A few moments later Misty and Anacis faced each other on the deck. Iris, Jenny, Daniel and Benson all watched anxiously while the henchmen looked on from the submarine.

"Please be careful Misty" said Jenny.

"I will. Don't worry" she said reassuringly before turning to face her opponent. Their Duel Disks shimmered with rainbow light as they activated.

"Let's Duel!"

(Misty: 4000 Life Points)

(Anacis: 4000 Life Points)

Anacis adjusted his ornate, bejewelled Duel Disk. "Ladies first of course."

"Thank you" Misty said wryly as she drew a card. She studied her hand, keeping her expression neutral.

That helmet covering his face means I can't read him, but if he thinks I'm going to lose because of that he's sorely mistaken.

"I place one card face down and I set a monster face down in defence mode. That ends my turn."

"My move" said Anacis. "Ah, this was one of my father's favourites. I play the field spell A Legendary Ocean."

There was a bright flash of blue light. When it cleared they were now underwater, standing in the ruins of a sunken city. Misty resisted the temptation to smile. He's in for a surprise she thought.

"This spell card reduces the level of all Water attribute monsters by one. So now I can summon my monster without a tribute. Rise up from the depths Cyber Shark!"

A monster appeared in front of him. It looked like a normal shark except that its eyes and snout were covered by a bronze and gold mask and its fins were trimmed with gold.

(Cyber Shark- ATK: 2100. DEF: 2000)

"What's more A Legendary Ocean also grants all Water attribute monsters an additional 200 attack and defence points. I'll wager that's more than enough to destroy that face down monster."

(Cyber Shark- ATK: 2300. DEF: 2200)

"Cyber Shark, attack her face-down!"

As Cyber Shark launched itself forwards like a torpedo the face down monster flipped up. A blue jar with orange markings materialised and a green cobra reared up from inside it. Cyber Shark bit down on it and the monster exploded into glowing pieces, but as it did so a smaller but otherwise identical jar and cobra appeared next to it.

"You just activated the flip effect of my Cobra Jar" said Misty. "Now I can summon a Poisonous Snake Token to my side of the field."

(Poisonous Snake Token- ATK: 1200. DEF: 1200)

"No matter. I'll set one card and end my turn."

This is perfect Anacis thought, smiling wickedly behind his mask. No doubt she'll tribute that token to summon a stronger monster. When she does, my Bottomless Trap Hole will remove it from play and she'll be a sitting duck.

"Then I draw" said Misty. "I activate my face-down Offering to the Snake Deity. By sacrificing one Reptile monster I can destroy two of your cards. I destroy Cyber Shark and your face-down!"

"What!"

The Poisonous Snake Token disappeared. A second later Cyber Shark and the face-down both glowed yellow and disintegrated.

"Now I'll summon out my Gagagigo!"

A green-scaled lizard-man appeared before her. He hissed as he looked across the field at his opponent.

(Gagagigo- ATK: 1850. DEF: 1000)

"And don't forget, thanks to A Legendary Ocean, my monster now gains an extra 200 attack and defence points."

(Gagagigo- ATK: 2050. DEF: 1200)

He blanched behind his helmet. She uses Water attribute monsters too!

"Gagagigo, attack!"

The lizard-man leaped forwards and slashed Anacis across the chest with his claws. The masked man yelped in alarm.

(Anacis: 1950 Life Points)

"I'll end my turn with one card face-down." That Tornado Wall will keep my life points safe if he summons another powerful monster.

"Yay! Misty just wiped out over half his life points!" Jenny cheered.

"Misty's winning!" Iris added.

"Yes, but I don't think that guy's going to take this lightly" said Benson.

Indeed, Anacis was snarling as he drew a card. "Very impressive lass, but now I'm through going easy on you. I play Fiend's Sanctuary. This gives me one Metal Fiend Token. Now I tribute it to summon Levia-Dragon Daedalus!"

A vaguely humanoid creature composed entirely of metal spheres and with a tail in place of legs appeared on the field and then disappeared. The monster that replaced it was a giant blue eel-like dragon with an armoured head, a mouth filled with fangs and a red sail running down its back.

(Levia-Dragon Daedalus- ATK: 2600-2800. DEF:1500-1700)

"This was my father's best monster, and with good reason. By sending A Legendary Ocean to the graveyard this monster destroys all other cards on the field!"

(Levia-Dragon Daedalus- ATK: 2600. DEF:1500)

The image of the underwater ruins disappeared. Levia-Dragon then opened its maw and fired a purple energy beam. Gagagigo and the face-down Tornado Wall were both destroyed.

"Now you're completely vulnerable! How does that feel?"

Misty's only reaction was a small shrug. "It takes more than that to scare me" she said.

"Well perhaps this will. Levia-Dragon, attack!"

The monster again opened its jaws and fired another energy beam, this time blue. She couldn't help wincing as she was hit directly.

(Misty: 1400 Life Points)

"No, Misty!" Jenny cried while Iris covered her face, unable to look.

But Misty merely turned and smiled gently at them. "It's okay. This is just a minor setback."

"A minor setback" she says Benson thought. He has more life points, a powerful monster on his field, and if he draws another Legendary Ocean he can destroy any defence she sets up.

Come on Misty. I know you can beat this guy Daniel thought.

"I admit you're a cool one lass, but you'll soon crack" said Anacis.

"We'll see about that" Misty replied as she drew another card. "I summon out my Gale Lizard."

An orange lizard with bat-like wings materialised on the field. It spread its wings and hissed.

(Gale Lizard- ATK: 1400. DEF:700)

"Now I activate the spell card Monster Reborn. This returns my Gagagigo to the field."

The lizard-man reappeared next to Gale Lizard.

Anacis laughed derisively. "What was the point of that? Neither of those is strong enough to beat Levia-Dragon."

"Not as they are now, no. That's why I'll be activating another spell card. I cast Solidarity on Gagagigo and Gale Lizard! Since both of them are Reptile monsters and the Cobra Jar in my graveyard is also a Reptile monster, they each gain an extra 800 attack points!"

"800!"

(Gagagigo- ATK: 1850-2650. DEF: 1000-1800)

(Gale Lizard- ATK: 1400-2200. DEF:700-1500)

"Gagagigo, attack!"

The lizard-man leaped forwards and slashed Levia-Dragon Daedalus with his claws. The eel-like dragon glowed yellow and exploded.

(Anacis: 1900 Life Points)

"Gale Lizard, attack directly and end this duel!"

Gale Lizard flew right at Anacis and sank its teeth into his shoulder, making him howl.

(Anacis: 0 Life Points)

He dropped to his knees as the Duel Disks powered down and the holograms disappeared. "She… she beat me" he said in disbelief.

"That's right" said Misty. "Now abide by our agreement and leave."

"I'm afraid not" he replied as he stood up. "You may have won the duel but I'm still taking this vessel."

"That's cheating!" Jenny yelled.

He laughed. "I'm a pirate. Are you actually surprised?"

"Not at all" said Misty with a cold smile. "That's why I had Daniel send out an SOS while I kept you distracted."

"What?"

The sound of engines filled the air. Everyone looked over to see three Japan Coast Guard patrol vessels rapidly closing in. Anacis lowered his head in defeat.

"I surrender."

Soon afterwards Misty and the others watched as the patrol vessels departed, towing the submarine away.

"That was amazing Misty!" Jenny said enthusiastically as they crowded around her.

"You really saved us" Iris added.

"Thank you but it wasn't just me" she replied. "Daniel sent out the distress call."

"Only because you told me" he said. "And they would never have got here in time if you hadn't stalled him with that duel."

Misty chuckled. "Well after all that I think we can take some time to relax before we resume the shoot. Daniel, is that right?"

"Oh yes, the light will be good for another few hours. We can take a break."

I can't wait to tell Aki and Carly about this Misty thought with a pleased smile as she went down to her quarters.