Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Crusaders

Chapters

Chapter 1: Beginning of Heaven and Earth
Chapter 2: Lightwave Tuning
Chapter 3: Contract With the Abyss
Chapter 4: Collected Power
Chapter 5: Dark Renewal
Chapter 6: Ancient Rules

Chapter 1: Beginning of Heaven and Earth

"Ladies and gentlemen, its time for the finals of the Manehattan Invitational Tournament!" The announcer said over the speakers of Maredison Square Garden. "Its been one heck of a tournament so far with our returning Champion Lotus Blossom reaching the finals, but can she defeat her opponent? Lets see as we welcome from Canterlot, Miss. Scootaloo Dash!"

A young woman with orange skin and short purple hair who was dressed in a green shirt and khaki pants stepped forward. She smirked a little as she waved to the crowd and slipped a standard design duel disk onto her arm.

"And her opponent, our returning champion and the lady of the Six Samurai, Miss. Lotus Blossom!"

A pink skinned young woman with long white hair and dressed in a kimono stepped forward as she held her duel disk on her arm. She looked across the arena and frowned at Scootaloo as they moved into place.

"So, you're the duelist who thinks she can beat me," she commented as they met in the center of the field and shuffled each others decks. "I've heard you're a master of the samurai."

"That's what they say at least," Scootaloo said as she shuffled more and looked at Lotus. "I'm still learning how to use them really."

"Well, then lets see if you can beat a real duelist," Lotus said and handed Scootaloo her deck back as the orange girl did the same and they moved to their sides of the arena. "So, shall we?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Lets duel," she said and raised her arm as her duel disk activated while Lotus did the same.

(Scootaloo: 8000) --- (Lotus: 8000)

On the sidelines two girls the same age as Scootaloo were sitting and watching their friend. One of them had white skin with pink and purple hair while her friend had yellow skin with red hair.

"Do yah think she's gonna win, Sweetie?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked over at her pale skinned friend.

"I don't know, Scootaloo is good but I've heard that Lotus is even better. "Lets see what she's got I guess."

"Yeah, lets cheer on yer girlfriend," Apple Bloom said with a chuckle while Sweetie's face turned as red as Apple Bloom's hair.

"She's not my..." She said and shook her head. "Come on, lets just watch the duel."

"You can go first," Lotus said as she looked over at Scootaloo. "You're going to need all the luck you can get."

"Thank you so much," Scootaloo said with a roll of her eyes as she drew her sixth card and looked her hand over. She smiled a little before she picked a card and slid it into her disk. "I'll start with one card face down and summon my Samurai Skull in attack mode!"

The ground opened up and a skull pushed itself out of the ground wearing a samurai helmet. It let out a cackle as it looked at Lotus with a sinister grin (1700/0).

"What the... what kind of monster is that?" Lotus demanded. "That's more like a corruption of a Samurai than anything else."

"The Samurai Skull belonged to a Samurai who fell in battle by beheading," Scootaloo said as she looked at her zombie. "His skull is said to wander the countryside searching for the soldier that killed him. And he'll send whoever crosses his path to the afterlife. In game terms, I can take one zombie from my deck and send it to the graveyard."

She took out her deck and picked a card and slipped it into her graveyard. She smiled a little and looked back at Lotus. "You didn't really think my deck was as simple as just Samurai right?"

Lotus just growled and shook her head.

"I end my turn there, lets see what you have," Scootaloo finished.

"Now I'll draw, and show you what a real Samurai can do," Lotus said and drew a card. She looked her hand over and nodded a moment before she picked two cards and slid them into her disk. "I'll set two cards face down and activate my field spell, Temple of the Six!"

There was a rumbling as the arena around them changed into a large Japanese style temple with a large building standing behind Lotus. She smiled a little and crossed her arms for a moment.

"So, what do you think?"

"Its not bad," Scootaloo said with a shrug. "I've seen more impressive though."

"Whatever, I'll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn," Lotus said and a horizontal card appeared in front of her. "Take your turn."

Scootaloo drew a card and looked at her other cards for a moment before selecting a card and smiling over at Lotus. "Now for one of my Samurai, I summon, Shiranui Spiritmaster!"

A ghostly flame appeared out of thin air before it formed into a humanoid figure. They were dressed in robes with a black hat and a white mask covering its face as it knelt down (1500/0).

"And Scootaloo has come out with one of her Shiranui monsters, and this one has a rather nasty effect," the announcer said. "What does she have planned though? This young duelist has shown quite a skill with these undead samurai."

"That's right, and I can now special summon one Shiranuni from my hand or graveyard, so I'll summon my Shiranui Spectralsword!" Scootaloo said and a spectral man dressed in a coat and armor with a flaming sword appeared next to Spiritmaster (800/0). "And just to make things interesting, Spectralsword is a Tuner Monster."

That made Lotus' eyes go wide as Scootaloo smiled a little. "You're going to synchro summon?"

"Yeah, count your lucky stars that its not the time for my big guns," Scootaloo said and pointed at her two monsters. "I'll tune together my two monsters, descend being of flames and magic!"

(2* + 4* = 6*)

A Japanese man dressed in robes and carrying a flaming sword appeared with his hair tied into a ponytail. He looked at Lotus stoically for a moment and held his sword at the ready (2500/0).

"Shiranui Samuraisaga, welcome to the field," Scootaloo said with a smile as she looked at the Samurai Skull. "Samurai Skull, you're up first, attack that face down monster with your Skull Bash!"

The skull grinned menacingly and flew at the face down monster only to get pushed back by a cyborg samurai (200/2000).

"That was my Chamberlain of the Six Samurai, its too strong for your skull," Lotus said as the skull returned to its place. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Samuraisaga, destroy her Chamberlain with your Burning Sword!" Scootaloo said as the undead Samurai swung his sword at the cyborg and shattered it.

"I activate my trap card, Shien's Scheme so I can special summon the Six Samurai - Zanji and Irou!"

Two more samurai appeared, one was dressed in black and gold armor carrying a staff with a blade at the end (1800/1300) and the other was blindfolded and dressed in purple armored robes (1700/1200).

Scootaloo frowned a little as two torches on the field activated and her monsters lost 200 attack points each. "I'll end my turn there."

(S: 7700) --- (L: 8000)

"Do you think Scootaloo can do this?" Sweetie asked as she looked over at Apple Bloom. "I mean, what do we really know about these Shiranui monsters?"

The three friends had agreed not to watch each other's duels unless they had been eliminated so they didn't get an advantage over each other if they ever had to duel. Both of them had been surprised to see Scootaloo using the Shiranui, especially given that before she had tended to use machines.

"Ah'd say they're some kind of warriors, but Ah'm not sure," Apple Bloom admitted. "It seems ta me that they're zombies, Ah wonder why Scootaloo is usin' them. Still, if she can make them work, Ah'm not gonna complain."

"Yeah," Sweetie said and looked down at her own deck. She had been eliminated by Lotus in the semi-finals, her Six Samurai were powerful when used right. "I hope Scootaloo wins though."

"Me too," Apple Bloom said. "Would be nice if one of us did."

"Alright, its my turn then!" Lotus said as she drew her next card. "And since I have at least one Six Samurai on the field I can special summon my Grandmaster of the Six Samurai in attack mode!"

An old warrior dressed in armor with long grey hair and a short beard appeared while holding a sword, one of his eyes was covered with an eye patch (2100/800).

"Huh, so that's what happened to Judas Traveler," Scootaloo commented which got a strange look from Lotus.

"Who's Judas Traveler?"

"Don't ask, Spider-Man was weird in the 90s..." Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "He was pretty forgettable though."

"You're weird, anyway I'm going to create the overlay network using Irou and Zanji!" Lotus said as a vortex appeared in front of her and the two monsters flew into it. "To summon Shadow of the Six Samurai - Shien!"

A new warrior appeared with long red hair tied into a ponytail with crimson armor and a purple coat with a long sword appeared (2500/400).

Go ahead and attack, I've got a trap waiting for you, Scootaloo thought as she looked down at the face down card.

She looked up at the temple where two more torches had been lit and her monsters had fallen to 2100 and 1300 attack. She needed the right card if she was going to destroy these cards, and she just wasn't getting it yet.

"Well, since I can't destroy your face down card yet, I'll end my turn there," Lotus finished as she crossed her arms. "I didn't get where I am by walking into traps you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Scootaloo said as she drew a card. "I'll play Foolish Burial so I can send another monster from my deck to the graveyard."

"Throwing away another card?" Lotus asked with a smirk as Scootaloo took a card and slid it into her graveyard. "How pathetic."

"My Shiranui are monsters that work best in the graveyard or banished zone," Scootaloo said simply as she looked at Lotus before she moved her cards horizontal. "I'll switch my monsters to defense mode and set one monster in defense mode to end my turn."

Another horizontal card appeared in front of her, she looked at Lotus intensely as she waited to see what her next move would be.

"Then I draw!" Lotus said and drew her next card and smiled broadly when she saw what it was.

"I don't like that smile," Sweetie Belle commented. "When your opponent smiles like that its never good."

"Yah speak from experience don't yah?" Apple Bloom asked and Sweetie nodded. "Well, lets hope whatever Scoots has face down is somethin' special."

"I summon my Six Samurai - Yaichi!" Lotus said and a black armored Samurai with yellow trim appeared carrying a bow (1300/800). "And now I'm going to activate his effect, since I have at least one other Six Samurai I get to destroy one of your set spell or trap cards."

Scootaloo's eyes went wide as the Samurai drew an arrow and aimed at her face down card and fired an arrow at it. It flipped up to show a Quaking Mirror Force before shattering.

"Darn it, that was one of her best trap cards!" Apple Bloom said and slammed her fist down on the bench. "What's she gonna do now?"

"She'll think of something, I hope," Sweetie said. "The good news is that Yaichi's effect keeps it from attacking this turn."

"I'll attack your Samuraisaga with Shien, attack with Shadow Master Slice!" Lotus said and the tall Samurai held his sword out and then rushed forward and sliced through the ghostly samurai who shattered. "Now its your turn Grandmaster, destroy the Samurai Skull with Blade of Bushido!"

The old warrior drew his sword and pushed forward, slashing through the skull with it as it shattered.

"Luckily for you Yaichi can't attack this turn," Lotus said with a shake of her head. "I'll end my turn there, lets see what you can do now."

Scootaloo drew her next card and looked at it, it was Shiranui Smith. She smiled broadly as she added it to her hand before she looked at her graveyard. "You know, the thing about the Shiranui is that they're even more powerful in the graveyard than they are on the field."

"What does that mean?" Lotus asked as Scootaloo hit a button on her disk and then the spectral form of Shiranui Spectralsword appeared behind Scootaloo. "What's up with the ghost there? What are you doing?"

"I'm going to tear your temple down, that's what I'm doing, you see I can banish Spectralsword as well as another zombie in my graveyard to synchro summon again!" She said and Samuraisaga appeared on the other side before they flew up together into the sky.

(2* + 6*= 8*)

The monster that descended appeared in a burst of fire. It was dressed in long robes and armor and its face was covered with a mask as it drew out a long sword (3000/0 - 2500/0).

"Now, a few things happen, first my Samuraisaga reduces your Yaichi's attack by 500," Scootaloo said and a flame flew into the archer and its attack fell to 800. "Then I get to banish one of my zombies to increase Shogunsaga's attack by that monster's attack points, so I'll banish Spiritmaster to raise its attack by 1500!"

A spectral form of the Spiritmaster appeared and flew into Shogunsaga and its attack rose to 4000.

"Now, because I banished Spiritmaster I get to destroy one card on your field, and I pick your Temple of the Six!" Scootaloo said and the temple around them shattered.

"And with a brilliant move on Scootaloo's part, the field has changed and her undead Samurai are getting ready to take down their living counterparts!" The announcer said and got a glare from Lotus. "Hey, I just announce things, don't take it out on me!"

"Yeah, especially when you have to worry about me and my monsters," Scootaloo said with a grin and nodded to her Shogunsaga. "Okay Shogunsaga, lets deal some damage, destroy Yaichi with your Burning Sword of the Shogun!"

The flames around the Shogun's sword intensified as he floated and rushed at the archer and slashed through it. Lotus fell back from the shock of the attack as Shogunsaga returned to his spot on Scootaloo's field.

"I hope you enjoyed that," Lotus said as she got back to her feet. "Your undead Samurai might be strong but you're going to have to do a lot more than that to win against me."

"My Shiranui aren't to be messed with," Scootaloo said as she shuffled her hand. "But lets see how this goes, I'll end my turn there."

(S: 7700) --- (L: 4300)

Lotus drew a card and looked at it before she slid it into her disk. "I'll play Card of Demise, so I can draw three cards," she said and drew three more cards. "In return I have to discard my whole hand at the end of the turn and I can't inflict damage on you."

"I thought that let you draw 5 cards," Sweetie said and tilted her head a little.

"Yeah, they changed it fer some reason," Apple Bloom said with a shrug. "Doesn't make sense ta me, but whatever Ah guess."

"I play the spell card Double Summon," Lotus said and picked up the next two cards. "I'll then summon both of these, Shien's Advisor and Six Samurai - Yariza!"

The first monster to appear was an older man carrying a sword with round glasses (1200/400) and next to him appeared a dark blue Samurai carrying a whip-like weapon with a blade at the end (1000/500).

"And Since I have another Six Samurai on the field I activate my Adviser's effect, which lets me name any monster type and that type can't attack or be special summoned," Lotus continued as the Adviser took out a scroll and started writing on it. "And I pick Zombies!"

He held up the scroll with a kanji written on it and it glowed with magical power before it rose up and cast its glow across the field.

"Great, and Ah'll bet all of Scootaloo's monsters are zombies," Apple Bloom said, the look on Scootaloo's face told her everything she needed to know.

"I'll end my turn there," Lotus finished and gave Scootaloo a smirk. "But you might as well give up, I'll bet you don't even have any non-zombies in that deck of yours."

She's right, but I still have a lot of cards that can help me, I just have to draw one of them, Scootaloo thought as she looked down at her deck and drew her next card. Call of the Mummy, that's not going to help right now.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Lotus asked as she looked at Scootaloo with a grin. "Your zombies can't do anything right now can they?"

"No, they can't," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she picked out a card and set it on her disk. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn."

Lotus drew her next card and slipped it into her disk as a large door with a sigil carved into it appeared behind her. "I'll start by activating my Gateway of the Six, and then I'll detach one unit from Shien to raise the attack of Yariza to 2000," she said and Irou briefly appeared and then energy flew into Yariza.

"Why did she do that?" Sweetie asked as she looked at the monster. "I mean its stronger, but it can't beat her Shogunsaga."

"Ah don't know, but Ah don't think we're gonna like it," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head.

"Now, lets start with Yariza, attack her directly with Cyber Yari!" Lotus said and Scootaloo's eyes went wide when the Samurai threw its spear at her and it hit her hard before drawing it back into his hand.

"Okay, that answers that question," Sweetie said and flinched a little as Scootaloo got up and glared at Lotus. "That was actually kind of clever."

"Now Shien, attack the one she just set!" Lotus said and the shadowy Samurai swung his sword at the face down monster which was briefly revealed to be a humanoid looking horse. "A Mezuki?"

"Hey, this deck has a lot of general zombie support," Scootaloo said with a shrug as she slipped the monster into her graveyard.

"Fine, Advisor, attack, that one!" Lotus said and pointed at one of the other face downs and the Advisor drew his sword and slashed through a man carrying a staff. "And finally I'll take out your last face down with the Grandmaster!"

The old warrior ran forward and slashed through the face down monster, revealing a set of four furballs with horns. "Wait, Scapegoat?"

"Close, that was Scapeghost, and since you flipped it I get to summon as many Black Sheep Tokens as I can," Scootaloo said and 3 small sheep tokens with soulless eyes appeared (0/0 x 3). "So, anything else."

Lotus crossed her arms given that she had no cards in her hand she just growled and gave Scootaloo a nod.

(S: 5700) --- (L: 4300)

Lets just hope I can do something, Scootaloo thought and drew her next card before her face fell a little.

"Still nothing you can use to destroy my monsters huh?" Lotus said with a smirk.

"No, but I'll still play it for later, I play my Everliving Underworld Cannon," Scootaloo said as she slipped the card into her disk and a large cannon appeared behind her made out of skulls. "Now once per turn when a zombie is special summoned I can deal 800 points of damage to your life points."

"Too bad you can't special summon Zombies thanks to my Adviser," Lotus said and nodded to the Adviser. "Your zombies can't do much thanks to him can they?"

"No, they can't," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head as she looked up at Shogunsaga who looked back for a moment. "But this duel isn't over yet, I'll end my turn there for now."

"Then I draw," Lotus said and drew her next card before setting it onto her disk, a new samurai with dark blue armor and gold trim appeared (1800/500 + 300/300). The gateway behind her started to glow a little. "Welcome to the field Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan."

Well, at least she can't summon anything else and still can't beat my Shogunsaga, Scootaloo thought as she looked down at her disk. But that's not going to save me from her monster.

"I'll detach my last overlay unit to increase Yariza's attack again!" Lotus said as Yariza's attack rose to 2000 again. "You know the drill Yariza, attack her directly!"

"Crap..." Scootaloo said as Yariza threw its weapon at her and struck her again.

"Now, I'll take out the rest of your tokens!" Lotus said as her other Samurai charged forward and slashed through the sheep tokens.

"And Scootaloo is in a tough spot with only her Shogunsaga left and she can't attack with him!" The announcer said. "Is this the end of her attempted run at the championship?"

"I'll end my turn there," Lotus said with a smirk. "You better have soemthing good up your sleave if you want to win this one."

(S: 3700) --- (L: 4300)

"Too bad you can't do that again," Scootaloo said as she looked down at her deck and paused a moment.

"We'll see, I have cards in my deck that will help me with that," Lotus said with a smirk as she looked at her deck. "You never know when I might draw one, this duel won't last much longer as long as you have to deal with my Adviser. You might as well surrender, this duel will soon be over."

"Don't listen to her Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle called from her spot. "You can do this, we believe in you!"

"Yeah, don't let her get ta yah!" Apple Bloom added. "Yer one of tha best duelists Ah know and Ah know yer not gonna lose this!"

"Your friends are sure trying to support you," Lotus commented as she glanced behind her at Sweetie and Apple Bloom. "A shame you're going to dissapoint them."

"We'll see about that, they're going to back me up all the way," Scootaloo said and drew a card. "I play Magical Mallet, so I can shuffle any number of cards from my hand back into my deck, and I'll send this one."

She took one card and slipped it into her deck which shuffled automatically before she drew another card. She grinned when she saw what it was and looked at Lotus.

"What's got you so happy?" Lotus asked.

"You'll see," she said and shuffled her hand a little before she picked a card and slipped it into her disk. "I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

"That is the worst bluff I've ever seen!" Lotus said and drew a card and grinned a little when she saw it. "And I can end this duel right now, I activate my spell card, Six Strike - Triple Impact! With this spell card I can destroy your Shogunsaga since I have three Six Samurai on the field!"

Energy flowed from Shien, Kizan, and Yariza and flew into Shogunsaga and he shattered. Scootaloo stood there passively for a moment as she looked at Lotus.

"I get Shogunsaga's effect now, I get to add one of my Zombies from my banished zone back to the graveyard," she said and took a card and put it back in her

"Its too bad it won't help you because its time to end this, Shien you're first, attack her directly!" Lotus said and Shien held his sword and rushed right at Scootaloo preparing to strike.

"You thought I was bluffing, and now its going to cost you," Scootaloo said as she hit a button on her disk and a barrier appeared in front of her knocking Shien back into the other Samurai as they all shattered.

"No, not a Mirror Force!" Lotus said in shock as she backed up and looked at where her monsters once stood.

"That's right, your monsters are now gone," Scootaloo said with a smirk. "Now who's in a bind?"

"Well, thanks to Grandmaster I get back one of my Six Samurai," Lotus said and took a monster out of her graveyard and placed it on her disk and the blindfolded Samurai appeared again. "There's no way you can win on your next turn and I've still got a lot of strong monsters left to beat you with. What do you have? I've already beaten your strongest monster."

"I never said Shogunsaga was my strongest monster," Scootaloo said and drew a card, not that it mattered what she drew. "This duel is over."

"You're bluffing, there's nothing you can do to end this duel now," Lotus said, though she didn't sound nearly as confident as she had before.

"Yes I can," Scootaloo said and raised her disk and hit a button on it. "If you'll recall I can banish Spectralsword and another zombie to synchro summon."

"Yeah but you had to banish both of your..." Lotus started to say and then she remembered what Scootaloo said with Shogunsaga's effect. "You put one of them back in your graveyard didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," Scootaloo said with a chuckle as Spectralsword appeared next to her. "So what were you saying before?"

"Shut up."

"I don't think so, I'll banish Spectralsword and the monster I sent to my graveyard with Samurai Skull!" Scootaloo said and a towering shadowy creature with horns and a wicked smile appeared. "My Despair From the Dark, and by banishing them both I can synchro summon the most powerful monster in my deck!"

(2* + 8* = 10*)

The two monsters flew up and joined together as a loud neigh was heard. The first thing to appear was a spectral horse that seemed to be made of flames, and its rider had long silver hair tied into a ponytail and was dressed in armor while he carried a flaming sword (3500/0).

"And first, this lets me activate my Cannon!" Scootaloo said as the cannon started to charge up and then fired a shot at Lotus and she screamed. Then the spirits of Samuraisaga and Shogunsaga appeared behind her. "And then by returning these two to my extra deck, I can destroy Irou and your Gateway!"

The spirits flew forward and Irou and the doorway shattered as she returned the cards to her extra deck slot.

"Now Sunsaga..."

"Wait... you can't do this... I was supposed to win!" Lotus said as she frantically looked at her still empty hand and field.

"Shiranui Sunsaga, attack directly with Blade of the Setting Sun!" Scootaloo said as the horseman galloped forward and slashed at Lotus as she cried out.

(S: 3500) --- (L: 0)

"And with that, the winner of the Manehattan Invitational Tournament is Scootaloo Dash!" The Announcer said over the cheer of the crowd as Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom ran over to their friend and hugged her.

"You did it!" Sweetie said.

"We knew yah could," Apple Bloom said. "Look out world, there's a new duelist on tha scene."

"Lets not go too crazy yet," Scootaloo said and rubbed the back of her head a little.

"So, why Shiranui?" Sweetie asked as she looked at Scootaloo's disk.

"Well, Vehicroids were doing pretty well for me, but I wanted to change things up," Scootaloo said with a shrug. "They're great cards, and they kind of work with this idea of getting stronger no matter what the world throws at you. I can certainly relate to that."

"Come on, lets get your trophy and then call Rainbow Dash," Sweetie said as they headed off to the award ceremony.

None of them knew that someone else was watching them.

00000

Somewhere in the city a figure on a throne was watching the duel end. They were dressed in a white suit and golden tie with golden skin and pure white hair as he looked at the only other person in the room.

"What do you think of her, Eternal?" The figure asked in a calm voice as they looked over at a woman with a hood pulled over her head.

"The cards will tell all," she said and shuffled the deck before she spoke a name and drew the top card. "Scootaloo Dash."

She set the card down revealing a woman in robes holding the mouth of a lion shut. She looked at it curiously before looking back at the one on the throne.

"The Strength is upright," she said in a calm tone. "A being of great strength, but also great compassion. This could be difficult for us."

"Indeed, but also she could be of great use to the Light if we can turn her," the figure said and nodded. "Very good, we'll keep a close eye on her and her friends. If the Darkness has their eye on thm, then we need to approach cautiously."

"What are your orders?" Eternal asked as she looked back at her cards.

"Prepare our forces, tomorrow everything comes together," the figure said and looked back at the screen where Scootaloo was holding the trophy. "Enjoy your victory while you can the three of you, for tomorrow you go to war."

Author's Note

Okay, some quick notes. First off, the card effects will mostly be following those from the game not the anime. Second there will be both anime only and fan made cards appearing from time to time. Finally, there will be no Link monsters in this fic, there may be Pendulum Monsters, but that is to be determined.

Chapter 2: Lightwave Tuning

That night, a quiet darkness had fallen over the city of Manehattan. They say that the city never sleeps, but on this evening it was quiet as if it knew that something was coming and that nothing it could do would stop it.

Scootaloo yawned as she picked up her cards and finished putting her Shiranui deck back together. She put it into a deck box next to her old machine decks, while she liked the Shiranui she figured that maybe she could still surprise some people if needed.

"We'll take one pepperoni and one cheese pizza," Apple Bloom said into her phone as she was ordering pizza for a late dinner. "Alright, see yah in 30 minutes."

"Those Six Samurai were pretty tricky huh?" Sweetie asked as Scootaloo flopped down on the couch where she was sleeping.

"Yeah, pretty tricky," Scootaloo said with a shrug as she picked up her cell phone and looked at it for a moment.

She was wanting to call Rainbow Dash in Canterlot, but she wasn't sure what she was going to say. She had been adopted by Rainbow Dash's family a few years back after her parents had died and she wasn't sure what to tell her big sister.

Rainbow Dash was the Equestrian Duel Monsters champion so Scootaloo had always felt like she was kind of in her shadow. It was why she had come to the Manehattan Invitational without even telling Rainbow until the finals so that she didn't live in her big sister's shadow.

Not that she didn't love her sister, Rainbow had taught her everything about how to duel and had been there when her parents had died. She owed a lot to Rainbow Dash, but she wasn't sure about everything that was going on.

"Are you going to call her?" Sweetie asked as she looked at Scootaloo. "I'll bet she'd love to hear that you won."

"Yeah, maybe," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she looked down at her phone before she opened her contacts after a moment and called Rainbow on facetime. After a moment there was an answer with the blue face and rainbow haired girl that smiled at the sight of her adopted younger sister. "Hey Rainbow."

"Hey Scoots, we saw your duel on Twitch," Rainbow said with a smile. "You did great, I'm proud of you!"

Scootaloo smiled a little. "Thanks, I wasn't sure if I'd make it to the finals, but, yeah, I won and everything went well. Though if I hadn't drawn the right cards..."

"Scootaloo, don't think like that," Rainbow said with a shake of her head. "You won and that's all that matters in the end. And you did it on your own terms, the Shiranui monsters are cool, what inspired you to use them?"

"I, don't know," Scootaloo admitted as she looked at her deck. "I mean I like them and I find it kind of symbolic, but..."

"You just felt a connection to them somehow?" Rainbow asked and she nodded. "That's why I use X-Sabers. Everyone has cards they connect to on some level, don't worry about it. Your cards are cool, and if they're what you want to use, use them."

Scootaloo nodded a little and smiled. "Thanks Rainbow, that means a lot," she said with a nod as she took a deep breath.

"So when are you coming back? Rainbow asked.

"The day after tomorrow, we wanted to see more of the city before we came back," Scootaloo said with a smile. "Tell Fluttershy I said hey and I'll see you both soon."

Rainbow nodded and hung up after a moment. Scootaloo yawned a little and laid back on the couch, it was going to be nice to be able to relax and enjoy the evening.

00000

As the night went by quietly and the sun began to rise the next morning, the figure on the throne got up and drew a staff out and stuck it in the ground. His servants gathered around him dressed in robes as they started to chant in unison.

The staff glowed brightly with white energy as he raised it into the air, the chanting growing louder as they kept going.

The energy flew up out of the end of the staff and it flew through the ceiling and up into the sky above Manehattan, as the energy flowed through it a dome was formed around the city and the energy flew out through it, intersecting with people across the city.

The Crusaders slept unaware of what was going on around them as a protective sphere formed around their hotel room. Two women, one carrying a staff with a pointed hat and another carrying a whip watched the shield fluxuate around it.

"Did it work?" The whip carrying woman asked as she looked at her companion. "Are they protected from the Light's attack?"

"Yes, they were," the woman said as she lowered her staff with a shake of her head. "The Light has gotten brazen, last time they didn't dare go after an entire City like this. That feels more like something Nightshroud would do."

"Yes, well, there's nothing we can do at the moment," the whip carrying woman said with a shake of her head. "I didn't expect to get the call from her majesty, why me?"

"Well, we needed someone of your talents," the other woman said with a shrug as the wave of light finally finished, the dome having been formed over the city shimmered. "Come on, we have to get back home."

"What if he shows up in the city?"

"We'll worry about that if it happens Meanae," the woman said with a shake of her head and raised her staff up in the air and the two women vanished.

00000

Rainbow leaned back in her bed as she felt the soft kisses of the pink haired woman that was moving down her bare chest. She shivered a little and just as the kisses were getting interesting, she was being shaken awake and looked up to see the yellow skinned woman with pink hair who was looking scared.

"Hey Flutters, what's wrong?" Rainbow asked with a yawn as she looked at her fiance who was terrified.

"Rainbow, did you say that Scootaloo and her friends were in Manehattan?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, they were participating in a tournament there and Scootaloo won," Rainbow said and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Why do you ask? What happened?"

"You need to see something," Fluttershy said and got up, Rainbow shrugged and got up too, pulling on her robes as they walked down the hall to the living room of the house they shared where the TV was on.

"A few hours ago, all contact with the city of Manehattan was cut off due to unknown forces," the anchor said. "The military is doing everything they can to try and uncover what happened in the city, but as of right now all attempts to enter the city have failed due to an unknown force. The status of everyone in the city is as of yet unknown, and we can only hope that the situation will be dealt with soon."

Rainbow didn't say anything, instead she grabbed her cell phone and called Scootaloo frantically. She was afraid for her adopted sister and her friends and was hoping that maybe they hadn't been in the city.

"Hey this is Scootaloo, I can't come to the phone right now, leave a message after the beep," the answer was without even a ring and she ended the call.

"Rainbow, what are we going to do?" Fluttershy asked as she looked at Rainbow scared. "I mean, if she's in the city..."

"I don't know Fluttershy..." Rainbow said with a sigh as she looked back at her phone. "Lets call the others, and hope that they're going to be okay."

00000

Sweetie Belle was the first one to wake up that morning and she looked out the window and blinked in surprise. Manehattan was quiet, quieter than it had been since she had arrived, there were no sounds of people or cars outside.

When she looked out she saw that the city streets were totally empty except for a few cars that were stopped in the street.

She ran over and shook Scootaloo awake first before she went to wake up Apple Bloom. Scootaloo yawned a little and rubbed her eyes as she looked around confused. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, something feels weird," Sweetie said as the other two young women got dressed. "And the city, is, well, quiet."

Scootaloo shrugged and picked up her phone before she noticed that she didn't have any service or wi-fi. "What is going on here..."

Apple Bloom picked up the receiver on the landline and hung up after a moment. "Tha phone's dead too, what tha heck is goin' on?"

None of them had much of an answer as they opened the door and found an envelope taped to the door. They opened it up and took out the paper and read it.

If you want answers, come to Times Square at 0930.

The three friends looked between each other a bit surprised but they didn't have much of a choice, so they got their stuff together and headed out of the hotel.

00000

When they reached Times Square however they were surprised to see that there were more people. The trip there had been uneventful as they hadn't seen anyone so they had been surprised to see more people there.

"What do yah think is goin' on?" Apple Bloom asked as they looked around confused, the other people didn't even respond to them.

"I have no idea," Sweetie Belle and started to say something before the screens around them turned on and a voice echoed from speakers around them.

"Good morning Manehattan!" A loud male voice said and they looked up to see a man's face on the screen. He had yellow skin with bright red hair and was dressed in a muscle shirt and khaki pants with star tattoos lining his arms. "I'm sure you're all wondering who decided to hit the pause button on the city if you can think at all. I'm here to give you some answers, if you're willing to listen of course."

The screens shut off again and the man stepped into view as the crowd parted, he was still speaking into a microphone as he spoke. "The name's Bright Star ladies and gentlemen, elite member of the Society of Light! We're back and better than ever!"

"Tha Society of Light?" Apple Bloom asked. "What tha heck is that?"

"Wait, I seem to recall hearing something about this," Scootaloo said with a pause. "From the memoirs of someone who was at Duelist Academy, they tried to take over the island and the world at one point. They're a cult that worships some, evil form of light I think."

"That's right, and we're not going down so easily this time," Bright Star said with a smirk. "And the boss wants me to take you all down and bring you into the fold. So lets see, who to duel first..."

Scootaloo started to step forward when he raised his hand. "Nope, I'm not dueling the winner of the Manehattan invitational. I'll duel your pink haired girlfriend over there instead."

"What, me?" Sweetie Belle asked and looked at Bright Star strangely for a moment as she took out her Duel Disk and deck. "And she's not my girlfriend!"

Bright Star rolled his eyes and took a card out of his deck. He chanted in a language none of them understood and the card glowed and shot up into the air. The clouds above the city parted and a strange creature descended.

At first glance it looked like a bird, but its body was made up of an island with a castle on its back. There were more parts of it jutting out that looked like it was part of the castle as it moved into position.

"And now with the Cloudcastle in play above the city, the duels become real!" Bright star said as a disk and deck appeared on his arm and he activated it. "So, lets duel."

"Lets duel," Sweetie said as she activated her disk.

(Sweetie Belle: 8000) --- (Bright Star: 8000)

00000

High above the city in the Cloudcastle, the figure on the throne was seated there again and watching the duel begin. "Eternal, what can you read about this one?"

Eternal shuffled her deck again before speaking. "Sweetie Belle," she said and drew a card and set it down next to the Strength.

The card depicted a robed woman with a crown on her head. She sat on a throne calmly with her hands folded.

"The High Priestess, a card of intuition, mystery, and the subconscious mind," Eternal said as she looked back at her master. "Curious, first the Strength and now the High Priestess. We shall see how things play out from here."

"Indeed," the figure on the throne said calmly and gave her a nod. "We'll keep an eye on things from here. We will take this time to put our new followers into position, a shame we had to just use Bright Star as a distraction, but he was always expendable."

Eternal said nothing as she drew the next card and placed it down on the table. This one had a single sword pointing upwards with a crown on it.

The Ace of Swords, a card of victory, but for who?

00000

"I'll make the first move," Bright said as he drew his next card and then picked a card from his hand and showed it as an insect made of gold. "I'm activating the effect of my Golden Ladybug, I reveal it in my standby phase and keep it revealed for the remainder of this turn and I gain 500 life points."

"Great, so does he use insects or life point gain?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked over at Scootaloo. "What do yah think?"

"I think we need to see what's going to happen next," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "Lets just hope Sweetie Belle can win this one, something tells me this guy is dueling for more than just fun."

"And now I'll activate my spell card Goblin Thief," Bright continued as the Goblin of Greed appeared and drew out two gold coins. He threw one at Sweetie Belle which turned into a knife that hit her and made her scream out in pain while the other made a light shine down on bright.

"That... felt real," Sweetie said as she rubbed the spot where it hit.

"Get used to it, as long as the Cloudcastle is here, everything is real," Bright said with a grin as he picked another two card and slid it into his disk. "I'll set this card face down and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

(S: 7500) --- (B: 9000)

"So, do you know what kind of deck Sweetie Belle uses now?" Scootaloo asked as she looked over at Apple Bloom.

"Ah have no idea," Apple Bloom admitted with a shrug. "Ah think she said somethin' once about usin' spaceships or psychics or somethin'. Ah don't really know how that works."

"We'll see I guess," Scootaloo said as she watched curiously as Sweetie Belle drew her first card.

"I'll start with two cards face down," Sweetie said as she slid the two cards into her disk and they appeared in front of her. "And I'll summon my Kozmo Farmgirl in attack mode!"

The monster that appeared was a teenage girl with red hair tied into braids. She was dressed in a green one piece outfit with a short cape tied around her neck and goggles on her head holding a blaster (1500/1000).

"Okay, that's not what I expected at all," Scootaloo commented. "What the heck is a Kozmo monster?"

"Ah don't know, but somethin' about her seems familiar ta me," Apple Bloom said as the Farmgirl twirled her pistol and pointed it at Bright Star.

"Kozmo Farmgirl, lets show him how we do things back home, attack his face down monster with Quick-Shot Strike!" Sweetie said as the Farmgirl fired a shot at the face down monster which was revealed to be a flying squirrel like creature.

"Thanks, that was my Nimble Momonga," Bright said as energy flew into him. He took two cards out of his deck and set them on his disk. "I gain 1000 life points and get to set two more Nimble Momongas."

"Well, that answers that question, its definitely a life point gain deck," Scootaloo said and frowned a little. "That's going to be trouble, I hope Sweetie knows what she's doing."

"Me too," Apple Bloom said with a sigh. "So, what is she goin' ta do if he gets out somethin' powerful?"

"We hope she has something that can deal with it," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "Come on Sweetie, you can do it!"

Sweetie looked at her hand for a moment and sighed. "I'll end my turn there."

(S: 7500) --- (B: 10,000)

Bright Feather drew a card casually and looked at it before he picked out another card and showed it as his Golden Ladybug as it glowed around him. "I get 500 more life points, and I'll activate the spell card Ancient Leaf."

"Ancient Leaf?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Its simple, since I have over 9000 life points I can pay 2000 life points and draw two cards," Bright Star said as his life points fell by 2000 and he drew two cards. "Now I'll summon my Hysteric Fairy."

A monster with medium length black hair and wearing a pair of glasses appeared holding a book. They had blue-white wings and adjusted their glasses for a moment before looking at Sweetie Belle (1800/500).

"Oh look, its Twilight Sparkle if she was a fairy type monster," Scootaloo said with a chuckle as the fairy gave her a stern look. "Testy too I see."

"Hysteric Fairy, attack that Farmgirl, throw the book at her!" Bright Star said as the fairy closed the book and threw it at the Farmgirl.

"I activate my trap card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Sweetie countered and a rusty metallic scarecrow appeared and the book bounced off it and flew back into the fairy's hand before the scarecrow vanished and was replaced by a face down card. "And its re-usable so I don't have to worry about losing it."

"Fine, I'll activate Hysteric Fairy's effect," Bright Star said and the fairy opened her book and the two face down monsters vanished and energy flew out and into Bright Star. "I'll end my turn there. Lets see what you can do now."

(S: 7500) --- (B: 9500)

Sweetie drew her next card and smiled a little as she picked out a card and set it on the disk. "I'll summon my Kozmo Scaredy Lion!" She said and a bipedal lion with a wild mane and dressed in black armor with bandoliers over his chest appeared shaking (1200/500).

"Oh, I get it!" Scootaloo said as she facepalmed.

"What?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Its Star Wars!" Scootaloo said with a chuckle. "Well, Star Wars mixed with the Wizard of Oz strangely enough. I'm, honestly not sure how that works, but that makes more sense at least."

"And all the monsters I've summoned so far are the pilots," Sweetie Belle said with a smile as she pointed at Scaredy Lion. "I'll banish him to summon one of my ships, so welcome to the field Kozmo Sliprider!"

Scaredy Lion vanished and something streaked by overhead before it moved into its place in front of Sweetie Belle. It looked like a sleek red colored fighter with two wings jutting out, two fins, and a cockpit with Scaredy Lion visible (2300/800).

"And when its special summoned I can destroy one of your face down cards, so say good-bye to that one," she continued and pointed at the first card Bright had set and it flipped up to show the trap Destruct Potion and then shattered. "Sliprider, attack Hysteric Fairy with Ruby Lasers!"

The fighter steadied itself and fired several lasers into the fairy monster which shattered and Bright covered his face.

"Now its your turn Farmgirl, attack him directly!" Sweetie said and Farmgirl twirled her pistol before firing at Bright Star and he stumbled back a little.

"I activate my trap card, Numinous Healer!" He said and his other trap flipped up and motes of energy fell around him. "Since I took damage I gain 1000 life points."

"Well, I'll pay 500 life points to activate Farmgirl's effect, since I dealt damage I can add one of my Kozmos to my hand," she said and took a card from her deck and added it to her hand. "I'll save that for next turn though, I'll end my turn there."

Hopefully my Wickedwitch will help a little, she thought as she looked at the card she had added to her hand.

(S: 7000) --- (B: 8500)

Bright Star drew and then revealed Golden Ladybug as light fell down around him again before he slid a card into his disk. "I play Hand Destruction, so now we both have to discard two cards and draw two cards," he said and took two cards out of his hand and slid them into his graveyard before he drew two cards quickly.

"Fine," Sweetie said and did the same as she looked at the cards and smiled a moment, this would help her a lot.

"Now I'll activate the Messenger of Peace!" Bright Star continued and a holy man carrying a book appeared with a light shining around him that made Sweetie's monsters bow in respect.

Great, that's going to make things hard, Sweetie thought as she looked at her monsters and then at her hand. She had cards that could attack, but if he summoned anything else then she wouldn't be able to use them.

"And I'll summon my White Magician Pikeru!" Bright Star continued as a little girl in a white dress with pink hair and wearing a hat that looked like a sheep token appeared carrying a small wand (1200/0).

Sweetie groaned, she didn't have anything in her deck that was both weak enough to attack and strong enough to destroy it without destroying her monster too.

"Seeing as how my monster is too weak to destroy your monsters, I'll end my turn there," Bright Star finished as he turned the card back around and looked at Sweetie. "What are you going to do now?"

(S: 7000) --- (B: 9000)

Sweetie drew a card and shook her head, this wasn't going to help right now. It was actually one of her stronger monsters, but if she summoned it right now it wouldn't be able to attack.

She sighed and added it to her hand before she picked another card. "I'll summon the monster I added to my hand before, Kozmoll Wickedwitch!"

The monster that appeared was dressed in a black cloak with a hood pulled over her face that showed brown hair and silver legs. She took out what looked like a long wand and she pressed a button and with a snap-hiss two red blades came out of it on either side (1900/300).

"So, you've got one of your Sith on the field," Bright Star said with a chuckle. "Too bad the dark side has always been weaker than the light."

Little does he know that the strongest monsters in this deck are dark types, Sweetie thought with a chuckle. "We'll see about that, I'll now equip it with the Telekinetic Charging Cell!"

Two devices flew out and surrounded the Wickedwitch and a green energy field surrounded it.

"Oh hey, Ah remember that card," Apple Bloom said. "Ah guess she has some normal psychic support cards in there since that makes it so she doesn't have ta pay life points fer Wickedwitch's effect."

"I'll have to end my turn there since your spell keeps me from attacking," Sweetie said as she crossed her arms. "But you have to pay life points to keep your spell."

"Not that it matters with my deck," Bright said as he drew his next card as his life points fell by 100. "And now I get the effect of the monster I discarded with Hand Destruction."

A black skinned fallen angel with medium lengh blonde hair and a simple dress appeared behind him. She blew him a kiss as motes of light flew around him.

"Wow, that's an old card," Scootaloo commented as she looked at the spectral form of Darklord Marie. "Actually come to think of it he's using a lot of older cards."

"Well hey, Ah use a lot of older cards too," Apple Bloom said with a shrug. "If they work they work. Lets see what Sweetie has up her sleave at least, Ah'm sure she can win this one."

Scootaloo nodded a little and looked at Sweetie Belle again. She was looking determined but Scootaloo knew that she probably knew what she was doing.

"So, why do yah think he's gainin' all these life points?" Apple Bloom asked. "He doesn't seem ta be doin' much ta do damage ta Sweetie yet. Yah can't just gain life points fer tha purpose of gainin' them can yah?"

"Well, there's a few combos you can do with it," Scootaloo said with a shrug. "Though, none of them are good for Sweetie. I'm a little worried about all of this, he's got something very dangerous planned."

"And next Pikeru's effect activates and I gain 400 life points," Bright Star continued as Pikeru's wand shined and his life points went up again. He finally revealed his Golden Ladybug as more magical energy flew into him.

"How many life points do you need?" Sweetie asked, which he ignored as he set another card on his disk.

"I'll summon my Spirit of the Breeze in attack mode," Bright Star said and a green fairy with long blue hair and a yellow dress and wings appeared (0/1800). "I'll end my turn there."

(S: 7000) --- (B: 10,000)

00000

On a rooftop overlooking the square the same two figures from the night before are watching. One of them is dressed in leather and carrying a whip with long brown hair and the other was a girl with blonde hair and an off blue outfit with a pointed hat and talking into a cell phone.

"Yes ma'am, we'll be right on it, they're dueling one of their minions now," the blonde spellcaster said. "What are our orders once the duel is over?"

There was a pause as she got her answer from whoever was on the other side. Meanae looked away from the duel for a moment to look at her curiously.

"Understood, I'll tell her, we'll be right on it."

"The Light must be getting desperate for duelists if they're relying on such old fashioned cards," Meanae commented as she looked at her partner. "What do you think G.G.?"

"I think spirits in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," Gagaga Girl commented with a chuckle. "You are the one who still uses Dark Scorpions after all Meanae."

"Touche," the thief said with a roll of her eyes as she looked down at the black metal duel disk on her arm. "So what does her majesty want us to do when they're done here, test 'em?"

"Not yet, she wants us to direct them towards the 9th Circle," Gagaga Girl said as she nodded down the street.

"Ah, so we're sending them to her, I see," Meanae said with a frown. "Is she sure that is our best option? I mean, we are sending them to, well, one of the more powerful darkness beings in the city. Is she even on our side?"

"She's neutral in this conflict, but she doesn't want the Light to win either," Gagaga Girl said with a shake of her head. "Lets just hope they win this, Sweetie has interesting taste in cards."

"Yeah, she does," Meanae said with a shrug. "Come on, lets get back to watching since its her turn."

The two duel spirits went silent as they watched the duel continue.

00000

"Alright, its my turn!" Sweetie said as she drew her next card with a bit of flourish, she had to hope that she'd get something good. Her face fell when she saw that it was a second copy of Soartroopers.

"Didn't get what you wanted I see," Bright commented with a smirk.

"No, I'm just, trying to make you sweat," Sweetie said as she tried to sound more intimidating than she really was as she picked out her Kozmo Strawman. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Ah wish Ah knew more about these Kozmo monsters," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head. "Ah don't even know if she might have somethin' in her deck that she can use."

Scootaloo was getting more and more worried for her friend. She knew Sweetie Belle was a good duelist, but there was a lot of risk here. Now she knew why Bright didn't want to duel her, her Shiranui deck would've had a lot of ways to destroy his cards or even banish his monster.

She just had to hope that Sweetie had something in mind.

"She'll figure something out... I hope," she said, the last part quietly as she watched Bright draw his next card.

"I won't pay the 100 life points to keep Messenger of Peace," he said with a smile as the holy man vanished, then Marie appeared behind him and Pikeru raised her wand as light flew into him and he finally revealed Golden Ladybug again.

"Geez, like he really needs more life points," Scootaloo said with a groan. She didn't like the look on his face when he had drawn that card.

"I'll summon my Agent of Mystery - Earth," he said and a new fairy appeared, this one had blue and green wings with pale white hair and skin wearing a green and blue dress and carrying a staff. "Which lets me take another one of my Agents out of my deck and add it to my hand."

"That's, really not good," Apple Bloom said as he took a card out of his deck. "If he's goin' fer what monster Ah think he is, this is gonna be bad."

"Luckily for you, I can't summon him yet," Bright said and then grinned evily as he pointed at his three monsters. "But what I can do is tune together all three of my monsters since Earth is a Tuner."

"Oh crap..." All three friends said at the same time as the monsters flew up and formed the synchro.

(2* + 3* + 2* = 7*)

The monster that descended resembled a white serpentine dragon with several wings jutting out of its body. It also had a long golden mane and it let out a roar as it looked at Sweetie Belle and her monsters hungrily (2100/2000).

"My Ancient Sacred Wyvern is one of the most powerful monsters in my deck!" Bright Star said with a wicked grin as the Wyvern's attack suddenly jumped up to 7600. "Since my life points are more than yours, he gains attack equal to the difference. Which means that this is going to hurt, a lot."

Sweetie backed up in fear as the Wyvern started gathering up energy into its mouth.

"Ancient Sacred Wyvern, attack the Farmgirl with Sacred Light Blast!" Bright Star said as the wyvern fired a massive burst of energy right at the farmgirl taking it out, making Sweetie's life points plummet down to 900.

"And that just makes my Wyvern stronger!" Bright star said as the monster's attack now jumped up to 13,700. "I end my turn. So what are you going to do now? You don't have a card in your deck that's strong enough to stand up to my Wyvern."

(S: 900) --- (B: 12,500)

"We'll see about that," Sweetie said as she drew a card and flinched, it wasn't going to help though it may help get her what she needed down the line. "I'll set this card face down and switch both of my monsters into defense mode."

Wickedwitch knelt down and Sliprider landed on the road. She looked at the last card in her hand and shook her head, summoning it right now would do her no good.

She looked at Sliprider and an idea was starting to form in her mind, she just had to wait for the right moment.

"I'll end my turn there," she said.

"Then its my turn!" Bright said and drew a card, his life points going u thanks to Marie and when he revealed Golden Ladybug as the Wyvern's attack rose to 14,400. "And I'll summon my Granadora!"

The monster that appeared was hideous, it was some sort of freakish reptile creature that no one could really tell what it was supposed to be (1900/700). It spat water at Bright and his life points went up again, followed by the Wyvern's attack to 15,400.

"And now Granadora, attack her Wickedwitch!" Bright said, not paying attention as Sweetie said something and the reptile charged forward and slashed at it but she survived. "What? How?"

"I activated her effect, she can't be destroyed this turn, normally I'd have to pay life points but that equip spell takes care of it!" Sweetie said with a grin. "Anything else?"

"Fine, Ancient Sacred Wyvern, attack her Sliprider!" Bright said and Wyvern fired off a burst of energy destroying the fighter ship.

"And that activates Sliprider's effect," Sweetie said as she took the card and put it in her banished spot. "By banishing it I can special summon another one of my Kozmos from my deck as long as its level 4 or lower."

She took a card out of her deck and set it on her disk and a green skinned woman in brown and tan robes with long blonde hair and wings appeared holding a wand with a green blade (1800/1000).

"My Kozmo Goodwitch, but that's for later," Sweetie said and gave him a nod.

"Grr... I'll end my turn there," Bright finished.

(S: 900) --- (B: 14,200)

Sweetie drew a card and looked at it and then at Bright and smiled broadly.

"What's got you smiling?" Bright asked, for a moment he actually sounded a little worried as she slid the card into her disk.

"I'm going to play a life point gaining card of my own, I activate Soul Absorption!" She said and blue energy circled around her. "And then I'll activate my trap card Psychic Trigger, so I can banish two of my psychic type monsters and I can draw two cards."

She took two cards out of her graveyard and put them in her banished slot as the blue energy flew into her and the Wyvern's attack fell to 14,400. She looked at the cards and smiled a little, they were going to help a lot.

"So what are you going to do now?" Bright asked. "Your monsters aren't nearly strong enough to destroy my Wyvern with how strong it is."

"You're right, with how high your monster's attack points are I can't beat it," Sweetie said and then pointed at Goodwitch. "So instead I'll activate my Goodwitch's special ability, by paying 500 life points I can flip one of your monsters face down. So Goodwitch, flip Wyvern face down!"

Bright's eyes went wide as Goodwitch raised her hand and it glowed as it forced the wyvern into defense mode and it turned into a horizontal card.

"Next I'll flip summon my face down Kozmo Strawman," Sweetie continued and a gangly gold loking creature appeared (500/1800). "And I'll activate his effect, by banishing him I can special summon a level 3 or higher Kozmo monster. Including one of the most powerful, which I'll summon now!"

A huge shadow crossed the field and the duelists and the spectators looked up and gasped. Above them was a huge spaceship that was black with glowing red lines crossing it (3000/2600).

"Welcome to the field, Kozmo Dark Eclipser!" Sweetie said and the ship just hovered there for a moment. "But I'm not done yet, I'll equip my Goodwitch with my Kozmo Lightsword!"

A second wand appered in the Goodwitch's free hand and she ignited it as her attack points rose to 2300. Sweetie moved Wickedwitch's effect vertically and she stood up and re-ignited her wand.

"Goodwitch, attack the face down Wyvern with Dual Saber Strike!" Sweetie said as the witch flew forward and slashed through the face down Wyvern that roared loudly and shattered.

"You... no one has ever destroyed my Wyvern before!" Bright said in protest and looked down at his duel disk. "How did I lose life points?"

"Well, there's a first time for everything," Sweetie said. "And the equipped monster can deal damage through defense. Oh, and one other thing, the equipped monster can attack twice as long as they attack another monster. So take out Granadora with Dual Saber Strike!"

The witch charged forward and slashed through the strange monster as it shattered. Then water flew back towards Bright and he screamed as it hit him and he lost 2000 life points.

"Granadora comes with a cost of course," Scootaloo said with a chuckle. "He must've figured that he'd win before he had to worry about that."

"Too bad, Dark Eclipser, attack him directly with Turbolaser Barrage!" Sweetie said as the ship pointed a cannon down at Bright and it fired a shot that hit the ground and sent him flying backwards. "Wickedwitch, attack him now with Fate Slash!"

Wickedwitch rushed forward and spun around and hit Bright as he let out a groan and slowly got to his feet. His clothes were torn from the attacks and he was breathing heavily.

"You're a lot better than I expected..." he said with a growl. "What are you going to do now? This isn't over yet."

"You're right, its not over yet, for now," Sweetie said as she crossed her arms. "But the tables have turned and you've got a long way to go before you're going to win this. I'll end my turn there."

(S: 1900) --- (B: 6600)

Bright growled and drew a card as Marie appeared behind him and motes fell around him as he revealed Golden Ladybug again. "And now I'll activate my field spell, the Sanctuary in the Sky!"

The city around them turned into a golden city on the clouds. "And now, I'll summon my Agent of Force - Mars!" Bright said and a new fairy appeared, this one had red wings and dark red skin with a hammer and armor and his attack went up to 5400.

Sweetie froze for a moment as the world around her went quiet as the angel flew up at Dark Eclipser. She didn't even hear the attack command and she froze for a moment as she watched, knowing that she was going to lose if she couldn't stop it.

"Sweetie, your face down card!" Scootaloo called out at her. "You can stop this!"

"My..." Sweetie said and facepalmed, she had forgotten all about her trap card with everything that was going on. "Go Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!"

The Angel swung his hammer and hit the metal scarecrow before it could hit the starship and it was sent flying back.

"That was a close one," Sweetie said breathing heavily. "I forgot all about my Scarecrow, thanks Scoots."

Scootaloo smiled and gave her the thumbs up before Sweetie turned back and looked at Bright who looked furious.

"I'll end my turn!" He said and spat at Sweetie.

(S: 1900) --- (B: 7300)

Okay, I need to draw the right card right now if I want to win this, Sweetie thought as she looked down at her deck. She had a few cards that could save her right now, she just had to hope that she'd draw one of them.

"Looks like someone's afraid," Bright said and gave her a smirk. "Don't make me start the timer before you lose."

"Oh shut up," Sweetie said and drew her next card and her eyes went wide when she saw what she had drawn. "I summon my Kozmo Soartroopers in attack mode!"

Three monsters appeared in front of her, they were all dressed in black armor that looked kind of like a monkey. The only thing that set them apart was the fact that they had wings (1000/1000).

"Flying Monkeys meet Stormtroopers," Scootaloo said. "Is it just me or does this game get weirder and weirder?"

"I'll activate their effect, by banishing them I can special summon one of my Kozmo monsters from my hand," Sweetie said and the monsters vanished and the lights flew into Sweetie again. "So I can special summon the Kozmo Dark Destroyer!"

The monster that appeared was smaller than Dark Eclipser and was more streamlined. It was silver with purple markings on it and two wings that jutted out from its body as it adjusted itself to look down at Mars (3000/1600).

"Its still too..."

"Yeah, its still too weak I know, but it also has a special ability, when its summoned I can destroy one monster," Sweetie said and the spacecraft aimed at the angel. "Take it out!"

Dark Destroyer fired lasers at it that intersected with Mars and it shattered. Bright took a step back and looked up at the two spacecraft in fear.

"Lets finish this, Dark Destroyer, Dark Eclipser, and Goodwitch, attack him directly!" Sweetie ordered and the two ships fired their lasers as they hit him then Goodwitch flew forward and slashed him with her swords.

Bright let out a scream as he fell back onto the pavement.

(S: 2400) --- (B: 0)

"Oh crap, is he alive?" Sweetie asked as she deactivated her disk and ran over to the fallen form of her opponent with her friends close behind. She checked his pulse and let out a sigh of relief. "He's alive, just unconscious."

"Hey, where did all the people go?" Scootaloo asked as they looked around, they had been so focused on the duel they hadn't noticed the crowd had vanished.

"Ah have no idea," Apple Bloom said and they were about to say something else when a whip cracked from behind them. When they turned however there was only a letter laying on the ground.

Scootaloo paused a moment before she bent down and carefully opened it up. She wasn't sure what to expect as she read it.

Chosen Ones,

You've managed to beat your first opponent, well done, but things in Manehattan aren't going to get any better. Go to the Ninth Circle, the owner will be there to shed more light on the situation, if she's willing to help.

A friend.

"There's a map of the city in here," Scootaloo said as she took out a map of Manehattan. "Its got a lot of important spots marked, including the Ninth Circle. Should we check it out?"

"Do we have much of a choice?" Sweetie Belle pointed out. "We need information on this situation and if whoever is inside there can help us, we don't have a choice."

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom thought about it for a moment and sighed before they started walking towards where the Ninth Circle was marked on the map.

Chapter 3: Contract With the Abyss

The Ninth Circle as it turned out was a fancy looking bar a few blocks away from where they started. It was built into the bottom two floors of a taller building, and it looked pretty much empty although they could've sworn they heard the sound of music coming from inside.

"Do yah think we should go inside?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked at her friends. "Ah don't like this, tha city seems ta be otherwise empty, what if its a trap?"

"Then we'll be careful," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "We need to get any information we can get, and this is our first clue."

They looked at the door and after a moment pushed it open. The bar seemed empty when they came inside, until they looked at the center and saw a woman seated at a piano and playing a song as she sang in a Trottingham accent.

"I watched with glee,
While your Kings and Queens,
Fought for ten decades,
For the gods they made.

I shouted out,
"Who killed those Kennedy's?"
When after all,
It was you and me."

She stopped playing when she looked up and looked over at the three friends. She was a tall woman with pitch black skin and messy white hair, she was dressed in a blue shirt with a white jacket over it and a long skirt. She looked at the Crusaders with piercing red eyes that made them shiver.

"So, the three of you are the ones that were chosen by the Darkness," she said in the same accent as she looked at the three of them curiously. "I have to say I wasn't expecting the three of you to come here so soon."

"Yeah, well we got a letter from someone," Scootaloo said. "What do you mean by the Darkness?"

"They don't tell anyone anything these days..." the woman said with a shake of her head. "As I'm sure you're aware at this point the city of Manehattan is under attack by the Light of Destruction and its servants. I personally am not involved in this war, the Benevolent Darkness is the one who has been tasked with fighting it."

"Then why were we sent here?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Because the Benevolent Darkness can't give you what I can," the woman said and reached into her jacket pocket and took out six cards and showed it to them. They were weird cards that were half like monsters and half like spell cards. "If one of you can beat me, I'll give you each a set of these monsters. Only if one of you can beat me though, and I'll give you each one chance."

"What are they?" Scootaloo asked. "I've never seen cards like that before."

"You'll see, my deck is filled with them after all," the woman said as she raised her arm and a duel disk appeared on it with a deck inside. It was made of black metal with a star carved into it. "So, which one of you will try first?"

The three of them exchanged looks for a moment. "Alright, lets decide by drawing a card," Sweetie suggested. "Whoever gets the monster with the least attack goes first."

"Alright," Apple bloom said and raised her disk while Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle did the same.

"I'll go first," Scootaloo said and flinched when she drew her card and showed it as her Despair From the Dark.

Sweetie drew a card and showed it as her Kozmo Soartroopers. "Well, that's better at least."

Apple Bloom drew her top card. "Figures," she said and showed it as an Amazoness Pet Tiger before she looked at the woman again. "Guess Ah'm goin' first. So, can Ah have yer name?"

"Of course, please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a woman of wealth and taste," the woman said with a bow as she got up and activated her disk. "You may call me Morning Star."

"Alright," Apple Bloom said and activated her duel disk as they moved onto the dance floor. "Lets duel!"

(Apple Bloom: 8000) --- (Morning Star: 8000)

"You may go first, I insist," Morning Star said and gave Apple Bloom a nod as they drew their opening hands. "Lets see what you have."

"Alright, then Ah draw," Apple Bloom said as she drew her sixth card. "Ah'll start with mah field Spell Amazoness Village!"

The club around them changed into a jungle with several huts around them. Apple Bloom smiled a little when she looked at her hand and picked another card out.

"By revealing mah Amazoness Paladin, Ah can special summon Amazoness Spy in attack mode!" She said and a woman with tan skin dressed in a bikini with black hair and a mask covering her face appeared kneeling in defense mode (800/1200 + 200). "And Ah'll follow that up with mah Amazoness Paladin!"

A woman with blonde hair with a cloth on her head and dressed in a cloth bikini appeared holding a sword (1700/300 + 400).

"Since Ah can't attack, Ah'll end with one more card face down," Apple Bloom finished as she slid a card into her disk. "Lets see what yah have."

"What kind of deck does a piano bar owner use anyway?" Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo.

"I don't know, maybe alcohol themed, or music themed," Scootaloo said with a shrug. "I'm sure she has something up her sleeve, I just hope that Apple Bloom knows what she's doing."

"I draw," Morning Star said and added a card to her hand. "I'll start with two of my Dark Contract cards, Dark Contract With the Entities and Dark Contract with the Swamp King!"

A gravestone and a torn piece of paper appeared in front of her as she smiled a little and picked two more cards out of her hand. "And I'll activate my Dark Contract with the Swamp King's effect, I can fuse together these two cards from my hand!"

A skull with a red slime coming out of it and a woman with a snake's body appeared and went into the vortex. The monster that descended was a female monster dressed in silver and gold armor with two bat-like wings coming out of her back and two from her head, she carried a sword and her mouth was covered by a mask (2800/2300).

"Welcome to the field, D/D/D Oracle King D'Arc!" Morning Star said as the fiendish warrior swung her blade. "And thanks to my Dark Contract with the Entities, I gain 1000 life points."

A pen appeared and wrote on the paper as energy flew into the strange woman.

"Oh great, is this going to become a theme?" Sweetie Belle asked with a groan.

"Don't worry, my contracts have a cost, but that's not until my next turn," Morning Star said and nodded to D'Arc. "D'arc, attack her Paladin with sacred sword!"

The female knight drew her sword and rushed forward and slashed at the Paladin. She drew her own sword and tried to block it only to be pushed back and cut through as she shattered.

"Ah activate tha effect of my field, Ah get ta special summon one of mah Amazoness monsters from my deck, so Ah'll summon Amazoness Trainee!" Apple Bloom said and a girl dressed in a bikini with grey hair tied into a ponytail and holding a chain appeared crouching in defense mode (1500/1300 + 200). "Anything else?"

"I'll set one card face down and then I'll give you a preview of what you're fighting for," Morning Star said and took the last card out of her hand and put it on her disk. A strange metallic creature with two orbs one orange and one purple appeared, it didn't appear humanoid, it was more like a metal mass. "I'll put my D/D Savant Kepler in my Pendulum Zone, and end my turn there."

(A: 7300) --- (M: 9000)

"Have you ever heard of D/D monsters?" Sweetie Belle asked as she looked at Scootaloo a bit confused.

"I, think I heard rumors about some sort of new fiend archetype being developed, but I don't know much about them," Sweetie said with a shrug. "I thought that they might be related to the old D.D. monsters, but there doesn't seem to be much of a common thread. I don't even think they've been released yet."

"Then how did Morning Star get them?" Scootaloo wondered out loud as she looked at the strange woman.

"Ah draw!" Apple Bloom said and flinched when she saw her next card, it wasn't going to help her at all. "I'll set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"A shame, I was hoping for more," Morning Star said and her two contract cards glowed and energy flew out into her. "Normally, this would deal 3000 points of damage to me, but D'Arc turns it into life point gain!"

"Oh come on, that ain't fair!" Apple Bloom protested as Morning Star's life points jumped up 3000. "Yer just exploitin' a loophole in tha contract."

"Well of course, when you make a deal with dark forces then more often than not the dark force knows how to exploit loopholes," Morning Star said and crossed her arms and smiled darkly. "Someone I once met said that you should never make deals with devils, for they do everything within their power to make sure they twist it to their advantage."

"So what, yer tha Devil or somethin'?" Apple Bloom asked. "Like, tha Devil who makes deals fer souls or marriages or whatever?"

"That's an exagguration, and I never made deals for marriages, that very idea is idiotic," Morning Star said with a shake of her head as she looked and the three. "I wouldn't say I'm the Devil, but I am one of the most powerful forces of Darkness on this plane and beyond. Besides, I don't make deals for souls, when I make a deal I ask only for a favor in return. I do not tempt, I do not coerce."

"So, then why are you running a piano bar?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Because ruling a plane of existance is boring!" Morning Star replied with a shake of her head. "I needed a vacation from the politics and everything and now I'm in the middle of the biggest war between light and darkness in years."

Honestly none of them had any idea what to think of this. She seemed polite at least, but they were getting a weird feeling from her, and what she had just told them didn't help matters any.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I'll continue," Morning Star said as she took the sole card in her hand and slipped it into her disk. "I'll set this card face down and move into my battle phase. D'Arc, destroy her Amazoness Spy!"

The fiendish knight ran forward and slashed through the spy shattering her.

"And that means Ah can activate two effects, first mah Spy's effect lets me return one of mah Amazoness monsters ta mah hand!" Apple Bloom said and took a card out of her graveyard. "And then Ah can activate mah field spell, so welcome ta tha field Amazoness Swordswoman!"

Another bikini clad woman appeared, this one had long wild brown hair and was carrying a sword. She looked at Morning Star and D'Arc with a scowl as she readied her sword (1500/1600 + 200).

Morning Star frowned and shook her head. "Alright fine, I'll end my turn there."

(A: 7300) --- (M: 12,000)

Alright, Ah need a good card right now if Ah'm gonna win this, Apple Bloom thought as she reached for her deck and drew her next card. "Alright, Ah just drew part two of mah combo!"

Morning Star didn't say anything, she just looked at Apple Bloom for a long moment as the redhead smiled broadly.

"Do you know anything about these Amazoness monsters?" Scootaloo asked as she looked at Sweetie Belle. "I mean I've heard of them, but I have to admit I've never dueled against them..."

"Well, they've got a lot of really tricky effects," Sweetie Belle said with a pause. "Though I thought her sister was the one who used them. I'm not sure why she has them now."

"Ah'll sacrifice mah Trainee ta summon Hippolyta herself, tha Amazoness Queen!" Apple Bloom said and the trainee vanished and another woman in regal dress with blue hair and an eyepatch appeared carrying a sword.

"Ah, hello Hippolyta, its been a few centuries," Morning Star said with a smirk as the Queen shot her a look. "A shame about what happened with Hercules."

"Well, she's not here ta talk, Amazoness Swords Woman attack D'arc!" Apple Bloom said as Swords Woman readied her sword and charged forward, slashing at D'arc who just backhanded her.

"What was the point of that?" Morning Star asked and then flinched when the sparks hit her and her life points fell but Apple Bloom's remained untouched. "I see, I took the damage instead of you."

"That's right, and thanks ta mah Queen, none of mah Amazoness monsters can be destroyed by battle," Apple Bloom said with a smirk as she crossed her arms. "And its only a matter of time before Ah can do somethin' ta win this."

"We'll see, is that all?" Morning Star asked.

Apple Bloom looked at her hand and shrugged. "Ah'll end mah turn there, lets see what yah have now."

(A: 7300) --- (M: 10,900)

"What do you think is up with that Savant card?" Sweetie Belle asked as she looked up at the strange machine as Morning Star drew her next card and her life points rose again. "She hasn't even done anything with it yet."

"That's about to change," Morning Star said as she looked at the two. "The three of you better pay close attention, because its time to unveil Pendulum Summoning. I'll summon my D/D Savant Galilei!"

The monster that appeared next was mechanical similar to the first savant, only this one was golden with a blue lens and different grey parts sticking out and connecting with it.

"And now that I've set the Pendulum Scale, I can special summon monsters from my hand as long as they fall on the scale," Morning Star said as a pendulum appeared behind her and started to swing back and forth. "Swing far my Pendulum, and carve the arc of victory!"

(1 to 6)

The monster that appeared before her was strange looking, it was vaguely feminine but in place of its legs was a box with a keyhole. She had a hat with a flowing cloth behind her and was dressed in a purple and gold dress as she knelt in defense mode (1700/2100).

"Hey, that's a level 5 monster!" Sweetie said. "How did you get it out like that?"

"Simple, as long as its between the levels of 2 and 5 I can special summon any monster from my hand!" Morning Star said with a smirk. "Now, I may not be able to destroy your monsters but I can still deal damage. D'Arc, attack her Amazoness Queen!"

D'Arc drew her sword and rushed forward, slashing at the Queen who just pushed her back.

"And I'll end my turn there," she finished.

(A: 7100) --- (M: 13,900)

"Then Ah draw!" Apple Bloom said as she drew her next card and smiled a little when she saw it, it was exactly what she needed right now. "Ah'll start out by flip summonin' mah Amazoness Scouts!"

Two more amazons appeared, though these two were dressed in less revealing yellow and blue outfits, one was carrying a sword and the other a bow and arrow (500/1100 + 200).

"Next, Ah normal summon mah Amazoness Paladin again," she said and the blonde warrior appeared again (1700/300 + 600).

"That's not going to be enough to destroy D'Arc," Morning Star said as the Amazoness monsters glared at her. "They don't seem to like me very much."

"Someone like yah tempted their sister, unfortunately ta win this duel they're gonna have ta draw on that power," Apple Bloom said as she slid a card into her disk and a new sword appeared in the Paladin's hands that had a dark colored hilt with a yellow crystal.

The Paladin surged with energy as her attack rose to 3300 and she held the sword out with a wicked smile.

"Ah gave her tha Amazoness Savage Blade, this gives her 1000 more attack points but at a cost," Apple Bloom said with a nod. "She has ta attack every turn or she will be destroyed as tha weapon has driven her ta a berserker rage. And that makes her strong enough ta take out yer D'Arc."

Morning Star took a step back in surprise as the Paladin pointed her sword at her. "That's the blade that the Unfriendly Amazon was given wasn't it?"

"Yah know tha story then," Apple Bloom said with a nod. "One of tha Amazons wanted power so she struck a deal with a dark power ta get it. Tha dark power gave her tha Savage Blade, but it drove her mad and she was exiled from her home. Tha story ain't over there mind yah, but needless ta say tha sword found its way back ta tha Amazons. It ain't as powerful as it used ta be, but it can still be used ta give them strength."

"Yeah, go Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo called out. "Show her the strength of the Crusaders!"

"This is why Ah like tha Amazoness monsters," Apple Bloom said with a smile as she crossed her arms. "They're like mah friends back there, they support each other and work together as a team ta become stronger. Now, Amazoness Queen, yer up first attack her Pandora with Blade of Hippolyta!"

The Queen held her sword out and charged at the monster, slashing through it as it shattered.

"And Ah'll activate mah trap Queen's Pawn, so Ah'll use it ta bring out her daughter, tha Amazoness Princess!" She continued and a girl wearing a tribal outfit and warpaint and carrying a decorated spear appeared (1200/900 + 200). At the same time Amazoness Paladin's attack rose to 3400.

"And thanks ta her effect, Ah can add one Amazoness spell or trap card ta mah hand," she said and took a card out of her deck. Amazoness Spirit Dance should come in handy later, Ah just need tha right cards ta use it.

"This is awesome!" Sweetie Belle said. "And with that she'll take damage from her contracts on her next turn!"

"Then, why doesn't she seem that worried?" Scootaloo wondered as she looked over at where Morning Star was. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Amazoness Paladin, attack her D'Arc with your Savage Blade!" Apple Bloom commanded as the Paladin ran forward and slashed through the armored fiend.

"I activate my trap card, Contract Laundering!" Morning Star countered and with that her two contracts shattered as her life points rose by 2000. "Not only does that keep me from taking the damage on my next turn, I can draw one card for each."

"Oh come on!" Sweetie Belle said and threw her hands up in the air as Morning Star drew her next two cards. "You're justt coming up with more loopholes."

"Like I said, its what I do," she said with a smirk as she looked at the two cards in her hand and nodded. "Go ahead."

"Fine, Ah'll attack yah directly with mah other monsters!" Apple Bloom said as the remaining Amazons ran forward and slashed at Morning Star with their weapons, then a two headed dog appeared in front of her in defense mode (600/1800). "What tha heck is that?"

"That's my D/D Orthos, since I took damage I could special summon it," Morning Star said with a grin. "Anything else?

"Ah'll end mah turn there, lets see what yah can do now," Apple Bloom finished.

(A: 7100) --- (M: 12,500)

Morning Star drew her next card and slid it into her disk. "I activate the spell card Ancient Leaf!"

"Oh great, that's the same card that Bright Star used against me," Sweetie said with a groan as Morning Star's life points fell by 2000 and she drew two cards. "At least Wyvern doesn't seem like her style."

"Its not quite my thing," Morning Star said as she put both cards she drew in her disk and they appeared face down before she did the same with her last card. "I activate the spell card Pendulum Fusion, and since I have a full scale I can use them both in the fusion!"

The two monsters flew into a vortex as a towering monster appeared. It had dark armor with red crystals and was carrying a large sword and shield (2800/2400).

"Welcome to the field, D/D/D Flame High King Genghis!" Morning Star said as the fiendish warrior let out a battle cry and swung his sword as it began to burn with unholy flames.

"Its still too weak to destroy mah Paladin, and yah can't destroy any of mah monsters," Apple Bloom said but she had to admit she was a little nervous about this whole thing. She knew nothing about these D/D cards and Morning Star hadn't even broken a sweat.

"No, but I can still deal damage to you, Flame High King Genghis attack her Scouts with Blazing Mongol Blade!" Morning Star said as the kind ran forward and slashed at the scouts which sent them flying back.

"And I'll end my turn there," Morning Star finally finished as she crossed her arms. "Lets see if there's anything in your deck that can stand up to my king."

(A: 5000) --- (M: 10,500)

"Even if she destroys that King, Morning Star probably still has a plan," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "And we haven't even seen the true strength of her deck yet, that much I'm sure of."

"Wait, so you think she's got even more powerful cards waiting in the wings?" Sweetie asked in surprise.

"Its just a feeling," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "But she does have a lot of powerful cards, but I'll bet anything so does Apple Bloom."

"Ah draw!" Apple Bloom said as she drew her next card and slid it into her disk. "Yer not tha only one who can draw cards, Ah play mah Amazoness Treasury spell card. Since Ah have at least two Amazoness monsters on tha field Ah can draw two more cards."

A treasure chest appeared before her as she reached into it and picked two coins out and dropped it on her disk. Her deck glowed as she drew two cards quickly and added them to her hand.

"Unfortunately Ah have ta discard one of mah Amazoness monsters, like Baby Tiger," Apple Bloom finished and slid the card into her graveyard slot. "Now, its time ta do some damage. Swords Woman, attack Genghis with Blade of the Amazons!"

The Amazon held her sword and rushed forward as she prepared to slash at the king.

"I activate my trap card, Breakthrough Skill!" Morning Star countered and a spike flew out and hit Amazoness Queen and she fell to her knees. "And that negates her effect so your monsters are no longer protected by it."

Genghis caught the Amazoness monster's sword with his shield and backhanded her with the hilt of her sword. She went flying and shattered.

"Fine, but Ah get tha effect of mah field spell, so Ah can special summon another Amazoness monster!" Apple Bloom said and took a card out of her deck and put it on her disk as a new Amazoness monster appeared carrying a large shield (0/2000 + 200). "Mah Amazoness Shield Maiden in defense mode."

"Wait, I've never seen that one before," Sweetie commented. "Where did you get that card anyway? And didn't your sister use the Amazoness cards before?"

"Tha first tournament Ah ever won was about usin' Earth decks," Apple Bloom said. "Ah couldn't figure out the right deck to use, but Applejack gave the deck ta me because she felt Ah could use them better. When Ah won Ah got a bunch of new Amazoness cards, and so far yah have seen three of them. Ah still use these cards because they remind me of mah big sister, and even with everythin' that is goin' on in this city, she's still with me."

"Touching," Morning Star said.

"Now Amazoness Paladin, yer up next, take out that Flame King with Savage Blade!" Apple Bloom ordered as the Paladin rushed forward at Genghis.

"I activate my trap card, Malevolent Catastrophe!" Morning Star countered and the sword in Paladin's hand along with the village around them shattered and the Paladin's attack fell to 2200. "And since that doesn't stop the attack, Paladin's attack continues!"

The Paladin drew her normal sword and continued the attack, but her sword was caught and she shattered.

"Ah..." Apple Bloom said and looked at her hand and shook her head. "Ah'll switch mah monsters ta defense mode and end mah turn."

The Amazonesses knelt in defense mode as they glared at Morning Star who just chuckled a little.

(A: 4400) --- (M: 9400)

"Its my turn then," Morning Star said as she drew her next card and smirked a little as she put it in her disk. "I'll activate my Card of Demise, so I get three more cards but in return you don't take any damage this turn."

"Do yah really need all this draw power?" Apple Bloom asked with a groan.

"Well of course, this deck is all about getting strong monsters out, so I need all the draw power I can get," Morning Star said as she set two cards in her disk as they appeared before her. "And I'll also summon my D/D Lilith!"

A red colored fiend monster with a serpentine blue-green body appeared (100/2100). She smiled a little as she shot Apple Bloom a kiss.

"And my deck can do more than just Fusion summon, but first I'll get one D/D card back from my graveyard," Morning Star said and added a card to her hand before a vortex appeared at her feet. "I'm going to use both Orthos and Lilith to create the overlay network!"

A purple fiendish warrior dressed in black metal armor carrying a large sword appeared (2400/1200).

"Welcome to the field, my D/D/D Wave King Caesar!" Morning Star said with a grin as her monster swung his sword.

"First Fusions, then Pendulums, and now Xyzs," Scootaloo commented. "The D/D monsters are certainly versatile."

Yeah, but mah deck is just as versatile, Apple Bloom thought as she looked down at her disk. Ah just have ta draw tha right card and Ah'll be able ta take out her monster.

"And I'll activate the other effect of my Breakthrough Skill, since this isn't the turn I summoned it I can banish it and negate Amazoness Queen's Effect again," she said and another spike hit the Queen as she fell to her knees. "Now I'll attack your Queen with my Genghis!"

The fiendish king charged forward and slashed at the Queen but suddenly the Shield Maiden jumped in the way and pushed him back.

"Mah Amazoness Shield Maiden's effect lets me protect one of mah Amazoness monsters once per turn," Apple Bloom said as the two Amazoness monsters returned to their places. "Mah Amazoness monsters work together ta protect each other no matter what, and Ah'm not gonna let yah win that easily."

"Fine, that's impressive but I can still attack your Queen with my Caesar!" Morning Star said and pointed at her Xyz monster. "Caesar, attack her Queen with Sword of Romulus!"

Wave Caesar held his sword out and rushed forward slashing through the Queen who screamed as she shattered.

"Luckily for you she was in defense mode," Morning Star said and crossed her arms. "Alright Apple Bloom, I'm ending my turn here, lets see what you can do now."

"Alright, Ah draw!" Apple Bloom said as she drew a card and then smiled when she saw the card. She looked down at her hand and then selected a card and slipped it into her disk. "Ah activate mah spell card Amazoness Call!"

"I activate my trap card, D/D Recruits!" Morning Star countered as a card slipped out of her graveyard. "Since you have one more monster than I do I can add one D/D monster from my graveyard back to my hand!"

"And thanks ta mah spell card, Ah get ta add one of mah Amazoness monsters ta mah hand," Apple Bloom said and took a card out of her deck. "Ah'll save this one fer later though, because now Ah'm gonna activate tha spell card, Amazoness Spirit Dance!"

A large drum appeared in front of her with a woman that was beating on it. Scouts and Princess started to dance as another woman with long black hair and carrying a whip appeared before they flew into the drum.

"That's, a ritual card," Morning Star said in shock as the drum beat got faster paced. "What are you summoning."

A new Amazoness monster jumped out of the drum, this one had long red hair and was dressed in a chain mail bikini with armor plating on her arms and legs. She drew a double bladed sword and twirled it around before she struck a pose (0/0).

"Welcome ta tha field, Amazoness Soul Warrior!"

"I was expecting something more," Morning Star said. "Especially given how dramatic the entrance was. What makes this monster so special?"

"Once per turn, Ah can banish two of mah level 4 Amazoness monsters from mah hand or graveyard and she gains attack equal to their attack points until mah next standby phase," Apple Bloom explained as she took two cards out of her graveyard and Soul Warrior's attack rose to 3200. "And now she's more than strong enough ta take out yer monster!"

Morning Star took a step back and gulped a little when Soul Warrior readied her sword. "Okay, that's certainly impressive."

"Indeed, now Ah'll attack yer Genghis with Soul Warrior, Sword of the Fallen!" She commanded and Soul Warrior charged forward and slashed at the king twice with her sword as he shattered.

"I activate my trap card, D/D/D Human Resources, so I can return three of my monsters to my deck and then add two more D/D cards to my hand!" Morning Star countered as Caesar vanished and she took two more cards out of her graveyard out and put all three of them in her extra deck and shuffled the third into her deck before she took two more out. "Your Soul Warrior is a strong monster, but this duel is far from over."

She's right, Ah just hope that Ah'll be able ta pull this off next turn, Apple Bloom thought as she looked at her hand. "Ah end mah turn there, lets see what yah can do."

(A: 4400) --- (M: 9000)

Morning Star just drew her next card and nodded as she put the two cards down on her disk again and the same two monster appeared above her. "I've gotten back both Kepler and Galilei, so they once more form the Pendulum scale."

"Great, and Ah'm sure yah have somethin' even more powerful this time," Apple Bloom said with a flinch.

"And you would be right, I Pendulum Summon not one, but three copies of the same monster," Morning Star said as the pendulum swung behind her. "Swing far my pendulum, and carve forth the arc of Victory!"

(1 to 10)

The three monsters that appeared all resembled large crystals with metal attachments on each of them. There was a face on it that faced Apple Bloom and looked at her with glowing eyes (3000/1000 x3).

"Welcome to the field, D/D/D Doom King Armageddon!" Morning Star said with a laugh as she raised her hand and pointed at the first of her monsters. "You, attack her Shield Maiden with Death Stare!"

The first monster's eyes shined red as the Shield Maiden raised her shield quivering.

"Ah can still keep yah from destroyin' it once this turn," Apple Bloom said as the shield maiden lowered her shield again.

"But I still have two more, its your turn Doom King Armageddon number two, finish the job!" Morning Star said as the second one's eyes glowed and Shield Maiden shattered. "And that's all for my turn. And now your Soul Warrior's attack is going to fall back to 0."

"Come on deck, don't let me down!" Apple Bloom said as she drew her next card with a flourish and her Soul Warrior's attack fell back to 0. "Perfect, Ah activate mah continuous spell card Amazoness Fightin' Spirit!"

The spell appeared before her and began to glow while Amazoness Soul Warrior glowed even brighter. She smiled as she held her sword.

"And Ah'll also banish Amazoness Princess and Amazoness Spy ta increase her attack to 2400!" Apple Bloom continued. "And Ah'll even throw in tha second effect of Amazoness Call, by banishin' it mah Soul Warrior can attack every card on yer field!"

"Yeah, whatever Morning Star has planned for those three is about to come crashing down!" Sweetie said excitedly. "Apple Bloom has this duel in the bag!"

"Then, why doesn't Morning Star look worried?" Scootaloo asked as she looked at the club owner who was just standing there with a smirk on her face.

"And thanks ta mah Fightin' Spirit, mah Amazoness monsters gain 1000 attack when attackin' a stronger monster," Apple Bloom said with a nod as she pointed at the middle monster. "Amazoness Soul Warrior, attack that one with yer soul sword slash!"

The redheaded amazon rushed forward and slashed at the middle Doom King Armageddon and it shattered.

"Now Ah..." Apple Bloom started to say before the other two monsters attack points suddenly jumped up to 6000 each. "WHAT?"

"That's right, when one of my monsters is destroyed, my other monsters gain 3000 attack points," Morning Star said with a smirk. "A nice try, but this duel isn't over yet."

"Darn it, can't you give her a break?" Sweetie yelled.

"Of course not, if you want to use the Pendulum monsters, you have to prove yourself strong enough," Morning Star said. "And I still have lots of tricks in store for you, so you better think fast Apple Bloom."

"Ah..." Apple Bloom said and looked at the last card in her hand, she wanted to save it for later so right now wasn't the time. "Ah end mah turn."

(A: 4400) --- (M: 8600)

Morning Star drew her next card and glanced up at her Pendulum monsters as the numbers under them changed. "Doom King Armageddon, attack her Soul Warrior with Death Stare!"

The monster's eyes flashed again as the ritual monster let out a scream and shattered.

"That activated her other ability!" Apple Bloom said as she reached into her pocket and set four cards on her disk. "Ah get ta special summon all tha monsters Ah banished with her effect. But in return they can't attack on mah next battle phase."

Swords Woman, Paladin, Spy, and Princess all re-appeared, everyone but Swords Woman kneeling in defense mode.

"And now Ah can add one of mah Amazoness cards ta mah hand," Apple Bloom said and took out a card.

"Fine, I'll destroy your Spy with my other king!" Morning Star said and the monster's eyes glowed again and the spy vanished.

"And Ah get back a monster," Apple Bloom said as she added another card to her hand. "Anythin' else?"

"You've bought yourself another turn, I end my turn," Morning Star said.

(A: 3800) --- (M: 8600)

Apple Bloom drew her next card and smiled a little. "Ah've bought more than just a turn, Ah've got almost everythin' Ah need ta win this game right now."

"Really? Well then lets see what you've got up your sleeve," Morning Star said with a smirk as she crossed her arms. "If you're as strong as you claim, win this now."

"Ah will start by activatin' mah second copy of Amazoness Call that Ah added ta mah hand durin' yer turn, so now Ah can add just tha card Ah need!" Apple Bloom said and took a card out of her deck and put it in her hand. "And Ah'm activatin' tha effect of mah Amazoness Spirit Dance, now Ah can add mah Amazoness Trainee back ta mah hand!"

She took two cards out of her graveyard and put one in her banished slot and added the other to her hand.

"And now, Ah summon mah Amazoness Priestess!" She said and a new monster appeared, this one was dressed in ceremonial clothing and carrying a staff (1200/700). "And she's got a great effect, Ah can pick one of mah Amazoness monsters and increase her level by one so Ah pick mah Spy!"

"I wonder why she's doing that," Sweetie said. "I mean, there are a few combos that can work with that. What do you think she's going to do?"

"Ah'll show yah, yah see, mah Amazoness deck has several powerful Extra Deck monsters, and Ah'm gonna summon one of them by tunin' together Priestess and Spy!" Apple Bloom said and her cards flew up and came together. "Fury of the gods and being with the might of the jungle descend, synchro summon, Amazoness Hunter!"

(3 + 4 = 7)

The monster that descended was dressed in a leopard print bikini with a long cloth. She was also holding a wooden bow with a quiver over her back.

"And Ah get her effect, by discardin' both mah Amazoness Queen and mah Amazoness trainee Ah get ta destroy both of yer monsters!" Amazon said as Hunter fired two arrows in rapid succession destroying both the Doom Kings.

"Impressive, but all my destroyed Pendulum monsters go to my extra deck so they aren't destroyed," Morning Star said as she put the cards into her extra deck slot. "I don't see how you're going to win this yet."

"Ah ain't done yet, just like yah did before, Ah'm gonna form tha Overlay network!" Apple Bloom said as the vortex appeared in front of her. "So, Ah overlay Amazoness Paladin and Amazoness Swords Woman ta summon..."

The two monsters turned into light and flew into the vortex as a new monster appeared. She was dressed in an even more ornate version of Priestess' outfit and had long black hair tied into a braid. She swung her staff around and smiled (2600/1900).

"Mah Amazoness High Priestess a shame that Ah don't need her effect here, but Ah'll show yah what Ah have in mind," Apple Bloom said as she slid one more card into her disk. "Ah play mah Gift of tha Earth Goddess, so Ah can draw two more cards at tha cost of 1000 life points, but Ah lose all mah monsters in tha end phase.."

Her life points fell down by 1000 as she drew two more cards.

"Well, did you get what you needed?" Morning Star asked.

"Indeed Ah did, Ah play Double Summon, this lets me summon mah Amazoness Tiger!" Apple Bloom said and an orange tiger missing an eye appeared with a roar (1100/1500 + 800). "Before yah say anythin', Ah know its still not enough, which is why Ah have this spell card, United We Stand which Ah'll equip ta Amazoness Tiger!"

Morning Star's eyes went wide as Amazoness Tiger's attack rose up to 4300 as her other monsters glowed. The Tiger let out a roar as she bared her teeth and looked at Morning Star hungrily.

"Now mah monsters, attack her directly!" Apple Bloom ordered and the two Amazoness warriors drew their weapons and they all charged Morning Star at once and sent her flying.

(A: 2800) --- (M: 0)

Morning Star got to her feet and looked serious for a moment and then laughed. The three friends just looked at her strangely as she kept laughing.

"Uh, what's so funny?" Scootaloo asked.

"Oh, its nothing, its just been awhile since I've had that much fun," Morning Star said and bowed. "You are to be commended young Apple Bloom, it takes a lot to defeat my D/D deck. The Light made a mistake by getting on your bad sides."

"Uh, thanks," Apple Bloom said in surprise as they deactivated their duel disks. "So, we had a deal right?"

"Of course, of course," Morning Star said and reached into her pocket and took out the six cards. "You've seen how the Pendulums work now, so you should be able to use all of these."

She gave them each two cards. They were a bit surprised to see all of them were parts of their respective decks that they hadn't ever seen before.

"Where did you get these?" Scootaloo asked as she looked at her cards. "I've never even heard of these Shiranui cards before."

"Or these Kozmo," Sweetie commented.

"Oh, you know, I know people," Morning Star said with a shrug as she stepped back. "You three have a lot to go if you really want to beat the Light. For now, you should get back out into the city. The map you were given should lead you to places with food, water, and anything else you might need that have been left for you."

The three friends nodded and headed back out. Scootaloo took one last look back at the woman as she took a seat at the piano again and started playing the same tune as before.

"Please allow me to introduce myself,
I'm a man of wealth and taste.
I've been around for a long, long year,
Stole many a man's soul to fade."

00000

Amazoness Savage Blade
Equip Spell
An "Amazoness" monster equipped with this card gains 1000 ATK. A monster equipped with this card must attack if it is able and cannot be switched to defense mode. If the equipped monster doesn't attack, it is destroyed.

Amazoness Shield Maiden
Earth
4
0/2000
Warrior/Effect
When this monster is normal summoned it is switched to defense mode. Once per turn while this monster is face-up on the field, one "Amazoness" monster on the field you control that is attacked cannot be destroyed by battle.

Amazoness Treasury
Spell Card
This card can only be activated when you have at least two "Amazoness" monsters on the field. You can draw two cards as long as you discard one "Amazoness" monster afterwords.

Amazoness Spirit Dance
Ritual Spell
This card can be used to special summon Amazoness Soul Warrior. You must also tribute monsters from your hand or field whose total levels equal 8 or more. You can banish this card from your graveyard to add one level 4 or lower "Amazoness" monster to your hand.

Amazoness Soul Warrior
Earth
8
0/0
Warrior/Ritual/Effect
You can Ritual summon this monster by the effect of "Amazoness Spirit Dance." Once per turn you can banish two level 4 or lower "Amazoness" monsters from your hand or graveyard and this monster gains attack equal to the combined attack of the banished monsters. When this monster is destroyed, special summon all cards you banished for this monster's effect that you can.

Amazoness Priestess
Earth
3
1200/700
Warrior/Tuner/Effect
Once per turn you can target one "Amazoness" monster on the field and increase its level by one.

Amazoness Hunter
Earth
7
Warrior/Synchro/Effect
1 Warrior Tuner + 1 or more "Amazoness" monster.
When this monster is special summoned, you can discard any number of cards from your hand to destroy one card for each one. Once per turn you can target one "Amazoness" monster in your graveyard and add it to your hand. This monster cannot attack on the turn you use this effect.

Amazoness High Priestess
Earth
4
Warrior/Xyz/Effect
2600/1900
2 Level 4 "Amazoness" monsters.
Once per turn you can detach one overlay unit from this card and target one "Amazoness" monster on your field other than this card. The targetted monster gains 800 ATK until the end of the turn.

Gift of the Earth Goddess
Spell Card
Pay 1000 life points. You can draw one card for every EARTH type monster face-up on your side of the field. At the end of your turn all monsters on your side of the field are destroyed. You can only activate "Gift of the Earth Goddess" once per turn.

Chapter 4: Collected Power

High above Manehattan in the Cloudcastle, the same man seated on the throne wathed his screen as the Crusaders walked out of the Ninth Circle. He frowned a little and shook his head.

"So, they've made a deal with our local devil it seems," he said as he eyed them. "I wonder what they were up to in there, she's dangerous enough but at least she's not interested in getting involved."

"Do not be so quick to judge, Morning Star" Eternal said as she shuffled the tarot deck and placed a card down on the table. "Justice, she is a powerful being of law and power, there is always the chance that she will play a role."

"Of course, even the Devil cannot keep out of the affairs of mortals," the man on the throne said. "What about Apple Bloom, what do the cards tell us about her?"

"Lets see, Apple Bloom," Eternal said as she drew her next card and set it next to the Strength and the High Priestess. "The Empress, a card of femininity, nature, and abundance. Curious, but she does come from a farming family."

"Indeed," the man on the throne said as he took out a tablet and swiped through it. "Lets see, who to send against them this time. With almost all the duelists in the city under our control we have a lot to choose from."

Eternal looked thoughtful for a long moment as she looked back at him. "Perhaps something more unconventional. The Crusaders are skilled duelists, but they cannot prepare for every eventuality."

"Unconventional, hmm..." the man on the throne said as he pressed an option and nodded. "Very well, I'll send this one for now, lets see if he can handle them."

He waved his hand as a magical sigil appeared in his hand and the command was sent. He looked back at the screen and paused a moment.

He could feel a strong power coming from the three young women's decks now and he looked at his deck box thoughtfully for a moment. If it was what he thought it was, then he had to get ready to fight them.

"Keep an eye on things here, I will be in the Forge," he said as he got to his feet and walked out of the throne room.

Eternal watched him go for a long moment before she drew her next card and her eyes went wide when she set it down. It depicted a tower with an explosion rocking.

"The Tower, a catastrophe is coming..." she said softly.

00000

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Apple Bloom asked as they walked down the empty street. "Ah swear, walkin' through an empty city like this gives me the creeps somethin' fierce."

"Yeah, I agree," Sweetie said as Scootaloo was looking over the map. "So where are we going?"

"Well, I was thinking that we should check out one of the places that Morning Star pointed us towards," Scootaloo said. "Given that we don't really have any food or anything, we should probably see if we can find some supplies."

"Yeah, that makes sense, where's the nearest one?" Sweetie Belle asked as they looked at the map together.

"Pretty close, we just have to go to this building here, there should be something there," Scootaloo said as she pointed at the spot on the map. "Lets just hope that we don't have to cook anything given that none of us can cook and we don't even have a kitchen if we could."

"Yeah, lets hope," Apple Bloom said as she looked down at her deck. "Do yah think these Pendulum monsters are gonna help us any?"

"Maybe, I mean we've got some great cards here already," Scootaloo said as she took out her two Pendulum monsters. These are going to make things even better, I just hope we know how they work."

She looked at her disk thoughtfully for a moment. This was the latest model and it came with two extra slots on either side, though no one was really sure what they were for, it was probably to get ready for Pendulums.

"Lets just hope that we don't run into any more..." Sweetie said as they approached the store where the cache was and stopped in mid-step. "Trouble."

Standing in front of them was a man with slate grey skin and a shaved head. He was dressed in a torn shirt and jeans and had visible golden lines running along his body with his eyes glowing golden.

"Okay, that's new," Apple Bloom said as they backed off a little. "What's up with the light show?"

"This is the full power of what we unleashed in this city," the man said in an echoey voice. "Those who were exposed to the power of the light are now fully under our control. And if you lose, the same fate will befall you."

"Crap..." Scootaloo said and gulped a little as she looked at the man. "So what now?"

"One of you will face my pawn Slate here," the man said. "If you win, you will free him from my control. In this city, the stakes are higher than you've ever experienced, lets see if you're lucky enough to win."

The golden glow faded but not the lines or the golden tint to his eyes. He raised his arm and activated a duel disk. "I'm here to duel for the Light, and I'll challenge you!" He said and pointed at Scootaloo.

"Wait, me?" Scootaloo asked in surprise as she raised her disk. "Why me?"

"Probably because they see yah as tha biggest threat," Apple Bloom said. "Don't worry Scoots, we have faith in yah."

"Thanks," Scootaloo said as she activated her duel disk. "Lets duel!"

(Scootaloo: 8000) --- (Slate: 8000)

"I will go first," Slate said as he drew 6 cards while Scootaloo drew 5.

"Whatever happened to ladies first?" Scootaloo said with a shake of her head.

"I will let you go first when you start acting like a lady," Slate said as he slipped a card into his disk. "I activate the spell card Gather Your Mind, this lets me add another Gather Your Mind to my hand but I can't activate it this turn."

"We seem to be running into a lot of older cards lately," Sweetie commented as a card slipped out of Slate's deck and he put it in his hand. "Hey, do you notice anything weird?"

"Like what?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Slate's deck, its larger than normal," Sweetie commented. "Most duelists use only 40 cards in their deck, but if I didn't know any better he had a full 60 card deck."

"Huh, weird," Apple Bloom said and blinked a little in surprise as Slate picked his next card.

"I'll set this monster in defense mode and set two cards face down," Slate said as three cards appeared face down in front of him. "Make your move."

"Alright, I draw," Scootaloo said and drew her next card, she smiled a little when she saw what was in her hand. "I'll start with my Call of the Mummy spell card, and since I have no monsters on my field, I can special summon one zombie from my hand, so I'll special summon my Mezuki in attack mode!"

The humanoid horse demon appeared and swung his ax as he snarled at Slate (1700/800).

"And since that was a special summon, I can normal summon my Shiranui Samurai!" Scootaloo continued and a man with black hair in a bun and dressed like a martial artist appeared drawing a flaming sword (1800/0). "And I'll add my Pyramid of Wonders, which gives my Zombies a boost of 200 attack for every monster you control!"

A vortex appeared above them and Mezuki and Samurai started to glow with an eerie light.

"Yeah, go Scootaloo!" Sweetie said excitedly as her monsters attack points rose to 1900 and 2000. "Keep this up and this duel will be over in no time!"

"I'll set this card face down and then attack your face down monster with Mezuki!" Scootaloo commanded as the horse demon rushed forward and slammed his ax down on the monster that appeared to be an arm made of ice, before it shattered it punched up and hit the pyramid shattering it. "What was that?"

"That was my Ice Hand, when its destroyed it takes out one of your spell or trap cards with it," Slate said as he took a card from his deck and placed it on the field and a flaming hand appeared in front of him. "And I also get to summon my Fire Hand."

"Darn it," Scootaloo said with a facepalm. "Fine, Shiranui Samurai attack his Fire Hand with Burning Katana!"

The Samurai ran forward and slashed at the hand and then it opened its hand and grabbed the Samurai, shattering it. Then the first hand appeared again.

"And thanks to that I get another Ice Hand," Slate said and shook his head. "Do you want to do anything else?"

"I end my turn," Scootaloo said with a sigh.

"Come on Scoots, don't let it get you down, its just a setback!" Sweetie said. "You'll figure something out, he can't do it forever!"

"At least we hope he can't," Apple Bloom said.

"Thanks that fills me with such confidence," Scootaloo said with a sigh as Slate drew his next card.

"I'll play my second Gather Your Mind," he said and the spell card appeared a second time as he took a third card out of his deck.

"Yeah, but since that was your last one you can't use it again!" Scootaloo said and Slate just shrugged a little.

"That might be the case, but I have other uses for it," he said and picked another card and set it face down on his disk. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Are you ever going to attack?" Scootaloo asked with a groan.

"Patience, I'll attack when I'm ready," Slate said with a shake of his head. "My deck still has a lot of tricks waiting in the wings. This game isn't about winning fast, and you'll have to be patient."

"Great, Scootaloo's in trouble then," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head. "She's ain't exactly tha most patient person Ah've ever met."

"Hey, I heard that!" Scootaloo said.

"Scootaloo, stay calm, you just need to do your best and win this!" Sweetie called to her. "We've got faith in you!"

"Alright, I draw!" Scootaloo said and drew her next card, she flinched when she saw that it was her Despair From the Dark. "I summon another one of my Yokai, the Shutendoji!"

A red faced fiendish monster with spiked blonde hair appeared carrying a jug. He cackled and beared his teeth at Slate (1500/800).

"Now, since I know what'll happen if I attack your Ice Hand, I'll take out your face down monster, Shutendoji attack with Sake Slash!" She continued as the fiendish zombie took a drink from his jug and rushed forward and slashed at the face down monster.

The monster that appeared briefly was a robotic bunny with the words "Love it" on its head. It fired a laser that went through Call of the Mummy and hit Scootaloo as she flinched.

"Since you attacked Mecha Bunny, you lose 500 life points and I get to set another one," Slate said as he took out a card and another face-down monster appeared in front of him.

"Okay, this is getting annoying, but I think I get the idea," Sweetie said. "He seems to be using cards that can replace themselves easily."

"So, why is he usin' them?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I, honestly have no idea, I can't think of a strategy that would benefit from having that many monsters in the graveyard," Sweetie said with a frown. "Whatever it is, I'm sure he's got something big planned for Scootaloo."

"I end my turn," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "Its your turn, lets see what you've got now."

(SC: 7500) --- (SL: 8000)

Slate drew a card and added it to his hand before he picked another card and set it on the disk. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Okay, this is getting weird, don't you do anything else?" Scootaloo asked.

"Patience," Slate said and crossed his arms. "I learned a long time ago that patience is the key to winning a duel. If you rush into a fight so easily, then you'll do nothing but hurt yourself."

"We'll see, I draw!" Scootaloo said and smiled when she saw what it was. "I activate my spell card, Brain Control! And I'll use it to take control of... your Ice Hand!"

A brain appeared in front of her as two ghastly hands reached out and grabbed the frozen hand before it pulled it over to her side of the field.

"Now I'm going to tribute your Ice Hand and my Mezuki to normal summon my Despair From the Dark!" She continued and the two monsters vanished before the large ghastly horned zombie appeared in front of her and cackled (2800/3000).

"Yeah, go Scootaloo!" Sweetie cheered. "You can do this!"

"And now I'll activate the effect of Mezuki and I'll bring back my Samurai!" Scootaloo said as the card slipped out of her disk and she put it in her pocket as Shiranui Samurai appeared in front of her in a burst of flame (1800/0). "Now Shutendoji, attack his face down Mecha Bunny!"

The fiend took a drink from his jug and rushed forward, slashing through the robotic bunny as energy flew out and hit Scootaloo through Call of the Mummy.

"And I get a third Mecha Bunny, thank you," Slate said as another face down card appeared in front of him.

"Fine, Despair From the Dark, take out his other face down monster with Despair Rend!" Scootaloo said and Despair From the Dark charged forward and slashed through a monster that was revealed to be a turtle with a metalic back.

"That was my UFO Turtle, and I get to special summon another one," Slate said as he took another monster out of his deck and placed it on the field and a second turtle appeared in front of him (1400/1200).

"Fine, I'll deal with that last Mecha Bunny then!" Scootaloo said and nodded to Shiranui Samurai who rushed forward and slashed through the bunny as energy flew into her again.

"Why did she do that? She just lost 1800 life points this turn and he didn't lose any," Sweetie commented. "Is she being reckless?"

"No, Ah think she's got a plan," Apple Bloom said. "Now Slate can't summon another Mecha Bunny and if he had anything planned with that, then its ruined."

"Before I end my turn, I'm activating Shutendoji's effect," Scootaloo continued as she took out her Mezuki card. "I'll place this monster on top of my deck and end my turn."

(SC: 5700) --- (SL: 8000)

Slate drew a card and slid it into his disk. "I'll activate my Spellbooks Inside the Pot, now we can both draw three cards," he said as he drew the next three cards off his deck.

"Fine," Scootaloo said though she was a little confused as she did the same. "What's the point of that?"

Slate didn't answer, he just picked a card from his hand and slid it into his disk as a golden box appeared in front of him. "I activate Golden Sarcophagus, I can banish one card from my deck and get it back in two turns, and I'll pick this one," he said and held up a card that Scootaloo didn't recognize before he put it in his pocket.

"Are you going to do something with that other than set it?" Scootaloo asked.

"We'll see, I'll end my turn by setting these two cards face down and switching UFO turtle to defense mode," he said and another monster appeared in front of him followed by a face down card and the turtle knelt down. "Its your turn."

"Alright, I draw!" Scootaloo said as she drew her next card and looked at it before she opened her field slot. "I activate my field spell, Zombie World!"

The city around them shifted into a rotting cityscape with a broken road and buildings. There was the sound of moaning and groaning in the distance as she smiled.

"Thanks to my field spell, all cards on the field and in the graveyard become zombies," she said and picked another card. "And now I'll get rid of those two face down cards you set before by activating Twin Twisters, I'll discard a card and destroy your face down cards!"

She slid a card into her graveyard and two twisters appeared and blew the cards off the field revealing a Damage Condenser and Jar of Avarice.

"And I'll re-summon my Mezuki!" She continued and the horse headed demon appeared again (1700/800). "Now Mezuki, take out the UFO Turtle!"

The demon slammed his axe down on the turtle and it shattered, only to be replaced by another one. "Fine, I'll take that one out with my Samurai!" She said and the Samurai slashed at it. "And that's all of your Turtles."

"But not all my monsters I can summon," Slate said as a dragon with a mask appeared (1400/1100). "Like my Masked Dragon."

Scootaloo looked at her monsters and then smiled. "Alright, but first I'll take out your face down monster with my Shutendoji!" She said as the fiend took a drink and rushed forward, slashing through a monster that was revealed to be a giant rat before another one appeared (1400/1450). "Now Despair From the Dark, take out Masked Dragon! And since its in attack mode, you take damage!"

The ghostly fiend rushed forward and slashed at the dragon as Slate's eyes went wide and it shattered.

"Lucky break," he said with a frown.

"Finally, Scootaloo dealt some damage to him!" Sweetie said.

"Yah can do it Scoots!" Apple Bloom said. "Show him what yer made of!"

"I'll end my turn there," Scootaloo finished with a smirk. "Lets see what you can do now."

(SC: 5700) --- (SL: 6600)

Slate drew his next card and selected another card. "I'll summon my Cyber Larva," he said and a small robot monster appeared (400/600). "And I'll play my One Day of Peace, so we can both draw a card but neither of us take damage until my next turn."

Scootaloo blinked as they both drew a card.

"And now I'll swtich Giant Rat to defense mode," he continued and the rat knelt in defense mode. "I end my turn there."

Scootaloo drew her next card and frowned, it was going to be helpful if she got the right card with it. "Alright, I'll set this monster in defense mode," she said and a set monster appeared in front of her.

She paused and looked at the three monsters in front of her. She could take them out, but it felt more like that was exactly what he wanted her to do. One Day of Peace was in play so she couldn't deal damage anyway.

"I'll, end my turn there," she said and sighed a little.

Slate drew his next card and then took the card he had banished and put it in his hand. "I start with the spell card Thunder Crash!" He said as lightning rained down around him and the monsters shattered before the lightning flew out and hit Scootaloo.

"Okay... that's not good..." Scootaloo said as she rose back up to her feet.

"Indeed, I summon the monster I had put in my Sarcophagus, the Chaos-End Master!" He said and a pale skinned man with long white wings and gold on his outfit with spiked white hair appeared (1500/1000). "Chaos-End Master, attack her Despair From the Dark!"

Scootaloo blinked as the angel flew at her zombie and she was about to say something when Slate's trap card flipped up and he discarded a card as the monster's attack rose to 3000 and he slashed through the ghostly zombie.

"And now I get his effect, I can special summon one level 5 or higher monster with 1600 or lower attack," he said and took his deck out.

"What do yah think he's summoning?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Honestly? I don't know..." Sweetie admitted, and she was afraid to know as he placed the card on his disk.

The monster that appeared was green with red orbs that looked like eyes. It was long and had long claws as it stared at Scootaloo (1600/1300 + 1300).

"That's, Shadow Ghoul!" Scootaloo said as she recognized the monster.

"Indeed, now I'll attack your Shutendoji with Shadow Ghoul, savage rend!" Slate said and the fiendish monster rushed forward and slashed through the zombie and it shattered. "So, do you still want me to do something?"

"Not really," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head.

"Too bad, I end my turn there," Slate finished.

(SC: 3200) --- (SL: 6600)

"Come on deck, don't let me down!" Scootaloo said and drew her next card and frowned when she saw what it was. She had some moves she could make, but they wouldn't do her much good. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and switch my two monsters to defense mode and end my turn."

Slate drew his next card and added to his hand before he picked another card out and slid it into his disk. "I activate the Shallow Grave, so we can both set a monster from our graveyard."

Scootaloo blinked a little as she took out her Despair From the Dark and set it on her disk as it appeared in front of her. Slate smirked as he did the same with his Cyber Larva.

"Why did he do that?" Sweetie asked. "He just gave Scootaloo access to her strongest main deck monster again."

Apple Bloom didn't reply but she had a bad feeling about whatever it was that Slate was going to do.

"To make things interesting, I'll sacrifice my set monster to summon my Cannon Soldier MK-2!" Slate said but nothing happened. "What happened?"

"Its simple, my Zombie World field spell keeps us from tribute summoning monsters that aren't zombies," Scootaloo said with a smirk. "So you're going to have to do something else I'm afraid."

"Fine, I activate my Nobleman of Crossout!" Slate said as an efiminate knight appeared and slashed at the face down monster that vanished. "But since I can't tribute summon, I'll now attack your Shutendoji with my Chaos-End Master!"

The angel rushed forward and slashed at the drunk zombie who shattered.

"And that means I get to special summon a second Shadow Ghoul!" He added as a second green ghastly monster appeared with a wicked chuckle (1600/1300 + 1200).

"Come on Scoots, yah have this!" Apple Bloom said.

Scootaloo looked back at them and nodded. She actually smirked a little, she had a plan now that was going to deal with his monsters, it was just a matter of time.

"Shadow Ghoul number 1, attack Shiranui with Savage Rend!" Slate commanded as the ghoul flew forward and slashed through the ghostly warrior. "Now, number 2, take out that face down monster!"

The second ghoul slashed through the monster, revealing a turtle with a pyramid on its back that shattered.

"Thank you, that was my Pyramid Turtle, now I can special summon a zombie with 2000 or less defense points from my deck," she said and a bloated man dressed in a prisoner outfit with a shadowed face and a face on his stomach appeared (2100/800). "So I summon my Il Blud."

"I... end my turn," Slate said as he looked at his hand and shook his head.

Scootaloo drew a card and pointed at Il Blud. "Since my Il Blud is a Gemini monster, I can second summon him and special summon one zombie from either graveyard," Scootaloo said and Il Blud roared as the sake swilling demon appeared again. "So welcome back Shutendoji!"

Her monsters looked at the opposing ghouls nervously for a moment, but Scootaloo seemed determined.

"Now, I activate the effect of my Shiranui Spectralsword, I banish it and Samurai to synchro summon!" She said as the two monsters appeared in spectral form and flew up into the sky together.

(2* + 4* = 6*)

The robed man with the ponytaill appeared and drew his sword. "And that lets me summon my Shiranui Samuraisaga."

"He's still too weak to destroy my monsters," Slate said with a chuckle. "You're not doing much better than you were before."

"I'm activating my Shogunsaga's effect, I can shuffle one of my banished zombies back into my deck and switch all your monsters that have less attack to defense mode!" She said as she took a card out of her pocket and shuffled it back into her deck. "And since that was my Despair From the Dark, all your monsters are switched to defense mode!"

Slate's eyes went wide as the two ghouls and the angel knelt in defense mode. "No!"

"And that's not all, I activate my trap Shiranui Style Samsara, so I'll send both my monsters back to my deck and draw a card," Scootaloo said as she shuffled the cards into her deck and drew a card. "And I'll play it, my Foolish Burial!"

She took another card out of her disk and slipped it into her graveyard before she smiled and looked back at Slate.

"Now Shutendoji attack his first Ghoul with Sake Rage!" Scootaloo ordered and the fiend took a swig and slashed at the monster. "Now Mezuki, attack his other ghoul!"

The horse headed demon charged forward and slammed his axe down on the Shadow Ghoul and shattered it.

"Il Blud, take out his Chaos-End Master with Chain Gang Strike!" Scootaloo said as the lumbering zombie attacked the angel and punched it and it shattered. "Now, Samuraisaga, attack his face down monster, Blazing Katana!"

The samurai drew his sword and rushed at the face down monster that appeared to be a Cyber Larva and it shattered.

"I end my turn there, but you're in trouble!" Scootaloo said. "This duel's almost over, so make your move!"

Slate drew his next card and simply set it on his duel disk. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn," he said.

"Great, here we go again," Apple Bloom said.

"Yeah, but at least he can't tribute summon another Shadow Ghoul," Sweetie said. "So, he's basically stalling now."

"Yeah, but Ah've got a bad feelin' about this," Apple Bloom said as Scootaloo drew her next card.

"Shutendoji, attack his face down monster!" Scootaloo said as the drunken zombie rushed forward and slashed through the monster that appeared to be a purple orb.

"And that's my Giant Germ, so I can special summon two more," Slate said as two more appeared in front of him (1000/100).

"Oh come on!" Sweetie said. "Scootaloo could've done more damage if it wasn't for that!"

"Its not as bad, they're all in attack mode," Apple Bloom pointed out. "Ah think she's gonna be just fine."

"Mezuki, Il Blud, take out those Germs!" Scootaloo said as he two zombies destroyed them as the purple liquid flew into her again. "Now Samuraisaga, attack him directly!"

The Samurai rushed forward and slashed at Slate as he cringed and fell back, the sword slash had left a hole in his shirt.

"Yeah, that brings it closer!" Sweetie said. "You can do this!"

"I end my turn," Scootaloo said.

(SC: 1700) --- (SL: 2300)

Slate drew his next card and smiled. "Perfect, I've drawn the most powerful monster in my deck," he said.

"Yeah, but you don't have any monsters to tribute!" Scootaloo said, though she was nervous all of a sudden.

"I don't need one," Slate said and showed the card, Scootaloo's eyes went wide when she saw that it was only level 1. "I summon, the Chaos Necromancer!"

The monster that appeared was fiendish and dressed in purple, gold, and blue armor with a cape behind it. He smirked as he looked at Scootaloo and her friends (0/0).

"And he gains 300 attack for every monster in my graveyard," Slate added as the fiend's attack jumped up to 5400. "Now, win this for me and the Light, attack Shutendoji with Chaos Blast!"

The Necromancer gathered energy in his hands and threw it at Shutendoji. The explosion that followed sent up a cloud of dust.

"Its over!"

"No its not!" Scootaloo countered as the dust settled and both Shutendoji and Mezuki were gone. "I activated the second effect of my Shiranui Style Samsara, by banishing one of my Zombies I took no damage!"

"Fine... I end my turn," Slate said as he growled at Scootaloo.

"I draw!" Scootaloo said and drew her next card and then smiled. "Its over now, I summon Shiranui Solitare!"

A robed man with long brown hair and carrying a staff appeared. He looked over at Samuraisaga and nodded a little (500/0).

"And now thanks to his effect, I can sacrifice him to bring out a Zombie Tuner, so I summon Spectralsword!" Scootaloo added as Solitare vanished and the spectral swordsman appeared (800/0). "And I tune it and Samuraisaga together!"

(2* + 6* = 8*)

Shiranui Shogunsaga descended and drew his sword as he held his sword aloft and stared Slate down (3000/0).

"That's still not enough," Slate said.

"It will be in a moment, because I can banish one of my zombies from my graveyard and Shogunsaga gains its attack points," Scootaloo said as she took out Samuraisaga and Shogunsaga's attack rose to 5,500. "And on top of that, I can lower your monster's attack by 500!"

Samuraisaga's spirit appeared and flew into the necromancer and its attack fell to 4900. Slate stepped back and gulped.

"Shogunsaga, attack Chaos Necromancer!" Scootaloo said as the Shogun drew his sword and flew forward, slashing at the necromancer as it shattered. "Now, Il Blud, end this!"

The ghastly zombie lumbered forward and punched Slate hard as he went flying back into the wall behind him.

(SC: 1700) --- (SL: 0)

Scootaloo blinked as the golden marks vanished from him but he didn't wake up. She nodded to her friends as they headed into the store to get the items promised.

They didn't notice a man with spiked black hair and wearing sunglasses with a skin tight black and orange outfit watching them.

And he smiled.

Chapter 5: Dark Renewal

"Your majesty, we've come as you requested," Meanae said as she and Gagaga Girl knelt before the figure seated on the throne. "We've done as you requested so far."

"Very good," the figure on the throne said calmly in a female voice. "With everything that is happening in Manehattan, it is good that the chosen ones are willing to help."

"Yes, it is," G.G. said as she looked over at Meanae. "With the Light of Destruction's forces in the city though, are they going to be enough?"

"We will give them what assistance that is needed," the ruler said. "We still have several of our allies here and we'll be able to help handle things. The Society of Light's hold on Manehattan needs to be..."

She was cut off all of a sudden when a crystal ball she had been looking at started flashing red. She narrowed her eyes and waved her hand over the crystal ball as an image began to form in it.

"What's that, your majesty?" Meanae asked.

"We have a problem," she said simply. "Another player has entered our game, and I'm worried about who it is."

"Who is it?" G.G. asked, though she looked more terrified than anything else.

"A messenger of a much more dangerous force of darkness," the woman said as she waved her hand and the image changed to that of the Crusaders. "And he's gone after our chosen ones."

"What do you want us to do?" Meanae asked.

"Go to them, keep an eye on things, but he's too powerful for us to deal with, at least not yet," the ruler said and gave them a nod. "Get going, we have to deal with this now, before its too late."

The two monster spirits nodded and vanished into thin air.

The woman on the throne looked at the crystal ball again and frowned. She just hoped that the three girls that she had chosen to help stop the Society would be okay.

She sighed and watched it, knowing that they were in danger.

00000

It didn't take them long to finid the stash within the store. There was some food and water that could be easily transported in bags that were also included. They were also given a key belonging to the nearby Paramount Hotel.

Scootaloo found a note and opened it up and it read:

"Chosen Ones,

I know its not easy given everything that's going on with the Society, but know that you have friends in the city. But be careful, there is always a risk that other aspects of the Darkness will take interest in you and the city.

Always remember that light is not good and dark is not evil. The future of the world is in your hands, good luck.

A Friend."

"Things are getting weird, maybe we should try and get out of the city," Sweetie suggested as she started putting the food and drink away in the backpacks. "We're not soldiers or even duel monsters champions, we should get out of here and find help. What do you think?"

"Ah doubt its gonna be that easy," Apple Bloom pointed out as she shook her head a little. "Ah'll bet tha Society has somethin' that'll keep us from leavin'."

"Yeah, I agree," Scootaloo said as she checked everything. "Besides, we can't call out so that's kind of a bad sign really. If we get the chance, lets try and leave the city but I doubt it'll be that simple. Besides, if we are the only people in the city who can fight the Society, we can't leave them alone."

"Fine," Sweetie said with a sigh. "Alright, is that everything?"

"Yeah," Apple Bloom said as they slung their bags over their backs and headed out of the store and down the street.

None of them noticed that they were being followed.

00000

Up above the city in the Cloudcastle, Eternal Bliss watched the screen and frowned when it shut off unexpectedly.

That was never a good sign, they only couldn't see what was going on when there was a presence of great darkness. She had no idea what was happening now, especially with everything that was going on.

Did Morning Star come back and help them? Or was something else entirely going on? She didn't like it either way, and she felt compelled to draw another card.

As she drew it and set it down on the table in front of her she gasped at the sight. It was of a fiendish horned man sitting on a throne with two bound figures on either side of him.

The Devil.

00000

The Crusaders stopped in mid-stride when they realized that someone was standing in front of them. He didn't have the same markings as Slate, instead he was towering with short black hair with spikes in it. He was dressed in blood red sunglasses with a black and orange skintight outfit.

"What's up with this guy?" Scootaloo asked with a gulp as she looked at the strange man nervously.

"I don't know..." Sweetie said. They were getting a bad vibe from him already, and were looking for a way out. "What do you want?"

"I want you," he said in a cold voice that sent a shiver down their spines. "I have no name, but I am a man who speaks only the truth, I am Trueman."

"Why do you want us?" Scootaloo asked.

"My Master wants you to serve him, not the Benevolent Darkness," Trueman said and raised his arm. "Darkness has many aspects, and the force you serve is one of the weaker ones. If you want the true power to face the Light of Destruction, you should join him."

"Ah don't like this guy," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head.

"We're not going to join you," Scootaloo said.

"We'll see, how about a wager?" Trueman asked with a wicked smirk. "I'll duel one of you, and if I win you will all join me."

"And if we win you'll leave us alone," Sweetie said.

"Fine, I'll duel... you Sweetie Belle," Trueman said and pointed at Sweetie as his arm morphed into a twisted bat like duel disk as he took a deck out and put it into the slot.

"Fine," Sweetie said as she activated her duel disk and put her deck into it. "Lets duel!"

(Sweetie Belle: 8000) --- (Trueman: 8000)

"I'll go first!" Sweetie said as she drew six cards and looked her hand over. "I'll set two cards face down and normal summon my Kozmo Tincan!"

The monster that appeared in front of her was rusty and looked like a short machine with wheels and two arms. It had a funnel for a head that let out a whistle and steam (0/0).

"Your monster isn't very strong," Trueman commented.

"I know, but he's got some surprises," Sweetie said with a nod as she crossed her arms. "And I'll move into my end phase, by paying 500 life points I can pick 3 of my Kozmos and you have to pick one at random. The card you picked is added to my hand and the rest go to my graveyard."

She took three cards out of her deck and showed them as Kozmoll Dark Lady, Kozmo Forerunner, and Kozmo Goodwitch. She then turned them around and shuffled them around before she held them up.

"Alright man who can tell no lies, go ahead and pick a card," she said with a smirk.

"I pick, the one on the right," Trueman said as he pointed at the card.

"Thanks, that was my Kozmoll Dark Lady!" Sweetie said as she picked the card and added it to her hand while she slid the other two cards into her graveyard. "And with that I end my turn."

(S: 7500) --- (T: 8000)

Trueman drew a card and looked at Sweetie calmly before slid one card into his disk. "I'll set this card face down and summon my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon!"

The monster that appeared resembled the Red-Eyes Black Dragon made famous by Joey Wheeler and Atticus Rhodes. This one however was smaller, more resembling a hatchling dragon that let out a cute roar (1200/700).

"A Red-Eyes monster?" Apple Bloom asked in surprise.

"Okay, I didn't expect that," Scootaloo admitted and blinked at the monster. "What do you think he's up to?"

"Ah have no idea," Apple Bloom said.

"Red-Eyes Baby Dragon, attack Tinman with Tiny Inferno!" Trueman said as the small dragon breathed fire at the robot.

"Go trap card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Sweetie countered as the metalic scarecrow appeared in front of Tincan as it absorbed the attack.

"Fine, I end my turn there," Trueman finished as he crossed his arms. "This duel is far from over."

"Then its my turn!" Sweetie said as she drew her card and smiled a little. "I start out with my field spell, Kozmotown!"

The city around them changed into a green and more futurustic city with cars and spaceships flying overhead. Sweetie smiled as she folded her arms.

"Toto, I don't think we're in Manehattan anymore," Scootaloo said with a chuckle as Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.

"We've followed the yellow brick road and reached the Emerald City," Sweetie said with a smirk. "And I'll throw in my Future Glow spell card, by banishing my Goodwitch I can give all my psychic type monsters 800 attack points. And now I'll banish my Tincan, to special summon Kozmo Landwalker!"

The small robot vanished in a pillar of light as a massive insect-like machine with four long legs appeared (2400/1200).

"And I'm not done yet, I activate the effect of Kozmotown, by paying life points equal to the monster's level times 100 I can return my Tincan to my hand," Sweetie continued as she took the monster out of her pocket and returned it to her hand. "And I'm not done yet, I activate my trap card Brain Hazard, which lets me bring back one of my banished psychic monsters, so welcome back Goodwitch!"

The blonde woman with the tan and brown robes with green fairy wings appeared in front of her and drew her wand and activated the blade (1800/1000 + 800).

"And since those were special summons, I normal summon my Kozmo Tincan!" Sweetie said as the small robot appeared again (0/0 + 800). "And I'll banish him again to special summon my Kozmoll Dark Lady!"

The monster that appeared this time was tall with long curled brown hair. She was wearing a long purple witch's robe with a pointed hat and a mask covering her face, she activated her wand and a purple blade hissed to life (2200/1800 + 800).

"Now, lets start things off, Kozmo Goodwitch attack the Baby Dragon!" Sweetie commanded as the monster rushed forward and slashed at the small dragon with her sword wand and it shattered. "And now Dark Lady..."

"Not so fast, when you destroyed my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon I get to activate his effect," Trueman said as he took a card out of his deck and put it on his disk as the full grown Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared with a roar, breathing fire into the air (2400/2000 + 300). "I get to special summon one of my Red-Eyes cards and equip it with the Baby to raise its attack by 300."

"Alright, but its still too weak to destroy my Dark Lady, so I'll attack with her next," Sweetie said and pointed at her masked woman. "Dark Lady, attack Red-Eyes with Kozmo Blood Saber!"

The masked witch rushed forward and held her saber up high as she prepared to swing it at the dragon. Then Trueman's face-down card flipped up and two tornadoes flew out taking out Future Glow and Scrap-Iron Scarecrow.

"Red-Eyes, counter attack with Inferno Fire Blast," he said as he slid a card into his graveyard and the dragon breathed fire on the witch.

"I activate Landwalker's effect, so you destroy my Goodwitch instead..." Sweetie said as the fire flew around Dark Lady and shattered the Goodwitch and Brain Hazard.

"Fine, do you have anything else?" Trueman asked and Sweetie looked at her two monsters and shook her head.

"I end my turn," she said.

(S: 6900) --- (T: 6600)

Trueman drew his next card before he slid another card into his disk. "I activate Cards of the Red Stone, so I can discard one of my Red-Eyes monsters and draw two cards," he said and slipped one card into his graveyard before he drew two more cards.

"Why do you even want us to work for you?" Sweetie asked. "If you really tell the truth, then why don't you explain that?"

"My master knows things," Trueman said. "He may be weakened after what happened at Duel Academy, but he's gaining power. And if he has three Chosen of the Darkness, then it'll make him stronger. He knows how to defeat the Light of Destruction, an alliance with him could help save the world."

Sweetie paused a moment as she looked at Trueman before she shook her head. "I doubt it, but we weren't even asked if we wanted to do this," she said. "We're not sure what's going on yet, but we'll figure this out on our own or with help."

"Then I'll continue my turn, my Cards of the Red Stone lets me discard another Red-Eyes from my deck," Trueman said as he took another card out of his deck and put it in his graveyard. "I'll set one card face down, and set a monster in defense mode. Now, Red-Eyes Black Dragon attack her Kozmoll Dark Lady with Inferno Fire Blast!"

The dragon took a breath and started to breathe fire on the masked witch before Landwalker moved in front of the attack and took it.

"Thanks to my Landwalker my Dark Lady is safe," Sweetie said and took out Landwalker's effect. "And I can banish my Landwalker to special summon a level 5 or lower Kozmo monster, like my Farmgirl!"

The pistol wielding girl with the red braids appeared and gave her pistol a spin before she knelt in defense mode (1500/1000).

"Fine, I end my turn there," Trueman finished.

(S: 6400) --- (T: 6600)

Sweetie drew a card and shaked her head before she pointed at her face down card. "I activate my trap card Psychic Trigger, so by banishing Goodwitch and Wickedwitch I can draw two more cards," she said as the trap flipped up and she pocketed the two cards and drew two more.

"Did you get anything good?" Trueman asked.

"I'll set two cards face down, and activate the effect of Kozmotown!" Sweetie said as two cards appeared in front of her and she took a card out of her pocket. "So by paying 100 life points I can return my Tincan to my hand, and I'll summon it again!"

The small robot appeared in front of her again (0/0).

"And I get to banish him to special summon one of my spaceships, so welcome to the field Kozmo Forerunner!" She continued and a spaceship with a circular front with a long window and x shaped wings appeared (2800/1400).

"Huh, I wonder if it finished the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs," Scootaloo said with a chuckle.

"Ah think yah watch too many movies," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head.

"Hey, Sweetie's the one who's using the Star Wars deck," Scootaloo said with a chuckle. "Who even thought of that at I2 anyway?"

"Ah... have no idea," Apple Bloom admitted.

"Forerunner, attack his Red-Eyes with Strafing Strike!" Sweetie ordered as the spaceship flew overhead and fired lasers down at the dragon and shattered it. "Your dragons are no match for my spaceships."

"We'll see, I get to add one level 1 Dragon to my hand because that destroyed my Baby Dragon," Trueman said as he took a card out of his deck.

"But that's not going to protect you from my other monsters, Dark Lady, attack him directly!" Sweetie said as the masked witch ran forward and prepared to strike Trueman before Red-Eyes appeared in front of him again. "What? How?"

"I activated my trap card Red-Eyes Spirits, which brought it back," Trueman said. "Is there any other pathetic moves you want to make?"

"I... end my turn," Sweetie finished.

(S: 6300) --- (T: 6500)

Trueman drew his next card and put it into the disk without thinking about it. "I activate my Red-Eyes Insight, I'll discard this card, and I get to add my Red-Eyes Fusion to my hand," he said as he slipped a card into his graveyard and took a card out of his deck.

"Great, that means he's going to Fusion summon," Scootaloo said and flinched a little. "What kind of monster is he going to summon?"

"Ah don't know, but Ah don't think we're gonna like it," Apple Bloom said as Trueman's deck shuffled. "Somethin' big Ah'll bet."

"Now, I'll activate Red-Eyes Fusion, I'll send my Red-Eyes Black Dragon and the Summoned Skull in my deck to the graveyard," Trueman said and smirked a little as the monsters flew into the vortex.

"Wait, is he summoning Black Skull Dragon?" Scootaloo asked.

"Sure looks like it," Apple Bloom added.

"Not quite," Trueman said as the monster descended. It certainly looked like a dragon with red scales and bones that were visible, it had large wings and let out a roar as fire around its mouth flared up (3200/2500). "I summon, Archfiend Black Skull Dragon!"

Sweetie gulped as she backed away as she looked up at the massive dragon who just looked down at her with a wicked smile.

"Now, Archfiend Black Skull Dragon, attack her Kozmo Farmgirl, Molten Inferno!" Trueman ordered as the dragon started to shoot fireballs at the Farmgirl. The attack was about to hit when suddenly it and the dragon vanished as Sweetie's trap flipped up. "What?"

"I activated my trap card Past Image," Sweetie said as she nodded at her trap. "Since I have a psychic-type your monster is banished until the next standby phase."

Trueman just scowled as he looked at his hand. "I end my turn."

Sweetie drew her next card and frowned, this was a good card but not right now.

"Sweetie, you really need to work on your poker face, you know that right?" Scootaloo asked with a facepalm.

"Your dragon come back now," Sweetie said as the dragon re-appeared. "But now I get the effect of my Forerunner, so I get 1000 life points!"

Light started to fall around her as she switched her monsters to defense mode. "I'll simply switch my monsters to defense mode and end my turn."

"Its my draw," Trueman said as he drew his next card. "I normal summon, Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight!"

The monster that appeared was a warrior dressed in full body plate armor that was mostly black with some red. He held up his arms which had blades on them and sneered a little (1800/1600).

"Now, Archfiend Black Skull Dragon, attack Kozmo Forerunner, Molten Inferno!" Trueman commanded as the dragon fired several fireballs into the ship and it exploded. "And I get his effect, by shuffling one of my Red-Eyes monsters back into my deck and deal damage equal to its attack points."

He took a card that he showed as Red-Eyes Black Dragon as the Black Skull Dragon breathed fire and hit Sweetie, singing her and her clothes a little bit as she screamed.

"Now, Gearfried, attack Kozmo Farmgirl!" Trueman continued and the knight slashed through the farmgirl.

"I end my turn there," Trueman said with a smirk as he looked at Sweetie.

(S: 4900) --- (T: 6500)

"I draw!" Sweetie said and drew her card, she flinched when she saw what it was and looked up at the city around them. "I'm activating the effect of Kozmotown, I can shuffle these two cards back into my deck and draw the same amount."

She shuffled the two cards in her hand into her deck and quickly drew two more cards.

"Not that it'll do you any good," Trueman said.

"We'll see, I'm activating the other effect of Kozmotown, which lets me add Tincan back to my hand!" Sweetie said as she took the card out of her pocket and added it to her hand. "And I'll normal summon it again!"

The tin robot appeared in front of her a third time (0/0).

"That's still not..."

"Yeah, I know, I know, which is why I'm activating its effect, I can banish it again to special summon my Kozmo Delta Shuttle!" Sweetie said and Tincan vanished again and this time a triangular ship with two wings and a large bottom fin appeared above them (2000/2000). "And I'll switch Kozmoll Dark Lady back to attack mode."

"Okay, Ah think Sweetie has a plan," Apple Bloom said as Sweetie smirked.

"I activate Delta Shuttle's effect, by discarding my Dark Destroyer from my deck, your monster loses 800 attack points!" She said and took a card from her deck as the shuttle's cannons fired up and hit the Dragon, lowering its attack to 2400.

"That's still not..."

"I'm adding this spell card, the Psychic Sword, since you have 1700 more life points than I do, my Dark Lady gains that many attack points!" Sweetie said as a sword appeared in Dark Lady's other hand and her attack jumped up to 3900. "Now who's monster isn't strong enough?"

Trueman just narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

"Yeah, go Sweetie!" Scootaloo said excitedly. "You can beat this guy!"

"Kozmoll Dark Lady, attack Archfiend Black Skull Dragon with Twin Saber Slash!" Sweetie commanded as the masked witch ran forward and slashed at the dragon with both her swords as it shattered and her attack fell to 2300. "Now its your turn Delta Shuttle, attack his Gearfried with Bombardment!"

The shuttle pointed its cannons down and opened fire on the knight before it shattered. Sweetie smiled as her friends cheered.

"I end my turn there," she finished.

(S: 4800) --- (T: 4700)

Trueman drew his next card and slid it into his disk. "I activate Allure of Darkness, so I can draw two cards as long as I banish one Dark type monster," he said and drew two cards before he pocketed another. "I'll set one card face down and summon Black Metal Dragon in attack mode."

A small monster appeared in front of him, it was a black colored dragon with metallic spines that let out a small roar (600/600).

"But he won't be staying long, I banish it to special summon my Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon!" Trueman said as the small dragon vanished and was replaced with a large metallic dragon that looked like Red-Eyes if it had a metal overhaul with red lines running through its body (2800/2400).

"That's bad," Apple Bloom said. "He can special summon one dragon from his hand or graveyard every turn!"

"Well yeah, but Sweetie can negate it," Scootaloo pointed out as she nodded to Kozmoll Dark Lady. "He's going to have to attack if he wants to do that."

"That's right, and I'll do that now, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon take out her Kozmoll Dark Witch!" Trueman said as the dragon breathed fire and took out the masked witch, the fire hitting Sweetie and burning her a bit. "And now I can bring back one of my dragons so welcome back, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

The black dragon with its red eyes appeared again with a roar as he looked at Sweetie and grinned.

"And I end my turn there," he finished.

(S: 4200) --- (T: 4700)

00000

"So, what do we do if she loses?" Meanae asked as she looked over at G.G. "A lot of what the Queen has planned is hinged on those three and if we lose them to Nightshrowd..."

"That's not going to happen," G.G. said with more confidence than she really felt. "These three were picked because they had the most potential for good."

"Yeah, but they're still human," Meanae said with a shake of her head.

"Don't worry about them, they'll be fine," G.G. said. "Have you finished your part of the operation?"

"Yeah, but I don't get why you needed me to do that, dimension hopping isn't my specialty," Meanae said as she reached into her pouch and took out a flash drive. "But still, if you ask me to get into a major corporation's computer systems and get information for you, I'll do it."

"Good," G.G. said.

"Though I've never heard of this "Leo Corporation" before, or what they were working on," Meanae said with a shake of her head. "Are you sure this is what we need? I think they're doing fine on their own."

"If we want to match what Morning Star has, yes," G.G. replied. "As for the company, don't worry about that. They're not within our perview at the moment and they have bigger problems to worry about than a Duel Spirit stealing information."

"I hope you're right, the last thing we need is more enemies," Meanae said.

"Don't worry, they're about to have their hands very full with the Fusion Dimension from what I understand," G.G. Said with a shrug. "Come on, lets watch the duel."

00000

"Its my draw!" Sweetie said and flinched when she drew her card which was a spell card. "I'll, just activate Soul Absorption, then switch my Delta Shuttle to defense mode and end my turn."

Trueman drew a card. "I activate Inferno Fire Blast!" He said and Red-Eyes' eyes blazed as it breathed fire on Sweetie and she screamed as it burned at her.

"Sweetie!" Scootaloo said and started to run forward before Apple Bloom grabbed her arm.

"Scoots, yah can't go doin' that, she'll be disqualified!" Apple Bloom said and Scootaloo stopped. "She's gonna be okay, Ah promise."

"Yeah Scoots, don't worry about me," Sweetie said and looked back to give them a smile, Scootaloo blushed a little when she realized that the fire had burned away a bit more than they had expected. "What?"

"Umm..." Scootaloo said and blushed deeper as she tried not to stare at the exposed cleavage..

"You two lovebirds can flirt later," Trueman said as he took another card out of his graveyard.

"WE'RE NOT DATING!" Sweetie protested but the two blushed deeper.

"I can now special summon another Dragon, so welcome back my Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon," Trueman said as he ignored the two's protests and a new dragon appeared in front of him, this one was blazing as if it was on fire and let out a roar. "Now, I overlay both of them to Xyz summon."

The vortex appeared in front of him as the two dragons flew into it. The monster that came out was large with a long metal body and tail with two red wings extended from either side (2800/2400).

"My Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon, and I'll have Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon attack your Delta Shuttle!" Trueman said and the Dragon breathed fire and the shuttle exploded. "Its over!"

"Not yet, I get to banish my Delta Shuttle and special summon my Kozmo Soartroopers from my deck!" Sweetie said as the armored monsters appeared again in defense mode (1000/1000). "And since I banished a monster, I gain 500 life points!"

"But you lose 1000 because you activated two effects," Trueman said and true to his word Flare Metal Dragon sent two fireballs into Sweetie as her life points dropped again. "Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon, destroy her Soartroopers."

The metal dragon breathed fire and the troopers shattered.

"This is your last turn, make it count," Trueman said as he crossed his arms.

(S: 1300) --- (T: 4700)

"Come on deck, don't let me down," Sweetie said as she drew a card. "I activate my Spellbooks Inside the Pot, so we can both draw three cards."

She cringed as the dragon breathed fire at her again before they both drew three cards.

"Was it worth the 500 life points?" Trueman asked as Sweetie looked at her cards.

"Yep, I activate Kozmo Hyperspace Lane!" Sweetie said and flinched as she was hit again. "Now I can banish these two monsters and get another one back!"

She banished the two cards as she took a card out and light fell around her before she was hit again.

"Now, I can banish three more monsters..." she said as more energy flew into her. "To special summon the most powerful Kozmo monster in my deck, Kozmo Dark Planet!"

A shadow fell over the duelists and they looked up to see a massive sphere with a ring around it floating above them. On either side it had tall black spires as it hovered there above the city streets (4000/4000).

"That's no planet, its a space station!" Apple bloom said.

"Now who's making the references?" Scootaloo said with a smirk as Sweetie's life points went up again.

"Now, I'm activating the effect of Kozmotown again!" She said as the dragon sent another fireball at her and she took a card out of her graveyard. "And I'll normal summon the monster I just added, she should look familiar."

Kozmo Farmgirl appeared and gave her gun a spin as she looked back at Sweetie Belle and winked.

"Now, I'll attack your Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon with Superlaser Precision Strike!" Sweetie commanded as a powerful laser fired down at the dragon and it exploded.

"You got lucky, I'll finish you..." Trueman started when Sweetie's trap card flipped up. "Battle Teleportation?"

"That's right, since I only have the one psychic type monster, Farmgirl can attack you directly!" Sweetie said and the Farmgirl fired a shot into Trueman and he fell back. "And that lets me activate her effect, so for the price of 500 life points I can add another Kozmo to my hand."

She took a card out of her deck and smiled.

"Why are you smiling? You have to give me your monster at the end of your battle phase," Trueman pointed out.

"Not if she's not here, I banish her to special summon the monster I just added!" Sweetie said as Farmgirl waved and vanished as Kozmo Dark Eclipser appeared above them (3000/2600). "Now Dark Eclipser, take out his Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon with Turbolaser Barrage!"

The spaceship aimed its cannons down at the Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and fired at it, shattering it.

"And I end my turn there," Sweetie finished.

(S: 1400) --- (T: 1800)

Trueman drew his next card and slid it into his disk. "I'll set one card face down and one monster in defense mode," he said. "But this duel will be over on my next turn."

"You won't get one," Sweetie said as she drew her next card. "Just for some insurance, I'm summoning Kozmo Scaredy Lion!"

The monster that appeared looked like a lion on its hind legs only brown and with a wild mane. He was dressed in black with a bandoleer oveer his front and shuddered (1200/500).

"And now I'll pay 500 life points and return three banished monster to my graveyard, and then deal 500 points to you," Sweetie said as she took out three cards and returned them to her graveyard slot before the lion fired a shot and hit Trueman. "Kozmo Dark Eclipser, take out his face down card."

The spaceship charged up its cannons again and fired down at the face down monster.

"Go trap card, Mirror Force!" Trueman countered.

"I activate the effect of my Dark Eclipser, I banish my Kozmo Soartroopers and negate your trap!" Sweetie countered as she took a card out and the monster vanished, briefly appearing as an egg with a stone in it. "Now, time to end this, Kozmo Dark Planet, attack him directly!"

The massive space station above them charged up its laser again and fired down at Trueman.

(S: 1400) --- (T: 0)

When the smoke from the attack faded Trueman had vanished and left his cards scattered. Scootaloo bent down and picked them up as she looked at the Red-Eyes deck.

"What are we going to do with it?" Sweetie asked.

"I don't know..." Scootaloo said and blushed again when she looked back at Sweetie. "Umm... Sweetie, uh... here!"

She removed the jacket she was wearing and gave it to Sweetie who blinked in surprise as she slipped it on.

"Thanks," Sweetie said and blushed a little. "So, what now?"

"Lets get our stuff out of the hotel and head for the Paramount," Scootaloo said as she put the Red-Eyes deck away. "Its getting late anyway."

Her friends nodded and they headed off to their hotel together.

00000

"Wow, this place is nice!" Apple Bloom said as they opened the door to the suite that the key lead to.

"Yeah," Scootaloo said as she sat down on the couch and Sweetie went to look in the other rooms. "So what do we have here?"

"Looks like two bedrooms," Sweetie said. "And a pull-out bed couch, so we're going to be just fine."

"I'll take the pull-out," Scootaloo said as she removed the cushions to pull out the bed.

"Are you sure?" Sweetie asked. "I mean you kind of always take the couch or whatever when we're at hotels."

"I'm fine," Scootaloo said and gave her a smile. "Don't worry about it, I've probably slept on worse."

"Okay," Sweetie said and gave Scootaloo a quick hug.

They ate dinner and spent the rest of the night going over their decks and strategies alone. Scootaloo snuck a few looks over at Sweetie Belle and blushed a little.

Maybe she really was starting to feel something for the girl, she wasn't sure really. Given that she didn't know if Sweetie felt the same, she wasn't sure what to think right now.

She sighed and went back to working on her Shiranui deck, thinking about the machine decks she still carried in her packs. Hopefully this would do the trick, but she did at least have back-up.

She just hoped everything would be okay.

00000

Kozmo Hyperspace Lane

Normal Spell Card.

If you have no monsters on the field, you can banish two "Kozmo" monsters from your graveyard and add one banished "Kozmo" monster from your banished slot to your hand that's an equal level or lower.

Chapter 6: Ancient Rules

Sweetie's eyes fluttered open as she looked up at the ceiling of her room in the Paramount hotel. She sighed a little as she got up and looked out the window again to see the city in hopes that maybe there was someone out there and it had all been some terrible dream.

No luck of course, there was no one outside just like there had been no one out there earlier. The entire city felt like it was dead except for the occasional duelist, and only one of them that they had met so far had been friendly.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her Kozmo deck. When Rarity had found out what deck she was making, she had of course asked why. Sweetie didn't have much of a reason to be honest, except for one thing that she had experienced when she was getting new cards.

She took out Kozmo Farmgirl and looked at her card for a long moment. This was her favorite card in the deck, and more than that she felt like there was something about it that reached out to her sometimes, though she didn't really understand what it was or why.

She sighed and put it back in the deck as she put it away. She headed back out of the room, figuring right now what she needed was a glass of water, she headed to the small kitchen area and got a glass out and was about to pour the water when she heard a yawn from the pull out bed and looked over to see Scootaloo sitting up.

"Oh, hey Sweetie," she said as she stretched out. Sweetie blushed a little since in the dim light she could see that her friend was dressed in a bra and shorts.

She hadn't been more thankful for the darkness than she was right then.

"Hey Scootaloo," Sweetie said with a soft smile as she turned a light on and sat down on the bed.

"So, I have a weird question," Scootaloo said.

"What's that?"

"Well, we're probably trapped alone in this city, right?"

"Yeah?"

"So, why do we still have power for lights and running water?" Scootaloo said and Sweetie blinked a little, she hadn't thought about that.

"I don't know, maybe whoever this mysterious benefactor of ours is they're helping us out," Sweetie said with a shrug. "That or whatever the Society is up to is keeping it running for some reason. I really don't know."

"Yeah, me neither," Scootaloo said with a shrug as she realized that Sweetie could see her, she blushed and quickly tried to cover herself up with the blanket.

"Oh come on Scoots, its not like we haven't seen each other in our underwear before," Sweetie said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, when we were kids, and you weren't so..." Scootaloo said and blushed deeper when she realized what she was about to say. She tried not to look at Sweetie who looked at her friend curiously for a moment.

"Weren't so, what?" She asked.

"Nothing... just, thinking out loud," Scootaloo said and blushed deeper. "I guess I just didn't think about that, and after earlier..."

"Hey, you helped me out by giving me your jacket," Sweetie said with a smile. "Scootaloo, you're a good friend, no matter what you've always been there for me. Same with Apple Bloom of course but..."

She let that thought trail off for a moment as she blushed a little. She found her eyes wandering a little bit over Scootaloo's chest hidden by the blanket and Scootaloo shook her head.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she said. "Look Sweetie, I..."

"Yes?"

Scootaloo froze, how was she going to finish that sentence? Did it even really matter what she felt about her friend? There wasn't exactly a lot of opportunities for dates or whatever in a city that had been overrun by a crazy cult, so could she even really tell her right now?

Heck did she even understand what she felt for the girl? Maybe there was something there, or maybe there was nothing and she had just been reacting like this because they were friends.

But at the same time, if she did feel something for Sweetie and there was a possibility of her returning those feelings, what if she waited too long? What happened if they lost to the Society? She didn't want to think about that right now. Still, maybe she should tell Sweetie... there was something about the young woman, her soft skin, her kind eyes, her cute butt...

She shook her head as she tried not to think about that.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to sleep out here, with me... as friends I mean!" Scootaloo said and facepalmed internally at what she had said. "I mean its been a rough day, and, well, I was just thinking maybe..."

Sweetie just laughed as she laid back on the bed and gave Scootaloo a smile. "I wouldn't mind doing that at all," she said and grinned a little. "You know, fair's fair."

She took off her nightgown and pulled the sheets up over her a little as she gave Scootaloo a smile. "See, this isn't so bad is it?"

"No, not really," Scootaloo admitted with a sigh.

"Besides, at least we're not in that Equestria place Sunset is from," Sweetie added. "She once told me that they almost never wear clothes there."

Scootaloo laughed a little at that. "Well, I don't know maybe its a pony thing."

"Yeah, I'm sure it is," Sweetie said as she rolled over and closed her eyes.

Scootaloo watched her friend for the longest moment before she turned around and closed her eyes too.

00000

"Meanae, I am glad that you finished your mission," the woman seated on the throne said as she took the flash drive and gave it to one of her other servants. "Was there any difficulty in carrying it out?"

"No ma'am, I did it without problem," Meanae said with a nod. "Though, I'm still a little worried about those three girls."

"As am I, perhaps we should make our presence a bit more, known soon," the ruler said with a shake of her head as she looked between the two duel monsters spirits she had tasked with watching them. "Is there anything to report on them that we don't know already?"

"No ma'am," G.G. said with a shake of her head.

"Well..." Meanae said and paused a moment. "It may be nothing, but sometimes when I see them I get a, strange feeling coming from their decks. It may be nothing, but I don't know if I should be worried or not."

"I see," the woman on the throne said and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "This may be something worth looking into, perhaps there is something that we don't know yet."

"Understood your majesty," Meanae said with a nod. "How much should we tell them about what's going on?"

"We need to tell them as much as we can," the Queen said with a shake of her head. "Tell them what they need to do to stop the Society. Or, at least what we hope is what they need to do."

"Understood your majesty, we will tell them tomorrow," G.G. said and bowed.

"Very good," the Queen said and the two left as she clapped her hands and an old balding man dressed in a lab coat with glasses appeared. "Magical Scientist, I have a project for you."

"Excellent," the spirit said as he took the flash drive from her. "I've been waiting to get my hands on this information for awhile now."

"Yes, well don't take too long, we need this set up as quickly as possible," the Queen said.

"Yes your majesty," he said and bowed as he scurried off to start working on his project.

The Queen watched him go and shook her head after a moment. She didn't like having to deal with him, but he knew more about technology and science than most spirits in her employ did, and that was what was going to give them the advantage here.

She just hoped that it was going to be enough.

00000

A few hours earlier.

"I'm sorry, but if there is any magic involved in Manehattan, I don't think its related to Equestria," Sunset said as she walked into her living room with Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack behind her. "I'm sorry, I just don't know what kind of force could be behind this."

"Are you sure?" Rarity asked. "Darling, our little sisters are in that city and they could be in..."

"She's right," Twilight said as she came in. "Equestrian magic has a very specific frequency, but this dome is on a different wavelength. Whatever we're looking at in Manehattan, it isn't Equestrian magic."

"Uh, do we want ta know how yah found that out?" Applejack asked.

"Well, see Shining Armor is in the military and I asked him to fly a scanning device on a drone really close to the dome..." Twilight said and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I mean he's safe and its not like anyone's been able to enter the city at all."

"Alright, well that answers one question at least," Rarity said with a shake of her head. "So, if its not Equestrian magic, then what are we looking at here?"

"Well, I did some research into the history of magic in our world," Twilight said. "And interestingly enough a lot of it seems to be tied into the history of Duel Monsters. See if we go back to Ancient Egypt for example there was this Pharaoh who is said to have sealed away something called the shadow games. And then there's the stories from awhile back about Duel Monsters coming to life and rumors about Atlantis, and that's not even going into what happened..."

"Uh Twi, we don't really need the whole history lesson here," Rainbow Dash said. "Do you think that we can maybe get into the city?"

"Well, short answer, no," Twilight said. "We don't know anything about the magic used to create the dome. Getting into the dome is not going to be easy, and may even be impossible. I wish I had better news for you, I'm sorry."

The three women sighed a little as Applejack hugged Rarity. "It'll be alright sugarcube, they'll make it out of there, Ah'm sure of it."

"Do you really think so?" Rarity asked as she looked in the taller girl's eyes.

"Ah know so, they're strong kids, if anyone can make it out of this they can," Applejack said with a smile as she kissed Rarity lightly on the lips. "Ah know it."

"I hope you're right," Rainbow Dash said with a sigh as she brushed her hair back. "I'm worried about Scootaloo, I mean after my folks adopted her things haven't been easy for her and now she's stuck in there. I, really hope she's going to be okay."

"Don't worry, she will be," Rarity said and she nodded at Sunset. "Do you have any suggestions as to what we can do?"

"I'll send word to Princess Twilight, maybe she'll be able to help," Sunset said with a shake of her head. "I wish there was more I could do, but we don't really know a lot about what's happening so we don't really know."

"Yeah, here's hoping we'll find something..." Rarity said with a shake of her head. "Who do you think might be behind this?"

"I don't know, but whoever it is, I hope they can be stopped," Sunset said and the others nodded.

00000

Above the city of Manehattan the man walked back into his throne room and looked at Eternal Bliss who glanced up at him. "Is there anything new to report?"

"The dark's chosen ones have survived an encounter with someone," Eternal said as she tapped the card. "The Devil is now in play, this spell danger."

"For who?"

"For all of us."

"So then what do you suggest?"

"We need to approach with caution," Eternal said as she shuffled her deck. "Perhaps its time to move into phase two of the plan already. We need to get as much light energy as we can ready, so we have to make sure that everything is in place."

"Perhaps you're right, the forge has finished the last of the cards for now," the man said as he took a seat again. "The Light has been good to us so far."

"Indeed," Eternal said as she turned around and looked at him again. "Shall I send word to the first of the Acolytes to move into position?"

"Yes, send word to them to set up and send a few more of our servants," the man said as he took out his tablet again. "Perhaps we can send someone to get in their way tomorrow, what options do we have."

He scrolled through it for a long moment before he nodded and tapped one of the options. They were a professional duelist in the city which was going to make things harder for whichever the Crusaders wound up dueling her. Plus ironically enough she ran a deck that was stolen from the Society's cards.

"Very well, we'll send her," he said. "In the morning, our power is too weak at night in this darkness. In the meantime, the Acolytes will start to move into position."

The fortune teller nodded and looked back at her cards. She wasn't ready to draw another card yet, but she knew that whatever was going to happen next was going to be hard to do.

"Perhaps we should send someone else as well," she suggested and got up and took the tablet from him. "Like these two, what do you think?"

"Hmm, curious..." he said and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps that could work, it will certainly make things difficult for our would-be heroes. Alright, but one of them doesn't even know how to duel or have a deck."

"The Light will provide," Eternal said as she sat back down. "They will figure something out, I am sure."

The man on the throne nodded as he leaned back and waited. Now it was just a matter of waiting to see what was going to happen next.

00000

Sweetie's eyes fluttered open the next morning and she blushed a little when she realized that Scootaloo had laid up against her sometime over night. She smiled a little and wrapped her arms around her friend gently as she smiled a little in her sleep.

This wasn't too bad, it was actually really nice to feel the girl's warm body against her. Given everything that was going on, she could get used to this kind of thing. Though, she was still worried about everything and the fact that something could happen to them at any moment.

Scootaloo shifted lightly in her sleep and sighed happily as she snuggled up with Sweetie. Sweetie closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feeling for awhile before the door to the other room opened and Apple Bloom came out of her bedroom.

"Yah know, if ya'll wanted ta spend time together, all yah had ta do was say so," Apple Bloom said as the two girls' eyes shot open and they blushed.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Sweetie said as Scootaloo was trying to wake up.

"Really, ya'll are in yer underwear and snuggling with each other, what else does it look like?" Apple Bloom asked with a smirk.

"We weren't..." Scootaloo said and blushed more. "She and I just... umm..."

Before there was anything else there was a knock on the door. Sweetie and Scootaloo quickly got their clothes on and grabbed their duel disks as Apple Bloom looked through the peephole.

She blinked in surprise when she saw two women on the other side, one of them had long brown hair and was dressed in leather while the other was blonde wand dressed in a magician's outfit.

"Who is it?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Ah have no idea, they look like cosplayers or something," Apple Bloom said as she opened the door a little. "Can Ah help ya'll?"

"We're here to try and help you," the brown haired woman said. "We're working for the Healing Darkness, we can tell you what's going on in the city."

"What should we do?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked at her friends.

"Alright, we'll let you in, but don't try anything," Scootaloo said as they readied their duel disks just in case this was a trap set by the Society.

"We're not working for the society," the blonde woman said with a shake of her head. "We just wanted to give you some information, once we're done we'll leave."

"Okay, why do you look like duel monsters cards then?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I mean you're Gagaga Girl and you're Meanae the Thorn, right? Are you cosplaying or..."

"Well, not exactly," Meanae said and looked over at Gagaga Girl. "I told you we should've used illusion magic, G.G."

"Look, we're Monster Spirits," G.G. said with a shake of her head. "We look like those cards because we're the monsters they were based on, I know it sounds crazy."

"We went to a high school that was nearly turned into an army of brainwashed zombies, got targeted by three crazy singers trying to feed on our emotions, and then there was the time rifts in the fabric of reality were created," Sweetie Belle pointed out. "Yeah, this isn't exactly the weirdest thing we've ever encountered."

Meanae and G.G. just blinked and exchanged looks. "I see... that would explain a lot," Meanae said with a shake of her head before she looked back at the Crusaders. "Anyway, as we were saying we were sent here because our leader decided that you needed to know more about what is going on."

"Well, we do know that the Society of Light is invading the city and we're the only three not affected for some reason," Scootaloo said.

"Unless ya'll know somethin' about that," Apple Bloom added.

"Well, yeah we were the one's that protected you, or I was at least," G.G. Said with a shake of her head. "But you need to know more than that. The fact of the matter is that the Society of Light has become more and more dangerous since they were defeated at Duel Academy."

"Well I mean that was a bit of a set back for them obviously," Meanae said and shook her head. "I still remember that nightmare."

"But they've never set their sights on something this big before," G.G. added. "Which worries us that they might have something big planned."

"What exactly is the Society of Light's end goal here?" Scootaloo asked. "I mean, everything considered they're a cult right? What do they worship?"

"Its called the Light of Destruction," Meanae said. "Its a wicked form of Light as I'm sure you've realized by now. It wants to either enslave or destroy all life in the universe, a sort of cosmic force of evil. Its nothing to be trifled with, but the Society and their leader are definitely under their sway."

"Their leader?" Sweetie asked.

"Yes, he was once a pro duelist and the former Equestrian champion," G.G. said.

"Wait, you mean..." Scootaloo said as her eyes went wide, she remembered who they were talking about, and he had been one of the best duelists around until Rainbow Dash had taken the title away.

"Victor Lux, he was always a strange one to say the least," Sweetie said with a nod. "He did used to use light type monsters a lot, is it possible he's been working for the Society this whole time? Why are they back now anyway?"

"Well after Sartorious was defeated by Jaden, Lux was one of the few duelists still under the Light's sway for some reason so he rebuilt it from the ground up," Meanae said. "And his defeat by a certain Rainbow haired woman isn't helping, but I wouldn't exactly trust him to play by the same rules Sartorious did."

"Yeah, I mean he's already taken over most of the city," G.G. said.

"Yeah, but we can deal with the Society," Scootaloo said. "They're not exactly a challenge so far, even if they have most of the duelists in the city."

"Its the Four Acolytes of the Light you have to worry about," G.G. said. "They're his most powerful followers and dangerous duelists that know how to play the game in ways no one has ever seen. If we can take away the power of their light and the control over people, it will, in theory, diminish their hold on the city."

"Or it may make Lux stronger," Meanae pointed out. "We don't really know, and his giant flying castle isn't helping matters any."

"But the point is that your only hope is to take out as many duelists in the city as you can, especially the Acolytes," G.G. said. "We're going to be providing what help we can, but there are limits on our presence in the human world."

"Wait, what about Trueman?" Sweetie Belle asked. "What's his stake in all of this?"

"He's, dangerous," Meanae said with a shake of her head. "The Darkness has many aspects, and while we work for the Benevolent Darkness, the manifestation of what is good about it, he works for NIghtshrowd, Nightshrowd is a malignant force that wants nothing more than to cloak the world in darkness and bring together all the dimensions into one, and it makes him dangerous."

"So, what are we supposed to do if Trueman comes back?" Scootaloo asked.

"Duel him, that's the best I can suggest," G.G. said. "He wants to give his master more power and because you're the chosen ones, you've been granted some bits of dark power of your own. I'm afraid that its going to make you a target for Trueman and maybe even other forces of darkness that make it into the city."

"I see," Sweetie said. "And let me guess, we can't just walk out of the city?"

"And no one can get into it either," Apple Bloom added.

"I'm afraid so," G.G. said. "But we're going to give you all the help we can get through the stashes and anything else. There's something we're working on as well, but I can't promise it'll be done soon."

"I see," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. "We're really the only hope Manehattan has aren't we?"

"If not the whole world," Meanae said.

"Here, take these," G.G. said as she reached into her pocket and took out three cards. The three friends each took one and blinked a little when they saw that they were blank other than that they were spell cards.

"What are these?" Scootaloo asked as she looked at the card in her hand strangely. "They don't seem to have anything on them."

"They're special cards we were told to give you," Meanae said. "When you're ready, you will know what they're for."

The three friends looked at the cards they had been given strangely for a moment and sighed as they thought about it.

Now they just had to figure out what they meant.