Yu-Gi-Oh! Eternal

A Fan-Fiction by neomage

(DISCLAIMER: Ribbit, ribbit! I come in peace…and I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.)

CHAPTER 52 – Of Aliens and Frogs

KAIBA LAND

JANUS: 2600; DIANE: 800

"So? Go on and do whatever you feel like…I don't have any more moves—not that I'll need any," Diane remarked. "So you got lucky at the outset, but in the end, you're nothing more than a punk."

"Y-y-yeah?" Realizing that he was still shivering, Janus willed himself not to feel the cold he knew was turning his skin blue. "Well…guess what this 'punk' can do?" He swiftly drew his next card. "He can play a card he couldn't play last turn 'cuz of your Cold Wave card…" And he held up the card he'd drawn the previous turn. "The Magic card, Miracle Fusion!"

"Miracle Fusion…?" Realization etched itself onto Diane's face. "Wait a minute—oh, shit!"

"You did say you didn't completely ignore me, right?" Janus reminded her. "That means you should know what this card can do, but just in case you've forgotten, I'll remind you. Miracle Fusion lets me remove from play, either from the field or my Graveyard, any Fusion-material monsters that are listed on a Fusion monster that's got 'Elemental Hero' in its name, and then I get to Special Summon that particular Fusion monster from the Fusion deck, while treating its summon as a Fusion Summon. And so, I'll remove Avian and Burstinatrix in my Graveyard from play to call back to the field…Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

"No!" Diane cried. But much to her horror, and true to Janus's statement, the silhouetted forms of Avian and Burstinatrix floated out of his Graveyard and then swirled together, colliding and merging—and the result was Flame Wingman, ready to fight again.

"I'm sure you remember what Flame Wingman's special effect is," said Janus. "And you were so knowledgeable about Skyscraper's effect, too, so you ought to know what's coming next! Flame Wingman, melt her Frostosaurus and end this duel!" In turn, Skyscraper promptly increased Flame Wingman's ATK to 3100, even as the warrior himself took flight. Pointing his dragon-arm downwards, he unleashed a fiery torrent that resulted in Frostosaurus melting into one huge puddle.

JANUS: 2600; DIANE: 300

Then, mere seconds later, Flame Wingman flew down upon Diane herself, buffeting her with even more flame from the dragon's mouth, and she screamed in agony while she got thrown to the ground by the attack.

JANUS: 2600; DIANE: 0

Watching as the flames burned on Diane's side of the field and then gradually disappeared to leave nothing but smoke behind, Janus looked at his Duel-Disk's life point counter. His life points vanished, replaced a moment later by his 2000 tournament points—only now, those were increasing to 3000. "All right…just another 2000 from here on out, and I'll be able to place bets with whosoever else has got 5000 points!" he noted. "And at least I won't have to worry about being challenged again for the rest of the day by you…" and he cast the fallen Diane a withering glance.

"Ungh…" Diane slowly sat up from where she'd fallen, and winced as she looked at her own tournament points; they were now back down to 1000. "Damn it all…right back where I started!" she hissed. "Hey, kid, don't think I'm going to forget this insult! I'll get you back, just you wait!"

"Well, if you wanna do that, that's fine—but you'll have to wait till tomorrow to challenge me again," Janus reminded her. "Tournament rules and all that."

"Whatever!" Diane snapped, standing up. "You just wait, Duel Academy punk…I'll pay you back but good for this! And YOU…" She turned her eyes on Kent, who was still on the sidelines holding his broken nose. "Don't think the House of Cards will overlook your loss to this—this—UGH!" Then she turned on her heel and stomped off in a random direction.

"Huh…good riddance." Janus shook his head as he watched Diane leave. Then he turned to Kent. "Hey, man, how's the nose?"

"Hurts…but I'll live." Kent touched his nose again and winced. "Ugh…maybe I'd better go find a doctor or something. I don't want to end up going through life with a crooked nose."

"How about I go with you?" Janus offered.

"Uh…well, thanks, but you don't have to…" Kent started.

"Hey, it's no biggie, really. I don't have much else to do right now, in any case." Janus shrugged his shoulders. "So…?"

Kent blinked. "Well…okay, sure, I guess. Let's go, then."

----------

"Who'd have thought…who the hell would've thought?" Drake's face held a bitter grimace. "For two pro-league duelists, and members of the House of Cards at that, to lose to him…it's so damn embarrassing!"

Grabbing up the remote, he flopped back into the couch and touched one of the remote's buttons. A moment later the camera feed on the screen disappeared, and was replaced with a graph showing the stats of all the tournament's active participants. "All right, so…up to now, the following duelists have been eliminated from the tournament," he read aloud. "Alyx Brodie…David Jericho…Gaston Altair…Reno Dawkins…Kent West…three eliminators, Victor Greaves, Vasha Morrison and Chris Gear…that's eight people in all vanquished from the competition." His eyes narrowed. "Among the known remaining competitors…Diane Chill's just gotten her sorry ass back to Square One with 1000 tournament points…Buck Morgan, Caleb Link, Usagi Saiou, Raven Pegasus, Yugo Muto, and Seta Kaiba each have 2000 points…and Janus Yuki has 3000 points now, the highest in the tournament." He gritted his teeth as he spoke this particular bit of information aloud. "As for those participants who haven't dueled as yet—Malachi Jordan, Miriam Jordan, Luke Jericho, Honey Pegasus, Jillian Uriah…those five still have their starting 1000 points…and there are still four remaining eliminators who haven't fought anyone as yet…"

Sighing, he switched the screen back to the camera feeds. "My House of Cards…only seven members remain…but will any of them fulfill their objective before this tournament draws to a close?" And in his mind he added: Janus…how much further will you come toward me…before one of the chess pieces on this playing field called Kaiba Land eventually brings your advance to a grinding halt…?

----------

ELSEWHERE IN KAIBA LAND, 1:00 p.m.

Malachi Jordan walked along, hands in his pockets, scarcely paying any attention to the little groups of people he was going past…to the attractions to his left and right…to the occasional whispering about him that his ever-alert ears couldn't help but detect. All of this information passed through his consciousness only automatically—his focus was on other things.

----------

"So go back out into the tournament, get enough points, then challenge one of those three and win, and then I can get to duel Morgan?" Malachi asked.

"That's exactly it," Drake replied. "By the time you've accumulated 5000 points, those three should have gotten enough points of their own for you to be able to bet points with them. Defeat one of them and knock that one out of the competition…and then you'll have your shot at Morgan. Mark you, though—I'll be watching your progress in this tournament from here on out, Jordan, and as you know there are cameras installed everywhere in Kaiba Land…"

"So you'll be playing 'big brother' to make sure I keep up my end of this deal." Malachi shrugged. "Whatever. Do what you like. But know this…" His eyes suddenly took on a dangerous glare. "Winning duels is what I do best. And I will win. And if YOU cross me on this…you will regret it."

----------

Taking his mind off his train of thought, Malachi looked up—and beheld a large scene before him. Just up ahead there were several hydrogen-filled balloons, all in the form of various 30-foot-high cuddly animals of different colors. Hmph…unlikely place to find any duelists…but then again, what have I to lose by investigating this spot, except a bit of time? Again he started forward. And there were various groups consisting of families, or couples, or larger assemblies, admiring the cute animal balloons towering over them. He could see the happy smiles on the children's faces, the laughter on the mouths of men and women who were coupled together…

"Malachi Jordan!"

The sudden shout brought Malachi to the attention of those who were close by…and now, on seeing him, furious mouth-corner whispering began. But Malachi wasn't concerned with these; his attention was now diverted to looking over his shoulder at the one who'd called his name. "And you are…?"

This was addressed to a blond-haired guy, clad in a blue jacket over a purple shirt, black jeans and boots, and bearing a large smirk on his face. "Ah…it is you," he chuckled. "The infamous Malachi Jordan, notorious in the dueling world for his utter lack of compassion or mercy. Who'd have thought I'd get my big break in this tournament by defeating you!"

Malachi slowly turned around, so now his eyes were locked on level with the speaker's. "You still haven't answered me," he said flatly. "Who are you?"

"Name's Vincente, Calhoun Vincente," the other answered. "Strongest student of Duel Academy's Obelisk Blue, at your service."

"Duel Academy…the same school that Janus Yuki hails from…" Malachi cocked an eyebrow. "But I don't recall seeing you in this tournament's roster. Or are you just looking for an autograph or something?"

"An autograph?" Calhoun's smirk vanished as an annoyed expression came over his face. "For your information, pal, I'm one of this tournament's special eliminators!"

"An eliminator…well, that would certainly explain why your face wasn't in the line-up for this contest," Malachi said dryly. "For a moment I thought it was because you were a low-rate loser."

"What'd you say?" Calhoun barked. "That's it—ready your Duel-Disk, NOW! I'll show you who's the real loser here! And once you're out of this tournament, Janus Yuki will be next on my list for elimination!"

"Hmph. So stop talking trash and show me what you've got…assuming you've got anything at all to show," Malachi intoned, even while he pulled out his deck and slotted it into his Duel-Disk.

MALACHI: 8000; CALHOUN: 8000

Around the world at that moment, the two duelists' stats appeared on the TV screens of everyone who was watching. First was Malachi's information. Malachi Jordan. Age: 18. Nationality: Britain. Professional dueling experience: Won the British Intercontinental Duel Monsters Championship tournament in 2014 and remained champion until this year, 2018, when he was defeated by Yugo Muto for the title. Was a contender in the recently-ended Dueltropolis World Championships. Deck strategy: Gravekeepers.

Then Calhoun's information came up. Calhoun Vincente, appointed Eliminator. Age: 17. Nationality: North America. Professional dueling experience: Has studied at Duel Academy for the past five years; currently in his first year in the Obelisk Blue dorm. Deck strategy: Alien theme.

"Okay! Since I'm the challenger, I'll go first!" Calhoun announced while he drew his first five cards. "And I'll soon show you why I'm the strongest duelist of Obelisk Blue!" Then he drew a sixth card. "I summon Alien Warrior (ATK 1800, DEF 1000) in Attack Mode!" Moments later, his giant-clawed alien appeared on the field, snarling.

Malachi, however, wasn't even slightly fazed. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to be intimidated? I think not."

"Maybe not yet," Calhoun countered. "Anyway, I'll set one card facedown, for later. Go ahead now."

"Pfft." Malachi drew a card. "I activate the effect of a card from my hand—Gravekeeper's Commandant (ATK 1600, DEF 1500). I can discard it to the Graveyard to add one 'Necrovalley' card from my deck to my hand." And without so much as a second glance, he discarded the Gravekeeper's Commandant card from his hand to the Graveyard, then promptly pulled out his deck, shuffled through it, and added the Necrovalley card to his hand—and then promptly held up said card. "And then, I activate the Field Magic card, Necrovalley." In a moment, they were surrounded by the rocky walls of a very forbidding valley; the balloon attractions looked awkwardly out of place here. But even this Malachi didn't seem to notice or care about as he fiddled with the five cards left in his hand. "As long as Necrovalley remains on the field, card effects that affect any cards in the Graveyard are negated, and neither player can remove any cards in the Graveyard from play…"

"And all of your 'Gravekeeper' monsters will increase their ATK and DEF by 500 points," Calhoun interrupted. "I know all about that already. You're not that obscure when it comes to your deck strategy, you know. Everybody can practically predict what you'll play whenever you duel."

"Hm. So I'm predictable, now am I?" Malachi cocked an eyebrow. "Then perhaps you can predict what these next few cards will be, hmm?" He selected three of his five hand-cards. "I'll set one monster facedown in Defense Mode, and place two more cards facedown. That is all."

"Ha! Are you kidding me?" Calhoun scoffed. "I know your strategies like the back of my own hand—I've watched a whole lot of duels on TV, including some of yours, and I tell you I know what you're trying to pull!"

"Why not expound on that, then, since you seem to know so much?" Malachi invited.

"All right." Calhoun chuckled. "Your facedown monster is probably Gravekeeper's Spy (ATK 1200, DEF 2000), which will get 500 ATK and DEF thanks to Necrovalley, which further means that if I attack with a monster whose ATK will be lower than Gravekeeper's Spy's DEF, I'll lose life points and you'll be able to Special Summon a 'Gravekeeper' monster from your deck. As well, at least one of those other two facedown cards must be a Dust Tornado trap card, which you'll use to destroy any Magic or Trap card I place on the field. But like I've said, I've already got you well figured out—and I won't fall into your little trap!" He then drew his next card, giving him a total of five in hand. "Ever since I became an eliminator for this tournament, Drake Phoenix has given me a lot of new cards to really beef up my deck! You won't escape me unscathed, Malachi Jordan!"

"I won't escape unscathed?" Malachi repeated. "Then why don't you attack me, if that claim is true?"

"Heh…considering I've already got your particular strategy pegged, why should I just jump headlong into your trap, eh?" asked Calhoun. "Anyway, my Alien Warrior's strong enough as is. I'll bide my time till I'm ready to strike, but for now…I'll just end my turn."

Shaking his head, Malachi drew another card, so now he held three in hand. "Is this really the kind of talent Phoenix has hired to act as his eliminators? He must've been scraping the bottom of the barrel to have hired a fool like you."

"WHAT?" Calhoun barked.

Malachi's eyes narrowed. "You, idiot, presumed far too much about me. Your gravest mistake was to challenge me. And I will show you why." He indicated the cards on his side of the field. "You think you know my strategy so well? Well, why don't we see if your claims were right? I'll Flip Summon my facedown monster…Gravekeeper's Guard (ATK 1000, DEF 1900)."

His facedown monster card flipped face-up, revealing a pot-bellied man wielding a large iron staff; Necrovalley's effect immediately increased his ATK to 1500 and his DEF to 2400. But Calhoun was staring aghast at the newly-summoned Guard. "What the hell? That's not Gravekeeper's Spy!" he shouted.

"Congratulations for being so observant, genius," Malachi replied with biting sarcasm. "When Gravekeeper's Guard is flipped face-up, his effect returns one monster on my opponent's side of the field to the owner's hand…and since you only have one monster in your control, it returns to your hand."

Gravekeeper's Guard hefted his staff in one hand and jumped forward, slamming it down hard on Alien Warrior's head; almost immediately, the Alien Warrior card was forcefully jettisoned off Calhoun's Duel-Disk and right back into his hand. Then Malachi held up another card from his hand. "Next, I offer Gravekeeper's Guard as a tribute to summon Gravekeeper's Chief (ATK 1900, DEF 1200) in Attack Mode." And as Gravekeeper's Guard now relaxed, his body disappeared from the field, replaced a moment later by a stern-looking man wielding a golden serpent-headed staff; Necrovalley increased his ATK and DEF to 2400 and 1700 respectively.

"As his name suggests, Gravekeeper's Chief is the leader of the Gravekeepers, who will fight rather than let the ancient tombs be defiled by intruders," said Malachi. "As long as the Chief is on my side of the field, my Graveyard is unaffected by the power of Necrovalley…and also, when he is Tribute Summoned, I can Special Summon one Gravekeeper from my Graveyard. And so, I will use the Chief's power to resurrect the Commandant, who is the only Gravekeeper in my Graveyard at this time."

Gravekeeper's Chief held up his staff, even as the serpent-head's eyes glowed with mystic power…then a moment later, a glowing ankh appeared on Malachi's side of the field, and from it emerged Gravekeeper's Commandant, a man wearing a mask shaped like a jackal's face. As he brandished the huge staff he wielded in a battle-ready pose, Necrovalley increased his ATK and DEF to 2100 and 2000 respectively. Then Malachi held up one of the two cards he had left in his hand. "Now, I activate the Magic card, Royal Tribute," he said. "I could only activate it when I had Necrovalley active on the field—but now, we must both discard all Monster cards in our hands to the Graveyard." And so saying, he held up the last card in his hand for Calhoun to see—Gravekeeper's Assailant (ATK 1500, DEF 1500)—and then sent it off to the Graveyard.

Now red in the face, Calhoun held up his six cards for Malachi to see. They were revealed to be Alien Warrior, the Magic card Monster Reborn, the Magic card "A" Cell Incubator, Cosmic Horror Gangi'el (ATK 2600, DEF 2000), the Magic card Code A Ancient Ruins, and the Trap card Brainwashing Beam. Stiffly, Calhoun pulled Alien Warrior and Cosmic Horror Gangi'el from his hand and shuttled them off to the Graveyard. "No fair, man!" he whined.

"Tough," Malachi said dryly. "Now, where was I? Hmm…all right, time to activate both of my facedown cards…" He pointed to the two facedown cards in his Magic/Trap slot. "Activate, both cards—two copies of the Trap card, Rite of Spirit."

"Huh?" Calhoun's eyes widened—and then both of Malachi's facedown cards flipped face-up, revealed to indeed be two copies of the same card. "Aw, great—now what?"

"Rite of Spirit is a Trap card that allows me to Special Summon one 'Gravekeeper' monster from my Graveyard in face-up Attack or Defense Mode, regardless of Necrovalley's influence," explained Malachi. "And since I've activated two Rite of Spirit cards, I can Special Summon two Gravekeepers from the great beyond—Gravekeeper's Guard and Gravekeeper's Assailant, both in Attack Mode." Then, as he finished talking, two shining ankhs appeared on the field, and out stepped Gravekeeper's Guard and Gravekeeper's Assailant, the latter a figure clad in black from head to toe and armed with a short sword that had a blade curved like a snake's body. Necrovalley promptly increased the Guard's stats to 1500 ATK and 2400 DEF, and the Assailant's stats to 2000 ATK and 2000 DEF.

Calhoun beheld the four monsters' stats…and paled. "Oh, no…!"

"Now, Gravekeepers—clean up this worthless weak trash!" Malachi commanded. And the four Gravekeepers acted swiftly. First, the Commandant lunged forward and slammed his staff into Calhoun's midsection.

MALACHI: 8000; CALHOUN: 5900

Then the Assailant rushed forward and slashed Calhoun across the chest.

MALACHI: 8000; CALHOUN: 3900

Then, the Guard leaped forward and bashed Calhoun across the face with his staff.

MALACHI: 8000; CALHOUN: 2400

Finally, the Chief raised his serpent-headed staff—and a blast of green magic erupted from the serpent's mouth, hitting Calhoun dead-center in his torso and knocking him down and backwards.

MALACHI: 8000; CALHOUN: 0

"Argh…" Calhoun, on the ground, grimaced in pain while the tournament points on his life point counter briefly showed, then swiftly rushed down to 0 like his life points had moments earlier. "Damn it…I didn't even get a chance to use any of the new cards Phoenix gave me…damn it all…!"

"Pfft." Malachi scoffed at Calhoun, then checked his own Duel-Disk's life point counter; his tournament points now rose to 2000. "Even if I don't put a lot of variety into my strategy, trying to predict the moves I'll make is utterly, utterly foolish. And your own overconfidence in the face of a superior opponent only made it worse." He turned his back on Calhoun. "Word of advice for the future: Less trash talk, more training."

With that said, Malachi calmly walked away. The spectators, meanwhile, began to boo the still-downed Calhoun. "Dude, you suck! Were you really an eliminator? Get outta here!" many of them snapped, throwing popcorn and food wrappers at him.

"Ungh…" Calhoun didn't even bother to make an attempt to get up, but merely covered his face with his hands.

----------

Back at Kaiba Land's hotel, in the meantime…David Jericho was in his room, packing his clothes into his traveling bag, while on the TV the duel between Malachi and Calhoun was just ending. Watching the outcome, David sighed forlornly. Well…couldn't expect any less from Malachi, at least… Picking up the remote, he switched the TV off. Then he tossed the remote back onto the bed and picked his bag up, slinging it over his shoulder. Well, see you around, mates…next time you see me, I'll definitely be stronger, and won't hold any of you back…and I won't disappoint you next time, either…

Then he went to the door, stepped outside into the passageway, and quietly shut the door behind him.

----------

Elsewhere in Kaiba Land… "Aaaahhh…!" Honey Pegasus groaned aloud as she flopped down on a bench, located next to a pond on which ducks swam freely. "How long has it been since I left the fairgrounds and actually went to search for duelists? And yet, not a one in sight!"

"Maybe you're not looking in the right places…"

"Eh?" Turning in her seat, Honey beheld a gray-haired, hazel-eyed girl standing only a couple of meters away. "Oh—you're Drake's sister, aren't you? Jessica?"

"That's me," Jessica nodded. "Say, you mind if I sit with you a little bit? I've been walking around for a while now, and I really need to rest my legs!"

"Sure," Honey invited. "Plenty of space on the bench for one more," and she patted the space beside her.

"Thanks." Jessica walked up and sat down on the empty spot on the bench. "So, how are you?"

"Um…okay, I guess," Honey shrugged. "A lot's happened in the last few weeks and months, even before this tournament was announced…I can't even remember the last time I actually saw anybody in your family—uh, other than when Drake came and gave us invitations to compete in this tournament, that is."

"I see." Jessica smiled. "Y'know, now that I stop to think about it, our families have gotten together in times past for fundraisers, celebrity dinners and whatnot—with us being rich people and all—but I don't think we've ever actually sat down and been able to chat one-on-one, like what we're doing right now."

"First time for everything," Honey answered. "So, what brings you here to Kaiba Land? Here to give your brother moral support for his hosting this Phoenix Herald Crown?"

"Well, actually…" Jessica sighed. "Remember Drake's announcement this morning, when he said that there are eliminators hidden throughout Kaiba Land? Well, I'm one of them."

Honey stared in surprise. "No way—really? He put you up as one of those eliminators?"

"That he did," said Jessica. "And between you and me, I'm actually supposed to maintain my station near the Dark Lord Castle, to intercept whichever duelist will pass that way later on…but I just HAD to get away from there. Drake is such a pain in the ass!"

"Oh?" Honey blinked—then she giggled a little. "Well, I guess that's something I can relate to, having a brother myself."

"At least yours doesn't throw a hissy fit whenever things don't go his way," Jessica sighed.

"He used to," Honey told her.

"Agh—boys!" Jessica threw her hands upward in a gesture of supplication to the heavens. "What is it with guys and their macho behavior, huh?"

"Actually, my dad's not really that macho…" Honey sweat-dropped.

"Oh. Well, that's true, too." Jessica chuckled.

Silence passed between the two girls for a moment. Then Honey looked at Jessica again. "So…an eliminator, huh? I guess that means my tournament points are going to be in trouble…"

"Well, I say that'll all be left up to fate," Jessica said, smiling a little more easily. "Everybody knows you use the Toon strategy your dad used to use in his glory days. And who knows—maybe you'll beat me and get the points I've got. At least then you'll have one less eliminator to worry about."

"Sounds fair enough." Honey stood up, holding up her Duel-Disk-equipped arm. "So, ready to get it on, girl?"

"Yeah, why not? I need a way to relax after what I had to put up with from Drake earlier, anyway, and walking around aimlessly wasn't exactly doing it for me," Jessica answered, and she stood up and held up her Duel-Disk too.

"Then it's settled!" said Honey. "My Toons against your…your…uh, what kind of strategy do you use, anyway? I've never seen you duel before."

"That's because I don't get out in the tournament circuit like Drake does," Jessica admitted. "But I do duel now and again, for the practice and the fun. Of course, I have to do it when my mom's not around—she hates Duel Monsters."

"Ah, yeah, THAT much I remember about your mom," and Honey sweat-dropped again. "I mean, no offense, but I swear that last time our families got together, your mom looked about ready to bite my dad's head off just because he invented Duel Monsters! What's up with that, anyway?"

"That's a question better left unasked, if you want to keep your life," Jessica chuckled a bit, sweat-dropping also. Then, with a more serious face, she asked, "So, you ready for this?"

"Anytime, girl! Let's go!" Honey answered.

HONEY: 8000; JESSICA: 8000

On viewing TV sets worldwide their respective dueling information was shown. First there was Honey's info: Honey Pegasus. Age: 15. Nationality: Japan. Professional dueling experience: Participated in this year's British Intercontinental Championships; participated in the recently-ended Dueltropolis World Championships. Deck strategy: Toon deck.

Then there was Jessica's info. Jessica Phoenix, appointed eliminator. Age: 15. Nationality: North America. Professional dueling experience: None prior to this tournament. Deck strategy: Frog theme.

"I call first turn!" Jessica announced as she and Honey drew their respective opening hands. "Now…" She drew her sixth card to start. "I will set one monster facedown in Defense Mode, and one card facedown. That's it for now. Your turn!"

"Okay," said Honey, drawing her card. Then she looked at her hand and growled in irritation. "Urgh…I end my turn."

"Already?" Jessica looked surprised for a moment. "Oh, wait, I get it—you don't have your Toon World magic card on hand, do you now? Your deck is pretty heavily reliant on that card, you have to admit."

"Maybe," Honey answered, "but that doesn't mean I won't be able to beat you."

"We'll see," said Jessica. "After all, Drake didn't appoint me as an eliminator for nothing." Then she went ahead and drew another card. "Hmm…I see. Okay, Honey Pegasus…I'm sorry, but I'll have to change this lovely scenery around us for a little bit."

"Eh? What're you up to?" Honey regarded her suspiciously.

"Watch and learn!" Jessica then held up a card. "I activate the Field Magic card, Wetlands!"

Suddenly, the lake they were dueling nearby seemed to get covered up by extremely tall, wet grass. "Whoa! What's with this, now?" Honey wondered.

"Wetlands is a neat little Field Magic card with a nice effect," Jessica explained. "All monsters that are Aqua-type, Water-attribute, and Level 2 or lower gain 1200 ATK points. Case in point…" She indicated the facedown monster on her side of the field. "Be Flip Summoned, my Substitoad (ATK 100, DEF 2000)!" And then the monster card flipped face-up—and revealed a very unusual creature: It was an amphibian that seemed to be half frog, half toad, with half of its body being smooth and pink with a white feathery wing on the back, and the other half being black and covered in unsightly warts and with a black bat's wing on the back.

Honey took one look at the newly Flip Summoned monster—and freaked. "AAAAAHHHHH! It's a FROG! I HATE FROGS! EW EW EW EW EW EWWW!" she screeched, running up and down in a wild panic.

"Huh?" Jessica stared at Honey, sweat-dropping in the process. "Uh…okay…"

At length, with much difficulty, Honey managed to compose herself, although looking at Substitoad made her flinch. "Ugh…frogs…so disgusting!" she wailed.

"Aw, don't say that," said Jessica. "You'll hurt my Substitoad's feelings. And besides, frogs and toads are actually really cute. Haven't you read The Frog Prince or something?"

"Who the hell would read The Frog Prince?" Honey demanded, fangs in her mouth.

"Hmph…not you, apparently," Jessica answered. "Well, anyway, Substitoad satisfies the requirements for Wetland's effect to affect him…take a look and see." And she pointed out Substitoad's ATK, which was now at 1300. "Plus, he's got effects—all 'Frog' monsters, except for the one called Frog the Jam (ATK 700, DEF 500), cannot be destroyed as a result of battle. Also, as long as Substitoad's on the field, I can tribute one monster to Special Summon one 'Frog' monster from my deck, as long as that frog isn't Frog the Jam."

"Oh, no…your whole deck's based around FROGS?" Honey made a disgusted face.

"Why not? Like I said, I find them to be cute!" Jessica's eyes momentarily turned into hearts as she made the proclamation; then just as suddenly she became all-business again. "Now I summon Submarine Frog (ATK 1200, DEF 600) in Attack Mode!" A moment later she brought out a green-skinned frog that was, oddly enough, decked out in a yellow wetsuit and holding a red spear with a blue propeller on one end. As the new frog made its appearance, Wetlands swiftly increased its ATK to 2400! "Submarine Frog's a Level 2, Water-attribute, Aqua-type monster, so he fits the bill for Wetlands—look at how strong he is now!" she pointed out. "All right, froggies…go get her!"

"Eek!" Honey screeched—but suddenly Substitoad shot out a long pink tongue and slapped her on the body.

HONEY: 6700; JESSICA: 8000

Then Submarine Frog bounded forward, jabbing Honey repeatedly with the tip of its spear as her score went down further to 4300.

HONEY: 4300; JESSICA: 8000

"That's it from me for now," said Jessica. "So? Aren't you gonna try to defend yourself against my cute and strong froggies?"

Still wincing from the aftereffects of the two attacks on her person, Honey glanced down at her deck. This is bad…if I don't get something good real soon, I'll be a goner! Jessica will be able to take me out of the game with her…ugh…her frog monsters! Man… Taking a deep breath, she placed her fingers on her deck as she readied herself to draw. All right…here goes nothing…!

And then she drew. C'mon…please let it be a card I can use…please let it be a card I can use… She looked at her drawn card. And— "YES!" she cried happily.

"Hmm?" Jessica looked up at Honey's jubilance. "Got something good?"

"You bet I did!" Honey gushed. "All right, now…I'll pay 1000 life points to activate my signature card—Toon World!"

HONEY: 3300; JESSICA: 8000

Out of nowhere, a huge green-covered book appeared on her side of the field. The book bore cartoon characters on its covers, and even now it jerked up and down as though it were animate. "Hmm…so now you've finally got it," Jessica observed.

"Yes, I do!" Honey said brightly. "And now that I've got Toon World on the field, I'll Special Summon two monsters from my hand—two copies of Toon Mermaid (ATK 1400, DEF 1500) in Defense Mode!"

The Toon World book immediately opened up—and from its pages there emerged a large, cartoon-style town with very comical-looking buildings. From the midst of these there appeared two huge clam shells…then each opened up to reveal a cartoonish mermaid with a bow and arrows, even while the clams themselves suddenly sported large cartoon-styled eyes. Then Honey held up another card. "These Toon Mermaids aren't going to stay on the field for long," she declared, "because now I'll tribute both of them to Special Summon an even more powerful monster, and my deck's strongest…Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon (ATK 3000, DEF 2500)!"

Giggling mischievously, the two Toon Mermaids inexplicably stretched themselves and their clams right back into the waiting Toon World…and then emerging from the book there emerged a cute-and-cuddly white dragon with a maniacal grin. "How do you like that?" Honey chuckled. "Unfortunately, my Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon can't attack the same turn he's summoned—nor can most of my Toons, for that matter—but that's all right…next turn, I'll guide him and all other Toon monsters that I'll soon summon, in a campaign to wipe out your life points!"

"Hmm…" Jessica frowned contemplatively. "Yeah, you just might be able to do that…after all, with your Toon World on the field, all Toon monsters get the power to attack directly, unless the opponent also controls Toon monsters…and since I obviously don't have any Toon monsters to speak of, you'll put a serious hurting on my life points without even touching my frogs for as long as you so choose. But all the same…your strategy's still got one really obvious weakness. And you know what it is."

Honey cocked an eyebrow. "But will you get a chance to exploit it before I can take you down?"

"Let's find out." Jessica drew her next card, adding it to her hand so now she held four in hand. "Oh-oh…Honey, it seems I'm about to bump you out of this competition after all!"

"Huh?" Honey stared sharply at Jessica.

In turn, Jessica held up the card she'd just drawn. "I summon another monster to the field in Attack Mode…Unifrog (ATK 400, DEF 400)!" Then, from the grassy marshes of the Wetlands, there popped up a bluish-purple frog with what appeared to be a spiraling unicorn horn pointing out from its head; the Wetlands promptly increased his ATK to 1600. "And guess what he can do?"

"What—look ugly?" Honey looked very squeamish.

"Aw, come on, now, that's not fair to the poor little froggy!" Jessica complained. "What Unifrog can do is…attack your life points directly! Go, Unifrog!"

"ACK! NO!" Honey screamed out—split seconds before Unifrog bounded over to her side of the field and butted right into her with his horn. "Ow! That hurt, you know!"

HONEY: 1700; JESSICA: 8000

"And Unifrog's got another effect," Jessica added. "When he successfully attacks directly, if I have control of a Frog monster other than Frog the Jam or Unifrog himself, then Unifrog can destroy one Magic or Trap card controlled by my opponent…and I've got Submarine Frog right here, of course…and right now you've only got one Magic card on the field to speak of."

"Wha…? Oh, crap! Not my Toon World!" Honey panicked.

"Yes, your Toon World!" Jessica returned. "Go on, Unifrog—destroy Toon World!" And at her bidding, Unifrog bounded forward and stabbed right through the Toon World book with his horn, utterly destroying it. As this happened, the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon put its front claws to its head as a panicked expression emerged on its face…and then it, too, spontaneously exploded.

"Oh, no…" Honey sank to her knees.

"If Toon World's destroyed, any Toon monsters you control at the time will be destroyed along with it," Jessica pointed out. "And of course, now your life points are fair game for me! But since I'm a nice girl, I'll make it quick. Submarine Frog, attack directly!" And hefting his spear in hand, Submarine Frog bounded over to Honey's side of the field till he was standing right in front of Honey herself. Honey flinched and closed her eyes, expecting to feel the sharp stab of the spear somewhere on her person…

…but she wasn't prepared to feel something cold, rubbery and slimy pressing right up on her mouth. "MMMMMPPPHHH!" she shrieked out in her throat as she felt the amphibian's mouth press on hers for a few split seconds, even while on her Duel-Disk her life point counter dropped to 0. Then, while she sat there in shock, Submarine Frog grinned right into her face before disappearing, along with the rest of the holographic images on the field.

HONEY: 0; JESSICA: 8000

Honey snapped back to her senses. "EEEEEYUCK!" she gagged, hurriedly wiping the whole length of her arm across her lips. "Gross, gross, gross! I can't believe a frog just KISSED me! EWWWW!"

Jessica giggled, then observed her own life point counter; her up-to-now untouched life points were replaced by her tournament points, climbing to 2000. "All right…guess I'm gonna have to go and find other tournament players to oust from the game, now, before it gets too late."

"Ugh…" Honey was still wiping her mouth. "I can't believe it…a frog just KISSED me!"

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Jessica asked.

Honey glared at her. "That's a serious invasion of personal space you pulled off, even if it was with a Duel Monster. I hope you know that."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, really." Jessica put up her hands in surrender. "Tell you what. I'll take you shopping at the park's gift shops to make up for it."

"Shopping?" Honey's angry look vanished instantly, her eyes replaced by stars. "Okay, you got a deal!"

A relieved look came over Jessica's face. "Okay, then. Shall we go, Ms. Pegasus?"

"Lead the way, Ms. Phoenix! Shopping spree, here we come!" Honey cheered in singsong.

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neomage: So anger in women can be dispelled by a suggestion of shopping? Interesting…review soon, everyone!