Puzzle in the Window
Authors Notes- Hey, here is PitW, C5. I know I've been neglecting it, but that's because I'm seriously blocked on this part. I plan to go from the duel with Panik, all the way to the Paradox Brothers and maybe to the duel with Kiba at the castle entrance. That's three matches, I think.
Panik, Bones, and the Paradox Brothers. I'll have to check that.
However, this does mean it'll be two or three chapters before Ranma and Hotaru make it back to Nerima/Juuban.
I'll also add in some NWC bashing in a side story chapter… was NWC in the canon, or did that just become fanfic slang? Anyway. Here it is.
Chapter 5
"Ok, ok, hold on. I mean, we've heard some screwy stories before, but this one has to take the cake!" exclaimed Joey, right after Ranma had finished explaining. She told them everything, how they came from another dimension, how Ranma was really male, and how Hotaru needed training.
"Yea, I mean, two girls falling into some weird vortex after wishing that you had a way to teach Hotaru here how to duel is really far out there." Said Tristan.
Well, one out of three ain't bad.
Apparently, she'd claimed that they'd been sitting at home, wishing for a way to teach Hotaru Duel Monsters, when they were swallowed by the vortex and thrown out there. Again, they had no idea where they were. Oh, and Ranma… forgot to mention that she's actually a man, but that's just an insignificant detail.
"Hey, it's what happened. So, can you help Hotaru or not?" said Ranma. Not that Hotaru was feeling left out. She was perfectly happy to let Ranma do all the talking.
Yugi paused. "Come with me" He stands up and walks off, Ranma and Hotaru following him.
Yugi scratched the back of his head nervously. "Uh... well, we're right in the middle of a competition right now, and I really need to win more star chips…" Ranma cut him off. "Let's make a deal, then. You teach Hotaru, and I'll win your star chip things for ya'. That work?"
"I don't think that's a good…"
"Please!" Hotaru watched in slight awe as Ranma whipped out one of her most fearsome moves, the dreaded puppy-eyed technique! Yugi had no defense.
"Oh, alright. Here, you're going to need this." He slipped the red glove on his right hand off and handed it to Ranma, who put it on her right hand.
"That's a duelist glove. You need ten star chips before we can enter the finals… right now we have-"His words were cut off as a shriek cut through the air. "MAI!" exclaimed Joey from behind them as the three boys (Yugi, Tristan, and Joey) and three girls (Hotaru, Tea, and Ranma) dashed through the underbrush in the direction of the scream.
Busting through the clearing, they saw a man shrouded in shadow with glowing yellow eyes on one side of a virtual duel machine. Mai Valentine was leaning over the control panel as her Harpies Ladies Sister was blasted right off the field.
"No! How could I lose?" Mai said as the podium lowered to the ground.
The man on the other side of the field laughed. "Simple, little girl. I am the best eliminator in the game! I am darkness, the night, but you can call me… PANIK!" His voice sent chills down Tristan, Joey and Tea's spine. Yugi and Hotaru ran over to Mai, and Ranma growled.
"Mai, what happened?" Yugi asked. She just leaned on him, fear evident in her voice.
"It was incredible. I never even saw it coming. He smashed me. Don't let him get you, as well!"
Panik laughed again. "Foolish girl. I will eliminate any person I face. Come, bring on my opponent… or will you let your friend be eliminated?"
By this point, Ranma's rage had reached I high peak, her aura suppressed by the bracers on her arms.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Messing with people and putting people in impossible situations. I hate scum like you. Your match has come." The voice made Panik involuntarily flinch. He figured it would have been much more welcoming if she had screamed bloody murder at him, instead of the deathly calm, yet steely voice she had used.
"I agree with her! Lets Due-"He stopped when he remembered he'd handed Ranma his glove. He turned back to her with a sheepish look on his face, scratching the back of his head. "Uh, no offense, but I think this guy may be a little out of your league. Could I…?" He trailed off and held out his hand.
"No way, man. A deal is a deal. You teach Hotaru, and I duel."
"WHAT?!" Ranma and Yugi winced at the pitch of the screams from Tea, Joey and Tristan. "Uh, did we not tell you guys?" All three shake their head slowly.
"Oops. Well, we'll explain later. I guess I can't go back on my word. You're up, Ranma." Ranma stepped onto the podium, and it slowly started to rise.
"So, four star chips, then?" Ranma asked. (AN- I have no idea how many star chips he had at this point.)
"Foolish girl. I'm not betting with your STAR CHIPS! THIS DUEL IS FOR YOUR LIFE!" Panik said as he hit a red button on the console. Suddenly, the sides of the duel arena opened up, and flame jets shot out of the little cannon-like weapons.
Focusing just a small amount of power, Ranma created a barrier against the fire, resulting in it burning the console around her, but not her itself. She was vaguely aware of someone, probably Tea, yelling 'RANMA!' behind her, but as the fire died down, Panik's maniacal laughter stopped as he realized she was unharmed.
"H-h-how?" Panik stuttered. "Fire cannot harm me. I suggest you don't try that again." To illustrate her point, she shot a weak black and purple sphere of pure Ki, instead of the emotional and incredibly dangerous Chi she was so accustomed to using. She figured that her Chaos magic had something to do with the color.
Panik paled as the orb missed his head by mere inches. "Next time, I won't miss," was all she said about that.
"Now, I'll even let you pick the deck. So, is it my weakest, my medium level, or my strongest?" Ranma asked.
"FOOL! I am going to be your strongest opponent EVER! I chose your strongest deck, but even that won't help you!" Panik said, inflating his ego while annoying Ranma at the same time. An anime vein appeared on the side of her forehead.
She reached past the two boxes on her belt and into her back pocket, pulling out a deck that should have never fit into the small pocket on her tight jeans, not that anyone noticed.
If anyone was wondering, the shadow magic gave her the ability to temporarily lock her curse, meaning that she had no chance of accidentally changing back to male while there. It didn't work in reverse, for some reason.
It was easily eighty cards thick, a fact that would have made Panik raise his eyebrows, but that wouldn't be scary.
"RANMA! ISN'T THAT THE CUSTOM CARD DECK?!" Yelled our favorite Senshi of Saturn. Tristan turned to Yugi and muttered, "custom cards?", causing Yugi to just shrug. "THE UNTESTED CUSTOM CARDS? THE CARDS YOU'VE NEVER EVEN SEEN BEFORE?!"
"YEA, HOTARU. THEY ARE. NOW, WATCH THE MASTER!" Ranma yelled back, causing Panik to laugh.
"YOU, A MASTER? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" Panik then returned to laughing, causing Ranma to sweatdrop.
"Are you through, yet?" Ranma asked.
"THAT EAGER TO LOSE, HUH? FINE!"
"LET'S DUEL!" They both shouted at the same time.
Panik: 4000
Ranma: 4000
Ranma and Panik both drew their cards. Ranma gave hers a look over. 'wow, when he said 'custom', he wasn't kidding. I've never heard of any of these.' She thought. "I'll go first! I play one card face down, and then play the CASTLE OF DARK ILLUSIONS (L4/920/1930!" Panik exclaimed as a large, yellow, floating castle materialized on the field.
Back behind them, Mai exclaimed, "That's the card he used to defeat me! RANMA, BE CAREFUL!" If Ranma heard, she didn't show it. Panik's voice started to sound from everywhere as a black smoke covered the entire area.
"MUHAHAHA! THE CASTLE OF DARK ILLUSIONS COVERS MY ENTIRE FIELD IN SHADOW, OBSCURING MY MONSTERS FROM VIEW. BE CAREFUL, LITTLE GIRL. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT LURKS IN THE DARK!"
Ranma just yawned. "You through? Good. That means it's my turn." She drew a card. "I place one card face down, and play LENNE, SONGSTRESS OF ZANARKAND (L4/1500/1900), in defense mode." Suddenly, a young girl, no older than eighteen or so, appeared on the field. She was about five six, with a blue shirt and skirt on. A microphone was in her hands, and almost any male would describe her as simply 'beautiful'. She sunk down to one knee, crossed her arms in front of her face, and assumed the defensive position.
(AN- if you can't image her, look up either LENNE or YUNA on google images. They look almost identical.)
Suddenly, a two cards slightly jutted out of Ranma's deck, as if needing to be drawn. She took them and looked, then grinned.
"Thanks to Lenne's special ability, I can play these two cards, GARMENT GRID andSONGSTRESS DRESSPHERE!"
A large stone tablet appeared in the air behind Ranma. It had several intricate runes carved into the edges, and in the center as a sixteen-sided figure made of empty nodes, each connected to each other by a black line. Suddenly, the top node flashed, and a purple ball with a light blue music note appeared on it.
"It's your move." She said shortly.
Back on the ground
"Lenne? Garment Grid? Songstress Dressphere? What the Hell? Yugi, Joey, you ever heard of those cards? I know I haven't" Said Tea. The two just shake their heads silently. Hotaru is silently taking notes.
Panik just laughed. "You've cheated! You cannot play two magic cards on the same spot!" He continued to laugh maniacally.
Ranma just snorted. "Not these cards. All Dresspheres must be played on the GARMENT GRID card."
Panik growled. "Don't think it will help you, little girl!" Ranma heard a card being played, and the flash of light from the other edge of the arena signified that her ears weren't lying.
"GO MY MONSTER OF DARKNESS! ATTACK LENNE WITH YOUR CLAWS!" Shouted Panik. Suddenly, huge, evil looking brown claws with dark brown fur shot out of the darkness. Ranma barely got a chance to check it's stats.
It was 2000/1530.
The claw grabbed Lenne around her waist and yanked her into the darkness as she screamed, before an explosion of pixels showed her destruction.
Ranma grimaced. "Ouch, that had to hurt." She drew another card. The smirk on her face had chills running down Panik's spine. Not that anyone could see it through the fog.
"First, I play the field spell card 'FARPLANE'" stated Ranma. Suddenly, the field changed into a strange array of platforms that looked like they were made of sickly green flowers with some brown and a small hint of pink in it. There was a small waterfall off to the side, and what looked like fireflies were flying around the entire area.
"Next, I playSHUYIN, BLITZ STAR OF ZANARKAND, (L5/ 1900/1500) in attack mode." A young man with brown hair and a yellow shirt with black shorts appeared on the field. He was about an inch shorter than Lenne had been, and there was a large sword in his left hand.
(AN- Search SHUYIN or TIDUS. Same guy, basically.)
"It's your move." She stated coldly, glaring at him the whole way long. Panik just laughed. "YOU MADE A ROOKIE MISTAKE, GIRL, BY LEAVING YOUR CARD IN ATTACK MODE! GO, MY BEAST, HAVE THE DARKNESS CONSUME HIM!" Panik said in his semi-creepy voice. Oh, but before that, he played a card.
The arms from last round shot out of the fog, reaching for Shuyin. When they reached him, however, something weird happened. Instead of grabbing Shuyin and drawing him into the darkness, the hand suddenly wrenched back into the darkness, as if the touch had burned him. Panik looked down to see his life points had dropped.
Panik: 3900
Ranma: 4000
"IMPOSSIBLE! MYKING OF YAMIMAKAI HAS 100 MORE ATTACK POINTS THAN YOURS! YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN THE ONE TO LOSE 100 LIFE POINTS, NOT ME!" Panik screamed.
"That would have happened, but you forgot Shuyin's special effect." Smirked Ranma. "Shuyin cannot be destroyed by monster attacks if Lenne is in play. The difference between his attack and your attack is deducted from your life points!" said Ranma.
"BUT LENNE ISN'T ON THE FIELD! I DESTROYED HER LAST TURN!"
"Oh, isn't she?" Asked Ranma. Then, she pointed a single finger in the open space on the right side of the field. There, was the ghostly form of Lenne.
Panik's eyes widened in fright. This was NOT in the standard game plan. "W-WH-WH-WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS?!"
Ranma smirked. "Scared, Panik? That's the beauty of the Farplain. Any and all creatures in my grave yard are considered 'In-Play', and that includes LENNE!"
"NO!" he frantically looked through his cards until he spotted one he over-looked. He laughed, maniacally. "MUHAHAHAHA! I PLAY MY CHAOS SHIELD!" Ranma recoiled only slightly, before saying slowly, "Chaos Shield? Increase the defense points of all the monsters on your side of the field by 300… that shouldn't be…too much trouble."
Panik, most of his confidence back, started laughing again. "YOU'RE THINKING TO SMALL, LITTLE GIRL! BY COMBINING THE CHAOS SHIELD WITH MY CASTLE OF DARK ILLUSIONS, I CAN CREATE AN IMPENETRABLE CHAOS SHIELD ON MY SIDE OF THE FIELD!" Suddenly, a yellow barrier sprung up out of the shadows, circling the Castle of Dark Illusions. Ranma, while slightly worrying on the inside, was cool, calm, and collected on the outside.
She drew a card. Then smirked. "Panik, this duel ends now. This has been fun… I guess, but I really must be going. And this card will be the end of you." She pulled one of the cards out of her hand.
Back on the Ground
"One card to finish this match? Is there really such a card that's THAT powerful?" Joey asked in a low tone, which Hotaru barely caught.
"Knowing Ranma, there is, and she's holding it," said Hotaru, who knew from the small amount of time she'd spent with Ranma that she NEVER bluffs.
All six (Mai included) turned back to the action.
Ranma played the card down. "I activate the magic card 'YRP SUMMONED AND IN POSITION'! To play this, I need to sacrifice a card on the field…" Shuyin disappeared off the field in an explosion of colorful fireflies, and reappeared by Lenne. "…and pay 500 life points…"
Panik: 3900
Ranma: 3500
"…and I can summon YRP to the field!" Three cards shot out of her deck, which she drew and placed on the field. Suddenly, three girls, one who looked a lot like Lenne, appeared on the field.
(AN- The author wants to finish this fast, so if you DON'T know what Yuna, Rikku, and/or Paine looks like in gunner, thief, and warrior, in that order, btw, look it up. I can't be bothered to describe it.)
They were YRP MEMBER: YUNA (L6/1800/1700), YRP MEMBER: RIKKU (L6/1600/1900), andYRP MEMBER: PAINE (L6/2000/1500). Of course, this caused three more cards to poke their heads out of the deck, which she promptly played. Suddenly, the grid behind her had three more spheres fill in, a blue one with a gun in it, a red one with a sword, and a yellow one with a chest in it. GUNNER, WARRIOR, and THIEF, in that order.
"First, I use Rikku's special ability, True Sight!" Suddenly, the black mist started to clear. Ranma realized that CASTLE OF DARK ILLUSIONSwas suspended above a DARK CHIMERA and a KING OF YAMIMAKAI. Perfect.
"Next, I use Yuna's special ability, Trigger Happy!" Yuna raised both her guns in front of her, her arms crossed just above the elbow. Suddenly, she fired off ten shots at the Castle of Dark Illusions. "Trigger Happy causes Yuna to fire off a number of bullets equal to the cards in both our hands (AN- that should be four for Ranma and six for Panik…), each bullet doing between 100-500 damage," said Ranma as the ten bullets lodged themselves in the Castle's Flotation Ring, which cracked slightly.
"BWAHAHAHA! WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT? I'M STILL STANDING. THE ONLY THING THAT MANAGED TO DO WAS SLIGHTLY DAMAGE THE FLOTATION RING!"
Ranma smirked her perfected 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' smirk she'd picked up from Nabiki. "True, but… If I attack with Paine, the flotation ring…WILL FALL! And you've trapped all your creatures behind your Chaos Shield. There will be no escape. PAINE! HIT THE FLOTATION RING WITH 'POWER BREAK'!"
Paine ran forward before using an insane 720 degree three flip back hand-spring ending in a reverse Aerial (360 degree turn with a flip at the same time) causing her blade, which was glowing red, to crash straight through the flotation ring, destroying it. Suddenly, the castle slowly started to sink, and as it landed, it smashed both the DARK CHIMERA and the KING OF YAMIMAKAI, causing both of their attack points to be deducted from Panik's life points, as well as the difference of Paine's attack points and the Castle's attack points, which is 4690 damage.
Panik: 0000
Ranma: 3500
Panik colapsed on to his console, sending his cards everywhere. "NO! I CANNOT LOSE!" screamed Panik. He suddenly glared up at the still smirking Ranma. "How is it that you destroyed only the flotation ring and not the entire castle?" He asked.
"Simple. Power-break can cut through one shield to hit an opponent. Normally, this would have sliced right through the ring and destroyed the Castle, but it had to pierce the chaos shield first. Therefor, the flotation ring took all the damage." Panik growled, realizing it was his own card that had cost him his match.
"I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE YOUR CHIPS, BUT I CAN STILL TAKE YOUR LIFE!" He yelled, forgetting the incident with the black and purple Ki ball.
More flame jets appeared on the side of ho lo-field, and all opened fire on Ranma. Sighing, she shattered the cuffs around her feet that Panik put on at the beginning and made a flat disk of Ki floating above her right and left hands, which were palm up above her head.
Suddenly, she pulled back, and threw the disks side-arm style. They each sliced through the flamed cannons before embedding themselves on each side of Panik. She spoke in a voice so icy, it sounded like hell had frozen over.
"That's the second time you've tried to kill me. I don't take too kindly to that." She stretched one arm out in front of her, fingers extended outward, like in a grasping motion. Suddenly, the disks melted into energy, which swirled around Panik, before constricting him, covering his entire body except for his head.
"Now, I'm going to make sure you never try that again." She closed her hand into a fist, and the darkness covered Panik's head, before constricting in on itself until Panik disappeared. As the pedestal lowered, one of the cards on the ground glowed before flying into ranma's hand. She looked at it and smirked, before discretely slipping it into a pocket.
The others ran up to her. "Ranma, that was amazing! I've never seen anyone who's dueled like that before!" said Mai. "Ey, Ran? Where'd Panik get to?" said Joey. They'd been obscured by another set of fire jets Ranma left undamaged as to avoid unwanted questions.
Ranma sweat dropped. "First off…Ran?" Joey shrugged, looking sheepish. "Eh, better than some others. Secondly, Panik… uh… jumped off the platform and ran off, leaving the four chips behind." Ranma said, looking slightly nervous, something only Hotaru caught up on. Everyone else just shrugged. "Works for me." Said Tea. Ranma handed back Mai's star chips, who ran off, leaving a note that said 'I owe you star chips'.
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Later that night, Hotaru got Ranma to follow her into the woods. They walked for about thirty yards before Hotaru stopped and leaned against a tree. Ranma followed suit.
"Ok, spill. I know that Panik didn't just 'jump' from the platform. Where is he?" She asked, glaring slightly at Ranma, just to make her point. Ranma sighed. "I sent him to the Shadow Realm. Someone who's willing to kill like that, indiscriminately, can't be allowed to continue existing. If you're ever in a shadow duel, and you win, you're allowed to banish your opponent to the shadow realm. If you have a Millennium Item, you can do it after any duel."
Hotaru frowned. "I don't like it, but I have to say, you're right. Someone like Panik can't be allowed to continue killing people for cash. Also, I hate to ask, but…" Ranma cut her off.
"I think I know. You want a Millennium Item as well, don't you?" Hotaru just nodded. Ranma wasn't sure if she should. She'd only known Hotaru for three days, for crying out loud. But… something in her mind just screamed that Hotaru could be trusted to Ranma. And for Ranma, that sense had never been wrong before.
Slowly, she reached up and diffused the Millennium Tauk from the Puzzle, and took it off her neck, before tossing it to Hotaru. "This is the Millennium Tauk, seer of the future. I've used it, but it isn't right for me. The Tauk chooses it's user, and I know it wasn't me. Maybe it's you." She shrugged as Hotaru put the necklace on.
"Only time will tell. However, I need to get to sleep. My training starts tomorrow." Hotaru walked past, but suddenly stopped right by Ranma and leaned in close, whispering, "you know, I never did thank you for saving me or letting me come on your adventure, or anything else you'd done. So, thank you" she then gave Ranma a quick kiss on the cheek before walking off, leaving the boy-turned-girl leaning against the tree, blushing like crazy, trying to get her brain restarted and figure out what just happened.
CHAPTER END!