Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Hamtaro Fan Fiction ❯ Return of the Duel Hams ❯ looking back, then ahead ( Epilogue )

Nightfall came to the day and the crew were at their homes. Boss and Jam put Hamtaro's body down on the couch laying down. "So how are we going to deal with his owner, she's gonna be worried like all hell?" asked Boss.

"Already got that covered." Jam answered. "Since we got back, I've made an illusion spell. Laura sees Hamtaro sleeping in his cage while the real Hamtaro lies here with us."

"How long will it last?"

"Hard to say. No matter, it'll buy us some time before she finds out about what's going on."

"I see."

"So where's everyone else?"

"Hermana's in the same room she was always in and Rei's in Panda's room."

"Well, let's call it a night. We've done enough for today, so rest up."

"Right. Sleep well, Jam."

"You too, Boss."

Both of the hamsters went to their rooms and fell to their beds, but neither fell asleep right away. This tournament was one hell of a rollercoaster. Boss thought. I can't believe that everything I've been through during this tournament, but that spellcaster of Hiei's crew High Max was quite the piece of work. He was good, but not good enough to seal me away.

~~~~~~~~~

 

"You're good, but I've still not giving up. Now I'll sacrifice my Mystical Elf and Neo the Magic Swordsman... say hello to my Dark Magician of Chaos!" Boss newest spellcaster came to the field (2800/2600). Now my Chaos Mage, show him some real magic."

"No, my Dark Eradicator Warlock...." yelled Max. He then saw his monster destroyed <700>.

"That Warlock pails in comparison to my mage."

"Say what you will, but I fear no wizard, not even DMoC." Max draws. "Now I reveal my Call of the Haunted and bring back Double Coston (1700/1650)."

"A zombie in a deck of wizards...."

"Kaiser Seahorse for dark monsters to be exact, so now I'll sacrifice it and bring forth a monster that will put DMoC in his place."

"Really, I doubt it."

"This is a wizard that comes from the stars and now it's time for my wizard to appear to destroy you. I summon thee, my Cosmo Queen!"

"Cosmo Queen?"

Max's new monster appeared (2900/2450). "DMoC doesn't look so tough now...."

It's really her, the one mage that exceeds even the powers of the Dark Magician.

"I went through hell trying to get this monster, now I have her. My queen, show DMoC some real black magic."

 

Cosmo Queen attacked and destroyed the Dark Magician of Chaos, leaving Boss near the end of his rope <200>. Max laughed, "Summoner, you're finished." he said. "Not even the powers of Injection Fairy Lily will save you now. Make your final move."

I guess that's it. No matter, because even when the chips are down, I won't give up. Not until my life points reach zero, and I know my deck is behind me. Okay cards, show me what you got. As Boss touched the next card, he saw a mirror. That's weird, I don't understand that at all.... Wait, that's it, my ticket to winning this duel.

"Quit stalling and move, you're out of options." Max was growing impatient.

Boss smiled. "You're quite the wizard, but even you can't stop me heka." he said. "Now watch and learn, because I'm about to dethrone your queen. Say hello..." Boss drew his card, "here's the Copycat!"

"The what?"

Boss' monster appeared on the field. "The Copycat (0/0). This is the trump card of my deck, plus this card is rare."

"It's also weak."

"Copycat isn't as weak as it looks, because you're going to find out about him right now. See the mirror my mage holds? Because of this mirror, Copycat can copy the original ATK and DEF of one of my opponent's monsters. But since you only have one, there's only one to take. Copycat, reflect the power of Cosmo Queen." With a flash from the Mirror, Copycat was now a formidable monster (2900/2450). Boss continued his move, "now I'll give him the Black Pendant, bossting him up by and extra 500 points (3400 ATK)."

Max shrugged. "Fat good of luck that'll do, I'll survive this move."

"No, you won't, because I have one more spell to play. It's called Double Attack, and I'm using it in combination with Copycat.

 

"Now all I have to do is discard a monster that has a higher level than my Copycat here, but that's the beauty of this move. Why? Because Copycat is only a one-star monster."

"No way...."

"Yes. And I'll give up my Neo Aqua Madoor, who's at six stars. And with this done, Copycat can attack you twice this turn."

"No, that means..."

"But instead, Double Attack will give my make a 'Piercing Move' instead." Boss discards Neo Aqua Madoor. Copycat, attack with Magic Reflecting Mirror!" A beam of light comes from the sky and hits Copycat's mirror, then the mirror fires this beam at Cosmo Queen. "This attack will pierce through and destroy your Cosmo Queen, dealing out the 500 damage that normally happens, but this beam will continue and strike you down."

"Nooooo!"

"And just like that, you lose, sucka!"

~~~~~~~~~

 

After that duel, his Cosmo Queen wanted to join my cause and in return, I got her, and her card has an alternate art on it too. My own unique edition of Cosmo Queen. I may not have won any of these tournaments that I've entered, but I am getting my justice from them. Boss rolled over and went to sleep.

Jam was also lost in thought. After losing to Pashmina, I really had to work at getting into the finals. he thought. But as I was having my thoughts, I ran into Hiei again....

~~~~~~~~~

 

"There you are, Dragonlord." Jam turned to see Hiei.

"Hitomi has informed me about you," he said. "You are her brother Hiei. And I must admit, you have quite the deck."

"Cards are the least of your worries, prepare to feel my fury!" Hiei jumped towards Jam with sword drawn. "Ruin Ray Slash!"

Jam managed to doge this shot, but the ground got tore up from the impact. Holy.... he managed to think.

"You will not get away, Dragonlord."

"The name is Jam, use it sometime."

"Oh I'll use it, I'll use itlike this. Ruin Ray Slash!"

Another slash missed, but Jam got caught in the shockwave. Hiei pursued, preparing for another swing. Fine, be that way then.... Jam thought and withdrew the Blade of Ra, then charged Hiei.

"Ruin Ray Slash!" Hiei went in for another swing.

"Flaming Sword of Battle!" yelled Jam as he swung his blade. His swing created flames that too Hiei aback.

That.... it's not possible. Hiei thought. Buster Blader has more power then the Flame Swordsman. he began to pull back.

"Don't think you're getting away that easily." and Jam pursued.

Hiei skids, then charged Jam again. "Running, nonesense. Ruin Ray Slash!"

"Salamandra Flame Strike!" This swing of Jam's Blade created a flaming dragon that went towards Hiei."

Hiei managed to block this move, but it sent him backward while he was on his feet. "That was unexpected."

"You aren't the only one who can battle like the cards, Hiei. Now are you ready to take this to the cardst?"

"Please, I'm just getting started."

"No, you're just getting finished."

 

Hiei and Jam look over. "Pegasus!" cried Jam.

"I don't give a damn who started this, but this tournament's duels will happen with cards, not weapons." Pegasus stated. "If I catch either of you behaving like this towards any other duelists, you will be disqualified."

Hiei put his sword back. "Pegasus may have saved you this time, but our next meeting will have a different outcome. This I guarantee to you, Dragonlord." he said, then left.

~~~~~~~~~

 

Our outcome truly was different, but it was something to remember. Jam continued to think as he rolled over on his belly. You're one hell of a duelist, Hiei, I'll give you that. But you still need work on your own spirit.

Rei was laying in Panda's bed, she was restless. "I never thought that I could have a duel quite like ours." she said to herself. "You even saved me from demise that I should've been dealt. I owe you so much.... but I need to gain my thoughts and composure..."

Panda was looking at his award. "This ribbon is something." he said to himself. "And after the way I had to duel Rei, I guess it's only fitting to have an award like this one. She really did have me beat, but I still managed to hold on, even with odss like those...."

~~~~~~~~~

 

"Now I'll activate my System Down spell card." Rei said. "It costs 1000 life points to activate, a small price to pay in order to rid you of any probability you might think you have of winning this duel." <500>

Panda remove the last bit of machines in his graveyard from play. "You know Rei, you're a cold, calculated duelist." he said.

"Perhaps, but still... you now have no chances of stopping me. With my Ancient Gear Golem on the field, you're about to become obsolete."

"I still have my move to make."

"Then proceed, but it will not help you."

Panda drew his card. "Now I'll play Call of the Haunted."

"Does not compute, you have no monsters to revive. They are all removed from play."

"Not all of them, but I guess that an inorganic-organoid like yourself can't see past all the metal that you are. There's still one monster I can bring back, and I'm bringing it back now... my Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)."

"Even so, your dragon is far too inferior to my Gear Golem (3000/3000). You might as well surrender now, for your chances of victory are less than .005%"

"Maybe, but I will still win. Red-Eyes, I need you as an offering, but worry not, for you will be avanged. I sacrifice my Red-Eyes Black Dragon and summon the monster that will bring your end."

"Illogical."

"Not illogical. Say hello to the Golden Homunculus." Panda's monster appeared before him (1500/1500).

"Another inferior monster, you were better off with your dragon."

"Well let me give you the schematics of my friend here. Sure, the Golden Homunculus is only 1500 strong, but it gets 300 points for every last one of my removed monsters. And thanks to your cards, seventeen of my monsters are removed from play, which means that the power of my monster goes up by a whopping 5100 ATK and DEF points (6600/6600). More than enough power to win the duel. Golden Homunculus, shut down that Gear Golem!"

"No... This does not, does not, does-does-does-does."

"Aw, the robot's crashing, too bad."

~~~~~~~~~

 

I managed to find out that Rei is actually a real hamster, and a female to boot. I think she likes me too... no matter, at least this tournament's over with...

Dexter and Howdy were outside of the shopd enjoying the night. "This was one hell of a tournament, wouldn't you agree?" asked Dexter.

"Tch, you said it." answered Howdy. "And to think that we both made it far."

"That we did, but I made it farther than you did."

"So what, you didn't have to face the Emperor Gods like I did..."

~~~~~~~~~

 

"You may call yourself skilled with Fiend monsters, but you can't touch my Full Charge Assault, Kai." Howdy said.

"Say what you will, but I still have you beat." said Kai, then he drew. "Now I'll sacrifice my Goblin King and both of my La Jinn Genies... let's see your assault take down this monstrosity. I summon Raviel, Lord of Phantasms!" Kai's monster came down from the heavens and onto the field (4000/4000). "It's time for you to feel the wrath of an Emperor God. Raviel, attack with Claw of Darkness!"

"Activate my Mystic Wok, and I'll tribute one of my Batteryman AA monsters and gain life points."

"So you gained life, but you also weakened the one you have ready to be destroyed, fool."

Even with the life boost, Howdy took quie a nasty hit from Raviel, putting his situation critical <500>. Kai laughed, "I love to see how much your face is in fear. Fear the wrath of my Emperor God and concede defeat. Give your soul a last ounce of mercy."

"Bitch, please! I fear no monster, and I sure as hell fear no Emperor God."

"Then move, and prepare for your end."

Howdy draws. "No I'll reveal my face down card, a spell called 7." a roll of a slot machine was shown and it stopped on the number seven.

"There are no machines on the field, you shouldn't be able to play that card." said Kai.

"The card is called 7, not 7 Completed. And I'll play two more 7 cards from my hand to the field." the other spells were played. "7 may be a lucky number, but your luck is about to run out. I'll now offer up my 7s to bring out some real power." Howdy's spells faded away. "Now come forth Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!"

 

Black clouds formed in in the sky, the a bolt of lightning pierced it, hitting the field. And from this bolt came Howdy's monster (4000/4000). Kai was stunned with a worried look on his face. No wonder he doesn't fear the Emperor Gods, he weilds one. he thought.

"Since I'm down in the dumps, I'll power up Hamon with Megamorph, doubling his attack power (8000 ATK). Now Hamon, strike him down with Final Lightning!" Hamonreached back and a bolt of lightning entered his hand, then he began to bring it forward. "This one's for Snoozer!"

The impact of this blow created a loud, powerful shockwave that was sent all throughout the fun park. "Begone!" Howdy yelled.

"Noooooooooooo!" yelled Kai as his life pionts hit zero. His amulet then began to seal his soul away, then his lifeless body fell to the ground.

Howdy approached Kai's fallen frame. "Duelists like you are not worthy of the God's power. And in accordance with the ancient scriptures, since your God fell to mine, I have rights to it. I'll also take the card you stole from Snoozer and give them back to whom they belong to. Testament to how the light shall always prevail over the darkness."

~~~~~~~~~

 

"Kai was a piece of work, but I managed to get Snoozer's cards back and a little action of my own." Howdy said proudly.

"Kai sounded like a joke," boasted Dexter, "but Jin... this fool thought he could defeat me with the powers of the undead... what a shame."

~~~~~~~~~

 

Jin laughed as he destroyed Dexter's monster. "You are a fool." he said. "My Vampire Genisis brings an end to your futil attempts at saving your worthless corpse of a soul. I am the true Lord of the Undead."

"You are nothing but a dreamer." said Dexter.

"You've got it all wrong, Gata. Not even you could stop me, all that left is for you to take your turn, before I destroy you."

Dexter drew. "I play my Book of Life, whick I will use to revive my Double Coston (1700/1650) and I will remove Vampire Lord from your graveyard."

 

Jin removed Vampire Lord. "So what, you still have nothing left to stop me. No undead monster can harm me."

"No, but I have one monster that will stop you cold, and I plan to summon it. But I must first offer up my Double Coston." Dexter's monster was tributed.

Jin laughed. "Fool, not even Despair from the Dark will save you."

"I plan on bringing something that I haven't unleashed in quite some time. An old friend of mine that brings terror long before I got my other terrible cards. Now I summon Serpent Night Dragon!" after too long to recollect, Dexter's dragon was on the field (2350/2400).

"Serpent Night Dragon, how did he get a card that rare? That dragon scares no one."

"Well let me give him the Axe of Despair and 1000 more ATK points (3350 ATK), but that's not all. I will now give him the powers of another spell, Double Attack."

"Your dragon has seven stars...."

"Yes, and Despair from the Dark here has eight stars." Dexter discard the afformentioned monster. "Now you're at my mercy. Serpent Night Dragon, attack him now with Shattering Nightmare!"

Dexter's dragon destroyed Vampire Genesis, damaging Jin's life points <1250>, but the dragon wasn't done. "This isn't possible..." said Jin.

"Of course it's possible, because you lose. Now hit him again, my dragon. Shattering Nightmare!"

 

As this attack connected, Jin's life points dropped to zero, then his amulet began to seal away his soul. "You lose, so your soul is gone." said Dexter.

"Not quite." said Jin, then the effects of his amulet faded away. "Unlike some members of the Shadow Clan, I bear the gift of retracting my amulet, so it will not seal away my soul." But to Jin's shock, he saw the dueling area was sealed in a circle of light.

"Fool, I too have the ability to seal away souls, only I seal away those who are wicked." said Dexter. "Seal of the Sun, seal him away!"

"This is... Nooooo!" Jin turned into a card, where his soul was sealed. And the face of the card showed Jin, with a doomed look on his face within the seal of the sun's heka. Dexter walked up to where Jin stood and took his seals. "I am now finished and can advance to the finals of the tournament, plus you have been sent to be judged by Ma'at." said Dexter. "Though it isn't like me, I shall say a prayer for you: Those who face the judgement of the most high, who are deemed wicked by wickedness, bear the fruit of wickedness, or are of the wickedness shall be purged from the world. Mercy let you not be given, for mercy is what ye hath not given to those thous hast slain.

 

"Because of this, those thou hast slain shall bring forth your apocolypse, just as you mercilessly brought it upon them."

~~~~~~~~~

 

"Nice, but you still didn't face what I had to, so that makes me the better duelist." said Howdy.

"I lasted longer than you did, plus I destroyed the Blue-Eyes White Dragons in one shot. That makes me the better duelist." said Dexter.

"It does not."

"Does so."

"Does not."

"Does so."

"Does not."

"If you believe you're better than me, the prove it now in a duel."

"You're on, Gata."

"You better do your worst... and your best, Charge."

"Let's duel."

And these two began their match. Penelope couldn't sleep at all, she was up and wondering about the future of her dueling deck. "I hope Hamtaro will be okay..." she said to herself. Suddenly, she heard two raps and looked to the window. There was Pegasus... Penelope went over and opened the window. "How did you get here?"

"How, I like to make housecalls." said Pegasus.

"So what brings you here?"

"A gift of course." Pegasus presents a tray from behind his back and opened the lid. "Here are two cards for you..."

"Sweet." and Penelope reached in.

Pegasus closed the tray. "Now now, don't be so hasty. Though I'm letting you have both of these heroes, you can only have one now."

"Only one?"

"Only one," Pegasus opened the tray, "but which one will you choose. Will you take the hero on the left, or the hero on the right? Choose wisely, because the one you touch is the one you take. And no, you don't get to see until you've chosen."

 

Penelope looked at both face down cards and was conflicted. Neither of the two monsters have yet to be seen by Penelope. After being finnicky debate, Penelope took her card, but Pegasus had her keep the card face down as he closed the tray. "And that is your choice, use your hero wisely." he said and headed for the window.

"Pegasus, why are you giving me these cards, not that I'm meaning to sound ungrateful. I'm very thankful, mind you?"

"Because I see your potential, dear girl. A dueling potential that you have yet to unlock, but I already see. In time, you will unlock your true potential. So until then, I will aid its development..." and Pegasus was gone.

Penelope turned around and took a look at her card. "Elemental Hero Ocean. Once per turn, during your standby phase, you can return one "Elemental Hero" or "Destiny Hero" monster from your side of the field or your graveyard to it's owner's hand (1500/1200)." Penelope removed Elemental Hero Stratos from her Elemental Hero deck and compared her two new heroes. "Well you guys, I'm going to add you to my Destiny Heroes for the time being. You work for both sets of heroes, but I have far too many monsters in my E-Hero deck. Besides, There aren't that many D-Heroes to go around and I'm gonna need a little more muscle with them." and placed them amongst her Destiny Heroes. "Welcome to the Heroes, Ocean and Stratos."

 

In his cage at home, Oxnard lays on his back. But he's not alone, pepper is also in his cage with him. "I'm proud of how you dueled in this tournament, Oxnard. I'm happy that you're dueling now." said Pepper.

"Well, It was a matter of time, wasn't it?" asked Oxnard.

"Very true."

"I wanted the win though, I guess it wasn't my time."

Pepper rolled over and on top of Oxnard. "Now y'all don't need to worry none at all, but all that's left for you is to relax."

"Pepper, I.... ohhh-okay."

 

While Oxnard enjoyed a little R&R from Pepper, if not for a moment, Hiei is also having a "moment" with Aqua. As interesting as this tournament turned out to be, Jam still managed to win. Hiei thought as he had his time with Aqua. But I was beaten by weak monsters.... This is a disgrace, to fall to weaklings. Hiei stopped his moving, then exited and dismounted Aqua's body, then lay next to her on his back.

"Hiei, what's wrong? You never stop before you.... well, you know?" asked Aqua.

"I lost the mood." Hiei answered. "Much is on my mind."

"Like what?"

"We lost far too much in this tournament, only four of us managed to survive this tournament...." Hiei trailed off.

"It's all right, go ahead and let it out."

"I will not except my loss to the Dragonlord, beaten by weakling monsters."

"There are skilled duelists that use low-level monster, Hiei."

"Even so, I need to readjust my deck."

"What you need to do is let this all go." Aqua placed her head on Hiei's belly. "Despite everything that you lost... we lost... there was much more important things gained." Aqua points over to Kerin, who was sleeping near her cousin's motionless frame soundly. "You have your daughter back, doesn't that account for anything?"

"Much. I guess I should take into consideration what he told me and learn to enjoy duels."

"Good, now before you do that, you better learn to enjoy me."

"You're right."

"Now hold still, I want my lolly...."

Hiei kicked back and let Aqua have her "lolly". Kerin may be here, but I'm still missing a piece. Hiei turned to see his daughter and Petal. Bijou hold the key to reclaiming you back, so I must speak with her. It's decided, I will converse with Bijou tomorrow.
*

 

The next day, the gang was around with the usual things. Even though the tournament was over, things were returning to normal slowly. "Say Maxwell, I want you to look at what I have for a new deck I'm working on." said Hermana and she gave her deck to Maxwell.

Maxwell took a look through Hermana's new deck. "Well I must say, it's not bad." he said.

"You like it?"

"It's interesting, but you need a way ro revive your monsters. And that's what you lack."

"Thanks, I'll add that to it."

Bijou and Sandy walk inside. Despite it all, the two friends were talking. "So what's this announcement you plan on making?" asked Sandy.

"I will explain soon enough, Sandy." Bijou answered.

"So I take it things went well?" asked Snoozer as he sat at the table.

"Nice to see you awake for a change." Boss said. "Things went well and Jam won again. But how are you holding up?"

"Better."

"Well, now that you're up and moving around..." Howdy began. "I have your cards that were stolen from you." and Howdy gave the fiends back.

"You really are a true friend, Howdy." Snoozer took his cards back.

"Okay, we got business to deal with, so let's gather around." said Boss.

"But we're all not here." said Sparkle.

Cappy knocked on Panda's door. "Go away." was Panda's response.

"Come out, we're having a meeting." said Cappy.

"I said, GO AWAY!"

"Fine, but come out when you're done gaining your composure."

Panda gave a sigh. "Silly Cappy, bothering me while I'm busy." he said.

"He'll learn, won't he?" asked Rei.

"Yeah... now lift your rear a little."

"This good?"

"Yeah, now just hold..."

"Ahhh...."

"Oopsie...."

"Not your fault, intercourse is a tricky thing."

"Yeah, it is."

 

While Panda gets some, everyone else of the crew was at the table, even Lapis and Lazuli. "Okay people, let's get to the usual." Boss opened up. "First off, I want to say that it's been a long time coming, but we're somewhat back to normal. Luckily for us, We have some nice cards to come by. So let's thank Dexter, Maxwell and Howdy for that."

Applause was given where it's due. "You guys are too kind." said Howdy.

"Hopefully, we'll get a few new things from this Strike of Neos set that we all can use."

"Of course we can." said Pashmina. "Luckily for you guys, this set is in full effect, unlike a few of the packs that were at this tournament. My Frostosaurus is one of those lovely cards in the set, one that's a real force to be reckoned with."

"Speaking of forces to be reckoned with..." Boss continued. "Oxnard and Pashmina, you two lived up to that notion. Well played."

More cheers for the mentioned two. "Yeah, we rock." Pashmina said happily.

"Anyway," Stan cut in, "I will now formally tell the rest of you this, but I'm taking a bit of time away from the action. It's not that I'm quitting altogether, but I just need a break. Hopefully, it'll give me time to think and whatnot."

 

"You aren't ze only one, Stan." Everyone turned to Bijou. "Unfortunately, I too will be putting down cards."

"How come, this isn't about not being champion anymore...." said Pepper.

"No. A lot has happened zis time around and I really need a break, not to mention what I had to lose in zis tournament and from events of past."

"It's not fair..." said Cappy. "But I guess we can understand... you lost... I mean, we lost Hamtaro in all of this. I mean sure, he's right there laying down, but that's just his body. His soul was taken away...."

"You really didn't have to bring that up." said Stan.

"No, it should be brought up. Zat way, we as duelists can move on knowing about events from past."

Everyone nodded, they understood what can happen with the cards and Bijou walked away from the table. But not only did I lose Hamtaroo, I also lost a part of myself.

"Even so, there is much more events that you can gain from your friends, Bijou." said Boss.

Bijou turned around. "True, which is why I just need some time away from my cards... for my own improvement."

"Well before you up and out, get back over here, there are other things we need to discuss."

Bijou sighed. "Very well, it won't hurt to stick around...." she took to her seat again.

"Anyway, while we're on the topic of self-imaging..." said Oxnard. He then turned to Cappy. ".....Can you forgie a ham for being.... well, I..."

"Relax Oxnard, we're cool." said Cappy. "But don't take dueling so seriously, you'll ruin it for yourself if you do."

"Well said, Cappy." Maxwell said as he slid down to the group. "I also have some findings to report.

 

"This Strike of Neos set has a couple new twists to it: The first was with Pashmina's Frostosaurus, a normal one tribute over 2500 ATK points; two, a normal low level monster with 2000 ATK points; and finally.... this is the part I love the most from this news.... secret rare cards are back!"

"Sweet." said Sparkle.

"That's nice and all, but what about the ultimate rares?" asked Lapis.

"Good question, because I thought the ultimates took the place of the secrets." added Pepper.

"Nope, we still have ultimate rares, but the secret rares have returned." Maxwell cleared up. "Also, this set not only brings back the secret rares, but it ups their deal."

"How so?" asked Pashmina.

"Well, back in the days, we only got one or two secrets in the set... well this series mentions around ten secret rare cards."

"Good, because they have a lot of sets to make up for." said Boss.

Rei and Panda finally show up. "I heard the deal with the multiple secret rares and decided to speak on it." said Rei.

"Well it's nice to see that you two have finally come down." said Cappy.

"Now Cappy, you know Panda's our Tech Support." said Stan. "And I take it that Rei here is as well, which means things won't take so long in that department to get done. We need more techies to be honest with you."

"Hey, what am I, chopped sunflower seeds?" Maxwell took a bit of offense to what Stan just said.

"You're part of the Information and Supply department, not a tech-head like these two."

"On the note of thechnical, how's progress coming along?" asked Boss.

"Well..." Panda began as he scratched the back of his head. "The damage was a lot greater than expected, so it's gonna be a while."

 

"The good news is that we've installed a new firewall into the mainframe, so the duel House server won't be hacked like it was before." Rei added on while sticking her tongue out. "Don't worry, with all the code that was input and debugged, it'll be quite the challenge hacking into it. And of course we can say that well, because I actually tried hacking into it and got nowhere."

"Hey, I have to keep some tricks away from you."

"So what about the holographic effects?" asked Hermana.

"Well, that part is only at 25% right now, so you'll only have the duel disk effects instead of the real deal stuff that I originally put into this place." panda answered. "I have to redo all of the schematics for the Duel House and that's gonna take days."

"I think I'm starting to understand this... cool work, Panda." said Stan. "You too, Rei."

"Sure, anytime." said Rei.

"Well, I guess that about does it for the details, so lemme just shut all of this down then we crack some packs."

 

Jam walks in and joins the crew. "Not quite yet, Boss." he said. "Well, I take it that you're done uploading, Panda?"

"For now, yes. But there's still more to do on the mainframe." Panda answered.

"Not what I meant. I was referring to you and Rei, and the way you two were 'exchanging programs'."

"It was technical, I swear." said Rei.

"Technical is right, especially after all the programming you installed last night. 'My body can't take much more of this.' and 'I'll wait for you Panda, but don't make my body wait too long.' and 'God, I wanna be upgraded.' Boss, Hermana and Snoozer may have been asleep, but I was up during all that crap."

"Hey, I may be real, but I have artificial insides." Rei had a sweatdrop."

"And those artificial insides needed Panda's 'RAM card' in you, huh? You tech whore... just say that you were masturbating and be done with it. You probably had sex during the tournament yesterday anyway."

"Or maybe a couple minutes ago." said Cappy, rolling his eyes. "How hard is it to say 'I'm doing the nasty.' around here? Let me have have a girl in the back and-"

"All right, let's get back on topic here." Boss cut in.

"My apologies, Boss. Now that the tournament is over, this'll be my last day kickin around with you hams before I get back to my usual globetrotting, so I'll take this time and post up the ban list. This takes effect today, so check it and upload your decks. Some of these adjustments I dislike, but we'll make due." and Jam posted the ban list.

 

The hams took a look at the ban list, and there were already some disdainments. "No, they banned Graceful Charity." said Cappy.

"Forget Graceful, they banned Magician of Faith." said Penelope.

"Breaker's banned too? Now I have to remove him from my deck." said Oxnard.

"No, not more of my council...." Boss wasn't happy.

"Check it out, the Victory Dragon that Jam won is also banned." said Pashmina.

"Yup, oh well..." said Jam. "I'm off to catch some winks, be back in a few."

"Well it's not so bad Boss, Injection Fairy Lily is free play to this day." said Maxwell.

"True, but I would like my Chaos Sorceror back someday." said Boss.

As everyone eyed the ban list, the door swung open. This brought the attention to everyone and they saw Hiei and a few of his now dissolved crew enter. Aqua was holding a white flag. "What do you guys want?" questioned Sparkle.

"Relax, babe, we don't want any trouble." Tyrone told her.

"Considering an actual change after all, are you?" asked Rei.

"Not so." said Hiei, who was holding onto Aqua. He then stood on his own two feet and approached Bijou. "I personally cam here to reason with you."

"I'm not in ze mood to reason." Bijou stated.

"Look, this is driving me intolerable, so I'll get to the point. I'm here to make an exchange, Hamtaro's soul for Petal's. And just so to be fair, I'll release first."

 

Hiei took the amulet where Hamtaro's sealed soul was and flipped it. Afterward, the amulet shattered. "All right, now that this it done, it's your turn."

"You don't understand anything, do you?" asked Bijou. "Petal wasn't sealed away."

"OW...." after that, Hamtaro stood up. "Hey, when did we get back here.... is the tournament over?"

"Looks like Hamtaro's back to normal." said Stan.

Bijou sighed. "Hiei, listen carfully. Judgement is an 'odd duck' so to speak, but I guess I can learn to let everything go. So I will give you another chance." Bijou took four cards and placed them face down. "Now, one of ze cards holds a way to bring Petal her freedom, but you must choose which one. Now decide, but know that this is your last chance on saving her."

Hiei approached the four levitating cards. Which one to take.... Placing his paw over them, he began to weigh which card to choose, then afterwards, he took the left middle card. "I'll take this one." he said.

"Good," said Bijou, "now let's see what you didn't choose." Bjou flipped up the card on the left. "A Cat of Ill Omen.... that could've hurt you." The middle right card was flipped. "Hmm... The Forgiving Maiden, that would've made a nice choice." Bijou took the last card and looked at it, her expression slightly turned saddened. "Well, I see. It looks like we all make our choices after all..." Bijou turned the card over, which showed Petal's image trapped within the Seal of the Sun.

Aqua's expression turned sad. "No way, Petal is on that card." she said.

"Looks like your choice wasn't what you had hoped for, but now you must live with your choice." said Bijou as she went to her room. "Remember zat each choice an individual makes will affect ze future. Today, you are one lesson wiser, Hiei."

Hiei was beginning to cry. It's.... no, I chose wrong. he thought as tears began to swell in his eyes. I chose wrong.... even on my last chance, I made the wrong decision....

"Hiei..." Petal trailed off.

"Well, let's see what you did choose." said Cappy.

"There's no point, I chose wrong." said Hiei and he flicked the card away.

 

As the card floated to the floor, Hiei felt defeated. "I guess he's not gonna be the same anymore." said Hamtaro.

"I guess not." said Boss.

His choice couldn't have been that bad... thought Cappy as he went to the card. He then picked it up and looked at it, a smile came across his face. "Hey!"

Everyone turned to Cappy. "What's going on, Cappy?" asked Pashmina.

"Hiei chose a good card," Cappy explained, "he picked the Rope of Life."

"The Rope of Life, I don't get it." said Hamtaro.

"Are you done ridiculing me, Beastmaster?" asked Hiei. "I wouldn't mock you when you're down... unles I put you there of course."

Cappy went up to Hiei. "You chose the Rope of Life, the Rope of Life..."

"I know what the card is already, now quit lecturing me."

Slightly peeved, Cappy slapped Hiei across his face, knocking him down in the process. "You idiot! This is the Rope of Life you just pulled. Some duelist you are, don't you even know how this card works? It's called this for a reason, you know..."

"Will you stop already, you brat?" asked Aqua. "Hiei's already going through it and you aren't helping him."

"You dumb broad, I'm trying to help him. I use this card myself and it get's me out of quite the spot." Cappy handed the card to Hiei. "This is all that you need, Hiei. I know it sounds odd, but you still have a shot left to try. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about... believe in the cards for once and have a little faith."

Hiei took the trap card into his paw. "I don't know what you're getting at, but I guess I'll take your word for it." he said. "It's not like I have anything else to lose."

 

Hiei placed the trap card in his duel disk and activated it. A long rope appeared in front of him, confusing the hamster. "So now what?" asked Aqua.

"Use it, Hiei." Cappy answered. "Toss the line out."

"Are you sure about this?" Hiei was still uncertain.

"Man, you really are a lost cause." Cappy rolled his eyes. "Throw the damn rope."

"Fine, I'll take your word for it." and Hiei tossed one end of the rope out. But to everyone's amazement, the end created a hole where it went, so Hiei fed this hole the Rope of Life. After giving a good feed, the hams stood there and waited. "Are you sure you know what's going on here?" asked Aqua.

"Of course." Cappy answered. "It's a bit risky to do this, but sometimes.... well, times like this mean you've gotta' go for broke."

I wonder if this will actually work. Thought a worried Hiei. Then he got a tug on the rope. "Check that out, the rope is moving."

"Pull the rope." said Cappy.

 

So the pulling began, and everyone managed to get in on it. Hiei was determined now, probably more determined than Cappy, and this determination and faith rewarded him. As a result, Petal was pulled out, she was holding on to the other end of the Rope of Life. "Petal!" Aqua shouted and collected Petal.

"I'm alive... I'm alive." Petal was happy to be back.

"Yes, thank the gods." said Hiei as he joined Aqua in hugging her.

"This is an odd rope." said Petal, then the rope faded away, leaving behind the Rope of Life trap card. "Okay, now I'm confused."

"It really worked." said Aqua.

"Yeah." said Tyrone. "Well squirt, you got rescued by a trap card."

"It appears so." said Petal. "I guess the cards are alive after all."

"It's good to see you're a believer now." said Pashmina.

"See, what did I tell ya? Gotta love the Rope of Life." said Cappy. "Aren't you glad you listened to Cappy now?"

"Yes I am." Hiei answered. "And thank-q, we are in your debt."

 

"Debt is not the acception here." said Bijou as she stood in front of the door to her room. "You chose properly, Hiei."

"But I don't get it..." said Aqua.

"So shall I explain... Judgement has chosen to give you ze Rope of Life. Ze Rope of Life means salvation, a beacon of hope when all seems lost. Because it give us somezing that many will eventually need in times of peril... a lifeline. And with a lifeline, Rope of Life rescues souls, and even duel monsters, from being destroyed and sent to ze graveyard. With ze knowledge learned from ze lifeline, they grow stronger."

"I... I was wrong." said Petal. "Wrong about everything, wrong to myself.... my cards...." Petal held Voltanis the Adjudicator in her paw. "And in the end, the very thing I chose to deny is what spared me from my own destruction. I owe you Bijou, and I know just how to make us even." Petal took her amulet and flipped it into the air, which then shattered and revealed the Winged Kuriboh. "Go on, you need to say hello to someone."

 

The Winged Kuriboh flew over to Bijou and stared at her. And after a glance that seemed like it lasted forever, Bijou finally smiled again. "Not to bad... looks like a happy ending after all." said Tyrone.

"And not only that..." said Oxnard, "The image on the Wiged Kuriboh card has returned too. The Winged Kuriboh cards have been restored.

Bijou's Kuriboh appeared to greet the Winged Kuriboh and the two were happy to see each other. Finally, balance has been obtained. "Ah, I can finally be at peace now." Bijou said happily.

"Bijou, I also want you to have Voltanis here, I'm not worthy of using him anymore." said Petal.

"Keep it, you need your fairies."

"I need more training with these angles, training that I can't get from Hiei. Will you teach me?"

"Hmm... well, I can show you a few things. Fine, I will take you under my wing and show you how fairies are played."

 

Hiei walked over to Boss. "So, is a sorry ham still unwelcome around here, or should I leave?" asked Hiei.

"Tch, you've learned your lesson." Boss answered. "All of you Shadow duelists have. Now let's open up some Strike of Neos packs and see what's inside."

"Yeah!"

 

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And just like that, this duel story comes to a close. Great duel, see you next time.