//------------------------------// // Episode 11: Gazing into the Abyss, Part 2 // Story: Yu-Gi-Oh! P†H // by moviemaster8510 //------------------------------// As Orpheus’s turn went on, Yurik and Alice stared warily at him, along with the many bystanders along the sidelines of the field. Eurydice, Peryton Ruler of Void Deep ATK: 2500 Lvl.: 5 Already, his monster had already equaled in strength to Yurik’s ace monster, and it now dwarfed the other two monsters that Yurik had managed to summon on his own first turn. Twilight Alicorn ATK: 2500 Lvl.: 7 Allicorn of Storms ATK: 2300 Rnk.: 4 Unioncorn of Fire DEF: 1200 Lvl.: 4 The duel was still young, and while neither player had taken damage yet, Orpheus still had more to his own turn before it could end. ================ Yurik: LP: 4700 Alice: LP: 4000 Orpheus: LP: 4000 ================ “Now your monster is just as strong as mine,” Yurik commented. “I guarantee you that it will still defeat you.” “We’ll see, Yurik,” spoke Orpheus, grabbing a pendulum monster from his hand, “but I’m not done. I place Minos, Judge of Void Deep into my left pendulum zone.” Orpheus swiftly, but diligently put the card upon the red crystal on the end of his chain. On right side of Orpheus’s field and rising from the ground there was a large grey humanoid in a burly robe and sitting on a masterfully carved throne of wood. Minos, Judge of Void Deep Pendulum Scale: 7 Walt tensed up involuntarily at the sight of the monster, remembering it from his own duel with Orpheus. “Yurik,” he shouted, “Alice! Watch out for that thing!” “Silence!” shouted Orpheus. “Hints will not be allowed in this game.” “Fine by me,” Yurik said, shifting himself down defensively. “I don’t mind a learning experience.” “There is no learning here, Yurik. Either you succeed or fail; there is no trying again.” Yurik frowned at Orpheus as the latter grabbed both of his cards from his hand and placed them in the slot above the graveyard. “I place two cards face down” he said as the cards’ backings appeared on the ground, “and end my turn.” Status: Hand: 0 Life: 4000 Monsters: 1 Pendulum Cards: 1 Pendulum Zone: – Spell/Traps: 2 Alice smirked as she looked upon both of Yurik and Orpheus’s ace monsters. “So your strongest monsters are all out,” she stated, reaching for her deck. “Let’s see if I can bring mine out to join you. My turn!” Alice looked at the front card of her hand, delighted with what she had drawn. Picking it up, she slapped the card onto the right zone of her left blade. “I summon Multiply Maggot,” Alice declared. Rising from a blue portal in the ground was a large, pink, fleshy grub, its body aimed towards Orpheus’s body. Multiply Maggot ATK: 100 Lvl.: 3 Walt gasped as he realized what was about to happen. Orpheus sighed in disappointment as he looked at the defenseless looking monster. “I activate the effect of Minos, Judge of Void Deep in my pendulum zone,” he said. “Once per turn, when my opponent summons a level 4 or lower monster, I can target that monster and banish it.” “What was that?” Alice shouted fearfully. “Minos,” ordered Orpheus, “send that monster away from here. Vicious Verdict!” Minos raised its arm and aimed the palm of its hand at Multiply Maggot, shooting a white ball of energy at it. With a loud squeak, the insect was zapped inside the ball before the both of them vanished. Alice screamed nervously as she threw her hands on her head and flailed her body around, much to Orpheus’s displeasure. “My Multiply Maggot!” she screamed. “What am I going to do?” However, Yurik and Walt looked more bored with her routine as they rolled their eyes and sneered, putting Orpheus on edge once he realized what he had done. “Just kidding,” Alice calmly said with a smile and a cease in movement. “Now you’ve allowed me to activate my monster’s effect! When this card leaves the field,” she explained, her cards in her deck shuffling themselves, “I can special summon two more Multiply Maggots from my deck!” Two cards slid out from the top of her deck, allowing them to draw them both and reveal them to Orpheus. “Now,” she said, “let’s bring these beauties out!” With a frantic wave of her hand, Alice placed both cards onto her zones, two more giant pink grubs to appear on the field before her in the first one’s place. Multiply Maggot ATK: 100 Lvl.: 3 Multiply Maggot ATK: 100 Lvl.: 3 “I’m not quite done yet,” Alice said, grabbing another card from her hand. “If I control two or more insect-type monsters, I can special summon the tuner-monster Silken Worm from my hand.” Alice placed her next card beside the Multiply Maggot card on the left, and from another blue portal, a thin, white caterpillar spun its body around and squeaked as it made its arrival. Silken Worm ATK: 600 Lvl.: 3 “A tuner monster?” Orpheus questioned. “And she used me to summon it?” “Now, that the pieces are in place,” said Alice, waving her hand across her field to refer to her three monsters, “I tune my two level-3 Multiply Maggots with my level 3 Silken Worm!” Silken Worm shot a soft string from its front end and quickly wrapped it around itself, making it glow bright before it transformed into three stars that quickly floated towards the sky like balloons. The stars quickly disappeared and changed into three green rings that descended towards the ground. “General of the insects,” chanted Alice, “obliterate the enemy forces with your magnificent military might!” Alice’s Multiply Maggots hopped up into the rings, their bodies becoming two pairs of three stars inside the outline of their bodies that quickly faded away. The stars aligned to form a single line of six, a light beam passing through them before the light spread out, covering the green rings. “Synchro summon!” Alice exclaimed. Appearing from the beam was a monstrously large praying mantis in red-colored bronze armor as well as a headdress, its long arms plated with blades. “Show yourself,” she finished, “Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord!” The monster stood directly in front of Alice, allowing her to see the battlefield while also receiving her monster’s protection. Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord ATK: 2800 Lvl.: 9 Twilight and Rainbow Dash stared with their mouths agape at Alice’s monster. “Oh, lord,” gasped Kel, still standing beside Kieran. Orpheus looked upon Alice’s massive insect and Yurik’s alicorn, finding it within himself to smile. “So now all of our ace monsters our on the field together,” he said, “but unfortunately, yours will have to wait until your next turn in order to attack.” “I know,” Alice huffed in annoyance, grabbing one card from her hand before slipping it into her spell/trap slot, making a large card backing appear in front of her. “I place one card face down and end my turn.” Status: Hand: 2 Life: 4000 Monsters: 1 Pendulum Cards: 0 Pendulum Zone: – Spell/Traps: 1 Eurydice looked at Yurik, as he began to reach for his deck. “I must warn you,” she said, shocking Yurik as he looked up to face her, “this is now where the duel shall begin. If you want to prove yourself worthy for the sake of your friends do not let up. But know this, Orpheus will not let up either, and you must employ all of your strength if you wish to defeat him.” “Hmph,” Yurik responded with a smirk, “you act like I don’t already know this.” “I never implied such a thing, but Orpheus is not like any duelist you have faced.” “Eurydice,” scolded Orpheus, “let Yurik take his turn and learn for himself.” “Yes…” she responded, shying down, “Orpheus.” “My turn!” Yurik shouted, grabbing the top card of his deck. “Draw!” Yurik promptly added the card to his hand, already eyeing his green-and-black alicorn. “I activate the effect of Allicorn of Typhoons,” he shouted, removing a card from underneath his monster’s card. “By detaching one xyz material from this card, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I’ll choose your Minos, Judge of Void Deep in your pendulum zone!” As one of the bright orbs circling around the monster melded with its horn, Applejack stood morbidly confused once again. “I thought that thing was a monster, though.” Applejack squawked. “Are they just making up the rules as they go along?” “Those monsters are also treated as continuous spell cards,” explained Twilight calmly, “so Yurik’s effect works.” “Continuous spell cards? There are different kinds? Aw, the heck with it,” she mumbled, sitting down with her arms crossed, “I’ll just wait and see which one wins, that is if I know how they even did…” Allicorn of Storms thrust forward with its horn glowing. Pulling to a quick stop and swinging the lower half of its body forward, it flapped its wings and shot a spell at the gathered gales, forming a bright, swirling ball that sped towards Minos. Striking it, the judge let out a painful groan as it shattered away into sparks, the ball of wind and magic fading away with it. Orpheus stood perfectly still as the sparks blew into his face, which only continued to look at Yurik disdainfully. “Yes!” whooped Yurik. “Now my future monsters are safe!” “However,” Orpheus spoke, “you have only served to make my monster stronger.” “What are you talking about? Your monster was just sent to extra deck, not banished.” “That’s where you’re wrong, Yurik. The effect of Minos, Judge of Void Deep states that when it would be sent to the extra deck, it is banished instead.” “What?” Eurydice spread its glowing wings as ghastly specters of Melia and Minos appeared on field beneath them. “Eurydice’s ATK now goes up another 100 points,” Orpheus concluded. The two spirits vanished, but Eurydice’s wings continued glowing. ATK: 2500 -> 2600 “Oh no!” Rainbow Dash cried. “Now Eurydice is stronger than Twilight Alicorn!” However, upon sighting Yurik and Walt’s still smiling faces, she resumed her confusion. “Hey, uh,” she said to Twilight. “What’s going on? Why is Yurik smiling.” “Just watch,” Twilight replied, a smug smile on her own face. “There’s one more part to Allicorn of Typhoons’s effect,” called Yurik. “When this card successfully destroys a spell or trap card, it gains 500 ATK.” “Huh?” Rainbow Dash perked up. “But that means…” “His monster’s ATK is higher than Eurydice’s!” chirped Pinkie Pie, hopping up and down. Allicorn of Typhoon’s still glowing horn found the energy around it enveloping its entire body, making it whinny loudly into the sky. ATK: 2300 -> 2800 Alright! thought Walt. Without his field spell card, Eurydice will have no choice but to go to the extra deck. “Attack!” shouted Yurik. “Allicorn of Typhoons, destroy Eurydice, Peryton Ruler of Void Deep! Horrorcane!” Shining its horn bright and fanning its wings at Yurik’s monster, a massive wave rose up from the ground and threatened to swamp the field. Eurydice grunted as the wall of water crashed into her, disintegrating her into gold sparks. Orpheus kept his ground as he was rammed by the water, his feet sliding backwards ever so slightly as the wave continued to force itself into him. Orpheus’s Life Points: 4000 -> 3800 “Alright!” Walt cheered. “Eurydice is as good as gone!” As the water began to settle, one of the larger puddles on the field began to glow brightly. “What the–” Yurik wondered. At that moment, Eurydice flew out from the puddle and landed back on the field, looking as strong and healthy as ever. Eurydice, Peryton Ruler of Void Deep ATK: 1800 Lvl.: 5 “What?” Twilight and Rainbow Dash shouted at the same time. “How?” Yurik gasped. “How did Eurydice return?” “By its effect, of course,” Orpheus responded. “But that’s only when the monster’s banished!” Walt shouted. “Your monster was destroyed and sent to the extra deck! …Right?” “The effect of Eurydice states that when it would be sent from the field to the extra deck, it is banished instead.” “No… no way…” “And by its secondary effect, when it is banished, it special summons itself back onto the field.” Alice hissed at this setback. “I am no monster to be trifled with,” warned Eurydice. “It will take much more than simple tricks to defeat me.” “And of course,” reminded Orpheus, “the effect of my banished Melia is still in effect, as well as Eurydice’s other effect, increasing my monster’s ATK.” Eurydice spread its radiant wings out as Melia and Minos’s spirits reappeared below them. ATK: 1800 -> 2600 “So now your monster is still weaker than mine,” said Orpheus. “There is nothing left for you to do now.” “Yeah, right,” Yurik begrudgingly agreed. “I end my turn.” Status: Hand: 1 Life: 4700 Monsters: 3 Pendulum Cards: 0 Pendulum Zone: – Spell/Traps: 1 “This is bad!” whined Rainbow Dash, her hooves on her head. “If Eurydice attacks Twilight Alicorn, it’ll destroy it!” “Calm down, Rainbow Dash,” assured Twilight. “I guarantee you that Yurik will not let his monster go down so easily.” “I sure hope not,” Applejack said. “If what you say is true about that Orpheus feller and him taking us, Yurik and Alice are gonna’ need to step it up.” “But still,” tweeted Pinkie Pie. “It’s two on one! That’s one more person than Orpheus has to help him.” “Wrong,” Kieran spoke up, removing Pinkie Pie’s smile. “Orpheus’s deck has the strength of two duelists. This is about as fair a fight as one could muster against him. Make no mistake, ponies, Yurik and Alice are facing a challenge unlike which they have ever seen.” Twilight and Rainbow Dash, acknowledging Kieran’s words, turned back to look at the duel, unsure of how Orpheus would retaliate. “My turn!” he shouted, his hand on his deck. “Draw!” Orpheus glared at his card, already moving it towards his chain. “I summon the tuner monster Orpheus, Bard of Void Deep!” he declared. “A card named Orpheus too?” Walt shouted. “And it’s a tuner…” growled Alice forebodingly. Orpheus placed his monster onto the link to the left beside his Eurydice card, and from a blue portal that opened beside the peryton, was a black-robed grey humanoid with a lyre in his arm. Orpheus, Bard of Void Deep ATK: 800 Lvl.: 2 “Tuner monster?” gasped Twilight. “He can also synchro summon?” Orpheus and Eurydice together… mused Yurik. Just what could he possibly be bringing out? “I now tune my level 5 Eurydice, Peryton Ruler of Void deep with my level 2 Orpheus, Bard of Void Deep!” Orpheus shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. The Orpheus monster leapt up into the air and let out a melodic strum of its instrument, becoming covered in light before it burst into two green rings that aligned back towards the ground. “Queen of the underworld and the master of the harvest,” chanted Orpheus, “allow me to harness your power and reap my victory!” Eurydice, flapped her wings and flew inside the rings becoming an orange outline with five white stars inside her. The outline faded away as a bright line pierced through the stars and spread out over and around the two green rings. “Synchro summon!” shouted Orpheus. The pillar faded away, revealing a white-skinned humanoid with large blue eyes, black hair, and a stoic expression on its visible mouth, as well as a greyish-green dress. “Appear!” he concluded. “Persephone, Queen of Void Deep!” The monsters floated gently onto the field on the left of the center spot of the field, frightening Yurik and Alice with her nearly human appearance. Persephone, Queen of Void Deep ATK: 2700 Lvl.: 7 “When Persephone, Queen of Void Deep is special summoned to my side of the field,” explained Orpheus, reaching for his deck, “I can draw one card.” Yurik and Alice panted as Orpheus threw his arm out, a card pinched in between his index and middle finger. Adding the card to his left hand, he pointed at the center of his field “And since Eurydice has been banished by its effect,” he said as a bright whirlwind appeared on the center monster zone, “it is special summoned back to the field.” A blue light swirled about and melded with the twister before it took the form of Eurydice, setting itself back on the ground beside Persephone. Eurydice, Peryton Ruler of Void Deep ATK: 1800 Lvl.: 5 “And with Orpheus now in the banished zone due to its effect with my other two monsters, including Melia, Nymph of Void Deep, its ATK increases by yet another 100.” Spirits of the Orpheus monster, Melia, and Minos appeared underneath the peryton’s glowing wings. ATK: 1800 -> 2700 Kel gasped loudly beside Kieran, gaining his attention. “Unbelievable!” Kel said. “Even on his own, he’s toying with those other two like mere children.” “Orpheus is one of the strongest duelists I’ve ever known,” said Kieran. “Despite Yurik and Alice being two of my best duelists, they absolutely need each other in order to have any chance of defeating him.” “Oh…” Twilight and the other three ponies looked fearfully upon Orpheus’s monsters as Orpheus looked upon his opponents. “It’s a shame,” he said. “I expected more of a fight coming from two people. At least Walt forced me down to my last hundred life points.” Yurik and Alice seethed at the insult, which Orpheus didn’t seem to acknowledge. “Regardless…” he continued. “Battle! Eurydice, attack Twilight Alicorn. Spatial Talon Tearing!” Twilight Alicorn took two wary paces back as Eurydice flew up into the air and rocketed back down with flexing talons preparing to strike. “I activate the effect of Twilight Alicorn!” shouted Yurik. “Once per turn, I can place this card on an unoccupied pendulum zone!” Twilight Alicorn’s horn flared up as it strained to hold its magic, suddenly disappearing from the field and reappearing on Yurik’s right side of the field. Twilight Alicorn Pendulum Scale: 6 Yurik smiled to see his monster safe. “So you evaded my attack,” Orpheus said. “No matter. There are still two others left to deal with. Eurydice, attack Allicorn of Storms!” The blue peryton twisted itself towards the green-and-black alicorn, flipping its talons forward to strike. “I activate my trap, Overlay Avoid!” shouted Yurik, his hand pointing to an overturning trap card with what appeared to be a knight with a full-body pearl armor glowing brightly. “This card lets me detach one xyz material from an xyz monster I control to prevent its destruction for the rest of the turn.” A light orb quickly collided with Yurik’s monster’s horn, producing a shield that blocked Eurydice’s sharp talons, bolts of lightning showering down onto Yurik’s field. “You still take damage, however,” spoke Orpheus. The lightning began to hail down upon Yurik, making him scream loudly as he felt the bolts zap his entire body. Yurik’s Life Points: 4700 -> 4300 Yurik limply fell to the ground, frightening Alice, Walt, Kel, and the ponies on the side of the field. “Yurik!” shouted Walt, struggling against Matthew’s grip. Yurik weakly got up, his body and clothes smoking an burned on several parts. “What was that?” muttered Yurik, looking at the small streams of smoke on the his forearms. “I felt that… like I was really being struck by lightning. Who… who is this guy?” “I’m not done yet,” said Orpheus. “Battle! Persephone, Queen of Void Deep, attack Unioncorn of Fire! Sweltering Seed!” Aiming its arm at the yellow-unicorn, its hand glowed bright before red-hot seeds fired at it like rounds from an automatic rifle. The seeds destroyed the crying horse as it faded away into gold dust. Yurik groaned as the dust blew into his arm-shielded face. “Furthermore,” said Orpheus, “is Persephone’s effect. When it attacks and destroys a defense position monster, damage is inflicted equal to the DEF of that monster.” “Sucks to be you,” Yurik grunted, standing up back strong. “Twilight Alicorn’s pendulum effect reduces all effect damage to me to 0!” “Oh?” Orpheus responded, genuinely surprised. “Then I shall fix that. I activate my trap, Stygian Winds!” “What?!” A trap flipped up on Orpheus’s field showing a waterspout forming on what appeared to be his Styx River field spell card. “This card allows me to target one card in either person’s pendulum zone and banish it, and I’ll choose your Twilight Alicorn.” From the wind blowing onto Yurik’s field, a black tornado formed, slowly moving towards a frightened Twilight Alicorn. “I activate Twilight Alicorn’s other pendulum effect,” Yurik called out, “allowing me to special summon it onto my field in attack position!” Orpheus let out the smallest of grimaces as Twilight Alicorn charged its horn and disappeared from the tornado’s path, making it disappear as well. Twilight Alicorn reappeared on the field beside Allicorn of Storms, breathing contently at its renewed safety. Twilight Alicorn ATK: 2500 Lvl.: 7 “Alright!” cheered Rainbow Dash. “Now Yurik’s monster is safe!” Walt looked relieved as well, only to see Persephone aim its hand and Yurik once again, making him seize up as he realized what would happen. “No!” he shouted. “Persephone’s effect!” “And now that Twilight Alicorn has been removed from your pendulum zone,” warned Orpheus, “you will take that 1200 points of damage.” Yurik was too stunned to move as seeds shot back out from Persephone’s hand and just at the ground before his feet, exploding the ground and throwing the shrieking Yurik up into the air. Yurik’s Life Points: 4300 -> 3100 “Yurik, no!” yelled Alice. “My orchard!” Kel screamed, looking at the sizable hole left by the assault. Yurik landed forcefully upon the ground, lying still once he finally stopped rolling. “Yurik!” cried Twilight, galloping out to him. “Stop!” shouted Orpheus, keeping her still. “If you help him up, I will consider it a forfeit. This is his fight to face and his alone. If he cannot muster the strength to stand, then he has no right to have you with him.” “You’re a monster!” she wailed, tears flowing from her eyes. “Is this how you’re going to win! By physically beating him into submission? What’s fair in that?” “Twilight…” rasped a voice behind him. She turned around to see Yurik, jerking his sore body up to his feet as he looked right at Orpheus. Orpheus looked blankly at him while Eurydice forced a smile for his ability to continue on. “Here I stand…” growled Yurik. “Now continue your turn… or end it now… you bastard.” Orpheus, the fronts of his teeth showing in anger, grabbed the only card from his left hand and into his right. “Now that I know all your monster’s secrets,” Orpheus responded, “this will be a far easier match for me. I place one card face down,” he declared with an insertion of his card into his duel disk and its appearance on the field, “and end my turn.” Status: Hand: 0 Life: 3800 Monsters: 2 Pendulum Cards: 0 Pendulum Zone: – Spell/Traps: 2 Alice continued to look at Yurik, whose knees continued buckling as he continued sliding his feet on the ground to find balance. He hasn’t touched me yet, Alice responded. If I can somehow get his attention over to me… “My turn!” shouted Alice, her hands upon her deck. “Draw!” Peering at the card she had drawn, she smirked widely, a plan forming in her mind. …and this just might do the trick. “I activate the effect of Persephone, Queen of Void Deep,” stated Orpheus. Alice’s smile quickly turned into one of shocked fright, unsure of what was about to happen. “During the standby phase of my opponent’s turn,” he explained, “Persephone is banished from my field.” “What!” she shouted. “Impossible!” A pool of oily water opened up below the monster, where it casually sunk down into its depths and out of sight. “But that means…” calculated Alice. “That Eurydice’s ATK is increased by another 100,” he concluded. Eurydice’s wings glowed bright as it brayed to the moon in the sky, overwhelmed by the boost in power it had received. ATK: 2700 -> 2800 Alice stared with fearful eyes at Eurydice, feeling hope draining from her with each passing second. No… she thought. Now its ATK is equal to Cao Cao’s. However… unless I do something, Yurik is going to continue being the brunt of Orpheus’s attacks. Alice bowed her head as Orpheus read her, waiting for a decisive reaction. The ponies, Walt, Kel, and Kieran watched intently as well, wondering what kind of plan she had laid out. With a shooting up of her head, she looked at Orpheus with furious eyes. “I can still destroy that monster of yours once and for all!” she stated. Orpheus kept his head down and his frown strong, awaiting this supposed promise. “I summon Malisquito!” she declared, placing her drawn card upon the zone next to her Cao Cao card. Emerging from a blue portal beside the monster was a large, but horrifyingly skinny mosquito with an small abdomen. Malisquito ATK: 1400 Lvl.: 4 “I now activate the effect of Malisquito!” continued Alice. “Once per turn, I can target one monster on my opponent’s side of the field and reduce its ATK by 1000.” Orpheus bared his teeth, already knowing which monster it would be. “There’s only one monster you have,” Alice shouted, “and it’s Eurydice, Peryton Ruler of Void Deep!” Malisquito flew itself over to Orpheus’s field and forcefully inserted its long needle into Eurydice’s chest, making her cry out in pain as the insect’s abdomen began to fill up with red. ATK: 2800 -> 1800 “Furthermore,” Alice went on, “my monster gains 500 ATK.” Orpheus continued to seethe as Alice’s monster slid the needle from the winged-deer’s chest and flew back to Alice’s field. ATK: 1400 -> 1900 “Alright!” cheered Pinkie Pie. “Now both of their monsters are stronger than Eurydice!” Applejack, a fire brewing inside of her upon seeing Alice’s furious face, couldn’t hold back her excitement. “Go, Alice!” she cheered. “We know all y’all can do it!” Eurydice swooned as it tried to maintain its footing, weakened by her loss of blood, scaring Orpheus genuinely. “Eurydice!” he shouted, reaching out. “Don’t worry about me,” she grunted back. “Just focus on the duel.” Unable to keep his glancing eyes away from Eurydice, he shot the rest of his anger and attention towards Alice. “Despciable,” he hissed. “To use my monster’s lifeblood to strengthen yours.” “Yurik and I are doing everything we can to win this duel,” snapped Alice, “just like you. Pardon me if we use dirty tactics too.” Orpheus clenched his fists, failing to compose himself before her. “Now, battle!” Alice ordered. “Malisquito, attack Eurydice! Plague Lance!” Shooting itself back towards Eurydice, Malisquito drove its needle deeper and harder into Eurydice’s chest, disintegrating her into golden sparks. The dust blew into Orpheus, the sting from it hitting his face making him groan. Orpheus’s Life Points: 3800 -> 3700 “The effect of Eurydice activates,” he spoke. “When my monster would be sent to the extra deck, it is banished instead. Then, when it’s banished, I can special summon it to my field!” A black-and-white swirling portal formed in the ground, Eurydice leaping out of it and back onto Eurydice’s field. Eurydice, Peryton Ruler of Void Deep ATK: 1800 Lvl.: 5 “And with Melia’s effect as well as its own,” resumed Orpheus, “its strength returns.” The peryton’s wings shone brightly as it shouted out loud with the power it absorbed. ATK: 1800 -> 2800 “Your remaining monster’s ATK is now equal to mine again!” shouted Orpheus, a maddening smile forming on his lips. “So end your turn now and let Yurik try and muster through his!” “How about you shut the hell up and let me play!” barked Alice. “What? Do you intend to tell me that you still have a strategy that can defeat me?” “No. I’m just going to do it! I activate the effect of Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord!” “What did you say?” “Once, during my battle phase, I can tribute one insect-type monster I control to reduce the ATK of one monster my opponent controls by 1000 until the end phase.” “No!” screamed Orpheus, now looking mortified. “You can’t!” “I can!” exclaimed Alice. “And I definitely will! I tribute Malisquito to reduce Eurydice’s ATK!” Cao Cao bent its body down and picked up Malisquito in both of its arms. Winding up and back, the massive praying mantis chucked the bug at Eurydice. Malisquito became coated in a thick green fog that formed a tail as it flew, striking Eurydice and disappearing. At that moment, Eurydice, heaving with illness and soreness, stumbled down onto the shins of its legs. ATK: 2800 -> 1800 “Now that your monster has used its effect already this turn,” explained Alice, “your monster will now stay banished!” “You’re relentless!” Orpheus shouted. “An absolute fiend!” “Takes one to know one, bastard! Now, battle! Cao Cao, attack Eurydice! Red Scythe Slash!” The large insect ran out onto Orpheus’s field, its bulgy eyes focused on its target. With its arms raised up, Cao Cao swung down upon Eurydice, but not before she smiled in respect before she exploded. The blast threw Orpheus off his feet as he yelled loudly in anguish, landing hard upon his back and stopping right where he landed. Orpheus’s Life Points: 3700 -> 2700 The ponies and humans, even Kieran, stood slack-jawed over Alice’s accomplishment. Orpheus failed to get up, demoralized by the loss of his monster. Yurik stared bug-eyed at the fallen Orpheus, and then back at Alice. In response, she gave a short chuckle and a thumb-up. “Yeah!” screamed Walt, jiggling about in Michael’s grip. “That was the bomb, Alice!” An eruption of cheering sounded off from the ponies as Alice gave them a smiling thumbs-up as well. Kel, moved by Alice’s strength, applauded her. Kieran smiled and gave a nod to Alice in approval. Still down on his back, his shoulders and neck riddled with pain, a stream of tears flowed down the side of Orpheus’s head and onto his ears. I’m sorry, Eurydice, he thought. I didn’t want you to go through that. “What are you talking about?” an echoed voice boomed in his head, shooting his eyes open. “That’s exactly what I’m here for. You won’t disappoint me by losing, but you’ll certainly do just that by crying like a child as you are.” “Eurydice…” he whispered. “Get up and finish what you started, Orpheus! I will not accept you lying on your back for a second longer!” Orpheus forcefully rolled himself onto his back, pushing himself up to his hands and knees, stopping the celebrating that came from the others. Wavering back onto his feet, Orpheus stood tired, but furious as hell as he breathed in and out through his teeth. “Someone looks angry,” taunted Alice. “You don’t even know half of it,” whispered Orpheus. Alice huffed proudly, grabbing a card in her hand. “I activate the spell card Treasure Trough,” she said, putting the card inside the slot, the art revealed on the field showing a wooden chest filled with torn and dirtied high-leveled monster cards. “I can activate this card by tributing a level 7 or higher monster I control, and I’ll choose my Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord.” The monster began to glow bright before it burst like a bubble, leaving no trace of it, leaving Orpheus confused. “Then,” she said with a flat palm raised up as a large gold coin appeared upon it from thin air, “I flip a coin. If it’s heads, I draw three cards. If it’s tails, an opponent draws three cards, and my opponent will be… Yurik!” “What?” Orpheus shouted. “Battle Royale rules,” she reminded him. “Each person is treated as an opponent, but since there are two, I’m choosing who my opponent is, so this card affects Yurik and me, not you.” Orpheus gripped his fists tighter as Alice wound her arms back. “Here we go!” she shouted, tossing the coin up. A large dragon’s head and a dragon’s tail were embroidered on each side of the coin respectively. The other ponies watched as the coin bounced off the ground and landed back onto the tails side. “Yes!” Alice cheered. “And now Yurik will draw three cards!” “Wait!” wondered Orpheus. “That wasn’t intended for you?” “Of course not! Now I’m sure Yurik will have all he needs next turn to defeat you, right, Yurik?” “Yes, ma’am!” he called, drawing his three cards in one stroke of his arm. “Good then,” she responded. “With that, I end my turn.” Status: Hand: 1 Life: 4000 Monsters: 0 Pendulum Cards: 0 Pendulum Zone: – Spell/Traps: 1 “You…” growled Orpheus, “you fool. You left yourself with only one set card and nothing else. Do you really expect your opponent to go alone?” “He doesn’t need to,” responded Alice with an angry stare. “I have full confidence that Yurik will pull through for us because he’s a very strong duelist. That, and it’s his next turn. Ready, Yurik?” “Ready,” he responded. “My turn! Draw!” Adding the card to his hand, he grabbed a spell card and reeled his arm back. “I activate Allicorn Enchant!” he shouted, the card on the field showing an alicorn with its horn glowing bright. “This card allows me to activate an Allicorn monster’s effect without having to detach an xyz material.” Orpheus frowned his lips together as hard as he could, bowed his head, and closed his eyes. “Those set cards scare me,” Yurik said, “so I will activate Allicorn Of Typhoon’s effect to destroy the center set spell or trap card!” The alicorn’s horn began to glow bright on its own as it soared out towards Orpheus and shoot a green ball of energy at him, its wings flapping at the spell with the wind merging with it. As it came closer to his card, Orpheus shot his head up, his eyes opening as wide as they could. “I chain my trap!” he shouted, throwing his arms to the card in his center zone. “Stygian Reborn!” The card flipped up to reveal what looked to be Orpheus, Bard of Void Deep flying out from a bright portal in a black void. “This card lets me target one of my banished monsters and special summon it, and I choose Eurydice, Peryton Ruler of Void Deep!” “What did you say?” yelled Yurik. A bright portal opened on the ground with Eurydice promptly flying out from it. Keeping its wings to its side, the winged deer landed safely on the ground, looking straight at Yurik and his field. Eurydice, Peryton Ruler of Void Deep ATK: 1800 Lvl.: 5 “And with my banished monsters, including Melia,” clarified Orpheus, “Eurydice’s ATK increases!” Eurydice threw her wings out as they glowed, absorbing the energy from Orpheus’s banished monsters. ATK: 1800 -> 2800 “Now that my trap has been activated,” Orpheus said with an insane grin, “your monster can’t increase its ATK! And now, none of your monsters can touch mine!” The ponies gasped and sighed at the now failed attempt to defeat Orpheus once and for all. Yurik himself hissed in disappointment. “Yeah,” he growled. “I suppose you’re right.” Yurik then reached for a pendulum monster in his hand. “I tribute my Allicorn of Typhoons to tribute summon Armored Unioncorn!” Yurik declared. Removing his xyz monster from his zone while placing his monster upon the same spot at the same time, a blue portal opened on the field, a strong grey unicorn in black armor coming out from it and taking its place beside Twilight Alicorn. Armored Unioncorn ATK: 2100 Lvl.: 6 “I see,” Twilight surmised. “Now Yurik plans to equip Armored Unioncorn with his monster so it will be stronger than Eurydice.” “Wait,” Applejack piped up, “these monsters can do that?” Twilight sulked in response. Yurik stole one glance to Alice’s field and then back at Orpheus and Eurydice. Grabbing two more cards in his hand, he threw them both into his spell/trap zone, both of them appearing onto Yurik’s bottom half of the field. “I place two cards face down and end my turn,” he declared. Status: Hand: 1 Life: 3100 Monsters: 2 Pendulum Cards: 0 Pendulum Zone: – Spell/Traps: 2 “Huh?” Twilight exclaimed. “Yurik! What are you doing?” “I know what I’m doing, Twilight. Just let me continue this duel.” A sinister giggling could be heard from Orpheus, bringing all attention from the field and on the sidelines to him. The others watched nervously as Orpheus’s laughter transformed into full blown laughter, the reactions from everyone else except Matthew becoming frightened anger. “Do you really think I’m going to let you continue this duel after how you’ve treated Eurydice?” “Orpheus…” whispered Eurydice, turning his head towards him. “I don’t think you understand. Those that make a fool of me and attempt to destroy my chances of achieving my goal will be punished severely!” “Orpheus,” Yurik responded carefully, “have you gone nuts?” “Nuts?” laughed Orpheus. “I’ve spent seven years in circles trying to send my friend home, and now that the opportunity has come to me, you want to deny me that, and you call me nuts?” “Orpheus, listen to yourself!” Orpheus clenched his fists tight as Yurik continued his lecturing, his hands beginning to glow blue. “Do you really think either of us are going to put these ponies in the care of a madman?” “SILENCE!” he screamed, his voice inhumanly loud as his entire body glowed bright. The force of his voice and powers, pushed both Yurik and Alice back, as well as the others on the sidelines having to cover their ears from the sheer volume of Orpheus’s yell. Eurydice herself looked scared at what her friend had become. “I won’t have you insulting me or my intentions any longer, because once I defeat you, there will be no longer be a question as to these ponies’ fates! My turn! DRAW!” Orpheus added the card to his hand, pointing his arm towards his field. “During my standby phase,” he declared, “Persephone, Queen of Void Deep is special summoned back to my side of the field!” A pool of water opened up beside Eurydice, allowing the green-dressed white humanoid to appear on the field again. Persephone, Queen of Void Deep ATK: 2700 Lvl.: 7 Eurydice began to glow blue all over as her strength was partially drained. ATK: 2800 -> 2700 “When Persephone is special summoned to my side of the field,” explained Orpheus, reaching for his deck, “I can draw one card!” With a swing of his arm, a card was removed from the top of his deck, and upon seeing it, Orpheus let out another laugh, leaving Alice and Yurik anxious at what was to come. “And like that, the tools to your defeat are now with me!” spoke Orpheus. “And I will enact it on the person who nearly killed my Eurydice.” Finding Orpheus’s pointing finger going towards Alice, both she, Yurik, and Eurydice gasped. “Orpheus!” cried Eurydice. “Sto–” “I activate the spell card Calling of Void Deep!” he shouted, ignoring Eurydice as he put the card into his spell/trap slot, the art featuring an armored knight leaping out of a river. “This card lets me target one monster in either player’s graveyard and special summon it to their side of the field with its effects negated! And the one I choose is…” A black-and-purple portal opened up on the field, and floating out from it was Alice’s ace monster: the giant armored praying mantis. “…Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord!” Alice gasped as her monster took the field once again, unsure of Orpheus’s intentions. Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord ATK: 2800 Lvl.: 9 “Next,” Orpheus said, a scary grin on his face as he gently slipped the card into his slot, “I equip Persephone, Queen of Void Deep with Scylla’s Dagger!” “What?” screamed Walt. The large knife with the purple hair tied to the handle rose up from the ground and towards his intended monster, which grabbed it in its hand. “No!” cried Walt, jerking his body inside Matthew’s lock. “Please! Stop it! Stop it now!” Eurydice, fully understanding Walt’s pain, looked to him with shuddering eyes. “This card can only be equipped to a monster whose ATK is lower than that of a monster my opponent controls,” exclaimed Orpheus. “And now, taste its power! Battle! Persephone, Queen of Void Deep! Attack Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord! Treacherous slit!” Persephone leapt up to and soared towards the giant mantis, its arm wound up to slice, much to Alice’s shock and confusion. “What are you doing?” Alice yelled. “You’ll only be destroying your own monster!” “The only one who will be destroyed will be you!” roared Orpheus. Alice watched as Orpheus’s monster flew past Cao Cao and cut a deep gash into the side of its neck. “While I’ll still take battle damage,” spoke Orpheus, “when the equipped monster would be destroyed by battle when it declares an attack, I can banish the card instead.” The dagger in Persephone’s hand turned to a compressed cloud of ash that flew back to Orpheus, going into his chest where his heart was. Orpheus’s Life Points: 2700 -> 2600 “However,” chuckled Orpheus, “the monster attacked by the equipped monster is banished.” “What?” shrieked Alice. Shen then watched as a bright light began to cover her monster completely before transforming into a small ball floating over the field. “And then,” screeched Orpheus happily, “you take damage equal to that monster’s ATK.” “No!” shouted Yurik, his eyes shrunken in fear. “Alice!” Yurik turned his body to face her, only for the ball of light to self-destruct, blasting both Yurik and Alice back. Alice screamed as her body was racked with heat and pain, spots of her clothes burning and smoking. With a hard land, she rolled roughly on the ground before stopping. Alice’s Life Points: 4000 -> 1200 “Alice!” screamed Twilight and Walt. Yurik pulled himself up, only to see the seemingly unconscious heap that Alice was left as. Yurik, tears forming in his eyes, couldn’t feel his arms as they trembled violently. “ALICE!” he cried out. Eurydice, seeing her state, clenched her teeth and grunted regretfully. “I’m not done yet!” shouted Orpheus. “Now that your field is open, Eurydice can now exact her revenge! Eurydice, attack Alice directly! Spatial Talon Tearing!” Closing her eyes, Eurydice soared up into the sky and flew down towards Alice, who looked far too weak to respond. “GOODBYE, ALICE!” Orpheus screamed. Yurik stood frightened with his mouth agape, watching as Alice’s life points would soon hit 0 by Eurydice herself, much to the equal shock and horror to his friends who could only watch.