Animaniacs 5D's – Negative World Race

Episode 15 – Key to the Future

Lillian hugged her pillow tightly as she tried desperately to sleep, 'I feel bad about ignoring Yakko the way I did. It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything.' she thought to herself, 'He can get kissed by any girl he wants, it's not like I care!' She spent some more time thinking about it, only further deepening her confusion. She sighed deeply, and turned to her nightstand, catching sight of a small golden key attached to a golden chain. The key was very ornate, small curls and flowers decorated the base, somehow forming a heart that kept the decorated key balanced. It was wrapped in a little white box, the front molded with a clear plastic sheet so the merchandise could be seen, "I need to apologize!" she finally told herself out loud, and grabbed the box from the stand and lifted herself from her bed, exiting the door and sneaking towards his dorm room.

She passed by Stone's room, she knew from the loud snoring that could have easily hidden even the loudest of footsteps as she passed by, 'That boy could wake the dead!' she thought to herself and then smiled, 'But I'm glad he's with us. Yakko may never have figured out how out of control he was getting without him.' She then found herself in front of the door she was looking for. 'Well,' she thought to herself, 'here goes nothing!' and knocked on Yakko's door lightly. She heard him groan from inside, and then shift in his bed, 'Probably didn't hear me!" she thought to herself. She turned away trying to leave the scene before anyone else saw her, only to hear the door creak open and his groggy voice ask, "What is it?" She froze, her muscles stiffening up as her mind reeled with emotions. Somehow she was able to force herself to turn around and look at him, and her eyes opened wide in shock. He was normal looking yes, but his hair was slightly tussled and he had taken his jacket, shirt and shoes off so that all that was left was his trousers and gloves. He looked just like the picture in his card at the moment, one hand rubbing his sleepy eye and somehow his chest more defined than in the cartoony picture. "Um…" she squeaked so high pitched that she was sure some form of crystal had shattered. "Lillian?" he asked as he brought down his hand from his eye, "Why so early?" She quickly shoved the key into his chest, waking him up instantly as the breath was forced out of his lungs, "Happybirthday!" she said quickly and turned away. She was about to run when he grabbed her arm, "Lillian wait!" he grunted.

[Cue Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's opening theme]

"What's this all about?" he asked, his voice no longer groggy as he rubbed the pain from his chest. She turned her head again, expecting to see him again as he was, except this time she focused on his eyes. She found it easier than looking at him entirely, "Well, I guess I just forgot to give it to you!" was all she said. Yakko stopped rubbing his chest and opened his hand, looking into his palm, "A key?" he asked. "You know, for your collection." she explained, "You can let me go now!" He quickly pulled her into a hug, squeezing her shoulders gently as he embraced her, "Thanks, I was beginning to think you were upset at me!" he told her. 'I was.' she thought to herself and returned the embrace, 'But not anymore!'

The next morning she woke up and stretched, her covers falling from her silk pajamas as she leaned forward. 'It's such a nice day!' she thought to herself as she looked to the sun shining through the window. She quickly remembered what had happened as she stood there last night, Yakko had embraced her gently before she turned her head again, and kissed his cheek. The toon girl quickly turned red, her blush engulfing her entire head as more of the memory arose from her memory. Yakko had let go of her, glancing at her with both confusion and happiness. He then leaned in, and kissed her on the lips. "I have to go! Goodnight!" she had said after they had broken from their passion. Yakko waved to her as she walked away slowly and disappeared behind the corner of the hall. 'HE KISSED ME!' she screamed into her mind, and once again began a slight panic, 'What do I do now? Do I get mad? Forget it happened? Is he going to ask me out? What if he does ask me out? Do I say yes? SHOULD I say yes?' Questions ran through her mind in a rampant string, each one leading to the other as she tried to answer them all. Suddenly a smile stretched onto her face, slowly at first, but quickly reached her ears, 'OH MY GOSH!' she thought to herself and jumped out of bed.

Her smile beamed across her room as she slipped her arms through her jacket and zipped it up, she decided that a little more prep was necessary this time, and dusted her cheeks with some form of makeup. Eyeing herself in the mirror, she fixed her eye lashes, something she hadn't done in a while. She was about to put on some lipstick when her alarm buzzed, letting her know of an appointment she had to keep. 'Oh well, maybe next time!' she thought to herself as she placed the cap back on and placed it on her vanity. She turned to the door, and walked away. When she exited her room, she saw nothing, the entire place empty of life, although she did recognize that the kitchen had been used. She shook her head with a smile, and again heard snoring from Stone's room, "He's still asleep?" she asked herself, and made her way towards the room. As she turned the corner, she looked up, finding a familiar malevolent grin on a female figure covered in the color of maroon. "Inverta?" she asked as she saw the other toon, "What are you doing here?" Instead of speaking, the negative held up a small vial of something, a powder, "Just giving the others a little extra sleep!" she said and tossed the bottle to Lillian. With quick, gentle hands, the toon girl caught the vial, and turned it around, "Sleeping powder?" she asked. Inverta grinned again, her smile large and dark, and held up another bottle, showing the label on purpose, "Wanna wake them up before my brother gets here?" she asked and held up her deck, "Beat me in a duel!" Inverta then turned from the toon, and ran. "Wait!" Lillian called out, and raced after her.

Inverta ran as fast as she could, making her way to the garage. She quickly mounted a runner that looked like Lillian's, the back much higher than her own and with only two fins instead of three. It was also colored magenta instead of violet. Lillian reached her own runner just as Inverta raced off on her own, the garage door just barely open enough for her to fit through. Lillian quickly slipped her helmet on, the waves of magenta curling up at the back. With a kick of her foot, she started the runner, and raced off after her opponent. The toon girl pushed the runner to the max, easily racing by Inverta just as the other girl moved over to the duel lane. "This is going to be wonderful." Inverta whispered, "Let's kick things off!" With that, she pushed the center button on her console, the card for Speed World 2 appearing on her overly large screen, "Duel mode engaged!" the bike said out loud and the entire lane lifted up from the street, "Speed World 2 activated, Auto Pilot disabled! Ready, set, Duel!"

Inverta once again pushed her bike harder, but found herself getting no closer to Lillian, "I guess I'll go first!" shorter of the two said, and Lillian drew her first card, "I summon my Inverted Archer to the field in defense mode!" she called out, and waited as her monster dashed out of the portal next to her. The blue and pearl white archer spun around, letting his chained tunic flutter around his knees as he posed. "When my archer comes out to my field, He's allowed to take a pot shot at you for 500 of your life points!" Lillian said, and her archer turned around before he drew back an arrow, letting it fly into Inverta's chest. "ERRR!" the girl said as her LP dropped to 3500. "Next I lay three cards face down and call it a turn." Lillian finished up as her monster's stats showed up, level four with 1500 ATK and 1800 DEF, and then let her mind make her plan 'As long as I keep monsters from coming to my hand, I won't suffer any damage when she summons that blasted dragon of hers!'

"I draw!" Inverta said and added her card to her hand, "Next I summon my 'Reverse Anchorman' to the field." she called out. [Reverse Anchorman is a level 3, DATK type Warrior monster with 0 ATK and 2000 DEF. When this monster is summoned, you may spend one speed counter to search your deck for one speed spell and place one card from your hand on top of your deck.] The large monster was made to look like a bulky seaman, with a red vest and torn brown pants. His thick beard reached past his belly, and he carried on his shoulder a large anchor, holding the very tip of it instead of the top. "Now by using my speed counter, I can bring to my hand the speed spell 'Accelerator Engine'!" she said and showed off a card with what looked to be a car engine that had been torn apart piece by piece and laid out on the floor in front of what looked to be a mechanic. "Next I have to take one card from my hand and place it on top of my deck." Inverta immediately took a card from her hand and placed it on top of her deck the moment it stopped shuffling. "And, thanks to this speed spell costing me zero speed counters, I can activate it immediately, letting me earn 2 speed counters at the beginning of my turn instead!" she said, sliding it into her disk. 'Crap! I've got to figure out a way to get rid of that card, or else she'll have no problem earning speed counters for whatever she needs.' Lillian told herself and watched as her opponent pulled another card from her hand, "I play one card face down. It's your move!" Inverta told her.

"My draw!" the toon girl said as she pulled her card from the top of her wrist, "I play my 'Inverted Star Summoner' in attack mode!" What appeared next to her was a small child with a five point star hat on its head. The sleeves were long and wide, easily covering the boy's hands with bright yellow stars patterned down them. His yellow pants held up with a large white belt that had a silver star shaped buckle in the middle. Puffy pants tipped with curled elf shoes completed the ensemble. The stats that appeared showed a level of 4 with 1500 ATK and 1000 DEF, and strangely, a light attribute instead of darkness. "When this monster is summoned to my side I get to select one monster on the field and choose whether to increase or decrease that monster's level by two." Lillian told her opponent, "So I choose my Inverted Archer, and increase his level!" The little child them pointed his hand towards the archer, a soft healing light emerging from his palm as the other monster flexed its muscles, letting the level increase from 4 to 6. "Well, not bad!" Inverta said as she watched the spectacle. "Huh?" Lillian asked in surprise. "Oh come on, you really thought that I didn't know that Star Summoner was a tuner monster?" Inverta asked with cockiness. 'She knew?' the shorter girl asked herself, 'How did she know? I just found this card when going through my collection!' Lillian watched the smile on her opponent's face as she tried to discover what the other girl was thinking, 'Is she spying on me? Maybe she's trying to find a way to beat Yakko! I won't let that happen!'

"I tune my monsters together!" the two monsters lifted into the air, Star Summoner splitting into four rings of power, circling the Archer as it removed the color. The other monster suddenly burst open, spreading out into a group of six stars that quickly lined themselves up in the middle of rings, "Remember the Past as it shapes the future, Carving the Molds from the sands of time I synchro summon, 'Inverted Destroyer, Thugan Daerd'!" [Inverted Destroyer, Thugan Daerd is a level 10 Machine type synchro monster with 3800 ATK and 2500 DEF. Once per turn, this car cannot be destroyed by card effects.] The monster that appeared from the light, was a giant ship, shaped like a boat but with wings at its side in the shape of dragon wings. It also had a multitude of guns and a large skull on the front of it, "Next I activate my trap card, 'Inverted Paradise'! This card lets me protect my Destroyer by switching him into defense mode when he's attacked by one of your monsters, he also gains 500 DEF when he does." Lillian explained, and spun around on her runner, pointing her finger at Inverta's Anchorman, "Destroy her monster with Overload Cannon!" The guns lining the monster's back and sides all turned at the same time, pointing themselves towards the simple little person, and all went off. The explosion erupted like the top of a volcano, smoke and monster shards flying everywhere, "Take that!" she said in confidence. "It's not like it really mattered, you monster can destroy my defensive monster without damage calculation anyway. I'm not going to be dumb enough to send out a monster with high defense power because it'll just get destroyed." Inverta told her. Lillian let her eyes open wide in shock, 'How did she know that?' she asked herself, 'I haven't shown this card to anyone. What kind of power does she have that can spy on people without them knowing about it?'

Inverta laughed loudly, a cocky sound coming from her lips as she boasted her confidence, "You still don't understand do you?" she asked, and pulled the top card from her deck, "I play the 'Reverse Buccaneer' to my field in attack mode!" The monster that appeared wore a red bandana, black torn pants and what looked to be a form fitting red and white striped shirt. In his right hand he held a curved saber, the blade pointed down towards the ground. In his mouth he held a small dagger by the blade. [Reverse Buccaneer is a level 3 DARK attribute Warrior type monster with 1000 ATK and 500 DEF.] "My buccaneer is special, because all I have to do is sacrifice 1 speed counter to send one of your monsters out of play until the end of the turn. And since your Destroyer is the only thing you have…" Inverta hinted, getting Lillian to look up as her machine monster began disintegrating into dust, "No." was all she said, and turned back to Inverta, "Reverse Buccaneer, attack with Backstab!" the negative said, and her monster rushed forward, sliding the blade across Lillian's side.

"GNNNNNNNNNNNN!" she cried as she grabbed her side, and cringed, letting her life points drop to 3000 and her Speed Counters drop back to 2. She looked down at her side, finding no blood, but pain still evident. "I activate my trap card, 'Inverted Flamberg'. This card lets me destroy one card on your field, like that Accelerator Engine of yours." Lillian called out, and the card shot out a sword with flames surrounding it. The second the blade touched the spell card, a shining blue barrier appeared, pushing against the blade tip with equal force. "Not a bad move, but I'm afraid it's too late! I have a card that'll defend my spell card." Inverta said, and her trap card flipped up, "Behold, 'Vortex Barrier'. I negate the activation of your card and destroy it before it has a chance to take down mine." Lillian watched as her sword shattered like a cheap piece of glass striking the floor, 'How does she do that?' Lillian asked, 'It's like she's reading my mind!' Inverta simply smiled, "I don't see it." She said, catching Lillian's attention, "I don't see what he sees in you! I'm more of a woman than you, better at dueling, I'm the best of us. Why is he choosing you?" Lillian again looked to Inverta with curiosity just as she picked up a card from her hand, "I lay one card face down and call it a turn."

"My draw!" Lillian shouted as she picked up her card, "Why are you so interested in Yakko anyway?"

"I never said I was interested in Yakko!" Inverta argued. "You didn't have to say anything, but you did. You've been competing with me to get his attention! It's not working!" the shorter toon said angrily, "You're fighting alongside someone who's trying to destroy his soul, I'm pretty sure he's not going to enjoy your company! I attack with my Inverted Destroyer, Thugan Daerd." she called out. "I activate my trap card, 'Reverse Formation'!" Inverta called out, "With this card I can switch my monster into defense mode and save my life points!" The blast from the cannons enveloped her monster as it knelt down, crossing its sword in front of it, shattering as the blast continued its barrage, "Because your monster actually has ATK this time, my monster can take that monster's ATK out of your life Points." she explained as Inverta's LP dropped to 2500 and she lost a Speed Counter.

The Negative smiled, her teeth shining in the sun as she gleefully pulled the top card from her deck, "I'm going to finish you off with this one last turn, she said as her Speed Counters lifted to 6. "Huh?" Lillian asked. "I summon my tuner monster, the 'Reverse Flag Master'. This level 3 monster may only have 300 ATK and DEF, but you see, by sacrificing one of my Speed Counters, I can special summon one 'Reverse' monster from my hand. Like my 'Reverse Legion Fist'." [Reverse Legion Fist is a level 5 Warrior type monster with 2000 ATK and 0 DEF. You may remove 1 Speed Counter from Speed World to Increase this monster's ATK by 500.] "Next It's my turn to synchro summon, and I choose to bring out my 'Captain of the Reverse, Condread'."

"Wait, you're not summoning your dragon?" Lillian asked. "You really thought I was going to summon her didn't you, the Negative Rose Dragon? That's why you kept your hand low, trying to keep monsters out of your hand so that you'd take less damage when they were destroyed." Lillian looked at the three cards she had, realizing that her opponent was correct, all she had were three speed spells. Next I use the Speed Spell, 'Plunder Drain'! This lets me destroy that pesky spell card you have out, I can't let your monster switch into defense mode can I?" Inverta said, and watched as Lillian's spell card shattered. "Oh, and by the way, I can sacrifice 5 Speed Counters so that I can double Condread's ATK!" Inverta told her. Lillian looked up, finding the captain monster with the twin bladed rapier, grow in size. "Uh…" she began. "Oh, yes I forgot, I can also send two cards from my hand to let him attack a second time!" her opponent said, causing Lillian to cringe, 'I lost…again!'

"Condread, attack the Destroyer!" Inverta shouted, and the captain spun his sword in the air, slashing through the ship and destroying it. "No!" Lillian shouted as her LP dropped to 1000. "And again to finish her off!" Inverta shouted, and pointed her finger. Condread turned to her, a pleading look on his face, "Don't give me that and do as I command!" Inverta shouted. The captain turned back around, and lunged for Lillian, the girl screaming as the blade was plunged through her, the entire world whiting out as she fell unconscious. "So long looser!" Inverta said as she raced off down the road.

Back at the shop, Yakko sat up and yawned, stretching his arms out as far as they would go. He looked around, trying to find the girl that he knew he had kissed last night, "Did I dream all that?" he asked himself, "NAH! It was totally real!" he said as he leaned back against his pillows and crossed his arms behind his head. He then quickly got out of bed, dressed and made his way down to Lillian's room. He knocked, and when she didn't answer, he opened the door, expecting to find her asleep. Instead he found the room empty, void of anything that remotely suggested that she had been there, "What the…?" he asked himself, and looked down when he walked in, finding the key she had given him, still on the necklace. He bent down and gingerly picked it up, "Lillian," he whispered, "Where'd you go?"

End Episode 15