A/N: Another chapter of YGO-DD ready for reading. This one takes place before and during Yugi's duel with Mako, so there probably won't be a full duel scene with him either. This chapter will star Lizzie against another OC, although said OC doesn't have a custom archetype like Mari did. I hope you enjoy, no for the Disclaimer. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its spinoffs, all content belongs to its respective owners.

Chapter 11, Wolf Girl of the Forest

In the woodlands of Duelist Kingdom, a young woman was done with her hunt for food, having caught a buck for lunch and a couple of boars. 'I'm going to eat well today, and so are the others.' as she was thinking about this, something stalked closer to her, readied itself and pounced at her! The youth turned around only to get hit full force by a silvery grey wolf.

But instead of struggling to break free from the pin it caught her in, she laughed heartily at the lupine mammal "Hahaha, didn't I tell you to wait back at the den? Oh well, I could use the help getting this back anyway." the wolf nodded its head and started dragging one of the boars with its mouth. When they got back to the den, they were greeted by the other members of the wolf's pack. She had quickly befriended these wolves when she arrived here, since they reminded her of the pack she left behind back home.

"You hungry, everyone? I brought enough to feed you for about a week, so eat up!" the wolves eagerly ate the deer together, but were sure to save one of the boars for her. One of the wolves, one whose fur had gone white with age, nudged the young woman with his nose then looked towards a deck box made of rough leather and two golden stars with a small whine.

She sighed "I know, Elder Giichi, I haven't forgotten. All those other humans and their incessant dueling has been disturbing your hunting grounds, the sooner this "contest" of theirs ends, the better it will be for the pack." she picked up the deck box and star chips and walked out of the den with one of the wolves trailing behind her; it was time to hunt again...

Scene Change

Joey was just finishing his first official duel, against Mai Valentine to be specific "Thousand Dragon, destroy her harpies!" the Harpy Lady Sisters who had been weakened by the Time Wizard's effect were scorched with flames and Mai's life points hit zero "How? How could I lose to such an amateur?" Mai said to herself sadly, then Joey spoke to her

"Hey, Mai" she looked up at him "I tried to tell you there's more to dueling than kicking the other guy's butt." she stared at him, a bit confused as he continued "If you want to be a real champion, you've gotta learn to care about someone, other than yourself." he turned his head in Yugi's direction "Isn't that right, Yugi?" Yugi nodded and began to look like his usual self, although only Lizzie and Draco seemed to notice this change for the time being due to their connections to the Spirit World.

Joey seemed pretty pleased with himself as the were walking through the forest, although his enthusiasm about his first official victory was getting pretty tiresome for the others, sans Lizzie who could understand the thrill of winning her first official duel from her time in the Chance Cup, and she just chuckled. Maki and Akane had caught up with the others earlier, but had missed the duel between Lizzie and Draco, much to Akane's disappointment.

Akane got over it quickly though, as she began telling a story about the time a bunch of rabid fanboys chased her through Domino City Park on the way home "and then, just when they thought they had me, they got caught in a net trap I set up for such an occasion! their reactions were priceless and- I-is that a quarter? Yes, yes it is and it's all mine!" Téa asked Lizzie "Is Akane always like this?" Lizzie spoke to Téa over her shoulder "Every single day, attention span of a squirrel."

Joey was complaining about how hungry dueling made him, while Tristan took the opportunity to show them his survival guide when Joey smelled fish and ran toward the ocean. Yugi, Tristan and Téa ran after him, while Draco looked at Lizzie and the other two girls "Aren't you going with them?" Akane shrugged her shoulders "Yeeeeah, I don't do water, I'm a terrible swimmer and am not too comfortable around bodies of water larger than a lake or swimming pool."

Lizzie was next to decline "Pass, the last time I went to the ocean I had to duel somebody with an army of fish men, and I *really* don't want a repeat of that, right Maki? Maki...?" Maki was shuddering violently, and her next words made it quite apparent why "Icky, creepy, never-blinking fishies... K-keep me away from there please, I don't want to be anywhere near fish." Draco blinked at that and was about to speak again when a silver furred wolf leapt out of the shrubbery and tackled Draco to the ground, then pulled his Star Chips from his Duel Glove.

"what? Hey, give those back, I need those!" Draco called as he frantically chased after the wolf. Lizzie sighed after noticing that the aspiring knight went in the wrong direction and wandered off "Akane, could you come with me to find that wolf? Maki, please find Draco and get him back here when you do, I need to get his Star Chips back before he gets disqualified by mistake." Maki went off in Draco's direction, and Akane began following the wolf's tracks.

When the tracks ended, they were in a small clearing where the wolf waited, sitting next to a strange young woman who looked to be a year older than Lizzie. She had a well-muscled body, wild dark brown hair and light blue eyes. She wore a patchwork outfit made of leaves, hides and furs and walked barefoot, a deck box attached to her clothes. "Well this wasn't what I was expecting" she said "I would have thought the bluehead would come chasing Kjull here, not you two. Where is that man anyway?"

Lizzie glared at her "Draco couldn't find his way through an empty meadow if he had a map, now give us back his Star Chips!" the other youth frowned at the two friends "Sorry, not going to happen. Do you two have any idea what your precious contest is doing to my pack's hunting grounds? I'm not giving these back, unless you can back your words up of course!" she took out her deck, indicating she wanted to duel

Lizzie took out her deck as well "If I win, I want Draco's Star Chips back, understand?" she hissed. the wild youth grinned "Fine, but if I win, I get to take your "Star Chips" as well, sound fair?" Lizzie didn't think it was really fair seeing as they weren't this girl's Star Chips to begin with, but agreed for Draco's sake, thus beginning a duel. When they got on the duel field, the teen introduced herself "My name is Lupe Demetria, and for the sake of the pack here, I will defeat every so-called duelist on this island!"

Lizzie wondered how long Lupe had been living here in the wild "I'm Lizzie, and I have to get my friend's Star Chips back and keep a promise I made to my other friend. I can't lose here with that at stake!" Lupe took the first turn "I'll start by summoning Silver Fang to the field in attack position, welcome to the pack." a white wolf appeared on the field, briefly reminding Lizzie of that one time she and Draco got stuck in a den of these Duel Spirits before Lupe set a facedown card and ended her turn.

Lizzie started her turn "I summon Ancient Lizard Warrior in attack position, then set three facedown monsters and end my turn." 'Better to keep it safe this time, I can't afford any mistakes or Draco will be taking the next boat off the island!' Lizzie thought, then made a plea to her deck's Duel Spirits to guide her through this duel. Lupe drew a card and let loose a feral grin "I play the Ritual Spell, Synthesis Spell. by tributing Silver Fang from my field, and Nin-Ken Dog from my hand, I can Ritual Summon!"

Lizzie braced herself for the worst "Ritual Summon, Lycanthrope!" a werewolf with wires attached to its chest appeared on the field, howling (Level 6, Earth. Beast Warrior/Ritual/Effect. Atk/Def: 2400/1800.) Lupe's eyes narrowed "Lycanthrope, attack her Lizard Warrior! activate trap, Shield Spear, Lycanthrope gains 400 attack and defense until the End Phase." Lizzie activated a card from her hand "When any of your monsters attacks, I can special summon Gentlemander from my hand, I'll do so in defense position. Also, you can't attack any monsters but him"

Akane chose now to cheer for her friend "Lizzie, don't worry. You can still win this!" then the werewolf pierced through Lizzie's monster with ease, but afterwards she grinned in response to Akane's support and used her facedown card "Activate trap, Snake Whistle! I can special summon a level 4 or lower reptile monster from my deck, come forth, Armored Lizard!" a blue scaled lizard appeared on the field and awaited orders (Level 4, Earth. Reptile. Atk/Def: 1500/1200.)

"You two ready?" she asked her two monsters, who gave her affirmative growls "I overlay my Ancient Lizard Warrior with my Armored Lizard in order to build the Overlay Network! Dragon knight of the East, I summon you to bring forth a new age of hope. Xyz Summon. The guardian of sea and sky, Number P71: Cyan D. Knight Shenlong!" the dragon knight's voice echoed in Lizzie's mind 'What is your wish, my liege?' Lizzie spoke "I equip Shenlong with Black Pendant, increasing his attack points by 500." the pendant landed around the Number's neck, increasing his strength (+500= 3000)

"Battle, Number P71; Shenlong, attack Lycanthrope with Yukiryu Unbound!" Shenlong drew his katana then blurred past his opponent, slowly sheathing Yukiryu as the enemy is sliced by its attack "Shenlong's attack increases by 100 for every spell or trap on the field, that means you take 1900 damage." Lupe growled as her favorite monster was destroyed "So you managed to defeat Lycanthrope, I still have stronger monsters, and I still have life points yet. This isn't over!" (-1900= 100 life points.)

Lizzie shut her eyes calmly "I beg to differ, by activating my Mystical Space Typhoon and using it to destroy Black Pendant, you take 500 more points of damage. How's that for a finish?" upon its destruction, shadowy energy shot from the pendant and struck Lupe, ending the duel (-500= 0) as soon as the duel field deactivated, Lizzie rushed over to where Lupe lay kneeling in defeat "Are you okay, Lupe? I'm sorry, but I need those Star Chips to finish the tournament..."

Lupe didn't move from where she was, her eyes hidden by her hair "You said you made a promise to a friend, what was it?" she asked. Lizzie was unsure about how much to say at first, but decided to tell the full truth. After the explanation, Lupe got up "I see, so you promised to help save the soul of your friend's grandfather. He's lucky to have a family and friends who care so much for him, I sometimes wish I could say the same."

Before Lizzie could ask anything further, she was handed four Star Chips "your friend wasn't the first person to fall victim to my trap, but the last duelist wasn't so fortunate and was taken off the island. I'm not entirely sure, but I think that duelist would want you to have these to help you fulfill your promise." she started walking away, waving her hand as a parting sign "farewell, and I wish your pack good luck in the tournament!"

Lizzie and Akane watched as Lupe faded into the woods "You know" Lizzie said "Lupe doesn't seem like a bad person after all, she just wanted to protect her wolf friends." she turned and left with Akane "All the more reason for us to win this tournament as soon as possible, Yugi isn't the only one suffering because of Pegasus anymore..." She wouldn't forgive Pegasus for screwing with other peoples' lives so callously.

Meanwhile, in the wasteland area of the island "Hello? anybody there? Yugi, Lizzie, anyone? Oh for the love of-" Draco was so frustrated that he didn't see the person in front of him "Hey, watch where you're going mate, you could've hurt somebody!" she said irritably in what Draco recognized as an Australian accent. He quickly apologized and explained what happened to his Star Chips

the girl was about 14 years old and had short ginger hair and brown eyes. She wore clothing reminiscent to a cowgirl from Wild West movies. She rubbed the back of her head "I'm not sure what to say, but I can't just let a fella like you to get kicked off the island for a mishap outside of a duel..." she thought for a moment, then came up with an idea "Why don't we square off in a duel? If you win, I'll give you two of my Star Chips as if you had wagered the two you lost, but if you lose I'll have to call the island's security. Do we have a deal?"

Draco looked relieved, then accepted her challenge "Excellent, the name's Agnes Flare, by the way. I'm the Regional Champion of Australia, so don't hold anything back, 'kay?"

Scene Change

Lupe was worried. When she got back to the den, the entire place was abandoned. She calmed herself down and noted that there were no signs of a fight, so it wasn't hunters, so that was a relief. It was then that she heard footsteps from outside, then turned around - Nothing. she turned around to head to her part of the den to rest and found a man right in front of her, his face obscured by the shadows. Before Lupe could fight back, everything went dark.

A card shrouded in darkness appeared in the man's hand "Not the best choice, but she will have to do for now." the man said with a distorted voice, then left with Lupe's unconscious body hanging limply over his right shoulder.

Chapter End

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, readers. It's been awhile since I had this large a thing of inspiration on something like this story. Also, there's another cliffhanger for you, will Draco beat Agnes or will he be taking a long trip home? find out in the next chapter of YGO-DD. Duel Standby...