Equestrian Elseworlds: The Dueling Drake

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!"

1. 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

1. 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