//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Beginning of Heaven and Earth 
// Story: Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Crusaders 
// by RuinQueenofOblivion 
//------------------------------//

"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."