In the darkened, Arizonan skies above the Super 8 motel, rolling thunder could now be heard reverberating in the distance; though no storm drew upon the area, the air carried the crescendoing crashing of expansions and contractions. Rippling closer and closer, the center-eye of the source materializing nearer and nearer; and, though no clouds hovered, nor conditions for inclement weather existed, a blindingly bright bolt of lightning struck down from the etherium. The motel pool, already dully illuminated by what lights had managed to be fixed, started to glow; exponentially increasing in intensity until .:[*]:.; and then the bolt of lightning connected, for only the briefest of moments, grounding as if there, though now even the echoes of thunder had vanished.
From beneath the chilling waters of the pool, "BAAAaaggguuhhhhgg--! ..." cried out Atem as he surfaced; gasping for air between grunts, his mind awashed with utter shock and confusion as he shot his gaze all about. "Wha ... Wher--?" The recollections of what had happened before, though they came to his mind, were scrambled unintelligibly; his voice, singed by a posh, British accent. Managing to keep himself afloat, all other senses numbed beyond the point of rescindence, Atem looked over from the poolside chairs and table, chain-locked to the post of a light stood near the gating, to the somewhat abandoned-looking rooms of the motel's facilities; surrounding the gated pool area, and office building just out of his periphery. A flash of the final duel he'd just had cut across his thoughts, before then a faded memory of walking off into the afterlife; or, what he had thought was the afterlife. "Where? ... Am I? ..." he stammered incredulously, his words, hanging in discontent; he darted his eyes to and fro, hoping, on top of seeking for an answer, "Where? ..." With nothing evident abounding, he brought his hand up to his head as to wipe away any and all disorientation; when, "Where--" his hand ran across his bear scalp. "Where the FUCK is MY HAIR!?!"
***.:[*]:.***
"Hey ... are those, Duel Monster cards ...?
