Welcome to Chapter No. 11, ladies and gentlemen. The Duelist Camp tournament has begun and so has the mayhem. I hope you enjoy this chapter, as the opponent-of-the-chapter is a blood relative of one of Yu-Gi-Oh's most eccentric villains. Enjoy.
Well, it's officially started. The tournament of Duelist Camp and the beginning of my dueling career. I'm very excited and scared at the same time. I'm excited because I'll get to test my deck against various opponents who are my skill level. I'm scared because…I'll get to test my deck against various opponents who are my skill level.
When Lina helped me make my Guardian deck, I wasn't sure how it would do against real opponents. Of course, there was Norus, and those crazy Gemini Sisters, but I never dueled much between those times, so I never really considered how it would fare against people like…the guy I'm fighting now.
His deck is a strange one. I wouldn't exactly call it a sea deck like Orin Tsunami's, because most of the monsters are…unusual. But needless to say, this kid is giving me quite a challenge. I wonder if I'm capable of actually LOSING for once.
o
Yu-Gi-Oh Jr. - Sister of Anansi
Chapter 11: Penguin Soldiero
"Hey, Diane! It's that stalker!" cried Giselle.
The boy blushed. "I'm not a stalker! Just because I tried to...uh...talk with Diane...because she's so cool and all...doesn't make me a stalker!" It was obvious that he was flustered and trying to speak, but his words came out in stutters and his cheeks puffed up when he talked, like a chipmunk.
Diane came up and the boy cringed. "I did see you try to talk several times before, but you got all flustered and run off." She grabbed his arm and grinned. "No more running, kid. If you want to talk to me, you should be direct."
"Uh...okay," said the boy, blushing heavily. His face was as red as a Mystic Tomato.
"Hey, I'm not gonna bite, my sister does that." Diane giggled. "So…who are you?"
"Uh, Donald Kru---oh no, I almost said it!" gasped the boy, shaking his head. The short chocolate brown hair fell in front of his blue eyes.
Diane was a bit stunned by the rustic beauty of that hair and the glimmering blue eyes. "Uh, who? If you're embarrassed about your last name…"
Donald sighed as he brushed his hair back with his free hand and pulled free from Diane's grip. "No, I guess I should tell you everything. But it's almost lunch. How about we get a bite in the cafeteria and I'll tell you the sordid details of my family."
"Really? That scandalous?" Giselle grinned slyly. "This could be fun."
"Donnie, stop beating yourself up just because your gramps was a rotten egg," sighed a heavy male voice. The girls turned to see a tall boy of fifteen years with black hair and brown eyes. He wore the same Penguin Knight shirt that Donald did.
"Wow," said Giselle, melting into a dreamy grin. "He reminds me of my old crush from middle school." Brigit looked at her funny.
Diane giggled, seeing as Giselle was really acting like her animé counterpart, Lita of Sailor Moon. "So, who are you?"
"Name's Ares," said the boy. "And don't believe what Donnie says. Half of it he made up to make him look bad. Only his grandpa is really bad, and I'm sure Mr. Kaiba won't hold it against Donald once he sees how kind and polite Donald is. After all, Siegfried DID hire his dad as one of the technicians of Duelatopia!"
"Oh really, your dad is a techie?" asked Brigit in awe. "So is mine!"
Donald nodded. "Let's talk about it over lunch."
"Mind if I join you ladies?" asked Ares. "Normally, we'd eat at separate tables, but Machus is allowed co-ed merging at the cafeteria for lunch, since the counselors cannot chaperone us. However, there are a couple of staff members who are standing by in case someone..." He winked.
"He said...merging," whispered Giselle, blushing. And he's so dreamy-looking too!
Brigit grinned wickedly at Giselle. Payback time!
0
A Dark Magician Girl shut the door of a cave and sighed as she slumped into a seat. "Lunch, thank goodness!" She removed her hat and blonde wig, revealing Lina's red locks. "If I have to duel one more annoying little brat and his pathetic deck..."
"Hello, Lina," said a familiar voice. A Witch of the Black Forest glided in. She removed her long purple wig to reveal Twilight's black hair.
Lina turned around and smiled, adjusting her mini-skirt. "Hey, Twi, how's it going? Got any duels on the first day?"
"A couple, both were worthy opponents, and one of them defeated me," grinned Twilight. She was wearing special contact lenses this time, ones that hid her horrible cloudy eyes and made them look like a pair of flawlessly-cut amethysts.
"Wow, it's a blue moon already," laughed Lina.
"And you?" asked Twilight as she went up to Lina and the two went over to a mini-fridge installed in the hidden room in the back of the station. This back room was like a break room and was used to take breaks during duels.
Lina sighed as she got up, went over to the mini-fridge, and pulled out a couple of sandwiches and sodas. "I got four duels, all pathetically easy to beat. Of course two I can understand, they were from the younger cabins. But one was from your cabin and one was from Arn's! Honestly, if these kids put half as much time from their posing and boasting into strategy, they might beat me!"
"Well, they are young," said Twilight as she sat down at a table and took the sandwich and drink set before her. She opened the soda and took a sip. "You cannot expect children to become dueling prodigies overnight. My mother spent five years in teaching me the skills of a duelist, almost as much time as she had spent with her brother."
"Marik?" asked Lina. She paused as Twilight's eyes opened wide in shock. "Oh, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have..."
"It is all right," croaked Twilight somberly, hanging her head. A tear trickled down her cheek. "You would…have known…sooner or later."
"Tell me, why do you hide it?" whispered Lina in concern. "I'm sure nobody remembers what happened in Battle City. That was thirty-five years ago in this world! How could you hide it for so long?"
"It is a vow of secrecy," whispered Twilight, wiping her cheek gently with her hand. "One I kept, especially after what happened in New York City. If anyone knew I was connected to that madman, both by the man who he claimed to b the heir of, and the secret I keep safe from him, I would be loathed. That is why I hide so much."
"I understand your pain," said Lina, patting her friend's shoulder. "You know, I was five when I saw the Battle City finals on the family TV. I saw how evil that Marik guy was. But I knew he looked a lot different than his profile, so..."
"A demon had possessed him," whispered Twilight. "I was not born then, but I heard stories from my mother. It was tragic. She was torn as events unfolded, and feared for her life. You know what would have happened if Marik had defeated Yugi Senior in Battle City?" Lina scratched her head. "Well, I do. Yugi Senior's soul would have been devoured by the Shadow Realm, Marik would have stolen the Puzzle and claimed Obelisk and Slifer, and then used the power of all four items to cover the world in shadows and enslave the human race…and I would never have been born."
"That's terrible," said Lina in honest horror. "I…never knew..."
"But that's all in the past now," said Twilight, looking up. "The nightmare has ended. Twice."
"Yeah, New York City was in serious danger when that shadow dome encased it," said Lina. "I read some news articles, but they didn't give much detail. Say, Twi, you say you know what happened in there, and I heard about what Diane told us during that camping trip. Do you have any idea what would have happened if Set had gotten out?"
"Yes, probably the same thing that would have happened if Marik had defeated Yugi Senior," said Twilight. She smiled. "But that's all in the past now. I prefer not to ruin my midday meal by thinking of such horrible things."
"Well, if you don't mind ham-and-cheese and soda, I've got ya covered." Lina smiled and she served the items on the small table nearby.
"With you, any food is a treat," said Twilight, who frowned slightly as she took a seat. And that is why it is so hard to keep this secret from you for so long. If only you knew what is going to happen to you after the tournament...
0
The boys and girls ate sandwiches at the cafeteria. "Now where do I begin?" sighed Donald. "I guess it would have to be with my grandfather, Ambercromby Krump. Have any of you heard about the Big Five?"
The girls looked at each other, then shook their heads.
"Probably not, KaibaCorp erased all their records from their existence to 'cleanse their company of bad blood,'" stated Donald, taking another bite of his sandwich and downing a shot of Coke with Lime. "I've been researching my grandfather's work, though, ever since I started playing Duel Monsters three years ago. I'm no National Champion or anything, but I do think of myself as a pretty good duelist. I discovered that nasty little tidbit when I was studying my family history. You see, grandpa was one of the board of directors in KaibaCorp during the time of changing hands, when Seto took over the company from his father."
"Adopted father, everyone knows that Gozaburo wasn't Seto's real dad," sighed Ares, rolling his eyes.
Giselle was ogling him. He is so cute when he rolls his eyes! She then blushed. Cut it out, Gissy! You're making a fool of yourself! But I can't help it! I never thought that angels attended summer camps!
"My granddad was the head accountant of KaibaCorp," said Donald with a puffed-up chest. "He could have gone far if he had kept doing honest accounting!" He deflated and sighed. "But then, one day, something happened that damned him."
"Really?" asked Diane, cocking a brow. "Tell me more."
"Well, Anastasia's father, Max, made a deal with the Big-5, the board of directors that included my grandpa," said Donald. "He promised that KaibaCorp would be given over to them and they promised to hand over the virtual technology that Seto Kaiba was implementing in a secret project, the now-canceled 'Duel Monsters World.' This was the time when dueling arenas were new. Holographic duels were rare, and duel disks didn't exist. Most duels were the old-fashioned table duels, no holographs at all."
"I see," said Brigit. "I can't imagine a day in my life when I haven't seen a holographic duel, but I do know that not everyone has an arena. The duel disks are still pretty new technology."
"Nope, they were implemented thirty-seven years ago by Seto Kaiba during his great Battle City tournament!" said Donald proudly. He sighed. "But then he recalled them and went back to the old dueling arenas after someone got hurt by the disks. Industrial Illusions decided to go back to the old Duelist Kingdom rules too."
"Yeah, the Mach-2 rules," said Diane. "I wonder if there were Mach-1 rules?"
"When Duel Monsters was being tested," said Ares, who took a bite of sandwich and chewed a bit before swallowing. "There were Mach-1 rules. They were even more restrictive: you could only set one magic or trap card each turn and you had to activate the card before you could set another. Also, not only were direct attacks impossible, you could not attack with more than one monster each turn. Duelist Kingdom, I believe, used Mach-1 rules. But when Anastasia took over, she upgraded them to Mach-2."
"You're so smart!" giggled Giselle. Diane and Brigit looked at each other and smirked.
"Enough of that, back to the subject," said Donald. "My grandfather went along with the Big-5 because he hated Seto too. You see, he had an idea to make a lot of money for the company and also promote penguin awareness, and Seto shot it down."
"Penguin?" asked Brigit curiously.
"Yeah, my grandpa loved those birds," grinned Donald. "His parents were awful parents and ended up getting a divorce because they fought a lot. You know the story with kids of divorced couples and how they become bad eggs. While others might do drastic things to get their folks back together again, my dad ignored the fighting and buried his nose in nature books, and penguins became his favorite animal. I love them too, because they are a close-knit family bird, always caring for their young from the egg."
"Wow," said Brigit in awe. She recalled when her last science project, it was about wildlife in the polar regions, and she had done some research on penguins herself.
"I'm so sorry your great-grandfolks broke up," said Diane sadly. "But you're lucky. Some kids lose their parents in worse ways...like me." She wiped a tear from her eye.
"Oh, my condolences," said Donald in concern. He took a deep breath and continued his story. "Well, my grandpa was furious that Seto wouldn't fund his park, even though he gave a darn-good reason. He thought that Seto was stupid for ignoring something that he knew would give good PR and loads of cash to the company, so he decided to help eject Seto Kaiba from the company!"
"Well, Siegfried's uncle WAS sort of a Sinister Serpent," grinned Ares. "But joining with your rival company isn't good protocol. You become a traitor and that's not good for job security, if you know what I mean." He chuckled, making Giselle blush.
"Yep, and my grandpa did lose his job, but he conspired with the Big-5 to get rid of Seto for good. You may not know this, but the Big-5 trapped Seto's mind in his own virtual world project! Sieg's dad got Yugi Sr. and Joseph Wheeler to join in, and Mai Valentine was there too, testing the prototype."
"Wow, Yugi's dad, Mary's dad, Sieg's dad, and Jade's mom all at once!" said Brigit.
"They almost got eradicated when grandpa and his friends summoned a mighty dragon called the Mythic Dragon!" said Donald.
Giselle spat out the soda she was drinking and hacked.
"You okay, miss?" Ares asked, patting her back. "You choke on something?"
"I...I'm fine," mumbled Giselle, blushing a bit to feel her crush's hand on her back. She coughed and thought about what Donald had said. Did he say…Mythic Dragon?
"It was a scary beast when I saw it,'" said Donald. "A dragon with five heads of pure evil! But Yugi Sr. and Seto defeated it with another powerful monster fused from both of THEIR monsters. I bet I was the only one to know about this awesome creature other tghan Yugi Senior and Seto Kaiba!"
"Wait… how did you see this duel if it was in a prototype world?" asked Diane.
"Well...if you want to know, I'll tell you if you beat me in a duel!" said Donald, smirking.
"Is that a challenge?" asked Diane, getting up and grinning slyly.
"You bet," grinned Donald. "I can't wait to show you my deck!"
"Okay mister, you're on!" said Diane, cracking her knuckles with a grin.
0
The two fourteen-year olds gathered outside the gaming center as the clock slowly began to inch its way towards noon, as Diane Arachne's first duel in the camp mini-tournament was about to begin. Ares stood by Giselle, who was staring at him. Brigit, who was right besides her friend, had to keep jabbing Giselle's ribs with her finger to keep her eyes on the REAL action. "You can do this, Donald!" called Ares.
"Puh-lease," said Giselle, rolling her eyes. "Diane's about to go medieval on his butt!"
"I wouldn't count him as weak, Giselle," said Ares, smirking. "His deck may be eccentric, but he swears by it. He beat me six times in practice duels."
Giselle gasped. "Six times, this squirt? No way!"
"I said before, don't underestimate him," grinned Ares as some campers saw this and ran off to call their friends to watch. Some of the others gathered around.
"Activate holo-projectors!" cried the two, activating their duel disks. The holo-projectors flew out and landed on either side, forming a sizable arena. The kids backed off to allow the others some space, including Ares, Giselle, and Brigit. The two inserted their decks and their life meters rose to 8000 each. "Let's duel!"
"This is going to be awesome, regardless of who wins!" cried a camper in glee. His buddies nodded.
"I'll start," said Donald, drawing a card. "And here's my first move! I'll set a card face-down." The card appeared before him. "And I'll summon Bolt Penguin in attack mode!" A card appeared and exploded into light, revealing a small penguin with electric whips for wings. (1100/800)
"Oh, c'mon, you're gonna have to do better than THAT, Donnie!" laughed Diane. She drew a card, then played another. "Celtic Swordgirl in attack mode!" The green-haired elf girl appeared. (1000/800)
"You're not doing better, Diane," said Donald with a smirk. "That girl is a hundred points weaker than Bolt Penguin."
"That's why I'm equipping her with Gravity Axe!" said Diane, playing a card. The giant axe appeared before Celtic Swordgirl. She sheathed her sword, then heaved and grunted as she yanked the axe out of the ground, stumbling under its weight. "This increases her attack by 500!" (1500/800) "Now Celtic Swordgirl, attack that arctic bird with Gravity Axe Bash!"
The elfling spun about and threw the axe into Bolt Penguin, shattering it! Donald's life points dropped to 7600.
"Actually, penguins are ANTarctic, not arctic," said Donald.
"Whatever," sighed Diane, rolling her eyes. "Your move."
A crowd had started to form in anticipation. "Wow, Diane got first blood," said Giselle.
"Yes, and since Donald didn't activate the face-down card, it must not have been a trap," said Brigit.
Donald drew a card. "Well, you're good for a rookie. But things are going to get harder as they go...a monster face-down and I end my turn." The card appeared before him and he nodded to Diane.
"Hmph, I can take this out without half-trying." Diane drew a card. "Flame Swordsmistress in attack mode!" The flaming warrior maiden appeared. (1600/1500) "Now my warrior, attack with blazing saber of battle!"
The warrior sliced apart a penguin wearing arm guards and carrying a sword. It exploded...and then both of Diane's monsters vanished! "What the...?"
"You activated me Penguin Soldier's special ability, Diane," said Donald with a wicked grin. "Whenever it gets flipped, either manually or by being attacked, I get to send up to two monsters on the field back to their owner's hand! And since your axe was equipped to one of them, it gets sent to the graveyard!"
Diane sighed as she removed the cards and discarded Gravity Axe. Great, now I can't summon Grarl!
"And now I'll activate my face-down card, Call of the Haunted!" said Donald, flipping up his trap card. "This allows me to bring back one of my Penguins, so I'll bring back Bolt Penguin!" The whip-armed penguin rose up again.
Diane fretted. "Oh no," said Giselle. "Now she's open to a direct attack!"
Brigit nodded. "Yes, unless Diane can protect herself with a card."
"Haven't you seen my friend's deck theme yet?" asked Ares.
"Huh?" asked Giselle.
"It's a Penguin deck, to honor his late grandfather Krump," said Ares softly. "Both of them have penguins on the brain, so much so that Donald made his entire deck focus on penguin-style monsters. Some of them have deadly effects, and most are water monsters, so he made a pseudo-ocean deck like Orin."
"No way, Orin Tsunami?" asked Brigit. "That's interesting."
Diane placed a card. "I'll place my own card face-down and end my turn."
Donald smirked as he drew a card. "That card has to be a bluff, so I'll call it! I'll sacrifice my Bolt Penguin for another monster!" He swapped cards and discarded Call of the Haunted. "Penguins aren't the only cold-weather creatures. Walruses are another, so I sacrifice Bolt Penguin for Arctic Terror!"
A huge walrus with sharp tusks appeared and let out a roar. (1800/2000)
"And then I'll play this field magic, Umiirika!" He placed a card in the field slot on his disk and the card appeared, showing a dolphin playing in a giant wave. "This magic card increases the attack of all water monsters by 500 at the cost of 400 defense!"
A wave struck the field and soaked both duelists(figuratively, since it was a hologram) and put them waist-deep in water that was contained in the battlefield "box." Everyone was in awe as Arctic Terror's stats changed to (2300/1600).
"Now my Terror, attack Diane's life points directly!"
"No!" cried Diane, covering her face as the walrus lunged forward and headbutted her, forcing her back a few feet. Her life meter dropped to 5700.
"Man, that's BRUTAL!" said Giselle with a shocked expression on her face.
"I guess Diane's face-down card wasn't a trap either," sighed Brigit.
Diane drew a card. "I play the magic card Pot of Greed to get two cards from my deck!" She discarded her magic card and drew two new cards. "And then I'll bring back Flame Swordsmistress in attack mode!" The flaming warrior reappeared.
"Big deal, it's much weaker than Arctic Terror," said Donald.
"I'm about to MELT your arctic terror with this equipment card!" said Diane, slapping the card onto the field. "Lightning Blade!"
Suddenly, the sky grew cloudy and lightning crashed all about! A bolt of lightning zipped down and struck Flame Swordsmistress' weapon, turning it into a wide-bladed gold-hilted sword of steel with a rune on either side of it.
"This weapon can only be equipped to warriors,' said Diane. "But it increases their attack by 800 points!" Lightning flashed dramatically in the sky as Flame Swordsmistress' attack skyrocketed to 2400!
:"Whoa!" said Brigit in shock.
"And what's more," grinned Diane wickedly. "Any time my Swordsmistress attacks one of your water monsters, its attack drops by 400!" Arctic Terror groaned in pain as sparks seared its skin and its attack dropped to 1900.
"Oh no!" cried Donald in horror.
"Oh yes!" said Diane. "Flame Swordsmistress, take out that oversized piece of blubber with your lightning blade attack!" The warrior lunged and sliced Arctic Terror from stem to stern, shattering the walrus! Donald's life meter dropped to 7100.
"Walrus fat isn't blubber," corrected Donald as he drew a card. "That's whale fat. As for you, you aren't doing enough damage to match what I did to you!"
"That's gonna change, Donnie," laughed Diane. "Because ANY monster you summon will be weakened in this manner, since I bet they're all water monsters!"
"Well then, I'll put a monster in defense and end my turn," said Donald. The card appeared before him.
"Hah, I'm not scared of that thing," said Diane. She drew a card. Wait...what if it's another Penguin Soldier? Hmmm...I'd better be careful. Looking at her cards, she grinned. "I know that's another Penguin Soldier, Donnie, and it won't work!"
"How do you know?" asked Donald, smirking slyly.
"Simple, because I plan on eradicating it without triggering its effect!" Diane slapped a card on the disk. "First, I'll give my Swordsmistress another nice weapon, the Wicked-Breaking Flamberge, by discarding a card from my hand!" She did so and her warrior took a double-bladed stance, one of the blades being a black blade with jagged edges. "Not only does she get ANOTHER 500 attack boost from the Flamberge..." Flame Swordmistress' attack rose to 2900. "I can also summon the Flamberge's master - Guardian Baou!" She played another card and a dark vortex appeared next to the warrior. A demonic being with large bat-like wings and white hair came out of the vortex, which snapped shut behind him. He held a similar weapon to the Flamberge. (800/400)
"That thing?" asked Donald. He laughed. "Ha ha ha! He's so weak!"
"Maybe now, but once he destroys your Penguin Soldier...and he negates the effects of any monster he destroys in battle...he'll gain 1000 attack points!" Diane beamed. "Now Guardian Baou, take out that monster with your Execution Strike!" The demon lunged and swiped the card with his blade...
"Ha," said Donald.
CLANG! The black blade was parried by a wood cane held by a penguin in a tuxedo and top hat.. (1100/1800) (1600/1400)
"ARGH!" cried Giselle. "That little brat!"
"That was my Nightmare Penguin you attacked," said Donald with a smirk. "And even under Umiirika's effect, he's still tough enough to deflect your demon's blade!"
"Oh no," said Diane sadly as her life meter dropped to 5100.
Donald chuckled. "Not only that, but it IS like Penguin Soldier, only it sends just one monster back to the hand, so since you flipped it by attacking…say goodbye to your Flame Swordsmistress AGAIN!" The warrior maiden gasped as she vanished and her blades crashed to the ground and shattered.
"Argh, two more equipment cards gone!" wailed Diane, tearing at her hair. She returned the warrior to her hand.
"And since your Lightning Blade is now gone, I don't have to worry about its effects anymore," laughed Donald. "Is that all?"
"I set a card face-down and end my turn," sighed Diane, placing a card on her disk. The card appeared before her.
"This isn't looking good for Diane," said Giselle. "If that guy keeps bouncing monsters back into her deck, she'll be unable to defend her life points!"
Donald drew a card. "Great, now I can do even more damage to you, Diane! First, I summon Flying Penguin to the field!" A fluffy-eared penguin appeared. (1200/1000) "And thanks to Umiirika and Nightmare Penguin's effect, which grants all water monsters including himself a nice 200-point attack bonus while he's on the field, Flying Penguin gains 700 attack points at the cost of 400 defense!" The penguin's stats did an alteration and turned into (1900/600). "And I'll also equip this magic card to my Flying Penguin, Penguin Sword!" A golden blade appeared in the penguin's forewing. "This increases the attack power of an equipped penguin by 800!" Flying Penguin's attack rose to 2700!
"Oh my gosh!" cried Brigit. "She's gonna get creamed!"
"I'll shift Nightmare Penguin to attack mode, letting him use his new attack score," said Donald. The penguin stood up. "Now, destroy that demon, Nightmare Penguin, with Ice Beam Blast!" The penguin raised his cane and fired a beam of blue light that encased Baou in ice! He groaned as he exploded and Diane's life meter dropped to 4300. "And now Flying Penguin, attack Diane's life points directly!"
Diane screamed and covered her face as she felt the blade swipe through her. Her life meter plummeted to 1600!
"Oh no, she's done for!" wailed Brigit, covering her face and sobbing.
"Yeah, there's no way that she can defeat those crazy penguins now!" sighed Giselle.
"I thought you were a challenge," sighed Donald, shaking his head.
Diane scowled. "I'm not about to lose to some stupid penguins, Donnie!" She drew a card and nodded. "I play Graceful Charity, allowing me to get three cards, but forcing me to discard two." She drew, then discarded two cards. "And then I'll play my Pot of Charity, removing the Mystical Elf I discarded from play to draw three more cards!" She did so.
"I'm afraid all the cards you draw won't help you at all against me," said Donald smugly.
Diane gave a vicious grin. "I'm afraid you are dead wrong, Donnie. Because I've just drawn a combo that will surely defeat your penguins. I play a monster face-down..." The card appeared before her. "Then another card face-down..." The card appeared before her. "And I end my turn. Do your worst."
Donald drew a card and put it in his hand. She sure seems confident. Probably more than me. I couldn't even ask her on a date if my life depended on it! But she's so smooth and cool, cooler than the Poles! Well, maybe I should hold off a bit. After all, I only need one strike from either of my monsters to defeat her. "I activate my face down card, Waves of the Sea!" He flipped up his card, which showed a beautiful tidal wave over an island beach. "This card allows me to regain 400 life points for every monster of water in my graveyard, and I have two already, so I gain 800 life points!" His life points rose to 7900. "And with that, I'll end my turn."
Diane shook her head. "You really should have attacked, because now I'm going to take control of this duel...and your penguins!" She flipped up her card. "I reveal my face-down monster, Brain Jacker!" A tiny little creature looking like a brain with a big red eye in a stalk and wings and claws appeared. (200/900)
"What?" cried Donald.
"This little monster has a nifty ability, Donnie," said Diane. "When flipped, I can equip him to one of your monsters and take control of it!" The fiendish imp leapt onto Nightmare Penguin and fused itself into its forehead! The toher girls got a bit squeamish seeing this as the penguin flew over to Diane's field.
"Ah! No!" Donald said in horror. "My Nightmare Penguin!"
"Of course, every turn, you'll get 500 life points," said Diane. "And now, my first face-down card will be revealed!" Diane flipped up her card. "Snatch Steal!"
"No! That gets equipped to my other penguin and it'll take control of it!" cried Donald.
"Right-o!" said Diane as the glowing tentacle snagged Flying Penguin and dragged him over to her side. "Now, MY penguins, attack your former leader!"
The penguins charged and Donald howled in anxiety as he was cut and smashed by the birds. His life meter dropped to 3600.
"Whoo hoo! Way to go, Di!" cried Giselle, punching her fist into the air.
"Now she's only 2000 points weaker than him!" said Brigit with a smile. "She's turning the duel around!"
Cheers erupted from the crowd as people supported Diane. Ares smirked. Well, seems my fellow cabin mate is getting his ass kicked. That girl is good.
"And to make sure you don't try to destroy my control, I'll sacrifice your Flying Penguin for my Dark Magician Girl!" She swapped cards and the tuft-eared penguin vanished, replaced with the beautiful green-eyed blonde. Some of the boys did catcalls. (2000/1700) "And I'll equip her with Scroll of Bewitchment, changing her element to water so she gains attack points from Nightmare Penguin AND Umiirika!" The Dark Magician Girl gasped as her clothes' hue brightened to light blue and her skin turned into a light green-blue tint. (2700/1300)
Donald growled and drew a card. "Well, since I know your Brain Jacker becomes an equipment card when its effect activates…I play the magic card Heavy Storm!"
"Oh nooooo!" cried Brigit as Giselle spat a cuss word. "Gissy! No bad language, you want Lina to ground us again?"
"Sorry," said Giselle softly as a powerful wind whipped through the area and tore apart all the magic and trap cards. Nightmare Penguin flew back to Donald as Dark Magician Girl's clothes and skin returned to normal as did her stats.
"And now that Umiirika is gone, I can play this field card, ocean that Orin Tsunami and his dad love to use so much!" said Donald.
"Wait, did you say Orin and Mako?" asked Diane.
"Yep, I have to look up to them, they are the MASTERS in water elemental dueling! My penguins are all water creatures, so I have to take notes from Orin Tsunami, and this card is their favorite! A LEGENDARY OCEAN!" He placed the card in the field slot and the arena turned into a seabed with a cube of ocean water filling the volume of it. Diane covered her mouth until she remembered that this was a hologram. A pearl castle rose up. "This card may only be like Umi, with the same bonuses..." Nightmare Penguin's stats changed to (1300/2000). "But it has another effect! It can demote the level of all the water monsters in my hand by one!"
"So that means you can summon a six-star monster without tribute!" gasped Brigit.
"Or an eight-star with only one tribute," grinned Donald, holding up a card. "And I'm about to do that now! This is my ULTIMATE penguin warrior, the ruler of all the penguin race!" He swapped cards. "I sacrifice my Nightmare Penguin to summon...Pengo the Emperor Penguin!"
Diane swore that the creature that appeared looked like a black-feathered King DeDeDe from the Kirby games. It wore the same regal attire and held a large silver mallet in its wings. (2700/3300)
"And don't forget that, since he's an aqua, A Legendary Ocean benefits him," grinned Donald as his giant penguin ruler rose to (2900/3500). "Pengo, take out that crazy witch with your Mallet of Mercilessness!"
The penguin quacked and charged, swatting Dark Magician Girl into the sky with his mallet! Some campers laughed as Diane's life points dropped to 700.
"Oh man, Diane's REALLY doomed now!" cried Brigit in horror.
"She'll pull through, I hope," said Giselle, biting her lip.
"Give up?" asked Donald.
"Never," said Diane through gritted teeth.
"Then I'll just place one card down and end my turn." Donald watched his card appear. When she attacks, my Mirror Force will destroy her monster, and then I'll hit her with a direct attack from Pengo, winning the duel. Of course, I feel sort of bad for hurting her...but that's Duel Monsters. You have to roll with the punches. My dad told me that Grandpa Krump always rolled with the punches, even when things looked bleak. Of course, that was before he vanished from the face of the Earth...
Diane reached for her deck. I should have used Hermos! I know it would be cheating, but this oversized DeDeDe is giving me a headache! Hermos would shut him up...no, I can't think that way. I promised myself that using Hermos would ONLY be for threats to my life or soul, not for petty duels. If I lose, I just lose three star pins, no big deal. She relaxed and drew her card. She then looked at the card she had drawn and the cards in her hand and gasped as an idea hit her. Why didn't I see it before?
"She must have something good," said Giselle as she saw Diane smirk.
"Okay, you may not be like THE Penguin, but I'm about to go and do a Batman on you!" said Diane. "I set FOUR cards face-down!" The cards appeared before her.
"First time I've ever seen FOUR cards get set at once," said Ares with a sly grin.
"Next, I activate my first card," Diane said, flipping up a card. "Monster Reborn! This lets me bring back a monster from the graveyard, so…welcome back, Dark Magician Girl!" The ankh glowed and Dark Magician Girl returned to the field with a smile.
"I'm afraid she's no match for Pengo, Diane," said Donald with a smirk.
"That's about to change, because now I play the card in my hand, Polymerization!" She slapped it down and the vortex appeared. "I fuse the Guardian Elma in my hand with my Dark Magician Girl!" The two females vanished.
"Are you nuts? You can't fuse a Guardian!" said Donald.
"I just did," said Diane with a smile. "Here it comes...Shade the Enchantress!"
A beautiful lithe figure stepped out of the vortex. She wore a long silver robe with butterfly wings on the back, and her hair was a long ponytail of strawberry-blonde luster, kept held back by a butterfly pin. She had no cap, but her eyes were as green as the Dark Magician Girl's. She put a fan to her face and giggled. (2300/3000)
"That's your monster?" laughed a camper. "She's so weak!"
"So you say, but she has a special energy that resonates with her former Guardian self," said Diane. "Similar to how the Dark Magician Girl in her gains power from her mentor's death, so does Shade gain power from the death of her Guardian friends, 300 attack for each to be exact. And thanks to Graceful Charity, I now have four Guardians in my graveyard!"
The spirits of Guardian Elma, Grarl, Tryce, and Baou flew into Shade's body and her attack rose to 3500!
"Oh my gosh!" said Brigit in awe. "She's SUPERGIRL!"
"And since I don't trust that face-down card of yours," said Diane. "I'll destroy it! Activate Mystical Space Typhoon!"
Donald gasped as his Mirror Force shattered. "No!"
"Shade, wipe out that giant penguin with Celestial Flash!" ordered Diane. The sorceress spun her fan in her hand and aimed it at Pengo, unleashing rainbow beams of light that annihilated the penguin! Donald's life points dropped to 2400. "And to end, I play the magic card, Soul Release, removing Guardians Elma and Tryce from play." The spirits of the three Guardians fled from Shade's body her attack dropped to 2900.
"Why did she go and do THAT?" cried Giselle. "Now Shade's weaker!"
"I think she may have a plan," said Brigit.
Diane nodded. I do, but I have to draw the right card next turn, or else I won't be able to pull it off!
Donald shakily drew his next card, then grinned. "Ha! I drew Monster Reborn, so I bring back Pengo in defense mode!" The penguin emperor returned, crouching behind his big mallet. "And since A Legendary Ocean grants him a boost to his defense, his defense matches your weakened Enchantress, so she can't crack him!"
"Great, now what?" mumbled Giselle.
Ares smirked. Donald was clever, putting up a wall. He frowned a bit. Though I am a bit confused as to why Diane removed two Guardians from play, thus weakening Shade. Unless she's trying to lower his guard. Well, with that penguin on the field, it won't be happening!
"I had a reason to remove two of my Guardians from play..." said Diane, drawing. She grinned. Yes! "And the card I drew will make your defeat final!"
"What?" asked a camper as Diane played it.
"I play the magic card, Spell Economics!" The card appeared, glowing faintly. "This allows me to negate the life point payment costs for any magic card I play this turn, so now I can put my plan into action!"
Everyone looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?" asked Donald, a bit worried.
"Watch," said Diane. "I activate my first face-down card, the magic card known as Dimension Fusion!" The card exploded into light. "Usually it would cost me 2000 life points, but Spell Economics allows me to bring back all the monsters removed from play for free!" Guardians Tryce and Elma leapt onto the field and took battle stances. (1900/1700) (1300/800)
"Huh?" asked Giselle.
"Next, I'll equip Rod of Silence to Shade." Diane put a card down as the ivory rod appeared in a block of crystal. The block shattered and Shade wielded the rose, her defense rising to 3500.
"Even I don't get it, and I know a lot about Duel Monsters," said Brigit, shaking her head. "That card didn't help Shade at all."
"You wonder what I did this?" asked Diane. "It's so I can summon THIS ! Guardian Kay'est in attack mode!" The ivory-haired mermaid appeared with a splash. (1000/1800) "And since she's a water monster, she gains power from YOUR Legendary Ocean!" Kay'est's stats changed to (1200/2000)
"Ha, I'm not scared of you, they're far too weak!" said Donald. "When my turn rolls about, I'll shift Pengo back into attack and pick off your monsters one by one, and your Shade won't be able to stop his mighty attack power!"
Diane laughed, taking him by surprise. "Boy, I don't care if Penguin had a TRILLION attack points!" She flipped up her other card. "This duel IS OVER! Reveal face-down card, the magic card Guardian's Final Charge!"
"What does that do?" asked Donald, sweat coming down his brow.
"Simple," said Diane. "I have to have at least THREE Guardians on the field to activate this card, which is why I summoned Kay'est, and I usually pay 1000 life points to do so. However, once the conditions are fulfilled, I can choose two of my monsters to bypass your monsters and attack you DIRECTLY!"
"No..." gasped Donald in pale-faced horror.
"But I'll be merciful and attack with Elma first," said Diane with a giggle. "Guardian Elmal, attack directly with Butterfly Stab!" The red-haired maiden bounced off of Pengo's head and jabbed Donald in the gut, dropping his life meter to 1100.
"Yes!" said Giselle, clenching her fist. "Go, Di!"
"And now Guardian Tryce, finish him off!" ordered Diane.
Pengo was used as a springboard again as the golden-haired warrior leapt off of him and slashed twice with his gleaming blades. Donald howled and collapsed into a heap as his meter dropped to zero.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!" cheered Giselle, leaping into the air. "SHE DID IT!" She gave a V-sign with her fingers.
Applause filled the air as the Guardians nodded at each other. Pengo hung his head as the disks deactivated. "Donald, are you okay?" asked Brigit, picking the boy up and brushing off his clothes. "That really did some damage!"
"Uh...I'll be fine," said Donald, blushing. He sighed. "I guess I was an idiot to duel someone as smooth as Diane."
Ares chuckled. "Stop beating yourself up. It's not the end of the world. You still have a star pin, you can catch up."
Donald walked up and removed three star pins, handing them to Diane. "Uh...here you go...Diane...great work."
"You sure act different during a duel," grinned Diane as she took the pins and put them in her card. "By the way, you didn't tell me how you saw Yugi Senior and Seto Kaiba defeat your grandpa. Maybe we can talk about it after lunch, in the computer lab. We can watch Orin dueling, if you want." She winked.
Donald blushed. "You...want to Net with me? After what I did?"
"No hard feelings, Donnie," grinned Diane, patting his cheek. "If I had lost, I would have been a little angry, but not held it against you. We both knew that when we started the mini-tournament, we had to fight our hardest. But true duelists remain friends with each other, right? Besides, I heard that Team Supreme might be dueling too, and I really want to see Yugi Junior and his pals duel."
"Oh...well, sure, I guess." Donald blushed.
Ares walked up and shoved him. "Go for it, Turtle Tiger! You don't get the chance to hang out with a sexy girl like her!"
Diane blushed and giggled. "I'm not that sexy, Ares. You should see my sister! Sheena's a LOT more endowed than I am! And Giselle, well..." She looked her friend over. "Why don't you ask her about her measurements?"
"Oh no, you won't make me fall for THAT!" laughed Ares. "I know a few things about violent women being asked about that!"
Giselle blushed. He's so cool and quite the gentleman! I wonder if I can score him as a boyfriend like Diane scored Donald…
The crowd laughed as the sun continued its trek towards the eastern horizon.
(To be continued…)
NEW CARDS Penguin Sword(Type) Equipment Magic
(Effect) This card can only be equipped to monsters with "Penguin" in the name. The card equipped with this gains 800 attack points.
This card was used by Krump in the Virtual Nightmare series.
Pot of Charity(Type) Normal Magic
(Effect) Remove one LIGHT monster from play to activate this card. Draw three cards from your deck.
Waves of the Sea(Type) Normal Magic
(Effect) Increase your life points by 400 for every WATER monster in your graveyard.
Pengo the Emperor Penguin(Type) Water/Aqua/Effect
(Level) 7
(ATK) 2700
(DEF) 3300
(Effect) Whenever this card is face-up on the field, no WATER monsters on your side of the field can be targeted by traps, magic, or monster effects.
Shade the Enchantress(Type) Dark/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect
(Level) 8
(ATK) 2300
(DEF) 3000
(Fuse) Dark Magician Girl + Guardian Elma
(Effect) Increase this card's attack by 300 for each monster with "Guardian" in its name. (The only monsters that count for this effect are the True Guardians; Elma, Ceal, Baou, Tryce, Grarl, Kay'est, and Aitos.)
Next Chapter: Diane's got her first tournament win, can Giselle match it? It might be a bit hard considering that her opponent idolizes one of the most insidious villains in a cartoon series! Find out if Giselle's got the right stuff in…A Cat of Ill Omen!