It's Time To Duel!

Chapters

Turn 1: Toon Terror vs. The Solar Guard
Turn 2: Dark Magic React vs. Wonder Bolt Rush
Turn 3: Harpie Party Frenzy vs. A Day at the Rodeo
Turn 4: Toon Terror vs. Winner! Winner!! WINNER!!!
Turn 5: Luck of the Underdog vs. Dressed to Kill
Turn 7: White Dragon's Roar vs. Royal Magical Library
Turn 8: Trigger Happy vs. Clear Night's Sky
Turn 9: Dark Ruler's Domain vs. A Day at the Rodeo
Turn 10: White Dragon's Roar vs. Clear Night's Sky
Turn 11: Unlimited Potential vs. The Solar Guard
Turn 12: Luck of the Underdog vs. Winner! Winner!! WINNER!!!
Turn 13: Masters of the Labyrinth vs. Aces High & Dressed to Kill
Turn 14: Dark Ruler's Domain vs. Royal Magical Library
Turn 15: Dark Magic React vs. Crystal Clear
Turn 16 End: Dark Magic React vs. Royal Magical Library
Game Start
Turn 6: One Foot in the Grave vs. Dark Side of Nature

Turn 1: Toon Terror vs. The Solar Guard

Pegasus Celestia
4000 4000

“Ladies first.” Pegasus offered grandly, fanning out his hand and half-hiding a smile behind it.

“A choice you’ll come to regret.” Celestia replied. She drew her sixth card and added it to her hand, then selected a card and placed it on the table before her. “I summon Solar Guard of the Dawn in attack mode!”

One of the squares in Celestia’s front row burst into a sudden beam of light and a figure rose out of the ground. After a moment the light faded to reveal a knight in golden armor readying a long sword in Pegasus’s direction. The figure floated a couple inches above the ground before settling into a ready position with a grunt.

“Solar Guard of tha Dawn? I’ve never seen that monster before…” Joey said, leaning forward to get a better look at it.

“Of course you haven’t!” Rainbow Dash snorted, crossing her arms and tilting her head back. “We’ve got a whole different crop of cards back home than you have out here.”

“Yeah? Well, that monster looks a little wimpy ta me!” Joey returned.

Rainbow smirked and turned pointedly back to the duel. “Just you wait and see. There’s more to her Solar Guard than first appears…”

“My turn already?” Pegasus asked, drawing a card with a flourish. “Then I will summon Red Archery Girl to the field!”

A burst of light lit Pegasus’s side of the field and a large clam shell rose up from the ground. The shell slowly opened, revealing a mermaid holding a bright red bow.

“Now go attack the Guard of the Dawn!” Pegasus said, waving his monster on. A large arrow materialized in the mermaid’s hand and she set it to the bow and fired in one swift motion. The arrow slammed into the knight right into its upper chest. Multicolored sparks shot out from the point of impart in a great shower.

Celestia
3400

“Not so fast, my Guard has a special ability.” Celestia picked up her deck and started flipping through it. “By sending one monster from my deck to the graveyard, the Solar Guard of the Dawn can’t be destroyed in battle.”

She selected a card and placed it in the graveyard just above her deck. On the field, the sparks subsided to reveal the knight had his sword up and was straining against the arrow with it. With a surge of effort the knight swung his sword wide, scattering the arrow into the air where it shattered harmlessly.

“I’ll add two cards face down on the field.” Pegasus continued. Two cards appeared floating horizontally on the field behind his Archery Girl. “So what do you say, my dear. Have we finished with the warm-ups? I think it’s time we gave our audience a real show.”

“If you insist.” Celestia said calmly, drawing a card. Her graveyard suddenly started glowing. “My soldiers work best as a team. And when one is standing guard on the field, I’m allowed to summon Solar Guard of the Day from the grave.”

In a burst of light a second knight, this one riding on the back of a white horse, rose out of the ground next to the first. The horse whinnied and reared back while the knight readied his lance.

“And now I’ll sacrifice my two guards to summon this!” Celestia said, calmly placing a card front and center on her podium. Both of her knights disappeared in a brilliant light far brighter than anything they had witnessed from a duel before. Everyone had to turn away and shield their eyes from the glare engulfing the whole field. A dark spot appeared directly in the middle of the light and grew, the blazing light contracting around the creature as it grew in size.

“What is that thing!?” Pegasus asked, squinting around his arm to try and make out the monster. “I’ve never seen it before!”

“You allowed me free reign to create my own cards as I saw fit.” Celestia said coolly, not even bothered by the searing light. “That’s the whole reason I’m here today, isn’t it? Well allow me to introduce you to one of my favorites, The Supremacy Sun! Now watch it in action as it destroys your Red Archery Girl. Flame Pillar!”

The light finally finished gathering itself into a tight ball of radiance at the monster’s back, causing its ebony armor to shine brightly as it rose up into the air far above the battlefield. It uncrossed its arms and raised them above its head, where a ball of fire grew into existence. After a couple of seconds the ball exploded downward in a column of flame which engulfed the mermaid.

The flames raged about the field unchecked, but suddenly started to fade into nothing. A shimmering dome of green energy slowly appeared from within the disappearing flames, completely surrounding Pegasus and his monster, which appeared completely unharmed. One of the face down cards on his field was now vertical, revealing what he had played for everyone to see.

Pegasus
7000

“A good try, but my Draining Shield stops your attack completely. What’s more it adds all that lovely power directly into my life points, so thanks for the boost.”

“I didn’t do it for you.” Celestia said, studying her hand. “I’ll place one card face down and end my turn.”

“I’m impressed with your monster,” Pegasus grinned, as the effects of his trap faded from the field, “But are you sure that’s how you want to play? I was expecting you to bring out your far more impressive cards for our duel.”

Celestia shot a glance at her students and smiled to herself. “Those cards don’t belong to me anymore. Besides, the Supremacy Sun is all I need to win.”

“Getting a little overconfident?” Pegasus asked as he drew his card. He looked at it and broke out into a snide smile. “Well, I think it’s time to debase you of that notion. It’s time to visit Toon World!”

Pegasus
6000

Pegasus slapped the card he’d drawn on the table and a book popped into existence in a pink cloud of smoke. Calliope music started played as the book flipped itself open, coming to a rest somewhere in the middle. Buildings and tombstones popped out of the pages.

“Toon World? What’s that?” Applejack asked.

“A real embarrassment.” Kaiba spat, turning away from the field in disgust.

“My Toon World allows me to summon my favorite little monsters from my hand, such as this one. Behold the Toon Summoned Skull!”

The book floated forward on the field and suddenly slammed closed over the Archery Girl, who barely had time to let out a little cry. The book spun in place several times before bursting open again in another cloud of colorful smoke. A cackling demon popped out of the book like a jack-in-the-box, bouncing like it was made of rubber.

“And why stop there?” Pegasus continued, making a show of selecting another card from his hand. “I’ll use my Ultimate Offering to summon another cuddly toon to the field.”

His other face down card flipped up, but this time remained on the field instead of fading away. A purplish aura glowed around it as it effect was used.

Pegasus
5500

The pages of the book started flipping again, and when they came to a rest a golden ring floated out of it. Like a genie appearing from its lamp a monster shot out of the ring and danced about in the air, chuckling to itself behind overly large gloved hands.

“Introducing the Toon Masked Sorcerer! Isn’t he just precious?”

“He calls those monsters?” Rainbow asked incredulously, unsure how to feel about a duelist of his supposed strength using such lame looking cards.

“Well, there’s more ta those cards than first appears.” Joey returned, copying her tone from earlier. “Nothing we haven’t overcome before, but maybe our cards aren’t all that weak after all, eh?”

Pinkie pushed her way between them for a better view, sparkles popping up in her eyes. “I don’t care how strong they are, they look AWESOME!!!!”

“My toons don’t just look awesome, but they’ve got quite the special ability as well.” Pegasus lectured, picking an imaginary spot of dust off his suit with his free hand. “You see, if they don’t want to fight any of my opponent’s monsters, they don’t have to. They can simply attack directly.”

“No monsters are that powerful!” Twilight shouted.

Pegasus pointed dramatically. “Actions speak louder than words. Toon Sorcerer, how about you show them what I mean!”

The sorcerer snapped its fingers and suddenly started spinning like a top, slowly shrinking in size until it disappeared in a puff of smoke. As Celestia leaned forward to try and see where it had gone, it floated down behind her from nowhere and pulled a large cartoon mallet out of its golden ring. Some sixth sense warned Celestia of its presence and she spun around as it swung the hammer straight down at her head. Right before it landed the hammer burst apart into confetti with the sound of a party cracker.

Celestia
2500

“Quite the magic show, wasn’t it?” Pegasus laughed gaily, applauding the giggling sorcerer as it danced back to his side of the field. “And now I am sad to say this we bid you adieu, my dear Celestia. So sad, but all good things must come to an end. Toon Summoned Skull, finish her with Lightning Strike!”

The demon whipped its arms about itself and cackled madly, electricity flashing about itself in a wild storm. It suddenly threw itself forward and a great bolt of lightning lashed out from its arms and struck Celestia’s podium dead-on. A giant explosion of dust and debris hid her from view, followed by several more explosions growing bigger and bigger until they had eclipsed even her Supremacy Sun in the cloud. The explosions finally stopped and the smoke slowly started clearing away.

“NOOO!!!” Twilight cried, straining to peer through the smoke for her mentor.

“She can’t have lost that easily!” Applejack said with a grimace.

“Hmm, well, that’s that.” Pegasus said confidently, but then something caught his eye. He leaned forward over his podium and gripped it with both hands. “What’s this? Why hasn’t the duel ended?”

Indeed, Pegasus’s cards were still on the field, giggling madly but otherwise still present. The dust cleared enough for everyone to see Celestia was still standing calmly, though her field was empty.

Celestia
3000

“What’s going on?” Pegasus demanded. “You should have lost with that attack!”

“I used my trap card, Destruct Potion.” Celestia explained. “All I had to do is destroy my Sun and I gained life points equal to its attack points.”

“Why would she do that? She’s completely defenseless now.” Bakura wondered aloud.

Pegasus tsked and stood up a little straighter. “Well, it doesn’t matter. All you’ve done is buy yourself another turn at most. And since my Toon Sorcerer hit you this turn, I can draw another card.” He picked up the top card of his deck, looked at it, and set it on the field with a smile. “I’ll end my turn there.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate me, Maximillion. I’ve been at this just as long as you have.” Celestia lectured calmly. She drew her card for the turn and barely looked at it before placing it in the graveyard. Instantly the field started shining with a very familiar light.

“It can’t be!” Pegasus cried as The Supremacy Sun rose up from the ground once more.

“No matter what you do, the sun will always rise!” Celestia said grandly, gesturing with her free hand. “And by simply discarding a card at the start of my turn, my monster resurrects. But that’s not the only one returning from the grave. My Solar Guard of the Dusk also comes back!”

There was another flash of light and now a knight in green was on her field, kneeling in defense mode with its sword out before it defensively.

“You never change, Maximillion, and that’s your greatest weakness.” Celestia said as she picked a card from her hand and played it. “I know your toon monsters well, and how they can’t be destroyed by normal attacks. That is where this card I created comes in, Royal Privilege!”

The continuous spell card appeared on the field and at the same time her Solar Guard of the Dusk shattered into fragments with a yell of surprise.

“It costs me all of my level four or lower monsters, but it grants my Supremacy Sun the ability to wipe any monster from the field with ease. And now it will use this new power against your Toon Summoned Skull!”

The Sun raised its hands again and formed another pillar of fire, launching it at the targeted monster. The Summoned Skull cowered next to the book with tears in its eyes, chewing madly on its finger claws in terror.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but my toon’s not going anywhere. I activate my trap, Toon Defense!” Pegasus cried, revealing his face down. “That redirects your attack to me instead!”

The pillar of flames tilted slightly, just barely missing the Summoned Skull, which sighed in relief. The blast struck Pegasus and surged around him, but other than a brief twinge the game designer made no outward show. His Toon Defense trap remained on the field rather than fade away.

Pegasus
2500

“What a duel!” Yugi said.

“Indeed.” Bakura nodded. “They’re both taking blows that would floor a normal duelist without even flinching. They’re in a class above the rest of us!”

“Speak for yourself, darling.” Rarity sniffed.

“Sorry about that, my dear Celestia, but I couldn’t allow my precious toon to be destroyed like that.” The Summoned Skull waved its arms in embarrassment at Pegasus’s words and blushed.

“I still can’t allow it to remain on the field.” Celestia said, playing another card from her hand. “I activate the spell card Share the Pain! Now a monster on each of our fields is destroyed. And I bet you can guess which ones I’m choosing!”

A brief flare beneath the Supremacy Sun and Toon Summon Skull was the only warning the monsters had before they detonated. Duel shards floating away from the dust clouds were all that was left of the two monsters.

“How could you do that to an innocent toon?!” Pegasus demanded; truly upset for the first time this game. “And to your own monster as well!”

“With you toon’s ability to attack directly, it’s not like the Sun could protect me anyway.” Celestia replied, meeting his anger with a calm demeanor. “And besides, my monster will be back next turn, unlike yours.”

“We’ll see about that!” Pegasus shouted, drawing his card for the turn and studying it. Hmm, I have no monsters in my hand. But that’s not really a problem with my Toon Masked Sorcerer out…

“Alright, Masked Sorcerer! Attack her with Magical Hammer!”

The sorcerer clapped its hands together and drew out from some hidden space a trio of wooden mallets. It started to juggle them, wavering back and forth so as not to lose one, before somehow tripping over and sending the hammers in all directions. One headed straight towards Celestia, who held up her arm to block it as it ghosted right through her.

Celestia
2100

“And that allows me to draw a new card.” Pegasus said, doing so and smiling at what it was. “And now let me introduce Toon Alligator to the field!”

Toon World spun on its axis again, flipping through its pages before settling on one seemingly at random. A small, grinning alligator clutching a hatchet popped out of the book and settled on the field in defense mode.

“And I think I’ll set another card face down to keep it company.” Pegasus continued, setting the card in the spell and trap zone. “And that will do it for me, my dear. I’ll give the turn to you. Give it your best shot!”

“Just remember you asked for it.” Celestia replied, drawing a card and smiling. Ah, finally! “First, I’ll discard a card from my hand to resurrect the Supremacy Sun!”

The now familiar burst of light surrounded the field as the Sun revived once more. It crossed its arms and glared down at Pegasus, as if mocking him for ever thinking that it would be gone for very long.

“And now, I think I’ll do something about your bothersome traps.” Celestia said, and her graveyard started glowing. “I’ll activate the effect of the Solar Guard of the Dark Hours I just discarded. By removing itself and two other Solar Guards from the game, I can play a trap card straight from my deck. And I know just the one I need!”

The ghost of an evil looking knight briefly appeared on the field, flanked on either side by the guards of Dawn and Dusk, before they disappeared in a flash of light. The light dimmed to reveal a trap card in their place. Immediately a violet aura surrounded Pegasus’s Ulitmate Offering and Toon Defense, and their faces faded away until they were completely blank. A similar aura surrounded his face down card, holding it fast to the ground.

“What did you do?!” Pegasus demanded.

“Just used the effect of my Royal Decree.” Celesia explained. “With this card on the field, all other trap cards are useless. So there’s no way you’re worming out of this attack! Supremacy Sun, get that Toon Masked Sorcerer off the field, won’t you?!”

The Sun roared as it launched another jet of fire down at the tiny monster below. The sorcerer looked around frantically for someplace to hide, but couldn’t find anything as the attack grew closer. It slipped itself back down into its golden ring, leaving just one large cartoon eye out to stare in terror as it was engulfed in flames. It shattered with a scream.

Pegasus
400

“Curse you…” Pegasus growled, flinching away from the flames before they faded away.

“I’m not done yet!” Celestia said, playing the card she’d draw this turn. “I equip my Supremacy Sun with the Ring of Magnetism! Sure, it may drop its attack by five hundred points, but now you can’t attack anyone but it! That means no more direct attacks.”

“Looks like Pegasus is worried.” Rainbow grinned, crossing her arms and rocking back on her heels. “This game is as good as over!”

Yugi shook his head. “I wouldn’t count him out just yet. Pegasus’s deck is tricky, and he has a knack for turning a situation around really quickly…”

Indeed, when Pegasus drew his card he broke out into a confident grin before grabbing the other card in his hand. “It sure has been fun, my dear, but I think it’s time to end this. I’ve been saving this little card for a special time, and I think I’ll use it now. It’s the spell card Doppelganger!”

The Toon World card slammed closed, opened again to a new page. Out of the book came a long black cat-like cartoon creature, which stretched around the field and stared shuffling through Celestia’s graveyard.

“What is this thing?!” Celestia demanded, swiping at it. The doppelganger avoided the blow, bending back over itself to Pegasus’s side of the field with a card clutched in its paws.

“This is my delightful toon Doppelganger, of course.” Pegasus cooed, scratching the cat under its jaw affectionately. “It’s so very good at impressions, you see. It can copy any spell card you played this duel. And it looks like the one its picked is Share the Pain! I’m so sorry, Toon Alligator, but it’s your time to go.”

The alligator looked back at him with fat crocodile tears in its eyes, but there was nothing it could do. The doppelganger lifted up the card it had stolen and swallowed it, whereupon its body glowed brilliant white and vanished. Instantly a pair of explosions destroyed the only two monsters left in play.

“No!!!” Celestia cried as the shards of her Supremacy Sun fell all around her.

“And with your Ring of Magnetism gone, there’s nothing left to protect you from my Toon Goblin Attack Force!” Pegasus shouted, playing the last card in his hand. “And now I’ll finish this!”

Toon World flipped through the air one last time, turning itself upside down and shaking itself like it was dislodging dust from its bindings. Four cartoonish goblins tumbled out of the book and landed in a pile on the field, their clubs falling down after them and bopping them each on the head.

The goblins bounced to their feet, alternating between accidentally hitting each other with their clubs or stepping on each other’s feet, but they eventually all turned their attention to Celestia. They swarmed her in a mob and she disappeared into a cloud of cartoon smoke, disturbed by flying clubs and cartoon stars.

Celestia
0

The duel finally over, the illusion projectors shut down and wiped all the cards from the field. The girls rushed over to Celestia to make sure she was alright, but she waved them off and turned to regard her opponent.

“Looks like you can compete in the tournament after all.” She said, slightly out of breath from the duel. “That was just like old times, though I think your focus has grown even better than the last time we dueled.”

Pegasus waved off her praise with mock modesty. “Think nothing of it! You pulled a couple moves that surprised even me, so it was all well worth it. We really need to get together more often.”

“Alright, that’s enough of the hugging and stuff!” Rainbow cried, spinning in place and pointing dramatically at the rest of the spectators. “I came here to duel and I’m tired of just waiting around! I’m starting this thing off, so send the best you’ve got out here to face me!”

“The best you say?” Yugi said in an odd tone of voice, and Rainbow had to squint as the puzzle around his neck seemed to catch the light somehow. When she blinked the tears out of her eyes, Yugi seemed to be… different. He was standing straighter and she could have sworn that he’d grown a couple inches.

Yugi stepped up onto the arena and activated his wrist mounted duel disk, speaking with more confidence in his voice than had been there previously. “If you are looking for the best, then I suppose you should get it. I’ll go first for my side.”

“You sure you can handle him?” Applejack asked, eyeing the King of Games up and down.

Rainbow answered by activating her own disk and falling into a ready stance. “Can I? I’ve been waiting for a chance at the title my whole life!”

“Alright, we’ll trust you to it. Take him down.” Celestia said, patting her once on the shoulder. She ushered the rest of the girls off the stage and the two duelists turned to each other and places their hands on their decks

“DUEL!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Dark Magic React vs. Wonderbolt Rush

Author's Note

The art of the fan cards this chapter was supplied by the extremely talented LUN2004. You should check out his other artwork. And I am looking for other artists to help with card art for future chapters! If you want to give me a hand, let me know! The most art I can get, the faster I'll be able to put out these chapters!

And right after saying none of the Equestria decks would be based on a deck someone else uses, I write a chapter featuring the Supremacy Sun. In my defense, the manga that card appears in STILL hasn't been translated into English, even though the manga has been out in Japan for almost five years now. I guess the distributors just gave up in translating it when sales weren't as good as they expected. I didn't even know that the card had been used in a story; I just thought it was a random card I got from a magazine until I searched around for info about it a few days ago. I promise though that the other girls decks won't be cribbing another character's!

The Solar Guard may seem overpowered at first glance, but I made sure to balance them to cards that already exist. The Guard of the Day is an almost word for word copy of Quillbolt Hedgehog, though altered slightly to fit this deck. They're weak monsters that focus on special summoning themselves when they're sent to the graveyard, setting up quick tribute summons early. According to Pegasus's reaction, he was expecting a more impressive monster to be summoned this game. I wonder what he was expecting...

A note on the toon monsters appearing in this story. I'm going with what they do in the show, which means they can't be destroyed in battle except in very special circumstances. They did eventually gain the ability to attack directly before the first series was over, doing so in both the Waking the Dragons arc and the Pyramid of Light movie, so that ability was also fair game in my mind. They also never had the "Can't attack the turn their played" effect that the TCG versions do, so I got rid of that. Does that make them overpowered? Yes, it does. But that's kinda the point of them, isn't it? I also powered up the Toon defense card, mostly for story-flow reasons.

Turn 2: Dark Magic React vs. Wonder Bolt Rush

Yugi Rainbow
4000 4000

“So since C lost, I take the first turn!” Rainbow shouted. “Which is just how I like it! And now for one of the best monsters in my deck, Wonder Bolt – Spit Fire!”

A flash of light briefly appeared behind the arena and a figure in a blue uniform leapt clear over Rainbow. She turned a small somersault in midair and her left foot caught fire, leaving a circular tail of sparks in the air as the figure spun. With a final kick she launched the mini fireball straight at Yugi. He managed to throw up his hands in time to deflect the missile harmlessly around his duel disk, but it still knocked him back a step. The monster landed in a crouch and straightened up, crossing her arms and smirking.

Yugi
3800

“What was that?!” Joey cried, rubbing his eyes and blinking furiously. “It happened too quick for me ta follow!”

“That’s the awesome speed of my Wonder Bolt cards!” Rainbow Dash said, beaming with pride. “Each one of them hits the ground running, and my Spit Fire just shaved two hundred life points simply by showing up!”

“Yeah, but it’s only two hundred points.” Mai said critically. “Hardly devastating.”

Twilight sighed, rubbing her temple to stave off a headache. “I can’t believe she brought that deck…”

“What’s the deal, Rainbow?” Applejack called. “Ah thought you were goin’ to use that fighter jet deck of yours. You know this deck’s not all done yet!”

“Not done?” Joey asked, looking around for an explanation.

Celestia crossed her arms and supplied it. “There’s a tournament held semi-annually called the Wonder Tournament. Duelists who win join a very select team who train and compete together, and they also get a card created to represent them. But there haven’t been enough winners to build a complete deck out of them yet.”

“That’s because no one’s tried!” Rainbow declared, holding her duel disk to her chest and staring fondly at her deck. “I put a lot of work into finding as many of the promotional cards as I could, even winning a copy of the prize cards right from the Wonder Bolts themselves. And someday I’m going to take these cards and use them to win that tournament myself! I believe in these cards and I know that they can carry me though even this battle.

“Now let’s get on with the duel! I’ll lay two cards face down and pass the turn to you. Show me what the King of Games can really do!”

“Very well.” Yugi said, drawing his card. “I admire the faith you have in your cards, but I also have a lot of respect for mine. They have carried me through many a challenge and you are about to see how well we work together.”

He flipped a spell card from his hand and showed it to his opponent. “I will use my polymerization card to fuse Berfomet and Gazelle together to form a new monster. Behold Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast!”

The two beasts appeared briefly on the field before they swirled together like paint on a spinner. From the center of that spiral a monster charged out and landed heavily on the field, bracing itself with its wings spread for balance. It raised its two heads and roared.

Yugi turned to the sidelines and grinned. “Hey, Kaiba. As I recall, the rule that fusion monsters can’t attack on the turn they were summoned was only implemented for your tournament, right?”

Kaiba nodded with a grunt. “You know that as well as anyone else. What’s your point?”

“Because that means my Chimera can attack right away! And now it’s going to tear your monster apart!” Yugi pointed dramatically and the Chimera leapt forward on command.

“Not so fast, I’ve got a trap!” Rainbow declared, revealing one of her face downs. “It’s called A Hero Emerges! Now here’s what going to happen; you pick a random card in my hand and if it happens to be a monster, I get to summon it. Now which one is it going to be?”

“Relying on luck, are you?” Yugi taunted, but Rainbow didn’t rise to the bait. She held the three cards in her hand up confidently and smiled without taking her eyes off his. Yugi grit his teeth and pointed. “Alright, then I pick the card on the far left!”

“Ooh, bad choice. For you, I mean. You just picked my Wonder Bolt – Soarin!”

Rainbow slammed the card onto her disk and another flash of light flared from behind her. A second blue clad figure jumped over her head and turned a couple flips before landing feet-first on Chimera’s heads. Its momentum drove the beast to the ground where it slid to a halt.

“Soarin cuts your monster’s attack and defense by three hundred points for every Wonder Bolt on my side of the field. So now it doesn’t have enough points to beat either of my guys.” Rainbow cut the air with her hand dramatically. “But that’s not the only thing that happens! Did you forget about my Spit Fire?”

Soarin lifted its arm out as Rainbow’s first monster suddenly ran forward, jumping up and using the offered arm to launch itself high into the air. Its leg started shooting off sparks as it turned a somersault, kicking a ball of plasma at Yugi. The ball detonated above his head, showering him in flames. Spit Fire landed and leapt backwards to her original side of the field, quickly followed by Soarin.

Yugi
3400

“Spit Fire’s effect doesn’t just activate when she’s summoned.” Rainbow explained, grinning from ear to ear. “She gets to hit you directly each time one of her teammates is summoned, for each Wonder Bolt I’ve got out!”

“So that means, uh…” Joey mumbled, counting on his fingers. “So… if she’s got two monsters, then…”

“With two monsters, she deals four hundred points.” Bakura said, coming to Joey’s rescue before he could embarrass himself further. “And if she summons another, it will be six hundred points of damage. And then eight hundred, and so on.”

“So watch out, here I come!” Rainbow announced, drawing her card and beaming at what it was. This is so awesome! I’m totally winning against the King! “I summon Wonder Bolt – Fleet Foot to the field! And you know what that means!”

A third uniformed figure appeared in the air above the duel, spinning in a tight ball before landing in a crouch with its arms spread out wide. Spit Fire took a running start and leapt off the new monster’s back, sailing through the air towards Yugi. This time its leg was already almost completely wrapped in yellow flames and with a kick the monster launched it in a straight line right at him. The bolt of fire slammed into his chest and pushed him back several feet, clutching his chest in pain.

Yugi
2800

“She’s not the only one with a special ability! When Fleet Foot is summoned, I can look at the top three cards of my deck and add any Maneuvers card directly to my hand.” She picked up the cards and studied them, but a frown crawled across her features.

“What’s wrong?” Yugi asked. “Didn’t get the card you’re looking for?”

“This is why ah said that deck wasn’t ready…” Applejack sighed, crossing her arms. “There just aren’t enough cards yet.”

“Doesn’t matter!” Rainbow declared, putting the three cards back into her deck and playing another from her hand. “Cause I can just get a do-over with this. My Aerial Maneuvers card returns all my Wonder Bolts to my hand.”

Her three monsters simultaneously tossed out a salute and leaped into the air, turning into energy at the apex and shooting back to Rainbow’s hand. She held up her now full hand and waved it back and forth.

“Wanna know why I did it? Well, now I can summon as many Wonder Bolts to the field as I just returned to my hand!”

“But that means their effects will activate again!” Yugi cried, his eyes growing wide. He leaned back as a white glow appeared from behind Rainbow once more.

“Exactly!” Rainbow Dash shouted, and slammed them back onto the field.

Immediately the three monsters appeared again, flying through the air straight towards Yugi’s field. Fleet Foot landed first, landing in a handstand at Chimera’s feet. She pushed off the ground and kicked the beast up, causing it to rear back on its hind legs. Soarin dropkicked it in the chest and the beast fell over onto its back at Yugi’s feet, knocking the duelist to the ground. A cloud of dust was kicked up around the two of them, and a status box appeared to inform them that Chimera’s attack points had dropped to twelve hundred.

Meanwhile, Spit Fire had come to ground and ran at Fleet Foot, who formed a step with its hands. Spit Fire leapt off Fleet Foot and Soarin caught her as he was pushed back by his kick, using their momentum to spin the two of them in a spiral. Fire and electricity gathered as they spun and when Soarin finally released her, her leg was blazing with power. A kick sent that bolt of energy at the duelist lying beneath her, where it detonated in a blast of fire.

Yugi
2200

“How’s that for hardly devastating?!” Rainbow crowed as her three acrobatic monsters leaped back to her field. “And Fleet Foot lets me look at the top three cards again. Let’s see… ha! It’s Evasion Maneuvers, and I get to add it to my hand!”

“WOO! Go Dashy!” Pinkie cheered, bouncing up and down in excitement.

“Not bad at all.” Yugi congratulated, getting to his feet smiling. “Your monsters pack a lot more punch than first appears. But can you follow through with it?”

“Follow through? Did you forget that Soarin weakened your big bad Chimera just now?” Rainbow turned sideways and threw her whole body into pointing at the creature only now getting slowly to its feet. “Well I didn’t, and now he’s going to wipe it from the field! Wonder Crush!”

Soarin knelt and clenched its hands into fists, and bursts of electricity traveled up and down its arms. It charged forward and leapt right into Chimera’s face, delivering a punch that nearly bent back the beast double. Lightning traveled up Chimera’s body before the monster shattered into fragments.

Yugi
1600

“And with this attack I win!” Rainbow shouted in triumph, leaping up and throwing her fist into the air. On the field, her other two monsters charged forward.

“Not so fast, my Chimera has an effect as well.” Yugi said, as a light appeared emanating from the graveyard slot of his duel disk. “When it is destroyed, one of the monsters used to create it is summoned to the field. So I will revive Berfomet in defense mode!”

The two Wonder Bolts skid to a stop as a pillar of light appeared before them, fading to reveal the fiend blocking their path to Yugi. It growled softly as it glared at them above its crossed arms, and the two fighters backed up a step nervously. Neither had the attack points to overcome Berfomet’s defense.

“Grr, so close!” Rainbow grumbled. “I guess I’ll play this card face down and end my turn.”

“Come on, Yug, stop letting her walk all over ya!” Joey shouted from the sidelines.

“I must say, I am impressed with your ability.” Yugi said calmly, drawing a card from his deck. Then his eyes hardened. “But now’s the time for my counter attack! I’ll start by offering Berfomet as a sacrifice to summon my Dark Magician Girl!”

His fiend disappeared in a pillar of light, out of which one of the most popular monsters from his deck emerged. The Magician Girl winked at her audience and floated down to join Yugi’s side.

“And now that she’s out, I’m able to activate my Sage’s Stone.” Yugi declared. “This means another monster joins me from my deck!”

The spell card appeared on the field and the sorceress struck it with her wand, instantly turning it into a solid rectangle of white light. A figure grew out of this brilliance and alighted on the field. The spellcaster nodded to the magician girl, who ran a hand through the back of her hair and giggled self consciously.

“Is that what I think it is?” Rarity asked in a low voice.

“The famous Dark Magician.” Twilight replied in awe. “It looks like Yugi is taking this seriously, to bring out a card like that on only his second turn.”

“Good to see you, partner.” Yugi said to the Dark Magician in greeting, and then turned his attention back to his opponent. “Your monsters may work very well as a team, but that means they come with quite the weakness.”

“What weakness?” Rainbow challenged.

“Let me show you!” Yugi replied, playing a spell. “I activate my Diffusion Wave-Motion!”

Yugi
600

“You see, your monster's effects are only impressive if you have a lot of them on your field. And with this spell, my Dark Magician can attack all of them at once! Go, Dark Magic Wave!”

The two magicians placed their wands together and power started gathering at their points. The magical energy pulsed and circular bursts of magic flared out from the weapons, quickly closing in on Rainbow’s three acrobats.

“Shoot! I’ll save them with Evasion Maneuvers!” Rainbow shouted, activating one of her traps. Her monsters all jumped backwards before the attacks could reach them, shimmering into energy and disappearing back into her hand. Denied their original target, the magic waves washed over Rainbow instead. She cried out as they knocked her off her feet.

Rainbow
1500

“So you chose to save you monsters over your life points.” Yugi said, setting the last card in his hand face down on the field. “A good move, but now you have no Wonder Bolts in play to boost the power of their effects. And with my two magicians out, you won’t get the opportunity to gather steam again.”

“You just wait; I’m not out of this yet!” Rainbow said as she got slowly to her feet, but a hitch in her voice betrayed how hard that last move had hit her. Come on, Rainbow, this is your moment! You can do this! Somehow… I just need to draw the right card.

She drew her card and cautiously peeked at it, and it took all her willpower to keep her elation from showing. Awesome! I can’t believe I actually drew this, just when I needed it most! I knew this deck wouldn’t let me down!

“First, I’m going to summon Soarin back to the field!” Rainbow declared with renewed vigor, as her monster once again appeared. “And I think I’ll use his effect to drop your Magician Girl’s attack points by three hundred. Just enough for him to send her packing!”

Her monster charged forward once more and leapt, spinning like a corkscrew to gather momentum. Lightning played along its arm as it spun and it lashed out at the sorceress with a straight jab. The Magician Girl caught the blow on her wand, but the lightning traveled up from the blow and played all over her body. She cried out in shock before shattering into fragments.

Yugi
500

“And next I will use my Tag Out Maneuvers to switch out Soarin for a different Wonder Bolt!”

Soarin flashed one last salute in Rainbow’s direction before leaping straight up into the air, where he disappeared in a flash of light. Another familiar figure descended from that light and Spit Fire landed in a handstand, spinning in a tight circle like a break dancer. A sparking ball of fire launched from her foot as she finished spinning, detonating in front of Yugi’s face. Spit Fire rolled over to Rainbow’s side and crouched in defense mode, her arms crossed defensively in front of her.

Yugi
300

“A bold move.” Pegasus congratulated her, studying the field with interest. “Yugi-boy had the right idea about clearing her field of monsters, but it cost him a heavy price to do so. All this girl has to do it pick his few remaining life points apart bit by bit and this game is hers.”

Kaiba tsked in annoyance and tossed his head. “As if Yugi would be foolish enough to let her keep doing it. There’s no way a duel of this level would beat him.”

“Hey, don’t count her out so quickly. Rainbow’s just one move away from winning.” Twilight shot back, looking at her friend’s face down card out of the corner of her eye. “And I think I know what that one move is…”

“I’ll end my turn there.” Rainbow continued, leaning forward in anticipation. “I think this is going to be the last turn, so show me what you’ve got!”

“You asked for it!” Yugi said, drawing his card and playing it. “I summon the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian! Go and cut that Wonder Bolt down to size!”

An elf in battle armor appeared on the field with a grunt. It grimaced in annoyance and charged, readying its broadsword for a swing that would cleave the blue-clad figure in two. It swung, but just before the blow landed a silvery radiance appeared over Spit Fire and she disappeared from the ground up. The elf’s sword cut through empty air, causing it to overbalance and stumble off to the side.

“What happened?” Yugi demanded.

“My trap happened!” Rainbow returned, pointing out the card that had been chilling on her field since the first turn. “Rescue Maneuvers! My Spit Fire is saved and returns to my hand. But my field won’t be empty for long, as the Wonder Bolt who saved it is going to take its place. I summon Wonder Bolt Trainee!”

A flash of light appeared above her head and a figure landed on the field. Unlike the other Wonder Bolt, this one didn’t have a jacket and its hair was a swirl of many colors held back by a backwards cap. In fact, that card bore a startling resemblance to…

“I’m seeing double!” Joey said, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. “That monster looks just like her!”

“Rainbow, I wasn’t aware you had gotten that far…” Celestia said, looking at her in a new light.

“That’s right!” Rainbow shouted, pride radiating off her like sunlight. “I’m the favorite to win the Wonder Tournament this year, so they went ahead and made a temporary card just for me! This is its debut appearance, and it’s going to win me this duel! Know why? Because when my Trainee is summoned, I can immediately summon another Wonder Bolt from my hand!”

“If she summons that Spit Fire of hers again, Yugi will take four hundred points of damage!” Bakura gasped. "That will cost him the duel!"

“And that’s just what’s going to happen! Victory is mine!” Rainbow raised her card into the air in triumph, and a flying sword bisected it right through the middle. The card was torn from her hand and the sword impaled into the ground behind her, pinning the card in place.

For a few seconds Rainbow didn’t even react, frozen in place with slowly dawning disbelief. Then she spun around and stared at the sword in shock. “What was that?!?”

“That was my Lightforce Sword.” Yugi replied, pointing out his own trap. “It allows me to remove any card in your hand from the game for four turns. That pesky Spit Fire won’t be bothering us anymore. Now where were we? Dark Magician, attack her Wonder Bolt Trainee with Dark Magic Attack!”

“No!!! Wait!!!” Rainbow cried, but it was too late. The magician thrust out its hand and all the colors on the field were inverted. Rainbow’s lone monster leaned back in pain and shouted as its body shuddered violently and blew up.

Rainbow
0

Rainbow Dash dropped to her knees as her duel disk disengaged and the holograms faded away. “Blast it, I almost had that one!”

“It was very close.” Yugi agreed, walking over and offering his hand to help her up. “How about we have a rematch someday, once that deck is finally complete?”

Rainbow blinked up at him and smiled, taking his hand firmly and pulling herself up. “You’ve got a deal!”

“Dashy!” Pinkie cried, leaping onto the stage and wrapping her friend up in a tight hug. “You were so so so so so so SO close! I thought for sure you were going to win! You must feel awful!”

“Pinkie, calm down!” Rainbow said, pulling out of her friend’s tight embrace and trying to regain some of her dignity. “I’ll get him next time. Now let’s get off the stage, unless you wanted to duel next?”

“No, the next duel’s mine.” Applejack declared, striding forward confidently and tightened her duel disk on her arm. “Someone’s gotta break this losin’ streak, and ah’m just the gal to do it.”

“Pretty confident, aren’t you?” Mai asked, stepping forward. “Alright then, I’ll take her on. If you boys don’t mind me taking the lead?”

“Go right ahead.” Yugi said, stepping aside so she could take his place. “Good luck, Mai.”

“Don’t need it!” Mai said confidently, activating her disk with a snap of her arm. She glanced back at where Pegasus was standing on the sidelines, and the card designer caught her eye and nodded.

Alright, Pegasus. Mai thought, placing a hand on her cards. Let’s see just how good these improvements you made to my deck really are…

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Harpie Party Frenzy vs. A Day at the Rodeo

Author's Note

This chapter's card art is supplied by the very talented Mauros! I can't believe he actually gave me permission to use his awesome comic for my little story! Go check out his art if you've never seen it before, it's amazing!

And I don't have an artist for the next chapter! So the story is on temporary hold while I scrounge around for someone to help me with art. Think you can draw a cowboy or two for me? Send me a message! The sooner I can get the art, the faster the next chapter gets done. Any amount of help is appreciated, so let me know what you can do!

This was the first duel I completed in my head and was the core behind my belief that I could do a whole story like this. Rainbow's cards are inspired by the Dark Scorpions, which are one of my favorite archetypes. I felt she needed something fast, something that hits you repeatedly right from the get-go and doesn't let up until the last card was played. The Wonder Bolts all have come into play effects that trigger based on the number of them still out, which is difficult to maintain in a normal game, and Rainbow's deck used bounce effects to make use of those abilities over and over again. To balance this I made the deck list incomplete, so gathering the necessary field presence is currently hard.

But now that's she's out of the tournament, will we ever see her deck again? And what was that Fighter Jet deck Applejack mentioned...?

Turn 3: Harpie Party Frenzy vs. A Day at the Rodeo

Mai Applejack

4000 4000

“Ah’ll start things off!” Applejack declared, drawing a card from her deck. “Ah’ll place one card face-down, and summon my Show Dog in defense position!”

A brown and white dog jumped out from a flash of light on the field and landed in a crouch. It bent forward defensively and growled in Mai’s direction.

“That the best you’ve got?” Mai taunted, clearly not very impressed. “Although I see where you got the idea to wear that hat of yours. The resemblance between the two of you is striking.”

“She’s just trying to shake you! Don’t listen to her!” Rainbow shouted from the sidelines.

“Ah know, but it’ll take more than that to rattle me!” AJ returned, putting on her serious face and picking another card from her hand. “My little friend may be small, but she’s got one big special ability. By sendin’ one critter to the graveyard, ah can take any beast from my deck and add it right to my hand.”

She discarded an Enraged Battle Ox and pulled out her deck, fanning it with her hand. Now the only question is which one? Well, can’t go wrong with this guy! “Ah’ll end my turn there. You’re up, partner!”

“Then I’ll show you a real monster!” Mai declared. “I summon Harpie Lady 3 in attack mode!”

A winged monster shimmered into existence and swept its wings out, sending a gale of wind blowing in all directions. Applejack shielded her eyes with her free hand and gritted her teeth. “Not bad. Got anythin’ else?”

“How about Fairy Meteor Crush?” Mai asked, as the spell card shone into existence behind her monster. “Once I equip it to my harpie, your dog will be powerless to protect you. Now go crush that cur!”

The harpie cackled and launched itself across the field with a single stroke of its wings. It pulled itself up short above AJ’s dog and lined up the sharp claws on its right leg, lashing straight down with a savage kick. The dog shattered into fragments with a yelp.

Applejack
3300

“Urg… well, my Show Dog has one last trick.” Applejack said, placing a hand on her deck. “Now each of us can draw a new card.”

Mai drew and placed one card face down on her field. “Fine by me. I’ll just leave this one here for later. OK, Honey, you’re up.”

“Hey Yug,” Joey said in a low voice, leaning in to his friends ear, “Do you notice anything different about that Harpie Lady?”

“Now that you mention it… its hair is off.” Yugi pointed out. Every time they’d seen Mai play that monster it had long pink hair, but this one had short blue spikes.

The astral form of the real Yugi faded into view behind the Pharaoh. It looks like one of the other harpies, after she’s played that Elegant Egotist card.

“I think your right, partner.” Yugi said aloud. “But I wonder why this version is out now…”

Applejack picked a card from her hand and slapped it onto her disk, breaking the two of them from their discussion. “So ya want to see a real monster? Then take a gander at Calamity, Rodeo Star!”

A cowgirl appeared on her side of the field and unhitched a lasso from its belt. It started twirling it in a slow circle above its head in anticipation.

“No point in waitin’,” Applejack declared, pointing out her target. “Calamity, tie up that harpie of hers. Lasso Trick!”

The cowgirl grinned and threw its rope, throwing its whole body into the toss. The harpie tried to fly up out of range, but the lasso arced around its head before it could get very high. The rope tightened and pinned the monster’s arms to its sides. Calamity yelled and yanked back on her end, pulling the harpie out of the sky. The winged beast crashed into the ground and raised a big cloud of obscuring dust.

Mai
3900

Mai coughed into her left hand against the smoke and gestured to her face down with her other. “If you think that’s the end of my Harpie Lady, then-”

“Hold your horses, Sugar.” Applejack interrupted with a cheeky grin. “Your feathered friend is just fine, see?”

Indeed, the smoke cleared to reveal that Mai’s harpie hadn’t been destroyed in the attack. It lay on the field, arms still tied to its side and glaring daggers up at her captor.

Mai pulled her hand back before her trap could activate. “Why didn’t you destroy it?”

“My Calamity actually can’t destroy monsters in battle,” Applejack explained, “But she does wrap them up nice and pretty, droppin’ their attack points by five hundred each time. And ah’ll activate my Mask of Restrict, just in case ya were gonna get rid of it yourself.”

Mai crosses her arms and turned away smugly. “Not bad at all, but you’ve overlooked something. My Harpie Ladies have gotten an upgrade, and now they each carry a curse within them. Curse of Fear!”

The trapped harpie suddenly bared its fangs and hissed, its eyes opening wide and seeming to glow with a dark energy. Applejack’s monster backed up half a step and shuddered, pulling its end of the rope a little closer to its chest.

“Since your little cowgirl battled my monster, she’s too afraid to attack again for another two turns!”

AJ tsked and looked down at her hand. “Can’t attack, huh? Well, there’s more than one way around that. Ah’ll set this card and end my turn.”

About time, Mai thought, drawing her card and glancing at it. Perfect, it’s my Mirror Wall! That’ll put an end to this duel quickly.

“I’ll set this card face down,” she said aloud, “And next I’ll summon Harpie Lady 1. And her Curse of Frenzy is immediately cast on the field, raising the attack of all my monsters by three hundred!”

Another harpie monster appeared on the field, this one sporting long hair all the way to its waist. It spread its wings out and shrieked a battle cry, unleashing a rush of wind out from it in waves. Calamity backed up yet again, trying to protect its eyes with its free hand. Mai’s other harpie managed to get to its feet and grinned evilly.

“That’s so cool, Mai!” Joey called out from the sidelines. “When did you get those new cards?”

“Pegasus asked me to try them out.” Mai answered, playing it off like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Harpie Lady 1 and 3…” Celestia muttered under her breath. Her eyes widened and she turned quickly to Pegasus. “Wait a minute, did you…?”

Pegasus smiled and waved his hand like it was no big deal. “I thought I’d try something and see what you thought.”

Mai thrust her hand forward. “That boost is more than enough for my Harpie Lady 1 to overpower your monster. Attack!”

“Just what ah was waitin’ for!” Applejack shouted, revealing her face-down card. “Ah power up Calamity with the Rush Recklessly spell, and she’ll meet you head on!”

As Mai’s harpie flapped up to gain height, a red flaming aura surrounded Calamity and wiped any vestiges of fear from its features. The two monsters charged straight at each other, but Calamity launched a kick that landed first, driving its boot right into the harpie’s unprotected stomach. The bird woman fell out of the air with a strangled gasp.

Mai
3400

“No…” Mai said, but Applejack wasn’t done.

“Oh, ah almost forgot to mention that Calamity has another effect.” AJ grinned. “She forces all monsters on your side of the field to attack, whether they want to or not!”

Mai’s other harpie tried to back up, but the lasso around it wouldn’t let it escape. Calamity violently tugged the rope back, dragging the trapped monster through the air towards it. The cowgirl lined up and kicked the harpie hard as soon as it got close, sending it sailing back to the other end of the field.

Mai
2400

Calamity flicked the lasso and it unraveled from around the first monster. The cowgirl retracted the rope and swirled it around its head a couple of times before snapping it sharply forward. Instantly the two harpies were ensnared back to back, their arms pinned to their sides. They hissed helplessly against their binding.

“And of course my Calamity drops their attacks by five hundred again.” Applejack said smugly. “Anythin’ else ya want to do, Sugar?”

“I end my turn…” Mai growled, glancing quickly down at her two face downs. Keep laughing, I’ll change your tune fast enough…

Applejack drew and considered her options. Should ah pull out the big guns? Nah, it’s still a little too early. She might have some fight left; best soften her up a bit more…

“Ah’ll summon Texas Jack, Rodeo Big Name!” she said, playing the card. A tall cowboy appeared next to her other monster, standing as if leaning back casually against a wall. It tipped its hat at Calamity and grinned. “And ah’ll send him to attack that Harpie Lady 1. Ten-Gallon Charge!”

“You've run right into my Mirror Wall!” Mai cried, activating her trap as AJ’s monster ran forward. “Your little cowboy’s attack is blocked, and his points are cut in half-”

Texas Jack suddenly dug its feet into the ground, stopping just short of running into the shimmering barrier that had risen out of the ground. With a deft motion it unclipped a lasso from its belt and snapped it forward. The rope passed through the barrier in a golden shimmer and its loop circled the trap card. The wall dividing the field in two faded away as the lasso closed.

“What happened to my wall?” Mai demanded.

“Texas Jack can negate the effect of any card ah pick when it attacks.” Applejack explained, “And speakin’ of his attack, he’s still got one to finish!”

The aforementioned cowboy leapt forward, spinning in place before the two trapped monsters. They leaned back as if to get away from it, but the rope binding them held them in place. Texas Jack lashed out with its left leg, bucking the harpie with the long hair right in the head and shattering it to pieces. The rope tightened around the remaining harpie before it could make use of the slack and escape.

Mai
1700

The cowboy retreated back to its side of the field, playing out rope so it could keep its grip on Mai’s trap card. Soon it was side by side with its compatriot, their lassos tying down nearly all the cards on Mai’s field.

“Ah’ll play another card face down,” Applejack continued. “Without your Harpie 1, your last harpie’s attack drops to three hundred. And when Calamity forces it to attack next turn, there won’t be much left of your life points!”

“See, it’s more than just giving them a similar ability.” Celestia explained to Pegasus, leaning over so he could hear her better. “You should instead build a theme, so that even though two monsters don’t have the same effect, they still work together.”

“I see…” Pegasus said, nodding in agreement and thoughtfully tapping his chin.

“What are the two of you talking about?” Rainbow asked. The rest of them also looked on in interest.

“I suppose we have been a little vague, haven’t we?” Pegasus asked rhetorically. “Let’s see, has anyone on my team noticed anything interesting about our visitor’s decks so far?”

“A lot of their monsters have had the same names.” Bakura volunteered, starting to tick them off on his fingers. “Solar Guards, Wonder Bolts, and now Rodeo.”

“Hrmph, just lucky draws…” Kaiba grumbled, turning away from the group.

Pegasus smiled as if enjoying a private joke. “Not as lucky as you might think, Kaiba-boy. My dear colleague has created a new way to look at card designing, called archetypes. They’re like your XYZ machines or Yugi-boy’s magnet warriors, but instead of three or four card combos, a duelist’s entire deck shares a common theme!

“Think of it! Entire decks that flow like well oiled machines. It could revolutionize the game!”

“That’s actually my half of our little bet.” Celestia put in, idly toying with a golden bracelet on her left wrist. “If his team wins I agreed to explain exactly how he can produce the kind of cards I’ve come up with on his own. Of course, it occurs to me that you’re getting an awfully good look at these cards from just this tournament alone…”

“Don’t sell yourself short, my dear Celestia!” Pegasus cooed. “You personal input would be a great assistance!”

“Themed decks…” the Pharaoh mused, testing the idea out in his mind. It would certainly make your strategy stronger, but if your opponent discovers a weakness, your entire deck would fall apart. A dangerous trade-off…

“If you all don’t mind, I’m in the middle of a duel right now!” Mai shouted angrily, drawing attention back to the fight. “And I’m going to turn it all around, starting with this! I play Pot of Greed!”

She drew two cards from her deck and smiled once she saw what they were. “And now for my signature spell, Elegant Egotist! It allows me to summon any Harpie from my deck, such as Harpie Lady 2!”

Her trapped monster on the field pulsed as if lit within by a strobe light. It seemed to double as an almost perfect second image faded back from it, solidifying into yet another winged monster with short orange hair. It leapt up into the air and hovered, cackling wickedly.

“And why not another spell? I’ll use Harpie’s Feather Duster to destroy every spell and trap card on your side of the field!”

Her new harpie spread its wings and slashed them sharply, creating a mini tornado that bore down upon its enemies. Applejack’s Mask of Restrict and face-down card were sucked up into the tornado and blown clear off the field.

“No! My defense!” Applejack cried, holding her hat down lest it get blown right off her head.

Nothing could stop Mai’s roll now. “And now that that pesky Mask is gone, I can sacrifice my two monsters to summon the Harpie’s Pet Dragon!”

A bright light engulfed her field and her two harpies vanished into it. Calamity quickly reeling in its lasso once its prisoner disappeared, but all attention was drawn to the giant red dragon rising out of the ground on Mai’s side. It reared back and let out a roar at the skies above.

“My Pet Dragon gains an additional three hundred attack points for each Harpie Lady on my field.”

“But you’ve gotten rid of all your Harpies!” Applejack pointed out.

“That’s why I have this!” Mai declared, activating her trap card. “Hysteric Party lets me revive every Harpie Lady in my graveyard!”

She discarded a Rose Whip to activate the card, and a bright light shone out from her graveyard slot. One by one her three harpies reappeared, glaring at the cowpokes on the opposite field. They each reached down and picked up the end of a trio of chains trailing from the dragon’s collar, and the dragon roared again as its attack points rose by nine hundred.

“And don’t forget my first Harpie’s curse!” Mai continued. “Each of my monsters goes into a battle frenzy, gaining three hundred more points!”

“Th-thirty-two hundred!” Fluttershy squeaked in awe. Joey jumped nearly out of his skin noticing her standing next to him; he had honestly forgotten she was there.

“Still thinking I’m going to be easy pickings?” Mai challenged, cutting the air in front of her with her newly emptied left hand. “Harpie’s Pet Dragon! Eliminate Texas Jack!”

The dragon reared back and opened its jaws wide. Emerald fire collected into a fireball that the dragon launched with a snap of its neck. The fireball engulfed Texas Jack and exploded, driving everyone watching back a step. Before it disappeared completely, the lasso wrapped around her Mirror Wall snapped closed, crushing the trap and shattering it into fragments.

Applejack
1900

“Shoot…” Applejack grunted, bracing herself against the force of the attack. “Well, Texas Jack doesn’t go down empty-handed. Any card he happens to be tyin’ up goes with him!”

Mai brushed aside the destruction with a wave of her hand. “Doesn’t matter, because the duel’s going to end right here! I attack your last monster with Harpie Lady 2! Slashing Claws!”

“Not so fast! Ah’ll discard Pawnee, Rodeo Clown to activate its effect!” Applejack quickly discarded the card as the harpie bore down on her cowgirl. A phantom cowboy wearing exaggerated colors and a mask danced onto the field, right into the path of the attack. The harpie balked but still managed to awkwardly slash Calamity from around the clown. The cowgirl cried out in pain, but Pawnee spun around and caught the cowgirl before it could fall.

Applejack
1700

“Whoo-ee, just in time!” Applejack sighed in relief. “Pawnee prevents Calamity from bein’ destroyed in battle this turn. And since ya attacked her, she’s gonna wrangle that bird-brain out of the sky!”

Calamity wound up its lasso and wheeled it through the air, launching it at the retreating Harpie Lady. At the last second the orange haired monster spun around and crossed its arms over its chest. It ripped out as the rope settled around it, shredding the lasso to pieces.

“Oh, did I forget to mention that this Lady comes with a curse as well?” Mai asked. “Her Curse of Incompetence completely negates the effect of any monster she does battle with. And while I may not be able to destroy your cowgirl, your life points are a different matter!”

Her remaining two harpies sped forward and slashed at the cowgirl. Calamity cried out and fell back, but the clown caught her once again before fading away from the field, its job finished.

Applejack
1300

“Looks like you managed to survive somehow.” Mai said, crossing her arms. “This is your last turn, Honey. Better make it count.”

You bet ah will! Applejack thought sharply, eying the monsters arranged against her. Ah’ve been savin’ something special for ya, and it’s time to let it out!

“Ah’ll start by usin’ Silent Doom to revive Texas Jack.” She began, playing the card she’d just drawn. “And since ya were so fond of spells on your turn, ah think ah’ll play another one as well. Breakin’ the Barrier!”

Texas Jack had no sooner shown up back on the field than a gigantic wooden fence rose out of the ground behind Applejack. Something large slammed hard into the gate just behind the duelist, causing it to buckle outward. The two monsters glanced at each other and leapt up to the top of the fence. They cast their lassos down at something and seemed to strain against it as it slammed against the gate once again, cracks spreading through the wood.

“Brace yourself now, because ah’m unleashin’ Blue Rampage!” Applejack cried, and at that instant the gate burst open. A gigantic blue-furred bull charged out; lungs bellowing, nose blowing steam, hooves digging up great clouts of earth. Her two cowboys each had a rope around its neck and the bull pulled them after it as it charged forth, trailing like a pair of broken kites. The bull dashed madly around the field, barely missing running over any other the other monsters, duelists, or spectators.

"Eeeek!" Fluttershy shrieked as the monster rushed passed, not stepping back as quickly as the others. She tripped over her own feet and would have fallen had Bakura not managed to catch her at the last minute.

"Careful, I've got-" Bakura started, but he suddenly froze up. His gaze refocused quickly, studying her closely as he finished helping her back to her feet. "...That was almost a nasty spill you took."

"Thank you." Fluttershy responded, blushing a little at the attention she was getting as Rainbow and Pinkie both crowded around her in concern. She turned away from Bakura, not noticing the dark cast fall over his eyes.

“Once Blue Rampage is out of its pen, even ah can’t stop it.” Applejack declared, hopping back just before the bull gored her in passing. “Certainly neither Calamity nor Texas Jack can, although they each give the critter a five hundred point bonus. That’s just enough to break through that dragon!”

The beast seemed to focus for the first time, glaring balefully at the dragon. The harpies glanced fearfully at each other and dropped their chains, putting as much distance between themselves and their pet as possible. The dragon flapped its wings and tried to gain altitude, but the bull slammed into its chest and pulled it under its hooves. The dragon disappeared, roaring, into a cloud of dust.

Mai
1500

The bull stomped around in place after, throwing its body wildly about. Above it the harpies hissed in anger and almost didn’t get out of the way when Texas Jack sailed up past them. The cowboy had lost its grip on the leash and had been sent flying. It shattered when it reached the limits of the duel.

“You think destroying my Pet Dragon will be enough to stop me?!” Mai shouted.

“Of course not, and it’s not enough to stop Blue either!” Applejack returned, spreading her arms apologetically. “Nothin’ can stop it now, and for each Rodeo monster it bucks from the field, its attack continues. This is the end!”

The bull bellowed and whipped its head around, throwing Calamity about like a flail. The three harpies ducked low so as not to be hit by the flying cowgirl, but that unfortunately brought the pink-haired one down in line with the beasts’ head. It charged the winged monster and ground it into the earth.

Mai
200

“This can’t be happening!” Mai shouted. The loss of Harpie Lady 1 dropped the attack of her monsters, but that hardly mattered anymore. Calamity finally lost its grip on the rope, sailing out over Mai’s head and out of sight. The bull leapt up at the remaining two monsters and tore them out of the sky. It bore them down to the earth and shook the ground with the impact, raising a giant cloud of dirt.

Mai
0

“And that’s that.” Applejack said, snapping off her disk with a flick of her wrist. “That was a pretty good one, ah have to admit. Ya got yourself some skills!”

“Hmph!” Mai sniffed, turned away sharply and stalking back to her place on the sidelines. “I don’t need any of your fake sympathy!”

Applejack frowned. “Well, ya don’t have to act so stuck up about it…” she muttered, but walked over to her cheering friends without another word.

“So we’re tied one to one.” Pegasus said, clapping his hands for attention and walking to the center of the stage. “And we can’t have that, now can we? If your team wants to take the lead, one of you will have to beat me to do it. Now, who wants to duel me?”

On that last line he spun on his feet and leveled a defiant stare at the rest of the duelists. All the girls, even those who had already dueled, were taken aback by the weight of his gaze and froze for a second. Well, almost all of them.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! ME!!!!” Pinkie shouted, scrambling forward and zipping over to her designated spot. “I’ll duel you! Let’s get it on!”

“My, how energetic!” Pegasus laughed. “Very well, let’s see what you can do against me!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Toon Terror vs. Winner! Winner!! WINNER!!!

Author's Note

Been a long while, hasn't it? This chapter's art was created by the very talented MTC-Studios, who most of you probably know from Linkara's videos. While I love his style and his work is awesome, I don't think I'll be commissioning big names like him for the rest of this project. His wait list was simply too long...

And if you can draw, even something as small as a silhouette or a random object like a bookshelf, let me know! That faster I get the art I need, the quicker I can upload chapters! I have no qualifications for quality, so anything is welcome!

Applejack's deck is one of the only ones where I came up with what I wanted her cards to look like before I came up with what they would do. I knew from the beginning that I wanted her to have a cowboy theme, a theme sorely missing in Yugioh in my opinion, but coming up with what they did without having a duel already played out in my head was surprisingly difficult. I eventually fell on an idea halfway between the Reptiliannes and Rocket Warrior. You'll see more of the Rodeo deck in the second round of the tournament, and perhaps get a clearer picture of what I'm driving for with her strategy.

So Celestia's part of the mysterious bet has been revealed! But what is Pegasus offering in exchange...?

Turn 4: Toon Terror vs. Winner! Winner!! WINNER!!!

Pegasus Pinkie
4000 4000

“I apologize for not using a duel disk, but old habits die hard.” Pegasus explained as he shuffled his deck, the podium he’d used earlier rising out of the ground. “Let’s see, how should I begin… ah! I’ll activate Spell Economics!”

The card appeared and shone solid white, fading to reveal a large, demonic-looking abacus sitting on the field. Its beads rustled as the thing flexed as if stretching sore muscles and a single eye at its base slowly blinked open.

“A little creepy, but one does not get to my position in life without knowing how to manage one’s resources.” Pegasus said gaily, selecting another card from his hand. “I’ll set this one face down on the field, and then I will activate my Toon Table of Contents! This allows me to pull any Toon card out of my deck and straight to the field, so long as it’s within the pages of Toon World. And what better place to start than the title page? Welcome back to Toon World!”

An explosion of pink smoke shrouded the field for a moment and Pegasus’s signature card spun into existence. It bounced a little in midair and opened to a random page, pop-up buildings and grave markers springing up on cue. The abacus suddenly clacked into motion, the snapping of its beads almost drowning out the familiar music.

“Yay!” Pinkie clapped, nodding her head along to the music. “That card is just so much fun! But wait, didn’t you have to pay a thousand life points last time?”

Pegasus smirked and waved one finger at her. “A smart businessman need not worry about the little details, with some clever accounting. My Spell Economics finds all kinds of reserves for me and completely covers the additional costs of all my cards. But enough of the bean counters, Toon World needs a star! I summon the sisters of send-up, the Toon Gemini Elf!”

The book shuttered a little and dislodged some left-over pink smoke, which drifted down to the field in the form of a fluffy pink cloud. A pair of toons grew up out of the cloud like rubbery plants and stood with their backs to each other. They laughed mockingly behind their raised hands at some private joke.

“And with that I’ll turn it over to you, my dear.” Pegasus said formally, giving his opponent a slight bow from the waist over his podium.

“Pegasus’s Toon deck is fast, but it’s also very heavy on his life points.” Celestia said, crossing her arms. “With all these cards bolstering his life back up, he’s essentially gotten rid of his deck’s only weakness. It will take quite the stroke of luck and skill to defeat Maximillion now.”

“Here we go!” Pinkie shouted excitedly, and then peered intently at the cards in her hand. “Hmm… OK! I’ll set two cards on the field, and set this monster in face-down defense mode. That’s it for me!”

“…Or she could do that…” Celestia said in disbelief, her arms sagging to her side in surprise.

“Heh, kinda rare ta see a monster played face-down.” Joey remarked, scratching his head. “It’s pretty obvious that monster is a trap, though. Why else go through tha trouble to hide it?”

“What were you thinking?!” Rainbow shouted. “You remember that his monsters can attack directly, don't you? Your usual tricks aren’t going to work on him!”

“You should listen to your friends. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider your move?” Pegasus suggested.

Pinkie held up her hands, grinning like a fool. “Nope, I’m good!”

“Very well, can’t say I didn’t offer!” Pegasus declared, drawing his card to start the turn. “I’ll activate Pot of Greed and draw two new cards from my deck. Next, I will discard one card to activate Cost Down, which lowers the level of every monster in my hand by two whole stars.

“And now I’m afraid we must bid adieu to the Sisters. So sorry you couldn’t stick around for very long, but it’s time for the star of the show to arrive! Please give a warm welcome to… the Blue Eyes Toon Dragon!”

The Gemini Elf duo clasped their hands together and grinned wickedly before stretching straight up into the air like taffy. They bent back and disappeared into the pages of Toon World like a piece of slurped spaghetti, and the book slammed shut. It spun a couple of times before ballooning out, barely able to contain the creature emerging from its pages. With a burst of smoke and confetti the book popped open and a small, giggling dragon rose out and floated down to the field.

“You snake!” Kaiba spat, displaying more emotion than he’d previously shown so far. “You swore to me you’d never use that card ever again!”

“Oh, you don’t really expect me to neglect an innocent toon, now do you?” Pegasus replied smoothly. His dragon turned and shot a wink and thumbs-up in Kaiba’s direction. Kaiba gritted his teeth loud enough for the others to hear them crack.

“Now where was I?” Pegasus continued, as his face down card flipped up and his abacus clacked once more into motion. “You remember Ultimate Offering, don’t you? At the cost of five hundred life points, which my Economics card allows me to skip, I can summon once more. Introducing the Toon Dark Magician Girl!”

The book popped open again and a figure floated out of the pages, spinning in place before tripping on thin air and tumbling forward with a cute cry. It looked just like the monster Yugi played on his duel, but much younger and wearing slightly oversized clothing. It sat up and tilted its hat back, smiling adorably at the audience.

Pegasus clapped his now empty hands sharply for attention. “And that’s all she wrote! Toon Dragon, attack Miss Pie directly!”

The dragon shot forward and grinned menacingly down at its target. It began drawing in an enormous breath, its sides expanding outwards like a balloon as it gathered power for its attack.

“Not so fast!” Pinkie interrupted, throwing her hand out towards one of her traps. “Where’s the fun if the game ends this early? I activate High Roller!”

Her trap card flipped up and a large, six-sided die appeared in front of the two duelists; a red one in front of Pegasus and a blue facing Pinkie. The dice spun in place for a moment before launching forward, striking each other once in mid air and falling back to the ground. When they finally tumbled to a halt the red one was showing a three and the blue one a six. The Toon Dragon, who had been holding its breath this whole time, opened its mouth in relief at no longer having to wait, but only air came out of its mouth as it deflated.

“Oooh, sorry, but six beats three!” Pinkie laughed. “I’m afraid that if you want to attack me, you need to beat my roll first! And High Roller is a continuous trap, so the fun is just going to keep on and on!”

“A challenge…” Pegasus mused, and then dramatically pointed. “Alright, I accept. Let us roll the dice for my pretty Magician’s attack!”

Once again the dice appeared in front of them and shot forward, striking each other and spinning across the field. This time the red die stopped on a one and the blue on five. The Magician Girl, who had been following the dice closely, sighed in disappointment. It spun around along with everyone else when Pegasus grunted in pain. A red aura surrounded the card designer and he gripped the sides of his podium tightly.

Pegasus
3500

“I forgot to mention, but there’s a penalty for either of us rolling a one!” Pinkie explained, popping a finger into her mouth thoughtfully as she tried to remember if she’d forgotten anything else. “I mean, it’s not very exciting if there isn’t a little danger, right?”

“…I suppose not. Looks like that’s the end of my turn.” Pegasus replied, straightening up and salvaging a little of his dignity. The Magician Girl floated over and patted the dust off his shoulder apologetically.

“Well! I thought that was the end of the duel.” Mai observed, but then frowned and tilted her head to the side. “Not a very reliable card though…”

Rarity laughed haltingly and offered her a weak smile. “Pinkie… likes to give her opponents a chance, you see. It works more often than not, surprisingly… ah heh heh heh…”

Pinkie drew her card, added it to her hand, and then took a deep, steadying breath. She suddenly threw her arms out wide and started speaking in a loud, attention-seizing voice. “The stage is set, the party’s prepared, and the show’s about to begin! Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Pinkie Pie’s Crazy Carnival of Fun!”

“…oh no, she’s doing the whole routine…” Twilight sighed, face-palming softly. Her friends also wore similar expressions of slight embarrassment.

“Think you have what it takes to win my games?” Pinkie declaimed, flipping her face down monster into attack position. “Then try your hand with my Dice Jar! We’ll each roll a die, and whoever rolls the highest deals damage to the loser equal to five hundred times whatever they rolled!”

“So it’s just a matter of luck?” Pegasus asked, but he received no reply as Pinkie’s monster rose out of the ground.

It was a gaily painted cylinder, with a creepy smiling face on both ends. The jar spun horizontally as it rose into the air, the distinct sound of tumbling dice coming from inside it. It slammed to a stop when it was about ten feet up, one face pointing at each duelist. The mouths stretched open and a slate grey die flew out of them, landing at their feet. Pegasus’s die read five and Pinkie’s read two. Immediately the mouth of the face pointing at Pinkie started to glow as the jar prepared to unleash upon its master.

“Whoops, can’t have that. I activate Trap of Board Eraser!” Pinkie said quickly, using her other trap. A blackboard eraser appeared in midair above the jar and fell directly onto it. The jar was engulfed in a cloud of white chalk dust instantly and its two faces coughed and sputtered. The cloud disappeared after a few moments, but by then the glow had vanished from the mouth facing Pinkie.

“So, all of that basically amounted to nothing.” Pegasus observed.

“Not nothing! We had fun, didn’t we?” Pinkie said, selecting another card to play. “And since we are now such close friends, how about a little sharing? I’ll use my Spider Web to borrow that Cost Down you just played!”

The spell card appeared on her field and glowed white. A strand of white silk shot out of the middle of the card and stretched across the field, spearing the desired spell in Pegasus’s graveyard. The sticky strand retracted, pulling the card into Pinkie’s waiting hand.

“Kinda similar to that move you pulled against Celestia, isn’t it?” Pinkie asked, tapping the card against her forehead in a salute. “Let’s see, I just have to discard a card to activate Cost Down, right? That will allow me to summon Monty 3-Cards with only one sacrifice!”

Pinkie placed one card from her hand into her grave slot, and her Dice Jar vanished from the field. In its place a masked man in a sharp red suit appeared, spreading its hands in a sweeping gesture over a card table set before it. A deck of cards lay in the center of the table and the man started to shuffle them with exaggerated motions.

“Monty’s got a special game he loves to play,” the party girl explained, holding up her duel disk and dramatically placing a finger on her deck. “All you have to do is guess what kind of card my top card is, and you’re safe. Go ahead, take a guess! One in three is a winner!”

Almost on reflex, Pegasus’s hand drifted up to his left eye, but he clenched it into a fist and dropped it back to his side. “And if I guess wrong?”

Pinkie shrugged. “It’s only a thousand life points. Nothing to worry about if you get it right!”

“Yes, nothing to it…” Pegasus sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He glanced back up with renewed determination. “Well, you wouldn’t play that card if it weren’t difficult to guess, so I will choose Trap card!”

The gambler finished shuffling with a snap of its deck and slowly raised its hands out from the stack. The top card rose off the rest in a glowing aura between the monster’s hands until it was about chest high. A wave of light passed over the card, wiping away the black face to reveal… a Necro Gardna.

The red aura engulfed Pegasus once more.

Pegasus
2500

“Oh, such a shame, the correct choice was monster!” Pinkie declared, sending the card to the graveyard. “Using his skill is all I can do with Monty in a round, so I’ll just set a card face down and end my turn there. Good luck on your next try!”

“That’s quite the interesting style you have there,” Pegasus said thoughtfully, drawing his card and studying it. “But you’ve not dealt with the same problem you had last turn. Namely, my two little toons which can still attack you directly. Although now the danger is even worse, because now I have the Toon Cannon Soldier!”

His book slapped closed and spun once, popping open once more to deposit a purple robot onto the field. It bounced around a couple of times and gave its rubbery turret nose a flick, making a sound remarkably similar to the twang of an antenna.

“Cannon Soldier, the first attack is yours!” he cried, and the robot reached behind its back and produced a couple of cannonballs. Before it could stuff them into its waiting mouth, however, Pinkie’s High Roller activated again. The two dice were sent spinning, landing on a two for Pegasus and a four for Pinkie.

“No problem, round two! Magician Girl, you’re up!” The sorceress smiled in excitement and threw Pegasus a victory sign, before studying the dice with serious intent. Once again the dice rolled, showing a red six and a blue one. The red aura surrounded Pinkie this time, who hunched over dramatically for effect.

Pinkie
3500

The Magician Girl’s grin stretched from ear to ear as she excitedly raised her little wand into the air. Magical power collected around the end in a blue sphere, and the sorceress launched it with a sharp swing.

“Congrats!” Pinkie exclaimed as the attack grew close. “But I can’t let that get through! I activate the effect of the Necro Gardna in my graveyard!”

Moments before the magical attack connected, a ghost wearing armor appeared before the girl and caught the blast on its crossed arms. The attack exploded, waves of energy passing harmlessly on either side of the duelist. The ghost vanished as the attack fizzled, leaving Pinkie smirking and untouched. The Magician Girl slammed her hands to her cheeks and whined in frustration, stamping her foot petulantly on the empty air.

Pegasus frowned. “Well, you can only do that once. Third time’s the charm, Toon Dragon. Roll the dice!” Again the two dice flew off, finally falling on one for Pegasus and three for Pinkie. The red aura struck once more, hunching him over in pain.

Pegasus
2000

“Waaahhh!” the Toon Magician girl cried, balling her tiny fists up and shaking them back and forth. It flew over to Pegasus and started comically bopping him over the head to get his attention, and then pointed firmly at Pinkie. There were tears in the corners of her eyes.

“Are you sure?” Pegasus asked, and when the toon nodded he straightened up and glared at his opponent. “It seems my little magician is tired of all your good luck. So I will honor her last wish and activate my Toon Cannon Soldier’s special ability!”

The robot grinned in anticipation and opened its mouth absurdly wide. A swirling vacuum quickly sucked the sorceress into its waiting maw, and the robot chomped down when it was engulfed. It chewed a couple times, and then a bulge appeared traveling down its cannon-like nose. The robot quickly sighted and fired a blue beam in the shape of a ghostly Toon Magician Girl. The ghost shot across the field and slammed its wand across Pinkie’s head.

Pinkie
3000

The ghost toon stuck out its tongue at the girl as it vanished from the field, leaving Pinkie rubbing her head and frowning. “Well, that wasn’t very nice of her. It’s not like I was doing it on purpose.”

“No, but she always did have a short temper.” Pegasus sighed, shrugging and shaking his head. “Anyway that’s all for me. It’s your turn.”

“Then let’s see what’s behind Door Number 1!” she cried, instantly reverting back to her previous excitement. She drew her card and used it to point at her trap. “At the start of my turn, Needle Wall activates! Now let’s see how your luck fares; what happened next is completely random!”

Her trap card flipped face-up and the numbers one through five appeared on the ground on Pegasus’s side of the field. Two of the numbers were directly below his monsters, which traded a worried look with each other. The numbers blinked randomly on and off a couple of times before falling silent. For a few moments nothing happened.

Then in a split second spikes grew out of the ground around the Toon Cannon Soldier and flat sections of the earth rose up and slammed together like two hands clapping. The robot was crushed by the two spiked slabs and duel shards flew out from the sides in all directions. Pegasus’s last monster’s jaw dropped in disbelief as the slabs retreated back into the ground.

“Ooh, bad luck!” Pinkie said consolingly, “Needle Wall takes a monster zone at random on your field and destroys any monster on it. The odds were in your favor for it missing, but you never know with these things, do you?”

“Does she have any cards that rely on anything other than blind luck?” Kaiba grunted, before smirking as an idea flashed through his head. “Then again, her deck is very similar to someone else’s I could name. Though I wouldn’t have thought it possible that someone else would build a deck like that on purpose.”

“Grr, you take that back, Kaiba!” Joey shouted, waving his fist in Seto’s direction. Kaiba barked a laugh and turned away.

“You gotta admit, though, that your decks are similar.” Yugi said, trying to distract his friend. Joey sniffed and nodded, conceding the point and pointedly turning his attention back to the duel.

Pinkie activated the spell card she’d drawn and the card appeared on the field. “And for the next game, I’ll use Cup of Ace! I’ll send this card spinning and if it lands right side up, I get to draw two cards. But if it lands upside down, you get two cards! Ready? Here we go!”

The spell card leapt up into the air, spinning like a saw blade until its face was a blur. It hung in the air dramatically for a moment before shooting down and impaling itself in the ground. Upside down.

“Ah well, you win some, you lose some.” Pinkie sighed, and then dramatically pointed to her monster. “It’s a good thing I still have Monty 3-Cards! We’re tied one game apiece this turn so far, so this is the tie-breaker. You remember how it works; just pick what kind of card is on top of my deck!”

Pegasus calmly drew his two free cards as her monster started shuffling again. He glanced quickly through his new hand and turned his attention fully on his foe. “Hmm… I believe I have it.”

“Oh? Have what?” Pinkie asked.

He raised his hand slowly and pointed with confidence at her monster. “How your deck works. And if I’m right, then the top card of your deck is going to be a spell card!”

Monty slammed its hands together over its deck when Pegasus made his prediction, drawing its hands out slowly. Once again a card floated up from the top of the deck and its black face wiped away to reveal a Book of Moon spell card.

“Wow, good guess!” Pinkie gasped, placing the spell in her grave slot. “Guess that’s it for me. Your go!”

Rainbow blinked in disbelief. “How did he do that? Can he read minds or something?”

“Well, funny you should mention that…” Joey laughed, tapping his cheek like he was trying to come up with a way to explain a complicated subject. “I mean, he shouldn’t be able to anymore, but…”

“My turn!” Pegasus declared, drawing another card. “Thanks once again to my Spell Economics, I don’t have to pay anything to summon a second time using Ultimate Offering. So here come two more toons; my Toon Mermaid and a returning favorite, the Toon Masked Sorcerer!”

The book shuffled through its pages before finding the spot it wanted, popping two more monsters out from its bindings. The mermaid and the sorcerer shoved at each other, each trying to get the center spotlight. They eventually settled their differences and dropped to their spots on the field, each hovering over a number.

Hmm, I probably shouldn’t summon any more monsters while that Needle Wall is out… “That should be enough. I’ll send out the Mermaid for the first attack!”

The dice appeared yet again and rolled. But this time when they finally stopped, they were each showing a one.

Pinkie blinked and stepped back a step. “Ooh, that's a little unfortunate…”

“What is it? Don’t we both lose five hundred points, or does something else happen?”

“Well…” Pinkie started, rubbing the back of her head, but she was interrupted as her trap glowed blindingly white. A gigantic glowing explosion engulfed the field, knocking both of them backwards off their feet. When the smoke cleared there was nothing left on the field but a couple lines of fading smoke.

Pegasus Pinkie
1500 2500

“High Roller doesn’t react very well to extremely bad luck.” Pinkie giggled apologetically, climbing back to her feet.

“Sweet!” Rainbow Dash cheered. “Without that Toon World, he won’t be able to summon anymore of those wacky monsters anymore.”

“Well… that’s not exactly a good thing.” Celestia said, wincing in anticipation. “He’s very attached to those toon monsters…”

Indeed, Pegasus had an odd expression on his face as he was getting to his feet. His features were hard, and he seemed to be focusing far too intently as he glared at his opponent. “Well. I suppose it’s time to stop playing around.”

“Oh I don’t know about that. There’s always time for playing-”

“I activate the Card of Sanctity!” Pegasus interrupted, playing his remaining card. “Now we each draw until our hands are full. We can’t start over with empty hands, now can we?”

“Okie dokey lokie!” Pinkie said, shrugging and drawing until she had six cards in hand.

Pegasus studied his hand for a second and selected a card, still talking without his usual, carefree tone. “I activate the spell card Double Summon, which allows me to bring out Jigen Bakudan! In two turns, this monster with detonate and destroy every monster on my field, but in the meanwhile it’s immune to battle. Not that it matters much against you.”

A clay doll appeared on the empty field, floating ominously with its arms dropped lifelessly to its sides. A clock face on its forehead started to tic slowly around its small circular path.

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked. “About it not mattering?”

Pegasus held up his hand and selected a couple more cards. “You haven’t played a single monster to attack with this whole duel, so I believe your entire deck is full of effect monsters that pick away at your opponent’s life points. So I have nothing to fear from leaving my defenses wide open. I will play two cards face down and end my turn.”

Pegasus stood unmoving, waiting for Pinkie to make her next move with exaggerated calm.

The party girl didn’t disappoint. “Well, it’s a new turn and a new hand, so get ready for a brand new round of fun and games! We’ll start off with a little quiz show; little in the fact that there is only one Question for you to answer!”

The spell card appeared on her field, and Pinkie held up her duel disk dramatically. “OK, contestant, can you name the first monster that was sent to my graveyard this duel?”

“The first monster?” Pegasus asked, and then frowned as he concentrated on the question. Could it be that Necro Gardna? No, she removed it from play when she used its effect. Which means that the first card must have been…

The card designer smiled triumphantly. “You sacrificed your Dice Jar to summon Monty 3-Cards, so Dice Jar is the bottom monster!”

“Whoopsie! Sorry, but you’re completely wrong!” Pinkie exclaimed as her graveyard slot started to glow. “Now I get to summon the monster in question to the field!”

“What are you talking about? Dice Jar was definitely the first monster you lost! Unless…” Pegasus froze as he thought back…

…

“You discarded a monster when you played Cost Down!” Pegasus accused.

Pinkie nodded emphatically. “Yep! Sorry it was a trick Question, but not every game has to be fair! Now step back and give my Trump Dragon room to shine!”

A circle of light appeared on the field and a shining golden dragon rose out from it. It spiraled about in the air a few times before coiling in on itself above them. Golden light radiated off its scales, making it hard to look at it directly.

“There it is; Pinkie’s trump card.” Applejack said, and then grimaced. “No pun intended… then again, knowin’ Pinkie, the pun was probably completely intended. Pegasus is about to find out how wrong he was to assume she never attacks…”

“Next I will activate Trap Booster,” Pinkie continued, discarding another card to activate it, “Which in turn lets me use Dragon’s Rage right away! Now it doesn’t matter that I can’t destroy your monster! Trump Dragon can just blast right through your defense and take out your life points!”

“Wait, Pinkie, I’ve never seen you use those cards before.” Twilight interrupted.

“Oh, I just had a feeling I’d need them, so I added them before we started!”

“I… wait, what? That’s not how… oh, why am I surprised…?” Twilight sputtered, holding a hand to her forehead.

“Now before my dragon attacks, we’ve got to play another game!” Pinkie said playfully, dropping a hand to the top of her deck. “We each send the top card of our decks to the graveyard and if I discard a monster with a higher level, Trump Dragon gains an additional thousand attack points! Ready?”

Pegasus sighed and picked up his top card, then sighed again as he revealed it. “Thousand-Eyes Idol. Only a one star…”

“Oohh, tough luck!” Pinkie exclaimed, showing off her card. “My Mask of Darkness only had two, so you were really close too! Now my dragon has enough attack points to end this all right now!”

The dragon roared and uncoiled itself, flying down at the living time bomb. It opened its jaws and sparkling golden fire danced about its jaws.

“Do you think I’m just going to let that happen?!” Pegasus declared, activating one of his traps.

“Yah-huh! Trump Dragon can’t be targeted by any traps!” Pinkie teased, leaning forward and putting her hands on her hips.

“Then it’s a good thing Dragon Capture Jar doesn’t target specific monsters!” Pegasus returned. His trap card flashed and disappeared, leaving an intricately carved pot in its place. A swirling vortex of wind caught up the Trump Dragon and sucked it towards the open end of the jar. The dragon tried in vain to fight against the current, but it quickly vanished from sight.

“Oh! Uh… this isn’t good!” Pinkie gulped, staring at her empty field. “Let’s see, I’ll place this card face down and then activate The Shallow Grave! Now we each can summon a monster from our graveyards either face-up or face-down.”

“Used up nearly all cards in your new hand, and this was the best you could do?” Pegasus taunted, as Pinkie placed her monster face down. He selected the Thousand-Eyes Idol he’d just discarded and played it face up. The little fiend popped up on the field, the many eyes all over its body blinking open and closed nervously.

“For my first move, I think I’ll return your dragon to you!” Pegasus slapped a card onto his podium. “I’ll use Remove Trap to destroy the Dragon Capture Jar!”

“What? Why would he do that?” Twilight demanded, but if anyone had the answer they didn’t offer it. Cracks spread over the ceramic jar before it shattered into pieces. Pinkie’s dragon uncurled itself from the tight ball it had been forced into and flew swiftly back to her side.

“Thanks!” Pinkie shouted, but then tilted her head to the side in confusion. “But Twilight’s right, that wasn’t a very good move. Wasn’t it better for you to keep it locked up all tight?”

“The jar would have kept your monster safe from my Jigen Bakudan,” Pegasus explained as he selected his next card, “And that’s unacceptable if I want revenge for my toons! No, I think I’ll offer my Idol as a sacrifice in my Black Illusion Ritual!”

A small pot appeared behind his monsters, flanked on either side by a goblet. Smoke wafted out of the narrow top of the pot and flowed over the many-eyed creature. The idol dissolved and the smoke reversed, floating back down the pot’s neck. The container started to sweat drops of liquid, its surface quickly turning slimy and slick. It began to bulge outward, the eye shape taking on shape until it was a full circle on a stalk. The rest of the pot unfolded into the body of an ugly fiend creature. It floated silently on the field.

“Well, that thing isn’t creepy or anything…” Rarity sniffed.

Pegasus threw his arm out dramatically. “Enjoyed having your Trump Dragon back? I’m afraid your reunion will be short lived. This is my dark side personified, the terror known as Relinquished! And there isn’t a creature its power cannot overcome!”

The circular section of the monster’s stomach suddenly turned midnight black and a vortex once again pulled her dragon forward. It was instantly swallowed up by the hole, which solidified into a flat stomach once more.

“And now your dragon is once again mine, giving all of its attack power to my Relinquished!” Pegasus declared, as his monster pulsated with its stolen power. “Now, I could just wait for Jigen Bakudan to explode next turn, but I feel it would be fitting to end this duel with a bang. Relinquished, attack her last monster!”

Still in complete eerie silence, the eye on the fiend’s stalk began to glow. It fired a bright laser which struck the face down card, flipping it over and revealing the monster hidden beneath.

“That’s right; it’s the triumphant return of Dice Jar!” Pinkie exclaimed as the monster rose spinning up from the attack. Cracks spread slowly over its clay body, but clearly it was going to stay intact long enough for its ability to take effect.

“You’re going to trust this entire duel on a throw of the dice?” Pegasus demanded.

Pinkie shrugged. “I have so far. No reason to stop now, is there?”

“Fine then, let the fates decide!” At these words the Jar stopped and spat a die out at each of their feet. Pegasus stared down at his result and smiled triumphantly. “I’ve got a four!”

“And mine is a five. Looks like I win after all!” Pinkie returned, as the face on the jar pointing at Pegasus opened wide and started collecting power. Its body fell apart just as it launched a blast of twenty-five hundred points of damage straight down at Pegasus. Everyone on the sidelines leaned forwards excitedly as the attack closed in.

But at the last second Pegasus’s trap flipped up and caught the blast on its face. The card back faded away to reveal a five-sided metal panel absorbing the energy. As soon as the last of the energy disappeared the panels folded in on itself, shaking slightly as arcs of lightning played over its surface.

“I’m sorry, but I could see that move coming a mile away. This is my Reflect Barrier, and it’s going to send that power right back at you. The duel is mine!” Pegasus slammed his hand down on his podium and his trap unfolded, releasing all of its contained energy. The blast seared across the field… and slamming into Pinkie’s activated trap.

“So yours is called Reflect Barrier? Mine’s named Barrel Behind the Door!” the party girl laughed, “Your turn! Catch!”

Her trap glowed brightly as the power was sucked into it and it fired it right back where it came from. Pegasus cried out and threw up his arms to cover his face as the attack blew over him, singeing trails of smoke up from where his cards lay on the podium.

Pegasus
0

Pegasus sighed and started collecting his cards before the podium sank back into the ground. “Well, that was certainly unexpected. After all that effort, I’m still just going to be watching from the sidelines…”

“That was SO MUCH FUN!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing over and shaking Pegasus’s free hand vigorously. “I love your toon guys! It was sooo cool seeing them all up close like that!”

Pegasus’s disappointment at being eliminated couldn’t stand in the face of that enthusiasm. “Indeed, Ms. Pie, that was quite a good show. You should be very proud of your victory.”

"I have to ask you something. Remember back when you said you figured out my deck and were able to pick just the right card? How did you do that?"

"Well, my dear, listen close." Pegasus leaned in and tapped the side of his nose. "To be perfectly honest... I just guessed." The two of them started laughing like they were sharing a private joke.

“Yeah, well enough of tha warm complements, I wanna duel!” Joey declared, running onto the field and turning to point at the girls. “I’m gonna go next, so who’s going ta be my opponent?”

The three remaining girls looked at each other and it was Rarity who sighed first. “I suppose I will take the next turn.”

“You? You don’t look like you’re very strong ta me.” Joey stated.

“Looks can be deceiving, you cur.” Rarity replied, kneeling down and unzipping her valise to retrieve her disk. “Allow me to show you just how strong I really am!”

…

“We’re almost in sight of the island! We should arrive in about twenty minutes.” The helicopter pilot said, craning back over his shoulder to talk back to his passengers.

Luna looked over and favored him with a nod. “Thank you. Please go as fast as you can.”

She glanced over to her companion and Spike gave her a nervous smile, clutching the metal briefcase closer to his chest protectively. She smiled reassuringly to him, but quickly turned back to staring intently out the window for any sign of land. It wouldn’t do to let anyone else see how worried she really was.

“I must put a stop to this tournament immediately!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Luck of the Underdog vs. Dressed to Kill

Author's Note

Most of the card images I used this chapter came from a Google search, but the Trump Dragon is courtesy of Tibby101. And there are still a couple of spell cards I need for the next chapter. If you can draw something simple like a crown or a vest, shoot me a line! That faster I get the art the faster I can update!

Pinkie's deck is going to be a little light on unique cards, as you've probably already noticed, but that's because every time I sat down to make a card for her, I discovered one that already exists that does just about the same thing. Yugioh loves cards that play mini-games, and the best part is these cards rarely get seen in the show so I don't feel too bad using them here. Pinkie's deck is based off of the first real deck I ever built, so expect to see more of my favorite monster ever the next time she duels. Oh, and if a card's effect seems to be doing something it shouldn't, remember that I'm using the show's rules. They all cheat a little bit!

What this? Luna and Spike want to shut down the tournament? But why would they want that, and why is Luna so worried...?

Turn 5: Luck of the Underdog vs. Dressed to Kill

Joey Rarity
4000 4000

“Err… what is that supposed ta be?” Joey asked, scratching his cheek.

Rarity finished buckling her disk onto her arm and looked up. “Whatever do you mean? I thought the original looked a little drab, so I spruced it up a bit.” Her duel disk had been encrusted with jewels and sequins, arranged in neat swirls and patterns around the various slots. The edges of the card readers were gilded and the whole thing sparkled in the light whenever she moved her arm.

“Uh huh, well… uh, tha first move is mine!” Joey exclaimed, momentarily thrown off his game. “I’ll start by setting one face down card, and then I’ll summon tha Little-Winguard in defense mode!”

A small knight clad in blue armor appeared on his side of the field. It knelt down and held up its little shield, its yellow eyes peeking out over the top.

Joey clenched his fist. “Alright, now what do you think of… what are you doing?”

Rarity was staring critically at his monster, her left hand cupping her right elbow as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She furrowed her brow in concentration and pursed her lips. “It has a nice theme, but the colors are altogether too dowdy. Some brighter shades would suit it better, perhaps a thinner cape…”

“This is a duel, not a fashion show!” Joey shouted, stamping his foot repeatedly in frustration. “How about you sling some cards instead a’ style tips!”

“I see no reason why I can’t do both. After all, there’s no reason our game can’t be refined.” Rarity drew her card and studied her hand before breaking out into a wide smile. “Ah, ideaaaa! I’ll use my Wellspring of Inspiration! This spell lets me look at the top two cards of my deck to find something to spruce up that Winguard of yours!”

“That’s her signature spell!” Applejack whistled, “Looks like she’s not wastin’ any time!”

The continuous spell appeared on her field and immediately was surrounded in a glowing aura. Two overly-large holographic cards appeared facing Rarity and she considered them carefully, flicking glances between them and the little knight. A bright smile crossed her face and she thrust her hand out towards the one on the right. “Ah yes, what your monster needs is a little Golden Thread to cheer up its whole continence!”

The indicated card spun around as the other faded away, and its face flaring into bright white light. Several spools of shining gold silk shot out from the glare and spun around the Winguard in a swirling cyclone, hiding it from view. The golden whirlwind expanded and faded, revealing the knight’s startling changes. Its cape was a solid golden color and gold trim ran around its shirt sleeves and pants legs in spirals. A band for gold circled around the rim of its helmet.

“Ah, tres manifique!” Rarity cried, clapping the tips of her hands together rapidly. “Now come along dear, stand up and give us a look at the rest of it!”

Straining, as if against its will, the monster rose slowly out of its crouch. Its arms were pulled out to the side and it stood completely defenseless.

“What did you do ta my monster?!” Joey demanded, taken aback.

Rarity clucked her tongue at his tone and adopted an innocent face. “Merely added some much needed class to your poor little soldier. Such finery as my Golden Threads won’t be destroyed in something as messy as battle, and in exchange your monster can’t hide away in defense mode.

“But in the end, the most important view is that of the fashion conscious, so how about a second opinion from The Cruel Kritik!”

She placed a card onto her disk with a decisive snap of her wrist and a lizard-like creature appeared on her field. It rose up languidly, its immaculate breastplate catching the light and gleaming. It leaned forward and studied Joey’s knight intently, bending its neck in swaying motions to view it from every angle. It slowly raised its empty right arm up and clenched it fist, before quickly flicking a thumbs-down and hissing its displeasure.

“Ah well, I suppose I should have known better that to use summer colors on a winter…” Rarity sighed, “Since the Kritik doesn’t like the ensemble, he penalizes you monster’s attack power by five hundred. And now I’ll let him express his disapproval. Attack!”

The demon snapped out the stick it was carrying in its left hand and it unfolded into a large metal fan, each edge sharpened to a sword’s point. It darted forward and slashed the Winguard across its abdomen, slicing cleanly through the fabric beneath. The golden threads resisted the slash, glowing brighter as they remained the only bit not cut through. The blow knocked the knight back, but the same glowing threads held it from collapsing in pain.

Joey
3400

Rarity placed two cards face down on the field calmly, as if she hadn’t pulled into the lead. “I’ll leave these for later and end my turn. Unfortunately inspiration doesn’t come without cost, so I’ll pay five hundred life points to maintain my Wellspring.” A red aura surrounded her, but she accepted it with poise.

Rarity
3500

Joey frowned and rubbed the underside of his nose with one finger. Gosh, I’ve already lost control of tha duel, and it hasn’t even been one turn! Come on, Heart a' tha Cards, I need a winner here! He drew his card for the turn and studied it. After a few seconds his whole face fell and he hunched his shoulders in disappointment.

“He… doesn’t have much of a poker face.” Twilight observed, crossing her arms.

Yugi winced in sympathy for his friend. “Don’t worry, Joey, you can do this!”

“Easy for you ta say, Yug…” Joey muttered, glancing back up with renewed determination. Ok, first I gotta get rid of that Golden Threads card. “I summon Panther Warrior to the field!”

In a flash of light a new monster appeared on his field. The panther raised its head and snarled a challenge before leveling its sword… at the knight standing next to him.

“You see, I need ta sacrifice a monster to attack with the Panther Warrior. So I’ll sacrifice the Little Winguard and close the hole in my defense!” Joey explained.

“Good move, Joey!” Yugi cheered, clenching his fist in victory.

The panther’s sword glowed with a white aura as its ability kicked in, flowing out and surrounding the knight. It dissolved into the aura’s glow and it all flowed back into the panther’s sword, which began to shine brightly. Suddenly the panther growled in surprise and reared back. Golden bands of cloth were wrapped around its chest and trailing over its shoulders in a pair of floating tails. The invading silk also threaded through its green cape in a spiral pattern and had added wings to the tops of its boots.

“What happened? How did Golden Threads get on Panther Warrior?” Joey shouted.

Rarity tsked and waggled her finger in his direction. “No need to fret, I just used the Tailor of the Fickle before you sacrificed your knight. As if I’d allow you to even think of trashing one of my designs.”

She pointed to a hunched man on her field in a workman’s smock wrapping a bolt of cloth around its arm. The man grinned as the spell ended and it disappeared from the ground up. Meanwhile the fiend was still giving the design a thumbs-down, hissing with its forked tongue poking out between its teeth.

“And now that my Kritik drops your monster’s attack to the same as its own, your attack has been stalled.” Rarity continued, reaching for her deck. “So I’ll start my turn with-”

“Hold on!” Joey interrupted, “I continue with my attack!”

“What? But they will both be destroyed!” Rarity exclaimed, aghast.

The panther ran forward and swung its sword over its head in a straight chop. The fiend caught the blow on its fan-sword and the two monsters traded several blows before locking blades. They growled in anger as they strained against the lock for several beats, before with a sharp ring of metal the blades slipped free of each other and sliced around in a pair of shining arcs. The trail of their passing left a shimmering line across their upper bodies and they suddenly detonated in a cloud of smoke.

“See?” Rarity declared, holding up a hand over her mouth to block the smoke. “Both of them were destroyed, so that move was… completely… what is that?!”

The smoke was slowly clearing from the field, revealing a large mechanical thing floating on Joey’s side of the field. With a hiss of steam the machine split open down the middle and his Panther Warrior stepped out of it, completely devoid of the golden changes she had made to its appearance.

Joey snapped his fingers and pointed to his lone trap card. “I activated my Time Machine! This lets me rescue any a' my monsters that were destroyed at any point during tha last turn. And now he’s got an attack ta finish!”

The panther howled and leapt from the machine, raising its blade over its head as it bore down upon the fashionista. Rarity thrust her hand out towards her other trap with a cry. “I activate Crimes Against Fashion!”

Spools of cloth shot out from all sides and wrapped tightly around the panther’s arms and legs, pinning it in midair like a giant spider web. The monster roared and strained against the fabric, but it was only held tighter.

“You almost got me there, but this card puts a stop to that!” Rarity said, picking Golden Threads out of her graveyard and slipping it into a pocket of her blouse. “I might need a moment to catch my breath… now, was there anything else you wanted to do?”

“Grr… no, I’m done…” Joey grumbled, hunching his shoulders in preparation for what’s to come. His monster was slowly lowered to the ground and the bolts of cloth disappeared back to wherever they’d come from.

“Don’t stop there, Joey! You’re defenseless like that!” Mai shouted.

I don’t need you ta tell me that, Mai, but I’m in a tight spot here… Joey thought. He frowned and looked down at his hand.

Every card in his hand was a monster card.

“I will begin by activating my Wellspring once more!” Rarity declared as she drew her card, and her spell card glowed as a pair of cards appeared once more. She glanced between them and the cards in her hand a couple times before breaking out into a wide grin. “Perfect! If gold isn’t your color, perhaps a lovely collar of Flint will suit it better!”

It was the card on the left that flipped over this time, and a spinning something shot out the card face. It was a metal chain moving so fast it appeared to be a solid disk. It shot straight at Joey’s warrior and slammed into its neck. The panther let out a strangled roar and stumbled, dropping its armaments as it clawed at the thing around its neck. But the chain held fast, clamping down even tighter.

“Exquisite!” Rarity declared, flipping through the cards in her hand. “That chain choker prevents your beast from attacking me anymore. And now I’ll summon The Devious Deziner to the field! Come on out, my dear!”

In a flash another fiend appeared, crouching down on all fours and pawing at the ground impatiently. The gems around the monsters collar and boots started to glow brightly as it prepared its attack.

“So what? My monster’s still got more points!” Joey shouted.

Rarity tapped a finger on her cheek playfully and smiled. “Oh, did I forget to mention that my Deziner can attack you directly if every monster on your field is sporting an accessory?”

“Nyeh?!” Joey gasped, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. Rarity’s monster looked his panther up and down and snorted derisively, and then focused its gaze on Joey. It suddenly reared up and a dozen lasers shot out from its gems. The golden beams arced around the Panther Warrior and trained in on the duelist, striking all around him. Joey leaned down wearily after the attack finished, but remained on his feet.

Joey
2100

“Let’s see, I’ll set one more card face down.” Rarity continued, slipping a card into the spell and trap slot. “And I’ll end my turn by paying the cost for my Wellspring. Your turn, darling.”

Rarity
3000

“Fight back Joey!” Mai shouted from the sidelines.

Joey looked over at her and nodded, then turned his gaze down to his disk and placed his hand on the top card. I’m trying, but she’s stronger than I thought!

He drew and looked at his card. Ah no, not Swordsman a’ Landstar! There has ta be something in my hand that can tussle with her blasted equip cards… Joey blinked as the monster on the end of his hand caught his eye. A wide smile crept across his face and he started to chuckle at his opponent.

“Heh heh heh heh… I think I’ve got just the card ta tear you apart!” Joey declared, slamming the card onto his disk with more force than strictly necessary. “I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!”

A flash of light deposited a gleaming knight in black and silver armor to the field. It crosses its bladed arms over its chest and shouted a battle cry. Rarity and her monster gave it identical looks of disappointed evaluation.

“That’s your big move?” Rarity asked, holding up her hand over a smirk. “Are all your monsters brutes with no sense of style?”

“Laugh it up!” Joey returned, making a determined fist. “You won’t be having as much fun when it’s kicking your behind!”

“Oh please, I’ve had bigger challenges dueling my little sister, and she can barely string a combo together!”

“At least my monsters don’t need ta be all dolled up before they can fight!”

“How dare you! I’ll wipe the floor with you like last week’s haute couture!”

“Will somebody play some cards already?!” Rainbow Dash shouted from the sidelines.

“Err… right.” Joey said, blinking and recovering a little of his focus. “Gearfried, go attack the Deziner!”

“You didn’t really think a move that obvious would work, did you? I activate Flint Missile!” Rarity’s face down card flipped up and a white blast of energy shot out from the card face. The missile struck the Panther Warrior in the chest and the monster exploded into a cloud of debris.

The fashionista slipped the Flint Missile card out of its slot and into her deck. “I’ll go slowly so that you can understand. My spell card destroys any monster on the field equipped with a Flint card and then returns to my deck to be used again in the future. But the best part is that Flint isn’t destroyed and instead gets to attach to any other monster I want. And wouldn’t your little armored man look dashing with a bit of grey about its neck?”

The spinning blur of her spell whirled out of the smoke like a discus and swirled about the field a few times before homing in on Joey’s knight. Gearfried halted its charge and held its arm up as the chain closed in.

“That will stop your attack in its tracks-” Rarity began, but a cry of effort cut her short. Gearfried had speared Flint from out of the air and the chain writhed like a living thing on the end of its bladed arm. The knight brought its other arm up and smashed it against the metal thing, ripping it to pieces that vanished into flames as they fell.

“Ah…?” Rarity managed, her mouth frozen open in an expression of utter incomprehension. One of her eyes twitched a little.

Joey snickered, the hand over his mouth barely hiding his wide grin. “Gearfried has a special power too, you know. He automatically destroys all spell cards that try ta equip ta him. Looks like you won’t be dressing him up or anything! Now, keep attacking Gearfried!”

The knight dropped back into a fighting stance and leapt forward once more. Rarity fell back a step and dropped a hand to her graveyard once more. “I-I’ll remove Flint from the graveyard to use Crimes Against Fashion!”

Bands of cloth shot out of the ground once more and wrapped around Gearfried’s limbs, holding it in place before it could land a blow. Rarity’s fiend, which had crouched in anticipation of being destroyed, opened an eye and realized its tormentor was trapped. It snorted and reared back up, glaring hate.

Joey clenched his fist in frustration. “Blast it, I gotta end my turn…” Her defenses are just too strong. Nothing I do is getting through ta her! I hate ta admit it, but she’s pretty good!

My goodness, that set my heart racing! Rarity thought, placing a hand on her chest and taking a deep, relaxing breath to steady her nerves. His monsters are just so strange and random. It’s taking all I have to hold him off, and in addition to that he’s barely used any cards at all while my hand is dwindling. This boy is much better at this than he first appears.

She drew her card and appraised his monster critically. “Very well then, if your monster doesn’t want to benefit from my creative genius, then I suppose I’ll just have to improve my own. But first let’s trade out the Deziner for The Foul Fotografer!”

A pillar of light surrounded her fiend. When it faded a new monster slithered about itself where the previous one had stood. The Fotografer’s three heads twined about themselves and hissed forked tongues at their opponent.

“Big deal, my monster has more points!” Joey declared dismissively.

“Let’s see what my Wellspring of Inspiration has to say about that!” she returned as her spell card began to glow. The pair of cards appeared and Rarity barely gave the two of them a frown before pointing to the one on the left. “It’s not what I would have chosen myself, but creativeness is by definition trying new possibilities. I attach Mist Body to the Fotografer, which activates its very special ability!”

The fiend’s body became clouded immediately, obscured by a mist that gave it a ghost-like appearance. But Joey didn’t have any time to appreciate this fact before the creature’s heads shot forward on their long necks and circled about him, trailing smoke like spectral serpents. The central eye on each of the heads grew out from the head like the telescoping lens of a camera and started blasting bursts of light. Joey threw his hand up over his eyes in pain as the flashbulbs pressed in on him.

Joey
1600

“It’s a shame, but I must end my turn there. I’ll pay for the Wellspring and pass it on to you.” Rarity fumed as the red aura surrounded her. Talk about terrible luck! I didn’t get anything to boost my Fotografer’s attack power… but at least I’ve still got plenty of equip spells in my graveyard from the last few of times I used my trap card. That will keep me safe for a while…

Rarity
2500

Joey grumbled under his breath and drew a card, but his mood changed as soon as he saw what it was. “All right, Graceful Charity! With this I can finally get something good!”

A gentle light shone down on him as he drew three cards from his deck and gawked at what they were. He blinked several times and quickly checked with the other cards in his hand, and then looked up and met Rarity’s eyes, causing her to take a step back in surprise. There was a determination in them that simply hadn’t been present there a second ago.

This is where I turn it all around, he thought, selecting one of the new cards he’d drawn and one of his old. “First, I’ve gotta discard these two cards. Next, I’ll play one card face down. And finally I’ll trade up Gearfried for Jinzo!”

His knight was engulfed in a pillar of light and when it faded, a terrifying figure had taken its place. Rarity actually gagged a little at the thing. “What… what IS this abomination?! This is the most hideous monster I’ve ever seen, and I just watched a slimy pot swallow a dragon with its stomach! Why would you play such a disgusting card?”

“Aw, don’t be like that. You’ll hurt his feelings!” Joey mocked, as his monster’s eyes began to glow a sinister red. “But on tha subject of hurting…”

A bright red laser suddenly shot out from Jinzo’s goggles. The laser traced a buzzing line over her trap card for a moment before the whole thing burst into flying duel shards. Jinzo crossed its arms over its chest and leaned back a little, as if relaxing after a job well done.

“Jinzo is an incredibly strong card that destroys all active trap cards on the field!” Yugi said, cheering on his friend. “It’s one of the strongest cards in his deck, and just what he needed!”

“He sure has the luck of the draw…” Applejack agreed reluctantly.

“Well… when Crimes Against Fashion is destroyed, I’m allowed to return all the spells it removed back to the graveyard.” Rarity said, taking Golden Treads and Flint out of her pocket and inserting them into her disk.

Joey shrugged and threw his fist out dramatically. “Whatever! That won’t matter once I wipe that snake of yours from tha field. Jinzo, attack with Psycho Shocker!”

His monster held its long arms up in front of its chest and a blue orb crawling with electricity formed between its palms. Jinzo thrust its arms out and the ball shot forward and slammed right through the Fotografer’s midsection. Its body, made out of smoke as it currently was, billowed out and reformed as the attack passed through it. Rarity didn’t fare nearly as well, however, as the ball clipped her on the shoulder as it shot passed.

Rarity
1700

“Nice try, but Mist Body prevents my monster from being destroyed by something as uncouth as battle.” Rarity said, clutching her injured arm with a grimace.

Joey flicked the end of his nose with his thumb and grinned. “Yeah, what else is new? I still got you that time! So go ahead and take your turn so I can do it again!”

Rarity grit her teeth in a very unladylike way and savagely drew a card. One look at what it was, however, was enough to calm her down and reassert her self-control. “Very well, I think it’s time to bring this duel to a close. Tell me, Joey, why do you think I use a card as dangerous as Wellspring of Inspiration, even though it puts such a heavy toll on my life points?”

Joey blinked and then tilted his head to the side, closing his eyes to think. “I dunno, you’ve gotten quite a few of those equip cards outta it…” His eyes snapped open at a sudden thought. “Wait… cards!”

“That’s right,” Rarity said, holding up her duel disk for emphasis. “Thanks to it, I've basically been drawing three cards each turn. It’s only been a few turns, but I’m already nearly halfway through my deck. I’ll probably only need to activate the spell once or twice more before I find what I’ve been searching for.”

Her continuous spell glowed again as it activated and the two floating cards appeared, bringing a triumphant smile to her face. “And there it is, the equip spell Rhinestone Crown! I’ll equip it to my Foul Fotografer, and you know what that means!”

The floating card to the left spun around and flared white, and a silver and blue crown floated out from the center of the light. It alighted upon the fiend’s middle head and the other two hovered around it, admiring it from every angle. Then all three heads snapped towards Joey and shot forward, their camera lens’ eyes extending and emitting blinding flashes. Joey clamped his palms over his eyes and turned his back to the lights, but the heads followed around him until he had enough.

Joey
1100

“This crown, while eminently fashionable on its own, allows me to sacrifice my monster as if it were two instead of one.” Rarity explained, extending a hand to her monster. “So now I will summon the pinnacle of society, The Diva of the Spotlit Runway!”

The Fotografer’s heads hissed at Joey one more time before it was replaced by a large feline creature. It flicked its long hair out with one paw and sniffed up its nose at him before rearing back and spreading its forelegs out in a sweeping gesture. The ground around its feet began to glow and silvery tendrils rose up and starting wrapping around its body.

Rarity held up her disk as cards started to pop out from her discard slot. “My Diva is the queen of the fashion world and never steps into battle without proper accessories! In this case, every spell card I’ve sent to my graveyard is at her disposal! Only the best for the best!”

The bright lights swirled and swirled, only fading reluctantly to reveal a startling transformation had occurred to her monster. It was almost twice its original size and bedecked in incredibly fancy clothes, with Golden Threads stitched all about the gown. The Flint chain hung draped around the fiend’s throat like a necklace and the crown Rarity’s just played lay atop its head at a relaxed angle. The creature placed a paw under its chin and laughed condescendingly.

“That’s one decked-out monster…” Joey mumbled, and then broke out in a wide grin and pointed up. “Looks like you made a little mistake in your rush. That Flint card won’t let your monster attack!”

“Oh no, you’re right!” Rarity exclaimed in mock horror. “I was too greedy and now have been foiled by my own card! If only the Diva had another ability that could somehow save me from my own hubris… oh wait, she does!”

The Diva dropped its paw to under the chain about its neck and the chain started to glow with a white fire. The fiend chopped its arm out and the fire shot forward in a stream that engulfed Jinzo. Jinzo groaned in pain as it dissolved in the fire, leaving only a sooty smear on the ground.

“Not Jinzo!” Joey grunted, looking down at the stain with dismay.

“And that was just her special ability! Do you have any last words before the Diva puts an end to this little game?” In front of her, Rarity’s monster tilted its head way back and glowing light started to collect around it.

“Just one thing…” Joey said, grinning like he’d just thought of the cleverest joke in the world. “Wearing somebody else’s old things? That sounds like a fashion ‘fow pah’ to me!”

“…It’s pronounced ‘faux pas’…” Rarity started, but froze with her mouth hanging open as she registered what was happening in front of her.

Bolts of cloth burst out of the ground and wrapped themselves around the Diva’s legs and neck. The fiend reared back and tried to break free of the bonds, but they proved too much for it to handle. The Diva was forced to lay with its belly flat on the floor and the energy it had been gathering to attack faded around it.

“But that’s my Crimes Against Fashion!” Rarity cried in disbelief. “How did you get it?!”

“I sent this little guy ta borrow it from you. His name is Graverobber.” Joey pointed to a little figure hovering in the air next to him. The creature had Rarity’s trap held between its hands and wiggled it a little for emphasis.

Rarity poked a finger in his direction. “But that’s not enough! You have to use up an equip card to use that trap!”

“You mean like Salamandra?” Joey asked, holding up the card in question. “I sent this baby ta tha graveyard back when I used Graceful Charity. And thanks ta this little combo, your attack is stopped cold!”

“My, my! Excellent playing, Joseph. You continue to surprise me!” Pegasus praised, offering a little clap.

Rarity bit the inside of her cheek. “Well, you’ve only managed to stop me for one turn. The Diva has enough spells to destroy up to three monsters and thanks to the Golden Threads, she can’t be killed in battle! There’s nothing you can play that can save you!”

Rarity
1200

“Nothing?” Joey challenged, drawing his card for the turn and playing it. “Pot of Greed! This lets me draw two more cards from my deck!”

Alright, Heart a’ tha Cards, just one more time, Joey thought, placing a hand slowly on his deck. He drew and studied the cards he’d gotten, and then broke out into a wide smile.

“Perfect!” he shouted, slapping one of them into his spell slot. “It’s tha spell card Landstar Forces! This allows me ta summon as many Landstar monsters in my hand as I got. And I’ve got quite a few a’ them!”

Joey quickly played out all but one of the cards left in his hand. Three cartoonish figured popped out of his disk and grew to full size, floating just a little bit in the air. One was dressed as a European musketeer, another as an army commando, and the middle one was a little swordsman. The swordsman lifted up its weapon and waved it threateningly.

“You have these weak cards in your deck…?” Rarity asked haltingly, blinking in disbelief. “But what can you do with such low-level monsters?”

Joey waved his last card back and forth. “Didn’t you notice? I’ve still got my normal summon left ta go this turn! And I’ve got this special guy who needs three sacrifices ta come out!”

“No way!” Twilight exclaimed, “He was able to set up a triple sacrifice at this stage of the game?!”

The three Landstar forces raised their weapons together in a point above their heads and disappeared into a pillar of light. The sky darkened and lightning flashed as the pillar shrank back down to a glowing ring on the ground. In the center on the ring knelt a burly warrior with its head bowed before a gigantic sword impaled in the ground. With a decisive movement the warrior reared up and tore the blade from the ground, raising it high over its head. The monster roared and lightning struck the sword as if to punctuate its fury.

“Wh-wh-wh-what is that?!” Rarity cried, stepping back and lifting her arms up fearfully.

“His name’s Gilford tha Lightning.” Joey declared. “And when he’s summoned, he destroyed every other monster on tha field!”

Gilford shouted a battle cry and swung its sword down sharply, pointing it directly at the Diva. Electricity crackled down the length of the sword and leapt out at the fiend, striking it in the chest. The Diva screamed and fell back, mini explosions traveling up and down its body before one big eruption shattered the whole creature into fragments. Glittering pieces fell around Rarity like snowflakes as she looked on with a panicky look in her eyes.

Joey smirked and clenched his fist in victory. “And much like your own ace card, that was only Gilford’s special ability! Now attack and drop her life points ta zero!”

The warrior let out a battle cry and charged forward, bringing its sword down in a strong overhead slash. Rarity screamed as it passed through her, lifting up a great cloud of smoke as it smashed into the ground at her feet.

Rarity
0

“And that’s game!” Joey exclaimed, flashing her a salute. “Not bad at all! That was a lotta fun!”

“Same to you as well.” Rarity sighed, slipping her deactivated duel disk off her wrist. She walked back into her group of apologetic friends and returned it to its valise.

“Great job, Joey. Nice playing.” Mai said as Joey join his friends.

Joey ran a hand through his hair in embarrassed pride. “Yeah, that was pretty cool! So who’s next?”

“Actually, why don’t you go Fluttershy?” Twilight said, putting a friendly hand on her shoulder.

Flutterhsy flinched back from the touch as if she’d been shocked. “Oh no, I couldn’t. You haven’t had a turn yet. Why don’t you play instead?”

“Fluttershy, is it?” Bakura asked, stepping forward and extending his hand gently. “How about the two of us have a match. According to the rules, it’s either me or him, after all.” He nodded his head over his shoulder at Kaiba, who glared back and sniffed disdainfully at them.

Flutterhsy shrank back a little from that look, but then cautiously took the offered hand and shook it. “A-all right. Let’s have a good game.”

“I’m sure we will.” Bakura said and turned around, walking towards his spot on the duel field. With his back to the others his features took a dramatic change. His pupils shrank and shot as far as they could go to the right, as if he could still see them from the corner of his eye. A dark cast fell over his face and his mouth scrunched up into a feral grin.

There’s no doubt about it, he thought to himself, I definitely felt the darkness of the Shadows in her that time! A darkness that might even match my own! I need to find a way to draw that darkness out of her and then see if I can take it for my own!

“Don’t worry, you'll do great Fluttershy!” Pinkie said cheerfully as the shy girl slipped her disk on her arm. “You deck even beats mine most of the time! You’ll be able to handle this no problem!”

“Thanks…” Fluttershy said softly, but she didn’t believe it. Most of the duels she’d played hadn't been in front of an audience this intimidating…

InTeREStInG… wAnt mY hELp?

Fluttershy blinked in surprise but quickly shook her head. No… no, I really should do this on my own.

Ohh, vERy WeLl. BuT if YoU WaNt My hELp AfTer ALL, yOu KnOw WhAt To dO…

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
One Foot in the Grave vs. Dark Side of Nature

Author's Note

The art for the spells and traps came from a variety of places, but all the monsters were custom made for me by my friend GatesMcCloud. Check him out, he runs a very fun series! And I actually have all the artwork for the next chapter all ready to go this time, so it's just a matter of finding time to write! Yay! There's still a couple of pieces I need for future chapters, so if you can draw a wizard or a bookcase then drop me a line!

Rarity's deck was the third deck I came up with, after I realized this was turning into a story instead of just idle thoughts, and I was still coming up with how I wanted these duels to work. Rarity is going to duel at least once more in this story, but I've used almost all of her unique cards in this duel. Had I known how long this was going to turn into, I'd have spread them out more... at least her concept was easy enough to work out. Her deck is comprised of Equip spells that have a positive effect on her own monsters which is detrimental on her opponent monsters, while her fiends effects make the bonuses/penalties even bigger. I wish equip spells got a bit more love in the series, but I almost never see them anymore. It's a shame...

It's finally time! The duel that inspired this story is about to begin! Anyone else super psyched?!!!!

Turn 7: White Dragon's Roar vs. Royal Magical Library

Kaiba Twilight

4000 4000

“No sense drawing this out, so I’ll start with my best!” Twilight declared, taking a card from her hand and slamming it onto her disk. “I summon the Royal Magical Library in defense mode!”

The ground around her feet rumbled and shook, and a huge wooden bookcase burst up from the floor behind her. Several more shelves rose up after the first, forming a half ring around Twilight’s side of the field nearly twenty-five feet high. The shelves creaked with the weight of the tomes they contained and little trails of dust fell down here and there. Several podiums floated on platforms about the higher shelves, each on held aloft on a dull green crystal sphere.

Kaiba snorted. “This is your best? I don’t know if anyone has told you yet, but that lousy piece of furniture doesn’t even have a single attack point! Or is your deck just so second-rate that it really is the best you’ve got?”

“Laugh while you can,” Twilight said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder, “but I’ve got complete faith in my cards. In fact, I predict that you will not be able to get past my library at all!”

“You’re delusional! A monster that weak won’t last a single turn against me.” Kaiba growled, crinkling his cards as he clenched his hand in anger.

Twilight smiled and selected another card. “We will see, won’t we? In the meantime, we are in a library. So how about something to read? I activate the Spellbook of Secrets!”

High up on the bookcase, one of the tomes suddenly lit up in a bright aura and levitated off its shelf. The book floated down on a beam of light before Twilight and she caught it, opening it to a random page and flipping through the pages with pleasure until she found the spot she wanted. As she read one of the orbs behind her lit up with an eldritch green light from within. The book faded away in her hands as a card popped halfway out of her deck.

“Was there a point to all that?” Kaiba asked impatiently, crossing his arms and tapping his foot pointedly.

“That book works a bit like an index, allowing me to find any other spellbook in my library and move it to my hand.” Twilight explained, picking out the odd card from her deck. “I think I’ll save this one for a little later when it can be of more use. Instead I’ll just lay these two cards face down and end my turn. Let’s see what you’ve got!”

“Heh. Very well, but you're going to regret asking for it!” Kaiba said, drawing his card to start the turn.

“Hey Yugi, you use spellcasters.” Mai said, leaning down a bit so she could talk into his ear. “Do you know what that pile of books can do? Is it as powerful as she claims?”

“I have seen the Royal Magical Library before.” The Pharaoh said, thinking back to the card shop Yugi’s grandfather owns. “It's not very rare and it does contain a special power, but to do what she’s claiming… I wonder just how she’s planning on using it…”

“I summon X-Head Cannon!” Kaiba declared, continuing the duel. A robot materialized on his field and leveled its shoulder-mounted cannons down at Twilight.

The duelist stood her ground defiantly. “Is that all? Like I predicted, it’s not strong enough to attack!”

“Then you need to be paying better attention!” Kaiba declared, throwing his hand out dramatically as a card appeared on his field. “I activate Photon Lead! This lets me summon any monster I’ve drawn from my deck, so it’s a good thing I drew Z-Metal Tank this turn!”

Twilight’s library glowed as another robot appeared on the field, this one a large yellow vehicle with huge tank treads. A single robotic eye on a stalk poked out from the center on the tank and regarded its opponent in a calculating fashion. Sparks of electricity slowly built up between the two monsters until they were connected by a web of lightning.

The first robot rose into the air on the bed of electricity and hovered above the tank, which was drawn up after it. A hatch opened on the back of the tank; a perfect circle of black that the Cannon’s base slammed into like a key into a lock. With a loud snap of clamps locking into place the two monsters finished transforming and dropped back to the ground with an earthshaking thump.

“As you have probably already guessed, these two monsters are a little special.” Kaiba said, smugness dripping from his words like icing. “I can combine them together into one much stronger monster with an attack of twenty-four hundred! Which means it’s time to say bye-bye to that library you’ve put so much ‘faith’ in. Blast it to bits!”

During the few seconds it took for the twin cannons on the machine’s shoulders to charge Twilight thrust out her hand at one of her face-downs. “I told you it wouldn’t be that easy, remember? I’ll use my Reliable Guardian to raise the library’s defenses!”

A magical aura surrounded the Library seconds before the cannons fired. Its beams were halted in their tracks by the magic protection scant inches from the wizened books. For a little bit the attack strained against the magic as if it might break through anyway, but then they gave up all at once and faded away.

Kaiba
3700

“And that’s three!” Twilight continued, gesturing at her library. All three of the orbs now glowed with a bright green aura. “Every time one of us uses a spell card, the Royal Magical Library generates a spell counter. Thank you for helping me charge up, it’s making my job that much easier!”

“Play around all you like.” Kaiba growled, playing one card face down. “Maybe if you struggle enough I might even start to care. Now take your turn before I fall asleep!”

“Not just yet, I’ve got one more card to play!” Twilight interrupted, activating her other card. “Let’s put those spell counters to use. I activate the Pitch-Black Lode Stone!”

Her card flipped up and vanished, leaving a large red crystal floating in deep shadow on her field. It pulsed with a deep blood-red light and the library responded, shuddering a little with a rustle of dried pages. The green glow leeched out of the orbs about the library and shot across to the stone, revolving around it like electrons in an atom.

Kaiba grunted as Twilight drew her card and studied her hand. What was the point of that move? If she’d left those counters on the library, she could have spent them to draw another card. So why shift them to a card that can’t make any use of them?

Applejack shuddered and rubbed her upper arms. “Urg, it always creeps me out when she’s usin’ them Pitch-Black cards.”

“What can you say? They’re too useful for her strategy.” Rarity replied with a shrug. “But I do agree they could have done with a more tasteful design…”

Twilight smiled and finished picking her card. “Well, it’s not the most optimal time but it’ll have to do. I summon Rune, Research Librarian to the field!”

A young woman dressed in green clothes appeared on her field, cocking one hand on its hips and tilting its head to the other side. It looked the combination robots up and down like she wasn’t impressed by what it saw, then looked over its shoulder at Twilight. Twilight nodded to it and picked another card out of her hand.

“Alright, now to give her something to read. I activate the Spellbook of Power!” Another book shot off the bookshelf in a stream of magic and deposited itself into Rune’s waiting arms. The monster glowed as it began to read the book’s contents. “This spellbook grants Rune an extra one thousand points of magical power, not to mention adding another spell counter to the Magical Library. And now she’s got just enough attack points to defeat that Cannon of yours. I attack with Shining Flashcards!”

The book dematerialized from out of the spellcaster’s hands, leaving them surrounded in a heavy emerald aura. Rune flicked its hands and they were suddenly bristling with squares of pure silver energy. It threw its hands wide and hurled a cloud of the shining papers in a blazing gale. The energy blades struck and detonated all about the robot, quickly obscuring it in a cloud of smoke.

Kaiba
3600

Twilight’s hand drifted towards her deck. “And that spellbook had one more trick up its pages. Now that Rune’s destroyed a monster, I can take any spellbook I want from my deck and add it to my hand-”

“You might want to check your work, girl.” Kaiba interrupted. “I think you are a few steps ahead of yourself.”

“What are you talking about…?” Twilight trailed off with a gasp as the smoke started to clear from the field. The X-Head Cannon was slowly revealed, completely unharmed by the magic barrage. The same could not be said of the tank though, as it was broken and falling apart by the second. With a clang the Head Cannon disengaged from the other monster and the tank fell apart into a pile of scrap.

“I discarded the weaker monster to save the stronger.” Kaiba said callously, crossing his arms. “That means your little bookworm didn’t destroy anything on her own, so no cards.”

“Alright, I get it…” Twilight grumbled, setting another card on the field. “I’ll just put this face down and end my turn. That means my Pitch-Black Lode Stone draws off another spell counter from the library.”

Kaiba snorted derisively as another green light joined the other three orbiting her trap and drew a card to begin the turn. “Whatever. I’ve got a way to put a stop to your little light show for good. And the first step is to summon Saggi the Dark Clown!”

A multicolored monster somersaulted out of a burst of light next to the Cannon. It stopped in midair, floating with its legs crossed and its head cupped in one of its hands in a bored way. It grinned and revealed that all of its teeth were sharpened to points.

“And you were making fun of my monsters…” Twilight said archly, clearly unimpressed with the clown.

The rich boy crossed his arms and grinned to himself. “You know, I was half-convinced this duel might actually get interesting eventually, but I’ve got you figured out. You’ve got nothing in your deck but these weak little magicians and you rely entirely on spell cards to make them a threat. Which makes me wonder… what if I were to get rid of all your spells?

“I activated the trap card Patient Zero!” he declared, throwing a hand out suddenly at his trap. The card flipped up and a simple syringe full of a clear fluid floated out of the card image. The needle shot forward and embedded itself in the clown’s neck. Saggi shrieked and flailed about, trying and failing to reach the needle. A dark flush started to spread out from the point of impact on the monster and out of the center of Kaiba’s trap.

“Patient Zero lets me search my deck for any virus I need,” Kaiba continued, fanning through his cards with his thumb and snatching one out with barely a glance, “And apply its effects immediately! Taste the power of Magic Removal Virus Cannon!”

As Kaiba cast the card he picked contemptuously aside, a black wave washed over his Patient Zero card, swapping the violet with green as the Virus spell took its place. A blackish flush washed over Saggi as well, but instead of transforming into something else the clown dissolved into a pile of dust and debris. A futuristic looking weapon rose out of the pile, aimed directly at Twilight’s rapidly horror-drawn face. She threw her arms up defensively as it launched a beam of sickly green energy and it slammed into her duel disk.

“NO!” Celestia exclaimed.

“TWILIGHT!” her four friends shouted in chorus.

Kaiba threw back his head and laughed. “Direct hit! Your deck has now been infected, forcing you to send every spell card straight to the graveyard!”

Twilight’s face fell as she held her deck up and looked at it in anguish. Trails of green lightning crackled around it as she pulled the cards out and started separating them. Clouds had started to gather ever since Fluttershy had played Discord and now they passed over the sun, dropping the field into a darkness that seemed deeper than it should have. Finally Twilight was done, depositing nearly half her deck into her grave slot. The disk automatically shuffled her cards when she put her deck back in, but it looked pathetically small now.

“Geez, that’s a tough blow!” Joey said with a wince of sympathy. “There anything she can do ta turn it around, Yug?”

Yugi hummed thoughtfully and a small smile ticked the corner of his mouth. “Perhaps. She does have one option, but it remains to see if she knows how to use it…”

Twilight, meanwhile, couldn’t stop staring at her deck. My whole strategy revolves around my spells! I’ve never faced a card as powerful as that before! No wonder Seto Kaiba has such a terrifying reputation. Can… can I even win now? Without my spells, how can I build up the counters I need?

She looked up and saw Kaiba standing with his arms crossed, clearly still glorifying in his last move. The field really did seem much darker than it should have been, almost more like an early evening than mid-afternoon. But because of that darkness she was able to notice a green glow just behind her out of the corner of her eye. She half turned… and noticed that one of the orbs on her Library had been activated. Somehow, she’d gained a spell counter.

Was it from his trap? Did the trap activate the Virus spell, instead of just copying its effects? She wondered, before her eyes widened with sudden realization. Wait, of course! There is still a way for me to gain counters. I just need to provoke Kaiba into using HIS spells!

“What’s wrong?” Kaiba asked. “Have you given up yet? Your deck’s got nothing left.”

Instead of answered right away, Twilight turned and looked at her friends. The hope on their faces, and Fluttershy’s still unconscious form, dispelled any lingering doubts of what she had to do. “My deck has plenty left, Kaiba. This is one duel I can’t afford to lose! Let’s continue!”

“Hmph!” Kaiba grunted before thrusting his arm out. “Well, don’t say I didn’t try to be merciful! X-head Cannon, blast that magician to pieces!”

The cannon lowered its barrels and unleashed a duel blast right in Rune’s face. The spellcaster shied away at the last second and the attack hit it in the side, shattering it into shards and smoke.

Twilight
3700

“Not so fast!” Twilight said, holding her arm up against the smoke. “There are five spell counters on the field now, so when Rune is destroyed I can draw a card!”

“So what? I’ll play one card face down and end my turn.” Kaiba concluded, setting the card and crossing his arms. “Go ahead. Let’s just see what you possibly have left.”

“Just watch!” Twilight said, drawing and studying the three cards in her hand. Exactly what I needed! I may be down to just my monsters and traps, but that means I am more likely to get the “specific” monsters and traps I want!

“I’ll start by playing this card face down, and then I’ll summon Scholar’s Apprentice!” A young girl with pink hair spun out of a pillar of light on her side of the field. The girl produced a wand from somewhere and shot off a cute salute at Kaiba with it, smiling and giving him a wink. A small green orb of magic swirled around her head in a little halo.

“The apprentice enters play with her own spell counter,” Twilight explained, pointing dramatically. “But she won’t have it for long, as I’m going to use it right away on her special ability. You’re X-Head Cannon switches into defense mode!”

The young magician gestured with the wand and the green ball zipped off and started revolving around his machine. With great reluctance the Cannon crossed its metal arms and leaned over, bowing its head. The apprentice hopped in place excitedly and twirled its wand, preparing to attack and destroy the monster.

“Do you think I’m just going to let that happen?” Kaiba cried, activating his face down. “Command Silencer stops your attack in its tracks and lets me draw a new card!”

A strange totem pole appeared out of his spell card and waves of sound poured out from the speakers set about it. The apprentice dropped to its knees before it and pressed its hands to its ears in pain.

Twilight also had her hands over her ears, but she dropped them with a grimace of relief as the sound tapered off. “Urg… fine. That’s still one more spell counter for my Library, which goes straight into the Lode Stone when I end my turn.”

“Then I’ll go!” Kaiba spat, drawing a second card. “First I’ll summon the Kaiser Sea Horse in defense mode.” A blue fish-man appeared on his field, kneeling and clutching a trident in its webbed fist. “Now I’ll use my Cannon to once again crush your monster!”

The robot powered up once again and unleashed its twin energy blast. The apprentice hid it face in its arms as the energy exploded on either side of it and it shattered into fragments. The concussion rippled Twilights clothes, but she made no other reaction to the attack.

Twilight
3600

“So fast!” Rarity exclaimed, holding up a hand daintily to her lips. “He’s hardly giving poor Twilight any time to think!”

Pegasus nodded. “That’s the point. Kaiba-boy is trying to pressure your friend into making a mistake in haste. He’s got her on the ropes… and he knows it.”

“That’s all. Go!” Kaiba shouted.

“Not just yet!” Twilight said, sweeping her hand dramatically. “Before your turn’s over, I’m going to use my trap card, Hidden Spellbook! This allows me to shuffle any two spells from my graveyard back into my deck.”

“Awesome move! Way to make a comeback!” Pinkie cheered happily.

Twilight shifted through the many cards that her disk had slid out of the grave slot before returning all but two of them. For a few seconds she held onto those cards, but she sucked in a deep, steadying breath and slipped them into her deck. The automatic shuffle system kicked in immediately. Alright, that’s a good start. I’ve got one-third of what I need to win in my hand and one-third on the field. Now I just have to hold on till I draw the last piece!

She drew and glance briefly at her new card before placing it onto the field. “I summon the Spirit of the Shelves. This ought to hold me for a few turns!”

The books in the Royal Magical Library seemed to sway on their shelves and a rustling filled the air, as if a breeze was upsetting a thousand dry pages. Slowly a ghostly figure appeared, floating out through the bookcases as if it had been there the whole time. The specter raised its empty gaze and settled it on the enemies before it.

“As long as I have a Library on my side of the field, the Spirit of the Shelves’ attack points go up to two thousand!” Twilight pointed at the X-Head Cannon. “Spirit! I’m tired of that thing blowing up all my monsters. Get rid of it for me, OK?”

The ghost floated forward, its ethereal robe billowing as if suspended in water. The robot looked up at it as it rose up, and the gears in its neck made a whirring noise. The spirit’s eyes flashed in anger at the sound like the god of all angry librarians and it swooped down upon the Cannon in an instant. It wasn’t clear exactly what the spirit did then, but Kaiba’s monster detonated a moment later, whatever it was.

Kaiba
3400

“And that’s not all!” Twilight lectured proudly as a bright light enveloped her. “When the Spirit of the Shelves destroys a monster, I gain life equal to the number of spell counters on the field times one hundred!”

Twilight
4200

“Heh…” Kaiba chuckled, completely unaffected by the loss. “Big mistake.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked suspiciously.

He smirked and drew, before shooting her a glance so intense it made her back up a step. “You should have destroyed my Kaiser Sea Horse this turn instead. You see, if I sacrifice it to summon a light attribute monster, it counts as two sacrifices.”

“Oh no!” Yugi shouted in realization.

“Too late!” Kaiba declared, slamming a card onto his disk with triumph. “I summon the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

A pillar of light shot out of the ground around his remaining monster and disappeared into the cloud cover above. The light vanished off and for a little while nothing happened. Then a large, shining form descended, the clouds billowing off its scales like water. The fearsome dragon was soon revealed completely for all to see and it roared, declaring its presence on the field in a commanding way.

“Wow… ah can’t believe ah’m actually seein’ the Blue-Eyes in the flesh…” Applejack said, momentarily awestruck. Rainbow nodded, too similarly stunned to comment.

“Now let’s see, who should I destroy…?” Kaiba gloated, smirking down his nose at her. “That annoying ghost or your precious library? Eenie, meenie, minie… you! Blue-Eyes, unleash your White Lightning!”

The Blue-Eyes opened its jaws wide and a terrifyingly large ball of electricity gathered in its maw. With another roar the lightning burst forth in a stream of destruction straight down at Twilight’s field. Her Spirit of the Shelves was engulfed by the attack, wailing in horror as it dissolved into less than nothing. Twilight threw up her arms and strained against the wind produced by the blast, struggling not to get thrown from her feet.

Twilight
3200

Kaiba threw back his head and laughed. “You know, I like that look of shock on you! How about I make it permanent by destroying all our hard work! I activate A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon!”

A golden glow began to surround his dragon as he explained. “The good news is this spell requires I return my Blue-Eyes to my hand, so you get a reprieve from its fury for now. But as a parting gift, every spell and trap card on the field is blown away in its wake. So say goodbye to all those spell counters you’ve been so carefully collecting!”

“AHH! I can’t let that happen!” Twilight cried, throwing her hand out to one of her two face-downs. “I counter with Anti-Spell!”

Kaiba’s dragon finished transforming, turning into a dragon-shaped living flame. The fire being let out a roar and swooped down from the sky towards Twilight’s field. But at the same time a pair of green orbs stopped revolving around the Lode Stone and shot forward to intercept it. Right before contact the orbs clashed together and transformed into a huge magic circle suspended in midair like a shield.

The flaming dragon slammed into the magic circle with a crash that shook the tower below. The flames raged about but proved unable to bypass the barrier. The circle dissipated, taking with it the last of Kaiba’s spell. A smoky haze laying heavily in the air above them was all that was left of the clash.

“Whooo, that was close…” Twilight said, putting a hand to her chest and breathing a sigh of relief. “I had to spend two of my spell counters to activate that trap, but since that Wingbeat of Giant Dragon was a spell, I get a least one of my counters back.”

Kaiba grunted and set a card on the field. “Whatever. I end my turn.”

“Eh?” Joey exclaimed before breaking out into a wide grin. “Look at that! Kaiba’s wide open!”

Seto shot him a glare that caused Joey to take a step back before remembering himself. “Don’t offer me your weak insights, Wheeler. It’s just an embarrassment. Now watch.”

Twilight drew her card for the turn and compared it to the one in her hand. After a moment she sighed and set the card she drew. “All I can do is play this face-down.”

Once again Kaiba laughed at her. “See? You’ve been getting lucky these last few turns drawing monsters, but no one can keep that up for long. Now watch a real turn!”

He drew and played the card after barely giving it a glance. “Card of Demise! This card lets me refresh my hand up to five cards, provided I discard my whole hand five turns from now. Not that this duel will last that long, especially after I summon Y-Dragon Head!”

Electricity surged around his field as he summoned his latest robot. The machine flapped its metal wings and hovered menacingly.

“Next I will use Soul Release to remove up to five monsters from any graveyard I wish. And I think I’ll be using it to eliminate the X-Head Cannon and Z-Metal Tank.”

“Why would you do that to your own monsters?” Twilight asked in confusion. Out of the corner of her eye she noted the second spell counter appearing on her library, but Kaiba no longer seemed to care about conserving spells.

“Because there’s more than one way to summon a monster!” Kaiba declared, playing yet another card. “I use the spell Dimension Fusion to return them to their rightful place on my field!”

Kaiba
1400

The air rippled and shimmered as his two machines once again made an appearance on either side of the dragon. Sparks of static quickly surrounded the three monsters as they rose into the air, repositioning above each other. With a loud clacking sound the dragon’s wings retracted into its body, which was pulled up and connected to the round base of the Cannon. The circular shutter opened on the back of the tank and the dragon slammed down into it, completing the combination.

“Behold the complete form of my XYZ Dragon Cannon!” Kaiba declared, spreading his hands wide. “And now that it’s complete, it has a new ability. By discarding one card, I can take down any card on your field. Such as that Royal Magical Library, which has been an eyesore for far too long!”

As Kaiba discarded a Vorse Raider from his hand, the barrels on the Cannon’s shoulders lowered and began to collect energy. At the same time a pair of hatches opened on either tank tread to reveal more cannons and the dragon’s mouth opened, exposing yet another barrel. All five cannons fired at once and laced Twilight’s bookcase with their deadly energies. The whole thing caught fire instantly and the air was filled with the burning remains of books. With a heavy groan the shelves collapsed backwards and filled her field with dust and burning embers.

“And my monster still has its attack left!” Kaiba cried, and the Dragon Cannon unleashed another barrage. The blasts dispersed the cloud of smoke in their wake, revealing Twilight taking the attack directly in the chest. She was blown backwards but somehow managed to stay on her feet, albeit shaking with the effort.

Twilight
400

“Hold on, Twilight!” Rainbow shouted, clutching her hands. Her friends all called out encouragement, but that last attack had driven the breath out of her and she was too busy panting to respond.

“How was that?” Kaiba demanded triumphantly. “Wasn’t it you that said I was never going to destroy that card? Well? Are you ready to give up yet?”

Twilight muttered something, and Seto leaned forward. “What was that? I didn’t catch it.”

“I said,” Twilight whispered, her voice growing louder as she drew a card. “You should have finished me off when you had the chance! I activate the spell card Pot of Greed!”

“You saved two spells out of all your deck, and you chose that for one of them? Why?” Kaiba asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

Because it lowers the number of cards in my deck! Twilight thought as she lay her fingers on the top two cards. If I can just draw the REAL spell I wanted to save… come on, I’ve got a 22.3% chance of finishing it right now!

She drew her two new cards and held them up hopefully, and her face fell when she saw the spell wasn’t among them. Glancing up and gritting her teeth, she grabbed one of them and slapped it onto her disk. “Well, not what I was hoping for, but this should end it all right now! I summon Little Level Leveler!”

A small girl in a frilly dress popped into existence in midair before Twilight. When the girl’s feet landed on the ground a shimmering magical circle appeared and a breeze seemed to ruffle its clothing from below. Tiny fragments of white magic in the shape of butterflies began fitting about around it.

“Little Level Leveler’s special ability lets her destroy one monster on the field whose level is equal to or less than the number of spell counters on the field.” Twilight shouted.

Kaiba grunted and cut his hand sharply. “Then you had better check your math! With my monsters fused together, their level is now eight, and you only have five counters!”

“Not if I use the Pitch-Black Power Stone!” Twilight declared, activating her last trap. “It automatically generates three fresh spell counters, giving the Leveler just enough power to blast your tin soldier apart!”

Her trap card pulsated and each of the three points on its triangle glowed bright green. At the same time a bright green aura surrounded the little girl and suddenly there were scores of butterflies at its back, gathered together in a pair of clumps that almost looked like wings. The twin trails rose up from its back and shot forward in a surge of tiny, flapping wings. The stream hit Kaiba’s monster right in the X-Head Cannon’s chest, carving a hole straight through to the other side.

Twilight pumped her arms in celebration as his monster detonated in a giant cloud of obscuring smoke. The smoke swirled around for a few seconds… and then suddenly bulged out on the sides. The Metal Tank dove out of the cloud to the right and the Dragon Head when out the left, each one settling on new spaces on the field. Between them, the smoke cleared just enough to reveal Kaiba chuckling to himself with a shit-eating grin.

“Wha-what just happened?!” Twilight cried, taking a step back in surprise.

The smoke cleared a little more, showing that Kaiba had also used his face down card. “Just my De-Fusion. I split up the Dragon Cannon before you could destroy it, so all your little girl took out was the X-Head Cannon. Too bad, so sad.”

“No…” Twilight muttered, before looking at her last two cards. “I’ll set this face down. And… I have to end my turn…” Her Lode Stone pulsated once more and all three counters were drawn off her Power Stone, which faded away now that it was empty.

“Then it’s time to finish this!” Kaiba shouted, drawing a card and not even sparing it a look. “I sacrifice my two machines to summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon once more!”

The robots glowed white before disappearing in a blinding flash of light. When it faded the Blue-Eyes was floating on the field above Kaiba’s head and it let loose its iconic roar.

Kaiba dramatically thrust his hand out palm up and his voice rose into a commanding stage tenor. “Blue-Eyes! This battle has gone on for long enough! Finish it!”

In answer, the dragon roared and let loose another blast of pure white lightning from its mouth. The blasted took the little girl full on and it disintegrated almost instantly. The blast passed over twilight and hid her from view.

Kaiba threw back his head and roared with laughter, but his mirth faded to nothing as he noticed that his Blue-Eyes wasn’t fading away. “That should have ended the duel. What did you do?”

“That same thing you did; saved myself with a face down.” Twilight replied, as the light faded to show her still standing. “This card is called Pitch-Black Phylactery. Not only does it prevent all damage I took from that attack, but now I get new spell counters equal to my Leveler’s level!”

Her remaining trap, like all the other Pitch-Black cards, pulsated sickeningly as it activated. Four blobs of green light rose out of its surface and shot forward to join the rest around the Lode Stone, which could now barely be seen under its cloud of counters. The Phylactery card faded away, its job done.

“You’re only delaying the inevitable!” Kaiba spat, looking at his remaining card for the first time. “Looks like I’ve got a Pot of Greed as well.” He activated it and drew two new cards. He scowled at them, set one on the field, and then crossed his arms, clearly waiting for her to make a move.

“Whoo…” Rarity sighed, placing a hand to her chest. “I don’t think this duel is good for my heart…”

“I know what you mean.” Joey replied. The two of them blinked, realized they were agreeing on something, and turned away from each other pointedly.

Twilight took one more calming breath and touched the top card of her deck. Alright, only a 14.3% chance of this being the card I need, and if it isn’t… no, I can’t think about that! I need to trust that this is the card! For my friends! For everyone the Discord card could hurt if I let it go free! This is the last card!

She drew.

“Well?” Kaiba barked. “Did you at least get something to guard with?”

“No,” Twilight said, and then broke out into a wide smile, “Not to guard. I’ve got all I need to finally attack!”

“What?!” Kaiba exclaimed.

“I use my last spell, Magical Incarnation Process!” Twilight shouted, activating it. The spell counters on her trap card spun about into a frenzy, going faster and faster before shooting off into the sky. They arced and slammed down onto the ground, collecting into three piles of green fire. Rising out of these flames came a trio of figures, vaguely humanoid and composed entirely of emerald energy.

“This spell brings my spell counters to life!” she explained, “For every four counters I use up, I get a new monster. And each one has twelve hundred attack and defense points.”

Kaiba tilted his head back angrily. “So what? That’s far too low to take on my ultimate monster!”

Twilight shook her head and held up her last card, the one she’d been holding onto since the beginning of the duel. “Alone, they are no threat, like you say. But together, they can help me bring out my deck’s true power. One of the god cards I got from my mentor!”

“WHAT?!?” Kaiba shouted, shocked to his core.

“God card?!” Yugi, Joey, and Mai all said in unison.

Pegasus shot a sideways look of shock at Celestia. “You gave them to her?” Celestia smiled and kept her eyes on her student.

All three of her magic tokens raised their arms and shot off in a trio of emerald streams of light into the clouds above. There was a blinding flash from behind the clouds and they were pushed aside as something descended down through them. The figure shone like the sun, its very presence dispelling the gloomy aura that had been clinging to the field lately. Its clothes and long rainbow-colored hair flowed like water around it, and it didn’t need to beat its wings as it descended to the field.

Everyone looked up at it in awe, but because of where she was standing Twilight was the only one to notice something strange in the newly revealed sky. For a few seconds, it looked like there was a bank of stars in the sky on the other side of the castle, back in the direction of the docks and helicopter pad. Then the sky seemed to shimmer and the stars vanished, but she was sure that they had been there.

Twilight shook her head and set aside that mystery for later; there was something much more important she had to deal with right now. “Behold Solis Tia, the Heliosphere! The Goddess of the Rising Sun, she brings forth a light that reveals every hidden secret. Every card is laid bare before it!”

Kaiba’s face down card suddenly became transparent, revealing itself to be an Attack Guidance Armor. At the same time a hologram of the card in his hand rose up from that card and showed that he was holding a Polymerization. It began to glow with a green aura.

“And now that every card is revealed, Solis Tia gains one thousand attack points for every spell card!” Twilight said, as her goddess glowed with the stolen green energy of Kaiba’s card.

“So what?” Kaiba shouted, recovering enough of his reserve to bare his metaphorical fangs. “That only means our monsters are equal! You don’t have enough cards to overcome me!”

“I never said I was finished!” Twilight returned, “And neither is Solis’s effect. Now you dragon is going to lose one thousand points for every trap card we have, and I count two!”

“NO!” Kaiba screamed as the Blue-Eyes was wrapped in a violet aura. His trap and her Lode Stone were covered in a similar light and the dragon roared again in defiance as its power was stripped away. This can’t be happening! The only one who can beat me is Yugi! Who does this girl think she is?

Twilight spread her arms and Solis Tia did the same. “It’s over, Seto! Daylight Radiance!”

The goddess glowed brighter and brighter until it was painful to look at. The dragon was transfixed by the light, first as a silhouette, then as a single streak of matter, and then finally nothing.

Kaiba
0

The blinding light vanished as their duel disks disengaged, and just like that the first round of the tournament ended. Twilight dropped to her knees and wiped an arm over her sweating brow. That duel had taken a lot more out of her than she was comfortable admitting.

“Bah!” Kaiba shouted, spinning on his heel and stalking towards the exit. “Whatever. I didn’t want to take part in this farce of a tournament anyway, so this works out just fine by me! I’ll let myself out.”

“Grrr… why don’t you try being a graceful loser, you rich-!” Joey started, but Yugi caught him by the arm and held him back.

“Let him go. It’s probably the best we can expect out of him.” Yugi said, and Joey calmed down enough to nod sagely.

“That was amazing, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shouted, dashing forward and eagerly helping her to her feet. “You just beat Seto Kaiba! The Seto Kaiba! How did it feel?!”

“Exhausting…” Twilight said honestly, and then peered worriedly over RD’s shoulder. “What about Fluttershy? Has she woken up yet?”

Pinkie was sitting with Fluttershy’s head in her lap and she shook her head. The news dampened Twilight’s mood and she crossed over join the rest of her friends.

“I’m also concerned about that.” Pegasus said, speaking loud enough to address everyone present. “I propose we wait fifteen minutes before starting the next round, if for no other reason than to get the poor girl more comfortable. I’ll have one of my staff take a look at her and see what’s wrong.”

“Thank you, Maximillion.” Celestia said, bowing her head in gratitude. A couple of suited men rushed up and helped carry Fluttershy as they led the rest of the party inside.

As they started walking, the Pharaoh stepped up to Pegasus and put a hand on his shoulder. “You never mentioned there were other God cards.”

“Well… that’s because there aren’t any others. Not yet, anyway…” Yugi raised his eyebrow, but it was Celestia who answered his unasked question.

“They were designed by myself, and in fact are why we are here today.” The girls perked up their ears and listened in as Celestia continued. “See, there has been a lot of magic disturbances lately which we’ve just barely been able to hold off on our own. As I understand it, you’ve had your share of dangerous magic here as well, but you’ve had the God cards to deal with it. So when I talked to Maximillion on the subject, we came up with this little competition, to see if my girls are ready to handle a power like the Gods.”

“You mean…” Twilight said, staring down at her deck in a new light.

“Indeed.” Celestia nodded. “If Maximillion’s team wins, it means we don’t have what it takes to handle Gods, and he also gets to study my card designs to find ways to improve them. But if we win, then he will acknowledge your ability.

“And then he will tell me how to turn the three special cards I gave you into God Cards.”

…

A little earlier…

“Is that Discord?!” Spike cried out in fear as he stared out the window of the helicopter.

“I do not understand how it can be, but it is.” Luna replied, looking over his shoulder. “The situation must be more dangerous than I feared. We must land immediately!”

The pilot nodded and swung the copter around, angling down to land on the private helicopter pad adjacent to the castle. As soon as the wheels touched down the two passengers were out of their seats and hopping out the door. Luna turned to give the pilot some final instructions, but the words lodged in her throat as the pilot suddenly slumped forward in his chair, unconscious.

At the same time, Spike shout out in surprise. “Hey, someone was waiting for us!”

Luna spun around and saw that the path to the castle was blocked by a man wearing a black hooded cloak. The hood was up and it hid his face from view. The man was giving off such an aura of menace that she immediately knew that the pilot’s plight was his doing.

“Who are you?” she demanded, taking a step forward to place herself between Spike and the stranger.

The man stepped forward like a sleepwalker, but his voice was strong and even. “Nobody important. But my Master won’t allow you to interfere with his work on this island. So you two are going to stay put down here with me.”

“Yeah right!” Spike shouted, and before she could stop him he ran out from behind her.

The man thrust out his arm but Spike was too nimble, easily ducking low enough to go under it without breaking stride. But instead the air seemed to ripple and Spike found himself halted in midair. Some unseen force hurled him backward and he yelled out in surprise, barely managing to keep ahold of the steel briefcase he was in charge of. Luna backed up and caught him in her arms, but his momentum caused her to fall back against the helicopter.

“What… what was that?!” Spike sputtered as she sat him down.

“There must be more behind this stranger than first appears.” She said, but was interrupted as something flew through the air towards them. She reached up on reflex and caught the object, which turned out to be a duel disk.

The man had thrown it and doing so had caused his cowl to fall back. The man had stubble all down his chin and wore shiny black sunglasses. A bandana patterned after the American flag held back the man’s dirty blond hair.

“Well, if you're that eager to get past me, then duel for it.” The stranger said, pulling back the cloak to show he was already wearing a disk. “But you know, there’s quite a penalty in it if you lose!”

Luna gritted her teeth and stood up, buckling the disk onto her arm. Spike sat up and grabbed her arm as she drew her deck out of her pocket. “No! It has to be some kind of trap. At least use these…”

He fumbled with the latch to the briefcase, but Luna lay a calming hand over his and drew his attention back to her. “Those cards are not for me. Keep them safe.”

She turned to her opponent and slammed her cards home in the disk. “This man seems to have some kind of power at his disposal. If he intends to stand in our way, then it falls to me to show him what power really is!”

Bandit Keith grinned and held up his disk at the ready. "I'd like to see you try!"

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Trigger Happy vs. Clear Night's Sky

Author's Note

Well, these chapters just keep getting longer and longer, don't they? The good news is that I don't need to search for any more artwork for cards, so all I need to do is write now! On the other hand, I've REALLY been neglecting my other stories, so I probably won't post another chapter of this until I update them. Don't worry though, I've been looking forward to this particular duel for quite a while now, so it won't be long!

Twilight's deck contains the least fake cards out of all the decks I've put together, Pinkie's possibly notwithstanding. But come on, there was literally a card called the Royal Magical Library! And a whole series of magic books, including cards that are LITERALLY the secret libraries of the SUN and MOON! What was I supposed to do, make weak replacements that would be basically the same thing? At least there's the fact that no one in the show has ever used Spell Counters before so she still has something unique going. You'll see more of her deck in later duels.

Seto Kaiba is his own worst enemy. There were so many points here he probably could have won, but he always seems to try for the big victory rather than fast one. Putting this duel together was really tough, because it all spawned from the thought "I wonder how Twilight would respond to Kaiba's kill-all-spells virus" before realizing I have no idea how she's recover. This is also the only time a Yugioh character is going to use one of my fake cards. But in my defense "Patient Zero" seems like a card that should really be in his deck anyway, so I didn't feel too bad about adding it.

And hey! I crunched the numbers, and we aren't even halfway through this story yet! There's plenty of cards yet to play, so stick around!

Next chapter: Plot! And maybe we see just who our second villain is going to be...

Turn 8: Trigger Happy vs. Clear Night's Sky

Keith Luna
4000 4000

“Before we begin, there is one thing I must make clear.” Luna said sternly, taking a step forward and holding up her disk threateningly. “I want your word that this duel will be just between us, and regardless of the outcome that young Spike will be safe.”

The man tilted his head to the side and grinned. “Now, what kinda sense does that make? I already told you that I’m not supposed to let anyone get passed, so that brat’s as deep into this as you are!”

Her eyes narrowed to slits, but otherwise Luna kept her calm. “I see. Then may I ask your name?”

“Don’t see anything wrong with that.” The man jabbed a thumb into his breast and threw out another cocky grin. “The name’s Bandit Keith! Remember it the next time someone asks who stamped you into pulp!”

“I only ask because I like to remember the names of those whom I have crushed!” Luna declared, taking the first turn with a decisive snap of her wrist. “I utilize the field spell Empyrean, Cradle of the Stars!”

A bright light built up in her disk as she slipped the card into the field spell slot. The light grew until it was almost painful to look at and suddenly shot up into the sky. The beam hit the slowly gathering cloud cover and burst, chasing away the clouds in a great circle far above the duel. Instead of the light blue that should have been there at this afternoon hour, the clearing revealed a sky as pitch black as the deepest night.

“Showy, but what’s it do?” Keith asked snidely.

“You will find out in due time.” Luna informed him, slotting her next card into place. “I place one card in reverse and summon forth my first soldier, the mighty Ursa Major!”

For a moment her card shimmered into being on her field, but the card was almost instantly overcome by an inky violet darkness shot with pinpoints on light. The rectangle of night sky held for a few seconds more, and then the stuff seemed to flow out in a tide that seemed to go on and on. The stuff build up on itself and unfolded into the shape of a great bear rising up three stories over the little people around it. The bear was partially see-through and its shining purple body was speckled with bright stars. A golden eight-point star was stamped across the monster’s brow.

“And so I turn over priority to you.” Luna proclaimed, taking a step back stiffly with one leg to stare back at him from the side.

“That’s sure a big guy!” Kaith whistled as he drew a card. “But its points don’t match its bulk at all! Now let me show you a real badass monster! Watch closely now; this guy’s called the Twin Barrel Dragon and he’s got a one in four shot of showing up bearing gifts!”

A robotic creature popped onto his side of the field and landed on its springy legs with a little bounce. The thing looked like a raptor crossed with a handgun, and as Luna watched the two gun barrels that made up its head started flashing bright red. They alternated on and off for a few second before both barrels lit up and stayed that way.

At this, Bandit Keith burst out with braying laughter. “Lookit that! The little guy’s just foaming at the mouth to tear you apart! With both barrels lit, my dragon can shoot down any card I want. Time to make a rug outta that bear!”

The dragon leaned back and shot a ball of energy straight into the Ursa Major’s chest. The shot went straight into the monster and detonated, and then the bear started to fall apart. Its violet glow faded to nothing, leaving only a few shining pinpricks of light floating on the field. The lights suddenly shot up and settled on one part of the night sky, arranging themselves into a simple pattern that was clearly a constellation.

“What the crap was that all about…” Keith muttered, but shook his head and put it out of mind for the moment. He picked another card from his hand as steam hissed out of his monster’s cooling barrels. “I think I’ll use Machine Assembly Line to raise my machines’ attack points by a cool two hundred. Now blast her with a direct attack!”

The robot glowed as his spell gave it just a little extra power. It rocked back on its springy legs and took aim.

“Just a moment, I wish to use the trap known as Needlebug Nest!” Luna declared, started to pull cards from her deck. “This card has the ability to send the top five cards of my deck straight to the grave. And it just so happens that all five are Star Beasts!”

She held up the five cards and streams of light streaked out of them, showering up into the sky. When the light show was finished there now existed half a dozen constellations high above them and the light radiating down was much brighter. This mattered little to Keith’s dragon, which fired its attack with a snap of its head. The red energy bullet slammed into Luna’s chest and rocked her back a step, and the cards she’d be holding out flew out from her nerveless fingers.

Luna
2700

“Wait a minute, what is this crap!” Keith cried, pointing an accusing finger at her. “You should have taken way more damage than that!”

Luna panted a little but steadied herself, looking threateningly up at him through the hair that had fallen over her face. “My Star Beasts are a special breed of monster which only I possess, and they do not rest in the graveyard when they are destroyed. Rather, they leave the game entirely and retire to the heavens!”

She brushed the errant hairs back into place and pointed dramatically into the sky. “Once there they build in power, increasing the strength of every Star Beast that comes after. And so long as Empyrean exists to house them, each one will protect me from one hundred points of damage apiece!”

“Tch, what a pain…” Keith growled, gritting his teeth. “I end my turn there. And don’t get too cocky about that move, you just lucked out getting so many monsters like that!”

“Not true.” Luna said, snapped the top card from her deck out decisively. “I use very little spells or traps, so most of my deck is comprised of monsters. Monsters such as Scorpius!”

Once again her card appeared and a mass of nebulous stars poured out of it, this time taking on the form of a reddish scorpion. It stood about half the size the bear had been and the eight-point star on its brow was a bright purple. It raised its pincers into the air and clicked them threateningly.

“Scorpius may not have the sheer power necessary to defeat that creature,” Luna continued, “But the ability it possesses more than makes up for its inevitable loss! Scorpius, gather the strength of your fallen brothers and strike this loathsome man!”

Another small beam of light joint the heavens as Luna discarded another one of her cards to activate Scorpius’s effect. The little light given off by the stars seemed to focus on the monster below and the scorpion raised its tail high. A glowing coal of light grew on the tip of its stinger and burst forth, carving a line down the front of Keith’s shirt. Keith clutched at his chest and glared daggers at the monster.

Keith
3300

“And the beast sacrificed to Scorpius was Corvus, the little crow!” Luna continued, fanning out her deck with her free hand. “When the sign of Corvus ascends, any card graced with the name of Welkin goes right to my hand.”

“So what?!” Keith shouted, drawing a card. “You think a little scratch like that was supposed to be impressive? I barely felt it! And now I’m going to trade up my Twin Barrel for a Blowback Dragon!”

His robot was sacrificed for a much larger version, and the mechanical terror glowed as his spell card powered it up a bit. It rocked back on its legs and let loose a squealing metal roar.

“In case you haven’t been paying attention, my dragons all run on a similar theme.” Keith said, grinning fit to split his face in two. “And Blowback’s one of the best! Once per turn, this guy’s got a fifty-fifty chance of blowing any card on the field straight to hades!”

“Th-that’s not fair!” Spike interrupted.

“Fair?” Keith glared at the boy with such menace that the rest of his objections lodged in his throat. “Have you ever stared down the barrel of a gun, knowing that whether or lived or died was up to nothing but blind luck? I have, and let me tell you something.” He broke out into a smile that could only be described as lunatic. “Nothing make you feel more alive!”

Luna held out a calming hand to Spike. “Do not worry, my friend. His servant may be strong, but I have faced danger of this kind before. And more to the point, that strength comes with a price; he can exert no control over it at all. He has sacrificed precision for power and that is where our victory lies.”

The Blowback Dragon had been pulsing all during this exchange, light traveling up its spinal nodes and causing the barrel of its face to flash. As soon as Luna uttered those words something like the hammer of a pistol cocked up and slammed into the back of the dragon’s head. There was a loud, empty click and the pulsing died away, leaving the dragon standing silently on the field. Evidently, its ability wasn’t going to activate this turn.

Keith grinned and waved his cards in their direction. “See, what’d I tell you! Nothing beats the rush you get when your luck pulls in and you get to live another day, eh? Well don’t get too comfortable, I can still blast that bug apart by attacking it! Photon Blast!”

The dragon rocked back on its legs as its head snapped back from the recoil of its own attack. The energy bullet struck Scorpius dead center and the beast exploded, disappearing in a cloud of dust. Streaks of light shot up from the cloud, forming a new shape in the sky above.

Luna
2500

“Hardly any damage… that’s getting really annoying…” Keith growled. “I set one card and end my turn. Gonna play anything useful this time?”

“You shall see.” Luna said, contemplating his face down with a frown. Hmm… is it time to unleash the spell Corvus brought to me? No… that is the first trap this man has lain so far, it would be unwise to rush into it. “I summon the water bearer, Aquarius, to the field!”

The amorphous sky-stuff formed up into the shape of a light blue girl this time, with gimlets for eyes and long flowing hair. Standing at a modest story and a half, the girl carried a large vase sideways over her shoulder, and a stream of sparkling water gushed continuously from it.

“My Aquarius washes any monster with less stars than those I have gathered in the sky back to your hand.” Luna declared with a wave, and the water pulsed forth at her command. It instantly became a towering wave that caught the Blowback Dragon up and threw it up over the side of the helicopter pad. The robot shimmered and disappeared as it went over, and the physical card reappeared in Keith’s hand.

“All right, now he’s defenseless!” Spike crowed, hopping a little in excitement.

Luna smirked and thrust her hand out. “Aquarius, strike him directly!”

Her star beast nodded to her with its sightless eyes, then lifted its jug high over its head. With a slash of its arms the creature brought the jug down sharply and sent a slash of water scything across the field. Through all of this Luna kept her eyes glued to Keith’s face down card, waiting to see what it going to do. So it took her by surprise when he just bowed his head and allowed the wave to slice right through him without comment.

Keith
2300

“Is that all you got?” Keith growled, throwing his hand in the air. “Then I’m going to use Fires of Doomsday to summon two tokens to my side.”

A pair of dark black flames sprang into being on his field. The fires grew a pair of thin arms and a single emerald eye in the center of their foreheads. The pair of them stared with dead-eye blankness at their opponents.

Spike sniggered and pointed at the tokens. “Did something throw off your game? You activated that too late to block the attack!”

“I do not believe those imps are for defense.” Luna admonished the boy, looking down at her hand and making some quick calculations. “I will end my turn there.”

“Then it’s time I taught you a trick!” He drew and barely glanced at the card before activating it. “I use the spell Fiend’s Sanctuary to summon a Metal Fiend Token to the field. But don’t blink, because I’m gonna sacrifice it right away!”

A magic circle appeared momentarily on his field and a thing that looked like a cross between the Doomsday tokens and a steel ringworm rose out of the center of it. Mercifully, the strange token almost immediately disappeared in a flash of light to be replaced by a new machine. This one was heavily built, with bladed armored plates covering its arms and legs. A gleaming cannon barrel rose out of each of the robot’s shoulders.

“Behold the new and improved Cannon Soldier MK-2!” Bandit Keith cried in triumph, spreading his arms wide. “Not impressed yet? We’ll see what expression’s on your face when I sacrifice my Doomsday tokens to blow your life points apart!”

The twin flames rose up and were absorbed into the engines on the robot’s back. Its double barrels lit up as it leaned over and took aim, unleashing its lasers in a deafening blast. Luna took it right to the chest and was driven back, but Spike managed to catch her before she could fall.

Luna
1000

Keith roared with laughter, clutching his sides. “I knew that shabby skyline of yours wouldn’t protect you from card effects! And none of those star beasts have an ounce of attack power worth anything! Cannon Soldier, kill that piece of trash that dared to attack me!”

The machine held up its arms and a tiny barrel popped out of the center of its stubby hands. It sprayed a stream of machine gun fire over Aquarius, who fell back with a silent scream. The girl came apart at the seams and its stars shot up into the sky to join the others.

Luna
700

“Haw haw haw!” Keith laughed, reveling in the moment. “Just watch those life points fall! Is there anything better? Now show me a face that’s lost all hope!”

“I am sorry to disappoint, but you have not broken my spirit yet.” Luna replied. Despite the situation, a satisfied smile graced her face.

“How can you be so calm?! Don’t you know what’s at stake?!” Keith demanded.

Luna shook her head and pointed up at the stars above her. “It doesn’t matter whether I win this duel or not; my only goal has been to warn my sister and her charges of the danger I sensed. My way of battling is very flashy and I watched them dueling on the roof of that castle as I arrived. By now they have seen our duel and must be wondering why I have come, and who I fight. I expect they are coming to investigate-” She was cut short as Keith brayed with laughter once again.

“You’re acting so calm because you expect the cavalry to show up?!” he gushed, doubling over with dark mirth. “Well, how about we crush that little hope of yours right now!”

He straightened up and snapped his fingers, and suddenly they could see something in the air between them and the castle. It seemed to be a clear sheet of crystal, fine enough to be near invisible, and it stretched all the way around the tower they had seen their friends on. Luna could only stare at the apparition with surprise, shaken down to her core. The magic barrier faded from sight after a moment, but she was sure it was still there, obscuring the truth from her friends.

“My Master doesn’t want anyone in the castle to be disturbed.” Bandit Keith explained, and a peculiar look of adoration momentarily crossed his face as he mentioned his master. “So he made sure that nothing would distract them from their little ‘tournament’. That means your warning has fallen on deaf ears!” He lost himself in another bout of mad laughter.

“Oh no…” Spike said, but turned sharply as Luna dropped a hand on his shoulder and pulled him close.

“There is nothing for it.” She whispered quickly, wanted to get it out quickly before Keith’s attention returned. “When I give you the signal, take the briefcase and run for the castle. Do not worry about me, just run!”

“What do you mean?” Spike asked, concerned, but she’d already turned back to the duel.

“Is it my turn?” she demanded, and then proceeded without waiting for his response. “Then I suppose there is no further need for me to drag this duel out. I cast Welkin Polymerization!”

“Someone’s all fired up.” Keith said, but craned his neck back as the stars far above them began to swirl together.

“This spell allows me to combine my constellations into new forms to serve me!” Luna declared, selecting two of her star beasts and placing them on the bottom of her deck. “I choose to fuse together Cygnus the Swan and Fornax the Furnace to form the mighty firebird, Phoenix!”

A glowing mass of bright orange star-stuff flowed down from the sky, gaining brilliance until it was almost too much to look at. The mass unfolded as the monsters wide wings unwrapped from around its body. It had a fiery crest of feathers atop its head above a golden eight-point star and three long, curving tail feathers. The great bird hung suspended in the sky and beams of light radiated off it from all angles.

Luna chopped her hand down sharply. “Phoenix, strike down his ferrous minion!”

The firebird crowed a surprisingly melodious cry and rose up with a flap of its mighty wings, turning over a backflip and flying straight at the Cannon Soldier. It grasped the robot in its talons and dragged it up into the sky. With a squeeze, the machine was split in two and the pieces fell down to the earth below, where they landed in a great eruption of dust and smoke.

Keith
1900

The Machine Assembly Line spell card, all but forgotten, suddenly lit up with power. A number of conveyor belts appeared on the ground and started trundling bits and pieces of the fallen robot into the card-face. The spell glowed with power as each bit was funneled in.

“For all your big talk, that was barely decent!” Keith grunted, drawing a card and breaking out in another grin. “Haw! I’ll show you what a REAL monster looks like. First I’ll summon this worthless Cannon Soldier, and then I’ll use Tribute Doll to trade it in for something useful!”

His newest machine appeared on his field, a weaker version of the soldier that had just been destroyed, and it barely has time to fully stand up before Keith’s spell appeared behind it. Hundreds of metallic grey threads poured out from the spell and wrapped themselves all about the Cannon Soldier. The robot flailed against their pull but was helpless as it was dragged into the card. As soon as the monster was completely consumed the card burst into brilliant light.

The thing that emerged from the light resembled his other Barrel monsters, but much larger. Its heavy metal body barely fit on the stone walkway. In addition to the long barrel that made up its head, it had two more guns on either side of its body like arms. All three barrels little up with energy and began to pulse back and forth.

“This is the one that started it all, my Barrel Dragon!” Keith crowed, spreading his arms. “Unfortunately, that shitty spell doesn’t let me attack you normally this turn, but his ability gets around that! If even one barrel has a bullet in it, it can make a magical attack on any monster! Now let’s see if my dragon’s packing heat!”

The dragon’s barrels pulsed on and off, and suddenly the one on its right side blazed fully to life. A deafening blast accompanied the gun as it fired a bright bullet that struck the firebird dead on. The phoenix screeched as it disappeared into a massive explosion, although Luna's life points remained untouched thanks to Empyrean.

“Are you sure that was the wisest move to make?” Luna asked with a hint of a smile.

“What are you blabbering about?” Keith asked irritably, but his eyes widened behind his shades as he looked up. A number of stars were flying up from the dispersing cloud to form a new constellation, but others were falling down! There were five in total, and as they reached the field they were surrounded by a roughly oval sphere of orange sky-stuff like a shell.

Luna folded her arms and looked down her nose at his confusion. “Phoenix may have passed on, but it has filled my field with a number of phoenix eggs. These eggs take on the mantle of the great bird itself, and each one will burn a portion of your life points away as long as they remain!”

The line of eggs lit up in a blazing fire, forming a wall of flames separating the two of them. Bandit Keith was also surrounded in flames and he threw his head back and howled in pain.

Keith
1400

“Now?” Spike asked, nervously bouncing from the balls of one foot to the other, but Luna shook her head softly as the fire died away and Keith leveled them with a murderous glare.

“And now, to continue…” Luna said, drawing a card and setting it aside in favor of another. “My lovely eggs have yet another use, as sacrificial material. I will exchange two of them to call forth the undisputed ruler of the night sky, the all-encompassing Draco!”

What appeared on her side of the field put all the other star beasts before it to shame. It seemed to unfold endlessly into the sky as it rose up, scrapping the heavens with its long serpentine body. Its bright emerald color shone like an expertly cut gem and the stars of its eyes burned like miniature suns. It opened its mouth and let loose a throaty roar.

“Draco is the largest monster in my domain, and the strength it possesses reflects that very aspect. For every single star on each beast in the night sky, the attack points of my dragon raise by one hundred. At present, this gives Draco a commanding power of thirty-four hundred!”

“Well, don’t you feel special!” Keith spat venomously, opening his arms in a ‘come-and-get-me’ stance. “That’s still not enough to finish me off, so bring it on!”

At that moment there was a blinding burst of light as some impossibly brilliant sun suddenly appeared above the castle. It blew away the gathering cloud cover and blotted out the night sky of Empyrean on that side completely. For a moment that magical crystal barrier was visible again and then even the top of that started to bubble away, letting loose rays of impossibly bright light.

Bandit Keith spun around and gawked up in horror. “What the crap is that?!?”

That must be Solis Tia! Luna thought, her mind racing. This could be the chance I have been waiting for!

“Spike, now!” she shouted, raising her hand up to her dragon at the same time. “Draco, unleash the power of the heavens upon him right this instant!”

Spike gulped but launched forward, placing his trust in her completely. Keith spun around at her shout and saw the boy dashing like a maniac right towards him. He held out his arm to stop him just like last time, and that was when a stream on light slammed into his Barrel Dragon from the celestial’s jaws. The resulting explosion knocked his balance away and drove him to the ground, pinning him in place for a few crucial seconds.

Keith
800

Spike leapt nimbly around the piles of scrap being carted into Keith’s spell and took off towards the waiting castle like a rocket. By the time Keith was climbing slowly to his hands and knees, he was already climbing up the large staircase. Keith caught sight on him and raised his arm, but a shout from Luna froze him in place.

“You should be paying more attention to your foe,” she cautioned him, “because I just ended my turn by laying one card in reverse. That means my trio of remaining eggs burn yet more of your life points away!”

Keith
500

Keith burst to his feet and spun around as the flames on him died away and Luna immediately became aware of two very disturbing facts. The first was that Keith had lost his bandana when he was blown over and his shades were hanging on by only one ear. The other thing was that something was terribly wrong with this man, and she immediately recognized what it was.

A jagged black and red crystal was embedded in Bandit Keith’s forehead and seemed to beat with an oppressive menace. The whites of his revealed eye had been replaced by a sickeningly bight green, and the iris glowed a blood red. Thin trails of purple mist oozed out the corner of his eye before he readjusted his shades, hiding the eye from view and cutting off the mist like magic. Above them the crystal barrier reformed itself and all at once a number of half-formed suspicions solidified in Luna’s mind.

“Sombra!” she exclaimed, staring at the possessed man in a new light. “You are the one whom I sensed at work here!”

Bandit Keith giggled and settled into a ready stance with his hand over his duel disk. “Sombra… yeah, that’s the name of my Master. And soon he’ll be yours too, as I’ve grown tired of this game! Let me show you the power that serving him brings!

“There’s not nearly enough cards in my hand to properly punish you for everything you’ve done to me, so I’ll use the Card of Demise to draw a new hand! Then I’ll use Return of the Doomed to bring my Barrel Dragon back!”

His machine reappeared on his field and leveled its various barrels at Luna’s field. However this time Keith’s luck was out, as the silence of its turrets implied that its ability had failed to activate.

Keith threw out his hand dramatically. “No matter, there’s plenty of destruction where that came from. Remember my Machine Assembly Line? It’s been gathering scrap from all the useless pieces of junk I’ve lost this duel and I’ve got enough now to bring any level four machine back together. So get ready for Twin Barrel Dragon, take two!”

His continuous spell burst into light and disappeared, leaving the small dragon standing in its place. But like his other monster its barrel only glowed for a few moments before it faded, without blowing any card apart.

Luna crossed her arms. “You are coming up short, Bandit Keith. Or has the false strength of Sombra already left you?”

“Master Sombra’s power is limitless!” Keith screamed. “Now watch closely, as I’m not going over it twice. I sacrifice Twin Barrel for Blowback Dragon once more!”

His third mechanical dragon took the place of his smallest, and this time its ability was successful. The dragon unleashed a blast that ripped Luna’s face down card from the field. She held up her arm to protect her face from the wind of the bullet’s passing.

Keith grabbed another card and rammed it home into his disk. “Hold onto your hat, because the fun is just getting started! I use Polymerization to fuse my Barrel and Blowback dragons together into the Gatling Dragon! This beast is so terrifying that it destroys a random number of monsters simply by showing up!”

His two remaining machines swirled together, becoming yet another strange fusion of metal, monster, and modern weaponry. It rolled forward on its huge spiked wheels and suddenly unleashed a flurry of bullets from its three heads. Its coil-like necks snapped around like thrashing snakes from the force of its attack, spraying bullets in literally every direction. Keith laughed his head off as bullets whizzed through the air around him, while Luna crouched down to make as small a target as possible. Draco roared in pain as countless bullets traced over its body and it detonated, along with two of the remaining eggs. Draco’s stars rose up into the sky to join the others as the mechanical horror’s barrage finally drew to a close.

The ferocity of the assault had driven the breath from her lungs, but Luna climbed to her feet resolutely and even managed a confident air. “So close, my confused foe. One egg remains, and you have finally run out of tricks!”

“You think that was all?” Keith asked in a small voice before screaming at the top of his lungs. “I’m never out of bullets! I use the spell De-Fusion!”

The last of Luna’s confidence faded from her face as the Gatling Dragon vanished and his original two monsters returned. “No…!”

“That’s right. Not only have my dragons returned, but I can use their abilities once again.” Keith raised his finger and pointed straight up. “Blowback, those shitty lights have been an eyesore for too long. Put ‘em out!”

The Blowback Dragon leaned back and after a few seconds of flashing fired a bullet straight up into the sky. It arced higher and higher before exploding into a bright supernova that shoved every star out of their proper alignments. They faded from sight as the clouds rushed in to fill the empty space. To Luna, her crumbling field spell perfectly captured her complete loss.

At least Spike made it to safety. She thought as the barrels of his other dragon began to glow. He will be able to warn them of the danger. The battle is lost, but the war may yet be saved…

The Barrel Dragon roared and launched a trio of blazing energy bullets. The first smashed her remaining egg to pieces and the last two crashed into the ground about her, lifting her from her feet and dashing her roughly against the helicopter. She dropped senseless to ground, stunned.

Luna
0

The world slowly returned to her, and the first thing she saw was that Bandit Keith was standing above her. He knelt and she saw that he was holding something in his hand. She tried to roll away from it, but her grabbed her shoulder roughly to keep her still.

“And now, your penalty for losing.” He said as he slipped the golden circlet around her throat. It tightened immediately and the bright red crystal set into its center began to beat like a heart. Her still slightly dazed eyes suddenly filled with green light and she stopped struggling, seeming to be listening to a voice only she could hear.

Keith chuckled and rose back to his feet, turning to look back at the castle. “Welcome to the service of Master Sombra, sister. And don’t worry about letting that brat get in, there’s no way he can stop our master’s plans now.

“Master Sombra’s other servants will make sure that the tournament continues just as planned.”

…

Celestia spun the golden bracelet with the red ruby on her wrist idly as she contemplated her student’s story. “A night sky in the middle of the day… I didn’t see anything myself, but there’s no reason to doubt you. It must have been my sister’s Star Beast deck. But what would she be doing on the island?”

“Why don’t we just ask her?” Applejack asked, but Celestia was already shaking her head.

“That boy Bakura still has Ataxia and Discord.” Celestia reasoned calmly. “I don’t know why Luna’s here, but whatever it is can’t be more important than getting those cards back. We have to keep this tournament running until we get those cards!”

“Well, then why don’t Rarity and I go see if we can find her?” Rainbow said, linking arms with Rarity. “We’ve already been eliminated, so there’s no reason for us to stick around. We’ll go see what she wants and be back in a flash!”

Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but Pegasus smoothly spoke first. “That’s an excellent idea! Just head back the way you arrived and you’ll find the front gates in no time. Meanwhile, we’d better get back to the match, it seems young Bakura is growing restless.”

The group turned and saw the white haired boy was watching them with a dark grin. When he saw them watching he spun on his heels and beckoned them to follow as he marched back outside to the arena.

“Don’t worry Twilight, we’ll be back in a jiffy!” Rarity said with forced cheerfulness, dropping a hand companionably on Twilight’s shoulder.

Twilight glanced at the couch where they had lain Fluttershy. The girl was still unconscious, but they had made her as comfortable as possible and she seemed to be alright for the time being. She turned back to her friend and smiled a little, nodding. Rainbow took that as her cue, once again linking arms with the fashionista and dragging her through the double door back into the castle.

“Let’s go.” Twilight told the people around her, steel underlying her words. “We’ve got our own battle to win!”

She led the group back out onto the battle arena. Bakura was already standing in the middle of the field with his arms crossed, waiting. As soon as he saw them approach he snapped out his arm and his duel disk activated.

“I think I want to take the next turn, gents.” He said, holding up the stolen cards before placing them firmly into his deck. “I want to give these babies a little test run. And as I recall the rules of this little competition, no duelist may fight twice in a row. So that means someone other than Ms. Sparkle needs to be my opponent.”

Twilight froze halfway to her spot on the field, realizing he was right. Joey shoved his way to the front of the group and raised his fist threateningly. “You're just too scared ta face her God cards, aren’t you? Er… I mean, they aren’t God cards… or not yet… um, if we lose, then they are Gods…”

Yugi placed a restraining hand on Joey’s shoulder and pulled him back. “Don’t worry, Joey. This is fine. One of the others can duel him if that’s what he wants.”

He turned to Twilight and gave her his most confident smile. “Trust me, I have a plan.”

Twilight hesitated, but then returned Yugi's smile with one of her own. She stepped back from the stage and returned to her friends.

“Well in that case, ah’ll take him on!” Applejack said determinedly, snapping on her disk with a decisive motion. “He needs to be taught a lesson for what he did to Shy and ah’m just the duelist to give him one!”

Twilight caught her arm as she stepped forward. “Be careful out there. We don’t have the Elements this time, so whatever you do, don’t let him play that card!”

“Ah know what ah’m doin’, Twi.” AJ twanged, slipping her arm free and dropping her a wink. “’sides, this is just a warm-up until you can take him on yourself. Ah won’t take a dive, but there’s more to my deck now than the last time ah faced down that mashed-up monster!”

Bakura smirked as she walked over to her side of the field. “The cowgirl, eh? Well, can’t say there was all that much choice. How about I give you a little handicap and run the deck Pegasus prepared for me. Think that will give you enough of a chance to make this interesting?”

“Ah don’t care what deck you’re usin’.” Applejack said roughly, spinning in place and stamping her foot down hard. “Just so long as you’re ready to lose!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Dark Ruler's Domain vs. A Day at the Rodeo

Author's Note

Oh, this one was a fun one! I used images from this site mostly because of the shear number of cards involved this time kept me from wanting to wait on an artist, so no credit due this chapter. Instead let's get right to talking about the decks!

I knew from the moment I decided Luna was in this story that her deck would be the various Star Beasts, but for a long time I couldn't work out how I wanted them to work. I was growing tired of going back to a naming scheme over and over again (Wonder Bolt, Rodeo, Solar Guard, etc.) and I didn't want it to get old, but wording it right in the card effects just got too long and confusing. I eventually realized that making Star Beast a monster type works just as easily and simplifies a lot of my job. And hey, Luna's a card designer in this universe. If the show can introduce the Psychic monster type for one person's deck and then never use it again, Luna can use a fresh Type too!

And I was really excited to show of Bandit Keith's deck as well. Keith never had any one deck in the show; he'd always play machines but any single card would only ever appear once and then never again. But I always thought the Barrel dragon was one of his signature monsters, plus there was a sub-theme of similar guys who never got to shine in the show. This deck he used is actually based off a deck I ran years ago, mostly for fun, but it could shatter a truly impressive number of cards in a single turn when my luck was in! Barrel Dragon is one of my favorite cards ever, so I'm glad to give him the spotlight here.

A new villain has appeared! What does this mean for our heroes, and who else is already converted to the side of darkness...?

Turn 9: Dark Ruler's Domain vs. A Day at the Rodeo

Applejack Bakura

4000 4000

“Hmm… so many new cards, so many new options to choose from.” Bakura mused, sifting through his hand. “I must commend you, Pegasus, on such fine creations. But why not take a look for yourselves. I use the spell card Dragged Down to the Grave!”

Pegasus blinked in surprise. “But why would he use that card at the very beginning of the duel?”

“Allow me to explain.” Bakura said with mock sincerity, walking across the field as he spoke. “First we are going to show each other our cards. Then we each pick one from the other’s hand as send them right to the graveyard. But it’s not all bad, we get to draw a new card to replace the one we lost. Now, let me see what you’re hiding.”

“Grr, fine.” Applejack said, turning her hand around.

Bakura leaned in closer and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Interesting. Three of your little cowgirls, I see… and is this Double Summon?! How quaint…”

“Just pick somethin’!” Applejack spat in irritation, blushing a little bit. This is so embarrassin’! Does he have to talk about my cards like that?

Bakura laughed and pointed to the card on the far right. “If you insist, than I choose to eliminate Blue Rampage here. Your ace won’t be coming to your rescue this game!”

Applejack huffed and discarded the bull, drawing its replacement with a savage jerk. “If ya think that was the only Rampage monster in my deck, you’ve got a surprise incomin’. Now it’s your turn to show me what’cha got!”

Bakura smirked but obeyed, and Applejack leaned forward for a better look when he turned his cards around. Great, I have no idea what ah’m lookin’ at. Some high-level monster, a couple low-level ones, some spell with a door on it, and…

Applejack’s train of thought trailed off as the far left card registered in her mind. She blinked her eyes rapidly and looked again. Ataxia, Zone of Bedlam remained real however, sitting innocently in his hand completely ripe for the plucking. Somewhere in the back of her mind a voice was shouting that this had to be some sort of a trap, but the larger part couldn’t believe her luck.

Then a real voice joined the soft one in her mind. “Miss Applejack!” Pegasus shouted urgently, “Listen to me! You have to choose that monster on the right! This is your best chance to get rid of it!”

“Now Pegasus, you know better than to interrupt a duel like that! It would be cheating to have you choose for her!” Bakura laughed. Pegasus bit back what he was about to say and shot the girl a frantic look, hoping to impress upon her the importance of his words.

However, Applejack had already turned back to the cards and was giving the monster a doubting once-over. This thing? It’s got decent attack power for a level six, ah suppose, but it doesn’t look all that much to me. And ah have the chance to take out Ataxia without lettin’ it even hit the field! Sorry Mister Pegasus, but you just don’t understand the terror of that card!

“You messed up, pretty boy.” Applejack said, pointing decisively at the field spell. “You should have gotten that one out of your hand before usin’ your spell. Now discard Ataxia!”

“As you wish…” Bakura said with a smile, sending it to the grave. He turned away and started back to his spot on the field.

Pinkie tilted her head sharply to the side and put on a thoughtful expression. “Wait a minute, she’s right! Why wouldn’t he play out that card so she couldn’t get rid of it?”

“Because he knew she wouldn’t pick anything else.” Pegasus said, and the somber tone of his voice captured the attention of the rest of the group on the sidelines. “Remember when I said I was testing out new deck ideas based on dear Celestia’s style? Well, with Bakura’s deck I tried something a little different. Instead of a lot of monsters that are similar to each other, I designed a number of cards that all support one in particular. That was it right there. As a level six monster, there was no way he could get it out if his hand this turn, so he distracted your friend with a much more enticing target.”

“So why didn’t he wait until a later turn to use that spell?” Mai asked, genuinely confused.

Yugi was already shaking his head. “Because he took the first turn, Applejack hasn’t played any cards yet. He just saw every card in her hand and unlike the deck he’s using now, Bakura knows how her deck works. With that move he can accurately predict every move she’s likely to make in the next few turns!”

Meanwhile, Bakura had returned to his side of the field and was moving on with his turn. “Let us see… I think I’m going to use The Dark Door. As long as this spell is on my field, we can each only attack with one monster per turn. And lastly, I summon Opticlops in attack mode. That should do for now.”

A towering giant rose out of a pillar of light in front of Bakura. It reared back and shook its muscular arms at the sky, letting out a loud bellow.

Applejack tipped her hat down dramatically over her eyes at the monster’s outburst and smirked. “Not bad, but nothin’ ah can’t handle. The first step is to summon little Oakley, Rodeo New Talent!”

A shy-looking girl with green hair appeared on her field. The girl took one look at the angry giant before it and cringed back, clutching its lasso tighter to its chest and wringing the rope for all it was worth.

“Next is the spell Double Summon.” AJ continued, dramatically pointing with the spell card. “And for my second monster, ah need to say goodbye to Oakley. But she’s only steppin’ out for a bit, because ah’m calling out Connie, Rodeo Old Hand to take her place!”

Oakley was surrounded in shining light, which faded to reveal an old woman standing in its place. The new woman raised her cane up and slammed it back down with authority, and a circle of light burst forth next to her. Oakley rose back up from this circle and took a look around, once again flinching back from Bakura’s one-eyed fiend. Connie laid a calming hand over the young girl’s shoulder and Oakley smiled back shyly.

“Summonin’ Connie brings back any Rodeo monster in my graveyard back to life.” Applejack explained. “And now that the field is set, it’s time to wrangle that beastie of yours! Oakley, tie ‘em up!”

The green-haired girl closed its eyes and started twirling its lasso, letting it fly with a dramatic toss and an adorable little cry. The rope arced over the giant’s head lazily and settled around its forearms. The giant chuckled and started to flex its arms, but the rope suddenly pulled taunt and the beast was dragged bodily to its knees. The cyclops gaped in disbelief at the skinny girl holding it down who, for its part, looked scared to death.

Applejack snapped her fingers. “Little Oakley can cut her attack power all the way to zero to drop any other monster by the same amount. Connie, clear the field of that eyesore!”

Fire-pricks of determination shone in the old woman’s eyes as it raised its walking stick up and hurled it like a harpoon at the bound giant. The rope wrapped around the stick unraveled as it flew, causing the stick to spin until it became a drill. The projectile homed in directly into the middle of the giant’s chest and straight out through the other side.

Bakura
3700

Connie gave a sharp tug on the end of the lasso in its grip and her missile reversed, spinning back the other way back into the monsters hand like a yo-yo. The elderly monster caught the walking stick and placed it firmly on the ground with a “pok”, leaning gratefully over it as if its back were acting up. It gave a kindly smile to Oakley, who returning it with an intimidated squeak.

“Not bad at all.” Bakura said with false good cheer, giving her a mostly silent slow clap. “But I do believe that is it for your turn. Unless you have drawn a trap since the last time I checked?”

Applejack grit her teeth and placed the card she’d drawn this turn in her disk. “You know, ah might have one after all. Go ahead and take your turn.”

Bakura smirked and drew. “Don’t mind if I do. And the first item on the agenda is to revive Opticlops with Monster Reborn. And just like your little girl, I too will be sacrificing it for a more useful monster!”

“Here is comes!” Pegasus exclaimed.

A great rift in the ground ripped open and Bakura’s cyclops started to climb out from it. It had just pulled itself up as high as its waist, grinning in anticipation of its revenge, when a shocked expression crossed its face and it was pulled bodily back down. A new form rose out from the pit, rising higher and higher until it towered above everyone. Its worn, skull-adorned robes rippled in the wind and it grinned, revealing a mouth much too wide for its face. In one hand it held a wine glass filled with a red liquid that it swirled absentmindedly.

“Allow me to introduce the Dark Ruler Ha Des!” Bakura said, sweeping his arm dramatically. “Unfortunately for you, you left that poor little girl in attack mode. Now watch as my Dark Ruler crushes her with his Underworld Mists!”

The dark king lifted its right hand out from under its robes and a violet aura wrapped around the hand. The sickeningly dark magic turned black as it flowed off the hand and across the field towards Oakley. The little girl cowered as it disappeared into the mist and vanished from sight. However, when the mist cleared away she was still standing.

“Nice try, but ah used Waboku's effect just in time!” Applejack said, pointing at her trap. “This useful little card prevents all damage your monster deals this turn. Too bad, but it looks like Oakley’s stayin’ around a bit longer!”

“Laugh while you can,” Bakura growled. “I place two cards face down and end my turn. Your move!”

“What’s wrong? You’re gettin’ all worked up!” Applejack taunted.

Bakura, for his part, didn’t rise to the bait. He flicked his head to the side and smirked at her from over his shoulder. “I think I’ll let my cards speak for me. Don’t forget I’ve seen your cards! There isn’t anything you can do to get past the Dark Ruler!”

“Save your fancy predictions for someone else!” Applejack said confidently, as a golden light rose from her other monster. “At the start of my turn, Connie’s other effect activates and lets me add any one o’ my Rodeo pals to my hand! So instead of a random card, I’ll draw and summon Texas Jack!”

A burst of white light heralded the arrival of Applejack’s third monster. Texas Jack tipped its hat in greeting to the other ladies on the field and then turned its attention to the foe before it.

AJ smirked and threw her hand out dramatically. “First ah’ll have Oakley hogtie your monster, droppin’ its attack enough for Jack to smash it to bits. And remember how he can negate any card when he attacks? Well ah thing he’s gonna tie down that Door of yours, so Connie can hit you too. How’s that for teamwork?”

“Yeah!” Pinkie, Twilight, and Joey cheered as the lassos flew across the field and found their various marks. The Pharaoh keep his feelings in check and turned to see Pegasus wasn’t as taken in as the others. The card designer was fixated on Bakura’s pair of face down cards and beads of sweat were appearing on his brow.

“You didn’t really expect it would be that easy, did you?” Bakura said as Texas charged forward. “I respond with the Bark of Dark Ruler!”

Bakura
2700

Texas Jack slammed to a stop before Ha Des, using its momentum to spin around and launch a backwards kick right up into its midsection. But at the last second the Dark Ruler’s hand came up and caught its foot, freezing the attack in its place. For a moment the two monsters remained frozen in place just like that, and everyone held their breath in anticipation.

Then Ha Des stretched its toothy mouth wide, wide open and roared. Shock waves of sound rolled out of its mouth, laced with some kind of arcane energy. Texas Jack screamed in pain as the sound tore into it, unable to escape or protect itself from the deadly noise. It shattered to pieces and the din thankfully faded away.

Applejack
3150

“What just happened?!” Applejack asked shakily, holding up her left arm defensively over her head.

“It’s simple!” Bakura replied. “Bark of Dark Ruler allows me to pay life points to reduce your monsters attack points by an equal amount! It was child’s play to destroy your cowboy with that!”

Applejack grunted but wasn’t out of the fight yet. “But did you forget? Texas Jack’s lasso was wrapped around that Dark Door of yours, and when he bit the dust, so did…” She trailed off when she noticed that his spell card was still on the field.

Bakura threw back his head and started laughing towards the sky. “Oh, did I forget to mention that all monster’s the Dark Ruler destroys lose all of their abilities? Must have slipped my mind!”

Applejack grew sullen and held up her duel disk. “Ah switch Connie and Oakley to defense…”

“And that’s all you can do!” Bakura said viciously, drawing his card. “Dark Ruler, finish what you started last turn and wipe that little brat from my sight!”

Once again Ha Des raised its hand and summoned a cloud of dark mist, but this time there was no trap to stop it. The mist flowed over the girl and it vanished with a cry.

“What just happened?” Twilight asked in disbelief. “AJ had this one in the bag! How could he have turned it around so completely this quickly?”

“It’s all in those new cards. You made a real monster this time, Pegasus.” Mai said pointedly.

Pegasus made a noncommittal sound and turned towards her. “I hardly knew the boy was going to pull something like this!”

“For my next move,” Bakura continued, ignoring the drama in the peanut gallery, “I will summon the Phantom Skyblaster. But it won’t be showing up alone. You see, for every monster I control when I summon it, I get a Skyblaster token as well. And that’s enough punishment for now.”

A trio of fiends appeared on his field as he ended his turn, one with a blue coloring and two smaller grey ones. Each one had a pair of barrels on their backs that whined like turbines as they warmed up.

Applejack paused and took stock of her situation. Do ah use Connie’s effect this turn? Calamity’s been in my hand since the beginning, so ah don’t need to worry about that. Pawnee might be useful, but he’d only prolong the situation. Right now, what I really need is some support.

“Ah’ll just draw normally this time.” Applejack declared, then grinned and played the card. “And looks like that was a good choice, cause it’s a Pot of Greed!”

She smiled as she saw what her Pot had gotten her and returned to the game with a determined gleam in her eye. “Alright, time to bring this back into my control. Ah summon the star of the show, Calamity, and equip her with the spell card Lightning Lasso!”

Her favorite monster spun as it made its appearance, flashing a salute at the opponent as it came to a stop. It pulled out its lasso and pulled it taunt, and immediately electricity played along its whole length as the equip spell took effect. Calamity grinned in anticipation and twirled the rope experimentally, causing quick little snaps of static discharge.

“This is somethin’ you haven’t seen yet.” Applejack said, “That fancy lasso increases Calamity’s attack points by half of whatever critter she does battle with, givin’ her more than enough extra power to take down your Dark Lord. Go, Calamity! Lightning Rodeo!”

“More variations of the same theme.” Bakura scoffed, cutting his hand towards his face down. “I intercept with Victim Barrier!”

The cowgirl twirled and launched its lasso unerringly towards the towering fiend, who stood calmly before the incoming attack. At the last moment Bakura’s Phantom Skyblaster leaped into the path of the rope and became entangled in it instead. Calamity, either not knowing the wrong monster had been caught or not caring, gave a cry of effort and pulled back over its shoulder with all its might. The Skyblaster, crying out in pain as it was electrocuted, was dragged through the air and slammed roughly into the ground with explosive force.

Bakura
1850

“Don’t forget, you monster isn’t destroyed by my attack.” Applejack reminded her enemy as the smoke cleared, revealing that the fiend was still alive. “But it is gonna remain tied up, and it lost five hundred of its attack points!”

Bakura glared at her. “You don’t need to remind me of that particular effect, I’m well aware of what your monster is capable of. Now hurry up and end your turn so I can wipe that smile from your face!”

“If you insist, partner.” Applejack replied. “Ah’ll just set this here card face down and end it there. But ah don’t think you’ll be shaking my smile any time soon. That Dark Door card of yours says you can only attack once on your turn, and as you may recall Calamity is gonna force that monster to be your weakened Skyblaster!”

“Oh? Well, what if I do something like this?” Bakura said, holding his hand out towards his trapped monster. The twin barrels on its back started to glow brightly, quickly mimicked by the smaller tokens as well. Each monster shot a pair of lasers that arced across the field and slammed all about Applejack. The girl threw up her hands cross her face and shouted against the unexpected attack.

Applejack
2250

“My monster has an effect as well.” Bakura explained smugly once the barrage abated. “Each of my Skyblasters can hit you for three hundred points of damage at the start of my turn. And in exchange for using this ability, they cannot launch a normal attack this turn. So since that means the only monster who can attack is my Dark Ruler…”

Ha Des grinned evilly and raising its hand once more, unleashing another cloud of choking smog. Calamity cried out as it was covered, but its cries grew fainter and fainter until they stopped altogether. When the mist cleared away moments later, the cowgirl was gone.

Applejack
1200

“I’ve never seen Applejack lose this badly!” Twilight breathed, unable to stand watching her friend take blow after blow like this.

“And it’s about to get a lot worse! I play Pot of Greed!” Bakura said, drawing two card and then holding one up and turning it around with a flick of his fingers. “Do you know what this little card is? Of course not, it is brand new, after all. Well it’s called Underworld Mastery and it grants my Dark Lord complete control over our graveyards!”

Started from Ha Des’s feet, a familiar checkerboard pattern spread across the ground. Everyone present gasped as they realized what was happening.

“That’s right!” Bakura laughed, “I activate Ataxia, Zone of Bedlam from my graveyard!”

“No! It was gone!” Applejack cried in dismay.

“No card is gone forever with this deck!” Bakura gloated, playing out his last two cards. “I’ll play one card face down and summon the Winged Minion to the field. That gives me the five sacrifices needed to complete the ritual!”

“No! Don’t let him do it!” Celestia shouted, clenching her fists tightly. The other girls were also holding their breaths, worry etching their features. Applejack turned to them and gave them a quick smile, then turned back to the duel. Flashes of lightning and swirling dark clouds started to surround the five fiends as she turned back and she gave a quick apologizing glance to Connie. Sorry, old girl, but ah can’t face Discord again.

“You think ah’m going to let you summon that thing? You triggered my trap card, Stampede Panic!”

Her trap flipped up and charging out from its face came a herd of bulls. The beasts quickly flooded the field, trampling every monster in play beneath their hooves. The Dark Lord was the last to fall, dragged under howling in denial. The bulls faded as the last monster was destroyed, leaving a cleared field in their wake.

Bakura
1250

Applejack thumbed her nose in victory as her friends cheered on the sidelines. “My trap has another effect, allowin’ me to add Show Dog from my deck to my hand. Got anythin’ else, or can ah wrap this up and call it a day?”

Bakura grit his teeth and shook his head. “No, I’ve got nothing else. Take your turn!”

“My pleasure!” Applejack said, drawing and studying her hand carefully. “Pay attention now, because this is gonna get a little complicated if you don’t keep up. First ah summon Show Dog.”

Her little dog somersaulted out of a burst of light and landed on her field. It sat up and barked a greeting.

“Next ah’ll use its effect to discard this here Red Rampage from my hand and pull Silver Rampage out to replace it.” She continued, fanning out her deck to find the monster she wanted.

“There are other Rampage cards?” Bakura asked, taking a step back in surprise.

Applejack grinned and held up her new card for his inspection before putting it in her hand. “Ah have plenty of monsters just itchin’ to sink their horns into your hide. But first ah need to equip my dog with Level Award, raisin’ its level all the way up to eight. And remember my Lightning Lasso from a while back? Well ah can remove it from my graveyard to ritual summon any monster ah want, and look-y here! Ah’m all set to summon one right now!”

Lightning shot up from the ground all around her dog, surrounding it and quickly blocking it from view. From out of this pile of energy rose the gate from her ritual spell, which buckled under pressure from the other side. It splintered apart and a great white bull charged out, similar to her last rampage monster in all ways except its color. Riding on its back, clutching the end of a lasso in its teeth and trying to stay on for dear life, was the Show Dog.

“Despite not havin’ Rodeo in its name, my dog still works with all their abilities.” Applejack said by way of explanation. “But that doesn’t really matter at this point, because Silver Rampage is endin’ this right now!”

The bull bellowed and lowered its head, charging forward with earth-shaking speed. Right before it slammed skull first into Bakura, however, a wall of black flames appeared in from of the duelist and balked the beast. It flailed around for a bit before slamming its head through part of the flames, which wrapped around its head as if they were solid. Whatever it was in the fires shattered like a monster and the remaining flames coalesced into a small creature made of dark fire.

“A good try, but I had a Fires of Doomsday card ready to block your attack.” Bakura said, crossing his arms confidently. “I even have a spare token left in case you cow is going to attack again.”

Applejack clenched her empty hands in frustration. “No, that’s not Silver’s trick. Guess I have to end it there.”

“And you came so close!” Bakura sneered as he drew. “But don’t feel too bad about it; you did actually manage to destroy Ha Des. An impressive feat, were it not for the fact that I’m about to summon a stronger monster right now! I sacrifice three fiends from my graveyard to call forth Dark Necrofear!”

The souls of his fallen Opticlops, Phantom Skyblaster, and Winged Minion floated up through the ground and hovered on the field for a few seconds before merging together into one of his most powerful cards.

“And don’t forget, Ataxia is still reversing our monster’s attack and defense points.” Bakura said, “While that makes yours weaker, mine only grows stronger for it! Now attack!”

The fiend’s eyes glowed bright red and shot a thin laser right into Silver Rampage’s chest. But instead of exploding the bull simply bellowed in pain and started thrashing about.

Applejack
500

“Silver may not be as violent as Blue, but he’s quite a bit tougher!” Applejack grinned, holding down her hat lest it get blown off by her monster’s tantrum. “If he’s in danger of bein’ destroyed, all he had to do is buck one of his riders and he’s just fine. But doin’ so take out one of your cards as well!”

The bull gave one more savage jerk of its neck and the dog was sent flying. It arced up a ways and same down with a whimper… right in the middle of the field. As soon as it hit the ground it exploded and the ground immediately started returning to normal.

Applejack pumped her arm. “Yes! Ataxia is destroyed! And don’t forget we each draw a card when Show Dog bites the dust too!”

“She did it!” Pinkie said ecstatically, “She fought off Ataxia without turning all white-and-black-y! She’s got this in the bag now!”

“Not quite.” Joey said, interrupted her premature celebration. “She still has ta deal with that Dark Necrofear. Bakura can destroy it ta take control of her monster, just like he did last time!”

Indeed Joseph, but that will have to wait until next turn, Bakura thought. “I’ll play this card you so thoughtfully let me draw face down and end my turn.”

Applejack took a steadying deep breath and lay a hand on top of her deck. All right, it comes down to this last draw. Deck, don’t fail me now. She drew and broke into a wide grin at what she saw.

“Let’s see how you handle this! Ah offer Silver Rampage as sacrifice to the spell Dynamic Entry and ritual summon Buffalo, Champion of the Rodeo!”

A bright light enveloped her bull, who gave one last bellow as it disappeared. The light faded to reveal an intimidating cowboy dressed all in dark clothing save for a bright white hat, mask, and bandana. It stood with its arms crossed and just exuded confidence. But it wasn’t the only thing that had appeared on the field.

A low wooden fence now ran across the field behind Buffalo and all of Applejack’s cowboys and cowgirls were sitting on it. They set up cheering and waving their hands in the air like spectators at a show, and the Show Dog ran about along their feet, barking happily.

“Let me explain, because you look totally lost.” Applejack said happily, “First of all, Buffalo gains a thousand attack and defense points for each Rampage in my grave, which brings him to the handy total of three thousand! And like my Rampage, he also gains a bonus when he’s equipped with back-up. In short, he can use all of their abilities whenever he wants! Here let me show you!”

Back in the stands, a silver glow surrounded Texas Jack, who leaned forward in eagerness. A rope slithered out of Buffalo’s left sleeve and tied itself into a lasso, which it launched in a practiced toss. The lasso wrapped around the Dark Necrofear and pulled tight.

“That just negated your monster’s abilities, so it won’t be possessin’ Buffalo if it dies! Now take it out with Rope Trick!”

The cowboy snapped out its other arm and another rope fell out of its right sleeve. At the last moment Bakura activated his face down Mystical Space Typhoon, and a cyclone of wind scythed across the field. The wind slammed into the bench and picked up Calamity, shattering her in midair. Buffalo paid it no attention though, and crossed the rope several times through the air in fast whip-cracks which sheared Bakura’s monster into pieces.

Bakura
450

“Not bad,” Applejack said grudgingly. Back on her bench, Oakley clapped her hands in glee and started to glow. “Without Calamity, your monster would have stuck around and been forced to attack next turn. But all you’ve accomplished is losin’ your best card, and the power my monster gains from Oakley forces you to discard that last one in your hand!”

“You foolish girl…” Bakura said as he discarded. “Have you really not noticed?”

“Noticed what…” Applejack started, but stopped when she realized it was growing darker. She craned her neck back and realized that the whole field was being surrounded by a shifted dome of deep reds and purples. Suddenly an eye opened up in midair next to her and she flinched back from it in shock. Other eyes and fanged mouths popping out of nowhere all over the field and a murky castle shimmered into being in the distance.

“Explain this!” Applejack demanded, completely unnerved.

“This is it, you’re finished!” Bakura said, drawing a card and setting it on the field. “Destroying my Dark Necrofear allowed me to activate the Dark Sanctuary card from my deck. Just wait, you have no idea what you have unleashed!

“Dark Sanctuary is a hungry card and requires a sacrifice each turn, so I will offer it my remained Doomsday token. Now prepare to face a darkness you’ve never seen before!”

“You think ah’s afraid of a little spooky scenery?” Applejack spat, looking around at the wildly changing background. “You’ve got no monsters to protect yourself with! What’s to stop me from wiping the floor with you right now?”

“Don’t do it!!!” Yugi shouted. Everyone else took a step back from him, but Joey and Mai were wearing similar looks of recognition and concern. “Listen to me, I’ve seen this card before! His magic card allowed him to summon the Evil Spirit of Dark Sanctuary last turn! Right now it’s probably possessing your monster and if you attack, it will strike back at you and cost you the duel!”

“What?! No card is that powerful!” Applejack gasped, but turned back as Bakura started laughing again.

Bakura glared at the Pharaoh and held up his hand palm up. “Aw, look what you’ve done, Yugi. You’ve gone and spoiled all my fun! Yes, it’s true; my evil spirit is dwelling within your cowboy. But can you really continue to play without attacking me? Perhaps you should just surrender the duel now and get it over with!”

AJ grit her teeth as she regarded her field. Now only Texas Jack, Oakley, and the Show Dog were in the stands; Connie had vanished at the end of her last turn. Buffalo requires ah give up one of the cards equipped to him each turn he’s out. If ah let this duel drag on, he’s only going to get weaker and weaker. But what can ah do to wrap this up quickly? Wait! Maybe that ghost of his can only haunt one critter a turn!

“Ah think ah know how to get past that spook.” Applejack said, drawing and grinning at what she got. “If ah summon a monster right now, there’s no way it’ll be effected by your ghost. So ah’ll use this here Monster Reborn to bring back Calamity.”

The spell card appeared on the field and became a doorway of shining light, through which her lost cowgirl stepped through. Calamity twirled its lasso in anticipation and tipped a respectful nod to Buffalo, who returned the salute.

“This is the final attack, Calamity! Rodeo Roundhouse!”

Bakura cackled as her monster charged forward and thrust his hand out. “Too bad for you, but you forgot to take my face down into account. Dark Spirit of the Silent! This trap stops our attack right in its tracks!”

The trap card flipped up and a ghost, dripping with ectoplasm, shot out from it. It sailed straight into Calamity’s chest and the cowgirl froze in mid-step, shivering all over and completely unable to move.

“But that’s not all!” Bakura continued in glee, “The Dark Spirit isn’t finished with you yet! It now has the ability to possess another of your monsters and force it to attack me instead. And I think you know what will happen when it does!”

“No…!” Celestia exclaimed.

“Applejack!” Twilight and Pinkie shouted.

The specter oozed out of Calamity’s back and flowed into Buffalo, who clutched at its head and reeled. It was forced to charge forward, but it only made it halfway across the field before another ghost, this one blueish, shot out of its back with a wail of grief. This ghost slammed into Applejack’s chest and drove her back on her heels. The girl wobbled for a second after the attack, and then dropped to her knees with a thud.

Applejack
0

…

Seto Kaiba shoved violently against the heavy metal door and it swung outward with a squeal of complaining joints. About time I made it out of there. That fool’s crummy castle is just as twisted as his mind. I can’t wait to get this island far behind me once and for all!

Kaiba started down the stone walkway that lead to the take-off platform where his private jet was waiting. He kept his head turned down against the wind which had been picking up as he walked, so he didn’t notice anything until right before he made it to the platform.

“Going somewhere?”

Kaiba looked up sharply. A young woman was lounging directly on top of the cockpit of his jet. She was wearing some kind of dark robe and had a gold collar with a red crystal set in it around her throat. The woman saw him glaring and pulled herself languidly to her feet, then placed her hand of her hip and grinned back.

“Listen, girl, you’ve caught me in a bad mood.” Kaiba growled. “Why don’t you do yourself a favor and get lost?”

“I am afraid I can’t do that.” Luna replied, hopping down from the jet and landing easily on her feet. “My Master has decreed that no one is to leave this island. Now be a nice boy and head back inside, understand?”

Kaiba backed a laugh and shot her a look of such ferocity that she took a step back reflexively. “What I understand is that you have no idea who you’re talking to.”

“Brave words coming from someone who lost in the first round!” Luna taunted. Her arm, already clad in a duel disk, came out from under her robe and she held it out in a ready position. “Or perhaps you were so traumatized by that lost that you are afraid to face a woman like me?”

Kaiba said nothing for several seconds, simply staring at the girl who had the gall to speak to him like that. Then he scoffed and knelt down to his briefcase. He unlatched it and pulled out his disk, pulling it onto his arm as he stood back up.

“You know, maybe I could blow off some steam after all. But remember, when you’re crying on the ground after I’ve finished with you,” Kaiba punctuated his meaning with a snap of his wrist, activating his duel disk, “that you asked for this!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
White Dragon's Roar vs. Clear Night's Sky

Author's Note

To be perfectly honest, this was one of those duels that I was least looking forward to writing. Not that I don't like either player, it's more to how both of their decks don't really play a lot of defense. Bakura especially was always very free with his life points and it was very hard coming up with a duel where one or the other doesn't simply steamroll over their opponent and win too early. Although I guess I overcompensated for it and made this duel too long... remember when these chapters were just a few thousand words? They just keep getting longer and longer...

Anyway, a little more info about Applejack's deck. I really, really liked coming up with a cowboy set, which I feel has been sorely lacking in the game. I looked up a list of famous cowboys and cowgirls to name the monsters after, so bonus points if you knew who they were before looking them up! Every one of them was meant to work with Buffalo, making one super monster that can crush any card in the game at full strength. I had to make sure none of the Rodeo monster's effects would overlap each other or directly counter another ability, like how gaining an effect when you destroy a monster in battle would clash with Calamity's ability to not destroy monsters. While Applejack won't be playing any more this tournament, I believe we've seen enough of her deck to get a good feel for how she plays.

And I do hope you like the changes I made to Bakura's deck! I noticed when rifling through the cards he's used in the past that one in particular, Dark Ruler Ha Des, has had a ton of cards built around him that have never been used in the show before. I quickly realized that these random cards could work together in the right conditions, so I decided to sprinkle his deck with them. The results were far better than I expected! But we'll see more of that later...

Luna has turned to the dark side! Will Kaiba be able to defeat her, or is Sombra's army just going to continue to grow...?

Turn 10: White Dragon's Roar vs. Clear Night's Sky

Kaiba Luna

4000 4000

“Tell me something.” Kaiba asked dryly. “Why is it you wack jobs always wear cloaks? Does it help you get into character? Do you just feel too foolish with yourself if you don’t go all out with the crazy?”

The two of them had backed up a ways from the helicopter pad and back onto the stone walkway leading to the castle. Luna still stood between Kaiba and his jet, and a wind whipped dramatically at their clothes as they faced each other.

Luna tilted back her head and laughed. “My, you are everything I have been told to expect! But you will be singing a different tune all too soon, my impertinent young friend.”

“And if you had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that,” Kaiba snorted, turning slightly away and crossing his arms, “Then you might be half as rich as I already am! Now are you going to make a move or am I just wasting my time?”

“You should not be in such a hurry to lose!” Luna returned, plucking a card from her hand. “I play one card in reverse and call forth Corvus, the Crow to defend myself!”

A blob of violet goo rose up from the field and molded into the form of a large bird, roughly the size of a small car. It appeared to be made of pure star stuff, with little pinpricks of light studded throughout its whole semitransparent body. It flapped its wings a few times before settling of the field.

A card popped out of Luna’s deck and she slipped it into her hand. “Corvus allows me to add any Welkin spell I desire to my hand. But it is still a tad too early to use this one, so you may proceed with your turn.”

“Is that all?” Kaiba snorted derisively, drawing a card with a snap of his wrist. “After all that big talk I was expecting something a bit more. That pitiful excuse for a monster won’t last a second against my Lord of D!”

A stern-looking person appeared on his side of the field and thrust out its cape dramatically into the wind. It was decked out in gaudy draconic attire from head to toe, and glared at its opponent with nearly as much contempt as Kaiba.

But Kaiba was not done there. “Now that my Lord of D. is on the field, I can activate my Flute of Summoning Dragons card. And what does it do? Well, it lets me summon some dragons, of course. Two of them, in fact!”

The flute appeared in a shimmer of light and the Lord grabbed it from midair. It put it to its lips and let loose a bright peal which echoed through the air for a few seconds. Instantly the air above it started to shimmer as a pair of dragons took shape. A pair of dragons with shimmering white scales, wicked teeth, and a truly terrifying presence.

Despite herself, Luna took a step back on reflex. “It cannot be… two Blue-Eyes White Dragons? On the very first turn, no less! I seem to have underestimated you a bit!”

“A little late, but at least you’re learning.” Kaiba gloated. He trust his hand out and the Lord of D. leapt forward, slugging Luna’s star beast in the head. Corvus crowed in pain and collapsed in on itself, dissolving into nothingness. Before it could disappear completely a single ball of light shot out of its failing body and climbed into the sky, vanishing into the cloud cover.

“Showy.” Kaiba said, archly. “Was there supposed to be some point to that?”

Luna held up her deck for emphasis as she explained. “My Star Beasts are a special breed of monsters crafted for my use alone. None of them rest easy in the graveyard; rather, they ascend to the sky when destroyed.”

“Shame it’s a cloudy day.” Kaiba smarmed. “Not that it matters much, as this duel is already over.”

“Oh? They why not finish it?” Luna teased, holding out her hand to her face-down. “Do you fear when may lie in store?”

Seto’s anger flooded forth and he slashed his free hand dramatically. “Hardly! Blue-Eyes, strike some sense into her!”

One of his dragon’s roared and opened its maw wide, building up a deadly blast of lightning breath. To Kaiba’s surprise his opponent just laughed and spread her arms wide, clearly inviting the attack. The energy lanced out and enveloped the woman completely.

Luna
1000

“Thank you.” Luna’s voice echoed out from the smoke left by the attack. “For I would never have been able to use this magic card without your assistance. Behold the wrath of Inferno Tempest!”

“Inferno what?” Kaiba said, right before his deck burst into fire.

Kaiba cried out in shock and started to beat out the flames, but they were only holographic and ignored his attempts to smother them. Cards started shooting out from his deck one after another, fluttering about him in a small cloud. The ground also caught fire as the cards fell, hiding them from sight.

Across from him, the same thing had occurred to Luna’s deck, with one major difference. As her cards fell to the ground they burst into lights and sent scores of beams shooting up into the sky. The clouds buckled and burst outward in a circle, revealing a night sky, of all things, brimming with stars. The clear spot grew wider as more and more constellations filled it up.

“What is happening?!” Kaiba demanded and the stream of cards finally slowed to a stop. A little more than half his deck had been ejected from his disk.

Luna grinned widely and held her hands palm-up, basking in the starlight. “Inferno Tempest is a powerful spell that removes any and all monsters from both our decks from the game in a single blow. I am afraid you have nothing left at your disposal but your spells and traps now.”

“So what?” Kaiba declared, gesturing to his field. “Did you forget that I still had another Blue-Eyes out? This duel has already been decided!”

His second dragon let loose its own attack at his words, and once again Luna simply lifted her arms and accepted it. The lightning slammed into the ground around her… and continued on, leaving not a single life point touched. Kaiba felt his jaw hit the floor.

“My apologies, but while the field spell Empyrean is active, any damage I receive is reduced but one hundred for every Star Beast in the sky.” Luna explained, waving a hand above her. “And shame for you, but I had more than thirty Star Beasts at my disposal. Mighty though your dragons may be, they are useless against the strength of the heavens!”

“But when did you play a card like that!” Seto exclaimed. “It wasn’t there when I attacked before and you didn’t have any other traps left!”

“Please, do you think my servants are just for show?” Luna gloated. She started pointing out various constellations. “A quick astrology lesson, then. That one there is Andromeda, the Chained Maiden, and when she is sent to the sky I am allowed to use any field spell in my hand I wish. Similarly, that one there is Aries the Ram, who destroyed that Lord of yours. Did you not wonder where it had gone?”

Kaiba noticed for the first time that at some point during the confusion his Lord of D. had been destroyed, and said some things that probably should not be said in front of a lady. “Fine, whatever. So you took out a few cards and held on for a turn. It looks to me like you’ve made a grave miscalculation.”

“And what would that be?” Luna inquired.

Kaiba grinned and pointed a finger at her duel disk. “By destroying all your own monsters, you’ve left yourself with nothing to attack me with. And it looks like you only have a couple of cards left in your deck. You’ve already killed yourself; all I have to do is wait.”

In response Luna threw back her head and laughed to the sky. “Foolish child, has it not occurred to you yet? This duel is already mine! And I will prove it with this, the powerful spell Welkin Polymerization! With this, I call upon one of the most powerful constellations in the sky. Now descend, Argo Navis, the Ship!”

Above them, the stars started to swirl together in a dizzying spiral. They spun faster and faster, creating a shining disk of moving light that pulsed in hypnotizing patterns. A massive ship slowly floated down from this chaos, coming to a rest above the two of them. It dominated the sky over the duelists, its body cycling through a rainbow of hues all over. The stars above slowed down and came to a rest in their original spots, minus a few here and there.

Kaiba looked down from the gigantic ship and saw that Luna had several cards in her hand. “My spell does not send Carina, Puppis, and Vela to my grave, but rather back into my deck. And I will also use the special power of Pyxis the Compass to return another Star Beast to my deck as well. So you see, I will have as many cards as I need to finish this contest.

“And is my ship not impressive? Not only does it possess enough defensive power to stave off your dragons, but it comes with a special power of its own. Now watch as it calls forth yet another of my servants!”

“Seriously, lady, tone it down!” Kaiba spat, but he had to shield his eyes before he could go on. A beam of light connected Argo Navis to the sky, and when it cleared there was a giant standing on its deck. The man stood nearly three and a half stories tall and its body was colored a transparent orange. It hefted a huge bow and began to draw back the string.

Luna clapped her hands. “Most excellent! Argo Navis has brought down Orion the Hunter to my command! Now watch as your precious dragon is brought low!” The hunter took aim and let loose a shining arrow that struck Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes in the chest. The dragon roared as it began to gleam brightly. It imploded in a burst of brilliant light.

Kaiba
3200

“You will pay for that.” Kaiba promised, glaring bloody murder at her. “Now are you about done yet?”

“In one moment.” Luna smiled, playing one card face down. “There, now I am finished. But there is hardly anything you can do anymore.”

I’ll be the judge of that. Kaiba thought, drawing his card for the turn and studying his hand. I didn’t have any other monsters in hand when she used that Inferno Tempest, so that means Blue-Eyes is the only monster I’ve got left. Fortunately, I don’t need anything else! I’ll show her for making a mockery of my deck!

“First I will play these two cards face down,” Kaiba began, setting all but one of his remaining cards, “and then I will wipe the field of your hunter! Burst Stream of Destruction!”

His remaining dragon stretched wide its jaws and unleashed a torrent of power at the star beast. The blast tore a hole through Orion’s chest and the monster collapsed in on itself, its star-stuff swirling back up into the sky.

Luna held up her hand and shrugged. “So what? That was not near enough damage to even hurt me anymore. And I can always call him back down with Argo Navis once more. Destroy him all you like, if it will make you feel better about your inevitable loss.”

“Keep talking.” Kaiba growled. “I’ve yet to see anything actually impressive out of you yet.”

“Then how about this?! I reverse Welkin Storm Shower. Now feel the wrath of the heavens!”

All of the stars above them pulsed at the same time and a swarm of shooting stars appeared. The impromptu meteor shower centered on Seto and soon he was lost in a stream of burning lights. He cried out and threw up his arms to protect himself, and bore through the storm as best he could. Still, he was driven to his knees before the shower let up.

Kaiba
400

Luna laughed again at his plight. “Look at you! This duel has barely started and you’re hanging on by only a thread!” She held up her disk as her graveyard slot began to glow. “Let me tell you about the other effect of my wonderful little trap. By giving up my new card this turn, I may instead return Welkin Storm Shower to my hand. You have no chance of surviving another blow like that!”

She returned the trap to her field and thrust out her arm straight up. “I might as well carry out the rest of my turn, just to stay in practice if nothing else. First I will use Pyxis to return another Star Beast to my deck, and then I shall unleash Argo Navis once more!”

The ship glowed again and shot a beam of light into the sky. It struck a constellation and one of the largest monsters yet was pulled down. It was a colossal blue whale, nearly dwarfing Argo Navis in size. Both the ship and Kaiba’s dragon were forced backwards as the whale took up most of the room in the air above the duel. From this angle even the stars above were nearly blocked out of sight.

“Cetus?!” Luna exclaimed, dismayed. “Hardly the beast I needed, but I suppose it matters not. You have no escape from my trap in any case.”

Kaiba smirked and glared down his nose at her. “Who says I don’t? And I think I’ve figured out the weakness of that floating tub. You have no control over who it summons, do you?”

Luna scowled. “As I said, it is no matter. Draw your card so that I may finish this.”

“Very well.” Kaiba said calmly, giving his new card a quick glance. “I suppose all I can do is set this card and end my turn. Your monsters are much too large for me to attack.”

“Mockery, Kaiba? It is a little late to be petulant about your loss.” Luna snapped her fingers and her trap activated. “Once more I call upon the power of Welkin Storm Shower. This is the end!”

Meteors filled the sky and descended upon the field, passing through the whale’s massive body as if it were water. Kaiba was quickly lost to sight as the asteroid’s impact raised a great cloud of smoke. Luna grinned in victory and leaned her head back, closing her eyes.

“Master, I have defeated him, as I promised. Another servant has joined your fold-”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, you clod.” A voice interrupted.

Luna blinked her eyes open and jerked her head forward. The smoke slowly cleared to show that Kaiba was still standing unharmed. A strange metal disk with panels jutting out of it like flower petals revolved in a lazy circle in front of him, before the panels folded in on themselves and the device dissolved in a stream of light.

“How did you survive?” Luna demanded in anger.

“The Ring of Defense negates all damage from trap cards.” Kaiba said offhandedly. “Care to try again?”

Luna bit the inside of her cheek. “No. Welkin Storm Shower may only be used twice. But make no mistake, I have plenty of ways to shave those last few life points away!” She drew a card to start her turn and glared up at the whale. “First, I must remove this obstruction from my night’s sky. I utilize Mystik Wok and devour its defense points!”

Her spell engulfed the whale in a shimmering aura of light and it dissolved away with a forlorn sigh.

Luna
4000

“You went through all that trouble to summon it, just to throw it away?” Kaiba asked with an arched eye.

“Do not lecture me, child!” Luna spat, pointing an accusing finger in his direction. “What does it matter if I destroy my own monsters? They simply return, allowing me the pleasure of destroying them again and again! Do not forget that I am the one in control, and you with barely enough strength left to stand!”

“Oh no, don’t get me wrong.” Kaiba said calmly, his smugness only inciting Luna’s rage further. “I have no objections to wiping out useless monsters like that one. I just have to wonder if you can afford it right now.”

“I am the one in control!” Luna screamed, thrusting both hands out to her ship in supplication. “Argo Navis! Grant me a servant strong enough to silence this man for good!”

The ship launched another beam upwards in response and the entire sky lit up in a brilliant burst of light. A gigantic serpentine dragon roared its way down to the field, wrapping its body several times around the duelists before rising high into the air. Its scales shone greenly and filled the whole area with a slight emerald glow.

Luna immediately unleashed a peal of triumphant laughter. “Behold, Seto Kaiba, the strongest Star Beast in the sky has come to finish you! Draco the Dragon, whose attack points are equal to the level of all my Star Beasts times one hundred! Now despair as I unleash the Power of the Heavens!”

Draco opened its jaws and unleashed a stream of light down upon the other dragon. Kaiba slashed his hand at his face downs and one turned up, releasing a totem pole covered in speakers out from the card face. The speakers sent forth a wave of sound that caught the blast of light and held it in place for a few moments before shattering the attack into fragments.

“The great Seto Kaiba, using such a card to hide from my attack, like a common duelist?” Luna demanded, more than a little incensed that her best attack had failed.

Seto held up a finger and shook it at her. “Command Silencer is more than just a common card. In addition to halting your attack in its tracks, I now draw a new card to replace it.”

“Draw whatever you like! You have nothing that can stand up to Draco!” Luna spat, but had to blink sweat out of her eye. It is not possible. I have the strength of Lord Sombra on my side! Why can I not break him?!

She flicked an eye upward and pointed at Pyxis again. “I return Libra the Scales to my deck, which in turn allows me to draw two fresh cards from my deck.” She drew and studied her new cards. The first was Vela the Sails, and the second…

She smiled and slammed the monster onto her disk. “I summon Aquarius the Water Bearer in defense mode! And I have removed more than enough monsters needed to use her effect!”

A light blue girl nearly fifteen feet tall appeared on her side of the field. The girl upended a large vase over her shoulder and a wave of water gushed forth from it, flooding Kaiba’s side of the field. The waters reached up in a wave and swept the Blue-Eyes from the sky, making it shimmer and vanish as it was returned to his hand.

“That was your last monster!” Luna shouted, losing her composure. Her eyes were wide and staring and her hair was starting to fray at the edges wildly, and the ruby necklace on her throat gleamed. “You have no monsters left to sacrifice for it, either! My dragon is more powerful than any other and Empyrean will protect me from any of your tricks. There is nothing more to be done! Surrender and accept your defeat! You will make a fine brainwashed servant for my Master!”

Kaiba was silent for a moment, but then he drew a card and glared up at her. Luna took a step back and her breath caught in her throat. The sheer amount of hate in those eyes!

“You know, I have had to put up with a lot today.” Kaiba began, his voice deadly still. “But no matter where I go, it seems everyone is always saying the same old tired lines. And I am finally sick of it! I activate Trade-In!”

“But you have to discard your Blue-Eyes to use that!” Luna exclaimed in surprise, but Seto had already tossed the card away to draw two new ones, bringing the number of cards in his hand to four.

“Mystic this and brainwash that, and all the time I’m expected to just accept it!” Kaiba continued. He activated the spell Soul Release next and his graveyard slot glowed brightly before ejecting the Blue-Eyes.

“I do not understand!” Luna shouted. “Why are you destroying your own cards?!”

“I am going to say this only once, so pay attention! I do not believe in any of this magic garbage!! I activate Return from the Different Dimension!”

Kaiba
200

Kaiba’s last trap flipped up and burst into blinding light too painful to look at for too long. From out of the center of this light flew not one, not two, but all three of Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes White Dragons. The trio of monsters flew around each other and let loose a simultaneous roar that caused even Draco to lean back from the force of it.

Luna held up an arm to shield her eyes against the wind produced by their summoning. “What do you hope to accomplish? Your dragon does not possess the power to destroy Argo Navis, much less Draco. This is pointless!”

“I never said I was finished!” Kaiba shouted, holding another card over his head dramatically. “I use Polymerization to fuse my dragons together into my ultimate monster!”

His Blue-Eyes roared once more before they swirled together like paint. The spiral of color unspun out to reveal a new dragon much larger and more rugged than the original Blue-Eyes, sporting three heads that all leaned forward, eager to rip and tear.

“And next I equip my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with the spell Megamorph!” Kaiba continued, and the equip card appeared on his field. An aura of green energy surrounded his dragon and it began to grow in size. “That doubles its attack power!”

“Nine thousand…!” Luna whispered, awed despite herself. “But it is still not enough. Even after sending so many Star Beasts back into my deck, Draco still has more than ten thousand points! Unless…!”

He smirked and activated his last card. “Did you really think it was wise to challenge me with a dragon? There is no dragon more powerful than my Blue-Eyes! I use Synchronic Ability to steal Draco’s ability and give it to my Ultimate Dragon!”

“YOU CAN’T!” Luna screamed, throwing her arms up crosswise to ward of her terror. Draco’s ability does not care if the stars in the sky came from your deck or the opponent! That would bring his dragon’s attack points to… more than twenty thousand! Not even Empyrean can stop that much damage!

Starlight fell down from the sky, shining upon the Ultimate Dragon’s scales and lighting it up until it shone like the sun. It opened wide its three jaws and unleashed an enormous wave of lightning and light that engulfed the entire area before it. Argo Navis was swallowed completely, while Draco stood up to the attack for only a moment before falling apart under its power. Luna screamed as the light surrounded her and the world disappeared.

Luna
0

The attack detonated in a supernova of power, the winds expelled from it blowing savagely in all directions. The stars above began to blink out one by one and the clouds were chased away in all directions. Finally the attack ended and all the holograms faded away. Luna lay senseless on her back, arms and legs splayed wide and her hair all around her head. There was a small cracking sound as the collar around her neck snapped and fell off, the ruby set in the center already a dull, lifeless grey.

“Hrmph.” Kaiba grunted, stepping over her unconscious form and stalking towards his jet. “I told you I was in a bad mood today. You should have stayed out of my way.”

Kaiba boarded his jet and was soon airborne, putting this island far behind him as fast as he could.

…

Bandit Keith clutched his forehead and grunted at the surge of pain that went through it. He glared out the window down at the distant form of Luna on the walkway below.

“Looks like she was just too weak to serve you after all.” He said into thin air and then cocked his head to the side, as if listening to something. “No. Reclaiming a piece of trash like her is pointless. We should step things up instead.”

He reached a hand to touch his brow lightly, and a dark red glow appeared from beneath his bandana. “Change of plans. Get to the inner room right away. We will clean up the vermin running around in your way.”

…

“Ok, is anyone else seeing that?” Joey asked, “Because I definitely see it this time!”

The rooftop they were standing on had shaken right as the duel between Applejack and Bakura ended and now the sky was flickering, alternating between normal and what appeared to be stars. A bright white light could be seen from below the edge of the roof at these times as well. After a few moments the sky stabilized to normal as if nothing had happened.

“There is definitely some kind of power being used here.” The Pharaoh confirmed, laying one hand on his puzzle. “It’s odd that I didn’t notice it before, but someone doesn’t want us to see what’s happening in the rest of the castle.”

“Ah hope Rainbow and Rarity are alright.” Applejack said, limping over to the others.

“Are you alright? You don’t look all un-colored!” Pinkie exclaimed, rushing over and looking over every inch of her body for any spots of grey.

Applejack waved her off with a smile. “Ah’m fine! Ah think ah got lucky, destroyin’ Ataxia before it could get a hold in the field or anythin’. Ah’m more concerned with what’s happenin’ to the sky? Is this more of that Bakura’s doin’?”

“No, it isn’t.” Celestia said, commanding the attention of the others. Twilight noted that she was clutching her wrist, pressing her bracelet almost into her arm. “I didn’t want to worry you girls about this until after the tournament, but there was a reason we needed the power of God Cards so urgently. And now it seems that trouble has followed us all the way here.”

She turned to Pegasus. “I know that your tournament isn’t over yet, but considering the circumstances…”

“Say no more.” Pegasus said firmly. He reached into the neck of his shirt and removed a key on a necklace, which he handed over. “I’ve seen enough of your student’s decks by now to understand the theory behind them. I’m already inspired, so it’s only fair to grant you your reward as well. This key will let you into my private workspace where I’ve prepared all I know about the God Cards for you.”

“Thank you. I remember the way.” Celestia said, accepting the key and turning away.

Twilight grabbed her sleeve. “I should come too. You’ll need my cards-”

“No!” Celestia said a little too quickly, but calmed herself and looked her student in the eye. “No, you need to stay here and deal with Bakura first. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“If you say so…” Twilight said uncertainly, but Celestia had already tipped her a nod and was walking briskly off. Soon she was through the door and disappeared into the castle.

“Things sure are getting interesting!” Bakura said with complete unconcern. “But I don’t have all day, so who’s going next? I believe I have to sit this one out?”

“Why you!” Twilight said, flicking on her disk and starting forward. “Don’t worry girls, I’ll be sure to win and take him on in the next round.”

Yugi stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and held her back. “Hold on, I’ve got a better idea. Joey, why don’t you duel Pinkie next?”

“Eh?!” Joey said, both his eyebrows shooting up. “Are you sure, Yug? Wouldn’t it be better if you or Twilight dueled next?”

Yugi smiled and turned to Twilight. “Don’t worry Joey, I’ve got a plan. Trust me.”

Twilight looking him in the eyes and bit her lip, but nodded. “Alright, we’ll do it your way.”

“Cool!” Pinkie exclaimed, rushing forward to shake Joey’s hand. “Your deck looked like it was a blast! Let’s put all this dark magic and junk out of our heads for now and just have fun! I’m really looking forward to it!”

“Eh… sure.” Joey said hesitanty, and then with more enthusiasm. “Yeah! You’re on! Don’t think I’m gonna go easy on you just cause we’re working together!”

“Of course not, silly!” Pinkie laughed, before putting on a serious grin that was little scary to look at. “You’ll need your best just to keep up!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Unlimited Potential vs. The Solar Guard

Author's Note

Luna sure isn't having an easy time in this story, is she? Despite what it may look like I absolutely love writing for her. Making accents come across in a written medium is always a tricky prospect, but I figured out a pretty simple way to make her speech patterns more archaic without obvious effort. How many of you noticed that Luna never used a contraction like "where's" or "isn't"? Plus I dug up the terms used in the earliest chapters of Yugioh for the cards, like "reverse" for traps and "utilize" for spells.

Her Star Beasts are some of the best cards I've made so far, if I do say so myself. I had to have at least one duel where she had a ridiculous number of them available, just to show off their power. But I don't think I need to show any more of her deck, so this is probably the last time she's going to duel this story. I hope you liked her as much as I have writing her!

The minions of Sombra are stepping up their game! But who else is under the King's control...?

Turn 11: Unlimited Potential vs. The Solar Guard

“Wait!” Pinkie exclaimed, “We can’t start yet!”

Joey blinked, freezing in place just before his spot on the rooftop. “Wait? For what?”

But Pinkie wasn’t paying any attention to him. She appeared to be shivering, or at least her fizzy hair was. She spun in place and sat down, pulling out another card case from a pouch about her waist.

“Sorry, I just got the strong feeling I needed to fix up my deck!” she exclaimed, flipping through the new stack of cards and selecting a number of them seemingly at random, “You don’t mind waiting a little bit, do you?”

“Uh…” Joey said, glancing around for inspiration but finding none, “Sure. I’m not in any hurry.”

…

“Oh, where am I now?” Spike moaned, turning a corner to find yet another featureless, paneled hallway stretching before him, “How can this place not have any doors or windows anywhere? Or even a map for visitors? It feels like I’ve been wandering for ages!”

He lifted the steel briefcase to his chest and squeezed it for reassurance as he hurried forward, straining to see anything that would get him out of this maze. He hoped Luna was alright. He felt terrible about leaving her alone back there, but there wasn’t anything he could have done to help. That guy had some kind of crazy magic! I had to leave her. It’s super important I get these cards to the girls safely!

Trying not to feel too terrible, he turned another corner and came up short. “Wait! I know this place!”

Up ahead, the monotony had been interrupted by a long balcony on one wall stretching most of the way down the hall. Spike rushed over and pulled himself up until he was leaning over the banister. A cavernous pit opened up on the other side of the window and went down so far that its depths were completely shrouded in darkness. A metal walkway crossed from an open arch on either side of the pit and met at a platform that seemed to be hanging from the ceiling.

“This is the place the finals happened in the famous Duelist Kingdom tournament! I can’t believe I’m seeing it with my own eyes!”

“Spike? What are you doing here?”

The sudden question surprised him so much he nearly went over the railing. He flailed his legs wildly for a few moments before gravity pulled him back from the ledge and he landed hard on his behind. Spike winced and rubbed his backside, then turned around quickly when he remembered what had startled him in the first place.

His imagination hadn’t been playing tricks on him. Celestia stood in the middle of the hallway, bending over to look down at him in concern. She was clutching a large key in one hand, but Spike barely paid it any attention before he rushed over and hugged her tight.

“Finally!” he cried, “I never thought I’d find anyone in this maze! We have to hurry, Luna’s in real trouble back… back… alright, I don’t quite remember how to get out of this place…”

Celestia’s concerned gazed flicked over him and fell on the briefcase he had left by the railing. “Are those the Harmony cards?”

Spike blinked at the shift in conversation, but spun around and snatched up the metal case. “Yeah, Luna said we needed to get them to the others as quickly as possible. And there was this guy at the entrance who was using magic! Something big’s going on at the castle, no doubt!”

Celestia smiled and held out her hand for the case. “It was very brave of you to bring them all this way. Give the case to me and I’ll take you to the girls right away.”

His hand hesitated on the case’s handle. Something was wrong here, but he couldn’t quite place his finger on what. He passed over the briefcase slowly. “Are you alright? You haven’t asked about you sister, even though I said we were attacked-”

Celestia closed her hand over his and slipped the briefcase from his grasp. She smiled and, in a single motion, lobbed the case over the rail. The steel shone briefly before it vanished into the dark abyss below.

“There. That takes care of those nuisances,” Celestia said coldly, and then grunted when Spike careened into her side. She was only surprised for a moment, spinning and tossing the boy away from her with the same movement. Some unseen force guided him all the way across the hall to slam solidly into the wall, causing a disguised panel to pop open and dislodging several objects onto the floor. Spike crawled back onto his feet and held his arms up protectively before his face.

“That’s the same magic,” he said, panting to get his breath back from the tumble, “The same as what that man could do! You’re not the real Celestia!”

“Oh, but there you are incorrect,” Celestia said, brushing some invisible lint from her sleeve, “I am Celestia. I’ve just been shown the light! Now I can’t keep my Master waiting, so…”

She paused and realized for the first time that her hand was empty. She spun around just as Spike slipped the key he’d swiped into his pocket. “Give me that back!”

“Get away from me!” he shouted, grabbing the nearest thing off the floor and throwing it at her. She snatched the duel disk out of the air and stared at it imperiously, before a slow smile spread across her face.

“I see, well how about we duel for the key, if you’re that intent on protecting it!” she said as she slipped the disk onto her wrist and fished her deck out of her back pocket.

Spike glanced to the side and saw that the hidden panel had been storing spare duel disks. He picked one up and looked franticly up at her. “Duel? But you’re… and I’m not very…”

“You’d better get ready,” Celestia said as she activated her device with a snap of her wrist, “I’ve got no time to waste on the likes of you. I’ll even let you have the first turn. Now on your feet!”

Spike hesitated a moment longer, but he’d seen the magic the other man had been wielding. At least this way I’ve got a chance… however small that chance is… He fumbled his deck out and slid it home.

Spike Celestia
4000 4000

“OK, um…” Spike stalled, staring nervously at the cards in his hand, “I guess I’ll play this card face down, and summon Baby Dragon in attack mode!”

A bright light shot up from the ground in front of him and when it faded, there was a small orange dragon floating in the air. It beat its tiny little wings and shot a small puff of flame from its mouth.

“I give you a chance and this is what you do with it?” Celestia scoffed, appraising the monster and finding it wanting, “Let me show you how a real turn works.”

“Ma’am, I don’t understand what’s going on, but whatever is wrong you have to fight it!” Spike said urgently, but his plea fell on deaf ears.

“Do you really think you have to luxury to not pay attention? I activate the spell Graceful Charity!” Celestia drew three new cards and barely gave them a passing glance before selecting two and discarding them. Immediately her graveyard slot began to glow. “Now, when the Solar Guard of the Dusk is sent to the graveyard from my hand, it’s revived. And while he’s on the field, my Solar Guard of the Day can revive as well. That gives me two monsters, and I haven’t even used my normal summon yet!”

A pair of knights burst out from the ground in front of her and brandished their weapons in his direction. Spike took a step back and his dragon retreated along with him.

“Th-that means you can use them as tributes!” Spike said, shocked, “Does that mean you’re going to summon your immortal monster?!”

Celestia chuckled. “Against a child like you? I don’t need to bring out my best cards. Shining, Captain of the Solar Guard will be enough to finish you!”

A column of light descended from above between her two knights, and a figure in bright armor appeared in the middle of it. It stepped out from the light and spread out its cape dramatically before drawing its sword from its scabbard and raising it into a ready position.

“Shining gains two hundred attack points for every other warrior at his back,” Celestia explained, selecting another card from her hand, “But I think we can do even better than that. I activate the continuous spell Banner of Courage! All of my knights now gain an additional two hundred points when they attack. Now strike down that pathetic lizard, Shining!”

A time-worn battle standard on a wooden pole faded into view behind Celestia’s row of monsters, raising her Captain’s attack points to twenty-three hundred. It leveled its sword and shouted a battle cry as it leapt towards its prey.

“Hold on, I activate Ruby Heart!” Spike exclaimed, activating his trap card quickly, “This lets me evolve my Baby Dragon into a Hoard Dragon!”

His card flipped up and a deep red light poured out of its face. His dragon absorbed the light as its whole body became enveloped in red power, suddenly growing to ten times its original size. The red glow faded to reveal it had become a much older version of itself. It pawed the ground aggressively and bent down as if ready to pounce. Celestia’s knight skid to a stop and grit its teeth in frustration before walking cautiously back to its original spot.

“Hrmph, what an annoying move. I end my turn,” Celestia said with a frown.

“Please, I don’t want to fight you!” Spike insisted, leaning forward earnestly, “Come to your senses before this goes too far!”

Celestia sneered widely down her nose at him. “You started this when you got in my way. Now are you going to make a move or surrender to the inevitable?

Spike clenched his hand in frustration and draw his card. After a little bit he picked two out and put them into his disk. “I’ll play these two cards face down, I guess, and then I’ll attack Shining with Hoard Dragon. Greedy Smash!”

His dragon spread its wings wide and flapped hard, rising into the air with a strong gust of displaced air. It went as high as it could go in the tall hallway and then shot back down with a roar, slamming its giant claw down on her main soldier. The knight managed to get its sword up to block right before the claw struck, but the monster was lost to sight in the explosion of dust and smoke raised by the blow.

Celestia
3500

Spike pumped his arm in victory. “Yes! A direct hit!”

“Pitiful,” Celestia muttered calmly, discarding the Solar Guard of the Dawn, “As if it would be that easy.”

The smoke cleared away to reveal her knight was still whole. A pink shield of energy sparked off of its upraised sword against the weight of the draconic claw above it. The dragon growled its disappointment and retreated grudgingly, though not without a souvenir clutched in its other claw.

Spike swallowed nervously. “W-well, Hoard Dragon doesn’t leave empty-handed. Your Banner of Courage is mine now!”

“Take it.” Celestia said without emotion, drawing a card to start her turn, “I don’t need it to take care of you. I summon the Solar Guard of Dark Hours in attack mode, and activate the spell Share the Pain! This ought to cut your wyrm down to size!”

A murky gloom settled over the field, dispersing to reveal yet another soldier clad in armor much darker than its fellow’s. No sooner than it showed up then a circle of light appeared below the knight of Dusk and the Hoard Dragon, causing the two creatures to glance down in trepidation. The circles exploded violently, destroying the monsters utterly and sending duel shared in all directions.

But then something odd happened. The shards on Spike’s side froze in the air rather than disappear and reversed direction. They flowed together and, in a swirl of light, reformed into a Baby Dragon once again. The dragon gave a small cry and waved its little fists in the air.

Celestia frowned as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. “Annoying, but hardly a problem. Shining, crush it!”

“Not so fast,” Spike said, once again going for his traps, “I activate Super Junior Confrontation! Not only does this stop your attack, but it forces our weakest monsters to battle instead!”

The Captain froze in place with its sword half-raised, straining against the red glow imposed on it by Spike’s trap. It was a doomed effort though, and it was soon forced back into a ready stance. Her Solar Guard of the Day didn’t fare any better, struggling not to level its lance or spur its mount forward. In the end it was forced to charge anyway and the Baby Dragon met it with its own attack. The dragon caught the knight under its chin with an uppercut that shattered its armor and sent the knight flying into the air, where it shattered.

Celestia
2800

“Irritating drake,” Celestia spat, “Your deck reminds me of my worthless sister’s. She also filled her deck with cowardly traps to hide her weak monsters behind. But they can’t protect you forever!”

“How can you say that about her?!” Spike said angrily, forgetting for the moment to be nervous, “She’s your sister! And she’s in trouble! We need to stop this and go help her!”

“My sister has already proven herself unfit to serve Master Sombra,” Celestia said coldly, “And I will not prove to be less than her! But perhaps you could take her place, once I crush you in this duel.”

This is pointless! I’m never going to break through to her with words alone. Spike drew his card and studied it, a plan starting to form. I’ll have to knock some sense into her!

“I activate Polymerization to fuse my Baby Dragon with the Alligator’s Sword I just drew to summon Alligator’s Sword Dragon!”

A bipedal alligator wearing black armor and wielding a large sword phased into existence next to Spike’s dragon for a moment before the two of them swirled together like a top in a paint can. The swirl spun down to a pinprick point before reversing direction and uncoiling like a spring. Now the alligator was astride the dragon like a stead, waving its sword in eager anticipation. The Baby Dragon’s wings had grown twice as long and held the two of them up in the air with ease.

Spike thrust out his hand dramatically. “My new dragon has a special ability. As long as all the monsters you control are either fire, water, or earth-type, I can soar right past them to attack you directly.”

Celestia smirked and brush her hair aside dismissively. “Your inexperience is showing, child. In case you can’t tell on your own, all my knights are of the light-type.”

“Well, not for long!” Spike said, activating his other trap, “My DNA Transplant changes the type of all monsters to anything I want. And I think I’ll choose fire!”

Red curving tattoos crawled their way up her knights’ armor in the pattern of flames, going so far as to etch themselves onto the captain’s upraised sword as well. The alligator gained similar brands, while red lines swirled their way over the dragon’s orange scales. A shimmering as if of heat started to emanate off them all as their various auras altered to reflect their new fiery nature.

“Now, take this attack and come to your senses!” Spike shouted, slashing his hand sharply to the side. The dragon gave a powerful flap of its wings, launching straight forward while the stolen banner activated with a green glow. Her two remaining knights raised their blades to block its charge, but neither of them could quite get them up in time. Spike’s monster blew past them and the alligator slashed its blade right through Celestia’s middle, blowing her back hard into the railing.

Celestia
900

“Did it work?” Spike asked, running forward a few steps. He pulled up short as Celestia pushed herself up with one arm, but his stirring hope died as she glared up at him with cold anger.

Celestia straightened up and flexed her duel arm experimentally, checking to see if she’d sprained it in her fall. “Is this really the best you can do? I’m not sure you’re even fit to serve my Master if this is the best you can manage.”

Despite the situation, Spike felt his anger starting to rise. He slammed another trap into his disk with more force than necessary. “What are you talking about?! I’ve been dueling circles around you since the start! I’m just one turn away from victory!”

“Then allow me to educate you on where you’ve gone wrong,” Celestia said, her tone cold enough to cause icicles to form, “First, it doesn’t matter how many life points you lose. Only the last point matters. Second, you should know that there is a difference between being unable to fight back and being unwilling to go all out against a weakling.

“And third,” she said in a louder tone, starting her turn by snapping a card down sharply, “You should never talk back to your betters! I sacrifice my two knights to summon The Supremacy Sun!”

The aura of heat around her two knights burned brighter until they were surrounded in boiling flames which leapt up into the air. The ceiling of the hallway faded into an empty darkness around the twin pillars as they met and exploded outward into a ball of fire that couldn’t possibly fit in the building’s confines. The upper body of some kind of shimmering gigantic figure grew out from the front of the ball and loomed ominously over the duel.

“Y-you had that the whole time?” Spike asked hesitantly, his eyes flicking to his face down before he could stop himself.

The older women caught his tell, and rolled her eyes as she gestured with her hand. “Now that the Solar Guard of the Dark Hours is in my graveyard, I can sacrifice him once again to bring Royal Decree out from my deck. No more hiding behind your cowardly trap cards!”

A trap card appeared on her field and immediately pulsed with a violet light. Spike’s two traps became sealing in a purple aura, wiping clear the face of his DNA Transplant. The red designs on his monster faded away, along with the heat coming off its body. The ball of fire behind the Supremacy Sun tempered down as well until it was a smooth ball of light, shining coldly in the impossible darkness that had replaced the ceiling.

“It doesn’t matter how clever your tricks are if you don’t have the strength to back them up,” Celestia lectured, raising her palm up to her monster, “Now melt those lizards with Flame Pillar!”

The figure in the sun raised its arms and a stream of fire shot down between them. It washed over the alligator and the dragon before either of them could react, burning them into a smear on the ground.

Spike
2700

“Now stand and show me if there’s any backbone in you after all!” she demanded forcefully, crossing her arms over her chest.

Spike swallowed and drew a card, holding it up against the last one remaining in his hand. He but his lip, torn, and then squeezed his eyes shut and played the one he’d just drawn. “I… I summon Troop Dragon in defense mode and end my turn.”

A moderately sized dragon appeared on his field, crouching with its arms held crosswise before it. It shifted a long spear into the crook of its arm as it held its little shield a little better before its head.

“Pathetic,” Celestia spat, “Troop Dragon summons another copy from your deck when it is destroyed, which makes it a marginally useful shield. But that only gives it two extra lives and that’s not enough to stop me. I equip the Sun with Royal Might, giving it an extra attack for each sacrifice I offered to summon it!”

Her monster glowed with a golden light as her spell took effect, and it cocked back its right arm. It launched a punch that sent a torrent of fire from its fist down on the little dragon, blowing it to pieces. No sooner had the fires died away than a second dragon appeared in a burst of light in the same spot. The Sun punched out with its left fist and burned through the second drake. Once again it was replaced and the Sun raised both hands over its head, pooling fire between its palms. The third explosion was the largest yet, and when the smoke cleared Spike’s field was bare of monsters.

Celestia stared haughtily down her nose at him. “Do you see? There’s no substitute for pure strength, and Master Sombra has opened my eyes to that fact! There is nothing your weak cards can do to stop his plans. Now take your last turn, so I can put an end to this farce once and for all!”

Spike was helpless to take a step back from her intimidating words, swallowing against his rising despair as he considered the last card in his hand. Fusion Recovery can bring Polymerization and Baby Dragon back to my hand, but what can I do after that? Baby Dragon can’t defend me against that monster! Maybe if I could draw Time Wizard I could combine them into Thousand Dragon… but that could backfire on me too easily. Or should I bring back the Alligator Sword instead? If I draw Cyber-Tech Alligator I can fuse them for… but I might not draw that card…

Spike realized that his hand, which had drifted towards his deck, was shaking too badly to draw. He clenching it into a fist and squeezed his eyes shut. It’s no good, I’m too nervous to duel right anymore. There’s no way I can beat someone as strong as Celestia on my own!

Seeing his distress, Celestia threw back her head and laughed. “That’s right, there’s nothing you can do anymore! This outcome was inevitable. With this power not even the creator of this game, Maximillion Pegasus, could beat me if I hadn’t purposely thrown that game. But don’t feel too bad about it. Perhaps my Master will make you a servant after all when he turns all your friends!”

Spike visibly wilted with each word she said, shrinking in on himself in despair. But when she said that last bit he froze and furious energy seemed to surge through his veins. Images of the girls flashing in his eyes, he straightened up and placed his hand firmly on his deck.

“No!” he declared with grit teeth, “You won’t lay a finger on them! I may not be able to do much, but I will protect my friends!”

He drew and when he saw what he’d pinned all his hopes on, his eyes lit up and began to tear in the corners. “First I activate Fusion Recovery to add Polymerization and Baby Dragon back to my hand! And then I’ll summon Baby Dragon to the field in attack mode!”

“So what?” Celestia scoffed, “That weakling is just like you; it can’t possibly stand up to my power!”

“Never underestimate the little guy,” Spike declared, activating his last card, “Because inside him beats the heart of a hero! I activate Crystal Heart! Its magic transforms my Baby Dragon into the Champion Dragon!”

Sapphire flame washed over the dragon’s form, burning away its features as its forms grew up in size. The flames washed away to reveal a figure dressed in shining white armor and a royal purple cape flowing off its shoulders. The figure appeared human-like, until it opened its yellow, split-iris eyes and bared its pointed teeth in a wide smile. The Champion’s armor was also dragon detailed, especially around the helmet, and it balanced an enormous sword in one hand easily.

“So what?” Celestia demanded, “That monster is still nothing! What can it possibly do against me?”

“Champion Dragon is the ultimate hero,” Spike said, “When it battles against either zombie or fiend-type monsters, it gains attack points equal to theirs.”

“What?!” Celestia exclaimed, backing up a step in horror.

Spike pressed on, his voice gaining heat with each word. “Normally, I would need my DNA Surgery to make the most of it, but your Royal Decree has got it pinned down. Fortunately your Supremacy Sun is already a fiend-type. And think, if you hadn’t given up your knights there wouldn’t be any way for me to win! Your quest for more power led to your own downfall!”

“Hold on,” Celestia pleaded, holding out her hands, “Don’t do anything hasty now. Imagine what Master’s power can offer you!”

“There’s nothing I want but for you to turn back to the way you were!” Spike declared, pointing with determination, “Champion Dragon, strike the Supremacy Sun down! Purging Light!”

The Champion Dragon’s sword started to glow with its own light, soon growing too bright to look at directly. It took a running leap and soared straight up into the air at the monster above it. With a mighty swing the monster unleashed all the pent-up power within its blade in the form of an arc of shining light. The beam scythed through the Sun, splitting it vertically. For a heartbeat the two pieces drifted apart in perfect balance, then they erupted in a brilliant explosion.

Celestia
0

Celestia screamed and clutched her head as she lost the duel, stumbling in place as if in great pain. Then she suddenly went boneless and collapsed to the floor in an unconscious heap. Her out-flung arm hit the floor with a sharp rap and her jeweled bracelet snapped in half, the gemstone dissolving into a pile of dull colored sand.

“Celestia!” Spike shouted in concern as he rushed over to make sure she was alright. He knelt over her and quickly determined that she wasn’t badly hurt, but no matter how he shook her she wouldn't wake up. He breathed a sigh of relief anyway, though, glad that it was over.

His respite was cut short by the sound of someone behind him clapping. He spun in place, keeping Celestia’s prone form protectively behind him. A man was leaning nonchalantly against the wall right next to the balcony, watching the two of them. He was wearing a leather jacket, sunglasses, and a bandana designed after the American flag over his hair. When he saw he’d been spotted he broke out in a crazy grin.

“Not bad kid,” he said, lifting his own duel disk up in challenge, “But I’m afraid that key is too important to let you just keep. I’m gonna have to take it from ya!”

…

Joey sat cross-legged, tapping his fingers on his crossed arm impatiently. His eye twitched as his impatience grew ready to explode and he finally slammed his palms on his knees angrily. “Come on, how long are you going ta-”

“Finished!” Pinkie said on cue, bouncing to her feet and slipping her box of spare cards back into wherever she kept them, “That should do it! I’m ready to play!”

“It’s about time!” Joey exclaimed, coming to his own feet as well, “Let’s go!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Luck of the Underdog vs. Winner! Winner!! WINNER!!!

Author's Note

I'm so sorry it's been this long since I last updated this! Between trying to wrap up some of my other stories, graduating college, experiencing several very deep bouts of depression, losing my job, and getting ready for no less that TWO panels at this year's Bronycon, I've had some super busy months. Trying to get my act together, so I promise it won't be this long before the next update!

I know I said that this chapter was going to be Pinkie versus Joey in the last chapter, but I realized I was ignoring a lot of stuff that needs to happen first. There are other duels happening simultaneously right now, and it was going to be very awkward reading if I didn't start addressing the stuff that wasn't part of the main tournament. Apologies for the fake out, Pinkie versus Joey will definitely happen next.

That said, Spike's duel is one I've been looking forward to for quite a while now. Knowing that this game had a card called Baby Dragon, I knew that there was no more perfect card I could build his deck around. His style is based around evolving Baby Dragon into a variety of stronger forms, inspired after its in-game Thousand Dragon form. Toss in some Type and Attribute manipulation using the DNA trap line, and you've got a deck that's a little rickety but can pull out some impressive combinations. Perfect for a character who isn't especially strong but can pull off a surprising counterattack when pressed!

Spike has been cornered by Bandit Keith! Can he survive another duel against a stronger opponent? When will anyone else realize what's happening in the castle below their feet? And why is it so hard to navigate the castle?

Turn 12: Luck of the Underdog vs. Winner! Winner!! WINNER!!!

Joey Pinkie
4000 4000

“Alright! Let’s get this thing started!” Joey exclaimed, reaching for his deck.

“Err… you do know that I get to go first, right?” Pinkie asked, holding up a finger. “Applejack lost.”

Joey froze with his hand barely touching his top card. “Oh… right…”

“Get it together, Joey!” Mai called encouragingly.

Joey ran a hand across the back of his head and grinned in embarrassment. “Sorry, sorry…”

Pinkie sniffed and drew with a flourish, spinning the card a few times through her fingers before slapping it into her disk. “Time to get this party started! I activate the Vengeful Bog Spirit. Now monsters can’t attack on the turn we summon them!”

“What?!” Joey shouted in dismay. That mean’s it’ll be two whole turns before I can attack!

“Aww, don’t be scared,” Pinkie cooed, rifling through the cards in her hand, “I find that it’s best to giggle at the ghosties, to keep your spirits up! Get it? Spirits! Ha! Anyway, I’ll play this monster face down and set all four of these others face down as well. Your turn!”

Yugi blinked. “Did she just…?”

“…empty out her hand?” Mai finished.

Joey grinned in excitement. “Looks like you got a bum draw, only getting one monster! I’ll draw and-”

“Not so fast!” Pinkie exclaimed, snapping her finger as one of her traps flipped face up. “It’s a brand new duel, a brand new contestant, and that means Pinkie’s Crazy Carnival of Fun is open for business once again! I think we’ll start off the fun and games with a little Gamble!”

“I’ve never seen that card before,” Mai said, leaning forward to get a better look.

Pegasus nodded. “That’s because it’s generally considered too difficult and dangerous to use. Miss Pie is now going to flip a coin and if it lands on heads, she draws cards until her hand is full, but if she gets tails, she loses her next turn!”

Pinkie pulled a golden coin out of her back pocket and flicked it into the air. Every eye watched the glittering coin as it spun up, slowed at the height of its apex, and fell back down into Pinkie’s waiting hand. She slapped it onto the back of her hand and paused, clearly enjoying the rapt attention she was receiving. Then she removed her hand with a flourish and let out a theatrical shout of joy at seeing heads.

“Ah don’t know how that girl’s heart can stand the way she duels…” Applejack said, putting a hand to her own chest in sympathetic pain, “But it worked somehow. Now she’s got nearly twice as many cards as that fella!”

The party girl finished drawing her five new cards and smiled apologetically. “Sorry, I seem to have stolen your spotlight. I believe it was your turn?”

“Thanks…” Joey said lamely, “As I was going to say, I summon Axe Raider in attack mode!”

A warrior appeared on his side of the field, brandishing a large axe in one hand. It looked ready to do some violence, but the spell card across from it held it back.

“And then I’ll lay two cards face down and end my turn,” Joey finished. The cards appeared behind his warrior and sat there, looking very unimpressive.

Pinkie shrugged and drew, using the card to point at one of her many face downs. “Then it’s time for the carnival of fun to open its doors once again! And what’s a game without a little wager? I’m going to Bet it all on the Turn, to make this a little more interesting! The next time I’d take damage from a card, I’ve got a one in three chance to deal it to you instead!”

“Aw, play fair!” Joey complained.

“What’s unfair about it?” Pinkie asked, “If I lose the game my life points are halved. Now how about we put our luck to the test with my favorite monster, the Dice Jar!”

Her hidden monster flipped up and a jar with a grinning face on either end popped out. It spun up into the air and suddenly froze, each face spitting out a different colored die which landed at each duelist’s feet. For the first time, however, the dice both showed a four. The face on both ends of the jar opened their mouths wide and fire started to glow within them.

“Well, that a… oh, I almost forgot my spell!” Pinkie pulled out the top card of her deck and looked at it. After a beat her face fell.

“Oh no, did it not work?” Applejack asked, worried.

“No,” Pinkie said with a disappointed sigh, revealing the card to be a Gambler of Legend, “But this means Joey is going to take my damage and lose the duel! I was hoping the fun would last a little longer than that!”

“WHAT?!” Joey exclaimed, throwing his arms up defensively, but there was nothing he could do to stop the oncoming assault. Fiery magic spewed forth from both ends of the jar, the stream facing Pinkie bending in on itself and homing in on Joey. The two blasts hit him at the same time and he vanished into the explosion.

“A shame, I wanted to… play… longer…” Pinkie’s words died away as she realized something was off. Lifting up her disk, she tapped at the screen that displayed both player’s life points. “That can’t be right, why didn’t he lose?”

“Because right before I was hit, I activated Nutrient Z!” Joey declared, still standing strong as the smoke cleared. “I had ta gamble that I’d take a ton of damage first, but thanks to your own spell card it worked like a charm! Your attempt ta cheat backfired!”

“Hey!” Pinkie huffed, struck off-beat by that last comment, “I wasn’t cheating! That spell put me at as much risk as it did you!”

“Oh yeah?” Joey said provokingly, leaning forward and grinning pointedly, “That’s tha third time I’ve seen you use that jar monsta, and each time you’ve used a card ta block its damage. You must not have much faith in your games if you have ta rig them all tha time!”

Pinkie’s eyes lit up in rage. “I’m plenty lucky! I don’t need tricks to win!”

Joey thrust out his hand and clenched it into a fist. “Then prove it! Play straight with me from this point on in a fair duel! We’ll see who’s luck is better, yours or mine!”

“You’re on!” Pinkie declared, getting back to the task at hand. “I’ll set another monster in defense mode. You’re turn!”

“Was it really a good idea for Joey to rile up his opponent like that?” Mai wondered critically.

The Pharaoh shook his head and smiled. “If it’s Joey, he’ll be fine. And he’s just as fired up after that speech as Pinkie now.”

“Alright, time ta shine!” Joey shouted. “I’ll start by activating tha continuous spell Dangerous Machine Type-6!”

Steam oozed around Joey’s feet as a mechanical globe rose out of the ground beside him. The device sparked with static and hummed, warming up whatever parts it had inside.

“Ooohh, what does that do?” Pinkie asked, clearly interested.

Joey waggled a finger at her. “Ah, ah, ah! You’re going ta have ta wait for my next turn ta find that out. First I’m sending my Axe Raider to attack Dice Jar!”

His fighter let out a battle cry and charged forward. It pulled back its arm to attack, hesitated for a fraction of a second to see if Pinkie would stop it, and than gave a mighty swing when she didn’t. Its axe split the pot cleanly in two, and the two halves blew up.

Pinkie
2500

“I’ll play one more card face down and summon tha Swordsman of Landstar! And that’s it for me!” Joey finished, flicking the end of his nose. A tiny pillar of light deposited his smallest monster to his field, and it waved its small sword and shield in a vaguely threatening manner.

“Then it’s time for the carnival to open its games once more!” Pinkie declaimed, drawing with an unnecessarily complex flourish. “We start with one of my personal favorites, the trap card Psy-Die!”

A glowing die flashing through a variety of neon colors shone into existence on Pinkie’s upraised palm and she bounced it a couple of times playfully. “You wanted a straightforward game? Well it doesn’t get more straightforward than this! I’m going to toss this die and you’ll take two hundred points of damage times whatever I roll. Ready?”

“Wait, what?!” Joey exclaimed, but Pinkie had already thrown. The die grew to a much larger size and skipped a few times across the ground before settling at his feet with three pips showing. It glowed a violent indigo color before erupting in light and bands of force, blowing the duelist back a step.

Joey
3400

“Well, that wasn’t as much damage as it coulda been…” Joey began, but paused as Pinkie took this moment to turn her hidden monster face up. The card back shimmered away and left an evil-looking mask floating in its place. It was supported in a cloud of black, malevolent energy and seemed to be projecting an aura of pure menace.

“Geh! What is that thing?!” Joey exclaimed, leaning back in surprise and concern.

“My Mask of Darkness, of course!” Pinkie said happily, “And when it’s turned face up, it brings any trap card from my graveyard back to my hand. Looks like my Psy-Die will be making a repeat performance! Hmm… my field is getting a little light. I think I need to play these three cards face down, and set another monster in defense. There we go; that’s much better!”

She’s filled her spell and trap zone again, Joey thought in dismay as he drew his card and frowned at it. Shoot! I could really use Jinzo or Giant Trunade here. Well, one of them has ta be that Psy-Die again, but which one? And tha others could be anything!

“What’s wrong, Joseph? Has your meager grasp of the game fled you already?” Bakura laughed, earning a fierce glare from Joey, “Hurry up and make a move. It’s no fun watching you suffer if all you do is stand there.”

Joey scowled at him and pointed at his spell card. “Fine, you want ta see some action? Then let’s give my Dangerous Machine a whirl!”

The device whirled to life at his command and the metal arm at its side ratcheted down sharply. The machine's six orbes spun for several seconds before coming to a halt all at the same time. Each globe sported a large number one and a bright slot machine ding rang out from somewhere inside it.

“Gah! That’s not what I wanted ta see!” Joey exclaimed, picking one of the card out of his hands, “Now I have ta discard one of tha cards in my hand. But I’m not gonna let that set me back! I’ll get back on my feet by using my Graceful Dice ta multiply my Swordsman of Landstar’s attack points!”

One of his face down’s flipped up with a surge of light, out of which a chibi figure floated clutching a large blue die. The creature threw the die with all its might and it bounced and rolled across the battlefield. It came to a rest at the Swordsman’s feet with the number four showing and the pips burst into brilliant light. The small warrior was surrounded in an aura of power and grew in size until it was the same height as the Axe Raider.

“Not bad, but I can’t let you have all the fun! Psy-Die, activate!” Pinkie cried, revealing her trap card once more. Her multi-colored cube bounced past Joey’s blue one and came to rest showing a five, erupting into waves of force that drove her opponent back a step.

Joey
2400

“Good shot! Now it’s my turn!” Joey laughed, brushing off the damage with a grin, “Your Mask is still in attack mode, so this is gonna hurt! Cut it in half, Swordsman of Landstar!”

Pinkie pointed quickly to another of her cards. “Not if I use the Book of Moon on it first!”

“…Geh?” Joey said, his smile freezing in place as he processed that last play.

The swordsman flew forward and raised its stubby sword up to strike, but a white glow encased its target and dragged the mask down to the ground. The light flattened into the shape of a card and popped away, leaving the monster face down once more. This didn’t stop the swordsman from continuing its swing and bisecting the card in one strike. The mask appeared between the two halves for a moment before the entire mess shattered into duel shards.

The bubbly girl tittered and waved her monster card mockingly before putting it in the graveyard slot. “Aww, you almost had me there! But not only did I avoid any damage, but my Mask’s ability was activated again! Psy-Die lives once more!”

“Do you intend to beat me with just that one trap?” Joey asked irritably.

“Yep!” Pinkie said immediately, grinning from ear to ear. She reached for her disk and groped around, not finding the expected card immediately. After a few moments she looked down with wide eyes at her graveyard slot, which inexplicably hadn’t ejected her card. “Hey, where’s the Psy-Die?”

“Over here!” Joey shouted, slashing his hand dramatically. Directly in front of him floated his Graverobber, giggling as it clutched her trap card in its gloved hands. The psychedelic die shot out of the card face and bounced across the field to her feet. It landed with the six showing and it exploded into bands of light, knocking Pinkie back several steps.

Pinkie
1300

Joey clenched his fist in victory. “How do you like a taste of your own medicine?!”

“I like it very much, thank you!” Pinkie said happily, pointing down at her field. Joey glanced down just in time to see a trap card materialize in front of her. “You see, silly, if a six is thrown, then your opponent gets a turn to use Psy-Die.”

“Nyeeh?!” Joey cried, leaning back sharply.

Pinkie grinned. “Yep! I get it back anyway! And you’ve even set it on the field for me. Thanks!”

Joey shook his head to return the determination to his eyes. “Well let’s see how you like it when I crush your other monster! Strike it down, Axe Raider!”

His other warrior ran ahead and lopped her other face down card in half with a single swing. As the halves separated, a tiny goblin wearing dirty green clothes and clutching a spear appeared for a moment. It shattered along with the rest of its card.

Pinkie thrust out her index finger and waggled it in a playful way. “And another bad choice by our hapless contestant! The monster you just split in half was the Spear Cretin, and that means that we each now can summon any monster in our grave either face up or down.” She pulled out her discarded cards, selected one, and slapped it onto her disk with the back showing. “What could it be that I’ve picked? It could be the Mask of Darkness, or the Dice Jar, or maybe something else! It’s just a shame that you haven’t lost a monster this duel, so you don’t win a prize from this game-”

“Hold your horses!” Joey interrupted, picking a card from his graveyard, “Did you forget my Dangerous Machine made me discard earlier? It’s a good thing I decided ta toss out this guy. I revive tha Legendary Fisherman! And for good measure, I’ll sacrifice tha Swordsman of Landstar and summon Maximum Six! And when he comes out I get ta roll a die and raise his attack points by two hundred times whatever I roll!”

To his left, a surge of water shot up from the empty field and a shark swam up through it to hover on the field. On the shark’s back was a wild looking man grasping a sharp looking harpoon. Meanwhile, Joey’s cartoon fighter disappeared in a column of light to be replaced by a purple skinned, six armed giant. A red die appeared before the giant and skipped across the field, coming up a five. The monster reared back and flexed its muscles as its effect raised its attack points to twenty-nine hundred.

“And I’ll end my turn by playing a face-down,” Joey said, emptying out his hand.

“Good lord, their decks are identical!” Mai cried out as the two duelists took a moment to get their breath back from that intense exchange.

Twilight squinted and bit her lip nervously. “It’s just too random. The duel changes so much with each card that it feels like my head’s spinning! It’s completely impossible to tell who has the upper hand.”

“It’s got to be Pinkie,” Applejack pointed out. “She’s been dancin’ circles around his monsters this whole duel. He hasn’t had a chance to fight back at all!”

Twilight furrowed her brow in concern. “That’s the problem, though. Remember his last match? He turned the tables on Rarity’s combos nearly every single turn. And despite everything Pinkie’s already thrown at him, he’s still standing. If she gives him even a single inch…”

“Step right up!” Pinkie declared, drawing with a flourish. “It’s time for more carnival games! And the first game on the docket is Summon Dice!”

Her spell card materialized and spat out a white die that landed on a three. Light poured from the top of the die and a small orange creature popped out of it. The diminutive fiend adjusted its little tux and grinned with a mouth full of pointed teeth.

The party girl clapped her hands as she explained. “A three means I can summon my Lottery Imp for free! And just like all my other monsters, Lottery Imp has a fun ability to play! First I guess what the top card of my deck is. Hmm…” Pinkie held up her duel disk and frowned intently at it, her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth. “I think… it’s going to be a trap card!”

Her imp hopped up onto her shoulder and plucked the top card out of her disk. It frowned at the card, grinned sideways at its master, and held the card aloft and waved it about wildly.

Pinkie
2300

“Looks like I win!” Pinkie laughed, taking the card from her monster. “That means I win both the card and a thousand life points! Next I’ll give the Psy-Die another whirl!”

Her trap flipped up and she threw out its die yet again. Joey sighed as it landed on four and smashed its energies into his chest.

Joey
1600

“Let me guess,” Joey said archly, “Your face down monster is that Mask of Darkness, isn’t it?”

“Yes-indeedie!” Pinkie bubbled, revealing the Mask with a flick of her hand. “Which gives me Psy-Die back for fifth time! Isn’t it fun? It keeps coming and going, around and around, like a Ferris wheel! But enough about that, let’s bring out an old friend. I sacrifice the Mask and the Imp for Monty 3-Cards!”

Her two creatures floated together and merged in a point of light, which flared and faded to reveal a familiar, red suit-clad figure. It began to shuffle a stack of cards on a folding table in front of it.

Pinkie lifted her left arm. “You remember how this works, don’t you? Guess what kind of card I have here on my little deck and you don’t take damage! Fun, right?! Take a wild guess!”

“Uh… err…” Joey sputtered. “It’s… a spell card! No wait, a trap!”

“Oooh, sorry,” Pinkie said apologetically, as Monty floated a card out from the stack and revealed it to be her Trump Dragon. “You know what that means!”

Joey
600

“Oh no!” Pegasus exclaimed.

“Hang in there, Joey!” Yugi shouted.

“Pfeh, this is nothing,” Joey huffed, starting to get slightly out of breath. “That all you’ve got? Cause I’m still standing!”

“And it’s downright amazing that you are!” Pinkie said happily, placing here last two cards facedown. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had! But something tells me that the fun is about to end.”

Joey grinned. “I was just thinking tha same thing! First I’ll give my Dangerous Machine a whirl.”

The numbers on his machine rolled for a few seconds before coming to a halt on the number three. “All right! A three means I can draw another card… and it’s tha Mystical Space Typhoon! With this I can get rid of that annoying Vengeful Bog Spirits!”

A cyclone brewed up out of the ground under Pinkie’s spell card. The card wavered in place before getting torn up into the sky and flung away, where it shattered into pieces.

“And now my new monsters are free to attack! Like my Battle Warrior!” Joey declared, slamming the card into place. A blue-skinned fighter appeared on his field and lifted its fists up in a ready position.

“Let’s see if you even get a chance to use it!” Pinkie shouted, flipping up the Psy-Die again. The die bounced and rolled dramatically across the field.

“If it lands on a three or higher, Joey’s going to lose!” Mai shouted.

Bakura grinning in anticipation. “It’s over.”

Joey suddenly grinned, and he leaned forward eagerly. “I don’t think so. As long as I have a chance, I’m not going to give up!”

“That’s the spirit!” Pinkie cheered, momentarily forgetting which side she was on. The die slowed and rolled to a stop… on a one.

Joey
400

“Ha, I barely felt that one!” Joey taunted, brushing an imaginary smudge off his chin with his fist.

Pinkie grinned and pointed to her feet, where once again a trap card was materializing. “True, but I get a parting gift for rolling so low; Psy-Die comes back to me! Next turn there’s no chance at all it isn’t going to finish you off!”

“Too bad there won’t be a next turn,” Joey shouted, thrusting out his hand dramatically. “Maximum Six, smash Monty 3-Cards to pieces!”

“Too bad I have this!” Pinkie interrupted cheerfully, “Barker, the Auto-Luck Machine sends the top cards of our decks to the graveyard. If they’re the same your monster gets a thousand points, but if they’re not, you lose. Ready to play?”

“Anytime!” Joey shouted, flipping his top card and holding it out. “I’ve got the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.”

Pinkie grinned and revealed hers. “Book of Taiyou. That lowers you attack points enough for me to win! Monty, time to counterattack!”

Joey's monster rushed forward, its many arms pumping the air in anticipation of violence, but Monty flipped up its card table into the giant’s path. Monty leapt back and landed in a crouch as the giant was stopped short. It crossed its arms and cards shot out of its sleeves and into its hands. The dealer snapped its arms and launched the fistful of cards like shuriken.

At the last moment a chain appeared in two of Maximum Six’s hands and it spun one end of it, creating a whirling shield. The swarm of cards were deflected harmlessly aside and with a flick of its wrist, the giant sent to other end of the chain flying at its opponent. This end had a wicked looking blade on the end and it wrapped around Monty, pinning its arms to its sides.

“Finally,” Joey said, “I’ve been waiting all game for you to launch an attack. My Kunai with Chain gives Maximum Six five hundred attack points, which is just enough to finish tha job!”

The giant gave a mighty tug on the chain and Monty was pulled bodily through the air to it. The giant’s other arms blurred as it punched the dealer over and over until it exploded into duel shards.

Pinkie
2150

I knew he had something in reserve, Twilight thought, a bead of sweat dripping down past her eye. “You just have to hang in there, Pinkie! He’s barely got any points left!”

“I’ve got more than enough ta deal some damage,” Joey shouted. “Legendary Fisherman, spear her!”

“Uh…” Pinkie said, unsure for the first time. She looked between one of her face down cards and the oncoming monster several times before coming to a sudden decision. “I activate Burst Rebirth and revive a monster face down!”

Pinkie
150

She paid nearly all her life points ta bring whatever that is back, Joey though furiously. What can it be? Should I stop my attack? Wait, her last trap sent that Trump Dragon of hers ta tha graveyard! That has ta be played face down ta be summoned. Which means this is my only chance ta get rid of it!

“I’m not scared!” Joey declared, “I continue my attack!”

His fisherman roared and threw its harpoon with all its might, spearing the card right through its center. The card shimmered and broke, releasing not the golden dragon Joey was expecting, but the Dice Jar! The jar floated high into the air, spinning and preparing to launch its dice from its mouths.

“Why did you do that?!” Twilight shouted, striding forward and only stopping when Applejack put a restraining hand on her shoulder. “Next turn you could have used the Psy-Die again and finished him off with anything but a one! Why are you risking it all on this?!”

Pinkie shrugged and shot a grin at her opponent. “I just had a feeling that this was the way to end it. All or nothing, right?”

“Absolutely!” Joey said with a grin.

The Dice Jar froze in place and both its mouths opened wide. A blue die shot out towards Pinkie’s feet while a red one was sent in Joey’s direction. Everyone on the castle top held their breaths as the dice bounced and rolled, seeming to take far longer than normal as if to heighten the tension. But finally, the dice slowed and came to rest.

Pinkie immediately leapt into the air and did a little dance. “Yes! A six! I win! Victory is mine!”

“Heh,” Joey chuckled, stopping her mid-caper, “Not quite. I also got a six. That means it’s a tie.”

Both faces on the Dice Jar unhinged their jaws and a massive amount of energy started to collect in the blackness within. Pinkie spun back around and, after glancing in horror at her own monster, thrust her hand out to her last trap. “No way am I going to get knocked out of the tournament like this; I’m just having too much fun! I’ll use Dice Re-Roll to force you to do a do-over!”

The red dice skipped into the air and started bouncing around the field again. Joey tsked and flicked his head to the side. “I thought you said you weren’t going to use any of those cards anymore!”

“What can I say? I wanna duel the King of Games!” Pinkie shrugged and offered an apologetic smile, but Joey just started to laugh. “Well, I’m glad you’re taking it so well!”

Joey straightened up and stared right at her, the determination burning in his eyes. “I may not be able ta win, but that does not mean I’m going ta give up! I believe in myself and my luck, and I will hold my head high until the last move is made!”

As if to punctuate his resolve, the red die chose that moment to come to a halt at his feet. The top number, once again, was a six.

“No way…” Pinkie gasped, her own eyes as wide as saucers as she stared at the result. Above them, the jar unleashed a twin stream of power that smashed home onto the two duelists, creating a pair of explosions that filled the arena with smoke and wind.

Joey Pinkie
0 0

…

“This place just goes on forever!” Rainbow Dash complained, stalking down a hallway that looked like the last twenty hallways they’d already been down. She stamped her feet as if the floors had done something to her personally.

“I have to admit that it is rather odd,” Rarity said thoughtfully, “We’ve been down so many of these already, but we haven’t seen any doors or exits. It’s as if we are trapping in some kind of labyrinth.”

Rainbow spun and punched the nearest wall. “The others are counting on us, and we’re lost! We can’t even find our way back anymore!”

Rarity put a calming hand on her back before she could punch the wall a second time. “Come on, this hall simply must lead somewhere.” She led her around the next corner, fully expecting more of the same despite her reassurances, but in front of them was something new.

Rainbow pushed out of Rarity’s grasp and rushed forward. “I recognize this! This was the stage for the Duelist Kingdom finals!”

The duel platform hung suspended from a ceiling neither of them could see over a pit so deep neither of them could make out the bottom. Both of the metal admittance paths had been extended, connecting the platform to the halls on either side of the abyss. Rainbow Dash ran onto the platform and peered over the edge like a tourist, but Rarity walked over the bridge cautiously.

“Well, at least it’s something different that those dreary halls,” she said, but no sooner had she set foot on the platform that the walkways detached and began retreating into the far walls.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Rainbow shouted, running to the edge. But it was too late; they were trapped on the floating platform. The air was suddenly filled with the sound of mocking laughter.

“It seems two mice have been caught in our maze,” a voice said, the echo making it impossible to tell where it was coming from.

“Perhaps we should deal with these wayward strays,” said another voice, joining the first.

Rarity turned slowly so her back was to Rainbow’s and the two of them faced either opening from across the drop. “Whoever you ruffians are, come out here and face us! We’re not afraid of you!”

“HA!” the two voices said as one as two people suddenly leapt out from either hallway. They spun as they soared through the air, both easily going over the two girls’ heads. The men landed on either side of them.

The two newcomers each struck a kung-fu pose with their left arms hidden behind their backs. Both were wearing vaguely Chinese outfits, one green and the other orange, and both were so bald their scalps shone. They were also sporting a dark ruby earring, in the opposite ear of the other, that glowed with an evil aura.

“Our Master’s plans we’ve been tasked to hide,” the one in orange spoke, his voice taking on a sing-song quality.

“But you wandering fools are a thorn in our side!” Said the green clad one, smoothly taking up the dialogue. “We offer you a challenge most cruel.”

“If you want to leave, you must beat us in a duel!” the other finished. At the same moment they spun around, revealing they both had a duel disk all primed to go.

“Ha, you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourselves into!” Rainbow said viciously, grabbed her own disk off her back strap. “You up for this, Rarity?”

Rarity sniffed and unzipped her bag. “Of course I am. The question is whether you’ve mastered those Wonderbolt cards or not.”

“Of course I…” Rainbow’s voice trailed off as her hand closed several times on open air behind her back. “Uh…”

…

The explosion as Joey and Pinkie’s duel ended rattled the windows in their frames. Fluttershy shifted slightly from the force of it on the couch and she slipped a little off Rainbow’s jacket, which had been placed under her head as a pillow. Rainbow Dash’s deck box, containing her precious new cards, poked a little out from the back pocket and into her neck.

Slowly, as if struggling against weights, Fluttershy’s eyes trembled open.

…

“You left your cards behind?!” Rarity exclaimed in disbelief.

“Not to worry,” Rainbow said, diving into Rarity’s bag and rummaging around. Rarity made a sound of protest and yanked her bag back, but Rainbow already had a small box in her hand. “I stashed my main deck in here, just in case. I didn’t feel like carrying it around with me, and since you were already bringing luggage…”

Rarity sniffed, but she couldn’t hide the smile peeking out the corner of her lips. “You could have at least asked first… but I have to admit, I like our chances a lot more with you using those cards instead.”

“Just you wait,” Rainbow said at her back, pulling out the new cards and sliding them home into her disk, “I’m going to make the Wonderbolt deck so good, it will leave this one far behind!”

“Enough talk!” Para and Dox said simultaneously, activating their disks with a snap of their wrists, “The time has come to duel!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel!
Masters of the Labyrinth vs. Aces High & Dressed to Kill

Author's Note

Why, oh why, did I add Para and Dox to this story? I still don't know what I'm thinking. It's going to be so hard writing the next duel... still, I promised you way back when that Sombra had more servants. And apologies if anyone was looking forward to Rainbow playing the Wonderbolt deck again. I honestly couldn't decide between that deck and this upcoming one for her to use, so I planned on her using both instead. Count these upcoming cards as the deck she's been using in all these flashbacks I vaguely hint at!

I don't know what it is about Pinkie's duels, but it just takes me so long to write them compared to the others! I simply love rolling dice in Yugioh, a factor that has directly led me to building decks that have lost me many a tournament, but I still love them anyway. I believe I've mentioned before that the Dice Jar is my favorite monster ever, and that still holds up to this day. I've always thought that dice mechanics were wasted potential in Yugioh. Adding a die roll to a card meant that the resulting effect could be more overpowered than one could normally create, which leads to some ridiculous abilities. And if you don't believe me, just look at what the Archfiends were capable of!

Can Rainbow Dash and Rarity work together against Para and Dox in a tag team duel? Has any Yugioh tag team ever gotten along through a whole tag duel? Will I be playing against type or will I bow to Yugioh tradition? The answers to these and many more, soon...

Turn 13: Masters of the Labyrinth vs. Aces High & Dressed to Kill

Para & Dox Rainbow & Rarity
8000 8000

“Decide who will make the first move,” Dox commanded, “And let the tag duel begin!”

“You go first!” Rainbow shouted immediately.

Rarity choked on what she had been about to say and looked over her shoulder at her partner. They were standing back to back, directly between their opponents. “Dear, what do you think you’re doing? That will give them the advantage!”

“Yeah, but we’ll get the chance to attack first!” Rainbow said, shooting her friend a confident grin. “Trust me, I’ve got a plan.”

“It’s a decision you’ll come to regret!” Para said, drawing a card and starting the game. “I summon Whirlwind Prodigy in attack mode, and lay two cards face down.”

“A good move, brother!” Dox said as the cards appeared on his partner’s field. The air spun up in front of the orange-clad duelist as a boy popped out of the ground before him. The boy held itself aloft in the middle of a small tornado, bits of holographic leaves and debris mixed into the wind.

Para picked another card from his hand and slipped it into his disk. The spell card appeared on the field and waves of sound started whistling out from it. “I end my turn with the Jade Insect Whistle. Tell me, my young fools, do you have any insect monsters in your decks?”

“Urg, no!” Rarity said with a shudder.

Rainbow Dash frowned. “In my deck? No way!”

“Oh, that’s a shame…” Para cooed, his voice dripping with fake concern, “What about you, brother?”

“Why, I believe I do!” Dox grinned, pulling a card out from his deck. “Jirai Gumo, in fact. To the top of my deck it goes!”

Rarity sniffed and pulled the top card of her deck up with a flick of her hand. “Are you quite finished playing with such disgusting cards? Then I shall begin with the spell Graceful Charity to exchange something old for something a tad newer. And next I will summon The Devious Deziner and equip her with Mist Body!”

Her monster appeared by her side, glaring directly at the floating child in front of it. Thin wisps of mist floated off the demon’s body until you couldn’t really tell where it’s body lay exactly. It pawed the ground in barely contained anticipation.

“Is that all?” Para said arrogantly, “Let me show you what a real monster looks like. I activate the trap card Conscription, which lets me summon a monster from the top of any player’s deck. May I, brother?”

“What’s mine is yours, brother,” Dox said, lifting up his left hand. A beam of light shot out of his deck and landed on Para’s field, clearing away to reveal the most hideous, bloated, nightmare-inducing spider you could possibly imagine. The abomination reared back on its many legs and hissed, bits of saliva dripping from its terrible jaws.

Rarity’s flesh crawled and she pressed herself into her partner’s back, trying to put as much distance between herself and it as she could. “Oh, it’s absolutely repugnant! Why would you ever use such a thing?!”

Rainbow Dash nudged her in the back. “Uh, Rarity? It’s just a bug. Calm down, will ya?”

“Calm down? You aren’t the one who has to look at it!” she exclaimed in revulsion. “It. Is. Dripping! Get rid of it!”

“If that is what you wish,” Dox said, “But soon you may wish it had stayed! I activate Tribute Doll! This allows me to sacrifice Jirai Gumo and summon any seven star monster in my hand, such as the mighty Suijin!”

A geyser of water gushed out of the ground at his feet and rose far up above them. A shadowy form slowly grew beneath the water’s surface and the geyser suddenly cut out, dropping away to reveal a giant blue thing. It looked like a gaping demon’s head with a pair of enormous arms coming out of its sides. Or maybe they were legs, it was hard to tell. It floated over Dox’s head like a guardian demon.

“I too shall play a card face down,” he continued. “Then activate Dark Designator. With this I merely have to guess a card in my brother’s deck and if it’s there, it goes straight to his hand. And tell me, do you have Sanga of the Thunder?”

“Why, I have it right here!” Para said, pulling it out of his deck.

“Then I shall end my turn by summoning Kaiser Sea Horse,” Dox finished, as a merman popped out of the ground at his side. It brandished a large spear in its webbed hands threateningly.

Rainbow grinned and almost ripped the top card off her deck. “Finally, I thought it would never get to my turn. Now let me show you how to really duel! I activate the field spell Target Rich Skyline!”

As her spell card activated, the air around them began to darken and fill with wisps of cloud. Soon it looked like they were standing inside of a deep cloud rather than in a building, and shadowy forms flashed every now and then just out of sight in the haze.

“Next I’ll play three cards face down to get them out of my hand,” Rainbow continued, “And I’ll start off my airshow with Falchion Beta!”

The clouds swirled and suddenly a fighter jet shot out from them and circled the suspended duel field. Up close, the plane was clearly more futuristic than normal, with forward curved wings and a large rocket blasting jet fuel out the back.

Rainbow smiled and raised her arms up over her head as the jet continued to circle the field, speaking louder to be heard over the roar of its engine. “How cool is this? How often in a game filled with swordsmen, animals, and wizards do you get to face down a fighter jet?! Maybe not as cool as the Wonder Bolts, but you gotta admit it's still cool! Now watch as my Falchion attacks!”

“You fool!” Dox shouted as the jet banked around and homed in on Suijin. “Has your brain become addled by the clouds? That little plane is the weakest monster played so far! Suijin will crush it into paste!”

A hatch underneath the jet opened and a rocket shot out on a trail of smoke. As the missile passed over Para’s head, the clouds to the side of the duel bulged and a smaller fighter shot out of it. The newcomer flew across the field right into the path of the projectile and they exploded in a burst of violence over the two girls’ heads, just short of actually hitting Dox’s creature.

“Bwahaha!” Rainbow laughed, holding up her palms innocently, “Psyche! I’m not that dumb! My field spell Target Rich Skyline intercepts the first attack I make each turn.”

“Then what was the point of that pantomime?!” Dox demanded.

Rainbow smirked and flipped through her deck with her thumb until she found the card she was looking for. “My jet has a special ability, duh! I can send any monster I want to my graveyard now. Not bad for a first turn, huh?”

“You accomplished nothing!” Para said, drawing angrily, “Allow me to show you what a real turn is like! Brother, I need a monster!”

“By all means, brother!” Dox said as his seahorse was surrounded by glowing energies.

The clouds above the duel rumbled and turned black, splitting apart in a streak of lightning that struck the field at Para’s feet. For a half second every duelist was blinded, and when they could see again a hulking figure was looming just behind the orange-clad man. The lightning flashed again, revealing the monster’s gleaming yellow form.

“When I sacrifice Kaiser Sea Horse, I can bring out a light monster of any level from my hand!” Para declared, pointing straight up at the behemoth, “Behold Sanga of the Thunder! Unleash your fury on that pesky little plane!”

Electricity crackled between the monster’s claws as it held out its limbs, unleashing a discharge at the circling jet. The lightning curved as the plane banked to get away, not letting the nimble machine escape. Moments before the attack would have caught it, Falchion swooped around a bulge in the clouds and another decoy plane flew out into its path. The smaller machine exploded, letting Falchion escape unharmed.

Rainbow Dash laughed. “You didn’t think my field spell only stopped my own attacks, did you?”

Para grunted and glanced to the side at his other monster. “That may be, but it only works on the first attack. Whirlwind Prodigy will finish what Sanga started!”

“Not if I deploy Rare Metalmorph,” Rainbow countered, “Giving my jet a new slick sheen and five hundred more attack points!”

Para’s sorcerer popped out of the clouds in front of Rainbow’s jet and thrust its hands out, conjuring a cyclone of winds in its path. But the outer shell of the jet glowed and took on a sharper, more streamlined look. It powered straight through the violent winds as if they were nothing and fired a round of tracer fire from its nose. The bullets tore across the boy’s chest and it exploded.

Para & Dox
7800

“First blood goes to us!” RD cheered, pulling out her deck to search though, “And since Falchion blew up your monster, I can send another one to my grave.”

Para grit his teeth and activated his trap. “My attack is not finished! Call of the Haunted brings back my monster!”

“Bring it on,” Rainbow taunted, holding her hand ready over her two other traps, “I can trash that guy over and over!”

But her opponent wasn’t even looking at her anymore. “I’m well aware. That is why I attack your friend instead!”

The Prodigy held out it's hand and collected a ball of raging winds between its palms. It thrust out and unleashed the squall upon Rarity’s demon, pressing the monster to the floor with the force of the wind. Mist Body kept it from being destroyed, but it was a small comfort to her life points.

Rainbow & Rarity
7800

“And I will finish my turn with a face down,” Para said as the card appeared on the field.

“Ruffians…” Rarity huffed, drawing her card. She made a sour face at her hand and eventually picked out a pair of cards. “I’ll place one card face down and summon Backup Gardna in defense. Then I’ll switch my Devious Deziner to defense.”

Her monster crouched down and bared its teeth in a belly-deep growl as a pillar of light appeared next to it. The light faded to show off a blue skinned demon, also crouching with its arms crossed over its chest. Both Para and Dox’s eyes widened at her move and they shot each other a well-practiced look, knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

“Uh… Rarity?” Rainbow asked, glancing over her shoulder, “Do you wanna, I don’t know… do something useful with your turn?”

“Do you think?” Rarity returned archly, “Perhaps I could have used my monster’s ability to attack directly, but someone seems to have played a spell that would block my attack!”

“Now, now, don’t beat yourselves up,” Dox interrupted, “That’s our job! I activate Pot of Greed and draw twice.” He grinned widely at his new cards and glanced across the field. “Brother, may I borrow a monster?”

“Of course, brother. That is why he is there!” Para said with an identical smile.

Dark swirling energy circled the Prodigy as Dox raised his new card high. “I use his ability to summon out the last of our mighty trio, Kazejin!”

A tornado enveloped the boy and rolled unchecked across the field until it was on Dox’s side. The winds slowly died down to reveal another gigantic monster had been summoned. This one was a large green globe with two arms held close to its sides. It glared down at the girls from where it floated without apparent care for things like gravity.

“Three level seven monsters, and so quickly…” Rarity muttered, unconsciously hunching down defensively under the weight of their stares.

Dox chuckled and selected another card. “I’m afraid the bad news doesn’t end there. I will use Stop Defense to switch the Deziner to attack mode!”

“What?!” Rarity exclaimed, but she was unable to do anything as her monster rose from its crouch and roared in anticipation.

Dox punched his fist out at it. “Suijin, Kazejin, attack her monster! Show it the power of the elements!”

“Hey, over here! What about me?!” Rainbow Dash shouted, waving her arms and trying to get their attention, but the giants ignored her completely. The green one shot a stream of compressed air from its mouth while the blue one gushed a stream of pressurized water. A decoy plane flew out of the clouds and took the blast of air for her, but it couldn’t stop the water from slamming into the demon and driving both it and its owner to the side of the platform.

Rainbow & Rarity
6600

“Are you alright?” Rainbow Dash asked, helping her friend to her feet with an arm over her shoulder. Rarity coughed a couple times and nodded, then glared at her opponent.

“Don’t give me such a look,” Dox laughed, crossing his arms, “Just wait until my brother’s turn! Thanks to your own Mist Body, your monster is still in attack mode!”

Rainbow Dash slipped out from under her friend’s arm, after making sure she could stand alright, and raised her disk threateningly. “Don’t worry, Rares, I’ve got this. I summon Victory Viper XX03!”

The clouds parted as another plane swooped out of the clouds and began circling the field. This one barely resembled a fighter jet, its sleek design more akin to a space fighter from a movie.

“And next I’ll activate the spell Power Capsule,” she continued, and a second spaceship exactly like her new one burst forth from the cloud cover, “This spell lets me activate one of Viper’s many abilities right away, such as calling in an Option Token! Now I’ll launch an attack with Falchion!”

Her first fighter streaked down on the field and shot missiles out from its underbelly, which blasted apart another token generated by her field spell. As the remains of the smaller ship fell, they passed another jet shooting up from below.

Rainbow waved at this newcomer as it joined the others above. “This time I’m using Falchion’s other ability and reviving one of the guys I send to the grave earlier, Lord British Space Fighter! And I’ll power him up with my second trap, Metalmorph! This metal coating gives him half the attack points of whatever monster he guns down. Plus when he destroys a monster, he can keep on attacking! Prepare to lose all your precious seven-stars!”

The new jet spiraled high into the air and shot back down, using gravity to accelerate. Lasers lanced out from barrels under each wing as it dived straight at its first target, Sanga. In response the giant spread out its arms and the space between was suddenly filled with cackling lightning. The lasers encountered the mess of energy and were diverted wildly off track, splashing harmlessly into the clouds. The fighter had to bank at an extremely tight angle to avoid the web and was forced to abandon its attack.

“What happened?” Rainbow asked incredulously, “That should have worked!”

Para and Dox laughed mockingly, and Para leaned forward to explain. “Foolish girl, did you think our monsters could be beat so easily? They have special abilities as well, and Sanga’s has rendered your attack null and void!”

“Grr… whatever!” Rainbow said sourly, “I end my turn.”

“And that is all you can do!” Para laughed, drawing, “You may have many monsters, but none of them have the strength of ours. And now we will show you the gulf of that strength!” He lifted his hand and pointed high into the air. “I sacrifice Suijin, Kazejin, and Sanga of the Thunder to summon the mighty Gate Guardian!”

Three brilliant pillars of light enveloped their giant monsters and dissolved their physical forms. The blue, green, and yellow beams swirled together and slammed onto the platform behind Para, depositing a truly enormous creature onto the field. It looked like their three beasts had been simply stacked one atop another, but its points were incomparable.

“Three thousand, seven hundred fifty attack points!” Rarity gasped.

The brothers threw back their heads and laughed triumphantly as the Guardian’s presence began to affect the field. The clouds grew black and heavy, laden with rain that didn’t quite fall, and lightning flashed constantly deep in the clouds. Rainbow’s jets started to struggle against the increased wind that began to buffet the field. It felt like they were dueling in the middle of a violent thunderstorm, where the very weather itself had been turned against them.

“Gate Guardian is one of the strongest monsters in the entire game,” Para gloated, “And the lynchpin of our decks, the master of the maze you will never escape!”

“What maze?” Rainbow demanded, “What are you idiots even talking about?”

Dox laughed again and looked down his nose at her. “Are you really such a fool that you did not notice the twists and turns that the halls of this very castle has become? Our Master has granted us the power to bend space itself, in order to protect his designs! A power that has only grown with each other minion we no longer have to share the power with!”

Para took up the narrative, his earring glowing malevolently in the dim light. “It was us that led you here, and it will be the Gate Guardian that will end this duel and turn you both into willing servants of the Master!”

“It’s still only one monster!” Dash challenged, pointing at it accusingly, “My field spell will block its attack, no matter what its points are!”

“Or so you’d think,” Para said with barely contained glee, “But your spell has played directly into my hands! I equip Fairy Meteor Crush, which will take the difference between the Gate Guardian’s attack points and your interfering toy plane’s defense points out of your life points!”

The Gate Guardian reared back and collected power to its chest. After a moment it shot a stream of electrified, tornado-enveloped water directly at the two duelists. A decoy jet shot out of the clouds to intercept the attack, but it was simply overwhelmed by the blast and absorbed into it. Rainbow Dash and Rarity screamed as the attack smashed into them and engulfed them completely in its power.

Rainbow & Rarity
3650

“Ready to surrender?” Para asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

“Hardly!” Rainbow shouted, discarding her last card to activate her final trap. “Damage Condenser lets me summon a monster from my deck whose attack is less that the damage we just took. And the monster I want is Flint Lock!”

“More annoying flies…” Para muttered as a fifth jet burst through the clouds and joined the others. This newest ship was so futuristic it was practically a robotic bird of prey, its wings and tail-fins flexing more than a fighter jets’ should. “I will play a second card face down and end my turn…”

Rainbow turned and gave Rarity a knowing look. “So how about that for a plan?”

Rarity arched her eyebrow critically at the newest jet and hummed under her breath. “Perhaps… but let me give something a try first. I’ll start my turn with Card of Sanctity!”

“What a boring play,” Para said, filling his hand along with everyone else, “You have helped us more than you have helped yourselves!”

Rarity ignored his barb and calmly reviewed her hand. “Say what you will, but that garish beast isn’t going to last the turn. I sacrifice both of my monsters for the queen of my deck, the Diva of the Spotlit Runway!”

Her two fiends vanished and a single spotlight pierced the dim cloudy air. It illuminated her new monster, which had appeared without anyone noticing. The Diva straightened up regally as mist from the Mist Body it had equipped from the graveyard rolled off its shoulders, a hint of a metal chain-choker lay wrapped around her neck.

The fashionista pointed at the hulking monster hovering over Para’s head. “My Diva doesn’t share the center stage with any two-bit creature like that. So at the cost of her beautiful new misty coat, we bid your Guardian au revoir.”

The mist bunched up on the Diva’s back, swirled about her head a few times, and then shot across the field like a striking snake.

“I will not allow it!” Dox shouted, activating his last face down, “I’ll use My Body as a Shield!”

Moments before it would have struck the Guardian, the lance of mist curved around to the other side of the field and slammed into his chest. The duelist grunted against the pain and was driven back a step, but he didn’t go down.

Para & Dox
6300

Dox huffed and raised his head, defiant. “And that is not the end of my card’s ability.”

The sky above rumbled threateningly and a great bolt of lightning lanced down onto the Diva. The prim demon screeched in surprise and pain as the electricity coursed through it before detonating in a blast of smoke. The smoke was too pitch dark to see through, so Para and Dox were taken completely by surprise when a whirling silver bola shot out from the center of it and zipped across the field. It wrapped around the Gate Guardian, its metal arms pining the great beasts’ arms to its sides.

“You may have struck down my Diva,” Rarity said in a cold voice, “But she won’t be going down alone. That was Flint I just put on your monster, and I doubt I need to explain what happens when I use my Flint Missile!”

Her spell card appeared on the field and a large rocket shot out from the card face. It seemed to be homing in on the metal bindings pinning down the Guardian. It smashed into its chest and blew it back off the platform and into the abyss below, trailing duel shards in its wake. The darkness below lit up with one more giant explosion, and then darkness returned to the field. Meanwhile, the Flint spell flew around the field a few times before wrapping around Rainbow Dash's Flint Lock, its metal arms locking into grooves as if the spell was made to fit.

"When did you play that Flint card?" Para demanded.

"I discarded it back when I used Graceful Charity. Do try to keep up, now. And I shall end my turn with two cards face down," Rarity said, following suit, "Have at it, gentlemen."

Rainbow grinned and cocked her head to the side. "You know, I expected more shock or surprise out of you guys when we blew your precious Gate Guardian to pieces, after all the talking up you gave it. Wasn't he supposed to be your best monster?"

The two of them started to chuckle under their breaths, but it was Dox who answered as he drew his card. "We said it was one of the strongest monsters in the game, not in our decks. No, thanks to your friend, this card was added to my hand. Let me show you what true terror looks like! I activate Dark Element!"

Para & Dox
3150

What light there was leaking through the cloud cover seemed to bleed out of the air, leaving the increasingly frequent flashes of lightning the only sources of illumination. In the few-seconds-long beat between a pair of flashes a monster suddenly appeared behind Dox. It clung to the edge of the platforms with its spidery legs, while its human upper half readied a violent looking axe. The thing was so black it was almost merging into the murk of the storm, who's raging intensity had only risen in ferocity.

"Behold the beast our Gate Guardian was guarding you from!" Dox laughed, throwing a hand out behind him at it, "The Dark Guardian! And this will be the last monster you ever see! I attack!"

"I can still block it with my field spell!" Rainbow shouted as a small plane shot out of the clouds.

"Which is why I have Meteorain," Para interrupted, "Which will inflict piercing damage to you as if your little ship were not there!"

"Blast..." Rainbow Dash shouted, flicking desperately though the cards in her hand until she found the one she needed. "Desperate Intercept! I can use this spell from my hand no matter whose turn it is, and it lets me switch that attack to a stronger target!"

The Dark Guardian swung its axe at the tiny token, but a line of tracer fire cut its swing short. Flint Lock dropped from the sky like a stone and flew right up into the beast's face, giving the smaller jet enough time to flee. The Guardian roared and slashed with its weapon, catching the futuristic jet and sending it spiraling over the side of the platform. Surprisingly the jet managed to right itself and flew back up into the sky, no worse for wear.

"Do my eyes deceive me?!" Dox said, uncomprehendingly, "Why are your life points untouched? Why does your jet still live?"

Rainbow quirked her head to the side and grinned. "Don't the names give you a hint? Flint and Flint Lock? When these two cards are combined, they create an unstoppable fighter jet that no monster can take down!"

"And as for our life points," Rarity cut in, "I merely set my Amulet of Affection on Rainbow's dear ship. Now in addition to staying alive, we take no damage should it ever come up a few points short."

"What kind of trickery is this?" Para demanded angrily, "You did not show this kind of teamwork before! Where did this newfound skill at tag duels come from?"

"This is not our first time tag dueling," Rarity sniffed, insulted at the accusation. "I myself find that I duel together with a partner more often than not. And who wouldn't want to duel with me as their partner, after all? In point of fact I added Flint to my deck specifically after the last time Rainbow and I dueled together. Remember, Rainbow?"

Dash scowled momentarily. "Yeah, but don't remind me. I still can't believe Wind Rider accused me of stealing the Wonder Bolt deck! I looked up to him..."

"Enough reminiscing!" Dox shouted, "I set two cards face down and end my turn!"

Rainbow Dash smirked and drew. "Getting impatient to lose? Well how about I start taking back the game! Cup of Ace!"

Her spell appeared on the field and started rotating, like a wheel on a game show. After a few moments it came to rest upside-down.

Dash sighed nonchalantly and shrugged. "Ah well, guess I don't get to draw. Upside-down means my opponent gets two cards... in a normal duel, anyway. Since I can pick any player who isn't me in a tag game, I pick Rarity."

"Why, thank you, darling!" Rarity tittered as she drew her free cards.

"No problem. And for my next move, Lord British, attack!"

“What?” the brothers said simultaneously.

Her named fighter peeled off from the rest and swooped down on the field. Soon a decoy token shot out from the clouds and the two zipped back and forth in a game of cat and mouse. The decoy was quickly shot down, followed by a line of bullets that traced their way over the field and shattered the last card Para had.

“Ha!” Rainbow exclaimed, “Lord British can shoot down any trap card when it destroys a monster!”

"Brother, I am in need of rescue!" Para exclaimed, staring up at the circling jets with the beginnings of fear in his eyes.

“Always, brother! If the fool wished to destroy traps, then she should have destroyed mine!” Dox shouted, “For this card is known as Staunch Defender! It will switch any attack to Dark Guardian, so if you were planning to attack my brother when his defenses were down, you are out of luck!”

But Dash was already shaking her head before he’d finished. “Duh, I already knew that you’d have a card to cover him, which I why I blew up the card he had to cover you! My next target is Dark Guardian!”

“How?!” Dox barked, “Even with Metalmorph, your monsters just don’t have the points!”

“I see you have completely forgotten me,” Rarity said, smoothly inserting herself back into the conversation, “The two of you aren’t the only ones who understand how to work as a team. I use the Enthusiastic Tailor!”

Rainbow & Rarity
3150

“For the low cost of five hundred life points, I can instantly adorn any of Rainbow Dash’s monsters with one of my spells. And I believe Victory Viper could do with a touch of United We Stand!”

“No! Not that card!” both of her opponents cried in dismay.

“You mocked my jet’s attack points,” Rainbow said as her Viper began to glow with a pearly-white light, “But Rarity’s card gives Viper eight hundred attack points for each monster I have, and unless my count is off, my field is full! And for the record, the Option token Viper made a few turns back gets the same boost that Viper does!”

“Two monsters with fifty-two hundred attack points?!” Para gasped, throwing his arms up as if to ward off what he was seeing.

The two girls pointed at their respective opponents and shouted in unison, “Attack!”. All five of Rainbow’s jets quit their idle circling and fell into formation with the shinning Victory Viper at the head. They rose straight up into the sky and peeled off, each jet's gun barrels glowing bright as they prepared to unleash a game ending barrage on their target.

"I cannot believe you have forced us this far," Dox exclaimed, swiping his hand to his last card, "But this is far enough! I activate Twin Twister. For the mere cost of one card, I destroy both United We Stand and Metalmorph!"

"Um, what?!" Rainbow sputtered in disbelief. Above, a pair of cyclones spiraled out of the clouds and disrupted the flight pattern of her jets. All of them came out the other end just fine, but the energetic glow around her Victory Viper and Option token and the metallic sheen from Lord British had disappeared completely. Worse yet, none of her machines had deviated from their attack in the slightest.

Para spread his hands into the air and laughed. "This is the end! Smash yourselves on Dark Guardian and deliver to us victory!"

"Not while I have Battle Fader, you ruffians!" Rarity shouted, slapping the card onto her field. A strange creature reminiscent of a pendulum appeared on her side of the field in a burst of light. It swung its arm in a single arc as the large bell on the end rang out a single toll that seemed to somehow push the air all around the field for a second. The diving jets wobbled in the displaced air and broke off, returning to their earlier circles around the duel field.

"What is going on?" Dox demanded, "Staunch Defender should have forced your monsters to attack, whether they wanted to or not! Why has their attack been cut short?"

"Because I have ended the battle phase, that's why," Rarity explained patiently. She arched an eyebrow over her shoulder at her partner. "No hard feelings, darling, but it didn't look like you were going to make it out of that one."

Rainbow Dash wiped the bullets of sweat from her brow and covered for it with a cocky grin. "Yeah, maaaaybe I did jump into that a little too quickly. But I've got a pretty good back-up plan raring to go! First I'll play Into the Void, which let's me draw a new card. And then I'll use a little number I like to call Exchange!"

"Are you trying to steal our cards?" Para asked, looking down at his hand as if he could parse out the card she wanted to take.

"Nah, I don't want any of your cards," Rainbow Dash said dismissively. She turned around and gave her partner a smile. "Can I, Rares?"

"Of course you may, darling!" Rarity said extravagantly, holding out her hand. Dash selected one with barely a glance through the options, and then held up her own clutch of cards. The fashionista gave them a quick once-over and then her attention snapped back to one card in particular. "Wait, that one? Are you sure?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah, that one. I know you can put it to good use."

Rarity bit her lip and nodded, then took the card.

"If you are about done...?" Dox growled impatiently.

Dash turned back to her opponent and flexed her hands in anticipation. "Don't you worry, I'm not done yet. I'll use Flint Lock's special skill to attach Flint to your Guardian, so it can't attack us anymore. And now for the other effect of Into the Void... I discard all the cards in my hand!"

Both brothers burst out into eerily synchronized laughter, and Dox pointed a mocking finger in her direction. "What a terrible draw! You even got rid of the precious card your partner gave you! Have you decided to surrender to the inevitable?"

"Nah, just putting all my trust in my friend!" Dash returned, giving Rarity a thumbs up.

Para spat over the side of the arena and draw his card with more force than was necessary. "Well, let us see if your optimism can survive until the end of my turn. I begin with Magical Stone Excavation. By discarding two cards I can return Fairy Meteor Crush to my hand. Next I will remove the Rose Witch I discarded for my last spell from the grave to activate my next spell, Mark of the Rose!"

“What’s mine is yours, brother,” Dox said. Behind him, a tattoo in the shape of a rose blossomed on the Dark Guardian’s chest. It rose up and revolved around the field until it was at Para’s back. The platform shook when it settled back onto its feet again.

"From now on, the Dark Guardian is my monster on my turn, and returns to my brother on his!" Para explained, selecting yet more cards from his hand. "I shall equip him with Fairy Meteor Crush, and then I will use De-Spell to get rid of your pesky Flint! Now there is nothing stopping me from putting an end to this duel!"

The Guardian strained its muscles against the chain binding it until the chain burst into fragments. It stretched it's arms a little bit as if to relieve soreness, then readied it's axe for a mighty swing. Rainbow's spell spat a tine decoy plane out to block it's attack, but the beast was more than prepared and swung at it like a baseball player about to slug one out of the park.

"Tsk!" Rarity hissed, thrusting out a hand at her trap again. "Enthusiastic Tailor let's me give that little plane a bit of dressing in the form of Laminate Armor!"

Rainbow & Rarity
2650

The shell of the little plane grew bulky and hard, making it very difficult for the little craft to stay airborne, but fortunately it didn't have to stay up for very long. The Dark Guardian split the machine in two with a single blow, it's brand new armor offering only the barest of resistance. The two halves detonated and sent a shock wave of wind that shook the hanging platform violently enough to bring the two girls to their knees.

Rainbow & Rarity
350

"I could have sacrificed the armor to save the plane, but it didn't look nearly as flattering as I thought it would," Rarity said, climbing back to her feet. "Besides, the token wasn't going to last the turn anyway, I suppose."

"Make your jokes," Para declared, dropping his remaining two cards into his trap zone. "You are barely hanging on by a thread! I will end my turn here, and leave it to my brother to finish off these fools!"

"Leave it to me, brother!" Dox said with eager determination.

Rarity sniffed. "Did you two somehow forget that my turn is next?"

"No, we just do not care!" Para declared, activating one of his traps. The card at his feet flipped up and shone brightly as a menacing looking pot floated out of it. A sickly green mist started to flow out of the pot’s open top.

“We have been paying very close attention to your deck this whole duel, and it is useless without equip spells. Anti-Spell Fragrance forces each of us to play our spells face down for a turn before we can use them. So whatever play you may have been forming has been rendered useless before it even began!"

Dox picked up his brother’s speech. “And without them, I doubt there is a monster in your deck powerful enough to defeat our mighty Guardian! There are no moves left for you to make!” The two brothers threw back their heads and laughed. The jewels on their earrings shown with an eager red light.

Rarity let slip a small smile and held aloft the one card she'd been holding on to. "Normally you would have been right, brutish as your phrasing may be. But did you forget that this card here was a gift from Rainbow Dash?"

The two brothers slowly stopped laughing.

"Now I will summon the monster I was entrusted with and show the two of you what real teamwork looks like." Rarity shouted. "Cyber Eltanin!"

Every one of Rainbow Dash's five jets quit their circling and shot straight up, disappearing into the thick clouds. There was a rumble that almost sounded like an enormous beast growling and a gigantic gleaming form descended. It looked nothing less than a great dragon's head constructed out of futuristic machines, and it dwarfed the tiny suspended platform it hung above. Miniature rockets also shaped like dragon heads swam through the air around the machine like planets around a sun, and as the whole thing came fully clear of the clouds those rockets swarmed into frenzied action.

Each head let loose a continuous stream of laser destruction from their mouths, firing it all directions randomly. The beams pierced the clouds over and over and stirred the elements into even greater fury, until it seemed they were dueling in the center or a raging hurricane. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and the platform swayed enough to nearly send all its occupants flying off into the abyss. The Dark Guardian was not spared any of this turmoil, taking quite a few blasts from all angles. The beast roar with impotence as the storm of weather and energy caught it up and sent it spiraling away to its destruction.

"Impossible!" Dox screamed in horror. "The Dark Guardian cannot be destroyed by battle of any kind! How is this possible!"

"Cyber Eltanin is the best trump card a girl can have!" Rainbow Dash crowed, throwing up her arms. She seemed truly invigorated by the raging storm around her. "Bringing him out removes all monsters on the field from play, not matter how big they are. Plus it empties out all the monsters in mine and Rarity's graveyards, and each machine it removes give it five hundred attack points!"

Para gasped and staggered backwards. "But you have been filling up your graveyard since the duel began!"

"Not that it seems to matter to anyone," Rarity continued, pouting a little that RD was stealing her thunder a little, "But I'm also summoning The Cruel Kritik as well, to deal with those pesky decoy tokens, which are still getting in my way Rainbow Dash! And that should be enough to put an end to it!"

Her fiend appeared and immediately jumped into the air, swinging its fan blade at a tiny plane that struggled its way out of the clouds. It destroyed the plane and fell back to the platform with a satisfied look on its face. High above, the main head of Eltanin had been gathering energy in its cavernous mouth. When the demon fell clear it unleashed the energy in a pulse of light which engulfed the field and banished the ill weather, returning peace to the field like the dawning sun after a storm.

Para & Dox
0

Both duelists shouted in pain as they were driven off their feet by the assault. On his way down, Para slammed his back hard into the control panel on the railing of the platform, which began emitting sparks and a small line of smoke. Then the two of them hit the floor and their earrings shattered with tiny crystalline cracks.

The effect was immediate. Rainbow Dash’s field spell was already fading away when the duel ended, but something else in the air was disappearing as well. The walls appeared to shimmer for a moment before becoming sharper than they’d been and a heaviness that they hadn’t noticed before seemed to roll off their shoulders. Suddenly the castle felt less oppressive and the room less cavernous. The pit was still deep below them, but they could now make out the bottom of it and the ceiling was now clearly visible.

“Looks like whatever magic they were talking about has ended,” Rarity said thoughtfully, looking around.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, turning around until something caught his eye, “Wait, look up there!”

There was a viewing area along the wall nearby and another duel appeared to be going on over there. As they watched, a dragon made of guns or something reared back and unleashed a blast from its barrel that blew a Thousand Dragon to pieces. A very familiar figure reeled back from the blast and struck his head against the barrier. He slumped along it as the mech rose up threateningly over him, apparently about to blow him over the edge and into the abyss.

“Spike!” Rarity cried out in horror and reflexively slamming another card into her disk, “Crimes Against Fashion, save him!”

Rolls of cloth shot out from behind her and wrapped around the dragon just as its gun barrel began to glow. The dragon struggled but was pulled away from its target, its attack firing harmlessly aside.

Rarity started to ask how they could get up there, looking at the sparking controls that would have extended the bridges, but Rainbow didn’t even pause for a moment. She took a running start, planted her foot on the railing on the platform, and leapt off into space. She practically flew and cleared the wall with inches to spare. She rolled with the landing and came up with her duel disk at the ready.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me…” Rarity muttered, glancing one last wishful time at the control panel, but then ran and jumped herself. She couldn’t quite get the height Rainbow did, but she just barely managed to grab the edge when she hit and with only minor difficulty pull herself over. She immediately scooped Spike up and held him protectively to her chest.

“R-Rarity…?” Spike asked, still groggy from the blow he’d taken.

“What’s all this?” Spike’s opponent asked, a large, intimidating man with an American bandana tied over his hair. He glanced over at the suspended platform and spat in disgust. “So even those two failed. Is no one strong enough to serve Master Sombra?”

“How dare you do this to Spiky-Wiky?” Rarity shouted at him, incensed.

Bandit Keith turned his attention back to the two of them and sneered. “We were in the middle of something, you little twerps. Now be good girls and wait until I’ve crushed this boy and turned him into a loyal servant. Then I’ll deal with you.”

“As if we’d let you do that to him!” Rainbow shouted, thrusting her disk out at him, “We’re cutting into this duel!”

Keith spat out a laugh and grinned with manic glee. “All right then, little lambs. I’ll crush you as easily as I have him!”

…

The air around the top of the castle shimmered and seemed to lose some kind of magical quality, but all but one of the people there were too wrapped up in the end of the duel to have noticed.

“Aw man, I can’t believe how close that was!” Joey exclaimed, laying his palm over his chest and taking exaggerated breaths, “That took a few years offa my life-”

The rest of his breath came out in a wumph as Pinkie charged across the field and gave him a rib-cracking hug. “THAT WAS INCREADIBLE! I’ve never seen anyone with that kind of luck before! We must to duel again sometime! Are you ever on the internet simulators?! You HAVE to give me your account number! I’ll duel you anytime!”

“… My… spine…!” Joey gasped, her arms squeezing him tighter than an anaconda.

Mai coughed into her fist and spoke calmly without looking up. “If you don’t mind, Joey, maybe the two of you should get off the field so the next duel can start?”

Joey’s eyes shot up and he somehow managed to extract himself from Pinkie’s hug. “That’s right, we still gotta get that card back from Bakura!”

The man in question started to laugh and Joey made an angry face at him. “What’s so funny, huh?”

“You are, of course,” Bakura said and spread his arms. “This little tournament has been fun, but it’s over. Young Twilight is the only duelist left on her side and there is no way Yugi will lose to her. She will never have the chance to challenge me!”

Yugi had been looking thoughtfully at the doorway leading back into the castle, but at Bakura’s words he turned back and smiled smugly. “Actually, I think I’m going for a walk. Why don’t you duel her instead?”

The smile instantly was wiped from Bakura’s face. “What are you talking about? It’s your turn to duel!”

“Actually, as I recall,” the Pharaoh said, “We only had to fight in order on the first round. After that we could duel in any order as long as there were two or more teammates left. So I’m going to let you take this one.”

Bakura growled as Yugi started to walk away. “Oh yeah? Well I could do the same, you know. The only thing keeping me here was the fun of watching you all struggle, but I can leave at any time myself.”

“I think not,” Pegasus interrupted, stepping into Bakura’s way as he made to go after Yugi. “As the organizer of this tournament, it would look badly on me if it ended with one side leaving. And are you so afraid of her that you’d run away with your tail between your legs rather than face her openly?”

Bakura smirked and stalked right up into his face. "Do you really believe I'm afraid of you? Perhaps you've somehow forgotten what happened the last time you got in my way? I can walk out of this building at any time I want!"

"Perhaps this then," Twilight interrupted. The two men turned to her and stiffened, because she was holding up her Solis Tia. "You seem to like powerful cards. I'll wager mine against yours, winner take all. Is that enough to keep you here?"

Bakura wavered, but temptation won out and he spun around to stalk onto the duel field. “Well, now it has become interesting!" he grinned, "And I can get some more practice with my new card out of it too. But this is your gambit, Yugi. Once I win, you'll have no choice but to let me leave in peace!”

The Pharaoh considered his words and shrugged, evidently knowing something the white-haired boy didn't.

Twilight caught Yugi’s arm as he passed her and gave him a nod. “Thank you for this.”

Yugi returned her smile. “Get your card back, and then we will have our duel,” he said, confident in her, and then marched off and vanished into the castle.

Twilight watched him go and then turned her attention to the opponent she was about to face. “Get ready, because you won’t have Discord for much longer!”

“Come and get it then!” Bakura sneered, activating his duel disk with a snap of his wrist, “But I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as you think!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Dark Ruler's Domain vs. Royal Magical Library

Author's Note

First, an apology.

I'm so, so sorry about how long it's been since I last updated this. Truth be told, this chapter has been sitting nearly complete on my computer for almost a year now. But at the start of the year I was hit with an incredibly powerful bout of depression. It laid me low for weeks, and it was months before I was recovered. Of the many things that I lost the will to do, writing was one of them. It's taken me quite a while, but I'm back in a place where I can begin writing again. I know my word is worth almost nothing now, but I swear I will give this story the proper ending it deserves.

This was actually the first chapter I went into blind, not knowing ahead of time what the duel was going to be. I'm not sure what it is about tag duels, but I just can't imagine them well. So I sat down with my various deck lists and wrote what felt natural for the duel. The result? I learn I can't rhyme, like at ALL. So that's why Para and Dox aren't rhyming. Just consider it part of the brainwashing or something.

I made a LOT of cards for Rainbow Dash, you know. When I started planning this, before it was even a story, I planned Dash's Wonderbolt duel. After I started writing though, I quickly realized she couldn't have been running those cards for very long. This meant I needed another deck for her to have used before, and I couldn't imagine anything more fitting than the COMPLETELY UNDER-USED Konami Arcade cards. I mean, the Wonderbolts are supposed to be the Equestrian version of the Blue Eagles to begin with, right? So I built a bunch of spells and traps to make the relatively weak fighter jets better, as each girl was to be running unique cards as well as real ones, and when I sit down to write out the duel I wound up using barely any of them. I don't know if that means the cards I made just aren't good or if the jets just don't really need help. Ah well, at least the duel was fun, right?

It's finally the long awaited duel between Bakura and Twilight. Will she be able to recover the Discord, or will Bakura walk away with the most dangerous prize of all...?

Turn 14: Dark Ruler's Domain vs. Royal Magical Library

Bakura Twilight
4000 4000

“Since I’m the last of my team,” Twilight said, “I believe I get to go first. I’ll start by summoning the Ancient Haunted Library in defense mode.”

Dusty bookcases burst up from the ground, surrounding the duelist on all sides, but there was a noticeable difference from her last library. The shelves were more worn, darker, and seemed to sag a little under the weight of the tomes resting upon them. Half seen shapes could almost be glimpsed here and there behind the books as if specters were peeking out at the players.

Twilight breathed in the scent of old books with obvious enjoyment and returned to the game with a renewed glint in her eye. “And I’ll throw down a face down for good measure. That’ll end my turn.”

“What, no spell cards?” Bakura mocked as he drew, “I do hope you are not going easy on me; you were the one who wanted this duel, after all. I summon Malice Doll of Demise!”

An extremely creepy wooden mannequin appeared on his side of the field in a clatter of popping joints. Its dead eyes stared across the field at the girl and it hefted a wicked-looking axe nearly the size of its own body in its tiny hands.

“Appropriate,” Twilight said with a smirk, “But it appears to be a few points shy of being able to attack the Haunted Library.”

“Is that so?” Bakura said, as he picked a new card from his hand, “Let us see how you feel after I lay this card face down and end my turn with the spell card Ectoplasmer!”

His spell appeared on his field and immediately lit up with a green aura. The doll trembled as if it were having a seizure before collapsing into a heap on the ground. From out of the pile of wood it had become rose a wispy specter vaguely resembling the mannequin. The ghost let out a forlorn moan as it shot across the field and slamming itself into Twilight’s chest, knocking her back a few steps and chilling her to the bone.

Twilight
3200

“At the end of each of our turns, we are forced to select a type of monster,” Bakura explained as she tried to catch her breath. “Ectoplasmer then rips the soul out a monster of that type and hits the opponent with half that monster’s attack points. So I have nothing to fear from your defensive strategy at all. I can just sit back and watch you destroy your own monsters for me!”

“Keep it together, Twi,” Applejack offered from the sidelines, “He’s left himself wide open!”

Not completely, Twilight thought to herself, eyeing Bakura’s face down, I somehow doubt that he’d sacrifice his only monster if that trap couldn’t protect him somehow. But I can’t allow that spell to cut through my field…

She grimaced as she drew and selected a card. “I summon Breaker, the Magical Warrior! This knight comes into play with his own spell counter, but I will be spending it immediately to destroy your spell!”

A brilliant light engulfed her field and faded to reveal a man wearing bright red and gold armor. A purple gem in the knight’s shield lost its glow as the monster raised its sword high and slashed violently down with it. A shining arc of power was released from the tip of the sword and shot across the field, bisecting Bakura’s spell cleanly in half, which then exploded.

“Not bad,” Bakura grunted, slipping quickly back into his calm veneer, “So I assume your next move is to attack?”

Twilight hesitated. He seemed to be almost inviting her to attack and every instinct in her was telling her that this was a trap of some kind. She looked through her hand one more time, but none of her cards offered a solution to the face down. But early on is a much better time to fall into a trap, when I haven’t built up very much to lose…

Confident in her reasoning, she pointed dramatically at her opponent. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Breaker, let’s see what he’s hiding!”

Her swordsman shouted its agreement and dashed forward, sword raised high. Bakura made as if to activate his trap… but then laughed and held his arms out to the sides, accepting the blow without complaint.

Bakura
2400

“Oh, the look on your face before you decided to attack!” he laughed, still struck by her expression. “I’ve gotten pretty far into your mind if you are second guessing yourself this badly already!”

“Sh-shut up!” Twilight said, going a little pink in the cheeks. Her eyes flicked back to the trap once more before she crossed her arms defensively. “I end my turn there.”

“Don’t let that creep psyche you out, Twilight!” Pinkie called out encouragingly, and Twilight offered her a quick smile.

Bakura smirked as he drew. “Touching, but you should be more concerned with the field. You see, my Malice Doll rises from the grave at the start of my turn, just in time for me to offer it once more as a sacrifice. Behold the Magical Marionette!”

There was a clattering as the Malice Doll reassembled itself from the pieces it had left strewn across the floor. It had barely hefted its axe when it vanished in a burst of light and a new monster had taken its place. It wore a dark red cloak that hid most of its body from sight as it floated in the air above the two duelists, the bits uncovered hidden behind violet colored armor.

“First demons, then ghosts, and now puppets.” Joey said with a groan, “Why does every monster Bakura plays have ta be that unnecessarily creepy?”

“Go, Marionette, slaughter Breaker the Magical Warrior!” Bakura shouted. The creature thrust forward its armored arms and golden lines of light trailed off from its fingertips. From out from beneath its cloak a plain doll was pulled out by the glowing lines, each of the dolls’ hand clutching a wicked sharp dagger. The puppet flew through the air and stabbed the knight through its chest as if its armor were paper-mâché, and it exploded.

Twilight
2800

“And that trap you were so afraid of is called Robbin’ Zombie!” Bakura declared, activating it with a flick of his wrist, “Now that my monster has damaged you, you have to send the top card of your deck to the graveyard!”

Twilight picked up her top card and couldn’t stop a moan from escaping as she saw what it was. “No…”

The card was Solis Tia, the Heliosphere.

Bakura threw back his head and roared with laughter. “What unfortunate luck! And just like that your best card is out of the game! You might as well just throw in the towel now!”

“I’ve only just started!” Twilight shouted, starting her turn with a bit more of a savage draw than normal. “I summon the Secret Alchemical Library!”

More shelves burst up from the ground, which combined with her first library almost completely blocked her out of view from those watched the duel. These new structures were easy to pick out from the ancient ones of her first monster, as they were much cleaner and well-kept. Candles cast soft light on the books and completed the illusion that Twilight had somehow set up a cozy room to read in.

Twilight pointed out a green orb that was floating, ghostlike, through the shelves. “My libraries have the same ability as the one I played in my first duel, creating a spell counter each time a spell is played by either of us. So they will each create a counter when I use Pot of Greed!”

She drew and gave a huge grin at when she had. “Just what I was hoping for, Spell Power Grasp! This not only causes my two libraries to make counters, it creates a third one of its own! Not to mention it allows me to add a second copy of it to my hand immediately. And I’ll end my turn with two more face downs.”

Mai gave a slow whistle, impressed despite herself. “So she’s got six counters now, impressive. But what’s she going to do with them?”

“You’ll see,” Applejack said knowingly, “Solis Tia isn’t the only trick in her saddlebag. She’s pickin’ up steam now!”

Bakura smirked as he drew his card and moved to play it right away. “Not bad at all, but as I recall each library can only have three counters apiece. Seems you should have spent a few on your turn, or else you could have garnered a few from this spell here!”

“I’ve accounted for that as well!” Twilight shouted, activating one of her traps, “Endless Shelves removes the restriction on my monsters, allowing them to have as many spell counters as I want!”

Bakura shrugged as if this were no big deal. “As you wish, but you still have a Painful Choice to make! Now which of these five monsters from my deck would you like to add to my hand? Do not worry, the others are all going to the graveyard.”

A quintet of cards appeared in a row on his field. Twilight looked back and forth between them, but none of them jumped out at her. None of these are very powerful monsters, so what’s he driving at?

Shrugging, she pointed at the card in the middle. “I choose that one, the Earl of Demise. You have to sacrifice to summon it, and it isn’t strong enough to challenge either of my libraries even if you do. It’s clearly the weakest of the group.”

“Really?” Bakura mused as he discarded the other four and gestured to his monster. “Tell you what; I will let you in on another secret. You see, I know all about spell counters. This monster here also uses them, and has been gathering them with the same speed as your libraries. The difference is, my monster gains two hundred points for each one it has collected, making it more than powerful enough to smash through your defenses!”

The floating puppeteer threw its arms out again, but Twilight only laughed as the doll it commanded flew closer. “Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize the Magical Marionette? I had one in my deck for a while, before I grew out of it. I know all of its weaknesses, such as the fact that it’s a spellcaster instead of a fiend. Which means I can use this trap, Magician’s Circle!”

A shimmering swirl of magical lines spread out across the field in the shape of a gigantic circle, and a figure rose out from the center of it. It looked like another knight in over-elaborate armor, but this one handled a shield nearly the size of it body on one arm. As the puppet flew past it raised the stubbly sword in its other hand and jabbed at the wooden doll. One of the eight green orbs floating around Twilight’s field shot forward and intercepted the puppet, exploding out into an emerald dome that halted it in its tracks.

“Magician’s Circle lets me summon any spellcaster from my deck, so long as it has less than two thousand attack points,” Twilight explained smugly, “And this mighty warrior is Defender, the Magical Knight! He allows me to save any of my monsters from death with the simple cost of a single spell counter!”

“Hrmph,” Bakura grunted, “Well, your trap grants me the same ability. I summon Jowgen the Spiritualist.”

A man wearing the robes of an eastern priest rose up from the ground on Bakura’s side. It tapped its oak staff lightly on the ground before it and adopted a serene expression.

“I am also aware of that monster, and how you can only use its effect once per round. So what will you do when I remove two of the counters my Marionette has collected to destroy that overgrown piece of furniture?”

“I’ll just use this!” Twilight declared, flipping up her other trap, “Pitch-Black Bauble lets me use Defender’s ability once more!”

Twin green orbs shot out from under the Marionette’s cloak and traveled down the wire, where they fused with the puppet’s daggers. The puppet somersaulted over the glowing dome that had stopped it and shot on towards the bookcases once more, but the knight thrust its sword at it again with a yell. Another orb flew out of the stacks and transformed into a barrier scant inches before the puppet could make contact, its magically enhanced blades unable to cut through to the vulnerable books beyond.

“Not bad, but can you escape death a third time,” Bakura growled, “I discard the Earl to activate Jowden’s special ability. Now all monsters that have been special summoned on our fields will be sent to the afterlife!”

The priest spun its staff in a grand sweeping arc over its head and brought it down pointed at the knight. A stream of nearly invisible air-like energy rushed out from between the staff’s pines and washed over Defender, who dissolved away. The energy whirled around the field for a little while before converging on the priest itself, who also faded away under its waves.

“So they’re right back where they started!” Joey said, putting his hands on his hips in annoyance, “What was tha point of all that?”

“The point?” Bakura said with a grin, “Why, the point was to draw out her resources early. Remember my first spell this turn? What if I said my aim was just to send the others cards it selected to the grave? After all, I need to sacrifice the souls of three fallen fiends to summon Dark Necrofear!”

“No!” Twilight gasped, realizing too late what his plan was.

The ghosts of three of the monsters he discarded rose out from the slot of his duel disk and swirled around the field of a moment before meshing together. The spirits grew blacker as they merged and expanded to the form of the monster that had defeated both Fluttershy and Applejack on its own. The country girl grunted as she saw the demon again, bending the brim of her hat down a bit as if she didn’t want to look at it.

“And I will end my turn with a face down card,” Bakura said, doing just that, “So now the ball is in your court, little girl. Do you think you can succeed against the monster where none of your precious friends could?”

Twilight swallowed and looked up at the thing’s dead eyes. It’s so powerful it’s unfair. If it dies in battle, it possesses the monster who killed it. And if it dies via a card effect, it activates that Dark Sanctuary spell and possesses my monsters anyway! There’s no safe way to get rid of that thing… except for…

Twilight looked down at her hand and sighed. “I was hoping to save this card to stop Ataxia, but I have to use it now. I’ll draw and start my turn with the spell Field Barrier!”

A spark of light burst into being high above the duel and a shimmering veil spread out from it, forming a softly glowing dome that encased the two of them and their cards. Bakura looked around wildly, but there was no way out from beneath the spell.

“What is this supposed to be?” he demanded.

Twilight smiled and gestured around her. “This spell preserves the field just as it is, denying either of us the ability to play any new field spells. That means no Ataxia, and no Dark Sanctuary either. I can destroy your Necrofear with impunity now!”

“Yes!” Joey, Pinkie, Applejack, Mai, and Pegasus said in unison.

“You still have to accomplish that feat!” Bakura challenged.

“I intend to!” Twilight countered, playing another card from her hand, “First I need to use Spell Power Grasp once again, adding my third copy to my hand and bringing my spell counter total to eleven. And that’s finally enough to use one of the most powerful spells in my deck. At the cost of ten counters, I’ll obliterate your whole field with Mega Ton Magical Cannon!”

Her spell card appeared next to her and began to glow with an inner light. Immediately nearly all of the glowing orbs floating around her flew one by one into the card face, each one causing the energy contained within it to glow brighter. When the tenth one was absorbed the card shone with such light than no one could look directly at it. Bakura stepped back as if the light along were pushing him back.

“This is the end of your field!” Twilight shouted. She thrust her fist forward and the magic held in her spell was unleashed, pouring out from the hovering rectangle in an endless stream. Bakura’s fiend, his puppeteer, his two active traps, everything disappeared in the overwhelming light. It took nearly thirty seconds for the blast to finally taper off and leave everyone blinking their eyes rapidly to restore their sight.

Twilight passed a hand over her eyes roughly to clear them quicker. “Had enough? Now that you’re wide open, I can… wait, where did that come from?!”

A ghostly card was floating on the field at Bakura’s side. A weak aura surrounded the trap, which still had a trail of ectoplasm connecting it to his graveyard slot.

“I activated this when you played your card,” Bakura said calmly, the angry glare in his eyes betraying the true emotion he was feeling, “A Deal with Dark Ruler can only be used when I lose a level eight monster. And now, for half my remaining life points, I can summon an even stronger beast from my deck!”

Bakura
1200

The ground rumbled and cracked open as a skeletal arm forced its way up out of the floor. The corpse of a jet black dragon dragged itself out from the spreading fissure and gave a sickening roar that rattled all the books on their shelves. Twilight clapped her hands over her ears as the nauseating sound washed over her, and sneaked a peak up at it when the thing paused for breath.

“Th-three thousand, five hundred attack points!” she breathed, hardly daring to believe how badly her trump card had backfired.

Bakura grinned and spread his arms wide. “Indeed, little whelp. All you’ve accomplished is making me stronger! Now are there any other pathetic moves you wish to try?”

Twilight looked down at the two cards left in her hand. I’ve already used Spell Power Grasp this turn, so I can’t use this one yet. And Reliable Guardian isn’t going to save my monsters from a dragon that powerful…

She shook her head and glared at him. “No… I end my turn.”

“Don’t stop there!” Applejack cried, “Ya gotta have somethin’ to stop that thing!”

Bakura chuckled as he drew. “It is worse than your friend believes, but before I can reveal how I must first summon the Goblin Zombie!”

A gangly creature materialized next to his dragon and let out some kind of hissing shriek from its misshapen head. But Twilight barely paid the new arrival any attention, as something was happening to the dragon. An acidic sludge-like substance was starting to pour out from between the dragon’s black plates and its toxic breath seemed to be a little more labored.

Confused, Twilight regarded her duel disk and her eyes widened. “Your dragon just lost five hundred attack points!”

Bakura shrugged as if this news was of middling concern. “The Berserk Dragon does not last long once it has been summoned, but fortunately I don’t need it to last forever. You see, it’s being eaten alive by the incredible power it possesses. The power to attack all monsters at the same time!”

“What?!” Twilight exclaimed, looking up sharply.

The dragon reared back and its jaws yawned wide, unleashing a dark miasma that quickly obscured everything contained within Twilight’s field barrier. Twilight hacked on the smog and looked around, realizing she was experiencing a bookworm’s worst nightmare. All around her books were rotting and falling apart and the shelves holding them collapsed with sickening pops, their insides putrefying. Her libraries collapsed with less of a crash and more of a splat, and it was with almost relief that her precious monsters exploded into duel shards. The sight of them suffering like that was almost as unbearable as losing them in the first place.

But she didn’t have time to mourn their loss. With her field empty, the remaining zombie had a clear line to her life points. It lunged forward and drew a scimitar cruelly across the girl’s midsection, driving her back a step.

Twilight
1700

“Did that hurt?” Bakura asked mockingly, “I am afraid the pain is not over. My zombie forces you to send to top card of your deck to the graveyard.”

Twilight frowned and proceeded to do so, wincing a little as the Pitch-Black Power Stone disappeared into the slot. She drew to start her turn and looked in surprise at what she’d been given, then turned a triumphant smile on her opponent.

“It’s a shame your monster has such an exploitable weakness,” she informed her opponent, “So first I’ll play one card face down and activate the secondary effect of Endless Shelves. By sending it to the graveyard, I can summon the Royal Magical Library from my deck!”

Fresh bookcases rose up all around Twilight, but she barely let then settle before moving on. “Don’t blink or you might miss them, as I offer them as sacrifice to summon out Imperial Spellbinding Library!”

Her shelves, which had topped out at about twice the height of either duelist, suddenly expanded to much greater heights. Ornate metal plating grew out of the edges and the mantles as the tops ended their growth spurt nearly forty feet up. There was nothing homey or worn about them now; the sleek metal design and towering straight rows bore the impression of pure professionalism.

“This library has three thousand defense points, more than enough to hold back your monster even if it wasn’t dissolving before our eyes!” Twilight declared, throwing a challenging look into Bakura’s face, “Let’s see you break through this one as easily!”

Bakura grimaced as he drew, while his dragon fell apart a little more. “You have a good point, girl. This beast’s use seems to have passed. It is time to trade it in with this, The Puppet Magic of Dark Ruler!”

The spell card appeared on his field and sickly green light burst out from its face. The dragon bent back over itself, unable to resist the pull of the spell as it was dragged back into the card itself with cruel slowness. As soon as the dragon was swallowed completely the card pulsed and vanished, revealing a new monster crouched behind it. As the monster stood up, Twilight couldn’t help but gasp.

“Dark Necrofear!” she breathed, as the familiar menace towered over her, “You can bring it back so easily…!”

“With puppet magic, I merely have to discard one monster to revive any one with the same level as I wish,” Bakura said mockingly, placing his hands on his hips, “But why so glum? Dark Necrofear does not have enough attack points to destroy your Library, so your defense remains intact. I will even switch the Goblin Zombie to defense, just in case.”

Twilight grimaced as she drew her card. As if destroying that monster once wasn’t hard enough… She looked at her new card and sighed. “I set this face down and activate Spell Power Grasp to add counters to my Library, bringing it to a total of five! Then… I’ll end my turn.”

“As I thought!” Bakura shouted, drawing his card with a snap, “You have to build back up to pose any threat to me. But if you think I am going to give you the time to do so, you are sadly mistaken! I activate Card of Demise, which lets me refill my hand!”

He consulted his new cards before pulling one out. “And I think I have had enough of this showy circle you have us trapped in. I will use the spell Spiritualism to send Field Barrier back to your hand!”

“No, her only defense…” Joey moaned as the field was suddenly filled with a swirling mass of wailing ghosts. The spirits spun around the field, pressing up against the barrier holding them in until it gave away and vanished with a burst of released power.

Twilight picked up the card as her disk ejected it. “But if you’re doing that… no, you mustn’t!”

“I do whatever I wish!” Bakura screamed in joy as the field spell slot opened on his duel disk, “I activate Ataxia, Zone of Bedlam!”

“I activate the Spellbook of Wisdom!” Twilight shouted, flipping up one of her face downs.

The checker board pattern of Ataxia spread out over the ground from Bakura’s feet, and as it passed under his monsters the color bled out from them, leaving them darker and somehow more powerful-looking than before. But as the pattern met her library it met a shimmering green barrier that it couldn’t overcome. The field broke around it like water, leaving the shelves the vibrant color they were to start with.

Bakura frowned, his greyed out features hardly seeming to bother him. “Strange, this spell should have switched your attack and defense points, leaving your monster helpless like a lamb. What precisely did that spell card do?”

Twilight gasped a little for breath, finding the pressure of the field spell hard to overcome even with the protection cast by her cards. “Spellbook of Wisdom makes the Imperial Library immune to all spell cards for one turn, so its defense points remain untouched. But you have to listen to me! No one can resist that cards’ corrupting influence for long. It’ll erode your mind and reduce you to a puppet of your former self!”

“This?” Bakura asked, holding up one trembling grey fist and regarding it with undisguised greed, “Yes, I can feel the dark power that flows though the card directly into my veins. But it is uncontrolled, directionless, simply waiting for the appropriate master to give its malevolence direction!”

“Aren’t you listening? It’s pure chaos; not even you can command it!” Twilight shouted, trying to scream sense into him, but clearly her words were just bouncing off without making the least impression.

A kind of maniac glee entered his eyes as her leered across the field. “Perhaps you need a demonstration of my willpower. Challenge accepted! I sacrifice the Goblin Zombie for Puppet Master and I will use his special ability to drill despair directly into your heart!”

Bakura
200

His zombie faded away to be replaced by an evil looking clown, hovering over the field due to its lack of legs. The clown stretched its arms wide and trails of magical strings shot down from each finger and burrowed into the ground. The floor split and cracked as Malice Doll, Jowgen, and the Earl of Demise were dragged up onto the field. All four of his monsters bled dry of color as the power of his spell washed over them.

“That’s five…” Pinkie said in a small voice, for the first time speaking without a trace of giddiness in her tone.

“Twi, stop him!” Applejack shouted.

“Too late,” Bakura screamed in joy, spreading his hands, “I offer my five monsters to Ataxia to summon Discord Incarnate!”

Twilight grit her teeth and pointed to her trap. “Then I will use Pitch-Black Bauble to-”

The rest of her move was completely lost on Bakura, however, as a surge of darkness exploded in his mind and all but blacked him out to the world around him. He became aware of a terrible presence that was pressing in on him from all sides. He cast his will against it and it pushed back a bit as if surprised, but instantly rushed back in all the tighter. And then the force spoke in his mind.

well WElL wELl, AnD WHo dO YoU THinK yOU ARE, tO SuMmON me?

Bakura’s shock over the card apparently speaking to him lasted only an instant, and then he returned the voice with all the mental force he could muster. I am your new MASTER! He pressed the force with all the anger and pride and magical might he could muster and felt it reel back in surprise once more. Through sheer willpower along, Bakura fought his way clear of the force and found himself suddenly back to his senses.

Discord floated above him, flexing its claws as if eager to use them on something or someone. A dark swirl of energy that Bakura recognized as a visual representation of his own power swirled around the monster’s eyes, and he paused to wonder about that voice he had heard. But he stopped immediately when he saw what was waiting for him on the other side of the field.

“What did you do?” he demanded.

“Need a refresher already?” Twilight asked, forcing confidence around the lump of fear in her throat, “Pitch-Black Bauble lets me activate Imperial Spellbinding Library on your turn, so I spent nine spell counters to revive all three of my other Libraries.”

Indeed, her field was filled with more bookshelves than Bakura would have thought possible. There were so many that the spectators were only faint outlines glimpsed through the holograms. The few spell counters the girl had left floated around her, ghost-like, casting shifting shadows of light as if they were underwater.

Bakura stumbled as his control over the beast wavered for a moment, but he caught himself by hunching over and planting his hands on his knees. “So… so what? Those things are not protected from Discord, who is using all of Atazia’s effects. Yes, that is right… it is a monster effect now, so your Imperial Library is not protected either! Your defense points are all zero!”

“Bakura,” Twilight said cautiously, as the boy lurched again, “Are you alright?”

“I am more than fine!” he spat, now with one hand pressed to the side of his head. He saw out of the corner of his eye that the hand had as much color as an old black-and-white photograph, but that hardly seemed to matter anymore. “This power is indescribable! But maybe you would like a taste? Discord, blow apart her Imperial Library!”

Discord’s jaws opened wide and swirling violet flames gathered within. It launched the fires like a bullet that slammed their way through the tallest shelves, setting them randomly aflame. The attack burst out the other side and temporarily banished the feeling that they were dueling in a contained area. And through the newly created hole the two duelists had a clear view of the bridge leading back into Pegasus’s castle and the lone figure standing on it.

“… Discord…?”

“FLUTTERSHY!!!!” her friends cried. Applejack and Pinkie rushed over to her and threw their arms around her. She was hunched over, with Rainbow’s jacket held tight over her shoulders like a shawl, and she gave her friends almost no mind. She seemed hypnotized by the sight of Discord floating on the field in front of her.

“Fluttershy, are you all right?” Twilight called out to her, unable to leave the field without forfeiting but wishing she could. Fluttershy seemed to snap out of her haze and gave her a weak smile and a nod, and Twilight sighed with relief. Relief that turned to stabs of anger as mocking laughter rose up behind her.

“So you woke up?” Bakura laughed, swaying slightly in an intoxicated way, “Come to see how much better I am at wielding this card? Perhaps you should have stayed asleep, saved yourself the trouble…”

“How could you?” Twilight demanded angrily, “I will make you eat those words!”

Bakura cackled again, but cut it short when a strange feeling rushed through him. For a moment, it had felt like his monster had been pulled towards the new arrival.

“No,” he muttered, not sure if he was saying that to Twilight or Fluttershy, “Discord is mine! I activate The Dark Door, which forces us to only attack with one monster a turn, and Gravekeeper’s Servant, which will cost you the top card of your deck if you do attack. And I will place this last card face down!”

“Then it’s my turn!” Twilight said. She looked over her shoulder and met Fluttershy’s eye. Something unspoken passed between the two of them and she turned back to the duel. “Alright, it’s time to end this. I activate my face down card, Reliable Guardian!”

“What is that for? Have you completely forgotten Discord’s ability?” Bakura snarled. He raised his hand and Discord lifted its claw obediently, preparing to snap its fingers and shatter the card…

“Discord, do you really want to listen to him?”

Fluttershy’s voice was so soft that it barely carried over the field, but it seemed to be enough to freeze Discord’s claw in place. Unbelievably, Bakura felt his control over the dark power of the card weaken and he redoubled his efforts. Do not listen to that stupid girl, you are MINE and you will do as I SAY!

But Discord dropped its arm without doing anything and Twilight grinned in triumph as the floating demon glowed green. “It seems you don’t understand his ability entirely. You see, half the time Discord doesn’t destroy his opponent’s cards but steals them for himself instead. And in addition, both of us draw a new card when that happens.”

She drew and then pointed to her left. “That spell put a third counter on each of my monsters, and I’ll spend the three on Secret Alchemical Library to search my deck for a card and put it on top. Unless Discord stops the ability, of course.”

The monster lifted its claw but paused again as it gazed in Fluttershy’s direction through dark magic clouded eyes, then dropped its claw to the side.

“Then we both draw, and since the effect doesn’t target a card on the field, Discord doesn’t redirect my target,” Twilight explained, looking briefly though her deck before putting one card on top. “Next I activate Field Barrier again.”

“Discord, stop her!” Bakura demanded in a scream, but his monster wasn’t paying him the slightest attention. It continued to do nothing as it stared blindly at where Fluttershy, now walked to the edge of the field and still hugged tight by her friends, was standing.

“Ah’ve never seen Discord let that many cards go by unopposed.” Applejack said in a low voice. Next to her Fluttershy smiled softly and continued to stare unblinkingly back at the hovering monster.

Twilight drew for the fourth time this turn as the shimmering spell appeared. “Looks like Discord doesn’t want to be under your control after all, Bakura. If he did, he never would have allowed this card to come to my hand. Now watch the card that will put an end to your twisted plans! I sacrifice all three of my Libraries to summon Yunae, the Crescent!”

At once every shelf around them lit up with a brilliant light and shot up into the sky. For a moment nothing happened and then a figure slowly descended from between the clouds. A soft, cool light radiated from the figure, like the moon breaking through an overcast night. Its long flowing hair, softly furling dress, and long wings twinkled with tiny stars. As its light played over the active spells and traps on the field, they each slowly folded back face down as if they were bowing to the monster.

“Yunae resets every card on our fields other than monsters,” Twilight explained, setting the last two cards in her hand, “And her mere presence doesn’t allow them to be activated again for another two turns. In addition, she gains an extra one hundred attack points for each card we have face down on the field.”

“But that only makes tha two monsters equal!” Joey groaned, clenching his fist in frustration, “If only she had one card more!”

Bakura broke out in a manic grin. “Haha, exactly! And thanks to all of your spells, Discord has filled up my hand again! Even if you destroy this useless monster this turn, the game will be mine on the next!”

“There is no next turn,” Twilight said sadly, “Unfortunately for you, Discord Incarnate isn’t the only evil force we’ve defeated before. And you’re about to meet another one now!”

At the exact moment she said that, Yunae feet finally touched down upon the checkerboard ground. But instead of losing color her colors darkened, growing deeper and deeper by the second. Its serene expression faded away in a silent scream that contorted into a roar of rage. Its dress contracted and grew plates of armor and from seemingly out of thin air it grasped a pair of sharply curved blades that crackled with pent-up lightning. It swished the blades and the cruel light one sometimes glimpses around a solar eclipse before going blind radiated off it, not really banishing the growing gloom as much as strengthening it.

Twilight pointed directly at Bakura’s heart. “Yunae also has a dark side; Nightmare, the Broken Crescent! Nightmare is automatically summoned the instant Yunae becomes a dark type, and she gains one thousand attack and defense points for every face down card on the field!”

“IMPOSSIBLE!!!!” Bakura screamed, craning his neck up to stare at his monster with confusion and hate. “How can power like yours lose?! Are you listening to me?! Do something!”

“It’s too late!” Twilight yelled, “Your spells and traps are sealed, and your monster has betrayed you! Nightmare, end it with Night Fall!”

Twilight’s monster leaped up into the air and turned a somersault, both blades glinting like the edges of a mostly hidden moon. Bakura turned one last look up at Discord and felt that voice echo in his mind for a second time.

SorRy, bUT You OnLy HavE dARKNEsS iN YoUR SouL. Fluttershy HAs bOTH LiGHt anD DarKNEsS. nOTHiNg BuT DarK Is BORinG, YOu KNoW.

i ThINk I’Ll stAy WItH mY fRIEnD foR NoW.

With a scream of effort, Nightmare slashed down with its blades and produced a great crescent of blue lightning that cleaved Discord in two and slammed into the duelist below. Bakura bellowed in pain as his world became lightning.

Bakura
0

“Now, Gatling Dragon!” Bandit Keith shouted, his tongue flapping wildly out of his mouth, “Unleash bullet hell on them!”

His dragon reared back and flailed about, raining bullets in every direction. Rarity’s Diva was the first to fall, with the bullets tearing holes in her precious clothing, closely followed by Spike’s Champion. Rainbow’s Flint Lock flitted about, avoiding most of the missiles, but it too fell in the end.

“And now I’ll sacrifice it to Destruct Potion!” Keith cried, and his beast erupted with a deafening explosion.

Keith
7200

“Not again…” Rarity huffed, straining for breath, but Bandit Keith wasn’t finished with them.

“Call of the Haunted!” he shouted with a bark of laughter, and his Gatling Dragon resurrected, “It looks like these worms still have a few cards left, not to mention way too many life points! Gatling Dragon, go wild!”

Yet again his dragon whipped itself into a frenzy and explosions rocked the field. All three of his opponents were thrown off their feet and landed in separate heaps, nearly all their remaining cards exploding into fragments.

Rainbow, Rarity, and Spike
100

Rainbow Dash coughed and tried to roll over onto her hands and knees. “That… card… is… so… broken…”

“How does it keep working?” Rarity gasped, “How do his cards activate just the way he wants them to every single time?”

“I’m… not done…” Rainbow Dash growled, struggling onto her feet, “I refuse… to let it end… like this…”

Bandit Keith roared with laughter and waves of force pulsed off him, pushing the girl back to her knees. “You can’t stand up to the full, concentrated power of my Master! I’m his last servant and his most faithful! Now prepare yourselves to become his slaves!”

“Never, you brute!” Rarity spat. Keith narrowed his eyes at her in irritation and another blast of power blew off him and slammed into Rarity. She was pushed roughly across the ground and bounced off the railing, crying out and clutching her shoulder in pain.

The sound galvanized Spike to rise unsteadily to his feet and take a step forward. “Rarity, Rainbow… I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can win this…”

“That’s right!” Keith laughed, drunk with power, “Know your place! Especially after I summon Cannon Soldier to finish you off!”

“I didn’t want to do this,” Spike said as the mechanical monster appeared on Keith’s field. He glanced at his last trap, the only card of theirs that had survived, and hesitated. But after looking back at where Rarity still lay the determination returned to his eyes and he thrust his hand out to the card.

“I will not let you win, no matter what! I activate the Self-Destruct Button!”

“No! Why would you ever have that card?!” Keith shouted, but his denial was useless to change reality.

The trap flipped up and exploded, the ensuing ball of flames engulfing everything in an instant. The Gatling Dragon and Cannon Soldier crumbled under Keith’s unbelieving eyes and he thrust his arms out before him. Energy focused on his palms and for a few seconds the explosion was held off, the force of it causing his arms to tremble and shake with effort. His feet slid along the floor, unable to find enough traction to stop the force, and Keith struggled with all his might to maintain the magic as he was pushed back. His cloak ripped, his sunglasses cracked, and his bandana was blown off, revealing the crystal embedded in his forehead was glowing red hot.

Then the back of his feet hit something and he unbalanced over it, his arms losing their tenuous ability to hold off the flames. In the last second Keith looked down to see what had tripped him up. It was Celestia, still lying where his Master had abandoned her. Then the explosion was upon him and a fierce pain wracked his whole being.

Rainbow, Rarity, Spike, and Keith
0

It took a while for the smoke to clear, but when it did Spike realized that the phantom pain he had been experiencing from Keith’s attacks was gone. He felt refreshed and looked around eagerly to see the two girls also sitting up with relieved expression.

“Rarity!” he said, rushing over to her, “Are you alright?”

She nodded and smiled at him indulgently. “I am, all thanks to you. You saved us, Spike.”

“Aw, it was nothing,” Spike muttered, suddenly embarrassed. He blinked and looked down at his hands. “Even though we lost, I don’t feel any different. I guess that since he lost as well, that means we aren’t going to be brainwashed?”

“Guuhhnnn…” a voice said, and the three of them looked over to see Celestia sitting up slowly, pressing a hand to her head. “What happened… it feels like I’ve been out for some time…?”

Rainbow rushed over and helped Celestia to her feet, allowing her to lean on her shoulder for support. “Don’t worry, we kicked that guy’s butt! Come on, I want to get back to the others and see how the tournament’s going!”

“Ussssee… lleessssss…”

The hoarse growling voice caused them all to freeze and turn sharply around. Against the wall further down the corridor, a black mass of energy was pulling Bandit Keith’s body to his feet. It was clear that the man wasn’t conscious, but the black smog was forcing him to move about like a broken doll. His eyes leaked a glowing green mist, from which a pair of sharp red eyes suddenly opened and stared at the people before him.

“Need… better… hossst…” the thing rasped, and it raised Keith’s arm. Black smog poured out of his palm and engulfed the four of them before they could move, and they realized that they couldn’t move at all. Still moving lifelessly, Keith started walking over to his captives.

A burst of brilliant white light suddenly appeared from behind everyone, forcing Keith to halt in his tracks. The smog dissolved under that light and the four of them collapsed to their knees in surprise. Keith’s body held up its arms to protect his strange eyes, and black energies swirled around him to shield him from the light. The light disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and in the half second when everyone lay gathering their wits a figure walked forward and placed himself between Keith and the others.

“So you are the source of the dark power I’ve been sensing,” Yugi said, pointing threateningly at the dark shadow coalescing over Keith, “I will not allow you free reign anymore! I will stop you here and now!”

“Yessss…” Keith said in that same hissing voice, “A suitable ssservant…”

Yugi snapped out his arm and activated his duel disk. “Prepare yourself, shadow! It’s time to duel!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Dark Magic React vs. Crystal Clear

Author's Note

Seems like forever since I've thought about Twilight's deck, but this is how I always wanted it to be. I named her deck after the Royal Magical Library because I thought that card perfectly summed up the perfect card for Twilight, a library granted to her from royalty. So in my mind I always wanted her to have more Library cards to play with, gathering spell counters on them from Spellbook spells and using them to cast heavy spell counter costing cards. But my hands were tied when I wrote her duel with Kaiba and high defense monsters just wouldn't cut it, so I was forced to add librarian-esqe cards to her deck to keep her alive. I'm glad I got to finally write her deck the way I wanted it to run.

And now the Pharaoh has tracked down the evil force of Sombra. Will Yugi succumb to his dark magic? The answer may or may not surprise you!

Turn 15: Dark Magic React vs. Crystal Clear

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Twilight asked once again, squeezing Fluttershy’s shoulder in a supportive way, “You were thrown hard enough to knock you out.”

Fluttershy shook her head. In her hand she held Ataxia and Discord, and she regarded them with a soft smile before slipping them into her pocket. “I’m fine. I’m more concerned with everything I missed. The last thing I can clearly remember was playing Ataxia. I guess I’m not as good as Celestia said I would be with it…”

“Better than this guy…” Joey said, giving the unconscious form of Bakura a small kick in the leg.

Applejack hunkered down next to the boy and appraised him critically. “What’s the deal with him? There a good reason he went all psycho on us?”

Pegasus stepped forward. “The boy was in the possession of a dark spirit for a long time. It was my understanding that Yugi-boy had driven the spirit out, but something may have caused its lingering shade to resurge.”

Fluttershy nodded as if she understood this cryptic explanation and looked around. “And the others? Where is Yugi, and Rarity and Rainbow Dash, for that matter?”

Before anyone could supply an answer, the entire building shook violently. Everyone was driven to their knees as the tremor rocked the rooftop. When it was over they all looked about warily, half expecting the tower to slowly topple over or something.

“What was that?!” Mai shouted, first to her feet and looking around for the source.

“Some kind of explosion, I think,” Pegasus said, holding a hand to his head as he rose, “It sounded like it came from somewhere in the building.”

Twilight rushed over to the railing and leaned over to get a good look at the castle. “I don’t see any damage, no smoke or shattered windows.”

“Could it have been someone duelin’?” Applejack asked.

Twilight frowned. “There aren’t many cards that can produce an explosion of that size, but it is possible. Spike has a trap in his deck that could do it, for example, though he hardly ever can meet the requirements to use it…”

Mai scoffed at the idea. “How could a duel have caused the building to shake like that? I know there’s some feedback when you duel, but they’re still holograms!”

“Unless,” Pegasus said thoughtfully, “Unless there was Shadow magic involved…”

Everyone glanced towards the still form of Bakura and it hit them just how many of their number were still unaccounted for somewhere in the castle. As one they rushed to the door off the rooftop.

Yugi Sombra
4000 4000

“I will begin!” Yugi declared, drawing a card and immediately placing it on his field. “I summon the Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode!”

The ground shook and split as a towering figure rose up from the fissure. The golem silently got down into a kneeling position and crossed its mighty arms across its chest. Even on its knees it loomed over both duelists, forming an imposing wall between them.

“Be careful, Yugi!” Rainbow shouted, clenching her fist in anger. “That guy’s deck is full of machines that can blow apart any card you play, and he’s got crazy luck!”

“Thanks, but I think this duel might be a little different than the last one.” Yugi said, staring intently at his opponent. Confused, Rainbow followed where he was looking and squinted in confusion.

The dark smog-like energy wrapping Keith’s body had formed a ball around his duel disk, slowly shrinking until they covered his deck like a second skin. Still moving like a puppet, Keith drew these black cards and held them before his face. The glowing eyes flared and pulsed sickly, denying even the most human expression to reveal whether it was pleased with its hand.

The Pharaoh grit his teeth and shouted in a commanding tone as Keith pulled one card out from the others. “Reveal your name to me, spirit. I would know the name of who I’m fighting!”

Keith paused, and the smoke thickened about the eyes. “Sombra… and you… will be mine…”

The field spell slot popped open and the black card slipped in. “Clear… World…”

A low mist spread across the ground and up from it rose a perfect prism, as tall as either duelist. It rose into the air and suddenly burst into brilliant light, dispelling the mist and temporarily blinding Yugi. Blinking his eyes clear he saw that the floor had become glassy and the ceiling had faded away into a pale blue expanse.

There was a cry behind him and Yugi spun around to find a clear wall was pushing the others away from him. Rainbow Dash strained against the wall, which for some reason had a physical presence, but it pushed her back relentlessly. Rarity and Spike, still supporting a woozy Celestia, had to hurry to avoid being squished against the railing and getting pushed over. It finally stopped growing, leaving the two of them locked in a mostly empty glass-like room.

“Are you alright?” Yugi called to them.

“We’re fine,” Rainbow responded, her voice muffled by the barrier. She struck the wall and produced only a slightly ringing thud. “But you should watch out for yourself! Look, he’s playing something else!”

Yugi spun around, but Sombra was already continuing on. “Clear Cataclysm…” he said, his voice sounding stronger in this space of his creation. His new spell card appeared next to him and floated on the field, apparently doing nothing.

“So what do these cards do?” Yugi asked, glancing up at the giant floating crystal. It was almost perfectly see through, but it was reflecting some small amount of orange light for some reason.

Instead of answering, the red eyes narrowed slightly and leaked more green mist. “End turn…”

“No monsters, huh?” Yugi muttered, drawing his card for the turn.

“I don’t understand,” Rarity said, “These aren’t the cards he used against us. I have no idea how they work.”

“I do,” Celestia said, pushing herself away from her students and stepping closer to the barrier. “Yugi, is it? Listen to me, he used these Clear cards against me when he first took over my mind! They’re unique strategy turns your-”

“Enough!” Sombra said in a commanding tone and Keith’s free hand shot up and pointed directly at the spectators. A wave of light washed over the barrier and when it passed Yugi could only see his reflection in it. A few soft thumps as his friends beat on the barrier were the only indication that there was anyone on the other side of it.

“Now… it’s just us in here…” Sombra hissed, letting Keith’s arm drop back to his side.

Too bad for him, you’re never alone, the real Yugi said, materializing next to the Pharaoh’s shoulder. Together, we can beat this guy easily!

The Pharaoh gave his partner a smile of agreement and returned to the duel. “First, I’ll-”

“Ah… ah… ah…” Sombra growled condescendingly, as orange light started to play over the field. Yugi glanced up in confusion and saw that the crystal was spinning a bit, sending light patterns scurrying over the field. Then a crackling sound caught his attention and he gasped.

Orange crystals were growing all over his golem’s body. Within seconds the monster was incapable of moving anymore as the small growths sprouted over every inch of its body. Once it was completely hidden from view the entire pile flashed with an inner light before shattering with a clear ringing tone. There was no sign of the stone monster amongst the pieces of crystal that rained down.

“What happened to my soldier?!” Yugi demanded, but the only reply he received was laughter.

It must have been that field spell, his partner said, looking up at the crystal above them. The orange light from its depths was absent now. I bet it has the power to destroy a monster each turn. That must be why he didn’t play any!

Maybe… the Pharaoh thought, before continuing his turn. “Let’s see what happens when I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in attack mode!”

A yellow ball appeared on his field, unfolding itself to reveal a weird creature with large magnets coming out of its head and hands. Above them the orange light returned to the depths of the crystal and Yugi looked at it in triumph.

“So your spell is reacting when I have a monster,” he said, thrusting his finger out dramatically, “But I doubt it will destroy my monster before it can attack! Go Beta, strike him directly!”

His monster leapt to obey, but Sombra was already playing a card from his hand. “Battle Fader…”

A monster that looked like nothing more than an evil spirit crossed with a pendulum clock appeared on Sombra’s field in Beta’s path. The fiend swung its arm around in an arc and the bell on the end let out a sonorous ring that echoed around the perfect acoustic walls of the glass room. Beta froze in the face of that sound and slowly drifted back to Yugi’s side. Above them, a purple light joined the orange one in the depths of the crystal.

Yugi grunted and waved his hand palm up in his opponent’s direction. “So you managed to save yourself, and got material for a tribute out of it too. I’ll acknowledge your skills as a duelist, so how about telling me what your goal in coming here is?”

Sombra was silent long enough that Yugi wasn’t sure he was going to get an answer, but then the spirit pulsed and rose a bit off Keith’s shoulders. “Gods…”

“Gods?” Yugi asked, taken aback by the response.

“Gods!” Sombra cried, his voice stronger and clearer than ever. “This form I am reduced to… it barely has any of the power I once commanded… When I possess my slaves, my power is divided, until it is spread too thin… This paltry display I command now is only possible because this puppet is the only slave I have left…

“But the god cards have limitless power! If I could just tap that power… I could become Legion!”

Yugi slashed his palm in denial. “If the god cards were your goal, why did you not then come at me from the beginning? Why involve innocents in your schemes?”

Sombra flared in anger, his glowing eyes contracting to slits. “I do not need the god cards… They only respond to certain duelists in that form, and are useless to me… But if I could find out how they were infused with power, I could make my own… I could infuse Clear World with their power… Make myself a body of my own once more…”

“I doubt such a thing is even possible,” Yugi said confidently, picking a card out of his hand. “The Gods can’t simply be copied that easily. But you’ll never find out how flawed you plan is, since I will stop you right here and now! I’ll play one card face down and end my turn.”

Across from him, Sombra made no move to draw a card from his deck. Instead his eerie laughter echoed around the room as he held up Keith’s arm towards his other spell. “Clear Cataclysm activates…”

A large crystal growth suddenly sprouted out of the ground next to Yugi. It quickly rose to the height of a man, the pillar smooth all the way to the top with bursts of smaller crystals around its base.

“What is this?” Yugi asked, looking down at his duel disk. A thin layer of crystal had grown over one of his monster card zones, rendering the spot completely unusable. Is he trying to seal my field?!

But Sombra was not done. “One face down… and Scroll of Bewitchment…”

The spell rose out of the ground and its face burst into light. From the center of that light a scroll unfurled and soared across the field, wrapping itself around Yugi’s monster several times. The paper’s blank face bled ink all along its length, writing the symbol for fire over and over again while Beta’s skin took on a reddish hue.

“What was the point of that? All that does is transform one monster’s attribute to a different type!” Yugi demanded, but its speech earlier seemed to have tired the spirit out. It lay thickly about Keith’s head and shoulders like a mantle, mocking Yugi with his silence.

The Pharaoh drew and looked at his bound monster, waiting for crystals to sprout and destroy it. So he was taken completely by surprise when flames engulfed his body in a furious inferno, and he screamed in pain.

Yugi
3000

Are you alright? his spectral partner asked, somehow helping him to his feet. Why did that happen?

I think I know. Look up! The Pharaoh responded, and the two of them stared up at the center of Clear World. Purple and red lights glowed inside it, the orange one having vanished at some point during the last turn.

“I believe I have a grasp of Clear World now,” Yugi said, confidence slipping into his voice as he spoke, “It is reacting to the different attributes of our monsters and providing different effects. My Giant Solder of Stone was an earth type, which must have been why he was destroyed. But thanks to your scroll, you turned Beta into a fire type, so I took damage instead!”

“Clever…” Sombra chuckled, and he suddenly thrust out Keith’s hand at his trap. “Nightmare Archfiends…”

His strange fiend contorted in agony as green flames licked over its body and reduced the monster to ash. But rather than dying out the flames only burned brighter, shooting up into the sky in the form of three comets. They soured around wildly for a little while before coming to a rest in a row next to Yugi. From their cores grew bodies of pitch black imps, which cavorted in the flames still licking their skin.

“Two thousand attack points each?!” Yugi said, consulting his duel disk in surprise, “Why would you give me such powerful monsters?”

Sombra pulled Keith’s head back and laughter echoed off the crystals. Black smog poured off his shoulders like a second cloak, and his voice seemed to grow stronger still.

Thanks to that crystal and these imps, my field is completely filled, Yugi thought. He tilted his head slightly and smirked. “I suppose it would be rude not to put your thoughtful gift to good use. I’ll attack you directly with my four monsters!”

The three imps cackled and scampered in place, occasionally tossing small green fireballs at each other. Beside them floated Beta, holding its magnet hands up in a ready stance. After a while it became apparent to Yugi that they weren’t going to be responding to his command any time soon.

“What?!” he demanded, “What’s wrong?”

Could this be Clear World again? Yugi said. The two of them looked up at the floating crystal as the purple light coincidentally played over them at that moment.

“So having dark monsters means that you become unable to attack?” the Pharaoh said, looking back down at his deck as Sombra’s mocking laugh once again rolled over him, “That’s going to be a real problem for us… most of the monsters in my deck are dark.

“But that’s a problem I’ll have to deal with later. First I’ll place this card face down, and I’ll protect my life points from further damage by sacrificing Beta for Dark Magician Girl!”

His magnet warrior vanished to be replaced by a young witch. It floated lightly down to the field, twirling its wand and shooting a wink in Yugi’s direction. Yugi gave her a nod in return and picked out one more card from his hand.

“Lastly, I’ll use Monster Reincarnation to return the Giant Soldier of Stone to my hand, at the cost of discarding another card. And that will end my turn.”

“Useless…” Sombra growled in response and lifted his borrowed arm. A pillar of crystal exploded out of the ground behind the magician, and a quick glance at his duel disk confirmed that the spirit had chosen to seal away one of his spell and trap card zones this time.

Yugi smiled and pointed his finger condescendingly at his opponent. “That’s an impressive card you’ve got there, but it appears to have quite a few weaknesses. It doesn’t seem like you can seal any zones that are in use, and you haven’t drawn a single card since you’ve played it. And with only one card remaining in your hand, I doubt this duel is going to last much longer!”

Sombra tilted to the side and chuckled at some private joke. “Is that what you think? Here’s my last card…”

Yugi’s eyes widened as the spell appeared as it was cast. “It can’t be! Card of Demise!”

“Yessss…” Sombra gloated as his hand was refreshed, drawing out the word with relish, “And now… Owner’s Seal…”

The three imps on Yugi’s field cackled gleefully and hopped about the field, eventually bouncing to a halt across the way by Sombra’s side.

“But why?” Yugi demanded, “I thought they couldn’t attack due to your spell. Why take them back?”

Sombra held up another card. “Because with this… Clear Coating removes their attribute!”

Starting at their feet, a crystal prism grew over each of the imps, sealing them inside. The imps slowly stopped capering as they were sealed and slumped, supported on nothing in the exact center of their prisms with blank expressions on their faces. The green fire licking their bodies died down to a bare flicker due to the lack of oxygen.

Sombra’s smoky form swelled as he eagerly leaned forward. “Crystal slave… slay the girl!”

One of the encased imps shot forward like a stone from a sling, but Yugi was prepared. “I activate my face down card, Magical Hats!”

His card flipped up and shimmered into the form of a giant top hat which floated quickly into the air. The hat dropped down over the Magician Girl, completely covering it, and suddenly split into four hats. The hats shuffled themselves in a fast blurring fashion before settling to a halt. The crystallized imp shot through the hat second to the right and blasted out the other side, but there was no satisfying shattering of duel shards as the hat simply faded away.

Yugi smirked and gestured at his remaining hats. “Too bad. I’ve hidden my Dark Magician Girl under only one of these hats and you wasted your attack destroying an empty one. Want to give it another shot? Only a one in three chance of getting it right this time!”

“Wrong… two in three…” Sombra growled, and both of his remaining crystal monsters shot forward.

The gems burrowed holes through the hats in the middle and on the left, but they came out the other side with just as much to show for it as the first imp. The remaining hat’s top shimmered and burst open and the Magician Girl popped out, tipping a salute with a cheery wave of her hand.

“Looks like you’ve wasted your entire turn,” Yugi mocked, crossing his arms and grinning in a satisfied way. Keith’s fists clenched and trembled for a few seconds, but then all the tension seemed to drain out from his body.

“If that’s is how you see it…” Sombra hummed mysteriously. He placed one more card from his hand face down on the field and rocked back, clearly waiting for Yugi to take his turn.

Yugi drew and smiled as he reviewed what he’d gotten. “Even though your fiends are no longer on my field, my Dark Magician Girl remains a dark type, sealing my attack phase. So the first step is to clear my field and I shall do so with this, Monster Recovery!”

The spell card appeared on his field and a vortex of wind appeared centered on its face. His spellcaster floated backwards into the card and the whole thing vanished with a flash. Yugi picked up her card and placed it, along with the rest of his hand, on top of his deck. The duel disk’s auto-shuffler kicked in, and when it stopped he drew a new hand of five cards.

“Let’s see, I’ll start by placing this card face down, and then I’ll activate Monster Reborn to bring Queen’s Knight back to life!”

A pillar of light shot up from the ground and a woman bedecked in armor rose up from it. She brandished her sword and awaited the order to put it to use.

“When did you lose that monster…” Sombra growled.

Yugi smirked and held up his disk for emphasis. “When I used Monster Reincarnation, of course. Next I’ll… wait, what’s this?!”

His hand suddenly burst out into bright light and a trio of holograms rose up from them, growing in size until three large cards floated above Yugi’s head. The three cards were exactly identical to the ones left in his hand, showing for all to see that he was holding King’s Knight, Polymerization, and The Winged Dragon of Ra.

Look there! Yugi shouted, pointing over the Pharaoh’s shoulder at the floating crystal. The two of them quickly saw the bright yellow gleam shining out from its depths and realized what it meant.

“So having a light monster reveals my hand to you?” Yugi asked, not expecting a reply and unsurprised when one wasn’t given. “Well, that’s not as bad as it might have been. All that means is that you know what moves I’m about to make to swing this duel in my favor! For my normal summon I bring out King’s Knight, and his special ability will summon Jack’s Knight straight from my deck!”

A second, much older knight appeared next to the first, this one wearing armor of brightest orange to contrast with the Queen’s polished red. The two crossed their swords high in the air and a bright light shone from where the blades met. When the flare died away it revealed a third sword joined with the others, held aloft by another knight. This knight was taller than the others and its armor was a radiant blue.

Sombra lifted Keith’s arms in a shrug and laughed. “Your monsters are weak, none of them a match for my slaves… Are you going to summon your god now?”

Yugi shook his head and gestured to his other card. “There’s no need to summon a god right now. Instead, I’ll just fuse my three Knight together to summon the mightiest warrior of all, Arcana Knight Joker!”

His three knight twisted and swirled together under the power of his spell, which burst apart in a wash of light when it was finished. The resultant monster wore armor of the finest violet and gold plate and it easily gripped a shining sword nearly five feet long in one hand. The knight lifted the blade and set into a ready stance, prepared to receive its first orders.

“Arcana Knight!” Yugi shouted, slashing his hand dramatically, “Show Sombra your power! Imperial Sword Strike!”

Joker gave a cry of approval and leapt forward, its sword raised high. Yugi half expected his opponent to stop his attack once again somehow, but Sombra stood silent and the knight closed the distance. It swung in an arc so fast it passed through the crystal prison of one of the imps completely without apparent effect. Then a shimmering line bisected the monster straight through the middle and the upper half started to slide away from the bottom.

Sombra
2200

“Yes!” Spike shouted, pumping his fist in excitement. “He finally broke through his defenses!”

He was about to say more, but was cut off by a loud thump as Rainbow Dash charged past him and slammed her shoulder into the wall for the umpteenth time. She rebounded off and tumbled back, barely keeping on her feet and clutching at her shoulder. “Ow…”

“Oh, give it a rest, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity sniffed in annoyance, “It didn’t work the first time you tried, what made you think you could break it down this time?”

“Well, he was distracted this time,” Rainbow said defensively, rubbing the soreness from her shoulder, “Anything is better than sitting here uselessly, unable to help.”

“GIRLS!”

The four of them turned at the shout and broke into their own cried of happiness as their friends appeared around the corner, followed by Joey, Mai, and Pegasus. The two groups rushed together and there was a brief exchange of hugs and clasped hands.

“Spike, what are you doing here?!” Twilight asked, giving the young boy a concerned once over for signs of injury or trouble.

“We came to warm you!” Spike said, “Luna and me, we brought the Element cards, but they got lost!”

“Luna? And the Element cards?” Twilight shook her head and focused on him more fully, “Wait, warn us about what?”

“Well, about that!” Spike said, gesturing behind him. The field spell had completely sealed off the entire corridor from end to end, but everyone could see the duel that was transpiring within.

“Who’s that dueling Yug?” Joey asked, rushing forward to support his friend. Unfortunately the barrier was just as solid for him as it was for Rainbow Dash, and he rebounded off the clear wall face first and landed flat on his backside. He held a hand to his face in surprise as it flushed red from the blow.

Rarity helped him to his feet and instinctively brushed dust off his back. “That’s Sombra.”

“Sombra?!” Twilight started, “But we’ve already defeated him!”

“It seems he can possess people now,” Celestia said, putting a hand on her student’s shoulder, “He came to this island inside of me, but he was apparently already possessing several men as well, waiting for this opportunity. Right now he’s trapped Yugi in a duel and there’s nothing we can do to help him.”

A sudden flare of green light dragged everyone’s attention back to the duel in progress. The top of the crystal Yugi’s knight split had shifted enough for air to get inside and the emerald flames licking the imprisoned imp’s body exploded as if they were starved of air. The eruption consumed the imp and its prison before rushing back and covering Sombra’s puppet. Keith almost seemed to come back to himself as he shrieked and beat at the flames.

Sombra
1400

“Doesn’t seem like he needs any of our help,” Applejack said with an appreciative whistle, tilting her hat back, “He’s got this guy dancin’ on the ropes as is.”

But Celestia was already shaking her head. “No, he used these same tactics when he dueled me, and this is just how it looked right before he crushed my Supremacy Sun like a tin can.”

…

“I wasn’t expecting your imps to have such an explosive weakness,” Yugi said as the fires died finally died down enough for his opponent to stop flailing, “It seems like this duel will be over sooner than I thought. Those things won’t even be able to properly protect you from my attacks!”

Sombra grunted and thrust Keith’s arm out savagely. A crystal burst out of the ground on the other side of his knight, flanking it between the other one. There was also a large crystal on his field now, marking the place where his imp had perished. Sombra held up his cards and slowly drew one of them out and held it up reverently.

“I sacrifice my slaves…” he purred, taking great pleasure in his imminent victory, “To summon the Clear Vice Dragon…”

His two remaining imps tilted into each other and their crystal prisons melded together like jelly. The contortions of the various fractured sides of the crystals as they merged and grew hid the imps from sight, but they appeared to be faring no better than the crystal. Suddenly the gem expanded into a large many-sided sphere with a black mass trapped within. The mass slowly unfolded, great black wings and thick block-like arms peeling off a body covered in flat plates of armor. The dragon’s eyes glowed a malevolent green as it hung suspended as its tributes had. A pair of crystal towers burst out of the ground on either side of it as two more of Sombra's monster zones were consumed by his own powers.

“So you’ve finally decided to summon a monster,” Yugi said, then did a double take as he looked closer, “But it doesn’t have a single attack or defense point!”

Sombra’s laughter echoed stronger than ever as his smoky form flowed forward, eager to watch the Pharaoh’s last moments. “Your strength… becomes my strength… Eat him, my slave!”

The dragon raised its arms and a flash of light washed over the crystal surrounding it, leaving Yugi’s knight perfectly reflected in it like glass. Power swam through the crystal, drawn to the dragon like iron fillings as its attack power shot to the sky.

Yugi blinked in disbelief at what his duel disk was telling him. “Its attack points just leapt to seventy-six hundred! That’s twice the power of Joker!”

It slowly brought its arms together and grasped the reflection in its talons. The knight gasped in pain as its arms were squashed to its sides as if the dragon were holding it instead of just its image. It was lifted into the air as the dragon pulled its reflection up to its head and spread its jaws wide.

“I won’t allow it! Spellbinding Circle!” Yugi shouted, activation one of his traps.

A magic circle made of bright emerald light appeared around Sombra’s monster, piercing through the hard outer shell to reach the dragon within. It screeched in surprise and lost its hold on the reflection, causing the knight outside to fall back to the ground. The dragon thrashed, but it couldn’t throw off the circle.

“What have you done?!” Sombra roared, his smog billowing out like a chimney stack on an overworked train.

Yugi slashed his hand for emphasis. “I’ve sealed your monster in a magic circle that will stop it from attacking or switching to defense mode. Your ace monster is grounded!”

Sombra flared up almost completely off Keith’s shoulders into the air and thrashed about, growling like an animal. Below, Keith groaned and lifted a hand to his forehead. Sombra’s glowing eyes snapped back down at the sound and he flowed back over him instantly. Keith’s grunts ceased as Sombra regained control over his puppet. He was silent for a while, but when he spoke again he had regained control over his temper.

“No matter… I can still take my time taking you apart…” he took the last card from his hand and played it, “Another Card of Demise…”

He keeps refilling his hand! The real Yugi said as Sombra drew five more cards. It’s as if that Clear Cataclysm has no downside for him at all!

“One more card face down… and now struggle for all you’re worth…” Sombra commanded, settling down and going perfectly still.

Yugi drew and considered his options. Clear World shone a light down on his hand and a new hologram rose up, revealing he had drawn a De-Fusion.

Arcana Knight Joker’s special ability allows him to negate any card by discarding a card of the same type, the Pharaoh thought, so right now I’m safe from monster effects and spells. But I’ll bet every last life point I have that one of those face down is a trap card. Should I defuse Arcana Knight Joker to summon Ra?

He glanced up at Sombra’s gently flowing form and shook his head. No, thanks to his field spell he’s known about my god card for a while now and he isn’t scared of it at all. One of those must be a way to counter even a god. Better to test him out rather than risk giving him exactly what he wants.

“Go, Joker!” Yugi shouted, “End this duel by splitting his Clear Vice Dragon in half!”

His knight leapt to obey, but Sombra was ready for it. “Attribute Chameleon… fill it with darkness…” he declared as his trap card flipped up. Dark light poured out from the card face and played over the knight, as black lines appeared crisscrossing its armor and bared skin. The giant floating crystal pulsed with purple light and Joker froze where it stood, its blade mere inches from cutting into crystal. It strained, sweat breaking out all over its arms and face, but it eventually succumbed to the inevitable and let its sword fall.

“So you can change my monster’s attribute on a whim now,” Yugi said through grit teeth as he noted that Attribute Chameleon wasn’t fading away. That means I have to use this now or Clear Cataclysm will seal too many monster zones! “I activate De-Fusion and split Joker back into my three knights!”

Sombra leaned forward in anticipation as Yugi’s knight dissolved into three, but Yugi merely crossed his arms. “And I think that will do it for my turn.”

The dark spirit hissed in a breath and growled. “Coward…” he spat, thrusting out its hand in Yugi’s direction. Another pillar of crystal burst from the ground in the back row, sealing away a spell and trap zone.

“Scroll of Bewitchment… set the girl aflame,” Sombra commanded, and reams of paper wrapped around Queen’s Knight, turning her armor to an even brighter red. “Another card face down… now suffer…”

Yugi drew and prepared himself for the pain he knew was coming as the crystal above played harsh red light upon him. Despite that the fire still caused him to cry out as he was engulfed.

Yugi
2000

Yugi gasped and rose shakily to his feet. Above him there already was a hologram of the Dark Magician he’d drawn, but Sombra was already making his move before the Pharaoh had straightened.

“Create a dark King…” Sombra growled, activating his trap once more, “And another Attribute Chameleon, to fill the Jack with water…”

Black lines crawled like living things over the King’s armor, and its face grew drawn and evil looking as its eyes filled completely with darkness. Similar blue lines wrapped themselves around his remaining knight, and it’s armor grew damp with dew. Lacking a light monster, the pair of holograms representing Yugi’s hand faded away, but not before he noticed a blue aura had wrapped around the cards in his hand. It didn’t take looking up at the blue light streaming from Clear Work along with the red and purple ones to guess what that meant.

Sombra’s laughter echoed around the room as if from dozens of throats. “Your attacks are blocked… Your hand will soon be discarded… Your life points burn away… You have no options left… Summon the God!”

Yugi smiled and tsked a finger at him. “You shouldn’t be so obvious about it. Now I know for sure that despite what you claimed, you do want my God cards.”

Sombra shrugged Keith’s shoulders. “My trap is hungry… perhaps your God can overcome it… want to try…?” Magical power rippled the air around the spirit, creating a pressure Yugi could feel even from all the way across the field.

The Pharaoh chuckled and shook his head. “I think not. I’m not fool enough to be led along on your game.”

Glowing eyes growing narrower, Sombra’s voice somehow took on even more menace. “Then you will die… There are no other moves left…”

Yugi smirked and pointed down at his last face down card. “It seems you’ve overlooked this! I activate Royal Straight and summon the Royal Straight Slasher!”

A circle of light appeared at the feet of his knights, shooting up into the sky where they met. That point of light descended to the ground and a sword suddenly slashed through it, scattering the light like raindrops. A new knight dressing in fine turquoise armor stood ready on the field, holding a giant curved sword easily in one hand.

Sombra roared like a cornered lion and angrily pointed at his last trap. “You… FOOL!!! Forcing me to waste Clear Prism Prison on that worthless knight…”

A half dozen floating opaque crystals appeared around Yugi’s new monster. It looked around at them warily and barely got its arms up before the crystals surged forward, pressing it from all sides. The knight managed to catch two on its sword from the front, but its face showed the pain it felt from the others crushing it.

“Did you think my Slasher doesn’t have a special ability?” Yugi shouted, as his deck started to glow and eject cards, “By sending monsters from level one to five to the graveyard, he destroys every card you possess!”

He pulled the first card from his deck and slipped it into his graveyard. Instantly the spectral form of Kuriboh floated out of it and shot across the field. It gave the Slasher a pat on the shoulder before floating down to its sword and disappearing. The knight’s muscles flexed and it was able to push the crystals back a little bit.

“IMPOSSIBLE!!!!” Sombra roared, magic and smoke flowing off his body in waves.

The crystals pressed harder, responding to their master’s rage, but Slasher only grew stronger as Yugi added more spirits to its strength. Old Vindictive Magician went next, followed by Giant Soldier of Stone and Big Shield Gardna. By the time Yugi discarded the last card the knight didn’t seem to even need the help anymore, easily pushing back against the pylons. Its sword exploded into light as the spirit of Berfomet joined the others, and Slasher gave a great cry as it swung the blade with all its might.

The arc of energy was all anyone could see of the sword as it crossed horizontally through entire field. The floating crystals shattered first, and the slash took the tops off at the pillars on Yugi’s field. Sombra’s dragon roared as its protective layer was breached and the shining attack took it right through the middle. Cracks spread up the sides of Clear World, and bright beams of lights in all the colors of the rainbow shot out of the holes as pieces flaked off.

And then, with an earth-shaking crash, every crystal shattered and filled the air with glittering shards.

“Now,” Yugi shouted as the diamond rain surrounded everything, “Royal Straight Slasher, put an end to this duel!”

“GRRAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!” Sombra roared, and the rain of slivers were pushed aside as he cast every bit of magical power at his hated enemy. But Slasher’s sword still glowed with holy light and met the invisible force head on, diverting it to either side easily. The knight charged forward and cleaved right through Sombra’s smoky form with a single swing.

Sombra
0

Sombra bellowed in pain and thrashed about, straining to escape the light tearing through his body like the spider-webbing cracks in a broken glass. With one final burst of power his body exploded, his own magical power back-lashing on him and scattering the fragments of his essence in every direction. Sombra’s howl of denial faded away to nothing, and then less than nothing. Freed of his influence, Bandit Keith collapsed face down and lay still on the floor.

Yugi sighed tiredly as his duel disk disengaged and turned around to the cheers of his friends.

It was some time later, and the two groups stood facing each other on the docks by Celestia’s yacht.

“Well, this certainly got out of hand,” Pegasus said with a laugh, offering his hand.

Celestia shook it with a smile. “We shouldn’t wait for one of us to be possessed by an evil spirit to see one another again.”

On her other shoulder, Luna gave a weak smile. She didn’t really need the support anymore, but her head was pounding like nothing else and she was glad for the contact. Spike had been overjoyed when they found her collapsed on the pier; tired, groggy, but otherwise unharmed.

“Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay for a while, my dear Celestia?” Pegasus asked. He politely didn’t say that they were worried that Sombra’s influence might still have a hold on the sisters. Bandit Keith and the Paradox brothers were safe back in the castle, still unconscious, and Pegasus was planning on keeping a careful eye on them while they recovered.

But Celestia was already shaking her head with a smile. “Thank you for your concern, but I still don’t know what Sombra did while he was in my mind. I will rest better when we get back home and I can be sure everything I left is safe.”

“Well I for one would rather stick around for a while!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, putting a thumb to her chest, “I hardly got to duel at all! I’ve plenty of energy left to take on a few more duels!”

“I think I will pass,” Bakura said softly, putting a hand to his chest as if it still pained him. He had come to pretty quickly, following the sound of the rest of the group to where they were celebrating in the hallways. He apparently didn’t have much memory of the tournament either, and was very apologetic for any harm his other side might have caused. “It was a pleasure meeting you all.”

Mai crossed her arms and looked away. “Yeah, you kids weren’t too bad.”

“Kids, huh?” Applejack muttered under her breath, and then brightened up. “Ya’ll were pretty good yourselves. We should do this again sometime.”

“Or now!” Pinkie practically shouted, snatching Twilight’s hand and pulling her forward as she grabbed Yugi’s wrist. “We still don’t have a winner yet!”

Yugi shrugged and gave Twilight a smile. “I suppose your friend won’t let the tournament end until we have a match.”

Twilight looked at her mentor, who nodded back. She turned back to the Duel King with a wide grin. “We don’t have to leave just yet.”

“Then shall we?” Yugi said, gesturing for her to stand back. Their friends spread out on the dock to give them plenty of room as the two of them squared off. They gave each other identical salutes and raised their duel disks as one.

“DUEL!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
Dark Magic React vs. Royal Magical Library

Author's Note

I've been told that I end my stories rather abruptly, and I'd have to say that's because I've never been very good at writing endings. Part of that might be due to my silly decision to have the entire point of this story occur back in chapter 7, but it's mostly that I don't like seeing anything drag on past where I've planned. And my plan for this fic went way off course when Sombra got involved. And don't fret; while I did consider ending the fic here, I am going to do one last one where the final winner is determined.

It didn't feel right for Sombra to use Keith's Gun monsters, so I knew I needed a deck built from scratch. I also knew that it had to be crystals, because crystals. But Crystals in Yugioh are, well, always more brightly colored gems. Crystal Beasts, Gem Knights, these were just too bright and sunny for Sombra. I suppose I could have done something with the Ice line, but then I happened upon Clear Vice Dragon and inspiration struck. Fortunately the Clear archetype hadn't gotten all that much support, so I had free reign bringing it into a fun new direction. My only regret is not making Clear Vice Dragon the only monster in his deck.

Not entirely sure where the art for my cards came from this time around. A google search for Clear cards found several fan-made cards with this artwork, but I couldn't trace the pictures any further back and they were simply perfect for my needs. So apologies for not being able to credit you, nameless artist.

Only one duel left. Who will be the grand winner? Place your bets, as this fic reaches its dramatic conclusion!

Turn 16 End: Dark Magic React vs. Royal Magical Library

Yugi Twilight
4000 4000

“Ladies first,” Yugi said graciously, gesturing her forward with a wave of his hand.

Twilight smiled as she drew. “I hope you don’t come to regret that. I’ll start by summoning my favorite monster, the Royal Magical Library!”

Wooden shelves burst up from the stone pier, once again encasing Twilight in its comfortable confines. The visitor’s side of the spectators, led by a Pinkie Pie who had acquired pompoms from someplace when no one was looking, gave a cheer at the play. The library was wide enough to stretch from one end of the pier to the other, but also transparent so that the others could still watch everything.

“Now what’s a library without any books?” Twilight asked, selecting a fresh card from her hand. “This card is called the Spellbook Library of the Crescent, and it will pull three other books straight out from my deck!”

Three cards popped out from her disk and a trio of blank card holograms grew out from them as they started revolving around the girl. She smiled as she watched their hidden sides and flicked her eyes at her opponent. “Unfortunately I’m only allowed to keep one of these, but which one is up to you.”

“Oh? I get to choose?” Yugi asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Indeed,” Twilight said, flicking her wrist and causing the cards to snap to a standstill in a row before her, “Pick any one you like.”

“That’s my girl. Show him everything I taught you!” Pinkie said proudly, clearly comparing this card to the ones in her deck. Her friends all rolled their eyes.

Yugi grinned and pointed dead center. “I choose the one in the middle.”

“Nice choice,” Twilight complemented as she pick up the card, placing the other two in her deck. The automatic shuffler kicked in as the holograms faded. “You’ve given me the field spell Grand Spellbook Tower! And don’t forget that for each spell card I activate, my Library gains one spell counter!”

A circle of light expanded from around her feet, changing not much aside from causing an emerald-twilight glow to emanate from below. The wave continued out to sea where a tall tower of swirling metal and light appeared. Meanwhile, a pair of green orbs began to float lazily around the library at Twilight’s back.

“And I’ll end my turn with a face down,” Twilight continued, doing just that, “How’s that?”

“Impressive,” Yugi replied with a smile, “I’m afraid my turn won’t be nearly so grand. I place two cards face down and summon Queen’s Knight in defense mode.”

A female knight wearing red armor appeared on his field, locking its sword and shield in a ready position as it knelt down. Behind it a face down card phased into play, and Yugi crossed his arms as he ended his turn.

Twilight frowned and drew her card with a sharp snap of her wrist. “I saw what you could do with those playing card warriors in you last duel. Don’t think that I’ll just let you speed summon your monsters that easily. Do remember that I have more than just defense monsters, such as the Spirit of the Shelves!”

A flicker of white caught Yugi’s eye from behind the bookshelves, but it was gone by the time he’d focused on the spot. It happened a second time, and a third, and each time there was no trace when he’d swiveled to the spot. Then all of a sudden there was a waft of cold air on the back of his neck and he shivered despite himself. He spun around and saw a transparent woman floating barely a foot behind him, clutching a book in its limp hands.

“And my spirit gains two thousand attack points when a library monster is on the field,” Twilight went on, “Which means she’s more than strong enough to stop your combo before it can start! But first I’ll activate the Spellbook of Secrets to add any spellbook card from my deck straight to my hand.”

A card popped free of her deck, and Twilight slid it free with a grin. “This will come in handy later. For now, I’ll have my Spirit attack!”

The spirit suddenly grew animate, swooping forward silently upon Yugi’s monster. The knight quickly raised its shield, but the spirit passed right through it as smoke. It lifted a finger to its ghostly lips in the universal sigh for shush and reached out with its other arm. It did… something, and the knight exploded into shards with a silent scream.

“That ghost makes me uncomfortable…” Joey said in a low voice, rubbing the goosebumps off his forearms.

Yugi was already swinging his arm at his face down before the duel shards had finished settling. “A fine strike, but you activated my Soul Rope! This allows me to summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior straight from my deck!”

Yugi
3000

His trap card flared into light, a new figure growing into place from its center. This creature had a body of slate grey metal decorated with large magnets, one of which served as its head. It also wielded a sword and shield, which it levied before it in almost the same fashion as the knight before.

“Traded one knight for another then,” Twilight said thoughtfully, “Well that’s not all my spirit’s got. I now receive an extra one hundred life points for each spell counter on the field!”

Twilight
4300

“Atta girl!” Applejack cheered, “Way to take the early lead!”

“I’ll activate my Royal Library’s special ability,” Twilight said, putting a hand to her deck, “And draw another card at the cost of all three counters, clearing it so that I can keep generating more. Then I’ll set one card face down and end my turn.”

“Well played,” Yugi said magnanimously as he drew, “You’ve set your field up very nicely. But are you prepared for my counter attack?”

Twilight leaned forward expectantly and held up her duel disk. “Bring it on!”

“With pleasure!” Yugi returned, “I’ll start by summoning Gamma the Magnet Warrior to the field in attack mode. And next I’ll send one card from my hand to the graveyard to special summon The Tricky as well!”

To the right of his Alpha appeared a creature very similar to it, though so round that it was more a pink parody of a human shape. Its arms and legs were stubbly and it didn’t have its partner’s armaments, but it sported a pair of enormous metal wings. A much larger creature appeared on their opposite side in a rush of air. This newcomer was dressed up in a black and white jester’s outfit, and wore a bright blue cape over that. Its face was completely covered by a red question mark.

The Pharaoh gestured to his remaining face down card. “Unfortunately, the Tricky will not be staying long. I’ll use Soul Barter to exchange the Tricky for the monster I sent to the graveyard when I summoned it, Beta the Magnet Warrior!”

The jester vanished in a blink of light and Yugi’s trap went florescent, a yellow figure shooting out of its fading surface. This one had a body about halfway between its fellows, much slimmer than Gamma but still kinda cartoony in appearance.

“Cool! But… none of them are stronger than the Library, so what gives?” Pinkie Pie asked, tilting her head and putting a finger to her chin.

“Look at the names, Pinkie,” Twilight said, a note of worry edging into her voice. “They’ve all got the same title. I bet something happens when they get summoned together.”

Yugi smiled. “And you’d be right. Now watch as I combine my warrior together to create Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!”

All three of his warriors burst apart into pieces which revolved around each other in a mini tornado. They started snapping together like a scene straight out of an episode of Voltron, and true to form there was soon a giant combination robot on the field. It stood taller than the shelves of Twilight’s library, causing everyone to crane back their necks as it floated on two wide wings. Bits of Beta and Gamma had augmented Alpha’s sword as well, and Valkyrion wielded the blade as if it weighed no more than a feather.

“Thirty-five hundred attack points!” Luna breathed, impressed, “And on the second turn, no less! I’ve not seen a feat like that pulled off every day!”

“And now I’ll put them to use! Go, Valkyrion, cut down that Spirit of the Shelves with Magnet Saber!”

An eye of plasma burst dramatically into existence in Valkyrion’s previously empty visor and the robot leapt forward, raising its sword high. The ghost only gave its approaching doom moderate interest until it looked around at the shelves it floated amongst. Apparently realizing that the books might get damaged if it remained where it was, it floated boldly forward to meet the attack. The robot sliced the ghost diagonally from shoulder to hip, the blade cackling with electricity as it rent it in two.

Twilight
2800

“Yes!” Joey shouted, pumping his fist in triumph, “The first blow goes to Yug!”

“Hey!” Rainbow cut in, turning and getting right up in his face. “Twilight attacked first! Yugi took a thousand damage!”

Joey waved his hand dismissively. “Naw, that was something Yugi did ta himself. This was tha first real damage of tha duel!”

The two of them continued to lock glares, but Twilight ignored them both as she calmly appraised this new threat. “It’s another combination monster like those tanks I faced when I fought Seto Kaiba. These are quite interesting tactics; I don’t believe we’ve got anything like them back home.”

“Do you have a way to counter it?” Yugi asked casually.

Twilight smiled and drew. “You know, I think I do. First I need to sacrifice my Library for a grander one. Let me introduce you to the Imperial Spellbinding Library!”

Her shelves creaked and groaned as the swelled in size. Now twice as tall and more uniform in shape, they glittered with high class filigree and metallic bindings. The books shone like new, almost dazzling to look at.

“So you have more libraries than just the Royal Magical Library,” Yugi said, enjoying the sight, “But I’m afraid it doesn’t have enough points to stop Valkyrion.”

“By now you should know that it’s not how strong my monsters are,” Twilight said, picking a card from her hand, “It’s how much better they become with a little magic! First, I’ll play this card face down, and then I’ll activate my Pitch-Black Power Stone! This trap instantly generates three spell counters, one of which I’ll add directly to the Imperial Library!”

A trio of glowing orbs bled out of the center of her trap, revolving around it like planets around a dark sun. One of the green balls separated from the others and drifted up to the books where it hovered, waiting.

“So your new library has an ability similar to your old one,” Yugi hummed as he drew, “But there’s nothing to fear if it doesn’t have a chance to use it. Valkyrion, cut it down!”

His monster leapt to obey, but Twilight was waiting for it. “It’s not going to be that easy! I defend with The Reliable Guardian!”

A green glow surrounded her library as it gained an extra seven hundred defense points. Valkyrion brought its sword down in an overhead chop and sank it into the aura with the sound of a thunderclap. For a moment it strained against the magic, but it eventually succumbed and retreated with a defeated whir. There was a large chip in the sword from where it broke in the clash.

Yugi
2800

“Not bad,” Yugi said, crossing his arms, “Not only did you stop my attack, but you’ve powered up your monster at the same time.”

“With two spell counters, instead of just one,” Twilight said, but with a frown on her features. “Um, I’m not sure how to ask this, but are you going easy on me? You’ve only used monster and trap cards this whole duel so far.”

Yugi arched an eyebrow as he set a card on his field. “Oh? Should I have been? Every spell I cast would create spell counters for you to use, so it’s natural that I’d want to restrict how many you get.”

An honest frown crossed Twilight’s face as she drew her card. “I don’t think I like how you’re looking down on me like that. It’s time I demonstrated just what happens when you underestimate me!

“I activate Spell Power Grasp! In addition to my Imperial Library creating two new spell counters, this spell adds a third one of its own and then adds another copy of itself to my hand from my deck! This gives my Library six counters, which means I can use its ability twice and summon two other libraries from my graveyard!”

The six green orbs floating around her monster shot down into the ground and for a moment all was still. Then the pier burst open as the well-worn shelves of the Royal Magical Library rose up, looking lonely next to the impressive Imperial ones. Between them floated a familiar spectral form, silently trailing a finger across the spines of some interesting books.

Twilight caught her opponent’s question before he could ask it. “My Spirit of the Shelves is part of the Library family of cards, fortunately for me. But what’s important here is that I’ve got three monsters for a sacrifice. And now I will sacrifice them all to summon Yunae, the Crescent!”

Her three monsters turned into forms of light, stretching up into the sky where they collected together in a shining orb. The sphere unfolded and rained rays of light all around the awed spectators as the goddess of the night descended slowly to the field. The Spellbook Tower and the Power Stone slowly set as Yunae floated to a stop, turning back into face down cards.

“So this is another one of your so-called Goddess cards,” the Pharaoh said, holding an arm to his forehead to shield his eyes from the still falling starlight. “It appears to have the same two thousand attack points as Solis Tia.”

“But only for now!” Twilight said, pulling more cards from her hand. “Yunae gains one hundred attack points for every face down card on the field. And by setting these two cards here, I will have five face down cards. Plus the one on your field, and this gives her a power of twenty-six hundred!”

Yugi hummed and leaned back a little. “Still plenty short of what you need to defeat Valkyrion.”

Twilight smiled and held up the last card in her hand. “Ah, but this is what I’ve been building towards all duel. Do you remember what Spellbook of Secrets brought to my hand in my first duel?”

Yugi’s eyes widened. “The Spellbook of Power!”

“Precisely!” Twilight exclaimed, slipping the card into her last remaining slot. The book appeared in midair above her goddess and swung open, its pages rifling through as if the tome were endless. Bright shining power flowed like mist from the book and fell across Yunae’s shoulders like a mantel. The goddess stretched itself in pleasure as magical power surged through it.

Luna clapped at the move. “Masterfully done! As good a use as I ever put the card to!”

Twilight pointed dramatically at her opponent. “That’s just enough power for Yunae to win! Shatter Valkyrion with Moon Pulse!”

Yunae held its hands up into the air and a pale orb seemed to come into view far above. This moon started to shine, directing a shaft of moonlight over the whole field. The spotlight shrank, growing in intensity as it focused specifically on his monster and became too bright to look at directly. For a time Valkyrion was just a black shape inside the bright whiteness, but then the robot dissolved away into stark nothingness.

Yugi
2700

“And I’ll end my turn by using the last ability of the Spellbook of Power,” Twilight continued, “And add a fresh spellbook from my deck to my hand, which I’ll immediately set.”

Yugi laughed as he drew his card. “Amazing! But I must admit that I’m surprised you would risk such a close battle. What if my face down card had been a trap?”

It was Twilight’s turn to smile as she put her hands on her hips jovially. “That’s the true power of Yunae, for after she’s summoned she prevents my opponent from activating any face down cards for two whole turns!”

“What?” Mai gasped, “But that didn’t come up when she used that card against Bakura!”

Pegasus shook his head and smiled, remembering something fondly. “She turned it into that Nightmare card so quickly, it never came up. Yunae may not be the strongest monster my dear Celestia created, but that power it wields is absolutely crippling. Especially back in the day…”

Surprisingly, Celestia blushed and coughed into her fist. “Let’s get back to the duel, alright?”

Yugi smiled as he considered the foe before him. “So I have no choice but to fight openly, huh? Very well, I suppose I should meet your best with my own. I start by activating the spell Monster Reborn to bring Valkyrion back to life!”

A magic circle appeared on his field and his giant robot rose up out of its center. It raised its sword and emitted a metallic cry, clearly ready to enact its revenge.

“An impressive draw,” Twilight said, crouching down in preparation of its attack. The Spellbook of Power only gives a temporary boost in power, so my monster is currently weaker. Fortunately, among all my face downs is a card just perfect for taking it down a second time…

But Yugi was already shaking his head. “I promised you my best this turn and powerful as Valkyrion is, it isn’t my best. I’ll instead use its special ability and return it to its separate parts!”

Valkyrion shuddered and every joint in it body popped apart like a poorly constructed erector set. The pieces tumbled to the ground into a large pile, but quickly started pulling themselves back together with magnetism. Soon the three weaker monsters were fully assembled and ready for action once again. Everyone watching had almost the same confused look on their faces at the strange move.

Everyone save for Twilight, whose bewildered look suddenly gave way to horror. “You wouldn’t!”

Yugi smiled and held up the last card in his hand. “Let us see how your Goddess stands up to a God! I sacrifice Alpha, Beta, and Gamma to summon Obelisk the Tormentor!”

The few clouds in the sky erupted with flashes of lightning and a strong wind picked up out of nowhere, sending spray onto the pier to soak their audience. One particularly large streak of lightning crashed onto the stone behind Yugi, and when they could see again a large figure stood ominously behind him, a leg sunk deep in the water on either side of the pier. Each flash of lightning revealed more of its towering features, from its craggy blue skin to skull-like face.

An awed silence passed over the girls at the sight, and Applejack slowly put a hand to her hat as if to reassure herself. “Wow… an Egyptian God card… in the flesh…”

Fluttershy actually slumped to the ground as her legs gave way under her. “And Twilight has to fight it!” she squeaked.

Yugi held his hand up and shouted dramatically. “Only the best duelists can take a blow from a God and remain on their feet. Show me the depths of your resolve! Obelisk, strike down Yunae with Fist of Fate!”

Obelisk held up one of its massive fists and a bolt of lightning struck it, encasing it in a wreath of cackling energy. The god reared back, preparing to deliver a haymaker guaranteed to shake the earth. Yunae held up its hand palm out and a shimmering wall of light formed before it in a desperate attempt at defense. But then the god attacked, and it was all over in an instant. Obelisk’s fist punched through the barrier as if it were made of mist and slammed through Yunae in much the same way, generating a shock wave that sent everyone standing behind it stumbling to stay upright.

Twilight fared the worst, as she was standing directly beneath her monster when it died. The force of it blew over her like wind from a hurricane, whipping her hair and clothes wildly about her. She crossed her arms in front of her face and strained against it, determined not to fall.

Twilight
1500

Twilight lowered her arms, grinning at her own stamina, but then her legs failed her. She buckled, listing to the left with almost agonizing slowness. But then life came back into her glazed eyes and she slammed her hand onto her left leg, catching herself. She wobbled unsteadily for a few seconds as she centered her breathing.

But she did not fall.

Her friends shouted out cries of encouragement as she stood up and brushed some semblance of order back into her hair. “That was… wow, that was a lot more than I was expecting!”

Yugi nodded his acknowledgement of her and readied his disk. “You are strong, Twilight Sparkle. Now come! Show me the strength that can overcome a God!”

Twilight nodded and drew. She looked at the card and then around at the six others spread out around her. She tilted her head, clearly running some fast calculations in her head, and then resumed the duel with renewed determination.

First, I need to thin out my deck. “I activate Spell Power Grasp,” she started, revealing one of her many cards, “And while I can’t put a spell counter on anything, I can at least draw the last copy out of my deck. Next I’ll reactivate Pitch-Black Power Stone, and while I’m at it, Endless Shelves. Finally, I’ll summon Apprentice Magician in defense position and end my turn.”

A young man wearing a tight purple leather outfit appeared on her field. It spun a short staff in one hand a few times before tucking it under its arm and crouching down on one knee.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Is that all? Twilight, half of those moves didn’t do anything!”

“What did you expect of her, when her opponent is a God card?” Applejack said, lightly cuffing her friend in the back of the head.

The athlete glared at her, but then huffed and turned stubbornly back to the duel. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Twilight never does anything without a plan. She’s got this!”

“Hmm…” Yugi said, as he drew. He considered the card and then pointed forward. “Obelisk, smash the Apprentice Magician!”

His god reared back and slammed its fist down on the hapless spellcaster, not even bothering to gather energy this time. The boy was reduced to a pancake, the whole pier trembling with the strike.

Twilight held up her deck as the duel shards of her monster froze in midair and started to reverse. “My Apprentice doesn’t die for nothing! When it’s destroyed in battle it allows me to search my deck for any level two or lower spellcaster and summon it face down.”

Yugi nodded. “Well done, you survived by summoning more guard monsters. And with my spells and traps still locked, my own moves are still limited. I’ll simply end my turn by summoning Kuriboh in defense mode.”

A small puff of smoke heralded a tiny ball of fur appearing on his field. The puffball blinked its wide eyes and bobbed back and forth a few times before floating over to Yugi. It batted him a few times in the head with its stubbly paws and cooed happily.

“Good to see you too,” Yugi laughed, turning back to the game. “Well, this is the last turn for you to capitalize on Yunae’s ability. What will you do?”

Twilight looked down at her deck. I need two cards to turn this around. I can get one of them pretty easily, but the other I’ve got to draw, right now, or it’s all over. She took a deep breath and lay a hand on the top card. Betting everything, she drew. And smiled.

“I activate the hidden ability of Endless Shelves!” she said with renewed vigor, “And send it to the graveyard to summon any Library monster from my deck. So I’ll bring out Secret Alchemical Library!”

The familiar sight of bookshelves bursting from the ground was almost routine by this point. These ones were darker and more closely bound than the last, with dripping candles every here and there providing comfy light.

“Next I’ll use my last Spell Power Grasp to add two spell counters to my Library,” Twilight continued, “And use the power of my Power Stone to transfer one of its counters to it as well. Now that my Library has three spell counters, I’ll spend them to send any card in my deck to the top of my deck.

“We’ll get back to that card in a moment, but first let me introduce you to the monster my Apprentice brought me. I flip up Magical Plant Mandragola!”

Her face down monster burst into light and vines whipped out in all directions, gripping the stone pier like an octopus. Giant purple leaves sprouted and unfurled to reveal several yellow flowers that might have been pretty had they not opened any further. Inside the flowers were horrible misshapen faces made of slime and nightmares. The things opened their maws and shrieked a keening wail that could peel paint.

“That thing is a spellcaster?” Yugi asked, leaning back from the monstrosity.

Twilight nodded as her plant vomited up two glowing green orbs. “It may not be much to look at, but it puts a new spell counter on the Power Stone and my Library. Next I’ll reactivate The Grand Spellbook Tower and use its ability!”

“So I’ll finally see what it does, then,” Yugi said to himself as the field once again took on the vaguely neon look of black light and a shimmering tower appeared far out at sea.

A card popped out of Twilight’s grave slot and she held it aloft for emphasis. “Once per turn, the Tower lets me send any Spellbook to the bottom of my deck to draw a new card. So I’ll exchange the Spellbook of Secrets for the card my Library brought me, Magical Incarnation Process!”

Her new spell appeared on the field and burst into fiery green flames. The various spell counters floating on the field were sucked into the flame, the Power Stone going so far as to explode into shards as it was sucked dry. The card consumed itself and the flames unfolded into a humanoid shape.

“Almost done,” Twilight said, holding out the last card in her hand, “I will admit, you make it look so easy. While it may take me more than one card to summon a God in one turn, like you did, I can pull off the trick! I sacrifice the Secret Alchemical Library, Magical Plant Mandragola, and the spell counter token to summon Solis Tia, the Heliosphere!”

High above the duelists, a second sun shone into existence. A glowing figure grew out of the center of it and descended slowly to the field. The goddess’s rainbow hair rippled gently as it spread its arms and began emitting a warm light all over the field. Every remaining face down card on the field turned transparent in the glow, revealing that Yugi’s was a Card of Sanctity and Twilight’s were Pitch-Black Lode Stone and Spellbook of Mastery.

“I know all about your God Cards,” Twilight shouted. “Most spell, trap, or monster effects don’t work at all against them, and even the most powerful ones can only work for one turn. Therefore, the only way to safely combat a God is to rely on sheer power! Solis Tia has power in spades, gaining an extra three thousand attack points from the three spells we have. And that one trap card will drop Obelisk’s by an extra thousand points as well!”

Celestia led the rest of the watchers in a resounding applause. “Excellent work! That’s just the way to use the Goddesses. Yunae clears the way so that the opponent can’t react, while Solis Tia lands an overwhelming blow!”

Twilight held up her hands and practically beamed with joy. “It’s time to surpass the Gods! Daylight Radiance!”

The spell and trap cards shot beams of light up at the goddess, who collected them into the palms of its hands. The light grew brighter by the second, overflowing in front of it in a wave of blinding light. Obelisk roared its defiance, but even the will of gods bowed to certain rules. Its body began to crumble and break away, as of its whole body were a sand sculpture finally giving in to wind and rain. With terrible slowness the god collapsed in on itself, vanishing into the waters.

Yugi
700

“Amazing!” Yugi said, staring behind him as the last of his god card faded away, “You actually were able to overcome the power of Obelisk!”

“You don’t seem too upset about it,” Twilight said, trying to sound disappointed but unable to suppress her elation.

Yugi shrugged. “Honestly, I’m having too much fun! It’s rare for me to cut loose like this without any heavy stakes weighing in the balance. And I trust my cards not to let the duel end like this.”

Twilight nodded and dropped into a ready position. “Then let’s continue!”

“Gladly! I begin with Pot of Greed!” Yugi said, playing his card the moment he drew it. He placed his hand on top of his deck and sent a small prayer to the heart of the cards, then drew. “And next I’ll activate Multiply! This allows me to create as many copies of Kuriboh as I want, but this time I think I only need to create two.”

His fur ball cooed and held up its paws as the spell card took effect. For a few seconds it seemed to blur, and then two more Kuribohs phased apart from it on either side. The three fur balls bounced a little dance in midair before settling down and facing forward.

“No way…” Rarity said in a low, awed voice.

“He isn’t…” Applejack breathed.

“He is!” Pinkie practically bubbled, ecstatic.

Yugi held up his remaining card. “I sacrifice my three Kuriboh to summon Slifer the Sky Dragon!”

As his three monsters vanished the sea to the side of the duel surged upward as something massive rose out of its depths. The water’s surface broke over the head of a colossal red dragon that tore its way into the sky. Its body just keep on going as the dragon rose higher and higher into the air, circling in on itself high above the duel. After what seemed like a mile of dragon its tail finally came free of the water and it coiled in on itself, seeming to straddle the whole horizon.

“Th-that’s impossible!” Twilight stuttered, and then caught herself and pointed desperately. “But Slifer only has attack points if you have cards in your hand, and yours is completely empty!”

Yugi waggled a finger. “Ah, have you already forgotten what your Goddess revealed I had?”

Twilight’s face paled. “Card of Sanctity!”

“Exactly!” the Pharaoh declared, activating it, “This card lets us both draw until out hands are full, bringing Slifer’s attack points to six thousand! Now go, Slifer! Destroy Solis Tia with Thunder Blast!”

His god dragon roared and the lower of its two mouths opened wider that should be possible. Lightning collected in the maw in a tight ball, compressing it tighter and tighter as it packed as much power into the attack as it could.

“Gnnh!” Twilight grunted, “I have no choice! I activate the Spellbook of Mastery! This copies the abilities of any spellbook in my graveyard, such as the Spellbook of Power! This will bring Solis Tia’s attack power to six thousand as well!”

Her card flared into light and a book shot out of it to float just behind her goddess. It flipped open to the middle and virtually exploded into magical power, pouring it into Solis Tia’s waiting arms. It collected the new power and added it to its own aura, causing the mass of energy to erupt with vibrant colors.

It thrust its arms out, releasing the energy in a stream of power at the same time as Slifer shot its collected lightning all at once. The two beams slammed into each other midway and fused, creating a glowing ball of destruction that grew and grew as neither monster let up in their attacks. Soon the ball filled the sky, no longer restrained by either god. In fact, both gods were soon engulfed completely by the expanding sphere, disappearing into the light. It was so bright that everyone had to shield their eyes and look away lest they go blind.

Then it was over. Blinking, everyone stared up into the sky to see who the victor was, but the sky was empty. Both Slifer and Solis Tia were gone, destroyed by each other’s combined strength. All was stunned silence for a few seconds before the inevitable broke the peace.

“That. Was. AMAZING!!!!” Pinkie screamed, jumping up and down and waving her arms like a madwoman.

“I can’t believe it!” Joey exclaimed, “Two of Yug’s God cards blown ta bits, just like that!”

Pegasus was grinning from ear to ear as he applauded. “This is far more than I could have hoped for! It is easily the most exciting duel I’ve witnessed in a long time!”

The Pharaoh smiled. “We’re pretty evenly matched right now. I believe you still have a third god card left in your deck we haven’t seen?”

Surprisingly Twilight shook her head, but she was smiling as she did. “I do… but it’s not in my deck. I haven’t figured out how to unlock it yet. Celestia told me that it would only be ready when I am, but for now it’s still blank.”

Yugi nodded and put a fist to his duel disk. “I see. Then how about I refrain from using my last God card as well. Let the rest of this duel play out fairly.”

Twilight grinned. “Sounds like a plan!”

He matched her grin and looked down at his refreshed hand. “Well, let’s continue! I clearly can’t leave myself this wide open, so I’ll end my turn by activating the Swords of Revealing Light! This card will prevent you from attacking me for three turns!”

A dozen bright swords made of white light fell out of the sky and impaled the ground all around Twilight. They formed an uneven fence blocking the young girl away from her opponent, but it didn’t seem like it was bothering her much. In fact she was quite happy as she started her own turn.

“Wait, you’re just going to move on, just like that?” Rarity exclaimed, putting a hand to her breast lightly. “Aren’t either of you a little tired after that exchange? Wouldn’t you rather take a little break to get your breath back…”

“Since we’re starting again with basically a fresh slate,” Twilight said, so in the zone that she gave no indication she heard her friend, “I’ll go easy this turn. One face down card, and I’ll summon Rune, Research Librarian to the field!”

A woman appeared on her field, seeming very unimpressive after the last few cards to grace the field. Still, it ran a hand through its hair disdainfully and glared at Yugi as if he were making far too much noise.

Yugi drew and considered his options. “I could take some time in the safety of my swords and build back up my defenses, but I don’t think either of us want that. So instead I’ll use Polymerization to fuse Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Berfomet together to form Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!”

The spell card appeared on his field, along with the two beasts he mentioned. The two beasts were pulled unceremoniously into the spell, which spun around like a wheel on a game show. The spinning slowed down, revealing the card had become a fearsome furred creature. It lifted both its heads and let out a mighty roar, flapping its great wings a few times before settling on the ground.

“Go Chimera,” Yugi commanded, “Attack Rune!”

His monster leapt at his words, pouncing upon the poor woman in an instant. There was a flash of something crystalline at the woman’s neck for a second, but it disappeared from view as the beast buried its heads in a savage bite. Rune shattered with a scream.

Twilight sighed and wiped a hand across the sweat on her brow. “Just in time. I used Pitch-Black Phylactery to absorb the damage from that attack, and it created four spell counters to boot!”

Yugi nodded. “I knew you’d have some way to survive that. Where did those spell counters go?”

“Right here, on my Pitch-Black Lode Stone!” Twilight explained, gesturing to her other active trap. This one apparently was going to remain on the field, and four green orbs were revolving around it in various orbits.

“Now how shall I strike back?” Twilight mused as she started her turn, “Well first, I need a new monster. Let me introduce you to the Ancient Haunted Library!”

More wooden shelves groaned as they heaved themselves out of the ground, but these were starkly different from the ones before. These creaked with age and neglect, thick with spider webs and dust. Books randomly floated from one shelf to another by their own violation. The shelves themselves were arranged differently than usual as well, turned on their axis so that they appeared as neat rows from Yugi’s perspective.

The King of Games noticed the oddity and frowned. “Odd, did you make a mistake?”

Twilight gave a predatory smile and shook her head. “No mistake, this is just what one of my Library monsters look like in attack mode!”

“What?!” Joey exclaimed, leaping back comically on one leg, “Why would you ever put that card in attack mode?!”

“Sit back and watch!” Twilight exclaimed, pulling out a card from her hand dramatically. “I use the spell card Shield & Sword to swap the attack and defense of our monsters!”

“That makes your monster stronger than mine!” Yugi exclaimed, before catching himself. “An impressive turnaround, but you still can’t attack through my Swords of Revealing Light!”

“You should wait until my turn is over to judge!” Twilight said, “I’ll use this second copy of Spellbook of Secrets to get just the card I need to overcome it, the Spellbook of Wisdom! This card gives my Library immunity to all spell cards for the turn. Now there’s nothing protecting your Chimera!”

Every surface of her library shone a bright green as it gained the power to push back the swords. Dozens of books floated free of the shelves and shot across the field in a great cloud. The chimera tried to flee, but the books caught up to it and pummeled it mercilessly until it detonated in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared there was nothing left save for the books slowly floating back to their homes and a much smaller beast, crouched over to protect itself.

Yugi
500

“You can’t get rid of Chimera that easily,” Yugi said calmly, “For when he’s destroyed by battle, I can bring Gazelle back to the field in its place.”

Twilight shrugged. “I recalled that ability from Rainbow Dash’s duel, so I’m not too concerned. I’ll end my turn with a face down card, and Pitch-Black Lode Stone will leech away the three spell counters my Library generated, bringing its total up to seven.”

“That’s it, build up those spell counters, Sugarcube!” Applejack cheered.

The Pharaoh nodded as he drew. “I’m familiar with Shield & Sword, so I know that it only lasts for one turn. While I doubt you left your library defenseless, there’s only one way to find out. But first I’ll sacrifice Gazelle to summon the Dark Magician Girl!”

His beast vanished, leaving a magical circle in its place. The circle flared and a young girl twirled up out of its, pulling a pirouette in midair. It gave a cute wink to the crowd of onlookers as it floated over to Yugi’s side.

Yugi gave the magician a nod and pointed across the field. “Attack her monster with Burning Black Bolt!”

The magician gave a happy cry and spun its wand in one hand like a baton. Dark magic collected on the end of the wand in a compact ball, and it launched the ball with a flick of its wrist. As the crackling energy sped through the air, the shelves suddenly snapped together in a united front. The ball slammed into the shelves and tried to bore through, but some trick caused the magic to bleed harmlessly away along the wood.

“Ah well, you caught me,” Twilight sighed, gesturing to her trap, “Desert Sunlight switches all monsters on my field to defense position. Usually I can catch my opponent unaware with that trick, but the Dark Magician Girl has the same attack points as the Library’s defense points, so you didn’t take any damage.”

“Clever,” Yugi complemented, “Then I’ll place these two cards face down and end my turn.”

Twilight nodded. “Now that I finally have five spellbooks in my graveyard, I’m able to activate my Spellbook Library of the Heliosphere! With this I can look at the top two cards of my deck and add any Spellbooks right to my hand. So let’s see what I get.”

She picked up the top two cards of her deck and looked at them, breaking into a smile as she separated one of them. “Excellent! It’s the Spellbook of Life and Spellbook of Eternity! I’ve no use for the second one right now, but Spellbook of Life can bring any of my fallen spellcasters back from the grave, so long as I leave my other spellbook in my hand this turn. So welcome back the Imperial Spellbinding Library!”

A large book floated into the air behind the young duelist and flipped open to its middle. Bright shining energy poured out of its pages and the ghostly outline of her most powerful library shimmered into existence. The outline filled in and soon the library stood in all its glory, its opulence putting the old shelves of her other library to shame.

“Unfortunately, those two spell prevent me from making any other moves this turn,” Twilight went on, “So I’ll end my turn by playing these two cards face down and letting my Lode Stone absorb these two new spell counters. That also ends the effect of your Swords of Revealing Light, meaning I will be able to attack next turn.

“But fair warning, my Imperial Library has another ability I haven’t showcased yet. I can use it to return not just libraries back from my graveyard, but spell cards as well! And you know what that means, don’t you?”

“You can bring Shield & Sword back as well,” Yugi said with a grunt, “And that would be enough attack power to put an end to this duel once and for all.”

Twilight threw her arm out wide. “Which means you need to overcome my Imperial Library’s three thousand defense points this turn or else it’s all over!”

Joey pumped his fist at the girl. “Of course Yugi can do that! You’ve got a monster that strong left, right Yug?”

“Actually, Joey, I don’t,” Yugi said honestly, but smiled despite the incredulous look on his friends face, “But that doesn’t mean I can’t get rid of that card another way. I use the spell card Spell Shattering Arrow! This card instantly wipes away all active spell cards on the field, and inflicts five hundred points of damage to you for each one!”

His spell card appeared on his field and an arrow shot out of the card’s face with little ceremony. It flew unerringly across the field and lodged itself in Twilight’s chest, where it detonated in a wave of clear light.

Twilight
500

The wave of light passed over her great library and the book floating above it, dissolving away the tome like sand in water. Without the spellbook to support it, the Library faded away into nothingness once more. The wave of his spell didn’t stop there, clearing away her long overlooked field spell as well. When the wave finally hit the tower it too crumbled as if hit by a wave of acid.

But something strange happened. Swirling lights appeared from within the collapsing tower, resolving into a great many glowing books which were flying wildly around each other. The collection of magic books shot towards the pier at great speed and came apart in a flurry of glowing pages as they arrived. A figure stepped out from the fluttering pages and glared at Yugi, leveling a long hooked staff in his direction. This monster wore robes of the darkest red and a large golden headpiece that hid its eyes from view, masking its expression.

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash shouted excitedly, “This is it, Twilight’s ace in the hole, Dark Red Enchanter!”

Twilight placed a hand to her chest and laughed with relief. “I hoped you would do something like that! My Spellbook Tower has a hidden ability which I’ve been building towards all game. When it’s destroyed by my opponent, I can summon any monster from my deck, provided its level is less than the number of spellbooks in my graveyard!”

“I was wondering why you weren’t using its ability to draw cards,” Yugi said, regarding this new threat cautiously, “So this is your ace monster? It doesn’t even have enough attack points to stand up to my Dark Magician Girl.”

“Dark Red Enchanter has been winning duels for me long before I acquired the Goddesses,” Twilight said, looking upon the spellcaster fondly. “It’s only fitting my old friend brings me victory here now! You see, he generates spell counters just like my Libraries and he gains three hundred attack points for each one he’s got! And fortunately for me I’ve got a ready supply of spell counters all ready for him! I’ll use my face down Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy my Pitch-Dark Lode Stone!”

One of her face downs flipped up and transformed into a miniature cyclone which immediately homed in on her trap card. The Lode Stone was borne up into the sky where it shattered, scattering its nine glowing spheres every which way. As one the orbs homed in on the red wizard’s staff, joining with the one it had created when she used her spell. The wizard practically floated off the ground as its power rose to incredible levels, its robes flapped about as if caught in a rising air current.

“Forty-seven hundred attack points!” Bakura exclaimed, impressed despite himself, “That is as powerful as any of Yugi’s God cards!”

“There’s no way even Yugi can do anything about that!” Applejack said confidently, crossing her arms and waiting for her friend to land the finishing blow.

“Well?” Twilight asked, leaning in expectantly, “It’s still your turn. What are you going to do?”

Yugi looked down at the card in his hand, the ones on his field, and lastly at his spellcaster. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I will do nothing. I end my turn.”

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “I can’t believe this is happening! Twilight is one attack away from beating the King of Games! This is amazing!”

“No, something is wrong…” Twilight said slowly, drawing her card for the turn and frowning as she puzzled this turn of events. “You didn’t even switch the Dark Magician Girl to defense position. I… can’t attack like this. You must have some kind of trap waiting for me. I activate Reading Glasses!”

Her last trap card flipped up and thrummed with unseen power. The face down cards on Yugi’s field suddenly became transparent, revealing their hidden faces for all to see. Twilight looked at the first one and felt the bottom drop out of her stomach.

“No…” she said in a low voice, “Magic Cylinder…”

Yugi nodded as his magician gave the young girl a cheeky wave. “This card will send any attack upon my Dark Magician Girl right back at your own life points. I’m afraid you won’t be able to win like that.”

Twilight heaved a deep sigh and grimaced as she plucked a card from her hand. “I didn’t want to use this card against you, but it looks like I have no other way to win. At the cost of every spell counter on my Dark Red Enchanter, I’ll use the Mega Ton Magical Cannon to eradicate every card on your field!”

Her wizard’s staff glowed bright emerald as her spell card appeared on her field, and the magic was pulled from the staff in a steady stream. The card absorbed the flow hungrily, finally turning into a rectangle of light as the last of it was taken. It unleashed the magic all at once in a giant beam of light that completely engulfed Yugi’s entire field. When it passed there was nothing left but a hunched over Yugi and some still smoking patches.

Heaving a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding, Twilight straightened and looked her opponent right in the eye. “Dark Red Enchanter retains one spell counter from that move, bringing his attack points to two thousand. Less than I was hoping for our final exchange, but there’s nothing left to stop this attack. I’ll attack you directly with Crimson Blast, for the win!”

Alternating cheers and groans filled the air as her wizard raised its staff and prepared to fire upon its helpless enemy. But then, for seemingly no reason, a holographic card floated out of Yugi’s graveyard and imposed itself between Yugi and the growing attack.

“What’s that?!” Twilight shouted, eyes wide. “You shouldn’t have had any cards left?!”

Yugi smirked and held up the last card in his hand. “You were so focused on my Magic Cylinder that you failed to notice the other card I had in play. Cross Counter Trap activates when my opponent sends it to the graveyard, much likes your Spellbook Tower, and lets me use any trap card in my hand as if it were on the field. So now I’ll trap your monster in the Spellbinding Circle!”

The card in his hand flared as he spun in around and thrust it towards her wizard. A glowing magic circle surrounded the wizard and it found itself pinned, its arms locked in place. The attack it had been preparing died away to nothing.

“Impossible… I had this duel in the bag…” Twilight said, disbelief etching across her face. “I didn’t think anyone could have stopped that combo. So this is the power of the King of Games.”

“Indeed,” Yugi said as he drew to start his turn. “Few duelists have ever pushed me this far before, but this is the end. I pay half my life points to activate Dark Magic Curtain!”

Yugi
250

A floating skeleton appeared high on his side of the field, wearing a long cloak over its lower body that stretched all the way to the ground. It flipped the cloak open and revealed that there was nothing but a swirling chaotic mass of color underneath it. From out of that stepped a figure wearing a purple full-body suit, clutching a long green staff in one hand. The cloaked skeleton vanished, having accomplished its goal.

Yugi thrust his hand out decisively. “The only way to properly end this duel is with my ace monster against yours. Dark Magician, attack!”

His favorite monster nodded its understanding and thrust its palm out at Twilight’s bound wizard. Even with the three spell counters it had generated since the blast that had decimated Yugi’s field, the Dark Red Enchanter only had nineteen hundred attack points. The colors of everything on the field inverted as the Dark Magician let loose with its unique brand of magic, and the Dark Red Enchanter trembled and exploded.

Twilight
0

Twilight fell to her knees as the adrenaline left her system, leaving her weak. She looked up at the clear blue sky above her and realized that she didn’t feel bad at all. Instead she was happy, realizing that she may have just played the most fun duel she’d ever had.

Rainbow also dropped to her knees and punched the ground. “Oh, that was so close! But it was awesome! Good going!”

“That was the best darn duel ah’ve ever witnessed!” Applejack shouted, hurting her hands, she was clapping so hard.

“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked, concerned with her well being.

“Simply astounding!” Rarity put in.

“I’M SO PUMPED!!!!” Pinkie shrieked, practically vibrating with energy.

They all moved forward to embrace her, but Yugi reached her first, offering his hand to help her up. The others hung back as she took it, giving the two duelists a respectful moment. They shook hands firmly, both wearing identical smiles.

“That was a fine duel,” Yugi said, “Perhaps someday we can have another?”

“Anytime,” Twilight said, before letting out a soft laugh, “But maybe not for a little while. After that, I think I could use a little break before I have to duel again.”

Meanwhile, in a faraway city…

“Please stop!” Rare Find shouted, holding up his hands in supplication, “I’m sorry! Can’t we stop this?”

The hooded figure standing at the other end of the dark alley gave no answer, instead holding out his hand meaningfully. Chiron the Mage twirled its staff and sent out a beam of red light that completely obliterated the Wall of Revealing Light, leaving the nervous man defenseless.

“Please!” Rare cried, trying to back away. “I didn’t mean to bump into you, you just came out of nowhere! Can’t we be friends?”

“Friend?” the cloaked figure whispered menacingly, and pointed sharply again. Minoan Centaur leaped forward and cleaved Naturia Fruitfly in half, restoring his monsters attack points. Meanwhile, Exarion Universe speared through Naturia Pineapple, its piercing ability letting its attack carry though to hit the player directly. Rare took the spear in the chest as was thrown clear across the alley, to land in a stunned heap atop a spilled box of oranges. His deck slipped loose from his disk and scattered about the cobbled street all around him.

Rare Find
0

“I can assure you, I am no friend,” the cloaked figure said hoarsely, looming over the fallen duelist, “I am Lord Tirek! And I will take what should have been mine long ago!”

From beneath his cloak the figure pulled a pendant hanging on a frayed rope. The golden trinket was triangle shaped, sort of like a folded bird, but with an Egyptian eye set in its middle. The eye burst into light with a high pitched whine and bathed the duelist in its glow.

Rare’s cards, scattered all around him, started to lose their color, soon becoming nothing but blank pieces of paper. The cloaked figure returned the pendant to its resting place and shuddered with pleasure. Then he leaned back and an eerie laugh echoed along the lonely alley, promising more trouble to come.

“Heh he heh heh he heh…”

Author's Note

This is it. After three long years we've finally come to the end. I'd like to thank everyone for sticking with me for the journey and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

A few final notes before I close out. I mentioned a long time ago that Yugioh R is my favorite story line, so it really shouldn't come as any surprise that I'd try and mimic that story's final duel as much as I could. I simply couldn't just let the battle end in a God card slugfest. If this series has taught me anything, it's that the arc isn't over until the Dark Magician has landed the finishing blow!

I had this whole duel planned out when I got to the part with Spellbook of the Master and realized that it wasn't a quick-play spell card. What was I going to do, rewrite the duel from the beginning? I decided that if I was already using anime rules instead of card game rules, I might as well make the "anime-only" effect of that card. Not the first time my plans have nearly gone astray at the last minute thanks to my lousy memory. *cough* Dice Jar *cough* And sorry for the fake out with Twilight's third Goddess. Originally it was going to be Cadence, but with the way this duel was shaping itself and the fact that the artist had only made a Luna and Celestia in this style, I decided instead to imply that it's alicorn Twilight in the making and left it out. Just simpler, in the end, and I'd rather not disrupt the flow of the duel to squeeze it in.

And sorry for leaving things on a cliff hanger, but I've always been one to leave the audience wanting more! While I have no immediate plans to return to this universe, (I am about as exhausted by it as Twilight is), I am not opposed to revisiting it again. If nothing else, I've promised people I'd do some bonus chapters for the Lunaverse. Keep your eye out in the future, and check out my other stories if you've got the time. See you!

Game Start

“Hey Yugi! It looks like we’re here!” Joey shouted, pressing himself against the glass to get a better view.

Yugi Muto joined his friend at the helicopter’s window and looked down at the island they were swiftly approaching. Duelist Kingdom, the private island owned by the creator of Duel Monsters, lay spread out before them in all its glory. Their helicopter was heading for a landing pad adjacent to the castle in the center of the island, but they were already low enough for the two of them to make out individual features of the island.

Suddenly, Yugi’s attention was caught by a large yacht that had just docked in the bay. There were a number of people getting off the ship and for a split second Yugi felt like one of them was staring back up at him. He sucked in a small, startled breath, but they were passed the group before he could study them any further.

Is something wrong, Partner? A familiar voice in his head asked.

Yugi shook his head and smiled ruefully. No, it’s nothing. “I wonder why Pegasus wanted to meet with us?” he asked aloud.

“I dunno…” Joey said, pulling back from the window to flop against the back of his plush seat. “All we were told before getting rushed on’ta this copter was something about a promotional tournament. Not that I mind anyone who wants ta duel me, but you’d think they’d give us a little warning before hustling us off like a bundle of laundry.”

“Yeah…” Yugi sighed, glancing once more out the window. “This place doesn’t bring up the greatest memories. And it feels strange coming back here without Tristan or Tea.”

“They said they were busy.” Joey said casually, slipping his hands behind his head. “Can’t expect them ta drop everything ta follow us around every time we duel. I’m mostly worried Pegasus is luring us here for some otha’ reason than he’s told us. Nyeeh… like sucking out our souls or something!”

“Well, you can ask him yourself in a minute.” Yugi said, spotting a familiar red-dressed figure standing on the rapidly approaching landing pad.

“Yugi-boy!” Maximillion Pegasus shouted with his usual grand way of talking, opening his arms wide for his guests as they disembarked from the helicopter. “So good to see you again! And dear Joey, how are you doing, my boy?”

“What’s tha big idea, Pegasus? What kind of tournament is this that you had ta bring us all tha way out here?” Joey demanded, pointing a finger right up in their host’s face.

Pegasus casually brushed Joey’s finger aside without twitching an eye. “All in good time, my young friend. I wouldn’t want to explain it more than once.” He gestured at two familiar figures standing just on the edge of the platform.

“Mai!” Joey shouted in surprise.

“And Bakura!” Yugi added, walking over to the two of them. “What are you two doing here?”

“Same as you, I expect.” Mai said, smiling a greeting. “Pegasus invited us for some kind of tournament.”

“Although I’m a bit surprised I was invited. I’m not as strong as the rest of you.” Bakura put in, with his usual modesty.

Pegasus started herding the lot of them towards the castle proper. “Actually, it’s because you all get along so well with Yugi-boy here that I gathered you. You see, I’ve entered in on a little bet, and to win I have to put together a team of duelists. I thought that a group of friends would work together better than strangers, and you all were the first ones to come to mind!”

“I think calling us friends is a bit of a stretch.” A snide voice interrupted as yet another familiar figure stepped out from the shadows as they arrived at the castle gates.

“Kaiba!” Joey shouted in surprise, before quickly falling into his usual anger for the rich snob. “So Pegasus brought you here too?”

“Ha! As if I’d waste my time on a silly thing like this if I had any choice.” Seto Kaiba glared daggers at Pegasus as they were ushered inside. “I only came back to this miserable island to deal with some final legal paperwork Pegasus managed to cling to regarding ownership of duel disks. If he hadn’t made participation in this tournament a condition to handing them over, I’d have blown this rock the minute his signature hit the paper.”

“Oh calm down, rich guy?” Mai said, sticking up her nose at his attitude. “With the lot of us all fighting together, do you really think this is going to last very long?”

Kaiba grunted and crossed his arms, but fell in behind the group without further comment.

Pegasus clapped his hands and ushered them down the corridor they all remembered as leading to the roof of the castle. “That’s the spirit. Now step lively! I’m sure my other guests will have already arrived while we were getting reacquainted. Don’t want to keep them waiting!”

So, this sounds like just a normal tournament. Yugi thought as they approached a large ornate door at the end of corridor. What do you think, Pharaoh?

Yugi’s other half, the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, manifested just over his shoulder. It sounds like he’s genuine, but with Pegasus, things never seem to end quite as simply as they begin. We should keep a close eye on him, just in case.

You’re right. Yugi thought. At that moment Pegasus pulled the big doors open and Yugi shaded his eyes against the sudden bright light…

…

Twilight Sparkle glanced up as the sound of a helicopter passing overhead caught her attention. She shaded her eyes against the sun and for a second thought she saw someone peering out from one of its side windows. She felt a brief thrill of recognition, but before she could place it the helicopter buzzed past and was gone.

“Come on, Twi, or you’re gonna be left behind.” Applejack called.

Twilight blinked and shook her head, coming out of her momentary daze. “Sorry, be right there.” She hefted her shoulder bag containing her duel disk and walked down the ramp of the yacht, quickly catching up to her friends. Together, they started climbing the stone staircase up to the castle proper.

“Duelist Kingdom!” Rainbow Dash cheered, spreading her arms wide and taking it all in. “I can’t believe we’re finally here! I’ve been waiting to visit the birthplace of Duel Monsters for forever! Do you feel me, Pinkie?”

“You know it!” Pinkie shouted. “I’m ready to DUEL!”

Rainbow rubbed her hands in anticipation. “Do you think the Duel King is going to be here? I’d love to test my skills against his!”

“I think that’s going to be a given.” Rarity supplied absently, flipping through her cards one last time to make sure they were perfect. “That one’s good, but I don’t know if this one’s fit for such an occasion… oh, I MUST keep this one…”

“Speakin’ of which, you haven’t told us much about this.” Applejack said to the seventh member of their group. “Didn’t you used to work for Pegasus?”

“I still do.” Celestia said, guiding them up to the castle’s gates and nodding to the waiting attendants familiarly. She continued as the doors were opened for them and they entered the old castle. “Pegasus is an old friend of mine. Back when the game really took off world-wide, I agreed to head up the departments that were starting up in other countries. That’s how I came to meet you girls. But he hasn’t had more than minor contact in years. I was surprised as the rest of you when he called up to propose this little contest.”

“Which you have told us almost nothing about…” Applejack mumbled under her breath, but she broke out in a wide, innocent grin when Celestia shot a glare her way.

“Is there anything we should be worried about?” Twilight asked.

“No, it’s just a minor wager between the two of us. You girls just enjoy yourselves.” Celestia said. She led them through a number of hallways before ending up in a long one with a grand doorway at the end of it. She strode purposely towards it and her students followed.

“Well, I’m worried. We aren’t going to be on television, are we?” Fluttershy asked. She kept nervously pulled a lock of hair down in front of her eyes as she walked.

Rainbow wrapped an arm around her and gave her a reassuring hug. “Come on, it can’t be any worse than the Summer Sun Tournament. Remember that one? You trounced me real good that time!”

Rainbow’s enthusiasm was infectious, but Twilight found herself holding back from celebrating just yet. She had an odd feeling, and she had learned to listen when her sixth sense started acting up. But what could happen? Celestia is here with us, and this is just a simple tournament for fun. There shouldn’t be any danger…

She was interrupted from further introspection when Celestia pulled open the wide doors at the end of the hall, flooding them with bright light. Twilight held up her hands to shield from the glare…

…

“My dear Celestia, it has been far too long!” Pegasus called gaily, quickly crossing the intervening space to the other doorway. He clasped Celestia’s hands warmly and shook them, glancing over the rest of the group. “Are these the girls you’ve been telling me so much about?”

Celestia nodded. “And I suppose that group over there are the duelists you’re so proud of? We’d better get this started, before they grow too bored with your theatrics. We can catch up another time.”

“Oh, if you insist!” Pegasus replied with mock injury in his voice, before gesturing for the two groups to make their way together.

The top of the castle had been cleared out and a large metal duel arena built right into the middle of it. Lines in the ground marked where the players were to stand and where the spectators were to watch from. Each half of the field was divided into ten squares, two rows of five each. Pegasus and Celestia stood in the middle of the arena, watching as their respective teams converged and appraised one another.

“Hey, is that him? The King of Games?”

“It totally is! I call dibs!”

Joey grinned and elbowed Yugi in the side. “Hey, listen to that, Yug. You’ve got some fans!”

Yugi laughed haltingly and tried to look anywhere but at the girls pointing at him.

“Now then, I welcome you all to my humble home!” Pegasus began, drawing everyone’s attention. “I'm excited to see what you all can do, utilizing cards and strategies from half a world apart! The tournament will be one on one games, continuing until there is only one side left standing. No duelist may play a second time until each of your team of six has had a turn and then only in back to back duels if you have no more teammates standing.”

“If your teammate loses a round, they’re out.” Celestia continued. “However, you get to play first in the next game. Other than that, you are each free to decide when you want to duel and who you want to go up against. There are no time limits, so enjoy yourselves as much as you want.”

“Just one problem.” Kaiba interrupted. “It looks like you forgot how to count, because our side only has five members in it.”

Pegasus tsked and waved his finger. “Not quite, Kaiba-boy! See, I was so looking forward to this little get together that I thought it would be more fun if I joined in on it too. I’ll be playing on your team.”

“Say what?!” Kaiba said, stricken.

“We have to duel against the creator of the whole game?” Rarity gasped in disbelief.

“How is that fair?!” Rainbow shouted, almost leaping up onto the stage before Applejack restrained her.

“I have to agree.” Celestia said, turning to fully face him on the stage. “This gives your side an unfair advantage. I would not have agreed to this if I had known.”

“I see.” Pegasus said with a smile, nonchalantly turning to face her as well. “Well, how about a little side duel then? If you win, I will bow out and allow the tournament to go on five against six. But if I win, then I get to continue as planned. Sound fair?”

Celestia breathed in slowly and let it out in a sigh, reaching around to a pouch on her belt and unclipping a deck box. “Very well. I can’t say this comes as a surprise, though. You never could resist getting involved.”

The two of them turned to walk to either end of the arena, but Twilight darted out and grabbed Celestia’s sleeve. “Wait a minute! Don’t you need…?”

“I entrusted those to you, Twilight.” Celestia said, placing her hands on Twilight’s shoulders. “You’ve earned them. I can handle Pegasus on my own, easy.”

Twilight nodded and stepped back, allowing her mentor the trust she deserved. Celestia smiled and walked swiftly over to her place on the stage. Immediately the lines on the ground lit up, and at some unseen signal a large section the size of a decent school desk rose up on a pillar to about waist height in front of each of them. Since neither of them used a duel disk, they placed their decks on the platform and readied themselves. Holographic emitters all around the room glowed into life, bathing the field in additional light.

“Alright, Maximillion.” Celestia said, laying her hand on top of her deck. “Let’s begin!”

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time To Duel
Toon Terror Vs. The Solar Guard

Author's Note

The idea for this story has been bouncing around in my head for the better part of a year now and it's finally time to put it to paper! I intend to run this much like episodes from the show, so expect a lot of dueling with plenty of commentary from the spectators. I'll try to keep things simple for people who don't know how to play the game, but as a strategist I have to admit that the games are why I'm writing this in the first place. You've been warned...

The Mane 6 will be playing a combination of real cards and cards I've created just for them. I decided to build their decks this way because Yugioh the show has always put great importance on how the cards in each duelists deck belong uniquely to that player, so giving the girls cards that someone else uses just felt off. There are plenty of support cards that everybody has, though, so their decks won't be completely OP.

Chronologically, this takes place some time after Battle City but before Dawn of the Duel, and the Yugioh cast's decks will reflect that. I've made minor modifications to their decks, but only to ease their play style.

Additionally, I'm looking for artists to draw up some artwork for the cards appearing in this story. If you feel like lending me a hand, let me know! I'd really appreciate it!

Turn 6: One Foot in the Grave vs. Dark Side of Nature

Bakura Fluttershy
4000 4000

“I believe the first move is yours.” Bakura said, a hint of hardness slipping into his speech despite his efforts.

“Oh, right. Yes, here I go…” Fluttershy jumped a little, and then hastily drew a card from her deck. She studied her cards quietly for a while, shuffling them nervously as if switching their positions would yield sudden insight into their use. “I’ll summon Angel Bunny in defense mode.”

A small white rabbit popped onto her field, coming no higher than her knees in size. A small golden halo appeared around the rabbit’s ears and the monster crossed its arms gently across its chest.

“And then… I’ll place one card face down… and end my turn.” Fluttershy said, and the card appeared behind her bunny.

“Is that all?” Bakura asked, wary of a trick. Was I wrong about her? Her moves do not seem to contain any dueling spirit…

“Well… at the end of my turn, Angel Bunny does raise my life points by five hundred…” A bright aura of light shimmered into existence above Fluttershy. Motes of sparkling light drifted down about her like the world’s softest rain. Fluttershy lifted up her hands into the shower and bathed in the glow.

Fluttershy
4500

Twilight frowned a little turned towards Rainbow Dash. “Hey, has Fluttershy ever used that card before? I don’t recognize it.”

“Who cares? It’s a perfect fit for her deck if it does what I think it does.” Rainbow replied, waving her arm in the air encouragingly. “Good move, Shy! You got this!”

“Hrmph!” Bakura sniffed, drawing a card and studying his hand. “Then I will play this card, The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams!”

A bed appeared on Bakura’s side of the field, floating in a cloud of seething white fire. The sleeping man tossed and turned violently under the sheets and all of a sudden a wispy yellow… something grew out from his forehead. The yellow smoke expanded into an angry-looking ghost, wielding a sword and shield. The ghost opened its maw and let loose a shrill wail.

Fluttershy shrank back a step. “I didn’t think you were going to play such s-scary cards…”

“This? This monster is nothing compared to what else I have in store!” Bakura said, snapping his fingers and pointing. “And now my servant will crush that little rabbit of yours.”

The spirit let loose another shriek as it ghosted across the field. It swung its blade down at the bunny’s head… and the bunny slapped the blade and leapt clear over the attacking monster. It landed in front of Bakura and folded its arms again, sitting back down into its restful pose.

“What’s this? How did this rodent survive?” Bakura asked in confusion.

“Oh, that was me.” Fluttershy said, holding up her hand like a student in class. “I used my trap card to put him up for Adoption. Now my critter has found a new home on your side of the field. And now don’t be mad, but my trap also requires you to trade for your new pet…” Bakura’s ghost floated around from behind its new owner and to Fluttershy’s credit she only shied away from it a little.

Bakura grit his teeth and picked a couple of cards from his hand. “Very well, it is not a complete loss. I will play two cards face down and end my turn activating the effect of Angel Bunny. Now I gain life points!”

“Um… actually…” Fluttershy interrupted as a familiar glow appeared above her. “No matter who controls Angel Bunny, his effect does say his ‘owner’ is the one who gain life points, so…”

Fluttershy
5000

“Not a bad combo.” Joey whistled, but then he looked over at the other duelist and he frowned. “Hey Yug, is it just me or is Bakura acting a little off?”

Yugi considered the question seriously. “He is being very aggressive, almost like those times he was possessed…”

But that can’t be! The original Yugi said, standing at the Pharaoh’s shoulder. Marik gave us the Millennium Ring back in the Battle City tournament. The Spirit of the Ring can’t be affecting him anymore!

Unless the Spirit left something behind when it left… the Pharaoh thought back. Either way, we should watch Bakura closely in this duel.

Alright, I’m doing it! Fluttershy thought to herself as she drew her card for the turn. I knew that I could do this on my own!

“I summon the Fairytale Caretaker to the field!” Flutterhsy said with renewed determination. A shining woman appeared on her field carrying a wicker basket. The woman started rummaging through it, searching for something.

Fluttershy tapped her duel disk and looked up quickly to make sure her card was working. “Before I attack, I’ll activate my Fairy’s special ability. Angel, why don’t you come over here and have a little snack?”

The Caretaker took a huge carrot out from its picnic basket and held it out. The bunny looked up eagerly and hopped across the fiend, jumping up into the fairy’s arms. The fairy held it close and cuddled it while feeding it the vegetable.

“Now you’re wide open! I’ll attack you directly with your own monster!” Fluttershy threw out her hand and the ghost she’d stolen surged around her, leaping at the chance to attack its former owner. It shot straight across the field and sank into an invisible barrier, like diving into a vertical pool of water. The air rippled as the last of the monster vanished from sight.

Fluttershy blinked, gawking at where the ghost had been just moments ago. “W-where did it go?”

“Do you really have time to be looking around like that?” Bakura asked, pointing over her shoulder with an evil grin. “You are leaving your back wide open.”

“Huh?” Fluttershy sputtered, but then froze up in fear at a dark sound from directly behind her. Her eyes traveled shakily to the side as she tried to peer at the evil visage floating just to her left without turning her head and the ghost leaned forward just enough for her to see its creepy smile. Then the spirit rammed its sword into her back and straight out through her chest.

Fluttershy
3700

“Did you really expect you could play my own cards against me?” Bakura gloated, waving his hand at his traps. “Thanks to Dimension Wall, you take the attack that was meant for me! Now do you have any other moves to-”

He cut short in surprise as Fluttershy glared up at him with hate brimming in her eyes. It was only there for a split second, and was quickly replaced by a look of fear, but Bakura was convinced he hadn’t imagined it. Ah, there it is! I see what I need to do. Her darkness can be drawn out when she is under great stress.

I just need to keep up the pressure!

“I-I’ll play one card face down,” Fluttershy continued, “and that will end my tu-”

“Not so fast!” Bakura declared, activating his other trap. “I’ve got another card to play!”

His trap flipped up and disappeared as a wooden board faded into existence over his head. A skeletal pair of hands faded into view over the board and started moving a circular glass over it. It pause its wanderings over one of many symbols scratched into the board’s surface and a burst of green fire appeared above the board. The letter “F” was framed in the center of the fire.

“This is the Destiny Board, the tool of your demise!” Bakura exclaimed, sweeping his arm dramatically. “At the end of each of your turns, the board will add a new letter to a special word. And once that word is complete, you will lose everything, regardless of your life points!”

“J-just like that?!” Fluttershy asked, taking a step back and watching the trap card fearfully.

Pegasus frowned and took a step towards the field. “What is the meaning of this? I thought you were going to use the cards I prepared for you in this duel?”

Bakura sneered at the card designer and deliberately turned back to the duel. “I decided against using untried cards for this game. It became… unexpectedly interesting. Now, I believe it was my turn?”

He drew his card and immediately playing it. “Pot of Greed! This allows me drew two new cards from my deck. Ah, perfect! I will start by switching your Angel Bunny into attack mode.”

“But why?” Fluttershy asked as the rabbit unfolded its arms and took up a mock boxing stance.

“Because one of the cards I just drew is Owner’s Seal!” Bakura said, playing the spell. There was a burst of green light that covered the field and when it faded the ghost and the bunny were on their original sides. “And now I will offer my Gross Ghost as a sacrifice to summon Darkness Destroyer!”

A sphere of absolute black surrounded his spirit and expanded outward, revealing the ghost had been replaced by a terrifying looking demon. The demon growled menacingly and stretched out its claws in anticipation.

“And since I left your little bunny in attack mode, it is just begging for an attack!” Bakura shouted and his demon responded, leaping forward. Black light coated its arm like a sick aura as it slashed through the little critter in one swipe, scattering its fragments to the wind.

Fluttershy
1400

hE’S vERy StRoNg. ArE You SURE yoU Don’T WaNt mY HeLP?

No… I can still do this! Fluttershy thought haltingly, pushing a button on her disk. “I activate my trap card, Numinous Healer! When I take damage from an attack, I immediately get a thousand points of it back!”

Fluttershy
2400

Bakura grinned widely. “Not too bad. Unfortunately, the Destroyer’s attack is not finished. It can still attack once more! Destroyer, wipe the field of everything she owns!”

The demon roared its understanding and held its arms close to its sides, each one dripping with dark energy. Fluttershy’s fairy turned to flee but the demon was on it in an instant, crossing its arms in a dual slash. The dark energy left a pitch black X in their wake as they cut through the fairy’s back, and the monster shattered with a final scream.

Fluttershy
1700

Fluttershy dropped to her knees and hugged her shoulders. “No… not Fairytale Caretaker too…”

YoU’Ve lOsT EvErYThInG. AlL You HaVe LefT iS mE.

And now for one final bluff. It is a bit of a risk, but nothing ventured, nothing gained… Bakura leaned forward and dropped all pretense of friendliness. “Do stand up, the game isn’t over. Or do you want your soul to be swallowed by the Shadows so easily?”

“The Shadows!” Yugi shouted in shock. “This is a Shadow Game?!”

He’s the evil Bakura after all! The real Yugi said, looking at his partner in a panic. We have to stop this duel! That girl doesn’t know what she’s in for!

“What’s a shadow game?” Rainbow Dash demanded. “What is he doing to Fluttershy?!”

Pegasus sucked in a deep breath. “Oh my, I didn’t expect this… Yugi-boy, is he telling the truth?”

“I’m not sure.” The Pharaoh said, furrowing his brows in concentration. “I don’t sense this is a shadow game, but Bakura shouldn’t be possessed anymore without the ring, so who knows what he’s capable of…”

Fluttershy sat on her knees, almost oblivious to the growing concerns of those in the stands. “My… soul…” she said in a shocked voice. Unnoticed, a dark aura started to swirl around the top card of her deck. I’m in danger?

yoU KnOw WhaT yOu NeED to Do. PlaY Me.

“I... I can’t.” Flutterhsy said miserably, her hand moving as if pulled on invisible strings towards her deck. “I can’t… win on my own…”

yOu hAvE No cHOIcE. pLaY mE!

Fluttershy rose haltingly to her feet, her hand now resting on the top card of her deck. The card was wreathed in dark energies now. “I… have no choice…”

PLAY ME!!!!

Fluttershy drew a card and the dark energies vanished, their job done. Over on the sidelines, Rainbow and Applejack had rounded on Yugi and were demanding some kind of explanation. Pegasus was conferring with Celestia, and the rest of the group were watching Bakura with varying degrees of trepidation. Save for Kaiba, who had turned away with a disgusted grunt at the first mention of magic, and Twilight, who was watching Fluttershy. So she was the only one to notice the robotic way her friend was acting as she slowly moved the card she’d drawn to her duel disk.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked with mounting concern. “What is that card you just drew?”

“I play… the field spell Ataxia, Zone of Bedlam.” Fluttershy said softly, and the field spell slot popped out from the side of her disk. She slipped the card in and the slot retracted, automatically applying the card’s effects to the field.

“NO!” Twilight shouted in denial, but it was too late. An expanding circle appeared on the ground around Fluttershy’s feet, and everything it passed over was replaced by a pale and purple checkerboard pattern that rose up on random hills and valleys. Jagged pieces of earth appeared floating at odd angles in the air. The sky turned a sickly violet color.

But the most startling change was Fluttershy herself. All of her color bled out, leaving her greyed out from head to toe. The tension dropped from her stature and she stood a little taller, no longer unconsciously hunching over to appear smaller. She flexed the fingers of her right hand as if itching to wrap them around someone’s neck.

Then she snapped her head up sharply and everyone took a step back from the sheer gleeful menace in her expression. Dark rings circled her eyes and gave them a sunken appearance. “All right, are you ready for the real duel to begin?!”

“What happened? It’s like she’s a different person!” Joey exclaimed.

Twilight started forward and threw her arm out. “Where did you get that card?! We made sure to seal it away for good!”

Fluttershy tilted her head and sneered at Twilight. “Aww, what’s wrong? Upset that you’re not the only one with special cards anymore? I bet it’ll hurt to hear that your dear mentor Celestia was the one who gave it to me. Maybe she just trusts me more than she does you.”

Twilight whirled on Celestia, but it was Applejack who spoke first, getting right up into her face. “You gave her that thing? After everythin’ we went through the last time it was free? Why?!”

Celestia looked between her charges one by one solemnly, the fact that she was spinning the jeweled bracelet on her wrist again the only sign of how tense she was feeling. “The card couldn’t simply be contained forever. I needed someone who could deny its temptations and guide its power, and out of all of you Fluttershy managed to hold out against it the best. I thought she had the potential to tame the card.”

“Yes, she seems to have tamed it quite well.” Rarity said archly, shooting a sideways glance at the duel.

Celestia shot her a look but then turned a troubled eye on the duel as well. “I didn’t expect her to bring the card to this tournament, nor for her to play it if she wasn’t ready! And something is wrong. The card shouldn’t be nearly as powerful as it used to be, but she looks like it’s already brought her to the second stage! It’s almost like Ataxia is drawing strength from some other source of evil…”

“I might know what that source is.” Yugi said, stepping forward and reminding the girls that there were others outside their group present. “But it sounds like this card was dangerous enough on its own.”

The girls traded a glance with each other.

“MINE!!!!” Rarity shrieked, activating Mind Control. Spectral hands floated out from the card and closed around Monty 3-Cards, dragging it to Rarity’s side. Color immediately started to fade from its clothing.

“You can’t!” Pinkie cried, but it was already too late. Around them Ataxia seemed to pulse in anticipation, as that made the fifth monster she’d stolen from Pinkie…

Fluttershy dropped to her knees on the rickety bridge. White mist curled all around her, almost completely obscuring her opponent on the other side. Between them stood Rainbow Dash’s threenewmonsters, forming a wall separating the two friends.

“You’re too late. I’m leaving, and nothing is going to stop me.” Rainbow said in an odd monotone, the colorless cast to her skin blending her into the fog. “I play Ataxia, Zone of Bedlam…”

The Angry Ogre roared and leapt into the air, putting all its weight behind swinging its cleavers straight down. Magician’s Valkyria tried to catch the blow on its wand, but the blades tore right through the weapon and split the sorceress in two. Twilight cried out in pain as her monster was destroyed, taking a good portion of her life points with it.

“And now for your other cards!” Pinkie spat, her gray hair hanging straight down over her snarling grey face. The other ogre readied itself over the checkerboard ground as its effect was activated, charging forward and destroying…

“You could say that.” Twilight said to the King of Games.

“Enough with the trip down memory lane.” Fluttershy interrupted. “I’ve still got a loser to crush!”

Bakura laughed and spread his arms wide. “Brave talk from someone who has not put up much of a fight so far. Though I admit the change of scenery is rather cozy.”

“You’re obviously new at this, so I’ll go slowly. Try to keep up.” Fluttershy explained snidely. “Ataxia switches the attack and defense of all monsters, and as an added bonus every monster in our hands, field, and graveyard becomes a dark type.”

“Not much to impress so far.” Bakura said in a bored tone, but inside he could barely contain his anticipation. There’s more to this card, I can feel it!

Fluttershy cocked her head to the other side and grinned. “Aw, did I forget to mention that my deck is a little more special than yours? Each of my beasts has a hidden dark side, and this card lets it all loose! Along with a whole new range of abilities, like that of my Angel Bunny!”

Fluttershy
1200

A red glow surrounded Fluttershy as she paid life points to revive her monster. The bunny appeared on her field and was immediately surrounded by a swirling black miasma. The color drained out from its fur and its eyes began to glow bright red. Its halo disappeared and was replaced by a small pair of sharp black horns. It dropped to the ground and crossed its little arms over its chest, sneering.

“And now to get rid of it for a more useful monster!” Fluttershy said coldly, slapping a card onto her disk. “I sacrifice it to summon the “Gentle” Grizzly in attack mode!”

The bunny glowered at its master as it was sent back to the graveyard, replaced by a large bear. The bear’s fur immediately turned a dull gray and it rose up onto its hind legs, growling menacingly.

“And look at that! Thanks to the power Ataxia’s given me, my grizzly is stronger than your weakling. Attack! Deep Woods Claws!”

The grizzly roared and charged forward, slamming into Bakura’s demon and dragging it into the ground. It proceeded to maul the monster, duel shards flying out in every direction until there was nothing left.

Bakura
3800

“My grizzly’s not done yet!” Fluttershy continued. “The power of darkness grants it the ability to destroy any spell or trap card I want! And I chose… to destroy Ataxia!”

“What?!” Bakura exclaimed. “Why are you destroying your own card?!”

The bear roared and slammed its claw straight down into the checkerboard ground at its feet. Great ripples spread out from the point of impact and the ground shook in a minor earthquake. But the tremors dies away after a few moments, leaving the field unchanged.

“What happened?” Bakura asked in confusion. “Why is your field spell still around?”

“Poor baby,” Fluttershy mocked, placing a card from her hand into her grave slot. “Is it too complicated for you to understand? All I have to do is discard a card and Ataxia isn’t destroyed. But the pain is just starting, because the card I just discarded is a little thing called Ever-Spark Phoenix!”

Bright red cracks started to form in the center of the field and the ground suddenly bulged up, bursting forth and unleashing a gigantic pillar of fire into the sky. The pillar spread out and soon engulfed the entire field. Bakura covered his head with his arms defensively, but Fluttershy just leaned back and laughed as the flames roared over the two of them.

Bakura Fluttershy
1900 600

“I’ll stop there and give you a chance to fight back.” Fluttershy said, crossing her arms. “I like to give my prey a little bit of time to realize just how powerless they really are!”

"Did you forget about my Destiny Board? One more letter is added, as the clock ticks closer to your demise..." Bakura taunted as the letter "I" appeared wreathed in green flames next to the letter "F".

Fluttershy scoffed and tossed her hair. "What do I care about that card? This duel will be long over before it can do anything to me!"

Bakura drew his card for the turn and reviewed his hand. Impressive indeed, Fluttershy, but I sense that there is still more to this card than you let on. I must draw this out until I have seen all of its tricks…

“I will start with one card face down.” Bakura began. “And then I will summon the Earthbound Spirit. Thanks to your own field spell, my spirit has the same attack power as that bear!”

“So? Planning on doing anything with it?” Fluttershy taunted.

Bakura sniffed and waved the question off. “And leave myself defenseless? I think not. I will end my turn there and wait for you to show me the real power of your deck.”

“Ha, so you noticed.” Fluttershy said, raising a hand to her deck. “Well, you’re going to regret not going for the kill…”

“Fluttershy, fight it!” Rainbow shouted. “This isn’t you! Don’t let that card control you!”

“Please, Dashie, jealousy is so ugly in a girl.” Fluttershy said, not even sparing Rainbow a glance as she continued the duel. “Well look at that! I also drew Pot of Greed! That lets me draw twice more.”

She added two more cards to her hand and grinned broadly. “Well, well, well! It looks like my deck wants to show you complete despair after all! I’ll start by played Monster Reborn to revive my worthless Fairytale Caretaker. And why not bring my fallen Angel Bunny back as well?”

Fluttershy
100

Her previous monsters reappeared on either side of her grizzly. The fairy grabbed the sides of her head and screamed as the field spell went to work on it, but fell silent and dropped its arms after just a few moments. The three evil monsters glared menacingly across the field at their opponent, who held his ground against their stares.

“That is enough power to finish me off completely.” Bakura said, glancing quickly at his trap.

Fluttershy’s grin grew even wider and she waved her last two cards for emphasis. “Where is the fun in that? I told you that I was going to show you complete despair before you lost, and I’ll achieve it with my Stray Lambs spell!”

A puff of smoke burst on the last two open spots on her field and cleared to reveal a pair of sheep tokens floating in the air. They quickly lost all color and their peaceful expressions shifted to ones of hate.

“That’s all the sacrifices she needs!” Rarity said in horror.

“Don’t do it!” Pinkie Pie cried.

“Too late!” Fluttershy shouted, spreading her arms wide. Dark winds swirled around her in a cyclone, whipping her hair about like it had a life of its own. “I offer these five monsters to summon the lord of Ataxia, the master of chaos and destruction; Discord Incarnate!”

A dark miasma suffused the field, swirling around her five creatures and hiding them from view. The swirling darkness surged up and bent in on itself like a snake, streams breaking out along its side and gaining size and shape. A sudden burst of red light appeared at the top of the cloud of darkness and the smoke split open beneath it, like a gaping mouth. All along its length the smoke was rent from the inside and the limbs of a gigantic monster burst forth from the cloud itself. Within seconds the entire monster was free of the black smoke and a wave of power surged off of it, dispersing the last of the miasma and driving everyone back a step.

“Dang! That’s tha second ugliest duel monster I’ve ever seen!” Joey exclaimed, holding up an arm against the driving wind.

“Hrmph, am I supposed to be intimidated?” Bakura grumbled, hunching his shoulders down and readying his next move. “That malformed mess you call a monster doesn’t scare me in the least!”

“Oh, it should.” Fluttershy declared, thrusting her arm out. “Nothing can prepare you for this attack! Chaos Stream!”

The gigantic monster opened its jaws wide and a strange pile of energy began to form there, a swirling purples shot through with neon lines and jagged green fire. It was actually almost painful to look at for too long and Bakura savagely cut the air with his arm, activating his last trap with a laugh.

“I am afraid that move was far too predictable! Thanks to Fearful Earthbound, that attack just cost you five hundred life points! Such a shame that is four hundred more than you can afford!”

His triumphant rant was cut short as Fluttershy threw her head back and screeched with laughter. “Ha haha ha HA! You think something like THAT is enough to save you? Discord, show him what we think of cards of that level!”

Discord grinned around the disconcerting flames in its maw and reared back a little. It raised one of its arms and seemed to consider for a moment before snapping its fingers decisively. Bakura’s trap glowed from within for a moment before imploding in a bright flash. Discord chuckled, rocking back and forth in the air before snapping forward and unleashing the fury it was containing. Bakura's spirit, no more than a head and a pair of arms barely above ground, had nowhere to flee as the strange energies washed over it and melted it back into the earth.

Bakura
1200

“Discord is the very embodiment of pandemonium!” Fluttershy declared, playing her last card face down on the field. Above them a fiery letter "N" was added to the Destiny Board, but neither of them paid it any attention. “Every card either of us play, be it spell, trap, or monster effect, has no more than a fifty-fifty chance of being destroyed outright in his presence! And what he doesn’t destroy, he takes for himself.

“Don’t you get it yet? You don’t have a chance! Why don’t you give up and allow Discord to make you one of his own, before someone gets hurt!”

“Oh?” Bakura said softly, standing perfectly still. A dark aura started to gather just behind his back. “You think I am weak? You think I cannot handle a little darkness?”

He savagely whipped a card from his deck and glared up with insanity burning in his gaze. “My hatred is thousands of years old! There are no depths I will not sink to if it brings me power! And I think that after I win this duel, I will take that devil of yours and make it serve me!”

“Take Discord from me?! I’d like to see a weak duelist like you try!” Fluttershy spat back, meeting his challenge head on. “Discord is mine! But I'll allow you a fraction of his power once I crush you beneath my heel!”

“We will see about that!” Bakura vowed, holding up the card he’d been holding back the whole duel. “This next monster is very special and requires the souls of the three fiends in my graveyard to be summoned. I offer those spirits to bring out the creature known simply as Dark Necrofear!”

The souls of his fallen demons rose out of the ground, leaving simmering trails in their wake. They wrapped around themselves and merged, growing darker and more solid until a new creature stood on the field. It played its fingers slowly over the… thing… in its arms and looked up at the towering monster before it with blank, dead eyes.

“It looks like your cards already want me to be their new master.” Bakura gloated. “Ataxia once again gives my monster more power than it ever had before, and just enough to win me the duel. This is the end!”

His monster’s dead eyes glowed red and a small laser beam shot out from them, slamming right into Discord’s upraised palm. The draconic fiend raised its head and glared at the Necrofear with pure malice. The field's waxen face never changed, but its whole body shuddered and slumped under that look.

Fluttershy tittered condescendingly and held up her hand towards her own trap. “Didn’t I say it was meaningless? Stare Down cuts that pathetic attempt by a thousand points. And I can’t help but notice that Discord didn’t cancel my trap, so it’s clear whose side he’s really on!”

Discord clenched its claws and crushed the red energy piling up, scattering it in all directions as the attack wavered and fell apart. It whipped its head forward and belched its frenzied flames in retaliation, bathing the Necrofear in its toxic energies. The monster died silently, sinking into the flames.

Bakura
300

“But it’s not all bad.” Fluttershy continued sarcastically, “Discord allows us to draw a new card now. Perhaps you’ll get something useful for once!”

“I do not need it.” Bakura said, his voice dripping with confidence. “I have all I need to win right here. You see, Dark Necrofear does not simply go quietly to the grave; it possesses any monster I want and takes control of it. And I only see one in play.”

“You want to take control of the Spirit of Chaos?” Fluttershy exclaimed in disbelief. “There’s no way he would allow such a thing! You’re wasting your time!”

“Is that so?” Bakura returned and the dark aura was back, wreathing his body like a second skin. “Then why has it not already banished my spirit? Perhaps it senses a darkness as deep as its own. Perhaps it has found a real master worthy enough to wield it!”

“That can’t be!” Fluttershy cried, but she looked up and for the first time actually got a close look at her monster. Its claws were up, ready to snap and dispel the ghost that was even now circling it like a shark in the water, but it had hesitated. And there was a swirling dark mist wavering over its eyes, which were locked on Bakura as if magnetized. It raised its claw… and let it drop unused to its side.

“…Discord…?” Fluttershy whispered in a broken tone, unable to process what she was seeing.

The spirit of Dark Necrofear surged forward, forcing itself into Discord’s back and burrowing deep into its body. The devil reared back as a spectral aura suffused its body and bright fairy fire danced in its eyes. It turned around and spread its jaws wide, preparing to unleash one last devastating attack.

“As I said, only a darkness as deep as mine can satisfy a card such as this.” Bakura said, holding up his hand and dropping it. “Finish it.”

The monster launched its flames at point blank range directing into Fluttershy, giving her no time to protect herself. The girl was picked bodily up and thrown back across the field, coming to a rest near the end of the tower. Cards, driven from her duel disk by the force of the attack, fell about the field like rain.

Fluttershy
0

“Fluttershy!” her friends cried, rushing forward as the duel ended and the normal castle-top duel field reappeared. They cut short as Bakura walked into their path, bending down to pick a certain card up from the ground.

“And now for the spoils of my victory.” He said, looking down in triumph at Ataxia, Zone of Chaos.

Twilight regarded him seriously and unconsciously flexed her fingers, ready for a fight. “Give us that card back. You don’t understand how dangerous it really is!”

“I am pretty dangerous myself!” Bakura returned, giving her a sly smile and waving the card mockingly. “But you are right, I really should get some practice in to get used to its power. There is still plenty of the tournament left; why not try and get it back? That should prove most entertaining!”

He strode away with a laugh and Twilight started to go after him, but Applejack held her back with a hand on her shoulder. “He’s not important right now. We’ve got to check on Shy!”

“You’re right…” Twilight said, sparing Bakura one last glare before rushing to her friend’s side.

Pinkie already had Fluttershy’s head resting in her lap and she was smoothing her hair back soothingly. The shy girl was unconsciously but breathing steadily and she didn’t appear to be hurt anywhere. The color had returned to her body at the end of the duel and she looked just as she did before it began. Twilight heaved a sigh of relief and took a hold of one of her hands, pressing it tightly and silently promising to carry on in her place.

“Well, this is touching and all, but let’s get on with this.” Kaiba said bluntly, striding purposely to the center of the field.

“What on earth are you talking about? Poor Fluttershy is hurt!” Rarity exclaimed, glaring at him reproachfully.

Kaiba snorted at her and held up his duel disk before him. “If a simple tumble is enough to knock her out, she has no business playing this game to begin with! Going on about darkness and magic; it makes me sick listening to it all the time! I just want to put this entire stupid exercise behind me, but if I must take part than I guess I’d better get the most out of it.”

He spun and pointed dramatically at Yugi. “So far I haven’t been impressed by these girls, if even losers like Wheeler can beat them. So if I win this duel I’m switching teams and you and I will have a rematch, Yugi!”

“If you can, Kaiba.” Yugi said simply, and then pointedly ignored Seto and turned to face Twilight seriously. “Do you believe you can take down this Ataxia card like you did before?”

Twilight looked over at Bakura. He was lounging against the parapet on the opposite side from everyone else, clearly prepared to enjoy the show. More importantly, his skin and clothes hadn’t lost any color yet. Most likely because he hasn’t played Ataxia yet himself.

She turned back to the King of Games and nodded. “I did it once before, and I can do it again.”

Yugi smiled back. “Then I will make sure you get your chance at him.”

Kaiba smirked and closed his eyes, speaking with supreme confidence. “What are you talking about, Yugi? She’s the last one on her team and that means she has to duel me. Her role in this little competition ends here.”

“We’ll see about that!” Twilight said, striding away from her friends and activating her duel disk. This is one duel I can’t afford to lose! I’m putting everything on the line, for my friends! With them at my back, no duelist can stop me!

Next time on Yugioh: It's Time to Duel
White Dragon's Roar vs. Royal Magical Library

Author's Note

The card art this time around came from a variety of sources, but most of Fluttershy's deck came from Vaultdweller101, the first of my readers to assemble card art for this story! If you want to help me out with future chapters, I'd love a hand! I still need some spellcasters for the next one, so if you can draw or have already drawn something send me a line!

And we've finally got to the duel that would not let me free until I put it to print! If the card effects seem a little more "anime" than the normal card game, remember that this was the first duel I imagined from start to finish. It wasn't even going to be a story at the time, just idle wondering about how the rest of the comic that inspired this went. This story has far outpaced my original ideas when I came up with this chapter; I mean, we haven't even reached the halfway point yet! There's a LOT left to go...

It was always my intention to imply that the Mane 6 have had about as many adventures as Yugi has, though probably along different sources of evil than just "the Shadow Realm". I wanted Ataxia to have a "Seal of Orichalcos" story arc behind it, mostly to mimic Discord's initial episodes in the show, and each of the Mane 6 would play a dark and twisted version of their original deck while under its spell. There have been other references in the story so far to past story arcs if you've caught them! I probably won't go into further detail about them, but you never know... I first imagined that Fluttershy's deck would be based around her various pets and keeping them safe from being destroyed in battle. Their weird effects came into play when I decided that Ataxia would switch up her deck to a darker one than normal, but it felt unnatural for her to suddenly be drawing cards that had nothing to do with her previous ones. Therefore, she came prepared with cards that would work alongside with Discord, if she needed them to.

And now there's only one duel left in the first round! I wonder what's going to happen... and it has been a while since we saw Luna and Spike, hasn't it?