka, thinking that Honda is dead, despairs and nearly gives up, and Otogi has to try and rouse her or else her and Otogi would lose the duel and therefore their bodies as well. He tells her that they might be able to bring back Honda if she will get up and duel but doesn't get any reaction. It isn't until Jonouchi and Yuugi with Anzu in tow shows up that Jonouchi gets his sister to get up and Otogi and Shizuka manage to win the duel with his added encouragement.

After the duel, Otogi is thus on the sidelines again like he was in Battle City throughout the rest of Virtual World, him and Honda still looking out for Shizuka, and towards the end he has to evade capture by the sore-losing Big 5 who wanted to stop at nothing to get their bodies. He ends up watching the site of the final battle with Noah Kaiba (Gozaburo's biological son who died when he was 8 and has been trapped in the virtual world and is the antagonist orchestrating them all being in the virtual world), getting turned to stone briefly in an unfair duel where Noah uses any means necessary to try and win against Yuugi. After that he escapes with the others out of the virtual world and proceed to the final stages of Battle City.

Come the true end of Battle City he parts company with Yuugi and his gang saying that he has to go back to America to come up with some new ideas for Dungeon Dice Monsters, but not before giving Shizuka the parting gift of his cell phone number. This angers Honda, who yells at him, but he laughs it off and leaves, as he said he would.

Doma Arc

While Yuugi and his friends are brought to America to meet with Pegasus to investigate the strange happenings of real Duel monsters appearing around the world, Otogi does not come into the picture until he coincidentally runs into a lost Insector Haga and Dinosaur Ryuuzaki (the former Japanese champions who are obsessed with rare cards and become stowaways in Yuugi/Yuugi's friends' luggage) in the back-alleys/shadier parts of San Francisco, who were running after a man who had stolen their wallet. He uses his dice to smack the pickpocket in the forehead and recovers Haga's wallet for him. After offering them a ride and asking them what they were doing in America, Haga and Ryuuzaki lie and tell him that they're best friends of Yuugi and after they heard that his god cards were stolen that they came to America to help him. Otogi believes their story, and as he himself would like to see Yuugi again/and because he had some unfinished business with Pegasus, offers to drive them to Industrial Illusions.

Personality:

Despite his youth, Otogi is independent and resourceful, being a sixteen year old boy who doesn't live at home with his parents like many young people his age. He doesn't receive any supplementary income from anyone else but himself, running a game shop business called the Black Crown. On top of that he balances going to school, taking care of his game shop, and pioneering his own game Dungeon Dice Monsters all on his own, which shows he's very motivated and eager to achieve his goals.

His motivations are extremely important to him, one of which he’s willing to go to any lengths to achieve. Thus was why when taking revenge against Yuugi he was willing to go so far as to cruelly target Yuugi's friends in addition to Yuugi himself. Without his dream he would have no focus or direction, and the fact that Yuugi more or less hindered that by hurting his idol, Pegasus, he grew bitter, as he himself lost what he cared about. However, even though he showed himself to be quite snarky and even arrogant to Yuugi about his so-called winning of the Duelist Kingdom tournament—having believed that he cheated—when he was defeated he also showed himself capable of remorse once he realized that Yuugi had great talent after all and most likely hadn't cheated. Otogi did regret his actions, so he is the type to admit when he's wrong. However, if wronged he can show cruelty and can even be a bit sadistic towards the object of his anger. (As per example when he forced Jonouchi to wear the dog suit and instructed him not to talk, punishing him by flicking die into the middle of his forehead every time he did not listen.)

Ryuuji has a very attractive personality, and knows his way around enticing words quite well. Such is his great vanity that he uses his good looks and charm to gain an edge over others, as well as erect a wall of devotees around himself so long as it gives him the upper hand. It can go so far that he lets the fawning go to his head, showing a tendency for arrogance or swagger. Otogi can also often be over-confident in himself, especially when he believes he has a full grasp of whatever situation is at hand. This all can come down to an act of show simply to impress whomever he’s with. While these traits would imply that Ryuuji is very sociable and friendly—and one wouldn’t be too far off saying so by shallow standards—he’s incredibly guarded when it comes to personal matters.

In terms of relationships it took him a long time to warm up to Yuugi's group due to his tendency to withhold his emotions from those around him. This explains while he is quite popular amongst acquaintances he has no intimate or close friends. He often plays his cards close to his chest, keeping others at a distance even up until things became dicey in the series. Whether out of spite, bitterness, or simply mistrust, he holds people out at arm's length, taking a long time to change his opinion of them despite the PR faux pas it would have on his popularity and near celebrity status. In fact he finds it easier to play off their feelings as meaningless. In the end, despite the fact that his fans—usually girls who find him “cool” or boys that look up to him— clamor for Otogi's attention due to the glamorous image he upholds, none of them could boast actually being his friend.

This penchant for cool aloofness did not stop him from tagging along on the adventures with Yuugi and his circle of friends, though. In fact said adventures allowed him to enhance his own traits of cleverness and sharp observation. Otogi takes what he sees and works with it to his advantage. Out of the entire circle of friends Yuugi has, Otogi is by far the most level-headed when it comes to strategy. He's not afraid to be candid about the situation even if it becomes dire or ugly. He takes pains not to sugarcoat the details.

Even though he hangs back from the crowd due to his lack of intimacy in his relations as mentioned before, despite this aloof attitude Ryuuji can also be quite noble when the right cause is presented to him. Acting as a notable neutral ground in most situations, Ryuuji’s air of pure observance diverges only when the life of one of his would-be friends came into danger. Thus, he can be seen to be rallied with strong enough feelings towards someone under the right circumstances. When Jonouchi was fighting Malik and showed his intense feelings about Mai/was willing to sacrifice himself to save her for example, this inspired Ryuuji to cheer for him. This was quite significant given that prior to that event, Ryuuji hadn't shown signs of cheering for anyone. He was simply there on the side lines giving commentary or observations on occasion. As per another example, Ryuuji showed himself to be very benevolent when it came to the select few he allowed himself to be seen caring about. Shizuka Kawai, Jonouchi's cute and pure-hearted younger sister, is an example of a young lady he barely knows, but has gone out of his way time and again to detour her from danger and protect her life, if not try to win her affections many times over by trying various ways to impress her.

Though not outright abrasive, as noted before, Ryuuji tends to hide his feelings towards the main group he’s tagged along with for so long. When it comes down to it, on a more deeper level, Otogi largely prefers to put on airs of confidence or even a false cheer even when he's hurt, and is quite skilled at hiding his emotions from other people—though often his temperament can betray his anger at his worst. Despite his cleverness he is still haughty and his immaturity is often shown with boastful behavior. This can be a cover for his largely more private emotions, however. Even when depressed Otogi is not the type to let himself remain down for long, and should he find himself feeling such emotions like sorrow he can keep them hidden or he tends to retreat from other people until it's passed. Due in part to that cautiousness he prefers to keep all personal details and his true thoughts to himself.

Closer to the end of Battle City and the Doma Arc, he has a change of heart regarding the status of Yuugi and his friends, becoming closer to them more so than he had with anyone else previously. Originally his intentions had been to get revenge, and had even been cruel, but after losing his duel to Yuugi and humbling himself, he grew to have a longing for friendship he never thought he had.

Headcanon:
Though due in part to this being headcanon and shown largely in the manga rather than the anime that I'm taking him from, I believe that it's quite possible because of Ryuuji's actions and natural inclination to withhold his feelings that he was isolated from his peers due to his home life situation. His relationship with his father was, in less vicious words, not the best. This was a crazed man who went so far as to raise his only son for the single purpose of revenge, and when Ryuuji rebelled and failed against his wishes, the boy was deemed so utterly worthless he was seen as no longer fit to live.

The vengeance in question goes back to the manga, where it’s explained that Otogi’s father once played a Shadow Game (A game in which the loser is inflicted with a supernatural penalty) with Yuugi’s grandfather Sugoroku Mutou. Sugoroku acted as a mentor in gaming to Otogi Sr., until after a while they challenged each other over who would own the Millennium Puzzle (an Egyptian puzzle that had never been solved, but promised power to the one who did.) Otogi Sr. lost the game, which was named “The Devil’s Board Game”, and his penalty was to age 50 years, rendering him so hideous in appearance he had to wear a mask to cover it.

Otogi Sr. sought revenge from then on, but decided to have a son for the sole purpose of teaching and grooming him to be the ultimate gamer and to get his revenge on the Motou family in his place. Otogi Sr. was incredibly manipulative of his son, pulling at his emotions constantly that he and only he was the only one who would ever love or care for him (likely slandering his mother who was never revealed to Otogi).
However the anime omits this, allowing Ryuuji to have his own reason for revenge against Yuugi. This is the differing point in which I believe is where Ryuuji clashed with his father and was his initial first rebellion against him that motivated Ryuuji to part ways with his father.

After his defeat by Yuugi all ties with his father were completely severed after his father confessed that he only bred him to be his tool. This spurned Ryuuji to find what made him an individual, with individual goals and dreams (his board game Dungeon Dice Monsters/working with Industrial Illusions being one that was quite important to him) rather than simply the work of his father’s sinister intentions.

Have you read up on how the game works?: Money is earned by monthly missions, which are issued from other characters, aliens, “ship” missions, "bumming" off your cast mates, friends, or stealing.
Plugin: Flaming Ferrit!

1st person sample:

Don’t panic, it says.

[Comes a rather collected tone, complimented with an abated if not slighted breath. The guide opened on those words and two curious and analytical green eyes flit over the insides as if he were reading hieratic code and only feigning to understand it.]

Ah no problem there, but I don’t know how comfortable I am taking a wrong turn into Area 51.

[That was nearly 500 miles off from his destination outside the Bay Area to Industrial Illusions, and 8 hours gone if so. Though he had heard of the stories of ‘lost time’ when it came to alien abduction in the movies, this was simply too out of this world for him to believe.

…In the least ironic sense, he hoped. Deadly magical card games from Ancient Egypt were one thing, being accosted by droning blob-monsters obsessed with mind-numbing paper-work was another. He half wondered if returning to America had been one big illusion and he was still stuck in the Virtual World where absurd things like this would at least make sense. Whatever. He had two harebrained problems he need sorted out first before anything.
Smoothing his fingers through his jet-black hair he smiled in a most pleasant manner to the community screen.]

I’ll suspend my imagination for the sake of my sanity just to ask this… If anyone’s really listening. But I lost two card-crazed kids traveling with me.

I can give more info if you like, but I’d rather hear a response than make a fool of myself.

3rd person sample:

Blazing down the I-5, the silver trim of a mint green 1959 Cadillac Eldorado shimmered in the desert sun as it sped towards oblivion, or better known to its driver, the illustrious Industrial Illusions corporation. The two over-excited squirts in the back seat had long fallen asleep closing in on the 2nd hour of this long road trip from San Fransisco’s bay. It gave the young man at the wheel some time to molder over the reckless situation he was about to be caught up in again.

Ryuuji Otogi, age 16, CEO of a company as young and starry-eyed as himself, was embarking on a journey to meet his co-chairman and product distributor Pegasus J. Crawford. The green light for Ryuuji’s game Dungeon Dice Monsters had long been set and already the game was gradually becoming a hit, especially here in America. While it didn’t have the grandeur that Duel Monsters had on the market, Ryuuji was content to fill the little niche he had. He supposed humbleness of that sort had been instilled in him by Yuugi Motou, a boy who literally beat him at his own game. But thoughts of him were far from Ryuuji’s mind, despite picking up the kids in the backseat who called themselves supposed friends of the starfish-haired King of Games.

No, he was worried about the loss in contact he once again had with his foppish business partner, Mr. Crawford. Ryuuji’s hands anxiously groped the wheel with a squeak of leather as he stared out at the seemingly endless horizon where Pegasus’s ivory tower awaited him on the other side.
‘What could have happened to him now?’ The lonely gas station that marked the last quarter of the journey had been blown to smolders by no will of its own. The sight of it had stirred ill-tidings for Pegasus once again, and as usual, Ryuuji was not far from his dread thinking.

In truth Pegasus’s countless unanswered calls had been due to his abduction by a shadowy organization. If Ryuuji ever came to know their lethal intent, his foot which floored the pedal of his car would have bust straight through the steel.

‘Is that the end for anyone who wishes to make their dreams rise above and beyond the mundane?’ He had to wonder just how many threats against his life Pegasus had just to get his company off the ground. And what did that mean for himself? Would he suffer that same never-ending threat that all the world wants a piece of your pot and they’ll put a dagger in your hand just to get it?

Steeling himself at that thought, his urge to protect his dreams overrode all sense of self-preservation. Pegasus was once again in threat of disappearing from his grasp, and with him all his grand ideals and Ryuuji’s ambitions would pass away from the world. His heart raced as the speedometer threatened to snap, but in that moment the glimmer of I2’s tower caught his widened eyes and with it a short respite left him.

Tires squealed as the breaks were thrown down, nearly ejecting the two kids from their comfort sprawled over one another. Ryuuji’s brief relief would be tied taught again when in all directions about the building, not a single soul was in sight. Just then as the car skid to a stop, Ryuuji found that the fate of Pegasus would indeed befall him as well, as the world he new disappeared in the blink of an eye… and the car’s engine could be hear rumbling off the iron-platted walls of a hanger-bay.

The shock of being one place and then another took him a moment to shake when despite the sudden unfamiliar surroundings, it was unusually quiet for the boys who just moments ago were screaming bloody murder. Wrenching his hands from the wheel he had nearly bent in half, he turned to find the back-seat completely empty.

“Ryuzaki! Haga!” Damnit! While they were only a couple years younger than him, it had been clear back when he saved them crying and shaking from San Francisco, that they weren’t all too street-smart. Worse if this bay his ride was stuck in was simply some sort of security illusion projected by I2’s technology.

“Pegasus! If this is your idea of a joke…” as what usual for the jocular man, “I’m sorry to say I can’t force myself to laugh this time.” Even if it meant a violation of their contract.

Questions?: None that I can think of!

Did you put your characters name and fandom in the subject: Yes