Dude Damsel

As Mimoko walked outside by the beach, she encountered a face she didn't want to see again.

"WHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAA! DUUUUUUUUUUD! IT'S DAME DAMSEL!"

It was then man had seen fall off the boat a week ago in Niko.

"Um, sorry, but who are you?" Mimoko nervously asked as she attempted to walk away.

"Dude!"

"'Dude'?"

"DUUUUUUUUUUUDDDDEEEEE!"

"Sorry, I don't understand."

The man smiled and ran his hand through his spiky gelled light blonde hair. "I'm Dude Damsel!"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, Dude Damsel, the guy who always gets caught, damseled, duuuuuuuudddde. And you, you're the Dame Damsel, the one who always saves me."

"Wrong person, bye."

"No, duuuuuddde, You're the chick, man. Darecrow can only save me so far, you gotta SAVE save me."

"You don't look like you need saving."

"The Ardos. They're after me, man."

"Sorry, but I'm looking for a maestro-"

"MAESTRO!? DUUUUUUUUDDDDDE... That's me!"

"Huh?"

Dude Damsel grinned and pulled out his WWCF card. It was black, just like that of the other maestros with a 3225 rating on it to boot.

"Y- You're the 7th maestro!?"

"Yeah, I'm maestro here in Micronesia! Don't know why, but I gotta play to keep the Ardos away," Dude Damsel grinned.

"Who are the Ardos?"

"Don't know? They're shadows. Shadows, man. I just wanna be gnarly on the sea, but the Ardos are capturing me at every wave. Dude, you gotta help me!"

Though the fact that Dude Damel was a maestro calmed Mimoko slightly, she still was a bit on guard due to his surfer bro personality.

"If you take me to the secret puzzle cafe- Ah wait, sorry, I'll find it-"

"Cafe? DUUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDDEEEEEE! We got one here on the beach. See the tiki torches? It's there!"

Mimoko blinked as she gazed in the direction Dude Damsel was pointing. Sure enough, there was a straw hut with tiki torches, yet it didn't look like a typical secret puzzle cafe.

"I guess this is part of the test. No choice then," she thought as she began walking over to it.

Upon reaching the cafe, she was greeted by the long-haired man.

"Dude, this is Darecrow, man. He's like a crow, but does dares," Dude Damsel grinned as the long-haired man flashed a peace sign.

"So then I have to beat him and the others first before I can face you?" Mimoko asked.

"You can face me anytime. Waves are always fresh," Dude Damsel shrugged.

"Huh? Wait, like in chess, or-"

"Hey, chess is cool. You wanna play, we'll play here."

"What? But, don't I need to beat the SPCM-"

"Dude, I'm the maestro, and I say all's cool. Let's play."

Mimoko wearily nodded and pulled up her WWCF card.

"Nah, none of that. It's on me," Dude Damsel smiled as he summoned a chessboard with his WWCF card.

"If you say so," Mimoko sighed as she headed to the board, unaware that behind her, Darecrow's lips were curving into a malicious smile.