“I can't believe this. You have to let me try again!”

This time, Valerio is not showing any mercy. Who cares if this is an old lady? As far as Valerio is concerned, no one has beat him in a game of Pai Sho back in Kanto, so why does this woman can? What is her strategy? What is her secret?

“You can't be over-analytical at such a short time, could you? What, is this just based on experience alone?”

Someone should tell Valerio Dachev that he should focus on the game more than the conversation because he is on a losing streak.

TASK: CHALLENGE THE DRAGON - 4/5

#michiko maeda

"Dragon, I've returned!"

The words thundered across the living room as a man stood dramatically by the door, the coat hanging off his shoulders flapping dramatically as a nearby wall fan's winds hit it just right.

As yet another challenger fell to the grandma's cunning fortune, the great dragon raised a stony, serious gaze towards the blonde man, muttering serious sounding words.

"Wheh... zo yeuck gnidd dis faxang bel axanethol ke, dis who? Pe ug slurupp foriovo ug caxan traxaupp zis wraxagen, beerisk feupp?" She said, collecting every single card on the table with a single, impressive sweeping motion, the many cards flittering to and fro between her fingers like she were some sort of Las Vegas' Magician.

"This time will be different." The man said seriously as he came to stop at the table, his suitcase dropping at his side with a loud thud. He reached over, patting Valerio Dachev's shoulder empathically, his eyes narrowing at the dragon. "You did well to hold out for so long without breaking. Leave the rest to me."

The man folded back his sleeves.

"I've been training for this day for an entire week."

"Bububu... Zon sked vo!" She said before, with a flick of the wrist, the cards were perfectly dealt.

"Game on."

---

TAG: michiko maeda Zac Ramsay

In the ensuing chaos that was the three on one match between the great Dragon and three foolish men, Doug had managed to slip away from the TV and into the dining room instead, were the smell of...

Well, not delicious, but it certainly smelled like something approximating pie.

The youth found not one, but two kind-of-pie-ish items at the table, and to be perfectly fair to them, they certainly looked the part very well.

But he thought he had seen blood on Zac Ramsay's lip when he had returned to save the game earlier, so he was slightly apprehensive.

Only one of them had a slice cut off, however.

"Swerve." He said dryly, turning his attention the Applin-decorated one instead.

Just because the other one was definitely going to kill him didn't mean this one couldn't possibly pull it off as well, but the youth was feeling confident, and more importantly, hungrier than careful.

He put a sizable slice onto a plate.

"Lookin' good so far." He said, reaching for a fork for all of a second, before remembering himself.

He grabbed the pie slice and brought it up to his face, tilting and turning around with a critigal look upon his face.

And then he stuffed it into his mouth.

"... Fockin' A! Zac, ZAC! Get over here, ya gotta try this!"

---

███ Piebreaker: Eat Alexei's Pie (0/3)
TAG: Alexei Ivanov Zac Ramsay

At last.

The blonde man threw his arms around Zac Ramsay and Valerio Dachev's shoulders, hugging the two men firmly as he threw his head back and laughed.

"You've been vanquished, Dragon!" Declared the blonde man, laughing for a full 10 seconds before he released the two men, standing up from the table. "Thank you, gentlemen! It couldn't have been accomplished without your brilliance!"

With a wide grin, the man picked up his suitcase before looking around, his expression shifting into confusion as he seemingly noticed only then that there were people other than the players at the table around the house.

"Hah... there's a lot more players than usual today, aren't there?" He said, tilting his head.

A lot of people.

"I feel like I'm missing something..." He said, brows furrowing as he scratched at his head, turning a questioning gaze to Etsuko.

"Oh, my daughter needed help dealing with some house chores." Said the Dragon.

"Beg your pardon, I didn't quite catch that."

"WHAT?"

"Vupp daxauddol joods whorp um zo stelos." Said the Dragon once again.

"What?! You mean to tell me I was playing games while a lady needed assistance?!" He said, horror in both tone and expression, before turning sharply to walk away-

And then immediately turning around again.

"Same time next week, Etsuko? Lovely." He said, turning on his heel once more upon getting a nod, before sharply turning his gaze around the living room like a man on a mission. What needed to be done?

What needed to be done?

His eyes fell upon a dark skinned youth, green eyes meeting Noelani Kekoa 's browns.

The blonde man began marching up to the youth, his steps thundering over the place as he took off and threw his jacket onto a rack in a corner of the living room, peeling back the sleeves of his white button up shirt as he came to stand before Noel, eyes intensely looking at him.

"I shall offer assistance." He said while grasping a rag and a bucket before moving to stand besides him at the window.

Intense window washing followed.

As it happened, the blonde man noticed a familiar woman from the other side of the window, a bell in her hand.

Oh...!

Michiko had come to help Etsuko's daughter with the chores, too!

---

Cleaning the Windows, DONE!
TAG: michiko maeda Valerio Dachev Zac Ramsay

Valerio is obviously flustered with the overwhelming defeat that he needs other guys to save his face. All those times he thought he aces Pai Sho has suddenly gone to waste in the face of the Maeda residence's dragon.

“I need to cool down.”

There is a pang of disappointment, and perhaps annoyance in his voice but the man gets to keep calm as he enters the kitchen. He is only hoping to get some water but then he sees Chu-e Choi flaunting his newly-baked pie. Eyes squint at the fellow Rocket, he grabs himself a mini plate as he slices himself a piece.

“You sure this ain't poison, huh?”

He is chuckling but proceeds to taste the food anyway.

TASK: PIEBREAKER: EAT CHU-E'S PIE - 2/3

#michiko maeda #Chu-e Choi

With the mopey way he entered the dining room, one could be forgiven for thinking Valerio Dachev might have not been in the best spot mentally.

Doug stared in abject horror as the old man grasped a piece of the Death Pie™️, raising an arm towards the man dramatically!

"Don't do it, Old man! You've got a lot left to live for!" He said- but it was too late. Valerio was already biting into it, and the sight alone was enough to bring Doug to his knees.

"He's a goner." He said breathlessly, reaching over to grasp Zac's pantleg.

And pulling himself back up.

"What else is there to do 'round here anyway?" He said, tilting a brow in askance at his large friend before shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, I dunno either. I'll go ask the lady of the house. Save some more pie for me!"

He waved while walking backwards, before turning on his heel to jog. The lady could probably point him in the right direction.

Moving back to the living room, the youth immediately dropped down onto a military crawl, eyes wide and alert, before began to slowly drag himself across the floor, keeping his breath entirely to himself.

Drats, why had he come back here?! He could feel the distaste for the TV content wafting off the old lady!

Retreat, retreat!

Crawling as quickly as possible, the youth went for the furthest exit he could see, slipping into another room before rolling onto his back and breathing out a sigh of relief...

"Where's this anyway?" He said as he threw a look around, noting the couch and single man sofa in the corner of the room, as well as the desk and tv.

Looked like a... Study. Or Office. Study/Office, some might say, even!

---

Moved to the STUDY/OFFICE ROOM!

TAG: michiko maeda Valerio Dachev Zac Ramsay Chu-e Choi