Rise of a Duel Master

Chapters

Origin
The Tournament Begins
Trouble in the Cemetery
Darkness in the Alley
Thestrals Attack
Spike VS Starlight

Origin

It was a normal day for a young boy named Spike Drake. He recently started playing Duel Monsters, a popular card game. His friends were much better at it than he was, but he didn't mind. He was in his house when he heard the doorbell ring. When he went to get the door, he saw the mailman with a package for him.

The mailman asked him, "Spike Drake?"

Spike nodded saying, "Yes, that's me."

The mailman handed over the package, "Special delivery from Astral Drake."

Spike sighed and thanked the mailman. He brought the package into the house and opened it. He read a letter from his father, "Dear Spike, I'm sorry I wasn't able to meet you to give you this. It was an artifact I found while I was examining the pyramids in Saddle Arabia. I thought you would like it. I'll be coming home in two days, so I hope to see you when I get back. Love Dad."

Spike raised an eyebrow as he read the letter, and sorted through the packing peanuts and saw a choker. It was gold and had silver spikes on it. It did look cool, but when he took it out of the box, he noticed the same eye symbol that was on Twilight's Millennium Puzzle.

Twilight was an old friend of Spike's from when he was young. Spike had been bullied in class a lot, and Twilight stood up for him, and they became best friends fast. Twilight's other friends also accepted him into their group of friends.

He decided to call up Twilight and ask her to come over. When Twilight picked up the phone, he asked her, "Hey Twilight, can you come over some time? My dad sent me a package from Saddle Arabia, and he gave me a choker that has the same eye symbol as the one on your Millennium Puzzle."

He remembered how Twilight came into possession of her Millennium Puzzle. Her grandfather had it in his toy shop, and Twilight's curious nature got the best of her. She had started on the puzzle over 10 years ago, and it took 8 years for her to solve it. Her grandfather found it in a Saddle Arabian tomb back in the 60's. He'd never been able to complete the puzzle himself, but Twilight never gave up, and eventually she solved it. Whenever Spike had come to play with Twilight, her grandfather always tried to get her to give up on the puzzle, but he could never figure out why. What he did know is that there were two messages inscribed into the box the puzzle was in, that said "The person who solves this puzzle will have their wish granted." and "The one who solves me, will receive my dark knowledge and power."

Twilight answered, "Ok, I'll be right over, just don't put it on your neck." After getting off the phone, she rushed over to Spike's house and took a look at the choker Spike showed her. She asked Spike to close his eyes for a moment.

Spike sighed and closed his eyes saying, "I still don't understand why you make me do this."

Twilight sighed, "Thanks." She let her ponytail down, and sat in a meditative position. She took a few deep breathes before standing up. Her skin was a few shades darker and her voice took a more stern tone. She told Spike, "I recognize this, it's the Millennium Collar. If I remember correctly, there's nothing about it that's dangerous. It allows you to form connections with people, and with those connections, you can communicate telepathically with the people you've connected to." She put up her ponytail and said, "Did I answer your questions?"

Spike nodded and said, "Yeah, in a way, yes you did. Your other self says its safe to put on." He unhooked the back of the collar and wrapped it around his neck. He felt a small pinch when he clicked the collar in place, but ignored it.

Twilight smiled saying, "It looks good on you Spike. I'm going to go meet the others to get something to eat, you want to come?"

Spike nodded and followed Twilight out of his house and into downtown. When they met with their other friends, Sunset Shimmer saw the Millennium Collar around Spike's neck and asked, "Is that a Millennium Item? My Millennium Ring didn't detect it at all, that's odd."

Spike had completely forgotten about Sunset's Millennium Ring. He berated himself for forgetting the incident from a year ago. Sunset had found the ring while she was out on an internship with an archeology team. She had kept the ring for herself instead of telling her superiors about it. Trouble was, the Ring apparently had some sort of curse, for real. There was an evil spirit trapped inside the Ring, and it took control of Sunset's body. The spirit caused a lot of trouble, and Sunset had even temporarily became a Duel Monster.

When that happened, Twilight, Spike, and the others found a way to defeat the evil spirit that was controlling Sunset. Twilight had to defeat Sunset, and force the spirit out of the ring. During that final battle at Montgomery Discord's tournament, they all saw the evil spirit forced out of Sunset's body, and it was destroyed by a beam of light from Twilight's Millennium Puzzle.

Spike nodded and told Sunset about the Millennium Collar. While they were eating their lunch they heard people talking about a tournament. Then, all of a sudden, one of the televised billboards lit up and brought up an announcement. Starlight Glimmer, the head of Duel Monsters Inc. came up and told people about the Battle City Tournament that was coming up in a few weeks. He said, "In order to enter the Battle City Tournament, you must be at least Duelist Rank 5. Those under Duelist Rank 5 are not permitted to enter the tournament. If you wish to enter, you'll need to be Rank 5 by the tournament date. The tournament will take place all throughout Canterlot, wherever Duelists meet, that is the battleground."

Spike watched the announcement. He pulled out his smartphone to check his Duelist Rank and saw he had just reached Duelist Rank 5 recently, so he planned on entering. He continued to listen to the announcement and was surprised when Starlight said wherever duelists meet is the battleground. "Hmm... a battle royal style tournament. Sounds really interesting."

Twilight adjusted her glasses and commented, "It's just like Starlight to go big or go home with these sorts of things."

Rainbow Dash chuckled, "Yeah, you're right about that. But Spike just recently made it to Duelist Rank 5, so this will be his first official tournament."

Applejack tipped her hat, "Well, I say there's nothing to lose by entering."

Sunset Shimmer pointed out, "If you were paying attention, you would have heard Starligh say that we have to make wagers on our cards, winner gets a card from the loser. I'll enter, but I'm not interested in betting my cards."

Spike nodded, "Yeah, I'm entering, but I'm worried about losing my cards."

As the group split up after lunch, Spike headed back to his house. He got ready to go to bed when he realized his Millennium Collar wouldn't come off. He started pulling at it, and it still wouldn't come off. Twilight was probably asleep by now, so he'd have to wait until morning to find out why it wouldn't come off.

The Next Day...

Twilight had arrived at Spike's house after she got a text from him about the Millennium Collar and sighed, "I talked with my other self, and we looked a bit more into the Millennium Collar. Apparently, it never comes off until its owner dies. Obviously, we're not going to force it off. If the Collar is somehow forced off, I'm worried it might cause harm to you. We'll just have to find out more about it as time goes on."

The Tournament Begins

It had been two weeks since Starlight Glimmer had announced the Battle City Tournament. Today was the day that the tournament began. Spike was checking his deck and sighed, "Even with the cards that Twilight's grandpa sold me, I'm not sure my deck's good enough yet... No, I just have to follow Twilight's advice... The heart of the cards. As long as I believe in that, I can still win the tournament. I just have to be confident."

When Twilight walked in to meet Spike, she told him, "That's right Spike. As long as we do our best, we'll have no regrets."

Spike smiled and nodded, picking up his deck and placing it in the slot for it in his duel disk. As Twilight and Spike went to meet up with the others, Spike wondered about what his friends' decks were like. Twilight's deck was well rounded, not focusing too much on one type. Pinkie Pie had an obsession with Toon Monsters, which were some of the hardest cards to use in a duel. Rainbow Dash's deck was full of heavy hitters, but her monsters didn't have much in the defense department. Fluttershy wasn't much of a duelist, but her beast deck could get her far in the tournament. Applejack's deck was full of monsters that were equal in defense and attack. Rarity used lots of feminine monsters, mainly her Harpy Lady cards. As for Sunset, Spike wasn't completely sure what her deck would have, since the last time he saw her duel, it was against Twilight in the Duelist Kingdom tournament.

Rainbow Dash sighed, "You know, once the tournament begins, we're rivals."

"Still, there's eight of us, and twelve spots in the finals. If we're lucky, we'll all be in the finals." Twilight tried to keep her friends in high spirits.

Spike nodded before saying, "Oh, that reminds me. I've heard there's some trouble in town lately. I've been getting used to the Millennium Collar. I can connect us together so we can trade information if we notice anything."

Twilight nodded, "That's not a bad idea Spike. If we're connected, we'll be able to talk to each other when we need to."

Spike took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He placed his hands over the eye symbol on the Millennium Collar and opened his eyes in a stern face. The spikes came out of the collar, connected by thin wires. The spikes pricked the girls on the back of the neck, and then returned to their place on the Millennium Collar. Spike didn't say anything, he just thought, "Is it working?"

The others communicated their approval of the telepathic connections, and then Rainbow Dash talked aloud. "Let's get going! I'm ready to duel!"

Another voice called out on the televised blimp in the sky, "Ok, I'm getting incredibly bored waiting for you people to get ready, so start the damn tournament already." The voice was Starlight Glimmer. It was just like her to just rush ahead and start the tournament early.

Spike started walking away saying, "Later, hope we make it to the finals together." waving his hand as he walked away. Soon enough, Spike had a duelist challenging him. Spike accepted the duelist's challenge and said, "I'll be wagering my Baby Dragon"

The duelist pulled out his own card and said, "And I'll wager my Blue-Eyes Hellfire Dragon."

The two duelists shuffled their decks and put them in their deck slots. Spike drew a card and looked at his hand. He currently had Crass Clown, Lancer Dragonute, Polymerization, Blue Medicine, and Raigeki Break. His Lancer Dragonute was his best card at this point, so he placed it in Attack Mode and laid Raigeki Break face down. "I summon Lancer Dragonute in attack mode, and lay one card face down, and I end my turn."

The other duelist drew a card, and Spike could tell by the look on his face, he didn't have a good hand. But the duelist still played his cards. "I summon Man-Eating Plant in Defense Mode!" after he played his card, he ended his turn.

Spike drew his next card and looked over his current hand. He had a Pot of Greed card he could play. He decided to go for it and play the card, "I activate Pot of Greed from my hand, allowing me to draw two more cards." he send Pot of Greed to his Graveyard and drew two more cards. One of the cards he drew was Armed Dragon Lv. 5. He could tribute his Lancer and summon it, but he decided to hold off, for now, since if he summoned monsters that were too powerful for the other duelist, he'd keep summoning defense mode monsters, keeping his Life Points safe until his deck ran out of cards. He took the other monster card he'd drawn, Evilswarm Zahak. "I summon Evilswarm Zahak in Attack mode, and my Lancer Dragonute attacks your Man-Eating Plant! And with my Lancer's special ability, even though your monster is in defense mode, you still take battle damage!"

As his Lancer Dragonute stabbed the Man-Eating Plant, the other duelist growled as his Life Points fell from 4000 to 3100. He chuckled and told Spike, "Lucky shot. It won't happen twice."

Spike smiled and said, "I should hope not, it'd be no fun if you kept placing monsters in defense mode. But that's the least of your worries. Now that your Man-Eating Plant is gone, my Evilswarm Zahak can attack your Life Points directly!"

"S-Shit!" the other duelist guarded himself against the attack, despite holograms not actually doing any real damage, but still guarded as his Life Points fell down even further, stopping at 1250. "D-Damn... you're strong, but I'm not giving up!" The duelist drew his card and smiled, "Nice! I summon "C" Shine Ranger Black in attack mode! With 2000 attack points, he overpowers you Lancer Dragonute!"

Spike winced from the light after his Lancer was destroyed after his Life Points dropped to 3500. He dusted himself off and said, "Not bad, but not good enough." he drew another card and smiled. "Well, let's see if you have a card to stand up to this. I sacrifice my Evilswarm Zahak to summon Armed Dragon Lv. 5! It's 2400 Attack points crush your Shine Ranger!" once his opponent's monster was finished off and the other duelist had only 850 Life Points, he smirked, "And I'm not done yet. As I end my turn, I send Armed Dragon Lv. 5 to the Graveyard in order to summon Armed Dragon Lv. 7 from my deck! Since I've ended my turn, Armed Dragon Lv. 7 can't attack. But next turn, it's all over."

"That won't work if I summon a monster in defense mode!"

As the duelist set down his defense mode card Spike chuckled, "I activate my trap card, Raigeki Break! By discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy your monster!" Spike sent his Blue Medicine card to the graveyard, and once it was his turn again he said, "Game over. Armed Dragon, attack his Life Points directly!"

As Armed Dragon Lv. 7 shot out holographic fire, the other duelist's Life Points fell to zero. As the holograms faded away, Spike walked up to his opponent and smiled, "It was a good duel. I enjoyed our duel, but I still win our wager."

The duelist sighed, "Yeah, it was fun, but a bet's a bet. Here, take my Blue-Eyes Hellfire Dragon."

Spike took the card politely out of the other duelist's hand and said, "Thanks. You were a decent duelist, but it looks like luck wasn't on your side. Maybe we can duel some other time."

Spike has won his first official tournament duel. But the Battle City Tournament has only just begun. Will Spike be able to continue winning and obtain the six locator cards to win a spot in the finals?

Find out in the next chapter...

Trouble in the Cemetery

Spike had been winning all of his duels so far, but he hadn't found anyone willing to wager their locator card. "I've collected a bunch of cards, and a lot of them are good stuff, but without a locator card, I can't get any closer to the finals." He heard some people talking about a powerful duelist and walked over to them, "Hey, what's this about a strong duelist?"

One of the other duelists looked at Spike and said, "There's this chick out in the cemetery down that alley, and she's crazy strong. She already beat all of us out of our best cards, I don't think any of us could beat her. She's probably looking at the finals." Before realizing who Spike was, "Wait, aren't you one of Twilight Sparkle's friends? You could probably beat that guy! Twilight is one of the top duelists in the world! There's no chance she could beat somebody trained by her!"

Spike blushed a bit, he was trained by Twilight's grandfather, but that didn't mean he was as good as Twilight. Still, this guy sounded strong, so he might as well go see. As he walked down the alley, he saw the girl, who he recognized from the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, Zecora. "Zecora? You must have gotten much better at dueling since Duelist Kingdom. That doesn't mean anything to me though, I'm still a proud duelist, and I challenge you!"

Zecora snickered, "Indeed, I have trained hard. In this duel, we bet our Locator Card."

Spike nodded, "Deal" before activating his duel disk and shuffling his deck. As he drew his cards, he had a good hand on his first turn. He thought for a moment and said, "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two more cards from my deck!" before drawing two new cards. He smirked lightly and said, "I send my Trap Hole trap card to the graveyard in order to special summon Mutant Janus Crime Boss!"

Zecora cringed as Spike summoned such a powerful monster on his first turn, and none of her monsters could stand up to it in terms off Attack power. She growled and simply set a monster in Defense Mode, saying nothing, being far too proud to admit she was in a tight spot.

Spike smirked, he could tell that Zecora was desperate if she defended on her first turn. As he drew his next card, he smiled, "First, I summon Battle Ox in attack mode! And since I have another Beast Warrior on my side of the field, I can activate Mutant Janus Crime Boss's special effect!" before taking out a coin. "If this coin lands on Heads, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field. If it lands on Tails, Mutant Janus Crime Boss's Attack and Defense will be cut in half until the end of your next turn. Let's see who has lady luck on their side." before flipping the coin in the air.

Zecora gulped, hoping that the coin would land on tails, since her Defense mode Abaki monster could destroy it in battle at half power, but even worse, if it was sent to the graveyard by the effect, she couldn't activate Akabi's effect since it wasn't destroyed by battle.

As Spike caught the coin he smiled, "Too bad Zecora, looks like fate is on my side. And now that it's landed on heads, I can destroy your face down card!" before his monster pulled out two different guns and fired upon Abaki, sending it to the graveyard. Spike smiled, "And I'm not done yet! Mutant Janus Crime Boss, attack her life points directly!" before the mutated cat monster fired his guns again. And after that, Spike also attacked with Battle Ox, leaving Zecora with only 3550 Life Points.

Zecora gulped even harder after the damage was dealt, she realized she made a big mistake against Spike, and even when she drew another card, she still knew she couldn't win. She sighed, and said "I know when I am beat. I begrudgingly accept defeat." before walking over to Spike after the holograms faded away and gave him not only her Locator Card, but also a another card as part of the ante rule.

Spike smiled and said, "It was a good duel all the same Zecora, it was just a matter of bad luck."

Zecora smiled lightly, "I suppose that is true. The best of luck, I wish to you." before shaking Spike's hand.

After he had defeated Zecora, Spike left the cemetery and saw the other duelists waiting for him. One of them asked, "So? How'd it go?"

When Spike showed that he'd gotten Zecora's Locator Card, a lot of cheering and groaning was made vocal, and it seemed that some of the duelists had placed bets on the outcome of the duel. He chuckled and headed off to find his next opponent, since all these duelists had already lost their best cards, he didn't want to make things worse for them by taking another card from them.

And so, Spike has obtained a Locator Card from Zecora, making him one step closer to making it to the finals. But things are not as peaceful as they seem. Deep within the shadows of Canterlot, dark things are brewing. Will Spike and his friend be able to stop what was once known as the 1000 Year Darkness from occurring for a second time?

Darkness in the Alley

Spike had collected a few good cards from his duels, when he heard yelling from an alley. He ran over to the yelling to see Rainbow Dash with a creepy looking guy, his face deformed in a reptilian manner. Spike ran over to them and said, "What did you do to my friend!?"

The man chuckled, "I beat her in a duel. And look at my prize." holding up Rainbow Dash's best card, Red-Eyes Black Dragon

Dash was on the ground, "He's terrifying Spike, he dominated me before I could even do anything. He-"

The man looked like he was about to tear the card in half, "Don't you dare, I'll gladly rip this card up."

Spike growled, "Let me take care of this Rainbow."

Dash tried to stop him, but Spike was too stubborn. Right in the nick of time, she remembered they shared a telepathic link because of Spike's Millennium Collar and told him between their minds, "His entire deck is made up of phony Exodia cards and some spells and traps, he beat me by collecting all five pieces in his hand. Be careful Spike!"

Spike nodded and said to the man, "We'll duel, if I win, you give my friend back her card. If you win, I'll give you my Armored Dragon Lv. 7."

The man snickered, "You have no chance of beating me, but fine." activating his Duel Disk

Spike took the first move and played the Magic Card, "I activate a spell! Exchange!"

The man was shocked that he played a Magic Card that forced him to give a card in his hand to Spike. "You got lucky, but you still won't beat me."

Spike walked over and took Exodia's head from the man's hand, and the man chose Blue Medicine from Spike's hand. "Oh really? I wouldn't be so smug, you may have had four pieces of Exodia, but now you only have three, and I still have tricks up my sleeve. But for now, I summon Exodia's head in Attack mode, set a card, and end my turn."

The man thought to himself, "If he was trying to use spells to steal Exodia pieces from my hand, why would he summon one of them in defense mode? Whatever, he's just a punk." before drawing his own card and smirking, "Now, I Summon Exodia's Head in attack mode! Before I have it attack your Exodia, I use a quick-play spell, Rush Recklessly, which increases my monster's Attack power by 700 points!"

Spike smirked and said, "Bad move punk. I activate by face down card! Chain Destruction!"

The man's eyes widened and he yelled, "You mean this was all a setup!?"

Spike smiled, "I told you I had tricks up my sleeve, it didn't take me long to realize you were trying to summon Exodia. But now, Chain Destruction may not be able to destroy the Exodia head on the field, but it can prevent you from using any other copies of it that you have in your deck or hand!"

The main realized he'd lost, since the only other monster cards in his deck were the other four pieces of Exodia, but if he couldn't use the head, that meant he couldn't use Exodia to win. "No... no... NO, NO, NO! A stupid kid was able to stop the unstoppable Exodia! Damn you to hell!" before breaking down and falling to his knees with tears of frustration running down his face. "If I go back like this... I-" before all of a sudden, he fell to the ground, eyes open, but motionless.

Spike ran over to the man and tried to shake him to his senses, when he realized he had stopped breathing. "Dash, call an ambulance! He's not breathing!"

Just as he said this, Rainbow was on the phone with 911, and while Spike gave CPR, an ambulance quickly pulled and took the man to the hospital. Dash told Spike, "Thanks for beating that cheating punk. I know you were getting Red-Eyes back for me, but I lost it, and you won it."

Spike shook his head, "No, he cheated you out of it, you deserve it more than I do."

Dash knew Spike was too stubborn for her to argue, and took her Red-Eyes Black Dragon back from him. She ruffled his hair and said, "Thanks squirt, I owe you one."

The next morning...

The news about the man in the alley had made the news, and the doctors explained, "We're not sure how, but suddenly his heart just shut down completely, causing a heart attack. We did our best to save him, but he didn't make it. This heart attack left no signs of how it started, it's almost like he had an air embolism."

Spike felt conflicted about the man dying on the table. Of course he was an asshole, but that didn't mean he deserved to die. "There's got to be more to his death than just a sudden heart attack... There just has to be." he shook his head clear of those thoughts, "It's not my business. I have to get back to dueling." before heading back out of his house.

Meanwhile in an undisclosed location...

A dark skinned woman with a strange staff in her hand said to a group of men and women who had the same disfigured facial features as the man who Spike beat, "Remember this, failure results in death. Never forget that. You saw the news. I killed one of you, and I will not hesitate to do it again."

Who is this woman, and why was her minion killed? Something sinister is rising in Canterlot. Will Spike and his friends be able to make it to the finals with these dangerous people on the loose?

Find out in the next chapter!

Thestrals Attack

Spike was in the middle of another duel, and as usual, he was winning. After he got a new card, Magitek Knight he continued to look for another duelist. As he was walking, he noticed a person following him. Whoever it was, they were wearing a black cloak, similar to the guy who had cheated Rainbow Dash out of her Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

He walked down an alley, knowing the person would follow him, but giving him time to spring a trap to surprise them. The person, revealed to be a woman after she lowered her hood looked around to see that Spike was nowhere to be found, "Strange... where could he have gone?"

Spike had climbed up one of the fire escapes and jumped down onto the woman and pinned her to the ground. Just like he suspected, this woman was one of those punks with the disfigured faces that he'd seen the other day. "All right, I'm getting sick of this. Who are you people, and why do you think you can just go around and terrorize people by cheating?"

The woman used her legs to throw Spike off her and as she stood up, she said, "The Thestrals take what they want. We're looking for rare cards. And I just won three pretty cards." before showing him the three cards, each of which was a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

Spike's eyes widened when he saw the cards the woman had, "There's no way a punk like you could have beaten Starlight Glimmer. You're just a common thief and a low down thug."

The woman growled and said, "That's it! Screw dueling, I'm going to take your deck by force, and show you what it means to feel true fear!"

As the woman rushed at Spike, Spike grabbed a nearby crowbar and smashed it into the woman's knees

As the woman fell over from the pain in her knees, she yelled, "Ah! My fucking knees!"

Spike told her, "Get crowbarred bitch!" before tossing the crowbar to the side, "If you really want to cheat, fine. But you still won't beat me, and nobody will ever believe a punk like you was able to defeat Starlight Glimmer."

The woman, still on the ground in pain said, "Heh, I suppose you're right, but that won't stop me!" grabbing at Spike's leg and trying to drag him to the ground.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out, "Leave my friend alone!" before Spike saw Rainbow Dash run over and kick the woman in the face while she was still down.

The woman cried out in pain once more and said, "F-Fine, take all the cards I stole! Being in this much pain isn't worth being a Thestral!" before giving Spike multiple cards that she'd stolen.

Spike felt a bit bad about not winning these cards, but he was too angry at the woman to care right now, "Tell me, who are these Thestrals?"

The woman groaned, "I'll talk if you get me to a hospital."

Spike grumbled, "Fine, I'll get you there." before calling 911 and going with the girl to the hospital. When they got there, she'd been put on a morphine drip and Spike stood next to her and told her, "Start talking."

As the girl recovered from her pain, "L-Listen, I never wanted to be a Thestral, I was a straight A student at the Duel Academy. But then... a girl who called herself NM said that if I didn't join up with her, she'd kill my friends and family. She scarred my face like this, and I never stood up to her after all these years. But... now... her voice is gone from my head. I can't feel her influence anymore."

Spike now felt really bad, this girl wasn't a bad person, she was forced into a gang who threatened her loved ones. He told her, "All right, I may be crazy here... but I'll forgive you if you return all the cards you stole. One condition. I keep the Blue-Eyes White Dragons. I have a bone to pick with Starlight, and using her Blue-Eyes against her is the best payback I can imagine. One last thing. What's your name?"

The girl nodded, "Deal, I'll give all the cards back to the people I stole them from, I promise." when Spike asked her name, she was somewhat surprised that he cared enough to ask her what her name was, "Tempest, Tempest Shadow. Nobody's ever shown me any kindness, not even the other Thestrals. Thank you for being so kind. You know my name, what's yours?"

Spike told her, "Spike Drake. If you ever want to talk to me, just let your thoughts flow free." before activating the Millennium Collar to create a telepathic link between the two of them. "I'll see you around Tempest. Let me know when you're out of the hospital." before walking off and leaving the hospital.

Tempest smiled lightly, "I never thought anyone would forgive me for what I've done. What a strange kid. Maybe he can stop NM, maybe he's the one from the prophecy she always went on about." before falling asleep and resting for the night.

As Spike returned to his house, he looked at the Blue-Eyes White Dragons that Tempest had stolen from Starlight. When Starlight and Twilight first met, Starlight tried to trade and then buy her grandfather's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He refused because the card had sentimental value to him.

When Starlight forced her grandfather into a duel, he lost, and Starlight tore his most treasured card in half. Spike said he'd never forgive her for that, and he didn't. But now that he had her Blue-Eyes, he felt he could finally get payback against her for what she did.

Spike VS Starlight

Spike was walking to get a bite to eat, when he saw Starlight Glimmer waiting at the burger stand for him. She got up and walked over to him and said, "So, I heard you got some stolen cards back. The stolen cards were returned, except for my Blue-Eye White Dragons. Hand them over."

Spike growled, but kept his composure, "No. After what you did to Twilight's grandfather, keeping them and using them against you is the best payback I can think of. Besides, I won them in a duel against the thief, I just chose to give everyone else their cards back."

Starlight had a vein throbbing on her head and said, "I don't care if you won them fair and square, they were stolen, so it's invalid. Give. Them. Back."

Spike sighed, "If you really want them back, you'll have to duel me for them."

Starlight growled and said, "Fine, but when I beat you, I expect you to give them back immediately."

Spike nodded, "Of course, but do you think you can win without them? Everyone knows your strategy is to get your Blue-Eyes on the field."

Starlight realized he was right. She was an expert duelist, but without her Blue-Eyes, there was a chance she could actually lose, but kept her composure, "I can defeat anyone even without using my best cards." before activating her duel disk

Spike activated his as well, and when they drew their cards, Spike had one of the Blue-Eyes White Dragons in his hand. He also had some cards that would help him summon it quickly.

Starlight told him, "Since they're my cards, I'm going first, whether you like it or not." Before looking at her hand and choosing a card, "I play the Hitotsu-Me Giant in attack mode! Next, I set a card and end my turn."

Spike drew a card and smiled, "I set a monster face-down and end my turn." The card he just set was Maiden with Eyes of Blue. When Starlight would attack it, Spike would be able to summon Blue-Eyes right from his hand.

Starlight laughed, "You really are a novice if you're defending on your first turn!" before drawing her next card, "Hitotsu-Me Giant! Attack that set monster!"

Spike smirked, "Bad move, I expected you'd attack that monster. Maiden with Eyes of Blue's effect activates! I can negate your attack, and by switching her to Attack mode, I can do this! I call on Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" summoning the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card from his hand.

Starlight's eyes widened, "What!? Impossible! I'm the Blue-Eyes expert and I've never used that combo!"

Spike smirked, "Getting nervous? You should be, cause now it's my turn!" before drawing his next card. It was Pot of Greed, and he played it immediately, "With Pot of Greed, I draw two more cards from my deck!" before drawing Polymerization and The White Stone of the Ancients. "And now, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack the Hitotsu-Me Giant with White Lightning!" The dragon sent out a burst of lightning, dropping Starlight's life points to 2,200 "Next, I send a card to the Graveyard, set a card, and end my turn. But I'm not truly done! The card I sent to the Graveyard is The White Stone of the Ancients! Now that I've sent it to the Graveyard, I can summon another Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck!" before going through his deck and pulling out his second Blue-Eyes White Dragon card and summoning it.

Starlight was gritting her teeth in anger, thinking to herself, "How!? How has he already gotten used to using the Blue-Eyes, let alone summoning two of them so quickly!? If I don't think of something, I'm doomed!"

Spike smiled, "I can tell you're panicking, and it's the greatest feeling for me, seeing you squirm like you make so many other people feel helpless against your Blue-Eyes. But it's your turn."

Starlight growled at him, "Shut up! You're a third rate duelist with a fourth rate deck! I'm the best, I'm Starlight Glimmer! Nobody mocks me like this!"

Spike chuckled, "I guess I'm nobody then. Just get your turn over with so I can put you in your place, you spoiled brat. This is the best way I can avenge Twilight's grandfather, and I'm not giving up so easily. I've humiliated you enough, so just give up, you and I both know you can't beat me, I have two Blue-Eyes on my side of the field. Do you really think you can stop me?"

Starlight screamed out in anger, before realizing Spike was right. There was no way she could beat him. She put her hand over her deck, "A master strategist knows when to retreat. But remember this Spike, I'll get my Blue-Eyes back by the end of this tournament, and I will make you suffer for taking them and humiliating me like this!" before walking off.

Spike chuckled, "I'll be waiting for the day you get the cards to beat your best monster."

Twilight had seen the duel and walked over to her friend and told him, "Spike, how did you get those cards? I could tell you were blinded by pure anger, but you pushed through it to win the duel, even though Starlight surrendered."

Spike explained, "Starlight's cards were stolen, and I won them in a duel. I told you I'd never forgive her for what she did to your grandpa's treasured card. And I still haven't and never will, but this is the best way of getting payback."

Twilight sighed, "Spike, dueling isn't about revenge, it's about having fun. You're right, Starlight deserved something like this, but still."

"Would you have done any different?" Spike asked her, knowing that she may not approve of his methods, but she also wanted to make Starlight pay for what she did.

Twilight sighed, "You're right, I would have done the same thing. And I'm proud of you for standing up to her, most people would be too afraid to anger Starlight by refusing to give her back her cards. Thank you Spike, but just make sure you don't let your anger blind you like that too often. Anger can lead you down a dark road."

Spike nodded, "Right, I promise I'll keep my temper under control." before the two went out to get lunch like Spike had been doing before Starlight confronted him.