"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack her life points directly!" Sky shouted smugly. Mindy let her head fall; it was obvious she was never going to win, even with Sonic's help. Zack and Jareth laughed from the couch, their bodies spazing in hysteria. They rooted for Sky. They always rooted for Sky.
"Don't worry," Sonic coached from the piano bench, "you can still pull through." Though he didn't sound like he believed it.
Mindy sighed, tears dappling at her eyes. She wiped them away quickly, not wanting her brothers to see her weakness.
Who am I kidding? she thought to herself. Sky always wins, against everyone. Sonic let me win, and I only got through Zack and Jareth because Sonic helped me the whole way. But no one can beat Sky. That's why Zack and Jareth call him Sage.
Nick should have never let her win the first round, without even telling her! Mindy's six-year-old self believed she had actually beat him fairly, so she thought maybe, just maybe, she could beat the twins. Nick and Mindy played a double duel with them, and Nick rigged it so she would be the last one with life points at the end! Now she was up against the oldest brother, the best at every game, and she didn't even have a chance from the beginning of the tourney.
I have to believe in the heart of the cards, just like Yugi. Mindy squeezed Kuriboh the cat tightly and braced herself to draw. She closed here eyes and inched her hand toward the card. Come on, heart of the cards, heart of the cards. This is it! She slowly pulled the top card off her deck and raised it to eye level. She squinted, not wanting to see what her fate rested on, but needing to all the same.
Mindy opened her eyes... and blinked. Happy Chakara? I don't have that card.... The image showed a shadowed figure, tipping his hat in greeting. She glanced at Sonic to see if he was behind this, and he gave her a knowing smile. How did he slip that card into her deck? He's always doing things like this to help me.
She glanced down at the card's description. It read:
You must submit yourself to this card.
Summon it in face up attack position as soon as you draw it.
If you don't, your soul is forfeit to the result of this duel.
Mindy gasped and looked at the attack points. They weren't there! There was no number next to ATK, nor did one show for DEF! [i]Is this one of Pegasus's cards? He steals souls. But why would I have it? Sonic couldn't have given this to me... could he? She shot a semi-frightened look to her mentor. His smile wavered a bit, but he gave her two thumbs up. Mindy shook herself out of her confusion and did as the card instructed.
"I play Happy Chakara in attack mode!" she recited, trying to sound as confident as she was worried. As soon as the card hit the board, colors jumped to life on the image. The man with the top hat wore a purple cloak and a serene smile, and he seemed to stare right at Mindy. Then numbers appeared for the attack and defense. 50,000? The whole thing went by in less than a second, and no one but Mindy saw it occur.
"50,000 attack points!" Sky reeled. "There's no way! You cheated!" he shouted angrily, pointing at his sister.
Sonic jumped up and gave her a big hug. "You did it! I knew you could!" The movement startled Kuriboh, and he slinked over the board to sit on Happy Chakara, just as Sky reached down to grab it.
"Darn cat," he muttered, shoving him away. "Get off here, lazy." But when Kuriboh abandoned his post, the card was gone. Sky growled.
"You're such cheaters!" he roared to Nick and Mindy. "You threw the duel!"
Sonic wrapped his arms protectively around his sister and scowled. "Your just jealous she finally beat you, and in the tournament too." He stuck out his tongue.
"Jealous! I'm not jealous! I know you cheated, and I'll prove it." Sky stormed off to his room, leaving the siblings silent. Zack and Jareth's mouths hung wide open, as though in mock horror. Then Jareth snapped back to himself and rounded on the youngest two.
"You're gunna pay for that, you cheats," he snarled with a lilt. Zack giggled darkly by his side. The two ran after Sky, as they always did.
"I... I didn't cheat," Mindy whispered.
"Don't worry," Sonic replied enthusiastically. "I know you didn't cheat, and they know it too. They're just jealous, like I said."
Mindy sniffed. "Yeah, jealous."
"Now let's have some pb&j sandwiches."