The battle began like a thousand other battles with Captain Hook and his pirates: Peter, Petra, and the Lost Boys would play one of their many pranks on the pirates, and the duels would begin. Amy and Marzi would watch from the relative safty of the sky as the two groups would have at it, Eos fluttering beside Marzi. Tinker Bell would join Peter in his battle, while Dusty would be fretting away, worrying about how much Healing Dust would be needed afterward.
Amy often supplied aid with her Duel Monsters deck, magically enhanced by Eos' pixie magic. A well-timed Block Attack had more than once saved the lives of Peter or one or the others. Once, when Hook wounded Peter, Amy used a Share the Pain Magic Card on the evil captain, and Hook developed the same, exact wound on his own body. A dose of Red Medicine healed Peter of his wound.
Amy even equipted the Lost Children with magic weapons from the deck. She gave Petra both the Cyber Sheild and the Electro-Whip, while she gave Peter the Lightning Blade. The Lost Boys were given other weapons. And she used Rain of Mercy to heal them when they needed it. Of course, the Rain also healed the pirates, as well, but that could not be helped.
Amy refrained from using the Monster Cards, mainly because Peter prefered not to have any other help than that from the Lost Children. He felt that it would spoil the fun. Still, Amy longed to call renforcements from her deck. Duel Monsters was more than just Magic and Trap Cards, after all.
She drew a very special card. The image was of a very pretty blonde girl, dressed in a blue and pink dress and hat that looked very much like the Dark Magician's purple costume. She carried a long, blue staff, with a gold, curled head. She was also weaker than the Dark Magician. While the male magician had an Attack of 2500, this female version only had an Attack of 2000. But, she had a special ability. For every Dark Magician in the discard pile --or "Graveyard"-- the girl would gain 300 Attack points. Even two such Dark Magicians in the "Graveyard" would give her 2600 Attack points.
This female Dark Magician's name? The Dark Magician Girl --What else?
Peter's seen the Dark Magician, Amy thought. But not the Dark Magician Girl. Let's see what he thinks of her! With that thought, Amy held the card aloft and shouted out the card's name, loud and clear.
"DARK MAGICIAN GIRL!" she shouted. The card glowed, the first sign that the magic was working, and the Monster on the card was going to come to life.
Amy's calling on a Monster? Peter thought in surprise. And it's the Dark Magician, too! Doesn't she trust me to...beat...Hook... his thoughts trailed off. It was then that the last word hit him.
Dark Magician GIRL. Amy had said, "Dark Magician GIRL".
Hook snarled upward when he heard the girl's voice. Calling upon another one of those accursed "Duel Monsters". He had just about enough of her and her enchanted deck of cards. The evil captain drew his flintlock pistol, aimed it high in the air toward the girl, and fired.
"AMY!" Peter cried in alarm. "LOOK OUT!" Frozen in fear for his love, the boy could only watch in horror as the musketball hurtled toward Amy.
The Lost Boys gasped, covering their eyes. Tinkerbell, Dusty, and Eos flew down to attack Hook. Maybe they could not save Amy, but maybe they could avenge her death.
Meanwhile, the Dark Magician Girl had nearly finished materalizing in the air in front of Amy. At the moment that the musketball hit the air where the white light silhouette of the magical girl was still appearing, the force of the small, lead ball pushed the semi-solid form into Amy. There was a flash of brilliant, sparkling light, temporarily blinding everyone in the area.
When everyone could see again, the first thing they did was look toward where they last saw Amy, each anxious to see what had become of the girl. As one, they gasped in surprise at what they saw. Oddly enough, it was Captain Hook that summed up what was going through everyone's minds.
"Odds fish!" he managed to gasp out.
Floating in the air above them was Amy, but she now wore the blue and pink costume of the Dark Magician Girl. With the staff in her hand, Amy looked herself over, amazed and bewildered at what happened.
Peter was the first to recover from the shock, relieved that his girlfriend was alive and unharmed. He flew to her side, ready to give what aid he could, and feeling a little guilty about not being able to do anything to stop Hook from shooting at her in the first place.
"Amy?" he asked, getting her attention. He gave her a sheepish smile. "Are you...okay?"
"Yes..." she answered. "I think..." She felt her new outfit. "What happened?"
"You called on a Duel Monster, and Hook shot at you," Peter explained quietly. However irritated at her he had been for calling on a Monster when he had asked her not to had been quickly forgotten in his concern for her safety. "There was a flash of light, and when it cleared, you were dressed like this." He spread his arms, indicating the costume of the Dark Magician Girl.
"It's more than the costume, Peter," Amy said quietly. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. "For as long as this lasts, I am the Dark Magician Girl!"
Now, Amy looked down at the pirates. She barely remembered it, but did recall the sound of the shot of the pistol. And Peter did say that Hook had shot at her. So she did have the right --just this once.
Something told the pirates that they had better be getting off the beach and back to the Jolly Roger. Maybe it was the way Amy's eyes had narrowed and grew angered, almost glowing red.
Amy aimed her staff at the pirates, taking aim with the golden-headed wizard-weapon. The staff began to glow, which traveled up the shaft and gathered at the head. When the golden head was glowing brightly with the magic power, she let it fly.
"DARK MAGIC ATTACK! Amy commanded. The stored magic, glowing red, shot from the staff toward the pirates. The blast hit the ground at their feet, giving them the motivation to speed up their retreat. Soon, Hook and his men were on their way to their ship, leaving the children to their surprise victory.
Slowly, Peter and Amy landed on the ground, followed by Marzi. The children crowded around their two leaders, relieved that Amy was alive, but bewildered about the change.
"Will you be like this forever, Amy?" Nibs asked.
"I don't know," she answered truthfully. "When I call upon a Duel Monster, or any of the other cards, the effects last until they are no longer needed. But I've never merged with a card before. It might be gone by tomorrow, it might not. I might be stuck like this forever. I just don't know."
"We'll just have to deal with it when it happens, Peter said. "Let's go home."
Amy nodded. Together, Peter and Amy led their children back to the underground house.
Things had been awkward that night, for Amy did not know how to turn her new powers off. She had to make dinner wearing the costume, eat while wearing the costume, and tell the night's story while wearing the costume.
In their room, Amy put Marzi to bed as usual, leaning her staff against the wall and tried to remove her hat, boots, and gloves. For some reason, the costume could not be removed, although her staff could be set aside if need be. So she simply crimbed in beside the little girl.
Peter slipped in on the other side, wondering about Amy's new transformation. How long would this last? Would he ever get his Amy back?
And what if changing back was fatal?
When Amy awoke the next day, the first thing she did was check to see if she was still dressed as the Dark Magician Girl. To her dismay, she was. Peter and Marzi was already up and waiting for her with the rest of the Lost Children in the main room when she entered, staff in hand.
"Still a Duel Monster?" Nibs asked.
"I'm afraid so," she answered.
"We need to think this out," Petra said. "How did this happen?"
"I called on the Dark Magician Girl," Amy said.
"At the same time, Captain Hook shot at her," Peter added. "The shot hit the forming Duel Monster and pushed her into Amy. The Dark Magician Girl was not quite formed, so the two was made into one."
"Or merged," Petra put in. "So there must be a way to unmerge them. The question is: How?"
"I'll have to look over my cards and see if I can find one," Amy said. "And it could also undo itself, like a turn-based move."
"Until then, Amy has the power of the Dark Magician Girl," Petra said. "She should take advantage of that."
"What are you thinking, sis?" Peter looked at his sister.
"We find out just what she can do with her new magic," the girl Pan answered.
Lined up outside, Peter threw five clay plates into the air with his usual amazing dexterity. They flew high into the air, and with each flip, Amy blasted them out of the sky with a Dark Magic attack.
"The power is all well and good," Amy said, "but I all I'm really interested in is returning to my old self. I'd rather be Amy Rhines, mother to the Lost Children, than the Dark Magician Girl."
"I second that," Peter said, putting his arm around her shoulder. He wanted his Amy back.
"It'll happen," Petra told them. "And soon, I'm sure."
"I hope so," Amy sighed. "I hope so."
It happened on about the third day of Amy's change. A strange creature that turned out to be some kind of a zombie appeared and began to terriorize the magical island. Nothing seemed to be able to stop it, no matter what anyone tried. Soon, Peter and the Lost Children confronted the zombie-creature.
"There's one way that might do it," Amy said. "But it's risky. First, though, the Swords of Revealing Light, to keep the creature from moving."
As she activated the card, three swords appeared from out of the sky, coming down around the zombie, and pinning it in place with their light.
"In a game, that will keep it from moving for three turns. We don't measure time in turns, but we'll still have to hurry. Now, comes the risky part, because, if it doesn't work, it could be fatal for me."
Peter and the others gasped in horror when she said that. Amy produced the Magic Box card, which pictured a pair of identical boxes.
A box appeared behind Amy, and she got into it, looking saddly at Peter. If this did not work...
As soon as the box closed, swords dropped from the sky, piercing the box from every angle, leaving barely an inch unpierced.
"AMY! NO!!" Peter cried. Twice had he experienced the fear of losing his girlfriend that week, and this was even more horrible than the first.
The box openned, and, instead of a dead Amy falling out, it was the zombie, pierced through with all the swords.
Where was Amy?
Beside the box, there appeared another one. From out of the second box came a very much alive Amy --as herself, not the Dark Magician Girl!
"AMY!" Peter cried happily as she floated down to them. He was the first to take her in his arms and held her to him.
"Peter..." she whispered.
"I thought I lost you forever..." he whispered back.
"We all did," Nibs sniffed.
"Yeah," Cubby said. "Let's go home.
"What about that?" Slightly asked, pointing to the zombie. The corpse fell to the ground as the boxes disappeared.
Peter watched for a moment as hynnas and vultures started coming around, waiting for them to leave.
"We'll let them take care of it," he said, motioning toward the animals with his head. "Let's go home."
The family headed home, the fear of losing their mother passed, and left the scavanger animals to their work.
That night, after everyone was in bed, and Peter, Marzi, and Amy were in their room, the boy and girl sat on the edge of the bed, talking with each other.
"That was a big risk you took today," Peter said.
"Yes," she answered. "I told you that. But it was the only thing I could think of to do. The biggest risk was if the magic that turned me into the Dark Magician Girl would run out before the Magic Box could complete its trick. Forutunately, it didn't."
"But for one brief moment, I faced the possibility of losing you. If the box had openned, and it had been your body that had been in there...I...I...I don't know what I would have done."
"You would have found a way to have gone on. You would have destroyed the zombie, then, you would have eventually gotten a new mother, for Marzi and the boys, if not for Petra and yourself."
"But nothing would be happy around here. Not for a long time."
"You're sweet, Peter," Amy smiled. She leaned over and kissed him, then laid down and went to sleep. Peter smiled, then laid down on the other side of Marzi and also went to sleep. Tomorrow would hold more surprises and more fun. Tonight, Amy was alive, and still with them, and that was all that mattered to Peter.
Next: Chapter 21: Flight Lesson: Auntie Fae, the human-sized fairy that raised Peter visits and tells the tale of Peter's first flying lesson. Inspired by the Disney Princess: My First Princess line by Fisher Price. The dolls are of the Disney Princesses when they were toddlers. Very cute. Now, if they would just make dolls of the guys, like, say, toddler Peter Pan...(hint, hint, ^_~)