Chapter 5: Toons in Spades

Yugi entered the dueling arena, his deck in his disk, as he was about to begin his first duel against a new opponent. He waited patiently for his opponent to show while the others waited in the lobby area watching the field.

"Joe Kari Spades," Joey read off the TV screen depicting Yugi and his opponent. "Another female duelist."

"It's kind of curious that you'd both be facing off against female duelists in your first matches," Tristan noted.

"I say it's a good thing," Tea said. "At least these girls aren't like Mai Valentine was in Duelist Kingdom."

"Eh, ya never know," Joey said, wagging his finger. "Mai wasn't great when we first met her, but she turned out ta be alright in the end!"

Suddenly, a girl came bursting through the doorway on the other end, somersaulting to her spot on the field!

"Yahoooooo!" she cried out, landing on her feet. "Alright! Let's get this show on the road!"

Everyone was taken aback.

She seems to have a lot more energy than Lynn did, Yugi noted, but he couldn't help but smile at this duelist's enthusi-

"Hey! Come on! Let's go! I've been waiting to duel ya all day!" Joe called out, shuffling her deck rapidly.

...enthusiastic and impatient...oh well...

Yugi began shuffling his own deck in preparation for the duel. After he stuck his deck into the Duel Disk, he drew his five cards to the cat calls of Joe.

"Man, you're so slow! You need to pick up the pace if ya wanna beat me!" Joe taunted, holding her five cards up and waving them back and forth in a challenging sense.

"No need to rush just yet," Yugi said back, looking over his own hand. "Alright, whenever you're ready."

"Ready? Man, I've been ready for a long time!"

"LET'S DUEL!"

Joe: 8000
Yugi: 8000

"Since I finished first, I'll start first!" Joe said, drawing a card. "Looks like I'm gonna kick things off big! I play the Spell Absorption card!"

A card with a hand drawing out the magical energy from a figure appeared on Joe's field.

"Now every time either of us activates a Spell card," Joe explained, "I'll get 500 Life Points! And now it's time to take a visit to my world! I play Toon World!"

"Toon World?!"

An all too familiar pop-up book appeared, opening up to reveal a dark and gloomy town in a rather cartoony fashion.

"Of course, in order to play Toon World," Joe explained, "I have to pay 1000 Life Points."

Joe: 7000
Yugi: 8000

"But now," she continued, "I gain 500 Life Points thanks to Spell Absorption!"

Joe: 7500
Yugi: 8000

Two cards in the same turn, and it looks like it's a Toon deck, just like Pegasus's, Yugi thought. He had dealt with Toons before, way back in Duelist Kingdom. Back then, they were a force to be reckoned with, being nearly indestructible and making Pegasus untouchable. But they still had one weakness: Toon World itself.

"Now I'll play the Toon Table of Contents!" Joe called out. "With this, I can add any card from my deck with Toon in its name to my hand! And I'll be bringing out another Toon Table of Contents! And since I activated a spell, more Life Points for me!"

Joe: 8000
Yugi: 8000

"Now I'll use the Table of Contents I just got to get another," Joe continued, "and then I'll use that one to add Toon Dark Magician Girl to my hand!"

Joe: 9000
Yugi: 8000

Already, in a single turn, her Life Points have gone down and up, Yugi thought. She's pretty good.

"Next I play the Star Blast spell!" Joe continued. "Now by paying 500 Life Points per Level, I can knock off that number of stars from my monster, lowering its Level! So I pay 1000 Life Points to lower Toon Dark Magician Girl's level by 2! And then I'll take back 500 for Spell Absorption!"

Joe: 8500
Yugi: 8000

"Now I summon my Toon Dark Magician Girl(6 - 4/2000/1700) to the field in Attack Mode!" Joe announced.

A cartoony Dark Magician Girl appeared with a puff of pink smoke and a strange popping sound. She twirls her staff about before pointing it at Yugi.

"Now here comes the fun part! I now play Magical Reflector!" Joe added. "With it, I can add a Shield Counter to a face-up Spell card on my field, and if that card would be destroyed, the Shield takes the hit instead!"

A small machine appears and surrounds Toon World with an energy field!

Joe: 9000
Yugi: 8000

"And to end it all, I'm throwing a card face-down!" Joe finished. "Your turn!"

She managed to play out her entire hand, set up a defense, and summon a monster with 2000 Atk points on her first turn, Yugi analyzed. Not a bad start at all.

Meanwhile, in the side booth, Yugi's friends observed the match.

"Man, dat was fast," Joey noted. "She managed to pull a strong monster on her first turn!"

"Joe's already off to a good lead," Tristan agreed.

"It's nothing that Yugi can't handle," Tea said, watching Yugi carefully.

"It's my move now," Yugi called out, drawing his first card. "And I summon Big Shield Gardna (4/100/2600) in Defense Mode!"

A great long-haired warrior wielding a massive shield appears on the field.

"Next I Set these two cards face-down," Yugi declared, "and that ends my turn."

"Is that all you've got?" Joe asked, drawing her next card. "Please! Toon Dark Magician Girl's got the power to hit your Life Points directly! Go, Toon Dark Magician Girl! Dark Tooning Attack!"

The cartoony girl charged up her wand with pinkish dark energy and bypassed Big Shield Gardna to hit Yugi directly!

Joe: 9000
Yugi: 6000

"Looks like you're losing your touch!" Joe said. "I'll end my turn here!"

"You think so, huh?" Yugi said, drawing his next card. "Well think again! Cause now I sacrifice Big Shield Gardna to in order to play the Summoned Skull (6/2500/1200)!"

The warrior disappears, and in his place appears a large skeletal fiend, growling as it spreads it wings out.

"And now I play Makiu, the Magical Mist!" Yugi announced. "Now with this card, I can destroy all monsters on your field that have a Defense less than the Attack of my Summoned Skull!"

"No way!"

A light mist appeared on the field, sparking Summoned Skull's power and sending it surging through the entire field! The Toon Dark Magician Girl is electrocuted and vanishes in an explosive puff of smoke!

"Alright!" Joey cheered from the booth. "Way to knock off dat cheap toon!"

Joe merely smirked. "Well since you used a Spell card," she pointed out, "I gain 500 Life Points thanks to Spell Absorption!"

Joe: 9500
Yugi: 6000

Yugi nodded. "When I use Makiu to destroy a monster on the field," he continued, "I can't attack this turn. But now I use my Dust Tornado trap card, and with it, I'm going to take out your Spell Absorption card!"

As Yugi's trap activates, a fierce wind blows out against the Spell Absorption spell card!

"Not so fast there, Yugi," Joe said. "I activate my face-down, Red-Hand Trap!"

Suddenly, a crimson hand appeared, canceling out the tornado!

"I can use this card when you activate a card that would destroy my Spell and Trap cards," Joe explained. "And now, I negate and destroy your Dust Tornado!"

With that, Yugi's trap card vanished!

"Aw man, he almost could've gotten rid of dat card," Joey said.

"But why not take care of Toon World?" Tristan wondered.

"Because it's still protected by that Magical Reflector she played at the start," Tea noted.

"Oh yeah..."

"Dat's right," Joey said. "He'd have to use two cards to get rid of it while dat Spell Absorption card coulda gone with just one!"

Meanwhile, back on the field, Yugi stared down Joe, who smiled and winked while sticking out her tongue. "You didn't think I was gonna go down that easily, eh?" Joe taunted.

"I guess this is where my turn ends," Yugi said.

"Good, now let's see what I can do!" Joe said, drawing a card. "And I'll use my Fiend's Sanctuary card to bring forth a Metal Fiend Token (1/0/0)!"

A shiny metallic creature appeared on Joe's field, its body reflecting the Summoned Skull's body.

"And thanks to my Spell Absorption card, another 500 Life Points for me!"

Joe: 10000
Yugi: 6000

"And now I'll sacrifice my Metal Fiend Token," Joe continued, "and summon up a new Toon Dark Magician Girl!"

The glimmering token disappeared into shimmering sparkles and reformed into the childish imitation of the Dark Magician Girl.

"Aw man, not another one!" Joey called out from the booth.

"And now," Joe continued, "time to take out some more of your Life Points!"

Toon Dark Magician charged her staff with magical power and fires off a powerful orb at Yugi!

"Not if I can help it! I activate a Trap card! Mirror Force!"

The magical sphere suddenly bounces off a mysterious force and is reflected back at Toon Dark Magician Girl!

"When your monster declares an attack, I can use this to destroy all of your attacking monsters!" Yugi declared.

With that said, Toon Dark Magician Girl got blown apart by her own attack! Joe, greatly startled by this twist, said, "I end my turn."

"Alright, then it's my move," Yugi announced as he drew a new card. "And now I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior (4/1400/1700) in Attack mode!"

A green warrior composed of magnets and wielding a magnetic sword and shield appeared on Yugi's field!

"And now I'll attack you directly with both of my monsters!" Yugi declared.

With that, Alpha slashes his sword at Joe while Summoned Skull charges up and fires lightning away at her as well!

Joe: 6100
Yugi: 6000

"Now that that's out of the way, I'll Set this one card face-down," Yugi said.

"Way to go, man!" Tristan cheered from the sidelines.

"Yeah, you got dis!" Joey cheered as well.

"Then I guess this means it's my turn," Joe said, drawing her next card. She looked at her newly drawn card and notably flinched. "I'm ending my turn here."

"Alright then, my move again!" Yugi announced. After drawing a new card, he declared, "Now I summon Gamma the Magnet Warrior (4/1500/1800) and have him attack you with Alpha and Summoned Skull!"

A pink magnetic warrior joined the ranks and punched Joe, followed by Alpha's sword and Summoned Skull's lightning!

Joe: 700
Yugi: 6000

"That's all for now," Yugi said.

"Guess it's time for a comeback! My turn!" Joe announced, drawing a new card. This time, she looked at her card and smiled. "First I'll activate my Card of Sanctity, allowing us both to draw until we have six cards! And since it's a Spell, Spell Absorption gives me 500 Life Points again!"

Joe: 1200
Yugi: 6000

After the two drew their new cards, Joe looked through her hand and said, "Looks like I'm gonna be able to do some more! First I activate Cost Down, discarding a card from my hand to the Graveyard and decreasing the levels of all my monsters in hand by 2! And on top of that, 500 more Life Points from Spell Absoprtion!"

Joe: 1700
Yugi: 6000

"Now I can Summon my third Toon Dark Magician Girl!" Joe declared, and once again the ever-familiar cartoon kid appeared on her field. "Now let's take your Life Points down another notch!"

A new magical orb of dark energy is cast from Toon Dark Magician Girl's staff and sent directly at Yugi!

Joe: 1700
Yugi: 4000

"And now for another spell of mine called Sebek's Blessing," Joe announced, "which gives me the same amount of Life Points you just lost, and with Spell Absorption I'll gain another 500 on top of that!"

Joe: 4200
Yugi: 4000

"Now I'll Set a card face-down," she continued, "and end my turn!"

"Impressive turnaround," Yugi said, drawing his next card. "But it's all over now!"

"What?!"

"First I'll sacrifice my two Magnet Warriors in order to summon the Dark Magician (7/2500/2100)!" Yugi declared.

Alpha and Gamma disappeared from the field, and in their place there arose the iconic figure of Yugi's deck, garbed in purple robes and brandishing a mighty green staff.

"Next I'll activate the Spell card Dark Magic Attack!" Yugi declared. "With this card, if I control a face-up Dark Magician, I can use it to get rid of all your Spell and Trap cards! Now go, Dark Magician! Wipe out her defenses!"

The Dark Magician charged up a magical sphere of dark purple energy and destroyed Joe's Spells and Traps!

"Thanks to the Magical Reflector from my first turn," Joe said, "my Toon World won't be destroyed."

"Well then now it's time to take out your Toon Dark Magician Girl," Yugi declared. "Go, Dark Magician! Dark Magic Attack!"

With that, Dark Magician annihilates the Toon Dark Magician Girl with a single blast!

Joe: 3700
Yugi: 4000

"And now, my Summoned Skull, attack her Life Points directly!" The mighty fiend unleashes its lightning attack against Joe!

Joe: 1200
Yugi: 4000

"Now I'll just Set these two cards face-down," Yugi said, "and end my turn."

"Hehe, so much for dat comeback!" Joey taunted from the booth.

"Yeah, you the man, Yug!" Tristan chimed.

"Guess this didn't turn out so well," Joe said, drawing a card. "I don't have much else to go on, so I'll Set one monster on the field in Defense mode and end my turn."

A single face-down card appeared horizontally as Joe's turn came to an end.

"Alright, my move!" Yugi announced, and after he drew his next card, he called out, "Now go, Summoned Skull! Attack her face-down monster with Lightning Strike!"

The fiend unleashes another bolt of lightning against Joe's monster, which reveals itself as Toon Alligator (4/800/1600). The poor cartoon ax-wielding gator gets fried!

"And now, Dark Magician!" Yugi continued. "End this duel!"

With his master's call, the Dark Magician unleashed a powerful magic attack against Joe!

Joe: 0
Yugi: 4000

"Alright! Yugi won!" Joey cheered.

"Way to go!" Tea added.

Meanwhile Joe grabbed her cards. "I gotta say, you put me in my place," she said. "Hope things go well for you in the tournament!"

"Thanks!" Yugi said. "But there's just one thing I'd like to ask. Where did you get those Toon cards?"

Joe looked a little surprised. "The Toons? Well, let's just say I have my connections. Anyways, I'm off!"

And with that, Joe evacuated the duel field!

"Connections?" Yugi wondered. Haven't we heard of that somewhere before?


AUTHOR'S NOTES

More people with more connections? This is just getting ridiculous! But now we've got to take a look at the cards!

Toon World (Continuous Spell)
Effect: Activate this card by paying 1000 LP.

Toon Dark Magician Girl (Effect Monster)
Level 6, 2000 Atk, 1700 Def, Spellcaster, Toon, DARK
Effect: Cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by Tributing 1 monster, while you control "Toon World". If "Toon World" on the field is destroyed, destroy this card. This card can attack your opponent directly, unless they control a Toon Monster, in which case this card must target a Toon monster for its attacks. Gains 300 ATK for every "Dark Magician" or "Magician of Black Chaos" in either player's GY.

Spell Absorption (Continuous Spell)
Effect: Gain 500 Life Points each time a Spell card resolves.

Makiu the Magical Mist (Normal Spell)
Effect: Target 1 "Summoned Skull" or Thunder monster, in your Monster Zone; destroy all monsters your opponent controls with DEF less than or equal to the ATK of that monster. You cannot conduct your Battle Phase the turn you activate this card.

Summoned Skull (Normal Monster)
Level 6, 2500 Atk, 1200 Def, Fiend, DARK

Dark Magician (Normal Monster)
Level 7, 2500 Atk, 2100 Def, Spellcaster, DARK

Joe having Toon Monsters is weird enough, but she's got a boy's name too?! Will we ever see her again? Will we discover where she got those Toon cards from?

...eh, maybe.

But more importantly, Joey and Yugi have advanced to the next round! What new challengers will stand in their way? What kinds of strategies will be invoked against them? Will they be able to overcome their opponents, or will their opponents overwhelm them? Keep checking back to find out!