Brother vs Brother; Duel Between the Stars

Chapters

Swing of Memories
Symbol of Friendship
Needle Ceiling
Fiendish Chain
Painful Choice
Monster Reborn
Nightmare Wheel
Shining Hope Road
Reversal of Fate
Unending Nightmare
The Reason This Story is Rated M
Future Glow

Swing of Memories

It was a hot summer afternoon as two young boys ran through the woods near their home. The path they took was an old dirt one, worn down from the countless people before them twisting in all sorts of directions to avoid the large trees and bushes while the occasional trash littered the sides. There was even a small creek which the pair had to jump over to avoid getting their shoes wet. The course started out simple enough, but the deeper they got into the woods, the more they began to notice the gentle incline which made the trek all the more strenuous on their young bodies. Thanks to the many trees which towered over the two, there was some degree of shade to protect them from the scorching heat of the sun as it tried to pierce the leaves above. But still the boys could feel the heat pressing on all sides, sweat drenching their shirts and rolling down their legs. To make the whole thing more unpleasant, the two of them felt like they were being chased by every mosquito in the forest as their buzzing filled their ears.

After what seemed like forever, the two made it to the end of the trail: the top of a hill where the forest cleared up a bit. There the sun shined at its brightest, its direct light being felt on the skin of both boys as they entered. The first to make it into the clearing was a proud looking boy wearing a red shirt with seven shooting stars on it. Despite the amount of sweat on him, the boy bounced up and down as he waited for the other to get there. With each bounce his brand new light up sneakers began to shine.

As for the second, he was not as energetic. Shambling into the clearing, this boy came to a complete halt before placing his hands on his knees while taking long deep breaths. He was more drenched than the first, several large droplets of sweat falling from his face as he looked like he was about to puke. His clothing was plainer than the first, looking older but still well cared for than the first with a constellation on the front.

“I win again!” cheered Star Chaser as he punched the air in front of him several times, as if he were beating up an invisible foe. As he continued to move, his brother continued to wheeze and gasp for air.

“What…ever,” Star Hunter gasped before gulping. Chaser rolled his eyes while still grinning at this.

“So, how does it feel to lose to your little brother?” asked Chaser, still bouncing around like he had all the energy in the world as he looked at his brother. Despite them being a year apart, many people around Hollow Shades still mistook them for twins most of the time as both of them were around the same height, had the same light brown skin with darker brown hair, as well as the same yellow eyes. Eyes, people stated, that almost looked like the slitted eyes of a predator.

“I…told you,” gasped Hunter as he rolled backwards to land on his ass before going onto his back. He then closed his eyes to protect them from the sun while his limbs sprawled out in all directions. “I…didn’t want…to race you. Too…hot. I just…wanted…to read. In…AC.”

“Come on,” said Chaser, still bouncing but his smile had faltered slightly as he looked at his brother. “Just say that I won. Or we could do a best of three so I can show you who's better! I can do this all day!” Then, much to Chaser’s delight, Hunter rolled over with a groan. Slowly he got up and onto his feet facing the shadowy trail leading back into town. The younger boy could feel the excitement racing through him. Another chance to show up his big brother. Another chance to prove he was better than him in every way possible!

“Forget it,” said Hunter, causing Chaser to stop dead in his tracks. Hunter didn’t turn around, just stumbling a few times as he walked back into the woods where the shadows quickly surrounded him. “I only did this because mom said I had to. Now I need to take a shower.”

Now Chaser could feel his anger rising as he watched his brother’s back. “Then just say I won! How amazing I was!” Chaser yelled, his voice echoing through the hills and woods around him. Now he stood there, staring at his brother’s back and panting a little as a breeze blew through the woods. Hunter didn’t move at all. He didn’t walk away or turn around or anything. He just stood there like some idiot! Then, finally, Hunter turned to look at him and Chaser would never forget the look he gave him. Those eyes…the look they gave him was something he had never seen anyone else give him before. And he didn’t like it. No, not at all!

“Chaser,” Hunter said, his eyes locked onto Chaser’s. “Just stop it already.” Then slowly Hunter began to walk away, further into the shadows of the trees leaving Chaser standing there in the blinding light which seemed to get brighter and brighter along with his anger.

With a start, Chaser suddenly opened his eyes as the dream abruptly ended. For a moment, he blinked in confusion as he lifted his head off the small white desk the prison had provided him with. His neck felt sore, forcing him to turn his head to the side in order to crack it followed by a small feeling of bliss that went all the way from his head to his toes. As he turned his head the other way, Chaser glanced at his tiny cell. The room was mostly bare save a cot which was attached to the wall, a toilet/sink, and the desk which was also attached to the wall. The only thing to pass for a chair was a small stone pillar that came out of the ground, preventing Chaser from using it as a weapon or the like. This was all he had now. He had gone from a large bedroom with a walk-in closet and attached bathroom, three plasma TVs, all the best clothing, a fortune in Duel Monsters cards…to this shit!

While standing there, Chaser slowly turned to look at the piece of shit cot once more and wondered why he hadn’t slept on that. Sure it was garbage compared to what he was used to, but it had to be more comfortable than sleeping on that dumb stone pillar and laying his head on the desk! And, what was with that dream? Yawning loudly as he began to stretch, scratching his sides through the ugly orange jumpsuit he was now forced to wear, his thoughts went to what he had seen while asleep. It wasn’t a dream he normally had, different from the ones where he was surrounded by women who knew their rightful place was to serve his needs or being showered by the endless praise he deserved. Heck, his retard brother was in it and Chaser wasn’t beating the ever living shit out of him as people cheered! No, this was…something else. Thinking about it, it was almost like a memory. Yeah. Now that he thought about it, Chaser remembered running through that old patch of woodland with his retarded brother all the time back when they were young. That hilltop sure brought him back. That was where he had gotten his first girl drunk, laughing at her as she puked all over the place as well as doing some other things that he would never say out loud. Not now or here anyways.

Chaser frowned, his head tilting downwards a bit so that he was now looking at his attire including the crappy shoes he had been given. Everything he was, everything he could do, was gone. All because of Hunter! All because his brother wouldn’t roll over like the sack of shit he was back when they were taking their ‘entrance’ exam at Crystal Prep. He was the reason Chaser had been caught cheating, he was the reason he had that lifelong ban, he was the reason he was sent to jail! If it hadn’t been for that retard, then Chaser would be living the life surrounded by hot babes in sexy schoolgirl uniform preparing to enter the world of dueling. And from there it would have only gotten better. Heck, with his no doubt popularity he would have been able to do anything after words. Maybe even President!

Feeling his anger rising, Chaser turned to look at his desk. There was not much there: one of the decks he had been allowed to bring with him and several torn pieces of newspaper. Chaser’s eyes narrowed at the paper as he remembered the night before. Normally he wouldn’t have read anything from such trash that didn’t include even the merest mention of him! But this…this was something he had to read for the picture headlining the article was of Hunter as he held a card in one hand that Chaser had never seen before. Nor had anyone else for that matter! Quickly reading the article told him that his retarded brother had received a one of a kind deck from the creator of Duel Monsters himself! While the article didn’t give any specifics about the deck, the moron who wrote it wondered if Hunter was destined for great things like other duelists of note who had also received their own personal one of a kind decks. On and on it went, talking about that dumb ass Hunter when it should have been praising someone of note! Someone like HIM! By the time Chaser got to the part about the Canterlot Duel Team, Chaser had had enough and began to rip the paper into thousands of tiny pieces.

Chaser’s eyes turned to look at his deck, the anger beast within him calming down until it began to purr in delight. Oh, it wouldn’t be like this for much longer. That old man, what’s-his-name, had seen just how special Chaser was, even showing him something that he didn’t know about himself. He, the great Star Chaser, had magic. Untapped for so long, the powers of the Shadow Games were now at his fingertips. Now he could draw whatever card he wanted, create his own cards to help him, and best of all could harness the power of a Shadow Game. All the tools he needed to take back what was his. To return to the spotlight where he rightfully belonged and punishing those who dared to stand in his way.

Flash Sentry, the loser who caught him putting rat poison in people’s water bottles before telling on him like the rat he was.

Applejugs, the country hick who defeated him and prevented him from being part of the Friendship Cup!

Sombra, the fool who got him that lifelong ban!

He would make them all pay! But none would pay more that Star Hunter! The one who started this all! The one who looked at him like-

“Star! Breakfast!” barked a guard as he opened Chaser’s cell. Chaser looked at him, angered by the way this man spoke to him. Who did he think he was talking to? He was no mere criminal like the rest of the losers in this place! He was greatness made flesh! He was Star Chaser!

“Let’s go Star,” repeated the guard in annoyance, but Chaser wasn’t looking at him anymore. Instead, he looked at his deck and the power it gave him. Then he glanced over at the torn newspaper again before making up his mind. The guard was speaking again, but Chaser wasn’t listening to him anymore. And he would never listen to him again.

Star Hunter was laying on his back, his eyes feeling so very heavy at that moment. He could feel the soft, cool grass pressing against his back while a slightly chilled wind blew through the field he was laying in. Not the type of chilly of a winter’s day, but the refreshing chilly one feels after a hot summer’s day or just working really hard. Which one was it? Hunter didn’t know or care at that moment. Taking in a breath, he could smell the crispness that comes from a pleasant fall day as the leaves were being crushed under people’s shoes.

But there was more. He could feel his head resting on someone’s lap while a hand gently stroked his hair. The hand was slightly bigger than his or Moondancer’s, yet was so gentle and loving. The teen tried his best to look upwards to see who it was, but his head refused to move from this comfortable position and his eyelids were drooping. All he could see was the shadowy outline of a woman who seemed…familiar to him. It wasn’t his mother nor his aunt, of that he was certain.

“You look so tired,” said the woman, confirming to him that it wasn’t any relative of his. Nor was it Moondancer. Her voice was clearly older than his girlfriend’s, holding tones of authority as well as kindness that mixed perfectly together. Hunter tried to rack his brain to figure out who it might be, but he became distracted as he became aware that they were not alone. Who they were, again, Hunter did not know for all he could see where their silhouettes were. These shadowy figures surrounded the two, some sitting on their knees while others stood by him. But despite not being able to see who they were, Hunter seemed to know them as well. They were familiar somehow. What’s more, they brought with them various scents; things like strawberry shortcake, onion soup, soap bubbles, and more. The more he breathed in these scents, the more his eyes wanted to close for he knew he would be safe here.

Yet, something else compelled his eyes to remain open. As if he had something important he needed to do. Something he wasn’t finished with. Something that wouldn’t let him rest until it was finally taken care of. A burden of sorts.

As if to confirm this, another figure appeared near his feet. “It seems the wolf is breaking out of its cage,” said the new figure. It was a woman, speaking in a voice that was both smooth and seductive. Yet there was a hint of a bite to her voice, a danger hidden in the undertones that was nearly impossible for someone to pick up on. This person, whoever it was, would make a deadly enemy should he ever be on her bad side.

“That is regrettable,” said the woman whose lap Hunter was currently using. She then let out a sigh, never stopping her stroking. “Master, don’t worry. When the beast comes for you, we shall remain by your side. And then, when it is over, you may finally rest.”

Hunter had no idea what they were talking about. As much as he wanted to ask them what was going on, who they were, and so many other questions that were on the tip of his tongue, he found he lacked the strength to do so. Yes, he was tired. So very tired of…something. All he wanted to do now was rest, let go of his burden. So, rather than saying anything, he just laid there feeling the soft touch of this woman as she stroked his hair while waiting for his eyes to finally close.

Never knowing that this was all a dream. A dream that would end in mere moments when his nearby alarm clock would sound.

Star Chaser’s head was thrown back, laughing with insane glee as the world around him descended into chaos.The morons who had been in this prison were in a state of panic, their tiny minds unable to understand what they had just seen. Fires lit anything and everything that could burn, including a few people who had gotten too close. The walls were cracked, some spots looking like massive spider webs while other parts of the building had crumbled. Large chunks of the wall had fallen down, crushing several of the peons who guarded this place. In all honesty, it was their fault they were dead. Had they just let Chaser out then they would still have their meaningless lives. But none of that compared to what was in front of Chaser! A massive hole in the wall leading to the outside, created with the power of his magic! Between him and his freedom were several guards laying face down on the ground, their eyes devoid of all life as their stiffening fingers continued to hold onto their shitty cards from their shitty decks.

Chaser continued to laugh. What utter fools! Did they really think they had it within them to defeat someone like him? The great Star Chaser, the greatest human being who had ever lived? He who had been a star athlete since the day he was born, top of his class, and graced with amazing good looks? Not to mention one of the best duelists who ever lived? The whole idea that fools like them could even begin to challenge Star Chaser was a joke! At least their lives would have some merit having ended by his hands, their souls and magic going to feed his own greatness for the battle ahead of him. Oh, he just wanted to twirl around, basking in the sight of his power. But, alas, he would have to show some self control. As powerful as he was, these duels and use of his magic had drained him considerably. Already the adrenaline in his system was beginning to wean ever slightly.

“You,” came a gasping voice that was familiar to Chaser. The teen turned his head to the side, spotting an old blue skinned man with goatish features and white hair. It was the old man who had told him he could do magic, shown him what he was capable of, guiding its usage. Now, what’s his name had his back to the wall, his orange jumpsuit turning red as a jagged piece of rock was buried in his side. Yet as the life slowly drained out of him, the old fool kept his eyes on Chaser.

“Well, well,” said Chaser as he moved over to the old man, grinning from ear to ear. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be down in the mess hall having your moldy pudding?”

“This…wasn’t the plan,” said the old man. “We were supposed to…escape…together. We had…”

“Oh, the deal?” asked Chaser in a mocking tone. “Why should I help your wrinkly old ass escape when I have everything I need? Still, you should feel honored…whatever your name is. You helped free the greatest human being in the history of the world!”

“Fool,” spat the man, coughing slightly as he did. Blood was seeping out from between his lips while all the humor on Chaser’s face vanished due to that single word. He looked at whatever his name was as if he were a fresh pile of shit that had dropped in front of him, the sight and smell offending his senses. “You don’t… know everything. Only…so much…you can do…on your…own.”

“I say I’ve learned enough,” said Chaser coldly while moving away from the old fart. “Whatever else I need to learn I can figure it out on my own. Goodbye…whoever you are.” With that, Chaser turned and walked down the hallway towards the exit.

Author's Note

And thus it begins. I will be shooting for smaller chapters, hopefully posting them once a week. Hope you all enjoy

Symbol of Friendship

Laughter filled the living room of the apartment overlooking upper Canterlot. It was a large, spacious room that could easily fit over two dozen people in it without anyone feeling confined. It helped that there were no walls separating the kitchen from the dining room as well as the living room so as to give the place a more open feel to it. One of the walls was a large bay window which overlooked the city, perfectly positioned to allow the people inside to watch the sun set without any obstruction. The other walls were painted white with doorways leading to two of the three bedrooms in use at the moment. The floors were made of well polished wood with several rugs strategically placed here and there. Three white sofas, one two seater and two three seaters, were placed so that they boxed in a long, short table while also ensuring that no matter where you sat the people seated there had a perfect view of the TV attached to the wall. Much to Star Hunter’s dismay.

More laughter filled the room as the crowd watched what was on the screen, some of them nearly choking on their snacks which they got from the table. On it were various sized bowls of chips and pretzels as well as several different collared cans of soda. But there was something else; in the middle of the table was a large chocolate cake made by Pinkie Pie with the word ‘Congratulations’ written on the top with the backs of cards on either side. Several pieces had already been cut out, placed on paper plates with a stack of plastic forks next to them.

Right now, however, Star Hunter wasn’t eating a thing. Instead he sat in the two seater couch, next to his girlfriend Moondancer, dressed in a back denim jeans jacket with a white shirt underneath as well as regular jeans with his head buried in his hands. While Moondancer had a hand on his back, Hunter could hear her giggling both at his embarrassment as well as what was on the screen. Peeking from between his fingers, Hunter saw that her fits of amusement were causing crumbs to fall onto her purple sweatshirt and a matching plaid skirt. More than once she had to adjust her glasses (which were still bandaged along the nose area) so that they wouldn’t fall off her cute light yellowish gray face. The only thing that didn’t look a mess right now was her hair which was a brilliant amaranth with purple and violet streaks running down the middle, styled so that part of the top was tied up while the rest followed down her neck.

Off to the side on the couch whose back was facing the window were Wallflower Blush and Autumn Blaze. Wallflower was wearing her usual brown sweater and jeans, her dark green hair falling onto her lighter green freckled face as she laughed and barely able to hold onto her plate. Autumn was in the same boat as her friend as she too was having trouble sitting there due to all her laughter. Today she was wearing a new outfit, a top that looked like green scales along with a whitish open cut blouse and matching skirt. Her curly, lion-like mango colored hair bounced as she laughed while her cheeks turned red. Both girls also looked like at any time their laughter would cause tears to fall from their eyes.

Still, it was nothing compared to how Lightning Dust was reacting. The girl was on the opposite three seater, laying on her back. Her turquoise hands were on her stomach as she kicked the air in front of her over and over again as she howled in laughter, her amber hair slicked back as it rolled from side to side along with her head. Like with some of the others, she had food on her clothing which consisted of a black jacket with yellow lines going down her arms, a light blue shirt with a lightning bolt and three stars on it, and grey pants. It amazed Hunter that she could laugh like this for so long, seemingly never pausing to come up for air! Just out of reach from her legs was Pharynx, who was sitting there holding his plate away from Lightning. Thankfully he was not laughing like the others, but there was amusement in his face as he shifted his attention from Lightning to the screen and then back again. The only other guy in the room was wearing a white and blue striped long sleeve shirt and jeans over his dark cyan skin. His dark crimson hair was slicked back, except for two sections that seemed to stick up like horns.

“Can we please just turn this off?” begged Hunter, head still firmly resting in his hands as he heard another fit of laughter fill the room.

“Why?” laughed Lightning, grinning broadly as she got onto her elbows so she could look at the screen again. “This is priceless!”

Hunter let out another groan as he looked up sadly at the screen where an old home movie was playing. The quality of the film was not great, made from an old video camera that had belonged to Hunter’s dad before he begrudgingly switched to digital. What they were watching now was one of the many videos that had been transferred to DVD. DVDs that had been left at Hunter’s old home after his parents skipped town, taken in by his Aunt Star Chart before the house was put up for sale. DVDs that had been found by a snooping Lightning Dust.

The one they were currently watching was one of the oldest ones they had as indicated by the grating of the images, magnified thanks to the plasma TV. To be honest, Hunter couldn’t even remember where the film had been shot at. Some lake house his parents had rented when he was younger was the best guess he had. Hunter could tell that his father, or whoever was controlling the camera, was a far distance away from the action taking place: namely a mock sword fight between Hunter and Chaser. Both of them were using old, broken fishing poles designed for small children as their instruments of combat as they swung them around like they were a mix of broad swords and fencing weapons. It…It was so embarrassing for him to watch. Over and over they swung their makeshift weapons at each other, hitting arms and legs and even at times poking the other in the chest before knocking the other into the shallow, seaweed-invested water. Often the loser of the bout would come out while tugging the green water life off of his face or covered in muck. The worst they had seen so far was when the boy that had been Hunter came out of the water with a couple of crawfishes in his hair, causing him to panic as Chaser swatted them with his fishing pole.

“Come on, you looked so cute back then,” giggled Moondancer before placing a kiss on his cheek.

“It’s just some good natured ribbing,” said Pharynx, pausing from looking at the scene to watch Lightning roll off the couch in a fit of laughter. Now, even after falling on her back, she was still laughing like she had just heard the greatest joke of all time. “Just think of it as a humbling experience, Captain.”

“Yeah well,” began Hunter as saw Chaser jumping into the water, grabbing large handfuls of muck in both hands. Before the image of his younger brother could be shown hurling them at him, Hunter reached for the remote and turned off the screen. “Consider me humbled. And all good things must come to an end.”

As Hunter reached to grab his plate of cake again, the laughter was beginning to die down. Thankfully, Hunter’s action had not ruined the good mode of the celebration party for him being named Captain of the Canterlot Dueling Team and Lightning Dust being named Vice-Captain. Everyone was all smiles as they went back to their food…except Lightning Dust. The girl was crawling off the ground still laughing her head off like she had never seen two kids pretending to sword fight with fishing poles before. Or maybe what she thought was so funny was who those two kids would turn out to be. Regardless, Lightning managed to get onto her feet before plopping down into Pharynx’s lap. Much to his, as well as everyone else’s confusion.

“Yeah well, still don’t know why they made you Captain when you didn’t even win your match,” said Lightning as she took Pharynx’s plate for him. Quickly she took hold of the fork, scooping up a piece of cake, and then took a bite. “Wouldn’t it make sense to go with someone who won their duel? Like one of us girls?”

Moondancer rolled her eyes at this. “That was a bad match up,” she said. “Besides, Coach Luna was the one who picked him since he’s the only one in this room who passed the entrance exam at Crystal Prep.”

“Not to mention that you only won your match because of the cards he gave you,” added Pharynx causing Lightning to become a little nervous, gulping loudly. “Nearly all of us took some of Hunter’s cards and it helped us all out.”

“Also, he is the only one of us with a one of a kind deck,” said Wallflower. “I mean, who hasn’t dreamed of having the creator of Duel Monsters giving you a deck that no one else has? Then having that same man build us an area for dueling!”

“Speaking of which,” said Moondancer as she looked at Hunter. “How’s it going with that deck? Finally gotten the hang of it?”

Hunter didn’t respond right away, instead reaching for his belt where his deck box was firmly attached. With a flip, he opened the lid to pull out the numerous cards. “I think I have. It plays very differently than my old Shaddoll deck, but I was able to pick up on the game play fairly quickly. It did need some help from some other cards and, with what I’ve added, I’ll be able to use fusion, synchro, and XYZ monsters. So far, in all my practice matches with this deck, I’ve been able to use at least two of the three in one round.”

“That,” began Lightning as she stared at Hunter, pointing a fork in his direction. However, as the seconds passed, she seemed unable to come up with anything to say to counter any of the points raised. Or, maybe, it was sinking in that Coach Luna was the one with the final say thus making any argument with them mute. Finally she let out a sigh of defeat as she leaned back a bit into Pharynx’s chest. “Fine, I guess I can settle for being Vice Captain…for now at least. So oh wise leader, what’s it like being Captain?”

Hunter let out a small groan as he put his deck away. “So far a lot of meetings for the future,” he said while thinking back to when he was last inside Vice Principal/Coach Luna’s office. “On Monday I’m meeting with Principal Celestia and Coach Luna to go over rules. Things like dueling request form submissions, how school wide tournaments will be handled, recruitment of a JV Dueling Team, how practices are going to work, some tag team training, and so on. Just a lot of stuff to help get the team off the ground before we get our next match.”

“And…what am I doing?” asked Lightning as she raised an eyebrow.

Hunter let out a sigh before smiling at her slightly. “You get the dreaded duty of filling in for me with the team,” he said. “Basically, right now, you can schedule practices and run them however you see fit while I’m gone.”

For a moment, Lightning was silent as she took this in. Then she scooped up another piece of cake before pointing her fork at Hunter. “So, you’re telling me that I get all of the perks with none of the work?” she asked before eating her cake.

“Up until we’re done,” said Hunter. “And any other time I can’t make it to practice.”

“AWESOME!” cheered Lightning as she punched the air, still holding the fork. Bits of cake crumbs and frosting fell down on her, but she didn’t care at all. “Hey, maybe being Vice Captain won’t be so bad! And if I do a good job, maybe it’ll help me get your position next year. I can’t wait to tell Rainbow about that during soccer practice!”

“Guess that means the rumors are true then,” said Pharynx, causing Lightning to turn her head around to look at the boy she was still sitting on. “I heard a rumor that Coach Iron got canned. That and maybe you and Rainbow have made up.”

“Yeah, feels good now that we cleared the air. Even better now that I can put this awesome body to use,” said Lightning who oddly wiggled her rear on Pharynx’s lap a bit. Despite Lightning’s smirking face blocking most of his view, Hunter could still see a bit of Pharynx’s face. Enough to know that the other boy was blushing now. “We’re going to be busting so many heads that people will be talking about how awesome we are for years to come! Not to mention the duel between us!”

“So that is happening,” said Moondancer as she leaned forward in her seat, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. “I heard from Rainbow that you two still haven’t decided on a date to have your big throw down. Any reason why? I would have assumed that it would have been the first thing you two did as soon as you saw the dueling arena.”

Lightning smirked at that. “Well Four-Eyes, we plan on giving this our all,” she said. “Our decks got new support and we both agreed to give ourselves time to both get them and fine tune them. It’s going to be a duel on a whole other level.”

“Oh that reminds me,” said Pharynx. “I got something for you Lightning for your duel. If you wouldn’t mind getting up I could…” Lightning looked torn for a moment in Hunter’s eyes. Like she wanted to see what he had gotten her but really didn’t want to get up. For a brief moment, he spared a glance at Moondancer who shot him back a knowing like. Both of them had been speculating on whether or not these two were into each other or if there would be a love triangle between Pharynx, Lightning, and Sweetie Drops. When he looked back, Hunter saw that Lightning had decided to stand up with a groan allowing a very awkward Pharynx to quickly dig into his pocket for a card encased in a plastic cover. He handed the card to Lightning who looked at it briefly before a hand went up to cover her mouth.

“I,” she began before suddenly surprising everyone as she rushed Pharynx, pressing her body tightly against his while their lips locked for several long seconds. When it was over, Pharynx looked like he had no idea what had just happened as Lightning just sat next to him like nothing had happened at all. She was just grinning as she stared at the card in her hand. “This card. I have been opening packs all week hoping to get this card! Rainbow isn’t going to know what hit her!”

“That…I…” mumbled Pharynx as he stared into space, his cheeks burning red.

“Looks like there’s someone else who doesn’t know what hit him,” whispered Moondancer into Hunter’s ear.

“Hey, don’t forget about us!” said Autumn loudly, gaining everyone’s attention. “Because we have something to celebrate as well. Principal Celestia has given the thumbs up on this year’s play!”

Lightning let out a small groan. “Please tell me you aren’t doing another Disney play,” she groaned. “I am so sick of seeing people putting on their own Frozen or High School Musical!”

At that, Autumn puffed out her chest while holding her head high. “Please, give me a little credit here. We decided to go with a musical classic: The Phantom of the Opera! And it is going to be awesome! I already have Trixie working on the pyrotechnics and other special effects so we can get it as close to the original Broadway production! She’s already brought in several samples and they are amazing! Even better, I have already picked out our star: Wallflower Blush!” At that point, Wallflower (who had been drinking her soda at the time) looked like she was about to choke. She had to set her drink down, coughing and pounding her chest as Hunter and Pharynx got up to help her. But before either of them could take more than a few steps, the girl seemed to calm down.

“Me?” gasped Wallflower as the two boys went back to their seats.

“Of course you,” said Autumn as she wrapped an arm around her friend. “There is no one better suited for the role. You shall play the ever important role of Christine, the chorus girl who has always sung in the background and never noticed until you are finally given your time to shine thanks to the help of the mysterious Phantom. There you will become entangled in mystery, death, passion, romance!”

“I guess when you put it that way,” began Wallflower, looking down while her entire face as well as her ears were tinted scarlet. Yet, before she could finish her sentence, the door to the apartment opened with a bang. All of the members of the Dueling Team jumped in their seats, looking over to see a woman talking on her phone.

“And I’m telling you it’s forged,” growled Hunter’s Aunt Star Chart into the phone, slamming the door to the apartment behind her before making a bee-line to the fridge. Even from where Hunter sat, he could see that Star Chart’s free hand was clenched in an angry fist as she looked menacingly before her. It didn’t stay closed for long as she quickly opened the fridge, grabbing a can of beer, and then twirling around while kicking the door closed with her foot. In the process, Star Chart’s long flowing dark indigo hair swirled around her but not to obstruct her piercing yellow, almost slitted eyes. Today she was wearing a black, form fitting dress over her grayish skin. Finally, she was also wearing her silver cross around her neck which she always wore no matter what.

Everyone watched her as she brought her head back to down some of the beer, before quickly shooting her head back up. “Listen to me; you’d better have proof that I signed that document because I’m willing to fight this in court if I have to! So make all the threats you want but you won’t be seeing a single penny from me!” Harshly, she ended the call before looking like she was ready to throw the phone on the ground before stomping on it. She seemed to reconsider this, thankfully, as she saw that there were guests. That or she realized she was about to destroy a $1000 phone.

“Sorry about that,” she said, walking over to the teens before plopping down on the couch next to Pharynx, her well sized breasts bouncing as she did so. Both teens on the couch stared at her, Lightning shooting an annoyed glared at the mounds while Pharynx looked more like he wanted to look away but found it very difficult.

“What was that about?” asked Hunter as he watched his aunt gulp down more beer.

“Nothing much,” said Aunt Chart as she moved the half drunk can away from her mouth. “Just the First Canterlot Bank demanding that the overdue loans your parents got were paid. Right now they’re on the line for over one hundred thousand dollars.”

“Well, that explains how we were getting by without either of them working,” muttered Hunter, thinking back to the last time he had seen his parents. He could still see them sitting in front of the TV, fast food wrappings littered across the floor along with assorted junk. Just sitting there watching old footage of Chaser, crying over his fall from grace as the house became more and more unlivable. They barely even seemed to register that he was leaving; paying more attention to one of the awards Chaser had gotten which had become uneven. Not even the final notice from the Hollow Shades Credit Union had seemed to get their attention. Hunter then let out a heavy sigh. “So, why are they calling you?”

Aunt Star Chat let out a dark laugh before setting her drink down on the table. “Yeah, I was kind of wondering that as well until, low and behold, they told me that apparently I was a co-signer on the loans.” Again, Star Chart chuckled darkly. “Probably the only way the bank would give them a penny. Anyways, since they can’t find those two, they’re demanding that I make payments in their place. Like that’ll happen.”

“I’m sorry,” said Hunter, guilt building up in his gut. But almost at once, Aunt Star Chart held up her hand.

“Hey kiddo, I’m not blaming you in the slightest,” she said, her eyes softening as she looked at Hunter. Slowly she gave him the kind smile she usually reserved just for him when he was having a bad time at family gatherings and the like. “The only person who you are truly responsible for is yourself. And don’t worry about me; I can handle a couple paper pushers like them.” She then waved him off before he could say another word. “But enough of all this downer talk. We’re at a party right now! So let’s celebrate while we can!”

This got a cheer from the rest of the team, Hunter giving his aunt a small smile as she reached over to pick up her beer can. He watched as she held it up high, as if to make a toast, only for there to be a loud knock at the door. Everyone became silent, Hunter seeing in the eyes of everyone there the same questions: Were they too loud and the neighbors came to demand they calm down? Or was it the bank, perhaps sending some loan collector? They all sat in silence for another moment or two waiting. When no more sounds were heard, Aunt Star Chart turned back to them while lowering her can back to her lips. But before she could take a slip there was more knocking on the door, louder this time.

“Fine,” growled the lone adult in the room as she got up. Quickly she made her way across the apartment, the knocking continuing the entire time. When she reached it, the woman swung the door open while looking like she was ready to tell whoever it was off. Only her words died in her throat as she saw two men in suits and trench coats standing at the door. And one of them was holding a police badge.

“Is this the home of Star Chart and Star Hunter?” asked the one holding the badge. When Aunt Star Chart nodded in the affirmative, the man nodded as he put the badge back into his coat pocket. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but there has been an incident. Star Chaser has escaped.”

Author's Note

Well its the next week

Needle Ceiling

The next morning found Hunter alone at the kitchen table, a bowl of cereal turning to mush as he swirled his spoon around and around without paying any real attention to what he was doing. The silence of the apartment was almost deafening, the lone sound being the ticking of the clock on the wall. Near his bowl was his smartphone, the time showing that he had been sitting here for an hour without eating. Since he had gotten up, he had received several messages already. Moondancer as well as her parents asking how he was doing, Autumn Blaze, Wallflower, a couple from Pharynx, Coach Luna, and even one from Lightning. Yet despite the warm glow inside as he read their (mostly) concerns and well wishes, Hunter couldn’t bring himself to think of anything more than a short text saying thanks. All he could really think about was the news he had heard yesterday.

Now, unlike what most people would think, Hunter had not stayed up all night staring at the ceiling replaying the conversation he had had with the police. No, his aunt had the foresight to give him some sleeping pills which took him to a dreamless sleep which prevented him from having the pleasant dream on the hill. Sad since, right now, he felt like he needed that comfort from the land of dreams more than ever. Still the pills had done their job, Hunter sleeping longer than he normally would have even on this weekend morning. Yet now that he was awake, what would keep the memories from coming back.

As he swirled around his cereal some more, Hunter’s mind began to replay the events of the day before once more as if it were on an endless loop in his head. Hunter’s friends and teammates had excused themselves, exiting the room as the two officers were invited into the apartment. The older of the two introduced them as detectives from the Canterlot Precinct, his name being Detective By-The-Books while the younger named Hard Case. By-The-Books seemed like the more…in control of the two. He was an aged man, gentleman-like with lime colored skin while his hair and thick mustache that covered his upper lip were grayed with age. Still, there was something sharp about his eyes as he spoke to the two.

Hard Case, by contrast, seemed more like the impulsive detective that would play second fiddle on a cop show. Beneath his coffee stained shirt, tie, and trench coat the man had light yellow colored skin with orange hair. When he had passed Hunter originally, Hunter could pick up the strong scent of coffee on the man’s breath. That, along with the man’s twitchy hands as well as the circles around his eyes, told the teen that this was a man who had been getting very little rest. This was confirmed as the man went to work looking around the apartment, only holding up a search warrant in passing without so much as a word. But his silence was short lived as he began to check the kitchen, looking in every large cabinet before banging his hand slightly. Hard Case had sworn loudly that this before throwing his hat across the room in a fit of rage.

Thankfully, By-The-Books made up for Hard Case’s behavior as he allowed Hunter’s friends to leave before informing them of what happened.

“Video footage of the event has been distorted, but we have been able to piece together what happened,” he told them in a calm tone, his eyes scanning them as the two listened in. “There was an explosion of some kind near the wall. Me and Hard Case were some of the first officers on the scene and…” At that point, By-The-Books seemed to grow a little pale as he paused in his account of what happened. But he collected himself quickly enough. “It, well, it wasn’t pretty. A good number of prison guards were killed there as well as some inmates. So many were shaken and still in shock by it all. The most we were able to get out of those who were there was that Star Chaser was at the scene, looking like he was waiting for something to happen. I, ah, tend to believe their word since most of them…lost friends in that explosion. We also have an eye witness who survived the explosion, a man by the name of Grogar. He’s in the prison hospital right now and the doctors told me it’s a miracle he survived.”

Hunter had watched his aunt close her eyes for a moment, a small prayer whispered under her breath before she looked at By-The-Books. Her gaze was stony however, her face hardened for what was to happen next. “Thank you for telling this. But, is there a reason why we have a man punching my couch?” Indeed, at that moment, Hard Case was throwing off couch cushions wildly following by punching the couch as if he expected it to attack him.

“Well,” By-The-Books had said, “when we first arrived and realized that your nephew was missing, we checked his cell to see if there were any traces of materials that could have been used to make an explosion. Checked everything and found nothing. So, that leaves us with the very real possibility that he had outside help. We already alerted the state police looking for his parents so we just need to make sure-”

“You think we’re hiding him,” interrupted Hunter, unable to control himself at the time. Yes, he could have seen his parents breaking his brother out of jail very easily. Selling what little left they had, pooling money together all to get their precious son out of jail. Just thinking about it had made Hunter’s stomach do a backflip. Neither of them had given a damn when he left so just thinking that they would go that far for Chaser really hurt. As he had calmed down a little, Hunter had to admit from an outsiders point of view it made sense to think that he and his aunt would be likely suspects in trying to break out Chaser. Unlike his parents, they had the money to potentially do something like.

Oddly, By-The-Books had given Hunter a small smile. “Sharp kid,” he had said before shaking his head. “Honestly, no. Most of us don’t believe that either of you would help Chaser to escape or harbor him. Given you testified against him and Chaser’s own psych files show how he, well, let’s just say he’s not very fond of Hunter and leave it at that. But, with that said, we still need to search the house just in case.” At that moment, Hard Case had let out another yell before throwing his hat into the cake. By-The-Books took a deep breath, no doubt to keep himself calm. “With that said, what we read as well as talking to the inmates tells us there’s a good chance he’s looking for revenge.”

Star Chart brought a hand to her forehead, slightly shaking it as she sighed. “Yeah, I can see him doing that as well,” she had said softly.

“Right now we’re doing everything possible to find him,” said By-The-Books in a tone meant to reassure them. “Right now, me and my partner are still looking for the people who helped Chaser escape. We’re looking into all of the inmates from the last prison Chaser was in, seeing if he had any friends who might have been released recently while the Hollow Shades Sheriff’s office is looking into the crowd he used to hang around down there. We have State Troopers and their dogs looking for him as we speak. Wanted posters have been sent to every police station in the state. And, as much as I don’t like this, given the nature of his escape a bounty has been put on his head.” As By-The-Books spoke, the older detective pulled out his smartphone and began to type something down. “But in case he does somehow slip by all of that, I’m going to be sending the two of you a link for an emergency response app.”

Aunt Star Chart had blinked at that. “There’s an app for that?”

“There’s an app for everything nowadays,” By-The-Books had said with a small smile on his face. “Nothing too complicated. All you have to do is push the app icon and it will send an emergency alert to the department. From there, we’ll be able to track your location using your phone’s GPS.”

In the present, Hunter sighed as he looked down at his now uneatable food. He could feel the anger rising within him as he looked down at the now completely dissolved cereal. How could this have happened? He thought he was finally done dealing with Chaser directly! He was gone, locked away for at least the next hundred years! Hunter was preparing to get his own life in order to step out of the shadow Chaser and his reputation had cast over him! So who in their right mind would break him out?!?

Perhaps that was what worried Hunter the most. The police were right, someone had to help break him out. Someone who was willing to put up with Chaser, willing to risk their lives and freedom just to set him free. And whoever these people were, they cared about other people’s lives as much as Chaser did. Willing to kill anyone who got in their way. Guilt now washed over Hunter’s soul, slowly realizing that he was more worried about how this affected him than the lives lost. The lives that would be lost should Chaser remain free…

Footsteps echoed through the apartment, Hunter’s head rising up just in time to see his aunt approaching him. He saw that she was wearing a short white jacket over her black dress and a briefcase in one hand. Aunt Star Chart looked at him for a moment, her expression unreadable for a moment before she smiled at him.

“I’m heading out for a bit,” she said as she reached out to ruffle Hunter’s hair, much like she used to do when he was younger. “Try to have that bowl finished by the time I get back. On second thought, better dump it. Do you want money for pizza?”

“No, I’m…” As much as Hunter wanted to say he was ‘good’, that single word refused to leave his lips. Instead he sighed as he looked at his aunt for a moment. “Didn’t know you worked the weekends.”

“Normally I don’t,” said Star Chart with a small smile. “But I just got a text from my boss. We’re meeting with a producer who wants to use one of our studios. Guess it can’t wait till Monday.” Hunter tried to mirror his aunt’s smile. Despite being young, she held a powerful position at a nearby studio that helped shoot everything from movies to television shows. And, to be honest, it sounded like she did a lot. Not only did she help oversee the rental agreements for who could use what studio, but she also helped hire the talent behind the camera, make sure they were all safe and fed, and oversaw the screening of the actors. Sure most of them were bit players, but they were still actors. Still, while he knew her job as important, he still wished for her to stay. Maybe just say she’s sick or something.

Perhaps some of that desire showed in his face as Aunt Star Chat set down her briefcase before wrapping her arm around him in a brief hug. “Hey, don’t worry about your brother. Everything will be alright. The police are looking for him right now.”

“I,” began Hunter, but he stopped himself as he looked away from his aunt. Was there any point in lying and saying he wasn’t worried? That he would be alright? Maybe he might sound like a little kid if he started complaining, but wasn’t lying just as bad? God, he just couldn’t win. “I think you should stay home. Just for a couple of days. I mean Chaser…he…what if the people who helped him escape…”

“Hunter,” said Aunt Star Chart, hugging him a little tighter for a moment. “I can’t stay locked up here forever, that’s no way to live. I’ll go crazy jumping at every shadow!”

“But-”

“Listen,” said Aunt Star Chat, releasing Hunter as she took a step back and holding up a single finger in the process. “We are not going to let Chaser ruin our lives. The police are out there right now, hunting him down. So I am going to go out there and live my life! Besides, whoever these friends of his are, they were willing to blow open the wall of a prison. Do you really think they would be squeamish about blowing up our apartment building just to get to us? At least this way, we’re on the move.”

Hunter made several sounds, trying to say something to the reasoning of his aunt. Something that would make her see his reason. But, in the end, all he could do was slump in his chair. “I…just don’t understand this,” was all he could mumble in the end.

“Just call it the price of freewill,” said Aunt Star Chart, a hand lightly touching her cross. For a moment the two just remained where they were, saying nothing until his aunt picked up her briefcase. “Well, I’m off. Be sure to get something that won’t make you sick, ok? And don’t worry about Chaser. Either his vices will catch up with him or the cops will.”

About an hour later, Star Chart pulled her car in front of studio 137. It was a large, long rectangular building at the edge of the property where she worked colored white with large bay doors that looked like an airplane could pass through. As she set her car into park, she glanced around and was unsurprised to see that there was no one around. No one from costumes were pulling large racks of colorful outfits, the props people were nowhere to be seen, and not even a trace of people riding their carts from one place to the next. The only other thing out here was a lone, parked golf cart belonging to Star Chart’s boss, informing her that she was indeed in the correct location. Not surprising since, while most of their studios were in use right now, the ones surrounding studio 137 were empty.

Briefly, as she unbuckled her safety belt, Star Chart wondered why this studio was requested. Why not one closer to the hustle and bustle? All of them were soundproof so noise couldn’t be a factor. If the issue was with the foot traffic, they didn’t need to go so far. But, there had to be a reason. Even if she didn’t understand it. She had once met a producer who wanted studio 69, and only 69, for a movie he was going to shoot and was willing to wait until it became available.

Exiting the car, Star Chart headed towards a smaller door inside the large bay ones, holding her briefcase in one hand and her phone in the other to check if there were any other messages for her. She didn’t see any other cars around so maybe she was early? With skill born from doing this plenty of times, she opened the door without dropping or putting away either item to see that the lights were already lit inside. There before her was a massive glass (or at the very least made of a transparent material) water tank, large and deep enough for a small whale to swim in comfortably. Glancing up, she saw there were two platforms on either side each with its own color. The one closest to her was blue while the opposite one was red. Easily she recalled that this was originally supposed to be part of a game show to add a bit more excitement for televised duels. The idea was that two duelists would have a game, standing at either platform as the dueled and the loser would be dropped into the water.

The game had its appeal but there was one small problem the creators somehow forgot to consider: the loser’s cards would be ruined! Yeah. The big hook for the show was also the game’s biggest weakness. No one was willing to risk an expensive deck for this! Heck, there was even a chance that the winners platform might drop them in the water as well if there was a malfunction! The creators of the show tried to salvage it as best they could, throwing out ideas like dropping them in jello instead or building several different ‘arenas’ for the duelists with some form of penalty should they lose. Sadly for them, they had spent most of their budget on the tank and were unable to get anymore. With their main feature useless, half finished alternative areas, and bills piling up, the idea was eventually scrapped and their unfinished labors left here to rot.

As Star Chart walked in, the only sound being the clicking of her shoes against the ground, a sense of worry growing inside her. Something seemed very wrong here. Where was her boss? He should have been waiting at the door for her. Did he spill his coffee again and was trying to dry himself off before the renters arrived? No, she didn’t see a trace of coffee on the ground or a large-

A moan caught her attention, causing Chart to freeze where she stood. For several long moments, she remained where she was straining her ears to hear the sound again. When it came again, Star Chart’s eyes widened in fear for now she could make out that it sounded like the noise was coming from a man. She turned to look where the sound was coming from and, when she looked at the audience stands, she saw her boss. He was there, lying on the ground in front of the seats with a small pool of blood forming around his head. Without thinking, Star Chart dropped everything as she rushed towards him. When she was close enough, Chart slid on her knees and coming to a halt beside the older man not caring about the blood getting on either her or her clothing. Instead her focus was on checking the man’s pulse.

“Chart,” wheezed the older man. “Get…”

“I know, I know,” gasped Star Chart, feeling her eyes stinging as she felt his pulse weakening. “I’ll get an ambulance on the double. Just stay with me, ok?”

“Out,” gasped the man. “T-Trap.” Star Chart stared at her boss for a moment, her thoughts jumbled as she tried to understand what he was saying. Was it the concussion talking? Her answer soon came when she heard a noise behind her.

“Hello Aunt Bitch,” came the cold, familiar voice of her nephew. But before she could turn around, she felt something strike her back and her world went dark.

Star Chaser breathed heavily as he watched his aunt crumble to the ground like the sack of shit that she was next to the pathetic old man who would soon die. Looking down he saw that her face was near the blood while her cross had landed right into the pool. That was good since Chaser didn’t want to get anymore filth on his body than what was necessary. For there his eyes went to look at the old fart whose very appearance offended Chaser’s eyes. The man’s eyes were no longer in focus, looking glossy, while his lips trembled like how a loser’s would while he made annoying sounds. What made him even more pathetic was that he looked like he was going to cry. Honestly, he had finally done something useful with his life by being the pawn of someone amazing like Chaser and all he could do was cry!

“Here,” said Chaser as he tossed a phone onto the man’s chest. It bounced off of him and onto the floor, sliding a bit before it stopped under one of the audience’s seats. “There’s your phone back.” The old man let out another annoying noise, but Chaser was no longer paying any attention to it. Instead, his eyes shifted back to the woman he had just knocked out.

Chaser’s grip on the wooden club he held tightened as he looked at her, a feeling of utter rage and revulsion taking hold of him. This woman, his aunt, offended him. Her existence was an affront to him and it sickened him to know that they were related by blood! She always did ever since he was a child.

A young Chaser, around the age of five, moved quietly through the halls of the house as silently as a vampire. Shadows danced on the walls every time a car passed by, creating figures that made Chaser’s eyes dart away quickly. A part of Chaser wanted to speed things along, to hurry and get to the kitchen so he could get something to drink before going back to bed. But he knew he had to be careful as he knew he wasn’t supposed to be up this late at night. Hunter had done the same thing a couple of nights ago and was punished by not being allowed to watch cartoons.

So Chaser moved through the halls, doing his best not to get caught. Yet, something felt wrong. He knew that his mom and dad were usually up this late, watching boring and stupid people on something called the news. So why was it so quiet? Were they hiding in the shadows, behind the chairs and sofa like they did when they played hide and seek with him?

As Chaser turned a corner, he saw that light was coming out the kitchen door and he could hear voices. For a moment, Chaser wanted to turn back and head for his bed before anyone saw him. Or make a break for the bathroom so he could get his drink like that. But curiosity got the better of him as Chaser wanted to know what was going as it sounded like there were more than just his mom and dad. Did they have a late night guest or something? So taking extra care to be light on his feet, Chaser made his way towards the kitchen with his back pressed against the wall like those old people did in those shows Hunter liked to watch. Bit by bit, he made his way over until he was at the doorway before finally peeking in.

The first thing Chaser saw was the back of a woman, sitting at the table facing his parents. It took Chaser a moment or two before he realized that this was his Aunt Star Chart. He should have known it was her since she was visiting from college. What college was, Chaser really didn’t know or care to know. Pulling his head back, Chaser was about to head back down the hall when he heard something. Something to do with him.

“I just think that you might be overdoing it a bit with Chaser,” said his Aunt. Her voice sounded tired, like she wanted to take a nap or something.

His dad let out a laugh. “Are you kidding me?” he asked. “Have you seen what that boy can do? He picks up sports faster than any other kid on the block! Already he’s throwing the ball the right way, not that underhand crap. Smart too, figuring out puzzles and questions better than other kids his age. Heck, he’s even dueling better than Hunter! My son, he’s destined for greatness. I can feel it.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen what he can do,” said Chart with something in her voice that Chaser didn’t like at all. “But don’t you think you’re spoiling him? You get him whatever he wants when he wants it. You should have seen the look he gave me when I said he couldn’t have another cookie! And the way you let him treat other people, it’s just so wrong!”

“Come on,” laughed Chaser’s father. “You’re blowing things a little out of proportion.”

“Today I watched as Chaser flung mud in Hunter’s face,” said Aunt Star Chart, her voice firm. “Over and over again, he just kept pelting Hunter until there was nothing left while laughing the entire time. I…I couldn’t believe you actually praised him for those throws and then told Hunter to clean himself off! You can’t possibly tell me-”

“Chart, when you have children of your own, then you can voice your opinions on how we raise our children,” said Chaser’s mother, using the same tone as when she scolded Hunter or sent him to his room. “The last thing we want to do is hamper Chaser’s potential. At this early age, his gifts need to be nurtured to their fullest.”

“By treating him like a king or some golden idol?” argued Aunt Star Chart, her voice getting on Chaser’s nerves. “Look, I love Chaser too. He’s my nephew. But I’m worried about him as well. Can’t you see the danger in what you’re doing to him? Letting him think he’s above everyone else, that he can just treat people however he wants? There are rules out there in the real world and he’s going to be in for a rude awakening when they come down hard on him!”

For a moment, there was silence in the room as Chaser felt his anger towards his aunt stew. Then, his mother spoke. “You’re being an idiot, you know that. Chaser will be fine. Better than fine. Because he is that special. If you can’t see that then, well, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.”

“I’m sorry, Chart,” continued Chaser’s father. “Everyone else in town can see it.”

“Then what about Hunter?” said that stupid woman. “What about your other son? How is he supposed to feel when you shower one with praise and he gets the leftovers?”

“We…well Hunter he’s…you see,” bumbled Chaser’s father, making Chaser’s eyes roll. Who cared about Hunter? Thankfully, his father managed to find the right words. “We love both our boys. But Hunter, he just doesn’t have the same talent or skills that Chaser has. To be honest, I don’t think he has any to begin with. And, as much as I hate to say it, I can’t see him doing anything amazing in the future. He might be able to go to college, become an office drone for the rest of his life, and then he’ll die. That’s…it. But Chaser, he’s capable of doing so much more.”

“Hunter is a good son,” said Chaser’s mother. “But Chaser, he’s just superior in every way. So he needs superior treatment so that he will shine over everyone else.”

A grin appeared on Chaser’s face as he heard that. Superior. He knew what that word meant. It meant that something was better than everything else. Something above good, above better. Above everything else. And that was him! Chaser stood there as a warmth filled him as he processed this new reality. Something had always told him, deep inside, that this was the case. He had heard that he had picked up reading faster than his brother, could run faster and longer than the other kids around here, and could play sports better. He was superior to everyone else, his parents said so! Everyone else, their wants, needs, and everything were beneath his own. His parents knew this!

No, not just them. So many people around him told him how talented he was, and could see how special he was. The kids around the block knew he was better than anyone else, that’s why he was always the first one they picked to be a part of a team! The adults praised him all the time, admiring what came so easy for him. And now he could see whole new worlds to explore. People do things for him because he was better than they were.

“Not in every way,” said Aunt Star Chart, the warm glow vanishing from Chaser as he became angry again. “Not in the things that really matter.” Narrowing his eyes, Chaser walked away from the doorway. Whatever that woman had to say, it was nothing but garbage as far as he was concerned. His mother was right, she had to be an idiot if she couldn’t see just how amazing and superior he was. So why should he even listen to her?

Chaser’s hand trembled as he looked down at the stupid woman before him. The idiot, the bitch who could not comprehend how superior he was. No matter how much time went by, no matter what amazing feats he accomplished, she refused to shower him with praises that were rightfully reserved for him. Instead, she treated him the same way she treated that moron Hunter! Gave them the gifts that were the same prices on their birthdays and scolded BOTH of them when she was watching over them whenever they did something ‘wrong’. How DARE she!! But that wasn’t the worst of it; she had to praise his retarded brother who had to struggle just to get by. As if he deserved any of it! Then she took that useless sack of crap away from their house to live with her, denying him of beating the ever living shit out of Hunter who caused him to go to jail! The more he looked at her, the more Chaser wanted to bring his club down on her head over and over while screaming at her until she was as dead as that old guy!

Yet, Chaser had to hold himself back. She would die for her sins, but not right now. He would let her live just long enough to see the end of Hunter, to see him as the pitiful loser that Chaser knew him as. It would be something he would forever cherish seeing the look of hope in her eyes fade as Hunter fell to Chaser’s superior skills as well as Hunter’s tears as he realized he failed every loser who were dumb enough to believe in him.

Then, they would all die.

Fiendish Chain

The world seemed so calm for Moondancer. The scholarly girl was sitting on a park bench, a half eaten sandwich next to her as she read a book on advanced physics. The weather felt perfect, though very few people seemed to be taking advantage of it at the moment. A few people were jogging, strolling around, or walking their dogs thus allowing the girl to have her peace without any real distractions. Even the birds seemed a bit quieter this day, their chirping at a low as if in consideration towards Moondancer. The only way this could be better, close to perfect even, was if Hunter were here.

Hopefully, that would be sooner rather than later. Not too long ago, Moondancer had gotten a text from Hunter’s aunt asking if she wouldn’t mind meeting up at the park and that she would be bringing Hunter to talk about something. While Star Chart hadn’t gone into details, Moondancer had felt certain that it was about Chaser. But it felt odd that Star Chart had mentioned that she should bring her deck and duel disk.

“Maybe she wants my help to get his mind off Chaser,” Moondancer mumbled to herself as she thought about the text again, briefly looking up from her book. She knew that this was hard for her boyfriend as Chaser had been a constant thorn in his side; a shadow Hunter longed to remove himself from. It was bad enough when everyone thought that Chaser was some sort of prodigy, but when Chaser was exposed for the fraud he was, well it somehow got worse. Those that knew him, people like herself and Applejack, didn’t treat him any differently than before as they knew who he was. But there were those out there who only knew Chaser assumed that Hunter was just as bad. That or wanted to take out their anger for Chaser out on Hunter. The duel against the Appleloosa team had proven that and the effect it had on Hunter hadn’t been pleasant.

Now this break out was just another thorn digging into Hunter’s side, Chaser drawing more blood with his actions. Moondancer had wanted to stay by his side for support when the police had shown up, but she knew that as much as she loved him it was a family matter. She had also tried to text him after words, but his replies were short telling her he was fine. Honestly, she wished he would have been more truthful about it all. But she understood. She would be here for him, ready to talk to him about how he was feeling when he was ready.

Which was why she was going to do her best to help get his mind off Chaser! As soon as he got here, the two of them would have a fun duel. Hopefully Star Chart would only be dropping him off instead of hanging around since Moondancer knew of a secluded area not too far from here. Moondancer licked her lips as she thought about some of the other things they could do to help get his mind off Chaser.

“Hello you ugly bitch,” came an insulting voice off to her side. One that Moondancer knew instantly, her eyes widening before she turned to look at Star Chaser. The teen who looked so much like Hunter had ditched his prison attire, now dressed in slightly oversized jeans and a green shirt. If she had to guess, Chaser had raided a church donation center or something of that nature. But despite the downgrade in his clothing, Chaser still had a cocky, confident sneer on his face as his duel disk hummed with power.

“Chaser,” growled Moondancer as she pulled out her phone.

“I wouldn’t do that,” said Chaser as he held up a phone. Upon seeing it, Moondancer nearly dropped her own as she realized that it was the one that belonged to Star Chart. Her eyes widened again, connecting the dots to a horrifying realization.

“Star Chart, you…you have her, don’t you?” asked Moondancer. It couldn’t be a coincidence that he just happened to find her here where Star Chart had told her to be and while holding her phone. That phone was the latest model, making it very unlikely that Chaser would have been able to get one himself even for a bluff. So either he jumped her, happened to look at her phone, see Moondancer’s picture and the text next to it, and decided to come here…or he jumped her and sent the text himself. Right now she was betting on the latter rather than the former.

“Well, looks like that ugly nerd look you got going on isn’t just for show,” laughed Chaser as he held up his duel disk. “Now, why don’t we have a duel? I promise I’ll tell you where that bitch is if you win.”

For a moment, Moondancer stood there as she went over her options. The idea that Chaser would keep his word or even play fairly was utterly laughable! More likely, if she won, Chaser would just go into a blind rage and attack her. It would be better, not to mention safer, if she just made a run for it. To get as far away from this psychopath as possible and call the police. No doubt they would begin searching the area for him if he didn’t give chase. However, Chaser had lured her here for a reason. Perhaps the same people who had helped him escape were waiting to ambush her should she try to run for it. As for calling the police, if she did that and he managed to get away, there was no telling what he would do to Star Chart. If…If he hadn’t already…killed her.

Shaking her head, Moondancer pulled out her duel disk. No! She had to at least presume that Star Chart was alive for the time being. If he wanted a duel, then fine! She would duel him just long enough for other people to show up. One of those joggers or someone with a dog. There was a chance that she could signal them over, then she could put an end to this game of his. Maybe have one of them call the police or they could surround him with superior numbers.

“Fine lets duel,” said Moondancer as she activated her duel disk. But, as she said those words, darkness began to surround them as Chaser grinned ever so evilly.

“Come on Four-Eyes, where are you?” asked Lightning aloud, tapping her foot impatiently upon the grass of the soccer field. The turquoise stood there, duel disk on her arm as she surveyed the field with a growing sense of irritation. She hated waiting here, doing nothing.

This had not been how Lightning had thought she’d spend her day. She had planned on meeting up with Rainbow to do a little one-on-one. Maybe play a little basketball before kicking the soccer ball around for a bit. Knowing Rainbow, she’d probably bring the squirt Scootaloo with her to either watch them or have her join in their fun. It made sense since she’d seen the rainbow haired hanging around Scootaloo a lot more ever since the Autumn Crown. Not that she minded since the small fry showed a lot of promise and wasn’t as whimpy as some of the other kids in her class. Perhaps while they all hung out, Lightning could tell them about the home movies she had seen at Hunter’s place. Knowing what that jerk had done to her once again friend, she should get a kick out of it. Maybe even embellishing a few parts to make him sound more pathetic! However, those plans were put on hold when she received a text from Moondancer. Well, more of a challenge really as Moondancer wanted to duel her for the spot of Vice Captain! There was no way that Lightning was going to back down!

That had been about two hours ago and now Lightning was getting annoyed. With a grumble, the amber haired girl reached into her pocket to pull out her phone to see if she was in the right spot. Quickly, she scanned the message, seeing that she was in the right spot and Moondancer was ten minutes late!

“Five more minutes and I’m out of here,” growled Lightning as she shoved her phone back into her pocket. But after a minute or two, Lightning’s mind began to wander a bit allowing a question to appear in her mind that she hadn’t thought of before: why was Moondancer challenging her? She had never been one to desire said position before and had never made a stick about it. It seemed a little off.

“Maybe it has something to do with college,” said Lightning to herself, looking up at the sky as she thought about it. “Like being Vice-Captain will look better when she’s applying.” Yet, even as she said this, it didn’t feel right. Yeah it might look good, but given how many honors classes Four-Eyes was taking, being Vice-Captain of a dueling team felt more like a drop in the bucket. Wouldn’t winning a tournament look better?

Suddenly, Lightning began to get a bad feeling. The sort of feeling one gets when you’re being watched or that someone was following you. You don’t know how you know it, just a feeling you get that alerts you that something was wrong. For a half second she stood there, scanning the area in front of her before her ears picked up on a slight sound. The sound of something being dragged on the grass.

Her body acted without her brain telling her to, turning around in a whirl to behold something that caused her blood to run cold. Standing there, several hundred feet away from her, was a teen who looked a lot like Hunter. Only there was something sickly wrong with his expression that told her it wasn’t her Captain and friend. No, this had to be Chaser. The bastard who had poisoned Rainbow, nearly killing her as well as several other students! The jackass who tried to get into the Friendship Cup by challenging Applejack. The piece of shit who had just pissed off everyone he ever met! And he wasn’t alone for one of his hands was wrapped around the ankle of another teen. One that looked like-

“Pharynx!” shouted Lightning as she saw her other male friend, her fist clenching into a fist while her legs tensed. Despite the distance, she could tell that his eyes were closed, arms being dragged limply behind him. His shirt looked like it had been slashed several times, stained with blood that was slowly drying.

“Oh, so that’s his name,” said Chaser as he dropped the ankle, letting it hit the grass with a thud. “This retard tried to stop me from entering the school grounds so I gave him what he deserved. Looks like I lucked out. Running into him now saved me the trouble of having to lure him out later.”

“What are you talking about?” demanded Lightning. Chaser smirked before pulling out a phone and tossing it right at Lightning. The phone nearly collided with her head, but she managed to catch it at the last second. Looking down, Lightning’s eyes widened to see the exact same message Four-Eyes had sent her! That meant that this was-

“I hope your brain isn’t as tiny as your tits,” remarked Chaser.

Lightning dropped the phone on the ground, her teeth grit tightly as she raised her duel disk. “I’ll make you regret ever going after any of my friends,” she growled, planning on hitting him right where it would hurt him the most before she ran over to him to dish out more lasting pain!

“As if you’re on my level,” laughed Chaser as he lifted his duel disk, darkness beginning to surround them. “But then again, who is?” Chaser’s laughter continued to fill the air until the two were completely surrounded by the darkness.

Braeburn let out a yawn, stretching his arms as he exited the bus. The massive teenager then brought one of his golden colored hands over this face in order to shield his eyes from the light of the afternoon sun, a small smile on his face as his other hand held on to a knapsack which rested on his back. Despite the fact that it was still the late fall he wore dusty cowboy boots along with a pair of jeans, a white button up shirt, and a brown vest. But the seven foot tall teen didn’t mind all that much seeing that he was used to colder conditions when he worked in the apple fields. As the bus closed its doors behind him with a hiss, Braeburn took the Stetson hat he was holding in one hand and placed it over his amber colored hair before that same hand fell downward to touch a deck box that was firmly attached to his belt.

Turning, Braeburn began to make the trek down to his cousin’s abode while humming a country tune. While he loved his hometown to death, it was nice to get away from it every once and while just for a change of scenery. And getting to see his cousins Applejack, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom almost made him thankful that school would be closed for the following week due to a slight mishap from the science class. How they made that orange ooze grow so fast, filling up the entire building he may never know. Now he could help out around their fields, help Granny Smith while the others were in school, and clear his mind a tad.

There was no point in hiding the fact that Braeburn had suffered since his duel against Star Hunter, the sting of what happened that night still following him around. After he had gotten home, his father had him march into the living room and sat him down for a long talk about his behavior. A long talk that stretched far into the following morning about how what he had done was not the family or the Appleloosan way. Talking about how he had disappointed both him and his mother with how he behaved. As for Braeburn’s mother, well, she had just stood off to the side as Braeburn sat there barely saying a word. He knew he deserved this from them, only really speaking up when his father’s voice had grown horse and promising never to do this again. To make up for what he had done. That seemed to be enough for both of his parents for now, but the rest of the town was a far different story. His friend Forecast, the announcer of the duel and the one Braeburn had pressured into setting the match, was giving him distance and keeping their conversations short. The rest of the school, students and teachers, were polite when they talked but there was a clear stink in their eyes as if he were parading around in cow dung. Even the team, save Strongheart, was giving him a wide berth at the moment and only dealing with him when they had to. But the worst had been Coach Silverstar, who looked at him like he was nothing but a big disappointment. That…That honestly hurt the most making all the team meetings sting, a lung in his throat the entire time. Yes, he was still on the team, but had been stripped of his position as Captain. But, he knew he deserved it. Dug his own grave he did and now it was up to him to set things right.

That…That was another reason Braeburn was here in Canterlot. He had, no, needed to make things right between him and Hunter. Sure, Hunter had forgiven him, but it felt more like he was doing that for himself rather than for Braeburn. So, Braeburn planned on making things right. Spend some time with him and tell him what was going on in person. Like how Liberty Bell had become the new Captain of the Appleloosa dueling team. Maybe even have that rematch, completely clean this time.

As Braeburn continued along his way, he noticed something that seemed off. A wheelbarrow, just sitting there near an alleyway. Odd to see something like that here in the city, all by itself. Looking around, Braeburn noticed that others were giving it an odd look as well before moving on with their day.

Since he wasn’t in any hurry, Braeburn walked closer to the wheelbarrow. As he drew closer, he eyed the alleyway seeing that there wasn’t anything worth noting down there. Maybe a little darker or misty, but nothing too important that he needed to remember. With that done, Braeburn looked down to see a tarp covering the top of the wheelbarrow. Most likely to protect its contents from the world around. Only, there was an outline on the tarp that looked…dangerously human!

Sweat began to form on Braeburn’s forehead as he reached out with a shaky hand to see what was underneath, hoping with all his might that he was wrong. That it was just his imagination. But, before he could pull off the tarp, something in the alleyway caught his attention. And what he saw caused his blood to freeze! Now that cramped space looked more like an anime styled battle had taken place, scorch marks on the sides of buildings, chucks of bricks everywhere, and claw marks. How could this have happened without anyone seeing it? But that wasn’t the most horrific thing he saw. At the opposite end was a girl with green skin, her body laying limp against a dumpster. It took the teen a moment to remember that she was the girl who beat Liberty, for he was stunned by what he saw. Her sweater looked like it had been scorched and ripped at the same time so badly that only her sleeves remained, a plain white bra being the only thing to conceal her breasts. Braeburn’s mouth became dry as he noted the bruises across her body making him wonder what could have done this to her.

And before her was a teen Braeburn would never forget.

“Try an instant win against me, will you?” sneered Chaser as approached the girl, a dangerous anger in his voice. Braeburn could hear him breathing heavily, watching his hands shaking in anger as Chaser reached down to grab the green girl’s hair and pull her up until she was on her knees. “Stupid bitch!” A loud slap echoed through the alleyway snapping Braeburn out of his stupor. Why Chaser was out of jail was beyond him, all he knew now was that he had to stop him!

“Hold it right there partner!” he shouted just as Chaser had pulled back his fist, clearly aiming for the green girl’s face. Chaser held himself like that for a moment before he turned around. Now looking at his face, Braeburn could see slight circles around his eyes as he panted. Like he was tired and using up too much energy.

“Great, another country hick,” growled Chaser as he looked at Braeburn as he kept both arms raised. “Why don’t you mind your own business and go fuck your cousins like you’re supposed to.”

“Not likely,” said Braeburn as he pulled out his duel disk. “Ah’m gonna stop ya right here, right now. An’ it ain’t gonna be like last time!”

“Last time?” echoed Chaser, looking slightly confused. “Is that supposed to mean something?”

For a moment, Braeburn felt like his knees were about to give out while being punched in the gut. Was…Was this a joke? Another insult? Chaser, the teen who had humiliated him in a tournament, was acting like he didn’t remember it?

“Ya…Ya don’t remember me?” asked Braeburn as a wash of emotions swam over him.

“Should I?” demanded Chaser, finally letting go of the green girl who dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. For a moment, Braeburn could feel his eyes sting with the promise of tears. All this time he had thought about that moment when Chaser had defeated him, how he had cheated like the cowardly snake he was. About the day he would never get back. And Chaser had never given it a second thought. This beast had gone on with his life like it had just been any other day. All he was in this creature’s eyes was just another victim, nothing more and nothing less.

Anger soon arose within Braeburn as he clenched his teeth. “Ah’ll make sure ya remember me!” he declared, his eyes falling on the green girl. She just needed to hold on for a little bit.

“Hmm, might as well,” said Chaser. “I was planning on paying Applejugs or whatever the fuck that bitches name was, but I suppose you’ll do. After all, all you inbreed hicks are related to each other anyways. Bet you’re her daddy/brother.” And with that, darkness began to encircle the two.

“She should have been back by now,” muttered Hunter as he moved restlessly around the apartment, a feeling of dread having formed in his gut hours ago. The apartment was growing darker, the light from outside the large bay windows dimming as the sun continued to set, turning the sky an almost blood red with hints of grays and blacks. With each passing minute, the darkness from outside seemed to encroach within the apartment something that could easily be stopped by simply flipping a light switch. Yet that thought had not even entered Hunter’s brain as his focus was solely on his aunt.

Hunter navigated through the apartment as softly as a ghost hoping that he had just missed his aunt. Yet no matter how many times he entered her extremely messy bedroom, he could not find her under the pile of blankets in the middle of the bed or in her overstuffed closet. The balcony remained empty no matter how many times he looked. Hunter had even checked the closet, hoping that she was just doing a prank of some kind yet to no avail.

Worry continued to pound in Hunter’s very being as he moved, biting his lower lip. Naturally he had tried calling her several times after the hour had grown late enough and had checked his text messages. But there was nothing. His aunt never picked up the phone, instead letting it go straight to voicemail. Not a single message, text, or even email as to where she was. On any other night Hunter would have normally just let this go. His aunt was an adult who could take care of herself. For all he knew she was out at a bar or something, having forgotten that there was someone at home waiting for her. Maybe whatever meeting she had was running later with the person wanting to hash out all the details before they left and she had decided to turn off her phone. Both seemed very reasonable. But still Hunter could not stop from worrying.

“Should I?” Hunter asked himself, pulling out his phone for the thousandth time so far. He looked at it, gulping as he did so. He could call the police…but a person had to be missing for at least twenty-four hours. Also, wouldn’t he feel very immature if he called them just because his aunt was very late? That he just felt that something was wrong with no real proof?

Standing there, continuing to look at the phone, Hunter considered what to do. For the briefest of moments Hunter considered calling his parents to ask for their advice. It was probably silly, but he just…needed to believe that his parents could act like parents. But just as quickly as he thought of it, the idea was discarded. Hunter still had no idea where they were and their number had already been given to somebody else. And even if he could get a message to them, what could he say to them after they had just left without so much as a word? Should he call Moondancer or her parents? His girlfriend’s parents had always said that if he ever needed them to not hesitate to call. And Moondancer was usually good with her advice. Or maybe he could give Coach Luna a call.

Then, much to Hunter’s shock, the phone lit up before it began to ring. Now wide eyed, Hunter nearly dropped it in surprise before bringing it close to look at the number. It wasn’t one that he was familiar with, the area code being different from his own. For all he knew, this could be a scammer or something. Still…

“Hello?” said Hunter after accepting the call.

“Hello Hunter,” came a voice that froze Hunter to the spot, so much so that he felt like his heart was about to stop. “We need to have a little face to face, don’t you think? Meet me at Studio 137. Come alone and bring your deck.” And with that, Chaser hung up the phone.

Painful Choice

“Hey, wake up sunshine,” came a voice Braeburn somewhat remembered, its sound piercing through the darkness along with pain which had been numbed due to unconsciousness. But now that the wall of sleep had come down, the pain began to course through the teens body as he slowly opened his eyes.

And what he saw caused him to jump…if he could. Braeburn looked around himself, heart racing as he saw that he was in one of those cages he had seen on Animal Planet. A shark cage or something similar! The bars before him were thick, spaced apart just enough for him to get his arm through while the floor was less widely spaced. Looking upward, he saw that he was now in a building of some kind with a chain hanging down from the ceiling and attached to the cage. With a start, Braeburn looked down to see that there was a massive tank of water below him, its contents rippling slightly while the lights from above shined down upon it. As the teen took several deep breaths to calm himself, he looked around to see there were other cages hanging similarly to his own. The one next to him holding that Lightning girl who had spoken.

“’Bout time you woke up,” she said, giving him a half wave as she sat in her cage. On shaky legs, Braeburn moved in what little space he had to look at his fellow captured teen. Like with that green skinned girl, Lightning looked like she had gotten into a fight with a lightsaber with her clothing looking cut and burned at the same time revealing large portions of her skin.

“What happened?” groaned Braeburn, placing a hand to his head. He remembered challenging Chaser to a duel and he knew he lost. But the rest was so foggy. As he spoke, he noticed that the rest of the Canterlot Dueling team were in cages as well. All of its members were in a similar state as Lightning, with their clothing cut and burned. Not that he was immune to this for he could feel the air against his skin as well at the cut material without needing to look down. The only exception that he could see was a woman at the far end of the cage. She wasn’t the coach he had seen that night and she looked like she was nursing a bad headache.

“Well, to be honest, I don’t know,” said Lightning as she crossed her arms across her chest. “One moment I’m getting ready to duel that jackass Chaser after he hurt Pharynx and the next thing I knew I was waking up here. Guess you’re in the same boat.”

“Yeah,” sighed Braeburn as he slumped in his cage. “I…I should have just called the police.”

“Yeah, you should have,” said Lightning with a nod. “I mean, I should have as well but I really wanted to hurt that asshole. Should have skipped the duel and just planted my fist into his face several dozen times before shoving the nearest rusty can up his ass.”

“That…,” began Braeburn, blinking as he mentally digested what the girl had said. “Sounds oddly satisfying. Wish I had thought about it.” Once again he glanced at the other cages, the weight of his decision coming down on him. If he had just called the police he could have saved six people and put that disgusting pile known as Star Chaser away. Heck, he should have done it just to save one person. But instead, he had chosen to duel Chaser and had just ended up giving him another person to hold as a hostage. There was only one bit of solace that he had. Chaser had mentioned ‘Applejugs’ which he assumed that viper was talking about his cousin Applejack. More than likely planning on going after her next. At the very least, he had spared his cousins the pain of losing another immediate family member.

Lightning shrugged. “Heh, don’t go too hard on yourself. I’ve been up here for a while so I’ve had time to think about it.”

Laughter echoed through the room, interrupting whatever Braeburn would have said to that. The teen from Appleloosa looked down at the floor just past the tank along with the rest to see that it was Chaser. The escaped teen was howling with laughter, looking like he was about to start dancing with joy at any moment. His head was thrown back so far that he was almost looking at the ceiling, arms extended widely. And, despite the distance, Braeburn could see in his hand his own cell phone.

“He’s coming, he’s coming!” cried Chaser in demoniac glee. “Everything will soon be set right! That retard will fall to my might and then I will be worshiped like the god that I am! Nothing can stop me now! NOTHING!”

“Yeah, because your track record so far has been just stellar.” Braeburn blinked in shock as he turned over to look at the one who had spoken. It was Lightning Dust. She was looking down at Chaser with a smug look on her face, smirking while her eyes were devoid of any fear of the predicament that they were in. When the larger teen looked back down, he saw that Chaser had stopped in his glee to glare up at the turquoise girl with pure hatred. His body seemed to shake slightly as if he were trying to contain the pure rage he felt by such a small insult.

“You,” he hissed, the words barely audible due to the distance. Chaser began to move to one of the tank’s sides, his hate filled eyes on Lightning, as he made his way up to the nearby platform. When he got there, Braeburn got a good look at the teen who had defeated him. While they were at least several dozen feet away and with all the numerous smells around, the large Appleloosa teen felt the sting of stench created by Chaser’s dried sweat. Just by glancing at him, he could see that it had dried into the teen’s clothing who probably didn’t have a change on him. Yet the lines around his eyes had slightly lessened from when he last saw him, suggesting that Chaser had gotten some rest making Braeburn wonder just how long he had been out. Yet Chaser’s pupils were dangerously small, shaking a little as he glared at Lightning in a manic-like fashion.

“You dare to insult me you flat chested loser!” he howled, stomping his foot against the platform.

“Ooo,” replied Lightning, squinting her eyes and hunching her shoulders in a pure mocking fashion. Even her tone was that of mockery, pretending to sound hurt. “Y-You insulted my appearance. How will I ever get by after something like that? Oh, why would you do something like that?” Then Lightning shook her head while her body relaxed. “Yeah, sorry you loon, but I happen to think I look mighty fine. You’re going to have to up your game if you want to get under my skin. Me, on the other hand, it’s too easy to do the same to you.”

Braeburn watched wide eyed as Lightning slid both her hands behind her head while Chaser seethed in anger. “You must really be reta-”

“Really, dropping a word like ‘retarded’ again?” asked Lightning with a yawn, closing her eyes as if ready to fall asleep. This got a reaction out of Chaser that Braeburn never expected. The teen who had captured them took a sudden step backwards as if he had been struck. “Honestly, with the way you use that word makes you seem more immature. Like a little kid trying so hard to pretend that he’s a ‘big boy now’. Get with it! At least try to put a little effort into your insults.”

Chaser seemed to stand there, looking utterly dumbfounded for a moment before his teeth clenched tightly. “Why would I waste my time or put any effort into thinking up insults for those beneath me?” he seethed out.

“A.K.A ‘I lack any form of creativity and will hide behind this lame excuse’,” said Lightning. “Seriously, you use the exact same insults all the time. And do you know why? It’s because you’re the real loser.” Braeburn felt his jaw drop as he watched Chaser lose it even more. The guy looked like he was ready at any moment to leap forward and try to cling to the bars of Lightning’s cage just so he could strike her. As his legs jerked up and down, the teen ran his fingers through his hair as Lightning continued to talk to him. “Just look at yourself. You’re afraid to put any real effort into anything, from your excuses all the way to your dueling. That’s why you cheat! Instead of giving it your all and improving, you look for the easy solution and it’s everyone else’s fault when things don’t work out for you. That’s why you cheated in dueling. That’s why you poisoned all those students. And that’s why you are the biggest loser around. Because you gave up before you even started.”

“Shut up, shut up, shut uP, SHUT UP YOU STUPID CUNT!” screamed Chaser as he began to shake his head back and forth. Chaser was now snarling worse than ever with spittle shooting out, making him look all the more deranged. What had been shocking before now became terrifying for Braeburn as he feared that, in Chaser’s rage, he might lower the cages into the water just to get back at Lightning. Braeburn’s finger gripped the bars by his sides, glancing over at Lightning who somehow still looked calm. As if the idea that he could inflict some form of retribution upon her ever occurred to her. Then…

“Why,” began Chaser as he seemed to calm down all of a sudden. “Why am I talking to some worthless, flat chested loser? You’re not worth the air it would take to speak to.” And with that, Chaser turned and began to move down back towards the ground.

“Mighty dangerous what ya did there,” whispered Braeburn. “Might have killed ya, ya know?”

“It’s all part of the game,” replied Lightning, still very calm. “If he kills me, it means I won. And he knows that.” She then got a serious expression on her face. “Besides, I’m not giving that asshole any pleasure of seeing me cowering in fear or any shit like that. I refuse.”

Hunter opened the door to studio 137, duel disk firmly attached to his arm as he entered. The massive building was bathed in darkness, the lights completely turned off. As he walked inside, Hunter slid one of his hands into his pocket, clutching onto its contents. With each step he took Hunter looked around in the darkness, nearly straining his eyes in the process as he sought signs of his brother. That or signs of the people who helped him escape. But there was nothing. Not even his ears seemed to pick up any noises other than his footsteps and the light splashing of water from somewhere.

As he walked further in, the door behind him closed its shutting echoing throughout the studio. But Hunter just kept walking forward with a hardened expression until a light shined downward, acting light a spotlight to illuminate Chaser. Upon seeing his brother, Hunter came to a complete halt while being unable to hide the shock from his face. He had never seen his brother look so…messy. Chaser’s hair was uncombed and unstyled with bits of it sticking up while others bits looked matted from sweat. His clothing looked second or even third hand, something that he would normally never have allowed to touch his body without endlessly gripping. The only advanced thing he had on him was a duel disk, deck at the ready.

What startled Hunter the most was the look in Chaser’s eyes. He had seen Chaser’s bad side far too often in his life…and he had plenty of them. Looks that had far too often been ignored by his parents as well as many of the adults back in Hollow Shades. The sickening look he gave women when he was undressing them with his eyes, the joy in them when he was watching them be humiliated before him in one way or another. The look of utter superiority he gave others when they lost, the Grinch like curling of the lips as he further insulted them. But this look sent a chill down Hunter’s spine. It was…different but it reminded him of so many things. The manic look of rage he held when he lost to Applejack. The look he had whenever he was about to open up a present, knowing exactly what it was and only barely pretending to be surprised. And…something else.

“Hello…Hunter,” said Chaser, straining himself to say Hunter’s name. “How the tables have turned, hmm?”

“I guess,” replied Hunter stiffly, wondering where this was going while his eyes looked around for signs of other people. Still, there was only darkness around him.

“It’s taken me a long time to say this without vomiting…but I have to admit defeat,” continued Chaser, surprising Hunter enough to get him to stare at Chaser. His younger brother continued to talk, even though he did look a little sick just by saying that. “I had a lot of time in prison to think about how I would get my revenge upon you. All the ways I would make you suffer like the little bitch you are…but, in the end, I had to realize that even if I did it wouldn’t accomplish anything. Sooner or later those morons would catch me and I’d be back in jail. Nothing would really change. And believe me, I’ve looked for any loophole that might let me regain just a fraction of what I once had. Just a tiny taste of the life I used to have. But the dueling league has made it crystal clear that I will never enter a tournament, nor will I be able to become a pro. As for all my other amazing talents, they will sadly have to go to waste. What team, pro or minor league, would ever knowingly sign on someone who poisoned others? I don’t even have a home to go to now with those worthless sacks of shit having left town. Yeah, even those two believe this is the end for me. And this breakout…isn’t helping me any, is it?”

“No,” said Hunter honestly as he looked at his brother. It seemed so alien to hear him talk like this. Sure he was being as rude and insulting, but even that seemed to be toned down as he seemed to realize the position he was in. Like the gravity of his situation was finally coming down on him.

“Then there’s you,” Chaser continued as he gestured with one hand to Hunter. “You, brother, you’ve got it made. A nice place to live, a one of a kind deck. Hell, I bet if you wanted, you could even get into Crystal Prep just by asking. Sky’s the limit, isn’t it? Your life is looking great while mine just gets crappier.”

“Chaser,” began Hunter.

However, before Hunter could say anything more, Chaser threw back his head while spreading his arms in a maniac fashion. “That’s when I came to the most obvious conclusion: I’ll just trade lives with you!”

“…And there it is,” muttered Hunter with a deadpan expression while his brother laughed insanely.

“You see, my time in prison showed me just how special, how great I truly am compared to the rest of humanity!” cried Chaser. “How do you think I escaped? Don’t know? Magic! Within me is the power to command the Shadow Games, allowing me all sorts of abilities that makes me on par with a god! I have tested and honed this great power so that I can live again! Behold!” With that, the lights of the studio turned on all at once, revealing to Hunter the large tank along with all of his friends and aunt trapped in cages. “We, my pathetic brother, will play a Shadow Game. Every time you lose life points, the cages will be lowered deeper into the water and when you hit 0 the cages will be completely submerged! Their deaths will be on your hands! But that’s not all! No, no. The ultimate penalty for this game will be our souls will switch bodies when I win! You will be carted off to jail where you belong, sitting in a cell as you weep for those losers you couldn’t save while I live the rest of my life out in YOUR body!”

“Ah, no,” said Hunter simply as he pulled out his phone, having had enough of his brother’s crazy rant. Magic? Was Chaser that delusional that he believed he could do all that with magic? Ok, he did think that he was God’s gift to the universe, but this…this was pushing it even for him.

“You…You can’t…What are you doing?” Chaser demanded, Hunter’s actions snapping him back to reality.

“I’m calling the police,” replied Hunter simply.

At that, Chaser gritted his teeth. “If you were going to do that anyways then why show up here?” he demanded, his words causing Hunter to pause. Slowly he looked up at his brother, his face no doubt angering Chaser even more by the looks of it. Not that Hunter cared anymore.

“I guess because there was some small part of me that thought maybe, just maybe, you were sorry for what you had done,” admitted Hunter. “That you were calling out to me asking for help. I guess I really am a fool for even thinking that.” Hunter then let out a tired sigh. “But in the more likely event that this was a trap, I wanted to make sure you were here and no one was in any danger.”

“Uh, hello?!?” screamed Chaser as he pointed to his prisoners, Hunter spotting Autumn waving a little from her cage. “With my magic, I can have them lowered into the water and drown!”

“Chaser, you could never manage to work the DVD player,” said Hunter, his expression still deadpanned. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that you could do all this? More than likely, you just chained them up there with some help. There’s no magic involved.”

“Wait, WHAT?” came a roaring laughter from Lightning. Hunter didn’t look up, instead keeping his eyes locked on Chaser who looked fuming mad. “Is that true? The ‘Great and Powerful and Yadda Yadda Star Chaser’ can’t work a simple DVD player.”

“It’s true,” said Star Chart. “Every time I came over he needed his parents to change the disc.” A slight smile appeared on Hunter’s face as he watched veins appearing on Chaser’s face while all of the people he captured broke into thunderous laughter.

“DO YOU REALLY WANT TO TAKE THE CHANCE OF ME DROWNING THEM AND ENDING THEIR WORtHLESS LIVES RIGHT NOW?!” screamed Chaser at the top of his lungs. At that, the building became deafly quiet once more as all eyes fell onto Hunter. For a moment he regarded his panting, deranged brother as he considered his options. Then, after a moment’s consideration, pocketed his phone. But not before pressing the app button that would alert the police.

“Fine Chaser,” said Hunter, deciding to play along for now. Just long enough for the police to get here. “But, if you’re making the stakes that high, then I think I should get something out of this. And all I want is for you to stop.”

This seemed to oddly calm Chaser down. “Hey, you’re pushing a miracle by even thinking that you’ll win,” said the younger brother smugly as he wiped away some spit from his lower lip. “But I suppose I should agree so you can stop wasting my time. Shall we?”

With that, Chaser gestured to the platforms up above the tank with a sickening grin on his face while his eyes seemed to flash. Yet Hunter ignored that as the two silently made their way to the stairs leading upwards. Hunter had chosen the platform closest to both him and the doorway, keeping an eye on the door for the police to arrive. I have to keep Chaser busy until then, thought Hunter as he made his way up before glancing up at the ceiling. I don’t see anyone up there, but that doesn’t mean they’re not around. Probably hiding in a corner or something, watching us so that whenever I lose life points they’ll lower everyone into the water so it seems like Chaser has magic. But…what’s the point of this show? Is it an attempt to mess with me psychologically? And what do the people who are helping Chaser get out of all this?

Soon enough, Hunter stood at the end of the platform with the water directly below him. But his eyes were focused on his brother and nothing else. I don’t know if Chaser did this himself or if he just joined up with a bunch of psychopaths who get off on shit like this. But right now it doesn’t matter. I just need to worry about keeping everyone alive for the time being. I don’t think he’s rebuilt his old Red-Eyes Burn deck since he pretty much destroyed it after losing to Applejack, so I don’t have to worry about getting OTKed right out of the starting gate. But, I shouldn’t let my guard down.

“Well brother, I’ll let you go first,” said Chaser, leaning his head back a little while never losing sight of Hunter. “I want to see what my new deck can do before I demolish you completely!”

“Fine,” said Hunter.

Then, together at the same time, both brothers shouted “Let’s Duel!”

Monster Reborn

-Star Hunter’s Life Points: 8000-

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 8000-

Turn 1: Star Hunter

“I draw!” declared Hunter as he drew his opening hand (hand: 6). Pausing for a moment, he looked down to better examine what he had drawn. From all the test hands he had done so far Hunter could tell that this wasn’t a bad hand, but it wasn’t great either. What’s more, he had one card that could be powerful with a bit more set up but he’d rather use it in conjunction with another card still in his deck.

As Hunter stood there, he felt something. Hands, several pairs of them, were now gently touching his back and shoulders. His eyes widened as he felt their warmth running through him as they remained still, clearly not forcing him forward. But after a moment or two of this, Hunter looked behind him to see that there wasn’t anyone there. He should be all alone…but he still felt their hands upon him.

“Hurry up you retarded stain upon humanity,” growled Chaser. Glancing up at him, Hunter could see the area around this brother getting darker. As if coming out of Chaser were large amounts of swirling black mist which sank down towards the floor beneath them. Was this a trick of some kind?

“I summon Laundry Dragonmaid in attack mode!” said Hunter as he placed his first card on his duel disk, its circuits glowing brighter than normal as they brought the image to life. Laundry Dragonmaid (500/1600) rose from underneath the water, dressed in what looked like a purple, Japanese inspired maid’s outfit with a white apron. The girl looked young, with short hair that started blue before seamlessly shifting to purple were it was styled to look like she had animal-like ears and horns. Or perhaps she really did since Laundry had a furry purplish tail coming out from under her uniform.

“Am I seeing this right?” asked Autumn as she rubbed her eyes. She, along with the other members of the duel team, leaned forward to examine Hunter’s new monster a little closer as this was the first time most of them were seeing it in action for the first time. “A dragon…maid? I guess that would make for a good musical or a sitcom.”

“I think it looks cute,” said Wallflower.

“I just hope it has some sort of powerful effect,” said Pharynx with a frown. “Hunter is going to need something big if he’s going to take down Chaser.”

“Huh, never thought I’d see Hunter using a deck like that,” said Lightning before turning to look at Moondancer, a slight smirk on her face. “So, Four-Eyes, you ok with your boyfriend using a deck like that? He might have some curvier monster girls in there~”

“Really? You’re talking about that in this situation?” Moondancer growled as she glared at Lightning. “Priorities!”

“Hey, not like I can do anything else right now,” stated Lightning in a matter of fact tone. “Besides, this might be the last chance I ever get to tease you.”

Moondancer lowered her head. “You would say something like that,” she said with a sigh. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I already knew about them and they don’t really bother me. I’m not so silly as to get jealous of playing cards. Not when we’ve d…Well, let’s just say that I feel secure in my relationship and leave it like that.” She ended quickly, turning her head so Lightning wouldn’t see her blush. However, that just meant that everyone else could see it as they were now looking at Moondancer with curious expressions and cat-like grins.

“Maids!?” roared Chaser. “That’s what Pegasus gave you? A deck of useless bitches? I guess they do seem to know their place at least, serving their betters, but they’re not the sort of the sort of thing one takes into battle!” As Chaser spoke, Hunter noticed that Laundry had puffed out her cheeks while her clawed hands clenched into fists. Like she had heard the insult and was reacting to it.

“Shows what you know, Chaser,” replied Hunter. As he spoke, he not only noticed the glare Chaser gave him but also the fact that Laundry had turned to look at him. “She’s a hard worker, and more than you can handle because her shift starts now! Once per turn, when she is summoned, I can send the top three cards from my deck to the graveyard.” Laundry beamed as she held up her hands, bubbles forming around them before they floated over to Hunter’s deck. Slowly, Hunter began to draw the cards while examining each one before sending it to the grave. All of them were monsters, two high level ones and a low leveled one. And one of them was a card that would really surprise Chaser.

“I’ll set one card face down and end my turn,” finished Hunter, the final card materializing on his side of the field.

Turn 2: Star Chaser

“That’s it?” demanded Chaser as he drew his card (hand: 6). As he did, Hunter noticed that his brother’s eyes seemed to glow for a brief moment as he brought his new card up towards his face where he glanced at it for a moment. “All that hype from Pegasus giving you an exclusive deck and all you can manage is one shit ugly bitch and a fucking face down? Either you don’t know what you’re doing or that senile old man made the deck as worthless as its owner! Thankfully, my magic allows me to create real cards. Like this one: Cathedral of the Darklords!”

Hunter stood there in silence, his eyes wide as he heard the name spoken while Chaser opened up the slot to his field spell zone. At once, the studio around them began to change. Stone walls began to encircle the two, rising up high until they ended with a domed ceiling made of stained glass. The water in front of them vanished, replaced with a stone floor as well as a long red carpet that started at Hunter’s feet and went right up to Chaser. Speaking of him, Chaser now seemed to be standing in front of an altar with a blood red cloth on top of it while light shined down on top of it from the other stained glass windows. The largest of these was right behind Chaser, depicting an angelic looking figure with several black wings stretched outwards while a red, spiked halo hovered over its head. From where Chaser stood, it almost looked like the black wings were coming out of his back. Other, smaller, windows showed other angelic beings with white wings being cut in half, beheaded, or worse. As for those in the cages, they remained where they were but the floor quickly altered itself so that it looked like they were being lowered into deep pits.

“Welcome to my temple,” laughed Chaser as he flung his head back, arms extended outwards. “Created with my own power, your downfall is assured! Just like the rest of those losers you hang out with!” Hunter didn’t say anything as he looked around him, wondering what was going on. Duel disks were designed not to allow custom made cards to be projected, only cards that were tournament legal! From what he heard, there were several fail safes programmed into the duel disks that would prevent people from tampering with them. And even if they could, Hunter’s duel disk would not have been able to recognize this card showing an error warning. Yet, as he tapped the buttons on his duel disk to bring up data on the field, Chaser’s card was there! W-Was this just a new card he hadn’t heard of and Chaser was just enlarging his already huge ego? Or was this-

“Now I activate the first of this card’s three effects!” continued Chaser. “When this card is activated, I can add any spell/trap card from my deck to my hand as long as ‘Darklord’ is written in its text. So I’ll be adding Darklord Contact!” Chaser let out a laugh as his duel disk began to shuffle itself before spitting out his card. With a flourish, Chaser took the card and added it to his hand. “Let me now show you what one of my bitches can do. I summon Indulged Darklord in attack mode!” Rather than appearing before him, Indulged Darklord (1600/0) seemed to walk in from the side. Her footsteps echoing through the halls as she moved before Chaser, eyes downcast the entire time. This monster wore dark clothing that looked like perverted versions of holy robes, drawing attention to her bosom. Her skin was grayish blue, her eyes red as well as the horns coming out of her long black hair. There was a halo of red thorns above her head while a single wing was extended.

“See the difference retard?” berated Chaser as he pointed from Indulged to Laundry. “Unlike that useless monster, mine had value! Not only does this bitch have higher attack points, but an effect worth having! When it’s summoned, I can take 2 Darklord monsters from either my deck or hand as long as they have different levels and then summon one to your side of the field in defense mode while the other gets added to my hand. So I’ll add Darklord Ixchel to my hand while summoning Darklord Ukoback to your side of the field!” Falling onto Hunter’s side of the field was a small, muscular man with red wings. Ukoback (700/1000) wore tattering clothing with chains crossing his chest.

“When I normal or special summon Ukoback, his effect sends one Darklord card of my choosing to the graveyard,” continued Chaser as a screen appeared before his. “None of that random crap you did. So I’ll send Darklord Nergal to the grave. With that out of the way, I can activate the effect of Ixchel! By discard it as well as another Darklord card, like my Darklord Superbia, I can draw two cards!” Chaser let out another loud laugh which echoed through the halls of his field spell as he drew two new cards to replace the ones he had discarded. “Now it’s time for you to face the end! I activate Darklord Contact, a spell card that lets me special summon one Darklord in my graveyard onto the field in defense position! So serve your master Darklord Superbia!” Rising up from a dark portal in the ground was a monster that looked very much like a black chalice. Superbia’s (2900/2400) face seemed to be engraved into it, with red gems to serve as its eyes. But coming out of its back were wings made of actual brown feathers and out of its base were two small clawed hands.

“You know you’re screwed, right?” laughed Chaser. “Because now I can activate Superbia’s effect: when it’s special summoned from the graveyard I can special summon another fairy type monster from there as well! Rise up Darklord Ixchel!” A dark light shined out from Superbia’s cup and from it rose Ixchel (2500/2900), a sultry looking woman with six wings coming out of her back along with a red thorned halo above her head. “If you think that’s all I can do, then you’re dumber than you look!”

“Chaser…we have the same face,” interrupted Hunter, unable to hold it back. As he crossed his arms, he thought he saw Laundry bringing both her arms up to her mouth in order to contain a burst of giggles. But his focus was quickly stolen back by Chaser who growled in anger.

“SHUT UP!” he yelled. “I activate Ixchel’s other effect, giving up 1000 of my life points in order to select one Darklord spell/trap card in my graveyard and then apply that card’s effect before shuffling it back into my deck. And I’ll use Darklord Contact again to bring out Darklord Nergal in defense mode!” Nergal (2700/2500) rose up from a portal in the ground, sitting on one knee as his hands were crossed over its chest. This monster wore dark teal clothing with a hood, hiding most of its obsidian colored skin from sight. It had only two dark feather wings and a halo above its head which was just as thorned and red as the others.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 7000-

“Now the second effect of my field spell kicks in,” said Chaser, lowering his head a little to allow a sinister shadow to be cast over his eyes. “When one of my Darklord spell/trap cards is returned to the deck by a monster effect, Cathedral of the Darklords instead returns it to my hand.” Hunter watched as Chaser added the card back to his hand with a grand flourish, a twist growing in his gut. That effect was way overpower as the effects of Darklord monsters like Ixchel were supposed to be balanced by the fact that you would have to wait to redraw the card after using it technically twice. And while cards like Contact had a hard once per turn effect on them, getting it back to his hand was a huge boon.

“Look at all the power I have amassed in one turn,” laughed Chaser, gesturing to his field. “A pity you didn’t keep that old Shaddoll deck of yours. Lame as it is, it might have saved you from a portion of the beating you’re about to get! I’ll attack your-”

“Sorry, but I’ve stepped out of the shadows,” said Hunter as the battle phase started, his dragon maid glowing purple. “And into the light.” Laundry continued to glow brighter, her form changing as it grew longer and more reptilian. When it faded, Laundry now appeared as a Chinese styled dragon with thick purple fur on its back and thick white fur on its chest which matched the scales along its belly. But there was still that bit of blue fur right above the dragon’s yellow eyes.

“But…How did you…,” stammered Chaser as he looked at the dragon, taking a step back as it flew in an arc above Hunter.

“At the start of the Battle phase, I can bring Laundry Dragonmaid back to my hand and then special summon one level 7 Dragonmaid monster from either my hand or my graveyard,” explained Hunter. “And this form, Dragonmiad Nudyarl, just happened to be one of the cards that I milled with Laundry’s effect.” As Hunter finished speaking, Nudyarl (2600/1600) let out a noise that sounded like she was trying to hold back her giggles.

“I see, a slightly better version of those retarded U.A. monsters,” said Chaser with a huff. “Fine, you managed to stop me from destroying that lousy bitch…this turn, but Ukoback is a different story. Ixchel, destroy him at once!” Ixchel raised her hands above her head before beginning to twist her body, turning it in a seductive manner while thousands of feathers fell from her wings where they began to hover. Slowly the monster lowered her arms, fingers dragging over her face until they touched her lips before her feathers flew at Ukoback where they then sliced up with many, many cuts. But, at the same time, some of those feathers got close to Hunter where they then cut into his flesh causing him to cry out.

-Star Hunter’s Life Points: 6500-

Hunter gasped in pain, hand shooting over to the wounded area in order to cover it. Looking up, he could see Nudyarl looking at him with worry. But Hunter’s mind was more focused on the sudden rustle of chains off to the side. Looking over, he saw that all of those cages had sharply dropped a bit and they were now swinging back and forth. Some of them cried out in fear, clinging to the bars for dear life while the rest did their best to put on the bravest of faces. But, Hunter could see the fear in all of their eyes. They knew what was under the image of a stone floor as well as the fate that awaited them should Hunter lose.

Biting his lower lip, Hunter tried his best to comprehend how this was happening. The cages dropping, well, you didn’t need magic to do that. It was possible that Chaser had gotten someone to hook up a system that would do this or had someone up there watching all this happen, lowering the cages a bit whenever Hunter lost life points. But what he was having a hard time trying to figure out was how he had been truly hurt. Yes, hard light technology could simulate pain via explosions of wind and force. At most the person taking damage would just be knocked back or thrown to the ground. But it shouldn’t cut a person to the point where blood was drawn!

“Enjoying the Shadow Games brother?” asked Chaser in a mocking fashion. “I bet you’re wondering how I was able to deal damage. Well, wrap your pitiful brain around this: Nergal’s effect allows all my fairy monsters to deal piercing damage. So as long as he’s on the field, defense mode means nothing. If I can run over it, I can deal damage to you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Hunter, removing his hand from the wound. The bleeding had stopped and he was able to wipe the access blood on his hand onto his pants. “Since the battle phase is over, I activate the effect of Nudyarl sending her back to my hand in order to summon back Laundry to my side of the field in defense mode. And then I’ll use her effect to mill three more cards from the top of my deck.”

“You do that. Now I’ll leave you with a single face down before I end my turn,” said Chaser with a smirk, his face down card appearing on the field. “And now, as my turn ends, the last effect of Cathedral of the Darklords activates, retuning my life points to 8000.”

-Star Chaser’s Life Point’s: 8000-

“Damn that there field spell,” growled Breaburn, the memory of his duel against Chaser coming back to him. “That blasted card was what stumped me good.”

“Tell me about it,” said Lightning, her eyes glaring in front of her. “I just kept hitting him harder and harder, but every time he just regained life points.” She then glanced at the others. “Don’t suppose any of you found a way around it?”

“I was about to wipe away everything on the field,” said Moondancer while Pharynx shook his head. “But before I could reach my standby phase, he overpowered all my monsters.”

“I tried using my own field spells,” said Wallflower. “But the damage I was doing just wasn’t enough so I went for an instant win. Almost had it too, but before I got to my next turn he drew the right cards to stop me.”

“Worse for me,” said Autumn. “He just kept using his spell cards over and over until he could just nuke my board. Sad thing is, that card isn’t even his best.”

Turn 3: Star Hunter

“Alright, draw!” announced Hunter as he drew (hand: 6). Briefly he looked at what he had drawn…and smiled. “I’ll start off by playing the spell card Dragonmaid Hospitality. In order to make sure everything is ready on time, this card acts like a bell to summon a Dragonmaid monster from either my hand or graveyard. Then I can send one Dragonmaid card with the same attribute but different level to the graveyard. So let’s go Nurse Dragonmaid!” Appearing next to Laundry appeared a young looking woman in a pink maid uniform whose skirt was a little on the short side carrying a clipboard. Nurse Dragonmaid (500/1600) had braided hair that was a whitish lavender or perhaps silver with small horns sticking out. Claws were coming out of her shoe while pink wings and a tail came out of her backside.

“Nurse Dragonmaid is an earth attribute, meaning I can send Dragonmaid Ernus to the grave,” said Hunter, his duel disk spitting out the card. Yet, while he placed the card in his graveyard slot, Nurse Dragonmaid was going over her clipboard. “Now with that out of the way, I can activate the effect of Nurse. When her shift begins, she helps revitalize one level four or lower Dragonmaid in my graveyard. Which is what she’s going to do to my Parlor Dragonmaid!” At Hunter’s command, Nurse got up as a portal appeared before her. Rising out of it was Parlor Dragonmiad (500/1700), another girl wearing a maid uniform. This one looked more like the traditional black uniform along with a white apron, albeit the skirt was still short and she was wearing green stockings. The girl’s hair was green with slightly darker green horns sticking out of her head, small green wings pressed against her hips, and a long green tail. When she appeared, both duelists saw that she was on the ground holding one of her legs as if she had sprained it. In a flash, Nurse had walked over to her and quickly placed a bandaid on it.

“With Parlor on the field, she’s ready to get to work,” announced Hunter while the familiar scent of cakes from his dreams danced around his nose. “I can now send one Dragonmaid card from my deck to the graveyard. So I’ll be dropping Dragonmaid Changeover.”

“How useless,” commented Chaser as Parlor stood up, a tray appearing in an open hand which held a steaming tea pot on it. “You’re worthless bitches should all be canned.” As he spoke, Hunter noticed Parlor’s yellow eyes narrowing at Chaser making Hunter wonder if his monster would be flinging that tray at him. Now that would have been a sight.

“I still haven’t normal summoned, meaning I can bring out Kitchen Dragonmaid,” continued Hunter. Kitchen Dragonmaid (500/1700) wore a red maid’s uniform that looked more like a gown, with long sleeves and a skirt that went all the wait to her feet along with a white apron in the front. Or perhaps that skirt was really her wings for it wended in webbing like dragon wings. Her hair was long, with two blue horns sticking out of it while she carried a mixing bowl in one hand. “Her effect allows me to add any Dragonmaid monster from my deck to my hand and then discard a card. So I’ll add Chamber Dragonmaid before discarding Dragonmaid Tinkhec.”

“Is there even a point to all of this?” demanded Chaser. “Because you are wasting my time!”

“You’ll see once I activate the effect of Dragonmaid Changeover in the graveyard,” said Hunter. “By bouncing one of my Dragonmaid’s back to my hand, I can add this spell card back to my hand as well. Laundry, come on back.” Laundry gave a little bow before she vanished in a splash of water while two cards were added to Hunter’s hand. “Now I can activate Dragonmaid Changeover, fusing together the Laundry I just added to my hand with the Parlor Dragonmaid on the field!” Hunter saw Chaser’s eyes widen, no doubt surprised that he could do this.

As Hunter inserted his spell card into the duel disk, a massive double door appeared on the field. Parlor walked over to it, still carrying her tray, while Laundry appeared in front of it with a splash. Then, before Hunter could begin the chant, the two bowed before becoming blue and green energy respectively which flew through the cracks in the door. “From the depths of the laundry all the way to the parlor and beyond, this home is under your watchful eye. Head maid of this home, guide those under your care! Fusion Summon: House Dragonmaid!” As the chant ended, the doors slowly opened as a figure walked onto the field. House Dragonmaid (3000/2000) wore an old fashioned Victorian styled maid uniform, black with a white apron in front. Round glasses covered her eyes which seemed to glint as she stepped forward, a hand going up to her black hair which was tied back. Horns that reminded Hunter of a bull stuck out of her hair while red webbed wings rested gently on her sides. And coming out of her back was the longest, thickest tail yet. It had a white underbelly with red scales on top, black ridges on its top.

“Great, another maid,” said Chaser after he seemed to recover. “I’ll say this about her, she may be fuck ugly but at least she has somewhat decent attack points.” As he spoke, House reached up to touch the bridge of her glasses with her middle finger and adjust them slightly. With a glance, Hunter was able to see that while House’s face looked both lovely and calm, there was an undeniable murderous glare hidden behind her glasses.

Honestly Chaser, thought Hunter with great annoyance. Maybe I should have summoned her dragon form instead just to shut you up. But…I need this duel to last as long as possible, to keep you here and distracted until the police arrive. Hunter paused in his thoughts to glance down at the doorway. Speaking of which, where are they? It shouldn’t take this long, should it?

Outside the studio, By-The-Books stood staring up at the large building. His arms crossed against his chest while his back was pressed against his car. His car wasn’t the only one here, several police cars were parked around the building with their siren lights ablaze. At least three dozen officers were here, all in an order to prevent this psychotic teen from escaping. And they were only the first to arrive, State Troopers were on their way while others fanned out around the area in case Chaser found some way to escape.

“What is going on here?!” yelled Hard Case, throwing a disposable coffee cup on the ground. “We should have been inside that building by now! What’s taking so long?” By-The-Books hated to say or even think this, but his younger partner was right. They should have been in there by now. Yet, it was like there was some force keeping them out. Looking ahead, he could spot a half dozen officers trying their hardest to open the doors and doing everything short of shooting them with their hand guns. But, it was like there was a thick shadow coating the doorway to prevent entry.

Still the seasoned officer did his best to keep calm so that he could think rationally. Especially in a situation like this where lives were at stake. When they had arrived, he had spotted a cart parked near the studio and discovered that it belonged to the owner of this place. A man who they had been unable to contact when they arrived. Nor had they been able to contact Star Chart when they received Hunter’s signal, made all the worse when they found out she worked for the man who owned that cart. Biting his lower lip, By-The-Books pulled out his phone to dial Hunter. Yet despite the GPS saying that this was his last known location, his phone seemed to be out of service or out of the area. Weird as well as very alarming.

“Calm down,” said By-The-Books as an officer ran up to give Hard Case another cup of coffee. Hopefully decaf. “Already called the fire department. They’ll be bringing battering equipment. If that fails we’ll have axes to chop down the doors.”

“Think this is a trap?” asked Hard Case before sipping from his cup.

“A trap?” echoed By-The-Books as he looked at his slightly paranoid partner. For a moment, he wanted to say no. That Star Chaser had no reason to do something like this, luring all these officers to one location just so he could spring a trap. But, then again, who knew what went on in that mind. It could very well be a trap, hoping to take out the police officers who arrested him. Or just payback for the police in general. “To be honest, we don’t have enough information. But we can’t let that stop us. We’ll proceed with caution.”

“Now I attack!” announced Hunter as he looked away from the door, having no idea that the police were desperately trying to enter. “First, I’ll activate Kitchen Dragonmaid’s effect to bring her back to my hand in order to special summon one level eight Dragonmaid from either my hand or graveyard. And I choose her dragon form: Dragonmaid Tinkhec!” Like with Laundry, Kitchen began to rise as her body began to glow bright red before beginning to change. She became larger, her body taking on a deeper red color as she became more dragon like. Coming out of her shoulders was a row of blue thorn-like spikes that also appeared on her tail. When the change was over, Kitchen had become Dragonmaid Tinkhec (2700/1700).

“With her change over with, House Dragonmaid’s effect activates!” announced Hunter as House raised her hand. “When a Dragonmaid is sent from the field to my hand, she destroys one of your monsters. And I choose Darklord Superbia!” Just like that, House made a gesture as if to backhand someone with the force of which being able to shatter Chaser monster from across the field. Chaser himself was nearly flung back by the force, gritting his teeth. “And if you think she’s done using that effect, you’d be wrong because I’m bringing Nurse back to my hand to special summon Dragonmaid Ernus.” Now Nurse began to float before she began to glow pink. As she grown larger, her hands and feet began to flatten as she took on a more steed-like appearance while her horns began to curl until they looked like that of a ram. Her hair changed as well, becoming long flesh masses that looked almost like hair. When it was over, Dragonmaid Urnus (2600/1600) stood in her place.

“No way,” gasped Chaser as he looked at the two monsters, each one towering over House Dragonmaid. Speaking of which, House raised her hand again.

“Yes way,” said Hunter. “House, please clean up the mess known as Darklord Nergal.” House didn’t need to be told twice and seemed to add a little extra force to her backhand. The strike not only destroyed the Darklord but also seemed to push Chaser into the altar behind him.

“Let’s attack now! House, destroy Darklord Ixchel!” yelled Hunter as he pointed at Chaser’s Darklord. House opened her mouth, revealing rows of fanged teeth before lighting began to dance between them. The energy moved out from her maw, forming an orb about half the size of the woman where it was then flung forward. Hunter watched as Ixchel raised her arms in vain to protect herself before turning into ash.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 7500-

“Dragonmaid Tinkhec, cook up Indulged Darklord,” said Hunter as he pointed at Chaser’s last remaining monster. Flames began to seep out of the dragon’s mouth, ones that ticked the dragon’s nose before launching them at Indulged. And, was the fallen angel was incinerated, Hunter thought he caught the scent of roasting beef and potatoes. Maybe even some cooked onion soup.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 6400-

“Dragonmaid Ernus, attack Chaser directly!” yelled Hunter. Ernus opened her mouth before a steam of liquid shot forth, one that smelled just like rubbing alcohol. It struck Chaser, causing him to scream as he was bathed in it.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 3800-

“It burns, it burns!” screamed Chaser as the attack ended. While there was a trace of a smile on Hunter’s face, it was overshadowed by the confusion as to the sight before him. Chaser truly did look like he was dripping wet as his body twisted and turned where he stood. Hunter would even see his brother wiping away a large portion of the liquid on his face, clearing it away from his mouth and eyes while panting heavily. His clothing looked darker, damper, as if he had just jumped in a lake with everything on. Was…Was this possible?

Shaking his head, Hunter continued his turn. “With the battle over with, I return both Ernus and Tinkhec to my hand to special summon Nurse and Kitchen in defense mode.” As his two dragons returned to their maid forms, Hunter held up a card from his hand. “Then, I activate the effect of Dragonmiad Nudyarl. By discarding this card, I can target one of your monsters in the graveyard and return it to your deck. And the one I’m aiming for is Darklord Superbia.” Hunter watched as Chaser looked on in stunned horror as the image of Nudyarl, ghostly and mist-like, flew from Hunter’s side of the field and into Chaser’s graveyard. There the dragoness took out Chaser’s monster from the graveyard slot before putting it back into his deck.

“And with that, I end my turn,” finished Hunter as he looked over the field. Ok, I should be good. With Superbia back in his deck, that’s one less special summon from the graveyard. It won’t stop him from bringing out strong monsters, but it will slow him down a bit. But if Chaser does build up his field like that again, I can use House’s effect at the start of the battle phase to destroy whatever he summoned. Unless it has an effect that protects it from being destroyed by card effect, in which case I can use Tinkhec. Her effect allows me to boost one of my Dragonmaid’s attack points by 2000. But, there’s still the chance that even that might not work. Thankfully I can summon my larger Dragonmaid’s in defense mode, protecting their smaller forms to use their effects next turn.

Turn Four: Star Chaser

“About time! I draw!” shouted Chaser as he drew his card in a wide arc (hand: 6). With a flourish, Chaser looked at his hand before averting his eyes to look at Hunter. “I will say, that deck of yours is interesting. Certainly more powerful than I gave it credit. And once I get my hands on it, where it belongs, I’ll see if I can’t make some improvements. If I can’t, well, I’m sure there would be plenty of morons willing to pay whatever I want for a one of a kind deck.”

“You will never get your hands on this deck Chaser,” replied Hunter, his tone becoming harsher while his eyes narrowed. So much so that Hunter blinked a moment later, wondering what had gotten into him.

“See, that’s why I call you retarded,” mocked Chaser as he held up a card. “Because you actually believe you stand a chance against me. That you, or anyone else, can stop me from doing whatever I want now.”

“It’s not an unfounded belief,” said Hunter, a bit calmer than before as he looked at his brother in the eyes. “If Sombra hadn’t stopped that last match, the odds were in my favor for me to win.” Hunter watched as Chaser inhaled deeply, his pupils becoming tiny dots as he glared at Hunter with all the hate he could muster. Chaser’s lips began to curl, showing off his teeth as the teen began to pant wildly like a rapid animal.

“You dare?” growled Chaser. “You dare remind me of the day my world was shattered? You don’t have the right to talk about my fall from grace you utter failure! Not a damn word! I was going to make this last a little longer, to learn more about that deck and make you BEG me for mercy, but now your retarded mouth has sealed your fate!

“I activate Darklord Contact to bring back Darklord Ixchel!” continued Chaser as he played his spell card, his monster being summoned on the spot. “Then I will use her effect, giving up a thousand life points to shuffle Darklord Contact back into my deck so that I can apply its effect to her. And thanks to my field spell, the card instead goes back to my hand.”

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 2800-

“Now I bring back Indulged Darklord,” spat Chaser, his one winged fallen angel appearing next to Ixchel. “Then her effect activates. I summon to your side of the field Capricious Darklord while I add to my hand Darklord Morningstar.” Off to the far right side of Hunter’s field appeared a woman with a single black wing. Capricious Darklord (0/1600) had brown hair as well as bluish grey skin whose face held a wicked smile on it. Above her head was another energy halo of red thorns.

As Hunter began to wonder if Chaser did that to give himself an easier target, the crazed boy scooped up both monsters on his side of the field. “Now bear witness to greatness unlike anything your pathetic mind can comprehend. Or, in terms you can understand, this is the end for you. I tribute summon Darklord Morningstar in attack mode!” Both of Chaser’s monsters screamed so loudly that Hunter had to cover his ears as they vanished, a slither of darkness forming where they stood. The darkness seemed to expand before an armored figure walked out. This was Darklord Morningstar (3000/3000), a six black winged being covered in black armor from the neck down while also holding a black sword. His whitish grey face was looking down while long locks of white hair rested on his shoulder. And who could forget his blood red halo of thorns.

“You’re fucked Hunter,” spat Chaser. “Because now Darklord Morningstar’s effect activates, letting me special summon Darklord monsters from my hand or deck equal to the number of effect monsters on your side of the field! And unless my eyes deceive me you have four. So I’ll bring out Superbia, Nergal, Tezcatlipoca, and Zerato!” Four portals opened up, two on either side of Morningstar who didn’t seem to acknowledge what was going on around him. On one side were the familiar sights of Superbia and Nergal who both were more upright and looking ready to attack. On the other were two figures that Hunter had yet to see before. At least in this duel. Darklord Zerato (2800/2300) was a tall, dark skinned figure whose red cape seemed to double as his leathery bat wings. In one hand he held a massive blade with teeth on the opposite side that reminded Hunter like those belonging to a saw. The other figure was Darklord Tezcatlipoca (2800/2100), a thin dark figure who had on a headdress that reminded Hunter of something Native American-ish with white fur around his hips.

“Now to activate the card that will guarantee my victory,” declared Chaser as he held up another card. “I play Super Polymerization! That’s right! By discarding a card from my hand, I can perform a fusion summon using monsters on both sides of the field. So I’ll fuse the Capricious Darklord on your side of the field with my Morningstar and Suberbia to create the instrument of your destruction.” As Chaser threw back his head to laugh, a powerful wind appeared on the field at the same moment Chaser’s card appeared on the field. Only, it didn’t drag the three monsters into it. No, instead it dragged Capricious and Suberbia into Morningstar! “Let the dark trinity be known. Fallen angel, wrongfully cast out of heaven, raise your blade to show all the price of such foolishness! Fusion Summon: The First Darklord!” As Chaser began to laugh once more, Morningstar transformed into The First Darklord (4000/4000). There was not that much different about him save an extra pair of wings, dark purple tears running down his face, and energy wrapped around his sword. But the power he exuded was enough to push Hunter back while making it hard to breath.

For a moment, Hunter stared into the crazed eyes of The First Darklord while trying to figure out what Chaser had planned. Is he trying to beat me with pure brute force? Well, if that’s the case it won’t work. I still have Tinkhec in my hand.

“Normally I would activate Capricious’ effect since she was sent to the graveyard,” said Chaser in manic glee. “But it won’t matter. When Morningstar is used as fusion material for this monster, all cards on your side of the field are destroyed!”

“What?!?” shouted Hunter as The First Darklord’s sword began to hum with power, growing and growing to the point where Hunter’s ears began to hurt.

“That’s right,” said Chaser with an evil grin. “You will have nothing left to protect your miserable life points. They will be cut down, you’re ‘friends’ dropping closer to the water with each attack until finally I put them out of their misery with the same ease as drowning puppies! You will lose and then we will switch bodies. I will go on to reclaim my glory, becoming the god I was always meant to be and returning to paradise while you spend the rest of your pathetic life in jail. Sitting there in a cell, living with the knowledge that you couldn’t save anyone until you die like that loser that you are! I WIN!”

“CHASER!” screamed Hunter as The First Darklord swung his sword, sending a wave of death across the field towards Hunter’s monsters.

Nightmare Wheel

“That’s right,” said Chaser, unable to keep himself from grinning. He was so happy that the teen thought for a moment tears would begin pouring down from his perfect face. What made it all the more perfect was the look on his idiot brother’s face, no doubt wishing he could count with his fingers to double check the math. But it was there, more than 8000 attack points between his three monsters. More than enough to end Hunter once and for all. “You will have nothing left to protect you’re miserable life points. They will be cut down, you’re ‘friends’ dropping closer to the water with each attack until finally I put them out of their misery with the same ease as drowning puppies! You will lose and then we will switch bodies. I will go on to reclaim my glory, becoming the god I was always meant to be and returning to paradise while you spend the rest of your pathetic life in jail. Sitting there in a cell, living with the knowledge that you couldn’t save anyone until you die like that loser that you are! I WIN!”

“CHASER!” screamed Hunter, a scream whose memory Chaser would cherish till the end of time, as The First Darklord swung his sword. As a wave of death and decay crossed the field, ready to turn everything to ash, a memory returned to Chaser. One so clear that he felt like he was living it once more.

When Chaser had been much younger, there had been this one tree not too far from his house. If it was still there, he had no idea nor did he care all that much to look. But that tree, back then, was special as all the kids in the neighborhood would gather around it and try to climb it. He had no idea who started it or how all the kids knew that they needed to try and climb it. All he and the others knew was that they had to climb it as high as they could. Of course, nobody climbed it higher than he did since he was Star Chaser.

What’s more, that was the first time others really praised him. Sure, his parents had praised him plenty, but this was the first time kids his own age saw just how amazing he was. How they looked on with envy as he climbed to that last branch, how they cheered him on when he made it back down. The looks of shame from the slightly older kids who could not do what he could naturally. The rush he felt was almost beyond description. But, what Chaser remembered most of all, was how he would sit there on that high branch and watch the others struggle. He could have sat there for hours with a smile on his face, as he watched them try to reach him only to fail like the losers they were. There was satisfaction in that, the proof that no one could ever reach the same heights as he could no matter how hard they tried. Because he was Star Chaser. Because he was someone who was truly destined for greatness.

But the sweetest of all the failures he saw belonged to Hunter, the last time he had tried to climb it. At first, he looked like he was struggling to get up like every other time. A truly pitiful sight that made Chaser ashamed that they belonged to the same family. However, once he got past that point, he began to move in a way that alarmed Chaser! He seemed to know the best path with the strongest branches, as if he had figured something out. What’s more, he was moving up faster than when Chaser had done it! Alarm spread through Chaser as he heard the voices of the other kids, cheering him on to reach the same heights as Chaser! No! To go higher than Chaser was willing to go! He began to tremble, no one had ever gotten this close to him. And if his idiot brother could do it…did that make Chaser less special? Less amazing?

Looking down, Chaser saw Hunter grab the branch right below him. Without thinking, Chaser kicked Hunter’s fingers so they slid off causing his brother to fall. As he looked down, watching his brother flailing about as branches knocked him around, Chaser grinned while the memory of the sight was burned into his mind. He had come the closest only to fail, landing on the ground with a thud. Kids screamed, running away to avoid getting in trouble but one must have told his or her parents about what had happened. That or an adult had looked out the window at just the right moment to see Hunter’s failure and called an ambulance. But Chaser, he had not gotten in trouble as he had been too high up for anyone below to see what had really happened. Nor did Hunter realize he had been kicked when he came too. The only thing that happened was that kids were no longer allowed to climb on that tree, which was fine with Chaser since it meant that no one would ever be able to out climb him.

And now, Chaser got to watch Hunter fall for the last time.

Hunter’s brain was working on overdrive as the wave got closer and closer, seeming to slow down as his thought process sped up. If his maids were in their dragon form, then they would have been alright as those forms had an effect which protected them from destruction effects while there was a fusion monster on his side of the field. But he couldn’t switch them out until the battle phase started. And he had nothing in his hand that could protect them and on the field he had-

Hunter’s eyes widened in realization, activating his face down without bothering to call it out a microsecond before the wave crashed into his monsters. Powerful wind blew against Hunter as he fought to stand his ground while smoke covered his side of the field.

“It’s over Hunter,” said Chaser happily. “Now time to end this so you can stop wasting my ti-” Chaser’s words were cut short as the smoke cleared, revealing a single maid on the field taking a knee. This one was dressed in black, with light blue horns coming out of her blond hair that were tipped black. Wings rested on her hips, only instead of webbing, hers had bluish feathers and she had a long black tail coming out of her maid uniform. “What?!? NO! This can’t be! All your useless monsters should have been destroyed. Nothing! That’s what you should have been left with: NOTHING! You cheated! You cheated! You-”

“I activated my face down card at the last second,” explained Hunter, interrupting his brother’s temper tantrum while his newest maid grinned like an apex predator. “Dragonmaid Send-Off is a quick play spell card that lets me send one Dragonmaid from my field back to my hand and then special summons another Dragonmaid monster with a different name in defense mode. So I took back my Nurse in order to bring out Chamber Dragonmaid.” (500/1800)

“You. YOU!” growled Chaser through gritted teeth. “Do you really think that’s enough to stop me? One fucking maid vs. everything I have?! DO YOU?!” Hunter said nothing, angering his brother even more. If that was possible. “Fine then. If you want to prolong this then you will suffer! I attack with The First Darklord!” Chaser’s monster swung his sword slowly in a side to side slashing movement, leaving in its wave a line of darkness which then shattered like glass into thousands of pieces before flying across the field right at Chamber. And while she was pierced many, many of these shards, Chamber was not destroyed.

“The other effect of Dragonmaid Send-Off prevents Chamber from being destroyed by battle or card effects,” announced Hunter.

“Fine, but thanks to Nergal you’ll still take the damage,” spat Chaser.

-Star Hunter’s Life Points: 4300-

As Hunter’s life points fell, some of the shards that had blown past Chamber seemed to swerve in mid-air towards him. When the first one struck him in the ribs, cutting into his clothing and drawing blood, Hunter cried out in pain. A shaking hand reached towards the object that had pierced his, feeling it as if it were completely solid before another shard impaled itself into his flesh. And then another. And another. Hunter cried out more and more, moving backwards a little at a time as he felt his blood leaking towards his sides as he felt like he was about to die from a thousand cuts.

What was worse was that, as the attack ended, Hunter’s friends and loved ones were dropped down towards the holes in the holographic floor. They all cried out as they were swung side to side.

“Nergal, attack!” shouted Chaser, his snarling face twisting back into glee as an orb of darkness appeared above the outstretched hand of the fallen fairy. Hunter was panting madly, his mind trying to come to grips with what was happening as Nergal flung his attack over the field towards Chamber. His maid held out her hands as if to try and block the attack, but the orb seemed to liquefy so that it went around her before launching itself at Hunter.

-Star Hunter’s Life Points: 3400-

Cold swept over Hunter, enough to cause his breath to be caught in his lungs. It…It was like being dropped in the middle of a frozen lake, trapped under the ice as his lungs screamed for air. What’s more, the cold seemed to dig itself deeper into him until it felt like the cold had wrapped a hand around his heart. It squeezed tightly, causing Hunter’s eyes to bulge while tears formed. Unable to help himself, Hunter fell to his knees as he tried his best to breathe while at the same time the cages were dropped even more. Now Hunter could hear a splash, as well as the cries of everyone captured. He managed to look over to see that they were all standing now, everything belong the ankles now hidden.

As small bits of air began to return to his lungs, Hunter noticed that Chamber had turned her head to look at him while remaining in the defense mode. Unless he was mistaken, and he had every reason to believe he was at this moment, Chamber’s face had changed. It was no longer the look of a predator with the intent to kill clear in her eyes. Now they seemed softer somehow. She seemed worried. Maybe even scared.

“This is what you get Hunter for thinking you could beat me,” spat Chaser. “For wasting my time! Darklord Zerato, make him feel pain!” Zerato didn’t make a sound, only raising his blade before lunging across the field before delivering a downward slash at Chamber. His maid, thankfully, had turned her head back just in time and raised her hands above her head to catch the blade before it touched a single hair on her head. But the force of the blow still impacted the area around her, wind shooting out all around Chamber before hitting Hunter.

-Star Hunter’s Life Points: 2400-

Hunter felt himself nearly knocked backwards from the wind, but cried out as he felt something cut downwards. His shirt ripped in half, blood being spilt while tears ran down his face. Shaking with fear, he looked over to see those he cared about being dropped into the water even more. Most of them looked like they had been submerged all the way to their stomachs with Breaburn at the hips.

“Darklord Tezcatlipoca, strike him down!” commanded Chaser. Hunter’s attention was moved from his monster to Tezcatlipoca, who raised both his thin arms to the sky just as black lightning struck them. He then lowered them, instantly sending the black bolts right at Chamber. Hunter saw that she had to grit her teeth as the lightning danced along her body before bouncing right to him.

-Star Hunter’s Life Points: 1400-

Hunter screamed in pain as he fell backwards, his vision white from the pain. He could hear it zapping along his skin, singeing his flesh as it went. The teen could feel his body jerking, his body feeling like trillions of tiny daggers were digging into his skin made all the worse by his open wounds that were slowly closing. Oh God, he could feel the lightning as it shot around his teeth. But worst of all was how long it felt. Seconds seemed to stretch into days, a never ending sea of pain that just dragged on and on. His tears ran freely, moving down his cheeks as he prayed that it would end. And, eventually, it did. Hunter let out a noise like a wounded dog, his ears picking up on the sounds of the cages being lowered.

“You deserve this. You know that, right?” asked Chaser. “This is what you get for standing up to me, for thinking you could climb to the same heights as someone like me. You are nothing compared to me, a true god. Everything in this world belongs to me. You’re hopes, your dreams, your desires are nothing compared to mine. I can end you with a thought. But, I am a benevolent god. So I will offer you this one chance: beg for mercy with all your heart and end your foolish resistance. Do so and the pain will end. I don’t want to damage my future vessel any more than I already have. So go on, beg like the miserable sack of shit that you are!”

As Chaser laughed, no doubt throwing his head back judging by how insane it sounded, Hunter laid there sobbing openly while wishing he had the strength to curl into a ball. Every bit of his body hurt like nothing he had ever felt in his entire life. He could still feel himself shaking as all the attacks Chaser had launched on him were still being felt by his body. His insides still felt cold, his skin still felt like it had been cut so many times, the tingle of electricity. He no longer cared if this was technology or magic at work, he was too scared to think straight. Whatever this was, it was simply too much for him. Too much for anyone really. He just…He just wanted the hurting to stop. To never go through any of that again. And begging Chaser seemed like such a small price to pay to never feel this again.

“Hunter! Hang in there,” came a voice from his side. The sound caused Hunter’s eyes to open slightly while a bit of his strength seemed to return. Not much, just enough for him to roll over to look with tears still running down his face at those who were still held captive. He could see his aunt, the one who had called out to him, submerged all the way to just below her shoulders. He looked at her and saw that she was looking at him with fear. But he could tell that she was scared for him, worried about him!

Flashback[/hr]

“So how’s it going kiddo?” asked Aunt Star Chart from across the counter, her voice slightly raised in order to be heard over all the noise around them. The two of them were seated at Batty’s Pizzeria, a pizza parlor joined with an old fashioned arcade. Of course it had more than just that. At the far end, embedded into the wall was a two story play area that looked like a haunted house with slides coming out of the top floor, secret passages, a mirror room, and so much more. There was a massive ball pit as well as several stations with large sheets of paper where kids could color on. In short, it was the perfect place for a six year old Hunter to have a birthday.

“Alright,” said Hunter quickly, smiling happily as he sat down his pizza. To be honest, things were better than alright since he didn’t think he’d even get to have a party like this. His parents had gotten him a couple of gifts and he had been allowed to invite a few friends over for lunch, but that was about it. He knew that they had spent most of their extra cash on a larger party for Chaser a couple months back, renting an entire hall for the event. That along with a surprise hospital bill meant that extra money was tighter than normal.

For Hunter at least.

“That’s good to hear,” said Star Chart before leaning back in her seat and taking a sip of her drink. But as she did, Hunter could see her eyes going down to his arm where several bruises still remained. Large discolored portions of his skin to serve as a reminder of his fall from the tree. The rest of his bruises were, thankfully, hidden. “So, are you going to tell me what happened?”

“I just slipped,” said Hunter with a shrug. Honestly he couldn’t remember since everything had happened so fast. One moment he was climbing and the next the world was a blur as fell to the ground. After that, his memories were scattered with the only thing he could remember clearly were weird dreams about living in a huge manor. Then, when he woke up, it had been a couple days later with him in the hospital with his grandparents sitting in the chairs next to him. After that, his grandfather went to get a doctor while his grandmother made a few calls to tell everyone he was ok. He remembered that when she called Aunt Star Chart, he could hear her yelling through the phone demanding to know why no one had called her.

For a moment, Star Chart said nothing. She just kept sipping her drink with a worried look on her face. Her eyes kept scanning Hunter, as if looking for some sign while her free hand went to her cross. Finally she set her drink down.

“Ok,” she said with a sigh. “I guess…I hope I’m just seeing things wrong. I pray that I-” As Hunter looked at her, wondering what she was talking about, his aunt shook her head before the familiar playful smile she normally hard returned. “Ah don’t worry about it kiddo. Just over-thinking things. Just do me a favor and let me know when things aren’t looking too good. Your parents sort of have a habit of downplaying things.”

Hunter frowned. “What does that mean?” he asked.

“Well,” began Star Chart in a nervous tone, her head leaning back for a moment before turning to look away from him. A finger was brought to her face, running up and down her cheek as she spoke. “I, ah, sometimes they…what I mean to say is those two…” She then paused, slumping in her seat. Slowly she looked at Hunter, her eyes half lidded. “I just worry about ya sometimes. I know your parents love you, but it feels like too often they forget they have two amazing children and not one.”

A warm feeling filled Hunter’s heart when he heard this. It wasn’t often when he heard something like that. Most adults seemed to only notice Chaser and all the things he could do without seeming to try. So to hear it like this, well, he was glad that his aunt quickly pulled him out of his seat so they could color together because if she hadn’t she would have seen him burst into tears.

End Flashback[/hr]

“You got this Hunter!” shouted Moondancer next to his aunt. Glancing over at her, Hunter could see she was shivering a bit but still looking at him with determination. “I believe in you.” Warmth began to fill Hunter’s heart as he heard that, pushing away the icy cold that had taken root while visions of her laughing as he plucked a leaf from her hair filled his vision. The touch of her lips against his as he remembered their first kiss, how clumsy it had been. The warmth of her body against his own.

“Don’t give that asshole what he wants!” shouted Lightning. “Go on, kick his ass!”

More of them began to shout while Hunter’s tear returned at full force, guilt becoming a massive lump in his throat. He could feel the physical pain being pushed back as guilt swelled up inside him, allowing him to think straight again. Oh God he was so weak. How could he have thought for even a moment giving up? If Chaser was telling the truth, he would live on with the knowledge that he had let them all die. And that…that was worse than any pain Chaser would do to him. He didn’t know how he could ever go on living.

Slowly, Hunter struggled to get up. Trying to push himself off the ‘ground’ with what little might he could. But while the pain had been pushed to the side, it was still there sapping him of his strength. He managed to get on his stomach, pushing himself off the ground like he was doing a push-up only for his arms to give out. But he didn’t give up, instead moving a leg forward so he could maybe use that to propel himself up. As he moved his arms again to try and rise, Hunter noticed that Chamber was looking at him again with a smile on her face. A kind one as something seemed to twinkle in her eyes. But Hunter ignored that for the moment as he fought to get back up.

“Let us help you up, master,” came a soft whisper in Hunter’s ear, a voice he remembered from his dreams. Then, all at once, Hunter felt hands touching him. The first was a small one, the hands of someone a few years younger than he was, taking hold of his own. There were hands on either side of his stomach, helping to lift him as well as a pair on either side of his chest. They weren’t lifting him, rather it felt like they were trying to make sure he didn’t fall down again. And there was something familiar about all this, like he had felt these hands before. But, he could not see them at all. The only thing he did see was Chaser who was watching in wide eyed horror. Eventually Hunter did get back onto his feet, strength slowly returning. But his legs still felt shaky and weak while he panted.

“I won’t give up,” gasped Hunter as he looked across the field at his brother. What he saw was his brother, looking at him as if he had just come back as a zombie. As if the very notion that he could find it within him to stand after all that was impossible. Or maybe he had seen something else. But that look lasted for only a few moments before Chaser’s venom returned in full force.

“You really do belong on the short bus, stupid piece of shit wasting my time!” yelled Chaser. “You can’t even figure out the obvious! There’s nothing you can do!” He then spat off to the side before a sneer appeared on his face. “But, you know what? I think I prefer it this way, watching you struggle in vain before me. I end my turn! Meaning the third effect of my field spell kicks in, returning my life points to 8000!”

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 8000-

“Now do you understand?” demanded Chaser. “Not only are my monsters stronger, but as long as The First Darklord is on the field you can’t target them or destroy them with card effects. And next turn, I can use his effect to special summon another fairy from my hand or graveyard. Add that with the fact that my life points will always return to 8000, there is no hope for you! Now tremble before the might of your god!”

I hate to say this, but Chaser is right about one thing, thought Hunter as he glanced down at his deck. It’s going to be hard to break his board. And I have to do it, fast. I won’t be able to survive another attack like that. I can’t afford to waste time stalling and hoping that the police will show up. This next draw might just decide the match.

And with that, Hunter drew.

Shining Hope Road

Turn Five: Star Hunter

“I draw!” announced Hunter as he drew (hand: 6). Time seemed to slow down as the top card from his deck slid off, arcing through the air carried by Hunter’s fingers. Everything depended on this draw. His fate, the lives of those he cared about, everything. As it drew closer to his face, Hunter fought to keep his eyes from closing as he didn’t want to show any more signs of weakness. To show a lack of faith in the deck he had been given and made his own. Finally, when the card was placed next to the others, Hunter’s eyes widened before a smile crept onto his face. If this worked then he might, might, stand a chance.

As he looked at his hand, a plan began to form. He knew what he had to do in order to win. But, he would have to do this just right. A single mistake at any point and it would be gone.

“To start out, I’ll discard Dragonmaid Ernus in order to activate her effect,” began Hunter as he slid the card into his graveyard slot. “This lets me special summon one Dragonmaid monster from my hand. Meaning I can special summon my Nurse Dragonmaid once again!” declared Hunter as he placed a card onto his duel disk. Appearing on the field was Nurse who looked at Chamber before they both nodded in unison. “With her on the field, I can special summon another Dragonmaid monster. This time from my graveyard. So Nurse, help get Parlor back on her feet!” Parlor again appeared on the field, this time holding her stomach as if she had a stomach ache. Nurse walked over to the green haired maid, pulling out a syringe as she did so while also giving her fellow maid a deadpanned look. Parlor seemed to notice this, jumping onto her feet and standing stiffly as sweat formed around her brow.

“Repeating the same moves?” laughed Chaser. “How pathetic!”

“Here’s where it gets different,” continued Hunter, his confidence growing. “Parlors effect activates, allowing me to send a card from my deck to the graveyard. And this time the card I choose is Dragonmaid Tidying.” Once again, a tray appeared in Parlor’s open palm. On it was a trap card which was carried over to Hunter and slid into his graveyard slot. “Now I activate the effect of Tidying. By removing it from the graveyard, I can special summon another Dragonmaid from the graveyard in defense mode. Kitchen, please start your shift again!” As Hunter spoke, Kitchen Dragonmaid appeared on the field in a kneeling position. “You remember her effect, right Chaser? After all, you claim to be oh so superior in all things. So I’ll just add Dragonmaid Lorpar to my hand and then send Tinkhec to the graveyard.” Pleased to see Chaser brisling at this comment, Hunter made his move.

“Now comes the good part,” said Hunter. “I bounce Nurse back to my hand in order to add Dragonmaid Changeover from my grave to my hand. With it I can fuse both Nurse and Lorpar in my hand to create my deck’s strongest Dragonmaid!” Behind Hunter appeared a massive doorway that was more like a skyscraper, casting a shadow on all of Chaser’s monsters. The two cards in Hunter’s hand transformed into energy, pink and green respectively, before flying up and behind him before slipping through the cracks. “The duties of a maid matches the will of the dragon. Oh great House maid, shed thy human form to reveal thy truest self! Fusion Summon: Dragonmaid Sheou!” The doors burst open, shattering the surrounding walls of Chaser’s temple behind Hunter as his monster made its entrance. Dragonmaid Sheou (3500/2000) was massive, easily as large as a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. But she was far more majestic in Hunter’s opinion. Standing on her hind legs, she showed off her black scales and white underbelly while her outstretched wings revealed the red webbing. Horns like a bull gave her skull some added danger, almost distracting everyone from her long tail.

“Well,” gulped Chaser as the dragon looked down at him, snorting out a puff of white smoke. “It’s big…but not enough to take down The First Darklord.”

“She will be after I play Dragonmaid Welcome!” announced Hunter as the spell card appeared on the field. “First, this gives my monsters 100 extra attack points for every Dragonmaid on the field. But that’s not all. If I control two or more Dragonmaid monsters, I get to add one Dragonmaid card from my grave to my hand. Meaning Dragonmaid Tinkhec returns to my hand. Only she won’t be staying there for long. I discard her in order to give Sheou 2000 more attack points until the end of the turn!”

“WHAT? NO!” shouted Chaser, his eyes widening as a red aura surrounded Sheou.

“Time to battle,” said Hunter, his hand moving to his duel disk to remove two cards from it. “But this time, I’ll only be bouncing Chamber and Kitchen back to my hand. Chamber is a very powerful maid. Unlike the others, who are locked into certain levels of dragons they can special summon, she can do it for any level seven or higher Dragonmaids! So I’ll bring her back to the hand in order to summon Lorpar while Kitchen will be bounced to summon Tinkhec!” Both of Hunter’s remaining maids began to transform. As Kitchen took on her red dragon form and settled to Hunter’s right, Chamber was transforming to his left. Lorpar (2700/1700) was a large green dragon that walked on all fours, her hair going down her long neck. Her horns looked an even more leaf-like shape while vines and grass seemed to grow on her back.

“Dragonmaid Sheou, destroy The First Darklord!” commanded Hunter as he pointed to Chaser’s fusion monster. Sheou (3500 🡪 5900) opened her mouth revealing white flames while lighting sparked around her maw. The two elements seemed to merge as they were then shot down towards the fallen angel who raised his shield in vain, only to be incinerated leaving behind only his shadow before it too vanished from sight. As for Chaser, the blast sent him flying backwards so that his back hit the wall with enough force that cracks could be seen even from a distance.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 6100-

“Alright Tinkhec, show Darklord Zerato what’s cooking!” shouted Hunter. Dragonmaid Tinkhec (2700 🡪 3100) seemed to grin at that. She too opened her mouth to send red flames towards the massive sword wielder, burning him to a crisp. The flames hit Chaser as well, setting his hair on fire as he pried himself off the wall. The arrogant teen began to strike his head while everyone laughed at him, his life point dropping slightly.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 5800-

“One more attack. Lorpar, show Darklord Tezcatlipoca what we do to rude guests!” Lorpar (2700 🡪 3100) grinned as well as she opened her mouth. A blast of green mist mixed with leaves shot across the field, Hunter getting a powerful scent of mint. Darklord Tezcatlipoca was knocked down before he exploded, Chaser getting knocked down to the ground as he began to cough do to the power odor in the air around him.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 5500-

“Do you,” began Chaser, pausing to let out a series of coughs that almost made him double over. When he managed to stop himself, Chaser used his arm to wipe away some spit around his lips. “Do you really think that will be enough to stop me? My life points will just return to 8000!”

“I’m working on it,” replied Hunter, causing Chaser to growl. “I end my battle phase. But, instead of sending my dragons back to my hand, I’ll use them to create the overlay network!” Chaser balked as a comic rift appeared in the middle of the cathedral, both of Hunter’s monsters turning into energy before flying into it. “The might of two dragons merge to become one with the cosmos. Now fly through the endless void in search of new stars. XYZ summon Rank 8! Number 38: Hope Harbinger Dragon Titanic Galaxy!” After announcing that mouthful of a name, blue crackling energy came out of the portal as blue and white armor began to surround it thus giving it shape. Hope Harbinger (3000/2500) let out a roar as two orbs began to circle it while it flexed its metal claws. And while two Dragonmaids were no longer on the field, it did get a boost from the last remaining one (3000 🡪 3100).

“A fusion and an XYZ monster?!” yelped Chaser as he took a step back. “That’s…That’s still not enough. Now end your turn so I-”

“I’m not done yet. I still haven’t normal summoned, remember?” said Hunter as he held up the card he had drawn at the beginning of his turn. “Now I normal summon my Debris Dragon in attack mode!” Debris Dragon (1000/2000) appeared looking like a smaller version of the legendary Stardust Dragon, standing at about half the size as Hunter’s human sized maids. “With this card, everything is set. I tune my level four tuner Debris Dragon with my level 3 Parlor Dragonmaid.” Everyone gasped as Debris Dragon opened its wings, soaring overhead where it became four rings with Parlor right behind as she transformed into three stars. At once a pillar of light appeared on the field with enough force to shake the cages and cause Chaser to raise a hand to protect his eyes. “The cry of the dragon pierces the dark heavens. Let your petals bloom under the full moon’s light. Synchro Summon Level 7: Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!” A loud screeching cry echoed through the chamber as the pillar vanished, revealing a monster who looked like a black dragon covered in red rose petals. This was Black Rose Moonlight Dragon (2400/1800), a dead ringing for the original Black Rose Dragon.

“Black Rose…” began Chaser, his words trailing as he stared into the red eyes of Hunter’s synchro monster. He almost looked pale, sweat beginning to appear on his forehead, before he suddenly shook his head. “You stupid retard! Are you planning on nuking the field? You’ll just end up destroying-”

“Wrong dragon,” interrupted Hunter, a small smirk appearing on his face. “Moonlight here doesn’t have a destruction effect. Oh no, she has a far greater ability in my humble opinion. Sending a level five or higher monster back to the hand! Goodbye Nergal!”

“NO! NO!” screamed Chaser as a flurry of rose petals began to surround his monster, lifting it up into the air before vanishing leaving only the fragrance of the flower in the air.

“With that, I end my turn,” said Hunter firmly.

“Well…Well shoot,” said Breaburn as he held onto the bars of his cage, body slowly adapting to the chill of the water. His voice, however, was soft and almost distant as he saw something that was rare. A deck that had managed to summon a fusion, XYZ, and synchro monster all in one turn. And mighty powerful ones at that, dominating the field without emptying Hunter’s hand! Slowly he turned to look at Lightning. “Did…Did ya know he could do that?”

“He mentioned it,” said Lightning, shirt clinging to her tightly as she too clung onto the bars. “But seeing it. Damn. Pegasus gave him a good deck.”

“It’s not just the cards that he was given,” said Moondancer from down the line. “Hunter adjusted it to make it his own. Some of those cards are from his personal collection to push it as far as he could.” Moondancer then paused, a small smile appearing on her face. “And some were monsters that Chaser discarded, apparently thinking that they weren’t good enough for him.”

“Looks like he’s going to regret that,” mumbled Wallflower. “Nobody likes being ignored.”

Turn Six: Star Chaser

“Finally. I draw so I can finally end you!” roared Chaser (hand: 5). But before Chaser could look at what he had drawn, Sheou began to glow.

“My Dragonmaid has a couple interesting effects,” said Hunter, noticing the look of confusion on Chaser’s face. “Like, for example, during each standby phase, she lets me special summon any Dragonmaid monster from my hand or graveyard. Meaning I can revive Nurse!” Appearing at the far end of the field was Nurse Dragonmaid, taking a knee while in defense mode and smirking at Chaser. “And when she’s special summoned, her effect lets her bring back another Dragonmaid in the graveyard. So she’ll patch up Laundry!” At the opposite side of the field rose Laundry, causing Hunter to discard the top three cards of his deck.

“FINE! TAKE YOUR USELESS BITCHES! IT DOESN’T MATTER!” screamed Chaser as Hunter examined what he was sending to the grave. “Do you know why? Because you won’t be getting another turn! It all ends here! I play Darklord Contact to bring back-” Chaser’s words were cut out for as soon as his card appeared on the field, Hope Harbinger brought its claws to its stomach where a black hole began to form. Instantly a vortex was created, sucking everything towards it. “What is this?!?”

“My dragon’s effect,” replied Hunter who stood calmly thanks to the invisible hands holding him up. “You didn’t really think I’d let you use that card again to build up your field, did you?”

“Grr, so you’re negating it. Big deal,” spat Chaser. “I can still use its effect from the graveyard once I-”

“No, you won’t,” said Hunter, closing his eyes as Chaser’s spell card was sucked into the black hole. The vortex ended instantly, the black hole becoming another orb circling the dragon. “When my monster negates the effect of one of your spell cards, he doesn’t send them to the graveyard. Instead, they become material for him!”

“Fine!” spat Chaser, discarding two cards from his hand. “I discard two Darklord cards in order to special summon Darklord Nasten in defense mode!” Nasten (2600/2600) appeared in front of Chaser, a bulking brute of a monster with large horns coming out of its head as well as white wings on its back. “With him on the-” Chaser’s words were cut out as another gale of roses began to surround his monster. “What’s going on?”

“I told you,” said Hunter. “Black Rose Moonlight Dragon has a greater ability than the original. Once per turn, whenever you special summon a level five or higher monster, I can send one special summoned monster back to your hand. Oh, it also does that when she is special summoned.” At that, Nasten vanished from the field and was returned to Chaser’s hand.

“B-But that-” stammered Chaser, the seriousness of the situation coming down on him.

“Chaser, Darklords are a powerful archetype,” said Hunter as he opened his eyes. “Their spell and traps are powerful and, as you have shown throughout this duel, their monsters allow them to recycle those very same cards. However, they have a fatal flaw: nearly all of them are high level monsters. Without any means of special summoning them from your hand or graveyard, they become useless. With Hope Harbinger and Moonlight, I have locked you out of special summoning any of them to build up your field. For now at least.”

“No…No!” growled Chaser as he looked at his hand, the cards shaking in his grip. “You think you’ve won just because you stopped me this round? Think again! I end my turn. Now my life points-” Chaser’s words ended as Sheou began to glow a bright white light. She looked like she was about to curl up into a ball when the light shot out from all around her before turning into House Dragonmaid. The light that exploded out from her collided with the walls of Chaser’s Cathedral of the Darklords, destroying it. As the bricks and stained glass began to tumble downward, shattering into millions of tiny golden lights, House Dragonmaid landed gracefully onto the field as it returned to the tank of water.

“What you just saw was Sheou’s most powerful effect, tributing herself in order to negate the activation of a card on the field and destroying it,” said Hunter firmly over the gentle rustling of the water as it splashed on the sides of the tank. “Then I special summon House Dragonmaid from my extra deck.”

“My…My Cathedral,” gasped Chaser, his gaze focused on where the old stone masonry used to be. “My temple, the place of my glory. Gone.” Chaser’s voice had gone down to barely a whisper as he slowly twirled around, as if hoping that some small piece of his field spell still remained. That one fraction of the stained glass windows could be found. A fraction of the altar. But Hunter knew that all his brother would find was an old, abandoned studio. Then, after he had spun around several times, his legs looked like they were about to give out and he would fall on his knees. But, in an awkward movement, Chaser stopped himself before he glared again at Hunter with renewed, redoubled hatred.

“Again! You took it all away from me again!” he yelled, face turning red with rage. “Why?! You’re not allowed to do that! You’re not allowed to! A loser! That’s all you have ever been! A brain dead loser who would never even come close to my skills! So why? Why won’t you just roll over and die?!”

Turn Seven: Star Hunter

“Chaser, I never took anything away from you,” said Hunter in a flat, almost emotionless tone as he drew (hand: 4) “As much as I would have liked to, I am not responsible for anything that has happened to you. You were the one they caught cheating that day. You were the one they caught trying to poison the students. I am just so…sick of this. At the very least, I can finally end this once and for all.” But as Hunter spoke, his eyes narrowed in on the last card on the field: the face down that Chaser had placed there on his first turn.

Hope Harbinger can’t negate traps and absorb them, thought Hunter. None of my monsters can do anything about it. And I have no cards in hand which could destroy it just to be on the safe side. But is there anything to worry about? The last time I attacked Chaser he didn’t activate it and I don’t recall Darklords having a trap that could destroy multiple monsters. It could be something like Drowning Mirror Force…but Chaser would have used it the last time I attacked him directly.

Shaking his head, Hunter returned Nurse and Laundry to his hand. “From the grave, I special summon Dragonmaid Ernus and Nudyarl!” At once his two maids transformed into their dragon forms, eyes and fangs barring down on Chaser. “House, attack Chaser directly!” House (3000 🡪 3300) nodded before opening her mouth, creating another orb of lightning that was then fired at Chaser. The orb hit his brother with enough force it knocked him backwards, hitting the platform with enough force that he seemed to bounce a good foot in the air before crashing down.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 2200-

“Dragonmaid Nudyarl,” said Hunter, his blue dragoness turning her head to look at him. “You started this match so it only seems fitting that you end this!” Nudyarl (2600 🡪 2900) grinned before turning to face Chaser as he shambled to his feet, swaying slightly and wheezing in pain. The blue dragon opened her mouth as a stream of boiling hot water came pouring out with the same force as a fire hydrant.

“Activate trap: Darklord Pride!” yelled Chaser, his face down card flipping up. From the card came a large red, flaming halo which placed itself in front of Chaser so it looked like a portal. The water passed into it, vanishing as it entered the middle of the ring before turning into red stars that flew towards Chaser.

“Surprised?” asked Chaser, his tone becoming mocking as he discarded his hand. “Did you really think with that lesser brain of yours that I wouldn’t have a backup plan? Darklord Pride is a trap card that I can only use when I have no monsters on the field. When I am about to receive an attack that would drop my life points to zero, I can discard my hand in order to turn all damage for the rest of this turn into sweet life points for myself.” As he spoke, the red stars began to land on his body causing it to glow.

`-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 5100-

Then, much to Hunter’s surprise, Chaser then drew two cards from his deck. “But that’s only the beginning. All of your monsters must now attack me and every time my life points increase, I get to draw two cards!”

“BULL CRAP!” yelled Lightning, practically swinging in her cage.

Bull crap is an understatement, thought Hunter while Nudyarl looked ashamed of herself. A card that can turn attacks into life points isn’t anything new. Draining Shield and Rainbow Life come to mind. But forcing all my monsters to attack and he gets to draw two more cards each time! That card is broken! Hunter then took a breath, trying to calm himself. But, I don’t think I have to worry about it again. Chaser said that that card can only be activated when there are no other cards on the field and he has to dump his entire hand.

“Nudyarl,” said Hunter, his dragon perking up at his voice. “Don’t worry about it. That was my mistake.” He had no idea why he said that. Perhaps because they seemed more alive than any cards he had ever used before. Or maybe it was the way those hands held against his body, feeling warmer as he spoke. Or maybe it… Well, anyways, Nudyarl seemed to perk up at that.

“Alright everyone, you know what we have to do,” finished Hunter. At once, all of his dragons fired their attacks at Chaser only to pass through the ring so that his life points would increase. The more they attacked, the redder Chaser began to glow until he appeared like a red star.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 14000-

“Now do you see how pointless it is to fight me, to go against me?” mocked Chaser, holding his newly acquired eight cards in his hand. “With our life points this far apart, it’ll be easy for me to end you utterly. You’ll fail just like you always do. Remember?”

Flashback

Chaser looked gleefully at his brother who sat there, shoulders slumped at the dinner table looking down at a purple ribbon attached to a couple of papers. Chaser knew what they were, the submission to a writing contest that Hunter had entered for young writers. And purple didn’t mean first place. Heck, Chaser could see clearly from where he stood that there wasn’t even a number on it. It was just one of those ‘thanks for wasting our time’ ribbons that they gave out to whiny little shits like Hunter to make them ‘feel better’.

Like they deserved it.

Grinning, Chaser ran over to the table and leapt up so he could grab the paper. “Give that back!” yelled Hunter, giving chase to Chaser. But Chaser was faster, he had always been. Together the two ran around the house and into the backyard for several long minutes before being stopped by their mom who looked down at Hunter cross.

“You know better Hunter,” she said, frowning at the stupid older boy.

“But mom he,” began Hunter but was stopped by their mother who gently took the papers from Chaser.

“No excuses from you,” she said. “Honestly, all that for a worthless ribbon that means nothing.”

“Report card time,” called out Chaser’s father as he walked into the living room, holding up two envelopes in his hand. Chaser grinned as he turned off the TV, standing in front of it while his loser of a brother looked like he would rather be anywhere else.

“Let’s start with Chaser,” said their father, quickly opening up the envelope and pulling out the letter with a flourish. He then slapped the letter before he too was grinning like mad. “Well, no surprise here! Straight A’s!”

“It was easy,” said Chaser, holding his head up high as he watched his father set the report card on the side. He knew that soon his father would be adding it to the scrapbook, preserving his brilliance for years to come.

Then, with much less fan fair and almost seeming begrudgingly, he went to open Hunter’s report card. He looked at it with a frown, shaking his head a little as his eyes scanned what was written. Then, he looked at the loser who sat next to Chaser. “Just like I thought,” he said, shaking his head. “Mostly B’s with a couple of A’s. When are you going to get all A’s like your younger brother?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Star, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” said the coach of Hollow Shades little league football as he approached the two parents.

“Is it Chaser? Is he hurt?” asked their mother, looking worried.

“He’s fine,” said the coach, his tone reassuring. “In fact, better than fine. Best arm from someone his age in a long time. Might be the best player we have.”

“That,” began the boy’s father, looking irritated as though he wanted to shout at the man that there was no ‘might’ about it. That Chaser WAS the best, no doubt about it. But the man held his tongue as he moved on. “If it’s not Chaser, what is it?”

“It’s about your other son, Hunter,” began the coach while the two parents relaxed a bit. “He…well, look. I can tell that the boy is trying, he really is giving it his all. It’s just that the boy just doesn’t have the talent for the game. That and I can tell he really doesn’t have that much interest in the-”

“We’ll talk to him,” interrupted Chaser mom before the two walked away.

“Well hello Chaser,” said the woman who ran the local ice cream parlor as Chaser and his dumb brother walked in. “What can I get for you?”

“Double chocolate fudge in a waffle cone,” said Chaser. The woman behind the counter smiled and nodded, going to work as she began to whip up Chaser’s order. When she had finished, she presented Chaser with a cone with two extra scoops with a smile on her face.

“It’s on the house dear,” she said. “You deserve it for winning that duel monsters tournament. First one first Hollow Shades to ever do that” Wordlessly, Chaser took the cone and began to eat it as he moved to the side, watching as the woman’s face fell as she looked at Hunter. The boy had pulled out what little money he had, still counting it as he looked up at the prices before wincing.

“Ah…can I just get a-”

“Sorry, but I can tell you don’t have enough,” said the woman, crossing her arms as she looked down at Hunter.

End Flashback

“That is your legacy,” said Chaser as he finished regaling everyone with the past. “A failure, a loser who will always be beneath me! Everyone could see it then! And with this duel, perhaps I can finally ram it through your disease-ridden brain. There is no way you can defeat me, not when I have this many life points and a new hand. Face it Hunter, you’ve lost!”

For a moment, Hunter stood there before letting out a sigh. “Chaser, you are right about one thing: I did fail a lot and I still do. I’m not perfect. I still don’t get perfect grades. I still suck in gym. And I don’t always win every single duel. But, do you know what? I’m not afraid to fail!”

“Of course you’re not,” laughed Chaser in a mocking fashion. “It happens so often to a pa-”

“I see failure as a friend and teacher, not the end,” interrupted Hunter, gaining him an irritated look from Chaser. “When I fail, I take the time to look, I can see where my answer was wrong so I can do better the next time. Or I might be caught off guard by a strategy I have never encountered before and I can learn to watch out for it or adopt it for myself. Then have even been times when…when I let my own rage and anger take over.” Briefly, Hunter turned to look over at Breaburn. “That’s when I can see the worst side of myself. The part of me that lashes out or just doesn’t think. And afterwards, I can swallow my pride and apologize to those I hurt while trying not to let that happen again. Yeah, I’ll fail a lot more. But I will at least keep trying to get better.

“You, on the other hand, are terrified of failure like it’s the boogeyman in the closet!” shouted Hunter as he pointed at Chaser. To his surprise, Chaser seemed to jump a little at this. “You think failure means the end. And in a way, it is. It means an end to the delusion that you are perfect, that you’re better than the rest of us. But rather than accepting it and moving on, you’d rather stay stuck in your fantasy world and screaming your head off at anyone who tells you otherwise. Anyone who doesn’t treat you like that little kid you once were.”

“Shut up!” growled Chaser through gritted teeth.

“That little kid you still are,” said Hunter, not backing down. “You think that just because mom and dad let you drink, let you swear, and do a whole slew of other things that kids our age shouldn’t do, that makes you more mature. But it doesn’t.”

“Shut up!” growled Chaser, louder this time as he brought both his hands to his head. “I am not…I’m better. I’m everything this world wants to be!”

“And even if I do fail here,” continued Hunter, his face stony as he glared at his brother. “Even if you can take over my body like you say you can, I know that you won’t be free forever.” That got Chaser’s attention as he lifted his head up a little to look at Hunter with wide eyes. “Sooner or later, you’ll wind up back in that prison no matter whose body you’re in. Because, no matter the body, you will still be you. And you never change, Chaser.”

“Hey, sorry to break this great roll you’re on,” interrupted Lightning, catching Hunter’s attention. He looked at her and saw that she was waving at him a little. “But ah, I kind of hope you don’t fail here because, well, us drowning and all.”

At that, Hunter gave her a half smile. “I don’t plan on it,” he said. “Just saying, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Lightning in a carefree tone. “I get it. Small comforts and all that.” She then let out a smile slip out, one that seemed like she didn’t feel like her life was in any danger at the moment. “Got to hand it to you. Said the same thing about this coward not too long ago. Not as classy and dressed up as you are doing. Oh, Four-Eyes?” The athletic girl turned to look at Moondancer who looked back in confusion. “I need to ask you something? Do you want to be like Chaser?”

Hunter watched as his girlfriend stared at Lightning for a moment…before smirking herself. “Well, if I ever wanted to see what it was like to live in a padded cell with a straightjacket on,” she said, loud enough so Chaser could hear it. “But to be honest, I don’t think that’s a good look for me. Him on the other hand…”

“I wanted to be wanted,” said Wallflower, speaking up as she looked at Chaser. “But not the way he is.”

“As mushy and lovey-dovey as my brother is,” said Pharynx. “I’d still take him over whatever the hell Chaser is in a heartbeat. Besides, his plan makes him sound more like a parasite than a god.”

“There is no way I’d want to be anything like Chaser,” said Autumn. “There’s no way anyone would go to see a play or a musical about him.”

“Well, I don’t know about that. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in a movie,” said Moondancer, surprising everyone. Well, everyone besides Hunter who smiled as he knew where Moondancer was going to take this. “Specifically, a horror movie. As that annoying character who usually gets killed first so we don’t have to bear with him for the entire run time.” Laughter exploded from the cages at that, everyone seeming to forget how they were all trapped for the moment.

“You…You dare,” whispered Chaser in a dangerous tone, one that sent a chill running down Hunter’s back. Slowly he looked back at his brother, seeing his eyes had grown wider than Hunter thought possible. The others noticed this as well, most of them moving back in their cages as if they thought he would leap into the water, swim towards their cages, and begin humping the bars in his rage while screaming at them. Not an unfounded belief. “You all dare?! Fine. FINE! If you love failure so much, then how about I introduce you to your ultimate failure! Lose every retard you care about! Perhaps then you’ll learn what happens when you go up against a true god!” Chaser then turned to the cages and stretched out his hand. “Drown! All of you drown right now!”

Reversal of Fate

Chaser ran through the card shop, one of the best places to find Duel Monster cards in Hollow Shades. There, on the shelves were cards of almost every type and rarity protected in hard plastic cases to keep them in the best condition. From old classics like Raigaki all the way to the latest fusion monsters, this place seemed to have them all. The only ones that were not on the floor were the rarest of the rares, kept in a safe behind the front counter with only pictures of them to show what they had. Chaser knew they had to be good since the numbers next to the pictures were higher than anything he had ever seen. It was here where Chaser was going to be getting his first real deck, not that crappy starter deck he and his brother had been using. And his parents had agreed to get him the best cards they could afford.

There were other cards here as well. Mostly for other games that didn’t involve holograms…so who cared? Certainly not the owner since they weren’t covered in the hard plastic with lower prices. Some were even thrown into baskets labeled ‘free’.

As Chaser ran past one of these baskets, something caught his eye. Normally, he wouldn’t even bother to give this a second look but this card looked so different from the others and yet it was familiar to him somehow. Coming to a stop, the small boy reached in and pulled the card out to get a better look. It wasn’t a trading card like he was used to. On the front showed a man in a jersey, bouncing a basketball with several people from the opposite team surrounding him. A sports card. The man on it looked…familiar to Chaser somehow. Like he had seen him before. But Chaser knew that team and this guy, whoever he was, wasn’t on it anymore.

“What’cha got there?” asked Chaser’s father as he walked up from behind him.

At first Chaser didn’t answer, only holding up the card so his father could see it. “Who’s this?” he asked. Chaser’s father scratched his head as he looked down at the picture, an eye narrowing in concentration.

“I think,” he began before his eyes brightened. “Oh, yeah. I ah, can’t remember his name but he used to be a pretty famous basketball player back a couple years ago. Had his own cereal and cartoon show. Think you might have seen a couple of episodes.”

Chaser frowned as he looked at the picture again. Funny, he didn’t remember any of that. “What happened to him?” asked the boy.

“I think he was caught taking drugs to make himself play better,” said his father with a sigh. “Might have been the only reason he was ever any good. People found out and he lost pretty much everything.” Then, Chaser’s father reached down to take the card from his hand before tossing it back into the basket. “Don’t worry about him, he’s not even worth remembering. Now come on, we’re here to get you a deck.” Nodding, Chaser followed his father, never once looking back at the card on top of the pile with the rest of the loser cards.

“Drown! All of you drown right now!” bellowed Chaser, reaching out with his magic to force the chains to drop them all. It was the perfect way to win. Hunter would either stand there, watching like a complete idiot as they all sank to the bottom of the tank and died for the things they said about him. No doubt when his brain starting to work again, it would be so wrecked with grief he would make misplay after misplay until he lost like the stupid bitch that he was. Or maybe Hunter would leap into the water, trying to save them and forfeiting in the process. Either way, Chaser would win.

Already he could feel his magic tingling, commanding the shadows to do his bidding. Soon, he would regain everything that he had lost. He wasn’t going to be like that basketball player, the teen super star of the week, or any of the other trash out there. No, he was too smart and too talented to fail. He had done too much to keep himself the envy of the world. Not a tarnish to his image.

Star Chaser grumbled as he walked down the hallway of his junior high, the only light being cast by the glow of his flashlight. His footsteps were quick, his other hand holding on to the strap of his backpack as he moved making sure it would fall off his back. Chaser’s eyes darted from door room number to door room number, swiftly taking them in before moving to the next. His heart was beating a little faster than normal despite knowing that his parents were none the wiser as to what he was doing. As far as they knew, he was heading to a party so they knew not to call him. Yet that didn’t mean that someone else might spot him. Some idiot teacher staying late because they didn’t have anything else going for them in their pathetic lives or that moron of a brother of his.

Soon enough, he found the room he was looking for and pulled out a key for his pocket that he had acquired at the start of the year. Smoothly he entered, making his way to the desk where he sat down while placing the backpack next to him. Once seated, Chaser opened up the desk and began to rummage through the papers with his teeth gritted.

He couldn’t believe this! Ever since the start of the year, this advanced class had been a breeze. He had managed to snooze through all the assignments thanks in part that the answers were in the back of the book, written upside down for some reason. As if that was going to prevent students from just copying them down. Even the first few tests seemed to be lifted straight from the book, making it all the easier for Chaser. But then that complete fool of a teacher had to go and ruin everything, announcing that there was going to be a test the next day. Saying that this one would be her own, that she had been using the tests in the book up to this point to see who was actually doing the work and who was just copying the answers. That they shouldn’t worry because those who had been following along and understood the text would be just fine. Oh, how clever she thought she was. Well, she was wrong! Dead wrong!

After a few minutes, Chaser found the sheets already premade along with the answers. Quickly he took several pictures of them with his smart phone before placing them back in the desk where he found them. But, as he slid the drawer shut, Chaser did not get up. Instead he opened another drawer open before opening up his backpack to pull out a half drunk bottle of rum. He unscrewed the top, quickly taking one last shot of the drink before loosely putting the cap back on and setting the bottle in the desk on its side. Already he could see the liquid beginning to drip out. Satisfied, Chaser closed the desk and headed out, feeling better already.

The next morning, before the first period was finished, that fool was dragged out of the school.

No, nothing tarnished his perfection! He was willing to do whatever it took, that’s what made him great! And with his power, he could make it all come true like a true god!

Chaser’s magic reached out to the shadows to give his orders. Soon they would obey him, dropping those idiots who dared say he was wrong, who dared to mock him, to their deaths. The shadows would obey him just like-

Outside the studio, By-The-Books was becoming increasingly worried. They should have been inside by now or at least found some way of seeing what was inside. Already, the officers under his command had found every window leading in only to find them unbreakable and those who looked inside saw only darkness. Security footage that had been transferred to his device showed only static and every attempt to communicate with the people inside via loudspeaker was answered only with silence.

He wasn’t the only one getting worried. Hard Case was getting worse, drinking more and more coffee as his own attempts to get in failed. He had gotten the idea to make an entrance off near the rear using small explosives. Only, for some reason, all they had done was singe the wall. Cutting tools had failed as well. At one point, he had even fired his gun at the door lock after telling everyone there he would take full responsibility for what happened. The lock had been destroyed and should have allowed them easy access…but still the door refused to budge.

More people were coming to help with the situation. State police and the SWAT team were still on their way while more police officers were keeping the local news informed, naturally keeping them a safe distance away. But…would that be enough to get into the building? By-The-Books had to wonder. Given what he had seen, he wouldn’t be surprised if they needed to get a tank just to dent the door!

Then, without warning, something happened. The walls of the building began to vibrate, causing everyone around to jump back and stare. Darkness seemed to swirl around the walls, twirling around before their eyes. Everyone nearby began to slowly back away, the building starting to tremble more and more as the darkness seemed to consume it. Before Books could even question what he was seeing aloud, the darkness seemed to shoot out like a shockwave, knocking all everyone back while Books was slammed into the door of his car. As he slid down to the pavement, he felt the same sensation one gets when feeling the glare of an angry person right behind out. That need to turn around to see who it was. Only, in this case, it seemed to be coming from the building itself.

“AAAAHHHHH!” screamed Chaser as he brought his outstretched hand back, holding it like it had just been burnt. And it felt like he had to, only a million times worse. The shadows around him seemed to pulse with anger, moving around him like flames belonging to an out of control fire. The burning sensation seemed to go deeper and deeper inside of him, wreaking havoc wherever it went.

“What’s happening?!?” screamed Chaser as he fell to his knees, his eyes beginning to water. The pain was now going to his core, his mind racing to figure out what had happened. It was like the shadows, his magic, had suddenly turned on him. But why now? Why would they do that when he was so close to winning, when all he needed it to do was drown those fucking-

“You don’t… know everything. Only…so much…you can do…on your…own.”

Chaser’s eyes widened as the words of what’s-his-name came to him, almost like a whisper in his ear. Was…was this what that old fool meant? Was there some rule he had broken? But…But he was Star Chaser! The rules didn’t apply to him! He was above them! He was above all things! He was greatness made flesh, a true god upon this pitiful world! How dare his magic defy him like this! Rage began to fill Chaser as he called out for his magic again, ready to command it to do his bidding and drown those fools. Only before he could give the command, he felt the core of his being pressed as it was roughly squeezed. Chaser opened his mouth to cry out, yet no words came out.

He stayed like this for a while, feeling like his life would end at any moment. Why? Why would his great power do this to him? Imploringly, Chaser looked up to see that the magic of the Shadow Games was still going. Still flowing through the walls of the studio, keeping them all locked tightly inside and making everything that happened in this duel real. But if the Shadow Game was still going on then why did Chaser suddenly feel so…empty? Why was he feeling such pain? Looking around, his gaze fell on House Dragonmaid, seeming that now she was looking right at him with what looked like a satisfied smirk. The utter bitch!

Slowly Chaser got to his feet, his eyes fixed on House as she continued to watch him. A part of him wanted to run, run away so that he could figure out what was going on before returning to finish off this stain upon humanity that called itself his brother. But the wiser side of him said that he should remain where he was. He knew that once a Shadow Game started, he had to finish it. That’s what the old fool had told him at least. And…And even if he could run, his brother would just call the police! He probably wouldn’t make it two blocks before he was picked up by the police and sent back to prison where he didn’t belong! Besides, the pain was already starting to fade. No doubt because of his superior body and endurance.

“I changed my mind,” panted Chaser, hatred flashing in his eyes as he looked past House. As he spoke, he did his best to put as much authority into his voice as he could so that that fool wouldn’t think that something might be wrong. “A quick death for them is no fun for me. Better to drag it out, let them think you have a snowball’s chance in hell before they drown due to your failure! Now finish up your move so I can end you!” That’s right, he needed to finish up the duel. With his magic, it would be easy to win. Next turn, he would create a card that would destroy everything on Hunter’s field. A trap card this time; one that could be activated from the hand as long as he controlled a Darklord monster. Checking his hand, Chaser saw that he could do that. Then, all he needed was a direct attack, and he would win.

Something isn’t right here, thought Hunter as he watched his brother standing there and panting. The only time Chaser backs down from a threat is when he realizes he can’t go through with it. With that screaming, I’m pretty sure he tried to do it and failed…but that look of pain and that funny feeling all around us…

Biting his lower lip for a moment, Hunter looked at the card he had drawn during the start of his turn. Whatever was going on, he could figure it out later. Right now he had to focus on getting everyone out of here safely. And the only way he knew how was to win this duel. “I return Ernus and Nudyarl back to my hand in order to summon Nurse and Laundry back to the field in defense mode. Then I’ll set one card face down and pass it to you.”

Turn Eight: Star Chaser

“Prepare to die,” said Chaser as he placed his fingers on the top of his deck (hand: 8). “Because once I draw this card, everything you have will be gone and I will- WHAT THE FUCK?!” Chaser raged, looking down at the card he had drawn while talking with trembling anger. “This…This isn’t the card I wanted! How? This should have been…My magic, why the hell isn’t it working properly? It’s been working perfectly up until now. Why? Why? WHY?!? CHANGE! CHANGE INTO WHAT I WANTED! I CONTROL YOU!”

As Chaser yelled at his card, Hunter watched with interest. Sure his brother’s anger was nothing new, but he could see there was a growing confusion in him. Chaser’s pain earlier clearly rattled him, but now there was something more. It was something akin to panic, that things weren’t working the way they should be and Chaser had no idea why. It was like that one time their parent’s car had broken down on the road, sparks flying from under the hood until it came up crashing into the windshield. Their father had looked so much like Chaser did now, trying his best to figure out what went wrong despite having no mechanic skills. But that would mean…

“You don’t know how your magic works, do you?” said Hunter slowly, a smile creeping on his face as he spoke. At once, the screaming from his brother died down while both Nurse and Laundry looked like they were holding back a series of giggles. Even House seemed amused by all of this, turning to look at Hunter before giving him a brief nod.

“What? Of course I…,” gasped Chaser as he looked both angry as well as nervous, eyes darting left to right

“Well, to be more specific,” continued Hunter as his confidence began to grow. “You seem to have a good grasp on what it can do, but not everything. Best guess is you did something when you tried to drown Aunt Star Chart and my friends before the duel was...” Hunter’s words trailed off as he blinked, feeling the information in his brain clicking into place like tumblers in a lock. “Could it be that simple?”

“What?” asked Chaser, his voice soft as he looked at Hunter.

“Well, it’s only a guess right now,” began Hunter. “But, at the start of this, you said that everyone in the cages would be dropped closer to the water and when my life points hit zero they would be submerged. That was the rule you made. And, since then, your magic seemed to be working perfectly. Up until you tried to drown them before the duel was over. Perhaps it is forbidden to change or alter the rules of a Shadow Game once it begins and any attempts to do so receive a penalty.”

“But that,” began Chaser, his eyes wide as he took a step back. “That can’t be. I control the shadows. I’m a god!”

“Heh, some god,” laughed Lightning. “Doesn’t even know how his own powers work.” Chaser glared at her, reaching out a hang as if to try it again only to quickly bring it back as if he thought a snake would appear in thin air in front of him, ready to strike.

“Chaser, you’re using forces that I don’t think anyone truly understands,” said Hunter firmly, his humor lessening. “Perhaps you’ll get your magic back at the end of the duel as a penalty. Or perhaps it’s gone forever, a price for breaking the rules. I don’t know. I’m still wrapping my head around all this magic stuff myself. But, for right now, I know that we are on an even playing field. You’re going to have to finish this duel with your own skills. No more cheats, no more getting whatever card you want, no more creating any card on the fly.”

“You…You think I need to cheat to take down the likes of you?!?” yelled Chaser, spit flying everywhere as his hand shook with the nine cards he now held. “I’m the one with the higher life points! I’m the one with more cards in his hand! And-”

“I’m the one who controls the field,” stated Hunter firmly. “Let’s see if you have what it takes to break it.”

“I’ll do more than just break your field,” snarled Chaser. “I play Monster Reborn in order to summon-”

“Hope Harbinger’s effect activates, letting him negate your spell card and turn it into a XYZ material,” interrupted Hunter, his dragon creating another black hole to absorb Chaser’s spell card.

“You stopped one, but can you stop this?” barked Chaser as he placed another card into his duel disk. “I play the continuous spell: Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen! When this card is on the field, and I have no other monsters, I can special summon one fairy monster from my hand once per turn. So prepare your pitiful self for Darklord Asmodeus!” Appearing before Chaser was a large, most angelic being. Darklord Asmodeus (3000/2500) had white skin which was protected by black armor on his upper torso while his lower half was covered with a white robe. White wings were sticking out of his head while on his back were two large, black wings. For a moment, Hunter thought to activate either his trap or the effect of Moonlight only to pause right before pressing the button. His finger hovered there for a moment, the timer on his duel disk counting down as it waited for a response. Hunter looked out at the field before his eyes fell on Asmodeus, hovering over the water with his arms cross. Then, he pulled his hand back and allowed everything to play out.

“You see it, don’t you Hunter,” growled Chaser. “Even if you use that flowery, girly dragon to bounce my Darklord back to my hand, I’ll just resummon him just as easily, now won’t I? Now to destroy it so I can summon my monsters freely! Asmodeus, destroy Moonlight so it will be out of my way!

Asmodeus flew across the field, fist raised as black lightning crackled around its closed fist. Like a flash it appeared in front of Moonlight, ready to strike…only to have Hope Harbinger appear in front of it with its arms across its chest to act as a shield. Asmodeus still struck, not even denting the space dragon’s armor.

“What?!? NO! You cheated! You cheated!” yelled Chaser, his eyes becoming watery as he did so.

“I did no such thing,” replied Hunter calmly, sliding one of his dragons out from under Hope Harbinger. “By detaching an XYZ unit when you declare an attack, I can redirect said attack to this monster. And thanks to the fact that Dragonmaid Welcome is still on the field, my Number monster gets an extra 300 attack points making it stronger than your Darklord!” As Hunter spoke, Hope Harbinger grabbed Asmodeus by his shoulder before unleashing a stream of energy right into its head to incinerate it. The decapitated fairy hung there for a moment before falling into the water where it exploded.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 13700-

“Oh and, by the way, I could have destroyed Asmodeus as soon as the battle started,” continued Hunter as he stared at his shocked brother. “All I had to do was bounce my maids back to my hand and your Darklord would have been destroyed.”

“Filthy,” growled Chaser as twin ripples appeared in the water in front of him. “Too bad for you, my turn isn’t done. Because when Asmodeus leaves the field, he leaves me a parting gift. One Asmo Token and one Deus token.” Rising up from the water came two figures that looked almost exactly as Asmodeus. The Asmo Token (Lvl 5 1800/1300) had red skin while the Deus token (Lvl 3 1200/1200) had blue skin. “And these tokens have their own effects. Asmo cannot be destroyed by card effects while Deus can survive any battle.”

“And it’s a pity for you that Asmo is level five because it triggers my Moonlight’s effect sending it back to your hand,” announced Hunter as he pointed to the red token, a whirlwind of rose petals appearing around it. “But since its just a token, its just removed from the field.”

“I’m not done!” declared Chaser as he took a card from his hand. “I still haven’t normal summoned! I tribute my token to summon Darklord Desire!” The blue token vanished, its energy rising up towards a figure in black armor. Darklord Desire (3000/2800) had large red wings and gauntlets that reminded Hunter of a scorpion’s. “Bet you’re wondering how I summoned a level TEN monster with only one tribute, right? RIGHT? Well feast your feeble brain on this; while Desire can’t be special summoned he can be tribute using only one fairy. Now I will use his effect to-”

“Let me stop you right there,” said Hunter as he pressed a button on his duel disk, flipping his trap face up. From the trap card came dozens of semi translucent tentacles that crossed the field to wrap around the limbs of Desire. And though the Darklord struggled, he was pulled closer and closer to Hunter’s trap.

“W-What is this?!?” wailed Chaser, looking more and more like was going to have a nervous breakdown.

“Paleozoic Dinomischus,” said Hunter as he discarded Enrus from his hand. “By discarding one card from my hand, I card target and banish any face up card you control.” Chaser let out a cry as he watched his monster enter the trap before it vanished from the field. “Nice little addition to my deck, don’t you think? The cost is basically nothing when you stop and think about it. Any card I send to the grave can be easily brought back.”

“I’m not…I’m not…I’m not,” muttered Chaser. “I’m not going to lose. You’re going to lose. I’m not going to lose. You’re going to lose because only I am allowed to win.” He then looked up, tears running down his face as it twisted into rage. “I will teach you what happens to those who try and take what belongs to me!”

“Let me guess, more whining?” said, surprisingly, Moondancer.

“SHUT UP!” screamed Chaser. “I still have cards in my hand. One of them being another Allure of Darkness which I’ll use to banish Darklord Amdusc. But it won’t be gone for long because next I play Different Dimension Reincarnation! For the cost of a card in my hand, I can summon Amdusc right back to the field in defense mode..” Now appearing in front of Chaser was an alicorn. Amdusc’s (1800/2800) coat was white with black armor running from its horn all the way down to its back. “Then I place two cards face down and end my turn. GO! Make your move you waste of space!”

Turn Nine: Star Hunter

“Fine,” replied Hunter as he drew (hand: 5). As Hunter brought his card to the rest of his hand, he looked up to see Chaser pressing a button on his duel disk while a crazed smile seemed to split his face in two.

“Activate face down: Darklord Rebellion!” he declared, his face down flipping up. “By discarding one Darklord card from my hand I can destroy one card you control! And I’m destroying your Hope!” From the card came bolts of black lightning, striking Hope so quickly that Hunter barely had any time to raise an arm up to block his face. When he lowered it, Hope had shattered into nothing.

“Since it’s still my standby phase, I can activate House’s effect to bring out a Dragonmaid that’s either one level higher or lower than what I have on the field,” said Hunter. “And I choose to bring back Parlor to the field.” A moment later, the green haired maid appeared on the field…eating a giant piece of meat with a bone sticking out the middle. She paused mid bite, seeming to look around her and only pausing to cringe a little under House’s disapproving gaze. Parlor seemed to cringe a little before sliding the meat into hammer space, causing Hunter to raise an eyebrow.

“They just keep coming,” growled Chaser, his eye twitching in irritation. “I’ll deal with her and the others later. Instead I’ll focus on that weed dragon of yours. I can pay 1000 of my life points to shuffle Rebellion back into my deck so that my Amdusc can use its effect to destroy it!”

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 12700-

Black lightning began to jump around Amdusc’s horn before it was launched across the field. This time it struck the Black Rose Moonlight Dragon, causing it to let out a roaring cry before it too was destroyed leaving behind a few scattered petals and the scent of roses.

“Very well then,” said Hunter. “I attack. First I-”

“First I use my trap card: Darklord Enchantment!” interrupted Chaser, half laughing madly as his face down was flipped up. “With this, I can send one Darklord card from my hand to the grave in order to take control of one monster you have. So, until the end of this turn, House is my bitch!” A dark aura surrounded House, causing all the other maids to gasp in alarm. House floated across the field before she was then forcefully turned around to face Hunter, allowing him to see that she had her teeth gritted and fists closed tightly as the aura held her. It was clear she was fighting this tooth and claw, but it was no use. “Without her, you can’t destroy my monster with her effect. And you have one less bitch for your spell card! AND if you want to get to my life points, you’ll have to destroy her!”

Hunter said nothing as his three remaining maids transformed into their dragon counterparts, only staring at House who now had her eyes closed. As if she were waiting for the attack to come. I could ram Lorpar into her and take them both down, thought Hunter as he bit his lower lip. Then I could have one of my other Dragonmaids attack his Darklord while the other deals direct damage. But… Hunter hesitated, the timer on their duel disks ticking away as he looked into House’s face while the memory of his dreams began to surface. Hunter’s teeth clenched; he knew that this was just a hologram of a trading card. That it could feel anything! That he owed it no…

No, thought Hunter as his body relaxed. Yet his eyes became firm and narrow. It might not seem right, but that is my monster and it deserves my respect. I owe her that much.

“Lorpar!” announced Hunter, his green dragon turning to look at him with a concerned expression. “Attack Amdusc!” Lorpar seemed to relax a bit at that, as though a weight or fear had been lifted from her shoulders. She then took a deep breath before sending out her minty attack right into the alicorn, destroying it on the spot.

“HA!” laughed Chaser gleefully, looking like he was about to dance with joy. “I knew it! I knew you were too weak to attack this bitch!”

“I refuse to pointlessly toss aside my monsters,” said Hunter evenly as his monsters returned to their maid forms, three cards being added to his hand giving him a grand total of seven. “Not like how you tossed aside the Red-Eyes.”

“It was worthless,” said Chaser. “It failed me just-”

“It didn’t fail you Chaser,” said Hunter. “You never trusted it or the deck you built. So, in reality, you failed it.”

Chaser said nothing at first, just letting out a growl as his hair began to stand on end. “Spare me your pointless blathering,” he said. “I am perfection! I never fail. That deck, even with every advantage I could give it, failed me. My only regret was that I couldn’t grind every single card into the pavement for its utter uselessness. Now, end your turn and take back this hag!”

“Fine,” said Hunter. “I’ll set this card face down and end my turn.” As he spoke, the aura around House vanished instantly allowing her to fly back towards Hunter. When she was close enough, Hunter thought he saw her crying with a small smile on her face. But before he could confirm it, House had turned around to face Chaser once more.

What was, began Hunter as he felt warmth filling his heart. At the same time, a pair of the hands that were helping him stand pressed into a little harder and he felt like he was being hugged from behind. He could even feel a head pressing against his own. There was gratitude in this, Hunter could just feel it. I…never mind. I need to focus on what’s right in front of me. Right now, Chaser has only one card in his hand making it harder for him to special summon any of his Darklords. As it stands right now, his only means of summoning them is Valhalla. But that shouldn’t be a problem. If he does summon one and his other card is a trap, then he’ll have to give up the monster on the field in order to activate it. And with Lorpar in my hand, I can hopefully shut down any effects he might want to use to defend himself.

Turn Ten: Star Chaser

“You’re finished Hunter!” declared Chaser as he drew (hand: 2). “I activate the spell card Banishment of the Darklords! With this, I can add any Darklord card from my deck to my hand! That’s right, any one I want. So I’ll be adding Contact with the Darklords and then use its power to bring back Superbia!” And just like that, the chalice looking Darklord returned to the field in defense mode. “Then I’ll use its effect to bring back Zerato!” A moment later, the blade wielding Darklord in a red cloak returned as well.

“You think you were so clever by bringing out all those different kinds of monsters,” snarled Chaser. “Well, I can do that as well. Behold! I overlay my two level eight monsters to build the overlay network!” As Chaser spoke, a dark vortex appeared above the water in front of them. Both of Chaser’s monsters were transformed into purple energy before they were swiftly dragged downward. “Shattered knight of ages past, one who shall never know peace. Serve your new king, your god, on this day. XYZ summon Rank 8: Number 23: Lancelot Dark Knight of the Underworld!” As Chaser began to laugh, a figure slowly rose up from the portal. Lancelot (2000/1500) was a white skeletal figure holding a fencing sword in one of its boney grips while a purple cloth around its neck swung in an invisible breeze.

“This is the end, Hunter! The end!”

Unending Nightmare

Over to the side, those captured looked on as Chaser’s undead knight swung his fencing blade before giving what appeared to be a salute at House. They watched as the two orbs orbited around it slowly while a feeling of dread and nervousness flowed through them.

“This is bad,” whispered Wallflower, her green hands gripping at the bars of her cage more tightly. “Really bad.”

“I know,” said Autumn, a brief shutter running through her body and not from the coldness of the water.

“I don’t get it,” said Star Chart, who tilted her head a bit to the side. “It’s only got 2000 attack points. It can’t beat over Hunter’s fusion and all of his little maids are in defense mode.”

“That’s true ma’am,” said Breaburn, a hint of nervousness in his voice. “But, see, attack points don’t mean much when it comes to effects. Take that there slasher. As long as it has material on it, Hunter’s monsters don’t mean a lick. It can sidestep them and attack Hunter directly as easy as spreading butter over hot out of the oven bread. An if Hunter uses any card effects, it can detach one its material ta snipe the gun right out of his hand.”

“And Hunter doesn’t have more than 2000 life points,” said Moondancer with a gulp. “Meaning, if this next attack hits, Hunter will lose.”

-Star Hunter’s Life Points: 1400-

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 12700-

“Now Hunter, prepare for the end!” declared Chaser, his eyes wild once more. “I could just destroy you like this, but I want this to hurt you as much as possible. So I will build the overlay network once more to bring about one of the strongest of all XYZ monsters!” Hunter watched, stone faced, as the portal returned to the field. “Oh puny, useless little bug now caught in the web of a greater predator. Feel your life drain as you struggle in vain! Advanced XYZ summon! Rank 11! Number 84: Pain Gainer!” Crawling out of the portal with three materials orbiting around it was a mostly green spider with the number 84 tattooed on its rump. Pain Gainer’s (0/0) mandibles constantly twitched as its three red eyes stared at Hunter.

“Soon, this monster will become something even greater!” declared Chaser with a grin. “I bet those in the back row are wondering how someone as amazing as me could pull off such a feat. Well, Pain Gainer has an effect where this monster can be special summoned by overlaying onto a rank 8,9, or 10 dark monster with two or more materials attached to it. Once on the field, it gains all the material that was attached to that monster as well as gaining defense equal to the total rank of all XYZ monsters on the field times 200. Meaning its defense is 2200!

“Oh, but wait, there’s more! By removing two of its overlay units, I can destroy all monsters with a defense lower than its! So say goodbye to all of your monsters!” Grinning, Chaser removed two of the three cards from underneath his monster, causing Pain Gainer to devour its two overlay units. The spider’s mandibles stopped twitching for a moment, its jaw opening to unleash a spray of webbing that latched onto all of Hunter’s maids. Both Laundry and Nurse were covered from the neck down, struggling to get out while Parlor was webbed up along the waist in a manner as to allow her breasts to be pushed out more. Yet rather than be embarrassed or anything like that, the green haired maid began to chew at the webbing that ran from her to Pain Gainer, making a ‘nom, nom, nom’ sound as she went. However, it was no use and soon her jaw was webbed shut. As for House, she too had been wrapped up along the wait in another sexual manner before she and the others were dragged closer to Chaser’s monster. However, half way through, House cut through her biddings before leaping back to her spot in front of Hunter.

“Sorry Chaser, but you forgot about my spell card,” said Hunter in a solemn tone. “Dragonmaid Welcome raised the attack and defense of all my monsters. And while the others sadly came up short, House’s new defense allowed her to survive.”

“You think that matters?” demanded Chaser coldly as the other Dragonmaid were devoured by Pain Gainer, who made loud crunching noises as it ate them. He then chuckled darkly as his extra deck opened up. “Now that all those bitches are gone, I can attack you without worrying about that ugly hag’s effect. Now I will rebuild the overlay network and show all of you why I am the god of this world!” Another portal appeared on the field, only this one was placed behind Chaser. Large and imposing, Hunter could see into the darkness several long legs that were shaking madly while making a chittering sound that caused the hair on the back of his neck to raise. “Pride, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, envy, and sloth! Bow before your master now and take on thy greatest form! Advanced XYZ summon! Rank 12! Number 77: The Seven Sins!” Both Hunter and House took a step back as a monster that filled the entire room behind Chaser appeared. The Seven Sins (4000/3000) was another spider, white this time with light blue blades at the end of each of its legs. Without seeming to care, it pierced Pain Gainer on one of those legs as it walked out. Like how Pain Gainer had devoured Hunter’s maids, The Seven Sins began to feast on the much smaller spider as it took its overlay units for itself.

“A pity for me that I can’t use its effect,” said Chaser with a grin. “Otherwise this duel would be over. Well, not like I’ll really need it. I attack that annoyingly ugly maid with The Seven Sins!” At the end of each of its legs, a red orb appeared before lights shot out of them. These lights moved about until they created a large seven pointed star pentagram. House Dragonmaid did nothing other than lower her head as the pentagram turned into a massive beam, destroying her in an instant. The force flung Hunter backwards and, despite still feeling the hands still holding him up, fell to the ground.

-Star Hunter’s Life Points: 400-

As pain flooded Hunter’s body once more he heard the sounds of the others being dropped into the water once more. Slowly, Hunter struggled to get up while shooting a glance over at them. To his horror, they were now all submerged all the way to their chin. Some like Autumn seemed to be bobbing a little, as if to keep themselves a float while their hands clung onto the bars. But all of their heads were now pressed onto the roofs of their cages, showing that if they fell anymore it would likely be the end for them.

“There’s nothing more you can do Hunter,” said Chaser smugly as Hunter slowly got back to his feet, feeling blood rolling down his chin. “Next turn, I will win. There is nothing in your deck that can compare to the might of this monster.”

Chaser watched his brother as he struggled to stand, that last attack doing a number on his pathetic body. He could see Hunter bleeding, panting away as he waited for his next turn. Oh, if only there was a way for Chaser to draw out his turn more in the hope that Hunter would pass out from the pain before he even got his next turn. To watch as he fell onto his knees as consciousness left his eyes while his last thoughts in that body were no doubt some retarded regret about failing everyone. Loser thoughts. Nothing more and nothing less. However, Chaser knew that was more than likely not going to happen. The timer on his turn was slowly counting down and, as much as he despised admitting it, he had no idea what the Shadows would do to him if he went past the timer. Would it just end his turn when time ran out or would the Shadows do something to him? But, more importantly, it would just be wasting his time.

Still, Chaser knew he had this in the bag. The Seven Sins had two effects; the most powerful being that he could detach two materials from it to banish all of Hunter’s special summoned monsters and then one of them would become material for his monster. The other being that if his monster would be destroyed, he could just remove an overlay unit to protect it. So even if Hunter managed to pump up one of his monsters with enough attack power, The Seven Sins would survive.

And, of course, there was that wonderful personal touch that Chaser could give to this duel making it all the easier for him.

“Alright Hunter, make your move,” said Chaser, grinning in a way that made Hunter’s stomach turn. Seeing Chaser flip flopping between his self superiority to his whinny freak outs would probably do that to anyone. Still, there was something that Hunter didn’t like about that grin. There was a sense of growing anxiety, like the kind you get before a particularly bad storm.

Doing his best to ignore it, Hunter looked at the card at the far end of his hand. The same card that had been there since the beginning of the duel. With it, Hunter felt sure he could win the duel…but he would rather have the other cards he wanted to pull off this particular combo. His eyes moved away from his hand while he slowly raised his duel disk slightly to look down at his deck. It would be unlikely for him to get the other cards needed, but there was a chance. If he didn’t he could always…

“You know, I have no idea why you’re trying so hard,” said Chaser, causing Hunter to look up briefly. Chaser stood there with a smug expression on his face as he looked over at him. “I mean, your life is so pathetic that I would have thought you’d love to switch with me. Maybe then, mom and dad might actually love you.”

At that, Hunter felt his throat suddenly dry up while his body stiffened. He could feel his hands tremble as his mind went back to that day when he stopped at his old house to find his parents were gone. People working to clean up the trash in the front yard and mow the grass. Removing the trash from the inside, getting the place ready to sell. Not a note, letter, or anything like that from them. They were just…gone.

“It must really suck to be you,” continued Chaser as Hunter felt a stinging sensation around his eyes. “The day you were born, they probably took one look at you and decided to try again. That’s why I was born, to have the child they wanted! A perfect son and not a screw-up like you! I’d say you were nothing more than an obsolete model, but that would imply that you had worth to begin with! You were nothing more than a fucking lemon from birth, a loser with no talent that everyone around you could see.”

“Shut up,” said Hunter through gritted teeth, fresh blood beginning to flow from his mouth. His body was trembling even more now as he felt his anger rising.

“Seriously, how could you ever hope to measure up to someone like me?” asked Chaser, his voice ringing in Hunter’s eyes now. “A great athlete since the day I could walk, a brilliant mind, a powerful duelist. Perfect made into reality! You could never measure up. And even though you were also their flesh and blood, they didn’t give a damn about you. I guess that’s why you tried so hard in that Crystal Prep exam. You probably got it in your head that if you could beat me once, then they might actually care about you. It’s so sad and pathetic that I’m not even surprised a retard like you thought it might work. Not even when you left, they didn’t give two flying fucks about you.”

“Stop it!” growled Hunter with more force, his vision slowly going red. He could feel the hands on him lessening, struggling to keep their hold on him as if his anger was pushing them away. But Hunter didn’t care, not as felt the rage fill him.

“You’ll never get them to be proud of your minor accomplishments,” said Chaser. “Nothing you do will ever be good enough for them. Not then and certainly not now. Or ever for that fact. Because, no matter how much you ‘learn’ or ‘improve’, it’ll never be enough in the eyes of people who matter. You will always be that little retard in my shadow. There’s no escaping it.”

“Shut up, shut up, SHU-”

“Hold on there partner!” came a voice, interrupting Hunter as he felt his anger fly. He stood there, panting and wide eyed, but silent as he listened to the voice of Breaburn. “Ah know Ah ain’t the first person ta tell ya this but ya shouldn’t let this here rattler get ta ya! Ya can’t let him corrupt you! Remember what ya said back then?”

Flashback

“Look,” said Hunter finally. “I’m not saying this because I forgive you…not completely anyways. And I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted so that our school could win. But I get where you’re coming from. My brother hurt you. Badly. I’m sure if you never met him, you would never have tried to hurt me like that. Because, that’s what corruption does to people. It just keeps eating away at them until they turn into something ugly. And then it spreads, infecting more people along the way. So let’s just end this here; admit we both made mistakes and walk away.”

End Flashback

“Chaser is trying ta corrupt you!” Breaburn continued to shout. “Ah did the same thing ta ya when we dueled! I kept hammering away at ya until the nail became all bent, turning ya into something ugly! An Ah’m sorry for that! But don’t be making the same mistake ya did back then! That’s what he wants! He’s just trying ta get ta ya! Trying to get ya ta lose your cool. But now…Now’s your time ta end it. Finish the duel and walk away!”

“He’s wrong Hunter!” came another voice, one that made Hunter break his gaze from Chaser. It was Moondancer, pressing her face against the bars so much that he thought she was trying to slide through them. He stared at her, her head the only thing above the water as she looked right back at him with firm determination. “The people who matter, the real ones who matter, have seen what you are made of! They know you’re not perfect and they like you the way you are!”

“Yeah, people like Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna,” shouted Pharynx. “They made you Captain of our team because they believe in what you can do. We all believe in it!”

“I’ve only ever seen you screw up once,” shouted Autumn. “That was at the team duel! That was your rainstorm. And when it was over, you tried to improve so that there could be a rainbow!

“We believe in you Hunter!” added Wallflower.

“Don’t give that asshole the pleasure of getting under your skin!” shouted Lightning. “Hit him where it hurts: his pride and then that tiny groin of his! Hit him there twice for me! No wait, make it three…just keep hitting him over and over and over again! I’ll tell you when to stop. Maybe.”

“Kiddo, you got this!” shouted Aunt Star Chart.

As they spoke, Hunter’s heavy breathing lessened as he closed his eyes slightly. Images began to appear in his mind, memories of what had been happening since he had come to Canterlot. Yes, he had experienced a bad time. From his rage at his parents already writing him off when they found out he would be dueling Chaser in the Crystal Prep exam to the realization that it was a set up for Chaser. From his parents claiming that it was his fault that Chaser got a lifetime ban, their breakdown at seeing their prized son go to jail, barely noticing him leaving, and finally when he found out they had left, leaving all their money problems in Aunt Star Charts lap.

But Hunter could also remember the good things, the people he’d met along the way. People like Moondancer, remembering the times they would just sit underneath the tree with her head resting on his shoulder. The way Moondancer’s parents and sister made him feel like part of their family, welcoming him and always saving a seat for him at their table. Seeing people looking through all of his cards, their eyes lighting up before thanking him for having the card they needed. The jabs Lightning sent his way. Standing in front of the two heads of Canterlot High as they named him Captain. His…Aunt who had always been there for him, encouraging him his entire life.

I don’t know who Chaser is talking about when he said ‘people who matter’, thought Hunter as he opened his eyes calmly. And…And maybe mom and dad…I can’t change how they see me. Not now. And maybe not ever. But, Chaser is wrong. There are people who see me and not your shadow. They believe in me! They matter to me!

Turn Eleven: Star Hunter

“I draw!” declared Hunter, drawing the card in a wide arcing fashion (hand: 7). When he looked at the card he had just drawn Hunter felt his eyes grow wide while also feeling the sting of tears. Then, slowly, he closed them. “Chaser-”

“Spare me retard,” interrupted Chaser, looking like he was about to gag. “I bet you want to say something pathetic, like how you wish you couldn’t have known what to say to prevent this. Or maybe some moronic friendship speech or some shit like that. Well that won’t work! The only thing that should be coming out of your mouth is begging for mercy, praising me like you should have from day one!”

“No Chaser,” said Hunter as he opened his eyes, a light blue glow emanating from them. “I was going to say that now we can finally finish the duel we started. And this time, no one will stop us.” Chaser looked back at Hunter, confusion in his eyes as Hunter inserted his card into the duel disk. “And it all starts with this! I activatethe spell card Pre-Preparation of Rite! You remember this card, right? It allows me to add one ritual spell card from my deck to my hand as well as one ritual monster whose name is listed on the card. I choose the spell card Red-Eyes Transmigration and the ritual monster Lord of the Red.”

“NO!” screamed Chaser, now looking fearful as he backed up. “Not that! Not again!”

“Good, you haven’t forgotten,” said Hunter as the two cards were added from his deck to his hand. Then, as the auto-shuffler went to work, Hunter placed the new spell card he had just acquired into the slot of his duel disk. “Now I activate the ritual spell I just added to my hand. By tributing my level eight Dragonmaid Lorpar from my hand, I am allowed to summon to the field the Lord of the Red in attack mode!” Appearing on Hunter’s side of the field was his green dragon, stretching out its wings as it let out a mighty roar before flying high into the air. Flames began to surround it, but the dragon did not seem worried. Nor did Hunter as his Dragonmaid circled around, shooting down to the water while he began to chant. “Great flames that burn bright red. Accept this offering to bring forth your champion! Ritual Summon LORD OF THE RED!” There was a sudden explosion right above the water that shot out in every direction, the force of which shook the entire tank as well as those captured. When the smoke cleared, a figure stood in front of Hunter. One that caused Chaser to shiver in utter fear. Lord of the Red (2400/2100) was a humanoid who was either wearing armor designed to look like a Red-Eyes Black Dragon or it was a more human looking Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

“Here’s another card that should look familiar: The Claw of Hermos,” said Hunter as he held out the card. The one that had been in his hand since the duel had begun “I’ll use it and the Chamber Dragonmaid in my hand to create a weapon powerful enough to take down The Seven Sins: Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword!” From his hand flew the dragon Hermos as well as Chamber Dragonmaid. Together they flew up before merging into one in a burst of light. Then, something fell to the ground landing next to Lord of the Red. It was the Red-Eyes Black Dragon Sword (2400/2000), a wicked hooked black blade and a cross-guard shaped like the Red-Eyes head.

“Now I activate my sword’s effect and equip it to Lord of the Red,” said Hunter as his ritual monster picked up the blade. “Lord of the Red gains an additional 1000 attack points as well as an additional 500 attack and defense for every dragon on the field and in both graveyards. And, right now, I have more than enough to wipe out your monster.” Lord of the Red held the sword high above his head as his attack rose (2400 --> 3400). But that wasn’t the end. Ghostly images of fallen dragons began to appear on the field, seeming to lend their strength to the blade while Chaser began to scream ‘NO’ over and over again. Black Rose Moonlight Dragon soared around it, followed by Hope Harbinger, then Sheou, the Debris Dragon, Chamber Dragonmaid, Kitchen, Laundry, Nurse, Parlor, and then two House Dragonmaids. All this served to add power to the sword, raising that attack of the monster who wielded it even more (3400 --> 8900). After the last monster had given Lord of the Red a portion of their might, Hunter’s monster sank his sword into the ground before him and laid both hands on the pommel.

“You can’t do this! You have to be cheating!” wailed Chaser in a pathetic tone, sounding like wailing sob.

“Next up, I activate another card you should be familiar with,” said Hunter. “Dragonmaid Hospitality! With it I can bring back Nurse in defense mode! Then she’ll bring back Laundry!” Appearing on both sides of Lord of the Red were Nurse and Laundry, both of them looking a little worse for wear. Together they looked at Lord of the Red before nodding. “Then I will activate the effect of Dragonmaid Welcome, bringing Kitchen Dragonmaid to my hand before normal summoning her!” At the far end of the field appeared Kitchen, holding a frying pan in one hand and pointing it at Chaser with the same look as a baseball player making a decree that the next bat would be a homerun. “Lastly, I remove my other copy of Dragonmaid Tidying from the grave to bring back Parlor!” Unlike the other, Parlor popped out of the water looking a little water logged and taking a deep breath of water. It surprised Hunter to see that she still had webbing in her hair as she crawled out of the water, pushing up on it like it was solid ground. When she ‘stood’ on top of it, Parlor glared angrily at Chaser as she cracked her knuckles.

“Now for battle!” announced Hunter as his Dragonmaids transformed into their dragon forms. And thanks to the fact that Dragonmaid Welcome was still on the field, they all received a boost. Both Ernus and Nudyarl let out roars as their attacks rose (2600 --> 3000) while Lorpar and Tinkhec let out throaty growls, their eyes focused on Chaser as their attacks rose as well (2700 --> 3100). Then, of course, there was Lord of the Red who also gained the attack buff (8900 --> 9300).

“You think you can topple a god?!?” yelled Chaser, still sounding like he would break down crying any moment now.

“Lord of the Red, slay The Seven Sins!” shouted Hunter, ignoring his brother. Lord of the Red reacted by picking up his sword, dark energy swirling around it like mad. With one powerful swing he unleashed a blade of darkness that flew around the water. The darkness hit the Seven Sins, causing it to let out a shrill and inhuman cry as it cut right through the spider.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 7400-

Chaser let out a cry; one of rage, confusion, and most of all: pain. Lord of the Red’s attack hadn’t just cut through The Seven Sins, but a similar slash had appeared right over Chaser’s shirt. The crazed boy tumbled backwards as darkness cut his shirt, deep enough to draw blood as tears ran down his face. A hand went to cover what he could as Chaser slowly began to walk back to the front of the platform.

“I won’t allow this!” cried Chaser as he quickly removed a card from under his XYZ monster. “I-I detach one of its materials in order to prevent its destruct-” But Chaser’s words died in his throat as Lord of the Red flew across the field to imbed its fist into Chaser’s monster where it finally exploded.

“Lord of the Red’s effect lets me negate and destroy your monster,” said Hunter, Lord of the Red appearing next to Hunter so fast that he was almost a blur.

“No, this…this isn’t right!” cried Chaser as he looked at his empty field, four dragons looking down at him without mercy. “You can’t do this to me! Don’t you understand! Use that tiny brain of yours for once and maybe you’ll see that-” Hunter blinked as Chaser was suddenly silenced by Lorpar who now had Chaser’s head in her maw. She hadn’t bitten it off as Hunter could see Chaser’s fists pounding away at the dragon, legs kicking up a storm as he was lifted into the air. Her head then swung left and right, treating Chaser’s body as if it were nothing more than a rag doll before spitting him back into his spot.

-Star Chaser’s Life Points: 4300-

Hunter watched as Chaser gasped for air, head coated with saliva. “No,” cried Chaser while Lorpar began to gargle the water in the tank. “No, no, no, no!”

“Chaser, it’s over,” said Hunter. “Just admit you lost and-”

“NO!” screamed a teary eyed Chaser. “It’ll never be over! Even if you win this, I’ll just keep coming back until I crush you!” He then looked down at the lone card in his hand. “Change! I command you to change into something that will give me another turn! Change!”

“Chaser, just stop,” said Hunter as his three remaining dragons took to the sky. All three of them opened their jaws showing the multicolored energy forming within. It was so bright that even Chaser stopped in his screaming to look at it. Finally, all of them fired at once, creating a massive white light that whitewashed everything around it. So bright that it hurt Hunter’s eyes to look at it. The last thing he saw before turning away was the sight of Chaser, being enveloped in the light.

“But…I’m a god,” was the last thing he said before his life points hit zero, the light completely consuming him.

The world was nothing but bright white unending light, washing away the studio all around him. Yet all Chaser could do was stand there, his great mind still trying to process what was happening. He who had been born more special than anyone else in the world, he who was blessed with a superior mind, body, and magic, was losing! This…This had to be a nightmare of some kind. A sin against nature and the world itself! How else could one describe him ever losing to someone as mentally challenged as Hunter?!

Then there was darkness. The light was gone, taking with it the studio, the tank, and the morons leaving Chaser as the only figure in an endless dark void. From the left to the right, Chaser looked to see if there was anything around him. But there wasn’t. Looking down, he couldn’t see the floor but his feet felt like they were stepping on something. Was this an illusion of some kind? He could still see himself so that was something.

A giggle behind him caught his attention. Only there was something about it that felt…unnerving to him. He felt his body reacting as if it had just heard the rattle of a rattlesnake, on guard and ready to move away. He then caught movement behind him to which he turned trying to catch whoever or whatever it was. But there was nothing.

“Hello!” came a cheerful voice below him. Jumping and screaming, Chaser saw that it was the blue haired bitch that Hunter had been summoning. The one that was made to wash socks! She was just sitting there in front of him on bent knees, looking up at him with a cheerful smile.

“What the hell?” yelled Chaser as the maid just continued to watch him. “Get the fuck away from me!”

As the blue bitch’s face fell, another voice appeared off to the side. “Nudyarl, please move away from that filthy boy,” came another voice. Before Chaser could look to see who it was, the blue bitch was in the air, landing on HIS head and using it as a springboard. The force of this sent his head straight down, hitting the ‘ground’ with a loud thud. Growling, Chaser pushed himself up before looking behind him to see the blue bitch heading towards the pink dragon bitch who was holding a clipboard. Yet the pink, flat chested one didn’t seem to notice him at all. Her focus was on the blue one. “You know that Sheou told us we were to greet him together. You shouldn’t run off like that.”

“Oh dear,” came a new voice. Chaser didn’t have to turn his head to see the red bitch who, admittedly had large breasts, was walking towards them with her hands folded on top of each other in front of her. “Enrus, you know how Nudyarl gets sometimes.”

“Yeah, leave our little sis alone,” came another voice, one that sounded like it was munching on something. Walking behind the stacked red bitch, was the green bitch. She walked very casually, one hand holding what looked like homemade chocolate. “It’s just the way she is. The master never complained about it.”

“That’s no excuse!” said the pink one with a frown as she marched over to the green bitch. “After all these years, she needs to learn how to control herself. And what’s that in your hand? Sneaking into Tinkhec’s kitchen again? Well don’t come to me when you get another stomach ache!”

“Hey! I’ll have you know that I haven’t snuck in anywhere half-pint!” yelled the green one, pointing a finger at the smaller pink one.

“It’s true,” said the red head. “I was whipping up some desserts for tonight and I asked Lorpar to taste test the first batch.”

“Tinkhec, stop making excuses for her!” shouted the pink one, waving her arms around. “Besides, that food isn’t just for her! She needs to learn how to wait for dinner and supper like the rest of us!”

“Well it’s better than when she tries to sneak meat into her bed,” said the blue one, all eyes turning on her as her shoulders slumped. “Do any of you have any idea how hard it is to get the stains out? So much work for me.”

“Hey,” cried the green one, her cheeks puffing at that. “I’ll have you know I haven’t done that in a week! So get off my-” Her words were cut off by the sound of hands clapping followed by the sounds of footsteps. At once, all the bitches nodded as if confirming something between themselves before jumping high into the air. Chaser, with his superior eyes, managed to follow them and watched them as the landed in a row with a new coming in the middle. The fusion bitch.

“Greetings Star Chaser,” said the fusion bitch with a bow. Most of the others followed her example, save the green haired one who made a disgusted face before she appeared to brace herself as she followed the others example. “Please, forgive my younger sisters for their poor behavior in greeting you. I am Sheou, duel spirit and leader of the Dragonmaids.”

“You’re…duel spirits?’ echoed Chaser as he looked at them.

“Yes, that is correct,” said the fusion bitch with a smile and a nod. “We are the monster spirits that reside within Star Hunter’s deck, and only his deck.” At first, Chaser stared at the five bitches in front of him as his mind began to process what he had just heard. Then, slowly, he began to laugh wildly. Giddiness swept through him, almost making him want to dance with joy! That old fart back in jail told him about duel spirit, how they were a different form of magic or some shit like that. While he didn’t pay all that much attention to it since he didn’t have any, the what’s-his-name did bring up that they were like servants. And seeing that they were here, right in front of him, that could mean only one thing.

“This is perfect!” laughed Chaser, ignoring the confused looks of his maids. “No doubt during the duel you were able to recognize my superior skills and wish to become my duel spirits. That just goes to show that you all have more common sense than most. With all of you by my side, we shall-”

“Forgive me, but there is a slight misunderstanding,” said the fusion bitch, sounding like she was holding back a laugh. “We are not here to become your duel spirits.” The others were not doing as well, some even holding a hand up to their mouths as they giggled. What’s more, Chaser heard the sound of giggling behind him as well. One that sounded far more sinister, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. Quickly he turned around to see who was making that sound only to find nothing. Just a vast empty void.

“What?” whispered Chaser, more to himself than anything else, before rounding back onto the five in front of him. “But you just said…why else would you be here in front of me?!?”

“Again, I apologize,” said the head bitch with a slight bow of her head. “It was never my intention to confuse you. Rather, I believed a formal introduction would simply be courteous. As I said, we are the duel spirits of our Master, Star Hunter. This pledge is one we have held dear to our hearts for centuries. One not easily broken.”

“Grr, should have known,” spat Chaser as his eyes narrowed at the smiling face of the fusion bitch. “You were stupid enough to choose that brain addled loser as your master then you clearly aren’t smart enough to know a good opportunity when its standing right in front of your ugly face! Damn it! Just wait until I get my hands on Hunter! As soon as I get out of here, I’ll just kill him with my own hands and be done-”

“No, you won’t,” interrupted the fusion bitch. Chaser paused to eye her closely. She was still standing there, smiling with her eyes closed. It was enough to make him sneer of her.

“What did you say to me?” demanded Chaser as he lifted himself to his full height. “You think you-” He got no further as the head maid opened her eyes just a little. And, somehow, she felt very different. There was a coldness in her eyes, her pupils seeming to shrink a little as she continued to smile at him. His brain screamed at the top of its lungs for him to run. Run, and never ever look back for as long as he lived. But his legs felt like they were blocks of ice.

“As I said,” said the maid as she began to walk towards him, the other maids looking on with smug expressions. “I was merely being courteous. It would reflect poorly on the Master should I ever fail in such a duty, even to a beast such as yourself. But, now that the pleasantries are over, it is time for us to get to work. Starting with your magic.” By this time, the maid was standing right in front of Chaser. Now that she was so close, Chaser could see that she was a full head taller than he was yet still somehow cast a shadow over him. And the way she looked done at him, her eyes slightly narrowed with glowing pupils made him shrink ever so slightly. Words she said barely registered to him for all Chaser could think about was trying to get away.

Unfortunately, it was too late. The maid, in a single effortless motion, rammed her hand into his chest. The wind was knocked out of him, feeling like he had been punched instead of impaled. But, oddly, he didn’t feel any blood running down his body. He could, however, feel her hand moving along his insides deeper and deeper than he ever thought possible. The longer it took, the more his brain screamed for oxygen. His hands moved to grab her arm and try to push her off, but he could barely even shake it. It was only when his vision began to grow dark when she finally pulled out, Chaser falling to his knees on the spot as he began to inhale over and over again.

As he laid there, he managed to look up with blurry eyes. The maid, whatever her name was, was holding a small orb of red light no bigger than a key on a keyboard. Her eyes looked at the thing with loathing and disgust before her hand clenched into a fist.

“What?” breathed Chaser as the maid turned around. “Why are you-”

“I am ensuring that the wager between you and my Master is upheld,” replied the maid, not bothering to turn around. “Don’t you remember? If you lost, you were to stop.”

“Stop? Stop! I’ll never stop!” shouted Chaser as he sat upright on his knees. He then reached deep inside of him to pull out his magic, to bring forth a Shadow Game. Sure he didn’t have a deck, but his power should…wait, why was nothing happening? His magic! He couldn’t feel any of it! Slowly, Chaser began to realize the truth. That tiny, puny thing that that maid had held was his… “No. Not my magic.”

“Yes, but that is only the start,” said the head maid as she turned around, back in position leading the other maids. “You have proven yourself to be too dangerous, with or without this power you held in your unworthy body. I believe that more…drastic actions will need to be taken.”

“D-Drastic?” echoed Chaser, feeling more and more powerless.

“Yes,” said the maid with a nod. Then, she seemed to peer at something in the darkness behind Chaser. “Would you please come out from there and join the rest of us-”

“Surely I will,” said the voice of a southern belle from right behind Chaser. “But remember darling, don’t you ever, ever use my name in front of such a filthy little creature. I don’t particularly care for the likes of him to hear it. Right now the only ones who have the right to even hear it are your wonderful selves and, of course, the Master. Oh, I do miss the way he used to say my name.” Shaking, Chaser slowly turned around to look at the looming figure behind him. It was the maid dressed in black with blond hair. What was her name? She looked down at him, her lips morphing into nightmarish fangs while her hands turned into monstrous claws.

Chaser let out a single scream as the creature lunged down at him.

Back in the real world, Hunter fell to his knees as the dragons finished their attack, sending Chaser’s life points to zero. His breathing began to grow ragged as the holograms began to fade, the physical and emotional strain he had been put under coming back at full force. He could feel sweat forming on his brow, already beginning to drip down into the water while his stomach gave a powerful turn.

At the same time, Hunter watched as Chaser looked forward vacantly before tumbling to the ground. There he laid, face down with the grates of the platform pressing against his skin.

Then, without warning, the doors were knocked down. “FREEZE! POLICE!” came a loud voice followed by dozens of footsteps as they charged in. Hunter felt himself smile a little, glancing over at the cages still mostly submerged in the water. The police would be able to get them out. They would be safe.

“W-What have you done?” came Chaser’s voice, almost sobbing. Hunter turned to look at his brother once more, still lying there for some reason. He wasn’t moving, trying to drown anyone, over even trying to make an escape. He was motionless except for his lips. “I…I can’t move. What have you done to me?”

The Reason This Story is Rated M

“What you did was extremely reckless!” shouted Hard Case as he paced back and forth, disposable coffee cup in hand. With each step he took, the dark liquid inside swished this way and that, occasionally spilling out and running downward toward the man’s hand. “Insane that you would even think about doing something like that!”

Hunter said nothing, head down as the paramedic checked on him. How long had it been since his duel with Chaser had ended? Felt like it had been ages ago while also seeming to have been nothing more than a blink of an eye. His mind was still doing everything it could to process what had happened as everything just felt jumbled.

The police, when they had entered, were shocked by what they had found. Then again, who wouldn’t be horrified that a children’s game had been turned into a death match? Their shock was thankfully short lived as the professionals went to work right away, getting their people into the tank to get Hunter’s friends and aunt out of their cages. Hunter had stayed on his platform for as long as he had been allowed, watching as cutting tools had been brought out to cut through the bars of their cages before they were swam out of the tank and wrapped in blankets. At the same time, Chaser had been surrounded by several officers who all pointed their guns at the teen lying prone on his platform. The police officers screamed at him several times to put his hands on his head, Hunter barely able to hear his brother’s weak cries that he couldn’t. That he, Star Chaser, was unable to move at all.

As for Hunter, he had been helped out of the building by several officers who asked him basic questions before being brought to one of several ambulances. He sat there, answering their questions numbly while keeping his eyes on the door. Watching as those he cared about were brought out one after the other to be taken to other nearby ambulances. No doubt the police talking to them were getting their contact information so that they could call up their parents.

Then, well, Hard Case wanted to talk to him. Asked him about what happened. But the way he framed everything, as well as some of the follow up questions, created a large pit in Hunter’s gut. It felt like he was trying to get Hunter to confess that this was all some sick game between the two of them, that Hunter was in on everything. That he had helped Chaser escape, capture his friends, and force them into cages where they could have a high stakes duel. It was maddening to think that Hunter would do any such thing, with the desire to prove his innocence as well as plain exhaustion being the only things keeping him from letting his anger take over. It also helped that others around him, like the paramedic and the other uniformed officers, were not fond of this line of questioning. Eventually, their looks seemed to get to him and so he dropped them before focusing on what led up to all of this.

“What did you think was going to happen when going in all by yourself?” he demanded after Hunter told him about the phone call. “That you could go in there and solve everything yourself? Did it ever occur to you to call us for backup instead of wasting time? You put everyone’s lives in danger!”

“I-” began Hunter.

“We found a dead body in there,” interrupted Hard Case, pointing to the studio while surprising Hunter. A body? Someone was dead? But who? Before he could ask, Hard Case continued. “That’s right. No doubt he’s dead because you had to play the hero! How’s it feel now, eh? You should be hauled in for that! If I had my way you would be in the cell next to your brother!”

“Detective Hard Case, that is quite enough!” snapped the paramedic, red faced and clearly having heard enough.

“Oh, you know I’m right,” said Hard Case as he gulped down the rest of his coffee, tossing his cup over his shoulder without a care. “What’s the point in being nice and coddling this stupid, reckless, mur-”

“Hard Case, drink this,” said By-The-Books as he approached his partner, shoving a new cup in the man’s hand. Hard Case seemed to jump a little as he accepted it and then again as By-The-Books placed a hand on his shoulder. But the man said nothing, merely nodding before taking a long sip.

“Decaf?” he said when his lips moved away.

“Yeah,” said Books with a nod. “Now, ease up and go take a break. You need it.” Hard Case looked like he wanted to fight this. To insist that he should continue or something like that. But the stare of his partner seemed to overpower his will and began to walk away, sipping from the cup as he went. Books watched him as he went, running a hand through his hair a couple of times while mumbling something.

“I-Is it true?” asked Hunter, his voice almost completely hollow. By-The-Books turned to look at him and Hunter, despite himself, looked up at the detective imploringly. The guilt was wrapping itself tightly around his heart and lungs, making the very act of breathing hurt. He felt like he was ready to vomit, something that the paramedic took notice of.

“Well, I’m not going to lie,” said the detective, a hand running across his mustache. “What you did was foolish. And there is a dead body in there. But, he’s not dead because of you.”

“What?” breathed Hunter, so many new emotions running through him that he didn’t know what to do. He was shocked that someone was dead, sad that he didn’t notice. Worried about who it might be. Was it Applejack or someone else? Oh god, please no! But at the same time, he was happy that he wasn’t responsible. Did that make him awful? What-

“Easy there son,” said the detective as he sat down next to Hunter, placing a hand on his shoulder as he did so. At once, Hunter felt his emotions begin to settle a little as if he were suddenly yanked back into the real world. “We…We found the body of the owner in there, tucked away in the back. By my best guess, he’s been dead all day. Long before you signaled us. Even if you had done everything right nothing would have changed.” Books let out another sigh. “And don’t let Hard Case get to you. You’re not the first one to do something like this. Plenty of people get panicked, things happening so quickly that they forget that we can help. I’m just glad that you singled us when you did. Besides, we’re not in any position to be blaming you for everything. We should have been in there before that damn game of his started. Wish I knew how he kept us out.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” said Hunter honestly.

“Yeah, you had more important things in front of you,” said Books, a slight smile on his face. “You managed to stay calm and everyone else came out alive.” He then looked over at the building looming before them, his smile slipping. “I wish I knew how he did all that. We’ve been looking for some device that could have been using to lower your friends, but so far we’ve come up with nothing. Same for how he kept us out. I was hoping we could use that to figure out who broke that maniac out but…” His voice trailed off before he shook his head.

“So, what’ll happen next?” asked Hunter.

“Hmm?” went By-The-Books. “Well, I got your statements so after the docs are done looking at you all, you’re free to go. Nothing more you can do here. Might need to ask some follow up questions in case something new comes up.”

“And Chaser?” asked Hunter.

By-The-Books let out a dark chuckle at that. “Oh, that boy is in serious trouble,” he said. “Given everything we’ve seen here and all the evidence we’re gathering, I’m sure the D.A. will have no trouble charging him with several additional charges. Starting with breaking and entering, kidnapping, murder, and attempt of murder just to name a few. I think your brother realizes how bad it is for him because he’s pretending that he can’t move. Says you did it and everything that happened here was because of you.”

“What?” was all Hunter could say, the last memory of Chaser returning to the foreground of his mind including what he had said. Was that really his doing? He had told Chaser that if he won this duel he was to stop so was this magic at play, taking his commands in a literal fashion? Or was this some sort of penalty for him trying to cheat in the duel, the price for his loss being ramped up.

“Hogwash in my opinion,” said Books. “Paramedics have already looked at him. Can’t find any bruises or trauma that they say could cause a full body paralysis below the neck. But to be sure they want to run more tests. Honestly, the boy’s probably faking it in the hopes that he’ll get some sympathy from the jury when he faces them again. That or he’s hoping we’ll let our guard down so he can make another escape” He then let out a sigh. “But, I could be wrong. He’ll get a full examination just to be on the safe side and we’ll go from there. Ah, speak of the devil.”

Books made a sudden gesture towards the building, drawing Hunter’s attention to it. His mouth went dry as he saw a large group leaving through the entrance. Most of them were police officers, guns at the ready with all of them pointed at a stretcher which was being pushed by two paramedics. As they drew nearer, Books stood up while quietly excusing himself. Hunter too rose, but said nothing as he looked at the state his brother was in. He was laying on his back, his arms and legs bound in cuffs whose length made it clear that he would not be doing much running while they were on him. Hunter could see Chaser’s lips quivering slightly as he stared up at the sky. He looked so…weak right now. Almost helpless.

At the same time, figures moved around Hunter and before he knew what was happening, his aunt had him in a hug. “I’m just glad you’re alright,” she whispered, Hunter feeling tears running down her face. He heard her take a deep intake of breath, returning the hug as he remembered what Books had said. The man who had been killed was her boss and a good friend as well.

Soon he felt a hand touching his shoulder, turning to see the teary eyed face of Moondancer still wrapped in a blanket. “Hey,” she whispered with a small smile. Hunter smiled back, but did nothing to try and break the grip his aunt had on him.

“Well, this sure ain’t a trip Ah’ll be forgettin’ any time soon,” said Breaburn, a bit on the loud side. Hunter forced himself to look away from his girlfriend to see the larger teen standing there, shivering slightly as he held the blanket around him. “Wish it could have ended better.” Hunter didn’t say anything. Most likely he had already talked to his family who no doubt wanted him home right away. He knew the feeling. Right now, all he wanted to do was go home with his aunt and just rest.

Looking around, he saw that there were others there looking just as tired as he was. Lightning, having put up a brave front this entire time, looked absolutely drained. Her eyelids looked heavy and her posture looked slouched so that it looked like, with the blanket wrapped around her, she was ready to go to sleep. Still, she managed to smile at him while also pushing her hand out from the inside of her blanket to give him a thumbs up. Next to her were Autumn and Wallflower, sharing a blanket together while their teeth chattered. Both of them were smiling, looking happy to have come out of this in one piece. The only one not in this group was Pharynx. Not for a lack of wanting for Hunter saw him a few hundred yards away, his brother Thorax holding him tightly and looking like he was talking a mile a minute about something. Pharynx looked at Hunter, their eyes meeting before a resigned look fell upon his face.

Then, Chaser blocked Hunter’s sight. His head turned to look at him, eyes almost seeming dead. Defeated utterly. Yet, as he seemed to stare back at Hunter, the fire was relit.

“You did this to me!” screamed Chaser. “You and those fucking bitches of ours! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all! You think this is the last you have heard of me?!? This should be you! You cheated! CHEATED! I’ll never stop! NEVER! I’ll claw my way back to the top if I have to and I’ll make sure you all regret ever being born!”

“Please remain quiet,” growled one of the officers as they moved Chaser away. Hunter felt his aunt’s grip tighten while her body became rigid slightly. Her tears seemed to have stopped for the moment and Hunter could tell she was on alert for anything that Chaser might try. Slowly she released him before turning around, using her body as a shield just in case Chaser really was faking it. The others seemed to have similar ideas. While Lightning didn’t take his blanket off, Hunter saw that her fists were clenched and at the ready. Breaburn stiffened, his muscles showing more as he too looked ready for a fight as did Pharynx. But Hunter found it hard to believe that as Chaser was picked up from both ends, arms falling helplessly downwards with even his fingers limp.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” barked Chaser as he was placed into the police car. “Do you have any idea who I am?!? I am Star Chaser, your GOD! I am all things great! I am! I am Star Chaser! I am Star-” Chaser’s words were cut out as the door was slammed shut, silencing him for the moment before he was driven away.

“Some god,” muttered Lightning just loud enough for everyone around to hear. She then looked at Hunter with a weary look. “Hunter, why didn’t you just ask him to stop talking? You could have spared us from listening to that man child’s whining for the rest of our lives!”

Despite himself, Hunter felt a small bit of laughter bounce up from his chest. “I thought betting him to just stop would be enough,” he said. Looking around, he could see the others, even his aunt, had small smiles on their faces now as Lightning rolled her eyes.

“Hey, I get it,” she said. “Stop coming after us and all. Yeah, it makes sense. But…we still have to hear him.”

Later that night, as Hunter dreamed, he found himself back within his dream looking up at the sky with tired eyes. The sky had darkened, allowing the stars to sparkle brightly before him while the moon acted like a lantern. A wind blew, shaking off plenty of red and gold leaves from the nearby trees. He could feel the cold grass pressing against his back but paying it little mind.

As before, he was surrounded by figures. Only this time he could make them out. They were the Dragonmaids. He was laying in House Dragonmaid’s lap, with her looking down at him with a smile on her face as she gently stroked his hair. Laundry Dragonmaid was there, lightly holding his hand as she looked at him. But despite the smile on her face, there were tears running down her cheeks. Parlor was there too next to Kitchen, both of them on their knees with the food they had brought with them on the opposite sides. Kitchen had brought a delightful smelling onion soup that made Hunter’s mouth water while Parlor was doing her best not to eat the sweets she had brought. Nurse was there as well, looking proud of something as she stood there looking at him.

For a moment, Hunter thought this might be one of those dreams. A dream that many young men like himself would have, especially in this type of situation. After all, if this was a dream (and honestly, it had to be one seeing that his cards were alive and around him), then there was no harm in it. Yet, the idea was quickly rejected for more reasons than one. Chief among them was that he was in love with Moondancer. Even if this was a dream, he still wanted his first time to be with her. It might seem a little silly, but that was what he wanted. Odder, these girls felt more like they were close to them. So close that it felt…wrong to think of them in that way.

“Is it over?” asked Hunter, his eyes growing heavier as the seconds ticked away.

“Yes Master,” replied House, no, Sheou. That was her name. The name…he had given her? For some reason, as Hunter looked at her, he remembered a young dragon buried under rubble in what looked like the aftermath of a huge battle. She was there, doing everything in her power to protect five eggs. She had hissed…at him? Wait, why was he seeing all of this as though it was going from his eyes?

“So tired,” whispered Hunter, these memories and the confusion they brought seemed to drain him more and more. A part of him wanted to continue to looking at these memories while the other just wanted to rest for now. He could look at them later, right? Besides, hadn’t he already had a hard day?

“You can rest,” whispered Sheou, Hunter’s eyes slowly closing. “The beast can no longer harm you. Your battle is finally over. Now you can rest.” And with that, Hunter closed his eyes while his body relaxed.

“Sister,” said Tinkhec, speaking up once they were sure that Hunter had fallen asleep within his dream. “Should we tell him? About us?” This question caused Nudyarl’s head to raise, looking at her sister with a hopeful expression.

“In time, he will begin to remember us properly,” said Sheou. “Let us not act on impatience now. Not after waiting all these centuries.”

“Oh come on!” cried Lorpar, jumping to her feet. “We’ve waited long enough! Ever since we were reunited with the Master, we’ve been trying to get him to remember us. We could have lost him today!”

“I had complete faith in the Master,” said Sheou, her comment causing Lorpar to take a small step back.

“I-I did too,” she said, lightly scratching her chin. “But…I mean, what if the beast hadn’t decided to duel him and just attack him then and there? We could have lost the Master again!”

“No!” cried Nudyarl as her hand clung a bit tighter to Hunter’s hand. New tears were running down her face as she looked at her sisters, a look of almost indescribable pain written all over it. “W-We finally found him! I-If he dies again we might…we might…we might never find him again! Then I can never tell him how sorry I am!” As she spoke, Nudyarl’s words became slightly broken between her gasps of air as tears poured down her eyes. As the youngest among them began to break down, Tinkhec stood up and walked around Hunter until she was behind the blue Dragonmaid. Silently she wrapped her arms around her young sister, bringing her into a hug as she patted her head.

“There, there,” said the cook of the Dragonmaid’s. “You know the Master never blamed you for what happened. Even with his dying breath.” She then shot Lorpar a look that caused the glutton of the group to urk, raising an arm as if to shield herself for a moment.

“As much as I hate to say this, Lorpar has a point,” said Ernus, catching them all off guard. “It has taken this many centuries to find him again. And when we did find him, we had to take a gamble with that human Pegasus in the hope that he would lead us to the Master.” She then let out a sigh. “The human lifespan is short. Far shorter than ours. It might be a good idea to have a backup ready just in case. Sister, couldn’t we use that magic you extracted from Chaser to help give the Master a push in the right direction?”

Sheou frowned but reached in her apron pocket to pull out the magic, holding it out for them all to see. “You mean this rotten thing?” she asked darkly. “The beast polluted it for years, injecting it with his own bile until it became as tainted as it was. And now you dare to suggest that we place this…this thing in the Master?!?”

“No,” replied Ernus. “At least, not until we have cleaned the thing.” She then intertwined her fingers together, stretching out her hands until they made a satisfying cracking sound. “Its been a while since I had a real patient. But I’m sure when I administer my tender loving care, this speck of bile while be returned to its wonderful, magical self.”

“Where was that tender loving care whenever I came in?” asked Lorpar. Ernus rounded on her sister, a frown on her face.

“Because I kept telling you not to stuff your greedy face!” snapped the pink dragoness.

“Enough!” hissed Sheou, getting their attention. “The Master needs his rest if he is to recover! For now, we shall see if that magic can be cured. If not, we shall continue to wait until we are truly reunited with our Master.” Not another word was said as Sheou slipped into her dragon form, towering over the others as Hunter remained in her lap. As one, the others simply changed into their dragon forms as well without any flash of light where they then surrounded the sleeping teen. Together they watched him as his body began to change as well. Hunter became taller, grew dark wings while his body took on a scaly, almost armored form.

And, when he was done, the boy known as Star Hunter had taken on the body of Lord of the Red.

At the same time, Chaser was being dragged back to his cell through the deserted halls of the maximum security prison. On either side of him were prison guards who were stone faced, never bothering to look at Chaser nor did they say a word to him. Something which was probably for the best seeing as they were most likely losers who could never get into college thus ending up here. Roughly they held onto Chaser by his upper arms as the teen’s feet were dragged behind him while two more guards followed him with their clubs at the ready. No one seemed to care that they were dragging the great, former god known as Star Chaser back to his undeserving cell. No one, not even Star Chaser.

No, his mind was elsewhere as he paid no heed to his current humiliating situation or the odd silence from all the other inmates. Whatever the world’s unimportant comings and goings meant nothing to him. All he could think about was his useless, cheating, retarded brother! He should have been the one dragged into this hellhole! HIM! That bastard. Chaser had every advantage in that duel. Greater life points, the power to drag any card he wanted, the power to create whatever card he wanted, his brothers useless friends. It should have been a walk in the park yet he still lost.

Ignoring the prisoners in their cells watching him pass, Chaser mulled over the duel again and again. There was no way it was his fault he had lost. He was perfect. He had done everything right. It had to be because Hunter cheated! Those damn duel spirits were probably interfering the entire time! That useless magic inside failed to do what he wanted! Just like with his old Red-Eyes deck, it had failed him. After everything he did to ensure victory, the magic failed to complete the job. All it had to do was drown those losers, none of which mattered to anyone anywhere, and he would have won!

As they stopped in front of Chaser’s cell, a new sense of loathing grew within him. Raising his head slightly, one of the few movements he could still do, he saw that all of his few remaining possessions had been taken away. The small radio, his decks, and pretty much everything else that made things bearable in this shithole. The only things that still remained were the few newspaper clippings he had, taped to the wall. The fallen god looked over to see that one of the newspaper clippings showed his brother, holding up the deck that had beaten him with a oh so proud smile on his stupid, retarded face! This was it! This would be his life, stuck in this cell with only that picture to remind him daily of the injustice that had been thrust upon him.

But this wasn’t the end. Oh no, far from it. Chaser didn’t know everything about magic, but if what’s-his-name was to be believed, he could gain it back in time. How long would it take? He had no idea nor did he have any idea how to do so. But he was Star Chaser, the greatest person ever to walk this earth. Even in his current condition he was still worth more than all other lives on this pitiful rock combined. He would stay here, having the guard wait on him hand and foot until he regained all that he had lost. Then, even if it took him a hundred years, he would return. This time, he would seek out a younger body. The body of some loser to house his greatness and begin looking for Hunter. He would not bother with a duel this time, just killing him before switching bodies with a more proper vessel. Perhaps the child of a filthy rich family, one he could milk for as long as he desired. Then he would begin hopping from one body to the next, living like the god he was until this planet died. Yes, that was a fitting way to go. The world was truly created when he was born so it only made sense that it only died when he did. Wasn’t that-

Chaser’s thoughts were cut short as he was roughly turned around before being dropped on the bed. “Watch it!” he yelled at them, his head nearly hitting the wall. In this position, his legs were bent over the side of his cot with his body positioned so that he was staring at the gate of his cell.

That’s when he saw it. That’s when he saw the thing that caused him to grow silent, so terrified that he couldn’t tell the guards to tuck him in properly. Standing there at the entrance to his cell was the old man who had taught him. The old man he had left for dead when he had escaped! He was just standing there in the darkened hall at the entrance to his cell, his red eyes seeming to glow in a demonic fashion as tiny lines of smoke rose from the embers of his cigarette. Chaser’s mouth ran dry as he looked at the bandages still wrapped around the man’s body. What force of will could allow him to still be standing? Was it magic? Or was it pure hatred?

As the guards turned to leave, Chaser relaxed. As soon as they saw the old man, they would be yelling at him. They would be demanding to know how he got out of his cell after lights out. They might even begin to club him, giving Chaser a nice show. But, Chaser soon began to tense up again as the guards walked towards the old man without saying a word. A bead of sweat began to form on his forehead, running down his face as the old man merely took a step back to allow the first three guards to walk past him without a word. None of them paid the old fool so much as a second look as he continued to smoke, his eyes locked onto Chaser.

“Shut the door!” ordered Chaser. His voice had to have been heard for Chaser could hear it echoing through the prison. He then felt his lips twist into a smile as the last guard paused in front of the door. Then…

“Cameras are still down,” said the guard to the old man. “Don’t let this come back to us, got it?” As the old man nodded, Chaser tried everything he could to move. To get back onto his feet, run towards the gate, and lock it shut himself! But nothing happened as the guard walked away without a second look at the teen trapped in a corner.

New terror began to fill him as the old man entered the room, every footstep he took sent tremors into Chaser’s heart. He could feel the blood pounding in his skull, thundering in his ears as he tried to move. To prepare himself to fight back. And, as if to make things worse, he saw more people in the halls. They were the other inmates, all of them standing there and staring at Chaser with naked hate.

Finally, the old man reached the bed. But rather than strike him, he sat down next to Chaser where he then stared at him for another minute while a small smile appeared on his face. A smile that utterly terrified Chaser. “Oh Chaser, Chaser, Chaser,” said the old man before he blew smoke right into the teen’s face. Chaser coughed madly, fighting to keep his eyes open in the fear that if he blinked they would all be upon him. “Looks like you flew a bit too close to the sun.”

Chaser felt his head turning to shake his head no, hoping against hope that this was some sort of horrible nightmare brought on by Hunter’s bitches. But no such luck as the old man took a long drag of his cigarette. “You know, I really did try to be your friend,” he said. “I taught you much on the promise that you would help me get out of here. Would have helped you get your revenge. But no, like a stupid little shit holding a gun for the first time, you thought you had all the power. Thought you knew enough, that you didn’t need anyone else. Burnt every bridge as you used the merger powers I showed you. And look at you now. Looks like your mommy and daddy never taught you that there’s only so far you can get in life on your own.”

“Please, go away,” whispered Chaser. But the old man paid him no heed, instead blowing more smoke in his face.

“Of course, they never taught you respect either,” said the old man, his tone cruel. He then gestured to the inmates outside of the cell. “See those fine fellows out there? When you escaped, some of their friends got hurt or killed. And here, you need a good friend to look out after you. To have your back. And, boy, you don’t have anyone. The only reason they aren’t in here right now is because they respect me. Hear that boy?”

“Don’t,” begged Chaser, only to have more smoke blown in his face.

“Now, they want to teach you that lesson your parents failed to teach you,” continued the old man. “Last lesson you’ll ever learn. But, maybe I’m feeling a little sentimental. Feeling a little merciful. So, I’ll make you a deal. You use that brain you’re so proud of to answer one question, just one, and I’ll tell them to let you be.” For a brief moment, Chaser felt hope rise from the ashes of his heart. He could do this! He was Star Chaser! There was nothing that he couldn’t-

“What’s my name?” A noise, almost inhuman, escaped Chaser as tears ran down his face. The noise was like that of a whine and a sob mixed together, soaked in utter despair for he knew he could never answer this question. Again he found himself shaking his head, but could not bring himself to beg for another question.

“Pity,” said the old man without remorse, the cruelty in his voice showing, for he had to know that Chaser would have been unable to answer this question. He then took the cigarette out from his lips, but rather than blow on his again, he began to move the lit end of it slowly towards his eye. The fear was more real now than ever as Chaser was unable to close his eye lid or ever look away. All he could do was stare at the heated end while veins appeared all over his face.

“What’s-Your-Name, Filthy Pig, Applejugs, Country Hick!” he began to scream at the top of his lungs. But not because he thought any of those was his name. No, Chaser was calling out for help. Calling out all the names he could remember. All the names he had called people in the past as the bud slowly moved down. “Filthy Slut, Big Tits, Easy Ass, Whore, Parasite, Loser, Faggot! Where are you guys!”

No one came to his call, his sweat turning red as his blood began to mix with it. He could feel himself pissing his pants, but he didn’t care. He needed someone to save him!

“Aunt Bitch! Help me! Mommy! Daddy! Save me PLEASE! I’M YOUR SPECIAL BOY RIGHT!” Now the bud was right in front of his pupil, terror racing through his entire body like never before. Was there anyone who was willing to help him? Where were all the people who were supposed to love him? Who…Who could he count on?

A memory slipped into his head, taking him back to that hill when he was younger watching his older brother walk away. Tears ran down Chaser’s face as he let out one final scream. “HUNTER! HELP ME BIG BROTHER! I NEED YOU!”

And that was the last coherent sentence uttered by Chaser as the cigarette made contact with his eye. From that moment on, all of his thoughts and words were nothing more than animalistic noises like a pig being slaughtered. The inmates took turns, one after the other, as they took out all of their rage on the teen who had hurt and killed their friends. It never seemed to stop, not until the morning light came and all of them went back to their cells, leaving behind the remains of he who had once been Star Chaser.

Future Glow

Hunter sat in one of the cushioned chairs, situated along the walls of the mostly empty halls of the Hollow Shades Funeral Home. As far as Funeral Homes went, it was ok. A large, vast room meant to hold dozens of mourning people with pleasant paintings on the walls. Well, mostly pleasant paintings. One or two were of historical figures from Hollow Shades, wearing powdered wings and looking intimidating with their slit yellow eyes and holding bloody weapons. And there was another of a fierce storm at sea, tossing an old fashioned boat around while tendrils from a kraken reached out from under the water to pull the ship down to its watery grave. Just…why?

Then, at the front of the room, was an urn holding the ashes of Star Chaser with a few of the teen’s most recent pictures. Every time Hunter looked at the urn, he felt his mouth grow dry as he was unable to forget everything that had happened. How his aunt had received a phone call early in the morning, informing her that Chaser had been killed. How they had no idea who had done it since the security cameras were down, testing them to try and figure out why they had malfunctioned during his last escape. The two of them were asked…to help identify the remains. Oh god, how could he ever forget the last sight of his brother in that twisted state that only the most grotesque horror would even consider showing. Just thinking about it now made Hunter want to hurl. That sight was the reason his aunt had decided that the body should be incinerated, there was no way the body could be made presentable for an open casket wake. It would be kinder just to burn it. Also there was the very real possibility that someone would have come just to open up the coffin and spit on the body.

For most of the day, Hunter and Star Chart had remained within the mostly empty room with their heads down barely saying a thing to anyone. Even though they were back in their hometown, very few people who knew Chaser had bothered to show up. Not the woman who had always given him free ice cream, any of Chaser coaches who had heaped unending praise on him, the mayor who had been planning on having a museum dedicated to Chaser (which, Hunter heard, had been scrapped the moment they heard about his cheating), or any of the other adult who had never had a single negative thing to say to the boy. Not even Chaser’s friends from school showed up. None of the girls he had ‘dated’ or even his best friend Leech.

A few people did show up, but they were few and far between. One teen, named Succubus (Chaser just calling her Slut), had showed up just to say hi to Hunter before offering some kind, yet empty words to him. Said that Chaser was probably in a better place right now. Then there were Nighttime Sonata and Sugar Dream, a pair of lesbians who Hunter also knew from Jr High. Like with Succubus, they offered a few kind words before leaving. That Chaser was at peace or something like that. A couple others showed up, but it was just a rinse and repeat of what had come before with all of their token words seeming empty.

As the day had moved slowly, Hunter had thought about the wakes for his grandparents and how different that had been. How people from all over had gathered to grieve and laugh, with vases of flowers on every table. He easily recalled how, when his grandfather had died, the mayor had shown up to give a small speech. It had been then that Hunter had found out that his Grandpappy (as he called him) had been important to the town, being the town watch maker for over sixty years and always giving a new pocket watch to the new mayor even after he had officially retired. Or when his granny had died, everyone was talking about how she had loved those old Japanese monster movies and had even brought a variety of her favorites to be viewed. Yet, this was all Chaser was getting. Briefly, Hunter wondered what Chaser would say if he could see this and if he would have changed his ways if he knew. But those thoughts were quickly swatted as Hunter felt his brother would have been complaining or swaying he didn’t want trash at a funeral for someone as great as he was. Yeah, that sounded about right.

Other times, Hunter’s mind came back to what had happened this morning. The warden of the jail where Chaser had been imprisoned had shown up along with a lawyer. They had sat down at their table, talked about a settlement and quickly handed over a large check. Aunt Star Chart had seemed to accept everything they said, signing the document without a word and accepting the check. According to her, this money would be used to help Hunter get into college so that something good could come from this. But, to Hunter, that idea made him feel numb. Money from his brother’s death would go to help him with his future? Why did that sound so dark to him? Was he still in shock from everything? Did he just need a little time to get his head straight?

Strangely, Hunter’s thoughts also went back to the last time he ever saw his brother. He could still see him, clear as day, being taken to the police car while foaming in rage. Hunter hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye or anything. And knowing that, if stung at him in a way he never thought it would. That there was no real parting between them, no goodbye nor closure for either of them. Stupid thing really as Hunter knew that Chaser would probably never change, that he would always be that angry kid deep down. Heck, if Chaser had died of old age and Hunter had gone to see him, Chaser’s last words would have been insulting and mean spirited. So why did Hunter feel bothered by the fact that there was no real goodbye between them? Was it because he never got the attempt?

Now there was less than an hour left before they would leave for the cemetery, a place reserved for Chaser’s ashes having been secured and ready. Time seemed to tick by as Hunter wondered if his parents would actually show up. If Hunter was being honest, he had fully expected them to be the first ones to show up. To watch them as they raced to the urn, tears running down their faces as they cried that their pride and joy was dead. If anything would bring them running back here, it should have been this. But, as Hunter had been here everyday when the place opened till it closed, he had not seen hide nor hair from either of them. Not a text, a call, over even an email asking what had happened. So he had to wonder: had they even heard that Chaser was dead? Would they risk coming here to grieve or had they done that wherever the hell they were? Or…did they even care anymore?

Then, Hunter heard a noise coming towards them. He looked up and was surprised to see that it was the entire Canterlot Dueling Team, including Coach Luna! All of them, even Lightning Dust, were dressed in black for the occasion. Behind them were their families, standing a few feet back. He could see both of Moondancer’s parents and her sister, giving him sad smiles. Lightning’s parents were there, looking around in a nervous fashion. Pharynx had just brought his brother, who looked ready to lunge forward and hug Hunter only to be held back by a man who looked a lot like Autumn Blaze. Wallflower’s parents were there, looking stern along with her sister. Principal Celestia was a little off to the side, looking somewhat out of place in her black outfit.

More surprising was that Applejack was there as well, along with all her friends! Rainbow was someone he thought would have flipped him off if he even suggested that she come to pay her respects. And considering how Chaser had been the one to poison her, he would have deserved it. Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry as well while Pinkie Pie had her hair down. Sunset looked like she was chewing her lip while Flash wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“W-What are all you doing here?” asked Hunter, unable to help himself. He shot a brief glance at the urn, biting his lower lip before turning back to look at them. “I mean…”

“It was taking a while to get the school board to give us the ok to use one of the school’s buses,” said Coach Luna. “I was barely even able to get the ok just to pull these students from class. Thankfully, the Apple Family was able to loan their bus for the occasion.”

“We wanted to pay our…condolences,” said Principal Celestia with a tiny smile on her face. But her tone made it clear that she was forcing herself to say that. Or at least that last part.

“Right,” said Hunter as his shoulders hunched a little.

“Hunter,” said Moondancer as she stepped forward, taking his hand with her own. “Chaser was a complete bastard who is probably burning in hell right now.” At that, Hunter’s head shot up so fast he was surprised he didn’t get whiplash. While his eyes were focused on Moondancer’s serious expression he did catch a few reactions in the background. Most of the adults looked shocked by this, but a few students like Rainbow and Applejack were nodding as if unable to stop themselves from doing so. Heck, the funniest he saw there was from Lightning who seemed to be having trouble deciding if she was angry that Moondancer had said that instead of her or giving a thumbs up.

“Miss Moondancer, that-” began the Principal, only to stop when Moondancer continued to talk.

“I’m not going to lie: I doubt anyone here is sad that he’s dead. He tried to kill several people in this room. Me, Rainbow, Lightning, Wallflower just to name a few! The way he treated people was just…the way he treated you…” Hunter found himself speechless as Moondancer closed the distance between them, still holding his hand as she pressed her forehead to his. Now all he could see was his beautiful girlfriend’s face, her eyes staring into his own. “But…he was still your brother. So, we’re not here for him. I’m not going to lie and say something nice about him that I don’t really mean. We’re just here for you.”

Gratefully, Hunter closed his eyes as he relaxed. “Thank you,” he whispered, his hands moving to her sides as he felt a weight roll off of him while feeling less alone. “Lets just remember him for who he was.”

“We could sing the asshole song!” said Autumn, looking extra gleeful at that. Her father looked at her with a frown, but she didn’t back down. “Ah, hello? Tried to kill me?”

“Ahh, I think that song’s too good for him,” said Rainbow as she folded her arms while the other students began to gather around Hunter. The adults looked a little…off at the moment. Especially Principal Celestia who had a hand to her forehead. Most of them looked like they wanted to agree with the kids…but respect for the situation held them at bay. Only Coach Luna seemed to at least be semi-ok with this.

“Just remember that you are all still representing Canterlot High,” she said, looking at Autumn with a slight smile. “As such the rules of a field trip apply here. So don’t cause any trouble or misbehave in any way.”

“Right,” said Applejack along with the rest before she glanced over at the urn. Her hand raised slightly while she almost seemed to take a step towards it, like she wanted to walk over there and give the urn the finger. However, she seemed to think that that might get her in some trouble. She did, thankfully, stop Rainbow from doing that.

“You know what’s sad,” said Lightning to the group. “I bet that guy still hasn’t learned a thing. Chaser probably thinks that he can take over hell since he’s all great and all.” As everyone let out a laugh at that, Hunter gazed over to the urn to say his silent goodbye. It was over.

It was time to move on.

At the same time, Chaser was proving Lightning wrong. The idea of taking over this place had never once entered his mind for the constant state of fear he was in prevented that utterly.

The body Chaser had been so proud of was gone, stripped of everything leaving him nothing more than a small blue orb. Just a blue, featureless orb without any limbs, ears, or mouth. Yet despite having no eyes, he could ‘see’ things around him. In a sense. Hell was like some vast desert, with cracks in the dried earth and mountains in the distance. The wind howled in his non-existent ears endlessly making it impossible to shut it out. Around him were thousands of other blue orbs which scurried around like mice upon a kitchen floor fleeing the giant humans who would step on them. But Chaser, he had not moved once since he had arrived. Stuck in the same place as his body still would not move. Whatever that Shadow Game had done to him, not even death proved to be an escape.

And that’s what made this all so terrifying for him. There was something else here. Chaser had seen it many times since he’d been here. All of the other damned souls ran whenever it approached, finding some hole to hide in or just running away into the distance until it picked up its latest prey. Those souls would trample all over Chaser, running over him somehow in their desperate ramble for safety. All of them lived in fear that sooner or later they would be caught. But all Chaser could ever do was just sit here, hoping to whoever out there would listen that it would not find him. It would pick someone else.

It was then that Chaser’s heart, if he still had one in this form, sank in an ocean of terror as the thing appeared next to one of the nearby mountains. This monster was a thing that not even Lovecraft could dream of! It was like a human, several bits, a dragon, and something else had all been thrown in a blender which it then merged with! As it walked, the mountain jumped out of its way, something it did often. When it didn’t, the mountain would just crumble away into dust. This thing, it was in the solid earth moving like it was walking through water. Its eyes were like searchlights, the beams scanning for its next prey.

Only to fall on Chaser.

The thing moved towards him and Chaser would have wept if he could. He had seen this before, souls of the damned once caught in its gaze could never escape. Sometimes the thing played with them, letting them scurry for a while and other times it never gave them the change. It was hopeless.

Soon, the giant thing held Chaser in the palm of its hand. Oh god! If Chaser could only scream for, for the first time since he had been here, he could feel pain. Pain that made his death seem like a tickle. Just being held by this thing felt like he was swimming in lava while bullets shot through his skull and knives jabbed at his feet. Each second seemed to stretch on for years and all Chaser wanted was to cease to exist!

“Ah, there you are,” the thing said in a smooth voice. It would have been a handsome one, if not for the fact that it felt like bees stinging his ears over and over again. Why? Why? “The little boy who thought himself a god, down here with me. Come, let us know each other better. From one false god to another.”

No, Chaser begged over and over again as the thing lumbered away. But it was no use. His time in hell, his eternal torment had begun. And from that moment on until the end of time, Chaser learned what true pain was. The things done to him were horrifying, never ending as he was stripped of everything. The thing allowed him to see the souls still living, those he knew who were still alive. He watched as they made their marks, small ones to be sure compared to the vastness of eternity, but still led full lives before their end. A life he could have had and a fate he himself had shunned in his own delusions. Then, once they had all passed, the thing really got to work on him. Chaser’s memories were stripped away, painfully, until he had forgotten nearly everything that had come before. His earliest memory being the time when that thing held him in his hand…a time when he felt the least amount of pain.

Many Years Later

Star Hunter, a man now in his late 20’s, sighed as he opened the car and stepped onto the concrete of the parking lot. After closing the door to the rental car, Hunter stretched his legs, having been on the road for hours nearly non-stop on this important trip. The last hour or so having him drive through seemingly endless forest and farm lands until he ended up in this small little town. As he twisted, hearing several pops as he did, Hunter looked around at the nearby school and the mostly empty fields around. The light posts were slowly flickering to life as darkness crept over the land, showing the playground equipment alone like silent monuments. Silence was king here, broken only by the popping of Hunter’s joints as well as the light coughs by the figure not too far from his car.

Once finished, Hunter walked over to the other figure. The chilly fall wind blew against him, hitting the tanned trench coat he wore for protection from the elements. His yellow eyes caught the faint signs of snowflakes falling slightly, barely surprising him given that he was near the Great Lakes. It would make sense that with the temp this low snow would be forming early. As for the other man, the local sheriff, he wrapped his arms around his chest as if to keep the warmth inside his body.

The two talked for a few minutes, the sheriff apologizing to the younger man before pointing over to the playground. Hunter looked in that direction, spotting a young girl he had not seen before. She was off in the distance, kicking soccer balls into a goal. Quickly muttering a few words of thanks, Hunter braced himself as he began walking towards the girl as a certain uneasiness took hold of his heart. His mouth felt drier with each step he took, his legs feeling like they were made of jelly.

As he drew closer, Hunter could make out more of the girl’s appearance. She was young, maybe around six or seven, with long dark brown hair that went past her hips. Her clothing looked second or third hand, signs of wear evident even in this darkness. Perhaps something from a Goodwill or something like that. Despite the cold, she was wearing shorts that were two sizes too big for her and held up by an old belt with a deck box attached to it. Her top was an old Rainboom’s T-shirt, a red that he had not seen since he was in High School. It too looked like it had seen better days, with the words faded and the collar frayed like crazy.

Her ears twitched as he got closer. “They’re not coming back, are they?” she asked without turning around. Hunter felt something in his throat as he heard her voice, trying to hide the pain she was feeling.

“No,” he said, wishing he could tell the girl in front of him some sort of fairy tale. That they would come back sooner or later or something. Even more so when he watched the girl’s shoulders drop, her body shaking a little. As he took a deep breath, the girl kicked one of the soccer balls as hard as she could, missing the goal post entirely.

“Yeah…Yeah, I thought so,” she said, her voice breaking with every word. The girl sniffed loudly, an arm going to wipe away the tears and snot that were no doubt running down her face.

Still Hunter stood there, wondering what he should say. What he could say. Should he compliment her kick? Tell her that he could introduce her to a pro like Rainbow Dash or Lightning Dust? Both of them had competed in the Olympics so…Wait, would she even believe he knew them? Would she even know who they were?

“I…I don’t think they ever wanted me,” she said, voice still shaky as she kicked another ball. “They were always c-comparing me to someone I never met. Guess it makes sense that they would leave without me.”

“If it makes you feel any better, they did the same thing to me,” said Hunter. The girl stiffened for a moment before turning around, her yellow slitted eyes flying upwards to look at his matching ones. Her lips quivered for a moment as she stood there frozen, the puzzle pieces falling easily into place within her head.

“I thought…they said they were calling a social…so I thought you were,” the girl stammered.

“No,” said Hunter as he bent down so that they were eye level. “I’m your brother, Star Hunter. Mind telling me yours?”

“S-Starry Fields,” she whispered, the weight of everything falling down on her. “They…They’ve really d-done this b-b-before?”

“Yeah,” said Hunter sadly with a nod, closing his eyes for a moment to look at Starry and knowing just how close he came to never having this meeting. Ever since the day that Hunter had stood in front of his former home, watching as people cleaned up to be sold, he had wrestled with his feelings towards his parents. For years, there was always a hope in the back of his mind whenever he saw a number on his phone he didn’t recognize. Hoping it was either his parents…or the police telling him they could be caught. Then maybe, just maybe, he could finally get some closure with them. Yet as time had marched on so too did Hunter and that hope was finally allowed to die.

So, when he received the phone call from the sheriff telling him that his parents were in his area, Hunter was ready to tell him that whatever they had done was not his problem. But something stopped him and he listened to the sheriff. It seemed that his parents had come into the area years ago, taking odd and low paying jobs that didn’t require any extensive background checks. It was only by chance that they had been found out and the two had fled from their trailer home leaving behind their daughter. Hunter nearly choked when he heard that, barely listening as the sheriff said that they had been trying to contact the girl’s next of kin hoping to find someone to take her in.

And now, seeing her face to face, Hunter let a few tears escape now glad that he had stayed on that phone. Glad to see his little sister. Slowly he reached out his hand to her expecting her to take it. Instead, she nearly jumped at him while wrapping her arms around his neck as she wept openly. No doubt happy that she wasn’t alone.

“Come on,” he said after a while, when her crying had lessened. “We got a long ride and a plane to catch. Moondancer will be meeting us at the airport.”

“W-Whose Moondancer?” asked Starry as Hunter stood up. Gently, he took her hand as the two began to make their way to the car. “Is…Is she my sister or something?”

“I guess you could say that,” replied Hunter, unable to stop himself from smiling. “She’s my wife.” Starry’s eyes grew wide as they walked, her stomach rumbling loudly. “I can tell you all about her over dinner. I saw a really nice looking steakhouse on the way here.”

Starry looked like she was going to start drooling at any moment, hunger becoming the dominant emotion at the moment. “I’ve never had steak before,” she said in a small whisper. “I heard it’s expensive.”

“Well not tonight,” said Hunter, the two of them now in front of his rental. “Tonight, you can order whatever you want until you’re full.” Starry hurried into the car, stomach rumbling even louder. As Hunter closed the door, he also made a mental note to stop at an all night store and pick her up something decent to wear.

After all, tomorrow she would be seeing what her big brother did for a living…besides writing books about detective maids.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Canterlot Coliseum!” came the voice of the announcer, his voice barely heard over the excited crowd of the packed stadium. “It seems you’re all as excited as we are because tonight we have a roaster of some of the top duelists in the country. And our first duel is no exception as these two duelists have been itching for a rematch since long before they went pro! In the red corner, we have the master of maids, the dragon’s fury: STAR HUNTER!”

The crowd exploded into cheers as Hunter walked through the double doors and down to the dueling arena. As he walked, he saw people holding up signs with his name on it or pictures of his monsters in various degrees of quality. He also noted that there were plenty of cameras recording him, streaming this duel to everyone who paid for it. No doubt Lightning and Pharynx were watching as well. Of course, he also looked up at the private booths, easily finding the one used by his wife, Starry, Autumn, and Wallflower.

“And in the blue corner we have the man with the six bullets, the gun wielding duelist cowboy himself: BREABURN!” Country music blared as Breaburn came out his own double doors to an equal amount of fanfare. But unlike Hunter, his eyes were focused on one thing: Hunter. There was a smile on the cowboy’s face and his fingers looked like they were itching to reach for his duel box.

And Hunter felt the same way.

“Been waitin’ for this for some time,” said Breaburn as he took his spot.

“Same. Let’s just not have a repeat of last time,” said Hunter, smiling with good humor.

“Don’t intend to,” said Breaburn as he grinned back.

Then, at the same time, they both shouted: “LET’S DUEL!”

Author's Note

A special thanks to all the people behind the scenes who helped me write this as well as the people who gave this one a chance.

In the near future, I plan on continuing Hunter's life as a High School Duelist but as more of an anthology. And that will be a bit aways