The next morning, Joseph was released from the hospital and got ready to duel again. Joseph said, "Now that I'm free from the hospital, I'm itching for a duel." Frank said, "Maybe you should take it easy and not take on anyone too hard to beat." Joseph said, "Oh, please. I bet I could beat anyone thrown at me." A silver throwing star landed by Joseph's foot, and he got scared. They looked up and saw a lady wearing a duel disk at the top of a building. She then jumped down and said, "Anyone? How about me? Name's Mindy Martial. As in Martial Arts."
Joseph said, "Should I be scared?" Mindy said, "You will be once my ninja deck finishes you." Joseph said, "Then how about a wager. How many coins do you have?" Mindy said, "17. I'm only seven away from the finals." Joseph said, "Then that's where I'll send you if you win. Winnter gets 7 coins. Take it or leave it." Mindy said, "I'll take it. But to spice things up, we'll deactivate the armor settings on our duel disks. And start with 4000 Life Points." Joseph said, "I accept your terms. Winner goes to the finals."
Joseph stood there while Mindy walked away to duel, and Frank and Nick walked behind Joseph to watch the duel. Mindy drew Ninja Commander Ikusa, Ninjitsu Art of Dancing Leaves, Ninja Soldier Katana, Ninjitsu Art Notebook, and Great Kite of Ninja. Joseph drew Queen Violet, Singing Voice, Wizard's Cottage, Malena, the Ninja Girl, and Queen's Carriage. Then their Life Points started at 4000, and they said, "Let's Duel!" Mindy drew Green Ninja from her deck and said, "I lay 1 card face down. Now I summon Ninja Commander Ikusa (700/700) in Attack Mode." Joseph said, "Oh, please. That face-down card is a trap, and that weak ninja is the bait." Then another ninja appeared on the field. Joseph said, "What?" Frank said, "There are two." Nick said, "It's probably just a trick by Mindy." Mindy said, "Not really. When Ninja Commander Ikusa is summoned in Attack Mode, it lets me summon Ninja Soldier Katana (400/400) to the field to join him. And since I special summoned a monster face-up, I can summon Green Ninja (600/600) to the field and switch my Ninja Soldier Katana to face-down defense mode." Joseph said, "Oh man, this woman's already got three monsters on the field, and I don't have any. Mindy said, "And I'll leave it that way."
Joseph drew Treetop Snake from his deck and said, "I summon Treetop Snake (1300/1250) in Attack Mode. Destroy Green Ninja with your tight squeeze attack." Joseph's Treetop Snake wrapped itself around Mindy's Green Ninja, squeezed it, and destroyed it. Then Mindy lost 700 Life Points, bringing her down to 3300. Joseph said, "I'll end my turn." Mindy drew Ninja Master Shogun from her deck and said, "I'll switch my Ninja Commander Ikusa to defense mode and end my turn." Nick said, "Mindy Martial duels like an amateur." Joseph drew Tower's Dungeon from his deck and said, "Then let me show her how to play with ninjas. I'll set the card I drew face down and sacrifice my treetop snake for Malena, the Ninja Girl (2000/1400). And I'll raise her power with Singing Voice. Which will raise her power by 1000." Then Malena's power rose from 2000 to 3000. Joseph said, "Slice and dice her Ninja Soldier Katana with your Ninja Sword Slash Attack!" Malena then destroyed Ninja Soldier Katana. Joseph said, "I'll end my turn."
Mindy drew Ninjitsu-Smoke Ball from her deck and thought, "This might be handy later." Mindy said, "I reveal my trap. Ninjitsu Art of Dancing Leaves. This sends my Ninja Commander Ikusa to the card graveyard and allows me to summon any ninja card from my deck. Nick said, "But her deck is full of them, so she can summon any monster she chooses now." Mindy said, "That's right. And I choose Red Dragon Ninja (2400/1200). And now that she's summoned, I can banish The Green Ninja from my graveyard and peek at your face-down card." Mindy saw it was a Tower's Dungeon trap card. Mindy said, "Tower's Dungeon, uh. Now you remove it from play, and I get to choose where you get to put it in your deck. The top or the bottom. And I choose the bottom."
Joseph then put Tower's Dungeon at the bottom of his deck. Frank said, "If this keeps up, Joseph will have no traps to defend his monsters." Nick said, "I'm starting to see how this girl made it so far." Mindy said, "Don't think I'm done yet. Since Ninja Soldier Katana and Commander Ikusa are in my graveyard, I can summon Ninja Master Shogun (1600/1600), and I'll play him in defense mode." Joseph said, "Oh, look, more weak ninjas. Have you ever thought about playing a stronger monster?" Mindy said, "Didn't need to before, and I don't need to now. Because now I get to play another Ninja Soldier Katana (400/400) along with Ninja Commando Kabuki (700/700), both in Attack Mode." Joseph saw Mindy's monsters running on the buildings behind her. Then they jumped, twirled, and landed on their feet ahead of Mindy. Mindy said, "And thanks to Kabuki's special ability, I can summon another Level 4 or lower ninja monster from my deck, and I choose Kunochi Ayame the Ninja Girl (300/300). That's five ninjas for the price of two. And get this, as long as Ninjitsu Art of Dancing Leaves is in play, I can keep sacrificing ninja monsters to summon more ninja monsters. Of course, soon you'll be up against an army of ninjas, including one more powerful than yours." Joseph said, "How the heck will I fight that?" Frank said, "Plus, with Red Dragon Ninja in play, he can't play his trap cards without Mindy knowing about them." Nick said, "Well, it will take much more than a few ninjas to take Joseph down." Mindy said, "I'll end my turn with one face-down card and ready my ninja army for my next turn."
Joseph drew Toronado, The Masked Avenger's Horse, from his deck and thought, "This should be able to help." Joseph said, "I summon Toronado, The Masked Avenger's Horse (1950/1200) in Attack Mode. Now, destroy her Ninja Girl." Mindy said, "Sorry, but I've activated the Ninja-Smoke Bomb." Ninja Master Shogun then threw a smoke bomb at Toronado and blinded him and Joseph. Joseph coughed, and Mindy said, "Sorry, but your attack has been blocked and your battle phase has ended." Joseph said, "Fine. Then I'll end my turn."
Mindy drew Strike Ninja from her deck and said, "I'll switch my weaker ninjas to defense mode. Next, I'll activate Ninjitsu Art of Dancing Leaves and replace my Ninja Girl with another ninja girl. Say hello to Flame Armor Ninja (1700/1000). I'll play her in defense mode. And thanks to her special ability, I can increase the level of one of my monsters by one, and I choose my Ninja Master Shogun." Ninja Master Shogun's level then rose from five to six. Mindy said, "Now I play Great Kite of Ninja and equip it to my Flame Armor Ninja. If this card remains in play, my Flame Armor Ninja is safe from all your monster attacks, magic, and trap cards." Joseph said, "Oh no." Mindy said, "Now I'll sacrifice my Ninja Soldier Katana so my Flame Armor Ninja can bypass your monsters and attack you directly." Then, Flame Armor Ninja attacked Joseph directly, and he lost 1700 Life Points, bringing him down to 2300. Mindy said, "Now, Red Dragon Ninja, destroy his horse." Red Dragon Ninja then destroyed Toronado, and Joseph gasped as he watched it happen. Joseph then lost 450 Life Points, reducing his total to 1850 from 2300. Joseph said, "No, my Masked Avenger's horse." Mindy said, "Looks like your horse wasn't a big fan of ninja attacks. I can't wait for my next turn."
To Be Continued