Here's the next chapter. If you hated what happened last chapter, you might not like this chapter either because of the opponents. But don't worry, there won't be much tragedy for long. Okay, have fun!

Note: I had not put the cards up on my other site, but I thought that the Landstar warriors were real cards. They are not, and I'll put them in the new cards section here.

I knew it would come to this.

Deep in my bones, I knew that it would come to this.

When each of our group promised each other that we wouldn't give up in the prelims, that we would make our way to the finals and enter together, I knew in my heart that, sooner or later, we would confront each other on the battlefield.

Sometimes I wish I had not encouraged Brigit so fiercely to win her duels, like when that cross-dresser John had her on the ropes with his XYZ combo, or when Sonja's Exodia was close to being completed. But she pulled through, and now she faces her toughest opponent yet…

Me. Giselle Wagnis, the dragon mistress and level-up queen.

However, I know I can't drop out. Not now. I got this far, I will fight to the last.

And I'm sure Brigit will too. After all, she's been inspired by my example.

All I can hope for is that both of us walk away from this duel without emnity towards the other. Because if we hold a grudge, then our friendship is finished.

And I'd rather die than lose a friend.

o

Yu-Gi-Oh Jr. - Sister of Anansi
Chapter 28: Share the Pain

o

"What are you talking about? That's insane!"

That came from Machus as he and Lilith were discussing the previous duel. They had been doing so for the past hour after the incident which caused Sonja to be rushed to the medical facility and get the counselors up in arms.

"I know it's ridiculous, Machus," sighed Lilith. "But most of the campers and counselors are demanding Norus' expulsion from the tournament! You saw what mischief he caused out there! The camp wants him publicly humiliated so the campers' parents don't get the word that we are lenient on troublemakers!"

"But he won fair and square!" protested Machus. "True, he decked her out, but that's one of the conditions of winning."

"You listen to me, you oversized OAF!" snarled Lilith, jabbing a finger in his belly. "What do you think the Kleins will do when they find out their daughter went into shock because of losing a duel? They'll never let her duel again! Worse, they might send a subpoena after us for scarring their child for life! This would cause a chain reaction and Duel Monsters will be boycotted!" Her voice rose to a high screech as she began to panic. "Duel Monsters will die! People will bring up the Pegasuses! We'll be forced out of business!"

"Now please...you're overreacting!" begged Machus, sweating heavily. "Think about your blood pressure. Ever since you went into a coma during the end of Duelist Labyrinth..."

"You really think that's what really happened, you jerk?" howled Lilith. "I'll tell you what happened! I..."

Suddenly, the room glowed and everything seemed calm. "You are panicking, Lilith," said Twilight as she entered, her facial expression set like stone. Her eyes stopped glowing. "You need to calm down before you end up telling your dark secrets."

"I...I'm so sorry, Kimi," mumbled Lilith, head hung. "I'm sorry about yelling like that, but..."

"I know, you are concerned that parents will never send their children here again, especially since you have plans to expand the camp to include people on a fixed budget," said Twilight softly, walking up and brushing her hand against Lilith's cheek. She lifted the woman's head up. "Do not worry, I am sure that it will be all right. You were calm when you saw Norus hurt Sonja like that, while I flew off the handle. You see, I should be the spiteful one. He hurt one of MY campers!" Her mouth turned into a vicious snarl as she released Lilith's chin.

"Then don't you want him thrown out of the tournament?" asked Lilith.

"Yes...but doing so by disqualification is exactly what he wants," said Twilight. "Have you talked to his parents?"

"Not yet," said Machus. "But we are going to do so as soon as we settle this matter. No doubt they'll sigh and write up a new bill for their behavior counselor to work on."

"First off," said Twilight. "If you were a bully and you got kicked out of a competition because you made someone cry or faint and drove everyone into an outrage, wouldn't that give you infamy? Fame, good or bad, is still fame and will cause trouble later on. However, if he were to be defeated in a humiliating way, say by Jake or Brigit, or in the rematch with Diane, then he would be laughed at and he wouldn't have the support he desired."

"You're...not making any sense, Kimi," said Lilith. "You say we should LET him have his way?"

"No, Arnold has already grounded him, he won't be watching any duel which he's not in," said Twilight. "But think of it like in this way; if you rule that that duel was a farce and make Sonja the winner, he'll have gotten his five minutes of infamy. You'll have told him that what he did was wrong."

"But...that's what we want, right?" asked Machus.

"Yes and no." Twilight said. "Yes, we want to show him that threats and terror are not ways to communicate. But in the same way, we only encourage him to do even worse acts. As he becomes an adult, he will believe that he can get away with anything as long as the payment is not harmful. This will lead him to more dangerous acts and, I shudder to think it, he might become a predator of women or, worse, a serial rapist."

"I...never thought of it that way," said Lilith, shuddering in terror at the thought of a grown-up Norus dragging a woman into an alley.

"But...if he were beaten by another, he would be humiliated. He would learn that every action has a reaction, and would learn to respect others because looks are deceiving. With his esteem shattered, he would reform into a better person."

"So, you're saying if he gets his butt kicked in a duel, he'll stop being a bully?" asked Lilith. "Pretty weird reverse psychology, Kimi."

Machus coughed. "Lilith, please don't expel Norus. As much as I think he is a threat to the camp's morale, I promise...if he should, by some strange destiny, win the tournament and challenge me to a match, I'll defeat him and make him regret every messing with me or the camp."

"Don't be so sure, Machus," said Lilith, glancing sidelong at him. "If he gets to you, he's pretty good."

"He will not get to you, headmaster, I promise," said Twilight. "I predict that he will fall in the most humiliating way possible."

Lilith sighed. "Well, I guess I'll have to abide by the decisions of the majority. It's gonna be hard to watch the reactions of everyone when they see Norus is still in the finals."

"Don't worry, he won't be allowed to stick around in the arena until his duel in the semi-finals," said Machus. "Mr. Rockwell has assured me of that."

"All right, but I'll keep my eye on that brat during his next duel," said Lilith. "If he shows any hint of cheating or foul play, then rules be damned, I'm disqualifying him!" She shook her head sadly. "Let's hope the next duel isn't as bad as that one."

"It will be tense, with two friends dueling, but not as bad," said Twilight softly. "I believe Lina is probably going to be nervous, since those two are in her cabin." Suddenly, she felt dizzy and clutched her head. "What...?"

"Kimi! Are you all right?" asked Lilith, holding her shoulder.

Twilight's eyes widened as her mind's eye showed a giant red serpentine dragon with two mouths and amber eyes. It let out a screech from both jaws! Slifer...

She shook her head free of the vision. "It is nothing...I must go now." She left quickly.

"My, what a scared woman she is, looks like she saw a ghost," mumbled Machus.

0

At 2:15 in the afternoon, the campers filed into the auditorium. Lina caught Twilight. "Hey, I got your message. You want to meet me and Brandon at the lake tonight at midnight? What's up?"

"Oh, that..." said Twilight under her breath. "It's...something I had an idea for. I can't tell you now, Dione's watching."

"Something for Dione?" asked Brandon, grinning slyly. "This should be interesting."

"Twi, what's wrong?" asked Lina, furrowing her brow. "You look pale."

"It...it's nothing you should concern yourself with," whispered Twilight. "We've got a duel to monitor."

"Oh, Brigit and Giselle, I know," said Lina softly. "I hope they don't lose their friendship after this duel. I've seen friends become bitter rivals after a friendly match. Duel Monsters tends to make no friends."

"I...I know," said Twilight, hanging her head.

"Look, I promise Norus is not going to be giving any commentary," said Arnold. "I locked him in his room until dinner. He's gonna muse over what he threatened to do to your camper's card, Twilight. Nobody should scare people like that!"

"It is fine, I am sure Sonja will recover," said Twilight. "But for now, let's focus on what is happening now."

0

Up in the VIP box, the finalists (sans Norus) were talking.

"I'm so sorry that had to happen," said Jake to Dione, handing her a bottle of soda from the vending machines outside. "Norus is a complete jerk, but what he threatened to do to Exodia..."

"It is all right, Sonja's pretty tough," said Dione softly.

"Trust me, if he duels me, he won't get any love," said Jake hotly. "I swear, he'll burn, literally."

"We have no idea who is dueling who in the semi-finals," said Diane.

"Well, you are for certain," said Dione. "And Jake, and...NORUS..." She spat the name out like bad-tasting chocolate.

"There is one more," said Donald. "The winner of this duel. Say Diane, aren't you gonna wish them well?"

Diane turned away. "I wish I could, but it's so hard. I mean, one of them is going beat the other, and I can't decide who to cheer for!"

"I know, you three have been like Harry, Hermione, and Ron," said Dione, grinning. "And you're Harry Potter!"

Diane grinned. "Nice analogy, cousin of Terone." She turned back to face her. "But you have a point. Brig's a little sister to me, and Giselle's to me like Joey Wheeler is to Yugi Mouto the First! I can't support either of them because I want them both to win."

"Yeah, but that won't happen," said Jake. "No offense to Giselle, but I want Brigit to win."

"I know you do, you two have gotten wedding bells in the future," giggled Diane.

Jake blushed. "We're not THAT close, we've only been dating for three days, but she's a pretty good nomination for 'Best Future Mrs. Forestor.'" He grinned. "She's cute, kind, smart, and loves Duel Monsters as much as I do. She also looked away from my deranged aunt."

"Etna surely has some good points," said Donald. "My grandpa may have been crazy to try to help his fellows in the Big-5 take over KaibaCorp and kill Seto, but he loved his family very much and wanted to create a park for endangered penguins."

Jake sighed. "You're right, Etna may have had some good in her, once. She used to be on good terms with the family, that was ten years ago, before she got introduced to Duel Monsters. Actually, I think I am to blame for making her so delusional. You see, I had started playing the game five years ago, and showed her my deck. She started playing when I showed her my fire cards. It was like she thought that if she made a fire deck herself, she would prove to everyone that she was the 'fire volcano daughter.' She did pretty well, I must admit...you don't become a champion overnight. However, she lost all her good points when she attended Duelist Labyrinth. I got a letter from her right after the tournament. She told me her story, she had lost one of her duel jewels to a tart called Mary Wheeler. Joey's daughter, remember?"

"Yeah, I heard Mary got to the finals and lost to Jade Valentine," said Donald. "I read Peter Ramset's memoirs on that. Awesome read and his photos were sweet!"

"Well, anyways," said Jake. "She swore she'd get a rematch with Mary, and when she entered Duelatopia, I hoped that she wouldn't, because she's nuts. I think she could become a rising star again if she'd only learn to be humble. She's sort of like Norus, a bit full of herself. That's why I was glad that she got expelled from Duelatopia. I think she needs to stop dueling for a while. The rest of my family thinks she needs to go to a nuthouse." He sighed.

"You seem supportive of her," said Diane.

"It's only because I don't want her to make us fire duelists look bad," said Jake. "If it wasn't for aunt Etna's behavior..."

"It's starting," said Dione, watching the lights go down.

Diane sighed and turned away. Please don't hate me, guys. But I can't watch you duel...seeing my best friends battle each other is unnerving.

0

Brigit was taking deep breaths. She jumped as Giselle put a hand on her shoulder. "You ready, sport?"

"Ready...as I'll ever be," moaned Brigit sadly.

"Look, you think I'm happy about this?" grinned Giselle. She laughed. "You're dead wrong! I wish I didn't have to duel you, but it's gotta be this way, ya know?"

"Really?" asked Brigit, turning to her.

"Yeah," said Giselle with a slow nod, her grin melting away. "We three have had so many adventures, but now there can only be one."

"But...what if none of us win?" asked Brigit. "Jake and Norus are..."

"We'll get to that bridge when we cross it, Brig," snickered Giselle. "Now, promise me you will fight with all your heart, mind, and soul!"

Brigit said nothing, but slowly nodded.

"Good, because I'm not holding back either, even though we're good friends," said Giselle with a wink. She held out her hand. "May the best woman win!"

Brigit hesitated, then shook Giselle's hand. "Yes."

"Now, let's give these people a show," laughed Giselle, slapping Brigit on the back.

0

Circe was chuckling as she watched the images of various bird monsters fly off as the music began. "So, we have two friends battling each other, do we? This should be fun! I hope it scars both of them for life! Ha ha ha!"

"Who to choose?" grinned Pisaro. "From Doppler's reports, both have powerful decks, decks which might stand a chance against Yugi Junior. There's Brigit and her deadly lockdown strategy. That would be no end of amusement as Yugi would get frustrated. Almost all of his monsters are too powerful to attack with when those cards are in play. On the other hand, Giselle has all those deadly dragons, as well as her Mythic Dragon. Yugi's father had only faced it twice, but both times were very harrowing. Had he not gained the power of his partner, he might have lost badly."

"True, but Yugi's got that Buster Blader, and no matter how strong a dragon is, it's no match for that warrior," said Circe.

"Yes, but knowing Giselle's duelist cred, I wouldn't be surprised if she had a means to counter that warrior and Dark Paladin, and even if she doesn't, I'll make sure she does if she wins." Pisaro let out a dark chuckle. "Only time will tell which of these two will advance up the ladder and get closer to their destiny as a Yugi-slayer."

"Still, it'll be fun to watch those kids tear into each other like wild animals!" giggled Circe.

"True," said Pisaro, rubbing his chin. "So very true."

0

"It's good to be back!" said Lilith as the lights returned, showing the two hosts in their places. "Welcome to the final match of the day! Let's introduce the last two finalists and wish them well in what appears to be a battle to end all battles! Machus, if you please."

Machus nodded and cleared his throat. "Ahem! Our first competitor is from Iowa City, Iowa. Standing four-foot-ten and weighing a slender eighty-three pounds, I'm pleased to introduce the great Giselle Wagnis!"

The doors flew open and lights spotlighted Giselle as she raised her hands and smiled. Everyone in the seats cheered as she walked to the stage, hands up.

"Let's hope she has put on some feminine stick, I'd hate to be sniffing those armpits," joked Lilith. "Anyways, her deck is called The Dragon's Den, and I think you'd been living in a similar cave if you didn't know what her theme was!"

As Giselle took to the stage, the doors to the other side opened. "Her opponent, from the small town of Mico, Texas, standing three-foot-ten and weighing seventy-nine pounds, the cute and wily Brigit Anderlee!"

Brigit adjusted her glasses as people cheered, took a deep breath, and headed to the stage.

"She's just a seething ball of confidence today, isn't she?" grinned Lilith. "Her deck name is Lillputian Legends, and since I've read Gulliver's Travels as a kid, I know what that name means." She flashed a smile as Brigit took the stage.

"Well, both of our finalists are beautiful ladies with the hearts of a princess," said Machus. "I hope the both of you will duel with honor and dignity and give us quite a show!"

"Y...Yes, sir," stammered Brigit. Giselle looked a little worried.

"Okay ladies, call the card!" said Lillith, shoving the Card of Plenty into the gyroscope.

"Tails," said Giselle.

0

"Well, this is most interesting," grinned Doppler.

"Yeah," said Ares. "It's like Sailor Mercury fighting Sailor Jupiter in hand-to-hand combat."

"Interesting analogy," said Doppler. "You...actually watch that show?"

"I may be a guy, but I happen to like shoujo anime," sighed Ares. "Let's pay close attention to the duel."

"Yes," said Doppler. "From what I heard, Yugi Senior faced the Mythic Dragon twice in his life. But his progeny has never seen this creature. If Giselle wins the tournament, she would be more useful to us."

"True, but Brigit's quite clever, her lock-down strategy will certainly hinder Yugi's monsters, since none that we know of can slip under a Gravity Bind or Level Limit Area B," stated Ares. "Whoever wins this duel will be considered."

"But there are still the semi-finals and final duel to consider, and then there is our pawn..." Doppler chortled. "If our plan falls through and he manages to wipe out the winner with his trump card, our plans will be set back greatly."

"I seriously doubt that," said Ares. "Every monster has a weakness, even the God Cards."

0

Giselle had won the call and decided to go first. The two shuffled and cut each other's decks, shook hands, and plugged in their disks.

"Okay, you two, I want a duel as clean as a Pokémon center's emergency room," said Lillith. "Normally I'd post some ground rules, but I think you two are such good friends I don't need to do that. I'm sure you two know not to spite each other. Now, let's see where the duel is going to take place." She spun the roulette and soon, it stopped one a green wedge. "Well, it looks like this duel between friends will take place in an appropriate setting. The City of Chaos!"

The button was pressed and the entire area was cloaked in a marvelous cityscape. The sky overhead was filled with storm clouds that cracked with thunder and lightning. Winds swept trash across the street and into alleys. The windows glowed an electric blue and strange wirey demons leapt across the rooftops and took a high-rise view of the events below.

"Wow, that's intense!" said Donald.

"I know," said Diane. Good luck, both of you!

Lillith raised her flags. "Get ready...set..." The two activated their disks and slid in their decks. The life meters rose to 8000. "GO!" She swung down her flags.

"Brig, you have to focus," said Giselle. "Don't be afraid. You know we'll still be friends after this."

"Okay," said Brigit as she and Giselle drew their first hands. "Then let's do this and get it over with."

Giselle drew a card and looked over her hand. Hmmm, this might work, but I think I'll give my opponent a little boost of confidence first. "A monster in defense and that will be it for me." The card appeared before her on the grimy street. Even if she wipes it out, my Troop Dragon can replenish itself.

Brigit's mood took a 180-degree swing-about. She stopped shaking nervously and suddenly got a cold, calculating look in her eye. "A monster face-down? Are you nuts, Gissy?"

"What? It's not a crime to start by defending, Brig," scolded Giselle. "Just move."

"This is...interesting," said Lilith. "Giselle has started by putting a monster in defense!"

"What's she up to?" asked Dione.

"She's probably trying to get Brigit to stop worrying," said Diane, who turned her head a bit around after overhearing the commentary. "And from the looks of it, it worked!"

Brigit drew a card and smirked. "You really shouldn't leave monsters in defense like that. You'll be wide open to other attacks! But to start, a card face-down." The card appeared before her. "Then Queen's Double, in attack mode!" The beautiful red-haired lady in the blue robe and blue-eared headdress appeared with a flash. (350/300)

Oh crud. Giselle sighed as she recalled Queen's Double special ability to bypass monsters for a direct attack. "But it's too weak..."

"That's what you think, until you see this!" said Brigit, sliding a card into the disk. It appeared.

"Oh no, not Triangle Power!" moaned Giselle, hand on her forehead.

"That's right, and you know what it does, don't you?" grinned Brigit as the pyramid of energy engulfed Queen's Double, raising its attack to 2350. "Now Queen's Double, attack Giselle's life points directly!" She turned her head away to avoid seeing the carnage. Forgive me, Gissy.

The lady chuckled and fired a blast of energy from her crystal daggers, flying over the monster card and slamming Giselle in the gut. Giselle doubled over and winced as her life points dropped to 5650. When she got up, a large hole was in Giselle's shirt, revealing her belly button.

"Amazing!" said Lilith. "Already, Brigit has taken first blood and lopped off over a quarter of her opponent's life points! This duel is starting to heat up!"

"Of course, I lose Queen's Double when I end my turn, but it's well worth it," said Brigit, turning back. The lady melted into light. "Your move."

"Well then, prepare to feel some pain!" said Giselle, a little enraged. She drew a card and slapped it down. "Silent Swordsman Level 3 in attack mode!" The helmed warrior with the large sword emerged. (1000/1000) "And then I flip my Troop Dragon into attack mode!" The card flipped up and the three dragon soldiers emerged, drawing their scimitars. (700/800) "And then I..."

"You should know me better by now," grinned Brigit, flipping up her trap card. "Activate Threatening Roar!" The card screamed and Giselle's army backed off.

"Great," said Giselle. "Fine, I end my turn, but next turn, I'll hit you for a direct attack!"

"Not if I can pull out a monster first!" said Brigit. She drew a card. "Perfect. I activate the magic card Brain Control!" A giant brain appeared and two clawed hands came out from it. "Now one of your monsters is mine!"

"Yes!" said Jake. "She's going to take control of Silent Swordsman!"

"No, she's not," said Diane, who had decided to pluck up her courage and turn to watch. "She can't."

Giselle laughed. "You're an idiot! Don't you recall Silent Swordsman's special power? He can't be brainwashed!"

"I'm not taking control of him," said Brigit. "I'm taking your Troop Dragon!"

The three dragon-men were gathered up by the clawed hands and dragged over to Brigit's side. "What are you planning?" asked Giselle, cocking a brow.

"I'm going to tribute it so you can't summon more of them!" said Brigit. "Your Troop Dragons will be sacrificed to summon..." She slapped a card down. "Thunder Monarch Zaborg!" The dragon-men vanished and the giant in samurai armor appeared. (2400/1000)

"My Silent Swordsman!" gasped Giselle in horror.

"She's going to blow it away!" said Dione.

"Yeah, but in a way you don't expect," said Diane, grinning. "Did Sonja tell you about how she wiped out Sonja?"

Dione gasped. "You mean...?"

"Your Silent Swordsman's toast, because of Zaborg's special effect!" said Brigit. "Zaborg, Raigeki Flash!"

The giant powered up a thunderbolt between its fists and fired it, vaporizing Silent Swordsman. Giselle's life points dropped to 5400.

"Why didn't she lose more life points from that attack?" asked Machus, curious.

"That wasn't an attack, Machus," grinned Lilith. "It's Zaborg's special effect. When successfully tribute-summoned, he automatically destroys one monster on the field, so Silent Swordsman was toasted!"

"And now..." Brigit said, raising her finger. She sighed. I'm so sorry... "DIRECT ATTACK!"

Giselle howled in pain as Zamborg's fist punched her in her exposed navel and electricity coursed through her body, making hideous burns all over her flesh. She collapsed as lightning crashed overhead. The demonic wire-beings looked over the rooftops, giggling wickedly.

Everyone got up in shock. "Rest assured, these disks are very safe. The wounds are illusion!" The crowd slowly sat back down. "And even if someone was hurt, we have a professional medical staff on standby."

Giselle got up slowly as her life meter dropped to 3000. "I'm okay! I'm okay!"

Brigit sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

Giselle picked up her cards and sighed. "Is it my turn?"

"Yeah," said Brigit.

"Hey, don't be scared, I'm okay," said Giselle. "I can take tougher hits!" She grinned as she drew a card. "Well well, looks like I got a good draw. I play Graceful Charity!" She drew three cards and grinned. "Then I'll just discard these two cards." She tossed the cards into her discard slot. "And now I'll play this! The magic card, Level Tuning!" A tuning fork appeared and rang out.

"What does that do?" asked Brigit.

"It's quite simple," said Giselle. "First, you get to draw two cards from your deck."

The cards came out of Brigit's deck and she took them.

"But..." said Giselle, grinning wickedly. "I get to summon one of my kick-ass Level monsters from my graveyard without any need for tribute or restriction, and I just stuffed one of my best thanks to Graceful Charity! Here he comes...Armed Dragon Level 7!"

The spiky dragon rose up and roared. (2800/2300)

"Wow, amazing!" cried Lilith. "Giselle managed to pull out one of her strongest monsters!"

Brigit paled. "Oh no..."

"But I can't attack with it this turn, so I put a card face-down and end my turn." The card appeared behind the giant dragon.

Brigit looked at her hand, then drew. This isn't the other card I need to defeat that thing, so I'll have to defend for now. "I shift Zaborg to defense mode and end my turn." The giant knelt.

Giselle drew. "You really should have left that thing in attack, Brig. Activate trap card!" She flipped her disk switch and the card she had set came up. "Dragon's Rage! This allows my dragon to pierce your monster and inflict damage to you!"

"Ah!" cried Brigit in shock.

"And since your big galoof has a weaker defense than attack, you'll suffer more damage!" said Giselle. "Armed Dragon, blow away that giant with your Mega Missile Blast!" The creature fired its missiles and lasers and vaporized the Thunder Monarch. Brigit's life meter dropped to 6200.

"This is looking bad for Brigit," said Donald. "How can she defend against something that can pierce her defenses?"

"I don't know," said Diane softly. She paused. Wait, why didn't Giselle use Armed Dragon's special ability and discard one of her monsters to annihilate it? I guess she must not have Horus Level 8 in her hand, or she could have blown away Zamborg...maybe she's holding back a bit to keep Brigit from losing faith in herself.

"With that, I'll end my turn," said Giselle, grinning.

Brigit drew another card. Cyber Jar! This should get rid of that dragon, even if I do take a lot of damage from Dragon's Rage. "I place a monster in defense mode and that's it for me." The card appeared before her.

Giselle drew and smirked. "Don't you realize that defending is useless?"

"Go ahead and attack," grinned Brigit.

"I will, but first..." Giselle slapped down a card. "Mystic Swordsman Level 2 in attack mode!" The little warrior appeared.

Brigit's face fell. "Ah no...!"

"I guess you remember its special ability, don't you?" chuckled Giselle. "Mystic Swordsman, sever that monster!" The warrior sliced the card down the middle and shattered it, revealing its nature. "Hmph, your Cyber Jar, I should have known." She pointed at Brigit. Please don't take this personally, Brig... "Armed Dragon, attack her life points directly!"

"NO!" cried Diane, covering her face.

Brigit braced herself as the lasers and missiles ripped through her body. She stifled a scream of pain as she collapsed, her clothes in flames.

"Oh man, that HAD to hurt!" cried Donald as Brigit's life meter dropped to 3400.

Brigit slowly got up. The disk's holographic illusion had made her wounds look quite realistic. Most of her clothing was burnt away, leaving her in what looked like something from a castaway drama, exposing her left shoulder, waist, and most of her legs. This made several of the older male campers stare. Her glasses had been melted away, leaving hideous burn marks on her face and one eye fused shut. Her hair had been scorched and burned into a hideous mockery of a crewcut.

"Don't suffer anymore, Brig," begged Giselle. "I can handle the semi-finals better than you. Just give up."

Brigit scowled, making her face scary-looking with all the burns. "Look, Gissy, if you think...I'm going to surrender...because of one powerful direct attack...you've got another thing coming!" She whipped a card from her deck angrily.

"Wow, talk about guts!" said Lilith. "She's down to less than half of her life points and she's still going!"

Brigit looked at the card and grinned. "I'm about to turn this duel around, but first, a card face-down." The card appeared before her. "Then I summon Brigadier of Landstar in attack mode!"

The card spat out a strange creature. It looked like a big-headed Texas cowboy. He hefted a rifle. (900/600)

"Brigadier of Landstar?" asked Brandon, rubbing his chin. It then hit him. "Wait, my uncle has that card and several others like it!"

Lina rubbed her chin. "Hmmm..."

"What the..." said Giselle. "That thing's as strong as my Mystic Swordsman!"

"True, but now I equip my Brigadier with Buster Rancher!" The card appeared and disgorged a giant bazooka which the Gunman hefted. "This card can only be equipped to a monster with a thousand attack or less, but its power is immense! Brigadier, blast that dragon!"

The Gunman aimed at Armed Dragon.

"What is she up to? That's a suicide move!" cried Donald. "That thing has almost four times as much attack as it!"

Diane cocked her brow. What are you doing?

"Are you mad, Brig? You'll destroy yourself!" cried Giselle.

The bazooka fired. "True, but if I attack a monster of over twenty-five hundred attack or defense(depending on the mode its in) with the one Buster Rancher is equipped to, my attacker's attack rises for the damage step by 2500!" Gunman's attack jumped to 3400! "Which makes him powerful enough to destroy your dragon!"

The shot slammed into Armed Dragon, which screamed as it disintegrated. Giselle's life meter dropped to 2400.

"Yes!" said Dione. "She defeated the dragon!"

"Well, Brigit is quite capable of handling even the toughest foes," said Lilith.

Machus sighed and wiped his brow. "Yes she is."

The clouds overhead flashed with thunder. "Still, it's a standoff," said Giselle. "Your Buster Rancher won't work against my Swordsman!"

"You're right, so I'll end my turn," Brigit said.

Giselle drew a card. "Since this is a stalemate, let me get rid of it! I sacrifice my Mystic Swordsman Level 2 to summon Luster Dragon #2!" The warrior vanished and was replaced with the golden-scaled dragon. (2400/2000) "He's weak enough to avoid activating your Buster Rancher, but strong enough to wipe out your Brigadier!"

"Oh no," said Jake.

"Luster Dragon, attack Brigadier of Landostar with Luster Blast!" cried Giselle. The dragon inhaled.

"Not so fast!" said Brigit, flipping up her trap card. "My Gravity Bind will stop you fast!"

The web covered the street and Luster Dragon was paralyzed. "Whew!" said Diane.

"Geez, if you had that in your hand, why didn't you set it earlier?" said Giselle in shock.

"It's...I..." Brigit said. She blushed in embarassment. "I thought Zaborg could handle you."

"You're completely idiotic if you rely on only one monster," laughed Giselle. "I'm careful not to let myself dominate the field with one monster unless I'm about to win."

Brigit sweatdropped. "Whatever. Is that all?"

"Not yet, I play this card," said Giselle, showing a magic card. "The magic card of Hyper Refresh! This doubles my current life point total!" Giselle's life meter rose to 4800. "And with that, I end my turn."

"Good you healed up, I didn't want to hurt you too badly," said Brigit under her breath, as she drew a card. "I play Pot of Greed." She slid the card into her disk, then drew two cards. "Then I play this magic card, Gathering of the Landstars!"

The card appeared. "What's that?" asked Giselle.

"A card which calls upon the power of the Landstar hobbits," said Brigit, drawing three cards from her hand. "When I activate it, I can special summon all three-star or lower monsters with the name of Landostar. I happen to have three right here!" She slapped the cards down. "Knight of Landstar, Grappler of Landstar, and Swordsman of Landstar!"

The three big-headed warriors appeared. The first was decked in chain mail and a helm(600/700), the second had a bandanna and jungle-colored fatigues(1000/500), and the last wore a cap and wielded a sword and shield(500/1200).

"And thanks to my Knight of Landstar, all my other Landstars gain 400 attack points!" Brigadier's attack rose to 1300, Grappler's rose to 1400, and Swordsman rose to 900. "Also, as long as there's a monster on the field, you can't attack him."

"They are all still weaker than my dragon," said Giselle.

"That's about to change," said Brigit. "But first, a card face-down." The card appeared before her. "And then I equip Grappler of Landstar with Landstar Shot!" The freedom fighter suddenly grabbed a weird leaf-blower weapon with the head of Landstar on its side. "This increases the attack of a Landstar monster by 600!" His attack rose to 2000.

"Good gracious, now it's as tough as a Dark Elf!" said Dione in awe.

"Now, Grappler of Landstar, attack the dragon!" shouted Brigit. "Landstar Bullet!" The freedom fighter aimed his gun.

"You're nuts! You're going to lose the battle!" cried Giselle.

"That's what you think!" grinned Brigit, flipping up her trap card. "Remember THIS?"

"Skull Dice!" cried Diane. "Yes!"

"You know how it works, right?" asked Brigit as the black imp holding the red dice cube appeared. "I roll a dice. If it gets a four or higher, your dragon loses enough attack to be destroyed!"

"But if you get a four or less," said Giselle. "Your Grappler will be destroyed!"

"True," said Brigit. "But it's a risk I'm willing to take. Roll the dice!"

The imp cackled as it threw the dice cube. It bounced once...

"Please work," whispered Jake, sweating a little.

...twice...

"Cross your fingers!" said Diane, crossing fingers on both her hands.

...thrice, and it stopped with the six face-up. "Yes!" said Brigit. "Your dragon loses six hundred attack!" Luster Dragon #2 dropped to 1800 attack. "Now, fire!" The freedom fighter aimed his sniper rifle and fired a headshot, which shattered Luster Dragon #2. Giselle's life meter dropped to 4600.

"And now..." Brigit squeezed her eyes closed. "My other Landstars, attack Giselle directly!"

The gunman fired his bazooka which slammed into Giselle's chest, throwing her back. The two warriors charged and caught her in the upswing, slashing with their blades. When Giselle hit the ground, her life meter dropped to 2200.

"Yes! She might win this!" said Jake. "Go Brigit!"

Diane bit her lip. "Poor Giselle...I guess it was meant to happen."

Giselle got up and brushed the blood off of her chest. She grinned. "I never thought you'd get so strong, Brig. You've really proven yourself quite a challenge."

Brigit blushed. "Thank you, Gissy. I'm glad you think so highly of me."

Giselle drew a card, then played it. "Since it worked for you, I play my own Pot of Greed." She drew two cards and nodded. "It's time to end this once and for all. But first, I play Monster Reborn on my Red Eyes Black Dragon!" The giant black-scaled dragon appeared and shrieked. (2400/2000) "Then I summon Luster Dragon #1 in attack mode!" The sapphire dragon appeared. "And I sacrifice Red Eyes Black Dragon to summon Red Eyes Darkness Dragon!" The dragon bulged in size and golden gems decorated it. (2400/2000) "And...since you knows its special effect, I don't have to explain how it gains 300 attack for every dragon in my dragon!"

"How many dragons are in her graveyard?" asked Donald.

"You're the mathematician, you figure it out," said Dione.

"I think we don't need to," said Diane. "Look!"

Red Eyes Darkness Dragon's attack rose to 3600!

"I have four dragons in my graveyard, counting the dragon I sacrificed to summon this guy!" said Giselle, grinning. "I end my turn."

Brigit drew a card. At least I don't have to worry about...

"I'm activating a trap!" said Giselle, flipping up her trap. "Burst Breath!"

"What?" gasped Brigit.

"Burst Breath?" asked Jake. "What does that do?"

"This card is a deadly trap," said Giselle. "By activating it, I sacrifice one of my dragons, Luster Dragon in this case." The dragon melted into light. "But in exchange, all monsters on your field with a defense less than my sacrificed dragon's attack are DESTROYED!"

Brigit paled. "NO! MY LANDSTAR ARMY!" The hobbits exploded, one after another, as a wave of flame immolated them. Brigit's life meter dropped to 2300.

"And my Red Eyes Darkness Dragon gains another 300 attack because Luster Dragon is in the Graveyard," said Giselle as her dragon rose to 3900.

"No!" said Dione in horror. "One hit from that and it's over!"

"We're just glad that Gravity Bind is in play, or she's toast," said Donald. "With Dragon's Rage in effect, defending is out of the question!"

"This isn't good," said Lilith. "It looks like Brigit's in trouble this time!"

"No! This is horrible!" cried Jake. "Come on, Brigit! Don't let that dragon girl get the best of you!"

Diane turned away. "I can't watch anymore!"

Brigit fell to her hands and knees and sobbed. There's no way I can win against her now! One more direct attack and it's all over, and I can't defend against Red Eyes Darkness Dragon, it's stronger than anything I have and it will be only a matter of time before she pulls a card to destroy my Gravity Bind! She raised her hand to her disk. I might as well surrender, at least I'll still have my pride...

"Look, if you're gonna surrender," said a gentle voice. "Just throw your cards away and never duel again."

"Huh?" Brigit looked up and saw Giselle staring at her. "Was that...you?" Giselle nodded and motioned for her to turn off her mike, which she did.

"Brig, I know what you're up to, and as your best friend, I think it's stupid! If you wimp out, you're completely disavowing that you like Duel Monsters! You've been in tougher situations before! Remember Obelisk? Remember the threat of Exodia? You didn't wimp out when you faced Jake's hot monsters or John's XYZ combo!"

"But...your dragon is invincible," said Brigit softly. "Maybe I got in over my head with taking up Duel Monsters. You're much better than me."

"At what? Duel Monsters?" chuckled Giselle. "You're the Duel Monsters expert! You wouldn't have won that box of special cards or those cards in your deck if you had been such a non-expert! Think about it, would Critias have come to you if you were such a newbie?"

Brigit closed her eyes and thought about how Critias appeared in her deck during that frightening duel against Janos and his God Card. "You're right." She got up slowly. "I can't give up. I came so far, and if I'm going to lose, I'll lose while fighting, even against my best friend!"

"Nice work, now kick my butt and show the world you're not a wimp!" said Giselle as the girls turned on their mikes.

"I don't know what they said," said Jake. "But it's gotta be good to get her up on her feet." He whistled. "Go Brigit! Your loving boyfriend is there for you!"

Diane turned around and peeked, then lowered her hands. "I can't hide from this. One of them might end up battling me, so I have to be strong."

Brigit pulled off the top card from her deck. Please deck, give me a good card to turn this duel around! She looked at it and grinned. "All right! I play Mokey Mokey in attack mode!" Brigit slapped the card down and the square marshmallow-shaped fairy with the question mark halo appeared. (300/200)

"I hate to break it to you, but that thing's attack is a thirteenth of my monster," grinned Giselle.

"Then you agree that when he's destroyed, the controller suffers 3600 points of damage?" asked Brigit, smirking.

"Yes," said Giselle, who paused. "Wait..."

"I activate the magic card, Creature Swap!" cried Brigit, playing her card.

"Ah no..." moaned Giselle. "I'm toast."

"That's right, because we each only control one monster, so both monsters change sides!" The giant black dragon appeared on Brigit's field and Mokey Mokey appeared on Giselle's field. "And, since it'll only keep me from attacking, I'll use the magic card of Emergency Provisions to destroy my Gravity Bind and gain a thousand life points from it!" A snake-like creature destroyed the Gravity Bind and her life points rose to 3300."

"Yes! Now she can attack with that dragon!" said Jake, at the edge of his seat.

"You know what happens next?" smirked Brigit.

"I lose," said Giselle with a sigh. "Do it."

"I can't believe it!" said Diane. "Brigit actually is gonna..."

Brigit took a deep breath. "You know what will happen, right?"

"Go ahead," said Giselle, nodding and smiling.

"She's lost it," said Donald.

Brigit heaved. "Red Eyes Darkness Dragon...blow away Mokey Mokey!"

The dragon belched its black fireball.

"I'm sorry, Mokey Mokey..." said Brigit as she turned her head away. The fairy squeaked in pain as it was immolated. Giselle's life meter hit zero.

Giselle got a tear in her eye. "Great job, Brig. Great job."

"Uhm..." said Lilith, not sure of what had just happened. She coughed. "I don't know what happened, but it seems Brigit Anderlee is the winner!"

Everyone cheered as the wirey demons leapt about and cackled, and the storm clouds flashed with lightning. Rain fell in virtual sheets.

Kate, who had been watching the whole duel from one of the front row seats, sighed and shook her head. Well, you tried...

"Yay!" said Jake, jumping out of his seat with a grin. "She won! My baby WON!"

"Is it over?" mumbled Diane, peeking.

"Yeah," said Donald.

"Thank GOD," sighed Diane heavily. "I don't think I could have handled another minute of this!"

"I'm sorry about Giselle losing," said Diane.

"It's...okay," said Diane. "At least one of us will be able to invite her to Duelatopia." She smiled gently.

"That was the closest duel I have EVER seen," said Machus with a sigh of relief as the holo-imagers faded and the arena returned back to its normal form and Brigit and Giselle were completely restored. "Did we get all of that recorded?"

Lilith nodded. "It's in the archives."

"Are you okay?" asked Brigit.

"Yeah," said Giselle. "That was one clever play. I completely forgot about your Creature Swap!" She walked up and slapped Brigit on the back. "Great job, Brig! You're a shoe-in for the championship, if you can get past Diane!"

"Oh," said Brigit, realizing that the ordeal wasn't over yet.

Machus cleared his throat. "Ahem, according to the rules, Giselle must surrender one card of your choice to you."

"Uh..." said Brigit, not sure what to say.

Suddenly, someone shouted "Take her dragon!"

"Yeah, take her Red Eyes Darkness Dragon!" cried another.

The crowd began to form a wave of agreement. Soon the entire stadium was screaming "Take her dragon!"

Giselle was wide-eyed in horror and turned to Brigit.

"She wouldn't...she couldn't!" gasped Diane in horror.

"That would be mean if she did," said Jake in horror. "If she does, I'll never forgive her!"

Brigit scowled and let out a blood-curdling scream, shutting everyone up. "Shut up, all of you! You have no right to sate your bloodlust on my friend! Just because we had a fair duel and I won, doesn't mean I am going to kick her like that! What if it it were YOU who lost?"

The crowd murmured. "Wow, that's just...I didn't think a bookworm like you could handle a blood-thirsty crowd," said Giselle. "If I had beaten you, I don't think I could have brought myself to do anything but comply to their demands and give it back to you later." She smiled. "You're brave, very brave." She took out her deck.

"No, I can't take a card from your deck," whispered Brigit.

"I insist," said Giselle, removing a card from her deck. She showed it to her friend.

Brigit was about to retort when she looked closely at the card and gasped. "What's that?"

"A card which, if used in your deck, would make it MUCH more powerful!" Giselle nodded. "Take it, I order you to!"

Brigit looked it over, looked at Giselle, then accepted it. "Okay, but as a friend, not because you ordered me to." She slipped it into her deck.

"What did she give her?" asked Diane, curious.

"Guess we'll have to find out tomorrow, during her semi-final duel," said Dione.

After the crowd had been calmed down by the counselors, Lilith coughed. "Well, that's a wrap! The quarter-finals are officially over! Tomorrow at nine-thirty, the semi-finals will begin! The match-ups for the semi-finals will be decide tonight and announced tomorrow morning at breakfast. We hope you're there!" She snapped her fingers. "And now, to close out the day, I give you a band that many of you may be familiar with, singing a song which one of our counselors recommended, but I won't name names." She turned to Lina, who nodded as she and the others directed the duelists off the stage and the doors opened on the stage.

"I give to you the granddaughter of the great voice-actress for Pokémon..." Lilith's words made Giselle do a double-take. "Merisa Taylor and the Pichu Gang!" The audience cheered and raved as the lights went low.

A beautiful light show filled the stage as a platform was lifted from it. The platform had a drum set and electric keyboard on it. The drums were manned by a guy dressed up like Dark Scorpion Gorg the Strong, while the young man at the keys was attired like Cliff the Trap Remover. What looked like Don Zaloog and Dark Scorpion Chick the Yellow were holding electric guitars and a beautiful red-haired lady attired in the outfit of Dark Scorpion Menae the Thorne held a mike.

"Welcome, all you duelists and Pokémaniacs!" cried the girl. "This goes out to a certain girl who is just like the character my grandmother gave the voice to, Ash Ketchum! This song is a reminder to all of you duelists that, no matter how hard the battles, good friends are forever!" She gave a shout and raised her arm and everyone started their music.

Giselle felt a tear come down her cheek and turned to Lina. "Thank you..."

Lina smiled. "How did you know it was me?"

Before Giselle could reply, the guitarists and Merisa started to sing:

You've been such a good friend
I've known you since I don't know when.
We've got a lot of friends,
But they come and go.
Even though we've never said it,
There's something that the two of us both know.

Together, forever no matter how long,
From now, until the end of time,
We'll be together and you can be sure,
That forever and a day,
That's how long we'll stay,
Together and forever more.

Always gone that extra mile,
Depended on you all the while.
Even in the good and bad times,
You will see
From now until our journey's end,
You know that you can always count on me.

Together, forever no matter how long,
From now, until the end of time,
We'll be together and you can be sure,
That forever and a day,
That's how long we'll stay,
Together and forever more.

No matter where our destiny leads
I'll be there for you, always come through
And that you can believe.

The crowd let out a scream as the song ended and fireworks shot into the ceiling.

0

Late that night, Diane crawled into bed with a sigh. Her mind was full of tension about what was about to happen. She closed her eyes and recalled the song that had played after the duel had ended. She sat up.

"Hmmm," she mumbled. "Interesting that song was played. I never thought about the meaning of the lyrics until now."

She thought about the lyrics and how they related to the last duel. Even though Brigit and Giselle battled each other with reckless abandon, in the end, they still remained friends. It was a nice song to remind her that, in the end, it wouldn't matter because your friendship is more important than the outcome of a game.

Diane was sure that, if she had to duel Brigit, she would have to duel her hardest despite the friendship. But she knew that this was to be expected; when D.M.G. promised to all enter the finals, they knew that they would have to fight each other and two of them would be defeated.

Of course, Diane knew she had two other finalists waiting for her. There was Jake...he was a nice guy, but his fire monsters were nasty. She was sure Brigit would be nastier if Diane beat him. But then she knew the feeling about being madly in love with a boy. If Donald had won that first duel and Brigit defeated him in the semi-finals, Diane would also be reasonably upset.

Then there was Norus. Of course, Diane couldn't WAIT to kick his butt again after that stunt he pulled after he had beaten Sonja. Of course, she had prayed to the Divine One that Norus would lose, but he won. After seeing all those fiends and spellcasters, Diane had no illusions about defeating her rival; she knew that Norus would no doubt have pumped up his deck with some stronger cards to counter Diane's Guardians, but she smirked as she thought about the brutal defeat she was planning on handing him, should they face each other in the semi-finals. He would pay for what he did to scare Sonja.

She then sensed something and turned to the desk, but then it faded. "Hmmm, must be my fatigue," she mumbled. "Well, today was quite exciting...yawn" She stretched. "Gotta get ready for tomorrow...whoever I face..."

She walked over to her bed and collapsed onto it. As soon as she fell asleep, her dreams became weird...as did everyone else's in that cabin for the second night.

NEW CARDS

Hyper Refresh

Type: Normal Magic
Effect: Double your current life points. You cannot increase your life points past the initial maximum.

This card was used by Joey in the KaibaCorp Grand Championship, during his duel with Siegfried Lloyd, to counter the direct attacks of Siegfried's Valkyrie monsters

Brigadier of Landstar

Type: Earth/Warrior

Level: 3

ATK: 900

DEF: 600

Grappler of Landstar

Type: Earth/Warrior

Level: 3

ATK: 1000

DEF: 500

Knight of Landstar

Type: Earth/Warrior/Effect

Level: 3

ATK: 700

DEF: 600

Landstar Shot

Type: Equipment Magic

Effect: Increase the ATK of a creature with "Landstar" in its name by 600.

Effect: As long as you have a creature with "Landstar" in its name face-up on the field, you cannot select this card for an attack. This card grants 400 ATK to every creature with "Landstar" in its name except itself.

Joey Wheeler used these cards in the KaibaCorp Grand Championship as well as using Brigadier of Landstar during the duel with Valon.

I'd like to note that Giselle's Level Tuning was suggested by Dark Sage, who told me that it's a card in the next booster pack, Elemental Energy.

NEXT CHAPTER: Things are getting weirder and weirder when another dream chapter commences! What is this supposed to mean? Find out in "Dreamsprite!"