Pinkie knocked on the door to the small cottage. Please don’t have him be home. Just let that horrible letter have been merely a dream. However, to Pinkie’s dismay, the red unicorn opened the door, smiling in anticipation at the pink mare. He looked tired though, and his normal white polo shirt had been traded for a dark red one. Pinkie gave him a small smile as she greeted him. “It’s nice to see you, Jumbled. So, what type of game are we going to play?”
Jumbled’s brows furrowed as he frowned. “I thought the note was fairly clear on what the game was. Did you read the rules as it instructed? I would be sorely disappointed if you simply blew off my orders, and you don’t want that, trust me.” Jumbled grinned as Pinkie faltered and reached into her mane.
“No, I read the rulebook, no matter how much of a meany those rules are to understand.” Pinkie quickly smiled at Jumbled, trying to get him to return the gesture. Pinkie was overjoyed as a small grin joined the rest of the red stallion’s features.
“Good, I was worried you had failed me. Please come along, we need to get to the proper setting for our game. Now, I bet you’re curious as to what the grave consequences were if you failed to show, correct?” Jumbled’s pupils were small within his eyes, and only now did Pinkie realize he did not have his glasses on.
“Jumbled, you’re scaring me. The letter you sent me had me worried, to say the least, but I thought it was just another one of your failed attempts at a joke. Isn’t it, Jumbled?” Pinkie looked deep into Jumbled’s eyes for a few moments, then the two stopped in front of a closet door. Jumbled suddenly let out a long peal of laughter that went on long enough to make Pinkie feel very uncomfortable.
“Element of Laughter, right? Hm... I must agree with the evaluation, I suppose. Sorry Pinkie, but only Jumbled fails. I do not.” Jumbled Thought opened the closet door, revealing a set of stairs leading downwards. “Ladies first, I insist.”
“What do you mean by, ‘I do not’?” Pinkie started to trot down the dimly lit staircase, awaiting an answer. Jumbled didn’t respond though, and they just kept trotting. “Jumbled, talk to me.”
Jumbled turned back towards her, scowling again. “Look, the game will probably take a while, so I would rather wait until we have started playing. Besides, I hope to hear the harsh and dark voice of my beloved Pinkamena instead of your annoying prattling.” Jumbled smiled to himself as he continued to descend. Pinkie didn’t feel the same elation however, as her heart skipped a beat.
“How do you-”
“Pinkie!” Jumbled’s voice was very harsh. “Do not make me repeat myself. Trust me; you want me in a good mood.” Jumbled smiled as Pinkie’s eyes were downcast as she nodded. Jumbled then turned to the door they had finally stopped in front of, examining the intentionally confusing locking mechanism. It had multiple rings set onto a gyro, and Jumbled slowly used his magic to influence the rings to begin spinning. Pinkie had always thought the horn stood out with the orange and turquoise mane, but right now it was downright creepy, as it glowed blood red.
Opening the door, Jumbled once more gestured for Pinkie to enter first. At least his manners don’t seem to have left with the rest of him. Pinkie was shocked at the large stadium in front of her, with a red tower opposite to a blue tower. Between them was a field with twenty rectangles, all outlined in white. “What is this?”
“It is a virtual dueling arena. Fairly low tech, but when you decide on a whim to play an old card game, you can’t really go inventing the most state of the art equipment instantly. Of course, having the power to reach elsewhere to grab useful items can help quicken the process.” Jumbled smiled as Pinkie continued to look scared.
Jumbled had done his job well, keeping his powers a secret. Unfortunately, Jumbled listened to their third voice as if it were God. That’s why he never used their powers, not because of some master plan or great trick. At least now they were able to have some fun with them, instead of staying cooped up writing.
“Now, go over to the blue podium, please. There, you will find an escalator, and that will take you to the top. Once we are both there, I will explain what your prize is if you win, and the consequence when you lose.” Jumbled chuckled at his own wit as he trotted to behind the red tower.
Pinkie stood behind the blue podium for a few moments, seeing that a pony could actually stand at the top comfortably. She almost fell as the escalator up to the top started, and felt a few strands of hair get caught before jumping off. Looking in front of her, she saw the rectangles again, and realized they must have been the field they were playing on.
“Are you ready?” Jumbled smiled to himself. He loved Pinkie’s confusion, but hoped she would recover quickly. Otherwise, this is going to be a very boring match. Maybe Twilight would have been a better choice? Then again, he would sooner or later get tired of answering her incessant questions.
“Yes I am.” Pinkie meeped as a large black box lowered from the ceiling. The T.V. came to life, revealing a green stallion with a chain around his neck, mere inches from Rarity. Rarity was shaking, tears streaming down her face. “Rarity, what happened?”
“She can’t hear you, Pinkie. Of all the useless creations my creator has shown me, I must admit that this one is a bit more useful than most. Now Pinkie, about that prize...” Jumbled chuckled as Pinkie’s face went flush and she sat down. “Yes, Pinkie. Rarity is what you get if you win. Lector there is an old friend, though, so it would be mean of me to continue teasing him past our match.
“Therefore, if you win, you get Rarity. Lose though, and I hope for Rarity’s sake that she is succulent. I hear he is faster with those.” Jumbled gained a malevolent grin as half of Pinkie’s hair slightly deflated and she slammed her hooves down on the podium.
“Don’t you dare hurt Rarity!”
Jumbled chuckled. “Now now, Ms. Pie, please don’t interrupt me; I wasn’t quite finished. You see, I want to continue my little game, and if you lose, you will be put in the cell with Lector and Rarity’s corpse. Afterwards, I will find another contestant until I get my fill of entertainment.” Jumbled watched Pinkie, waiting for the rest of her hair to fall. Instead, Pinkie’s mane poofed back up.
“It’s a game right? Well, you chose the wrong opponent then!” Pinkie gave him a fierce glare, trying not to look at Rarity. Pinkie needed to focus, otherwise everyone in Ponyville was probably in trouble. “Alright, lets go.”
Jumbled Thought nodded. “Your deck has already been locked in. You have the advantage by choosing first or second, and you even have the more complete of the two decks. And yes; it is the same one I gave to you to examine when I sent the note.”
Pinkie had wondered what had happened to the cards that had accompanied the note. Pinkie thought about the cards and what the rules were, her memory flipping through every scrap of the book. “I choose first.”
Jumbled nodded. “Good choice. I hope you can continue making those.”
Pinkie saw the her deck come out from the podium. She struggled for a moment, trying to remember what number she was supposed to draw. Pinkie had read the book, but had expected a friendly game, not the horror this was, so she was just a little sketchy on the details.
She drew five, and the podium stated for her to draw a sixth. Not bad, I think. Pinkie placed the alicorn card in her hand onto the field. On the arena, a light was glowing in one of her creature slots, and a large white alicorn appeared on the field. It had large sapphires on the end of its wings, connected to the bone, as well as a blue horn to match. Pinkie glanced down and chose just the cutest little creature in her deck. However, this creature didn’t reach the field. Instead, the alicorn shot a blast back towards Pinkie, and a large ruby appeared in the spell and trap card zone.
Jumbled smiled, glancing far off into the distance. “It’s good to see you can play, Pinkie. May ‘Sapphire Pegasus’ do you well.” Jumbled started reaching towards his deck, but Pinkie shook her head.
“I’m not done yet.” Pinkie slapped down a card into the spell card zone. Jumbled snarled as he saw the ‘Card Destruction.’ “Goodbye hand. I’m sorry I had to do that to you.” Both of them put their hands into their respective graves, drawing the same amount of cards lost.
“Goodbye, ‘Radion.’” Jumbled drew five new cards, checking what Pinkie had lost. Jumbled felt his blood boil as he saw the cards. “You bitch! You decide to discard ‘Crystal Release’ and another ‘Sapphire Pegasus.’ Looks like I was wrong, but at least I will be able to live up to my name then.”
Pinkie bit into her lower lip, confused at his statement. “What do you call yourself if you don’t consider yourself to be Jumbled Thought?” Pinkie cleared her throat as Jumbled laughed maniacally.
“Well, my creator decided I was his negativity, you see. Whenever he gets down or bored with life he starts having some rather nasty thoughts. I am the manifestation of those ideas. Unfortunately, my creator also has very little actual imagination and simply named me Death. That, or he was just too lazy to come up with a proper name. I was only meant for one purpose, but as you can tell, I’ve branched out. Now it’s my turn, right?” Pinkie nodded, and Death drew.
“I play ‘Morphtronic Cellfon’ in attack position.” A flip phone appeared onto the field before unfolding into a rather small little robot with the flip cover as its wings, and the buttons as a torso.
“With its ability, every turn I can roll a six sided dice to attempt to call for help. I know, it is a terrible pun, but it’s true.” The first six numbers started blinking randomly, landing on three. Death drew the first three cards on his deck, scowling. “Nothing.” He placed the cards back onto the deck and it descended into the podium to be shuffled. “I place one card face down, and it is your turn.”
Pinkie saw the black and brown spiral back appear as she drew her card. However, she had already decided on playing the big kitty in her hand. “Go, ‘Topaz Tiger!’” A white bengal tiger appeared, announcing its presence with a great roar. Probably from the large topaz in it’s mane. “Nom on that that stupid cellphone!”
Death smirked at Pinkie’s attack. “I activate ‘Morphtronic Bind.’” Celfon suddenly started glowing, electricity arcing around it. It then put its hand forward as Topaz leaped, and tightly linked bands of electromagnetic energy pulsed off of Celfon, surrounding all of Death’s side of the field. This also sent Topaz Tiger away from Celfon.
“Sorry Pinkie, but your level fours can’t attack now, not while I have a Bind out. Done?” Death was was pleased as she nodded, his plan having worked flawlessly. He drew, activating Celfon’s ability again. “I’m surprised Pinkie. I was expecting more questions from you, to be honest.”
“You said it would be better if you were in a good mood and that you didn’t like my voice. Besides; I don’t really like the answers I’m hearing.”
Death smiled. “I suppose I can understand that.” Death scowled as the light hit one. He picked up the card, and promptly put onto the field. A horseshoe magnet appeared on the field and stayed there. “‘Magnen’ should be able to keep Celfon safe from any little tortoises you have. Now, I summon ‘Morphtronic Remoten.’”
A small ipod appeared on the field, extending hands from ports on the side as feet sprang out from the corners. Pinkie gasped, “Oh my Celestia, it’s adorable!”
“I am so happy you think that, Pinkie, seeing as I may now use its ability to remove from play one of the morphtronics in my grave--Radion to be specific--and retrieve a new one of the same level from my deck.” Remoten’s face began to blur, shuffling through names before landing on ‘Morphtronic Slingen.’ “That card then goes into my hand.”
Pinkie’s brows furrowed and she pointed a hoof at Death. “Objection! Radion has never been on the field, so it couldn’t have been in your grave.” Pinkie smiled smugly, but opened an eye as Death laughed maniacally.
“Ah, I forgot just how much fun ignorant players could be. It truly has been too long. Your own Card Destruction put it there, you nitwit.” Death chuckled a little more as Pinkie glanced downwards, her hair slowly starting to deflate again. “If it helps, I play ‘Machine Assembly Line,’ and end my turn.” A large assembly line appeared behind Death’s creatures as they started glowing slightly.
Pinkie momentarily glared back at Death, and drew her next card. “I don’t have any tortoises, but I do have an ‘Amethyst Cat!’” A pink cat shimmered into existence, a large gold collar on its neck with an amethyst on it. “Now attack that annoying Celfon thingy.” The cat pounced, slipping through the barrier because it only had three stars. However, it shifted direction in the air, tearing into the magnet. “What, no! Thats not what I said!” Jumbled laughed, loving the edge creeping into Pinkie’s voice.
“You need to learn to read card effects, Pinkie. When Magnen is in defense like that, he is the only attack target you have.” Jumbled glanced back down at his hand and chuckled again.
Pinkie gulped. “Well, at least you seem to be in a good mood. I end my turn.” I need to stop messing up. Rarity is in trouble and I can’t fail her.
Maybe I can help? You know I am more… methodical.
No. You’ll get loose then, and I might not be able to get back control. I won’t let you endanger other ponies.
Even if it means endangering Rarity because you can’t play a simple card game?
Pinkie shook her head furiously, getting rid of the voice in her head. Pinkie wasn’t about to let her friend’s life be entrusted to that… thing.
Jumbled drew a card, and smiled at the result. “Sorry Pinkie, but your luck today is simply terrible. I summon ‘Morphtronic Scopen.’” A magnifying scope appeared on the field, two of its supports becoming legs, while two small spindly arms extended from below the scope. “Now with its effect, I can special summon a level four ‘morphtronic’ creature from my hand to the field.”
Next to Scopen, a slingshot appeared and split its handle to create the legs while its arms didn’t move. “Before I launch it, Remoten will get rid of the Magnen in my grave so I can grab another Remoton.” Jumbled started shuffling his deck, smiling.
“What do you mean by launch?” Pinkie doubted she would like the answer. Death grinned as Remoten jumped into the slingshot. Remoten was then fired straight into the ruby in Pinkie’s spell and trap card zone, destroying both. “Ah! What was that for?”
Scopen then became transparent, three rings coming out of it. Four shimmering stars were between the rings, and Scopen jumped into the circles, disappearing into a stream of light. The light was blown away, and Pinkie’s heart skipped a beat in terror. A large yellow and Silver mechanical dragon stared back. It had shards of metal on its back as spines, an excavator pail as one hand, the other ending in a metallic claw with a power screwdriver on top. Its tail wasn’t normal either, ending in a spade instead of a dull point with spikes. Finally, the four yellow bladed wings on its back completed the picture as it gazed lifelessly with its red eyes. “‘Power Tool Dragon,’ attack her Sapphire Pegasus.”
Pinkie’s eyes shot down to the screen. Sapphire only had 1800 attack points, while Power Tool had 2500. The screwdriver drove into Sapphire, before Sapphire burst into shards, some forming a sapphire in her spell zone, some plunging into Pinkie. Pinkie saw her hooves get cut, a larger gash split open on her head. “Ah!” Opening her eyes back up, the cuts were gone. Looking up she saw the blood red aura leaving Death’s horn. “How?”
Death smiled from the terror in Pinkie’s voice. “Power Tool got his 200 attack bonus from the little assembly line running back here. Sorry for not saying anything. At least you still have a gem now.” Death was enjoying himself, even with this nagging feeling that he had forgotten something.
“Thats not what I meant, you... you bully!” Pinkie was staring at her hooves, trying to figure out what just happened.
“Now Pinkie. Name calling, really? Fine then. My counterpart is named Jumbled Thought for a reason. I never gained a cutie mark, but mental magic was always my specialty. Don’t worry though, I’ll keep it fair and cause myself to believe I get hurt as well.”
Pinkie looked at Death, feeling ‘Diane’ wriggling to the forefront of her psyche. Her words quaked. “Will… will I die when I lose?”
Death scowled. “Fortunately no. I am not a pony who goes back on his word. Though I suppose enough damage from one attack could do it. Now, you have 7300 life points left as I end my turn.
Pinkie drew and slapped a creature onto the field face down. I won’t lose. I will win and save Rarity. “I send Topaz Tiger into defense position, and will attack your Celfon.” Amethyst Cat pounced towards Celfon.
Death rolled his eyes. “Pinkie, I told already told you that you need to-” Death felt his magic activate as the torso of Celfon tried going through his skull. “Gah!”
Pinkie looked down at the board, her brows furrowing. “Amethyst had nine-hundred more attack points. What did I miss?” Pinkie flinched as Death slammed his hoof into the board.
“Nothing! Nothing at all! It was my mistake not to use Power Tool’s ability, and I paid for it. That will not happen again. My turn?” Death waited for Pinkie to nod before drawing. He immediately activated Power Tool’s effect, searching for three equip cards. “Normally you pick one at random, however.” Death bowed as three cards appeared on Pinkie’s screen. All three were the same card. They flipped over and shuffled themselves before allowing her to choose one. She tapped on one and Death added the card to his hand.
“As you could probably guess, I will equip ‘Double Tool C&D’ onto Power Tool Dragon.” Power Tool’s excavator claw got replaced by a buzzsaw, and the the head to the screwdriver was replaced by a drill. “On my turn, the card gives 1000 attack points and negates the effects of creatures he attacks until the end of the turn. Now, let me get rid of that tiger, just in case you somehow get rid of my bind.”
Power Tool flew forward, the drill biting into the white fur, causing the tiger to burst apart. Instead of the backfield though, Topaz went to the grave, his effect negated properly. Pinkie was happy to have avoided the damage, but that meant Death was confident in his Power Tool’s strength. How did he even do that, Pinkie? I think he cheats and deserves to be punished for that!
Pinkie smacked her head. It must have been a synchro summon, but what was the tuner, what was the other material? Pinkie tried making sense of it, but couldn’t. Death merely continued his turn, unaware of the pink mare’s confusion.
“My assembly line has gained four tokens at this point, two for each machine type destroyed and sent to the grave. Now I will destroy it to summon Slingen in defense position.” Slingen got spat out of the assembly line as a simple mechanical slingshot, the legs not splitting open. “Now I will summon Remoten in attack position. With its ability I will trade in my dead Celfon for a new one.” I could get another Power Tool, but I could also restock on morphtronics, just in case... Nah.
“I will synchro summon once more for a second Power Tool Dragon!” The rings came back, coming from Remoten this time, as Slingen jumped into the light. Another fearsome mechanical dragon joined its twin, roaring. “I will not be forgetting the ability this time, so choose.” Pinkie poked the middle card, a card with a cord in the middle being revealed. “Not as impressive as C&D I suppose, but useful none the less. I set one card, and end my turn.” It had been too long since he had played Yu-Gi-Oh, and he was a little rusty. Still, he was a champion compared to Pinkie.
What do I do? I got lucky that time, but next turn I have to face both of those behemoths. What do I do?
Pinkie. Let me take control. I can do this.
But what if you fail, too?
Then at least I have a chance, unlike the little naive mare that’s currently staying in my body right now.
Pinkie put her head down, tears traveling down her face. Okay Diane. Pinkie’s hair fell flat, and she limply drew her next card, investigating the board with dead eyes. “Alright, I’m ready.”
Death perked up at hearing the cold voice. “I was really hoping to hear a lower tone, Pinkamena, but I guess nopony can be perfect.” Death was smiling, silently loving that he had finally broken little Pinkie.
“Pinkie refers to me as Diane, so please call me that. Now, I will start my turn with the field spell card, ‘Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins.’” Diane’s eyes widened a little as ancient buildings rose around them, but hissed as sunshine came from nowhere. “I will then tribute both of my creatures to summon the ‘Earthbound Immortal Asilla Piscu.’” An archaic symbol etched itself onto the stone floor, and then rose as a celestial hummingbird filled the entire stadium. I get birds while he gets dragons. Diane sighed.
Death glanced downwards, but Diane doubted it was checking attacks. Let’s protect my suicidal little bird. “I play ‘Crystal Blessing.’ With that, I get two more of my crystals back to my spell zone from the grave. I’ll take a sapphire and a blood ruby.” Diane licked her lips, thinking of the pain Death would suffer. “Next, I will harness their energies to call forth one of their brethren with ‘Crystal Beacon.’” Another Sapphire Pegasus was summoned to the field, summoning an amber into the spell zone. Diane smiled as Death visibly paled.
“Your Morphtronic Bind, it wouldn’t make much sense to work while you don’t have a morphtronic out, right?” Diane tapped the screen, the slightest smirk finding its way onto her face as Death nodded. “Die, Assila.”
Assila Piscu charged at the Power Tool with C&D on, spinning and raking the ground with its wings. “I activate ‘Dimensional Prison!’” Death knew it was a useless play, but it would still save him from some pain this turn.
“I use the third effect of Rainbow Ruins to sacrifice Sapphire Pegasus to negate your spell or trap card.” Diane felt happy that she had been so absolutely right. However, like Death, she often did not make the same mistakes as her other side.
As Assila neared Power Tool, the mechanical dragon jumped to meet it. The sawblade hand went quickly to work, severing Assila’s head from its neck. However, C&D exploded in the process, and the shockwave shook Death for 200 points of damage. Power Tool’s effect had protected him at the cost of his equipment, and C&D had done its job marvelously by taking the enemy with it. However, the meager 2500 attack points wasn’t why Assila Piscu was feared. It was what happened if you killed it.
Assila Piscu took one last wingbeat, the wind tearing the Power Tools apart. The wind then turned into two spirals that spun into Death. “AHHHH!”
“What’s wrong, Death? Can’t deal with a little bit of pain? Or are you conceding?” Diane had a small smirk, wishing she heard the outcry of ponies in torment more often.
Death brought himself back up, breathing heavily. However, this didn’t stop him from laughing. “You’re kidding right? You stopped one trick. I have many more, and you won’t pull that off twice. My turn?” Death grinned as Diane rolled her eyes. Yes, allow confidence to take over. It’s all the more satisfying to crush you, then.
“Please Death, I have four Crystal Beasts in the back. That means I can draw a card from my field spell, right? I wouldn’t want to forget the effect.” Diane plucked the top card from her deck, scowling at the useless card. “I will then use ‘Rare Value,’ where you choose one of my crystal beasts-”
“I choose the ruby.”
Diane added a slight tinge of annoyance to her voice as she said, “It goes away, and I draw two cards. Now it is your turn.”
Death drew as the ruby in the spell and trap zone exploded, giving off a warm red light for a moment. “I summon ‘Morphtronic Boarden,’ who will attack your life points directly. As will all Morphtronics I have, so long as Boarden is in attack position.” A skateboard appeared, a wheel accompanying each appendage as the robot unfurled. It then skated over quickly, jumping to punch Diane, which got her to flinch slightly.
“I will also be using ‘Heavy Storm.’”
Diane glanced down as Death gave her a smug smile, reading the text of the spell card. Destroy all spell and trap cards on the field. A giant twister appeared in the middle of the arena, threatening to break apart the ancient ruins. However, each time it attempted to break a pillar or break the floor, one of her crystals met the twister and turned it back, being destroyed in the process. Once her crystals were gone, it turned around and ripped apart the magnetic field around Death.
“Rainbow Ruins protected itself since you had crystals in the back, but trust me, that won’t always be the case. I set one card and end my turn.”
Diane drew. Losing the crystals meant nothing to her, just a slight annoyance. “I play ‘Cobalt Eagle’ and ‘Crystal Tree.’” A majestic eagle flew onto the field, cobalts positioned similarly to where they could be found on Pegasus. Diane smiled at the pain such a piercing blow would probably cause, noting it for the next time she got to have some fun. A large tree appeared behind Cobalt, the roots wrapped around a large crystal. “Cobalt Eagle, attack.”
Death smirked as he flipped his facedown card. Immediately Boarden held up a hand, a new electromagnetic field being brought forth, bouncing Cobalt back. Diane scowled, placing one card facedown in her own spell zone. Diane, can we ask him the questions now? Diane nodded to her other half, ready for a break from the annoyance that this game was quickly becoming.
“Why are you doing this?”
Death was caught off guard, not having expected a question. “Why? It’s simple really. I do it to entertain myself. Jumbled often finds himself growing restless, wanting to cause trouble. Jumbled can’t break normal social restrictions though, so I fester and wait for weakness, so as to come out and have the fun that Jumbled wants but won’t commit to.
Diane nodded, understanding the annoyance social laws could be. Don’t sympathize with him! Diane rolled her eyes slightly as she asked, “But why Rarity? Wouldn’t Twilight have made a better challenger?”
Death looked into the distance, as if reminiscing. “Well, you see, Twilight holds a special place in my heart. A place I haven’t quite given up on, even with her wings. However, best pony has fallen far from grace, and so deserved a little terror. Personally, I hoped she would redeem herself, but you wouldn’t be here if she had succeeded in that. Honestly, this match has been interesting enough that I’m entertaining simply letting her go with what’s left of her shattered mind.”
Diane scowled. “Mercy? And just when I was starting to think you had a certain swine-like charm. I end my turn.”
Death drew, smiling to himself. This will help those 6700 life points dwindle away, even if it takes just a little bit of time. “I play ‘Morphtronic Map.’” The ruins started to crumble, falling rock surrounding them. “Isn’t it wonderful how there may be only one field spell out at a time?” Once the dust cleared, the arena was now a worktable with a large map on it. “Makes it much simpler to clear away annoyances like that.
“I will now put Boarden into defense mode, adding a morph counter onto the map.” A screwdriver appeared on the map, and Boarden glowed slightly. “For each of these, Boarden will gain 300 attack points, as will all other morphtronics. Your turn.”
Diane drew, feeling a chill coming down her spine. “I... I end my turn after setting a trap.”
Death smirked as he drew. “Was that a quake I heard? How wonderfully cute. Hm... Maybe I shouldn’t threaten to feed you to Lector. ‘Sex doll’ has a much better ring to it than ‘next meal,’ doesn’t it, Diane?”
Diane scowled, her expression no longer controlled. Her eyes were twitching as she threatened Death, “I will carve out your insides and feed them to you when we are done.”
“I look forward to it, Diane. I really do. Now, Boarden will go into attack position and attack you directly once more, this time for 1100 life points.” This time, the small mechanical punch doubled her over, making Diane grit her teeth. “And I leave you at 5600 life points. Your turn.”
Diane drew, smiling at the card. “I play Amethyst Cat, who will attack your Boarden.” The pink cat pounced towards the skateboard.
“Come now, Diane. Don’t you know by now that I always have an ace up my sleeve? Gadget driver, change Boarden’s position.” Death discarded the card, and a screwdriver came out, helping Boarden switch back to a regular skateboard. Amethyst Cat slammed into the board, her 1200 attack points meeting the 1800 defense, and Diane felt an almost empathic pain spasm through her. “Are you done?”
Diane hissed out, “Yes.”
“Good.” Death drew and then placed the creature down. A clock appeared on the field, opening up to reveal the robot within. “With ‘Clocken’ out now, I switch Boarden to attack position.” A toolbox joined the other tools on the table, and Diane saw that Boarden had 1700 attack points, while Clocken had 1800. Her mouth turned parched, her hatred of the game growing by the second.
“The two will attack you directly.” The two small mechanical punches had enough force in them to almost punch her out of the podium, with only the banister behind her keeping her standing.
Death smiled. “You can win, at least, I think so. It’s probably out of your comprehension though, or your luck. It’s a shame abundance won’t work with that trap card there. Your turn. Your last turn.”
Diane drew, but her mind wasn’t on the game. It was on the baked goods she would make afterwards. A batch of wonderful cupcakes, or maybe a pie since he’s a little fluffy. Or I could always make croissants. That would be new.
Diane, we need to finish this. Remember why we are doing this.
You mean why you are doing this. I came out knowing freedom was at the end. And I will not let him stop me, even if I lose.
No! You are a part of me, and therefore if you lose and cause Rarity’s death, it will be as if I caused Rarity’s death. I won’t let that haunt me.
And what do you plan on doing about it?
Diane reached for her deck as she started her turn. “I for-” Diane suddenly found herself unable to speak. Pinkie was wrestling in her mind, not allowing Diane to focus enough even for words, not if she still wanted control. Pinkie, you will fail. However, the stray thought slipped her control, and Diane found herself biting down on something as she tried to refocus. Immediately a metallic taste filled her mouth. Diane felt her control slipping as she revelled in her favorite taste. “Blech!”
Death scowled. “I’m guessing you’re back then, Pinkie.” Death rolled his eyes at the poofy haired mare as she shakily stood back up, investigating the board. First she stands there like an idiot for almost a minute, and now this? Maybe she doesn’t want me in a good mood when I win?
“I think I can do it.” Pinkie looked away as Death laughed, holding his sides.
“You? Really? I had Diane on the ropes and you think you can beat me? Stop kidding yourself and forfeit, Pinkie. Diane was right in doing that, before she caused herself even more pain.”
Pinkie shook her head. “Amethyst, attack Boarden.” The newfound confidence in Pinkie’s voice shocked Death, and he waited for her scream. However, no scream came as Pinkie activated her face down card. “‘Crystal Pair’ makes it so that though Amethyst Cat has to go to the big catnip field in the sky, and Topaz Tiger will protect me from damage and his jewel comes to my spell zone.” Amethyst was destroyed in a quick strike from the Boarden, but an astral tiger appeared, snarling at Boarden before disappearing, the topaz going to the spell zone.
The tree in Pinkie’s field sprouted a crystal fruit. “With a crystal coming to the back field, my tree looks ripe enough to harvest now, so I will sacrifice my tree to get a ruby to my spell zone.” The fruit dropped as the tree died, a lovely ruby blossoming in her spell zone. “And Crystal Blessing makes four!” Two sapphires joined the other gems in the spell and trap card zone.
“No. You couldn’t have gotten that lucky.” Death felt his heart pumping fast. He had done this to so many others, but never experienced it himself.
Pinkie nodded, a smile spreading across her face. “I play ‘Crystal Abundance.’ With four crystals in my spell and trap card zone, I now sacrifice them all to clear the field of everything.” The four crystals joined together in a brilliant spectrum of colors, and then everything was whisked away. Not even to be destroyed, but to simply be swept to the graveyard, so Morphtronic Map wouldn’t even give Death something to defend with; not that it mattered.
When the light started clearing, Death stated the rest of the effect. “You now get to special summon four crystal beasts from the grave, one for each card you sent from my field.” Three pegasi came out, as well as a Topaz tiger. Each pegasus sent a blast backwards, a cobalt, amethyst, and a ruby appearing. Death started chuckling quietly to himself.
“And just for good measure, I end my turn with one last creature.” The three crystals in the back row started arcing electricity, vibrating until they eventually shattered, sending three bolts of lightning upwards, where dark clouds were forming. A loud crack of thunder resounded and the clouds started parting. A monstrous yellow and black demon emerged from the clouds. Two large batwings carried him down from the skies. Thick yellow armor covered the creature, with two heavy arm guards on each hand. It roared, bringing emphasis to its gruesome maw, and u-shaped head dress.
Death limply drew his card, allowing his hand to fall card by card. He almost didn’t register Pinkie’s pleading tones. “Please forfeit Death, I don’t want to possibly hurt Jumbled.”
Death started laughing maniacally. “Are you kidding me? That was glorious! I want to experience all that my opponents have. Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder, please strike me down!”
Pinkie drew her card, the console notifying her it was her turn. She moved to have the three Sapphire Pegasi finish him, but Death shouted, “To truly win, you must entertain me! If you do not strike me down with lightning, I will make sure you pay afterwards. And that is after you watch Rarity die.” Pinkie had one pegasus attack him, lowering his life points to 2700 left. She then put her head down, tears falling as she prayed Jumbled would get well soon. She ordered Hamon to attack directly.
The monstrous demon bent down, putting his hands on the large red podium. “Yes Hamon, finish me!” Hamon let out a blood curdling screech that was followed up by deafening thunder as lightning rained down upon the podium. Death felt blistering pain, blinded by the intense white light. His body felt like it was being ripped apart, atom by atom. Finally, the lightning ended and Pinkie saw the red stallion, now in a white polo, collapse.
======+++++======
Jumbled woke up, his head filled with a dull ache. He looked up, but found himself unable to. Jumbled heard a familiar high pitched voice with an unusual edge of worry to it. “Who are you?”
Jumbled felt a tear roll down his face. “I am Jumbled Thought. Please, Pinkie... please tell me I didn’t hurt you too much.” Pinkie sighed.
“You don’t remember anything?” Jumbled shook his head, the slightest amount that he could.
“I remember everything. Death and I aren’t split personalities, at least, not entirely. We are more like two sides of a coin, Death being what happens when I am bored and my self-confidence is crushed. Everything that just happened, was my fault.” Pinkie only now took her hoof off of Jumbled’s throat.
“Can you make us not remember this?” Pinkie was scared, and it reflected in her voice.
“I deserve to be put away, Pinkie. Or worse. What if I do something like this again?” Jumbled was barely able to get up, his body screaming in protest. “Why would I try to cover all of this up?”
Pinkie looked into Jumbled’s eyes. There was none of the cold or hate that Death had. He spoke sincerely, no mocking or smugness remained. This was her friend, but only if she forgot about her enemy. “Rarity has probably been emotionally scarred, and I don’t want to lose you. Look at it the same way that Ponyville denies that Diane exists. Please.”
Jumbled Thought nodded, looking around himself. So much work, so much effort. The first few moments had been wonderful, getting the cards and imagining finding out who was the best.
However, his creator didn’t want the fact that Jumbled was different to be known, and that had meant he would never be able to play with his cards, just like so many other artifacts from his other life.
Then Death had offered a solution, calling on his depression and the memories of those difficult duels where he would come back from nowhere to win. That had led to them using the weaker of two decks, but they knew they could win with it. But it was when Death pointed out how lonely he was that he could not even find one partner to play that had caused Jumbled to sleep, and allowed Death’s twisted abomination of his childhood game to begin.
Jumbled would need to remember about this, to never forget what he had done. But Pinkie was right: he didn’t want to lose them, especially since everyone was still alive and fine.
“Alright, Pinkie. I’ll clear your memories. It was a wonderful duel, though. I couldn’t have played it better myself.” Jumbled put his horn to Pinkie’s head, it’s tip glowing a soft red. Jumbled cried softly as he plucked the memories from Pinkie; memories that would haunt Jumbled’s dreams until the day he died.
Author's Note
The cards used were my own decks, so this duel could have actually happened. I also did not broken any rules of Yu-Gi-Oh, as I know them.
