The Cartoonish Finale

It hasn't been that long since the gang headed underground and found the mysterious ghost lady, and found out she was actually the Vampire duelist Mahiru Vasilyev from Obelisk Blue. After that little adventure, they decided to relax for a bit before the so called main event Pegasus mentioned earlier. Which leads to the current moment: the sky was starting to become orange in color, and all the students have gathered in front of the stairs leading to the castle, where Pegasus was waiting for them before making an announcement.

"Are all the students here?" Pegasus asked, without waiting for an answer. "Good! Then let's get this started. First of all, I would like to say that I'm so glad all of you could enjoy your stay here. So many duels to watch all around on this island, truly splendid. But now, since we're about to reach the end of the day, it's time for a special surprise."

That made the students whisper to each other, wondering what this surprise is.

"Now then, let me tell you all what it is…" Pegasus spoke up, before he held up something in the air. It appeared to be a Duel Monster card based on its brown colored side. "Before you all arrived here, I took the liberty to hide special cards all around on the island." He turned the card around to show everyone its other side. And to their surprise, it wasn't showing the image for a monster, spell or trap card. Instead, it was showing a number. Number 13. "And each of these cards has a number on it. What I want you to do is try to find one of these hidden cards. I'll give you all one hour to get one before returning here. And when the time is up, one of the numbers will be chosen in random. And then, the one with the lucky number gets a special prize. And that prize is…" He paused for a moment to make it dramatic. And then, finally… "A duel against yours truly!"

And that was it. Countless students became excited by the possibility to duel the creator of Duel Monsters.

"No way! A duel against Pegasus himself?" Jaden asked excited. "This is super sweet!"

"It's not often you get the chance to duel someone like him." Andrew said.

"True." Clover replied. But she then grimaced. "Although, I don't know I feel like facing Toon monsters again."

"Well I would like to give it a try." Michael said eagerly.

Pegasus spoke up again. "Like I said, you all got one hour to get one of the number cards. Try your best and hope that you get the right card. So, let the card search… begin!"


And just like that, the students were everywhere on the island, searching for a number card. They were looking behind bushes, among tree branches, not to mention they flipped over some rocks that were potentially big enough to hide some cards.

The gang split up to find their own cards. Andrew was looking around at the edges of the forest. "There must be hundreds of those cards hidden here. I'm surprised we didn't even find any when we first came here."

His duel spirit, Phantom Magician, chose that moment to show himself. "Pegasus must have hidden them very well for you to not notice them."

"I guess so. Did you find anything?"

"I'm afraid I haven't seen any cards so far."

Just as Andrew was about to say anything else, he noticed someone sitting on the ground, leaning against the tree. That someone, was Shiori. And it appeared that he was rearranging his deck.

"Hey, Shiori."

The ritual duelist looked up and smiled. "Hey, Andrew."

"What are you doing here?"

Shiori looked down at his cards. "Just changing my deck a bit. I better be prepared in case I get picked for the upcoming duel."

Andrew nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. So, did you find any number cards?"

"Not yet. I'll start searching as soon as I'm done."

"Okay then. I'll see you later." He waved to him as he walked away.

"Maybe you should prepare your deck as well, in case if you get picked." Phantom Magician suggested.

"Yeah, I guess. But that will be after I find one of the number cards…" Just as Andrew finished that sentence, he suddenly tripped and fell on the ground. "Oof!"

"Are you okay?" Phantom Magician asked concerned.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Andrew looked down toward the ground, and noticed a rock that he assumed was the reason he tripped. "Hm?" He then noticed something underneath the rock. He picked up the rock and to his surprise, he found one of the number cards. This one had number 48. "Hello. One of the hidden cards."

"Guess you stumbled into the right path." The duel spirit quipped.

"You could say that again."


The others have been doing well to find some cards.

Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Xander and Matt found their cards at a cliff facing the ocean.

Alexis, Jenny and Clover found cards at the meadow.

Michael, Shiori and Bastion found cards at the foot of the island's mountain.


At the end of the time limit

Everyone showed up at a dueling arena that wasn't too far at the left side of the stairs leading to the castle. Pegasus was waiting for them, standing in front of a big monitor.

"Time's up everyone! Now then, anyone with a number card better hope for the best. For now it's time to see who gets to duel me!" Pegasus turned to a man dressed in black standing right next to the monitor. "Now, turn it on."

"Yes sir." The man pressed a button on the side, turning the monitor on.

All the students watched as the monitor was showing a black hat laying upside down on a small table. And then, a figure jumped out from the left. It looked like a cartoonish, pink bunny wearing red overalls and yellow boots. The bunny stuck its right paw inside the hat, and dug through it, trying to grab something.

"And the lucky number is…" Pegasus said.

Andrew and the others watched, with their numbers in hand.

Andrew: 48

Jaden: 53

Syrus: 24

Chumley: 44

Matt: 35

Xander: 87

Shiori: 61

Bastion: 102

Michael: 143

Alexis: 74

Jenny: 19

Clover: 110

Among the students, there was an Obelisk blue boy who was holding a card of his own, with number 77. This person was non other than James Napier, the prankster. "I have no doubt that the lucky number is mine." He said while smirking.

And then, the bunny pulled out what appeared to be a card from the hat. It then held the card up and showed the number it had. It was number...

"61!" Pegasus said. "Now, who has number 61?"

"That's me!" Shiori called out loudly as he held up his card high.

"Nice one, man." Michael praised.

"Good for you." Andrew added.

Pegasus nodded with a smile. "Excellent. Now let's take our positions at the dueling arena."

James found himself on his knees in despair. "No fair." He whimpered.

An Obelisk blue girl approached him and placed a hand on his back for comfort. She was his acquaintance (and possibly girlfriend) Alicia. "There there." She said, trying to make him feel better.

All the students gathered around the dueling arena as Pegasus and Shiori took their positions on the podiums. Pegasus on the red one, and Shiori on the blue one.

"Come on, Shiori! You can do it!" Jaden called out.

"Show him what you got!" Matt added.

One of the black clad men stepped forward on the sidelines. "This Duel Monsters match puts your host Maxmillion Pegasus versus Shiori Koizumi from Duel Academy. Let the duel begin!"

THe life point counters were set and both duelists drew their opening hands.

"Let's duel!"

Shiori: 4000

Pegasus: 4000

"Visitors first." Pegasus offered.

"Thank you." Shiori drew. "And I'll start with the spell card Ancient Rules. With this, I can summon a level 5 or higher normal monster directly from my hand. I summon Tri-Horned Dragon!" The big, blue dragon with three horns rose up on the field with a mighty roar. (ATK: 2850 DEF: 2350 LV: 8)

"Whoa!" Matt gasped. "A high level monster on his first turn."

"Shiori probably wants to end this quickly." Bastion assumed. "After all, Pegasus knows the game he created all too well, making him a dueling expert. So defeating him won't be easy."

"That's true. But Pegasus isn't truly undefeated. Yugi Moto was able to defeat him. I wouldn't count Shiori out just yet." Andrew stated.

Shiori took a card from his hand and placed it on the table. "I end my turn with a facedown."

"Well well. Starting big, are we?" Pegasus asked as he drew. He then smiled. "But I think I'll start with something full of joy and laughs. And of course… cartoons."

Shiori's eyes widened. "Uh oh."

"I give up 1000 life points…."

Pegasus: 4000-3000

"... so I can activate Toon World." Pegasus placed his card on the table, making a certain pop-up book appear.

"Looks like Shiori's in trouble now." Xander noted.

The book was about to open, but...

"I activate my trap!" Shiori interrupted, surprising everyone.

Including Pegasus. "Huh?"

"Cash Back!" His facedown card flipped up. "With this counter trap, I can negate a spell, trap or monster effect that activates by paying life points, and send it back to your deck."

The creator of Duel Monsters gasped as the pop-up book disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hey, nice move." Clover commented with a smile.

"Got that right." Michael replied. "Shiori was actually prepared for that spell card."

"He did mention to me earlier that he was changing his deck a bit, in case he would become Pegasus' opponent." Andrew mentioned.

"My, that was unexpected." Pegasus said, acting surprised. He then shrugged. "Oh well, I can deal with that. Even without Toon Word, many of my Toons are able to be summoned. Like my good friend, Toon Masked Sorcerer. Defense mode." From a puff of smoke, the goofy looking, masked spellcaster appeared and snickered. (ATK: 900 DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "I end my turn with a facedown." Pegasus placed a card on the table.

Shiori drew a card. "I summon Dragon Zombie in attack mode." The purple, zombie-like dragon appeared. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Attack his Toon Masked Sorcerer, with Deadly Zombie Breath!" The dragon inhaled and exhaled green smoke that enveloped the cartoonish spellcaster and destroyed him. "And now my Tri-Horned Dragon attacks!" The big dragon reared back its head, as if it was about to spit fire.

"I'm afraid that won't work." Pegasus smiled as he flipped up his facedown. "I activate the trap card, Dragon Capture Jar." With that, a big, brownish jar with a dragon shaped face appeared on Shiori's field. It then unleashed some red smoke that enveloped Tri-Horned Dragon. And then, the dragon coughed and lowered itself. "I'm afraid dragon type monsters are unable to attack from now on."

Shiori grimaced.

"Not lishus." Chumley said.

"That trap card is quite nasty." Clover pointed out. "As long as it remains on the field, all dragon type monsters are forced into defense mode."

"The good news is Dragon Zombie is a zombie type, so Shiori has at least one monster to attack with." Matt said.

Shiori placed a card on the table. "I play a facedown and end my turn."

"Very well. I draw." Pegasus announced and drew a card.

"I activate my trap…" Shiori's facedown card flipped up. "Tyrant's Throes. First I must sacrifice two normal monsters, like Tri-Horned Dragon and Dragon Zombie." The two named monsters disappeared. "And then, as long as my trap card is in play, none of us can normal or special summon effect monsters."

Everyon gasped.

"No way." Jaden said with a smile.

"Brilliant." Bastion praised. "With that trap card on the field, it will be harder to Pegasus to summon his Toon monsters."

"But since that card affects Shiori as well, he can't rely to his ritual monsters for now." Matt pointed out.

"But hopefully, he might not need to." Xander added.

Pegasus raised his right eyebrow. "Hmm. That is quite problematic. But nothing I can't handle." He placed a card on the table. "First I activate the spell card Cost Down. By discarding one card from my hand, I can reduce the levels of the monsters in my hand by two stars. Which means I don't have to sacrifice anything in order to summon Illusionist Faceless Mage in attack mode." The monster that appeared looked like some kind of doll in robes. It had three heads. The one on its right was female with long brown hair with a red ribbon. The one on his left was male with pointy hair. The one in the middle was bald, but the most noticing feature of it was its face. Only it didn't have a face. Just a grinning mouth with purple lips. (ATK: 1200 DEF: 2200 LV: 5-3)

"So Pegasus did have normal monsters as well." Alexis said.

"It's not really powerful." Jenny noted. "But since Shiori is defenseless, it's at least something to attack with."

"Now then, Shiori boy. Let's see how you handle my Mage's Illusion Strike." The mage moved its hands in circle, causing purple mist surround the arena. Shiori looked around, wondering what was about to happen. He got his answer as a big, glowing eye symbol appeared right in front of him. It was then he had a sudden headache as the surroundings warped.

Shiori: 4000-2800

When Shiori recovered, everything seemed to be back to normal. "Man, that wasn't fun."

"That's too bad." Pegasus replied. He then placed another card on the table. "I end my turn by enhancing my Mage's power with the spell card Eye of Illusion." The same glowing eye symbol from earlier appeared on the mage's chest for a moment before disappearing. (LV: 3-5)

"My move." Shiori drew. "I activate Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards." He drew his extra cards. "Then I activate the spell card Dark Factory of Mass Production. This lets me take two normal monsters from my graveyard and add them to my hand, like Tri-Horned Dragon and Dragon Zombie." He held up the two named cards. "I then summon Dragon Zombie again." The zombie-like dragon appeared again. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Now attack his Faceless Mage!" The dragon exhaled green smoke, just like before.

But before the attack could hit, the Faceless Mage moved its hands in circle again. By doing that, it made purple mist that surrounded Pegasus' side of the field. The dragon's attack entered the mist. Shiori waited for the mist to clear, which it did after a moment. But when it did, he was surprised to see the three-headed monster unharmed. "My attack had no effect."

"Indeed. Thanks to Eye of Illusion, my Mage was able to stop your attack. Fortunately for you, that can only be done once."

"Is that all?" Syrus wondered.

"Then Shiori just has to attack during his next turn, and that Faceless Mage is gonzo." Chumley said.

Michael narrowed his eyes. "I don't know. Something tells me it won't be easy."

"I end my turn."

"Okay then." Pegasus drew a card, looked at it and shrugged. "I switch my Mage to defense mode and end my turn." The three-headed figure crossed its arms.

Shiori drew a card. "I activate the spell card Trade-In. First I have to discard a level 8 monster, like Tri-Horned Dragon." He placed the named card on the graveyard. "After that, I get to draw two cards." After drawing his extra cards, he looked at them and smirked. "This will do. First I Armored Zombie in attack mode." The zombie warrior in armor rose up next to Dragon Zombie. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Then I equip him with Amulet of Ambition." The golden amulet with one eye appeared around the zombie's neck. "When a monster equipped with this spell card battles a monster with higher level, its attack points increase by 500 points multiplied by the difference between their levels."

"That's perfect." Matt said. "Pegasus' Mage is a level 5 monster, while Armored is level 3. That means once it attacks, it will gain 1000 points."

"And then, Pegasus will be wide open." Chumley added.

Andrew seemed to be concerned. "Maybe, but I have a bad feeling about this."

"Armored Zombie, attack…"

Pegasus chuckled as his mage moved its hands in circle again, making purple mist appear, once again.

"Now what?" Shiori groaned. His zombie warrior charged forward through the mist. And then...

"Deadly Zombie Breath!"

"Huh?" The ritual duelist was shocked by Pegasus' words. But not as shocked as he became when green smoke suddenly came out from nowhere and surrounded Armored Zombie. And then, it exploded into pixels. "Wait a second! Your Mage doesn't have the 'Deadly Zombie Breath' attack!" It was then the mist started to clear. And then, everyone could see that the Faceless Mage wasn't alone. Standing by its side was a certain zombie-like dragon. "Dragon Zombie!?"

"What!? But how did it end up there?" Jaden asked.

"Take a look at the dragon." Bastion said, pointing at Dragon Zombie. Everyone turned and noticed something different about it. On its forehead, it had a glowing mark. The familiar eye symbol.

"What's with that glowing eye?" Syrus wondered.

As if hearing his question, Pegasus spoke up. "This is the second effect of my Eye of Illusion. Since your Dragon Zombie attacked during your last turn, and my Mage stopped it, Eye of Illusion allowed me to take control of it during this battle phase. And in addition to that, your monster was forced to attack it."

Shiori gasped.

Shiori: 2800-2700

The zombie-like dragon returned to Shiori's field. The ritual duelist sighed. "I end my turn."

"Well then." Pegasus drew a card and looked at it. He then placed it on the table. "Perhaps this will make you feel better? Card of Sanctity. This spell card lets both us to draw until we hold six cards in our hands." Both duelists drew their extra cards. After looking over his new hand, Pegasus smiled and held up one of his cards. "And now I play the spell card, Double Cyclone. This lets me destroy one spell or trap card on my field, and at the same time, destroy one card on your field. So I'll destroy Dragon Capture Jar and Tyrant's Throes." Two cyclones erupted from the middle of the area, each one of them blowing away one of the named trap cards.

"Without Shiori's trap card, both of them can summon effect monsters again." Jenny said.

"Including Pegasus' Toon monsters." Clover added.

"And now I play the spell card, Toon Table of Contents."

Shiori gasped again.

"With this, I can take any Toon card I want from my deck. And I know just the one…" Pegasus searched through his deck until he found the card he wanted. After he took it. He shuffled his deck and placed it on the table and took five cards from the top of the deck and placed them on the side.

Shiori noticed this and knew what was coming. "Here it comes."

"Welcome Shiori... to Toon Kingdom!"

(Play Toon World theme)

Everyone watched as a familiar book appeared from a puff of smoke and and opened, revealing a pop-up castle, complete with torches and tress without leaves.

"Aw man. Shiori's in trouble now." Syrus stated.

"No joke. He may have got rid of Toon World, but Pegasus was prepared with that field spell." Alexis added.

"But since the Toon monsters can't attack on the turn they're summoned, Shiori can make a comeback." Jaden said optimistically.

"That's easier said than done." Michael replied. "Unlike Toon World, Toon Kingdom can keep those monsters from being destroyed. All Pegasus has to do is give up cards from the top of his deck."

"Now, since the real fun is about to start, let's move on, shall we?" At that, the Faceless Mage disappeared. "I sacrifice Illusionist Faceless Mage in order to summon Toon Dark Magician Girl." The pages of the book turned to a pop-up stone wall with a magic circle and stone pillars. And then, the book released a puff of smoke, which quickly cleared when the new monsters appeared. This Toon monster seemed like a younger caricature of the original Dark Magician Girl. She spun around and gave her opponent a wink. (ATK: 2000 DEF: 1700 LV: 6)

"She's kinda cute, don't you think?" Syrus commented with a smile. "Ya know, for a toon."

"Now then, normally Toon monsters can't attack the same turn they're summoned. But, unfortunately for you, Toon Dark Magician Girl is an exception for that rule."

Shiori gasped again.

"Which means she can strike your life points right now. Dark burning Attack!" The toon magician spun her staff while giggling before shooting a sphere of pink magic at Shiori.

Shiori: 2700-0700

"Ow!" Xander winced. "That's gotta hurt."

"This isn't good." Matt said. "It just takes one more attack, and Shiori is out."

"But since he's got a new hand, thanks to Card of Sanctity, he should be able to turn this duel around." Andrew said confidently.

"I end my turn with a facedown." Pegasus concluded and placed a card on the table.

"Here goes." Shiori drew a card and looked over his hand. He then smirked. "I must thank you for making me draw extra cards. Because now I can use another counter strategy against you."

The creator of Duel Monsters blinked. "Oh? Then do tell. What is this counter strategy of yours?"

"It starts with this…" Shiori placed a spell card on the table. "I play Symbols of Duty. This lets me send a normal monster from my field to the graveyard, like Dragon Zombie." The monster in question disappeared. "After that, I can equip this card to a monster that I summon from the graveyard. Either mine or yours. So I'll resurrect Toon Masked Sorcerer!" The bizarre looking spellcaster appeared. (ATK: 900 DEF: 1400 LV: 4)

"Did you just steal one of my lovely toons?" Pegasus asked in mocked anger.

"Yup, and now I'm gonna equip it with another spell card. Mage Power." The spell card appeared behind the sorcerer. "This card gives my monster 500 attack and defense points for every spell can trap card on my field. including Mage Power itself, that's two." (ATK: 900-1900 DEF: 1400-2400) "Now you won't be able to harm me without getting through him first."

"Well well. You studied well. Not bad, young man." Pegasus complimented.

"What's he talking about?" Syrus wondered.

"It's simple, Syrus." Bastion replied. "The Toon monsters are known for being able to attack the opponent directly when Toon World, or Toon Kingdom, is on the field. However, if the opponent has a Toon monster on their field, they can't attack directly without destroying it."

"So Shiori's using that Toon Masked Sorcerer as a shield?" Chumley asked.

"It sure sounds like it." Michael replied with a smile.

"Way to go, Shiori!" Andrew cheered.

"Now I play the spell card Ritual Cage." Another spell card appeared on the field. (ATK: 1900-2400 DEF: 2400-2900) "This spell card keeps me from taking battle damage from attacks involving my ritual monsters, and they can't be targeted or destroyed by monster effects. And now I play the spell card Ritual of Grace." A pillar of golden light erupted from the ground next to Toon Masked Sorcerer. Shiori then held up a monster card.

"By sacrificing monsters with a total level of 7 or higher, like my level 8, Rabidragon, I can summon Divine Grace - Northwemko." When light faded, a woman was standing next to the sorcerer. He hair was pure as platinum and her skin was as pale as alabaster. She was wearing a dark purple dress, threaded with threads of gleaming red and gold and edged in red to match her long gloves. She was also wearing a yellow/purple headdress. She was wielding a staff of gold, topped with an odd ornament. (ATK: 2700 DEF: 1200 LV: 7)

"Amazing." Jenny said, admiring the woman's appearance.

"That's an impressive monster." Alexis commented.

"Now I activate Northwemko's ability." The woman held up her staff in the air as it glowed brightly. It was then Pegasus noticed something happening to the pop-up book. It was glowing as brightly as Northwemko's staff. When the glowing died down, the pop-up castle got an orb of light floating above it.

"My…" Pegasus said.

"When Northwemko is ritual summoned, I can mark one faceup card for every monster I sacrificed for the ritual. And as long as those cards are on the field, she can't be destroyed by card effects."

"That was pretty smart." Michael noted. "If Pegasus wants to destroy Shiori's monster with a card effect, he needs to get rid of Toon Kingdom, and Ritual Cage for that matter."

"Which makes his Divine Grace a powerful monster." Bastion added.

"Now Northwemko, attack his Toon Dark Magician Girl! Graceful Burst!" The woman raised her staff and shot sphere of golden magic at the cartoonish magician.

"Uh uh uh." Pegasus waved his index finger. "Whenever one of my Toons is about to be destroyed, I can prevent its destruction by removing one card from my deck." He took the top card from his deck and placed it on the side. The Toon Dark Magician giggled as she stretched out of the way, making the magic sphere miss her.

Shiori just smirked. "That's good, but are your life points safe?"

Pegasus gasped before the magic sphere collided with him and exploded.

Pegasus: 3000-2300

"I place a card facedown and end my turn." Shiori concluded as he placed the last card from his hand on table. (ATK: 2400-2900 DEF: 2900-3400)

"Not too shabby, Shiori boy." Pegasus complimented. "But before I'll make my turn, I activate my trap card…" His facedown card flipped up. "Toon Mask. With this, I can summon a Toon monster from my hand or deck with up to the same level as one of your monsters, like Divine Grace."

"Divine Grace is a level 7 monster, so Pegasus is about to summon something really strong." Xander assumed.

"But which Toon monster will it be?" Clover wondered.

Everyone watched as Toon Kingdom flipped its pages until it reached... a pop-up stone wall with a magic circle and pillars?

"Huh?" Shiori blinked upon seeing this again.

"Haven't we seen that page when Toon Dark Magician Girl was summoned?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, we did." Chumley confirmed.

"So… he's gonna summon another Toon Dark Magician Girl?" Jaden asked as he scratched his head.

"Confused?" Pegasus asked. "You probably think it's gonna be another Toon Dark Magician Girl, but you're wrong. The monster I'm summoning is... wait for it." He paused a moment to make it dramatic.

...

...

"Toon Dark Magician!"

"Wait what!?" Shiori exclaimed.

The book released a puff of smoke, from which a new monster appeared. Just like Toon Dark Magician Girl, this monster was like a younger caricature of the original Dark Magician. He glanced at his apprentice and smiled while waving at her, and she jumped in joy. (ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100 LV: 7)

Shiori stared at the new monster dumbfounded. And so did the rest of the gang.

"A Toon version of Yugi's ace monster?" Andrew asked.

"That's new." Jenny added.

"Quite amazing plot twist, right?" Pegasus asked as he drew a card and began his turn. "Now then, just like how Yugi boy's original magician can pull off some tricks, this adorable version has a few tricks of his own." He then took a card from his hand and held it up. It was a Toon Mermaid. "Once per turn, I can discard a Toon card from my hand and activate one of his two abilities." He placed the card on the table. "And I choose this one: I can summon a Toon monster from my deck, ignoring the summoning conditions."

"That's not good." Matt said.

"Shiori better brace himself."

Pegasus went through his deck until he found the card he desired. "Ah, perfect."

Shiori became wary as his opponent held up his new card.

"I summon Toon Barrel Dragon." The pop-up book released a puff of smoke that quickly cleared and revealed a certain cartoonish, mechanical dragon with three cannons that laughed maniacally. (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2200 LV: 7)

"Uh oh." Andrew said.

"Not that thing again." Clover grimaced.

"This cute thing has a special ability. Once per turn, I can toss a coin three times." Pegasus explained as he held up a coin. "And if I get heads at least two times, I can destroy a card on the field. And as much as it pains me, I'm targeting Toon Masked Sorcerer." The dragon sneered as the sorcerer was panicking.

"I don't think so." Shiori said with a smirk. "I activate my trap…" His facedown card flipped up. "Dark Illusion. This lets me negate the activation of a spell, trap or monster that targets a dark monster on the field and destroy it."

"What!?" Pegasus watched as the mechanical dragon screamed like a girl before it exploded into pixels. (ATK: 2900-2400 DEF: 3400-2900)

"I'll be damned." Clover said.

"Well that looks like my kind of counter trap." Michael commented with a smirk.

"Looks like Shiori calculated that Pegasus was about to try to destroy Toon Masked Sorcerer with a card effect." Bastion noted.

"I guess watching James dueling a couple of times made him figure out what Pegasus might do." Michael assumed.

"My, I wasn't expecting you to outsmart me three times during this duel." Pegasus commented and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I'm a little rusty. But I won't quit just yet." He then smirked. "And my Barrel Dragon won't quit either." With that, the mechanical dragon returned from a puff of smoke.

"Huh?" Shiori blinked before he face-palmed. "That's right. The field spell."

"Correct. I can use its effect to save my Toon from destruction." Pegasus removed the top card from his deck. "And with that, I'll end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind Toon Dark Magician.

"My move." Shiori drew. "I play Card of Demise. This lets me draw until I hold 5 cards in my hand." He drew his extra cards. "But after 5 turns, my hand goes the graveyard. But it's worth the risk, because now I play Shinato's Ark. This lets me summon another ritual monster. So goodbye, Reshef the Dark being…" The familiar giant statute appeared for a moment before it disappeared. "And hello Shinato, King of a Higher Plane." The blue-skinned angel with golden wings appeared next to Northwemko. (ATK: 3300 DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"Now Shiori's serious." Jaden stated.

"Got that right." Xander responded. "Two ritual monsters on the field at the same time, and that one is even stronger."

"Now Shinato, attack Toon Dark Magician Girl with Divine Ring!" The angel created an energy ring and threw it at the female magician.

"Sorry, but I've got a trap card." Pegasus' facedown card flipped up. "Now with Spirit Barrier in play, my monsters keeps me from taking battle damage."

"Great." Shiori muttered.

"And as you know, my Toon Kingdom keeps my Toon monsters from being destroyed." Pegasus removed another top card from his deck as the female magician giggled and avoided the circle by stretching out of the way.

"I end my turn with a facedown." Shiori placed a card on the table. (ATK: 2400-2900 DEF: 2900-3400)

"In that case…" Pegasus drew card. "I'll give my Toon Barrel Dragon a new chance." He held up a coin while his mechanical dragon laughed mischievously.

"Uh oh. If he gets heads two times, then he can destroy Toon Masked Sorcerer." Syrus said worriedly.

"And then he can attack Shiori's life points directly." Chumley added.

Pegasus flipped the coin. When it landed on his hand, it became… "Heads." Pegasus smirked as he flipped the coin again. When it landed on his hand again however, he frowned. "Tails. One more time." Everyone watched as he flipped the coin the third time. Shiori was almost sweating due to the suspense. The coin landed on Pegasus' hand the result was...

...

"Tails?" Pegasus was surprised while Shiori and his friends sighed in relief.

"Man, that was close." Xander said.

"A little too close for my taste." Matt added.

"My, this just isn't my day." Pegasus sighed while Toon Barrel Dragon was jumping in anger. "In that case, I'll try my luck by playing Doppelganger." When the image of the named spell card appeared, a black, cartoonish cat emerged from it. "With this I can take a card from your graveyard and add it to my hand. And I choose Card of Demise." The grinning cat grabbed the named card from Shiori's graveyard and moved over to Pegasus as it held the card up and giggled. "Now I can refresh my hand." The cat drew the extra cards for him and placed them in his hand. "And it looks like I'm lucky today." Pegasus held up one of his new cards. "With Mystical Space Typhoon, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. Like Symbols of Duty."

Shiori gasped as the named card was destroyed. And at the same time, Toon Masked Sorcerer disappeared. "This is bad."

"Yes, sadly I have to get rid of my dear Masked Sorcerer." Pegasus said with a tone that could probably be described as mock sorrow. He then smirked. "But it had to be done. Because now when you don't have any Toon monsters, my beloved toons can attack you again."

"And Shiori's only got 700 life points." Syrus pointed out.

"Which means one attack can wipe him out." Chumley added.

From far away, the Obelisk blue boy known as Victor watched this with a smirk. "Heh. Like that dork stood a chance against the Creator of Duel Monsters."

"Now let's wrap this up, shall we. Toon Dark Magician, attack him with Dark Magic Attack!" The cartoonish Dark Magician-lookalike raised his staff as its tip glowed before he swung it and sent a ball of purple magic.

"You just triggered my trap!" Shiori declared.

"Can you really stop my toon with a trap card?" Pegasus asked skeptically.

"I certainly can, with this…" Shiori's facedown card flipped up. "Malevolent Catastrophe!"

Pegasus gasped.

"Since you just let your monster launch an attack, I can destroy all spells and traps on the field."

"No way! Then that means…" Jaden said.

"The Toon monsters are history." Andrew filled.

From the middle of the arena, a violent whirlwind emerged and blew away the Dark Magic Attack. And then, as it grew bigger and bigger, every spell and trap card on the field exploded into pixels. Including Toon Kingdom.

"No! My Toon Kingdom!"

"That's right, with that card gone, all your Toon monsters are destroyed."

The two magicians and mechanical dragon screamed in fright and tried to run away, but the whirlwind was too strong for them as they were quickly trapped within it. The spun around until they were sent away toward the sky.

"Finally, the Toon monsters are gone." Clover said in relief.

"Then let's hope if Shiori can end this before Pegasus can bring them back." Andrew added.

"My, what an unexpected turn of events. I figured you would be good, but to defeat my Toons just like that? Duel Academy have taught you well."

"Thank you." Shiori said proudly.

"But if you think you can destroy my lovely Toon monsters and get away with it, then you're mistaken…" Pegasus held up a certain spell card. "I activate Black Illusion Ritual."

Shiori cringed. "It just have to be that ritual spell card."

Pegasus smirked and held up the monster card know as Dark Eyes Illusionist. "Then I'll take it you realize that I'm going to use it and sacrifice Dark Eyes Illusionist in order to summon the monster that's quite the looker: Relinquished." From some black smoke, the golden eyed creature with its vein covered body appeared. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1) "And you probably know what my little friend here can do. Absorb one of your monsters, and then absorb that monster's attack and defense points. And that will be a problem for you since you got rid of Ritual Cage."

Shiori grimaced as Relinquished's circle opened up and sucked in Shinato. And then, the blue-skinned angel appeared on one of its armor pieces. (ATK: 0-3300 DEF: 0-3000)

"Too bad I already went through the battle phase this turn, so I'll end my turn with a facedown." Pegasus concluded as he placed a card on the table.

"Man, I need a miracle." Shiori muttered and drew a card. When he looked at it, his widened for a moment before he smiled. "Yes!"

"Hm?" Pegasus gave him a curious look.

"First I'll play the spell card, Pre-Preparation of Rites. With this, I can add a ritual spell card from my deck to my hand, and also add the ritual monster that I can with said spell from my deck or graveyard. And I know exactly what to choose." Shiori went through his deck and took out two cards. With that done, he placed one of them on the table. "I play Black Illusion Ritual."

"What!?" Pegasus exclaimed.

The gang gasped.

"Is he…?" Jaden asked.

"He is." Andrew replied with a smirk.

"I sacrifice Djinn Disserere of Rituals in order to summon my own Relinquished!" The familiar chubby, purple-skinned with his shield appeared for a moment before he disappeared as a duplicate of Pegasus' ritual monster took his place. (ATK: 0 DEF: 0 LV: 1) "Now then, let's how you like it. Relinquished, go!" The monster's circle opened and sucked in its doppelgänger. But before it got inside, Shinato separated from it and shattered into pixels. After that, Shiori's Relinquished got an extra pair of arms and golden eye that emerged from one of its armor pieces.

The students watching started to mutter to each other, perplexed by this move.

"Not bad, but since your Relinquished absorbed mine, it won't get anything."

"Maybe not, but you're wide open now. Of course, there is your facedown card, so I'll move on with this…" Shiori held up a certain spell card.

"Ritual of Grace?"

"That's right. This spell card has a special effect. By taking it from my graveyard and remove it from play, I can make one of my ritual monsters un-targetable by effects this. And I choose Divine Grace - Northwemko." At that, the beautiful woman was surrounded by a white aura.

"That was a clever move." Bastion praised. "That will make it less risky for Shiori when he attacks with Northwemko."

"But that's not all." Alexis added. "He sacrificed Djinn Disserere of Rituals to summon Relinquished. Because of that, it's immune to trap cards."

"Which means in case that facedown card is a trap that could be used to take an opposing monster and use it as defense, it will be worthless against Relinquished." Jenny said.

"Then this is all or nothing." Andrew added.

"Now Northwemko, attack his life points directly!" The woman raised her staff and fired another sphere of golden magic.

"Oh yeah! Shiori wins!" Jaden cheered.

"Not exactly." Pegasus replied, making Shiori and the others confused. "I reveal my facedown spell card…" His facedown card flipped up. "Contagion of Madness!" The attack was blocked by the spell card. "Here's how it works; while I take damage from your direct attack, you take damage equal to half of your attacking monster's attack points."

"No way!" Shiori exclaimed as the card that absorbed Northwemko's attack glowed brightly before exploding powerfully.

Shiori: 0700-0000

Pegasus: 2300-0000

Silence reigned for a moment, and then the crowd burst into applause.

"Awesome dueling!"

"Way to go, Shiori!"

"Nice one!"

Shiori sighed as he got off his podium. The gang approached him. "Didn't see that coming." He said almost disappointed.

"Come on, man. That duel was great! Sure, it ended with a draw, but that was sweet!" Jaden said.

"Not to mention you sent those Toon monsters running." Andrew added. "And on top of that, you took Pegasus to the limit. That's a great accomplishment itself."

"Yes, indeed." The man in question said as he walked up to them smiling. "Despite the outcome, you showed some tremendous skills, just like other students that I observed during the day. This duel was fantastic. I believe your dueling will be very bright in the future. The same thing goes for your friends of course."

Shiori smiled back. "Thanks."

The creator of Duel Monsters turned to the crowd. "Now then everyone, how about we give this young man another applause?"

At that, everyone cheered and clapped their hands. This was a great duel indeed.

Well, except for a certain card thief. "Hmph, how boring." Victor muttered and walked away.


Later that night, the students lined up as they were about to get onboard on the ships. Now that they all reached the end of the day, it was now time to return to Duel Academy.

"Man, what an awesome day. So many duels and much more!" Jaden said excited.

"And to think we discovered so many things here." Michael stated.

"Too bad we have to leave now. I was hoping we got to camp here or something." Clover said.

"I agree." Jenny replied.

"At least we won't forget this…" Andrew said as a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. He turned around to see none other than Chancellor Sheppard.

"Excuse me, Andrew. But can you come with me for a moment?"

"Huh?" Andrew blinked.

The rest of the gang were surprised.

"Wait! What for?" Xander asked.

"Did you do something wrong, Andrew?" Matt asked.

"No, I didn't do anything." Andrew replied before he turned to Sheppard with uncertainty. "Did I?"

The Chancellor gave him a reassuring look. "No, not at all. I just want to speak with you about something."

Andrew looked at him for a moment before he turned to his friends. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up."

"You sure?" Shiori asked concerned.

"Positive."

They then nodded as Andrew followed Sheppard to a distance. They then stopped. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Sheppard turned to him. "Actually, I'm not the one who wishes to speak with you."

Andrew blinked. "Then who?"

"That would be me." Someone spoke up behind Sheppard. The Chancellor stepped aside to reveal The creator of Duel Monsters himself.

"Pegasus?"

"Sorry to drag you away from your friends, but it was urgent for me to speak with you."

"And why's that?" Andrew asked curiously.

To answer his question, Pegasus reached into his three-piece suit and grabbed a small, brown envelope which he handed over to him.

"What's this?"

Pegasus smiled. "Just a little gift... from Peter boy himself."

Andrew's eyes widened. "You mean my cousin?"

"Yes. You see, some time before letting you all visiting my island, I hosted Industrial Illusions' annual tournament. Your cousin participated, and won of course…"


Flashback

In San Francisco, California, a party was held where Peter Mihaylov was attending the event. He was currently talking to Pegasus.

"An impressive victory you pulled there, Peter boy." Pegasus praised. "As expected from the 'Master of Dragon Rulers'."

"Thank you." Peter replied with a smile. "Many of them truly showed their full potential. Which is something I like about dueling."

"Couldn't agree more. So, what do you plan to do now?"

"I'm planning to visit my family. I can imagine how much they missed me. Especially my little sister. She's planning to attend Duel Academy next year."

Pegasus smiled interested. "Is that so? Well, good for her. Speaking of Duel Academy, I've got something special planned for them, since they're about to have a field trip, visiting me."

Peter widened his eyes. "Really? If that's the case, then maybe you can help me with something."

"Oh? And what's that?" Pegasus wondered.

Peter reached into his pocket and held up a brown envelope. "This. I have a cousin who attends the Duel Academy. I was planning to send this to my aunt and uncle so they could give him for me. But since he, along with the rest of the academy is going to visit you…"

Pegasus held up a hand to stop him from talking. "Say no more. I understand completely." He then took the envelope. "I'll make sure to deliver it to him. Just tell me his name."

"Andrew Wilson."

Pegasus' eye widened in recognition. "Ah, the young man who won my exclusive Masked HERO cards. A really promising duelist. Rest assured, Peter boy, that your cousin gets this."

"Thank you."

Flashback end


"…and that's that." Pegasus finished.

"I see." Andrew said, staring at the envelope before he smiled. "Thank you."

Pegasus smiled. "Oh, you don't have to thank me. If anything, you should thank your cousin. Now then, you better get onboard on a ship. It would be bad if you were left behind."

"Right."


And so, the ships took off from Duelist Kingdom. Many people were standing on the back of the ships, watching the island disappearing from view slowly. Including Andrew and the others.

Jenny noticed the envelope in his hand. "Hey Andrew, what do you have there?"

"Oh, this?" He held it up. "Just a little gift from someone."

"Really? What is it?" Shiori asked.

"I don't know. I've decided to not open it before we're back at Duel Academy."

"Come on, man. Open it, I want to see!" Jaden said excited.

"No, not before we've returned home!" Andrew repeated lost annoyed.

"Please, open…"

BONK

Jaden couldn't finish his sentence as he groaned rubbed a red bump he just got, courtesy of an annoyed Clover. "Seriously."

Everyone laughed at this, except for Jaden who whimpered.


Phew! And that's it. The end of the fun school field trip. But good times must end eventually. And that might lead to a 'grave' situation to our heroes, if you know what I mean. Until next time.