"Now, let's watch the delightful and familiar scene of love and rivalry between master and servant!" Pegasus announced loudly, his eyes suddenly turning fierce. "Because of 'Toon World,' Toon Cú Chulainn can attack directly if the opponent has no Toon monsters on the field!"
"Sure, I've been waiting for this!" Waving his spear, Toon Cú Chulainn, with his short legs, charged toward the opponent.
"Pegasus, you two-faced dog! You were just saying this is for all ages, and now you're talking about love and rivalry… Huh? Love and rivalry? With whom?" Facing the charging Toon Cú Chulainn, though the small, round figure lacked an imposing presence, the gleaming spear in its hands made Hoshino shiver.
"A direct attack with 2000 attack points! Hoshino is in danger!" Seeing the spear about to strike Hoshino, Jonouchi couldn't help but shout, "That's half her life points! If Toon Mermaid attacks too, Hoshino will almost lose!"
"Stay calm, Cú Chulainn-san!"
At the moment the spear was about to touch Hoshino's chest, Mash's massive shield firmly blocked in front of her, the spear tip sparking against the shield. "Besides, the one in love with Master is me!"
"Mash… Mash…" Hoshino, covering her face and giggling, waved her hand slightly. "Don't say such embarrassing things in public like this, hehe~"
However, in this so-called public place, only Pegasus and Yugi could hear Mash's words.
"Mash's special effect activates: when Mash is in defense mode, the opponent can only target her for attacks!"
Toon Cú Chulainn's 2000 attack points clashed with Mash's 2000 defense points, resulting in no damage to either player's life points.
"But Mash will switch to attack mode after being attacked, so Hoshino, you can't block my Toon Mermaid's attack next!" Seeing the first attack blocked, Pegasus extended his right hand, continuing to command his monsters to attack. "Go, my lovely Toon Mermaid, a direct attack on Hoshino girl!"
[Toon Mermaid: This card can only attack if you pay 500 life points.]
[Pegasus LP 3900 → 3400]
"Chirp!" The Toon Mermaid, who had been hiding in her shell, emerged, pulled out a toy-like bow and arrow, and, after a brief aim, shot straight at Hoshino.
"It seems even Toon monsters need to pay a price for continuous attacks!" With a sly smile on her face, Hoshino quickly flipped her facedown card.
"Activate the trap card, [Nobu's Assemble]!"
[Nobu's Assemble Trap Card Effect: This can be activated when the opponent declares a direct attack. Special Summon 2 level 4 monsters with different attributes and the name [Nobu] from your deck or hand to your field.]
"[Nobu] monsters? Not [Heroic Spirit] monsters?" The unfamiliar prefix puzzled the spectators. "I've never seen Hoshino use monsters other than Heroic Spirit monsters."
"But since Chiyuki specially added them to the deck for the showdown, she must have her reasons!" Mai, trusting Hoshino's every decision, believed it was paving the way for the final victory.
"Hahaha, it's useless, Hoshino-girl. Even if you summon new monsters, Toon Mermaid can still attack you directly." Pegasus continued his attack declaration without stopping.
"I firmly believe that one day my cards will ride armored tanks and shield me from attacks!" With a shout, Hoshino placed the two selected cards on the table. "I've decided on you two, [Nobu Corps] and [Chariot Nobu]!"
"Nobu!!" X2
Above the arena, two mysterious beings with distinct styles appeared in the crowd's sight, shouting in strange language.
Looking up, the humanoid tank floating in the air drifted in a graceful curve, then heavily landed on the battlefield, blocking the Toon Mermaid's attack trajectory.
On top of the tank, Nobu Corps, dressed in a haori, crossed his short arms confidently. Under the lowered white military cap, only a triangular, fierce eye was visible.
[Chariot Nobu★★★★ Earth][Machine/Effect][ATK 1500 DEF 1500]
[Nobu Corps★★★★ Wind][Warrior/Effect][ATK 1900 DEF 100]
"Block it, Nobu Corps!"
"Nobu!" Upon receiving Hoshino's order, Nobu Corps, standing on the tank, drew the mini sword at his waist. With a swift motion, a transparent wind blade followed the Toon Mermaid's attack path, slicing the toy arrow in half. The blurry wind blade then hit the Toon Mermaid.
[Pegasus LP 3400 → 2900]
"Nobu! (Nobu Slash!)" Nobu Corps announced the move's name with style, sheathing his sword. Although the Toon monsters weren't destroyed due to the effect of [Toon Kingdom], Nobu Corps slash still cut down Pegasus' life points.
"Pegasus' life points have decreased again!" Yugi, seeing the sudden change on the field, was slightly surprised. "Amazing. How did Hoshino do that?"
"What happened? My [Toon Mermaid] should be able to attack directly when there are no Toon monsters on the opponent's field, right?" Pegasus, confused by the situation, scratched his head.
"It's laughable, King of the Toon World. Without using the Millennium Eye, you can't see through anything, can you?" Hoshino taunted, pointing to her left eye. "What? Afraid to use your Millennium Eye to see through my tactics?"
"Don't get too cocky, Hoshino-girl." Finally angered, Pegasus reactivated the dark power of the Millennium Eye, which he had been suppressing. "Don't regret it, Hoshin-girl. Once I use the power of Millennium Eye, you won't have any chance of winning."
"Millennium Eye, see through the heart!" Pegasus activated the Millennium Eye again, looking at the smiling Hoshino across the arena.
And then, inside Hoshino's mind, he saw…
"Nobu! Nobu! Nobu! Nobu!... XD"
"Oh my god?! What are these things!!"
An unnamed genius once said, "There are two ways to counter mind reading: one is to empty your mind and think of nothing, and the other is to scramble your thoughts, making it impossible for the opponent to see anything."
However, expecting Hoshino to empty her mind was unrealistic. Completely emptying the mind requires top-tier Zen-like meditation. Not to mention Hoshino's impure mind filled with distractions, even making her think of nothing while playing cards would be a lost cause.
Therefore, Hoshino's only option was to go the route of scrambled thoughts, a safeguard placed in her command spells by that unnamed genius to counter the Millennium Eye.
"Hoshino-chan, when the command spells activate, there will be a certain level of mental connection between the master and the servant. Although it's unknown how much this connection can disrupt the Millennium Eye's mind-reading ability, as long as the scrambled thoughts can slightly interfere with Pegasus's power, you have a chance to win."
"Da Vinci, this effect might be even better than you anticipated. Nobu's thoughts are usually so chaotic that they probably rank among the top in Chaldea for confusion." Seeing Pegasus's bewildered expression, Hoshino couldn't help but laugh. Despite Nobu's cute appearance, her mind's chaos was comparable to a war general's.
"Could it be that Pegasus's Millennium Eye can't read Hoshino's thoughts?" Yugi exclaimed, noticing Pegasus's complex expression, so different from his usual confident demeanor after using Millennium Eye. "If we can seal Pegasus's Millennium Eye ability, Hoshino has a great chance of winning!"
"But why could Hoshino's monsters withstand the Toon monsters' attacks?" Jonouchi asked, still puzzled.
"Though I'm not sure what Toon monsters are," Anzu said, tilting her head and touching her cheek with a finger, "those two cute monsters Hoshino summoned look a lot like Toon monsters, don't they?"
"Nobu?!" Nobu Corps on the field twitched its simple ears, catching Anzu's compliment of "cute." It then flipped its bangs and threw a heart toward Anzu in the audience.
"Nobu~ (That beautiful young lady over there has great taste~)"
"Hahaha, your insight isn't as sharp as Anzu's." Hoshino, having also heard Anzu, spoke to the arena. "When I first saw Toon monsters, I realized they and Nobu are essentially the same kind of creatures, sharing an art style and a comical, non-destructive character trait. So, it's not unreasonable to classify Nobu as a Toon."
"Is that even possible?" Jonouchi muttered, his face twitching as he struggled to find words after hearing Hoshino's explanation (or rather, nonsense).
"All thanks to Kaiba's sacrifice, I realized the strategy to counter Toon monsters!" Hoshino placed her hand gently on her chest, pausing for a moment to mourn Kaiba. "So, before the final battle, I took a gamble. I drastically revised my deck, merging my two separate decks—one for Heroic Spirits and one for Nobu—into one..."
"—Final Battle Mix-Style Deck!!"
"Nobu! (That's right, Nobu!)"
"Trying to seal the Millennium Eye and Toon monsters like this, you are imaginative, Hoshino-girl!" Pegasus, gritting his teeth, barely contained his anger as he spoke.
"That's not imagination!" Hoshino retorted, holding her cards and pointing them at the angry Pegasus. "I am determined to defeat you!"
"Go on, continue your turn, Pegasus!"
"Don't get cocky too soon, Hoshino-girl!" Her taunt only made Pegasus calmer. As the master of the Duelist Kingdom and the father of Duel Monsters, even without the mind-reading power of Millennium Eye, he was still a top-tier duelist. "You've only stopped my Toon monsters' direct attacks with a couple of low-level monsters. Don't forget, without Cú Chulainn, you have no way to destroy Toons."
With that, Pegasus drew a monster card from his hand and placed it on the table. "I haven't summoned yet this turn. I use [Toon Mermaid] as a sacrifice to special summon from my hand, [Toon Summoned Skull]!"
"Summoned Skull?"
The familiar name made Hoshino instantly realize, "Isn't that the demon Yugi often uses, with an attack power exceeding [Red-Eyes Black Dragon] despite being only a 6-star monster?"
[Toon Summoned Skull★★★★★★ (6 stars) Dark][Fiend/Effect][ATK 2500 DEF 1200]
[This card cannot be Normal Summoned. It can only be Special Summoned if 'Toon World' is on your field (requires a Tribute). This card cannot attack in the turn it is Special Summoned. If 'Toon World' is destroyed, destroy this card.]
The bottomless half of the Toon Summoned Skull emerged from the castle, still connected to the Toon Kingdom below, giving it a ridiculous yet eerie appearance.
"A Toon monster with 2500 attack points, and it only required one tribute." Watching the strange, jack-in-the-box-like movements of the Toon Summoned Skull, Hoshino murmured, "Thankfully, the Nobus can block the damage. Otherwise, a direct attack like this would be a farewell."
After saying this, Hoshino pulled a monster card from her hand and placed it on the table after the Toon Summoned Skull's special summon.
"Hoshino-girl, it's still my turn. Are you being too hasty summoning monsters?"
"Hehe, I'm just following the rules, Pegasus." She pointed to the newly summoned monster on her table. The arena didn't display any error messages, indicating that Hoshino's summon was legitimate. "Activating the special effect of [Golden Giant Mecha Nobu] from my hand!"
[① You can Special Summon this card from your hand when your opponent Special Summons a monster from their deck, hand, or graveyard. Then, destroy one Special Summoned monster on your opponent's field.]
[Golden Giant Mecha Nobu★★★★★★★★ (8 stars) Earth][Machine/Effect][ATK 2400 DEF 2000]
"NOBU!" The giant mechanical Nobunaga stepped heavily onto the battlefield, its deep voice resonating. It fired a massive golden laser beam at the Toon Summoned Skull's bizarre form.
Of course, the Toon Summoned Skull, hit by the laser, merely twitched a bit before returning to normal, resulting only in the removal of the top card from Pegasus's deck—a trivial outcome.
"Even though it's Pegasus's turn, Hoshino has summoned three more monsters..." At this moment, Jonouchi seemed to realize something, staring blankly at the duel representing the highest honor in the Duelist Kingdom.
"Hoshino might become the Duel King!"
(*****)
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