What a Toon

"Boy oh boy! So yummy!" Jaden said while munching on some dumplings from a box he was holding.

After the gang watched the duel between the duel between Norman and Victor, they explored more of the island. They eventually came to a grassy area near the ocean where there appeared to be food stands set, like Pegasus mentioned. And it was a perfect timing, since it was around lunch time.

"Yeah, it's pretty tasty." Chumley agreed as he ate his own dumplings. "Although, I'd rather have…"

"Please! Don't you dare say grilled cheese." Matt pleaded.

"What's with him and grilled cheese?" Michael wondered while holding a cup full of soda with a straw in his right hand.

"I've been asking myself that question many times." Syrus replied with a hot dog in his left hand.

A bit away, Andrew, Jenny and Clover were standing in front of another food stand, trying some food.

Clover, for example, was trying a small box full of takoyaki. "Mmm, tasty."

"Found something good?" Andrew asked with a chicken leg in his right hand.

"Yeah, it's takoyaki. They're so delicious. Here, have a taste." She turned to him as she offered him a stick.

Andrew hesitated at first before he took the stick and tasted the takoyaki. But about two seconds after taking a bite, he was suddenly coughing. "(Cough! Cough!) That was... a little spicy…"

"I know, right?" Clover said with a smirk.

Jenny, who was standing behind with a cup of soda in her right hand, watched as Andrew tried to recover from the spiciness. She glanced at her drink and him again. She then approached him and held up the drink in front of his face.

"Here. Drink this." She offered.

"T-thanks." Andrew took the cup and sucked on the straw for a bit before he sighed in relief. "Ah, much better. Thanks again." He said while giving the cup back.

"No problem." Jenny said with a smile. She was about to drink some more, but realized something as she stared at the straw. 'Wait a minute. I just shared my drink with him. Which means…" She then covered her mouth with her free hand while turning red. 'Oh my god! Did we just… just...' She was now so embarrassed that steam was coming out of her head.

Clover noticed the embarrassed look on Jenny's face. She even took note of the fairy duelist's focus on her drink. The drink she shared with Andrew with. Wait! Shared?

...

...

Now it was Clover's turn to become red in her face. After putting two and two together, she realized what this was all about. 'No… freaking… way!' She couldn't resist the glare she gave her.

Andrew managed to get used to the spiciness from the takoyaki he was eating. He then noticed that both of his female friends were awfully quiet. "Is something wrong?"

They snapped out of their musings before turning to him.

"Oh, it's nothing." Jenny quickly said, trying her best to not act awkward

"Nothing at all." Clover added, being the same as her.

Andrew glanced between them for a moment before he shrugged. "Okay."

And when he wasn't looking, the two girls glared daggers at each other.


Meanwhile, somewhere nearby, an Obelisk Blue boy was walking around with his hands in his pockets. He had messy, orange hair with jet black highlights, dark green eyes, and lightly tanned skin. This was none other than James Napier. The Toon duelist who caused so much trouble on April Fools Day. He stopped for a moment to take a look around him. On his left, he noticed another Obelisk Blue boy offering an Obelisk Blue Girl a cup of soda, which she took while giggling. And when he looked to his right, he saw another Obelisk couple. The Obelisk girl was feeding the boy a stick with dumplings.

Eventually, James let out a deep sigh. "Man, look at them. Couples here and there. It must be great to be in love." He then let out another sigh. "But no one has shown any interest in me. What a tragedy." He placed a hand on his forehead in a dramatic way. He stood there for a moment before he balled his hands and developed a determined look on his face. "Alright! There's only one thing to do…" And then, from nowhere... he picked up binoculars. "It's time to find a pretty girl!" With that, he rushed to the top a cliff that overlooked the food area. And then, he checked the area through his binoculars.

"Now then, let's see who to go after…" He muttered as he looked around. He then happened to find two girls. "Ohh, those two look promising." James said with a grin, which instantly dropped when he saw their faces. "Wait a minute…" Apparently, those two girls were none other than Jasmine and Mindy. "Oh right, those two were there when I got busted that time on April Fools Day."

A thought bubble appeared above his head, with the image of him laying on the ground and getting stomped by the angry Jasmine and Mindy. "Yup, those two won't do." The image of the thought bubble was covered by a red X as a buzzing sound was heard.

He then kept searching searching. He eventually found another candidate. An Obelisk Blue girl with long black hair, with her back turned to his direction. "Hmm. Maybe this one?" When the girl turned around, he got a good look on her face. She had grey eyes and some of her hair covered the left side of her face. This made James blink twice. "Oh, that's Tracey Medina."

He then tapped his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. "If I remember correctly, this chick teamed up with that Norman guy and faced Andrew and Jenny in a tag duel. According to a rumor regarding that duel, Tracey was trying to win a date with Andrew." He then looked at her through his binoculars. "Not to mention she called him 'Andy', so I wouldn't be surprised if she still has a crush on him. Sooo… she's a no-no."

With that, he kept searching. 'There must be someone I can go after...' As he was starting to get frustrated, he stopped when he spotted another girl. And wow! This one is really good. Green eyes. Scarlet red hair. Red Jacket. At that, James whistled wolfishly. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!"


After having their lunch, the gang left the food stands and walked around on the island.

"Ah, I never thought they could make such good food." Jaden commented while rubbing his stomach.

"And I never thought you could actually eat enough from every one of those stands." Andrew replied dryly.

"That's Jaden for ya." Syrus said.

Alexis, Jenny and Clover shook their heads.

"Seriously. I thought the guys at north ate much." The Xander commented.

"Trust me, you should have seen how he stuffed himself at the Valentines Day Festival." Shiori replied.

As soon as Jenny heard him, she suddenly remembered a certain thing she tried to do, before Tracey showed up and interfered. She then got the same feeling she had when she attempted to to tell him, thus, placing a hand over her heart. However, that caused her to remember the drink thing earlier and turned red again.

Alexis didn't seem to notice her friend's embarrassed state for once. But Clover, on the hand, noticed and gave her an annoyed look. Not that Jenny noticed due to her embarrassment. Clover was so focused on the fairy duelist, she didn't notice that she walked right to a trip wire set at a tree. And as soon she stepped on it...

"Huh?"

Something fell right in front of her face.

"Ah!"

The rest of the gang jumped at her startled reaction.

"Whoa! What happened?" Michael asked as he and the others approached the girls.

"What is that?" Bastion wondered, referring to the object dangling in front of them.

Strangely enough, it was a clown-like doll with rainbow-colored clothes.

"A clown doll?" Chumley asked.

"Who would set up a clown doll like this?" Matt wondered.

"Whoever it is, I don't like their sense of humor." Clover remarked.

Andrew rubbed his chin. "Who would do this?"

The answer to that was hiding behind some bushes nearby.

"Ohh, she's almost cute when she's startled." James commented. "Now I really want her."

Unbeknownst to him, someone was hiding behind some trees just a couple meters away from him. An Obelisk Blue girl with white hair in a french bob hair cut.


Anyhow, that clown doll was just the beginning. Clover became victim of more pranks.

1: The group walked around the area, completely unaware of James hiding behind a tree. He reached into his pocket and picked out what looked like a toy cockroach. A clockwork item that players can wind up and release, whereupon it will move around on the floor. And this toy was much bigger than a real cockroach. He winded it up and released it, making it move away from him. The group's attention were redirected to the sound of the moving toy. And because it came very close to Clover, she screamed and jumped by its appearance.

2: The group took a break at a big rock. And once again, they were unaware of James, who was hiding behind the same rock. Clover, who was sitting on the ground near the rock, failed to notice him when he placed a small, multicolored can right at her left hand. It didn't take long for her to move her hand and touched the can, thus noticing it. By curiosity, she picked up the can and opened it... only to scream when a spring snake jumped out.

3: When the group were walking around on the island, James prepared something with another tripwire at another tree. Once he was finished, he ran off before the gang arrived. Clover glanced from right to left, trying to look out for anything crazy. Unfortunately, she accidentally stepped on the tripwire. And what fell down this time, was a bunch of spiders. Fake spiders, to be exact. But that didn't stop her from screaming once again.


"THAT'S IT!" Clover roared angrily. "Who is the idiot who keeps playing jokes on me!?"

"Clover, deep breaths. Deep breaths." Andrew said to her, trying to calm her down.

"Wow, this just isn't her day." Jaden commented.

"Seriously. Who is behind all of this?" Shiori wondered.

"And what do they have against Clover?" Matt added.

"Who indeed." Bastion said.

"Geez, this is just like April Fools Day." Michael said while rubbing the back of his head. "There were practical jokes from left to right, courtesy of James."

"Who?" Xander asked.

"James Napier. An Obelisk Blue." Alexis responded.

"He's a practical joker who caused much trouble during that day." Jenny explained.

"He even convinced two other Obelisks to help carry out the pranks." Matt added.

"They even placed a stink bomb inside their own dorm." Bastion mentioned.

"Fortunately, we managed to turn them in... after Jenny defeated James in a duel." Andrew added.

Clover, who finally calmed down a bit, had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Do you think he's the one who's pranking me?"

"I wouldn't be surprised by that." Matt replied.

"Well, maybe we should report this to Chancellor Sheppard?" Alexis suggested.

"EEP!"

Everyone jumped when they heard someone yelp nearby.

"What was that?" Syrus wondered.

Clover seemed to be focusing on some bushes. She gave them a glare and approached them. "Okay, I know you're there. Show yourself before I drag you out!"

The group waited for what felt like 10 seconds. Eventually, the person hiding behind the bushes stepped forward. That person was...

"James?" Michael widened his eyes.

"So it really was him." Chumley said.

"Yup. Not surprising at all." Matt commented.

Clover gave James an angry look. "Alright pal. Time for some answers. Why pull off those pranks on me? What did I ever do to you?"

"You didn't do anything at all." James replied nervously.

"Then why the pranks?" Clover pressured him.

"Well…" The prankster was silent for a moment before he blushed a little. "Because you are cute when getting scared?"

"Huh?" Clover was now really confused. She's been victim to his pranks, all because she was cute when getting scared?

Alexis however got a hint of this and figured out what it was all about. "Wait. Are you trying to say... you have a crush on her?"

"Huh!?" All boys turned to her in shock. Jenny developed an expression of realization. As for Clover, she gave James a disturbed look.

"You... must be kidding."

"No, it's true!" James replied quickly. And before Clover knew it, he was down on one knee, holding her right hand lovingly. "You, my dear, managed to capture my heart. Your hair is as enticing as the sky during the sunset itself. And your eyes are like the finest emeralds in the world."

Clover's left eye twitched in annoyance while the rest of the gang sweat dropped at this.

The redhead quickly got her hand out of his grasp. "Give me a break! You're pulling some pranks on me, and expect me to what? Date you!?"

"Why not? We could walk along on the beach." James suggested as he suddenly held up a red rose in front of her face.

But Clover just swatted it away. "I don't think so! Now leave me alone!"

But the toon duelist grasped her right hand again. "Can't we at least go somewhere and learn about each other?"

Clover was now starting to get really pissed as she slowly rose her left fist. "I am so gonna…!"

But someone grabbed her left wrist. She turned around to see Jenny who looked at her seriously. "Take it easy, Clover! Punching him won't solve anything."

"Then what do you suggest I do?"

Jenny was about to answer, but Jaden beat her to it and jumped in with a grin on his face. "Easy! If you can't convince him with words... then duel him!"

"A duel?" Clover looked at him with a confused look.

"Sometimes I wonder if we really have to solve every problem with a duel." Andrew muttered while shaking his head.

But Clover seemed to consider the suggestion and turned to James. "Alright. I'm in. If I win, then you'll leave me alone."

James smirked. "Okay. Only if you agree to this; If I win, you have to go on a date with me."

Clover sighed but nodded. "Fine."

"We can't have one single day without something crazy happening, can we?" Syrus groaned.


At that, the gang, plus James, searched around for a dueling arena they could use. Eventually, they found one near the ocean, not too far away from the food stands they visited earlier. James took his place on the red podium, while Clover took her place on the blue one.

"Well then. Here goes." Michael said.

"Say, what kind of duelist is James anyway?" Xander asked.

Bastion turned to him. "From what the others told me, James is using a deck full of Toon monsters."

The mechanic was surprised. "Toon monsters? Like Pegasus?"

"Yeah." Shiori replied. "Apparently, the Industrial Illusions had a competition where you could win your own set of Toon cards. And... long story short, James was the winner."

The mechanic looked back at the arena. "Then this might be a little problematic for Clover."

"Don't worry. She can do this." Andrew said confidently.

The duelists drew their opening hands.

"DUEL!"

Clover: 4000

James: 4000

"I'll go first." Clover declared and drew her sixth card, which she placed on the table instantly. "And I'll start with the spell card known as Card Advance. This lets me take a look at the top 5 cards from my deck and place them in any order I want." Clover drew 5 cards, looked at them and rearranged them before returning them to her deck.

"Not bad." Matt commented. "With that, she'll be able to draw the card she might need for later."

"But that's not all it does." Jenny added.

"That's right." Clover said. "Due to the second effect of my Card Advance, I can tribute summon 1 monster in addition to my normal summon this turn. So for starters, I summon Axe Dragonute!" A certain, axe wielding dragon rose up on her field. (ATK 2000 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And next I'll sacrifice it in order to summon Strong Wind Dragon!" The axe wielding dragon disappeared as new one appeared. This dragon was big, muscular and blue green. It had a long tail and wings that stretched out widely. (ATK: 2400 DEF: 1000 LV: 6)

"Hey, nice move." Jaden said.

"Awesome!" Syrus added.

"And it gets better." Bastion said.

"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.

"He means this." Clover spoke up. "If Strong Wind Dragon was summoned by sacrificing a dragon type monster, it absorbs half of that monster's attack strength." The dragon roared as it gained power. (ATK: 2400-3400)

"Nice." Alexis said with an impressed tone.

"You go, girl!" Jenny cheered.

"I end my turn with a facedown." Clover concluded as she placed a card on the table.

"Well, a powerful monster on your very first turn. You are skilled and beautiful." James complimented.

"Just go!" The redhead said impatiently.

"Take it easy. That was just a compliment." The toon duelist drew a card. "But perhaps I can make you laugh with my moves... starting by playing 1000 life points in order to activate a special spell card."

James: 4000-3000

"1000 points?" Andrew mused before it dawned on him. "Oh no!"

"Is he…?" Jenny wondered worriedly.

"I activate... Toon World!"

(Play Toon World theme)

The familiar green book appeared and opened up with a giant smoke with cartoon sound effects. And as usual, words like 'POW' and 'BOOM' flied off. Once the smoke cleared, the book showed a castle.

"You must be joking." Clover said disbelieved.

"Nope." James nonchalantly. "As you can see, I'm a Toon duelist. And I'm about to show you how hilarious my monsters can be. But first, I'm gonna summon Rescue Rabbit in attack mode." The monster that appeared on James' field was a small, grey/white rabbit that was wearing a yellow hard hat with goggles. (ATK: 300 DEF: 100 LV: 4)

"A rabbit?" Matt mused. "What good would that do?"

"Much more than you think." Shiori replied with a frown.

"Indeed. You see, by removing this monster from play, I can summon 2 level 4 or lower normal monsters from my deck with the same name." The little rabbit disappeared as James began to search through this deck. "Have you ever heard that rabbits can multiply? If not, then you're going to be surprised, because for my Rescue Rabbit, I play two copies of Dark Rabbit." Two identical monsters appeared from a puff of smoke. Not from Toon World, but on the field. The new monsters were tall, dark rabbits, each dressed in a blue tunic and white gloves. And on top of that, both of them looked cartoonish. The two rabbits wrapped their arms around each other and laughed. (ATK: 1100 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) x2

"More rabbits." Syrus noted.

"But none of them is strong enough to take down that dragon." Chumley pointed out.

James shrugged. "True. And that's why I'm going to sacrifice them to summon another monster."

"But you already made a normal summon, so you can't summon another monster." Jaden protested.

"Unless the next monster is a toon." Bastion countered.

"Correct." The Toon duelist replied with a smirk. "Some of the Toon monsters are known for being able to be special summoned when I have Toon World in play. And the Toon monster I'm about to summon requires two sacrifices." The two rabbits laughed again before jumping into Toon World. The book then closed itself. "Say hello to the almighty Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon."

The spectators gasped.

"No way! Blue-Eyes!?" Shiori exclaimed.

The book spun around in place before opening up and released another puff of smoke. The smoke cleared quickly and revealed the monster in question. If it were the original monster, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, then it would have been a big, white-scaled dragon with blue eyes, wings and bony arms with three claws and a thumb. But this Toon Dragon was like a cartoonish mini version of the original. It even laughed maniacally to empathize its appearance. (ATK: 3000 DEF: 2500 LV: 8)

"Dude, talk about weird." Michael said while raising an eyebrow.

"I know." Jaden replied. "A Toon version of Kaiba's favorite monster."

"I think I know why he hates that card." Andrew stated.

"Yes, it's just so sad." James sighed as the Toon Dragon streamed tears from its eyes.

"But since it's a Toon monster, that dragon can attack Clover directly." Syrus said worriedly.

"True, but like the other Toon monsters, the dragon has a certain weakness." Bastion responded. "It can't attack the same turn it's summoned."

"Which might give Clover a chance to destroy it since her dragon is stronger." Matt added.

But James smirked and wagged his finger. "If you have watched cartoons, then you should have known better than jinx people." He then placed a card on the table. "I activate the spell card Shine Palace." At that, the pop-up castle shined brightly. "By adding this twist... I mean equip spell to a light monster, like my Blue-Eyes, that monster gains 700 attack points." The Toon Dragon's body became a little more muscular. The dragon then flexed its muscles as if showing off. (ATK: 3000-3700)

"Oh boy." Xander said worriedly.

"And I'll end my turn with a facedown." James placed another card on the table.

"Alright then." Clover drew. "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards." She drew extra cards. "And I'm about use one of them right now." She placed the card in question. "The spell card, Stamping Destruction."

"Huh?" James widened his eyes.

Clover smirked. "Since I have a dragon type monster on the field, I can use this card to destroy one spell or trap card on the field. After that, the one controlling that card takes 500 points of damage. And my target is... Toon World."

James gasped while the Toon Dragon's eyes bugged out. "No, you can't!"

"Oh yes she can." Michael retorted with a smirk. "The Toon monsters have another weakness. As soon as Toon World leaves the field, they are automatically destroyed."

"And that leaves James wide open." Alexis added.

"Now go! Destroy Toon World!" At Clover's command, Strong Wind Dragon flew over to James' field dived toward the Toon World book. The Toon dragon panicked comically as the opposing dragon finally stomped the book, causing a big explosion.

James: 3000-2500

Everyone watched as the smoke was about to clear while Clover's dragon returned to her.

"Lishus! The Toon Dragon is gonzo." Chumley cheered.

"Now all that's left for Clover is…" Jaden said before he stopped at mid sentence when the smoke finally cleared.

The book was gone...

But to everyone's shock, Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon was unharmed.

"What!? The dragon is still there?" Shiori asked.

"But how?" Syrus wondered.

Clover gave James, who was chuckling, an angry look. "What did you do?"

"Oh, me? I just activated my facedown card before my Toon World fell." He pointed at the card that was now revealed. "It's called Forbidden Chalice."

"What does that do?" Xander asked.

"Simple: It gives a monster 400 attack points for one turn. But during that time, that monster's special abilities are negated."

Jenny widened her eyes. "Then that means…"

"My Toon Dragon's 'weakness' is negated as well, meaning he'll stick around." The Toon Dragon pulled the bottom of its right eyelid and blew raspberry. (3700-4100)

Clover sighed. "Fine, I'll end my turn." (ATK: 4100-3700)

"I thought you would." James drew. "First I place a card facedown." He placed a card on the table. "Then I'll pay 500 life points so my dragon can attack."

James: 2500-2000

"Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, attack! White Lightning!" The dragon breathed in so deeply, that its belly swelled up like a balloon. And then, it fired a beam of energy.

"I activate Negate Attack!" Clover's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier that blocked the attack. "Thanks to my trap card, your attack is cancelled."

"Playing hard to get, are we? Oh well. I'll just end my turn."

Clover drew a card. "I play a facedown and that's all." A card appeared behind her dragon.

James drew a card and looked at it. 'Perfect.' He smirked and placed it on the table. "I place a card facedown as well. And that ends my turn."

"Why isn't he attacking?" Syrus wondered.

"Maybe he's wary of her facedown card." Matt assumed.

"Either that or he just didn't want to waste too much life points." Alexis added.

"My move." Clover drew. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode and end my turn." A facedown card appeared next to Strong Wind Dragon.

"Alrighty then…" James drew a card. "Time to do kick things up a little. Starting with this…" He flipped up one of his facedown cards. "I activate the trap card Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment. During this turn, any effect damage I'll take becomes 0."

"Why would he use that card?" Jaden wondered. "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that 'paying life points' doesn't count as effect damage. So it can't be useful for attacking with Toon Dragon."

"Indeed." Bastion agreed. "So what could James be planning?"

"Now I reveal my other facedown card." James flipped up the card in question. "Aegis of Gaia. When this trap card is activated, I gain 3000 life points."

James: 2000-5000

"That's a lot of points." Chumley commented.

"True, but Aegis of Gaia is a continuous trap card with a weakness." Jenny said. "As soon as it leaves the field, it will cause 3000 points of damage to the one who activated it."

Jaden scratched his head while raising an eyebrow. "Is that why he used Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment? Is he predicting that his trap is going to be destroyed this turn?"

"Predicting?" James repeated. "I was more like preparing for its destruction. By this spell card…" He held up a card. "Magic Planter. This lets me send a continuous trap card I control to the graveyard and draw two cards. So I'll toss out Aegis of Gaia." He placed the named card on the graveyard and drew two more cards.

"So that's what he planned." Bastion realized. "Quite brilliant."

"Dude, we're supposed to root for Clover, remember?" Michael reminded him.

James looked at his new cards. "Well, looky here. We're about to stumble into the next plot twist of this story."

Clover became wary. "What are you up to?"

"Something like this…" James drew 5 cards from his deck. "By removing 5 cards from my deck, I can activate the field spell known as Toon Kingdom."

Everyone gasped again.

"What!? There's a field spell version of Toon World?" Andrew exclaimed

To answer his question, a giant pop-up book similar to Toon World out of a puff of smoke. When it opened, it revealed a pop-up version of a castle. But unlike the one from earlier, this one had some additions. Torches and tress without leaves.

"That's right." James said proudly. "And while it's on the field, it counts as Toon World. Meaning we're all back where we started."

Clover groaned. "Great."

"Of course, my Toon Kingdom is full of other surprises, but let's save that for later. I play a facedown." James placed a card on the table. "Then I'll pay 500 points so my Blue-Eyes can attack again."

James: 5000-4500

The dragon took a deep breath again, but before it launched an attack...

"I reveal my facedown spell card…" Clover's facedown card flipped up. "Half Shut! This lets me cut a monster's attack points in half for one turn. And I choose your Blue-Eyes."

"It won't work." James said bluntly

"What!?"

"With Toon Kingdom in play, you can't target my Toon monsters with spell, trap or monster effects. So your spell is useless."

Clover cringed.

"Which means you'll suffer the full strength of my attack!" Toon dragon let out another beam of energy. And this time, Clover was hit by it.

Clover: 4000-0300

"Clover!" Andrew called out.

"This is bad." Jenny said. "Not only is Clover almost out of points, but James' Toon monster becomes harder to defeat."

"She better do something. She can't survive another attack." Alexis pointed out.

"But the question is how." Xander said.

"I end my turn." James concluded.

Clover panted a little due to the amount of damage she just took.

"You seem to be tired." The Toon duelist noted. "I'll tell you what. How about you surrender the duel, and we can look for a place where you and I can take a rest. All alone."

"In your dreams." Clover retorted and drew a card. She glanced at it for a moment and turned to James. "If you think I'm gonna let you win, then think again. I reveal my facedown monster." The facedown card flipped up and released a black-haired warrior in armor with a sword and shield. He was also wearing a red cape and a pair of goggles. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "His name is Dust Knight and he has a flip effect. I'm allowed to send an earth monster from my deck to my graveyard." She took a monster card from her deck and placed it on her graveyard. It had the image of a flower with red and white petals in a small pot. "And by removing this card from my graveyard, I can use its effect." She placed the card on the side.

"Huh?" James blinked.

"Confused? Then let me explain it to you. This monster is called Amarylease. By removing it from play, I'm allowed to summon a monster with 1 less sacrifice than usual. For example, I can now sacrifice Dust Knight and nothing else in order to summon this…" The knight disappeared and was replaced with a certain purple-armored warrior with a big sword. "Buster Blader!" (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2300 LV: 7)

"Sweet!" Jaden cheered. "Her ace monster.

"It's about time she summoned him." Andrew added.

James wasn't worried. "Ooh, big bad Buster Blader." He said mockingly.

"Don't get too cocky. My Buster Blader will take down your dragon. Especially since he gains 500 attack points for every dragon type monster on your field and in your graveyard." (ATK: 2600-3100)

"That's not enough to destroy my Toon Dragon."

Clover smirked. "Then it's a good thing I have this…" She held up a spell card. "Lightning Blade. I can equip this to a warrior type monster and give it 800 attack points." The Buster Blader's sword was now sizzling with electricity. (ATK: 3100-3900)

"Nice one, Clover!" Alexis cheered.

"You go!" Jenny cheered.

"Buster Blader, attack! Destroy his Blue-Eyes with Lightning Blade Attack!" The purple armored warrior leaped forward and swung his sword.

Everyone expected the dragon to be destroyed. But to their surprise, it stretched out of the way.

"What just happened?" Chumely asked.

"That dragon just stretched out of the way." Michael noted, still as surprised as the rest of the gang."

"But how?" Clover asked.

On que, James laughed. "What do you think? Toon Kingdom of course. Whenever one of my Toons would be destroyed, I can save it by simply taking the top card of my deck and remove it from." He explained as he took away the top card of his deck.

"But Buster Blader has more attack points, so he should have caused some damage." Matt pointed out.

"That would be the case if I didn't have this trap card in play." James pointed at the his facedown that was now revealed. "My Spirit Barrier. As long as I have a monster on the field, I take no battle damage."

"Aw man." Syrus moaned. "Then Clover can't damage his life points either."

"This will be tough." Jaden commented.

"True, but I know Clover can turn this duel around." Andrew said confidently.

The redhead smiled at his words. 'He's right. This duel isn't over yet.' She placed a card on the table. "I play a facedown and end my turn."

"Alright then. My move." James declared and drew.

"I activate the trap card Frozen Soul!" Clover flipped up her facedown card. "If my life points are at least 2000 lower than yours, then you're forced to skip your next battle phase."

The gang sighed in relief.

"Good. At least Clover is safe for now." Xander stated.

"And hopefully, she can make a comeback." Shiori replied.

James made a thoughtful pose. "Hmm. So I can't attack,huh?" He then shrugged. "Oh well. At least I can play the spell card Comic Hand." As soon as he placed the named card on the table, the Toon kingdom closed for a second and opened up again, releasing a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, a stretchy, white-gloved hand appeared. "This card happens to be one of the ideas I came up with for the contest where I won my Toon cards. And this is the effect I gave this card: By equipping it to one of your monsters, I can take control of it and turn it into a Toon."

Clover gasped at his explanation.

"And I know just the one. Your very own Buster Blader."

The dragon/warrior duelist could only watch as the strecthy hand grabbed the purple armored warrior and pulled him into the book closed. "Meet the new and improved Toon Buster Blader." When it opened up again, it released another puff of smoke, from which Buster Blader appeared. But to Clover's dismay, the warrior was now cartoonish and chibi-fied. (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2300 LV: 7)

Clover stared at Buster Blader's new form for about 5 seconds before she gave James a very annoyed look. "What on earth have you done to my Buster Blader!?"

"I just made him cuter, that's all." James replied innocently.

"Cuter? I don't think cute is the right thing to say about Buster Blader, wether it's a Toon or not." Michael said while giving the monster in question a weird look.

"You can say that again." Andrew agreed.

James tapped his chin. "Let's see. You did mention that Buster Blader gains 500 attack points for every dragon type monster on the opponent's field and in their graveyard. So... with your Strong Wind Dragon on the field and Axe Dragonute in your grave, he gains 1000. And he's still equipped with Lightning Blade, giving him 800 more points." The cartoonish warrior spun the sword as it sizzled with electricity. (ATK: 2600-4400)

Clover clicked her tongue at the power boost.

"But like you said, I can't attack because of Frozen Soul. So I'll end my turn."

Clover stared at her ace monster. 'This is bad. He has a combo that protects his monsters and his life points. And if that wasn't enough, he stole my Buster Blader. There's no way I'm gonna let him get away with this.' She drew a card.

"Come on, sweetheart. Just give up so we can have some fun."

"I play Swords of Revealing Light!"

"Huh?" A bunch of swords made of light energy appeared and surrounded the toons.

"Thanks to this, you can't attack for 3 turns."

James pouted. "You're no fun."

"Now Clover has three turns to figure out how to win." Jenny stated.

"Let's hope that's enough." Alexis replied.

"I end my turn." Clover concluded.

James drew a card and looked at it. "Aha! The spell card Field Barrier." When he placed the card on the table, a barrier surrounded the Toon Kingdom book. "Thanks to this, my field spell can't be destroyed. And on top of that, none of us can activate a new field spell. And that's it for now."

Clover frowned. 'That means I can't destroy Toon Kingdom without destroying the Field Barrier.' She drew a card and looked at it. 'A Feather of the Phoenix. I'm not sure how it can help me. But it might come in handy later.'
"I pass."

"Suit yourself." James drew a card. "I on the other hand am gonna summon Toon Mermaid in defense mode." The pages in Toon Kingdom flipped to show an underwater city filled with bubble and fish pop-ups. And then, from a puff of smoke, a green haired mermaid with a shell bra, blue tail appeared. She carried a bow and arrow and was lying inside a giant clam, which appeared to have cartoonish eyes on top. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "And that's all for now."

Clover drew again. She looked at her new card and widened her eyes. "Okay." She said with a smile.

"Hm?" James raised an eyebrow.

"First I'll place one facedown." Clover placed a card on the table. "Then I activate the spell card A Feather of the Phoenix. By discarding 1 card from my hand, I can take a card from my graveyard and place it on the top of my deck."

"Is that good?" Syrus asked skeptically.

"It certainly is." Andrew said with a smile. "If everything goes right, then that move can turn this duel around."

James overheard them. 'Not if I get a say in this.'

Clover discarded a card and took another one from her graveyard and placed it on her deck. "It's your move."

James drew a card and looked at it, before glancing at the other one in his hand. The toon duelist smirked. "I don't know what you're up to, but there's no way I'm gonna let you get away from me." He placed a spell card on his table. "I activate the spell card Star Blast. By paying multiples of 500 life points, I can reduce the level of a monster on my field or hand by 1 for each 500 points I paid. And I'm going to reduce the level of this bad boy." He revealed a monster card in his hand. Everyone noticed that this was another Toon monster. They also noticed that it looked like Barrel Dragon due to the long cannons on the monster's arms and forehead. But it was of course more cartoonish. It's color was more light purple than the original and it had orange cartoonish eyes.

"Is that Barrel Dragon?" Jaden asked.

"More like Toon Barrel Dragon." Shiori corrected.

"Yup, that's right. A really powerful level 7 monster. I could give up enough life points to summon it without a sacrifice. But I'm gonna play safe and pay 500 life points. Nothing more, nothing less."

James: 4500-4000

"And with that, I'll sacrifice Toon Mermaid to summon my little friend." Toon mermaid went into the book before its pages flipped to show a pop-up factory. And then, the small, cartoonish Barrel Dragon lookalike jumped out of it. (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2200 LV: 7-6) "And now for my Toon's special effect." James smirked as he picked up a coin. "Once per turn, I can toss a coin three times. And if at least two of the results are heads…"

"Then you can destroy one of my monsters, right?" Clover interrupted.

However, James' smirk remained as he wagged his finger. "That, my lovely Clover, is the original's ability. My Toon Barrel Dragon's ability is an improvement. It can destroy any card on the field."

Everyone gasped.

"Any card!?" Syrus exclaimed.

"That means he can destroy spell and trap cards as well." Matt realized.

"Including Swords of Revealing Light." Michael added.

"That's right. So with any luck, I can get rid of that card right now, and I'll win the duel and a date."

Clover didn't like this at all. 'This is really bad!'

"Now then, shall we?" James flipped the coin. When it landed on his hand, it showed a side that had a single dot. "Ah, tails. Two times left." He tossed the coin again. When it landed, it showed a side that looked like the Millennium Eye. "Yes, heads! Third time's the charm." The spectators watched worriedly as he tossed the coin a third time. But this didn't worry anyone more than Clover. The coin landed on James' hand. The result was...

...

...

Tails!

James slapped his forehead. "Damn!"

Everyone else sighed in relief.

"Wow! That was close!" Jaden said.

"Yeah. Clover was really lucky there." Chumley added.

Andrew nodded with a smile. "Which means she's got one more chance."

James sighed in disappointment. "Fine, I'll end my turn." With that, the Swords of Revealing Light disappeared.

Clover smirked as she drew her next card. "Too bad for you. Because now I can end this duel, starting with this…" The card she drew was a certain spell card.

"Stamping Destruction?" James mused.

"That's right, which means I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field."

"That may be true, but my Toon Kingdom is protected by my Field Barrier."

"I know, that's why I'm going to destroy it." When she placed the card on the table, Field Barrier shattered into pixels. "And don't forget, my spell card deals 500 points of damage."

James: 4000-3500

"And with that out of the way, I can take you down."

James just smirked. "Did you forget? My Toons are safe, thanks to my field spell. And with Spirit Barrier, I'm safe from battle damage."

Clover shook her head. "You said earlier that I was planning something, right? So, didn't you think I had something more than my spell card?"

James looked at her confused. But it was then he noticed the card behind Strong Wind Dragon. "Wait! Your facedown card!"

Clover smirked. "That's right. I was waiting for the right moment to use it. And now it's time!" Her facedown card flipped up. "Activate Dust Tornado!"

James gasped. "Oh no!"

"Oh yeah!" Andrew cheered, along with the others.

"With this trap card, I can destroy one spell or trap card. And I think you can guess which one…" A tornado appeared blew the Toon Kingdom book blew away. This caused the Toon monsters scream comically.

"Brilliant!" Bastion praised. "Without Field Barrier, she was able to get rid of Toon Kingdom."

"And the best part is the Toon monsters will be destroyed." Jenny added.

And true to her words, the Toon monsters disappeared, one after the other. Or rather… Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon and Toon Barrel Dragon did. To everyone's confusion, Toon Buster Blader was still there.

"Wait! What about Buster Blader? Why isn't he destroyed?" Syrus wondered.

It was then the gang noticed the Comic Hand card glowing red. And then... it exploded.

"Whoa! Did you see that?" Matt asked.

"I'm sure we all did." Shiori replied.

"But how?" Michael wondered.

Alexis seemed to have realized it. "It must have been the field spell. I think Comic Hand can only remain on the field if Toon World, or in this case, Toon Kingdom stayed on the field."

"Which means with that equip spell gone…" Jenny said.

"Clover's Buster Blader is free." Andrew filled in.

The cartoonish warrior jumped over to Clover's field. And then, his body glowed brightly for a moment before he turned back to normal. (ATK: 4400-3900)

Clover smiled softly at her ace monster. "Glad you're back." She then turned to James with a serious look.

The toon duelist gulped nervously. "Um, c-can we talk about this?"

"I don't think so. You played some jokes on me and tried to defeat me so you could go out on a date with me. I think it's time you take some responsibility for your actions! Buster Blader, attack his life points directly!" The warrior swung his sword, sending an arc of electricity that struck James and zapped him.

James: 3500-0000

Clover sighed in relief as the podium lowered itself. She walked over to her friends.

"Nicely done, Clover." Xander praised

"Thanks."

"You sure pulled a big one there." Michael said.

"Yeah, I was worried there for a minute." Jenny added.

"I knew you could do it." Andrew said.

"With that done, I think we need to talk, James." Shiori declared as he turned to the Toon duelist.

Only, he wasn't on his podium. In fact, he wasn't anywhere in the area.

"Um, where did he go?" Jaden asked.

"I don't know and I don't care." Clover said bluntly. "I'm just glad this is over."

"Same here. But it's not like he was bullying or something." Matt stated. "He just had a crush."

"Too bad he chose the wrong way to show his feelings." Shiori said.

"But hopefully, he learned his lesson from this duel." Andrew said, earning nods from the rest of the gang.


The toon duelist happened to be walking around in the forest. And he was quite depressed for what happened.

"Man, what a bummer. I thought I had her, but she beat me. Now there's no way I can be together with her." He sighed sadly. "Man what a tragedy." He stopped walking and decided to sit down on a big rock...

PHHTBHBHT!

But he then jumped upon hearing the sudden, fart-like sound. When he turned around, he found a whoopee cushion laying on the rock. He then scratched his head. "That's weird. I don't remember placing a whoopee cushion there."

"Teehee!"

He then blinked upon hearing someone giggling. It sounded like a girl. He then looked around. "Okay, show yourself! I know you're there!"

He waited for a moment until someone stepped forward from behind a tree. The person was indeed a girl, wearing an Obelisk Blue girl uniform. She had white hair in a french bob hair cut and pink eyes. She smiled at James as she spoke. "Sorry about that. Couldn't resist."

James blinked again before he handed her the whoopee cushion. "Then I guess this is yours."

"Yup." She took it. "Whoopee cushions. A classic."

James couldn't help but smile as he nodded in agreement. "I know, right? But sometimes, you can come up with something original."

"Like when you used the whoopee cushion to trick Dr. Crowler into stepping on a balloon filled with paint?"

James scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh yeah, forgot that everyone learned about what I did that day."

"Yeah, shame that you got caught." The girl then held out her right hand. "I haven't introduced myself, did I? I'm Alicia."

"Well, pleasure to meet you. I'm James…" He said as he grabbed her hand to shake it… "BZZZZ!" Only to get a shock as a buzzing sound was heard. When his hand was free, he rubbed it and hissed due to the shock he felt. He then turned to Alicia who laughing while showing a hand buzzer she was wearing in the palm.

"Hand buzzer! Another classic!" She said while still laughing.

But that laughter was short lived when she felt a pair of hands grabbing her shoulders firmly. Those hands belonged to James, who gave her an angry look.

"You've got some nerve. Tricking me with a whoopee cushion and a hand buzzer?"

Alicia started to get worried by his reaction. But then, to her surprise, he suddenly gave he a smirk. "Where have you been in my life?"

The Obelisk girl then smiled at him.

And then, the two Obelisks walked away, with James having an arm wrapped around her. "I think you and I are gonna have some fun together.


Well, looks like I completed this chapter on Christmas Eve. I doubt I'll be able to finish the next one before the end of the year. So until next time, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New year.