Continued from last post:
It took three hot dogs to get Yumi to calm down.
“T-t-take heart, child,” said Merlee, “she’s enspelled people far stronger than y-y-you.”
“I could have killed my best friend…” she moaned.
“Yeah,” muttered Stan, “that was pretty low…”
“It’s like I s-s-said,” said Merlee. “She’ll do anything to escape. Commit any crime, or any immoral act…”
After a long pause, Stan spoke up.
“Folks,” he said, “maybe we should start listening to this guy a bit more… This is heavier than we thought. What do you think Andy?”
He looked around.
“Andy?”
Andy was a hundred feet ahead of them, looking at a sign.
“What’s the scoop, Andy?” he asked.
“Look at this, guys?” he said, pointing to the sign.
They read.
[B]WELCOME CONTESTANTS!
Great opportunity for great duelists!
Fame and fortune, and a grand prize
awaits any contestant who
can outduel the Glitz Pit’s reigning champion!
[color=orange]Register at the Pit and ask for Jolene
“What do you say guys?” said Andy. “Maybe this could be a great opportunity!”
They turned to Merlee.
“Actually, it sounds like a great opportunity,” he said. “The Glitz Pit is a great way to earn a reputation on Monster Island…”
“Well I’m not appearing in public with blue skin,” moaned Francesca. “One of you do it.”
Stan and Andy looked at each other.
They raised their fists and shook.
Andy’s stayed closed, rock. Stan’s fingers jutted open, scissors.
“Darn…” sighed Stan.
“Well,” said Andy. “Let’s go check this out!”
[B]* * * * * * * * * *
The Glitz Pit.
One hour later.
Before the tournament had started, this arena was a haven for boxing and wrestling exhibitions.
That was changed when the tournament was announced. The arena floor had been converted into a dueling ring.
The woman in charge of this large structure was in her office right now. She was a woman about thirty years old or so, with blonde hair down to her waist, who wore a red business suit. She also had a habit of wearing sunglasses, even indoors on cloudy days.
Right now she was killing time with a crossword puzzle.
Let’s see, she thought. Seven letter word for “goddess of wisdom”, starting with M…
She paused.
I’ll go back to it…
The beeper on her desk speaker beeped.
“Miss Jolene,” said a voice. “Some folks to see you. It’s about the notice you posted.”
“Really?” she responded. “Send them in.”
She put the puzzle in her desk and waited.
After a few minutes, Stan, Andy, and Yumi walked in. (Francesca insisted on waiting outside, as did Merlee for some reason.)
“Come on in,” said Jolene. “So, which one of you is interested?”
“Uhm…” stuttered Andy.
He paused, nervously.
“That would be me,” he stammered. “The name’s Andy Markova.”
“Well,” said Jolene, with a sly smile, “the Glitz Pit takes its contenders seriously. Let’s take a look at the deck…”
“Well, uhm…” said Andy, reluctantly.
“Come on,” sighed Jolene. “You won’t be dueling me, and I don’t give out favors to the one you will be.”
Andy sighed and handed her his deck.
“Interesting,” said Jolene, leafing through the cards. “Interesting… Ooh, that’s rare… never saw that one…”
She handed it back.
“Well,” she said, walking to a closet, “I think you’ll be able to put on quite a show…”
She removed a tall box from the closet.
“The match will start at four,” she said, handing it to him. “Here’s your costume.”
“Costume?” said Andy, nervously.
“Sure!” commented Jolene. “If you’re going to lose, you might as well do it in style! Anyway, my assistant will show you to the dressing room.”
Andy sighed.
“I’m gonna regret this,” he muttered under his breath.
[B]* * * * * * * * * *
As soon as the three had left, Jolene’s phone rang.
“Y’ello,” she said, answering it.
“Hello, Jolene…” said a sinister voice.
“Y-your excellence…” she stammered.
“Shut up and listen, Jolene,” ordered the voice. “I heard you had a contender for your little offer…”
“Well, the offer was your idea!” protested Jolene.
“Yes,” said the voice, “and since I’m funding your little event, there’s going to be a little change in the fight card…”
“WHAT?” shouted Jolene. “What do you mean? I can’t…”
“You’ll do as I say!” ordered the voice. “Give the champion the day off; my son is taking over.”
“But… ma’am…” she protested.
“NO BUTS!” shouted the response. “He’ll be there in an hour.”
The phone hung up.
“Curse you,” muttered Jolene.
“Fine,” she sneered, “I’ll change the fight card if you want…”
She went up to a light fixture in the wall, and twisted it.
A secret door in the wall swung open.
“But you didn’t tell me what prize I have to give away if your brat loses. And if he does, Andy is getting a special prize!”
She walked into the secret door.
[B]* * * * * * * * * *
One hour later…
Andy felt somewhat self-conscious as he looked at himself in the mirror…
…and saw himself wearing the black spandex suit with a cape and a skull-like helmet.
“Truthfully guys,” he asked, “how do I look?”
“Truthfully?” commented Stan. “Like Lord of Dragons.”
“I look ridiculous…” muttered Andy. “As much as I like Lord of Dragons, I never expected to start dressing like him…”
“I think you look cute,” giggled Francesca.
”I don’t want to look cute!” shouted Andy.
“Hey,” sighed Stan, “you have to make sacrifices for stardom.”
At that point, Merlee walked in.
“You still here?” grumbled Andy.
“Cool it guys,” snapped Francesca, “he saved Yumi.”
“Everyone m-m-mind if I speak to Andy in p-p-private?” asked Merlee.
“Sure, Merl,” said Francesca. “We’ll just go and see if we can get good seats…”
She, Stan, and Yumi left the room.
“Andy,” said Merlee, sitting down, “I h-h-have a feeling this is g-g-going to be a t-t-tough duel for you…”
“I can handle it,” replied Andy.
“Well…” muttered Merlee. “M-m-mind if I take a look at y-y-your deck first?”
“Geesh,” moaned Andy. “Why does everyone have such an interest in my cards?”
Nonetheless, he felt he could trust Merlee, so he took the deck out of his Disk tray and handed it to Merlee.
“Yes, yes, y-y-yes,” said Merlee, looking over them. “Quite a few powerful c-c-cards…”
He looked at one in particular.
“Tyrant Dragon?” he asked.
“Um, yeah,” answered Andy. “That’s my most powerful Monster… Aside from Red Eyes Darkness Dragon.”
“Indeed,” said Merlee with a frown.
He took a card out of his coat.
“Tyrant Dragon is qu-qu-quite powerful,” he agreed, “but for this particular duel, I’d s-s-suggest replacing it w-w-with this guy.”
He handed Andy a card.
Andy looked at the card and gave him a strange look.
“Well?” said Merlee.
“Uh, Merlee,” he said, “not to offend, but that’s a pretty dumb suggestion…”
“H-h-how come?” asked Merlee.
“One,” explained Andy, “this Monster isn’t as powerful as Tyrant Dragon, two, its effect isn’t as useful, and three, although it’s a Dragon, it isn’t meant to be used in Dragon Decks!”
“Those are all g-g-good points,” replied Merlee, “b-b-but I have a feeling that you’ll find more use for this one in th-th-this particular duel than Tyrant Dragon.
“Anyway, that card is p-p-pretty rare, so be sure to r-r-return it later.”
He got up and left the room.
Andy looked at the card, and he looked at Tyrant Dragon.
He’s nuts! he thought. How can this guy be better in ANY way than Tyrant Dragon?
A pit of doubt started to form deep inside him…
[B]* * * * * * * * * *
Outside the Glitz Pit, a bonfire erupted on the street! Everyone around it fled in terror!
Someone stepped out of the flames.
“Well, the Glitz Pit!” he exclaimed.
He chuckled. He took a deck of cards out of his pocket.
“I don’t want to get caught in a rant here, but right now, I feel more confident than Ruth Ginsberg about to enter an ‘ugliest woman in the U.S. Government’ contest! Watch out Andy…”
NINJA COMANDER IKUSA (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 3
ATK: 700
DEF: 700
Card Description: This stealthy fighter is a master of the Ninjitsu technique known as “multiplicity.” If this Monster is Normal Summoned in Attack Mode, you can special summon one “Ninja Soldier Katana” from your hand or deck in face up Attack Mode.
NINJA SOLDIER KATANA (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Dark
Level: 2
ATK: 400
DEF: 400
Card Description: This assassin is a longtime partner of Ninja Commander Ikusa, and is seldom far behind him.
NINJA MASTER SHOGUN (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 5
ATK: 1,600
DEF: 1,600
Card Description: It is said that no-one has ever seen this master assassin coming until it was too late. This Monster cannot be Special Summoned. This Monster can only be Tribute Summoned by first removing one “Ninja Commander Ikusa” and one “Ninja Soldier Katana” in your Graveyard from play. When this Monster is successfully Tribute Summoned, you can Special Summon up to two Monsters with the word “Ninja” in their name who have three stars or less from you hand or deck.
NINJA COMMANDO KABUKI (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type: Warrior/Effect
Attribute: Dark
Level: 3
ATK: 700
DEF: 700
Card Description: This sly assassin is believed to be second in command to the Ninja Master. When this Monster is Normal Summoned, Flip Summoned, or Special Summoned, you can Special Summon one Monster with the word “Ninja” in its name with two stars or less from your hand or deck.
KUNOICHI AYAME THE NINJA GIRL (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type: Warrior
Attribute: Dark
Level: 1
ATK: 300
DEF: 300
Card Description: The youngest of the Ninja clan, this teenage assassin’s skill is limited, but she is believed to have potential.
GREAT KITE OF NINJA (Magic Card)
Card Specs
Type: Magic/Equip
Attribute: –
Level: –
ATK: –
DEF: –
Card Description: Image of a huge, square, red and blue kite. This card can be Equipped to any Monster with the word “Ninja” in its name. A Monster Equipped with this card cannot be attacked by an opposing Monster, is immune to all Magic Cards (except this one), and is immune to Monster effects. Also, you may attack your opponent’s Life Points directly with the Equipped Monster if you offer another Monster on your side of the field as a Tribute. If the Monster Equipped with this card is the only Monster on your side of the field, your opponent may attack your Life Points directly.
Note: The above six cards were used by Jean-Claude Magnum in the anime episode “Lights, Camera, Duel!”. All creative credit goes to the writers of that episode.
MADAME FLURRIE OF THE FOG (Monster Card)
Card Specs
Type: Fairy/Effect
Attribute: Wind
Level: 5
ATK: 1,800
DEF: 1,000
Card Description: It is said that this glamorous wind spirit developed a crush on one of the Three Heroes, and decided to follow him as one of the Seven Companions. When this Monster is face up on the field, you can discard two cards to destroy all face-up opposing Monsters. If you choose to use this effect, this Monster cannot attack during the same turn. This Monster’s effect can only be used once during the duel.
[B][I]I’ll bet I caught a lot of you by surprise with Lotus/Yumi’s “intentions”. You likely thought she was just as evil as the rest of the Queen’s servants, didn’t you?
You probably want to know who the creepy girl in the cloak is. She isn’t a user character, but you’ll certainly be seeing more of her.
Anyway, next chapter, Andy duels before a capacity crowd, and his foe is as mean as they come. Don’t miss “Clash in the Coliseum”, coming soon…