I think this is gonna be the last filler chapter before we get to the more serious issues, like dealing with the Society of Light. I mean, technically, this chapter takes place during Episode 92, so we're getting halfway to the end of Season 2, so yay!

Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own any Yu-Gi-Oh series, only the OCs!

"You know, I've been wondering about something," spoke up Jaden, catching the attention of her friends, Hassleberry, Syrus, and Chazz. "What would school be like without Bonaparte and Dr. Crowler?"

"Less homework."

"No more idiots."

"Jeez, just how much trouble were those two during your last year?" questioned Hassleberry.

The four of them were currently fishing by the docks, the same place where Maximillion Pegasus, the President of Industrial Illusions as well as the creator of Duel Monsters, dueled both Crowler and Bonaparte earlier today. Apparently, the two teachers thought they were fired by Chancellor Sheppard and had dueled Pegasus just to have him hire them as employees. Although they lost against the creator of Duel Monsters himself, he still acknowledged them and was willing to hire them until Sheppard intervened and cleared up the misunderstanding of them being fired, stating that that wasn't case, thus causing Pegasus to "cancel" their employment before following after Sheppard to discuss whatever important issues they had in mind.

Right now, the four of them decided to spend their time fishing while Crowler and Bonaparte had gone somewhere else to do whatever they pleased. At least, the initial plan was to continue fishing, until something unexpected happened.

"Ooh!~ Just my luck to run into you all once again!"

Turning around, the four were surprised to see Pegasus and even moreso that he was greeting them. "Oh, Mr. Pegasus!" said Syrus. "Wait, didn't you have a meeting to go to with Chancellor Sheppard?"

"Well, it just so happens that my meeting with the kind Chancellor finished quite early, though there may be future meetings later on," admitted Pegasus. "But, the last duel has me quite unsatisfied, and seeing as I still have some time before returning, and since I ran into you all, how would one of you like to have the chance to duel me?"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" exclaimed Jaden excitedly, jumping to her feet first.

"Yeah, is this for real?!" wondered Syrus as he and everyone else stood up as well.

"Whooo! Yeah! I'm down for it!" agreed Hassleberry. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, after all!"

'If I can somehow beat Pegasus, I'm one step closer to becoming King of Games, and growing strong enough to defeat Sartorious!' thought Chazz. "Alright! You're on!"

"Now, hold on," Pegasus said. "As much as I would love to take you all on, I'm afraid I'm also on a tight schedule, so I can only afford one duel! Hmm...who will be the lucky winner...?"

"Me, me, me, me, ME!" All over, Jaden and her friends were practically crowding around Pegasus, begging for his attention and the right to duel him. After all, he was THE Maxmillion Pegasus, world-famous creator of Duel Monsters and President of Industrial Illusions.

In the end, it was decided who would duel Pegasus by a simple game of Janken, also more commonly known as Rock-Paper-Scissors. With some luck, Jaden ended up being the lucky winner, much to the dismay of Hassleberry and Syrus, and the frustration of Chazz.

As Jaden and Pegasus were getting into position, ready to duel to their heart's content, Jaden couldn't help but hear Chazz muttering, "This sucks! I should have won!"

Turning to him, Jaden said, "Awww, don't feel bad, Chazzy! Next time we see Mr. Pegasus, it can be your turn to duel him!"

"I don't know when that time is gonna be, you idiot!" shouted Chazz. "Ugh, you don't even have a ghost of a chance of beating Pegasus!"

"...Why'd you say that?" asked Hassleberry.

"Huh?"

"You said, 'ghost of a chance,'" reminded Syrus. "W-What does that even mean?"

"I...Huh. Why did I say that?" wondered Chazz.

"Look, Chazz, how about we make a bet, then?" asked Jaden, giving him a confident smirk. "You seem pretty sure that I might lose, but let's raise the stakes!~"

Chazz raised his eyebrow out of interest as a smirk formed on his face. "Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of taunting me, you're coming right to me with a bet with high stakes?"

Placing a hand on her hips, Jaden said, "Well, I can't exactly offer you a bet with high stakes without getting involved. Anyways, if I win...you have to be my butler for a whole month!"

Syrus got an idea. "Jaden! Don't call it a butler! Call it a...Man-Slave! Yeah! Call it a man-slave!"

"I oughta kill you-!"

"Yeah! Alright, Chazzy! You have to be my man-slave for a whole month!"

"Oh, so we're raising the stakes THAT high, huh? Alright, if I win, then...you gotta give me all the fried shrimp and desserts for a whole month," decided Chazz.

"EH?!" exclaimed Jaden.

"Hey, just be grateful that I'm actually showing you a little mercy this time because I'm gonna feel a little bit bad when Pegasus kicks your ass! I could have made the same offer you did, but I decided to be a little merciful!"

"Ooh! I just love teenage drama! But I love cartoons even more!" squealed Pegasus. "Now, shall we get started, Jaden-gal?"

"Alright, you're on, Mr. Pegasus!"

"DUEL!"

- DUEL -

Jaden - 4000 LP

VS

Pegasus - 4000 LP

"Eeeep! I'm so excited! I draw!" squealed Jaden. "Okay! I activate the Spell, E - Emergency Call! This adds an Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand! And I choose Burstinatrix!"

"Ooh! How lovely! I do remember you using Elemental Heroes and even Neo-Spacians in your duel against Franz!" recalled Pegasus happily. "I'm looking forward to this duel! Your heroes vs my cartoons! It's like the duel for the centuries!"

"Yeah! It's like that time I dueled Yugi's deck!"

"What?"

"What?"

"What?!" exclaimed Chazz. "When did this happen?!"

"Yeah! I didn't know about this, either!" agreed Hassleberry. "Since when did Jaden face off against Yugi Muto?!"

"Er...technically, she didn't really duel Yugi," said Syrus. "She only dueled against Yugi's deck."

"...That makes even less sense."

"Not really," said Jaden. "Last year, there was some sort of event where Yugi was showcasing his personal deck, and then that Dimitri guy broke in and stole it, so I dueled him to get the deck back! Of course, he was dueling using Yugi's deck, but no matter how tough and fun the duel was, I managed to beat him!"

"...Oh, yeah! I remember! I did hear something like that happening in the news last year!" said Hassleberry. "They said something like Yugi's deck being shown in an event in Duel Academy!"

"What?! I was a first-year student in Duel Academy last year! How did I not hear about this?!" Chazz questioned, stomping his foot upon missing such a once-in-a-lifetime event.

"Hmm...Oh, I know!" said Syrus. "It must have happened while you were off at North Academy! Yeah! I remember!"

"...DAMNIT! You're right! Gah, if I had known, I wouldn't have left Duel Academy!"

"Yeah," agreed Jaden, nodding her head. "But then, you wouldn't have transformed from a douche to a nicer douche."

"...I swear to God, Jaden, I am gonna KILL you in your sleep!"

"Ahem!" coughed Pegasus loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "As intriguing and amusing as your tale is, I'm afraid we'll have to cut that conversation short. You see, even though I said I had time, I am still quite the busy man, so let's continue on with our duel, shall we?"

"Yay! Okay!" said Jaden, remembering it was still her turn. "I play Polymerization and fuse together Avian and Burstinatrix from my hand in order to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman - (WIND/Warrior/Fusion) - LV6 - (2100/1200)

"I set a card and end my turn!"

"My turn!" said Pegasus. "Oooh! Just the card I needed! But first, I play the Continuous Spell, Spell Economics! With this card, that means so long as it's out on the field, I don't need to pay Life Points to activate Spell cards!"

"That's really bad for Jaden!" said Chazz. "Now, Pegasus can easily use Toon World without suffering the requirements to activate it!"

"What do you mean?" wondered Syrus.

"Haven't you paid attention to Yugi's duels with Pegasus? The only requirement to activate his Toon World is by giving up 1000 of his Life Points!"

Chazz's explanation hit Hassleberry as well. "Oh, I see! That means that Pegasus is free to use his famous Toon World card without paying even a single bit of his Life Points!"

"That's right!~" sang Pegasus. "Did you really believe that I would continue having that silly little weakness? Of course not! I've grown stronger during these past few years too, you know! Now I activate my favorite card to bring out all of my favorite Toons! Toon World!"

Popping out of smoke like a magic show, a fairy tale-like book appeared, flipping through the pages until it stopped and revealed a cartoonish kingdom.

"Now, let the fun begin! With Toon World out, I can now summon any kind of Toon Monster as I please! Now, which Toon character should I-"

"OOH! OOH! DO DARK MAGICIAN! NO, DO DARK MAGICIAN GIRL!" screamed Jaden excitedly, bouncing up and down. "OOH! BLUE-EYES TOON DRAGON!"

"Wow, she really is too excited for this," commented Hassleberry, sweatdropping.

Pegasus, not bothered by her enthusiasm and was rather fond of it, merely chuckled. "Alright, alright, settle down, now. Yes, I would like to summon more of my lovely Toon Monsters, but I think I'll start off with something simpler first!~ I summon Toon Mermaid to the field!"

Toon Mermaid - (WATER/Aqua/Toon) - LV4 - (1400/1500)

"Eeeek! I can't believe I'm going to be dueling against Toon Monsters! This is gonna be great!" squealed Jaden.

"There's more where that came from! I set one card facedown and end my turn!"

"My turn, draw!" Jaden said, hastily drawing her card. "Alright, Flame Wingman! Attack Toon Mermaid!"

Flame Wingman raised his arm and unleashed demonic fire upon Toon Mermaid, but unfortunately, Toon Mermaid dodged the attack with ease, thus avoiding destruction.

"Oh, pity! It appears that your attack was unable to destroy my Toon Mermaid!~" sang Pegasus.

"How?"

"When Toon Mermaid is selected as an attack target, she can either dodge or counterattack without being destroyed!"

"Uh...How?"

"Like I said, Toon Mermaid's effect allows her to dodge or counterattack without being destroyed!"

"So wait," started Chazz. "Does that mean she can negate an attack and then strike back directly at Jaden?"

"Nope!~"

Chazz threw up his arms in exasperation. "Wha-Then what are you talking about? Her effect makes no sense!"

"Nonsense! I just explained it!"

"But-"

"Hush!~ Now, I do believe it's still your move, Jaden-gal!~" reminded Pegasus.

"Hey, you didn't even explain anything!" complained Chazz before deciding to give up. "Ugh! Whatever! I'll just watch the Duelist Kingdom videos and figure it out for myself!"

Jaden sweatdropped and decided the next best course of action would be to end her turn, considering that Flame Wingman's attack wasn't successful. "Right...I end my turn!"

"My move!" said Pegasus. "Ooh! I do believe you'll get your wish granted, Jaden-gal!"

Jaden gasped, eyes sparkling with joy as she was practically bouncing up and down. "REALLY?!"

Pegasus nodded. "Yes! By Tributing Toon Mermaid, I can now Special Summon the fabulous Dark Magician Girl to the-"

"YESSSSSS!"

Everyone was startled by Jaden's overexcited shriek, turning to her with looks of cringe and amusement in their faces. It was clear that the moment Pegasus revealed the next Toon Monster to be summoned, Jaden would lose it, especially since it was a Monster she and other fans of Dark Magician Girl loved.

Flame Wingman internally pouted, crossing his arms and being a bit jealous of Jaden's excitement over the Toon Monsters. 'Jaden doesn't get THAT excited nowadays when it comes to summoning me and the other heroes,' he thought. 'Then again, it's practically a daily routine for her to summon each of us differently, so she must get used to it. I suppose this is a sign of her growing up...'

Pegasus chuckled at the girl's overexcitement, having expected this reaction from yet another Dark Magician Girl fan. When he created that card, he wanted to make a female counterpart of the famous Dark Magician, but he clearly didn't expect the Dark Magician Girl to be extremely popular. And here he was, trading in his Toon Mermaid to Special Summon the Dark Magician Girl.

Toon Dark Magician Girl - (DARK/Spellcaster/Toon) - LV6 - (2000/1700)

"Awwwww! She's so adorable! She looks so much like my Dark Magician Girl plushie!" squealed Jaden. "Okay! Lay it on me! I'm ready when you are!"

"Ooh! So enthusiastic! I like that in a person!" said Pegasus, flipping his hair back flamboyantly. "Now, Toon Dark Magician Girl! Attack Jaden-gal directly!"

"Wait, why directly?! Jaden has a Monster on her field, already!" pointed out Syrus.

"Yes, normally, one must destroy the opposing Monster before attacking the opponent directly," agreed Pegasus. "However, my Toon Monsters are all different! Several can attack my opponent directly if they don't have a Toon Monster, and my Toon Dark Magician Girl has such an ability!"

"So, let me get this straight," spoke up Chazz. "At least most of your Toon Monsters has the ability to attack your opponent directly if your opponent doesn't have a Toon Monster of their own, correct?"

"That's right, Chazzy-boy!~"

"Never call me that again," growled Chazz, slightly creeped out by the creator of Duel Monsters. "And anyways, I call BS on that! Actually, that power is SO OP!"

Pegasus gasped, taken aback by his words. "Mr. Princeton! I would never-! My Toon Monsters are one of a kind! They're special!~"

"Yeah, specially OP. Come on, an effect that allows you to attack your opponents directly if they don't have a Toon Monster on their field? You totally gave yourself a huge advantage and practically cheated!"

"Now, now, I will admit, this isn't the first time this special ability has been called out on," admitted Pegasus, unfazed. "But that doesn't mean this ability doesn't have weaknesses. You just have to figure out how to defend against this ability! Now, commence the attack, Toon Dark Magician Girl!"

"Not so fast!" called out Jaden. "I activate the Trap, Negate Attack! Negate Attack allows me to-"

"We already know what Negate Attack does! It's right there on the card! It negates an attack!" called out Chazz rather rudely, earning him a glare from Flame Wingman.

"Technically there is more to it," added Pegasus. "Negate Attack also ends the Battle Phase. But, bravo, Jaden-gal, for figuring out one of the weaknesses for this special ability!" He says so while granting Chazz somewhat of a smug look, causing the black-jacket boy to scoff and look away.

"Tee-hee!~ Thanks!" cheered Jaden, happily accepting the compliment.

"Unfortunately for you, that's not enough to stop me! I activate from my hand, Toon Rollback! This activates only when a Toon Monster's attack is negated by the effect of an opponent's Trap card! Specifically your Negate Attack earlier! And now, with Toon Rollback, I can conduct my Battle Phase once more!"

"What?!"

"Hacks! I call hacks!" said Hassleberry.

"Now, Toon Dark Magician Girl!" began Pegasus. "Attack Jaden-gal once more!"

Winking at Jaden, Toon Dark Magician Girl waved her wand around before firing a pink energy beam that electrocuted Jaden, frying her Life Points.

Jaden - 2000 LP

Pegasus - 4000 LP

"Oh, and I'm not quite done with the fun yet!~ I activate the Spell, Doppleganger! By removing 5 cards in my deck from play, I can add 1 card from my opponent's Graveyard to my hand! And I set one card facedown and end my turn!~"

"My turn, draw!" said Jaden. 'I have no idea if his cute yet deadly Toon Monster can dodge Flame Wingman's attack like with his other Toon, but if they can avoid during battle, what about out of it?' "Okay! I activate the Spell, Polymerization, and fuse Sparkman and Clayman in my hand to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

Elemental Hero Thunder Giant - (LIGHT/Warrior/Fusion) - LV6 - (2400/1500)

"Thunder Giant's effect activates! When he's Fusion Summoned, I can select and destroy 1 face-up Monster on the field whose original Attack Points are lower than Thunder Giant's! I choose to destroy Toon Dark Magician Girl!"

Toon Dark Magician Girl panicked and flew around in a frenzy, trying to avoid the hovering electrical ball thrown to her by Thunder Giant. Eventually, the electrical ball made contact with Toon Dark Magician Girl and electrocuted her before destroying her.

"Alright! Now Pegasus' field has no more troops! He's wide open!" cheered Hassleberry.

"Oh, yeah! I'm actually going to beat the creator of Duel Monsters! How epic is that?!" exclaimed Jaden. "Okay, Thunder Giant! Flame Wingman! Attack him directly and finish this duel!"

As both Elemental Heroes lunged towards Pegasus, the man himself was fully prepared for a frontal assault. "Oh, dear. It appears you've miscalculated one little thing, Jaden-gal, and that is my facedown card on the field! Negate Attack!"

"What?!" shouted Jaden in surprise as her two Fusion Monsters returned back to her side. "He had the same Trap as I did!"

"That's right, Jaden-gal!" said Pegasus proudly. "In fact, I took that Trap from your Graveyard! Remember the card I used earlier? Doppleganger? Well, I took advantage of its effect by stealing your Negate Attack Trap! And I must say, it sure came in handy this time! Oh-ho!"

"Huh, just as you'd expect from the creator of Duel Monsters," stated Chazz, somewhat impressed. "Unpredictable and fun-loving...Ugh."

"So what will you do now, Jaden-gal? Your frontal assault failed, and soon, I'll have even more loving, yet dangerous Toons on the field. Better make your next move count!~"

"Hmm...I end my turn with a facedown!"

"Jaden! Is that seriously the best you can do?!" called out Chazz angrily.

"Hey, don't blame me! I've been doing everything I can!" argued back Jaden. "I'd like to see you do this, ya prick!"

"Grrrrrr!"

"Then, it's my move once again!~" Pegasus said, interrupting their conversation. "Hmm...Ooh! I guess I'll just have to refill my hand with Card of Sanctity, allowing us to draw until we each have six cards in our hands!"

"Pegasus may have gotten up to six cards, but he's made one fatal mistake!" told Syrus. "He's given Jaden more cards too, and I know Jaden will make a comeback!"

"Don't count on it," scolded Chazz. "If anything, Pegasus has only made himself more dangerous now that he has more cards. The choices he could make could be...really, really bad."

"So, basically, from a scale of bad to completely screwed over?" summarized Hassleberry.

"That's the sum of it, yeah."

"Oh, yes, this is quite a nice hand I have," commented Pegasus. "Now, because I have no Monsters on my field and you do, I can Special Summon this adorable little Toon from my hand! Come out, Toon Cyber Dragon!"

Toon Cyber Dragon - (LIGHT/Machine/Toon) - LV5 - (2100/1600)

"Hey! That's Zane's Monster! Kinda!" said Jaden.

Syrus frowned and looked away, not wanting to look at a Monster that reminded him deeply of his brother, and how much he had fallen. He knew he still had to grow stronger on his own, but constant reminders to himself made him...quite insecure.

"Zane? Oh, Zane Truesdale, correct?" questioned Pegasus. "Yes, such a...dark man, he is. If I weren't already interested in Kaiba-boy, then...hmm...Then again, Zaney-boy might not be so bad, either..."

"Yeah, I don't think he'd want to hear you call him that," commented Chazz, looking quite disgusted.

Pegasus merely flipped his hair back. "It makes little difference to me, anyways! Now, it's time to end this! Because I control Toon World and you have no Toon Monsters, I can attack you directly! Go, Toon Cyber Dragon! Attack Jaden-gal directly and finish this duel!"

"I activate my Trap! Hero Barrier! As long as I have an Elemental Hero out, Hero Barrier negates one attack, so I'm safe!"

Having said that, a barrier surrounded Jaden and her two Elemental Hero Fusion Monsters, deflecting the laser blast from Toon Cyber Dragon and protecting her and her Life Points.

"Impressive, so you lived another round," commented Pegasus. "Hmm...What to do...But of course! I summon Toon Goblin Attack Force in Attack Mode!"

Toon Goblin Attack Force - (EARTH/Warrior/Toon) - LV4 - (2300/0)

Placing a hand over her heart, Jaden let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God you didn't summon that Monster beforehand!"

"Oh, I know what you're thinking, Jaden-gal," said Pegasus. "You're relieved that I didn't summon my newest Toon Monster because you feared that I would commence a second attack once your Hero Barrier was out, correct? Unfortunately, it's not that simple. On the turn that my new Toon Monster is summoned, they cannot attack, so it would have been pointless, regardless!~"

"Oh, I see!"

"Now, I set two cards and end my turn! Show me what you can do, Jaden-gal!~"

"My turn, draw!" said Jaden. "I summon Aquos-I mean, Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin in Attack Mode!"

Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin - (WATER/Warrior) LV3 - (600/800)

"Ooh! A Neo-Spacian! You know, I helped with the design of creating the Neo-Spacians before Kaiba-boy sent them up to space!" bragged Pegasus.

"Oh, really? Well, I kinda created the Neo-Spacians and sent them through a card-creating contest Seto Kaiba set up!" revealed Jaden.

"Wait, you're the gal that won the card-creating contest? How unexpected to meet the one who impressed even Kaiba-boy!"

"Seto Kaiba was impressed by my creative cards?! Awesome!"

"AHEM! We'd like to see this duel going sometime this century!" called out Chazz.

"Party pooper!" pouted Pegasus. "But, your friend is right. Shall we continue?"

"Yeah!" said Jaden. "I now activate Aqua Dolphin's special ability! Once per turn, by discarding a card from my hand, I get to take a good look at your hand and select 1 Monster card among your cards! Then, if there's a Monster on my side of the field whose Attack Points are higher or equal to the Attack Points of the selected Monster, I get to destroy the Monster in your hand! Now, let's see your hand!"

Pegasus happily obliged, revealing the cards in his hands. Most of the cards in his hand were Toon Monsters, but eventually, Jaden found a weaker Toon Monster and chose the Toon Monster called Toon Gemini Elf.

"I choose Toon Gemini Elf in your hand and destroy her! That card has 1900 Attack Points while my Thunder Giant has 2300! Now, Aqua Dolphin's additional effect makes you take 500 Points of Damage!"

Toon Gemini Elf's card shattered into pieces by Aqua Dolphins' effect, and Pegasus felt the stinging sensation as he took 500 Points of Damage.

Jaden - 2000 LP

Pegasus - 3500 LP

"Alright! I finally damaged him!" cheered Jaden. "Now, I activate the effect of Necroshade from my Graveyard! The card I discarded earlier from Aqua Dolphin's effect was an Elemental Hero called Necroshade, and his ability makes it so I can perform an additional Normal Summon this turn! And now just any Normal Summon, but any Elemental Hero without Tributing, but only once! I now summon Elemental Hero Neos!"

Elemental Hero Neos - (LIGHT/Warrior) - LV7 - (2500/2000)

"Ah! Neos! Quite the remarkable Monster you have there, Jaden-gal!~" praised Pegasus. "I remember the last time you used Neos! Now I'm more excited than ever to face him in this duel!"

Jaden nodded. "I know, right? Now, it's time for Contact Fusion! Neos! Aquos! Fuse together to form...Elemental Hero Aqua Neos!"

Elemental Hero Aqua Neos - (WATER/Warrior/Fusion) - LV7 - (2500/2000)

"Contact Fusion? Such a bizarre power...but intriguing, nonetheless!" said Pegasus.

"Yeah, and there's more where that came from! I now activate Aqua Neos' effect! Once per turn, by discarding 1 card from my hand, I can select a random card in your hand and destroy it! Don't worry, Mr. Pegasus! You won't get hit with 500 Points of Damage this time!"

Pegasus flinched when a random card in his hand was forcibly destroyed, but despite his loss, he wasn't upset. "Impressive!"

"Now, let's do this!" shouted Jaden. "Aqua Neos, destroy his Goblin Force!"

"Not so fast!" said Pegasus. "I activate the Continuous Trap, Toon Defense! When your Monster declares an attack involving a Level 4 or lower Toon Monster I control, I can make that attack into a direct attack towards me!"

Aqua Neos' geyser blast bypassed Toon Goblin Attack Force and splashed onto Pegasus, drenching him from head to toe before he rapidly shook himself dry.

Jaden - 2000 LP

Pegasus - 1000 LP

"Oh...well, I wasn't expecting that, but okay!" said Jaden. "Alright, this might end in a draw, but I'm willing to go for it! Flame Wingman! Destroy his Toon Cyber Dragon!"

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that!" Pegasus stated. "I activate my Trap, Draining Shield! This negates your attack and allows me to regain Life Points equal to your Flame Wingman's Attack Points!"

Jaden - 2000 LP

Pegasus - 3100 LP

"Dang it! Okay, I'm at least taking down one of your Monsters this turn!" declared Jaden. "Thunder Giant, destroy his Goblin Attack Force!"

"Then I'll activate the effect of Toon Defense and will happily take that as a direct attack!" Pegasus decided before being hit by a blast of electricity. "Ooh!~"

Jaden - 2000 LP

Pegasus - 800 LP

"...Ugh, even his cries sound horrible to hear," groaned Chazz, disgusted.

Hassleberry turned to him. "What are you talking? His cries sound like-Ohhh...Yeah, that is pretty sick."

"But, Jaden has a fighting chance now! Look, she brought down Pegasus' Life Points through a lot!" pointed out Syrus. "Now, next turn, all she has to do is attack with an even stronger Monster, and she'll win the duel!"

"Come on, Jaden!"

"I've made a terrible mistake," stated Chazz, realizing that he could potentially lose the bet.

"Okay, I end my turn!" Jaden said. "At this moment, Aqua Neos returns back to my Extra Deck, so he's no longer available on the field! Your turn, Mr. Pegasus!"

"Gladly, Jaden-gal! My turn!" Pegasus said, drawing his card. "Yes! Just the card I needed! I sacrifice my two Toon Monsters in order to bring out one of my most powerful Toon Monsters! Toon Buster Blader!"

Toon Buster Blader - (EARTH/Warrior/Toon) - LV7 - (2600/2300)

Jaden squealed so loudly, she nearly pierced through everyone's eardrums. "BUSTER BLADER?! YUGI'S CARD?! AAAAAAAHHHH! THIS IS THE BEST! I'M GOING UP AGAINST THE LEGENDARY BUSTER BLADER!"

"Technically, it's not the real thing! Just a Toon!" pointed out Hassleberry.

"Jaden-gal, I have both good and bad news for you!~" stated Pegasus. "First, I can't attack this turn because Buster Blader's effect makes it so he can't attack the turn he was summoned."

"Yeah! Alright! I'm safe this turn!" cheered Jaden, jumping up and down with her hands raised high.

Pegasus chuckled. "Well, technically, you are correct, but next turn will surely be your demise!"

"Right, but don't worry! I'll find a way to fight off the Toon version of Buster Blader! Eeeek! I can't wait to fight against Buster Blader!"

"Technically, it's a Toon version, so it's not really the real thing," pointed out Syrus.

Jaden turned to him. "Yeah, but it's still technically a version of Buster Blader, so if I beat him, then technically, I can claim I managed to beat Buster Blader, yeah!"

"Unfortunately for you, all good things must come to an end, and this turn will be your end, Jaden-gal! Or rather, my next turn will be!" said Pegasus. "I activate my Quick-Play card, Mischief of the Time Goddess! By simply skipping 1 turn, I end up during the Battle Phase, and now, Buster Blader is no longer restricted anymore!"

"...Fuck!"

"Jaden!" exclaimed Hassleberry and Syrus, shocked at her coarse language.

"What? Chazzy can do it, but I can't?" pouted Jaden. "Besides, I am SO screwed now! Aaaaah!"

"This is it! I now activate Toon Buster Blader's effect!" announced Pegasus. "While I control Toon World and you have no Toon Monsters, Toon Buster Blader can attack you directly!"

Toon Buster Blader dodged the attacks coming from Flame Wingman and Thunder Giant before raising his blade and bringing it down onto Jaden, reducing the last of her Life Points.

Jaden - 0 LP

Pegasus - 800 LP

Winner: Pegasus

"YEAH! JADEN LOST!" Chazz cheered loudly, receiving glares from both Hassleberry and Syrus. "What? I didn't want to lose the bet."

"Awww! I lost!" whined Jaden. "Could you imagine what would happen if I actually managed to beat Pegasus? That'd be so cool! It'd be like, a pre-requirement to beating the King of Games!"

"Well, I'm quite flattered that I'm considered a 'requirement' to defeating Yugi-boy!~" chirped Pegasus happily. "It makes me feel special!~ Hmm...Maybe that should be a thing from now on."

"If that's actually going to be a thing, then I'm totally going to kick your ass if I duel you next," declared Chazz.

"I'm looking forward to such strong duelists in the future!" Pegasus said before turning to Jaden. "Jaden, though you lost, you still showed an impressive set of skills that is an absolute requirement and the next step to becoming the King of Games. Oh, I'm sorry, in your case, the Queen of Games."

"Actually, I don't really mind being called the King of Games," said Jaden happily. "It sounds like an even more awesome title than the Queen of Games!"

"Well, regardless, that was quite a fun duel. Keep practicing, and I'm certain that you'll become a top Pro Duelist for certain! Perhaps even the newest King of Games!" complimented Pegasus. "The same goes for the rest of you all, as well! Now, I must really getting going! Toodles!"

With that said, the duel came to a conclusion with Pegasus' win as the group watched him fly away back home in his private helicopter, being more encouraged and determined than ever to become stronger.

Skit: Chrysalis Cartoons

"Awwww!~ Come back here, you guys!~" cooed Jaden, chasing after her Chrysalis Monsters in a game of tag. She was happily laughing and enjoying herself as she was the Tagger in the game, playfully chasing after the Chrysalis Monsters who were also having a blast themselves.

Meanwhile, watching over them were some of the Elemental Heroes and all of the Neo-Spacians. While they were happy that Jaden was enjoying herself, the Neo-Spacians felt a little awkward and embarrassed since, in a way, it was their babyish and cuter versions that were playing with her.

"It's...still a bit embarrassing seeing this," admitted Grand Mole, hiding his eyes with his claws.

"Still, so long as it makes Jaden happy, then that's what truly matters, right?" reminded Aquos.

"Remember, we allowed her to play with the Chrysalis group because she was feeling a bit down earlier," reminded Glow Moss. "The Chrysalis' are the best we've got to Pegasus' Toons."

"We know that! But every time they play, they always leave a mess!" whined Air Hummingbird. "I still remember the time those little mischiefs pulled a prank on me and it took hours to get all the glue off my feathers!"

"They're kids! What do you expect?" wondered Bubbleman.

"Uh...how about pranks that don't involve glue? Why couldn't they at least do harmless ones?"

"...You know this sort of peace won't last forever," spoke up Flare Scarab. "Things are peaceful and happy now, but eventually, Jaden's going to have to face a lot of trials up ahead."

"That's right," agreed Dark Panther. "She's supposed to help maintain the balance, between the Light of Destruction and the Gentle Darkness."

"And she will," assured Elemental Hero Neos. "But for now, she's still young, and still needs a lot of growing and opportunities. So, why not let her remain this childish?"

With that, Jaden's Monsters were content to allow her to keep her child-like attitude and playful mood a little bit longer, knowing that there was plenty of time for responsibilities later on. What they didn't know was that the time would come, but never in the manner they would ever expect.

Finally finished with this chapter and got a few things to say!

First off, yes, I did use the anime effects of the Toon Monsters Pegasus used, and it really did make me confused about the whole dodging and counterattack effects, like maybe make it more specific? Like, do something more about it? Oh, and yes, I did place several references in this chapter just for fun, so if you guys are smart enough to figure them out, congrats, you're a winner!

That said, read and review!