Now I know I sound like a broken record, but I digress: I do not own Steven Universe or any of its original characters nor do I own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its original characters, I can say, however, that I do own Stephanie, her yami, Primrose, and all OCs I chose to make, including original Crystal Beasts, i.e. Bismuth Beaver, Crystal Myths, i.e: Garnet Mother Time, and other original cards. If I did own Steven Universe, trust me, things would've been a lot different and if I own Yu-Gi-Oh there would've been a way for Atem to stay and have all his memories.
Screwball6580: I'm glad you're liking this so much, it's a real hoot to write, type, whatever. Live long, have fun and never make sense, because what fun is there in making sense, right back at you ;P! Lol!
foxchick1: To be fair, it's Pearl, even in Future Snow Day proves she can still be a little much when she tried to over-dress Steven for the weather, trust me, she is going to learn her lesson...she's just going to have to learn it the hard way. Glad you love the ships though; I know I do! Lol!
pokemon master sans: First, love the name, second, glad I'm not the only one who found the song fitting for Pearl, glad you like my story though, hope you continue reading and make pick up another story to read between chapters!
Lady Twilight Prime: To response to your review in order; ya coulda fooled me disney-fanatic in horror-fan-clothing! Lol! As for Pearl, well, think about it, she's gonna do what she feels she has to, plus I'm not the only one who felt the song was fitting, just ask pokemon master sans. Tell me; what do you think of the newest flashback of Ancient Egypt? I like to think Yugi enjoyed it o! ;P! Lol! You know I had to have couples dancing and like hell I was going to leave my favorite cheeto-puff out! As for Pink-Steph, well...let's just say this won't be her last appearance and it's going to take a while for Stephanie herself to notice. As for Yugi being a part demon...I'm not telling w! I honestly couldn't think of a better moment to bring out the wand, but Stephanie herself isn't going to wield it until much later. As for the new guy being Black Diamond...again, I'm not telling! Lol! Have fun, mind saving a piece for me? ;P!
Frostlash: Again, to be fair, I'm not the only one who can see Pearl actually pulling this sort of thing in the actual show, so...yeah. I've never heard of this song before but I appreciate the faith, hope you enjoy!
Theinzmann111: I realize the watlz was a missed Fusion opportunity, but think of it this way; Yugi and Stephanie just met maybe two-three days ago, while Stephanie had her entire life prior to fusing with Amethyst and had at least a few weeks to get to know Connie before forming Stevonnie. So the way I see it, it's still a little too early for Yugi and Stephanie to fuse, but on the note of their Fusion; what do you think they're name will be? I'm curious as I haven't really thought that part through completely yet.
Sleep did not easily find Stephanie Lily Quartz-Universe AKA Stephanie Lily Quartz-Butterfly that night. Her mind was just too heavily weighed with the evenings' events.
After Pearl had disappeared, Yugi had chosen that moment to return and, in a moment of paranoia and fear-induced hesitance and selfishness; Stephanie hide Mr. Muto's card in the back of her sash, later hiding it under her pillow when she retired for the night. When they returned to the ballroom, her grandparents and the Gems, minus a cold, distant Pearl, almost swarmed her, asking if she was fine, which she lied, despite hating how icky it left her feeling. She hated lying, especially to close friends and family, but she didn't want to be a burden.
Besides, in her mind, she was being selfish enough as it was.
It didn't help that despite her attempts to forget the encounter in the woods wasn't going how she hoped, despite the over-hanging shadow of her upcoming duel. There was just no way for her to get Pearl's chilling demeanour and almost dark expressions and tone of voice out of her mind. She had never seen the pale Gem act or speak like that before, if she hadn't known any better she would've it was a completely different Pearl or a Gem masquerading as her. Unfortunately, Stephanie did know better and it wasn't making her feel any better.
As she sat at the vanity in her room in Pegasus' castle combing her hair as she got ready for her duel, Stephanie was still plagued with her guilt and woes, 'This whole thing is just so screwy, first Pegasus somehow kidnaps the Crystal Gems with Gem freaking shock collars and now Pearl turns around-!' Stephanie's mind flashes to the moment with Pearl in the woods only to flash further back to the incident with Lion and her mother's sword, then even further when she had asked to go to Big Apple City and she set the comb down, putting her head in her hands, 'Why would she say those things?'
Primrose stood behind her lighter half, hands on the chair's backrest, leaning forward with a concerned expression, "I wish I knew the answer, but unfortunately, even my powers have their limits and mind-reading just isn't one of the Earrings' abilities.'
'I just...I don't understand...why would Pearl...I get she had that collar on, so do Amethyst, Ruby and Sapphire, but they weren't there to try and persuade me, it was just Pearl,' Stephanie thought as she picked up her deck and started looking through the cards, until she got to Pearl Cottontail, she just stared at it, 'I get that she's protective of me; I'm not stupid, I have mom's gemstone and I know Pearl still hasn't gotten over her, not completely, I'm not stupid; but I'm not a baby anymore! When is she going to get that?' Her hands trembled as she clenched her teeth at the reminder of the constant coddling, she hated it. It was fine when she was little, but now? She just hated it.
'What are you going to do with Mr. Muto's card?' Primrose decided to change the topic, genuinely curious. Remembering the other new situation, Stephanie reshuffled her deck and set it back on her vanity before picking up the card in question and stared. In the clear daylight, it was easier to see Mr. Muto on the card, but for some reason it was rather faded, like the ink or graphite was old, but she can still see the colour well enough.
'I can't believe I almost forgot about him...Yugi's Grandfather,' Stephanie thought as she looked into wine-red orbs, faded on the card but no less intense in their emotion, 'I can't believe I'm hiding this from him; why am I so...so confused...?' Again, the image of Yugi walking away from her filtered through her mind's eye and she shook her head, 'This is his grandfather's soul for crying out loud! Why should I keep it from him?'
'Perhaps you're asking the questions backwards?' Primrose suggested prompting Stephanie to look at her confused through the mirror, 'Perhaps you shouldn't be asking 'why should you?' but rather 'why are you?'.'
'Why...why am I hiding it from him?' Stephanie questioned herself looking back down at the card, 'I'm...I'm...afraid...'
'And what are you afraid of?'Primrose prodded very gently. 'That...' Stephanie began to answer as tears started to trickle down her cheeks, 'That...what Pearl said...was right...that he will...leave...'
'And does Yugi strike you as the type to abandon someone in need, even when he has no business in whatever is going on?'Primrose questioned with a smile, which grew as a soft smile grew on Stephanie's face, both girls thought back to how Yugi played a part in keeping Leon in the tournament and tried to defend her against the fake-Seto's deal. Stephanie's face turned a deep red as she thought back to when Yugi had confronted her after she scarified herself during their duel with Yami Bakura, before answering her darker half, 'No.'
'Feel a little better?' Primrose asked and Stephanie smiled at her through the mirror. 'A bit, yeah,' Stephanie replied before setting the card down, she then thought for a moment before thinking for a moment and picked up a little piece of white hair-ribbon, placing it beneath her hair like a bandanna, but tied the ends in a bow a little above her left ear.
Still in her nightgown, Stephanie turns to her bed where she laid out her outfits; the sundress-version of her mother's signature gown, the outfit from when she first met Yugi and arrived on the island, her usual pink-star-print shirt and jean shorts, another sundress that was white with a two-layered skirt, the under layer being white and the top layer being pink and another two piece outfit that consisted of a long white skirt that was just a little past her knees, reaching her mid-shins, almost resembling a school girl's skirt with a pink trim on the hem, a matching, slightly loose-fitting sailor shirt that had the Crystal Gem star on the front and a dark pink necktie.
She did not want to wear that dress again, not only did it make her feel like a Mini-Rose all over again when she was trying to put as much distance between herself and her mother as possible, she really doubted she'd want Pearl to see her in such a dress, so she immediately folded it and put it away in her suitcase. She really didn't feel like wearing a dress in general at the moment so she put the other one back in her suitcase as well.
After a moment she settled on her skirt, top and necktie. For one, the outfit was comfortable; it was one she really liked and felt like it really suited her without going all out rebellious to her roots. Looking in the mirror, she realized the only thing dark in her appearance the patch of dark brownish-black atop her head and her brown eyes, everything else was a mix of light colors; pink and white. She was quick to push the odd thought out of her mind and quickly placed her locket back on before pulling on a pair of pale, rosy-pink stockings and her ballet shoes. Plus the shirt was loose enough that when she lifted her arms up above her head, it rode up to reveal her gemstone.
She fastened on her belt and placed her deck in its holder before looking in the mirror again and smiled more confidently as she fastened her locket around her neck, feeling a bit stronger then before.
'You look great,' Primrose complimented sincerely as Stephanie applied a light touch of gloss to her lips. 'Thanks, you look great too,' Stephanie replied sweetly and it was true, despite wearing an identical outfit to her own, Primrose's was altered to suit her slightly older, taller and somewhat thinner frame, making the outfit look a little more mature on the spirit of the Earrings.
'Ready?' Primrose asked as Stephanie picked up Mr. Muto's card and placed it in her skirt pocket. 'Ready,' Stephanie replied before Primrose retreated into the Earrings until called upon.
Despite learning how Amethyst and Ruby had dragged Bandit Keith off to a holding cell, most likely one similar to where she had found Mokuba in, Stephanie looked down both ends of the halls before stepping out of her room out of caution, where Lion sat waiting, having stepped out to give her privacy, having spent enough time around humans to pick up the idea of modesty. Stephanie knelt down and scratched Lion under the chin and between the ears, prompting a pleased purr, briefly putting her hand through his magical mane, contemplating popping through Lars' head, just to see how things were, but decided against it. She wasn't sure if she could mentally handled whatever was on the other side of the now two-way connection.
Ultimately, the sooner Pegasus was defeated, be it by her or by Yugi's hands, the better (and sooner) she could start sleeping.
Stephanie and Lion then walked towards the doors to the arena, where they were soon met with Peridot, Jasper, Lapis and Bismuth, making her smile, "Hey guys."
"Hey Stephanie!" Lapis and Peridot smiled brightly. "Nice outfit," Lapis smiled, "I really like the necktie."
"Thanks," Stephanie smiled brushing some hair from her eyes. "That's...an awful lot of...white..." Jasper said as she and Bismuth both cringed at the word, Lapis and Peridot shivered as well, much to Stephanie's confusion. "Well, yeah, white's one of the best accents for pink," Stephanie replied shrugging, "It's a human thing..." The Gems all shrugged at that.
"Where is everybody?" Stephanie asked confused. "Either waiting up on the balcony cause they didn't want to show favoritism or wishing Leon luck," Peridot answered.
"I still can't believe it," Bismuth admitted, "It seems like just yesterday we we're saving the little tyke and now you have to duel him."
"I know, I'm still reeling a little," Stephanie admitted, "But I'm not going to let my friendship with Leon stop me from giving it my all in this duel, I have too much riding on it and too much respect for Leon to do otherwise."
Jasper nodded her head approvingly, "A duel of honor isn't a duel unless both warriors are willing to give their all."
"This isn't a spar Jasper," Peridot reminded flatly. "A duel is a duel, irregardless of how it's fought," Jasper rebuffed stubbornly upturning her gemstone, making Peridot roll her eyes while the other three giggled.
"It's going to start soon, c'mon Tiny!" Bismuth said picking up Peridot by her waist, eliciting a startled yelp from the shortest pure Gem. "Good luck Steph!" Lapis added giving her little friend a hug, Jasper simply gave the hybrid a nod and a pat atop her head, making her give a little smile.
Taking a moment to adjust her hair and ribbon, Stephanie took a moment to take a deep breath, before pushing the doors open, revealing the arena. As she walked towards the blue console, she took in Leon peering eagerly over the red console. A glance to the balcony showed everyone watching with anticipating smiles.
"Good luck Steph!" Joey called supportively. "Man, this is so...new..." Tristan said more to himself, "I'm not sure who to cheer for..."
"Yeah, I mean, we've known both of them for about the same amount time," Ryou said in understanding. "Yeah, but to be fair, Stephanie's the one with the most at stake here," Yugi pointed out.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot that part of your guy's story," Dorothy said in sympathy, "Her father..."
"Shh!" Mako and Rex hissed slapping a hand over her mouth. "Mmph!" Dorothy grunted in annoyed-confusion glaring at them. "Ix-nay on the lost ince-pay!" Rex hissed before looking over anxiously to where Star and Marco sat by Pegasus, accepting glasses from Sheppard, smiling as they watched their granddaughter approach her console.
Dorothy slapped their hands away, fed up, "What? Why should I-?"
"Dorothy, you saw what they did to Bandit Baaaa-" Joey started to insult but remembered Stephanie, glancing over to see she had stopped in her walk to look directly at him, arching a brow, "Perv; Bandit Sicko Perv," Appeased, Stephanie finally walked up to her console, "What makes ya think they can't do worse if they find out about what you-know-who did to he-who-must-not-be-mentioned-by-name!"
"Did you just make a Harry Potter reference?" Seto asked arching a brow as Lion padded up the stairs to join them, rubbing up between Yugi and Mokuba, making the two chuckle. "So what if I did?" Joey replied with a bite in his voice.
"I'm impress," Seto answered smirking, "I didn't know Mutts could read above the grade four level."
A vein pulsed on Joey's head before he snapped, "Why I outta-! That's it!" He tried to lunge, but Bismuth stopped him by grabbing onto his jacket collar effectively stopping him in his tracks as he ran in place, "LET ME AT HIM! I'LL KNOCK HIS TEETH OUT!"
"Joey will you cool it!" Tea said in exasperation as she, Ryou and Tristan all sweatdropped at the blond's antics.
Lapis summoned some water from her gemstone, morphing it into a little ball she hovered in her hand and lightly blew on it, before pulling her arm back. Joey yelped and spluttered as the now icy cold ball of water him right in the side of the face, Bismuth having stepped aside to avoid getting hit herself.
"Better?" Lapis asked and Joey blinked at her. "What was I angry about?" Joey asked genuinely confused, making everyone else snicker. "It worked," Mokuba smirked in amusement, running his fingers through Lion's mane.
(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)
"Hurry guys, Steph's duel is about to start!" Connie said impatiently bouncing on her heels as she watched the older members of their group, who were having breakfast at their leisure. "Connie, you know its rude to rush people when they're eating," Mr. Maheswaran chided his daughter gently. "But-!" Connie tried to protest.
"You kids can always go ahead and watch it yourselves," Vidalia suggested gently, "You understand the game better than any of us anyways." Several adults nodded in agreement.
None of the kids disagree and immediately rushed for central command, where the Off-Colors were already manning their stations, alternating between watching the duel and keeping an eye on any remaining robots Pegasus still had in town. Lars, of course, was sitting leisurely in his chair, munching on a sandwich and sipping from a thermos filled with what smelled like jasmine tea.
"Just in time," The Left Rutile twin said seeing them first. "They're just about to start," The Right Rutile twin added.
"Where'd you get those?" Ronaldo asked Lars, curiously, eyes narrowed at the food that wasn't apart of the rations. "Personal supply," Lars answered briskly after swallowing only to then immediately take another bite to avoid more questions.
"The captain might not function one hundred percent like a human being anymore," Rhodonite explain, "But he still gets hungry, so whenever we stop at a planet that still has plant-life, he stocks on what he can and built a freeeeze-her," They all snorted at the butchered prounciation, "To store it all in and kick-ten," More snorts, "To cook, you should try his taka-yak-ee," Now a few were trying not to fall over from laughter, but thankfully the normally anxious fusion was too into her daydream of his captain's cooking to notice, "Stars, it just so divine!"
Lars almost snort, facing turning a noticeably darker shade of pink on the cheek, "Rhodonite cut it out, your going to make me all out blush!"
"I predict that the captain is going to be very flattered by Rhodonite's perfectly put praise of his cooking!" Padparascha 'helpfully' spoke up, hands to her cheeks in a gushing fashion, prompting Lars' face to turn an even darker shade of pink as he face-palmed, making everyone laugh, "And the duel is about to start!" They immediately returned their attention to the screens as the window with the duel footage was enlarged a little so they could see better.
"This is defiantly going to be interesting," Jenny smiled eagerly. "Why do you say that?" Peedee asked curiously. "For one thing, this is the first time we actually get to see Stephanie duel," Jenny answered. "And for another, I heard a lot about Leon von Schroeder, and I'm really looking forward to see if he uses his actual deck or one that his brother put together for him," Kevin added looking very interested, which made everyone who wasn't in the know of Duel Monsters Pro-Circuit to share a confused look.
(Duelist Kingdom)
"Hope your ready to duel Princess Pink!" Leon called over making his opponent sigh as they shuffled their decks. "Leon, I might be a princess, but that doesn't change who I am," Stephanie tried to tell him, "And my name is Stephanie, I'd really like it if you could call me that, or Steph for short if you'd like."
Leon thought it over before giving a 'meh' type of shrug, "I like Princess Pink better!" Making Stephanie fall over anime-style.
"The second day of the Duelist Kingdom Semi-Finals shall now commence," Croquet announced formally, "The first duel shall be male dueling prodigy Leon von Schroeder VS Princess Stephanie Lily Quartz-Butterfly," No one missed how Stephanie cringed at her new full name, title included, as she stood up, "Let the battle begin!"
On cue, Stephanie's earrings lit up, followed by her gemstone, catching her grandparents, Leon, the Kaiba brothers, Lion, Mako and Rex off-guard as she switched with Primrose. Primrose stretched her arms out to the side and smiled warmly, "I do hope your prepared Leon, because I don't plan to go easy on you just because your so young." A gleam of pink light caught Marco and Star's eyes glanced down at their granddaughter's stomach where her shirt rode up oh so slightly and blinked, was it just them, or did her gemstone look different?
"I was hoping you'd say that," Leon smiled eyes gleaming as they picked up their first five cards and their life points set themselves. "Duel!" They declared.
Leon LPs: 2000
Primrose LPs: 2000
"Royalty first," Leon said with an almost mocking bow. Primrose chuckled before insisting with a mock-curtsy, "Age before title."
Leon shrugged and drew the first card and already had a plan in mind picking a card, "I'll play this in defense mode," He placed it down and one of his squares glowed, "And I'll end my turn."
Primrose wasn't the only one who quirked a brow at such an opening move.
"Talk about anticlimactic," Peridot remarked. "Why didn't he put something down to defend his monster though?" Joey said confused, "That's, like, the biggest of all rookie mistakes."
"You would know," Seto remarked earning a pointed glare from the blonde. "But Joey's not wrong," Yugi thought out loud, "Leon didn't get this far just on luck, after all, so why not play a trap or spell in case Steph played a beast with high attack points?"
"Maybe dueling royalty got to his head?" Mokuba suggested on his new friend's behalf, "I mean, if it were me, I'd make a mistake or two, too."
"But Leon's had a whole day to get over the whole 'I'm in the presence of and going to duel royalty' thing," Ryou pointed out, "That doesn't sound like it makes a lot of sense."
"Plus, he's been assuming Rose-" Jasper started. "Stephanie!" The Gems, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea and Ryou all corrected automatically. "Whatever," Jasper said without missing a beat, "Has been a princess this entire time, why would he start slipping up now?"
(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)
"That is weird," Lars remarked after sipping his drink, "Its practically customary to throw down a trap or spell or two or one of both, just in case the monster's defense points and effect, if any, aren't enough."
Jenny hummed in agreement, "And Leon never struck me as the type to make these sorts of mistakes..." Her eyes widened a little in thought, "Unless..."
(Duelist Kingdom)
Primrose was thinking something similar, 'They have a point, Leon hasn't come this far getting lucky off rookie mistakes like this; he has to have something planned...' As she drew and looked at her hand, she thought it over, 'Maybe it has some kind of special power like my beasts...after all, we never did retrieve his deck after it was knocked into the ocean with those Star Chips, so who knows what he's working with now...' She then looked between her available monsters critically, 'I can at least assume it has a decent level of defense points, so...' She picked a card, 'This should work.'
"I summon Topaz Tiger in attack mode!" Primrose announced as she summoned her yellow feline, who roared in anticipation as she appeared.
"Steph sure likes cats, huh?" Joey mused. "Yeah..." Yugi mumbled with a wide smile, unsure why this apparent fact made him so happy on a personal level.
"Topaz attack!" Primrose ordered, "Solar Claw Pounce!"
Her tigress yowled as her claws glowed with sunlight as she bounded towards the glowing square as her attack power starts to climb.
"Hey, why is Topaz Tiger's attack points climbing?" Lapis questioned confused, "This isn't a field..."
"How is...?" Leon started to question as well. "All of my beasts have a unique skill apart from forming Geodes," Primrose smiled, "Topaz's happened to be gaining four attack points during battle."
Topaz Tiger. ATK/DEF: 2000/1000
Leon suddenly smiled, much to Primrose's surprise before his monster was revealed and everyone blinked, Rex being the one to ask, "Is that...Little..."
"Red..." Mako started to add. "Riding..." Dorothy continued. "Hood...?" Tea finished as they all stared in stunned-disbelief.
Standing there on the field was an almost chibified version of the ever popular, red-cloaked fairy-tale character. She was small, in the life-like scale, looking to be just about the same size as Leon, maybe just slightly shorter, around five-to-seven-years-old in appearance with pale skin, rosy, round cheeks, short light brown hair her signature short hooded cloak and big, dark eyes wearing a cute pink dress with a frilly white apron tied around her waist and thick looking brown boots, basket in hand.
Little Red Riding Hood. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: FAIRY/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 800/1200
Little Red took in her surroundings before looking up as a shadow descended and shrieked as Topaz Tiger pounced, slashing down on the little Fairy-type monster with her claws. Primrose rubbed at her eyes to make sure she hadn't been seeing things but the shredded hood that lingered for a few seconds under her tiger's paws proved otherwise.
"Did I seriously just destroy Little Red Riding Hood?" Primrose asked in disbelieved-shock. "Better believe it and I got plenty more fairy-tales waiting in the wings, each one having their own little surprise in store," Leon grinned widely.
"First he keeps talkin' like we're in a fairy-tale 'n' now he duels with the actual characters?" Joey asked in disbelief as Mokuba snickered, having gotten a glimpse of Leon's deck last night.
(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)
Lars leaned forward a little with an amused smile, "This are about to get...interesting..."
(Duelist Kingdom)
"When my Little Red Riding Hood is about to be destroyed she lets out a call for a warrior!" Leon exclaimed, "It let's me summon Forest Hunter!"
The monster who appeared, like Little Red, was very human in appearance, male and dressed old-fashionedly in a brown tunic and matching trousers with a pair of thick boots like Little Red, a brown hat with a dark green feather on it on his head. He was well-built, but his hair was silvery-grey, pulled back and just long enough to make a small ponytail. He was armed with a bow, an arrow already in hand and ready to fire, a full quiver strapped to his back.
Forest Hunter. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1200/800
"Scary..." Peridot admitted shivering at the scary frown on Forest Hunter's face. "Big whoop, Steph's tiger is still stronger, even when the power boost wears off," Bismuth remarked as Topaz Tiger jumped back to return to her mistress' field, teeth bared in warning to the new arrival, who locked eyes calmly with her as her power boost wore off.
Topaz Tiger. ATK/DEF: 1600/1000
"And whenever my Hunter is summoned to the field," Leon continued as his huntsman pulled back on his bow, aiming at Topaz Tiger, "He immediate goes on the hunt, removing any one Beast or Beast-Warrior from play!"
Primrose, Yugi, Seto and Ryou gasped, "Remove them from play!"
"Shoot!" Leon shouted and Forest Hunter obeyed, firing his bow and striking Topaz Tiger, who yowled in pain before disappearing in a flash of light.
"No worries, she'll just come back as a Geode 'n' Steph will bring her back in no time!" Joey said trying to be positive, but faltered when no Geode appeared, "Ugh...guys...Steph? Where's the Geode? Why isn't a Geode appearing?"
"Yeah, what gives?" Tristan voiced his confusion, "A Geode always appears when one of her Crystal Beasts leaves the field."
"Yeah, when they're destroyed," Seto stressed the condition for a Geode. "What's the difference?" Joey asked confused. "When a monster is removed from play, it doesn't go into the GY or the Spell and Trap Zone in this case," Mako explained. "Then...where does it go?" Lapis asked confused. "It goes into a separate pile until the player uses a card to bring in back into play," Rex answered.
"Well, how is she supposed to do that?" Joey asked in concern. "No clue," Both male Finalists answered simply, making both Joey and Tristan face-plant with groans.
Star tensed up at the new information, hands clenched. Marco noticed and placed a hand comfortingly over both of hers. Star glanced at him gratefully with a small smile before re-focusing on the duel, 'Already lost a monster, not a good first round...but at least she didn't lose life points over it.'
'I guess the saying's true, big things really do come in small packages,' Primrose thought impressed by Leon's clever thinking as she set Topaz Tiger's card in a space above her graveyard space, 'But still, his Hunter isn't all that stronger then his Little Red Riding Hood, a monster like my Jaspers can take him out eas-' She paused with a blink of shock as she realized what she just thought and shook her head, 'Wait, MY Jaspers? Where did that come from?' She took a breath and refocused her attention on her turn, 'Either way, my Rhino and Puma can handle his hunter next turn, so for now...' She placed a card down and said, "Your turn Leon."
'This just started and it's already so much fun!' Leon thought excitedly as he drew, 'Who would've guessed I'd duel an actual princess; Sig is never going to believe this!' Leon barely suppressed an excited squeal, already able to imagine his brother's reaction to hearing how he not only met the heads of one branch of the Butterfly Family, but got to duel an apparent heir as well, Leon then shook his head, 'Focus, Leo! Focus!' He examined his hand and grinned, 'This'll work!'
Leon picked a card and said aloud, "I'll place this card face-down and end my turn!"
'At least I know for sure that Leon defiantly earned his place here,' Primrose thought as she drew.
(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)
Jenny winced, "Now there's a way to start a duel." Buck and Kevin nodded in agreement.
"What?" Connie asked confused, "What's so bad, can't Steph just use a card like Monster Reborn to bring back her tiger?"
"Not that simple," Lars shook his head, "Monster Reborn brings back a monster from the Graveyard pile, removing a card from play sends the card to the Banished pile."
"Banished?" Peedee asked as he and Onion turned to the captain curiously. "Banished basically works like a secondary Graveyard or Extra Deck," Kevin explained patiently, "The main difference is you can't use any of the cards in that pile unless you use pacific cards to bring them back, and Monster Reborn doesn't have that power."
"An example would be my Burial from a Different Dimension card," Jamie spoke up as he fished out his deck and pulled out his desired spell card, showing it to the kids, revealing it to having an almost futuristic looking coffin on it, "It lets me return up to three cards from the Banished pile back into the game, problem being it sends to the Graveyard instead of back to the Deck or Extra Deck, depending what cards you chose to bring back, which is where cards like Monster Reborn come in."
All three kids made 'o' faces as they took in and accepted the explanation.
(Duelist Kingdom)
"I'd like to see your hunter handle this Crystal Beast," Primrose said as she drew, she glanced at her new card before playing a different one, "Biggs Puma!"
Biggs and Jasper's eyes both widened in surprise as her new monster appeared with a battle cry. It was a female puma, easily around six ft tall with a slight reddish hue to its thick coat of fur. Her teeth and claws gleamed in the light like knife blades and her eyes were a gorgeous shade of pale blue. She wore a fancy-looking collar around her neck that was chunky, like armor made of what looked like silver with matching ankle guards all decorated with cabachon pear-cut biggs jaspers and to finish the look was a silver ring that clung to the end of her tail.
Crystal Beast Biggs Puma. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 3. ATK/DEF: 1600/1150
"She really likes her cats..." Mako remarked with an arched brow.
Star pouted, "I was really hoping she'd be a dog person..."
Marco chuckled, patting his wife's shoulder, "Maybe she likes both..."
However, Leon didn't look all that worried, which Tea noticed, "That's weird."
"What is it Tea?" Ryou asked. "It's just...doesn't Leon look weirdly calm for someone who's about losing a lot of life points?" Tea asked much to everyone else's interest. "Yeah, he does seem rather chill," Rex admitted, "If this attack goes through he'll lose four hundred life points."
"Guess he has some big card waiting in the wings," Maisie mused.
"Biggs attack!" Primrose ordered as her puma crouched, preparing to pounce as Forest Hunter tensed, "Aura Claws!" Biggs Puma's claws glowed the game deep orangey-red color as her gemstones before she leaped, flying straight for Forest Hunter, who grunted as she used the momentum to knock him to the ground, pinning him with her weight.
"Not bad!" Leon smiled much to Primrose's surprise, "Now I can use my trap card!"
"A trap!" Primrose's eyes widened as Leon picked up his face-down card and showed it to her. "It's called Batteguard Rage," Leon explained as he set it back down and his Hunter began to glow red, his morphing into a rage-filled snarl as he abandoned his weapons to struggle out of from under Biggs Puma's hold, he managed to get one arm free, using that hand to catch the feline by her jaw, making her snarl back as his eyes turned red.
"Whoa, look at Forest Hunter!" Tristan gasped in shock, "He looks like someone just called insulted him to his face!"
"That's the power of rage," Seto spoke up, "Its unbridled and nearly unstoppable as an emotion, but as a power, no one; man or beast, stands a chance."
"It gives my Forest Hunter a one thousand attack boost!" Leon exclaimed with a grin as his Hunter raised both his legs, kicking Biggs Puma in the chest, shoving her off him, "Making him stronger then Biggs Puma!"
Primrose, Yugi, Seto and Joey's eyes widened in shock, all of them echoing, "A thousand!"
Forest Hunter. ATK/DEF: 2200/800
With the predatory feline off him, Forest Hunter grabbed his axe and threw it, making Biggs Puma yowl as it struck home in her neck, destroying her, making Primrose grunt as her life points dropped.
Primrose LPs: 1400
"Your not the only one with a trap card," Primrose smirked much to Leon's surprise as she revealed her own face-down, "When a Crystal Beast is destroyed either by a monster or a monster's special effect, Crystal Conclave allows me to summon a new beast straight from my deck," She looked through her deck before selecting her chosen monster as a jasper geode formed in her Spell & Trap zone, the deep red shards glowed in the lights, "And I chose Sapphire Pegasus!"
Her magnificent steed appeared through a pale blue portal, earning a gasp from all in the hall, especially Pearl, awed by the entrance. "And since Sapphire was summoned, I can use her magic to add a Crystal Geode to my Spell & Trap zone," Stephanie continued fishing another card from her deck, this time placing it in the lower row on her console, "And I chose one my Quzartzes." A new geode formed, this one having pink crystals shining through the cracks.
"It won't matter how many geodes you have," Leon said determinedly, "Your Sapphire isn't strong enough to beat my Hunter!"
"Maybe not by herself..." Primrose said with a cryptic air, a small smile on her lips, making Pearl gasp softly in realization.
"Yeah, that's right," Joey remembered, "Steph can fuse her monsters without the Polymerization card."
"Fuse monsters without Polymerization?" Maisie and the Kaiba brothers asked confused. "Her Crystals are a lot like my Gladiators," Dorothy explained, "They use Contact Fusion to merge into one new beast, its actually pretty amazing."
"Contact Fusion?" Mokuba asked. "Its a rare type of fusion, I'll explain it later," Maisie answered him.
"I bet she's going to try to summon Mother Time like last time," Lapis mused aloud, mostly to her fellow Gems. "She kicked major butt, so its no wonder!" Peridot grinned.
"But it makes little sense," Jasper said. "What do you meant?" Bismuth asked. "I mean, sure, Garnet's monster-counterpart is strong, but the pebble's Hunter is still stronger by one hundred points," Jasper pointed out, making Lapis and Peridot deflate at the realization.
"Don't worry," Yugi tried to reassure, "I'm sure Steph has a plan."
"Hopefully," Lapis sighed. "Hey guys, any clue which Crystal Beast that new Geode belongs to?" Joey asked curiously, "Cause I don't remember any of 'em bein' pink."
Ryou shrugged, "Sorry."
Tristan and Bismuth likewise shook their heads, "No clue."
(Beach City, Sun Incinerator)
"This is sure going to be a tricky one," Lars mused. "How so?" Ronaldo asked confused.
"Stephanie's really going to have to scrape the bottom of the barrel with her luck if she wants to beat twenty-two hundred attack points," Jenny pointed out. "And so far, none of her beasts seem to scratch two thousand," Jamie added looking a little concerned, glancing at Lars, who remained completely focused on the screen.
Buck smirked, "But you can't deny a thrill of watching her try to figure this out."
"True," Kevin nodded with a knowing smile, "After all, she's spent how long watching the five of us duel?"
"Come on Stephanie!" Connie cheered as she and Onion clenched their fists, the boy silently cheering his friend on.
(Duelist Kingdom)
Up in the rafters, the cloaked woman was watching, this time lounging on her side like a cat, hood still heavily shadowing her face. In her hand was a martini glass, filled with a minty-green drink with a cherry floating lazily in the liquid with some ice and a slice of a pink fruit wedged into the rim of the glass.
"Let see you get out this, Princesa*," The woman murmured against her glass before taking a sip.
Down below, Primrose gazed at Leon and his empowered Warrior before looking down at her hand, 'Right now neither Mother Time or Kunapipi are strong enough to take down his Forest Hunter on their own and I don't have a spell to increase their power right now.'
"But there has to be a Myth that can,"Stephanie said in concern. 'There is, but currently we don't have the right monsters in place,' Primrose replied as she looked at her hand, 'We still need Ruby Carbuncle, Amethyst Cat and Pearl Cottontail...'
'Sapphire, Ruby, Amethyst and Pear-?'Stephanie began to question before her eyes widened, 'Wait, there's a card version of HER? Isn't that kinda overkill? What about Sardonyx or Smokey Quartz?'
'It's a possibility if we had the right cards, but right now, we don't,' Primrose reasoned as she picked a spell card and placed it face down, 'For now, we focus on getting Ruby Carbuncle on the field,' She felt Stephanie nod, before she said aloud, "I end my turn."
"Forest Hunter destroy her Sapphire Pegasus!" Leon immediately ordered after drawing and his Hunter, fired an arrow, piercing her monster in the chest, making it whinny out in pain before being destroyed, reforming as her Geode form just seconds later.
Primrose LPs: 1000
Everyone up in the balcony gasped in concerned-surprise as Tea said, "She's already lost half her life points!"
"And thanks to Crystal Conclave, she can summon a new monster," Yugi said as Primrose fished a card from her deck.
Primrose summoned a familiar beast that made many gape, "Pearl Cottontail."
"Steph are you nuts!" Tristan, Joey, Peridot, Bismuth and Lapis all yelled in disbelief as her rabbit appeared, scratching at its ears, completely unfazed by the blood-thirsty hunter in front of her. "How is that supposed to help?" Seto and Rex asked in disbelief.
"SO CUTE!" Star squealed making Marco wince. "Now I feel kinda bad that I have to attack it next turn," Leon admitted smiling at the bunny, who rubbed at her face before turning to look at the real Pearl, who was gaping at her in absolute disbelief, "I'll summon Iron Knight and end my turn."
His new warrior dressed head to toe in sharp, shiny armor, looking like something out of a fairytale and was on horseback, armed with a sharp lance.
Iron Knight. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 4. ATK/DEF: 1700/700
Primrose drew her next card and smiled, "Then I guess its a good thing you won't have to worry about that," Leon looked at her in confusion as she summoned another familiar beast, "First I summon Amethyst Cat!" Pearl's jaw dropped further as the sleek wildcat appeared on the field, "Next I activate my face-down, Crystal Beacon!"
Familiar pillars of light shot up to the ceiling, startling the cloaked woman so badly she nearly dropped her drink as Joey said loudly in annoyance, "Not this light show again!"
"With two or more Crystal Geodes in my Spell & Trap Zone I can summon another one from his deck," Primrose smiled fishing one more card from her deck, "And I chose Ruby Carbuncle," Her little fairy monster spun as she descended onto the field from the combined lights, "And when Ruby is summoned in this manner, her magic frees her trapped comrades for each for my free monster spaces," The exposed crystals in the geodes started to glow as Ruby Carbuncle's gems glowed, "So welcome back, Sapphire Pegasus!" Her horned pegasus emerged with a flare.
Primrose then gave a bittersweet smile as the pink geode began to break apart, "Now everyone give a warm welcome..." Everyone stared in awed-anticipation and Pearl slowly covered her mouth in realization, Marco and Star shared a glance, "To Rose Quartz Lioness!"
Her new monster was a beautiful, slender African Lioness with the traditional tawny colored fur and beautiful onyx black eyes. She wore a regalia/collar identical to Amethyst Cat's made of solid gold with a beautiful rose quartz identical to the one on Stephanie's stomach, matching ankle guards adorned her legs, each decorated with a smooth, perfect cabachon heart rose quartz.
Rose Quartz Lioness. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: BEAST/EFFECT. Lv: 5. ATK/DEF: 2000/2700
"Rose Quartz..." The humans, save for Ryou and Yugi murmured in awe. "Wait, isn't that...?" Ryou began to ask. Yugi nodded in reply, "Her mother..."
"Rose..." Pearl whispered as the female lion threw her head back and released a powerful roar that created a shock-wave that had both Forest Hunter and Iron Knight wincing as Iron Knight's horse started to freak out. Pearl Cottontail had ducked behind Sapphire Pegasus' legs and Ruby behind as the purple jungle cat, who bowed her head in respect to the Queen of Crystal Beasts.
"She's beautiful," Leon said but was a little confused, "But wouldn't it have mad more sense to play her in defense mode? She might be able to beat my knight, but even she's no match for my supercharged hunter."
"Maybe not by herself," Primrose smiled more mischievously, "Did I say I was done?" Leon blinked in surprise as she set her remaining cards down and brought her hands together as sparks danced across her field and four of her monsters started to dance.
"Am I seriously seeing a winged-horse, a four-eared cat-thing, a purple jungle cat and an African lioness wearing jewelry dancing?" Seto asked in disbelief. "Yes," Mokuba and Maisie answered.
With a familiar poem Sapphire Pegasus and Ruby Carbuncle merged together to form her first Crystal Myth. With a twirl of her hourglass staff, Garnet Mother Time struck a pose.
The greyish-purple sparks around her other dancing pair intensified as Stephanie began to recite a different poem:
Jungle cat of the earth, lend your speed,
Queen of Beasts, lend your might
Give support to allies in need,
Form a Warrior of Chivalry and Light!
Her two wildcats then lunged at each other and merged into one and Primrose smiled fondly, "Welcome, Crystal Myth Smokey Quartz Valkyrie!"
Her new Warrior was a short woman, shorter then Garnet Mother Time and defiantly shorter then Opal Kunapipi, have sun-kissed skin and doe-shaped cinnamon eyes. She looked as if she stepped out of an oil painting with the traditional, black feathered sleeves popping out from the sleeveless openings of her ornate silvery chest-plate, which was decorated with swirling brown patterns, which intricately linked up to the cabachon sphere-cut smokey quartz gem embedded into the center of the breast-plates. Matching silvery-grey and brown decorated metal was used to make her helmet with long black feathers arranged on either side, her short brown curls fell out to a little past her chin, giving her a boyish-look. She wore matching armored wrist-guards and knee-high boots with hexagonal shaped smokey quartzes on the back of the wrists and front of the knees. To finish her outfit was the long black skirt that fell past her knees, long slits ran up the outside of her legs to her mid-thighs.
She was armed with a matching dark silver glaive** and a round shield decorated in dark brown swirls and black dewdrops, which all centered around a large pear-cut smokey quartz gem. She spun her polearm before banging the elegant blade loudly against her shield, then banged the butt end of the long handle into the ground, then pointed her weapon at her opponents with a fierce gaze that made Iron Knight nervous.
Smokey Quartz Valkyrie. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: WARRIOR/EFFECT. Lv: 6. ATK/DEF: 2100/1900
"Wow..." Mokuba and Leon both murmured in awe. "Cool..." Joey and Tristan both said jaws hanging.
Peridot immediately turned to Jasper in concern, but the quartz just watched on with an expression of indifference, arms crossed. But Peridot spent days by Jasper's side on their trip to Earth, she recognized the tight, tense stance the soldier was holding.
"But its still not enough..." Seto spoke. "What do mean, not enough?" Dorothy asked. "She just pulled off two fusions in one turn!" Mako pointed out. "Yeah, but thanks to Battleguard Rage, Forest Hunter has twenty-two hundred attack points," Rex pointed out, "He still beats both her Myths by one hundred."
Yugi clenched his hands as he watched. Star instinctively grabbed onto one of Marco's hands, earning a questioning glance from her husband, but the blonde monarch kept her eyes on the duel. Marco gently squeezed his wife's hand in comfort before returning his eyes to the duel.
"Yeah, still not done," Primrose smirked much to everyone's shock as Garnet Mother Time started to twirl her staff around and Pearl Cottontail started to dance. "A third fusion?" Seto, Ryou, Yugi, Pearl and Jasper said in surprise, Primrose simply receited one last poem:
Guardian of Time, strong and sure,
Colors of Light, swift and smart
Bond together, hearts and gems so pure,
Let the new arise and play their part
Garnet Mother Time opened her arms as Pearl Cottontail leaped towards her and with bright lights they merged as one.
"Welcome to the stage," Primrose grinned widely, "Crystal Myth Sardonyx Dryad!"
Her new monster was a woman just a few inches taller then Garnet Mother Time and was willowy with long, thin limbs, her pale complex made her long, curly brown hair stand out and made her bright green eyes pop out, her hair being held up in a ponytail with a bold red band, a few vibrant yellow and orange leaves decorated her bangs and the sides of her head like hairpins or clips.
She wore a traditional, ankle-long chiton*** that was a pale red with a black belt and matching circular pins holding the bands of the sleeves in place, each pin having a cabachon pear-cut sardonyx gem on it, a matching one on her belt. Around her neck on a black necklace was a string of sardonyx beads and to finish her outfit were a pair of dark brown sandals made of silk.
Sardonyx Dryad. Attribute: EARTH. Tribe: FAIRY/EFFECT. Lv: 7. ATK/DEF: 2600/2100
"Alright!" Joey cheered along with a few of the others, pumping a fist in the air. "That's plenty enough points to beat down Leon's Forest Hunter!" Ryou exclaimed and Leon was a loss for words at the beautiful nature fairy.
"Now, I believe I have some points to retaliate for," Primrose mused, "Sardonyx, destroy Forest Hunter! Briar Whip!"
Her Dryad obeyed raising a delicate hand up above her head and the rage-blind huntsman was unprepared for the long flexible branch of briars that emerged from the ground and with an elegant diagonal swipe of her arm, Sardonyx Dryad willed the long branch to fly so hard, it sent Forest Hunter flying straight into Leon's console before she swung her arm again in a more straight downwards angle and the branch came down again right on top of Forest Hunter, crushing him into data.
Leon winced at this as his life points finally started to drop.
Leon LPs: 1600
But then, Leon smiled, big, wide and excited, "I was wondering when you finally going to start biting back!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Primrose smiled back, unable to deny the thrill that rush through her from turning the tables, "Now, my Valkyrie! Strike his knight down!"
Smoky Quartz Valkyrie grinned widely at her ordered and was quick to oblige, sprinting forward to attack her fellow Warrior, who quickly maneuvered his horse so he could meet her glavie with his lance. She smirked and immediately sprung, jumping into the air, catching Iron Knight off guard as she stabbed him through the chest with her blade. She just as easily used him to jump into the air and back-flip back to Sardonyx Dryad's side as the Fairy formed more brair branches around herself, using one to sit on.
Leon LPs: 1200
"Yes!" Star whispered with a proud smile, making Marco smile as well. "She's turning this thing around!" Tea smiled widely. "That's our Steph!" Peridot and Lapis cheered hugging each other excitedly, Pearl allowed a tiny smile to slip through, despite her displeasure from last night, she couldn't feeling help proud of her baby girl's achievements.
"Guess this means you really aren't holding back, huh?" Leon questioned with a smile. "Never was, I respect you as a duelist too much to do that," Primrose answered him honestly, which made him smile wider, clearly happy with her statement.
"Just because you beat a monster supercharged with Battleguard Rage," Leon told her, "Doesn't mean you've won yet, I still got plenty of monsters ready to show you what I've got!"
"I know," Primrose nodded, "And my Beasts and Myths are ready to meet them head on, Leon." Smokey Quartz Valkyrie and Sardonyx Dryad both smiled with excitement as they relaxed, readying for their next opponents, feeling their Mistress' excitement and anticipation, and it sent shivers up their backs.
"Man, this is really getting intense," Tristan said unable to help smiling himself. "It's good to see Stephanie isn't letting her friendship with Leon cloud her ability to duel her best," Ryou added with a smile of his own, prompting a nod of agreement from the remaining Finalists.
Pegasus chuckled, becoming deeply invested in this duel, eager to see how it will turn out; will Fairytale characters win? Or will Mythological figures triumph?
(Sun Incinerator)
"Yes!" Connie cheered raising her fists above her head, "I knew she could turn this around!"
"Von Schroeder is better than I thought," Jenny admitted, "Wiping half Stephanie's life points already."
"Yeah, but she sure turned it around pretty quick," Buck rebuffed gently, "You gotta give her that."
"She's certainly grown," Kevin agreed much to Connie's brief surprise, but she brushed it off, remembering how Steph had been spending more time around the older teens lately, the rich teen turned to Jamie, "What do you think, Jay?"
Jamie nodded his agreement, "Her Crystal Myths are certainly impressive, I wasn't expecting her to use Fusion at all, much less Contact."
Lars was leaning back into his chair a deep, thoughtful look on his face, whispering to himself, "Sardonyx and Smokey Quartz, huh?" Jamie glanced over, catching the captain's eyes briefly and in that moment, Lar's pupils turned into pour-pointed stars again, rotating slowly within his stone grey eyes as they gleamed in the light, a slight smile on the captain's face, and Jamie couldn't help smiling slightly to himself either as the moment faded.
Jamie couldn't help commenting either, "Things are about to get...interesting."
And I think I'll end things here for now, I'm really trying to control my word count, plus I'm trying to not sum up the entire duels all in one chapter like I did with Dorothy and Stephanie's, that being said I like to think I did pretty okay following up that cliffhanger, I honestly couldn't come up with anything better, so sorry to those hoping to see Yugi confront a still shaken Stephanie from her encounter with Pearl, wasn't sure how to write that convincingly.
This all being said, let me know what you think of the new cards, with the exception of Jasper Rhino, all quartz cards are going to be felines, I was so looking forward to Rose's card counterpart, I couldn't think of a better jungle cat. I had to look through several different sources for suitable Myths to use for Sardonyx and Smokey Quartz and I think this works.
For those who somehow don't know, a Valkyrie is a Viking myth of an all female warrior race, think of them almost like a Viking version of the Amazons, who were said to arrive at battlefields and take have the slain to Valhalla. A Dryad is a Greek Nymph of trees, think of them as a type of Greek fairy or spirit, the legend goes when a Dryad's tree is cut down, that Dryad dies.
Now before I forget, on to the *notes:
Princesa*: Is Spanish for Princess, for those who don't know.
Glaive**: A glaive is a European spear or polearm, whichever works for you, no two pictures that I can think really agrees on any one weapon for a Valkyrie, so I just winged it, plus its a pretty weapon...on the screen.
Chiton***: A chiton is an ancient Greek piece of clothing for both men and women.
Now, on to the unofficial polls!
Should Yugi kept his title of King of Games? Or should Stephanie become Queen of Games?
King: 8, Queen: 2
Should Stephanie get an Egyptian God Card?
Yes: 5, No: 6
If yes, which one?
Obelisk: 2, Ra: 1, Slifer: 1
Well, it's looking like Yugi's keeping his title, still a few more chapters to go, so vote while you can people. Poor Ra and Slifer, Obelisk gets all the glory.
As for the official poll up at the top of my author page, Greek is in the lead with eight votes, Norse and Roman are tied with seven, Mayan is in third with six and Mesopotamian is still in last, this time with four, so someone finally voted for poor Mesopotamia.
Well, I'm going to let off here, so don't forget to review and remember my golden rule:
NO FLAMING!
