Roland here again, your Master of Ceremonies for the finals of the Virtual World Tournament!
Over the years, there have been plenty of interesting challenges in the dueling world, and even more interesting duelists. But the two that are coming up are definitely among the most interesting.
In the red corner, with silver hair and good-natured attitude, the Father of Duel Monsters: Maximillian Pegasus!
In the blue corner, the Femme Fatale of the duel circuit, who brings new meaning to the term "Killer Looks!" The ever-popular Mai Valentine!
Only one of these competitors will be leaving the arena after this bloody fight…
Followed by the other one after they're declared the winner. Get ready duel fans, we call it…
Aviation vs. Animation
Up in the VIP section, thirteen of the remaining fourteen finalists were applauding as Brian Hokage was warped back to his seat. Seto Kaiba, the only one who wasn't clapping, he just cast his gaze back to the window as it darkened again.
"Well, that wasn't a complete waste of my time, so I guess it was okay." He said, looking to Brian, "Just don't expect an easy win in the next round."
"Ah, ignore him." Tim smiled, "You were awesome bro!"
"Thanks." Brian said, "But man, Celeste almost had me down there."
The finalists fell silent again as the pictures began to flash across the window.
"Get ready Kaiba..." Joey smiled, "The minute we get paired up, you're going down."
"Not in this lifetime Wheeler." Kaiba growled back.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Down on the arena floor, Roland looked up to the screen above to await the next pair of duelists. In the audience, folks were still chatting about the last match, and Celeste was receiving plenty of attention from her neighbors.
"I do not believe that that vile, uncouth, fiend-duelist had the nerve to attack you directly!" Ronaldo stated, raising a fist to emphasize his statement.
"Please remember you're insulting one of my friends." Celeste warned.
Ronaldo looked sheepish, and lowered his hand.
"Ahh, of course. I do apologize Celeste." Ronaldo smiled.
"It's alright." Celeste sighed.
"Man, if I were Kaiba I'd be afraid of that Brian guy." Kevin smirked, "That Great Maju-whatever could knock a Blue-Eyes into next week!"
"If it was summoned by tributing a monster with more than 1500 attack points." Espa pointed out.
"That's usually not a problem." Kevin stated.
Two loud bells rang out, drawing the quartet's attention up to the screen. On it were pictured the next two duelists, and Roland raised his microphone again.
"There you have it folks, time for our next duel!" He shouted, "It's Mai Valentine vs. Maximillian Pegasus!"
Above Roland hovered the images of the two duelists, and a two-minute timer appeared.
-------------------------------------------------------
In the VIP box, Pegasus gave Mai a nervous glance. The blond sighed, and smiled at him.
"Don't worry Mr. Pegasus, I'm not using any evil cards this time." She stated, "But I was hoping to have a chance to…"
"Apologize for the last time we met, where you imprisoned my soul in another dimension?" Pegasus guessed, "Yugi-boy explained the situation to me, so all is forgiven Mai."
Mai seemed relieved, but a bit pained at the horrid memory of two years ago being brought up again. Still, she took her deck and began to leaf through it.
"Okay Mai, focus." She thought, "Can't live in the past forever. You don't need a stinking seal to beat him, you were strong before you had it and your stronger now that its gone…"
Mai swiftly swapped two cards (a trap and a spell) into her deck, smiling as she did so.
"He knows every card in the game, so it'll be tough to surprise him. Still, these should help." Mai thought.
She then moved another two monsters from her side-deck into the main deck, and pulled out four cards from the main deck (Harpie Girl, Dunames the Dark Witch, Sonic Shooter, and Unfriendly Amazon) to make room for what she had added.
"And I've been looking for a good excuse to test these two out…" She smirked.
Pegasus, in the meantime, looked over his cards. He smiled as he added one and removed Eternal Rest. He then put in three more cards (Two spells and a trap) while removing two more copies of Eternal Rest and his Astral Barrier.
"Perfect. Now comes the unveiling of one of my greatest cards." He thought with a smile.
"Time's up!" Roland shouted.
The two vanished, leaving the other thirteen behind. Kaiba had a frown on his face that was even deeper than usual. He had seen the card Pegasus added, and while he was familiar with the artist's deck…
He had never seen that card before.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The field was covered in darkness again, with only Roland visible in the center. He smiled to the audience, and began his intro.
"In this world, there have existed numerous majestic creatures." Roland called out, "Many of them are only known of today because they were preserved in art. The art ranged from pictures, to songs, to stories, but one of the most fantastic creatures was a gigantic bird that lorded over the sky!"
The arena lit up, and Roland now stood on a ground that seemed to be covered with large branches and huge feathers and clumps of fur. Behind him stood a massive egg that was pure-white in color.
"This bird was known as Ziz, a massive creature created to rule over all creatures of the air and maintain a balance between that predators and prey. It was said his wingspan could blot out the sun itself, and that at the end of times he'd serve as one of the main-courses in a feast offered to the faithful."
Mai and Pegasus were transported to opposite side of the nest, and looked about in awe. A chilling breeze blew over them, and they both shivered a bit (Mai especially since she wasn't wearing anything warmer than her usually mini-jacket.)
"And now, we've come to Ziz's Nest for our next duel!" Roland called out, "So let's prepare for a match of biblical proportions! I give you that Harpie Queen: Mai Valentine…"
Cat calls and whistles came from the audience, and Mai flashed them a smirk and wink.
"…And the creator of the world's favorite card game: Maximillian Pegasus!" Roland concluded.
Pegasus waved, and blew a kiss to the audience as they cheered.
"It's time to Mai to pit her own birds against Pegasus's anime-inspired attack force." Roland called out as he lifted into the air on a gust of wind, "We're calling it: ANIMATION VS. AVIATION!"
The audience cheered again, and Mai held her head.
"Who is coming up with these titles?" She thought with a sigh.
Roland settled on top of the egg, and sat cross-legged.
"Seeing as Ziz is absent at the moment, I'll take his place as ruler of the roost." Roland declared, "Okay, Mai try not to poke out Pegasus's other eye. Pegasus…Try not to be distracted too much by your opponents…physique."
"Got it!" Mai said.
"I'll try…" Pegasus smiled, "Must remain professional after all."
"Then bring out your deckmasters!" Roland ordered.
Mai and Pegasus each held up a card, and Pegasus smiled.
"It's no contest for me: Come out my Thousand-Eyes Restrict!" He called out.
The ground behind him burst upward, scattering branches and feathers all over the place. Behind Pegasus sat his amazingly-creepy, brown skinned eye-ball monster, all of its eyes currently closed.
"Then I'll choose my Harpie's Pet Dragon!" Mai called out.
A blast of fire shot from the ground behind her, and out of it emerged a dragon that stood at least twice as tall as Mai. It had red scales, and a fringe of black feathers around its eyes. A single, golden chain trailed from a golden collar around its neck.
"Interesting choices." Roland nodded, "Now let's see who goes first!"
The dragon shot a blast of fire into the air, while Restrict countered with a beam of black energy. The two blasts collided and exploded in mid-air, showering sparks down toward Mai's field.
"Mai Valentine, you may have the first move." Roland declared, "Let's get started!"
Mai picked up six cards, while Pegasus drew five.
"Duel!" They both shouted.
Mai: 8000
Pegasus: 8000
Mai looked across her cards, and thought for a minute before selecting one.
"I open with Birdface (1600/1600) in attack mode." Mai decided.
Her dragon let out a roar, and from the sky swooped the first monster of the duel. It was a large bird, standing upright like a human. He was covered in green and yellow feathers, and wore a breastplate made of blue metal.
Behind Pegasus, Restrict opened up its many eyes, eliciting screams from the audience as well as Mai's monster, and covered the field in an eerie, green glow.
"Just so you know, with Restrict as my deckmaster, you aren't allowed to attack with a monster in the same that you summon it." Pegasus warned.
"I can't attack anyway. Your move." Mai stated.
Pegasus drew, and smiled as he held up a card.
"Okay then, I start by summoning my Toon Gemini Elf (1900/900)." Pegasus announced.
Some of the green lights that covered the field began to change colors, to brilliant shades of blue and purple. The lights formed into a pair of women (One blond with a blue dress, the other a red-head in a purple dress) both of whom seemed to have been from a cartoon show. They smiled, and winked their oversized eyes to Mai as Pegasus chuckled a bit.
"Ugh...Those annoying toon monsters." Mai sighed, "Hey wait a second, don't you need Toon World on the field to summon them?"
"You're thinking of the last I summoned them, when it was already on the field." Pegasus smiled, "Well not in this case. My Toon Gemini Elf, while it benefits greatly from Toon World, doesn't actually require it to be on the field. Of course, they still can't attack during the first turn I summon them, so I'm laying card facedown."
Pegasus slid a card into his disk, and it appeared behind his elves.
"That's it, go ahead." He offered.
Mai drew, and quickly tapped her field slot. It popped open, allowing her to insert a card. The ground began to tremble a bit, and Mai smiled at Pegasus.
"Okay Pegasus, I'm starting my turn by playing a field-spell card." Mai explained, as rocky spires began to rise up around the nest, "I activate Harpies' Hunting Ground!"
The spires came up higher, until they were about ten feet over the edge of the nest. Several small creatures began shuffling about on the ground, sniffing around the feathers and fur clumps that cushioned the nest. They looked like flying squirrels of some kind, roughly the size of rabbits.
"Who'd have thought Harpies would hunt Nimble Momongas?" Roland observed.
"The Harpies aren't the only ones that hunt here." Mai warned, "The Harpies may be in charge, but any Winged-Beast on this field gets a bonus 200 attack and defense points."
Birdface (1800/1800) let out a shriek, and dove forward. There was a squeak of fear, followed by a snap and a gulp as one of the momongas was turned into a quick snack. The remaining creatures shrieked, and dove for cover beneath the branches and feathers.
"I really must have a word with Kaiba-boy about how he programs these holograms. They seem a bit graphic." Pegasus sighed, "But anyway, your monster is still no match for mine."
"That's where my first Harpie comes in." Mai explained, putting down a monster, "I summon Harpie Lady 1 (1300/1400)!"
From the sky descended the gorgeous figure of one of Mai's signature monsters: A young woman wearing a purple body suit, with her hands and feet resembling the talons of a bird of prey. Her arms were covered with green feathers, and she had straight, red hair that came down past her shoulder blades.
"Now then, my first Harpie…" Mai started.
"Please Ms. Valentine, I'm well aware of what each of your cards does." Pegasus interrupted, "I'm the one that approved each of them. Harpie Lady 1 gives 300 attack to all creatures of Wind, including herself, plus she gains the 200 point bonus from your field card."
Harpie Lady 1 (1800/1600) flapped her wings, and a gentle breeze flew over the field again. Mai didn't seem to mind this one, it was warmer than the last, and it gave her monsters a lift into the air allowing them to hover on the thermal breeze. Her Harpie was slightly higher than Birdface (2100/1800), a fact that seemed to please her.
"And now that you summoned a Harpie Lady, you must use the effect of the Hunting Ground to destroy one spell or trap on the field." Pegasus pointed out.
"I know, and I'm aiming at your facedown card!" Mai called out.
Her first Harpie swooped higher, then dove down upon the hidden card. Pegasus watched with interest as bits of paper and green binding were scattered to the winds. He held up the card that had been destroyed before putting in his grave, causing Mai and the audience to gasp.
It was his Toon World card!
------------------------------------------------
Ruby was staring at this turn of events, and opened her mouth to speak.
"Man, I heard that Pegasus was a little kooky, but he just let his best card get destroyed." Mary cut her off.
"I was just thinking that." Ruby said, "And he doesn't even seem worried."
Nearby, Serenity gave John a confused look.
"Um…Isn't it bad that his best card was just destroyed?" She asked.
"Normally yes, but…" John thought for a minute before continuing, "Maybe since it's so early, he has a plan to bring it back."
Across the arena, Celeste, Espa, Ronaldo, and Kevin were all staring slack-jawed at the field.
"Well, I guess Mai just won this duel." Espa finally choked out
"Maybe he has more than one." Celeste suggested.
"No. I heard that he had stopped production on that card after the first one was printed." Kevin explained, "So he can only have one."
----------------------------------------------------------
In the VIP booth, Joey was cheering Mai's name while the others were talking amongst themselves.
"Okay, I was at Duelist Kingdom and saw Pegasus do some crazy things in his duels." Bakura pointed out, "But letting his best card get destroyed takes the cake!"
"He must have a deeper plan." Yugi said.
"Or maybe he's completely lost his mind." Kaiba stated, "I expected it to happen sooner or later…"
"Who cares? Mai's winning!" Joey cheered, "Come one everybody, let's cheer her on!"
"He's lucky that she can't here us up here. Mai doesn't like having cheerleaders." Yugi sighed.
In his mind, Yugi heard a stifled yawn.
"Hm…I feel refreshed. I should do this more often." Yami thought, his mind re-linking with Yugi's, "Did I miss anything Yugi?"
"Mai destroyed Pegasus's Toon World…During the first turn…And he didn't even bat an eye." Yugi explained.
"I see…" The ancient spirit thought, "Perhaps he had a few to many drinks before the finals…Oh, is this first match of the finals?"
"No, Brian and Celeste dueled and Brian won." Yugi explained, "I would have woken you up for the duel but I wasn't sure how to do that when you're in the labyrinth part of your mind."
"Don't worry about it, Yugi, you can tell me about the duel later." Yami thought, "For now, I think I'll just watch this one."
---------------------------------------------
Mai was deeply confused about the matter. Pegasus didn't seem at all worried about the destruction of his most infamous card.
"He must be planning something." Mai decided, "But until it happens, I'll just have to wear him down. I can't attack with Harpie Lady 1 this turn, thanks to his deckmaster, but Birdface has a clear shot."
"Birdface, attack his elves with cross-wind whiplash!" Mai shouted.
The bird-man slammed its wings together and two blasts of air slammed into the elves from either side. They screamed as they were tossed beyond the ridge of spires that surrounded the arena, and stopped in mid-air. They seemed relieved until they noticed that there was nothing beneath them. They gasped, grabbed hold of each other, and then plummeted out of sight.
A dull thud followed by a blast of sparks signaled their animated demise.
Mai: 8000
Pegasus: 7700
"Ah well, easy come easy go." Pegasus shrugged.
"The same will be said for your life points soon." Mai stated, "Now I'll lay one card facedown and end my turn."
The facedown card appeared, and Pegasus drew.
"Well let me see…" He smiled, putting two cards onto his disk, "I believe I'll set one monster in defense mode…"
A facedown monster appeared, and a few momongas scampered underneath it.
"And I'll follow it with another facedown card." Pegasus smiled, another card appearing, "I'll end my turn…"
"And I'll chain my facedown card!" Mai interrupted, "Go Icarus Attack!"
Mai's card lifted, and began to shimmer with red energy. She smiled as she pointed to Birdface.
"Now by tributing a Winged-Beast I control, I can destroy two of your cards." Mai explained, "I give up Birdface to wipe out your field!"
The armored eagle burst into a blast of red light, which shot forward and consumed Pegasus's two cards. The monster was shown to be a young woman wearing blue robes with purple hair, and the trap was a glowing book with an eye carved onto the cover.
"Oh dear, it seems you destroyed my Magician of Faith and Hidden Book of Spells." Pegaus said with mock-terror, "Without those how will I ever recover my precious Toon World?"
"Urgh…What is he doing?" Mai thought, trying to maintain her temper, "I trashed his Toon World and his best chances of getting it back. Why is he acting like he's just playing with me?!"
Mai drew her card, and looked at it.
"Okay, Harpie Lady 1, attack directly with aerial-acrobat attack!" Mai shouted.
The Harpie swooped higher again, and dove down in a graceful spin. Pegasus braced himself and was launched backward a few steps as the dive-bombing bird woman slammed into him.
Mai: 8000
Pegasus: 5900
Pegasus just shook the attack off with a smile.
"My, my. You can be quite vicious can't you Ms. Valentine?" Pegasus smiled.
"Oh can it, I know you're up to something Pegasus." Mai declared, "When I figure out what you're trying to do I'll make sure to stop it."
"We'll see about that." Pegasus said with a sing-song voice.
Mai growled a little before reigning herself in, and placed another card onto her field.
"I summon Harpie Girl (500/500) in attack mode." Mai declared.
From above flitted a young girl with blond hair. She had pink feathers sprouting from her arms and, like the Harpie Lady, her hands and feet sported bird talons. She wore a skimpy, black outfit, and waved shyly to the other Harpie on the field. The Harpie Lady 1 gave her a nod of acknowledgement and fanned some of the wind toward her. The Harpie Girl (1000/700) chirped happily as she was lifted up on the breeze.
"That's it for my turn." Mai declared.
Pegasus drew, and placed another two cards down.
"Very well then." He smiled, "I'll set one card facedown, and summon Toon Goblin Attack Force (2300/0) to the field."
First, a facedown card appeared in front of Pegasus.
Then, a loud explosion sounded off in the distance, and four, green balls flew over the spires and splatted against the floor of the nest. The quivering globs suddenly reformed into a quartet of short goblins with huge, cartoonish eyes. They were carrying wooden swords and wearing bronze armor, and were laughing their heads off from their entrance. Several audience members were chuckling as well as Pegasus nodded.
"Seeing as they can't attack when I first summon them, it's now your turn." He offered.
Mai drew her next card, and thought for a second.
"She won't be allowed to attack this turn, but she'll get rid of your facedown card." Mai stated, holding up a monster, "I summon Harpie Lady 2 (1300/1400) in attack mode!"
From the sky descended another Harpie, this one dressed like Harpie Lady 1 but with short, orange hair. She smiled as she turned a flip in mid-air, slammed Pegasus's facedown card into bits, and then landed next to her sister who granted her a boosting breeze (1800/1600).
"I guess I didn't need Solemn Whishes if I'm not using Toon World." Pegasus sighed, "But that monster can't get past mine."
"No, she can't." Mai smiled, "But my Harpie Girl can go around your monsters with this."
Mai held up another spell, which began to glow.
"I activate Secret Pass to the Treasure, giving one monster with 1000 attack or less the chance to attack directly for this turn." Mai announced.
Harpie Girl reached into her outfit, and pulled out a scroll of paper. She unrolled it and began to study it intently before nodding her head.
"Now attack directly my Harpie Girl, with chickadee charge!" Mai ordered.
The girl nodded and jumped as high she could. She spread her feathered arms, catching an updraft, and came down feet first onto Pegasus's shoulders. He grunted as he got knocked onto his stomach by the blow.
Mai: 8000
Pegasus: 4900
"That's it for my turn. Make your move." Mai challenged.
Pegasus stood back up, drawing a card as he did.
"Well, seeing as my goblins are free to attack now, I think that's just what they'll do." Pegasus grinned, "Attack Harpie Lady 1 with cannonball catastrophe!"
The four goblins gathered in a circle, and a golden cannon suddenly dropped out the sky and landed in the center of it. Three of them climbed in after a quick salute to the fourth. The last one pulled out a match and struck it on the bottom of his shoe. He then grinned as he lit the cannon's fuse and jumped in after his friends.
Harpie Lady 1 gasped as the cannon fired, sending the four warriors right toward her!
"Stop right there, I activate my deckmaster's power!" Mai shouted.
The dragon roared, leaning forward and brining one wing in front of the Harpie. The four goblins struck against the wing, bouncing of before they ever came into contact with the dragon's master. However, as they ricocheted, they produced several shockwaves that knocked Mai off her feet.
The dragon leaned back as the goblins landed in front of Pegasus, their eyes spinning from their trip. Mai got up, ignoring the audience's laughter at the antics of the toons, and smiled.
"Okay…What happened?" Pegasus asked.
"Harpie's Pet Dragon has a deckmaster power known as Harpie Guardian." Mai explained, "If I'm willing to double the damage from a battle involving one of my Harpies, I can save her from being destroyed."
Mai: 7000
Pegasus: 4900
"Very clever Ms. Valentine." Pegasus applauded, "Well, my monster must go to defense mode now, so I'll end my turn here."
Mai drew, and smiled once again.
"Well, seeing as you have nothing to defend them…" She grinned, "Harpie Girl, attack the goblins!"
The girl nodded and jumped forward, slamming into her dizzied opponents and sending them flying into the air.
"We're blasting off again!" The goblins screamed as they soared upward.
------------------------------------------------
"First Curran and Pikeru, now this?" Brian muttered, turning to Kaiba, "Did you get an advertising deal with Pokemon or something?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Kaiba sighed, "Now I'm seriously going to consider terminating that contract."
-------------------------------------------------
Down on the field, Mai's two remaining monsters were both grinning eagerly toward Pegasus.
"Okay girls, you know what to do!" Mai declared.
The two Harpies jumped forward. Harpie Lady 1 slammed Pegasus with a graceful flipping attack before soaring into the air. Harpie Lady 2 was less refined: She slashed at Pegasus with her hand-talons, causing him to cry out in pain!
Mai: 7000
Pegasus: 1300
"Now then, I'll end my turn by summoning another monster: Harpie's Brother (1800/600)." Mai announced.
A fourth monster alighted to Mai's side of the field. This one was a young man wearing a brown vest and gray pants, with large red-and-black wings sprouting from his back. His right hand sported a trio of long, red claws attached to a glove, which he waved toward Pegasus as his attack jumped to (2300/800).
"I thought you didn't like using male monsters in your deck." Pegasus groaned as he sat down and caught his breath.
"Normally I don't, but this one is Harpie-related." Mai nodded, "And he's such a useful beat-stick monster that I had to try it. He works pretty well too: Even if you have another set of goblins, he can just take them out for me and leave you defenseless."
"On that note, I'll draw." Pegasus said, standing up once more and tidying off his suit before claiming a card, "And I'll activate my Pot of Greed."
The chuckling jar appeared next to him, and Pegasus casually drew to cards. He smiled as he saw them both.
"And I believe I've had my fun for now." He declared.
"What are you talking about?" Mai asked, looking confused, "Don't tell me you're having fun getting beat up by my Harpies."
"Oh Mai, I just wanted you to feel like you were doing well. And I must admit, you've performed admirably." Pegasus smiled, "But now it's time to stop playing around and take this duel to my home-turf!"
"How? I already destroyed Toon World!" Mai protested.
"That was just a ruse, to lure you into a false sense of security." Pegasus explained, "The real fun starts now, but first I activate a spell known as Soul Absorption."
Pegasus placed a card into his disk, one that showed the image of a skeletal demon absorbing several small flames.
"This handy little card will give me 500 life points every time a card is removed from the game." Pegasus explained, "And I'm about to remove a few cards as I unveil my latest masterpiece!"
Pegasus carefully slid another card into play, and a fanfare began to sound. The audience looked as confused as Mai as a large book with a picture of a cartoon king on the cover floated down.
"Congratulations, Ms. Valentine! You're about to be one of the first ever to face down my latest Toon card…" Pegasus said, spreading his arms, "Welcome to TOON KINGDOM!"
The book burst open, and a humongous cartoon castle popped out! The fanfare increased in volume as fireworks and streamers flew over the castle and the spires around the arena. As the fireworks went off, the area around the castle began to change: The colors became brighter, the momongas scurrying about in the next started to speak in squeaky voices and turned a multitude of colors, and the egg Roland sat on was suddenly covered in polka-dots.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I can honestly say that this is the strangest effect I've ever seen in my days as a commentator." Roland announced.
Mai stared up at the castle, and then to Pegasus.
"So what exactly does this do?" She asked.
"Why Mai, this card is a very powerful version of Toon World." Pegasus explained, "And it's so new that, while it has been registered in the data base for Kaiba-boy's little Duel Disks, I'm the only one that has a copy of it."
The castle began to shimmer as Pegasus held up his disk.
"Of course, such a powerful card requires a heavy cost." He sighed.
"Let me guess, you need to pay more life points." Mai grinned, "Well, if you want to go and almost take yourself out…"
"Actually, to play this card I need to remove the top five cards of my deck from the game." Pegasus explained as he took off the first five cards of his deck and looked them over, "Ooh, lucky me! There's nothing here that I can't do without."
"Wait, if you just removed five cards from the game…" Mai gasped.
"Then Soul Absorption restores 2500 of my life points!" Pegasus grinned, "Isn't that just fabulous?"
Five glowing orbs of light appeared around the artist, and flew into his body. They melted into his chest, and he grinned as a burst of energy flew through his entire being.
Mai: 7000
Pegasus: 3800
Pegasus took a deep breath as his life points finished going up. He looked to his hand and placed another card onto his disk.
"Now then, before I go any further, I activate my Magic Reflector card." He declared.
A strange machine standing on six, spidery legs dropped into the nest. It projected a glowing aura of light from a small radar dish on its back, which detached and floated above the castle.
"What does that do?" Mai asked, pointing at the radar as the rest of the machine vanished.
"Nothing yet." Pegasus explained, "For now, I'll summon my Toon Mermaid (1400/1500)."
Around the castle appeared a moat, out of which emerged a giant clam. It opened up to reveal the mermaid archer nestled inside, giggling a bit at Mai. Mai just gave her a glare.
"And now you see the first power of Toon Kingdom: I can treat it as though it were named Toon World while it's on the field." Pegasus declared, "And when I summon Toon Mermaid, she counts as a special summon if Toon World is present. Therefore, I tribute her…"
The clam sank under water once more, and the moat vanished with it. Out of the castle flew a tiny spark, which hovered in front of Mai for a second. It tapped her on the nose, then flew back to Pegasus and began to grow…
Until the light faded leaving behind an animated girl dressed in a spellcaster costume.
"And I summon my Toon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)." Pegasus continued, "Isn't she precious?"
"Oh spare me…" Mai thought.
"Oh, and unlike the rest of my toons, Toon Dark Magician Girl doesn't need to wait a turn before she attacks." Pegasus mused, "So attack directly, my sweet, with animated antics!"
The colorful sorceress thought for a minute, before reaching behind her back and pulling out a small bicycle horn.
"And what's that supposed to…" Mai started to ask.
Before she completed her question, Toon Dark Magician Girl squeezed the horn and a deafening AOOOGA shot out from the tiny device. Mai screamed as a blast of sound waves knocked her off her feet and shook loose her life points.
Mai: 5000
Pegasus: 3800
Pegasus held up his empty hands, and shrugged.
"Seeing as I have no cards left, I end my turn." He declared.
Mai got to her feet and drew her card, thinking over her move.
"Does that Toon Kingdom have a special power?" She wondered, "My Harpie's Brother is stronger than his monster. But what if that card destroys monsters that attack his toons?"
Mai looked at the card she had drawn, and smiled again.
"On the other hand, this just made that a moot point." She realized.
"Okay Pegasus, tell me if this guy looks familiar." Mai challenged, "I summon Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon (1200/600)!"
A screeched sounded out, and next to Harpie Girl appeared a much smaller version of Mai's deckmaster. It had the same scales and feathers, and even sported a chain and collar of its own, but was definitely younger (And possibly cuter) seeing as it was slightly shorter than Mai.
"You actually managed to find one? Well, can't say I'm surprised." Pegasus said, "I'm guessing you know how he works."
"Do I?" Mai laughed, "For those who don't know, this little fella gets a new special power for each monster on my field with the word 'Harpie' in its name. When I have one, my opponent can't attack any monsters that have 'Harpie' in their name…"
The little dragon steeped forward, standing in front of the four bird-people on Mai's field. It let out a brave growl at Toon Dark Magician Girl, who just yawned in response.
"When I have two, its original attack and defense double. And let's not forget the bonus that Harpie Lady 1 gives to Wind monsters…" Mai continued.
Harpie Girl and Hapie Lady 1 began to pet the little dragon. It squeak with glee, and its stats skyrocketed to (2700/1200)!
"And when there's three, my dragon can destroy one card on my opponent's field per turn." Mai declared, "And I choose to destroy Toon Kingdom right now!"
The little dragon roared, and shot out a blast of flame at the castle. Before the conflagration ever reached its target, the forgotten satellite dish projected a glowing barrier over the entire structure. The flames struck the barrier and fizzled out, while the dish exploded, but the castle was unharmed.
"And that's what Magic Reflector does." Pegasus declared, spreading his arms and smiling at Mai's shocked face, "It produces one spell counter, that I can attach to any spell on the field. If that spell would be destroyed, then the counter is demolished in its place."
Mai frowned. She was going to have to take a risk now…
"Harpie's Brother, destroy his Toon Dark Magician Girl!" Mai commanded, "Mach-five filet!"
Thus commanded, the only male monster on the field pulled back his arm. He vanished in a blur of red feathers, and reappeared in front of his target…
Pegasus coolly slid a card from his deck, gave it a look, and let it vanish from his fingertips…
Harpie's Brother slashed, only for his victim to suddenly vanish in a puff of pink smoke! The confused Winged-beast peered into the cloud as it faded, revealing he had succeeded in destroying a doll that now stood in the toon's place. Toon Dark Magician girl suddenly jumped from behind the doll (Which transformed into her staff), and delivered a powerful kick to her opponent's head!
Harpie's Brother flew backward, crashing to the ground at Mai's feet before pulling himself up with a dazed look.
"Now what happened?" Mai asked, "Wait, is that the effect of Toon Kingdom?"
"Now do you see why I wanted to protect it?" Pegasus grinned, "So long as it's on the field, I can save any Toon-monster I want from being destroyed in battle just by removing the top card of my deck from the game. And since another card was removed, I gain 500 more life points from Soul Absorption, minus 300 from the battle."
"Pegasus has made his toons completely indestructible!" Roland gasped, "I'd be worried if I were Mai!"
"But I'm not." Mai thought, "Next turn, I'll just need to use Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon to destroy that card. With nothing left in his hand, there's almost no chance he'll draw another Magic Reflector."
Mai: 5000
Pegasus: 4000
"It's your turn Pegasus." Mai stated.
"Good, then I'll draw…" Pegasus said as he did so, "And now one of the cards that was removed from my deck earlier will come back."
"What?" Mai shouted, "What sort of card can do that?"
"A little something known as Card from a Different Dimension." Pegasus explained as a card appeared in his hand.
He turned it around, showing Mai that it had an image of a card crackling with electricity. He smiled as he tucked it back into place.
"When this card is removed from the game in anyway, it returns to my hand on my next turn." Pegasus explained, "And then we each draw two cards."
Pegasus and Mai's disks each beeped, and both duelists drew two new cards.
"Hey, aren't you worried about running out of cards?" Mai asked, "If this keeps up…"
"Don't worry about me Mai, I actually have a slightly larger deck than usual." Pegasus declared, "By my count, I have thirty-four cards of my original fifty left."
--------------------------------------------------------
"Can someone get me an exact count to verify that?" Mokuba requested form his seat.
Rei tapped a command into her computer, and some number scrolled by.
"Yep, he had fifty cards in his deck to start." She verified, "He's removed five of them, drawn ten, and had one return to his hand."
"Okay then." Sota grinned, "Still think Mai will win this duel Jackson?"
"Hey, I made the mistake of betting against her last time." Jackson admitted, "I will not doubt her skills again. Besides, Pegasus lost to high-school student earlier. Whose to say Mai can't beat him?"
"Good argument." Rei nodded.
"Stupid argument, but not without its good points." Rei thought.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Pegasus was looking his four cards, and humming a bit as he thought.
"It's still your move, you know." Mai pointed out.
"Oh I'm well aware of that. I was just considering my options." Pegasus explained, putting down a card, "I think I'll start this turn with Graceful Charity."
An orb of light appeared overhead, and it burst into a cloud of streamers and balloons that rained down on Pegasus. He smiled as he drew three cards, and quickly discarded two of them.
"Good, now I got of my Gorgon's Eye and Card from a Different Dimension. I won't be needing them at the moment." Pegasus stated as he put down another card, "And next comes another new card: Comic Hand!"
The gate of the castle lowered, and gloved hand on a spring shot out. It stopped, and began to wave to Mai, who waved back somewhat hesitantly.
"Now then, this little dandy let's me steal control of one of your monsters." Pegasus explained, "And seeing as the last thing I need is your little fire-bug tearing down my castle, I believe I'll take your Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon."
The hand grabbed the small creature, which let out a defiant cry before being yanked into the castle!
"What good will he do you?" Mai challenged, "His power only counts Harpies that on the same side of the field as him."
"True, but Comic Hand gives him another use." Pegasus stated, "It not only gives me control of your monster, it also…"
The castle gate bust open, and out of it sprang the dragon. But now it was brightly colored, its scales shining like rubies, and a thick outline was traced around it…
Mai's eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the sight.
"Turns it into a cartoon! Say hello to Harpie's Pet Toon Baby Dragon!" Pegasus cheered as the now toonified dragon nuzzled against his leg.
"Your spell turned it into a toon!" Mai shouted.
"Yes, and isn't it simply adorable?" Pegasus grinned as he gave the dragon a pat.
Mai was silent, but the look on her face spoke volumes. She obviously did not agree with Pegasus on this matter.
"Oh boy, Pegasus is asking for it now!" Roland called out, "Good thing he didn't take one of the Harpies, or we'd have a real mess to clean up!"
-------------------------------------------------
"This is disturbingly familiar." Yugi thought, looking at the field.
"Seems that Pegasus found a way to resurrect Toon World as it was in Duelist Kingdom, before the rules for it changed." Yami pointed out, "And Mai has never faced anything like this."
"Hang in there Mai!" Joey called out.
"She can't hear us from up here." Mako reminded him, pulling Joey back into his proper seat, "Now just calm down."
"Okay, these Toon Monsters are just weird." Brian said, looking to Tim.
Tim opened his mouth, and then stopped.
"You know what, I'm not even gonna try to make a joke out of this duel." He sighed, "It really doesn't need my help."
Kaiba just let out a 'hmph' of acknowledgement, but seemed somehow pleased that Tim wasn't going to make any jokes.
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Well then, I could attack your life points directly with both of these monsters but previous experience shows that would be a bad idea to let those Harpies stay en masse on the field." Pegasus sighed, "So therefore…Toon Dark Magician Girl, destroy Harpie Lady 1!"
The gleeful toon girl held up her staff, and it immediately changed into an oversized turkey-baster. Harpie Lady 1 took one look at her foes new weapon, and let out a shriek of fear, trying to fly to safety. The giggling sorceress began to chase her around, until the Harpie blindly flew behind an oversized feather…
Which toppled over to reveal a large oven set on high. It let out a loud buzzer, and then shattered taking its cook-to-golden-perfection victim with it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh great, now I'm hungry." Tim grumbled, watching as the bird vanished.
"What happened to not making jokes?" Kaiba grumbled under his breath.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Pegasus was doubled over in laughter after his latest attack, and Mai's expression was a mixture of shock, disgust, and anger. On the field, Harpie's Brother (2000/800), Harpie Lady 2 (1500/1600), and Harpie Girl (700/700) were all mourning the loss of their comrade. The pilfered Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon (1200/600) seemed to miss the breeze that Harpie Lady 1 had provided.
"Are you done yet!" Mai shouted, a bit louder than she meant to.
"Sorry." Pegasus gasped, "Actually, as long as I'm at it, I'll have my Toon Baby Dragon (1200/600) attack your Harpie Girl."
The cartoon critter nodded, and fired a blast of flame from its mouth. Harpie Girl shrieked in pain as the fire washed over her, and was reduced to a small pile of ash with a pair of eyes blinking on top of it. A light gust of wind blew the ashes away.
Mai: 4600
Pegasus: 4000
"And that is that." Pegasus declared, "Go ahead Mai."
Mai drew, and thought over her plan…
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Now what is she gonna do?" Espa asked, "If Pegasus keeps getting rid of her Harpies…"
"Trust me, it's better she lose the Harpies than get hit directly." Celeste reminded him.
"Yes, but…" Ronaldo stated, sounding confused, "What about her deckmaster? Could she not have doubled the damage to save her creatures?"
Kevin, Espa, and Celeste all blinked in surprise.
"Hey, you're right!" Kevin gasped, "Why didn't she save them?"
"The only thing I can think of is she wants them in the graveyard." Celeste frowned, "But that can't be right…"
"Unless she has a plan." Espa stated, "One that we aren't seeing. Think…Why would she want the Harpies off her field?"
------------------------------------------------------
"Mr. Pegasus is certainly employing an interesting strategy. It seems unlikely that Mai can fight back!" Roland announced.
"Who asked you?" Mai thought as she looked over her cards.
"Harpie's Brother, attack the Toon dragon!" Mai called out.
Forward leapt the winged man, brandishing his talons. He swung them right at the little toon, but Pegasus casually slipped a card from his deck.
The toon's eye glinted for a second, and it breathed out a cloud of smoke. The cloud surrounded both itself and Harpie's Brother. From the inside could be heard several cries of pain and strange sound effect, before the cloud vanished revealing both monsters panting and very much alive.
The audience chuckled again as Harpie's Brother returned to his field, dejected. Pegasus just grinned as his life points adjusted for the battle and the removed card.
Mai: 4600
Pegasus: 3700
"At this rate one of us will deck out." Mai thought, waving a hand to end her turn.
Pegasus drew a card and quickly removed one from his disk.
"Well, I borrowed your baby dragon for long enough." He sighed, "So long little fellow, you can go home now."
The dragon looked up with teary eyes before it vanished into sparkle. Mai frowned as her pilfered card flew from Pegasus's disk into her graveyard.
"You just tributed my dragon, didn't you?" She guessed.
"Yes, in order to summon my Toon Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!" Pegasus grinned.
The sky over one of the castle towers darkened, and lightning lanced down and struck it! A hole was blasted into the roof of the tower, and out of it emerged a skeletal monster with rubbery looking limbs and huge, goofy eyes. Its legs disappeared into the tower beneath it, and it just laughed as it gazed down at Mai.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Celeste shuddered at the sight of this new creature.
"Glad he never used that against me." She said.
"Yeah, that takes nasty to a whole other level." Kevin agreed with a disgusted look, "And I use Archfiends, so that's saying something."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The laughing skull let out a yawn as he lay down on the roof of the tower, and began to snore.
"Of course, he can't attack in the same turn I summoned him." Pegasus shrugged, "But Toon Dark Magician Girl still can! Attack her Harpy Lady 2 with animated antics!"
The girl toon laughed, and flew into the air over Harpie Lady 2. Her staff turned into a paintbrush and artist palette, while her clothes turned into a white smock and red beret.
She picked up a bit of black paint on her brush, and in a blur of motions had painted a large anvil over the head of the Harpie. She whistled, drawing her opponent's gaze up to the picture, just as the anvil turned real and plummeted onto the hapless bird!
The audience winced at the ensuing crunch, and a few more laughs were heard as the Toon magician floated back to Pegasus, switching to her normal outfit on the way.
Mai: 4100
Pegasus: 3700
"Not yet…" Mai thought, "He knows my deckmaster's power, but I have a plan…"
Pegasus was snickering a bit after the latest attack, and finally sighed.
"Ahh…Go ahead Mai, it's your turn." He offered.
Mai drew, and smiled.
"Okay Pegasus, get ready to meet one of the latest additions to my deck." Mai declared, "I tribute Harpie's Brother to summon a monster that reminds me of someone special…"
Mai removed the card on her disk, causing Harpie's Brother to jump into the air and out of sight. She put down another card, and a powerful wind began to blow over the field.
"I summon Swift Birdman Joe (2300/1400)!" Mai called out.
From above dropped an entirely new creature. It looked like a man, but he had bird talons on his hands and feet like the harpies. From his arms extended green, yellow, and red feathers, and a similar plumage sprouted from his head in place of hair. He gave Pegasus a smug grin, and snapped his talons.
The wind that had preceded his arrival suddenly increased in intensity. The story book slammed shut, causing the castle to vanish and a surprised Toon Skull to fall to the ground with a thud! All of the momongas and the egg returned to normal, but the tiny rodents were scooped by the breeze and tossed into the air, along with the book and the Soul Absorption card.
"Very clever, Ms. Valentine." Pegasus said, rubbing his chin, "You know that by tributing a wind-monster, Joe will blow all spells and traps back to their owner's hand. But I must confess, I'm lost as to why you have this particular male monster in your deck."
"Take a close look Pegasus." Mai invited, "Remember what I said?"
Pegasus looked at the monster, and sighed. There was no denying that his face and eyes resembled a certain duelist back up in the VIP seats, and they even shared a name.
-------------------------------------------------------
Up in the VIP seats, Joey frowned as he looked at the new monster.
"What do you think she meant by all that?" He asked, looking to Yugi, "Hey Yug, who do you think that reminds her of?"
"Should we tell him?" Yugi asked his partner.
"No, it would be better if he figured this out on his own." Yami said.
"How thick can Wheeler honestly be?" Kaiba wondered as he looked at Mai's monster.
The other finalists were just snickering at Joey, as he tried to understand the meaning behind this monster.
-------------------------------------------------
"Well, you may have gotten rid of my Toon Kingdom, but Joe there can't attack thanks to my deckmaster." Pegasus pointed out as Relinquished fixed its gaze on the birdman.
"Oh no? I beg to differ." Mai challenged, putting down another card, "Remember how you changed a few card rules after Battle City? Well I found a use for one of them in a combo with Gravity Bind since then. And it's about to help me get past your deckmaster!"
The card appeared behind Joe, showing a fiend of some kind attacking an opponent with an axe…In an impossibly fast blur of motion. Pegasus instantly recognized it.
"That's a Quick Attack card." He realized.
"Yep, and thanks to the changes you made to it since Battle City, it let's one monster on the field ignore any conditions that stops them from attacking for one turn." Mai smiled, "But one turn is all Joe needs! And seeing as Toon Kingdom isn't here anymore, there's nothing to save your monsters! Joe, attack Toon Dark Magician Girl with scrapper's skydive!"
The birdman soared forward, and grabbed Toon Dark Magician Girl by the shoulders. She shrieked in fright as he lifted into the air with him and then, after climbing about fifty feet (well above the level the rock spires had been at), He stopped flapping and went into a freefall, plunging headfirst toward the ground. His captive screamed all the way down, before he released her. At the same time he spread his arms again, catching a breeze and arching back into the air.
Toon Dark Magician Girl slammed into the ground, leaving a hole in the bottom of the nest. Her screaming continued as she plummeted, before a few meager sparks signified her passing. Pegasus frowned at this.
Mai: 4100
Pegasus: 3400
"Was that really necessary?" He asked, "She was only trying to keep people entertained."
"It worked." Mai laughed, "I found that hilarious."
Mai was laughing as Joe landed next to her once again. The audience was also joining the laughter, and Pegasus didn't seem to be enjoying the fact that is was directed at him rather than with him.
Mai stopped laughing long enough to say, "I set two cards facedown and end my turn (hahaha!)."
Pegasus drew as the card appeared, and smiled as he held up two of his own.
"Remember these Mai? I activate Soul Absorption and Toon Kingdom, in that order!" He declared.
The image of Soul Absorption appeared first, followed by the pop-up book again. Toon Skull grinned, and jumped onto the cover of the book, pulling open. Out of the book sprang the castle, and the animated fiend returned to his hole in the roof of the tower. Roland's egg turned polka dot again, and he sighed.
"I feel tacky just sitting on this thing." He muttered, eliciting further laughter from the audience.
"Oh, get a sense of fashion Roland!" Pegasus teased, "But first, I pay 500 life points so my Toon Skull can attack. And while I could send him after your life points, Mai, it seems more prudent that I get rid of that monster of yours first. Attack with cartoon catastrophe!"
The toon skull reached into the hole, and pulled out an angry, yowling, stripy cat. He held it up as if to throw it, but Pegasus cleared his throat and caught the monster's attention.
"I said catastrophe, not cat-tastrophe." He explained.
The Toon Summoned Skull blushed, and returned the cat to the tower. It raised its arms overhead, gathering electricity in its claws…
"Nice try Pegasus, but I have a little surprise for you." Mai grinned, "Go, Hysteric Party!"
"Wait, I remember that card." Pegasus said, his eyes widening, "That lets you summon your Harpies back!"
"That's right, they come out of the graveyard and I only need to discard one card." Mai grinned, "So goodbye my second Birdface, hello Harpie Ladies 1 and 2 (1300/1400 X2)!"
Mai's trap lifted as she discarded her card. Flashing lights and high tempo music began to flash across the arena, and out of a swarm of lights emerged the two Harpies, posing like a pair of supermodels! A few members of the audience cat called again, but most were cheering after the light show.
The two Harpies landed next to Joe, and smiled as the swooned up against him. He grinned, obviously enjoying the attention as Harpie Lady 1 waved her hand producing another breeze. All three winged-beasts were boosted by the wind, and Mai smiled (1600/1400 X2) (2600/1400).
"Sorry girls, you'll have to stand clear. Joe was about to teach that cartoon bonehead a lesson." Mai instructed.
The Harpie Ladies stepped back, and Toon Summoned Skull lunged forward, its fist crackling with electricity.
"Actually Mai, it's your Harpie Lady 1 that needs a lesson." Pegasus frowned, "And Toon Summoned Skull is just one to teach it! Since you summoned new monsters, I can change my target: Skull, attack Harpie Lady 1!"
The animated archfiend grinned at the frightened bird-woman as it reached back to launch its attack…
"I activate Harpie Lady Sparrow Formation!" Mai called out, her other facedown card lifting.
This card showed a gold circle, with a large bird made of red fire in the center. Mai pointed to her Harpies as they began to glow with similar flames.
"As long as I have at least two Harpie Ladies on the field, I can negate your attack and end your battle phase." Mai declared.
The two Harpies leapt into the air and hovered side-by-side. A flash of fire surrounded them, shaped like a giant bird, and forced Toon Summoned Skull away! The cartoon creature was grumbling as it glared at the electricity in its fist and pitched it over its shoulder toward the audience. It exploded in a colorful flash, raining confetti and streamers down on Serenity, John, and the audience members around them.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Serenity had cringed as the lightning arched toward her, but was letting out a nervous laugh upon realizing that it had turned into confetti.
"Well, it would seem Mr. Pegasus has a unique sense of humor…" John commented as he swept a streamer out his hair.
"Yeah, and Mai is doing great." Serenity smiled, "Come on Mai! You can do it!"
------------------------------------------------------------
Mai smiled, able to hear Serenity and several other audience members cheer her name. She smiled as she took in the cheers, something that she had missed over the last couple years.
Pegasus slid one card into his disk, and bowed as it appeared in his spell and trap zone.
"That facedown ends my turn." He stated
Mai: 4100
Pegasus: 5400
Mai drew her card and grinned as she turned it around.
"You know, I used to be afraid of this card." She admitted, "After the events of two years ago, it reminded me of all the evil I'd done, and what I didn't want to become again."
"You've moved past that I see." Pegasus said, looking solemn, "Go ahead and play it Mai, I assure that I hold no ill will toward you for that card."
Mai nodded, and slid the card into her disk.
"I've conquered my fear of this card." She thought, "All the evil that made me use before is gone, now I can use it for just regular duels like this one…"
"I activate Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation!" Mai called out, raising one hand overhead.
A golden circle appeared overhead, and the two Harpies swooped into it. A blue fire gathered around them, and took the form of a massive bird, similar in shape to Tim's Sacred Phoenix (In the VIP seats, Tim took that card out of his deck and looked from it to the fire in fascination.).
"Now I can destroy one of your monsters for every Harpie Lady I have!" Mai called out, "And then their attack is taken from your life points, so here goes: Pheonix Strike!"
The blue flames soared down, and in a split second the Toon Summoned Skull had been completely immolated. Pegasus screamed as a column of blue fire shot up around him, knocking him to the floor.
"Amazing, Mai manages to put a serious dent in her opponent's life points!" Roland shouted.
As Pegasus picked himself up, Mai smiled.
"And now I'll replay my Harpies' Hunting Ground card." She declared, putting the card back into play, "Boosting the attack of all my Winged-beast by 200 points."
The animated momongas scampered back onto the field, and took cover under the branches and fur again. Mai's Harpies and Joe all stretched their wings, grateful to be back on their home turf (1800/1600 X2) (2800/1600).
"My Harpie Ladies can't attack this turn, thanks to my Phoenix Formation." Mai explained, "But Joe is a different story, go get him with scrapper's skydive!"
Joe soared forward once more as Pegasus finished getting to his feet.
"Well at least he can't throw me like he did…OH MY GOD!" Pegasus screamed as Joe clamped his talon's on the rich-man's shoulders and carried him into the air!
The audience stared in awe at this phenomena, while Pegasus continued to demand to be put down. Joe finally decided to comply, and began his sharp descent to the ground…
"This looks like it might hurt…" Roland declared.
"Might?" Mai commented as Joe relinquished his quarry.
Pegasus screamed as he shot right through the bottom of the nest and into the empty space below. His screams faded away as Joe returned to the Harpies.
---------------------------------------------------
Kaiba gave an evil grin at the sight of this turn of events.
"Seems Pegasus forgot what I said at the start of this tournament: We're as real as the monsters are in here." He said, "Anything they can do to each other, they can do to us."
"Thanks for the heads up." Brian said, staring at the arena floor, "Oh man, am I glad that Celeste never hit me directly with Joan!"
"Now I kind of feel bad for what I did to Ruby earlier…" Gold muttered.
"So what happened to Pegasus?" Yugi asked.
"He still has some life points, he'll pop up soon." Kaiba explained.
"Let's hope your right about that…" Victor sighed.
--------------------------------------------------------
Mai and Roland were both looking around, confused as to the fate of Pegasus. Roland tapped his ear, causing a small headset to appear on him.
"Rei, a little help." He whispered into the microphone.
"Don't worry, just give it a second." Rei's voice responded.
Suddenly, Pegasus plummeted from above and landed right next to the hole he had been dropped through. He slowly picked himself up, shuddering a bit as the life point loss set in.
"That was far from an enjoyable experience…" He moaned, stepping away from the hole, "Are you quite done yet?"
"Just one more face down card." Mai said, holding up the card before putting it in a slot, "Now go ahead."
Mai: 4100
Pegasus: 100
Pegasus drew, and didn't even bother to look at the card.
"Okay Ms. Valentine, you've forced my hand now." Pegasus declared, "I really didn't want to have to do this, but it's obvious that I have no other choice."
He pressed down on his disk and his facedown card flipped over.
"With all the cards I removed from play, I have more than enough to justify using this trap: Return from the Different Dimension!" Pegasus called out, a swirling vortex opening overhead.
Mai stared up at the portal and frowned.
"Wait a minute, that trap cuts your life points in half. Then it summons monsters that have been removed from play." Mai realized, "But none of your toons can attack in the same turn you summon them, so what's the point? They'll just disappear at the end of the turn."
"You'll see soon enough." Pegasus grinned as a grid of cards appeared, "Now then, come back to me: Toon Masked Sorceror (900/1400)!"
From the portal dropped a squat figure in a purple robe. He wore a metal mask over his face, and stood on the tower adjacent to the one Toon Summoned Skull had occupied.
"Toon Mermaid (1400/1500)!"
The castle moat reappeared, and out of it burst the clam with the mermaid archer nestled inside. Both of them laughed as they saw Mai.
"Manga Ryu-Ran (2200/2600)!"
One of the windows of the castle suddenly stretched to a larger size, and spat an egg onto the field. It split open, and out of it emerged an animated, orange dragon with a smile on its face. The top of the egg covered its head, and its legs poked out of the bottom of the shell.
"Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon (3000/2500)!"
From the hole Toon Summoned Skull made earlier burst the chibi-version of Seto Kaiba's signature monster. It roared, prior to bursting into laughter at the sight of Mai's monsters. It quite clearly didn't think much of them.
"I still don't…" Mai started.
"I have one more, and this is the kicker." Pegasus grinned, "Come forth: Toon Cannon Soldier (1400/1300)!"
On top of the castle gates emerged a blocky, purple figure. It had the signature giant eyes of a toon monster, but a green cannon extended from right between them, much like nose. It clapped its hands together, getting the attention of the other four toons gathered around the castle.
"Oh…Can that do the same thing as a regular Cannon Soldier?" Mai asked, already guessing the answer.
"Why of course it can Mai, and it doesn't need wait a turn before doing so." Pegasus grinned, "So now, I tribute all four of my monsters, plus the Toon Cannon Soldier itself, to deal you 500 damage for each one!"
The four other toons began to glow, and faded away into clouds of energy. Toon Cannon Soldier gathered this energy, and launched four glowing orbs toward Mai, knocking her to the floor as they burst! The machine itself then began to fade, but not before firing one last shot at the prone blond.
Mai: 1600
Pegasus: 50
Mai got back to her feet, shaking off the soreness from the latest attack. Looking at her clothes, she let out a shout of surprise: Her jacket, skirt, and shirt were covered with patches of colorful paint, like she had been peppered with a paintball gun.
"Oh dear, I do apologize." Pegasus said, trying to hold back his laughter, "I promise I'll pay for the dry cleaning once this is over."
"Ugh…I hope so…" Mai grumbled.
"Well, I'll just lay a card facedown and end my turn." Pegasus said, sliding one more card into his spell and trap area.
Mai drew, and let out a sigh.
"You could have ended this quietly, but you just had to make a scene, didn't you?" She sighed, shrugging her shoulders, "Ah well…Harpie Lady 1, attack!"
The first of the Harpies leapt skyward again, but Pegasus tapped a button on his duel disk.
"Oh Mai? You might be interested to know that the monsters I tributed for my Toon Cannon Soldier are still in my graveyard." Pegasus grinned, "That means this Call of the Haunted can bring my Toon Blue-Eyes (3000/2500) right back!"
A purple smog poured from the trap, and coalesced into the cartoon dragon, dressed up in a trench coat and derby hat. He smiled up at the Harpie, and began to charge up a blast of energy in his mouth.
"Changed my mind! Don't attack!" Mai shouted.
The Harpie quickly dove for cover, and Toon Blue-Eyes chuckled as its 'Casablanca' get up faded away.
"Shoot, I didn't expect that. And if I switch my Harpies to defense mode then I can't use my deckmaster to protect them anymore…I can't let that happen." Mai thought, "I can still win this, but only if he doesn't play another monster on his next turn...And I need to get lucky."
"I set one card facedown, and end my turn." Mai announced, sliding another card into play.
Pegasus drew, and smiled.
"Well Mai, it seems our game is over." He grinned, "I activate Emergency Provisions, getting rid of Soul Absorption in order to gain 1000 life points."
The hungry mouth burst onto the field, and gobbled down the spell. Pegasus glowed for one last time, boosting his life points by 1000.
"And since I did that, I can pay the 500 life points my monster needs to attack." Pegasus declared, "So Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon…"
"I activate a trap!" Mai called out, "A powerful one called Hapie Lady Eagle Formation!"
"Eagle Formation?" Pegasus gasped, "But I didn't even release that to the public yet! Where did you get it?"
"At a special event for Harpie Duelists six months ago." Mai smiled, "I needed something to get back in the swing of dueling, and I swept the competition. The prize included this trap card."
Mai's new card, now face up, depicted the same gold circle as the Sparrow and Phoenix Formations. This one, however, showed the silhouette of an eagle made of yellow fire. Mai's Harpies swooped into the air, and Mai looked at Swift Birdman Joe with a sigh.
"I'm sorry Joey…" She whispered, before raising her voice again, "To activate this card, I need at least two Harpies on my field. Then I need to tribute one Wind-attribute monster."
Birdman Joe faded away and the two Harpies were now surrounded by a large eagle formed of yellow fire. The flames rained down upon Toon Blue-Eyes, forcing it to duck and cover.
"Now, all monsters that aren't named Harpie Lady lose their special abilities for this turn." Mai announced, "Your toon can't attack directly."
"No, but he can still attack." Pegasus said, pointing at Mai's monsters, "He'll just need a different target. Blue-Eyes Toon, attack Harpie Lady 1 with toon lightning!"
The cartoon dragon charged up an energy blast, but Mai pointed to her facedown card.
"Not this time, I activate Aqua Chorus!" She called out, "Now all monsters that share a name gain 500 attack points, and my Harpies do just that thanks to their special ability!"
The two Harpies began to sing a haunting melody, their scores leaping to (2300/2100).
"That's not enough to save her." Pegasus taunted in his sing-song voice again.
"No, but it's enough to save me." Mai stated, "I use my deckmaster power: Harpie Guardian!"
"I'd almost forgotten about this folks! It seems that Mai is ready and willing to take a massive blow to protect her monsters!" Roland called out.
The toon dragon fired off its electricity to Mai's monster, But Harpie's Pet Dragon suddenly jumped into the air! It swatted the electricity with a massive talon, sending the blast right to Mai's feet. She screamed as the lightning bolt drained her life points, but she survived.
Mai: 200
Pegasus: 550
"Ah well…" Pegasus sighed as he tapped the end turn button on his disk, "Next turn you won't be able to stop me."
Mai drew her card, and smiled.
"You don't get a next turn, I'm ending the duel right now." Mai declared, holding up her new card, "Recognize this?"
The card she held had a kaleidoscopic image of the Harpie Lady's face, and a swirling mass of color began to flow from it.
"That's your Elegant Egotist card, isn't it?" Pegasus realized.
"Yeah, and look at where we are Pegasus…" Mai invited.
Pegasus looked around, and gasped.
"Your Harpies' Hunting Ground!" He shouted, "But…If you summon more Hapies…Then…Then…"
"Then I'll get to destroy one of your cards…Like your Toon Kingdom!" Mai called out, "Come out Harpie Lady Sisters (1950/2100)!"
From the orbs of color emerged three more Harpies. These ones sported golden armor and whips covered in sharp thorns, but each of them had a different hairstyle (One was a red head, one had orange hair, and the last had blue).
"Still think it was a good idea to play around with me?" Mai asked as the Harpie Sister descended on the castle, "If I'm right, then once that castle is gone, your toon dragon will follow!"
The castle burst into a pile of shredded paper, which was blown away by a stiff breeze. The toon dragon screamed, and collapsed into a puddle of paint. Along with it, the momongas returned to normal, and the egg turned plain white again.
"No! My magical fairy-tale kingdom!" Pegasus screamed.
----------------------------------------------------
In the VIP seats, Tim let out a low whistle.
"Wow, there wasn't a manly word in that sentence…" He said, shaking his head.
The others all nodded in agreement, except Kaiba who just huffed a little.
---------------------------------------------------------
"Now then, let's not forget the bonuses that come with being a Harpie in these conditions." Mai grinned.
The combined winds of Harpie Lady 1 and the Harpies' Hunting Grounds boosted the Harpie Lady Sisters to (2350/2300).
"Unfortunately, they can't attack thanks to your deckmaster. But my other Harpies are more than enough!" Mai ordered, "Attack, Harpies 1 and 2, ecstasy tornado!"
"Oh no…!" Pegasus screamed as the two Harpies began to fly circles around him, generating a massive tornado that quickly engulfed him!
Mai: 200
Pegasus: 0
Rather than lightening up with Pegasus's confirmed defeat, the tornado seemed to increase in velocity. Pegasus was fired screaming out of the top of it, and vanished from sight. Mai breathed a sigh of relief as the monster vanished, and fell to her knees.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the winner is Mai Valentine!" Roland called, "Congratulations!"
Mai smiled at the audience as they began cheering again, just before she vanished from sight.
In the audience, Ruby Markowitz looked up just in time to move over a seat as Pegasus landed right where her lap would have been.
"That wasn't anything like a pleasant experience…" He moaned, clutching his head before noticing Ruby and Mary, "Oh…Hello there ladies. A pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is all ours Mr. Pegasus." Ruby grinned, shaking his hand, "My daughter and I are big fans of your game."
"I'm so happy to hear that." Pegasus grinned, "I'm starting to consider early retirement due to on-the-job hazards."
"Can I have your autograph first?" Mary asked, leaning closer to the artist with a smile on her face.
The hits just keep on coming folks, and our next match is really going to get the temperature rising!!
It's another battle of opposites, but this one with a bit more anger behind it. Tim Hokage and Mako Tsunami don't seem to get along the best, and next time their going to have to duel each other.
So who'll win, water or fire? Find out in our next exciting duel
Boiling Point
You might want to take a bathroom break now, there's not much time…
---
Original Cards
---
Toon Kingdom
Spell/Continuous
Image of a pop-up book with an animated king on the cover. A large castle is sprouting from its pages.
To activate this card, you must remove the top five cards of your deck from the game. Treat this card as though it were named 'Toon World.' Whenever a Toon monster on your side of the field is attacked, you may remove the top card of your deck from the game. If you do so, that Toon monster will can not be destroyed by the battle.
---
Comic Hand
Spell/Equip
Image of a large, cartoon glove on a spring.
Take control of an enemy monster equipped with this card. So long as this card remains on the field, treat the monster equipped with it as a Toon monster. A monster equipped with this card may attack your opponents life points directly if your opponent has no Toon monsters on the field. If your opponent has a Toon monster on the field, the monster equipped with this card must attack them first. If you do not have a face up Toon World on your side of the field, destroy this card.
The preceding two cards will be used by Pegasus in a future episode of Yu-Gi-Oh GX. All credit for them goes to their respective creators.
---
Harpie Lady Sparrow Formation
Trap
Image of a bird made of red fire, surrounded by a golden circle.
You may only activate this card if you have at least two monsters named 'Harpie Lady' on your side of the field. Negate one attack from an opponent's monster and end the battle phase.
---
Harpie Lady Phoenix Formation
Spell
Image of a bird made of blue flame, surrounded by a golden circle.
You may only activate this card if you have at least two monsters named 'Harpie Lady' on your side of the field. You may destroy one enemy monster for every Harpie Lady you control. Your opponent then takes damage equal to the total attack of the destroyed monsters.
The above two cards were used on the show by Mai Valentine, originally in the episode "My Funny Valentine." All credit for them goes to their original creators.
---
Quick Attack
Spell
Image of a demonic creature slashing at a man he has just run past.
One attack-position monster on your side of the field, that is incapable of attacking this turn, may ignore any card effects that prevent its attacks until the end of this turn.
This card was originally intended for use on the show during Battle City, when fusion monsters needed to wait a turn before attacking. We've taken some creative liberties, but the original idea belongs to the creators of the show.
---
Card from a Different Dimension
Spell
Image of a card in a glass case, surrounded by crackling energy.
When this card is removed from the game, return it to your hand during your next standby phase. After that, you and your opponent each draw two cards.
This card made its first appearance in Zane Truesdale's deck in YuGi-Oh GX. All credit for it goes to its creators.
---
Harpie Lady Eagle Formation
Trap
Image of a bird formed of yellow fire, surrounded by a golden circle.
You may only activate this card if you have at least two monsters named 'Harpie Lady' on your side of the field. Tribute one WIND monster on your side of the field. Until the end of the turn, negate the effects of all monsters on the field except 'Harpie Lady.'
---
Original Deckmaster
---
Harpie's Pet Dragon
WIND
Dragon
Seven Star
2000 attack
1000 defense
Harpie Guardian: If a monster you control with the word Harpie in its name would be destroyed in battle, you may double the damage. If you do so, the selected monster will not be destroyed by the battle.