Some words about last chapter.
An astute reviewer – whom I assume is a fan of many anime, not just YGO – compared last chapter to the storyline in Dragonball Z where Goku was rushing to complete the Spirit Bomb while his allies were fighting for their lives against Frieza. This would naturally make Erik assume Piccolo's role in this case, as hard as that is to picture.
You know, even though I vaguely recall watching that arc of that show, it never really occurred to me. It's strange how some things turn out so similar.
But anyway…
Read on, as my first villain ever, and the one whom I still hold a place for in my heart, takes Duel Disk in hand once again…
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CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
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The Prodigy Returns
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Challenge of Divine Law
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There was, perhaps, only one place in Duelatopia that was completely safe from the demons that had been invading it. That place was Cassandra's fortune telling shop. The good magic here was so strong, no demon would dare enter. Trying to do so would be suicide.
Cassandra knew of the demons, and she had been waiting for any word from her patrons in case they needed her to combat them, which she was more than capable of doing. There wasn't a need for that now, it seemed… Those who hadn't taken hosts were leaving for some reason.
For now, she closed her eyes in meditation.
Her eyes opened.
She looked at her deck of tarot cards. She slowly took a card off the top.
"No!" she gasped, as she saw what it was.
It was a horrible picture. It bore the image of a man lying on the ground dead, his body pierced by ten blades, blood spilling where he had fallen.
"The Ten of Swords…" muttered Cassandra, sadly. "The card that spells one thing… Death…"
She looked at her deck.
"All I can do now, is try to find the identity of the doomed one…"
Her hand sweat as she reached for the top card…
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Outside of Clock Tower Prison, a squad of Centurions had surrounded the place. They were behind barriers, pointing weapons at every access and egress point.
Commander Descartes drove up on a transport.
"What's the situation, Lieutenant?" he asked the one at the forefront.
"Trouble," said the other Centurion. "Big time. Like you requested, Yumi Mouto's Duel Disk was traced, and she's clearly in the gear housing of the Clock Tower.
"However, the whole building is surrounded by a barrier of some sort. Michaels tried to enter. He wasn't injured, but if he hadn't been wearing his armor, we don't know what would have happened to him."
Descartes looked at the building.
Long ago, Siegfried Kaiba had taught him how to detect auras. And he could discern two powerful auras coming from the building.
One was a powerful aura of Good.
The other was a powerful combination of Evil and Chaos.
It didn't take him long to realize that this clearly meant that there were two supernatural forces up there, and they were likely fighting.
He shivered…
"Call in the heavy artillery," he said. "We'll try to blast our way through this barrier with everything we've got.
"In the meantime… Off the record… Anyone who's big on religion, it wouldn't hurt to start praying…"
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In the gear housing…
The six mortals could hardly believe what they were seeing.
Anastasia and Claret were hovering about ten feet off the ground, and were it not for the fact that one of them had feathered wings and a white toga, and the other had bat-like wings and horns, this would look like some catfight from an Indy movie. Both of them were trying to strangle each other. Claret had already resorted to hair-pulling before deciding that it was pointless – Anastasia's roots held her beautiful hair more firmly in place than cement, and once Claret let go, it wasn't even mussed up.
Even worse, the aura around the two of them constantly shifted, turning from light, to darkness, back to light again, back and forth constantly. It was hard to tell who was winning the struggle at this point.
"Uhm, amigos…" muttered Enrique. "I have a little confession to make…"
"What?" asked Yumi, a little annoyed.
"Well…" he replied. "One of my… guilty little pleasures is watching professional wrestling on the cable TV premium channels when there's a match between lady wrestlers. Yeah, I know that it's all choreographed and scripted, but I find it… uhm…"
"…a turn on?" growled Sam. "You like seeing women with gorgeous figures dressed in skimpy spandex pounding away at each other?"
"Yeah…" muttered Enrique. "Anyway, seeing this… This fight between two ladies when one of them is an angel and one of them is a demon… It is clearly NOT as entertaining as those shows on TV…"
"Don't worry…" said Chelsea. "Anastasia will beat this slut. She'll overpower her… She'll likely chain her to a slab of rock and then hurl her back to the dark pit where she came from. That's how these conflicts always resolve in the movies."
"Yeah, but at what cost?" asked Yumi.
She looked down at her Puzzle, which was glowing like a bonfire.
"These two haven't even broken a sweat yet," she said, "and the power they're giving off is already off the charts. Once the true fight begins, they're likely to level the whole city…
"Truly, we've gone out of the frying pan and into the fire…"
Anastasia paused. She had clearly heard this.
She grabbed hold of Claret's hands and started forcing her down.
Yumi is right… she thought. If my true power is unleashed, if I use every ounce of strength at my disposal to slay this demon, the one I worked so hard to protect for so long might die as well…
I took a vow when I became her guardian angel… A vow to protect her any way I could…
There's only one way I can deal with Claret without risking others… It will be a risk on my part… But I must.
She shouted, and shoved Claret off of her.
"Claret!" she shouted.
"Scuse me?" asked the succubus. "Having cold feet, Anne?"
She bore her claws.
"Tell me something, Claret," she asked. "Are you a coward?"
"I don't see any reason to answer that," replied Claret.
She was about to lunge at Anastasia again.
"Claret!" shouted Anastasia. "I, Anastasia Pegasus, offer a challenge under the rules of Divine Law!"
Then everyone was startled as lightning flashed with a roar of thunder.
Claret froze. She didn't pounce.
"Divine Law?" said Yumi. "What is that?"
The Pharaoh appeared next to her.
"I… I don't know…" he said. "But I have a feeling it isn't something that is taken lightly…"
Claret just stared at Anastasia for a few seconds.
"Claret…" said Anastasia. "I just challenged you to a contest under the rules of Divine Law. You know what that means… You either accept, or you have to high-tail it back to the Abyss right now. So what's it going to be?"
Claret frowned.
And then she smiled.
"Why sure…" she said. "My master would enjoy having an angel as a slave girl once I defeat you… I accept!"
"Fine," said Anastasia. "Since I challenged you, you get to decide which form the contest will take, within reason."
"Is Anne crazy?" shouted Ren. "She's risking herself playing by Claret's rules?"
"Well, fine…" said Claret. "Since we're in Duelatopia, I might as well choose Duel Monsters…"
"Now I think Claret's crazy!" shouted Ren. "She's challenging Anastasia to a duel?"
"You sure Anastasia can win?" asked Erik.
"Uhm, yes…" muttered Yumi, holding her chin. "This is only Anastasia Pegasus, as in the daughter of Maximillion Pegasus, the guy who invented the game and taught her personally. Anastasia only lost one duel in her life, and that was to my dad."
Both the angel and the demon landed, their feet touching the floor.
"Now then…" said Claret. "I enact clause forty-seven of the rules of challenge by Divine Law. Since I already partook of the same contest that I chose in the past rotation of the gears of Mechanus, i.e. one planar day, I demand the right to compete via proxy."
"Que?" said Enrique.
"She's going to have someone duel in her place," replied Yumi. "Clearly, that's why she chose Duel Monsters."
Anastasia frowned.
"You have the right…" she said. "Assuming… Assuming, that is, you can find someone willing to do it."
Claret grinned.
The mysterious door appeared again, and it slowly opened.
The one who came out was someone they all knew too well. It was Rasputin.
He crossed his arms and frowned at everyone.
"Rasputin…" said Claret. "You say that beings like this are neglectful. Well prove that you are superior to them. Duel her and we can finish these fools."
Rasputin turned to her and frowned.
"No," he said. "Duel her yourself."
"Huh?" said Claret.
She looked at him.
"But… We had a deal…"
Rasputin sighed, and looked at Louis, who was still lying unconscious against the wall…
He walked over to him, and then bent over the unconscious henchman. He carefully undid his jacket and unbuttoned his shirt.
"You all thought this fancy suit was just for looks, right?" he said, opening the shirt. "My partnership is officially over. With both you, and your other partner…"
Claret turned pale…
Louis's chest was covered with small pieces of machinery, strapped on with duct tape.
"A wire," said Rasputin, with his voice full of spite. "It was working all through your duel with Mr. Matell… I heard every bit of the conversation…
"I have had very little trust in all divine beings… Up to now, that included whether they came from celestial OR infernal regions. And I never trusted you. I know now that I should have had more trust in celestial ones.
"Claret, I was suspicious of you for years… I couldn't prove it, but there were times I wondered whether or not I had actually killed you… I knew full well that summoned demons aren't truly dead when they die in the mortal realm. I had hoped that if that were the case, Malcanthet would punish you once you got back.
"Now, I know what happened, and I realize that you not only survived, but you were a sore loser. You made me ageless only to turn my life into a misery that wouldn't end. It was all a sadistic joke.
"I realize the truth now… The immortality I sought wasn't a boon… It was a curse.
"So our deal is off. Duel her yourself."
"Rasputin!" shouted Claret. "I warn you… Your life is hanging by a thread… You only have a few months left to live, and the Centurions are waiting for you! You'll spend your last miserable days in a cold, dreary holding cell. If I lose this duel, you'll be left with nothing!"
"WRONG!" shouted Rasputin, getting in her face. "I'll have one thing left… I'll have a thing I haven't had for years…
"…my self-respect."
Claret looked at him. Then she grinned evilly.
"You know," she said, "It's never wise to get that close to a succubus…"
Then she grabbed him, and planted a deep kiss on his lips. Rasputin tried to struggle, but she was too strong.
After a few seconds, she let go… Rasputin gagged and spit on the ground.
"Well, the Earth didn't exactly move for me either," growled Claret, wiping her mouth.
Rasputin turned and looked at Anne.
He took a deck out of his coat and placed it in his Disk.
"Let's duel," he said.
"Claret!" shouted Yumi. "What did you do to him?"
"I infected him with a dose of his own domination pheromone," said Claret. "Who do you think taught him how to make that stuff? Malcanthet is the greatest seducer in the universe. She's invented hundreds of formulas for controlling the opposite gender."
"You play dirty, demon," said Anastasia.
She gestured, and a Disk appeared on her arm in a flash of light.
"Fine… Whether I fight you or your proxy, you'll still be the loser in the end. As Yumi said, my record as a duelist when I was alive was an impressive 1,203-1-0, and I don't intend on worsening that record."
A deck appeared in her hand, and she shuffled it.
"Now, Rasputin…" said Claret, "use the deck I gave you, and show her truly that you have no need for her kind. Show her that mortal power is superior to that of any beings who call themselves gods!"
"What does she mean?" asked Ren. "What the heck sort of deck is Rasputin using?"
"I'm guessing it isn't a Fairy Deck," muttered Sam.
"So what sort of deck do you suppose Anne uses?" asked Chelsea.
"It could be anything," said Yumi. "As the daughter of Pegasus, she stores a copy of every Duel Monsters card ever created in her spiritual vault. So in theory, she could construct a deck with any strategy imaginable."
Thunder crashed again…
"Game on!" shouted both duelists.
(Anastasia: 8,000) -------------------- (Rasputin: 8,000)
"Ladies first, I always say…" said Rasputin.
"Thanks," said Anastasia, drawing a card.
She looked at her hand.
"I set this in Defense Mode, and I think I'll leave it at that."
A facedown Monster appeared.
"That all?" asked Rasputin, drawing a card. "You must be rusty…
"I summon Laplace, the Fiend Mathematician."
A low chuckle sounded over the field as figure rose in front of Rasputin. It was a gaunt, skeletal figure, with bony hands and feet, dressed in a blue scholarly robe and a tattered, brown cape. Its head was the skull of some fiendish ram or bison. (1,000/1,000)
"Oh, please," said Anastasia. "Do you actually think I'm scared of that?"
"Perhaps you'll be more scared once I destroy your only defense using Shield Crush," he replied.
He played a Spell Card, and a bolt of energy shot out of the card. A weird creature appeared kneeling on the card. It looked kind of like Bugs Bunny with black fur, with a leather jacket and a sword in a sheath at its hip. It had a silly-looking grin.
The beam hit it, and it was blown to bits.
"Huh?" said Rasputin.
"Nope…" said Anastasia, crossing her arms. "I'm still not afraid of your Fiend. Not one bit."
"Stuff it, Anne!" said Rasputin with a scowl. "What sort of Monster was that?"
"A Dark Rabbit," she replied. "As if you cared. If you want to attack, then do it already."
"Oh, have it your way…" he replied. "Laplace, attack her directly!"
The Fiend Mathematician's eyes glowed, and two fiery blasts shot at Anne, striking her. She barely even seemed to notice.
(A: 7,000) -------------------- (R: 8,000)
"Anne!" shouted Yumi.
"Don't concern yourself," replied Anastasia. "He's hardly won yet, and I've endured things much more unpleasant."
"Oh, sure…" said Rasputin. "I'm sure everything you had to endure to make up for what you did when you were alive was very painful…"
Anne's eyes glowed intensely. Her fist clenched. It was clear that Rasputin was getting close to making her cross the line.
She wouldn't cross it. That part of her she had buried long ago.
"That will conclude my turn," said Rasputin.
Anastasia relaxed, and drew a card.
"I summon Toon Goblin Attack Force," she said. "In Attack Mode, naturally."
There was a goofy giggling, and five silly-looking goblins carrying clubs that looked like wiffle-bats jumped onto the field. (2,300/0)
"They can't attack this round," she said. "So consider yourself lucky."
Claret chuckled.
"Oh, I get it…" she said. "You're using daddy's Toon Deck. How… unusual…
"How utterly stupid… You're fighting a battle using the most sacred set of rules set forth by immortal beings, where the winner can punish the loser any way she chooses, and you choose to fight using a bunch of ridiculous watercolor creatures?"
"No…" said Anastasia. "I choose to use a deck that has the soul of my father in it… The soul of the creator of Duel Monsters! And I'll use it like a sword, to slash through any Shadows that cover this island and darken the land.
"Through this deck, the spirit of the creator lives again… And I will triumph…"
Lightning flashed again.
"Very dramatic," said Rasputin. "I draw."
He drew a card.
"Okay, Anne," he said. "I play the Spell Card, Schrödinger's Cat."
He played the card, and an odd Continuous Spell Card appeared on his side of the field. It had a picture of a tabby cat dressed in a white tuxedo, holing a cane and balancing a top hat on its tail.
"With this Spell Card…"
"I know what these cards do, Rasputin…" said Anastasia. "My dad invented them, remember?"
Rasputin growled.
"Well!" he said. "For everyone here who isn't related to the guy who invented the game, I'm gonna explain it anyway! I play Pot of Greed."
He played the card, and as usual, the jar appeared. He drew two cards.
"You see, thanks to my Cat, whenever I draw cards outside of my Draw Phase, I have the option of sending them back to my deck, reshuffling, and then drawing again."
He looked at the two cards he had drawn.
"And I think I'll do just that…"
He started shuffling his deck.
"I think I see the point of Rasputin's deck," said Yumi, shaking her head.
"What?" said Ren. "Because I sure don't…"
"Well…" said Yumi, "in Duel Monsters, drawing cards involves a lot of chance and randomness. When a good duelist builds a deck, he takes probability and function in mind. But like I've said before, a little faith never hurt.
"However, Rasputin is trying to do away with faith entirely. He's using cards to manipulate his draws, to increase the probability of getting the right cards, leaving almost nothing to chance at all. If he wins, he may well prove that he can win without relying on anything but his own ability."
"So…" said Rasputin. "I draw twice again."
Claret chuckled. She could clearly see what Rasputin had drawn.
Now show her your true power, Rasputin, said her voice in his head.
Rasputin opened his Field Slot and placed a card in it.
"I play… Relativity Field!" he shouted.
Darkness spread from where he was standing. Within seconds, the whole gear housing was replaced by a void of stars.
"What in blazes…" said Chelsea.
"Next," said Rasputin, "I throw a card facedown…"
A facedown card appeared in front of him.
"Now... my Fiend may play a little rough, so I'll summon a much friendlier Mathematician."
He played a card, and a new Monster appeared on the field. It was a short, dumpy guy who fit the profile of a nutty professor. He was dressed in a long academic robe and mortarboard, and had a beard that reached down to his toes. He held a staff with a knob shaped like an academic crown. (1,500/500)
"When this guy is summoned," said Rasputin, "I have to send the top card from my deck to the Graveyard. But that's the cost for being a Level Three Monster as powerful as this one…"
He discarded a card.
"Now, then… Let me tell you one of many legends that alchemists know of… Once, long ago, there was an alchemist whose wife and children were murdered by demons. Burning with grief and anger, this alchemist traveled to the ends of the world to find the ultimate weapon to use against the forces of darkness, a spell that could kill any demon instantly, body and soul…
"After years of search and several hardships, he found that weapon… I hold it now."
He played a Spell Card.
"I play… Exile of Wicked."
"That makes no sense!" shouted Sam. "The only Fiend on the field is your own Laplace!"
"Exactly," said Rasputin.
Ghostly tendrils snaked out of the card, and constricted the Fiend Mathematician. He let out and unholy scream, and was reduced to ashes.
Claret groaned and held her stomach. Clearly even though she was no Duel Monster, the power that the Shadow Game had given that Spell Card had caused her a little pain…
"I know of that alchemist…" she muttered. "After using his weapon for years, he was captured, and to this day, his soul is imprisoned in Graz'zt's palace, where any visiting demon to use him as a torture subject for a small fee.
"But why don't you tell them why you did that?"
"Simple," said Rasputin. "When Laplace leaves the field, my opponent loses 300 Life Points for each card on the field. Counting the Field Spell, that's five cards."
Anastasia cringed a little as a red aura surrounded her.
"And then there's the effect of my Relativity Field itself," he continued. "Whenever a player loses Life Points, his or her Monsters lose the same amount of Attack Points. That means your goblins are cut down to size."
Toon Goblin Attack Force chuckled nervously as their Attack Score fell down to 800.
"Now, Mathematician… Attack her goblins with Battle Curriculum!"
Mathematician aimed his staff, and shot a beam of energy that seemed to consist of numbers and mathematical symbols. Toon Goblin Attack Force exploded into shards.
"Who says math class has to be boring?" laughed Rasputin.
(A: 4,800) -------------------- (R: 8,000)
"She's losing…" muttered Erik. "Well, I guess we're… doomed…"
"Don't say that!" shouted Sam. "Don't you start doubting her powers."
"Okay…" said Anastasia. "Here goes…"
She reached for her deck.
"Not so fast…" said Rasputin.
His Trap Card lifted.
"It's called Draw Paradox," he said. "When this card is in play, our Draw Phases are interchanged. In other words, I draw during your Draw Phase, and you draw during mine."
"Clever…" said Anastasia. "So do it already!"
Rasputin drew a card.
Anne looked at the five cards already in her hand.
His strategy is odd, she thought, but I think I see where it's going. And I've got to turn it around fast…
"I throw two cards facedown, and summon Toon Cannon Soldier," she said.
Two facedown cards appeared, and then a goofy toy robot with guns on its hands and on its head with a huge smile on its face appeared in front of her. (1,400/1,300)
"I end my turn," said Anastasia.
"Then I start mine," said Rasputin. "And due to Draw Paradox, that means that you get to draw now."
"I know that," said Anastasia, drawing a card.
"This is the craziest duel I've ever seen…" said Ren.
"Crazier than that one where you dueled that waitress with the walking vegetables?" asked Chelsea.
"No, at least that one made a little sense," said Ren.
"Time to summon someone new," said Rasputin. "I summon… The Calculator!"
He played the card, and a strange creature appeared. It was a cute robot, with a number pad for a torso, and a screen for a face.
"Let me explain to you how this Monster calculates its Attack Score," said Rasputin. "First, it adds. It adds together the Levels of the Monsters on my side of the field."
The Calculator punched some numbers on its chest, and the numerals "2 3" appeared on its screen. Then it hit a key, and the numeral 5 appeared.
"Then it multiplies," said Rasputin. "It multiplies the sum by 300."
The Calculator punched some more numbers. Its screen read "5x300". Then it punched a button and it read "1,500".
"And see for yourself…"
(1,500/0)
"Mathematician…" ordered Rasputin, "attack the Toon Cannon Soldier!"
Mathematician aimed his staff.
"Surprise…" said Anastasia. "I have a Trap… Magic Cylinder."
Her facedown card lifted.
"This Trap Card fires your Battle Curriculum right back at you."
The stream of numbers shot back at Rasputin. He groaned, and cringed as it hit him.
(A: 4,800) -------------------- (R: 6,500)
"Oh, I suppose you think that's funny," said Rasputin. "Well, my Calculator still has an attack…"
"No it doesn't," said Anastasia. "Since you lost Life Points, your Field Spell works against you, reducing both your Monsters' Attack Scores to zero."
The Calculator sparked, and Mathematician groaned, and both fell to zero Attack Points.
"Fine!" shouted Rasputin. "I end my turn."
"Then I start mine," said Anastasia. "So draw!"
Rasputin drew a card.
Excellent, said Claret's voice in his ear. Next turn, you can finish her off!
"I don't need any cat to get the right cards," said Anastasia, looking at her cards. "I already got what I need right here."
She placed a Spell Card in her Disk. Then she took five cards off the top of her Disk.
"I remove five cards from my deck from play…"
She tossed the five cards up in the air, and they started to dance around her head in a chaotic pattern. Then, they vanished into sparkles of light.
"But that means…" said Rasputin.
"That's right!" said Anastasia. "I play the card that's the nerve center of my deck… A portal to a world beyond good, beyond evil, beyond any creature's wildest imagination!
"The incredible Toon Kingdom!"
An explosion of colored smoke appeared on her side of the field, followed by an explosion of streamers and fireworks. A large, green book with the picture of a comical king on its cover floated up over the field. It opened with a burst of energy, its pages opening like some large pop-up book with a cartoon castle growing from inside, with two huge torches flanking it.
"Now my Toons can really strut their stuff," said Anastasia. "Case in point… I sacrifice Toon Cannon Soldier…"
Toon Cannon Soldier jumped up, and leapt into Toon Kingdom with a somersault. The book slammed shut, and then spun around. Energy shot from it.
Then it opened, and purple smoke poured from it.
"Come out and play, Toon Dark Magician Girl!"
The creature that appeared from out of the smoke was… surreal. She looked like Yumi's star Monster at first glance, but when you looked closely, she was clearly not the same. It was as if some kid from a child's cartoon had dressed up like Dark Magician Girl for Halloween. (2,000/1,700)
"Lovely…" said Rasputin. "And to think I thought the original one was bad enough…"
"It's about to get worse," said Anastasia, "Toon Dark Magician Girl… Attack Mr. Lamont directly!"
Toon Dark Magician Girl's free hand glowed. Everyone was a little surprised as a pie appeared in it…
She laughed hysterically as she hurled it, hitting Rasputin in the face with an audible splat.
Rasputin fell over. Toon Dark Magician Girl fell over too, laughing and holding her sides.
(A: 4,800) -------------------- (R: 4,500)
"Yeah!" cheered Ren.
"All right!" shouted Chelsea. "Toon Dark Magician Girl is kicking some serious A."
Rasputin wiped his face.
"Chocolate meringue?" he said, glaring at Anne. "That was a waste of a perfectly good dessert."
He got up.
"I hate cartoons…" he muttered. "Senseless, mindless, meaningless drivel… Clearly this mockery of the performing arts is the lowest form of entertainment. It is a mystery to me why generation after generation of youth are drawn to this sludge. It boggles the mind."
Anastasia gave him a dirty look. Toon Dark Magician Girl stopped laughing. She looked a little pissed herself.
"Rasputin…" said Anastasia, putting her hand on her hip. "Do you know why the great Walt Disney created his first animated shorts featuring Mikey Mouse, Donald Duck, and all those other characters?"
"To make money?" replied Rasputin.
"Oh, please," said Anastasia. "His salary at that time was pitiful. He had a deeper reason.
"You see, it was the height of the Great Depression in America. Most Americans were out of work… Jobless, helpless, and in most cases, hopeless. Filmmakers like Walt saw it as their duty to make movies, because cheap Saturday matinees were the only form of entertainment that the average person could afford after days of unsuccessful job searching.
"And Walt got an idea. He started making cartoons.
"He made these animated shorts. Short films to be shown in theaters before the main attraction, full of funny characters doing silly antics.
"And when the poor, unemployed people went to these shows and saw these cartoons, they did something that they desperately needed to do.
"They laughed. Walt's small bit of humor gave them the small bit of joy that they needed to continue on, and not give up hope.
"You see, Rasputin, Walt Disney knew a vital truth… A world without humor is a bleak and cold world, which will ultimately sink into darkness, despair, and death."
Rasputin looked at her hard.
He bowed his head slightly…
Don't listen to her! screamed Claret's voice in his head. She's your enemy! She's trying to distract you! Use what you have to crush that blasted thing!
"Right…" mumbled Rasputin. "It's my move…"
"Which means I draw, due to your Draw Paradox," said Anastasia, drawing a card.
"And it's time for you to experience some serious pain," said Rasputin. "I play the Spell Card, Battle Constants.
"To play this card, I must remove from play one Monster, one Continuous Spell, and one Continuous Trap. So the first thing I'll remove from play is my Mathematician."
Mathematician rippled, and vanished into nothing.
"Now, I remove Draw Paradox and Schrödinger's Cat from play as well, to open a portal which summons a creature that rules the void between the stars…"
The two cards vanished, and a portal of pure energy opened, and a huge creature flew out. It was a Dragon, serpentine in shape, with three sets of wings and a small set of claws. It roared in fury. (2,800/2,300)
"Meet Brain Dragon," said Rasputin, as the huge creature loomed over the field. "But before I use him, I'm going to take care of that eyesore…
"I play Mystical Space Typhoon!"
He played the card, and the cyclone blew across the field. Toon Kingdom shattered into bits. Toon Dark Magician Girl screamed, and then she shattered too.
"It's over, Anne!" shouted Rasputin. "Brain Dragon, attack directly with Big Bang Blast!"
Brain Dragon blasted a wide bolt of flaming energy from its jaws. Claret laughed with glee as Anastasia screamed as she was seemingly consumed by it…
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Looking up from outside at this time was Commander Descartes.
Under his helmet, a look of shock crossed his face. The aura of Chaos and Evil had just gained a big advantage over the aura of Good. Even a beginner at detecting auras knew that this was bad news.
"What is taking you guys so long?" he shouted.
He turned towards a group of even more heavily armored men who were working a large device that looked like a howitzer.
"It's ready, sir," said one of them. "This plasma blaster can reduce an army tank to slag. It should bust through that dome in one shot.
"All we need to do is set the intensity, set the stream to bolt width, then…"
"Masterson!" snapped Descartes. "Stop explaining it, and just do it!"
"Yes sir!" he said. "Everyone, eye protection to max!"
All the Centurions adjusted their visors.
"Firing in three…
"Two…
"One…
"Fire!"
The weapon fired a blast of white-hot flame mixed with plasma at the barrier, and all of Duelatopia looked towards the Museum District as it was lit up against the night sky.
The Centurions looked. The pavement in front of them had been melted into molten tar…
However, the barrier was still there.
"Impossible!" shouted Majors. "We didn't harm it at all?"
Descartes looked at it.
"Yes, you did," he said. "You didn't destroy it, but you cracked it good. Another blast should smash it to pieces. How long before that thing can recharge?"
"Fifteen minutes," sighed Masterson. "At the earliest."
"Let's hope whoever is up there can hold on that long," said Descartes.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
(A: 2,000) -------------------- (R: 4,500)
Anastasia stared at Rasputin as smoke poured from her toga and hair. Fortunately, she didn't seem to be hurt much.
"It isn't over yet, Rasputin," she said.
"Oh?" he asked. "Take a look at my Calculator."
Everyone looked at The Calculator.
"That's right," said Rasputin. "Since a new Monster was summoned, its Attack Score was recalculated and reset. There are ten Levels worth of Monsters on the field now…"
(3,000/0)
"Did you think I put it in this deck solely because it fit the theme?" he asked. "I had a much smarter reason. If it ever loses Attack Points due to the Field Spell, its points are reset as soon as a new Monster is summoned.
"Attack her directly! Number cruncher!"
"ANNE!" shouted everyone.
The Calculator shot a beam of energy that resembled Mathematician's blast at Anastasia…
"I activate my other Trap!" shouted Anne. "Draining Shield!"
Her other facedown card lifted, and a dome of energy shot up. The blast plowed into it.
"WHAT?" shouted Claret. "You had that set… And you let Brain Dragon's attack hit you…"
"How many times are you guys going to forget that you can't surprise me?" asked Anastasia. "I can quote the descriptions and rulings of every single card in the game from memory! I was just too close to the game to be caught off guard by your strategy!
"I knew that The Calculator was still there, I knew that its Attack Score was reset, and I knew, most importantly, that it was stronger than Brain Dragon. So I waited to use Draining Shield.
"So… Anything else, Rasputin?"
Everyone on Yumi's side except Yumi herself breathed a sigh of relief.
(A: 5,000) -------------------- (R: 4,500)
"People, don't breathe easy yet," she said. "Anne is in big trouble."
Rasputin frowned. That last move had cost him every card in his hand. He had expected to win on that turn.
"You bet she is," he said. "The turn is yours, and it may be your last."
"Fine," said Anastasia. "And since your Draw Paradox is gone, our Draw Phases are back to normal."
She drew a card. She looked at it and quickly set it on the field, and a facedown Monster appeared.
"Go ahead," she said.
"That all?" said Rasputin, drawing a card. "Well, Brain Dragon has an effect that you might be interested in. During my Draw Phase, I get to draw two extra cards. Then I put any two cards from my hand back on the top of my deck in any order."
He made two extra draws.
He frowned.
"Disappointed?" asked Anastasia, with a grin. "It seems that even manipulating your chances isn't helping much."
Rasputin took two of the cards, and placed them on the top of his deck.
"Brain Dragon, attack!" he shouted.
Brain Dragon shot its thunderous blast at the facedown Monster, blowing it to bits.
"Since you obviously didn't see my Monster before your Brain Dragon blew it to smithereens," said Anastasia, "I should tell you that it was my Morphing Jar."
Both of them discarded what was left of their hands, and made five draws.
"You know…" said Ren, "I often wonder about that term… Just what is a smithereen, exactly?"
"Will you shut up?" shouted Erik. "Anne is trying to save our lives here!"
"Save your lives?" laughed Claret. "She can barely save herself. Making that challenge was the most foolish thing she's ever done. Never before has an angel as young as her invoked such a powerful dictum."
"Hey, watch it," said Anastasia. "I can tell that you're pretty young yourself, Claret, as least as far as demons are concerned. For demons, being five-hundred years old is considered sweet sixteen."
Claret scowled.
"Rasputin…" she said. "Win this duel quickly… She's really getting on my nerves…"
"I'm trying!" he shouted. "Calculator, let's try it again."
The Calculator fired its number cruncher, and Anne screamed as it plowed into her.
She gasped for breath.
(A: 2,000) -------------------- (R: 4,500)
"Your move," said Rasputin.
"Then I draw…" said Anastasia, making a draw.
"I play… Pot of Geed," she said.
She played a card from her hand, and then drew two more cards.
Then a Spell Card appeared on her side of the field.
"Next, I play A Feather of the Phoenix. So I toss one card…"
She slipped Toon Summoned Skull into her discard slot.
"And one card from my Graveyard goes to the top of my deck."
Toon Kingdom slipped out of her discard slot, and she placed it on the top of her deck.
"Next, a new Spell Card, the powerful Lucky Shamrock!"
The Spell Card that appeared had the image of a shamrock with three leaves, one green, one orange, and one purple.
"I pay 1,000 Life Points to use this card. Then I get to draw three cards. If those three happen to consist of a Spell, Trap, AND a Monster, I gain 2,000 Life Points, for a net gain of 1,000."
"HA!" laughed Claret. "No-one could be that lucky!"
"We'll soon see…" said Anastasia.
She drew three more cards.
She grinned and turned them forward…
They were Toon Kingdom, Toon Gemini Elf, and Dark Coffin.
Claret gasped as a golden glow surrounded Anastasia.
"Next, up," said Anastasia, playing another Spell Card, "I remove five more cards from play, to play Toon Kingdom again!"
In another explosion of energy, Toon Kingdom rose out of the void again. It spun around, and opened again.
"Next, Premature Burial!" she shouted.
She played the card, and Toon Dark Magician Girl appeared again, laughing with glee. (2,000/1,700)
"I'm just getting warmed up," said Anastasia. "Attack Rasputin directly!"
Toon Dark Magician Girl flew at Rasputin, holding her staff above her head.
"Oh no…" he muttered.
The Toon Spellcaster walloped him over the head with the staff, knocking him down on his rump. When he opened his eyes, a small flock of cartoon birds were circling his head.
"SHOO!" he shouted, shooing them away.
"Hey, Rasputin!" shouted Ren. "Because of your own Field Spell, your Brain Dragon turns from almighty titan, to world's biggest wimp!"
Rasputin and Claret both gasped. It was true. Brain Dragon roared as its Attack Score plunged to only 800. The Calculator fell to 1,000.
My Dragon can't even defeat a Toon Masked Sorcerer now, thought Rasputin. But I still have one surprise left…
"Now I play, Magical Mallet," said Anastasia, playing another Spell Card. "I'll reshuffle the four cards I have left, and draw four new ones."
She placed her four cards – Toon Defense, Dark Coffin, Spell Reproduction, and Toon Gemini Elf – into her deck, and quickly shuffled. Then she quickly drew four times.
She looked at them.
"I play one card facedown, and end my turn."
A facedown card appeared in a burst of light.
"Finally…" muttered Rasputin.
(A: 2,200) -------------------- (R: 2,500)
He drew one card from his deck.
"I use the effect of Brain Dragon again," he said, drawing two more cards.
He looked over the cards in his hand.
"I shift Brain Dragon and The Calculator to Defense Mode."
Brain Dragon curled up in its coils like a serpent. The Calculator scrunched down and shielded itself.
"Next, I play the Spell Card, Impenetrable Formation. This Spell Card boosts the Defense Score of one of my Monsters by 700 points, so long as I have at least two Monsters and all of them are in Defense Mode."
Brain Dragon's Defense rose to 3,000.
"What's the point?" asked Sam. "Doesn't he know by now that Toons can attack directly?"
"Not for long," said Rasputin. "Next, I Equip my Dragon with Ring of Magnetism."
He played the card, and four sparking nodes appeared, surrounding Brain Dragon. Then, wires of pure electricity connected the four nodes, forming a ring. Brain Dragon fell to (300/2,500)
"It may lower my Dragon's points, but it becomes the only target that can be attacked, directly or otherwise. And should you manage to summon a Monster that could destroy it…"
He played another card.
"I play The Dark Door. And so long as this Door remains open, both of us may only attack with one Monster per turn. Did you get all that?"
"Yes, I got all that," said Anastasia, crossing her arms. "And it seems you're making a pathetic attempt to stall.
"You will fail.
"Maybe," said Rasputin. "It's your move."
Anastasia drew a card. She added it to her hand.
"Actually," she said, "I choose to end my turn without making any move."
"Then once again," said Rasputin. "I draw three cards…"
He made three draws. He looked them over.
"And place two on the top of my deck."
He casually placed two cards on the top of his deck, as if he didn't care what the were.
"Now," said Rasputin. "I summon my Armageddon Knight."
He played the card, and a cold wind blew through the void. A dark figure appeared on the field. It was a Warrior in rusty, worn armor, holding a cutlass, wearing a tattered, red scarf over his mouth. (1,400/1,200)
Ren suddenly took notice. It was apparently a Dark Warrior he had never heard of before.
"When Armageddon Knight is summoned," said Rasputin, taking his deck, "I get to send any Dark Monster I desire from my deck to the Graveyard."
Really? thought Ren. I should look into this guy…
Rasputin got what he wanted, and discarded it.
"Your Knight is in Attack Mode!" shouted Anastasia. "That means the effect of your Impenetrable Formation is no longer valid."
Brain Dragon's Defense fell to 1,800.
"True," said Rasputin. "So, I'll shift The Calculator to Attack Mode as well. And now that there are a total of fourteen Levels worth of Monsters on my side of the field…"
The Calculator stood up… (4,200/0)
"Attack her Toon Dark Magician Girl!" he shouted.
The Calculator fired its number cruncher.
"Activate… Shrink!" shouted Anastasia, as her facedown card lifted up. "Time for some division."
The Calculator shrunk to half its size, and to an Attack Score of 2,100.
"It's still stronger than your Toon!" shouted Rasputin.
Toon Dark Magician Girl simply laughed. She stretched like rubber, and the blast missed her.
Anastasia grinned, and held up a Toon Alligator that she had taken off the top of her deck.
"Toon Kingdom has an added effect that the normal Toon World doesn't have," she said. "So long as I remove the top card on my deck from play, my Toons are invincible."
"So be it," said Rasputin. "But you still lost 100 Life Points, so due to my Field Spell, your Toon still loses that many Attack Points."
Toon Dark Magician Girl fell to an Attack Score of 1,900.
"I set one card facedown," he said.
A facedown card appeared in front of him.
"Finally, a Spell Card," he said, playing a card. "It's called Grey Matter. With Brain Dragon on the field, this lets me retrieve a Monster from my Graveyard…"
A card slipped out of his discard slot.
"…but there are two conditions. I can't use it until next turn, and when I finally decide to use it, I have to pay 1,000 Life Points.
"It's your move."
(A: 2,100) -------------------- (R: 2,500)
That's clearly the card he tossed with Armageddon Knight's effect, thought Yumi. What could it be?
Anastasia drew a card.
"That Calculator of yours is a big problem," she said. "So I'm getting rid of it taking out your Dragon in one fell swoop.
"I play Brain Control."
She played the card, and the sinister-looking brain appeared in front of her.
"I just pay 800 Life Points, and your Calculator becomes mine."
Two arms reached forward, and grabbed the robot, pulling it over to Anne's side.
"Let's recalculate, shall we?" she asked. "My Toon Dark Magician Girl is Level Six, plus the Calculator's two Levels…"
The Calculator punched the equation again…
(2,400/0)
"Calculator, attack his Brain Dragon. Number cruncher."
The Calculator shot its blast at Brain Dragon…
"Go! Negate Attack!" shouted Rasputin.
His facedown card flipped up, and a vortex of energy swallowed the blast.
"Well then…" said Anastasia. "I can still use your Calculator to summon something else…
"I sacrifice it and my Toon Dark Magician Girl…"
Toon Dark Magician Girl and The Calculator leapt up into Toon Kingdom and the great book slammed shut…
Toon Kingdom crackled with eerie, ominous energy… It slowly opened…
"A double sacrifice?" said Sam. "That could only mean… Manga Ryu-Ran, or…
"Oh… no…"
Flying out of the book was the largest Toon yet. It was a cartoon version of one of the most famous Monsters in existence, right down to the blue eyes and white scales. It let out a deep, throaty laugh as it looked at Rasputin.
"Meet the mightiest resident of Toon Kingdom!" shouted Anastasia. "The Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon!"
(3,000/2,500)
"Your uncle must be rolling over in his grave," muttered Erik to Sam.
"No he isn't," muttered Sam. "My uncle was cremated. But even so, I doubt he'd approve of this…"
"People, cheer up!" said Chelsea. "Sure it's a ridiculous mockery, but Anne is gonna win! That thing can blow Rasputin's Brain Dragon to bits!"
"Uh, guys," said Yumi. "You do realize that it can't attack this round? Anne already used her Battle Phase."
"Unfortunately, Yumi is right," said Anastasia. "In fact, since this Toon is Class-A, it can't attack on the round it's summoned anyway. That's why I attacked with The Calculator first. But for now, I'll play Pot of Avarice."
She played the card, and five cards slipped out of her discard slot: Toon Dark Magician Girl, Toon Goblin Attack Force, Toon Summoned Skull, Dark Rabbit, and Toon Cannon Soldier. She shuffled them into her deck and drew two cards.
She looked at her cards.
"I set one card facedown, and end my turn."
A facedown card appeared in a flash of light.
(A: 1,300) -------------------- (R: 2,500)
"Then I draw…" said Rasputin, drawing a card.
"Hold it, Rasputin!" shouted Anastasia. "I'm chaining this to your Draw Phase!"
One of her facedown cards lifted.
"It's one of my dad's favorite Traps," she said. "Gorgon's Eye."
A weird creature appeared over Anastasia. It looked like a mass of swarming snakes with an eye in the center.
"Yeah, I know, the version we use now isn't as powerful as the one he used in Duelist Kingdom, but it works for me. It disables the effects of all Monsters in Defense Mode until the End Phase."
"But that means…" said Rasputin.
"It means you can't use Brain Dragon's ability to draw two more cards," answered Anastasia.
Rasputin looked at the card he had drawn, which was a second Brain Dragon. It was useless. He heard Claret's voice again, full of anger.
Rasputin, I've had enough, she said. Time to go for broke… Use what you have, and finish her…
"I move Knight of the End into Defense Mode," he said, as the Warrior knelt and held his sword by his side. "This means, by the way, that the effect of Impenetrable Formation is active again."
Brain Dragon's Defense rose to 2,500 again.
Rasputin played the card he had just drawn.
"Now, I pay 1,000 Life Points to set the Monster I retrieved with Grey Matter."
He placed a card on his Disk, and a facedown Monster appeared.
"I end my turn."
(A: 1,300) -------------------- (R: 1,500)
Anastasia drew. She smiled when she saw what the card was.
"That's a Warp Fiend, right?" she asked, pointing to the facedown Monster. "You can't fool me, Rasputin. Like I said, as the daughter of the game's creator, I was privy to information on every card in the game."
"Warp Fiend?" asked Yumi. "I… don't like the sound of that…"
"It's a Level Four Monster with 2,400 Attack Points and zero Defense Points," said Anastasia. "But it can't be Normal Summoned or Special Summoned. And if you Flip-Summon it, you have to have Relativity Field in play, or it is destroyed.
"But if you manage to do that… You can send Relativity Field to the Graveyard so it can destroy all cards on the field except itself."
Everyone gasped.
"Yeah, you're right," said Rasputin. "But I'd like to see you try to stop me. Because of my Ring of Magnetism, you can only attack my Brain Dragon. And because of my Dark Door, you only get one attack."
"Read the fine print," said Anastasia. "The Dark Door says I can only attack with one Monster per Battle Phase. If I had two Battle Phases, I could indeed attack with two Monsters."
"What are you talking about?" said Rasputin.
Anastasia played a Spell Card.
"I play Toon Table of Contents," she said.
Toon Kingdom's pages started to turn quickly. Then they opened, naturally, on the table of contents.
"Now I can search my deck for any card with the word 'Toon' in its name, and add it to my hand."
She took her deck, and quickly got what she wanted. She put her deck back.
"Now, onto business. I pay 500 Life Points so that my Dragon can attack.
"Blue-Eye Toon Dragon…
"Attack! White Lightning!"
Finally, it let out a mighty blast of energy, and the Brain Dragon exploded.
"Well… just how do you intend to get a second Battle Phase?" asked Rasputin.
"With this!" said Anastasia, playing another Spell Card. "It's called Toon Rollback!"
Toon Kingdom started to fold and change shape, and an old fashioned movie reel appeared on it. Colorful film started spilling out of it.
"This Spell rewinds my turn back to my first Main Phase, so I can indeed repeat the Battle Phase."
"Hold on," said Rasputin. "I happen to know that Toon Rollback does have a limitation. You do get a second Battle Phase, but any Monster that attacked in the first one isn't allowed to attack again."
Anastasia grinned.
"You thought I used Toon Table of Contents to search for Toon Rollback, right?" she asked. "Well, I didn't…
"I sacrifice Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon to summon Toon Dark Magician Girl again!"
Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon vanished into grains of light, and the much cuter Toon appeared again. She winked at Rasputin. (2,000/1,700)
Anastasia's supporters started cheering.
"Attack him directly and end this!" shouted Anastasia.
She flew at Rasputin, and cast a bright burst of magic at him, knocking him on his back.
(A: 800) -------------------- (R: 0)
"Well," said Chelsea, with a smile, "as one great cartoon character would say…
"Th-th-th-that's all folks!"
Anastasia gestured, and her Disk vanished. Claret looked at Rasputin with fire in her eyes.
She grabbed him by the neck.
"You big idiot!" she shouted. "Do you have any idea what you've…"
"Unhand him at once," said Anastasia, quietly.
"Shut up, Anne!" shouted Claret, "or I'll…"
"You'll do nothing!" shouted Anastasia.
She merely pointed, and Claret winced in pain. She dropped Rasputin.
"Your proxy lost," said Anastasia. "So you lose. Thus, the full effects of the challenge now come into play… And this is a rule that not even the Queen of Chaos herself could weasel out of.
"That means your powers can't affect me, the winner, in the least.
"Furthermore, I am allowed to inflict you with any punishment I desire. And since you turned his life into a misery that has lasted centuries, it's gonna be a dire one."
Claret glared at her nervously. Then she grinned.
"So…" she said, sheepishly. "What's it gonna be? You gonna seal me in a block of ice at the Arctic? Maybe chain me to a rock at the bottom of the sea?"
"I'm contemplating those and several other options right now," said Anastasia, her eyes narrowing.
"Well before you do," said Claret, "consider this… What about Rasputin?"
"What about him?" asked Anastasia.
"You all are fools," said Claret. "The immortality serum… It was a sham. Nothing created by alchemy can stop a man from aging. It was noting more than some stuff that demons drink the same way humans drink lemonade.
"I was personally the one who was keeping him from aging all this time. I connected my life force to his via a special silver cord.
"You do anything to me, the cord will break. Know how long he'll survive after that?
"Minutes. He can't live without me."
Anastasia paused. She looked at Rasputin.
Claret chuckled.
"Hasn't he suffered enough, Anne?" she asked. "Will you kill him to punish me?"
She didn't see Rasputin getting to his feet behind her. He pulled the crucifix out of his jacket pocket.
"Face it, Anne," said Claret, "you're in a no-win situ…"
Then Rasputin grabbed her in headlock, holding the holy symbol in front of her.
"Don't count on it," he growled.
"A crucifix?" she laughed. "Please, that little thing is too weak to…"
Then her legs buckled, and she fell to her knees.
"It's made of cold-forged iron, Claret!" shouted Rasputin. "This was going to be my backup plan in case you didn't fall for the wine trick!"
"Cold-forged iron?" said Yumi.
"It's poison to demons," said Rasputin. "Anastasia, what are you waiting for?"
"But…" said Anastasia.
"You won, Anne!" shouted Rasputin. "Now punish her! I can't hold her forever!"
"But Rasputin, you'll…"
"Don't be stupid!" shouted Rasputin. "If you forfeit your prize, she'll kill your charge and her friends. Who is more worthy of life, Anne, six young children or a big idiot like me who's already lived far longer than he has had a right to?"
Anastasia closed her eyes.
She pointed at Claret, and an aura of pure light surrounded her. Claret screamed as holy energy seeped into her body…
After a few seconds, she was gone. Rasputin fell to his knees again.
There was dead silence in the room.
"Gee, Anne," said Ren. "What did you do to her?"
Anastasia sighed.
"She's been banished," said Anastasia. "Locked away somewhere safe. Rest assured, she'll never trouble the mortal world again."
"Rasputin!" shouted Yumi.
She ran up to the man who had been her foe for so long. Already he had changed dramatically. His hair and beard had doubled in length, and was grey, and his skin was wrinkled and covered with liver spots.
"What's happening to him?" shouted Yumi.
Anastasia shook her head.
"He's dying, Yumi," she said. "His true age is catching up to him. And there's not a thing I can do. Not even the Archlords can save a man from dying of old age…"
"Rasputin…" said Yumi, sadly.
"Yumi…" whispered Rasputin. "Yumi… You aren't done…"
He weakly lifted up his hand, which held a single card.
"My… partner… He lurks offshore... in a hidden keep. His plan was to kidnap you from your bed if Claret and I failed…
"But if you use this, you can go to him… You can finish the job…"
"Rasputin…" repeated Yumi.
"Don't feel sorry for me," said Rasputin. "Heaven knows, I don't deserve it… Besides… For the first time in centuries, I don't fear death…
"In fact… I almost welcome it…"
"Rasputin!" shouted Yumi.
It was too late. His body crumbled into dust, leaving only his clothes, Duel Disk, and the crucifix.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cassandra looked at the Ten of Swords. Then she sadly looked at The Emperor.
She placed The Emperor facedown on the table.
"Rasputin Lamont was a man whose life once held promise," she said. "He was chosen by Heaven to save a church from a demon…
"But the demon returned, and her treachery and lies led him down a path of ruin…
"We can only hope that now he's managed to find…
"…a small measure of peace."
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Yumi's eyebrows furrowed in anger.
She looked at the card that Rasputin had handed to her.
"It's a Field Spell called The Glass Menagerie," she said.
"So what are we gonna do?" asked Ren.
Yumi activated her Disk. She opened the Field Slot and placed the card inside it.
"I'll tell you what we're gonna do!" she shouted. "We're gonna end this once and for all!"
The door appeared, and opened.
"Whoever you are, I'm coming after you!"
"I'm gonna help you," said Sam.
"If you are going, so am I," said Erik.
"Me too," said Ren.
"Me three!" shouted Chelsea.
They heard the shouts of the Centurions. They were rushing up the stairs.
"Enrique," said Yumi, "you try to tell them what happened. We've got a bone to pick with someone."
"Si," said Enrique. "Good luck."
The five duelists ran through the door.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
On the other side of the door, they were met by a surprise.
They were on a pathway made of light, hovering over the ocean.
Duelatopia was behind them…
In front of them, a few thousand feet away, was a large, beautiful temple, seemingly made of glass.
It shimmered in the moonlight, which seemed unhindered by the clouds covering Duelatopia.
"The Glass Menagerie, I presume?" said Sam.
"Well, people…" said Yumi, "Rasputin was kind enough to give us the means to get here with his last ounce of strength…
"So let's end this once and for all…"
They started walking towards the shimmering temple, as its owner waited…
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
On another plane of existence, in a realm where the sun never shone, there was a vast palace built of gold and skulls. Whoever the skulls had once belonged to was a question that most folks who had seen the place had quickly decided they were better off not knowing.
The master of this palace strode through the halls. He was one of the oldest denizens of the planes… He had come into being before the terms Good and Evil were defined, and all there was were Law and Chaos. He cared little when he was labeled as Evil… It was a term he didn't care for.
He pushed open the doors to his favorite chamber in his palace.
Inside the vast chamber were hundreds of huge gemstones. Each one was likely worth a fortune, but they had a purpose aside from wealth.
Clearly visible when you looked at one was a human form trapped inside each of these gemstones, sealed like a fly in amber. This room was his prison for his most important enemies.
The gems were powerful magical artifacts called soulgems. It took him many years and an incredible amount of wealth to build even one of them. However, he was so ancient, he had hundreds of them, far more than any other being who knew how to make them. Even Graz'zt and Orcus didn't own more than ten.
When a soulgem was enchanted, it had to be attuned to the body and soul – or just the soul, if dead – of one specific mortal. The soulgem would then be able to hold that mortal, and none other.
But, if prisoner was successfully captured using it, there was no escape. The prisoner was trapped forever, unless he granted release.
He passed by the gems, observing some of his trophies. Here was a noble knight who had campaigned against his forces… Here was a princess whose father had defied him. The occupants were fully conscious, and able to see him. They despised him, of course, but they were pretty much helpless. Some of them had no-one but themselves to blame, having been imprisoned after losing a wager of some sort that they shouldn't have made – or even worse, having given up their freedom in exchange for someone else's release, which was ultimately not granted. This entity rarely kept his word.
He walked to an empty gem. It was an incredibly powerful one, made of adamantine crystal, even harder than diamond. This one he had prepared with more care than the others.
Under his helmet, his eyes narrowed.
It was prepared to hold one that would be his greatest prize…
It was prepared for Yumi Mouto…
All that was needed was for one of his most trusted cultists to send her here.
What may be the endpoint for our heroes is in sight. But will it be the end of their troubles, or the end for Yumi? Answers will come as the final enemy is confronted, and Yumi will attempt to win what she needs to finally do what her grandfather couldn't…
0
0
0
ARMAGEDDON KNIGHT (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type:
Warrior/Effect
Attribute:
Dark
Level:
4
ATK:
1,400
DEF:
1,200
Card Description: When this card is Normal Summoned, Flip-Summoned, or Special Summoned, you may select one DARK Monster from your deck and send it to the Graveyard.
0
0
0
THE CALCULATOR (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type:
Thunder/Effect
Attribute:
Light
Level:
2
ATK:
?
DEF:
0
Card Description: The base ATK of this card is equal to the combined Levels of the face-up Monsters you control x300.
Note: "Armageddon Knight" and "The Calculator" are real cards that will be released in the United States next month in "Phantom Darkness".
0
0
0
MATHEMATICIAN (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type:
Spellcaster/Effect
Attribute:
Earth
Level:
3
ATK:
1,500
DEF:
500
Card Description: When this card is Normal Summoned, Flip-Summoned, or Special Summoned, discard the top card from your deck to the Graveyard. When this card is destroyed as a result of battle, draw one card from your deck.
Note: "Mathematician" was first used by Bastian in the "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" episode "The Duel Off (Part Two)". Creative credit goes to the creators of that episode.
0
0
0
LAPLACE, THE FIEND MATHEMATICIAN (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type:
Fiend/Effect
Attribute:
Dark
Level:
4
ATK:
1,000
DEF:
1,000
Card Description: When this card is removed from the field, your opponent takes direct damage equal to 300 times the number of cards on the field.
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BRAIN DRAGON (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type:
Dragon/Effect
Attribute:
Light
Level:
8
ATK:
2,800
DEF:
2,300
Card Description: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or set. This card can only be Special Summoned via the effect of "Battle Constants". When this card is face-up on your side of the field, draw an additional two cards during your Draw Phase. Then, select two cards from your hand and return them to the top of your deck in any order.
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DRAW PARADOX (Trap Card)
Continuous Trap
Image: Bird's eye view of a Duel Disk with the owner making a draw.
Card Description: When this card is active, neither player can draw during his/her own Draw Phase. Instead, each player draws one card during their opponent's Draw Phase.
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SCHRODINGER'S CAT (Spell Card)
Continuous Spell
Image: A cat in a white tuxedo holding a cane, balancing a top hat on its tail.
Card Description: When you draw cards outside of your Draw Phase, (except via the effect of "Schrödinger's Cat"), you may shuffle them back into your deck, and then draw cards equal to the number of cards you shuffled back into your deck.
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BATTLE CONSTANTS (Spell Card)
Normal Spell
Image: The Brain Dragon amid a maelstrom of energy.
Card Description: Remove from play one Monster, one Continuous Spell Card, and one Continuous Trap Card on your side of the field. Special Summon one "Brain Dragon" from your hand or deck.
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RELATIVITY FIELD (Spell Card)
Field Spell
Image: A black silhouette of a duelist casting a rainbow-colored shadow in the forefront.
Card Description: When a player takes battle damage or effect damage, each Monster he has face-up on the field loses Attack Points equal to the amount of Life Points he lost.
Note: The proceeding six cards were first used by Dr. Einenstein in the "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" episode "It's All Relative". Creative credit goes to the creators of that episode.
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WARP FIEND (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type:
Fiend/Effect
Attribute:
Dark
Level:
4
ATK:
2,400
DEF:
0
Card Description: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Special Summoned. If there is no "Relativity Field" face-up on the field at the time this card is Flip-Summoned, destroy this card. When this card is face-up on your side of the field, you may send "Relativity Field" on your side of the field to the Graveyard to destroy every card on the field except this card. Until the End Phase of the turn after you use this effect, you may not Normal Summon, set, or Special Summon another Monster.
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GREY MATTER (Spell Card)
Normal Spell
Image: The Brain Dragon coiled around a giant human brain.
Card Description: You may activate this card when you have a "Brain Dragon" face-up on your side of the field. Select one Monster Card from your Graveyard and add it to your hand. You may not Normal Summon, set, or Special Summon the selected Monster on the turn you use this card. When you choose to Normal Summon, set, or Special Summon the selected Monster, pay 1,000 Life Points.
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LUCKY SHAMROCK (Spell Card)
Normal Spell
Image: A shamrock, with one green leaf, one orange leaf, and one purple leaf.
Card Description: Pay 1,000 Life Points. Both players see the top three cards on your deck. If those three cards consist of one Monster Card, one Spell Card, and one Trap Card, increase your Life Points by 2,000. Either way, add the three cards to your hand.
Note: "Lucky Shamrock" first appeared in "Mandate of Heaven".
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TOON KINGDOM (Spell Card)
Continuous Spell
Image: A pop-up book with a cartoon castle in its pages, flanked by large torches.
Card Description: Remove the top five cards from your deck from play to activate this card. This card's name is treated as "Toon World" while face-up on the field. If a Toon Monster that you control is attacked, you may remove the top card on your deck from play to prevent it from being destroyed as a result of the battle.
Note: "Toon Kingdom" was first used by Pegasus in the "Yu-Gi-Oh GX" episode "Duel For Hire". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
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TOON ROLLBACK (Spell Card)
Normal Spell
Image: A film reel spilling out a roll of colorful film.
Card Description: Activate this card during your Main Phase 2 when "Toon World" is face-up on your side of the field. Your turn returns to Main Phase 1. Monsters that have already attacked this turn cannot attack again this turn, except via a card effect.
Note: "Toon Rollback" was first used by Alister (disguised as Pegasus) in the original anime episode "Deja Duel! (Part One)". Creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
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THE GLASS MENAGERIE (Spell Card)
Field Spell
Image: An ancient temple hovering in the night sky made of pure glass, surrounded by shimmering stars.
Card Description: Ritual Monsters cannot be destroyed by Spell Cards, Trap Cards, or Monster effects. If a Ritual Monster is destroyed by battle, the owner may Special Summon from his Graveyard the Monster(s) used as Tribute to summon the Ritual Monster.
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Yumi: Let's end this battle, people… In this temple, the Rod of the Ancients lies… And I'm not leaving without it!
Sam: The one who has it isn't just going to give it to you.
Chelsea: After all he's put us through, I don't want him too!
Ren: Right! He deserves to be pummeled for it!
Erik: Let's get this over with…
Anastasia: Coming up next: "Deck of the Primordial Scion; Darkest Before the Dawn".
It won't be pretty…