Gema: And POF enters season 3 as well!!!
Lady Akhana: Too bad we had to find a new base because of Alpha's guest.
Alpha: Hehehehe...well, at least with Sephiroth and Drake handling my fics, I can dedicate more time to POF!
Moonlady: Sure, whatever excuse is convient to you.
Star: That pharaohs and I have finished installing the new security system.
Pharaoh Light: The lightbulbs are in place.
Pharaoh Dark: And so is the mayonnaise wall.
Gema: Is everyone here?
Demon Child: All piranha bunnies present and accounted for!
Fox Demon: All shadow foxes too!
Bakurakrazie: I think that was too much information.
Akhana: Speaking of information, we all know the penguin king has finally revealed himself!
Livi: Death to the Big 5!
Seadragon1012: Yes! Let's gather the mustard and bring him down!
Gema: We have something even better!
Akhana: POF has made it on the web!
Imp is Insane: Yes!!! Now the whole world can oppose the penguins!
Moonlady: Those of you who haven't joined need to!
Demon Child: And I'll introduce you to my vampire shadows!
Kitty Tigri: Don't say that! You'll scare away the recruits!
Phantom 1: Now that we have a new headquarters and a web page, we need to move out! The penguins aren't going to defeat themselves!
Gema: We need to wait until our spies get back.
Cloud Dragon: Cool! We have spies!!!
Demon of Shadows: I have to burst everyone's bubble, but the penguin guy is MIA.
Imp is Insane: Hopefully someone shot him.
Livi: With lots of mustard!
Kitty Tigri: Gee..so much violence here.. '^__^'
Alpha: So what is the plan at taking down the penguin king?
Dark Fox: More shadow foxes!!!! *everyone starts scooting away*
Phantom 1: I say we beat them at their own game!
Gema: Exactly!
Seadragon1012: I think our spies are back. *enter Master of Dimensions, Diamond Lance, and Black Belt Timmy*
Master of Dimensions: We're back!!!
Diamond Lance: We know the penguins are going to attempt public brainwashing!
Star: That's bad.
Bakurakrazie: We need to confront them!
Gema: We will.
Cloud Dragon: Who's the new guy.
Black Belt Timmy: I'm not new!
Akhana: This is Timmy, he is the original spy who discovered the penguin's first movement.
Black Belt Timmy: and I've been spying on them ever since. Sorry I missed all the prior meetings.
Alpha: Yes! More members!
Master of Dimensions: We found out a lot. Get comfortable everyone, the debriefing can take awhile.
**************************************************************************** *
Téa woke up with a slight groan. She was laid out on some kind of long stone surface. She leaned over the edge, then back-pedaled. She was at least fifty feet off of the ground on a ledge. Down below the giants had gathered around a large, bubbling pot.
"I don't want to stay for dinner," groaned Téa. "Considering I am probably going to be dinner." She began to look for a way out, but the only one she could see was straight down. This was definitely not a good situation to be in.
She felt something brush against her cheek. She looked over. A rope was dangling from a hole in the ceiling. Téa glanced down once, weighing her options. Then she grabbed the rope and began to climb. She could have sworn she saw something watching her with beady eyes, but with the sunlight streaming in, she couldn't be sure. Whatever it was, it had to be better than the giants (says the authoress with sarcasm).
**************************************************************************** **
"If this is Noah's idea of a game, I am not amused!" said Lara as she and Drake attempted (and failed) to navigate the swamp in the driest way possible.
"Why am I not surprised Kaiba would somehow be behind getting us into a mess like this?" asked Drake with a groan.
"Mess is right," agreed Lara as she sunk into mud up to her left knee.
"I don't know about you," said Drake, "but I am ready to kick some major butt!"
"I am starting to feel the same way," agreed Lara, eyeing the virtual world evilly.
The thick fog parted slightly, enough to reveal a door floating six inches above the mire. It seemed completely out of place. The couple stopped and stared at it in disbelief for a few moments.
"What do you think this is, a trap?" asked Drake.
"I'll bet it is," said Lara. "Then again, it might be a way out."
"Well, trap or exit, it has to be better than this place," said Drake as he put a hand on the doorknob.
**************************************************************************** **
"Tristan, this hallway is never going to end," commented Duke.
"It has to end!" protested Tristan.
"No it doesn't. This isn't reality. It will only end when Noah wants it to," Duke pointed-out.
"Then maybe we have to make a way out!" exclaimed Tristan. He jerked a battle-axe out of the hands of a near-by suit of armor.
"That will never work," said Duke.
"Do you have any better ideas?!" snapped Tristan as he swung at the wall.
Duke paused, thought about it, and shrugged. He grabbed another axe and joined Tristan in trying to smash through the wall.
**************************************************************************** **
"Now where are we?" Yu-Gi asked Yami. They had entered a long corridor with black walls. It seemed to go on forever, and every turn seemed to bring him right back to where he started. Of course, it was hard to tell if it was the true beginning or another corridor that looked just like it. It was like a labyrinth certain game companies like to torture their players with.
"In another part of Noah's world," answer Yami. "Beyond that, I do not know. But it is imperative that we find the others before one of the Big 5 find them."
"If they have to duel..." started Yu-Gi. "Téa doesn't have that much experience dueling, and Serenity and Tristan don't duel at all!"
"Let's hurry aibou," said Yami and the two of them started running.
**************************************************************************** **
Téa had just scrambles across a narrow rope bridge with the giants in hot pursuit. The rope bridge had snapped, leaving them on one side of the gorge and her on the other. She slid to the ground, tired from running and nerves shaking.
"I..." she moaned. "I think I'm going to..rest here a bit." She still seemed pretty agitated. Just then, a small creature waddled over to her.
(Gema: Must destroy!!!!)
(Akhana: Not yet, Gema. Those cursed bird will pay. But you can blow them up yet. We have to follow the plans.)
(Gema: *grumbles*)
(Akhana: And hand over your Baka Hammer. We wouldn't want any innocent by- standers to suffer more.)
(Gema: *grumbles more and complies*)
Téa looked up and saw a penguin looking at her with its beady eyes. It seemed curiously interested in her.
"I remember!" gasped Téa. "You saved me from the giants."
The penguin did a half nod and waddled off. Téa got the impression that it wanted her to follow, so she did. She followed it across land, to a beach, and onto a raft, where she drifted out to sea. Slowly icebergs began to appear in the water. She was in penguin territory.
**************************************************************************** **
"Seto, this place could go on forever!" groaned Mokuba, who's feet were hurting from walking so much.
Seto Kaiba didn't answer, he knew that statement was true enough. His anger with Noah had put a small flame of anger in his eyes. He was focused. He hated being toyed with, and he was plotting how he would make Noah suffer.
"Why is he doing this?" asked Mokuba, who was beginning to feel concerned for his brother. He wanted to bring Seto out of his mood somehow.
"I have no idea," answered Seto. "But something tells me there is more to this than what we see. Whatever his reason...."
Seto trailed off, the harsh look in his eyes. Mokuba looked away, feeling all the more concerned.
**************************************************************************** **
Shayla had not budged a muscle from the clearing she had awoke in. She could hear strange monster cries all around her, and yet she refused to move. She knew that to Noah they were nothing more than pawns, and she made set in her mind that she would not be played with. Give that fact, she knew it was only a matter of time before he or his cronies tried something. But Defiance was showing. She was planning on being as difficult as possible. A monster shrieked nearby.
"This isn't real," she reminded herself. "None of this is. It is all an illusion."
**************************************************************************** **
Téa walked through the halls of a large ice palace. Penguin after penguin stood around, watching her with beady eyes. It seemed way too ...freaky. Téa was feeling a slight chill in the air, and was eager to get on and find her friends. That's when the hall opened to a large chamber, the grand hall. Even more penguins milled about here. But one large blue penguin in an actual tux sat on a throne.
"Um.excuse me.." started Téa.
"Téa Gardner," said the penguin. "I have the numbers of your life
right here. 5' 7", shoe size 7, waist line.."
"Now hold it right there!" snapped Téa. "Who are you?"
"Sorry I didn't introduce myself," said the lead penguin. "I am Crum of the Big 5. I was Kaiba Corps. Main accountant until Kaiba fired us. Now I am going to duel you for your body!"
"No way!" exclaimed Téa. She turned to run. But a large sheet of ice rose, cutting off her escape route. She turned, desperately looking for another one, but the ice castle broke into pieces around her and fell into the sea. There wasn't anything left except the tiny iceberg she was on, and the one her opponent was on. The penguins poked their heads out of the water and watched with their evil eyes.
"Now select your deck from the virtual card data-base," said Crum. Row after row of cards appeared in front of Téa.
"No way! I'm not dueling!" she protested. As those words were out of her mouth, a duel disk formed on her arm.
"You have no choice. I am leaving this world in your body if you don't duel," said Crum.
"Grrrr," growled Téa. She turned to the cards nonetheless and began to select her deck.
"Now we both have to select our deck masters," said Crum. "Since I have taken the form of a monster, my deck master will be the Nightmare Penguin."
"Deck Master.." muttered Téa as she flipped through the cards she had chosen. "I had a dream about this..My Deck Master will be the Dark Magician Girl!"
Crum started laughing. "What's so funny?!" demanded Téa.
"You forgot to put the Dark Magician in your deck, and without him, your Deck Master will never be strong!" he clucked.
"We'll just see about that!" snapped Téa. "I start by playing Ancient Elf!" An elf with a weird violet outfit appeared in front of her. It had dark hair and a long staff. It had an attack of 1450. "Then I play one card face down. You're turn."
**************************************************************************** **
Duke and Tristan were still pounding away at the wall of the castle they were stuck in. They had hardly made a dent in the wall, when all of a sudden it completely crumbled. Behind it was a door, much like the one Drake and Lara had found.
"Finally," muttered Tristan, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"This all seems a little too convenient for me," replied Duke.
"After all that work, we're going through it," said Tristan as he flung the door wide open.
They both stepped outside, onto a parapet of the castle. They were several long feet off of the ground, but they were out.
"Help!" they heard someone cry. "Anybody!"
"It's Serenity!" gasped Duke.
Serenity was being chased by a very large, very angry Mad Sword Beast. The beast looked like a rhinoceros that had a sword instead of a horn. It was gaining on her fast.
"Come on!" exclaimed Tristan. With that he leapt down from the wall and onto the back of the Mad Sword Beast. It began to thrash around like a bucking-bronco. Tristan was doing all he could just to hold on.
Duke had also jumped from the wall, grabbed Serenity's hand, and pulled her safely away from the Duel Monster. It continued to thrash about until it tumbled into a nearby river. Tristan was the only one that surfaced.
He swam from the river's edge and climbed out. Then he looked over and saw that Duke had taken full credit for rescuing Serenity. Tristan started grumbling under his breath as he rejoined them.
**************************************************************************** **
For some reason, Noah felt the need to clue Yu-Gi in on how Téa's duel was progressing. That reason was probably for his own amusement. Every so often, Yu-Gi and Yami would hear Téa's voice in the hall they were trapped in. They heard when her monsters were destroyed, and how cold it got. Apparently Crum had designed this duel so that a lose of life points meant becoming an ice sculpture. Téa had quite a build-up around her. Crum, being a penguin, seemed to enjoy being frozen solid.
"We have to hurry Yami!" exclaimed Yu-Gi. They had discovered the secret of the hallway. The four doors held Duel Monsters. They had to be beaten, weakest to strongest, in order to escape from the maze.
"Yes, we must," agreed Yami. Yu-Gi prepared to attack the next monster with his Dark Magician. "Now wait, aibou. Not that one yet."
"Okay Yami," agreed Yu-Gi as he used another monster.
**************************************************************************** **
It had come to the point where everything was on the line between Téa and Crum. Crum had just less than half his life points at 1800, while Téa was slightly more at 2250. They both had no monsters on the field, Crum having used his as a tribute.
"Now for my turn," said Crum. "I play Defender Iceberg in defense mode." It looked as it names suggests, a large block of ice that sat on his side of the field. Its defense was 2450. "Then I play one face down card and activate Penguin Torpedo!"
"Oh no!" gasped Téa.
"Oh yes!" clucked Crum. "Penguin Torpedo has an attack of 550, but with my Deck Master's special ability, that is raise to 750. And now it will directly attack your life points!"
"Agh!" gasped Téa as the bullet-shaped penguin hit her and exploded. That heat was quickly replaced with more freezing. Téa was all but an ice cube now, she only had enough mobility left to duel. Her life points were at 1500.
"I bring my Dark Magician Girl to the field," said Téa with chattering teeth. The Dark Magician Girl placed a hand on her should and took her place on the battle line. Her attack was only 2000, too weak to penetrate the Defender Iceberg.
"Is that all?" laughed Crum. "This is as good as over! When I destroy your Deck Master, your body is mine!" Téa glared at him. "I play Ocean of Regeneration, which lets me bring back my Penguin Torpedo! You know what that means!"
"Great..." moaned Téa. She gasped in pain as the Penguin Torpedo exploded in front of her again, taking her down to a slim 750 life points.
"There has to be something I can do," thought Téa.
"Trust me," said the Dark Magician Girl. Téa looked at her and nodded.
"I will activate my Deck Master's special ability," said the Dark Magician Girl. Téa looked at her and nodded.
"I will activate my Deck Master's special ability," said Téa. "Dark Magic Energies!"
With that the Dark Magician Girl began to glow. All of Téa's monsters that had gone before her appeared around her. Their energy let Téa draw one card per monster in her graveyard.
"Did you get the card we need?" asked the Dark Magician Girl.
"Yes!" cheered Téa. "I activate Sage Stone!"
"What?!" gasped Crum.
**************************************************************************** **
"Look! It's Téa!" exclaimed Yu-Gi. They had survived the labyrinth and were now close to the duel. A think sheet of clear ice was the only thing that stopped them from racing to their friend's aid.
FLASH! Yu-Gi deck began to glow. The Dark Magician formed in front of him, broke through and shattered the ice, and raced to Téa's side.
"This is our chance!" exclaimed Yami and the two of them raced to her.
**************************************************************************** **
That flash of light glittered across the frozen landscape. One lone person looked up and saw it. He watched it for a moment, puzzled. Then everything clicked. He gasped and started running towards the light, trying not to slip on the ice as he went.
**************************************************************************** **
"Oh yes!" cheered Téa. "Sage Stone lets me summon the Dark Magician to the field!" Both dark magicians stood side by side, ready to finish their opponent off. "Finish that foul bird with Double Dark Magic attack!" ordered Téa.
The two spell-casters leapt forward. The Dark Magician blasted the Defender Iceberg to snowflakes as the Dark Magician Girl blasted Crum directly, taking all his life points.
"NO!" cried Crum as he froze into a feathered Popsicle.
The duel being over, the ice melted off of Téa. She slid to the ground, limbs tingling with cold.
"Téa! Téa!" called Yu-Gi as he raced to her.
"Yu-Gi?!" called Téa. "Thank goodness."
"Are you all right?" asked Yu-Gi as he helped her back onto solid ground.
"I have never been so cold in my entire life!" she exclaimed.
"I'm glad you're safe," he commented.
"I'll be better when we get out of this frozen wasteland."
"Good idea," agreed Yu-Gi as they started walking.
A shadow fell across their path. They looked up. A boy about their age with blond hair and blue eyes stood in front of them. Téa and Yu-Gi seemed a little wary, and after all they been through, who could blame them?
The stranger spoke first. "Hi, I'm Kevin Hunter. Are you the ones the Big 5 have brought here to challenge?"
AN/ Kevin belongs to Blue-Eyes Knight. Not me.
AN2/ Sorry about the lack of penguin bashing to all loyal POF members. I have much more evil plans in store for them in the next chapters.
And, as always, please read, review, and enjoy! (
Lady Akhana: Too bad we had to find a new base because of Alpha's guest.
Alpha: Hehehehe...well, at least with Sephiroth and Drake handling my fics, I can dedicate more time to POF!
Moonlady: Sure, whatever excuse is convient to you.
Star: That pharaohs and I have finished installing the new security system.
Pharaoh Light: The lightbulbs are in place.
Pharaoh Dark: And so is the mayonnaise wall.
Gema: Is everyone here?
Demon Child: All piranha bunnies present and accounted for!
Fox Demon: All shadow foxes too!
Bakurakrazie: I think that was too much information.
Akhana: Speaking of information, we all know the penguin king has finally revealed himself!
Livi: Death to the Big 5!
Seadragon1012: Yes! Let's gather the mustard and bring him down!
Gema: We have something even better!
Akhana: POF has made it on the web!
Imp is Insane: Yes!!! Now the whole world can oppose the penguins!
Moonlady: Those of you who haven't joined need to!
Demon Child: And I'll introduce you to my vampire shadows!
Kitty Tigri: Don't say that! You'll scare away the recruits!
Phantom 1: Now that we have a new headquarters and a web page, we need to move out! The penguins aren't going to defeat themselves!
Gema: We need to wait until our spies get back.
Cloud Dragon: Cool! We have spies!!!
Demon of Shadows: I have to burst everyone's bubble, but the penguin guy is MIA.
Imp is Insane: Hopefully someone shot him.
Livi: With lots of mustard!
Kitty Tigri: Gee..so much violence here.. '^__^'
Alpha: So what is the plan at taking down the penguin king?
Dark Fox: More shadow foxes!!!! *everyone starts scooting away*
Phantom 1: I say we beat them at their own game!
Gema: Exactly!
Seadragon1012: I think our spies are back. *enter Master of Dimensions, Diamond Lance, and Black Belt Timmy*
Master of Dimensions: We're back!!!
Diamond Lance: We know the penguins are going to attempt public brainwashing!
Star: That's bad.
Bakurakrazie: We need to confront them!
Gema: We will.
Cloud Dragon: Who's the new guy.
Black Belt Timmy: I'm not new!
Akhana: This is Timmy, he is the original spy who discovered the penguin's first movement.
Black Belt Timmy: and I've been spying on them ever since. Sorry I missed all the prior meetings.
Alpha: Yes! More members!
Master of Dimensions: We found out a lot. Get comfortable everyone, the debriefing can take awhile.
**************************************************************************** *
Téa woke up with a slight groan. She was laid out on some kind of long stone surface. She leaned over the edge, then back-pedaled. She was at least fifty feet off of the ground on a ledge. Down below the giants had gathered around a large, bubbling pot.
"I don't want to stay for dinner," groaned Téa. "Considering I am probably going to be dinner." She began to look for a way out, but the only one she could see was straight down. This was definitely not a good situation to be in.
She felt something brush against her cheek. She looked over. A rope was dangling from a hole in the ceiling. Téa glanced down once, weighing her options. Then she grabbed the rope and began to climb. She could have sworn she saw something watching her with beady eyes, but with the sunlight streaming in, she couldn't be sure. Whatever it was, it had to be better than the giants (says the authoress with sarcasm).
**************************************************************************** **
"If this is Noah's idea of a game, I am not amused!" said Lara as she and Drake attempted (and failed) to navigate the swamp in the driest way possible.
"Why am I not surprised Kaiba would somehow be behind getting us into a mess like this?" asked Drake with a groan.
"Mess is right," agreed Lara as she sunk into mud up to her left knee.
"I don't know about you," said Drake, "but I am ready to kick some major butt!"
"I am starting to feel the same way," agreed Lara, eyeing the virtual world evilly.
The thick fog parted slightly, enough to reveal a door floating six inches above the mire. It seemed completely out of place. The couple stopped and stared at it in disbelief for a few moments.
"What do you think this is, a trap?" asked Drake.
"I'll bet it is," said Lara. "Then again, it might be a way out."
"Well, trap or exit, it has to be better than this place," said Drake as he put a hand on the doorknob.
**************************************************************************** **
"Tristan, this hallway is never going to end," commented Duke.
"It has to end!" protested Tristan.
"No it doesn't. This isn't reality. It will only end when Noah wants it to," Duke pointed-out.
"Then maybe we have to make a way out!" exclaimed Tristan. He jerked a battle-axe out of the hands of a near-by suit of armor.
"That will never work," said Duke.
"Do you have any better ideas?!" snapped Tristan as he swung at the wall.
Duke paused, thought about it, and shrugged. He grabbed another axe and joined Tristan in trying to smash through the wall.
**************************************************************************** **
"Now where are we?" Yu-Gi asked Yami. They had entered a long corridor with black walls. It seemed to go on forever, and every turn seemed to bring him right back to where he started. Of course, it was hard to tell if it was the true beginning or another corridor that looked just like it. It was like a labyrinth certain game companies like to torture their players with.
"In another part of Noah's world," answer Yami. "Beyond that, I do not know. But it is imperative that we find the others before one of the Big 5 find them."
"If they have to duel..." started Yu-Gi. "Téa doesn't have that much experience dueling, and Serenity and Tristan don't duel at all!"
"Let's hurry aibou," said Yami and the two of them started running.
**************************************************************************** **
Téa had just scrambles across a narrow rope bridge with the giants in hot pursuit. The rope bridge had snapped, leaving them on one side of the gorge and her on the other. She slid to the ground, tired from running and nerves shaking.
"I..." she moaned. "I think I'm going to..rest here a bit." She still seemed pretty agitated. Just then, a small creature waddled over to her.
(Gema: Must destroy!!!!)
(Akhana: Not yet, Gema. Those cursed bird will pay. But you can blow them up yet. We have to follow the plans.)
(Gema: *grumbles*)
(Akhana: And hand over your Baka Hammer. We wouldn't want any innocent by- standers to suffer more.)
(Gema: *grumbles more and complies*)
Téa looked up and saw a penguin looking at her with its beady eyes. It seemed curiously interested in her.
"I remember!" gasped Téa. "You saved me from the giants."
The penguin did a half nod and waddled off. Téa got the impression that it wanted her to follow, so she did. She followed it across land, to a beach, and onto a raft, where she drifted out to sea. Slowly icebergs began to appear in the water. She was in penguin territory.
**************************************************************************** **
"Seto, this place could go on forever!" groaned Mokuba, who's feet were hurting from walking so much.
Seto Kaiba didn't answer, he knew that statement was true enough. His anger with Noah had put a small flame of anger in his eyes. He was focused. He hated being toyed with, and he was plotting how he would make Noah suffer.
"Why is he doing this?" asked Mokuba, who was beginning to feel concerned for his brother. He wanted to bring Seto out of his mood somehow.
"I have no idea," answered Seto. "But something tells me there is more to this than what we see. Whatever his reason...."
Seto trailed off, the harsh look in his eyes. Mokuba looked away, feeling all the more concerned.
**************************************************************************** **
Shayla had not budged a muscle from the clearing she had awoke in. She could hear strange monster cries all around her, and yet she refused to move. She knew that to Noah they were nothing more than pawns, and she made set in her mind that she would not be played with. Give that fact, she knew it was only a matter of time before he or his cronies tried something. But Defiance was showing. She was planning on being as difficult as possible. A monster shrieked nearby.
"This isn't real," she reminded herself. "None of this is. It is all an illusion."
**************************************************************************** **
Téa walked through the halls of a large ice palace. Penguin after penguin stood around, watching her with beady eyes. It seemed way too ...freaky. Téa was feeling a slight chill in the air, and was eager to get on and find her friends. That's when the hall opened to a large chamber, the grand hall. Even more penguins milled about here. But one large blue penguin in an actual tux sat on a throne.
"Um.excuse me.." started Téa.
"Téa Gardner," said the penguin. "I have the numbers of your life
right here. 5' 7", shoe size 7, waist line.."
"Now hold it right there!" snapped Téa. "Who are you?"
"Sorry I didn't introduce myself," said the lead penguin. "I am Crum of the Big 5. I was Kaiba Corps. Main accountant until Kaiba fired us. Now I am going to duel you for your body!"
"No way!" exclaimed Téa. She turned to run. But a large sheet of ice rose, cutting off her escape route. She turned, desperately looking for another one, but the ice castle broke into pieces around her and fell into the sea. There wasn't anything left except the tiny iceberg she was on, and the one her opponent was on. The penguins poked their heads out of the water and watched with their evil eyes.
"Now select your deck from the virtual card data-base," said Crum. Row after row of cards appeared in front of Téa.
"No way! I'm not dueling!" she protested. As those words were out of her mouth, a duel disk formed on her arm.
"You have no choice. I am leaving this world in your body if you don't duel," said Crum.
"Grrrr," growled Téa. She turned to the cards nonetheless and began to select her deck.
"Now we both have to select our deck masters," said Crum. "Since I have taken the form of a monster, my deck master will be the Nightmare Penguin."
"Deck Master.." muttered Téa as she flipped through the cards she had chosen. "I had a dream about this..My Deck Master will be the Dark Magician Girl!"
Crum started laughing. "What's so funny?!" demanded Téa.
"You forgot to put the Dark Magician in your deck, and without him, your Deck Master will never be strong!" he clucked.
"We'll just see about that!" snapped Téa. "I start by playing Ancient Elf!" An elf with a weird violet outfit appeared in front of her. It had dark hair and a long staff. It had an attack of 1450. "Then I play one card face down. You're turn."
**************************************************************************** **
Duke and Tristan were still pounding away at the wall of the castle they were stuck in. They had hardly made a dent in the wall, when all of a sudden it completely crumbled. Behind it was a door, much like the one Drake and Lara had found.
"Finally," muttered Tristan, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"This all seems a little too convenient for me," replied Duke.
"After all that work, we're going through it," said Tristan as he flung the door wide open.
They both stepped outside, onto a parapet of the castle. They were several long feet off of the ground, but they were out.
"Help!" they heard someone cry. "Anybody!"
"It's Serenity!" gasped Duke.
Serenity was being chased by a very large, very angry Mad Sword Beast. The beast looked like a rhinoceros that had a sword instead of a horn. It was gaining on her fast.
"Come on!" exclaimed Tristan. With that he leapt down from the wall and onto the back of the Mad Sword Beast. It began to thrash around like a bucking-bronco. Tristan was doing all he could just to hold on.
Duke had also jumped from the wall, grabbed Serenity's hand, and pulled her safely away from the Duel Monster. It continued to thrash about until it tumbled into a nearby river. Tristan was the only one that surfaced.
He swam from the river's edge and climbed out. Then he looked over and saw that Duke had taken full credit for rescuing Serenity. Tristan started grumbling under his breath as he rejoined them.
**************************************************************************** **
For some reason, Noah felt the need to clue Yu-Gi in on how Téa's duel was progressing. That reason was probably for his own amusement. Every so often, Yu-Gi and Yami would hear Téa's voice in the hall they were trapped in. They heard when her monsters were destroyed, and how cold it got. Apparently Crum had designed this duel so that a lose of life points meant becoming an ice sculpture. Téa had quite a build-up around her. Crum, being a penguin, seemed to enjoy being frozen solid.
"We have to hurry Yami!" exclaimed Yu-Gi. They had discovered the secret of the hallway. The four doors held Duel Monsters. They had to be beaten, weakest to strongest, in order to escape from the maze.
"Yes, we must," agreed Yami. Yu-Gi prepared to attack the next monster with his Dark Magician. "Now wait, aibou. Not that one yet."
"Okay Yami," agreed Yu-Gi as he used another monster.
**************************************************************************** **
It had come to the point where everything was on the line between Téa and Crum. Crum had just less than half his life points at 1800, while Téa was slightly more at 2250. They both had no monsters on the field, Crum having used his as a tribute.
"Now for my turn," said Crum. "I play Defender Iceberg in defense mode." It looked as it names suggests, a large block of ice that sat on his side of the field. Its defense was 2450. "Then I play one face down card and activate Penguin Torpedo!"
"Oh no!" gasped Téa.
"Oh yes!" clucked Crum. "Penguin Torpedo has an attack of 550, but with my Deck Master's special ability, that is raise to 750. And now it will directly attack your life points!"
"Agh!" gasped Téa as the bullet-shaped penguin hit her and exploded. That heat was quickly replaced with more freezing. Téa was all but an ice cube now, she only had enough mobility left to duel. Her life points were at 1500.
"I bring my Dark Magician Girl to the field," said Téa with chattering teeth. The Dark Magician Girl placed a hand on her should and took her place on the battle line. Her attack was only 2000, too weak to penetrate the Defender Iceberg.
"Is that all?" laughed Crum. "This is as good as over! When I destroy your Deck Master, your body is mine!" Téa glared at him. "I play Ocean of Regeneration, which lets me bring back my Penguin Torpedo! You know what that means!"
"Great..." moaned Téa. She gasped in pain as the Penguin Torpedo exploded in front of her again, taking her down to a slim 750 life points.
"There has to be something I can do," thought Téa.
"Trust me," said the Dark Magician Girl. Téa looked at her and nodded.
"I will activate my Deck Master's special ability," said the Dark Magician Girl. Téa looked at her and nodded.
"I will activate my Deck Master's special ability," said Téa. "Dark Magic Energies!"
With that the Dark Magician Girl began to glow. All of Téa's monsters that had gone before her appeared around her. Their energy let Téa draw one card per monster in her graveyard.
"Did you get the card we need?" asked the Dark Magician Girl.
"Yes!" cheered Téa. "I activate Sage Stone!"
"What?!" gasped Crum.
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"Look! It's Téa!" exclaimed Yu-Gi. They had survived the labyrinth and were now close to the duel. A think sheet of clear ice was the only thing that stopped them from racing to their friend's aid.
FLASH! Yu-Gi deck began to glow. The Dark Magician formed in front of him, broke through and shattered the ice, and raced to Téa's side.
"This is our chance!" exclaimed Yami and the two of them raced to her.
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That flash of light glittered across the frozen landscape. One lone person looked up and saw it. He watched it for a moment, puzzled. Then everything clicked. He gasped and started running towards the light, trying not to slip on the ice as he went.
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"Oh yes!" cheered Téa. "Sage Stone lets me summon the Dark Magician to the field!" Both dark magicians stood side by side, ready to finish their opponent off. "Finish that foul bird with Double Dark Magic attack!" ordered Téa.
The two spell-casters leapt forward. The Dark Magician blasted the Defender Iceberg to snowflakes as the Dark Magician Girl blasted Crum directly, taking all his life points.
"NO!" cried Crum as he froze into a feathered Popsicle.
The duel being over, the ice melted off of Téa. She slid to the ground, limbs tingling with cold.
"Téa! Téa!" called Yu-Gi as he raced to her.
"Yu-Gi?!" called Téa. "Thank goodness."
"Are you all right?" asked Yu-Gi as he helped her back onto solid ground.
"I have never been so cold in my entire life!" she exclaimed.
"I'm glad you're safe," he commented.
"I'll be better when we get out of this frozen wasteland."
"Good idea," agreed Yu-Gi as they started walking.
A shadow fell across their path. They looked up. A boy about their age with blond hair and blue eyes stood in front of them. Téa and Yu-Gi seemed a little wary, and after all they been through, who could blame them?
The stranger spoke first. "Hi, I'm Kevin Hunter. Are you the ones the Big 5 have brought here to challenge?"
AN/ Kevin belongs to Blue-Eyes Knight. Not me.
AN2/ Sorry about the lack of penguin bashing to all loyal POF members. I have much more evil plans in store for them in the next chapters.
And, as always, please read, review, and enjoy! (