"This isn't just a game. Your life is on the line. Well, not really. But that would be cool, huh?" - (11 Parts)

[Pseudosneeze]

These fics are awesome.

[Blah!?]

Once again, it's great, but I have one question for the author:

[Overdemanding]WHERE'STHENEXTPART?!?!?!?!?[/Overdemanding]

(I'm just overhyped about this thing since it was such an awesome fic! If I'm being too much of an ass, I'll shut up)

[Pilgrim]

Once again, it's great, but I have one question for the author:

[Overdemanding]WHERE'STHENEXTPART?!?!?!?!?[/Overdemanding]

(I'm just overhyped about this thing since it was such an awesome fic! If I'm being too much of an ass, I'll shut up)

Not at all, I consider it a compliment. It won't make me post them any faster, though

[Pilgrim]

And now for something completely different.

Isis Ishtar stepped up to the field, her waist-long hair blowing in the wind. She shivered, being a native to Egypt and not used to cold temperatures. She stared across the field with her bird-like eyes, studying her opponent. Weevil Underwood. The Insect card-specialist had changed a lot since he last dueled competitively. He’d ditched his long green coat for a slightly less ridiculous-looking yellow jacket, and his yellow horn-rimmed glass had been traded for a pince-nez. Most notable, however, was his decision to dye his hair blonde. Against Isis’ simple cotton tunic, Weevil may has well have been wearing Christmas lights. And here I thought I’d never be surprised by a foreigner’s fashion again after I saw Yugi’s hair. Oh well, it is of no consequence. If my dream told the truth, I must win this duel, no matter what. Isis thought to herself.

“I’ll give you this much, lady, you’ve got guts challenging me on my own turf. No brains, but definitely guts.” Weevil jeered.

“I prefer to call it “heart”, actually.” Isis replied.

Weevil laughed. “Well, then, you’ve got a lot of heart. Tell you what, you can go ahead and go first. My victory’s guaranteed, so it won’t matter who takes the first turn.”

“You’d be surprised at how a little thing like that can change the course of destiny, Weevil. HERRRESCHHHH!”

Isis doubled over, caught by surprise at her own sneeze. As she brought her hand to her nose, she felt a tickle build in the back of her nose, for no discernable reason.

“HA-SHHH! HAK-SHHHH AH-SHHH!”

“Bless you. Are you allergic to something?”

“Not that I know of.” Isis sniffled. “But I guess it’s possible. I come from Egypt, where there isn’t a whole lot to be allergic to, so I guess some plant could be making meeeeEEECCHHHH! Um, sneeze. Anyways, I play Kelbek in defense mode and set a card face-down. That ends my turn.”

“Alright. I summon Insect Knight to the field. Because of the Bog field we’re playing on, he gets a 30% power boost. Not that he needs it to take out your pitiful monster. Attack, Insect Knight!”

As soon as Isis’s monster was destroyed, Weevil’s monster was thrown back into his hand.

“Any monster that attacks Kelbek is returned to their owners hand after the battle. That means you’re wide open for an attack. I summon Hoshingen, the Shining Star, to the field. He gives a 30% power boost to all my Light monsters, so that’ll put us back on an even playing ground.”

As Isis ended her turn, a strong evening breeze blew across the field, sending shivers up and down Isis’ lightly clothed back.

“Ehhhhhh-SHHHH! Eh, hehhhh, eh-CHHH! HA-SCHHHH!”

“Bless you. Say, if your from Egypt, you’re used to a hotter climate, right? Maybe you’re just catching a cold.”

Isis put one hand on her forehead and one under her lightly running nose “I don’t feel sick, but maybe you’re right.”

“Hmph, doesn’t matter. Unless you think a case of the sniffles can change destiny? Don’t answer that. I re-summon Insect Knight, and send him to destroy your star.”

“I protect him with Waboku!”

“Figures. Go, then.”

“Alright, I summon Agido, and increase his attack for this turn with Rush Recklessly! Now I’ll have him destroy your monster and deal 300 points of damage to you, heeehhhhh-CHHHHH!”

“Time to turn this duel around. I summon Girochin Kuwagata, the tiny but deadly cockroach. And then I’ll attack Hoshingen and take away 1200 of your life points!”

“I’ll counter-attack with Royal Knight, who I’ll power up with Elf’s Light and the Cestus of Dalga! The Cestus will increase my life points by the same amount of damage I deal to you with the equipped monster, and Royal knight increases my life points by an amount equal to the defense of a monster it destroys. That brings my life back up by 1090 points! It seems I have taken the lead, heh heh…Heh-Shhhh!”

“Pssssh. You’re not the only one who can gain life points. I summon the Skull-Marked Ladybug, and sacrifice it to my Spell card, Insect Imitation! Destroying it increases my life points by 500, and my Spell allows me to summon another Insect monster 1 lever higher from my deck. So say hello to my Millennium Scorpion, and it’s 2000 attack points! Plus, it gains another 500 attack points for each monster it destroys. Now I’ll send it to destroy your Royal Knight! After that, I’ll end my turn by setting a card face-down.”

Isis stalled the beginning of her turn to rub at her nose, turning it a slight pink. Weevil looked sideways, then tossed his jacket across the field, letting the wind carry it within her reach. Isis accepted the jacket hesitantly, though gratefully.

“Thanks. Hak-CCHHHH! Shhhh Shhh Eh-SHHHH! Ugh, I hope this doesn’t mean you think I’m going to go easy on you.”

“What are you talking about? Last time I checked, I was winning!”

“Nod for log, dough. HEEEEK-CCHHHHHH! I summon Vanity’s Ruler, and switch Agido to defense mode. Then I set a card face-down to end my turn, too.”

“I play the continuous Spell card, Insect Barrier! And I’ll tribute it and my Trap card to special summon the Anteatereatingant!”

“The Ant-eating-anteater?”

“No! The Ant-eater-eating-ant!”

“Anteater-eating-ant?”

“Yes, Anteatereatingant.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Who comes up with these nonsense cards?”

“Supposedly, they’re all based off of ancient Egyptian monsters, even though the majority are quite blatantly from either popular culture or Japanese mythology. And some are just Konami screwing with people…Speaking of which, what the hell just happened to my Anteatereatingeater?!?”

“You mean your Aneatereatingant? Well, Vanity’s ruler makes all Special Summons you perform illegal, so it got sent to the Graveyard.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter too much. I attack Vanity’s Ruler with Millennium Scorpion!”

“I activate Switch, which sends your attack to my Agido monster instead!”

“Whatever. My Scorpion still gets rid of it, which gives it another power boost. And with the field boost it gets anyways, it’s up to 3600, now.”

“Ah, but you forget. When A-Kcheew! Agido is destroyed in battle, it randomly revives one Fairy monster from my Graveyard. Now my Hoshiningen is back! Ahhh-CHHH! Heh-CHHHH SHHHH! Hek-Chhh! Chhh! Ehshhh! AHK-SHHHH!” Isis began sneezing ferociously again as another breeze blew. “Oh, excuse me, AH-CHHH! Heh-CHHHH! EH-CHHH CHHHH! It just tickled all of a sudden…EEEEH-SHHHH!!! Ah, that’s better. Now, I equip Vanity’s Ruler with the Horn of the Unicorn, which gives it enough power to take down your Scorpion!”

As the robed fop incinerated the oversized scorpion with a blast of white light, Weevil shook his head.

“Hang on, I’ve still got one last trick up my sleeve. I summon Ultimate insect Level 1, and play Swords of Revealing Light! The swords will lock down your field for the next three turns, which will allow my Insect to grow into it’s Ultimate form, one level at a time, in peace!”

Isis shrugged, drew a card, and ended her turn without doing anything except rub her irritated nose.

“Giving up? Not surprising. After all, my Ultimate Insect can decrease the attack of it’s opponents, and it already has plenty of attack strength. Once the swords go down, you’re done for! I end my turn without doing anything too.”

“I’ll set one card and end the second turn.”

“He he he he, only one more to go! I end my turn, to get there faster!”

“I…ISSHHH! Mimic you.”

“Excellent! Now I’ll destroy your Ruler with Ultimate Insect Level 7! It decreases your monster’s attack by 700, giving my monster just enough points to…”

“I activate Graceful Dice, This will increase my monster’s attack strength by a number related to the number on the die. As long as I don’t get a one, I win, and the damage you’ll take will be massive. Not to mention the fact that your last trump card will be dead and buried.”

At first, Weevil looked like he might burst into rage. But he quickly changed his expression into a broad smile. “Ha ha! Well, I know when I’m beat. I won’t waste time, I surrender.”

As Weevil’s hand touched his deck, the holographic die rolled over to reveal a one.

“Wha…”

“Several nights ago, I had a dream that a young girl with great potential would come to this island and be beaten by an interloper of destiny. I also dreamed that her loss would come about because I would be unable to defeat a brilliant duelist who commanded Insect monsters, who possessed Star tokens that she would not be able to collect herself.”

“But, if that was your vision, then why were you able to trick me into losing?” Weevil asked, not angrily but curiously, as he handed her his remaining Star Chips. Isis smiled, and covered several sneezes with her folded hands.

“HAK-SHHH! Ehshhh Hehshhh SHHH! HEK-CHHHH!!! Ah, here, take your jacket.”

As she passed it to Weevil, she noticed a strong smell emanate from him. So it was his cologne, all along. she noted to herself.

“A long time ago, I was taught by a young man that no destiny is truly fixed. It was a lesson I vowed to remember well.”

Weevil laughed. “Well, I sure won’t be forgetting it either. See ya around.”

Isis bowed and walked off, still sniffling slightly.

“Sucker.” Weevil added under his breath.

Editor's note: Yeah, this one contained very few monster descriptions. If you Netreped any of them, which you should've, you'd see why. How the hell do I describe those things? They're like some sort of post-modern Egyptian-style craptasms. And all the Insect monsters are pretty self-explanatory. So that's why I didn't really do any descriptions. Saves time, which I can spend wrting the next chapter: Finally the Finals!

[Alucard]

Great story. Keep it up!

[Blah!?]

Great as usual!

A question: Is this new character going to meet up with our other ones, or will she stay separated?

[Pseudosneeze]

XD Anteater-Eating Ant? Please tell me you made that one up.

[Guest]

“I play the continuous Spell card, Insect Barrier! And I’ll tribute it and my Trap card to special summon the Anteatereatingant!”

“The Ant-eating-anteater?”

“No! The Ant-eater-eating-ant!”

“Anteater-eating-ant?”

“Yes, Anteatereatingant.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Who comes up with these nonsense cards?”

“Supposedly, they’re all based off of ancient Egyptian monsters, even though the majority are quite blatantly from either popular culture or Japanese mythology. And some are just Konami screwing with people…Speaking of which, what the hell just happened to my Anteatereatingeater?!?”

Ha- brilliant

[Frostybite]

Interesting change of pace, good work all the same.

[Pilgrim]

XD Anteater-Eating Ant? Please tell me you made that one up.

You wish, dude.

[Pilgrim]

Sorry I'm a bit late with this one, Thanksgiving stuff to do, you know. Judging from the incredible number of "M" fics on top of the board, it would seem as though I'm just in time. Here it is, we're now entering the home stretch! Exciting, isn't it? Okay, maybe not really, but it's still worth noting. Enjoy!

Just as Sora began to wake up, Annie saw Zach approaching them in the distance, walking with an oddly-dressed woman.

“Hey, Zach! Who’s your new friend?”

“Her name’s Isis, and she says that she’s got a present for Sora. Is she awake yet?”

“Yeah, I’m up…” Sora stood slowly, then sank back to the ground. “Owwwwww. Well, awake, anyways. That was quite a kick.”

Isis walked over to Sora, knelt down, and handed her the Star Chips she’d won from Weevil, along with all her own.

“What’s this for?”

“I’m not sure you would believe the full story. Let’s just say it’s your destiny to have these.”

“Oh, that reminds me, here Annie. I won you a couple more too.”

As Annie took her new Star Chips, she looked quizzically at Isis.

“Uh, could you excuse us for a little bit?”

“Certainly.” Isis walked off to inspect the cave they were resting by.

“Well gang, what do you think? Should we trust her? This seem a little out of character for the average person on this island.” Annie said in a low voice.

“Not really, if you think about it.” Sora replied, slowly trying to stand again. As she fell a second time, Zach caught her and helped her up.

“Thanks. Anyways, so far pretty much everyone on this island has been a few cards short of a deck, right? Well, obviously this Isis is a little off the wall too, handing out Star Chips for no reason. The only difference is that her particular brand of crazy is beneficial to us, instead of the rest of the loonies we’ve met who’ve been hindrances. I say we trust her.”

“Me too.” Zach chipped in. “I ran in to her on the way back here, and she didn’t stop talking about destiny and all sorts of other mystical mumbo-jumbo for one second. She’s crazy, but she’s the good kind of crazy. And who knows? Maybe it is destiny. Stranger things have happened on this island.”

“Alright, if you guys say so.” Annie shrugged. “Hey, um, Isis? Would you come over here for a minute?”

Isis walked back over to them.

“Thank you very much for the Star Chips. With these, Annie and I can get into the finals. We’d like you to accompany us, it’s all we can offer.” Sora bowed, which caused her to lose her balance. Zach and Annie both caught her.

“Very well, I would like to see how things unfold. We’d better hurry, night will come soon, and there are some unsavory characters on this island who would not think twice about laying a trap to rob us.” Isis looked around watchfully, as if she expected such an ambush at any moment. Sora and Annie eyed each other, but Zach laughed.

“Well, with the condition Sora’s in, I don’t think we’re going to be exactly speeding down the road. But don’t worry; after all, if it is her destiny to win the tournament, then we’ve got nothing to fear, eh?”

Isis smiled in return, but still looked wearily over her shoulder.

“Alright, let’s get going!” Annie yelled enthusiastically, and the group headed out for the castle. Because they had to help Sora most of the way, and stop to rest several times, they reached the gates just as the sun was setting. As they climbed the huge stone stairs leading from the front gates to the castle’s high foyer, they were slowly enshrouded in darkness. By he time they reached the top, everything was pitch black. Then, without warning, torches placed around and within the castle lit themselves in pairs, bathing the castle in light. The torches also revealed a single red-haired guard standing between them and the castle entrance.

“Halt! I am a duelist Eliminator, and all who wish to pass through this door must first defeat me in…” She paused, noticing Zach making a frantic cutting motion across his neck, which none of the other girls saw.

“Ah, but I’m too tired now. It’s been a hard day, stalling people who come up these stairs all evening. Go ahead through.” The group shrugged and decided it was best not to ask questions. As they walked down a long hallway into the foyer, they were met with applause coming from a balcony high above them.

“Welcome, welcome! At last, the two remaining finalists have arrived.” Our heroes looked up to see the Egyptian with long white hair, Marik, sitting in Pegasus’s old throne. “Ah, and I see you’ve met my sister as well! What a pleasant surprise!”

They turned to Isis, who smiled serenely.

“It’s good to see you again, brother.”

“My apologies for being away for so long. Planning a huge tournament like this is surprisingly time-consuming. Ah, but we can catch up later. There are two duelists here who are very eager to claim their prize, and they’ve insisted that at least one of them get a duel before dinner. I expect you’re up to the task?”

Annie glanced at Sora, who was still limping. “Actually…”

“Excellent! Now, the match-ups shall be determined by roulette, and the slots say that our first duel of the night shall be…”

A large screen appeared from out of the wall behind Marik, showing a picture of Sora and Alexis facing each other.

“Aha, Sora vs. Alexis! This should be good…”

“Brother, I must protest!” Isis called out. “This girl is injured and can’t be expected to straight into a duel without some rest!”

Marik shrugged. “Well, why didn’t you say so earlier? I can’t cancel the match now, but if Alexis will agree to an extended rest period…”

“No way.” The doors under the balcony swung open, and Alexis and Jaden emerged from within. Alexis had a determined look in her eyes, but Jaden seemed to be unsure about what was happening.

“I’ve been waiting too long for this. If she doesn’t want to duel, she can forfeit the match.”

“Now, babe, you know I love it when you talk tough, but maybe we could cut her just a little slack, huh?”

Alexis responded with an icy glare that silenced her boyfriend.

“Well, what’s it gonna be Sora?” Marik asked, obviously amused at the situation.

Sora wasn’t paying any attention to him, though. She was staring intently at Alexis, studying her face carefully. Alexis stared right back with a stare so cold it was almost glassy. But that wasn’t what caught Sora’s attention: Alexis was wearing extra make-up on her nose and under her eyes. Sora smiled.

“Alright, I accept. Where’s the arena?”

Marik clapped his hands together. “Excellent! Raise the arena!”

At his signal, the floor opened up and a duel arena emerged. Alexis strolled to her podium confidently, despite Jaden’s mild attempt to convince her to do otherwise. Sora stumbled up to her side, and had to use the podium for support. Nonetheless, she smiled at her opponent.

“You know, usually when people talk extra tough, it means they’re trying to hide something. Something they don’t want their opponent to know.”

“Why you…I only wish this was a Shadow game, so I that I could beat you properly!”

“Your wish, is my command.” Marik said solemnly, and then laughed hysterically as he brandished the Millennium Rod, enveloping the duelists in a familiar darkness.

“Brother, no! What are you doing?” Isis cried.

“I’m only doing what was asked of me, sister. You know how much I enjoy pleasing people. Have to make up for all that evil my dark side did back in Kaiba’s Battle City.”

“But all the trouble stemmed from these Shadow games! You know that! Brother, what is wrong with you? Have you gone mad?”

At that point, Marik stared directly into his sister’s eyes, still with a ridiculous smile on his face. “You know, it always bothered me that you never called me by my name.”

And then, for a split second, his expression flashed to something more sinister, and then became normal again. It was barely enough for Isis to notice, but it was still enough.

“No…not you….” She collapsed onto the ground, landing hard on her head.

“Isis!” Zach cried, and rushed to her. She mumbled something in his ear, then fainted.

“What’d she say?” Annie asked.

“I…couldn’t hear, it was…in Egyptian, I think. Yeah, Egyptian.” He said.

“Quickly, bring my sister to the hospital wing.” Marik yelled at several guards standing nearby in tuxedos. He seemed genuinely concerned, but his expression quickly returned to glee.

“Well, the show must go on, right? We have a semi-final duel to begin, so let’s get going, eh?”

“Alrighty, then.” Sora nodded, too weak to focus on anything besides the duel. “Alexis, why don’t you go first? I think we need to cool this place down a little, don’t you.”

Alexis flinched and rubbed at her nose.

“Uh, right. I mean, you’re gonna wish you hadn’t said that! I summon Defender Iceburg in Defense mode, and then I play...ulp, White Night’s Fort!”

The Spell card immediately froze the Spell/Trap sections of the arena over, forcing shivers to run up and down Sora’s skin. That was nothing compared to the effect it had on Alexis, however.

“HATCHEEWIE-ISHEEEW! HA-SHOOEE! Eh-SHEEW! Hah, ahh ahhhh-CHOOEEECHEEWEESHEEW! ACKT-CHEEWIE!”

"I knew it. You still aren't over the cold you caught during your duel with Mai! That's why you put on a bunch of make-up; you didn't want me to know that you can't use your Ice Queen deck to it's full potential."

Alexis tried to respond, but was prevented from saying anything coherent due to a stuck sneeze. All she managed to get out was "Hehhhh...ehhhhh...Haaaaaahhhhhhh..."

"I'll take that to mean it's my turn now. I summon D.D Warrior Lady and I'll have her kamikaze rush your Iceberg. I'll lose 850 life points, but thanks to my Warrior Lady's effect, you'll lose your Iceberg as she takes it into the Different Dimension! Then I'll set one card face-down and end my turn."

Alexis blew her nose repeatedly into a pure white handkerchief an took several stuffy breaths, before beginning her turn.

"Dode thingk that just because I'b sick I'b goig to go dowd easy. I summod Blade Skater oo the field, ad play Mistobody, which will preved id frob beig destroyed id battle. Your turn."

"You think you're sick now? Just wait. I activate my Trap card, Ultimate Offering! At the low cost of 500 life points, I can perform an extra Summon during my turn. At in order to cover the payment, I activate Blessed Rain, which will give us both an extra 1000 life points!"

The magical rain poured down on the two duelists, increasing their life points while lowering their immunity. Alexis shivered in the cold not unlike a wet dog. She clutched her handkerchief to her nose and sneezed forcefully into it.

“HeeeeeESHOOOEE! Eh-CHEEW Heh-CHEEW Ah-Ahh-CHEEW! Eh-SHEEWSHEEWIE! HA-CHEEW! Ehhhhhh…hehhhhhh…EHHH-CHEEWIE EH-SHOOEE HAH-CHOOOOEEE!!!”

The equally wet Sora responded with a sneezing attack of her own.

"ISHOO! ITCHOO! Hahh, ahhh, AH-CHOOOO!!! Heeerggghh, HEH-TCHOO ITCHOO ISHUH IESHOOO!!! I, Itchmp, I guess I may have overdone i-ITCHUH! It a little."

"Don't worry too much, Sora! You’ve still got this duel under control! Just keep using her own deck against her!” Annie encouraged her friend. Zach, meanwhile, eyed Marik, who was watching the duel with an estranged intensity. In fact, he seemed to be almost salivating. Zach shuddered and turned his attention back to the duel.

“Now, I’ll summon Dream Sprite, Zombyra the Dark, and Maryokutai, for the total cost of 1000 life points. Then I’ll set one card face-down and end my turn. Ohhhh…”

As Sora ended her turn, her knees (which had gone from quivering as they were at the start of the duel to intense shaking at this point) gave out from under her, and she fell to the icy ground. Annie moved to help her fallen friend, but Zach stopped her.

“Don’t, you’ll get her disqualified! She has to do this on her own.”

Annie nodded and bit her lip, as Alexis proceeded with her turn., her own knees knocking together in the cold a fair amount too.

“I summod Etoile Cyber, ad fuse id with by Blade Skater to creade by signature modster: Cyber Blader! It has to waid ode turn to attack, bud sidce oo hab three modsters od the field, it gets ode of it’s bost powerful abilities: it cad negate the effect ob ady card you play! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Alexis laughed heartily, even as she returned her snow-white handkerchief to wipe furiously at her nose, which had begun to run life a leaky faucet. Sora smiled as she pulled herself up, though her expression was strained with fatigue.

“Hmph, I’m more worried about losing because of exhaustion then because of any of your monsters. I guess I just have to finish this up quickly, huh? *Sniff* First, I’ll negate your monster’s effect by summoning a fourth monster, Dark Witch! And that’s all…Eh, I might as well make sure you suffer through this as much as I do. I activate the Spell card, Held In One’s Hand. This forces you to activate a Spell card I name, it you’re holding it in you hand. And from the way you’ve been anxiously glancing at that second card on the left, I’d say it’s a safe bet to name Subzero!”

Alexis dropped the card in surprise and fury, as it activated and lowered the temperature to an even more uncomfortable level than before. Sora doubled over and began coughing, while waving Alexis to move on and take her turn. Which she couldn’t do immediately, because she was overcome with a sneezing fit, which she directed into her handkerchief.

“ECHMPPH! CHMPPH Heh-CHMPPHH CHMMMPPHH-CHOOEE! Eh-CHMPPH Eh-CHEEWIE! CHMPPH! ECHMPHH! HEH-CHMMPHH!!!”

“Brrrr, at this rate, we’re all going to be popsicles before this duel ends.” Annie shivered, looking helplessly on at her sick friend.

“Oh, I think we’ll have the privilege of catching pneumonia before we freeze over, Annie.” Zach responded. “But we have to stay strong, I mean, we’re just getting backlash from their duel. Sora’s right in the thick of all this, and she wasn’t doing too hot to begin with.”

“Please, don’t say hot.” Annie shivered.

“Alright, S-S-Sora, I’ll ged oo for th-th-this. After discarding a c-c-c-c-card frob by h-h-h-h-h-ad, I summod Illusion Ice Statue! It has the ability to m-m-m-m-mibic ode of by other m-m-m-modsters, in this c-c-c-ase, by Cyber Blader! Now, I’ll attack your Dreamsprite with by new modster!”

As the living ice sculpture of the ice skater charged the tiny, shivering blue fairy, it let out three small, high-pitched “Hip-Chu!”s and pointed at the Dark Witch, which was promptly destroyed.

“Heh-Chmphh! Chmphh! Ehchmmphh!” Alexis sneezed several more times into her handkerchief, which by this time was a soaking rag, and grinned evilly at Sora.

“I knew y-y-y-y-your Dreamsprite had the ability to re-direct attacks, but dow that you’re d-d-d-dowd to three monsters, I c-c-cad negade it’s effect ad t-t-take dowd the rest ob your life poids. Go, Cyber Blader!”

“I activate my face-down Spell card, Emergency Fusion! It allows me to perform an immediate Fusion Summon, if I have the right monsters on the field at the time I activate it.”

Alexis looked at Sora’s monsters: a blue fairy, a Spawn-esque superhero, and a floating skull with a giant brain. What monster could possibly be made out of any of them?

“I fuse Zombyra and Maryokutai to create one of the most devastating monsters in the game, The Last Warrior from Another Planet!”

The two monsters disappeared into the sky, which opened up as a meteor came crashing down onto the field, emitting a brilliant light and destroying everything on Sora’s field. From the meteor emerged a terrifying looking beast: it was humanoid, with yellow skin and glowing eyes. It’s right arm was nearly three times the size of it’s left, and it’s back was covered in armor and tubes leading from it’s spine to shoulder-mounted cannons that looked quite deadly. The Cyber Blader’s attack collided with the monster, and it wiped her out with ease.

“Wh-what is th-th-th-that thig?” Alexis stammered, only partly due to cold. Sora began to explain, but was overcome with another sneezing attack.

“EEACHOO! EEAUG-CHOOO!!! TCHOO, TCHOO, TCHOO! ISHUUH!!! Hah, hah, haaaaiiiiiiISHUH ESHUH ESHUH AAIIITCHOO!”

Zach decided to do the explaining instead.

“This monster has the effect of destroying all other monsters on it’s owner’s field, in exchange for a flashy entrance, but that’s not what makes it powerful. It’s stats aren’t even that good, with only 2350 attack power. What makes it special is that after it’s been summoned, no other monsters can be summoned after it. It truly lives up to it’s name of “The Last Warrior”. And since you don’t have any other monsters left on the field, Alexis, that means you’ve got no choice but to surrender.”

“N-no, it cad’t be! How is this happedig? Ohhhh…”

And then, somewhat uncharacteristically, Alexis fainted. Jaden rushed to her side, while Marik applauded loudly.

“Wonderful! An excellent duel, well worth the cost of having my roof blown off. Spectacular effort on both duelist’s parts. Guards, take Alexis and her boyfriend to the hospital wing, they can accompany my sister. Meanwhile, we’ll take a short five-minute break, then move on to the next duel! Once again, good show everyone!”

What will Annie have to face in the next duel? Will Sora recover from the beating she took in this Shadow Game? Why is Marik acting so strangely? What’s wrong with Isis? Find out some of the answers next week!

[Pseudosneeze]

Awesome, dude.

[sneezinglover]

Ditto

[Frostybite]

Nice work so far, looking forward to seeing how the "DRAMATIC BUILDUP" plays out.

[Pilgrim]

For those of you unaware, Edo was an amazing internet denizen who in my view should be regarded as the true king of the game Yu-Gi-Oh. Long before the first cards were ever printed in english, Edo was posting their translations on his website, along with deck types and game strategies. This allowed me and my friends to buy Japanese prints of the cards from our local Ranch 99 and play the game at the same pace as the folks in Japan. While others were waiting months for the new sets to come out in English, we were using cards from them in games within days of their release on the other side of the world. And while his site did eventually die, every Yu-Gi-Oh fansite that posseses card translations references it. So, while I can't really give ol' Edo much of the recognition he deserves, I nonetheless entitle this chapter after him. Also, all cards mentioned in this particular fic will be referred to after their literal names, as Edo would've translated them.

Oh, and in case anyone's been wondering, I haven't played the game in a year, but when I did, I used a Spirit deck at first, then a modified Marik starter deck, and finally a stall deck based around penguin and ice themed cards.

As Sora limped off the arena, Zach and Annie rushed to help her.

“Wow, you two really did a number on each other. You okay?” Zach asked, unable to hide his admiration in favor of his concern.

“Of course she’s not okay! Look at her, she can’t even stand up on her own, and she’s catching cold now too! I’ll bet…yep, she’s got a fever!”

“I’ll take her to the emergency wing so she can rest, right away!” Zach propped the weary Sora up on his shoulder and started off down the hall at top speed. Meanwhile, Annie turned to Marik with burning fire in her eyes.

“Alright, Marik, get the next challenger out here! I don’t want this rage to go to waste, and since Alexis is already out of the tournament, I guess I just have to take it out on the next best thing! Now, show me the other jerk-off that just couldn’t wait for his turn to duel!”

Marik smiled slyly and narrowed his eyes. “I suppose you want it to be a Shadow Game too, then? Very well, step into the arena and meet your opponent: the infamous Curry Mask!”

Annie paused on her way to the podium. Curry Mask? That was the alter-ego of the teacher of Ra academy at the new Duel Academy in Japan. What’s he doing here…and why is he dressed like that?

[The editor would like to take this time to point out that, in reality, you would have to really, really suck at Yu-Gi-Oh to have to go to a school to learn how to play it. Though from what I saw of the one episode of Yu-Gi-Oh GX I watched, they really, really do. “OMG! He activated Winged Kuriboh’s effect to protect his life points! What strategy!” Winged Kuriboh’s effect is automatic, dumbass! There’s no strategy involved! He couldn’t stop it if he wanted to! Geez. Anyways, back to the story. Hope I didn’t ruin the drama or anything]

At that moment, Annie’s opponent made his entrance. The mysterious man might’ve been an imposing or at least cool-looking figure, with his long flowing orange cape, sunny yellow jumpsuit, and fiery-colored sash…if it weren’t for the paper bag he wore over his head. Annie was immediately on him.

“What’s the matter, couldn’t spring for an actual mask? Spend too much on the cape? You should spend your money more wisely, pal, I gotta tell ya.” Annie taunted, incensing the masked (or should I say bagged?) warrior.

“Silence! Do not mock the great Curry Mask!” shouted Curry Mask, right before tripping on his own cape and crashing into the podium. “Curses! This bag greatly hinders my peripheral vision!”

“Marik, can we get this duel started before it becomes any more of a joke than it already is?” Annie asked.

“Absolutely. Begin!”

“I shall go first.” said Curry Mask. “I begin by playing Curry Pot! This Spell card will remain on the field and will broil any cards sent to the Graveyard, removing them from the game instead. Next, I’ll summon Bean Soldier in Attack mode, and set one card face-down. That is all.”

“Indeed it is. If your deck has any more weaklings like that low-level monster, this’ll be even quicker than I thought. I summon Dunames Valkyria to attack your pitiful little sprout!”

As the purple-haired girl blasted the bean with magical shots from her huge wings, a giant wok appeared out of nowhere and scooped up the soldier out of the way of the attack, then fried it up.

“My Mystic Wok will cook my Bean Soldier and increase my life points by 1400, same as it’s attack strength. It also makes your attack a complete waste.”

“Hmph. Well, I still bet you don’t have any monsters that can compare to my Valkyria’s attack strength.”

“Too true, but I do have one that can beat it’s defense strength. I summon Onionman in defense mode, and then spice it up with Red Cinnamon! This’ll switch my monster into Attack mode, and change yours into Defense mode!”

“Well, I guess I walked right into that one.” Annie sighed, as the red dust drifted over the same-colored short dress worn by her Valkyria.

“AHH-TISHOO! HAH-TISHOO! TISHOO TISHOO!”

“I think the poor thing is asking for a tissue. Well, she won’t have any use for it once my Onionman is through with her. Attack!”

As the half-vegetable, half-man (which was the appearance of most of Curry Mask’s monsters) removed her monster from the game, Annie rubbed at her watering eyes. Some of the magical red dust had drifted her way, too, and she was fighting back a sneezing fit she knew she wouldn’t escape easily if she let it loose. Fortunately, her nose burned more than it tickled, and the urge subsided fairly quickly, though Annie’s eyes had turned a light shade of crimson. Curry mask set a card on the field and ended his turn just as Annie regained control of her senses.

“I’ll get you for that one, now that your weak Onionman is in attack mode, your wide open to an assault by one of my stronger monsters! I summon Magician’s Valkyria, which has 400 more attack points than your weak monster!”

As the Black Magician Girl look-alike blasted the living Onion to bits, Curry Mask activated his trap card, which sent brown powder flying into both the Valkyria’s face and her owners’. Annie’s nose tickled and burned with new ferocity, but she was able to stave off the urge to sneeze in exchange for reddening her nose to match her eyes. Her monster fought less valiantly.

“Ku-Chew! Ku-Chew Chew Chew KU-CHEEW!”

“My Trap card, Counter-Spice: Cumin, allows me to Special Summon one monster from my hand. Here comes another of the three ingredients I need to seal your fate: Carrotman! Then to begin my turn, I will summon the third ingredient to my ultimate recipe, Potatoman!”

“Is that all you got? Well, I’ll fricassee your monsters with my Valkyria and Valkyrie Dritte, which gets a 100 point power boost for every monster removed from the game, not that it needs it to take down your Veggie-men! The onslaught will make her attack strength 1500, and…what the?”

As Curry Mask’s monsters were cooked in the magical Curry Pot, a new monster began to emerge from it. The demon was clad in yellow armor, with white dinner plates for shoulder pads and a belt made of carrots. It had great yellow gloves and gray claws for feet, and carried a giant spoon as a weapon in one hand, and a rice-cooker in it’s other hand. But strangest of all, it wore a huge porcelain gravy server as a helmet. Despite it’s non-threatening appearance, the big screen that had originally shown the duel match-ups (and had been showing the progress of the duels it overlooked, actually broadcasting them out on T.Vs across the world) showed it’s attack power to be 2100.

“This is my ultimate monster, which can only be made properly when my three of my vegetable men are cooked in my Curry Pot. Look at the fiend that will be your end: Curry Majin Roux!”

Curry Mask laughed maniacally as Annie looked at it skeptically.

“It doesn’t seem that strong…”

“Perhaps not yet. But it gets 300 attack points for every monster removed from the game, better than your Valkyrie’s 100. And once I add a little seasoning, it’ll be strong enough to take on anything you could possible cook up: He also gets 200 attack points for every Magic Spice card I’ve used. Let’s see now: I activate Pot of Greed, to collect a few more ingredients, and then I play Combined Spice: Garam Masala! It allows me to take three Magic Spice cards from my deck and put them into my hand. Next up, I’ll use one of them to add some more flavor to this duel: Red Pepper! This card will decrease one of your monster’s attack strength by 300 and increase mine by the same amount!”

A cloud of the red spice floated over the field, sending Annie’s monsters into raucous sneezing fits. The Valkyrie’s were surprisingly daintier than those of her partner’s, considering that she was a warrior clad in teal battle armor compared to the short-skirt wearing magician.

“Hitchew! Hiii-Itchew! Itchew Hitchew! HIIIITCHEEW!”

“KU-CHEEW! Kshhh Kshhh KSHHHEEW! KU-CHEEW!! KUSHEEW!!!”

Meanwhile, their owner finally gave in to the sneezing fit that had been building almost since the duel started. Her nose, red with irritation and hot spice, burned incessantly even through the tears that were trying to put out the fire under her eyes.

“HAAT-CHOO! HAA-CHOO! TCHOO TCH-TCHOO!!! Owwww…WAA-CHOO! CHOO-CHOO-CHOO-CHOO-CHOOO!!!!! AAAHHHH-CHOO!! HATCHOO!!!”

“Don’t you know it’s bad manners to sneeze without covering your mouth, especially when there’s food around? If the duel’s getting too spicy for you, you’d better quit now, because it’s only going to get hotter from here on! I’ll activate a couple of my specialty Spell cards: Mooyan Curry and the Magic Spice: Caraway! This tasty combo will increase my life points by 400, and decrease yours by 200! My monster now has 2800 attack points, which will become 3100 once it destroys your Valkyria!”

As Majin Roux took out the sneezing, teary-eyed, Valkyria, Annie’s life points dropped to 300, in start contrast to Curry Mask’s 3400 total. Faced with these odds, Annie went on the defense, her eyes and nose still streaming to combat her burning senses.

“I-TCHOO-Summon Element Valkyrie i…ITCHOO! in Defense mode and switch Dritte into…haaaahhhh-CHOO CHOO!!! HAA-CHOO! Defense mode as well. Then I end my turn.”

“Retreating, eh? It’s bad to show your opponent you’re weakened, because then he knows to go in for the kill. I activate the Spell card, Coins from Heaven! This will allow us both to draw cards from our deck until we have six cards in our respective hands. That means I get a full reload! Hmmm…I’ll get things really cooking with another helping of Magic Spice: Caraway! Only this time, I’ll use it’s effect to add your 200 life points to my monster, instead of my life points. That brings Majin Roux’s attack up to 3500! Then I’ll summon Killer Tomato, and send my delicious dish to wipe out your defense!”

Annie rubbed at her still itching eyes and nose while her monsters were destroyed, looking thoughtfully at her hand.

“My turn then?” She said, seemingly apathetic about losing her two Valkyries.

“Go ahead. Take care, it may be your last.”

“I doubt it. TCHOO!!! I summon Valkyrie Brunhilde in Attack mode, but I don’t attack, and I set one card face down.”

“Trying to lure me into a Trap? Well, I say you’re bluffing. No way you’d be that obvious. Now, let’s add a second course to this battle. I activate the Ritual Spell: Hamburger Recipe! By sacrificing two of my monsters, I can summon a Ritual monster, which can attack this turn, and also power up my Roux. So, my Tomato and another Onionman go into the pot, and out comes the Hungry Burger! Now, my two delectable monsters, attack!”

“I activate Wa…Waaahhhhhhh-CHOOO!!! Waboku!”

“Hmph, so you blocked my attack, you’re only prolonging the inevitable. I set one card face-down and end my turn.”

“Sorry, but I’ve had my fill of your cooking. I summon Valkyrie Altest and play the Spell card, Valkyrie’s Embrace! This allows me to remove one of your monsters from the game after switching one of my Valkyries into defense mode! And I target Majin Roux!”

“I activate my Trap card, Switch, which allows me to put my Hungry Burger in place of my mighty Roux!”

“I figured you’d do something like that. Nonetheless, Altest still absorbs all your living Burger’s attack points, bringing her strength up to 3600!”

“So what? It’s still not enough to destroy Majin Roux!”

“I’m not done. I activate the Spell card, Megamorph, which double’s the equipped monster’s attack as long as it’s owners life points are lower than her opponents!”

“Gah! My Roux’s a goner! But…what of it! You still have only 100 life points left! I can crush you with any number of other cards in my deck!”

“Not if you don’t have any life points left. I activate another power-up card, Rush Recklessly! This combo brings Altest’s strength to 8100, almost twice that of Majin Roux, and just enough to take down all your life points in one attack! Go, Altest!

Curry Mask drew back aghast.

“No…it’s not possible. My most powerful monster…”

“Curry Mask…” Marik hissed, leering over the ridiculous duelist.

“F-forgive me, please! It’s not my fault, if I had had my real deck…”

“Whoa whoa whoa, hold up, your real deck? Just what are you saying? Who are you?”

Curry Mask turned to face Annie and ripped his bag apart, revealing his face.

“No way…Zachary?”

“Please, you have to believe me, I did this for a good reason…”

“Did what? What have you gotten into, Z!” Annie yelled, glancing angrily at Marik. She knew that he was supposed to be a different person now, but she remembered what he’d been accused of at Battle City, and now that she knew from Yugi that dark magic really existed, she also knew that those terrible rumors were true.

“Listen, Marik has a whole plan shaped out. One that will change the game forever. One that you’d appreciate, if you could understand it. But I couldn’t tell you or Sora, because you’re part of it. You see Marik…”

“You may as well stop right there. That’s not the real Marik!”

The doors to the insides of the castle flew open, and Isis limped forward, propped up by Sora. Her appearance had changed a great deal since she’d been taken away: her tunic was damp with sweat and her skin was paler. She was shaking with fever, and her nose and eyes looked red and abused.

“Sister…you know that’s not technically true. I am part of your brother, albeit a less savory part.” Marik said in a low growl, different from his normal, whiny preppy voice.

“Don’t call me sister, you monster!” Isis yelled back at him. “How did you come back? You were banished into the shadows, destroyed!”

“Not entirely. My spirit was able to cling to the Millennium Rod, and through a new friend I made, I was able to regain my original host.”

“Z, how could you resign to work for this evil nut case?” Sora yelled, looking a little weak herself.

“It’s not what it looks like, I swear! Let me explain: You see, Marik, like many modern duelists, myself included, wanted to revamp the game. He recognized that the new cards being produced lacked imagination or practicality, and new life needed to be added to it. So he came up with a plan: if he could throw another Duelist Kingdom tournament and win it, that would prove that his opinion on the game was paramount, as he’d obviously have to be an expert, and Pegasus would be forced to hire him on his company to work on the new cards. So he hired me and a few other duelists to make sure you two went to the finals, so that then I would be able to give him all the strategies he’d need to defeat you by analyzing your decks and dueling style.”

“But why us?”

“Truthfully? Name out of a hat. But I swear to you I had no idea about him actually being a psycho ghost from Season 2. That part he his from me. Which begs the question: what’s your real agenda?”

“Well, I honestly figured my nemesis, Yugi, would win the tournament. This whole thing was a trap for him, so I could beat him in a Shadow Game. But I guess I’ll just have to settle for you two for now.”

“Oh no you don’t. We’ve had enough of your magic.” Annie shook her head and headed for the door.

“You don’t have a choice. As a back-up, I had my agent Weevil Underwood infect my nosy sister with a particularly nasty hybrid virus. It starts as an innocent cold, then leads to loss of consciousness, fever, and finally death. If you can beat me, you can have the antidote. Of course, if you lose, I WILL FEAST ON YOUR SOULS! BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”

Sora and Annie looked at each other, then back at Marik, and slowly started to smile.

“Okay, you got a deal. But let’s make it a little more interesting…”

Find out what Annie and Sora are planning in the captivating conclusion, next week!

[Blah!?]

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GIVE ME THE NEXT PART!!!! NOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!

It was great! Too bad it'll be over soon...

Unless you've been lying to us...

[Pseudosneeze]

Great as always. Can't wait to see how it ends.

[Frostybite]

Your work has always been appreicated. I enjoyed the change of pace with different ways to make the girls sneeze and the differences between them. We are grateful for your legacy.

[Pilgrim]

Okay, this the last chapter and I know you're all dying to read it, so I'll makes this as short as I can. I just wanna give a shout-out to the following three people for the following reasons:

Blah Blah ILS: For being extremely devoted to this series (as much as the other two on this list) and for making your voice unique among everyone else's. I hope to see you rooting me on in the future!

Frostybite: Not only have you been in my corner on this series from the beggining, but your reply to my first chapter was also your first post on this board (didn't know I knew that, did ya?), and I'm honored by that.

Pseudosneeze: My No.1 fan. Not only have you posted in every one of my Yu-Gi-Oh fics, but you've posted in every fic I've ever written ever. Since the beggining of my sneezefic writing career, you've been there cheering me on. I love ya, man!

And of course, Kudos to all my loyal readers! You're all equally special to me! Just, some are a little more equally special than others (see above) Now, for the grand finale! On with the show!

“BWA HA HA HA HA HA! I can’t believe you fools! You didn’t stand a chance against me individually, and you’re just as weak together!”

Marik laughed psychotically at our two (three?) protagonists, who were standing behind duel podiums across from him. The girls just glared back at him, while Zach stepped up between the two, staring intently at his shoes.

“Okay, just so as everyone’s clear on the rules, I’m going to run through the parameters of this duel. It will be a two-on-one handicap match, with Sora and Annie on one team with 2000 life points each and Marik on the opposing team with 4000. The duel will take place under the rules of a Shadow Game, and Marik will be awarded with the souls of opponents he defeats. However, if Annie and Sora win the duel, then Marik will be again banished to the Shadow Realm, and they will be given the antidote to the disease that they’ve been infected with. Now, are you ready?” He turned to Marik, who nodded yes while licking his lips. “Are you ready?” He turned to Annie and Sora, who nodded together slowly. “Please forgive me.” Zach murmured, then louder, “Let’s get it on!”

“Idiots. My deck is built specifically to exploit each of your weaknesses, based off of information Zach gave me while he watched your duels. There’s no way you can win! I’ll begin the duel by summoning Breaker the Magical Warrior in Attack mode and setting one card face-down.”

“I’ll go next.” Sora said. “I set a card and summon Command Knight in Attack mode and power it up with Malevolent Nuzzler, then end my turn, since our team can’t attack this round.”

“That leaves me. I set a card and summon Element Valkyrie in Attack mode, who gets a 500 point boost from Sora’s Fire monster, thanks to it’s effect. That means both our monsters are stronger than your Breaker.”

Annie’s scantily armored Valkyrie lit her baton-like weapon on fire and nodded to Sora’s female Knight, who was fully clothed in scarlet battle armor. She raised her sword in response and tipped her beret, which rested on nearly waist-length orange hair.

“Not for long. I use Breaker’s effect to destroy Annie’s Trap, then I’ll use my own to destroy Malevolent Nuzzler!” Marik flipped Dust Tornado to wipe away Sora’s Spell card, and blow a good deal of dust up her nose.

“TCHUUH! ESHUH! SHUH! Ahhhhhh…HAAAAHHH-CHUUUUUUH!!”

“Now Breaker is strong enough to take down Command Knight, which will subsequently power down the Valkyrie! Go, Breaker!”

The Red-robed Dark Magician doppelganger charged the rival knight with his sword, but was prevented from completing the assault by an invisible barrier.

“I activate my Trap card, TCHUH! Negate Attack stops your monster in it’s tracks!”

“Hmm, prolonging the inevitable? Very well. I set one card and one monster face-down.”

“A flip-effect? Very well. I summon Zombyra the Dark, who gets a power bonus from my Command Knight’s ability to up the attack strength of all my Warrior monsters. And I’ll send all those attack points right at your monster!”

“Then you activate both it’s effect and my Trap, both of which you should recognize: Spore Bomb and Counter Spice: Cumin!”

The combination of nasal irritants struck Sora so hard she not only doubled over in her sneezing attack but nearly lost her balance altogether.

“EEAAACCHHOO! ACHOO! ECHUH! IITCHUUH! TCHOO! IISHHOO…ISSHOOO… ETCCHUU! HA-ISSHOO!!!”

“And now,” Marik said while eyeing Annie, “I use the effect of my Counter Spice to summon Black Cat of Ill Omen to the field.”

Annie gulped, but knew she had to remain calm and keep herself from being intimidated if she wanted to win.

“You okay, Sora?” Ashe asked to buy time, as her partner stopped sneezing.

“The sneezing stopped, but my nose feels like it’s on fire! Like there’s one last big sneeze left that really wants out! Owwww, it stings!” Sora whined, her eyes tearing slightly.

“Hang in there, we’ll get this guy soon enough. Now, I’ll summon Dark Witch in Defense mode, and use my still strong Element Valkyrie to take down your stupid cat!”

“Tsk tsk, don’t you know black cats are bad luck?” Marik snickered, “Now, thanks to it’s effect, I get to place any Trap card I want on the top of my deck. Hmmm, Windstorm of Etaqua looks like a nice choice, mua ha ha ha ha!”

Annie tapped her foot impatiently. “Just go, you freak.”

“Hmm, I wonder what I draw? I set a card face-down and Summon Tiger King Wanghu. Then I activate Last Will, which will allow me to replace my monster with another one from my deck, should it be destroyed this turn. And with that, I attack Element Valkyrie, which now has only 1700 attack power thanks to my Spore Bomb. That kamikaze will…”

“UUAAAAGGGHHHH-CHOOOOOOO!!!”

Annie and Marik turned toward Sora, who sniffed meekly.

“Um, sorry?”

“As I was saying, I Special Summon Cat’s Ear Tribe to the field, and end my turn.”

Sora drew a card from her deck and stared warily at Marik’s monster, which was actually three monsters teamed up. A small team made up of blue, tan, and white cats in military gear, standing alert like tiny soldiers.

“I end my turn.” Sora sighed.

“What are you, nuts? Why don’t you attack it?” Annie yelled at her, stunned.

“If that monster dies in battle, then he’ll activate the Windstorm, and your allergies will act up. We can wait to find another way to kill it.”

“No, we really can’t. I summon Nanobreaker in Defense mode and attack with Dark Witch!”

As the Witch charged the cats, their eyes glowed with a brilliant light, and the attacker shrunk down to their same size. The two collided with equal force and were both destroyed from the attack, as Marik activated his Trap, which blew the cat hair left by his previous monsters straight into Annie’s face.

“HASHOO! HEEEHHHHHH-CHOOO!!! ASHOO ASHOO HAAARRSHOO! ATCHOO! ETCHOO! Eh, ehhhhh, EHH-CHOO!!”

Annie pinched her nose to stifle the rest of her sneezes and waved for Marik to take his turn. Marik drew, and his eyes widened with pleasure.

“Perfect. I’ve drawn a trump card. I summon Dark Dust Spirit, and use his ability to wipe out all monsters on the field with a ferocious dust storm!”

The giant red Zombie waved his claws and a fierce wind picked up, bringing dust out of nowhere. The dust was everywhere, in their eyes, their mouths, their noses.

“HAAACK-CHOOO! HATCHOO!!! AAHHHH-SHOOO!!! AACK-SHOO!”

“TCHUH TCHUH ETCHUH!!! HEEEHHT-SHUUH!”

By the time it was over, the storm had smothered everything, destroying Sora and Annie’s monsters and leaving their field occupied only by dust, sand, and cat hair.

“Unfortunately, my monster is a bit shy, and it returns to it’s master’s hand at the end of the turn it is Summoned. Nonetheless, I think it’s ability makes it worth the trouble, don’t you?”

Sora and Annie were unable to answer, as they were now done expelling dust from their sinuses and had moved on to removing it from their throats via fierce coughing fits. Nonetheless, they continued their turns without speaking, both taking the same action: setting a monster in Defense mode and one card face-down.

“Hmm, methinks there’s a trap laying in wait for me. But odds are one of you is bluffing. Oh well, the only way to know is to try, right? I activate Mystical Space Typhoon, and destroy Sora’s Trap card.”

The cold wind and rain from Marik’s Spell made Sora shiver, perhaps a little more than she would’ve been expected to, and she began coughing again.

“That shower ought to be refreshing after the dust bath I just gave you, eh? Of course, I’m just going to bring my Spirit back now anyways, so I guess the point is moot.”

The Dark Dust Spirit once again arrived, once again summoned a wind that blew through it’s ghostly white hair, and one again cleared the field of life. But this time, both duelists had been prepared.

“Ahhhh-CHOO! I activate my Trap card, Michizure, which translates, by the way, into “Take You With Me” That means my dead monster is dragging yours straight down to the grave with it! Hah-HATCHOO! How do you like that?”

“Hmph, big deal. Now all our fields are empty.”

“I’ve got a monster that can take advantage of that. ITCHOO! Ugh, excuse me *sniff* I summon Queen’s Double, and attack your life points directly! Then I end my turn.”

“I’ll set a card face down, and end my turn too.” Annie said, shooting a concerned glance at her partner, who was starting to look a little pale. But she gave her the thumbs-up sign, so Annie instead focused on brushing more dust out of her hair and clothes. Geez, even in my underwear? she thought to herself while trying to shake loose the offensive powder. Meanwhile, Zach cheered his friends on.

“Yeah, that’s it, stick it to him! You’ve gotten rid of his trump monster, it’s all downhill from here!”

“Not quite, my former servant. You see, this deck was created specifically for the purpose of beating Annie and Sora. There’s more than one trump card within in it’s contents.” Marik explained, as he activated Pot of Greed to draw two cards from his deck.

“Ah, here’s another such one now. I summon a monster that embodies both of your weak points at once: the hybrid monster Flower Wolf!”

Annie and Sora gasped in awe at the strange monster: a giant wolf with a mane made out of a great pink flower. The monster growled at the two heroines menacingly.

“Errr, nice doggy?” Sora asked weakly.

“Go, Flower Wolf, attack her Queen’s Double!”

“I activate Waboku to defend her from your attack!” Annie flipped her Trap card just in time. However, the pollen emitted from the Wolf’s charge still made it’s way to Sora, even though no damage did.

“HEH-CHOO! ITCHUU! TSHOO!!! HE-SHUH EH-SHUH ITSSHUU!!!”

“No matter, I’ll get you next time. I set a card face-down and end my turn.”

Sora took out Serenity’s handkerchief and blew her nose, expelling all the pollen trapped within in one snotty blast.

“Now you’re gonna pay. I attack your life points directly again with Queen’s Double, bringing you down to 3300. Then I summon Dreamsprite in attack mode and end my turn…whoa.”

Sora stumbled dizzily and nearly tumbled over her podium. Annie fought the impulse to run over and grab her.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, just…just a little light-headed. I probably…blew my nose too hard, is all.” Sora replied, panting. Annie wasn’t fooled this time, though. She knew something was wrong, and not just from the way Marik was staring at Sora either. C’mon, Annie, pull yourself together. The best way to help Sora now is to finish this quickly. She thought to herself.

“I summon Valkyrie Zweite to the field, and use her effect to remove Flower Wolf from the game!”

“I activate my Trap card, Dimensional Inversion! This will bring my Wolf back into the game, same as when he left!”

“No way…How’d he know what I was going to do?”

“Must I keep repeating myself? This deck was literally made to take you two down. I set a Giant Germ on the field, and attack Dreamsprite with Flower Wolf, which I’m sure gets redirected…”

“ITCHOO! TSHOO! HETCHUU ETCHUH TCHUU!!! Hehhhh…EHH-CHOO!!!” Sora sneezed helplessly as she waved Marik’s attack on to Annie’s monster. Now both duelists were engulfed by their respective allergens.

“HAA-SHOOO HAH-SHOO HAAT-CHOO!!! AHHHH-CHOO AH-CHOO Ahh…Ahhhhhhh…AHHHHH-CHOOOOO!!!”

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha! You two are pathetic! You’re like little sneezy, snot-nosed children! This duel might as well end here! Ha ha ha, BWA HA HA HA HA!”

Sora silently began her turn by summoning Hibikime and playing Polymerization, Fusing her Queen’s Double with her new monster to create Empress Judge. She then activated a Spell card called Clear the Courtroom.

“Score!” Zach yelled enthusiastically, “That spell card, which can only be activated with a Judgeman or Empress Judge monster, will clear the field of all opposing monsters at the cost of 1000 life points! That gets rid of your Wolf and your Giant Germ, and doesn’t trigger it’s effect either! Hoo-Rah!”

Sora, still doubled over, smiled at Marik and, in a strained voice, said “Who’s laughing now?” before collapsing.

“Sora!” Annie and Zach yelled in unison.

“I was wondering what was taking so long. It looks like my virus has finally taken it’s toll on your friend there. Since she’s incapacitated, I guess that means she loses! Now her soul is mine! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Not so fast, Marik! The deal was that you would get a soul if you beat one of them in the duel! Sora didn’t lose because of you, she lost in spite of you (and just after kicking your ass, I might add!) which means you don’t get jack squat! Of course, she still won’t be able to continue the duel…”

Annie gulped. How am I going to beat this monster by myself? I’d better go on the defensive until I can think of something. “I summon Mystical Elf in Defense mode and increase it’s already high defense with Book of Secret Arts! Then I end my turn.”

“Running away?” Marik snickered, “Well, that’s fine by me. But it won’t be long before my virus gets to you, too. Here, I’ll tell you what, I won’t play any cards this turn. According to the Duelist Kingdom rules, a monster that abstained from attacking last turn is allowed to attack directly if there are no monsters on the opponent’s field. So go ahead, charge my with your Elf. You can take out a third of my life points…if you dare.”

As Marik laughed, Annie held her head in her hands. She didn’t know what to do; if Sora were there to back her up, she’d take the chance in an instant. But if he had a monster that could take on her Elf, she’d have no defense. But then, he only had one card in his hand…

“I…I summon Gemini Elf to the field and end my turn.”

“Ha ha, not a risk-taker, eh? Too bad. I draw and activate the two Spell cards in my hand: Dark Designator and Held in One’s Hand. This lets me name one card in your deck and force it into your hand, then force you to play it. I name: Ekibyo Drakmord! Now both you and your monsters will slowly succumb to the sickness! Bwa ha ha ha ha!”

“But, I don’t have that card in my…what the?”

“Ummm, sorry about that, Annie.” Zach rubbed the back of his head and stared intensely at the ground.

“Z, you little weasel…” Annie groaned as she was forced to infect her Gemini Elf with the deadly disease, as Marik had no monsters on the field. “I’ve got no choice, I end my turn.”

“Wonderful. I set Giant Germ in Defense mode and end my turn. Now we play the waiting game. Which will go down, first, I wonder: you or your monsters?”

“Well, I feel just fine.” Annie said, which was a lie. She was starting to feel some major congestion build up in her throat and nose, and she thought she felt a headache coming on too. But she wasn’t going to let Marik know that. Meanwhile, her Gemini Elf (which is actually two sister elves that fight as one, I remind you) were definitely ill. The red-head in the purple tank-top stifled three sneezes in cupped hands, while the blonde in a slightly less showy light blue wiped her running nose on her elbow-length matching gloves. The two looked at each other with helpless gazes, then sneezed suddenly and uncovered into each other’s faces simultaneously.

“HE-SHEEW!”

“EH-SHSSSH!”

“Your monsters seem a bit under the weather, however. I skip my turn, if only to destroy your elves faster.”

With that, Annie finally decided she’d had enough.

“I subbod Valkyrie Sigrud, and I attack your Giant Gerb” Annie yelled, then flushed with embarrassment and frustration at the sound of her own voice. Her elves weren’t faring much better, as the deadly virus sent the Gemini Elf to the Graveyard and was transmitted to Annie’s Mystical Elf. Instantaneously, her blue-skinned, priestly Spellcaster was overtaken by mousy, almost silent “Chew!” sneezes.

“Well, looks like you’re getting sicker after all. As you know, my Germ will replace itself with another automatically once destroyed. My turn then? Excellent. I’ll switch my new Germ into Defense mode, summon a Spore Bomb in defense mode, and end my turn. Far be it for me to stop you from destroying yourself, heh heh heh HA HA HA HA HA!”

Annie recklessly attacked the last Germ with Sigrun, reducing her life points to a mere 800. Her Mystical Elf silently fell to the sickness, which this time went for Marik’s monster.

“Hmph, then again, perhaps I’d better prevent this from getting out of hand. I use Heavy Storm to take Ekibyo Drakmord off the field, and then activate Nightmare Steel Cage. This card will prevent either of us from attacking for two turns. Time to take a little break, though I suppose you don’t have a lot of time left, before you join your friend, huh?”

Marik smiled and blew a kiss in the direction of Annie’s fallen partner, while she stared helplessly at her hand.

“I play Monster Reborn to revive my Gemini Elf, and end my turn. We need to get this over with.” She sighed, rubbing her nose absent-mindedly.

“C’mon, Annie, you can’t give up! You still have a chance! You just have to believe in the heart of the cards!”

“Oh, please, not that nonsense again. I hear enough of it when I dueled Yugi in Battle City. I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Dark Snake Syndrome! This card will take away life points from the both of use at the start of all my turns, increasing by increments of 200. That means you’ve got three turns left to live. Spend them wisely.”

Annie felt tears well up in her eyes: she couldn’t believe it, she was going to lose everything!

“I…ATCHOO! I skip my turn.”

As the new virus choked life out of both duelists, Annie felt her throat go tight and her nose fill with mucous. Her head was pounding now, and Marik’s shrill laughter wasn’t helping.

“I guess I’d better guard my field now that the Cage is gone. I activate Scapegoats, to summon four Goat tokens to my field in defense mode. There’s no way you can beat me in time now! Too bad, maybe if your partner wasn’t removed from the game, you could’ve lasted a little longer! Oh well, such is life. The end of it, that is. Any last words?”

Zach wrung his hands in distress, certain that he was about to lose both his best friends to a psychopath. But Annie had suddenly perked up. She looked at her hand, and a slow smile lighted her face.

“Removed from the game, huh? Okay, Marik, I got a few last words for you: Kiss My Slender Russian Ass!

I activate the Spell card, Rainbow Bridge: Bifrost and summon Valkyrie Dritt to the field, then play Ride of the Valkyries to Special Summon Valkyrie Altest and Valkyrie Brunhilde, who can attack this turn thanks to my card’s effect!”

(Editor’s note: now is the time to play Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”, if you have it)

“Are you ready? I attack three of your Goat tokens with Sigrun, Altest, and Brunhilde! Afterward, at the end of my Battle Phase, my Spell card wears off and returns my Specially Summoned Valkyries to my deck.”

“All that for three Goats?”

“I’m not done. Next up, I activate Mischief of the Time Goddes, which fast forwards to the Battle Phase of my next turn. Now, I destroy your next goat with Sigrun and I’ll attack you directly with Dritt!”

“You fool, Dritt has only 1000 attack points! It gets power-ups from monsters removed from play, but there aren’t any…WHAT THE HELL?!?”

Marik stepped back in horror as he saw the readout of Dritte’s attack power: 4000.

“You’ve forgotten about my friend Sora already? Tsk, tsk.” Annie chuckled. Zach jumped up and down in ecstasy.

“Alright! When Sora was removed from the game, all of her monsters were too! That’s 20 times 100, plus 20 times 500 for the effect of Rainbow Bridge! You lose, Marik!”

As Valkyrie Dritt charged at Marik, the ghosts of all Sora’s monsters looked on from atop the Rainbow Bridge, cheering her on. The warrior maiden struck Marik down with full force, and he fell to the ground as his dark half was ripped from him and dragged into the Shadows by the still charging Valkyrie.

“No, no, no! Not again! I’ll have my revenge! Mark my words, I'LL HAVE MY REVENGE!” Marik screamed as he disappeared into the shadows. Zach rushed towards Annie to congratulate her.

“You did! You did it! You won!” He hugged her strongly in joy, though Annie still seemed bothered by something.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“He has…haaaaaaahhhhh….HATCHOO!!! ATCHOO! ATSHOO! Ahhh-CHOO CHOO CHOO CHOO AHHH-TCHOOOO!!!”

“Oh! Right, the vaccine!” Zach jumped back and ran to the unconscious Marik, wiping Annie’s spray off of his own face. After patting him down, he found a vial of green liquid, and ran back to Annie with it.

“Here you go.”

“Annie sipped from it, then rushed to Sora and poured some into ther mouth while tilting her head back.

“How long to you think it’ll take to work?” Zach wondered aloud.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Sora asked, slowly rising to her feet.

“Sora, you’re alright! We were worried about you!” Zach yelled, overjoyed, while Annie silently embraced her friend for a long while.

“Good to have you back.” She said, letting her friend go finally.

“Ummm, listen, guys?” Zach began sheepishly.

“Save it, Z, we know you wouldn’t hurt us on purpose. Now c’mon , we’ve got to go get this to Isis and the others.”

As the two girls ran off, Zach called after them, “Hey, wait, you’re going to let me have some of that too, right?”

“Of course, Z. Eventually.” Sora turned and stuck her tongue at Zach playfully, but then increased speed.

“Hey, guys, that’s not funny! C’mon, seriously, I…ahhhhh…ahhhhhhhh…AH-CHOO AH-CHOO AUGGHHHH-CHOOOOO!!!”

And so they lived happily ever after. Or did they? Yes, yes they did. No encore for you :bows, exits stage left:

[Blah!?]

"A very nice!" ~ Borat

This IS one of the best fics you've ever written! I can't wait for more, be it a continuation of this or something entirely new.

Hey! I've got a great idea! Why doesn't Lancelot go? Just kidding! Maybe something along the lines of .Hack. Being an Otaku, you surely know what that is...

Whether you decide to continue this or not, or just think I'm a dick for asking for more right away, I eagerly await the next writing project you take on!

"Great success!"

[Pseudosneeze]

Well done, Otaku. Well done.

[Pilgrim]

"A very nice!" ~ Borat

This IS one of the best fics you've ever written! I can't wait for more, be it a continuation of this or something entirely new.

Hey! I've got a great idea! Why doesn't Lancelot go? Just kidding! Maybe something along the lines of .Hack. Being an Otaku, you surely know what that is...

Whether you decide to continue this or not, or just think I'm a dick for asking for more right away, I eagerly await the next writing project you take on!

"Great success!"

See, that's what I mean about your voice standing out. You put so much energy into your posts that you think you come off sounding too forward, so then you edit them and add a clarifier. Good stuff In any event, I do of course know what .hack is, and I may consider wrting a fic about it sometime in the future (it would be a great oppurtunity to unleash literary wrath on that Crimson Knight bitch, I suppose. Hate her, hate her, hate her) But I won't be writing any more fics for at least a month or so. Don't wanna get burnt out or anything. And the next thing I write will have to be the continuation of my ancient Harry Potter fic, because I promised Pseudo that I'd get that out before the seventh book, and I'm not taking the chance that Rowling will pull a fast one one me, no matter how slim it is

[Frostybite]

An enjoyable series. Yes, your fics were the first ones that drew me out and into posting. Unfortunately I am still trying to figure the rest of what I need to do to be able to PM and get onto the other boards. Good work all the way around. Your efforts are appreciated.

[Blah!?]

Frostybite: You need to reach at least newbie status to gain PM and gallery (I almost wrote "gallergy" from writing allergy so much!) access. Just keep up what you're doing now and you'll get it.

Otaku: Is the HP fic you're talking about the one where Hermione has a cold and her sneezes make her cast random spells?

[Pilgrim]

Frostybite: You need to reach at least newbie status to gain PM and gallery (I almost wrote "gallergy" from writing allergy so much!) access. Just keep up what you're doing now and you'll get it.

Otaku: Is the HP fic you're talking about the one where Hermione has a cold and her sneezes make her cast random spells?

Yup. Keep this on the down-low, but...I kinda wrote myself into a corner

I guess that's what I get for basing the plot off of a song. Oh well, I'm sure I'll think of something