Equestrian Elseworlds: The Dueling Drake

Chapters

Requiem of a Ring/ 5:00 A.M.
A mother's sorrow/ Childhood friend
Attack on the Gear Golem
Chthonian Confrontation
Saving Private Huffington
Aftermath of Honesty/The Dragon Rises:Menace of the Giant
Aftermath of Generosity/ Night of the Archfiends
Man VS. Muppet
A break of sorts
The End
Death of the Dragon
Memories of Duelist Past
Straight Outta 'Questria

Requiem of a Ring/ 5:00 A.M.

Crystal Empire, Arctic Zone

A lone, hooded stallion stood on Spike's grave, reading the text of the gravestone. In his black aura stood a matching ring, and that ring had a symbol that consisted of five vertical lines and a triangle that pointed downwards. Then, the stallion proceeded to say:

"Aah, you have lived such an awful life. I know all about you thanks to my newfound powers. Now, let's put this last ring to good use. Spike Solaris of Equestria, RISE!!!" With that, the ring plunged into the dirt, and after several seconds, a clenched claw rose.

Friendship Castle, Ponyville, Equestria

Twilight had woken up in the middle of the night, for she heard something below. She got out of bed and went to investigate, only to see a bipedal form whose height was equal to Celestia's. She got closer, and she was shocked at what she saw: It was Spike, but at the same time it wasn't: His purple scales were a dull gray, and his spines were black. He wore a black cloak with a white symbol that matched the one on the ring. The same ring was on his left index claw.

"Yo ho, all claws,

hoist the colors high.

Heave ho, thieves and beggars;

never shall we die.

Yo ho haul together,

hoist the colors high.

Heave ho, thieves and beggars;

never shall we die." Spike sang, as he got down from the ladder. "Hello Twilight, I ordered the books, just like you told me to ten years ago." With that, his mouth formed a maniacal smile.

"Spike, I thought you were dead!" Twilight answered.

"Ever since when was I alive?"

"Listen Spike, I'm-"

"Sorry? That won't solve anything, for all I know, I'm still dead!"

"No Spike, it was not my intention to-"

"Forget and condemn me to slave work and solitude for the last five years of what was called 'life'?! Dandy job there, plothole!"

"*Crying.* Spike, I didn't know about your feelings back then!"

"Oh, so I was an emotionless husk back then, eh?! I was shunned by many due to what I was, and this increased when you became the so-called 'Princess of Friendship'! There has been conflict over that light, it's about time I turned it off. The Blackest Night falls from the skies, The darkness grows as all light dies. We crave your hearts and your demise, By my black hand, the dead shall rise!"" With this, Spike went to the shadows and got an odd scythe that had a black lantern where the scythe's heel was. With a deep breath, he yelled:

"Ponyville, RISE!!!" With that, several hooves rose from the ground, for the undead ponies of long ago were rising. Shocked at the sight, Twilight flew out of the castle. As she was flying, she saw how the village was taken over by the undead. She found her friends in Rainbow Dash's house.

"Twilight, do you know how those things appeared?!" Rainbow asked, worried. Fluttershy was curled up in a ball, Applejack was as worried as Dash, Pinkie's mane was flat and Rarity was crying, her eyeliner was running.

"I don't know how it happened, but Spike-" she began crying, which didn't let her finish what she was going to say.

"What about it, what happened to Spike?" Applejack asked.

"I woke up in the middle of the night, and I heard noises downstairs. I went to investigate, and I saw Spike organizing the books as if it were any other day, but he, he was one of them, and he made the dead rise!"

"That simply cannot be, I'm sure there is no spell to do that!" Rarity said.

"Well, there isn't unless-" The phrase was cut off, for several undead ponies barged in, and they made way for the undead leader.

"Hello girls, long time no see," Spike said, in a distorted voice.

"Spike darling, I-" Rarity was cut off.

"-Were never interested in me, I know Rarity, you thought about getting your perfect stallion prince and have your 'Happily Ever After', but I must tell you, this is no motherbucking story!"

"Alright Spike, I'm-" Applejack tried to say.

"-Mighty sorry for not letting me help, no matter how useless my help could've been? Well, had I not been there, you would've been mince meat ten years ago, and also a good servant of mine!"

"Girls, get your magic ready!" Twilight said, as they got in the formation they used to do to use the powers of the Elements. Twilight, getting the magic the other five had, she charged a blast at the undead dragon who wielded a scythe, causing smoke. When the smoke faded, the girls' jaws dropped in disbelief, for Spike was still standing.

"News flash, friendship does not work on the dead!" Spike said, laughing along with the undead ponies. "Let me finish what I began, Rainbow, you are a self-centered plothole who promised teaching me to fly, but you didn't, so I asked Gilda for help. Pinkie Pie, you didn't organize any parties for me from my second year here, and you know that gifts are unnecessary, but the presence of the guests is! Fluttershy, you broke your promise of seeing the Dragon Migration. You asked for a monster, so here it is!" Spike said, lunging at the yellow Pegasus, ending her life. "Welcome to your nightmare Twilight, it's about time Equestria stood in peace." With this, the undead charged at the Alicorn and-

Twilight was in the Crystal Empire, so she quickly went to where Spike was buried, which was right in front of the Crystal Heart, all in honor of the savior. It looked just like it did hours ago, for it had all been a dream. She saw an old stallion of white fur and a gray mane that stood at the side, checking the grave.

"Hello missy, what brings you here?" the elder pony asked.

"He died because it was my fault," Twilight answered.

"Take a seat young one, let me tell you a little something." Twilight took a seat, before the stallion continued. "They call me the Caretaker, and my job is to make sure the dead sleep peacefully. My job is one not many are interested in or respect, but it is quite important."

"Why in Equestria is it important?" Twilight asked.

"Because I make sure the spirits don't get mad. In the many years I've dedicated to my mark, I've stopped many construction plans from destroying these resting places, and many graverobbers from taking the only thing the spirits have to remember when they cross the river."

"Well, it makes sense, thank you Caretaker."

"Your welcome missy, now if you'll excuse me, there is one last friend who wants to say goodnight to him." With this, Peewee flew in, curling himself up on the dirt and getting ready to sleep. With this, Twilight smiled softly, for rest was assured, all thanks to the old stallion who hid a mysterious past.

Domino City, Japan, Earth

Three days after Spike's arrival

The fact that Spike did not know how to play Duel Monsters shocked Jaden, and the facts that the dragon-blood did not know what it was, and also the fact that he came from another dimension shocked the duelist even more. It brought them to the degree of doing the following...

"Wake up Jaden!" Spike said.

"Come on, it's 5:00 A.M. in the morning..." the young adult said.

"I find this situation quite ironic, being that the student is waking up the teacher."

"I'm going, I'm going..." With that, their arduous training began, and by training I do not refer to waxing cars, sanding floors, catching flies with chopsticks nor painting fences, but to a classic...

Spike was pulling a wagon, and in that wagon stood his coach.

"Tell me the way turns are distributed," Jaden said, while reading from a book.

"Draw Phase, Standby Phase, Main Phase 1, Battle Phase, Main Phase 2, and finally End Phase!" Spike yelled, while he continued pulling the cart...

Time later, he was in a freezer room, and instead of punching meat he was identifying monsters from a booklet Jaden had.

"Metalzoa!" Jaden pointed to another one.

"Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!" And so on, and three weeks later their training concluded.

"We did it!" Spike said, while he walked home.

"Yes indeed," Jaden answered, while he ate a chocolate bar. That night, Spike was in the living room, when out of nowhere, Jaden gave him a card: a Level 3 Fire Warrior; her name was Elemental Hero Burstinatrix.

"When you apply that exam, don't let fear take over, instead let the strength of willpower guide you, no matter how awful it may seem," Spike's mentor said, with a smile.

"Thank you master," the former drake answered.

"Call me Jaden." With this, Spike went to sleep, for tomorrow he was going to apply an entry exam to enter the most prestigious school of Duel Monsters, Duel Academy, which was created by Seto Kaiba himself.

A mother's sorrow/ Childhood friend

Crystal Empire, Arctic Zone

A white, equine figure walked to the grave of the deceased dragon, and in her golden aura she held a thick book. She knelt and removed her golden slippers, necklace and tiara.

"Hello son, I brought you your favorite book," she spoke to the tombstone, as if she expected an answer.

"I know I can't make it up to you..." she continued. "*sigh* and I committed the same mistake with you as I did with my sister and my former pupil Sunset Shimmer, however I will try to make it up to you even if you are not with me in the skin. If you can hear me, then let me read you a story, just how I would read to you every night you would spend sleeping by my side as a son."

With this, the pristine Alicorn took a deep breath and flipped a few pages until reaching the beginning of the first story.

"Time ago, there was a young spellcaster known as Stardust Phantom. This spellcaster wanted to master the power of the stars, which brought him to summoning a dragon known as Stardust Xiaolong. Xiaolong made a deal with him: in exchange of his soul, Stardust Phantom would be granted the power he desired, turning him into Stardust Dragon. However, Xiaolong used the deal for his own interests, sending the former spellcaster to the Malefic World, turning him into Malefic Stardust Dragon." She took a breath, and continued.

"Scared of remaining in that vile world for what remained of his life, he turned into Stardust Spark Dragon, which gave him enough power to escape and go through the Starlight Road. Once he reached the cosmos, he began gathering more star dust, reaching the Assault Mode. He reached even stronger forms known as Shooting Star Dragon, Majestic Star Dragon, and finally, he reached his supreme form, Shooting Quasar Dragon. Upon reaching his final form he turned Stardust Xiaolong into Debris Dragon, as a penance for the evil actions he committed."

Upon finishing the story, Celestia let a few tears fall to the ground, which led her to flipping the pages until reaching the back cover of the book, which had a card sealed in a glass case. She took it out of the case and enchanted it with a conservation spell, a spell that was used on the books of millenniums ago, keeping them with the quality of new books.

While getting up, the white Alicorn set the card in front of the gravestone, for this card had meant a lot to the drake in his childhood.

"Goodbye, my son." With this, she charged her horn, and teleported to her castle, but what she didn't know was that once she vanished, the card vanished as well, but to Faust knows where.

Domino City, Japan, Earth

It was 6:00 A.M, and only one thing would awaken the sleeping Dragon-blood:

"No sleep till..." A guitar riff was emitted from the alarm clock that also served as a radio. With a yawn and rubbing his face, Spike got up, only to yell one word:

"BROOKLYN!!!" With this, he got up from bed and into the shower, preparing himself for the day ahead of him. That day he had to apply an exam in order to enter one the most prestigious academy to learn about dueling: Duel Academy. There was one per continent (without counting Antarctica), and the continents were five: Asia, America, Australia, Africa and Europe, and Spike was applying for a slot in the main one.

Once he finished taking a shower, he dressed into a black shirt, a purple hoodie, some skinny jeans and black sneakers. He went down the stairs and into the dining room to eat breakfast, a fresh batch of pancakes, which was courtesy of Mrs. Yuki. After he finished eating, he stopped by the bathroom to brush his teeth quickly

He entered his room, and continued playing the song until a female voice was heard:

"Waking up before I get to sleep, cause I'll be rocking this party eight days a week! *Sigh* I just love that song." Spike turned to the source of the voice, and saw a really odd woman: the right half was that of a man given the pectoral muscle and the rough hip, and that half of her head was counting with light blue hair. Her other half, however, was that of a feminine body, given the breast and the rounded hip. That same half of her head was of white hair, but the oddest part for Spike was probably the third, vertical eye that was on her forehead.

"Who, in Equestria- I mean, Earth, are you?" Spike asked, with slight fear in his voice.

"Don't you remember who I am?" The unknown being asked.

"Um, no..."

"I'm Yubel, doesn't it ring any bells?"

"No..."

"Maybe this will refresh your memory," Yubel said, as she handed him her card. With that, Spike's mind became a flurry of memories, which led him back to approximately 13 years ago...

"Happy birthday Spike!" A white Alicorn, which had a wine red mane, said, as she handed over a book to her daughter, which was of matching fur, but with a tri-colored mane instead of the red.

"I have one more gift for my favorite dragon," the Alicorn, who was known as Queen Faust said. She flipped the book to the back, and there stood a glass case which contained a single card: Yubel. She took the card out of its case, and out it in another glass case, which had a string attached to it so it could serve as a necklace, bringing several fun moments for the next few years...

A week after Spike's 4th birthday

Spike was walking around the castle, for his adoptive mother had royal duties to tend to. With the necklace around his neck, he continued walking until...

"Hmph, it's that filthy bundle of scales!" A young, prissy voice said. Said voice came from a white Unicorn colt with a blonde mane. As you would guess, that colt was nothing less than Prince Blueblood. As you all know, Blueblood is quite a rotten colt, who was sent years later to a nice, distant military academy, where he was taught discipline after the Gala incident in the first season of the show, but that is another story.

After hearing the insult, the young drake began to cry, and ran to his room, the room he shared with the solar princess. Upon closing the door, a dark cloud formed, and from it spawned Yubel.

"Don't cry child, he is just a bad colt," Yubel said, as she got closer to Spike, kneeling down and wrapping her arms around him. Spike looked up at her and smiled softly.

"What is your name?" The drake asked.

"My name is Yubel, what is your name?" The Fiend-type monster asked in return.

"My name is Spike, and I'm a dragon!" He answered, in a slightly adorable way which made the fiend laugh.

"Well Spike, how about you and I get some payback, hmm?"

"Ok!" With the drake in toll, Yubel walked out of the room, seeking revenge on Blueblood...

Back to the present...

"It's you!" Spike said, tears in his eyes, as he wrapped his arms around her, feeling a faint warmth from her.

"It's been so long Spike," she replied, wrapping her arms around him, before continuing: "Come now, we have an exam to apply." With this said, the two got out of the house, walking towards the tower where the entrance exam was being applied.

Meanwhile, in a park somewhere in Domino City

A man was sitting on the bench, but there was someone else with him, someone only he could see: a man dressed in dark purple armor, and he carried a green staff with a sphere at the tip.

"Do you think we'll find him today?" The first man asked.

"I do not know, but we will be sure once I feel him nearby," the Spellcaster replied.

"What do you mean?"

"There are cases where duel spirits choose their suitor, such as the case of a young woman who received a deck from Maximilian Pegasus himself. From what I heard, she had an unusual name, with her origins unknown and two-toned hair of red and yellow."

"Then I guess we will wait."

"Not for long, I feel that today is the day."

Back to Spike...

Our protagonist and his childhood friend were walking down the street, the Yubel card which was inside a small glass case was tied around his neck as a necklace, just as he would carry it years ago. On his right arm Spike carried a classic Duel Disk, and a smile adorned his face. That is, until a group of four thugs surrounded him.

"Hey kid, nice card," one of them said.

"Where'd you get it?" Another one said.

"It doesn't matter, we might as well keep it for ourselves!" The third one said.

"Stop right there, we might as well enjoy beating him," the last one, which could be considered as the leader said, while Spike was pushed into an alley.

"Alright, let's duel it out," Spike said, preparing his Duel Disk, while the leader prepared his.

"Loser gives away his best card," the leader said while Spike analyzed the place.

Slight gaps on the left wall, big enough for a hand. A downspout pipe on the right wall, and the wall is made of bricks that is just about it. There are two thugs behind me, and two in front of me, one which is my opponent right now.

"DUEL!" The two exclaimed, and the duel began with Spike going first.

"Alright, I'll place two cards face-down..."

"And, what kid?" The thug asked.

"...aaaaand, I'll climb up that downspout pipe!" He yelled, running towards said pipe and climbing the wall by grabbing the pipe and quickly running up the wall until reaching halfway. Once he stopped, he jumped to the opposite wall and bounced off it, falling to the ground with a somersault, and he began to run away from the gang.

"Ey kid, get over here!" The leader yelled, as the chase began. Instants became seconds, and seconds became minutes. Time was eternal, Spike's stamina, wasn't. After several minutes running, he fell to the ground to catch his breath, only for the thugs to reach him.

"We were going to take it easy on you, but now we might as well keep your deck!" The leader said, as he kneeled and took Spike's deck, and as he was about to get up and run away with the deck, a male voice yelled:

"Hey, how about you mess with somebody your own size?!" The thug turned to the source of the unknown voice and panicked.

"Give the deck back, or I will duel you," the voice said, and the thug returned the deck, and ran away with his comrades. The owner of the voice was a young man, who was easy to recognize due to his odd hairdo, which was composed of three colors: black, yellow and magenta.

"Thank you sir," Spike said.

"I think we have found a suitor," the Spellcaster, whose name was once Mahaad, said to Yugi Muto.

"Where are you going?" Yugi asked.

"I am going to apply an entrance exam in order to form part of Duel Academy."

"I'll tell you what: take this card." That said, the legendary duelist handed over a well-known Level 6 card. "I am very sure you talk to duel spirits, given the spirit I see beside you. I must admit, she is a tad unusual compared to several other cards I have seen in my 22 years of life. That card you see there is the Dark Magician Girl, her master told her that it was time she began her own journey, but he needed a good suitor."

"Hence why-"

"-I gave it to you, yes. Take good care of her, and I wish you the best on your exam."

"Thank you, by the way, what is your name?"

"It is odd seeing someone that does not know me, *laughs* my name is Yugi Muto. What is your name?"

"I am Spike Solaris, Mr. Muto. Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine, for Mahaad found the suitor. Now, I am very sure you cannot be late for the exam."

"That's true! Thank you Yugi, I hope we can see each other some time soon!" With this, the Dragon-blood human continued his way with 43 cards, three that were not intended to go in his deck, but would be useful later on...

Attack on the Gear Golem

Spike reached a tower, the tower that had a dark past (Check Death-T from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Zero Manga), but now it was being used to test the teens that wanted a place in Duel Academy. He saw a table that had three people revising their lists, and he was asked by a woman:

"Name?"

"Spike Solaris," the protagonist answered.

"Very well then, go on in and take the elevator to the last floor." Upon hearing this, he opened the door and entered, immediately taking the elevator. While in the elevator....

"*Beatbox sounds.* This is so simple yet fun..."

"You forgot how ridiculous it is," a blue-skinned woman in red spandex-like clothing said.

"Aah, who the hell are you?!" Spike asked.

"That is Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, Burst to her friends as a simplification of her name," Yubel answered.

"And I'm Mana, former student of the Dark Magician!" A girl about Spike's age, with blond hair and an off-the-shoulders outfit said.

*Ding!* The elevator had reached its destination.

"We'll talk about this later, I have an exam to apply," Spike said, as he got out of the elevator. After getting out, he saw several duelists applying the exam. He saw a duel between one of the teachers in charge of applying the exam and a young student with his hair brushed back.

Unknown Student: 3600 - Teacher: 1900

"Alright rookie, you have three options: A, you throw the towel. B, you give up. C, you go home crying to your mom,"one of the people, who were in charge of applying the exam said, as he had a Big-Shield Gardna on the field in Defense Mode (2600 DEF).

"I choose D, Ring of Destruction on my Vorse Raider. With this, we both lose Life Points equal to the selected monster's attack (1900 ATK)!" The unknown student answered, as the teacher's LP dropped to 0.

"Good job kid, you may take a seat waiting for further instructions." The unknown applicant walked and passed by Spike.

"That was a good move back there," Spike complimented.

"There are no such thing as good moves in my deck, it is carefully calculated to make the effectiveness of the deck a perfection," the student answered.

"What's your name by the way?"

"I am Bastion Misawa, what is yours?"

"I am Spike Solaris, pleasure to meet you," the dragon-eyed applicant said, extending his hand for a handshake, one Bastion would accept.

"Spike Solaris, please proceed to apply your exam in Duel Field 5," a voice said on the intercom.

"That's my call, I must go."

"Do your best on the exam," Bastion said.

"Will do, by the names of my mentor and my grandmother I will not fail," Spike said, as he stepped on the platform that would raise him. With a low hum, the platform elevated for a few seconds, and the protagonist ended up in a duel field. On the other side stood a blonde-haired man with an odd attire that consisted of a blue jacket that had pink ruffles.

"Hello young applicant, you must be the unfortunate one," the adversary said.

"I am Spike Solaris, it is an honor to be applying this exam," the Dragon-blood said.

"Good to know, I am Dr. Vellian Crowler, pleasure to meet you." Ok, you may be asking yourself why the hell Crowler is dueling Spike. Answer is simple...

"Good afternoon Chancellor Sheppard," Crowler said.

"Good afternoon Dr. Crowler," the Chancellor replied. "The reason you are here is merely for a proposal: The teachers that will duel the applicants will be scrambled, and in the middle of all those teachers, you will duel only one of the students, only as a demonstration of our quality when it comes to dueling."

"That is a great idea, we might as well teach the applicants what they must go through in order to be straight-A students."

"Thank you for your time Vellian."

"Likewise, Chancellor Sheppard."

"Please, just Sheppard between us, we're colleagues."

"Very well student, let me teach you how we duel in Duel Academy!" With this, they both activated their duel disks, and Spike's first official duel began.

Crowler

"I will begin by activating the Spell Card 'Wave-Motion Cannon'. This Continuous Spell Card receives a counter for each Stanby Phase of mine that passes after this card was activated. Then, I can send to the Graveyard and you would receive 1000 Life Points of damage times the amount of counters this Spell Card has."

"Then, I will activate the Continuous Spell Card 'Ancient Gear Castle'. Each time a monster is Normal Summoned or Set, a counter is placed on it. I'll end my turn by summoning 'The Trojan Horse', in Attack Mode (1600 ATK, Ancient Gear Castle Counters, or AGCC: 1), then sets two cards face-down."

Spike

"My turn. I'll set two-cards face down, and I'll end my turn by summoning 'Mirage Dragon' in Attack Mode (1600 ATK AGCC: 2).

Crowler

"One Standby Phase has passed, and a counter is put on my 'Wave-Motion Cannon'. I'll end my turn by setting a monster (AGCC: 3)."

Spike

Hmm, a good draw, time to take advantage Spike thought. "I'll summon 'Hunter Dragon' in Attack Mode (1700 ATK). Go Hunter Dragon, attack that Trojan Horse!" The dragon charged directly at the horse, shattering it upon contact.

"Now Mirage Dragon, attack that Set monster with Spectrum Blast!" Said dragon inhaled, only to unleash its flames and incinerate the card, which was 'Ancient Gear Cannon' (500 DEF). "The fun part is that you cannot activate Trap Cards during the Battle Phase, and that'll do for now." (AGCC: 4)

Crowler: 3900 - Spike: 4000

Crowler

"I'll end my turn by setting a monster, and my 'Wave-Motion Cannon' gains another counter." (AGCC: 5, WMC: 2).

Spike

"My turn, and I'll attack that Set monster with Hunter Dragon." The redentor mentioned dragon charged at the Set card, only for it to be a Heavy Mech Support Platform (500 DEF). Now Mirage Dragon, attack directly with Spectrum Blast!" Crowler was standing, and he was not in the best of moods due to the direct attack.

Crowler: 2300 - Spike: 4000

Crowler

"My draw, and it is time to get my counter-attack by tributing my Ancient Gear Castle in order to summon 'Ancient Gear Golem'!" From the ground rose a flurry of gears, most of them being covered in iron plates that served as protection for the extremities. Now, Spike was slightly scared, for this was Crowler's trump card.

"My 'Wave-Motion Cannon' is at 3, and I intend on-"

"I play a Spell Card, 'Mystical Space Typhoon'! With this, I can destroy a Spell or Trap Card, and no better card than that Cannon!" The card shattered into countless pieces, leaving Crowler unable to activate the card.

"It does not matter, for nothing will stop my Golem's attack. Ancient Gear Golem, attack that 'Hunter Dragon' with Mechanized Melee!" With the sound of whirring gears and an arm stretching out, the Ancient Gear Golem crushed the dragon with its mighty punch.

"Ngh!" That was all that was heard from Spike, as he took the hit.

"I wouldn't switch my monsters to Defense Mode if I were you. Whenever my Golem attacks a monster whose Defense points are lower than my monster's Attack points, the difference is taken away from your Life Points!" Crowler ended, with a laugh.

Crowler: 2300 - Spike: 2700

Spike

At the moment my hand is useless, and I should not switch my Mirage Dragon to Defense Mode. The only thing I can activate is this Spell Card... Spike thought.

"*Sigh* I'll end my turn by activating the Spell Card 'Dragon's Gunfire'. It allows me to choose one of two effects, and I choose to inflict 800 points of damage to you Dr. Crowler."

Crowler: 1500 - Spike 2700

Crowler

"Let's speed things up, I can use my time on teaching instead of facing you. I will equip 'Ancient Gear Tank' to my Golem! Its effect gives my Golem 600 Attack points, giving us a total of 3600. Also, whenever this Tank is destroyed you take 600 points of damage. Now my Golem, attack that 'Mirage Dragon' with Mechanized Melee!" Once more, the gears were heard as the golem delivered a fatal punch to the last dragon on the field, leaving Spike without monsters.

Crowler: 1500 - Spike: 700

Spike

I only have 700 Life Points left, and there is no way I can get past that Golem and end Crowler's Life Points then and there. If I summon Darkness, it'll have an Attack of 4200, enough to defeat the Golem but I am left with 100 LP after destroying it due to the Tank's effect, and I do not have any other cards that can increase its attack by at least another 300 points.. To top it off, I cannot Special Summon it except by tributing Red-Eyes B. Dragon, and I have no monsters to offer. Well, let's hope this card changes it all for the better, I don't intend on losing right here, right now!

"My draw!" Spike said, and a moment of silence took over at that moment, and once Spike saw the card, he smiled.

"You know Crowler, I really don't have to destroy that golem in order to win. In fact, I only need three cards in order to win right now."

"What do you mean?!" Crowler asked.

"I mean that I will first summon Red-Eyes B. Chick in Attack Mode (800 ATK), good enough for a draw!" A red egg popped up, and from it emerged a small, black dragon with it's two front talons showing.

"Next, I'll tribute my Red-Eyes B. Chick and Special Summon... RED-EYES B. DRAGON, IN ATTACK MODE!!!" The Chick's eyes glowed a bright red, as it grew into a stronger form, one we are all familiar with, the one Joey Wheeler mainly used. This brought up several cheers, for Spike was cooking up a good dose of trouble for Crowler.

"I know I will not be able to take down that Golem with my dragon, that is why I have a Spell Card called 'Inferno Fire Blast'!"

"No, not that card!" Crowler exclaimed, panic written all over his face.

"It is, and as I said a few moments ago, I do not have to destroy your Golem in order to defeat you, because I can choose a face-up 'Red-Eyes B. Dragon' on my side of the field, and you take damage equal to its original attack. Red-Eyes B. Dragon, attack!" Said dragon breathed in a great amount of air.

"INFERNO FIRE BLAST!!!" This cued Red-Eyes's attack, and it engulfed Crowler and his monster in flames, ending the battle then and there. Once Crowler lost all of his Life Points, cheers were heard, for the student-to-be had defeated the teacher. With a smile on his face, Spike raised his fist in the air and let out a victory yell (because the Victory Screech is a tad disturbing for me, ehehehe...).

"You did it Spike, you proved that you can achieve anything if you are determined to face the odds," Yubel said in his head.

"Good job, kid," Burst added, with a smirk on her face.

"Attention to all students who passed the Entrance Exam, the transport that will take you to Academy Island will be outside of Kaiba Corps. tomorrow morning at 8:00 A.M. Be there 30 minutes early, and have a nice day," the man on the intercom said.

"We better get going, we have stuff to pack up for tomorrow," Spike said.

"Yes indeed, your journey as a Duelist in this world begins here," Yubel replied.

"Let's go!" Mana said, while the Dragon-blood and his Duel Spirits ran to the elevator. With his first duel and victory, Spike was ready for anything. Tomorrow Spike would be at Duel Academy, and he was not alone in this world.

Chthonian Confrontation

Yuki Residence, Domino City, Japan

Meanwhile in Spike's room....

"Well, to introduce ourselves better, I am Burstinatrix, and I come from the city known as-" the female Warrior was saying, until she was cut off by our cute well-known Spellcaster, Mana.

"Skyscraper. Anyways, I am Mana and I come from Ancient Egypt, but then I lived in the Village of the Spellcas-"

"Really?! You cut me off!"

"Well you got boring!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!" This was the spark to an argument that only 8 year-olds would have, but apparently a 17 year-old magician and a 25 year-old hero were defying that statement.

"QUIET!" Yubel exclaimed, immediately silencing the two. "You'll have to excuse them, they're idiots."

"Hey!" The other two exclaimed. It was at this moment where Spike realized that these Duel Spirits were the spitting image of the Dazzlings: First was Yubel, the balance and by the looks of it, the leader. Then we had Burst, who was the serious-looking one of the three. Last but not least was Mana, who was the happy one that could make anybody's day better. Craving for tacos? Perhaps not.

"*Laughs.* My god, you two are funny!" Spike said.

"No we're not!"

"Anyways, *chuckles.* let's get everything ready for tomorrow." As soon as he finished his statement, the four began gathering personal belongings, as well as hygienic products. Yubel, on the other hand, had vanished with the Dragon-blood's duel disk.

The next day...

With his backpack on, Spike waved goodbye to Jaden and his mother. He began walking and wondering how life at the academy would be, until his watch buzzed, signaling ten minutes left in order to reach the tower where the helicopter awaited.

"GET TO THE CHOPPER!!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, running as fast as he could, followed by his duel spirit friends. The group reached the tower just in time, and once he reached the entrance he saw a wide amount of students, which was quickly silenced by a man on the intercom:

"Good morning students-to-be, welcome to Kaiba Corps. Several helicopters will arrive, and you will get on the choppers by the starting letter of your last name, meaning that those whose last name begins with the letter 'A' will get to the helicopters in 10 minutes. At this rate you will all be at the academy in 30 minutes time, and we expect all of the students to be at the island by 10:00 A.M. Until then, have a nice day."

Time had passed, until...

"Attention, to the students whose last name begin with the letter S, the helicopters are prepared for takeoff. Please exit the building, and have a nice day." It was at this moment where he was getting nervous, for his journey alone (to put it like that) began, and he got onto the chopper. Time had passed, and he now sat in a room where the results would be shown.

"And now, we will proceed to show the results of your entry exams," a voice on the intercom said.

With this, a screen turned on, showing a list that was divided into three colors, and each one of those colors had several different numbers. Spike looked down at his paper slip, then he looked at the screen: student #159 was shaded in red.

"Now, proceed to your respective rooms to get your blazers, and then walk to the classroom to hear the speech by our beloved Chancellor," the intercom voice said, signaling the exit of the students.

"Slifer Red, interesting..." Spike said, looking down at his white-and-red blazer.

"I must say it looks quite nice on you," Burst said.

"I agree with her on this one," Yubel added.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Mana exclaimed with joy, bringing out a laugh from the other three. The group went on their way, and reached the auditorium a few minutes later. There stood a man who was entering the third age, and he was looking at the students with a smile on his face.

"Welcome to Duel Academy, where the best students from the continent gather to study about the wonders concerning the well-known game Duel Monsters. I am Chancellor Sheppard, principal of this academy. I expect the best from all of you this year." The chancellor took a breath, and then continued.

"Once you exit this room, you will each receive a PDA, or a Personal Digital Assistant. This gadget is good for schedules, notes, and even sending text and/or voice messages to other students if you have their e-mails. Have a nice day, and I will see you on the next occasion." The screen turned off, and the students began to exit the room, receiving a PDA each and finding the location of their dorms.

"Slifer Red, let's see what you're made of," Spike said, following the directions given on the PDA until reaching the Slifer Red dorm, which looked more like a rest stop than a dorm.

"Well, this wasn't what I expected, but beggars can't be choosers." He walked over to the building, and he saw a tall, slender man with long black hair.

"Hello there, who are you?" The man asked.

"I am Spike Solaris, new student in Slifer Red."

"Pleasure to meet you, I am Professor Lyman Banner, and I am the headmaster for the Slifer Red students."

"Well, I guess I should head to my room to arrange my belongings."

"Let me get the list and I will show you to your room." The two walked to the headmaster's room and the adult grabbed a sheet, walking out of the room with Spike behind him. They reached the room that was on the far end of the second floor, and Banner opened it. The room was made for one person, and it had a simple bed, a desk and a stove with a few pots, as well as a small fridge.

"Welcome to the single life," Spike said with a laugh.

"*Laughs.* Well young one, it is a simple bedroom, not as grand as the bedrooms in the Obelisk dorms, but it is enough."

"I must agree with the last part of the statement, given the structure of the dorms, but this is much better than what I had in a past life."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll explain later." With a smile, Spike saw how the professor went to what seemed like the Slifer Red cafeteria. The protagonist entered his room, and in half an hour, Spike had his belongings arranged.

"Now that you have unpacked, you may be wondering where your Duel Disk is Spike," Yubel said.

"Well, yes."

"Here it is," Yubel said, with a smile. It was the duel disk he had received when he learned from Jaden, but the silver part was now black, and the blue part was now a red that was shaded with black, leaving the bright red arrows untouched.

"By Voorhees... I love it!" Spike exclaimed, smiling. He put it on, then he checked himself in a small mirror.

"Now that is what we call a Duel Disk," Burst said, with a smile.

"How did you even do this?" The former drake said, looking at the trio.

"Well, it took some time for us to apply the paint on the metallic part. As for the glass, we had to melt it and add gold chloride in order to give its color," Mana said, with a smile.

"Thanks, now we can consider ourselves ready to take on the campus." With this, the group walked out of the room, walking and checking out the campus. That is, until he was approached by a group of male teens with blue blazers.

"Step aside slacker, Chazz Princeton is passing by," said one of the Obelisks, who went by the name of Taiyou Torimaki.

"Yeah, Chazz Princeton is passing by," another Obelisk said, and he went by the name of Raizou Mototani. The last Obelisk was the one in the middle, and he stacked out due to his odd hairdo.

"I didn't know there were worse versions of the Dazzlings," Spike retorted.

"Hey, don't insult me you punk!" The central Obelisk said, pointing at Spike. As you would've guessed, the one who just spoke was nothing less than Chazz Princeton, youngest son of the Princeton Brothers.

"Hmm, so you must be Chazz Princeton."

"THE Chazz Princeton."

"Well SO...RRY, Great and Powerful Chazz."

Youtube Video

"That's it, I had it!" With this. Chazz walked over to Spike, fists clenched... Only to be interrupted by a female Obelisk Blue student, one who went by the name of Alexis Rhodes.

"Stop it Chazz, the welcoming dinner begins in 10 minutes and you know how Dr. Crowler is with being late," she said, stopping said student in his tracks.

"I'll deal with you later, drop-out," Chazz said, turning around and walking towards the Obelisk Dorms with his lackeys right behind him. Once Chazz was out of sight, Alexis turned to Spike.

"Just ignore him, he can be a bother at times," Alexis said, trying to ease the situation out.

"It's alright, I've met worse," Spike replied, remembering Rainbow Dash and Trixie Lulamoon.

"I see you're checking the academy out, how about I show you around later?"

"Well..." Go for it Spike! Yubel said. You heard her, say "yes"! Mana added.

"I don't see why not," Spike answered, with a smile.

"Great, I'll see you in the classroom in a couple of hours," Alexis said, turning around and heading towards her dorm.

"Well, that went better than expected," Yubel said, once Alexis was gone.

"Yeah, Spike's getting girls on his first day," Burst teased.

"You are quite lucky in love Spike," Mana said.

"Not really," Spike said, remembering his incident with Rarity as he walked back to the Slifer Red dorm. Once they reached the dorm, they proceeded to enter the cafeteria, where a small dish of rice and fish awaited each student.

"Well, compared to nothing, this is alright," he said, digging in, along with several other students. Once they finished, Professor Banner suggested that each student presented themselves and talked a bit about themselves or an anecdote they wanted to share. Several students passed, until it was Spike's turn.

"Hello, I am Spike Solaris, and I began dueling three weeks ago. As odd as it may seem, I ended up quite skilled in this game, and I am still learning. I wish to be your friend, and thank you for listening."

As Spike stood outside of the Slifer Red dorm, he looked at the stars, trying to remember the constellations. Sadly, his memory had been severed here and there due to the disease, affecting his knowledge of the stars. However, the peace would be disturbed with a mad Chazz Princeton who was followed by his lackeys.

"I, the Chazz Princeton, challenge you to an ante duel! Loser gives up his rarest card."

"Listen Chazz, we don't have to do this. We're in front of the dorm, and from what I know those kind of duels are forbidden," Spike replied.

"What's wrong slacker, scared of losing your rarest card?"

"No, I am afraid of doing something I will regret, which is not only losing this card that has a higher sentimental than monetary value."

"Where did you get that ridiculous crap from?"

"A friend of mine told me a little something, it was of an archer who had been yelled at by his leader. The leader then asked why he did it, and the archer who went by the name of Kung Jin said 'Because not all thieves are irredeemable'. Jin's mind went back to the following..."

Sky Temple

Five years before Shinnok's return

Kung Jin entered the altar room where images of the greatest warriors stood. The two main warriors were nothing less than Liu Kang and Kung Lao, who were under the spell of the warlock known as Quan Chi. The young Kung Jin grabbed a jade statue and proceeded to run out of the room, and as he was leaving the Sky Temple, a man in white clothes proceeded to say:

"It has more sentimental than monetary value... nevertheless I'd rather you not steal it," the man, who was known as the Thunder God Raiden, said.

"You know what I mean?" Spike asked.

"Yeah... that is why I will enjoy taking your card away from you!" Chazz exclaimed.

"Not if I can stop it," a calm Alexis said, waking into view.

"What are you doing here?"

"I knew you were going to do this, since I remembered how you got your 'Infernal Incinerator'."

"I won fair and square."

"You bullied a Slifer Red, just as you did earlier."

"This is my duel, not yours Alexis."

"It is now mine," Alexis said, preparing her Duel Disk.

"Alexis, please don't," Spike said, with a worried look.

"I must do this, after all I still owe you that tour."

"I'll have even more fun taking you down than wiping the floor with the drop-out," Chazz said, arrogance in his voice as he prepared his Duel Disk.

"DUEL!!!"

Alexis

"Ladies first, and I'll summon Harvest Angel of Wisdom, in Attack Mode (1800 ATK)! I'll end my turn."

Chazz

"Let's clean the field. I'll activate Lightning Vortex! I discard a card, and all of your face-up monsters are destroyed!" Chazz said, as the angel was destroyed. Now I'll summon Pandemonium Watchbear in Attack Mode (1300 ATK)! Go Pandemonium Watchbear, attack directly with 'Fiendish Bite'!" The bear charged at the opponent, and attacked.

"Ngh!" Alexis grunted, as part her Life Points dropped a bit.

"Your turn, Alexis."

Chazz: 4000 – Alexis: 2700

Alexis

"I'll summon Senju of the Ten Thousand Hands in Attack Mode (1400 ATK)! Whenever I Normal or Flip-Summon this monster, I can add a Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand, and I choose my Cyber Angel Benten! Go Senju, attack that Watchbear with 'Thousand Strike'! I'll end my turn with a face-down."

Chazz: 3900 – Alexis: 2700

Chazz

"I play a Spell Card, Monster Reborn! I'll Special Summon your Harvest Angel of Wisdom to use it as a tribute for my monster Helpoemer (2000 ATK)! Helpoemer, attack Senju of the Ten Thousand Hands with 'Hellish Screech'!"

"Ngh!" Was all that was heard from Alexis from the damage.

"Funny to see how I easily beat you, after I win I'll keep your rarest card Alexis."

Chazz: 3900 – Alexis: 2100

Alexis

"I'll summon Etoile Cyber in Defense Mode (1600 DEF), and I'll end my turn."

Chazz

"I might as well secure this victory. I'll use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy that set card you have there. Next, I'll summon Armageddon Knight, in Attack Mode (1400 ATK)! When this card is summoned, I can send a DARK monster from my Deck to my Graveyard, which'll be my Mystic Tomato. Helpoemer, attack that ballerina with 'Hellish Screech'. Armaggedon Knight, attack her with 'Armageddon Strike'!

"Ah!" That was the only sound Alexis could emit while she fell a bit.

"One more turn Alexis, and I'll defeat you!" Chazz said, with a laugh.

Chazz: 3900 – Alexis: 700

Alexis

"I'll end my turn by summoning-" However, she never ended her turn.

"Hey, who's out there?!" A semi-asleep Banner asked.

"I'll duel you later, drop-out," Chazz said.

"That was unexpected," Spike said, seeing how Chazz ran away from the Slifer Red dorm.

"Yeah, I never expected Banner coming out," Alexis replied.

"Well children, I heard the commotion, so I obviously had to come out and find out the source," Banner said with a smile, as he carried Pharaoh in his arms. In response, the cat merely meowed.

"Sorry for that Professor Banner," Alexis said.

"It is alright, you did what you thought was right, as for Chazz I feel as if something is disturbing him. Now, I heard that you were going to give Spike a tour, so you should go show him the academy."

"Um, Professor Banner, isn't it too late to go around the campus?" Spike asked.

"Yes, you might get expelled, but I'll help you two out. Take Pharaoh for a walk. If they ask, just say 'Banner sent us to take Pharaoh for a walk. The guards will not disturb you, given the fact that it is a task that only I would assign." Pharaoh was immediately handed to Spike, and the Dragon-blood carried the feline.

"Thank you very much Professor Banner."

"Your welcome Spike, now don't be out so late you two, tomorrow you begin your first day of school," the headmaster said, entering his room.

"Shall we begin that tour?" Spike asked, turning towards Alexis.

"With pleasure," she replied, with a smile. With this, the two proceeded to begin the tour that would end with several laughs, a good time, and Spike asking himself if he had found somebody special, but that's for later.

Saving Private Huffington

A week had passed, and Spike was getting used to the classes. However, as he was eating breakfast one day in his room, he was interrupted by a slightly obese lady of brown hair.

"Hello, you must be Spike," she said.

"Yeah, who are you?" The Dragon-blood asked.

"I am Dorothy, and I am in charge of the card shop and the meals for the Obelisks," Dorothy replied.

"It's nice to meet you Dorothy. Tell me, why are you here?"

"I needed a work hand, and I found out about your situation. Work for me, and Your salary will consist on covering your studies and your necessities such as food and hygienic products. And, as commission you will receive some extra, yet rare cards for the extra you gain working at the shop and at the cafeteria. What do you say, Spike?"

"Well, it is tempting, and I could really use it, all I need is to learn a bit more about gastronomy."

"Good, you'll begin tomorrow since it's Monday. You'll get the Card Shop on Sunday while you help me in the cafeteria from Monday through Saturday."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow Dorothy."

"*Giggles.* You better bring your skills along, the Obelisks hate a bad cook!" She said, with a smile as she left.

The Next Day...

"Get up Spike, it's time to help Dorothy!" Mana said.

"Five more minutes..." the sleepy drake replied.

"Spike, get up right now or else I'll incinerate you," Burst added.

"Alright alright, just because I ended up a Slifer since they ran out of slots in Ra doesn't give you the right to burn me alive," Spike said, getting up and getting his clothes to take a shower. After a fresh shower at 5:00 A.M, he was on his way to the cafeteria, where the ovens were blazing, and a smiling Dorothy was seen.

"Good morning Spike!" She greeted.

"Good morning Dorothy," said drake replied.

"Today we're going to prepare an array of meals, however I'll begin by teaching you how to prepare French Toast."

"Heh, ok." And with this, the day began, meals were prepared, students were satisfied and our protagonist learned how to prepare several meals he knew, but adapted to this world.

"Good work Spike. It is 7:30 A.M, so you should go and get ready for school."

"Thanks for the job Dorothy."

"Your welcome Spike, you will receive your commission every Sunday after your 8-hour shift at the shop."

"Thanks for that as well."

"Now get going, we don't want you late!" She said, as he left. Almost half an hour later, Spike was seated at his place, awaiting Crowler's lesson. Now, Vellian wasn't pleased upon losing against an entry student who ended up in Slifer Red, but Banner encouraged him to treat him nicely, given that Spike was originally Ra material that could end up in Obelisk Blue. Convinced at this, and with an excellent idea sparking in his head, Crowler accepted without thinking twice.

"Good morning class, let's begin with our lesson on the proper use of Field Spells. There are many Field Spells that will either help you, or affect you. Now Syrus Truesdale, would you like to explain how the Field Spell 'A Legendary Ocean' can be useful?" Crowler said.

"Well, uh... it can be used to, uh... I don't know!" Said student, younger brother of the well-known Zane Truesdale said.

"That's why they don't ask the drop-outs, Slifers!" An anonymous Obelisk said, bringing several laughs. But Spike had it with these kind of people, those who humiliated the ones that were considered inferior.

"I've had it, the color of your blazer does not give you the right to humiliate the others, Obelisk!" Spike yelled, looking at the crowd of Obelisks.

"Oh come on, you're down there!" The Obelisk student, who went by the name of Joseph said.

"Shut it Goliath, I might be your David. We are all capable of big things, we just need to know what exactly we're good at. I'm quite good at dueling, and if you want to make fun of the Slifers, then you'll have to get through me first," Spike said, preparing his Duel Disk.

"Stupid Slifer, what deck do you use?" Joe asked, as he stood up.

"Red-Eyes," Spike said, smirking at the Obelisk's reaction.

"Well then, I think we should continue the class," Joseph said, frowning and taking a seat.

"Alright students, anyone else that wishes to explain how the mentioned Field Spell can prove to be of good use?

"We'll kick that Slifer Red out of the Academy, but how will we do it?" Chazz asked, slight rage in his voice.

"How about they catch him breaking the rules?" Taiyou asked.

"Yeah, like entering the Girls' Dorm or something," Raizou suggested.

"Hmm... it's the first time you two give me a great idea! Alright, we need to give Spike a reason to go there at night," Chazz said.

"How about a letter by Alexis?" Taiyou asked.

"No, that seems too cliché. I need something more convincing..."

"How about another Slifer being stuck in the dorm?"

"Now that's good, well done Taiyou!" And with this, the scheme began...

Nightfall

"Well, today was quite a long day, don't you think so girls?" Spike asked, in his bedroom.

"Yes indeed," Yubel said.

"I couldn't agree more," Burst added.

"I just need to get my supplies ordered and prepare dinner in order to end the-" *Ring!* Spike was interrupted by his PDA, which had received a voice message.

"Hello slacker, we have another drop-out at the Obelisk Girls' Dorm. Swing by in 10 minutes, or else he bites the dust," a distorted voice said. Spike quickly ran to Professor Banner's room, and once he saw the headmaster, he played the recording, which led to the older man saying:

"Go and get him before time runs out Spike, you'll get a reward for all that trouble."

"Yes sir, I'll make sure he'll come back," the Dragon-blood said, as he ran out of the room and headed for the Obelisk Girls' dorm. After a few minutes, he reached the edge of the Girls' dorm. Right in front of the dorm, he saw a slightly obese Slifer student who went by the name of Chumley Huffington. He was sitting on the ground, and he had a notebook in his lap, while he was drawing.

"Hey, Banner told me to find a Slifer student, you've got to go back to the dorm," Spike said.

"Wait, let me finish this," Chumley replied, as he applied the final touches to his drawing, which was a lake surrounded by several trees.

"Nice drawing you've got there, let's head back to the dorm before-"

"Hey, there are boys here!" A random Obelisk girl yelled.

"...they find us," Spike finished, weakly. "Get running, I'll make a distraction."

"But they'll catch you!" The other Slifer student replied.

"I'll be alright, after all, someody special trained me," Spike said, as his mind drifted off to a memory that was in the back of his mind...

Ponyville, Equestria

Four Years Ago

It had been nearly a year since Twilight had left to Canterlot to learn how to properly become a princess. The other Elements were finding their paths in life, but Spike was tied to Friendship Castle. As he was cleaning, he saw a figure pass by right in front of the window. Said figure was of a brown Gryphon with its head feathers white, and the white feathers had purple highlights: It was Gilda.

"Hey Gilda," Spike said, as the figure came to a halt.

"Sup dweeb?" Gilda said, with her usual manners.

"How's stuff lately?"

"A bit better, we've barely rebuilt the village."

"That's good to know. By the way, could you give me flight lessons?"

"What, you don't know how to fly?" Gilda asked, with a laugh.

"Well, not really. I'm not good at much in life."

"Come on dweeb, let's get going." And with this began Spike's training, which would end about a month later. He was then taught parkour for six months, only for Gilda to die unexpectedly.

As Spike ran through the woods, he began to remember those small, yet enjoyable moments he experienced in life, only for them to turn into the moments where he had to work uncountable hours for Twilight. However, his thoughts were interrupted with an impact to the head that would leave him unconscious for a while.

Several minutes later...

"Ugh, where am I?" Spike asked, as he gained consciousness.

"In the Obelisk Girls' dorm, Slifer," an anonymous Obelisk said.

"Well, that brings peace to my mind."

"Until you know the consequences," the leader, who was Alexis, said.

"Name them."

"You can get expelled."

"I saved a colleague that was just drawing the lake, and he was outside of your dorm, not in."

"It doesn't matter, in fact-"

"Alexis Rhodes, youngest member of the prestigious Rhodes family, I respect you greatly, and the night we shared walking around the academy was one I enjoyed greatly. Now, under this world's law, I claim the right of defense by dueling, to absolve my colleague and I from all accusations. Should I lose, then I will be expelled, not him. Also, denying the request brings dishonor upon the accuser. " Suprisingly, Fonda Fontaine walked out.

"Hmm, a duel for innocence... it is quite interesting, I am up for it. Alexis, would you do the honors?" The school nurse asked, looking at the mentioned Obelisk student.

"It'll be a pleasure, Headmaster Fontaine," Alexis replied, looking at Fonda to then look at Spike.

"How about you begin? After all, you're a woman, and as the phrase goes, 'ladies first'," Spike suggested.

"I accept." The Duel Disks were activated, and the battle cry was heard:

"DUEL!"

Alexis

"I'll set two cards face-down, and I'll summon Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, in Attack Mode (1100 ATK)! I'll end my turn."

Spike

"Let's dance. I'll summon Red-Eyes B. Chick in ATK Mode (800 ATK) and I'll activate it's effect: by tributing it, I can Special Summon a Red-Eyed B. Dragon!" As cued, the well-known black dragon came out, showing the power of 2400 Attack Points. "Now Red-Eyes, attack with-"

"I play a trap: Hallowed Life Barrier! By discarding a card, all damage I take becomes 0," Alexis countered.

"Well, no point in attacking, I'll end my turn with a face-down."

Alexis

"I'll end my turn by switcing my Warrior to Defense Mode (1200 DEF) and summoning Cyber Skater in Defense Mode (1500 DEF).

Spike

"Alright, I'll summon Troop Dragon in Defense Mode (800 DEF). Red-Eyes, attack with Inferno Fire Blast!" The dragon charged its attack and fired, until...

"I play a Trap Card, Magic Cylinder. This card makes your attack a direct attack to your life points instead!" Alexis said, as Spike took the impact.

"Ngh! *Sigh.* I'll end my turn."

Spike: 1600 - Alexis: 4000

Alexis

"I'll end my turn."

"Really?" Spike asked.

"Yes."

"M'kay."

Spike

"I'll summon another Troop Dragon in Defense Mode. Now Red-Eyes, attack that Skater with Inferno Fire Blast!" For once in the duel, said dragon attacked, and its attack wasn't prevented as it engulfed Cyber Skater in flames. "I'll set a face-down to end my turn."

Alexis

"I'll summon Etoile Cyber in Defense Mode (1600 DEF), and I'll end my turn."

Spike

"I'll play a Trap: 'Call of The Haunted'! I can Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard in Attack Mode, and I'll choose my Red-Eyes B. Chick (800 ATK). I'll tribute it to Special Summon a second Red-Eyes B. Dragon in Attack Mode (2400 ATK) from my hand! I'll destroy your Warrior Lady of the Wasteland with my first Red-Eyes!" As the Warrior was destroyed, Alexis spoke:

"Since you destroyed her, I can activate her effect: when she is destroyed, I can Special Summon an Earth Warrior-Type monster that has 1500 ATK or less in Attack Mode, and I choose my Cyber Gymnast (800 ATK)!"

"Red-Eyes number 2, destroy that gymnast with Inferno Fire Blast!" On cue, the second dragon engulfed the Gymnast in flames along with Alexis.

"Agh!"

"I'll set a card and end my turn."

Spike: 1600 - Alexis: 2400

Alexis

"My move. I'll activate Polymerization to fuse a Cyber Skader from my hand and my Etoile Cyber to summon... Cyber Blader, in Attack Mode (2100 ATK)!!!" With this, a whirlwind spawned, and from it emerged a woman with long blue hair and a spandex suit of red that covered several parts of her body. I'll equip Fusion Sword Murasame Blade to her (2100 + 1500 = 3600 ATK), and this blade cannot be destroyed by card effects. Cyber Blader, attack the left Red-Eyes with Fusion Blade Strike!" In one swift movement, the dragon split into two, then shattered into an unknown amount of pieces.

"Red-Eyes 1, aaaaaaaand it's gone," Spike said.

"I'll end my turn."

Spike: 200 - Alexis: 2400

Spike

Alright, time for a recap: I've got three monsters, the negating of my face-up cards' effects is courtesy of Blader since there are three monsters on my side of the field. Let's see if it works... "Alright, I'll sacrifice both of my Troop Dragons in order to summon Red-Eyes B. Dragon in Attack Mode (2400)."

"That is ridiculous, because now my Blader's Attack Points are 7200."

"Unless I activate Book of Moon to flip your Cyber Blader face-down."

It had to be Book of Moon, Alexis thought.

"Red-Eyes 1, attack that Set monster!" The dragon charged at the Set card and destroyed it.

"Red-Eyes 2, finish Alexis off with Inferno Fire Blast!" The second Red-Eyes breathed deeply, and engulfed Alexis in flames, ending her Life Points.

"That was fun and a bit scary," Spike said, wiping his brow after the duel ended.

"You won Spike, so you can leave as promised," Fonda Fontaine said with a smile, for she had enjoyed the duel. As Spike walked out of the dorm, he began thinking of the wonders of the past few weeks. Tragedy was the cost of obtaining happiness, he thought. As he was in the forest, he received a message on his PDA:

Even if I would've won, I wouldn't have told on you.

- Love, Alexis

Upon reading this, he smiled and blushed a bit, for he had made a true friend, one that wouldn't betray him. He knew that she could be someone he could trust in due time. He would've continued thinking about the advantages of this true friend, if he wasn't knocked out by three mysterious figures, only to be thrown into a nearby well that was empty.

Aftermath of Honesty/The Dragon Rises:Menace of the Giant

Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, Equestria

One week after Spike's death

Things weren't so well for Applejack lately. The days were longer, and the village had been quieter. As she slept, she tossed and turned in her sleep, for she could not find peace within her slumber...

Dreamscape

It was another day, but something was wrong: the house was quiet, because she didn't hear any noise coming from Applebloom's room. Big Mac had moved out a couple years ago, and Granny Smith had died just a year before his move. She got out of her room and opened Bloom's door, only for her to not be there: instead, stood a skeleton that assimilated Spike, but it was on fire, green flames to be precise. He also wore a black cloak that had several holes on the edges.

"Hello Applejack," the corpse said, with a distorted voice.

"Spike, is that you?" The farm pony asked, wondering how he was alive.

"It was, but my soul collapsed time ago. Y'see, I only have my memories, as well as a vision spell of sorts. Now let me show you how things would've been without me, AJ," he said, as the two warped to the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. Applejack and her friends had been galloping, for it was their first encounter with Timberwolves.

"Go to the farm, I've got them!" The vision Applejack yelled, as Twilight and the others disappeared from sight, only for the vision to be paused.

"Oh, stubborn little Applejack, wanting to play brave and strong," Spike said, nodding his head.

"I would've been able to handle that problem by myself Spike!" she exclaimed.

"Removing my name, you said the exact same shit with different words with the Applebucking Season incident," Spike said, before continuing. "Now this, is my favorite part," he finished, as he smiled demonically. He saw how vision Applejack tried to fight them off, until... a blood splatter adorned the trees around her, as well as the ground.

"I-I-I-"

"It gets even better," he said, as the scene turned into a funeral, where the other Elements of Harmony, as well as the Apple Family surrounded her coffin. Apple Bloom cried as Braeburn spoke:

"We lost Applejack just as we lost her parents, and it is sad knowing that being stubborn brought her her own fate: death in a lost battle against Timberwolves. Let's hope Apple Bloom ain't as stubborn cousin Applejack was," and with that, the coffin opened up, and it started to suck up everything around me.

"Spike, help me!" Applejack yelled, holding on to Spike's cloak.

"There was a character who I recalled was known as Rorschach, in the comic Watchmen. He saw how the city truly was, but I'll adapt it just for you: in the middle of disaster, both ponies and dragons, will look up to me expecting me to help them. They treated me like shit when I wanted to help them, so I'll just look down at them and whisper 'no'," and with that, he grabbed Applejacks front legs and pulled her off of him, only to throw her towards the coffin, seeing how she was absorbed by the coffin.

In the pitch black of the new scenery, Spike simply laughed like a hell-born creature and-

Applejack woke up, looking around. She quickly went to go check on her sister, finding out that the former Crusader was fast asleep. She needed help, and her mind went to one place: Friendship Castle.

Unknown location, Academy Island, Japan

"Spike Solaris, If you're seriously considering going back out there, you should hear the rumors surrounding the Dragon-blood."

"You say it as if I were my own worst enemy," Spike said, as he sat on a rock. Things hadn't been so well for the Dragon-blood, for he had regained consciousness a few hours ago, on nightfall, to be precise. Also, he had several cuts and bruises on his body, and his clothes had several rips in it.

"Well, I'm saying it as if you were an average Obelisk Blue my friend," a giant charcoal creature, known as the Charcoal Inpachi said.

"Anyways, why didn't you let me get out of here earlier?"

"When you calmed down, it was already past sundown, and you could've blacked out again from a fall, given our location."

"Well, that does make sense. Anyways, how long was I out?"

"Five days and thirty-three minutes to be precise."

"What?! The exam is the day after tomorrow!"

"And to make matters worse, they took your deck," the Inpachi said, looking at the deck pocket on Spike's belt.

"Damn it, no deck and no necklace," Spike said, looking at his chest.

"Yubel talked to us a few days ago, and we caught up with each other. She got concerned of the uprising rivalry, and she made an emergency plan for each possible scenario." With that, the Inpachi motioned a pink-haired fairy with a nurse outfit and a giant syringe to get close to Spike, only to put the syringe aside and give him a few cards.

"Lily has been holding the cards for a couple weeks, and now that you have no deck, you'll need them." The Inpachi said, which made Lily give the dragon-blood a piece of paper.

"On that paper are several cards you must get in order to complete the deck. Mana and Burstinatrix have several necessary Spells and Traps. We couldn't get our hands on the rarest cards, so you'll have to go to the card shop," Charcoal said, putting a smile on his burnt face.

"Thank you *yawn.*. I think I'll hit the hay, goodnight everybody," Spike said.

"Goodnight Spike," several unknown voices said.

The next day...

"Before you leave Spike, something of the 'Dark Knight Rises' can be put to practice: 'There is a prison in a more ancient part of the world, a pit where men are thrown to suffer and die. But sometimes a man rises from the darkness. Sometimes the pit sends something back.'" The burnt-out Inpachi said.

"Thanks Charc, I'll take it with me,"Spike said, as he looked up at the rock wall.

"Good luck out there, and tell Yubel that we said 'hi'."

"Now go and defeat the Obelisks that threw you down here."

"Wait, how did you know that Obelisks threw me down here?"

"When you were about to be thrown in, we saw three kids about your age, and with luck, we found out that they wore blue blazers."

"Well, that makes sense, I'll tell her you guys said 'hi'." And with that, he ran, leaping and grabbing onto a couple rocks. A shout of joy was heard from the other Duel Spirits that resided in the well, and the protagonist rose from the "pit". Once outside, he cracked his neck and ran, headed for the card shop. It was Sunday, and the exam was tomorrow.

"Spike, what happened to you?!" A slightly frightened Dorothy asked.

"Somebody pushed me into a well in the middle of the forest, and I was there for about five days," Spike said, in an annoyed tone.

"Well then, go and make yourself presentable, you'll be working here to repay the days you couldn't aid us," Dorothy said, slowly smiling.

30 minutes and a set of clean clothes later...

"Spike, we heard that Yubel was stolen," Mana said, sadly.

"Also, we were informed that somebody stole your deck. Here, Yubel wanted you to use these cards in case that happened," Burst said, handing him several Spells and Traps.

"Thanks, I'll get her back. Now if you'll excuse me, we need to get the cards necessary to complete the deck," he said, cracking his neck and walking out of his room. Once he returned to the card shop, he began working, until 4:00 P.M. arrived.

"Spike, you've worked hard enough to make up for the days you weren't here. I know that tomorrow is your exam, so I want you to have these cards," he said, handing him several extremely rare cards.

"Dorothy, I have a better idea. You see, there are a few cards I needed, and I was wondering if you had them..."

The next day...

Spike's POV

It was exam day, the process was pretty simple: walk in, do the written exam, walk out. Then the other exam came in: enter the stadium and take a seat until you were called out, then you were assigned an opponent to duel with. Task? Win the duel, nothing difficult.

"Spike Solaris, please proceed to Duel Field 2," a man on the intercom said. I saw my opponent from a distance, and it was nothing less than Chazz Princeton. Yeah, what a coincidence. To top it off, the other duels had ended, and he was the only person on the field. I wore the same blazer, shirt and jeans I had when I was thrown down the well, but I washed them yesterday.

With a smile, I slid the hockey mask on, happy that nobody noticed me. That is, until I stepped onto the field.

"I thought you wouldn't make it," the damn Obelisk said, with a smile on his face. I did the following, which was remove the mask and crack my neck.

"Also, I got a little gift," he said, as he took out a necklace. Yes, nobody would get mad at that, but things got personal when I saw what was on the string: the Yubel card I owned.

"Spike!" Yubel yelled, worried that she was bound to Chazz.

"Yubel!" I yelled mentally, for certain people could communicate with duel spirits as if they were telepaths, I being one of those chosen people. Now, I know who gave me a free trip to meet Little Timmy. Oh, that blue-coated bastard was now going to know what happened to those who messed with the dragon-bloods.

"Come on Chazz, I owe one to Alexis, and I will sure as hell get Yubel back!" I yelled, preparing my new Duel Disk. It was one of the standard Academy duel disks, but the metallic parts were black while the glass tiles were burgundy, black arrows on the squares.

"Let me teach you something about messing with Obelisks," he answered, preparing his Duel Disk.

Spike

"I'll go first. To begin the battle, I'll discard a Level 5 or higher, in this case, a Level 8 DARK monster to Special Summon... 'Dark Grepher', in Attack Mode (1700 ATK)! Then, I'll summon 'Phantom Skyblaster' in Defense Mode (800 DEF). When it is Normal or Flip Summoned, I can Special Summon 'Skyblaster Tokens' Equal to the amount of monsters I control, which means two tokens are coming up!"

Yeah, as mentioned, two tokens appeared in Defense Mode (500 DEF), and the Dark Grepher smirked evilly (and I thought he already was, but apparently he wasn't). I finished off with a face-down (Raigeki Break) and ended my turn. (One monster in the graveyard, three cards in the hand).

"I'll end my turn by activating my Grepher's effect: by discarding 1 DARK monster, I can send 1 DARK monster from my Deck to the Graveyard," I said, sending a special card to join the skeletons.

Chazz

"I'll start off by activating 'Magical Mallet'. You see, I can select how many cards in my hand I add to my deck, shuffle it and then add an equal amount of cards to my hand, and I'll return four cards, only to draw four!" He said, unless there were possibilities of him drawing five cards or more, but-

"Next, I'll activate Pot of Greed! I'll draw two cards, and I'll summon V-Tiger Jet in Defense Mode (1800 DEF). I'll end my turn with two face-downs and activating 'Foolish Burial'. You see Slifer slacker, I can send a monster card from my Deck to my Graveyard, and I choose my W-Wing Catalult, that'll do for now."

Well, it was my turn to step up to the plate, although I wasn`t much of a baseball fan. Anyways, let's proceed to my second turn.

Spike

"I'll activate my Phantom Skyblaster's effect: I can inflict damage to your Life Points equal to the amount of 'Skyblaster' monsters I control x300," I said, as he took three blasts, leaving him with 3100 Life Points.

"The only bad thing is that I cannot attack this turn, so it's your turn."

Chazz

"I'll activate Card Destruction! We each discard our hand, then we draw cards equal to the amount of cards we had in our hand." And with that, I discarded my hand, sending several monsters to my Graveyard, and now I had two cards in my hand.

"Then, I'll play my face-down Spell Card, 'Soul Release'! I can remove from play up to five monsters/cards from any graveyard, and I choose 'X-Head Cannon', 'Y-Dragon Head' and 'Z-Metal Tank'!" Something's going on, I can feel it.

"I'll also activate a Spell Card, The Shallow Grave! We each choose a monster from our Graveyards and summon it to the field face-down, and I choose my W-Wing Catapult! Now, I will end my turn with two face-downs (Shadow Spell and Return from The Different Dimension.)"

He said, as I chose my Armageddon Knight. Now I had five monsters on the field, and five in the Graveyard. To top it off, it was my turn.

Spike

"I'll end my turn by activating my Skyblaster's effects and flipping my Armaggedon Knight into Attack Mode (1400 ATK). Also, I'll send a DARK monster from my Deck to the Graveyard, and put a face-down on the field," I said, sending another monster to the Graveyard.

Spike: 4000 - Chazz: 2200

Chazz

"I'll play a Trap Card, 'Return from the Different Dimension'! By paying half my Life Points, I can return as many removed from play monsters as I can to the field, but they'll be removed from play during the End Phase. However, I will remove from play 'X-Head Cannon', 'Y-Dragon Head' and my 'Z-Metal Tank' to Special Summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon, in Attack Mode (2800 ATK)!" Yeah, three turned into one, some spooky Zoid stuff.

"Then, I'll flip my W-Wing to Attack Mode (1300 ATK), and remove from play both Tiger and Wing to Special Summon my 'VW-Tiger Catapult', in Attack Mode (2000 ATK)!" Two Gobots... great.

"But wait, there is one more friend I'd like you to meet. I'll remove both my 'XYZ-Dragon Cannon' and my 'VW-Tiger Catapult', to bring out... the VWXYZ-Catapult Cannon, in Attack Mode (3000 ATK)!!!" Yeah, now there was a Gundam robot crossed with Optimus Prime and a Power Ranger robot.

"I'll activate its first effect: I can remove from play one card you control, and I choose that Dark Grepher of yours!" Once mentioned, my DARK Warrior-type vanished, off to a place beyond the grave, and he continued. "Now, I'll attack your token!"

"Wait, I'll take no damage," I said, wondering what would happen.

"That's why I'll activate my Catapult Cannon's second effect: I can change the position of the target when VWXYZ attacks, switching your token to Attack Mode (500 ATK)!" Here we go...

"Ngh!" That was all I could emit, given the impact I received due to the difference.

Spike: 1500 - Chazz: 2200

Spike

"Let's dance..." I said, drawing a card, and smiling.

"I'll tribute my token and my Skyblaster in order to summon... Yubel!" I smiled as she warped in. She smiled at me, and Chazz got mad.

"Now, I'll activate 'Raigeki Break': by discarding a card, I can destroy one card on the field, and I choose Yubel, only to bring out 'Yubel - Terror Incarnate'!" Now kids, things got really spooky, because she smiled evilly as she turned into a two-headed dragon, something that is quite frightening.

"Let me continue: I'll activate 'Compulsory Evacuation Device', which'll let me return a monster to the hand. and I choose my 'Terror Incarnate'." WARNING: The following beast may be disturbing for immature audiences. Viewer discretion is advised, because she was now a three-headed dragon that was very frightening.

"Let's end this quick: I'll attack your robot!" I said.

"That is stupid, my robot has more ATK than your dragon!" Chazz said, and I smiled.

"Well, I take no damage from battles involving her, and if she attacks, you take damage equal to your monster's ATK!"

"What? No!!!" He yelled, as I smiled, seeing how his Life Points went to 0.

"Congratulations Spike, you are now a Ra Yellow!" the intercom person said, while I looked around, seeing how the crowd cheered. It was another phase in my life as an Academy student, and I was ready for it.

"You'll know what happens when you mess with me, Slacker!" Chazz yelled, as he grabbed my original Yubel card and prepared himself to rip it in half. But... it didn't happen, and the card's frame glowed a bright yellow.

"Nobody messes with my cards," I said, smiling as he growled and gave her back to me. Why? Well, Crowler and a couple guards were looking at him. All was well, and I was ready for whatever came next.

Aftermath of Generosity/ Night of the Archfiends

Carrousel Boutique, Ponyville, Equestria

One week after Spike's death

Rarity POV

The death of my Spikey-Wikey was quite horrifying. I remember the days he would help me as if they all happened yesterday. That was five to ten years ago, until I moved to Manehatten to expand my business. Coco Pommel had become my associate, and we became the sensation of Equestria in the world of fashion. Dreams are wonderful when they focus on your achievements and goals. This however, was a nightmare. I was in a cafe, and on the small stage stood Spike with a guitar on his lap. He began playing, and the song was one of sorrow.

Youtube Video

While he played, I saw the many dates I had formed part of, only for said dates to fail. Let it be the stallion's appearance, his attitude, or simply how he thought, there was something wrong with all of them. I now ask myself, Why didn't I give Spikey-Wikey a chance? He had been there for me when I most needed it. He even tried to face the Diamond Dogs, only for his efforts to be in vain. This cost me dearly, for I lost the only person who truly loved me. I have to fix this, and I hope Twilight has a solution.

Yubel's POV

Things went swell in the other dimension, you can see this as a story of a man who went to 'Nam in '71 or Japan in WW2. We all learned a few things, and justice was done. Some were satisfied, others filled with guilt. We managed to help that world's version of Spike, and we were back at the Academy. Something tells me that the war isn't over yet, and we've barely spent a month on campus...

3rd POV

"We need to prepare Spike to be our star student," Crowler said, as he drank a cup of coffee. It was a calm Saturday morning, and sitting across of him stood Professor Banner.

"Indeed, Zane Truesdale will leave next year, leaving us without a student to represent us. Chazz does not have potential, and Alexis was defeated by Spike. From what I heard, Spike didn't play Duel Monsters until a few weeks before the Admission Exam," Professor Banner said.

"It is time a Slifer student rose, despite said student now being a Ra Yellow. After all, I was also a Ra Student, until I put more effort into my studies and achieved my greatest goal in life: my doctorate."

"Very well then, the question is the following: who should we bring to test his skills?"

"I know just the man..." Crowler said, getting his cellphone and dialing a number.

"Crowler, how may I help you?" The voice on the phone asked.

"There is somebody I want you to take care of..." Crowler said, smiling.

Spike's POV

"Well that was a fun ride," I said as I got out of the portal. I had been in an Equestria that wasn't mine, and I had learned a few things such as a reinforcement on my ethics, and the wonders of selflessness when helping my other self, hehe.

"Yeah, we should do that again!" Mana added, hopping out of the portal.

"Things always seem to go the same, me against the world, and me the winner," Burst said, smirking as she played with a ball of fire in her hands as she got out of the portal.

"I took out the guards, Hot-head," Yubel said, laughing as she saw Burst glare at her. Once Yubel got out of the portal, the gateway to another world sealed itself, vanishing.

"Anyways girls, I learned that-"

"There you are Spike, I've been looking for you!" Fonda said, walking towards me. Which reminds me of...

"Oh, hey Fonda! I'll get to massaging the other three girls right now!" I said, running into the Obelisk Girls' Dorm. The massages were pretty quick, and in two hours I was out of the dorm. I began walking to my dorm with my three female friends until I got a message:

Meet me in front of the Abandoned Dorm.

- Love, Alexis

"That's strange, I haven't heard of this dorm," I said, stopping in front of the Ra Yellow dorm. "I think we should pay Professor Banner a visit." I know I was now a Ra student, but the Slifers were a part of me: I began there, and I rose from there. I got to the Slifer dorm a few minutes later, and I knocked on Banner's door, said door being opened a few seconds later.

"Oh hello Spike! What brings you here today?" Banner asked me.

"Nothing really, although something is bothering me: where is the Abandoned Dorm?" I asked.

"Oh, do come in." I went in, and he closed the door behind me. He motioned me to sit at the table, and I got on my knees. He joined after a few moments later, and he began talking.

"The Abandoned Dorm is in the middle of the forest," he told me, opening a chest with a map of the school. "It is here to be precise," he finished, pointing at a red circle.

"Thanks Professor, I'll drop by in a while," and with that, I walked out of the room.

Spike has taken the bait, Banner texted through his PDA.

Let the game begin..., a stranger texted back.

Alexis POV

It was another calm night in the forest, and I was at the Abandoned Dorm. I needed answers to the disappearance of my brother, and I've been searching for answers since I heard about the accident. Shadow games are the main issue, but now I had a another problem.

"Hello child," a man told me. This man was dressed in black, and he had a Duel Disk that was similar to Crowler's. The last I remembered was that he got a gold pyramid out, and I blacked out.

Spike's POV

I was out for a while, I don't even remember how I was knocked out. Of course, you can expect the worst of a situation like this, and it was the fact that I was tied to a pillar. There was an odd fog, and the only thing missing was the eerie carnival music for it to be a house of horrors.

"I'm not into bondage..." I said, sighing. "Much less if the scenario is going to be another ridiculous Friday the 13th sequel..."

"Are you going to begin with your puns and references?" Burst asked.

"No, I just want to go back to the dorm," I answered, looking around. My surprise was that a man dressed in black was dragging Alexis into the room, which was big enough to hold a duel. Guess the legends are real: Shadow Games WERE held here.

"Hello child, you may be wondering who I am, and why you're here," the man said.

"Yeah, I could really go back to my dorm now," I answered, looking at him.

"I am Titan, and you will be the sacrifice of a Shadow Game," he said, smirking evilly.

"First the terminal disease now a Shadow Game... What's next, crossing the Burning Abyss?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but your girlfriend here is going to duel for you, and if you both lose, you're going to the Shadow Realm..." He said, ending with a laugh. As if on cue, Alexis woke up.

"Well, tempting as it is to be with her, it isn't a good time, y'know, rushed relationships and all..."

Alexis POV

I was out for quite a while, and everything was black. That is, until the memories came back... they were mostly of me and Atticus with me. We were the best of friends, despite our brother-sister relationship. But, things got ugly, and then I saw myself when I found out he disappeared, when I was taken to the psychologist's office to get over his disappearance (although I didn't get over it completely), and how I would spend nights awake, wondering where he was. That led me to investigating in the Abandoned Dorm. I needed answers, and I knew this was the place.

After a while, I woke up in a duel field of sorts. There was fog, and that odd man who knocked me out. Spike was tied to a pillar.

"Spike, what are we doing here?!" I asked.

"Well Alexis, this man known as Titan found it cool to make us a part of a Shadow Game. You win, we go free. You lose, we go to the Shadow Realm," he said. I was going to win this duel for both of us, and I wasn't going to let this man send us to the Shadow Realm.

"My brother was a victim of these games!" I exclaimed, looking at Titan.

"There are still two slots in the Realm," he answered, activating his Duel Disk.

"You'll just have to give them to somebody else," she replied, before we both yelled:

"Duel!"

Titan

"I'll summon 'Archfiend Soldier', in Attack Mode (1900 ATK)! Then, I'll play 'Archfiend's Oath' and activate its effect: I'll pay 500 Life Points declare a card. If I win, I add it to my hand, if I lose, it is sent to the Graveyard... and I choose 'Terrorking Archfiend'!" He exclaimed, drawing the top card of his deck, only to send it to the Graveyard.

"I'll end my turn by equipping 'Axe of Despair' to my Soldier (1900 + 1000 = 2900 ATK)."

Titan: 3500 - Alexis: 4000

Alexis

My mind was now a mess: the scattered memories of Atticus's disappearance, the therapy, and many other things. It wasn't the time to break down, but the memories were too powerful. I fell to my knees and began to cry, knowing I had failed Atticus, and now I was going to fail Spike. Everything else vanished, and I was in a pitch-black room. Many voices were telling me I was a failure, and the voices were getting louder. However, they were silenced as a man entered. He had a red beanie, a matching flannel shirt, a white hoodie, a blue denim vest, and matching jeans.

"Hey there," he said, walking towards me.

"Who are you?" I asked, wiping my eyes.

"I'm Delsin Rowe, Conduit of Salmon Bay," he said, smiling as he sat in front of me.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was poking around with my powers, and then I found you. Your story's a bit sad, I know where you're coming from."

"How?"

"I was a small-town delincuent, until I got my Smoke powers. A woman known as Brooke Augustine used concrete daggers on my tribe, and I went with my brother to Seattle to try and absorb the Concrete powers."

"How can I believe you?" I asked. His right index finger began to glow pink, and he asked me:

"What is your name?"

"Alexis Rhodes," I said, trying to figure out how he was making his finger glow. Once he heard my name, he began writing my name on the floor.

"This is Neon. I can handle several elements and energies such as Smoke, Neon, Video, Concrete and Paper," he answered, smiling. "Anyways, after learning a few tricks with other powers, my brother Reggie was holding my hand, and we were on the edge... literally. He told me I had to let go of him. I didn't want to, so he did it in order to save me."

"How would he save you?"

"Augustine made a concrete cocoon that envelops people. She caught Reggie, and it could've reached me. Reg would be arresting me since he was the Salmon Bay deputy. After Reggie's death, I avenged him by using her power against her, and she was imprisoned. I saved my people and became a good citizen, helping a friend of mine take down Seattle's drug-dealers. Now, you should make your brother proud by winning this duel," he finished, getting up and extending a hand to me once he was standing. I got up and smiled, looking at him.

"Thank you for helping me Delsin," I said, smiling softly. Doing my best was what my brother wanted me to do, no matter how bad the situation was.

"Your welcome," he said, as he began running, only to be neon pink and run really fast.

"How can I know this is real, if it's happening in my head?"

"Dumbledore once said: 'Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?'," he yelled, before he vanished.

The color in the room returned, and before I knew it, I was back at the duel, facing Titan. I now knew what to do, and I already knew I was going to win.

"I'll summon 'Senju of the Ten Thousand Hands', in Attack Mode (1400 ATK)! When it is Normal or Flip Summoned, I can add 1 Ritual Monster from my Deck to my Hand, and in this case, I'll choose 'Cyber Angel Dakini'!" She exclaimed, adding said card to her hand.

"Now, I'll activate 'Machine Angel Ritual'! By tributing the Senju I have on the field and a 'Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands' in my hand, I Ritual Summon Cyber Angel Dakini, in Attack Mode (2700 ATK)! When she is Special Summoned, you choose one of your monsters and destroy it, and since your 'Archfiend Soldier' is the only one on the field, you must destroy it!" On cue, the Archfiend Soldier was shattered, along with the Axe of Despair.

"No!" Titan exclaimed, looking in disbelief.

"Then, I'll remove from play both Senju and Manju from my Graveyard to Special Summon 'Soul of Purity and Light', in Attack Mode (2000 ATK)! 'Cyber Angel Dakini' and 'Soul of Purity and Light', attack directly!"

Alexis POV

"Tell the pilot the two seats are free," I said, seeing how his Life Points went to 0. The fog got so dense I couldn't see, and when it cleared up, he was gone. The only other person in the room was Spike, who was smiling.

"I knew you could do it," he said as he looked at me. "Now, could you please help me? I'm getting tired of being tied-up." I chuckled before going over to help him, untying the knot that held him against the pillar. He stumbled a bit, but I helped him, I guessed that it was due to being tied for quite a while.

"I thought we were going to the Shadow Realm," I said, slightly worried. He just looked at me and smiled softly.

"We didn't go for a reason: you did your best, and that's why we're still here."

"Thanks Spike, where have you been all this time? I think I haven't had a good friend since Atticus, even if he was my brother."

"You're lucky you have a brother. I, on the other hand, was adopted, I heard my parents were killed in a clan war," he said, frowning slightly as he looked down. I put a hand on his shoulder, which made him look at me.

"I hope I can be a friend that can serve as a family."

"Yeah, haven't had a friend in quite a while," he said, smiling softly. We walked out of the Abandoned Dorm, and he looked at me as we stopped in front of my dorm.

"I guess I now owe you two favors," he said, looking into my eyes. He got a bit closer and wrapped his arms around me. I blushed since it happened so quickly, but a few moments later I returned the hug. It felt eternal, but it was really a few seconds. After a while he broke it, and he grabbed my right hand. He put a card in my hand, and then he ran into the forest, heading for his dorm.

I looked at the card in me hand: on one side, it had the same swirl style with a black background as any other card would have. On the other side, there was no name nor description of the monster. In fact, there wasn't even a monster. The only thing on it besides the black background was a white eagle with a few stray red feathers. This was what he was really telling me: I didn't win with my efforts, I had faced my demons, and now I could smile as I remembered Atticus.

The End... For now.

"Watch it wart-face, this is my best suit!" A puppet with black hair, a matching suit, and a red bow tie said as he looked up at the man who was beside him. The man just looked at him, his face being covered by a hockey mask, and his left hand held a machete that was dripping blood. The human just raised his machete, only to be interrupted

"Whoa whoa whoa, stay down, let's kill for mother!" The puppet said. "I know I'm the great Slappy, but you need to stay calm Jason. We'll have lots of slaves for ourselves." He stopped as he saw the academy, and he continued. "It's gonna be one hell of a party!" He said, laughing maniacally as they walked towards the dorms.

Equestrian Elseworlds Halloween Special #1: Man VS. Muppet

Coming this October 31st

Man VS. Muppet

Spike's POV

I was bleeding from my right arm, and I saw my opponent. He was a puppet that had an axe in his hands, and he still had no cracks. Pretty funny how a puppet is facing me and I'm losing, huh? Well, let me explain how things went down...

The day before

It was October 28th, things were being placed for the celebration that was bound to take place in three days. It was a big campus, so we had to get a head-start. I was decorating the Shop with Dorothy and (assistant), until Dorothy spoke to me:

"Spike, you're good to go, your tips are on the counter," she said smiling, as she placed some fake cobwebs on the ceiling. I grabbed my set of booster packs, given that Dorothy exchanged the tips I got for cards. It was a pretty good deal, given that I was selling cards apiece while making myself a collection.

"How'd it go Spike?" Yubel asked me while I separated cards.

"Pretty well, got myself some new friends," I answered, looking at a few Elemental Hero cards I got. I intended on making an E-Hero deck to honor Jaden, as well as get some pieces for the decks the girls were making.

"Did you find any Dark Magicians?" Mana asked, hopefully.

"Not yet, but I've got three Magician's Valkyrie cards, and they're fundamental in the deck you're making."

"Got any cards for me?" Burstinatrix asked.

"Yep, I got the Spirit of Flames you needed," I said, finishing up what I was doing. It was pretty calm as of late, and I was ready for Halloween. The portal adventure had me thinking, if someone or something could cross over and strike. I then saw my friends, which made me smile and continue. That is, until the power ran out. I immediately ran for the door and stepped out of my room. That is when I heard several screams, and I also saw the bushes moving.

From the bushes emerged an army of lawn gnomes, and they all had forks and knives. It was pretty spooky, but not as spooky as the Flutterbat incident.

"Lock and load, girls?" I asked, looking at them. Mana had her scepter ready, Burst had her flaming fists and Yubel was just standing there.

"Let's rock," Burst said, charging head first into the army, that is, until an eerie fog shrouded us, and by the time the fog was clear, the gnomes were gone as well.

The next day, the school was forced to evacuate, and in less than two hours, only four people were on campus: Mana, Yubel, Burst and I. I guess we were left behind to fend for ourselves.

We rested up and waited for the night to come. The island was alright, but if you consider the fact that only one human and three Duel Spirits were alone with an army of lawn gnomes, well... point proved. I waited in front of the dorm with the girls, wondering where the small bastards went in. That is, until I heard the clinks of the gnomes in movement.

"Alright, let's finish them before they finish us," Yubel said, charging a blast that quickly finished them off, but after a few seconds, the fuckers were already re-assembled. I don't know what kind of magic this was, but they were merging from black swirls and stuff, it looked like they were spawning from ink or something.

"Enjoying the party?" A puppet asked as he walked in. He had a painted black section on his head that served as hair, a black suit, a red bow tie and a matching flower that was in his suit pocket.

"Get some punch and we'll have a deal," I said sarcastically. If I learned something good from Pinkie, it was the following: be positive, including the constant jokes like Johnny Cage, hehe.

"I am Slappy, and I want the four of you to be my slaves," the puppet said, looking at us.

"How about no?" I asked, looking at him, and then the gnomes.

"Well then... charge, my lawn gnomes!" He exclaimed, as the gnomes charged.

"Spike, go and face him, we've got you," Mana said, in a serious manner. As expected, I went.

"Time to play, dummy," I said, smirking.

"Who are you calling 'dummy', DUMMY?!" Slappy exclaimed.

"You, dickweed, " I said, laughing a bit as I saw him.

30 minutes later...

In 30 minutes, I was shot with ice, a knife was thrown at me and I was hit by a car. Pretty nice, huh?

"I'm not going down," I said, looking at him.

"Then serve me," Slappy said, as he walked closer.

"Nah, I'm better off dying," I said, as everything went black. I heard Slappy laughing, then it got louder, until-

"Agh!" I was in bed, no bleeding arm, no cut, nothing. It was an average morning. I checked the PDA, and it was October 30th. I then looked at the book on the nightstand, and I saw it was Night of the Living Dummy. I also saw a can of Coca-Cola, and then things made sense.

"No more Coke and Goosebumps before going to sleep..." I said, getting up from bed. It was a calm morning, reminding me that I let Alexis borrow my necklace and my other precious cards, which meant that Mana, Burst and Yubel weren't around. I got out of the bedroom and looked at the forest. It looked calm, except for an odd fog coming from it, and an odd 'ch ch ch' sound running through my mind...

A break of sorts

Hey everybody, Equestrian Ghost here, and I will announce the following: I'm taking a break from this story. Why? Well, there are several points said of the story that make sense:

It's fluff and filler.
How could Yubel be there for Spike when he was 4?
Why so many Mortal Kombat references?
Why isn't Spike getting enough spotlight?

Yeah, it all seems ridiculous, but it's starting to make sense. I'm afraid I won't be able to bring the Friday the 13th special, and I hope you all understand since I'm also going through a writer's block of sorts. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all later.

The End

Well boys and girls, I guess you can now understand the meaning of this chapter's name. I am killing this story, given that there were several reasonable points of the story:

A. Why so much Mortal Kombat?

B. Why do the other characters get so much attention, more than Spike does?

C. The way Yubel reached Spike's hands.

D. Would it become another version of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX: Spike's Adventures in Duel Academy?

These questions, and many more are within my mind, and as much as I wish to continue, I cannot, given the points that stop my progress, killing my skills to write, hell, I am even depressed writing this, killing off another story in development. If this story arises again, I do not know. I do know the Mortal Kombat X and My Little Pony story is a go, just that I need a good start. It may have seemed as fluff and filler, given that duels are the main part of the story, but I am sorry my readers.

I hope you can all understand this, and once again, I am very sorry for killing this story. I hope I can bring another good story sometime in the future, and I hope to not be a deception in this case. Thanks for reading, and may the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu be with you, Earthrealm readers.

Death of the Dragon

The coffin was being lowered, and many ponies were surrounding it. Some of them looked with a serious face, others were mourning the death of the loved one, and others were already broken, not being able to tolerate the pain and deciding to leave. Death, such a somber, yet welcoming thing, loved one of life itself, the two opposites that have marked history, even before God and Lucifer themselves. The death of one is the ending of the life, but many ask: is it the beginning of a new life? Back to the task at hand, you may be wondering who the one in the casket is, so let's get the events in order. It began a few days ago...

Silence, such a peaceful thing for many, the item representing days of peace to the battle-worn soldiers, the item that is marked as the end of all conflicts, the perfect moment to cue a lone Aerosmith song, the perfect guitar sequence of the beginning of 'Dream On' before Steven Tyler enters the chorus. However, as much of a beginning it is, it is marking the end of our secondary character, the one who was only called out for help, and then left to be forgotten.

This character, is none other than Spike Solaris, the former assistant, or bond servant in the case of Twilight Sparkle. Spike had served her for five years, and after that, five years of solitude were the payment of the half-decade of servitude to the so-called Princess of Friendship. Many were the quotes he read, half of them marking the end to a character, a civilization, a place, and so on.

Many were the comics he read, although Black Hand's concept of death was quite comforting, no matter how strange it seemed. In a chair the drake stood, with a body that showed youth yet tiredness, for he was consumed by a syndrome that ate away at the energy of the victim, bit by bit, making him or her bedridden until they pass away, as if it were the degenerative process of cancer. He was 17 of age, but he felt much, much older.

With a final breath, along with a tear shed on him by his old friend Peewee, Spike's soul slowly left the world, resting in peace... Or so we thought.

Spike woke up, dressed in a black robe, but with much more energy. However, he was in a closed space, and he reached up to try and break out. Luckily, the top was a lid, and with a bit of effort he put the lid aside and got out of the wooden coffin. He began to walk, until a man in white robes saw him.

"What are you doing here?!" The mysterious man asked.

"I don't know! I just got out of a coffin and I-" Spike was quickly interrupted by the man.

"You got OUT of the coffin?"

"Maybe, I just woke up in it, and it was as if I had taken a nap."

"Come with me, young man." With this, the two walked into a room that only had two chairs and a table. "Take a seat, there is something I would like to talk to you about: it seems that you have been resurrected. The question is, why?"

"I really don't know, last thing I remembered was closing my eyes, but I was suffering from a terminal disease. Then, I ended up here."

"Perhaps you are a member of The Chosen."

"The Chosen? What are you talking about?"

"Recently, there was a system that was put in action throughout the dimensions of the universe, where people and creatures were resurrected if proven worthy of another life. Tell me about your life."

Upon this indication, Spike began talking about how his life began (the information given by Twilight and Celestia), his experiences as a bond servant, and the final days of his life. Once finished, the man said:

"Yes indeed, you were worthy. The next order is to remain where you are until I return, and once I return I will give you more instructions, understood?" Spike nodded, and the mystery man left the room, only to return a few minutes later.

"On this sheet of paper, an order will materialize once you get to Earth."

"Earth?" Spike asked.

"Earth is a planet similar to yours, but the dominant species are humans."

"Humans..." With this, he remembered his experiences crossing the mirror which remained in the Crystal Empire, how he met the human version of Equestria, and he would end up in front of Canterlot High.

"Of course, you knew them when you crossed the mirror."

"Yeah, in fact, I think my new life will be easy to get used to."

"Very well then, once you go out that door, you will end up on Earth, which will be where your life will continue, upon the abrupt interruption."

"Thank you sir," Spike said, as he grabbed the slip of paper, and began walking out of the room. Once opening the door, a bright light blinded him, and he lost consciousness.

Twilight Sparkle slowly walked through Ponyville, on her way to Friendship Castle for a get-together with her friends. Beside her stood Flash Sentry, who had become her personal guard, and he was dressed in a lavender-colored armor with a helm that had a dark purple mohawk.

"It's been five years already, and I am ready to officially become a princess," Twilight said.

"I'll agree, but in my case, I was more than ready to become your guard when they asked me to have the honor of being it," Her personal guard, who was also her coltfriend answered.

The two walked through the village, noticing the slight changes that occurred in the absence of the lavender-colored Alicorn. After several minutes of trotting, they reached the castle, only to be surprised at what was going on at the moment. Several police officers stood outside of the castle, a CSI group had entered to check the scene, which belonged to a corpse that was covered by a white sheet, which was being carried by two medics. From under the sheets fell a journal, and one of the medics asked:

"Who was the unlucky one today?" The first medic, which was a brown Earth pony asked.

"It was the librarian of this village." the other one, a gray Pegasus stallion answered.

Twilight was shocked, she feared that the victim was Spike, but her fears were confirmed when the red-and-yellow Phoenix flew over to the covered body and let loose a few tears, all as a futile attempt to revive his master. Upon seeing this, Twilight began to cry. Several minutes later, the other Elements arrived at the scene, all in disbelief, for today, a lone Dragon was put to rest.

Time passed, and our protagonist awoke in a dark alley. He looked in a broken mirror and saw his new appearance: he was a male human of the age of 17, green hair and matching eyes adorned his head, along with a face that was no perfection, but could still pick up a few girls. As for his height, he was around 5'8" and his body muscle was proportionate to his height, making him nor too slim nor too muscular.

"Well, at least the flight and fight classes with Gilda payed off," Spike said, admiring himself since he couldn't put his physique to much use due to his limitations, which were his job, that would be followed by the disease. He then proceeded to check the piece of paper, and it said:

"Go to 221B Baker Street"

"Hmm, haven't I heard that address before?" Spike wondered to himself, while he walked until seeing a police officer. He asked for directions, then walked until reaching his destination: a two-story orange house in your average neighborhood. He walked up to the door and knocked, only to be received by a woman in her late thirties, with dark brown hair and a pink shirt and jeans.

"Hello, how may I help you?" She asked.

"I'm looking for a such 'Jaden Yuki'," the dragon-eyed human said.

"Come on in, I'll tell him he has a visitor," she said, quickly going into the house, followed by Spike. He took a seat in the living room while the housewife went upstairs, and came back down a few seconds later with a brown-haired man who was in his early twenties.

"Hi, my mother told me I had a visitor," Jaden said, with a smile on his face.

"Yes, I'm here because of an instruction," the former drake applied, showing the paper, which then had its text changed to the following instruction:

"Once you find Jaden Yuki, ask him to teach you how to play Duel Monsters."

"Wait, you don't know how to play Duel Monsters?" the young adult asked with a hint of disbelief.

Memories of Duelist Past

An odd, golden robot walked in, dragging an odd robot that was composed of robotic tentacles and a fox head.

"Hello Alexis..." It croaked, as his scarred face showed a creepy smile...

Looking at the stranger beside him, and the two Umbra witches in front of him, Spike began thinking how things went from a Halloween party to a tag-duel with a man he didn't know, and a futuristic Red-Eyes deck...

Straight Outta 'Questria

"Straight outta 'Questria, crazy motherfucker named Spike Cube,

From the gang the Misfits With Attitude,

When I'm called off, I-"

"Spike, stop rapping, you're acting immature right now," Burst said.

"Fun killer..." Spike said, as he removed his baseball cap, only for Mana to get it and remove her odd-shaped head garment, replacing it for the cap.

"Alright, let's tell the readers some stuff," Yubel said, with a yawn while she held a cup of coffee.

"Well, the new chapter is being made, and we haven't advanced because we're in the middle of a collab, also working on a new 5D's fan fic. Thanks for being patient, and by next week we'll have a new chapter out." Spike said, smiling.

"Also, we'll be featuring a taste of the new fanfic in the new GX chapter, asking for your opinion," Burst said, smiling and drinking Coca-Cola."

"We will also re-release the Spike & random character VS. Bayonetta and Jeanne in October," Mana said, eating several Pockys.

"Thanks for being patient, and tune in next time!" Yubel said cheerfully, the coffee's effects finally reaching her.