No witty comment this time, sorry. _

*Chapter 30: The Sisters Face Off!*

After Rue put up his battle axe, and Toan finally caught Cow again, they began to talk again.

"It's too bad Josh and Lauren aren't here…" Julia said. "I know Max doesn't want to duel, but I would have liked to see Claire and Brandi duel someone."

"Actually… they could duel each other…" Hope suggested. "How about it? I've never seen either of you duel!"

"Come to think of it, neither have I," Will agreed.

"I'd like to!" Claire agreed. "Well Brandi? Up for it?"

Brandi shrugged. "I guess."

"Wipe the floor with her Claire!" Rue encouraged.

"Have a nice duel," Max said before sitting down, leaning against a demolished building.

"Aren't you going to cheer your sister on?" Hope asked.

"She'll do fine, and Neo has caused my lack of sleep. Wake me up when they are done."

Hope shook her head doubtfully, but left it at that.

Brandi: 8000

Claire: 8000

"How about you go first?" Claire asked.

"Alright. I set one monster, and lay a card down."

Claire looked at her hand briefly. "I will lay one card down… and summon this!"

The monster seemed more like a purple cloak than anything. However, it had a metal head, and metal shoulders.

"What is that?" Brandi asked.

Will surprised them all by answering. "Zolga. An Earth Main-Type, Angel Sub-Type. Its stats are 1700/1200. Its effect is used in a sacrifice summon, then you gain 2000 Life Points."

Everyone stared at him.

"That's impressive Will!" Claire exclaimed. "How did you know that? Do you use one?"

"I love Angel Sub-Type monsters. I would have run an Angel deck, but Neo helps Magic Users more, so I changed. So I just happen to know a lot about Angels."

"That's cool!"

Brandi interrupted the chat. "This is all very nice, but can we please continue the duel?"

"You spoilsport," Claire teased. "Alright, Zolga attacks your defense monster."

"You attacked my Black Forest Witch. (1100/1200)"

"This is where Perseus' Deck Master ability comes into play. Each battle phase, one of my Angel Sub-Type monsters gains the trample ability. Also, if that monster does damage to your Life Points, I draw a card."

Brandi: 7500

Claire: 8000

Brandi seemed to be waiting for something. "I lay one monster in defense mode, and that's all."

"I sacrifice my Zolga to summon Heavenly Knight Perseus! (1900/1400) This triggers Zolga's ability."

Brandi: 7500

Claire: 10000

"Perseus attacks your defense monster."

"You destroyed Critter. (1000/600)"

Brandi: 6200

Claire: 10000

Hope was slightly concerned. "Brandi isn't even putting up a fight! What's going on?"

"Be patient," Will replied. "She's planning something… I can tell it."

"Since when am I patient?" Rue pointed out. "If I wasn't trying to encourage my sister, I would probably do what Max is doing."

They looked over to see Max sound asleep against the building. Olympion was beside him, apparently bored.

"He must be exhausted," Hope commented.

"Don't let him hear you say that," Gaston joked.

"Why?" Julia asked.

"Max has a tough guy act up," Rue explained.

"An act? What do you mean, an act?" Neo inquired.

"Well… I can't argue with that," Rue decided.

"OWWWWWWWWW! STUPID CUR!" Toan ran by, chasing after Cow with his baseball bat. His arm was bleeding yet again.

"Randomness is good," Mana said.

"So you say…" Brandi muttered. "I lay one monster in defense mode, and a card face down. Your turn."

Claire looked at her hand. "This is perfect. First, I play Terra Forming. I search my deck and put Sanctuary of the Sky in my hand. Then I play it!"

"What does that do?" Neo asked.

"It's a field magic. If an Angel Sub-Type monster is destroyed in battle, the controller doesn't take battle damage," Will responded.

"Next, I summon Warrior of Zera! (1600/1600)"

"Why would she play Warrior of Zera? That isn't an Angel Sub-Type," Hope wondered.

Will shrugged. "It is used to special summon another Angel Sub-Type. Just watch, you should see soon enough."

"My next step is to sacrifice Warrior of Zera to special summon Archangel Zeraato! (2800/2300) This monster can only be special summoned by sacrificing Warrior of Zera when Sanctuary of the Sky is out, so that's what Will meant."

"What's so special about your monster?" Brandi asked.

"Want to tell them Will?"

He was only too happy to. "If Claire has a Sanctuary of the Sky on the field, she can discard a Light Main-Type from her hand to destroy all of Brandi's monsters."

"So that means I can discard Saint Magician to destroy your monster."

"You destroyed my Sphere Bomb… (1400/1400)"

"I also play Magic Guarder on Sanctuary of the Sky. Now you have to destroy the magic counter on my card before you can destroy the card itself. I attack you directly with both of my monsters!"

"I activate Curse of Darkness on Archangel Zeraato to halt his attack. (2100/2300)"

"Perseus still hits your Life Points."

Brandi: 4300

Claire: 10000

"I also get to draw a card for that. Now I'm done."

Brandi drew, and smiled. "It looks like I can finally fight back."

"You're at a huge disadvantage," Claire warned. "What makes you think you can come back so suddenly?"

"I don't think; I know. First, I summon Turner of the Dead: Kaiku to the field. (1800/700) And then I play Shrink! This card can cut any face up monster's attack in half until the end of my turn."

"Oh, I see… so, which monster do you choose? Perseus or Zeraato?"

"Neither. I'm using it on Kaiku. (900/700)"

"Have you lost your mind?" Claire asked in disbelief.

"I know full-well what I am doing."

Hope chanced a glance back at Max. Even though she was positive he was sleeping, he had a smirk on his face that hadn't been there before.

That can't be good, she thought.

"Now I activate my face down card, the Deck Destruction Virus of Death!" Brandi announced.

"Huh? What?" Claire asked. "What does that do?"

Kaiku had faded away to leave only purple spores. They flew toward all of Claire's monsters, and attached themselves to Perseus and Zeraato. Both of them faded away as well.

"What's going on?!" Claire demanded.

"I can only activate my trap when I sacrifice a Dark Main-Type monster with 1000 attack or less. When I do, all your monsters on the field and in your hand that have an attack of 1500 or more are destroyed. Then for your next three turns, you must show me what card you draw. If any of them are monsters with over 1500 attack, they are destroyed."

Claire looked at her hand, and grimaced. "I have to discard Mudora and Kelbek…"

"Wow," Hope murmured. "That's pretty powerful."

"So that's why she used Shrink…" Rue realized.

"It's a good combo, but I can still fight back," Claire declared.

"I think you will have a hard time doing that," Brandi disagreed. "I play Raise Dead on Kaiku, and attack you directly! His ability allows me to remove two monsters from your Cemetery, so remove Perseus and Zeraato."

Brandi: 4300

Claire: 8200

"Finally, I play Tempest. This destroys all of your magic and traps. It would destroy mine too, but I have none out."

"Rats… you got rid of my magic counter, and my Attack Nullification… Alright… my turn." Claire drew, and groaned. "I drew Agent of Judgment-Saturn."

"Not good… that has 2400 attack and 0 defense," Will explained.

"Oh well… this monster can save me for the time being."

Will watched the monster form. "Agent of Power, Mars! Claire got lucky."

"What do you mean?" Hope asked.

"Mars' attack and defense is usually 0… but when Sanctuary of the Sky is on the field, his attack and defense are the difference between Life Points. (3900/3900)"

Brandi frowned. "A small setback. I lay a monster in defense. Your turn."

Claire drew, and grinned. "I think I win."

"What?"

"I play Raise Dead on Agent of Judgment, Saturn! (2400/0) If I have higher Life Points than you, I can sacrifice him to do damage equal to the difference! So I sacrifice him, doing 3900 damage!"

Brandi: 400

Claire: 8200

Brandi gritted her teeth. "So I lose?"

"Actually, I don't get a battle phase on the turn when I use his effect."

Brandi shrugged. "Then it's no problem, seeing as I have my Cyber Jar down."

Claire smiled. "Actually, I still win. I play Stealing Goblin! You lose 500 Life Points, and I gain 500 Life Points."

Brandi: 0

Claire: 8700

Brandi looked at the next card in her deck. "Tidal Wave. My luck sucks."

Cow went over to Max, and bit him. Max immediately leapt up, grabbed the Soul Monster, and threw it into a building. The once sturdy structure collapsed along with Cow, who howled in pain.

"You don't mess with Max," Will explained to Julia and Samuel. Toan had run over to comfort Cow, and then chase him around after the dog had bitten him again.

Max looked over at the field. "So you lost Brandi?"

"I got some unlucky draws."

Mana laughed at that.

"Shut up!" Brandi snarled.

"Let me think… uh, no." Mana continued to laugh.

Max looked over at her. "Shut up. You are annoying me."

"Ok."

Brandi clenched her hand into a fist. "I'm going to kill you one of these days…"

Julia help up a finger for silence. "Shhh… I think I hear someone coming."

"More than one person is coming," Max noted, as he used a Red Potion on himself.

Samuel looked around the corner, and came back quickly. "Officials!"

Hope grimaced. "I guess we will have to run."

Toan grinned slyly. "Actually, you don't. You have something to do here, right? Are you after the person the officials were after?"

Rue shrugged. "Maybe. Who are they after?"

"We aren't sure," Julia answered. "Someone in a black cloak."

"Yes, we are then!" Hope said eagerly. "We have to shake off those officials!"

"I have an idea," Toan snickered. "On the condition that you tell us what is going on later, I can chase those officials away. Julia, Samuel, up for it?"

They nodded.

"Let's get ready."

*****

The officials were patrolling the ruined town.

"Do you think the others will be ok?" one asked.

"Of course!" another replied. "That fugitive is outnumbered ten to one!"

"Hey, do you hear something?" a third asked.

A rumbling noise was coming toward them rapidly. Suddenly, they heard someone shout.

"STAMPEDE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Soon they were in view. It was a frightening, yet ridiculous sight that greeted their eyes.

Two boys and one girl, along with their Soul Monsters, were being chased by over one thousand sheep. Red, blue, pink, and orange sheep were running at them. The boy with glasses also had a dog-like creature holding onto his arm, digging its fangs in. The sheep were going at a huge speed.

"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The officials just stared for about three seconds, before running away, screaming.

*****

Rue was on the ground, laughing very hard. Everyone else was snickering.

"That was great!" Hope said, putting up her video camera. "I can't wait to watch that again!"

"Too true! Did you see the look on the official's faces? It was hilarious!"

Max seemed preoccupied by something though.

"What's wrong Max?" Gaston asked.

"Something's coming. Can't you feel it?"

It was then that they noticed the tremors that were occurring.

To be continued…