Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, or Duel Monsters, or Master of Cards by Chuck ZFB. I strongly recommend that you read his story before mine. This is a PARALLEL of that fic, and was written with his permission. So, if you don't like parallel stories, don't go any further. But, if you do, read on. And now I present....

Chapter Three: Meren Falls?

"What's going on here?!" I shrieked as I stared into Pegasus' eyes, still not quite ready to buy his story. He had that creepy, all-knowing look on.

Then he chuckled as he began to speak. "I already told you. Your friends have excepted it to be fact. Why wont you. Hmhmhm." he chortled. I cringed. That laugh had always been unnerving. "Now, let us begin." he commanded.

I put my deck down on the table and drew my hand. 'Not bad. Two traps, one magic, and two high defense monsters.' I noted on first site, noticing the purple, green, and brown card outlines.

"I'll go first, little girl." he grinned that sinister grin, drawing a cards and selecting two from his hand. "And I'm going to lay Red Archery Girl in defense mode, along with a card face down." On the field appeared a clam shell, which opened to expose a young girl with green hair the exact same style as Pegasus. She had a thin white tank-top on to cover her upper body, but she had no need for any form of pants, since she had a mermaids tail. In her arms she clutched a small bow with a single arrow. (1400/1500)

"I'll also defend, and place three cards face down." I countered. Four spaces between us started to flash a pale golden glow.

"Then next, I will simply put another monster in defense mode."

'Why did he play Red Archery Girl face up, and then that one face down?' I asked myself.

"And then, switch my Archery Girl into attack mode." As he said these very words, the clam's shell opened up fully and the mermaid knocked her arrow and pulled, taking aim. I began to smile. "Whirlpool Arrow." he commanded. She released the arrow, which left the bow with a twang. It zipped across, towards my down monster. The space flashed, and a young maiden in a green gown appeared. She was kneeling, with hands clasped, and chanting words that I had no way of deciphering. A bright aura enveloped her, shattering the arrow in contact. I also watched as Pegasus' Life Points dropped to 7400. But he only smiled.

"And now, I'm going to enhance my defenses by equipping my Mystical Elf with the Horn of Light and Book of Secret Arts..."

"Hold it." he commanded as part of the barrier around my Elf came together to form a small horn, and the rest of it brightened, raising her defense by 1100. "I activate a Trap Card." he explained, reaching for the down card. It showed a single water droplet with the shadow of a mermaid in it. "Tears of a Mermaid. Since you just activated those Equipment Magic Cards, it activates. It will destroy your magic card immediately. I choose to disable the Book of Secret Arts." As he said this, the eyes of his monster began to glow, and hundreds of bubbles flowed out of them, covering my Elf, and toning her shield down slightly.

'Why did he target that one. He should have gone after my Horn of Light." I pondered. I then reached down for one of my own Trap Cards. "It's time to find out what you're hiding." I said as I lifted it up. "With my permanent Trap, Light of Intervention." From above, a large conduit if light illuminated the entire field, and turned Pegasus' face down monster over so that i could see it. A black bunny in armor sat in a crouch with his arms up to protect him.

"My turn." he chimed. "And now, to devastate your Life Points." he spoke laying a card down in defense mode, and then another in his Magic/Trap Zone. I showed a small blue circle with a black letter 'E' in the center, and lightning crackling from it. "Negative Energy!" he shouted with glee. His Dark Rabbit grew to be twice the normal size, as its power doubled. (2200/1500). "And I'll also use this." His next card was of an armored soldier on one knee, and a white 'X' across it. "Stop Defense will transfer you Mystical Elf to attack mode, where it is quite vulnerable." She stood up and put her arms down to her sides.

'That's why he disabled my Book of Secret Arts. Because it raised my Elf's defense and attack. Now she's dead.'

"Rabbit Punch!" he declared. His monster bounded over, a boxing glove appearing over his right fist. He delivered a devastating blow to my monster, and destroyed both her, and fourteen hundred of my Life Points. The score was now my 6600 against his7400. Still close, but holding me at quite the disadvantage. "And I'll have my Red Archery Girl attack your Life Points directly, Miss Meren." The mermaid fired another arrow, which struck my shoulder and causing it to erupt in pain. I now had only 5100. "Your turn."

I reached for my deck, suddenly, I felt weak. 'Was it because of that last attack, or something else?' I took a few sharp breathes, blinked my eyes, and then proceeded to pick the card up."I'll set a Castle of Dark Illusions face up in defense mode, and then activate one of my placed cars, Gravekeeper's Servant." I said. A full moon appeared above the field, barely visible through the sheer brightness from my Light of Intervention. It released a thin beam that struck Pegasus deck. "Now, whenever you try and attack, I'll be waiting to discard a card from the top of your deck." I smiled. Then, I was hit by the mother of all headaches. I reached up to messuage my temples, but to no avail. I just couldn't shake it.

"It wont make a difference." he chuckled, observing his newest card. "Because it's going to end now. Time for one of my favorites." he said, laying it down. I saw my greatest fear come to life. I saw, for just a second only, a green pop-up book with an animated city drawn on it. "It's none other than the one and only Toon World." he smiled. "And I'll sacrifice both my monsters to bring out," he began, his voice growing with enthusiasm. "The Toon Summoned Skull, and Toon Dark Magician Girl." His first monster was a sort of skeleton demon that could have appeared on a child's cartoon. It's upper body stretched out of the book at its torso, and it shook with an uncontrollable laughter (2500/1200). His other was a young woman in blue robes with a pointed headdress. She carried a blue and gold baton, and had a rather adorable face (2000/1700).

'How could Pegasus ever disgrace my favorite card with that copycat witch.' I seethed in my mind. 'At least he can't attack this turn, since he just summoned them. But next turn...' I shuddered. I picked my next card up, but then I was hit by another jolt in my head. My hand began to shake, and I dropped that card, which fortunately landed face down. I picked it up, and looked. It showed a golden ring with Gaelic symbols lining it, a mystical smoke rising up from it. 'My Magic Jammer! If I could have only drawn this last turn.' I looked my hand over. 'Both my Dark Magicians, my Dark Magician Girl, and a Card Destruction.' I grinned. I was about to pull off one of my signature moves.

"I play Dark Magician Girl in attack mode, by sacrificing my Castle of Dark Illusions." I giggled. My castle suddenly eroded and crumbled into dust, but a small, golden vapor remained, which began to take some form. A young lady that looked like she was like the big sister to Pegasus' appeared (2000/1700). "I will next play a magic card, Card Destruction. We will both discard our current hands, and draw new ones of the same number." I said, discarding both my Magicians. "And since I just sent two Dark Magicians to the graveyard, my favorite monster gets a six hundred point bonus, three hundred for each. And I'll then use one of the cards I just drew, Yami." I smiled, A black cloud covered the arena, and nearly blotted my Light of Intervention out. Then, my pain intensified. I began to feel so weak. My energy was leaving my, and my head was splitting. I was gonna go crazy with this going on. "And now... I'll attack...You Toon Skull with her." I staggered. My magician extended her wand, a small burst of black magic flying from it. It struck his Toon Summoned Skull, and destroyed it. "Your Toons may have the power to go after my Life Points directly, but they're still vulnerable to my monsters." I grinned. "And you lost 100 points." I watched with satisfaction as his counter dropped to 6300, because of the one thousand point price for using Toon World.

"Most impressive young one, but I'm afraid that this is about to end." he said, looking at his new hand. "I'll first a monster in defense mode, the Kaiser Seahorse." he described as a seahorse creature appeared. "And then I'll depose of your current traps with this, the Magical Neutralizing Force card." he smiled. A circle like the one in my Magic Jammer card appeared under my side of the field, and a black swirl erupted from it, pulling in the mystic moon above field, the black cloud of my field card, and even the shine from my Light of Intervention. "Toon Dark Magician Girl, attack." he commanded as his magess (as in a female mage) attacked the same way mine had, only his passing right by my monster, and hitting me. I nearly collapsed onto the table in my recoil, but managed to stop myself. I somehow looked at the Life Point counter to see that I had only 3100 points left, while he still had 5800, after paying five hundred points for attacking with a Toon.

"I'll strengthen my Dark Magician Girl with this." I said as another maiden, only with green skin, and short black hair, appeared. She had her hands up in front of her chest, palms together, as if in the middle of a prayer. She then began to glow, fade, and then became a white vapor that flowed into my sorceress. Her point then wet up to 3300. Then, I nearly passed out. "A..Attack." I mumbled. She looked uncertainly at me, and then went on with the attack, destroying his copy of her. 'That'll teach 'im.'

"It makes no difference." he laughed. "You can do nothing to stop me. For I sacrifice my Kaiser Seahorse." he began, picking the card up to toss it into the graveyard. "Do you know why I put it onto the field?" he asked in a way that told me that he would explain anyway. "Because when I sacrifice Kaiser Seahorse to summon a light-type monster, it can act as two monsters." I gasped, even though my mind was only partially in tune. I could barely see straight. But I could still see his plan. "Which allows me to summon my Blue Eyes Toon Dragon." A creature that I can't explain appeared. It was indescribable.

I picked up a card, looked at it, added it to my hand, and passed , my turn. I couldn't do anything.

"Blue Eyes Toon Dragon, White Lightning Attack!" he shouted. It sucked a large amount of air into its lungs, preparing for its ultimate attack. A pink beam rushed out, hurrying to strike my Life Points down.

At that second, I found myself reaching for my last face down card on instinct. 'But what was that card?' I asked myself. 'Can it help?'



To Be Continued...

There you have it. This is hopefully getting exciting. I'm almost done with Chapter Four. Keep a look out. And don't sue me for "Copying" Chuck's work. I did get permission.