A quick and furious knocking was heard on the Fabers’ front door, and the sound alerted Bette in the kitchen as she poured a bowl of cereal for Evey, who was still dressed in her pajamas. Bette rushed to the door and opened it, both relieved and still frightened to see Clark standing there, his patrol car parked on the side of the street.
“Clark,” gasped Bette. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s about your son and his friends,” he said. “They’ve been apprehended by the police at the Guardiaboliques hideout and taken to the Cook County Jail for questioning?”
“Oh my god! They’re not in trouble, are you?”
“I don’t know, but my chief called me in to go. Apparently, the ponies are there too, and they’ve been calling officers from all over the Chicagoland area to get some information from them. I’m coming by to pick you up so you can see them.”
“Yes, of course!”
Bette ran to the kitchen snatching the bowl of cereal from the table just as Evey was taking a bite.
“Mommy,” whined Evey, watching as her mom dumped the contents of the bowl into the sink, “what the heck!?”
“Evey put your shoes on,” she instructed, rushing to the stairs. “We’re going to see Walt and Yurik!”
“Walt and Yury!? Where are they?”
“Just follow me,” Clark said, wary of revealing their location to the girl. “They’re guaranteed to have some form of breakfast there.”
“Who needs breakfast when Walt and Yury are in trouble?” she said, slipping on her shoes. “Mom! Hurry up!”
“My apologies!” she shouted, running down the stairs with a pair of shoes on her feet and her keys in her hand.
“Come on!” Clark beckoned, holding to door open for Bette and Evey as they ran outside together. “Let’s get going!”
Clark reached around the door and turned the lock, shutting the door behind him as he left.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Inside of a crowded McDonald’s, a male police officer in his early 30’s with short red hair and a short beard took his final bite of a steak, egg, and cheese bagel, balling his wrapper into a ball as he chewed. Standing from his seat, he grabbed his wrapper and tray, putting the latter on top of the garbage where he tossed the former. With a wipe of his mouth with the side of his fist, he exited the restaurant, walking towards his parked squad car.
Standing there, leaning on the hood, was a person concealed completely in a black hooded sweatshirt, black leather gloves, black jeans, and black shoes. The hood of their sweatshirt cast a shadow over the person’s face, concealing it completely. The officer, annoyed with the person’s appearance, quickened his pace to the person with a scowl.
“You!” he called out. “Step away from my car!”
“My apologies,” the person said in a young, female voice. “I’m just waiting for my father to come out.
“Why on Earth are you wearing a sweatshirt and pants at this time of year? Do you want a heat stroke?”
“Sorry again, but the sun doesn’t agree with me. Besides, there’s a cool breeze this morning.”
“Ma’am, I need to get to my car! I’m very busy and I need to leave.”
The officer walked to his driver’s seat, but the woman stayed put.
“It’s about what’s happening in Cook County, isn’t it?” she asked.
The officer stopped, stunned by her correct assumption.
“How did you–” he tried to say.
“My mother works for the police, and she was called away as well. She was supposed to send me to the train station, but my father had to be the one. He missed breakfast, but I just can’t stand fast food, so I’m waiting here for him.”
“Very well, ma’am, but I need to go.”
The man opened his car door and began to step inside, only for the woman to spin around and walk to the door, propping it open with her hand before he could close it.
The officer grumbled, “What are you–”
His words were silenced by the woman as she reached towards the doorway, a card pinched in between her middle and index fingers.
“Take this,” she said, “as a token of understanding.”
“Un…” he tried to speak as he took the card, “Understanding?”
The officer took a glance at the card, revealing a white card of a purple-and-orange, serpentine, twin-headed dragon with two tails. Its body appeared as a giant “X” with a 4-way gold-and-jade brace at where they conjoined with a wall of fire behind the creature in the background.
“What is this?” he wondered aloud.
Suddenly, his heart boomed in his chest, instantly drawing all breath from his lungs. As he breathed in, a warm, soothing feeling crept through his veins and into his head, filling him with new thoughts that made him smile with an evil conviction.
“Now,” she said, her eyes staring at him through the shadows of her hood, “Yurik and his friends have been taken by the police, and I want you make sure they stay in that prison, got it?”
“Yes…” he breathed calmly, “master.”
“Good…”
She let her hand off the officer’s door, allowing him to close it. Stepping aside, the woman looked as the squad car pulled out of the spot and down the parking lot to the street. With a smirk, she walked from the lot and towards a wide alleyway between two buildings. Once she was out of the public’s sight, she glowed brightly for a split second before she vanished into thin air.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Inside Celestia’s throne chamber, the woman appeared at the front end of the room, walking casually up towards the throne. Chrysalis stood beside the ramp to the golden chair, looking dejected and ashamed. The woman began to take her gloves off, revealing a pair of unnaturally yellow hands underneath them.
“Sunset Shimmer,” Chrysalis shouted, “please forgive me for my failure!”
“Done,” the woman responded as her sweatshirt grew out to form a thick, hooded cloak. “There was no way to know that the Elements of Harmony would return, yet alone add a seventh among them.”
Chrysalis gasped with relief, but refused to smile.
“Yes,” Sunset said walking up to the throne, “a wrench has been thrown in our plan, but for that matter, a wrench has been thrown in theirs as well.”
“What do you mean?” Chrysalis asked.
“It seems that Twilight Sparkle and her friends, pony and human alike, have been arrested for vigilantism,” she replied, stopping at her throne. “Regardless, after the stunt you pulled down there, those humans are going to be a lot more wary of those ponies and probably suspect the worst about them.”
“Incredible! Now we’re free to rule Equestria without fear of reprimand!”
“Not quite. We’re going to need to make sure that whatever situation those humans and ponies are in stays that way.”
“And how are we going to do that?”
“It’s quite alright,” Sunset said as she sat down on the throne and reached inside her cloak from the top, pulling out an ornate, golden bell, “I have someone to help us.”
Sunset Shimmer then pulled down her cloak, revealing a yellow head with long, red-and-golden hair along with a pair of piercing blue eyes.
“He’s supposedly quite notorious around the streets of this metropolis where Twilight and her friends are now,” she went on. “I think he’ll do us just fine for now…”
Sunset’s eyes began to shine brightly, elements of brown mixing with the natural color of her irises.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The red-haired officer pulled into the parking lot of the Cook County Jail, keeping his brown eyes fixated on the prison’s entrance. Pulling up to a vacant spot along the curb between a line of other squad cars, he parked and stepped out. Behind him, Clark’s squad car pulled up to the back of the line, allowing him, Bette, and Evey to scurry out of it.
As the three of them ran past the red-haired officer, he looked at them with mild intrigue, but it quickly subsided as he closed his door and walked to the entrance to the prison.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Clark led Bette and Evey to the service desk, where the woman at the counter, a large African-American woman, looked at the two women behind the officer with great suspicion.
“Where are they holding the ponies?” Clark asked.
“Um,” the receptionist loudly inquired, “who are you?”
“My name is Bette Faber,” she defended, “and this is my daughter, Evey. My son, Walt, and my adoptive son, Yurik Clayer, are in there! I demand to see them!”
“Don’t worry, Ms.,” Clark assured the black woman, “they’re with me, and they just want to see their family.”
“Fine,” the woman responded. “Just follow the hallway of guards along the walls, they’ll help you.”
“Thank you!”
Clark, Bette, and Evey briskly increased their pace as they went down the hallway to where the black woman had instructed. The red haired man stood in the doorway, an odd feeling of realization having hit him.
“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked.
Broken out of his trance, the officer walked to the same doorway, keeping his eyes on her.
“I think I’ll just follow them,” he said, disappearing from her sight past the entryway.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The doors to the room containing the cell holding Yurik, Twilight, and their friends came open, the loud noise jerking everyone’s heads and eyes in its direction. Clark, Bette, and Evey came into the room and to Yurik, Walt, and the ponies minus Rarity, they all shuddered a breath with moistening eyes.
“Mom,” muttered Walt.
“Walt!” cried Evey as she and Bette ran to the cell. “Yury!”
As Evey put her hands on the glass, the ponies, Yurik and Walt all clung to the spot like a magnet.
“Evey,” sighed Applejack in relief, putting her hooves on the opposite side of the glass where Evey’s hands were.
“Thank goodness you’re alright,” Bette panted. “Why are you in this cell?”
“I must apologize, ma’am,” Orpheus said, stepping up behind the group. “I had to call the authorities when something tried to break into the Guardiaboliques’ hideout and threatened to harm your children.”
“But my children did nothing wrong!” she shouted, looking back to the officers present. “They shouldn’t be in here!”
“That’s not true, ma’am,” said the grey-haired detective replied, stepping from off the wall towards her.
“What?”
“That’s impossible!” shouted Evey. “My brothers aren’t criminals!”
“That’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart,” he said. “Based on their individual testimonies, each of them, ponies included, are undeniably guilty of the following crimes: international travel without a passport, destruction of property, resisting arrest, and of course, vigilantism.”
Orpheus scowled as the man smugly rattled the charges.
“These charges can see each them as much as five years in prison and tens of thousands in bond between the lot of them,” he continued.
“The ponies too?” said Clark. “We’re supposed to be helping them, not imprisoning them!”
“I’m not sure how far you’re up to speed, officer,” the detective said, “but it turns out that this Princess Celestia of theirs was a monster, and the whereabouts of the real princess is unknown. This puts the loyalty of the ponies in question. Are they really peaceful, or alien spies trying to gain intel for an elaborate hostile takeover?”
“That’s preposterous!” Clark said. “These ponies would never do such a thing!”
“And how would you know this, officer? Have you met them in person?”
“Yes, I have. Ms. Faber here had called me in on the 28th of May after she and her daughter discovered the ponies being harbored by Yurik and Walt in her home.”
“Ah, so you’re the officer Applejack referred to in her report.”
“Yeah, I must be. And how are you so sure that these ponies are hostile. Did you even interrogate any of them?”
“That’s none of your concern, officer.”
“Are you sure? Here you are questioning my knowledge of these ponies when you probably don’t know jack about them!”
“Truth is,” the detective spat back, “there’s a lot more ‘jack’ that we don’t know about them, and until we can determine that they aren’t here to hurt us, we must keep them detained.”
“And what if these ponies are telling the truth?” the woman detective who had talked to Twilight spoke up. “If what Twilight said about Chrysalis is true, then we could be in serious danger, and keeping them in here and treating them like prisoners is not going to win them over!”
“And trust me,” Twilight said, charging her horn, “if we wanted to hurt any of you…”
Twilight then walked towards the wall, stunning everyone inside the room and the cell as she walked through it like it was nothing.
“…we would have been more than capable of doing so by now.”
With her horn still charged up, she vanished from the room and reappeared inside the cell. While mostly everyone remained shocked and nonplussed, the grey-haired detective shook himself out.
“That could very well be a ploy to assert your innocence,” he reasoned. “With such powers, you should have all escaped by now.”
“And just be branded as escapees by you?” Walt shouted. “Are you that stupid?”
The detective hissed and grimaced in response.
“We’ve done our best to play by your rules,” Twilight defended, “but my friends would have never been reunited if it hadn’t been for us bending those rules to ensure our safety.”
Orpheus grinned at the statement.
“The law could have helped you all the same!” the detective shouted.
“False,” Kieran said. “The only thing that would have occurred was a mad, twisted game of Monopoly with the ponies as the properties.”
“You stay out of this, vigilante scum!”
“Scum that apparently knows the world better than the screaming manchild passing himself off as an upstanding man of the law,” grumbled Walt.
Bette gasped as she turned to Walt, but he didn’t see
“What did you say to me, punk?” huffed the detective, putting his face close to the glass.
“You heard him,” Rainbow Dash spoke, putting her face into the glass.
“He’s a big boy, he can clearly speak for himself!”
As the arguments between the grey-haired detective and the humans and ponies in the cell went on, from a crack in the doors to the room, the red-haired officer smiled as he watched the chaos unfold inside.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Inside Celestia’s throne room, Sunset Shimmer smiled and laughed as the events played out in a flat, magical screen floating above the floor. Chrysalis grinned too, seeing the plan go so well.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Fluttershy cowered her head down and wept as the shouting and screaming only got louder. Seeing the yellow pegasus cry, Evey too began to sob in fright. Kieran, seeing this, closed his eyes with his lips beginning to purse.
“STOP!” he bellowed, silencing the room as everyone in the room looked, the noise completely ceasing and the crying to end.
The detective stepped back from the glass cell, as did Rainbow Dash and Walt, looking at Kieran and waiting for him to speak for himself.
“Yes, it is true that we are guilty of these crimes,” Kieran said, “and we would all deserve punishment. However, there is still an option we can choose to take:… trial by dueling!”
The officers began to murmur to each other over Kieran’s suggestion. The grey-haired detective scowled as the Kieran stared him in the eyes.
“Trial by Dueling?” asked Twilight. “Is that even a thing?”
“Yes,” Alice responded. “In place of posting bail, a person can defend an accused person or group through a trial by dueling and get a waiver instead.”
“So we’re still getting nailed?” asked Applejack.
“Not quite, Applejack. I can’t say the same for Kieran, Marcus, Donald, or I, but I hope that the subsequent trial for us will see Yurik, Walt, Mary, Orpheus, and the rest of you off safely so you can live out your lives. Regardless, if whoever deciding to defend us wins, we don’t need to stay in jail while we try and figure this mess out.”
“And what happens if we lose?” asked Spike.
“Let’s not think about that right now, alright?”
The others in the cell looked on inside the room, watching the terms get set.
“You request a trial by dueling?” the grey-haired man said.
“Yes,” Kieran affirmed. “If our defender wins, his victory will be the posting of all our bail. All of us.”
“Sounds like a very hefty price there. How are we supposed to match that?”
“If our defender loses, then our bail will be tripled. Unless someone can pay such a price, we’ll be stuck here for you and the men at Cook County to do as they please.”
Bette’s eyes widened with fright, while the detective’s eyes glittered at the suggestion, and with a smile, he walked up to the glass.
“If there wasn’t a glass wall separating us,” he said, “this would be where I’d shake your hand. Now, who will your defender be?”
When the humans in the cage refused to answer, Twilight stepped forwards and stood proudly.
“I will be our defender!” she declared.
“Ha!” the detective shouted. “Each of your decks and so-called Elements of Harmony have been confiscated. They are of no use to you now!”
“But…” she whimpered, “can’t you just–”
“It’s pointless,” Donald said. “A prisoner can’t be a defender of their own crime.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because any delinquent with decent dueling skills could just buy their way out of prison that way,” Marcus explained. “Unless someone steps up, we’re stuck here.”
The red-haired officer could hardly stifle chuckles as the hope of those inside the glass cell began to drain away. Clark glanced to the cell, feeling the nagging urge to help them, but was interrupted as Kieran looked into his eyes, paralyzing him with shock. However, it was just the push Clark seemed to need as he stepped forwards.
“I’ll be their defender,” he declared.
The officers and detectives turned to Clark with surprised exclamations. The grey-haired detective glared at him as he looked at the numerous other eyes looking at him, unaware of the red-haired officer looking at him through the crack in between the doors.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
While Chrysalis looked indignant, Sunset Shimmer leaned back in Celestia’s throne, smirking.
“This ought to be interesting,” she said to herself.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
“Very well,” the grey-haired detective said. “And who will be the prosecutor?”
“I will!” the red-haired officer’s proclaimed as he finally stepped through the doors.
Upon revealing himself, the murmurs of everyone in the room got louder, and Clark suddenly looked slightly mortified.
“It’s him!” one officer whispered into the ear of the other. “The Deputy of Darkness!”
“When did he show up?” wondered another.
“Who is that?” wondered Fluttershy.
“Lee Jameson,” Kieran said forebodingly. “He’s a feared duelist among the criminal underworld for his ruthless dueling style and tricky strategies.”
“Have you dueled him before?” asked Applejack.
“He hasn’t,” Alice said, “but I have...”
“And what happened?”
“Only thanks to Kieran, I barely made it out…”
“He’s powerful then,” Spike sighed nervously.
“Very.”
Lee walked up to the cage, smiling as he saw Alice standing there.
“Well, well well,” Lee taunted, “it looks like someone finally trapped the black widow.”
Alice sealed her lips and refused to utter as little as a huff in his direction.
“And now that she’s locked up,” he continued, “she has nothing left to say to me. Even after all those insults she threw my way, now she remains tight-lipped.
“Lee,” Clark spoke, “she isn’t yours yet. You still need to challenge me.”
Lee giggled and turned to Clark, who remained steadfast in his position.
“Challenge or not,” he said, “the justice system is going to see her guilty for all the years of illegal activities she has been doing with Kieran and his band of vigilantes. She’s already mine.”
“That could very well be,” Clark said, “but right now, we have a common enemy that she and all her friends need to fight, and they certainly can’t do it locked in here.”
“I’ve been listening in on you guys. They say these ponies might just be our common enemy.”
“It’s hearsay fueled by paranoia and fear!”
“Clark,” Bette spoke up. “Enough talk. Just kick his butt and help bring my son home.”
Clark and Lee turned to Bette, surprised for her outburst.
“You heard the missus,” Lee said. “We should get this going.”
Clark frowned, more determined than ever to defeat him now.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Inside an empty indoor basketball court, Lee and Clark stood apart from one another, their duel disks on their left arms with their blade disks attached. Clark’s disks were a royal blue in color with the center of his blade disk colored grey. Lee’s duel disk was dark grey with a black center of his blade disk.
Behind Clark, a windowed room contained Yurik, Twilight, Kieran, Orpheus, and their friends as they watched on. To Clark’s left, Bette, Evey, and a collection of the detectives and officers lined a hallway were a window went down the length of the hall, allowing them to observe the oncoming fight.
“So tell me,” Lee said to Clark, “which city are you stationed in?”
“Naperville?”
“Naperville. A suburban officer. This will be easy…”
“You’d like to think so, but I just came into possession of a card that might really offer you a nice challenge.”
“Good. I’d hate to shut you out. Where’s the fun in that, huh?”
“Trust me, the fun will be all mine!”
Both officers detached their blade disks from their duel disks and tossed them out at each other. The disks spun rapidly as they arced over and around the duelists and back towards their owners. Upon stopping at the sides of their devices, both of their disks shot out two blades of light that took solid forms with seven zones in total. Clark’s blade appeared to have a white edge while Lee’s sported a dark red light fixture. Both duelists’ decks shuffled inside their decks and then finally stopped.
“Connection complete,” the female voice on the duel disks announced. “Deputy of Darkness vs. Clark Gordon.”
“You programmed your real name into your duel disk?” Lee admonished. “You’re either incredibly ballsy or extremely stupid, you know that?”
“I’m certainly not the latter,” Clark said. “I know exactly what I’m getting into with this duel, and I’m sure as hell not going to disappoint those children and ponies behind me.”
“Go Clark!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “We know you can do it!”
Clark smiled as the rest of them behind him joined the pegasus in cheers. From the hallway, the grey-haired detective approached Bette.
“Do you think that man stands a chance against the Deputy of Darkness?” he asked.
“I do,” she responded. “At least he doesn’t need a flashy title to have people take him seriously.”
The detective made a small hiss before turning his attention back to the gym.
“I’m tired of waiting!” shouted Lee. “Let’s get some!”
“Here I come!” cried Clark.
“DUEL!” they both shouted.
================
Clark:
LP: 4000
Lee:
LP: 4000
================
“I’ll take the first turn!” Clark declared, reaching for a card in his hand and revealing it, showing art of a blue, alien city in the daytime. “I activate the field spell 1X-ity!” he cried out.
Throwing his card into his duel disk, the card appeared on the field before the surroundings of the gymnasium began to change. A line of light scanned over the room, and the walls, floor, and ceiling the light went over disappeared to reveal a brightly-colored metropolis of strangely shaped buildings. Around Clark and Lee, they found themselves standing in the middle of a street between a long set of skyscrapers and other structures.
“Once per turn,” Clark said, reaching for his hand yet again, “I can special summon any number of 1X monsters from my hand at the cost of my normal summon or set. Appear!”
Grabbing three of his cards, he threw all of them into his center zones with the tops facing the left. At once, three blue portals appeared, allowing three individual monsters to slide out of them and before Clark on his field.
The first of which was a small velociraptor with long, sharp blades for claws. The second was a golden snake whose body appeared to be made out of coins. The last of these was a humanoid robot with a massively oversized head dressed as a chef, complete with a toque and equipped with a chef knife and carving fork.
“1X Rip Raptor! 1X Anacoinda! 1X Cyber Chef!”
The monsters stood proudly and still, ready to serve their master in whichever way they could.
1X Rip Raptor
DEF: 200
Lvl.: 1
1X Anacoinda
DEF: 500
Lvl.: 1
1X Cyber Chef
DEF: 0
Lvl.: 1
“Unbelievable!” gasped Yurik. “He just summoned a bunch of monsters to his field in one fell swoop.”
“And they’re all level 1,” Walt thought aloud. “Clark,” he suddenly chuckled, “you crafty devil…”
Lee began to laugh incessantly at the adorably tough faces the monsters tried to sport in front of him.
“You want to face me to get those kids out of jail, and this is what you bring out?” he shouted. “You really must be extremely stupid!”
Despite Lee continuing to laugh, Clark smirked, unbeknownst to his opponent.
He really doesn’t know what’s coming, does he? he thought. Fine. It will make for a fine surprise.
Clark grabbed the final card in his hand and slipped it into his duel disk, the card’s backing appearing on the field behind his monsters.
“I place one card face down and end my turn,” Clark concluded.
Status: Hand: 0 Life: 4000 Monsters: 3 Pendulum Zones: 0 Pendulum Scale: – Spell/Trap Cards: 2
Lee took a sigh and closed his eyes reflectively.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
“That’s it,” whispered Sunset Shimmer as she looked at Lee’s hand through his eyes on the magical screen. “Give it to him hard.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________
“And I hoped he would give me a challenge,” he muttered. “My turn!” he suddenly shouted, reaching for his deck. “Draw!”
Looking at his card, he smiled as he kept his arm out, preparing to use it.
“I summon the tuner monster Bomber – K9!” he declared.
Throwing his card upon the zone, a blue portal opened up on the floor, and hopping out of it was a miniature, anthropomorphic German shepherd dog with a bomb strapped to its chest, the trigger in its left paw.
Bomber – K9
ATK: 1200
Lvl.: 3
“Huh?” Evey wondered. “I thought bombers were bad people…”
“I now activate the effect of Bomber – K9,” Lee shouted. “When this card is normal summoned while my opponent controls a monster, I can inflict 300 points of damage for every monster he controls!”
“What?” Walt gasped.
“You control three monsters, so that’s 900 damage coming your way!”
The dog reached to a harness around its waist and pulled three grenades from it, the pins hooked to it pulling out of them all. With a strong hurl, the dog lobbed the three bombs at Clark, where they exploded upon hitting the ground. Clark groaned loudly as the fire and debris from the blast struck him.
Clark’s Life Points: 4000 -> 3100
“Clark!” shouted Walt.
“Then,” Lee added as Clark tried fanning the smoke and dust away, “for every monster you control, I can special summon one Ticker Token to my side of the field. Thanks to your three monsters, I can summon three token monsters!”
The electronic sound of a portal opening sounded off just as the smoke from the grenades’ blasts began to settle. Now standing beside Lee’s monster were three spider-like robots with dynamite and wires attaching itself to the machinery.
Ticker Token
ATK: 0
Lvl.: 1
Ticker Token
ATK: 0
Lvl.: 1
Ticker Token
ATK: 0
Lvl.: 1
“It’s coming,” the grey-haired detective said. “In only one turn and it’s already coming.”
Bette groaned, also knowing what was coming.
“Now,” Lee proclaimed, “I tune my three level 1 Ticker Tokens with my level 3 Bomber – K9!”
The dog pressed the button on the trigger, exploding as three stars launched up from the cloud, breaking away into three rings that aligned over the three robots. They all jumped into the air, forming into orange outlines with a single star inside each of them.
“Sargent from oblivion,” chanted Lee, “bring justice to evil hearts and the wicked beings whose souls are tainted with vice!”
The outlines of the robots faded away, and the three leftover stars aligned in a straight line, just as a white beam of light pierced through them and spread out past the outer edge of the rings.
“Synchro summon!” he shouted.
From the beam, a muscular grey-and-red demon with a tattered leather jacket and a large, spiked club in its hand leapt out, signaling its appearance with a mighty roar.
“Appear!” he beckoned. “Deputy of Darkness – Samael!”
The monster’s clawed feet landed upon the ground, and with a guttural chortle, it looked down deviously at each of the cowering monsters on Clark’s field.
Deputy of Darkness – Samael
ATK: 2600
Lvl.: 6
Clark hissed as his monster was brought out so quickly.
“Next,” Lee said, “I activate the effect of my three Ticker Tokens!”
“What?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “There’s still more?”
“Much… When a Ticker Token removed from the field, it inflicts 600 points of damage to the opponent.”
“No way!” gasped Twilight. “That’s another 1800 of damage!”
The three dynamite-strapped robots reappeared around Clark, and he looked around him as each of their timers were already counting down from two seconds down. Once the timers hit 0, the three of them exploded, showering Clark with another forceful blast of fire, making him scream out.
Clark’s Life Points: 3100 -> 1300
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Sunset Shimmer kicked her feet against the throne as she laughed, massively entertained by Clark’s beatdown.
“Unbelievable!” she howled. “He hasn’t even declared an attack yet and he’s already brought down almost three quarters of his life points.”
“I wonder if he’s even trying,” Chrysalis wondered aloud.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Clark widened his stance and bowed his torso down, panting nervously.
“On second thought,” Lee taunted, “I have to thank you. Your strategy has only strengthened mine, and it might actually give me a first turn kill.”
“First turn kill?” Rarity asked.
“It’s when an duelist takes out the other player’s life points on their first turn.”
“But how can that be? All of Clark’s monsters are in defense position, so they should be safe.”
“No,” Walt solemnly disagreed. “Just watch.”
The ponies all looked on frightfully at the duel that seemed close to coming to its end.
“Battle!” shouted Lee. “Deputy of Darkness, attack 1X Rip Raptor! Cannibal Club!”
The demon lunged at the tiny dinosaur, and its eyes widened with mortality.
“Just to remind you,” Lee shouted, “that when Deputy of Darkness attacks a defense position monster, I can target all defense position monsters you control and destroy them at the beginning of the Damage Step, and then you take 500 points of damage for each monster destroyed by its effect!”
Clark bared his teeth, seeming to know this full well.
“500 points of damage for each monster?” Mary asked. “That’s 1500! If this goes through, Clark’s done for!”
All three of Clark’s monsters opened their eyes and mouths wide in fear of the demonic creature coming towards them.
“Game over, Clark!” shouted Lee.
“Not yet!” Clark called back. “I activate my continuous trap, 1Xmergency!”
Clark’s card flipped up, revealing art of a bunch of small creatures of varying kinds running in terror and chaos while a silhouette of 1X Rip Raptor stood on a hill in the back with the sun shining behind it.
“When my opponent declares an attack while I control a 1X monster,” explained Clark, pinching the top card of his deck. “I can draw one card. If the card is a spell or a trap, I discard it. However…”
“You’re going to risk this entire duel on a single draw?” laughed Lee.
“Does it look like I have a choice?” he called back, throwing his arm out with his card in his grasp.
Looking at it, he was surprised to see it was a monster. He then revealed it to Lee, showing him another copy of 1X Anacoinda.
“The card I drew is 1X Anacoinda!” he exclaimed. “With 1Xmergency’s effect, I special summon it to my field!”
Clark threw his monster onto an open monster zone, and another snake made of gold coins appeared next to Rip Raptor, making the other three monsters feel far more relieved with its appearance.
1X Anacoinda
DEF: 500
Lvl.: 1
“So what?” yelled Lee. “That still won’t stop my monster’s–”
Deputy of Darkness, skidded to a halt right before Clark’s line of monsters, shocking everyone around except for Clark greatly
“Wait!” Lee shouted. “Why did my monster stop?!”
“When a monster is special summoned through the effect of 1Xmergency,” Clark said, “the battle phase is ended.”
Lee growled through his teeth, making Clark grin with pride. Lee’s monster hopped back to his field, taking its place back in the center zone.
“Stupid,” Lee huffed. “Luck alone won’t win you duels, especially against me.”
He then slipped two cards into his spell and trap zone, both of which appeared behind Deputy of Darkness face-down.
“I place two cards face down and end my turn,” Lee spoke.
Status: Hand: 3 Life: 4000 Monsters: 1 Pendulum Zones: 0 Pendulum Scale: – Spell/Trap Cards: 2
Clark stared out at Lee’s monster, nervously assessing his situation.
He’s certainly right about that, he thought. If I want to make this duel a fair fight, I need to draw another 1X monster right here and now.
He turned back, looking at the Yurik, Mary, and Alice as they leaned into the glass, the tension bringing them closer with every passing second.
Those kids depend on me now, he thought. Hell, the world could very well depend on me now.
He put his hand onto his deck, pinching it with determination.
“My turn!” he declared with a swing of his arm. “Draw!”
Looking to his hand, he saw that it was a monster, smiling comfortably with what was now to come.
“I summon 1X Pork Pine!” Clark declared, throwing the card onto his last available monster zone.
A blue portal opened up on the right of Clark’s field, and out from it hopped a peppy brown pig with long needles of a fir tree running down the length of its body.
1X Pork Pine
ATK: 400
Lvl.: 1
“Hmph,” Lee guffawed. “You now have five level one monsters on your field. Do you plan to do something with them soon, or did you do all this just to prove a point?”
“The only point I’m proving is this,” Clark replied with a goofy smile. “I now overlay my level 1 Pork Pine, Rip Raptor, Cyber Chef, and two Anacoindas!”
Pork Pine and Rip Raptor transformed into orange auras while the two Anacoindas became yellow ones. As the danced around, intertwining in a single spiral, Cyber Chef shot straight up as a red aura, creating a fiery display for Lee and the spectators to see.
“What is this?” Lee gasped, suddenly feeling threatened. “A xyz monster that requires five materials?”
“With these five monsters,” Clark declared as the auras escaped into a red, swirling portal before him, “I construct the overlay network. Xyz Summon!”
The portal turned white as five ebony shields with a white star on each of them began to rise out of the portal, forming a star shape. Lee instantly recognized the pattern and the swords, causing his mouth to shift slowly open.
“No…” he muttered. “It can’t be.”
“Strong and just!” chanted Clark. “Let those who possess such virtues shield the weak and give the strength to carry on!”
The five shielded glowed brightly, much to Yurik, Walt, and the ponies’ wonder. Light snaked out from the shields and manifested into the form a massive, strong knight with blue armor and a black robe, holding two large claymores in each hand.
“Arise!” called Clark. “Sir William – Sentry Sheriff!”
The light faded away, revealing the large warrior fully for everyone to see.
Sir William – Sentry Sheriff
DEF: 3000
Rnk.: 1
“No way!” gasped the grey-haired detective. “That’s Colin Faber’s card!”
“No,” Bette corrected. “It’s his now.”
“That card used to belong to Colin Faber!”
“And after his fall from grace, it became Walt’s, and then he decided to give it to the person who was kind enough to spare his friends from incarceration.”
The grey haired detective gurgled through grit teeth, seething at the turn the duel had taken.
“Insolent brat…” he hissed, unheard by anyone else around him.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Sunset Shimmer and Chrysalis too looked stunned at Walt’s monster, looking that the five shields that represented its xyz materials.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
“Now there are the effects of my 1X monsters attached to Sentry Sheriff!” Clark exclaimed.
“What was that?” Lee spat.
“The true power of my 1X monsters comes when they are overlayed in an xyz summon or used as material for a synchro summon, and now each of them activates!”
Two of the shields glowed, revealing images of the two Anacoindas on their surfaces.
“First,” Clark said, “when 1X Anacoinda is used as material for the xyz summon of an xyz monster, my monster gains the effect of letting me draw one card. I used two Anacoindas, so I can draw two cards!”
Lee growled loudly as Clark took out the two top cards of his deck, adding them to his left hand.
“Next,” Clark said, Rip Raptor appearing on another shield, “there’s the effect of 1X Rip Raptor. When it’s used as material for the xyz summon of an xyz monster, my monster gains the effect of letting me inflict piercing damage when it attacks!”
The shield with Rip Raptor upon it began to glow brightly with red.
“Then,” Clark continued as Cyber Chef appeared on another shield of the warrior, “there’s the effect of 1X Cyber Chef, and when it’s used as material for the xyz summon of an xyz monster, my monster gains the effect of increasing my life points by 1000 when it’s xyz summoned!”
“1000 you say?” Lee gasped.
A plate containing a large turkey leg appeared in front of Clark, and grabbing it by the bone, he tore a piece out with his teeth, slurping the meat into his mouth and swallowing it after a couple of chews.
Clark’s Life Points: 1300 -> 2300
Clark dropped the leg, pointing his now free hand to his monster’s final shield: the top one.
“Finally,” Clark said, “there’s the effect of 1X Pork Pine! When it’s used as material for the xyz summon of an xyz monster, my monster gains the effect of increasing its DEF by 400 when it’s xyz summoned!”
The top shield of Clark’s monster when alight, showing the bristled pig on it and covering its entire body with an orange energy that seeped in through its armor.
DEF: 3000 -> 3400
“Impossible!” cried Lee. “Not only does he control that strong monster, but his deck only serves to make it even stronger?”
“Alright, Clark!” cried Rainbow Dash. “Take him down now!”
“I plan to,” Clark said. “Now, battle!”
Sentry Sheriff let out a loud roar at the declaration.
“How’s that possible?” Spike shouted. “Clark’s monster is in defense position.
“Just wait, Spike,” instructed Rainbow Dash with a chuckle. “Just you wait.”
“I activate the effect of Sir William – Sentry Sheriff!” Clark shouted, removing one of his Anacoinda cards from under his monster. “At the start of my battle phase, I can detach one xyz material from my monster!”
Sentry Sheriff raised his right sword up, slashing it down on one of the five shields, spitting it in half where it glowed brightly then burst into sparks.
“Then,” continued Clark, “I can attack with it while it’s in defense position, using its DEF as its ATK!”
“Oh wow!” Spike exclaimed. “That’s awesome! Go get ‘im, Clark!”
Lee hissed at what would soon come.
“Sentry Sheriff,” Clark continued, “attack Deputy of Darkness! Shining Slash of Righteousness!”
Clark’s warrior charged forwards at Deputy of Darkness, the latter holding its club up as a meager means of defense. As the monsters came closer to clashing, Lee unveiled a smirk that put Clark on edge.
“I activate my trap,” shouted Lee, “Blowback Block!”
The card flipped open, revealing art of a red, armored beast-like creature reeling back and delivering an uppercut to a similar-looking green beast in its stomach.
“When a monster I control is targeted for an attack,” Lee explained, “my monster isn’t destroyed by that battle, but at the end of the battle step, your monster is destroyed.”
“Oh no!” Twilight gasped. “His monster’s effect prevents him from being destroyed by battle, but not by card effects!”
“Clark!” yelled Walt.
Clark hissed as he reached for his hand, watching as his monster’s sword collided with Deputy of Darkness’s club.
“I activate my quick-play spell,” Clark shouted, “Trap Nimble!”
Clark slipped the card into his duel disk, allowing a green card showing art of a small, white mouse leaping over a bear trap in a dense forest upon it.
“During this turn,” Clark stated, “a level 1 or rank 1 monster I control is not affected by the effects of trap cards!”
As Sentry Sheriff continued to press his weapon into his opponent’s, Deputy of Darkness reeled back a fisted hand which glowed a dark red. As the strike swung towards Sentry Sheriff’s stomach, a shield shifted itself in the way of the punch, blocking it with a bright burst.
“Now both of our monsters are not destroyed,” Clark explained, “but you still take 800 points of battle damage.”
The light from the collision of Lee’s monster’s fist and Clark’s monster’s shield shone brightly into Lee, making him recoil from the bright, hot force.
Lee’s Life Points: 4000 -> 3200
“That’s it!” cheered Applejack. “Good goin’, Clark!”
“Tricky bastard,” hissed Lee as he stood back straight on his feet.
“I’d have to be in order to stand to a brute like yourself. Regardless, your monster is now weaker than mine, and you better hope that there’s a way you can defeat them soon. Otherwise, I’m taking these kids home to fight the battle they need to fight. With that, I end my turn!”
Status: Hand: 1 Life: 2300 Monsters: 1 Pendulum Zones: 0 Pendulum Scale: – Spell/Trap Cards: 2
“I’m not letting you get away with them,” Lee growled, “I spent a decent portion of my career aiming to put that black-haired bitch behind bars. I missed my chance this morning, but I’m not losing this opportunity! My turn! Draw!”
As his hand came out, he glanced at it long enough to recognize his new card as a level 2 tuner monster.
No, he thought, not yet…
Lee quickly added his drawn card to his hand, pointing his outstretched hand at Clark and his monster.
“Battle!” he declared. “Deputy of Darkness, attack Sir William – Sentry Sheriff!”
Lee’s ace ran out at Sentry Sheriff, which didn’t seem concerned at all with the monster’s advance.
“What?” Rarity gasped. “But Clark’s monster is clearly stronger.”
“No,” Twilight breathed, “there’s something else?”
“Like what?”
“When Deputy of Darkness attacks a defense position monster,” clarified Lee, “I can target all defense position monsters you control and destroy them at the start of the Damage Step. Even with the 500 points of damage you’ll take, the real treat will be your monster leaving the field! Now, continue! Cannibal Club!”
In the back room, Yurik, Twilight, and his friends gasped with fearful expectations. Deputy of Darkness leapt high up, its club raised up with it. Before the monster could strike down, Clark let out a smirk of his own.
“I activate the effect of Sir William – Sentry Sheriff,” he said.
“Impossible!” shouted Lee. “Your monster’s effects cannot save you from this!”
“Are you sure?”
“What!”
Suddenly, one of Sentry Sheriff’s shield glowed bright before its surface was covered in sharp green needles.
“Huh?” the ponies squawked behind him.
“Along with giving my monster a 400 DEF boost,” Clark spoke, “when 1X Pork Pine is used as material for the xyz summon of an xyz monster, my monster gains the additional effect of negating a monster effect that targets it once per turn and destroying that monster.”
“No way!” Lee shouted. “There’s no way your monster can be that powerful!”
“You’re right, it’s not! My monster is a beacon of strength and justice, but its true strength is realized when it’s given the support and strength of the small and weak! That is how justice and law prevail, Lee. It’s never been one person or group! It’s about everyone pitching in, and it’s why my deck’s strength will outmatch yours! Now, Sentry Sheriff, destroy Deputy of Darkness!”
The spiked shield thrust forwards toward Deputy of Darkness’s exposed chest, striking it hard and knocking it back. The demon burst into gold sparkles, throwing Lee back with them. Stunned, Lee refused to stand back up. The grey-haired detective too stood stunned beside the proud Bette and ecstatic Evey.
“He did it!” cheered Evey. “He destroyed Deputy of Darkness!”
Along with her, the ponies, along with Walt, Mary, Alice, and Yurik cheered on Clark as well, the ponies stamping their feet on the ground. Lee continued to lie down, demoralized by his monster’s destruction.
“My monster…” he weakly whispered. “He destroyed my monster… on my own turn no less…”
“Get up!” Sunset Shimmer’s voice rung in his head.
Lee gasped and his eyes widened upon the familiarity and sudden appearance of this voice.
“You’re…” he mumbled. “You’re the…”
“It doesn’t matter who I am,” she continued to blare in his head. “What’s important is that card I gave you!”
“That card…”
His eyes flashed red and became reptilian in nature for only a second, but it was all Lee needed to stand back up and face Clark once again, ending the cheers of the ones behind him. Through the silence, the only sound left was Lee’s creepy giggling as it suddenly shifted to full laughter.
“You might have destroyed my monster,” Lee said, “but now, you have awoken a new one! I activate my trap, Dark Revival Tuning!”
Lee’s trap flipped up, the art showing a black creature rising from a purple-and-black portal with green rings right above it, the monster rendered to only its orange outline.
“When a dark-attribute monster I control is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon it along with a dark-attribute tuner monster in my hand! First, I’ll revive Deputy of Darkness – Samael!”
A purple portal with a black vortex appeared on the field, Lee’s monster eagerly jumping out from it and reappearing on the field with a roar.
Deputy of Darkness – Samael
ATK: 2600
Lvl.: 6
“Then, from my hand,” announced Lee, grabbing his recently drawn monster, “I special summon the tuner monster Slash Hacker!”
Lee threw his monster down upon the zone next to his synchro monster card, followed by a blue portal opening beside the monster on the field. Hopping out from it was a black-coated human with dark sunglasses and two swords made from circuits and wiring.
Slash Hacker
ATK: 800
Lvl.: 2
“Finally,” continued Lee, “I can synchro summon a monster using both monsters!”
“What?” Clark gasped. “Synchro summoning during the battle phase?”
“I tune my level 6 Deputy of Darkness with my level 2 Slash Hacker!”
Slash Hacker leapt up and brought its two swords up at the bases of his blades. With a dual slash, the monster shone bright and turned into two rings that lowered down to the ground. Deputy of Darkness leapt up and into the two rings, its body becoming an orange outline with six stars inside of it as it passed in.
“Darkness is forever!” chanted Lee. “The light-extinguishing shadow will keep darkness’s reign eternal and strike fear into the feeble hearts of the weak!”
The monster’s outline disappeared, allowing the six star to align for a bright beam to pierce them down the center, soon growing out beyond the green rings.
“Synchro summon!” Lee cried out.
Bursting out from the pillar was Lee’s new X-shaped conjoined dragon, slithering through the air and above Lee’s field.
“Descend!” called Lee! “Infinity Ouroboros Dragon!”
Both heads of the monster let out a roar, the force of the screeches rattling the rooms and the floor.
Infinity Ouroboros Dragon
ATK: 2000
Lvl.: 8
“What the hell?” the grey-haired detective shouted. “Was that from that thing?”
Clark braced himself, feeling the floor painfully rumble under his feet.
“This time,” Lee said, “you won’t interfere with my justice! And since it’s still the battle phase, my monster can attack! Battle!”
Lee’s dragon roared, frightening Walt in more ways than the obvious.
“He’s attacking me?” he thought aloud. “With only 2000 ATK!”
“I now activate the effect of Infinity Ouroboros Dragon,” stated Lee.
Throwing his arms out, Lee suddenly caught fire, shocking his opponent, the prisoners behind him, and the officers and detectives, along with Bette and Evey, on the side.
Lee’s Life Points: 3200 -> 1600
“He halved his own life points?” shouted Twilight. “Why?”
Twilight looked up, the new sight before her making her gasp with shock. The now-glowing twin dragon lifted its tails up while lowering its mouths down towards them. Grabbing them in their jaws, they began to swallow them whole, their bodies forming an infinity symbol.
“When this card declares an attack,” Lee explained, the fires extinguishing from his body and clothes, “I can halve my life points, and this card gains ATK equal to the life points paid.”
“No way!” Clark shouted.
With their mouth ceasing their devouring, the ovular spaces left by the dragon began to glow brightly.
ATK: 2000 -> 3600
“Now its ATK is stronger than Sentry Sheriff’s!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Just like that…” sighed Walt.
“Go,” ordered Infinity Ouroboros Dragon, attack Sir William – Sentry Sheriff! Eternal Agony!”
The spaces of the dragon’s infinity sign were now solid, golden-yellow screens of light that only continued to grow brighter with white. Two beams shot from the spaces at the same time, converging into a single beam close to its body that flew towards Clark’s monster.
“I should also remind you that while Sentry Sheriff has xyz materials,” Clark said, “my monster can’t be destroyed by battle.”
Just before the beam could strike, the four remaining shields flew out and clumped together, forming an even larger barrier that the beam bounced off of in several directions. Yurik, Alice, and the ponies sighed in relief as Clark’s monster still stood.
“I knew full well,” said Lee, “but you still take damage.”
“What?” Clark exclaimed. “My monster is in defense position!”
“You’re not the only one who has monsters that can give your other monsters extra effects. When Slash Hacker is used as material for a synchro summon, my monster gains the effect of piercing damage!”
“Impossible!”
“Feel my monster’s fury, coward!”
Infinity Ouroboros Dragon’s beam then blasted through the small holes in the space left by the shields, each of which struck Clark in the chest, knocking him shouting off his feet louder than ever before.
Clark’s Life Points: 2300 -> 2100
Clark slid back into the wall, sitting up just quick enough for his back to cushion the stop. The ponies got close to the window, looking down at Clark as best they could.
“Clark!” they all shouted.
“Like I said,” Lee spoke, “I’m not letting them escape this time. It is my duty to those I serve…”
Lee’s eye flashed with a reptilian likeness, the power flowing through him making him grin madly. Bette put her hands over her mouth, her eyes brimming with tears while Evey covered her eyes, scared for Clark’s safety. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Walt managed to look up at Lee’s dragon. As if it caught their gazes, both mouths on the monster curled into a smile, matching the insanity that its owner had on his own face.