As the other Ichigo set the still unconscious Purin down in front of the warehouse, she heard chains behind her snap off. She turned around and saw an unknown man rip the chains off of both of the guards she had tied up with her powers. She called out, "Who's there?" By now, the ghost Taruto had passed out from shock, and was laying on the floor.
The man then emerged from the warehouse and revealed himself. "I'm surprised you don't recognize me, kitten."
"Kisshu?!" The other Ichigo looked shocked. There he apparently was, standing before her. However, as with the fake ghost of Taruto, he was even paler than before, his eyes were dull, and his voice sounded odd. "Wait... You must be another fake ghost!"
"I'm not," he replied as he extended his left arm out. "I'm all real." Suddenly, where the skin on his left arm was exposed, he managed to use his flesh to form a duel disk. As the flesh sickeningly expanded and formed it, the other Ichigo looked on in disbelief. "Now, we are gonna duel, and I won't take no for an answer."
"Fine," the other Ichigo replied as she went into her backpack and pulled out her duel disk and deck. As she put her's on, she said to him, "I bet the real Kisshu and Taruto are on their way here to help stop you and Deep Blue."
"Your denial is pathetic, kitten." He then shoved a deck of cards into the slot of his duel disk. "I must say, you do have a different demeanor."
"Whatever," she replied, brushing it off. She then extended her left arm out and turned her duel disk before she slid her deck into place. "I'll defeat you, trust me, and when I do, you will face a Penalty Game! Such are the rules of this duel, which is now a Shadow Game! You will feel every hit, every little bit of damage, all of it!"
They both then said, "Let's duel!" As the two freed guards came out, they watched in anticipation.
Kisshu's ghost went first. "I'll summon Dark Assailant, with 1200 Attack." As Dark Assailant took to the field, he stared his opponent down and set a card in the Magic/Trap zone.
"Now it's my turn," the other Ichigo replied. "I summon Elemental HERO Stratos, with 1800 Attack! He also gives me the ability to search my deck for another HERO monster to add to my hand when he's summoned!" As Stratos took to the field, the other Ichigo pulled her deck out and selected a monster. "I'll add Vision HERO Vyon to my hand. Now, Stratos, attack!"
GHOST KISSHU: 3400
OTHER ICHIGO: 4000
"You got me there," he replied. "But I can top that easily!" He then drew his next card. "I summon Luster Dragon, with 1900 Attack! I then activate my face-down magic card, Swords of Revealing Light, preventing you from attacking for three turns!"
The other Ichigo said to herself, "Damn it..."
"Luster Dragon," the ghost said. "Attack her Stratos!"
GHOST KISSHU: 3400
OTHER ICHIGO: 3900
The other Ichigo then drew her next card. "I may not be able to attack, but I can do this. Magic Card Activate! Polymerization!" She then sent two cards in her hand to the graveyard. "By fusing Vision HERO Vyon and Elemental HERO Bubbleman, I can summon Vision HERO Adoration!"
The ghost told her, "You still can't attack, and by the time your three turns are up, I may have a monster that can beat your Adoration."
"We'll see about that," she replied.
The ghost then drew his next card. "First, I set a monster face down." He then selected another card from his hand. "Magic Card Activate! Axe of Despair! This card boosts Luster Dragon's attack to 2900, enough to destroy your Adoration!"
"What?!"
"Attack!" Luster Dragon made quick work of the other Ichigo's most powerful monster.
GHOST KISSHU: 3400
OTHER ICHIGO: 3800
On her turn, the other Ichigo was forced to set a monster down in defense. "Adoration was my most powerful monster," she thought to herself. "I need a card that can either boost attack or destroy Luster Dragon without an attack."
One of the guards who stood by told her, "Your trump card is gone. You might as well just give up."
For the next three turns, the ghost destroyed every monster the other Ichigo set down. He eventually stated to her, "Without your Adoration, you're screwed! I'm done playing this cat-and-mouse game." He then selected a card from his hand. "I summon Dark Hunter. Due to its effect, it gains 400 attack since I have two DARK monsters in my graveyard, boosting the attack of the monster to 2000! Now, attack her set card!" Dark Hunter was able to make quick work of her set monster, Kagemusha of the Blue Flame. "Now, Luster Dragon, deliver a crippling blow with a direct attack!"
GHOST KISSHU: 3400
OTHER ICHIGO: 0900
The other Ichigo was blown back several feet by the force of the attack, forcing her into a wall and making her fall to her knees in pain. As she slowly stumbled back to her feet, she wiped blood off of her cheek from a cut caused by the attack. She exclaimed, "I'm still standing, you fake!" She then drew her next card and smiled. "Now I got you. Magic Card Activate! Raigeki!" She then put the card into a slot on her duel disk. "Say goodbye to your two monsters!"
The ghost looked in shock as both his Dark Hunter and his Luster Dragon were destroyed, also destroying his Axe of Despair. As his monsters faded away, he simply said, "Im-... Impossible... For you to draw that card at that time..."
"It's very possible," she replied confidently. "My next card is this! Premature Burial! I'll pay 800 of my life points to bring back my Vision HERO Adoration!"
GHOST KISSHU: 3400
OTHER ICHIGO: 0100
As Adoration came back to the field, the other Ichigo continued. "I'll then normal summon Elemental HERO Ocean, with 1500 attack! Combined, they both have more than enough attack to wipe you out! Now, attack directly!" Both Ocean and Adoration teamed up to strike down the ghost, causing him to scream out in pain as a flash of light and a wave of wind hit him at full force, causing him to recoil as the two guards averted their eyes.
GHOST KISSHU: 0000 (LOSES)
OTHER ICHIGO: 0100 (WINS)
The other Ichigo's Mew Mark appeared on her forehead once more. This time, however, it was colored as a rainbow and flashed different colors, unlike before where it was solid yellow. This indicated that the next Penalty Game would be fatal. "Deep Blue may have helped you impersonate others before to do his dirty work, but that will never happen again!" She then stuck her right hand out, all fingers extended, and yelled out, "Mind Crush!"
As the sound of shattering glass was heard, the ghost screamed and was flown several feet backwards onto the ground. Then, there was silence. The so-called ghost was dead. A guard looked at his body, the eyes wide open and the mouth still agape, and said to the other Ichigo, "You... How did you do that?!"
"He had to pay the ultimate price," she replied to them. "He was a force of evil working for another force of evil. I can't just let him live."
Suddenly, the two guards were attacked from behind. As the other Ichigo transformed back into her normal self, two familiar faces tackled the guards to the ground and knocked them out with blows to the head following a short scuffle. As the two guards laid on the ground, one of the two assailants said, "Well, that takes care of them."
The normal Ichigo looked around, wondering what had happened. "Wait... What happened?" She then felt her forehead as she tried to remember the events prior, but was unable to. She then looked up and saw that the two mystery assailants were none other than Kisshu and Taruto. "Wait, what?! You two really are alive!"
"We are, kitten," Kisshu told her with a smile. "I see you made quick work of the impostors Deep Blue sent."
"I guess I did," she replied nervously. "The truth is, I don't remember anything. I've been having memory blackouts now for a while."
Taruto then noticed an unconscious Purin and ran over to her. "Purin! Hey!" As he shook her, she began to awaken and straighten her eyes out. "Wake up! C'mon!"
"Taru-taru?" Purin then sat up and adjusted her eyes. As she did, she gasped. "It is you!" She then gave the alien boy a bear hug, surprising him as they both fell back over to the ground. "Taruto, I've missed you so much!"
"Agh," the boy replied as he was taken aback by her enthusiasm. "I see you're still energetic as usual, Purin!"
As the two continued to talk, Kisshu and Ichigo looked over the dead Kisshu impostor. "I think he's dead." Ichigo was surprised. Normally, she would almost never outright kill someone or something. "Did I really kill him?"
"If you did," Kisshu replied as he checked the body and took the duel disk and cards it had. "He probably deserved it. We can't show any mercy to anyone who voluntarily sides with Deep Blue. If somebody has to die, so be it." He then sighed. "So they really had my impostor play this children's card game from Earth?"
"I think there may be more to this game than we all realize," Ichigo told him. "Is Pai with you guys?"
"He's at our old safe house," the alien replied as he looked over to Taruto. "We'll meet up with the rest of Tokyo Mew Mew and explain what's been happening soon."