Episode 1: When Worlds Collide, Part 1
The sun came up very early, as expected during this time of year. The birds chirped loudly as they flew about, their day having long begun. Despite the bright sun’s rays beaming through Yurik’s window, he still continued to sleep contently underneath his covers. His bedroom door creaked open, still not managing to wake him.
Creeping inside on tiptoes was a skinny young man around Yurik’s age, wearing a black vest over a white t-shirt along with light-grey jeans, and black socks. His sandy-brown hair was finely combed atop his slender face, giving him the look of a gentleman. In his hand, he held the wooden box and envelope left at their doorstep.
“Yo, Yurik,” the man said in a low-pitched voice, loudly knocking on the jamb of his door, “mail call.”
Yurik stirred in his bed before stretching himself into an upright seated position, groggily addressing the young man in the room.
“Did you say mail?” Yurik wondered, rubbing the last of the sleep from his eyes.
“Must be a secret admirer or something,” the man responded. “I guess girls have a thing for people who dress in drag on stage.”
Yurik produced a raspy, tired chuckle, outreaching his hands towards the man for the box in his possession.
“Walt!” called an alto-female voice from down the stairs. “You aren’t waking Yurik yet, are you?”
“Kind of need to, mum,” he called back. “Looks like someone sent him something late last night.”
“What?” shrieked the voice of a young girl. “Yury got a present?! No fair!”
Running into the room was a dark-brown haired eight-year-old girl wearing pink pajamas with a matching top and bottom. In one bound, the girl landed on Yurik’s bed and sat Indian style on top of the covers over his shins. Yurik groaned as his legs tried to support her weight.
“Evey,” scolded Walt towards the girl.
“You got a present?” called the woman’s voice as she came closer to the room. “From whom?”
Stepping further into the room was a curly blonde-haired woman a round face and a pointed chin, wearing a navy-blue v-neck sweater and light-blue pants.
“Dunno,” Walt answered, walking towards Yurik in the bed, “he hasn’t even gotten it yet.”
Putting the box and envelope in Yurik’s hand, Yurik looked about the people in his room with an awkward chuckle. On the back of the envelope was written, “To Yurik Clayer” in neat cursive. Gently having torn open the seal, Yurik removed the paper from inside, unfolding it and reading it aloud.
“Yurik,
By the time you get this, you will have graduated from high school. I wish to say that I am very proud of you and I know you’ll be able to change the world with your talents.
Your Father,
A. Clayer”
Yurik gasped upon reading the last four words, the paper falling from his hand and to his lap. Walt and his mother were equally shocked, their mouths slightly agape as they watched the paper slide off the bed and to the floor.
“Dude,” whispered Walt as he walked over and picked up the paper and read it himself.
“A gift…” Walt wondered, looking down at the box, “…from my dad?”
Yurik suddenly clutched the box like an animal protecting its meal, taking Evey on his bed aback. With his hands cupped over the box, Yurik gently lifted the lid off, acting calmer once he realized the box’s contents. Inside was a pendulum monster card featuring artwork of a lavender winged-unicorn with a purple mane and tail streaked with magenta flying through an ethereal space. Upon the top of the card in sparkling foil letters: Twilight Alicorn.
“Hey,” Walt asked. “What is it?”
“Yeah!” Evey shouted, crawling over Yurik to look as well. “Let me see.”
Yurik tilted the card out towards Walt and his mother so that they too, as well as Evey, could see clearly.
“Twilight Alicorn,” read Yurik aloud. “Pendulum effect. Any effect damage you take becomes zero. During either player's turn, special summon this card in face-up attack position. You can only use this effect of Twilight Alicorn once per turn. Monster effect. Once per turn, you can target two monsters in your pendulum zones: special summon those targets. During either player's turn: select one unused pendulum zone on your side of the field; place this card on that pendulum zone. You can only use this effect of Twilight Alicorn once per turn. Level seven dark-attribute spellcaster-type, 2500 attack, 2100 defense.”
Yurik let out a half sob and half giggle, touched by the present he had received. Evey had even calmed down, completely understanding of Walt’s sudden feeling of sheer happiness. Walt and Evey’s mother clasped her hand over her heart, also touched by the gift.
“Wow,” Walt said in a somber tone, “you must be lucky that your dad still remembers to give you presents.”
Walt suddenly turned to Walt, looking frightful as if he had offended Walt with his gift.
“What?” Yurik stammered. “I… I don’t–”
“Relax!” Walt chuckled, walking over to Yurik and slapping him lightly on the shoulder. “I’m just busting your balls. Now, come on. We have a lot to do today, and we don’t need you smelling like pits.”
As Walt turned to leave the room, Yurik let out an embarrassed chuckle as he closed the gift box up.
“Evey,” instructed her mother, “come on, let Yurik get ready.”
“‘Kay!” she responded, hopping off Yurik’s legs and onto the floor. “Cool card, Yury!”
Yurik let out a more genuinely charmed chuckle as he watched Evey leave the room. With her body no longer weighing him down, Yurik turned to the edge of the bed and walked over to where his dueling device was, revealing a baggy pair of sweatpants. Taking another look at the card, he finally resolved to insert the single card onto the top of his deck inside the slot.
“Well?” queried Walt’s mother, “you heard the man. Hop in the shower.”
“Sounds good.”
Walking to the doorway of his room, and about to pass Walt’s mom, he leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. Genuinely surprised by his gesture, even as he continued down the hallway, she rubbed her cheek as she turned out of his room, walking in the opposite direction.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Walt sat on a couch in his living room with a bowl of Cheerios placed on his hand, watching the news intently as a moderately attractive anchorwoman with reddish-brown hair covered the latest stories.
“Last night,” she reported, “a high-speed robbery was thwarted by the police with the assistance of the vigilante group known as the Guardiaboliques.”
Walt kept chewing and chewing his cereal, too transfixed by the helicopter footage of Alice defeating the other motorcyclist and Kieran swinging into the truck to realize that he could swallow.
“Reports say the two men involved with the robbery, both brothers, Mitch and Cory Williams, had stolen a case of rare, expensive duel monsters cards as well as one-hundred-thousand dollars in cash.”
Yurik came down the stairs, fully clothed and his hair done. His dress consisted of a black long-sleeved shirt with a blue, short-sleeved shirt jacket over it, a decal of large silver wings with loose feathers adorned on the back. He was also wearing a pair of khaki pants with the sleeves of a black hoodie sweatshirt wrapped around the waist, the back end of it draping down to behind his calves. His long hair was tied back into a pony tail, his two long bangs hanging just beside the outer corners of his eyes. A single strap of a large, crammed, black backpack was slung over his shoulder.
As Walt continued watching the report with the intensity of a child watching cartoons, Yurik walked into the kitchen across the foyer and helped himself to ripe, red apple in a bowl filled also filled with bananas and oranges. Walt’s mother came downstairs shortly after, the sound of the TV drawing her attention to it. After watching the figures that were Kieran and Alice ride safely away from the abandoned truck, she sighed and rolled her eyes in disgust and walked into the kitchen as Yurik leaned against the island counter as he at his fruit, his bag rested on a rotating chair with high legs.
“Ugh,” she groaned, eyeing the TV once again. “The nerve of those people.”
“Yeah,” Walt grunted, clearly having heard this song and dance before, “how despicable of those guys to properly do a job the police hardly can.”
“Walt, I can’t believe you support those criminals.”
“Yeah, as opposed to the ones who are supposed to protect our streets and not using their power to abuse-
“Walt!” exclaimed Yurik, dropping his hand on his shoulder and stopping him. “Please, let’s get to school before we start another pointless argument.”
Walt peered up at Yurik, clearly able to tell through his inverted face that he was smiling and excited to get going. Walt, seeing this, relaxed as well and gave a smirk back.
“Yeah,” Walt quietly relented, “can’t start Yurik’s big day on something like this.”
As Walt headed to the sink, his bowl of browned milk tilted into his mouth, Yurik slung his backpack over his shoulder and stepped towards the door, apple in the other hand. Setting his bowl in the sink, Walt walked over to the door where Yurik was waiting.
“Wait!” cried Evey’s voice.
She came running down the stairs wearing a sky-blue t-shirt and a white skirt that covered over her knees, wearing a pink backpack. Charging at Yurik, she hugged around his thighs and squeezed herself at him.
“Bye, Yurik,” she bid. “I’ll see you after the show!”
“Yeah,” laughed Yurik, bowled over by her support as he patted her back and ruffled her hair. “I’ll see you all there.”
“Well?” Walt asked picking up a large army-green backpack and a black camera bag from inside the foyer by the door. “Nothing for me?”
“…Oh yeah,” Evey coyly responded as she turned to hug Walt as well, which he returned.
“Aha,” he sighed, also patting her back, “there we go.”
“I’ll see you tonight,” called Walt’s mother.
“Park early,” Yurik warned with a chuckle.
“Have a good day, you two.”
Yurik and Walt opened the front door and made their way out. Inside, Walt’s mother breathed a disappointed sigh, keeping her expression constant until the storm door closed. Yurik and Walt turned right from the driveway to the sidewalk, briskly taking their walk to school.
“Hey!” shouted a female voice as the clacking of shoes hitting asphalt sounded to their left.
Yurik and Walt turned to see Alice running across the street, wearing a black tank top with small roses decorated on the right side on the front, as well as a long, dark-gold skirt and black slippers. A small green backpack was strapped over both shoulders. She looked very happy to see both of them as she put herself in between the two.
“Alice,” greeted Yurik, just as chipper as she was. “Morning.”
“Good morning to you too,” Alice chirped. “So, ready for the big night?”
“I’ve been ready since the beginning of the semester.”
“You bet he is,” Walt quipped in. “You should see his ‘dress’ rehearsals.”
“Walt,” Yurik whined.
“Relax, man. I’m not spoiling anything.”
“Well, please don’t,” begged Alice. “I’ve never seen Cabaret before. Yurik, what’s it even about?”
“Well,” Yurik answered, stepping out further in front and walking backwards to face his two friends, throwing his arms about for theatrical flair, “it’s about a young dancer and singer named Sally Bowles, who performs at the Kit Kat Klub in Berlin, hoping to find love and fame amidst the rising threat of the Nazi regime.”
Alice giggled perkily as Yurik stepped back in line between her and Walt.
“You must be really excited for this,” she responded.
“How can I not? I get to play the best character in the show!”
“Certainly, best dressed too,” mumbled Walt.
“Walt!” Yurik snapped, jerking his neck to him.
“Hey, man, calm down. Why don’t you just show Alice your new card?”
Yurik calmed down as he looked away and up to the sky, suddenly remembering his gift that morning. Sliding his backpack down to his upper arm, he unzipped the back zipper and ruffled the body of his dueling device inside, shifting it to expose his deck better.
“New card?” asked Alice. “What kind of card?”
With a careful slip, Yurik drew the top card of his deck and handed it to Alice, who looked at it with a small sense of amazement.
“Twilight Alicorn?” she asked. “Cool. Where’d you get it?”
“It was a graduation present from my dad. Mom found a box on our doorstep. Must’ve been dropped off last night. Weird, huh?”
“Yeah…” Alice responded, suddenly sounding dodgy upon remembering the man that dropped it off. “If it’s from your dad, why didn’t he want to come and say hi? Don’t you wish he would come to see your play?”
“He’s a really busy guy. He must have sent someone to drop it off for him.”
“Huh. I see…”
Yurik looked off towards Alice, who seemed genuinely upset by his response.
“Alice,” cooed Yurik, placing his hand upon her shoulder, creeping the other behind Walt. “You have no reason to worry. I already have the best family and friends that I can ask for coming.”
Yurik then grabbed both Walt and Alice by their outer shoulders and pulled them close.
“Tonight’s going to be friggin’ awesome!” shouted Yurik up to the sky.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The house of the auditorium was filled with people and the aisle between the stage and the last row of empty seats were lined with video cameras stationed on tripods. At the foot of downstage left was Walt, a Canon 7D camera mounted on a Manfrotto as he quickly changed out an SD card from the slot with a new one. Closing the card reader door and turning his camera back on, he pressed the record button as he readjusted his focus.
Even as he continued, a trio of tiller girls appeared from stage right, giggling and cheering as they put themselves in line. Their costumes consisted of black, gray bowler hats with black bands and a rose pinned to the side, black fingerless gloves, black-and-red garters and thigh-high stockings, small, white feathers on the backside, and sparkling black high-heeled shoes. Their faces were powdered white, their eyelids were brushed with pink and blue, and they each held onto a bamboo cane.
Once Walt’s focus was set right where he wanted it, another trio of similarly dressed girls came in laughing and whooping shrilly. They began their dance as the orchestra in the pit played a very ragtimey ditty as the girls continued to wow the audience. Evey, her mother, and Alice were in the middle of the floor level seating, giggling with entertained faces, roaring into full blown laughter with the audience as the dancers showered the first few rows with confetti.
Walt carefully blew confetti away from his camera, as it fluttered towards the lens. The girls engaged in shaking their bodies and buttocks at the audience, titillating them further as streamers unraveled from the ceiling and draped the stage. The dancers continued kicking and shimmying when a girl with blonde, curly hair in the center front line broke away towards the center edge of the stage.
“Erraten wer?” the oddly tenor-man voice questioned cheekily, removing his hat from his wig as a sign of greeting, revealing it to be the Emcee, played by none other than Yurik.
The crowd ooed loudly and applauded as Yurik laughed at their shocked reactions. Evey, her eyes wide with surprised, turned to her mother and pointed at Yurik, wondering if she could notice Yurik in his costume. Alice was completely aghast, caught completely off guard by the transformation. For good measure, Yurik trotted over to Walt and turned his outer left thigh towards him, pointing at it suggestively. Walt made a reach, only for Yurik to slap it away and wag his finger at him impishly.
Walt returned to his camera and carefully filmed Yurik as he returned to join the other five dancers. The dance went on as the audience continued laughing and applauding Yurik’s showmanship. The song then began to slow down as they made their way to center stage, returning to two lines of three, posed with their hats in hand and facing the side of the stage.
A drumroll sounded as the streamers began to fall from the ceiling and Yurik and the other girls turned to face the audience and put their hats back on, canes still firmly in hand. When the drumroll turned into a marching beat, Yurik and the girls flipped their hats around, removed the bands, and tilted the hats back, making them resemble army helmets. The lighting turned from colorful to starkly blue, the six on stage being saved from becoming silhouettes by a spotlight.
Once again, the Yurik and the girls faced the side of the stage, but began to goosestep with their canes held at their shoulders like rifles. The girls marched in a half circle, walking back to the other side of the stage as the beat of the drum became faster. Yurik, however, broke apart from them and marched about in a circle, riling the crowd up with even more cheers.
Yurik finally marched offstage as the spotlight faded away, the only lights being the lighting up the back wall. Two men in street-clothes costumes ran across from the opposite side of the stage, shouting, “Juden! Juden!” Once they completed their run, the tiller girls, marched to the opposite side, getting a final applause from the audience. Following them was Yurik, his corset shed from the waist down and his hat and wig perched on the hook of his cane, his hair tied back in a bun.
The drums ceased, allowing Yurik to laugh fiendishly as he made his way back offstage. Waiting there was a skinny woman costumed in a black dress, short, dyed-black hair, and a beauty spot on her left cheek, putting her hands up for a dual high five. Once Yurik was safely enough offstage that he could break character, he clasped her hands together and laughed a more controlled and genuine laugh, still making his way to his dressing room.
The woman looked longingly at him as he disappeared behind the doors, but as other actors began to pour onstage for the next scene, she pulled herself away to join them.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Yurik, Walt, and Alice briskly walked through the half-empty parking lot. Walt had his camera bag in his right hand, his tripod bag in his left, and his backpack on his shoulders. Yurik, wearing his old outfit, had his own backpack on as he tried wiping off the excess makeup he missed after the show with a small, stained towel.
Both of them and Alice laughed heartily as they walked up to a large black van. Alice ran up ahead as she unlocked the back doors, opening them up for Yurik and Walt. The both of them packed their bags inside, Yurik still wiping his face.
“Yurik,” chided Alice, “you’re going to scratch up your face if you keep rubbing it.”
“Just a labor of love,” he tweeted, folding up his towel.
“You can wash up when we get to the bonfire,” Walt advised, pulling a pair of black goggles from his backpack. “I’m sure they’ll have water or a bathroom.”
“Aw, I think he should have come to the bonfire in makeup,” suggested Alice.
“If they would have let me borrow the costume,” said Yurik, “I totally would have. However, I’m both famished and in dire need of a drink, and I’d like to get there sooner than later.”
“Seconding that,” Walt spoke, walking back to an old Harley Davidson Sportster nearby and affixing his goggles over his eyes. “Hey, Walt, if you get there before me, can you get my duel disk from my bag?”
“You got it!” called Yurik with a goodbye wave.
“Come on!” Alice spoke, already holding the front-passenger door open for Yurik. “I’m getting a bit hungry too.”
“Then drive, baby, drive!” he responded, hopping into the seat.
Alice climbed in as both she and Yurik closed their doors and fastened their seatbelts. Starting the car on, Alice immediately put the car in drive and drove through the empty spot ahead of them, pulling out in front of Walt, forcing him to stop abruptly.
“Darned kids!” he shouted in an exaggeratedly wizened voice, shaking his fists.
Walt could hear the two of them laughing through the opened windows, unable to stifle a laugh himself. Driving through the parking lot to Mill Street, the two vehicles made their way to the bonfire for a congratulatory celebration.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
As predicted, Alice and Yurik managed to pull into the parking circle of the forested Seager Park before Walt, although he was only a few vehicle lengths behind. The bright light of the bonfire was clearly visible from behind the trees and over the hill, and loud music could be heard through the crack in the windows of Alice’s van. Going up the hill and looking for a close, available spot, Alice turned to see monsters attacking one another in various places around the park; it appeared that some were dueling to pass the time.
Alice managed to find a spot near the southern end where a path bending around the trees would take them right to the heart of the party. Before Alice could even shift her car in park, Yurik hopped out and back to the back of the van. Opening up the doors, he found Walt’s backpack, unzipping it open and pulling out the parts to his ebony duel disk: the body (and deck), the tablet, and the blade disk.
Walt parked right beside the van, intentionally just missing Alice as she came around to help Yurik. Walt dismounted and pried his goggles off at once, walking over to the back of the van and tossing them in, right next to his disassembled duel disk.
“You know,” Walt said to Yurik as he picked up the main body to his duel disk, “I should’ve told you that if I were going to arrive roughly the same time as you, I would have done my duel disk myself.”
“Well,” Yurik responded with an innocent shrug, “I can’t really do anything based on should’ve.’”
Walt pressed an eject button on the right end of the left side of the duel disk next to the slot for his tablet, the entire end shifting further to the left. Walt then picked his tablet up and slid the bottom end into the port on the right side of the slot. Upon being satisfied with the click the port made, Walt pressed the eject button again, the left end slid in place and held his tablet inside firmly. Finally, he picked up his blade disk and laid the bottom of it along the back side of the duel disk, where it stuck on magnetically.
“Ready?” asked Walt to both Yurik and Alice.
Both of them were too constructing their duel disks, finishing with the connecting of their disk blades, Alice’s being colored, forest green, to the side of their disks.
“Ready,” Yurik said with an enthusiastic nod.
Without further words, the three of them walked up to the path, following it to the heat and glow of the fire and the loud pop music playing. A bing then came from Walt’s machine and the screen went alight. On it, a bar with the green label “Mom” on it read: “If you see drinking, come home.” Walt huffed a chuckle out.
“Apparently,” reported Walt, “Mom is worried about us all getting wasted.”
“Well,” Yurik spoke up, “if I can find a way to get wasted on pizza and Pepsi, that’s exactly what I’m going to do!”
Yurik curled his upper body into a ball and clenched his fists tight, a squeal passing through his toothy smile.
“Come on!” shouted Yurik, breaking into a run. “I’m tired of waiting!”
“Hey!” shouted Walt, picking up his speed with Alice. “Come on, wait for us!”
As the path began to unwind and straighten to the open area of the park, an expanse of trees further off, Yurik slowed his speed to a fast walk, looking out for friends as he made his way straight to the picnic area, where he could already spot boxes of pizza on the benches and coolers and buckets of ice, bottles, and cans right next to it.
Yurik observed the events happening all at once: the basketball games at the court to his left, along with a few duels happening, and to the right, the large bonfire, a mosh of people dancing around it, and a couple more duels. He couldn’t decide which to do once he got something to eat.
As he made his way to the benches, the girl he saw after his dance was already walking towards him with a can of Sprite and a slice of cheese pizza on a napkin in her hands. Her once dyed hair was now colored red and her dress consisted of a green scaly-designed t-shirt and deep-blue jeans. Upon seeing her, she lit up, jogging up towards him. Seeing her approach, he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Mary,” he gasped.
“Yurik!” she greeted. “It’s about time you showed up.”
“Walt and his crew needed some help striking after the show.”
“Oh, okay. I sure hope they got my good side.”
“Hehe…” he awkwardly chuckled.
Mary cocked her head to the side, confused by his reaction.
“What’s… that supposed to be?”
“I just think it’s funny that you think that you even have a bad side.”
Mary chuckled, calmed by Yurik’s remark.
“Thanks, Yurik. But with Walt, I can’t imagine that they could film a bad side anyways.”
“Why, you’re just too kind,” called Walt’s voice.
Yurik looked behind himself while Mary peered over his shoulder to see Walt and Alice approaching.
“Walt,” spoke Mary, “did you just get here too?”
“Yeah,” Walt answered. “Apparently, we weren’t hungry enough to run.”
“Well, we have plenty of pizza left. Want to come?”
“Yes, please,” Yurik responded with gusto, but keeping himself by his friends.
Mary turned back towards the benches and led Yurik, Walt, and Alice towards them, where others were hanging out. As others left with their pizza and drink and passed by the four of them, they greeted Yurik with either a wave or a high five, each one followed by a variation of, “great job.”
“So,” Mary wondered, “Alice, did you like the show?”
“Oh, very much so!” she replied with a nod. “You really have a great voice.”
“Thanks a lot, but I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as Liza.”
“But pretty close,” Yurik responded.
“I really liked your first one a lot,” continued Alice. “Mein Herr, right?”
“Yep. That one is fun. But to think, we have one more show on Sunday, and then…”
Mary stopped in her tracks, prompting the others to stop as well.
“…and then it’s over,” Yurik finished, also feeling the weight of his realization.
Mary sniffled, consumed in nostalgia and reflection.
“And to think that four years could go by so quickly…”
Yurik laid a hand on Mary’s shoulder, mildly surprising her.
“Mary,” he assured her, “don’t think that this ends after we leave here. We’re all still going to be friends for a very long time, and you can believe that.”
Mary looked back up and tried bringing a smile back.
“Now come on,” Yurik beckoned, patting her back, “let’s enjoy our party.”
Mary smiled, breathing out a sigh of relief as she continued to lead Yurik, Walt, and Alice to the food. Alice looked to the right to see a single monster, what appeared to be a silver-colored dragon with luminous scales. As it and the lit blades from their blade disks faded inside the machine, the two duelists walked up and shook each other’s hands. Her eyes widening up, she impulsively grabbed Yurik by the right wrist and ran towards the open field with him.
“Yah!” Yurik shouted, offset by the force of Alice’s tug. “Alice? What are you–?”
“Twilight Alicorn,” she said. “You haven’t used it today at all, have you?”
“N– No, but–”
“Great, because I’m going to be the first duelist you use that card against!”
“Alice!” Yurik continued to shout, disoriented by his weaving body as it was forced into the crowd gathered around the field and near the bonfire, nearly knocking several of them over. Finally, Alice let Yurik go as she ran to an end of the playing field, causing chatter amongst the onlookers.
“Hey,” called a man in the crowd, “Yurik’s here!”
“Who’s the girl?” wondered another.
“What’s going on?” called a woman.
“Hey everyone,” called Alice. “I’m a friend of Yurik’s! He wanted to show me the new card he got as a present today!”
The crowd was suddenly in an uproar over this news, each one wondering what this new card Yurik could have gotten. Walt and Mary pushed into the crowd so they were at the very edge of the playing field. Yurik, seeing the commotion caused by Alice’s actions, knew that he was going to have to duel her before he could eat. Then, realizing the show he would be able to put on, he looked at this deck inside his duel disk.
Twilight Unicorn, he thought to it, you think we can do this?
As if he received a positive answer, he pulled his blade disk from the side of his duel disk and placed his fingers on the center button on top.
“Alright, Alice,” Yurik spoke with a smile, “let’s hurry this up so I can get some pizza.”
“Hmph,” she huffed, removing her own blade disk from her duel disk, “don’t count on it. I’m going to enjoy this.”
“So will I,” he said as both of them pressed the buttons on their devices.
Both of them threw them out like Frisbees out to the right, where they began to fly in orbit back to them and passing each other. Inside the center, particles of different colored lights began to swirl inside the fan chamber as it spun. Upon completing its orbit, the two disks stopped immediately beside the back side of the duel disks, the slots of light facing out to the left and right.
A bright, intangible shape of light shot out of both sides of the disk before they formed into the two blades, the lights fading down to reveal the black surfaces and the seven total zones, the outlines of the blades matching the colors of their duel disks. Striking final poses, a flashing red banner appeared on both duelists’ screens as the cards in their decks were quickly shuffled.
“Connection complete,” a voice said. “Yurik Clayer vs. Alice Ross, initiated. Draw.”
As instructed, Yurik and Alice drew five cards from their decks, ready to begin their match.
“I don’t want this duel to end until I see that monster of yours!” she shouted.
“Neither do I, so let’s get this rolling!”
“DUEL!” they both shouted.
================
Yurik:
LP: 4000
Alice:
LP: 4000
================
“Yeah!” cheered Walt, his iPhone out and recording the video. “Get ‘er good, Yurik.”
“Yeah, Yurik,” goaded Alice, “get me good. I’m giving you the first turn, so let’s see you go.”
Yurik looked down at this hand, his eyes widening upon his luck. In his hand were three pendulum monsters, one of which was his Twilight Alicorn. The other two even had the proper scales to allow him to pendulum summon.
Very nice, thought Yurik. Right off the bat here. Let’s not waste any time then.
Yurik gabbed two of his pendulum monsters from his hand, leaving his Twilight Alicorn along for the time being.
“I set the pendulum scale with the scale 4 Unioncorn of Water and scale 8 Unioncorn of Earth,” Yurik declared.
Placing the two cards on the outermost zones of his blades, two blue pillars of light lit up beside Yurik on the inner edges of the field. Inside the beam on Yurik’s left, appeared a blue unicorn with webbed, amphibious appendages, the one in the right pillar being another unicorn which seemed to be made of dried mud and had grassy patches on its body as sort of an armor. A 4 and an 8, respectively, appeared over both monsters inside the pillars while the multi-pointed star appeared in the sky.
Unioncorn of Water
Pendulum Scale: 4
Unioncorn of Earth
Pendulum Scale: 8
“I can now special summon monsters from my hand whose levels are 5 through 7!” Yurik continued.
“Is he gonna’ do it?” asked a bystander.
“Will we see his new monster?” wondered a woman.
“Here it comes,” whispered Alice, an excited smile on her face.
“Pendulum summon!” shouted Yurik. “Come to me! Twilight Alicorn!”
“It’s happening!” shouted various people. “He’s gonna’ do it!”
Yurik, excitement coursing within him, slammed his card atop the rightmost zone on his left blade. A red portal began to open up over the center of the battlefield. The others watched intently, waiting for Yurik’s monster to appear.
Then, a red beam the width of the portal itself shot out from both sides of the portal, the bottom end colliding with the ground at tremendous force, knocking everyone nearby off their feet and to the ground, including Yurik and Alice. Nearby, the other party goers screamed as the earth violently shook and they lost their balance.
“What…” stammered Yurik, crawling on his back as he looked up into the sky as the pillar raised higher and higher without stop, “what’s happening?”
“Impossible,” Alice spoke. “The solid vision can’t be this strong without a generator.”
The pillar continued to blast into the ground, vibrating the ground hard and scaring everyone around.
“Yurik!” shouted Alice. “Stop the duel now!”
Yurik already began taking his two pendulum cards off his duel disk while large red text on his screen reported, “ERROR!” As he reached for his Twilight Alicorn card, he found an invisible force repel his hand away. Yurik tried pushing in as hard as he could, but his hand would not be able to touch the card.
“Yurik!” screamed Alice.
“I can’t!” screamed Yurik, becoming terrified himself.
Yurik pressed hard until the force hurt his hand, tears running down his face. Looking back at the beam, he and Alice watched as the beam grew angelic wings while the outline of a unicorn was visible inside, leaving them in a sense of sheer awe. Walt and Mary stood up, as the others who managed to get up ran to their cars to escape. Walt continued to film the chaos as he felt Mary tugging his arm.
“Walt!” she shouted. “We need to go, now!”
“You go!” he shouted. “I need to be here!”
Without a second try, Mary broke with the others to the parking lot, sprinting in with the mass of other terrified people. A booming whinny was heard inside the pillar as the wings began to wave for flight, the wind it caused beginning to extinguish the bonfire. Walt continued filming to the best ability his trembling hands would allow him.
Yurik, having given up trying, could only look up as the wings rose even higher, preparing to fly. With a tremendous thrust, the wings of the pillar flapped down causing the bottom of the pillar to rise quickly into the sky and out of sight, ceasing the tremors in the earth. At that moment, both duel disks shut off, the blades merely disappearing rather than receding into the blade disks, causing the Twilight Alicorn card to fall to the ground.
Yurik and Alice stood up slowly and woozily, floored by what they had experienced. Walt kept on holding his camera to the sky as Yurik bent back over to pick his card up and place it back in his deck, followed by his blade disk, which he placed back on his duel disk.
Mary, as well as several others who hadn’t left yet, either got out of their cars or stopped running and looked up into the sky, wondering just what went on.
“What the hell was that?” Alice asked to no one in particular. “What happened?”
“I don’t know!” Yurik screamed back, frightening Alice. “It wouldn’t let me remove the card! I don’t know why! Walt…”
Yurik and Alice turned to Walt, who continued to look up into the sky and film from his phone.
“Walt,” Yurik begged, “what are you doing? What are you looking…”
Yurik and Alice, both looking up, were also amazed to see a bright magenta star in roughly the same spot as where the pillar flew up. The remaining people in the parking lot noticed it too, wondering if it was really still over. To everyone’s horror, the star began to spread out in size, forming an ever growing ring.
Inside the ring was an expanse of green, and as the ring grew even further out, more features began to be revealed: mountains, deserts, lakes, an ocean, and city lights. The ring appeared to form a planet in the sky, the sight of which brought fear back into the hearts of those in the parking lot. As the others continued to drive away, get into their cars, or even find them, Mary looked back to the park for a second, and ran right back.
Walt and Alice gazed in agape-mouthed terror as the earth-like planet became more whole, appearing to be the same size of the moon. The planet appeared to consist of a large landmass in the center, surrounded by smaller islands. Yurik, unlike his two friends, stared up at the planet, oddly mesmerized and transfixed.
“What…” Mary wondered aloud, stumbling towards Walt, Alice, and Yurik. “What is that?”
Once the planet seemed to have completely formed, six streams of light, each one a different color, orbited from around the plant from different sides. The beams then looked to be heading towards Earth, plummeting straight at it. Walt, realizing that enough was enough, put his phone back into his pocket.
“Guys,” he shuddered, “run.”
Mary, Alice, and Walt ran to the parking lot, leaving Yurik behind, who continued to look up into the sky, his eyes clouded by swirling magenta lights. While five of the beams bent off and flew towards a different direction, a lavender colored beam headed straight towards Yurik’s position.
Walt, realizing that there were only two others with him, looked back to see Yurik staring up at the sky, almost completely unaware of the beam careening straight towards him. Walt launched himself back to Yurik, hoping that he could push him away before the beam could strike him.
“Yurik!” Walt shouted. “Move, you idiot! Get ou–”
The beam landed right in front of Yurik with tremendous force, knocking both him and Walt back, their bodies rolling on the ground. The blast tripped Alice and Mary to their knees, their eyes shimmering with concern over the fate of their friend. With his hands kept safely over his head. Walt tumbled to his knees and laid upon his stomach, stopping himself. Looking up, he found Yurik’s body, laying unconscious on the ground.
“No…” whimpered Walt. “Yurik!”
Picking himself up, he ran towards Yurik’s body, as did Alice and Mary. Walt slid to his knees and cradled Yurik’s body in his arms, putting his ear to his chest. After agonizing moments, Walt heard a beat and a breath, making him chuckle with relief.
“He’s still breathing!” laughed Walt, tears in his eyes. “Come on, someone help me get him to the hospital.”
“Let’s take my van,” suggested Alice.
“I’ll take the legs,” spoke Mary. “Alice, you open the doors for us.”
Walt hoisted Yurik under his arms while Mary held him under his lower back and behind the knees. Meanwhile, Alice looked to the crater left from the beam’s blast, her eyes on an odd shape inside of it.
“Alice!” called Walt.
Brought out of her trance, she ran back to follow Walt and Mary, who were already well on their way to the van. Running ahead, she pressed the unlock button on her remote and held the passenger door open for Yurik. Propping Yurik onto the seat and strapping him in, Alice began to walk backwards towards the park. Walt turned to Alice, turning confused by her heading back to the park and not her car.
“Alice?” Walt asked.
“Something else…” she said, pointing back to the park. “There was something else in that crater…”
Walt and Mary looked at each other unsure by what Alice could have been talking about.
“I’ll go and see,” Walt said, already moving to jog, “Mary, keep Yurik close.”
“Got it,” she responded.
Walt and Alice ran back down the path and to the crater, the desolation of the party serving to further unnerve them. Having made it back, the smoke and dust from the blast had already cleared away, and illuminated faintly by the remaining coals of the fire was a familiar, but strangely alien body inside the pit.
It was a pony-like creature very similar in appearance to the one on Yurik’s Twilight Alicorn card: lavender coat, a horn, wings, and a purple Hime cut in its mane and tail. However, the pony more closely resembled a plush doll than a horse, and a six-pronged magenta star was emblazoned on its flank. Its eyelashes also gave it a striking female appearance.
“What the hell is that thing?” wheezed Walt, completely overridden by surprise.
Without responding, Alice hopped into the shallow hole after it, almost bumping into Walt. It didn’t seem to show signs of stirring, but its chest visibly rose and fell with its breaths.
“Alice!” hissed Walt. “What in God’s name do you think we’re doing?”
“I’m trying to rescue it!” she hissed back.
“You don’t even know what that thing is!”
“It certainly looks like the monster on Yurik’s card. I’m not sure why that is, but if this thing came from that planet up there, we should take care of it properly, and not whomever will if the police find it.”
Walt, his sore spot having been hit, jumped into the crater, treading carefully as not to hit the alicorn nor Alice. As he and Mary did with Yurik, they each picked the pony up by both ends, but with the slope of the crater serving as a hurdle, they managed to hoist it onto the grass, where it limply rolled to its back. Both managed to climb out of the hole and hoist the pony back into their arms again. With heaves and grunts, Walt and Alice hoisted the pony to the van.
Mary, hopping up and down, scared and horribly confused, watched as Walt and Alice came down the path with the pony in tow, frightening her even more.
“What is that?” she shouted.
“All we can gather is that it’s from up there,” Walt growled. “Would you kindly open the back for us?”
Mary obediently ran to the back and opened the doors open for Walt and Alice, who carefully slid the still unconscious pony onto the floor of the back side of the van, carefully avoiding the bags and cases still inside.
“What now?” asked Walt as he reached for his goggles.
“We’ll drop the pony off at my house,” Alice reasoned. “I’ll look after it. Then I’ll let you drive Yurik to the hospital. Just follow me, okay?”
“What about me?” asked Mary.
“Just go home, Mary,” Walt spoke as he closed the back doors. “I’ll keep you posted about Yurik. Just get some sleep and we’ll let you know everything.”
Mary, conflicted about leaving Yurik, looked down and about, unsure how to answer. Finally, she gave Walt a nod and ran to her car, sobbing loudly on the way. Walt looked back to Mary, wondering himself if he made the right decision.
The sound of Alice’s van starting and immediately backing up, shocked Walt into running forward to avoid being hit. Walt ran back to follow the van, unsure what was happening, or where Alice was if her van was being stolen. With no Alice in sight, Walt could only watch as Alice’s van sped out of the lot and turned left into the street.
“What the…” Walt whispered.
Running to his bike and slipping his goggles on, he reached into his pocket, only for him to find his keys missing, not even hearing a jingles as he rummaged throughout his vest.
“No!” Walt shouted, looking out to the street. “This can’t be happening!”
Hearing Mary’s car, a 2008 Mercedes-Benz behind him, he ran out to it, forcing Mary to a stop. He knocked madly on the window, signaling Mary to roll it down.
“What happened?” asked Mary.
“Change of plans,” he spat, opening the door and sitting in. “Lost my keys. Follow Alice. Something’s not right.”
Without a word, Mary punched the accelerator and sped out of the park, leaving Walt’s bike the only vehicle left in the lot.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Alice sped down the expressway as fast as the perplexed traffic could allow her. She took occasional glances to Yurik, making sure he was still out. Many cars had pulled over to the side of the road to see the planet up in the sky, but the cars still driving were dangerously under the speed limit, wanting to see while still going to their own destinations.
A electronic beeping sounded through the van’s digital radio, and a single name appeared on the display: Kieran. Pressing the green phone icon on the screen, a timer started up, connecting the call.
“Alice,” spoke Kieran.
“Yes,” Alice spoke, “I know. I was right there when it happened too. And I think I may have the cause of it sitting next to me in the van.”
Silence.
“Kieran?” wondered Alice.
“What’s their status?” he finally asked.
“He’s unconscious. That beam that came down near us struck right in front of him. It’s a miracle that he’s even alive.”
“Is he dying?”
“Negative. He’s fine. I also have whatever came down from that beam in the back too.”
More silence. Alice stayed patient this time. At this time, Mary’s Mercedes sped around the traffic, coming up to right behind Alice’s van. Able to see their faces, her eyes grew scared and trapped.
“Oh no,” she groaned.
“What is it? Police.”
“No. I had to ditch Yurik’s friends in order to bring them to you.”
“Who? Them? What are you talking about?”
“That Yurik kid,” she quickly reported, her voice cracking further into desperation on each word, “he’s the cause of all this. I had to take his friends key’s to make sure he didn’t follow me, but it seems he hitched a ride with a friend. I wasn’t able to take his phone, and now he might call the police on us–”
“Alice! Calm down. Just get to HQ with this kid safely. We’ll deal with his friends.”
“Just don’t kill them, whatever you do… they’re my friends too.”
Another bout of nothingness.
“How much closer?” he asked.
“About a mile or so.”
“See you in three.”
The low-beep on the stereo signaled the end of the call. Alice wiped her eyes and kept her attention to the road. Seeing the exit she needed, she swerved right into it, Walt and Alice following close behind.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Alice rode down the forest-laden road, continuing to see the headlights of Mary’s car in her rear-view mirrors. Coming up to the straight road, she saw the gate to the factory coming up ahead, continuing her fast speed towards it. Walt and Mary came to the straight road themselves, seeing the upcoming gate. Walt, suddenly realizing something, widened his eyes.
“Stop the car!” he shouted.
Mary screeched the brakes, the car wavering from the back as the forward force was pushing on it. Walt and Mary watched as Alice’s van continued to pull away.
“Walt, what was that for?” asked Mary. “They’re getting away.”
“No,” Walt responded, taking off his seatbelt. “They’re here.”
“Here? Where’s here?”
Walt looked ahead, feeling a pang of unease and mistrust shoot into his gut, but he had a very good idea of where Alice brought Yurik and the alien pony. Walt opened the door and stepped out of the car.
“Walt?” Mary questioned. “Where are you going?”
“Go home, Mary,” Walt told her. “If this place is what I think it is, I don’t want you to be a part of this.”
“Why? What do you think it is?”
“Mary,” he demanded with a cold stare. “Go home. I’ll let you know how everything turns out. And whatever you do, do not call the police.”
Before Mary could protest any longer, Walt shut the car and ran down the road to the gate of the factory. Behind him, Mary’s car stood on the road before she slow pulled a three-point turn and headed in the opposite direction. Walt, looking at the duel disk still on his wrist, prepared himself for what was going to come ahead.
Hang in there, Yurik, Walt thought. I’m coming.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Yurik’s eyes fluttered open, finding them staring up at a florescent light. His head was sore, and the bright light wasn’t helping. Shielding his eyes from the light, he tried sitting up, finding his muscles sore. With a groan, Yurik tried looking around him, only to find a void of darkness past the ovular shape the light above illuminated. Yurik’s uncomfortable grimace became one of trembling fear as he couldn’t understand where he was. Managing to step to his feet, he looked around, trying to find some sign of life.
“Hey!” he shouted. “Where am I?”
The sound of stirring came up behind him, leaving Yurik to look down to the source. Seeing the alien pony struggling to stand to its feet, his legs lost all feeling, making Yurik crumple back to the floor on his back. Breathing fast and whimpering, Yurik’s legs flailed wildly as he tried pushing himself away.
As the pony’s face lifted up and it opened its eyes, the fear Yurik felt turned to wonder and amazement, transfixed by its appearance. As the pony’s vision came too, it laid its eyes on Yurik, widening in shock at his alien appearance to it.
“Ah!” the pony shrieked in an alarmingly human-female voice.
Yurik, alarmed by her scream, shot to his feet, nearly stumbling back over to the shock. Yurik watched as the pony backed herself into the darkness. Yurik, both fascinated and slightly sympathetic towards the frightened creature, slowly approached it, keeping his hands up as a sign of piece.
“Stay back!” she ordered, continuing slink further back.
Upon words audibly coming from her mouth, Yurik froze in his tracks, his mouth open and slack jawed.
“You…” muttered Yurik, “you can talk?”
The pony, recognizing Yurik’s speech, too stopped.
“You can understand me?” she wondered aloud.
Yurik scanned the creature fuller, noting the similar appearance to the card he received from his father. The pony, realizing his harmless intentions, stepped cautiously towards him.
“Wait…” he said, pointing at her. “You look just like–”
The loud echoing clunk of a light turning on behind them sounded off, making the two of them turn to the noise. The back of the room lit up, revealing their room to be even larger than they had thought. As more lights turned on behind them and getting closer, their space looked to be a large, glassy surface which looked to be the width of a football field.
The activating lights continued down the length of their space, both Yurik and the pony followed their gaze to the end of the room. Along the tall walls, the second floor looked to be nothing but a band of tinted windows. Upon discovering that they were essentially in the middle of the room, which also had the length of a football field, they looked down at the other end of the room to see if something was uncovered there.
Standing there were two people, both of whom, made Yurik gasp loudly. One of them he recognized immediately as Alice, who held a red duel disk and blade disk in her right hand. The other was familiar for a completely different reason. With his long silver hair with a black streak, and wearing a gray long sleeved shirt with the top two buttons undone, and black pants, as well as a constructed duel disk on his left forearm, Yurik recognized him distinctively as well.
“You’re awake,” Kieran spoke.
Words tried to form in Yurik’s mouth, while the pony looked on at the now approaching Kieran and Alice with caution. Yurik’s apprehension only increased his anxiety as he to tried to find the strength to back away.
“Do not be afraid,” assured Kieran. “You’re safe here.”
“Who are you?” yelled the frightened pony.
“The Guardiaboliques,” Yurik managed to speak to himself. “Chicago’s so-called guardian devils.”
“My name,” the silver-haired man greeted to the pony, bowing to her as he and Alice stopped, “is Kieran. Seeing as how you can speak our language, would you mind telling me your name?”
The pony looked unsure as she looked about, unsure of how much to trust him.
“I’m…” she struggled. “I’m Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.”
“Twilight. I see…”
“You see what?”
Kieran looked to Alice, and after returning his glance, she threw the red duel disk and attached blade disk to Yurik, who barely managed to catch it in time, his mind revolving around everything else going on.
“Alice!” shouted Yurik. “Tell me what’s happening! Why are you with the Guardiaboliques? Why did you bring me here?”
“I’m sorry, Yurik,” she answered, sincerity bleeding from her voice. “This is the only place I could take you too.”
“What she means by that,” Kieran spoke up, “is that in the wake of what happened here tonight, this is the only place we could keep you two safe for the time being.”
“Safe?” Twilight asked. “Safe from what?”
“Twilight, you are on a world completely different from your own. We have no idea how or why you came here, but all we know is that it is all… because of him.”
Kieran pointed at Yurik, with Twilight looking at him with a sense of confusion and betrayal.
“What?” cried Twilight. “What do you mean?”
Feeling equally betrayed, he looked to Twilight with wet, pleading eyes.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about!” he shouted, then turning back to his friend. “Alice, what is he talking about?”
“Yurik,” cried Alice, “please, I–”
“It’s nothing I could expect you to believe me here, but there is something that must be attended to first.”
“What?” stammered Yurik. “What do you–”
“Judging from Alice, who witnessed the event, the beam that transported Twilight and her world here was caused after you played that new card that you received this morning. Whether it was intentional or not, Yurik, it seems you have been blessed with an amazing power, but whether you’re fit to wield that power is still a question unanswered.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I believe the power that you wield rests… within the card you were given this morning.”
Yurik gasped, looking at the duel disk in his hands. Suddenly, it all came back to him. The beam, the wings, the unicorn’s head, and just glimpses of the planet forming before his mind blanked out.
“No…” Yurik said. “I don’t believe it. I can’t believe it! I won’t!!”
“Then I believe you have made up your mind,” Kieran responded, stepping towards Yurik.
Yurik stood paralyzed as Kieran glowered over him. Reaching for Yurik’s duel disk, Yurik instinctively pushed him hard in the chest, forcing him back. Kieran recoiled only a step, watching as Yurik hugged his duel disk tight to his chest. Yurik looked to Alice, who continued to stand in her place, as if it was her solemn oath to remain by Kieran’s side. Yurik’s tears welled up in his eyes.
“Does that card mean something to you?” Kieran asked.
“Of course it does!” cried Yurik. “It was a gift from my dad!”
“Then prove you’re worth its inheritance.”
“What do you mean? I just want to go home!”
Tears finally began to stream down Yurik’s face, making Twilight feel nervous for his sake, her ears drooped and her mouth in a sad pout.
“Duel me first,” ordered Kieran. “If your power is enough to best me, I will let you leave here with your card to do whatever you wish. If you cannot prove yourself, your card shall belong to me, and there will be nothing more to it.”
Yurik's tears faded, his face morphing into an angry scowl.
“I won’t let you!” Yurik snapped.
“Then do it!”
“Fine! I accept!”
In a moment’s rage, Yurik detached his blade disk from his duel disk and threw it out to his side. Kieran did the same thing, leaping back and running further back to give themselves space. Passing Twilight, Yurik ran backwards as he placed the duel disk on his arm, a band clasping around it.
The two blade disks circled around each other and stopped beside their owners’ duel disks, glowing bright with a neon-rainbow aura. The blades formed out from the side lights, Kieran’s blades together looking to form a more trapezoidal shape. Both duelists decks were then shuffled inside their slots.
“Connection complete,” sounded an electronic voice from both duel disks. “Kieran vs. Yurik Clayer. Draw.”
Both duelists drew five cards from their decks. Twilight stared out at Yurik, unsure of his and Kieran’s intentions about their “duel.”
“Select field spell,” called a voice on Kieran’s duel disk, shocking Yurik.
“Field spell:” declared Kieran, “Judgment Hall! Activate!”
“A field spell?” asked Yurik.
A whirring noise sounded underneath, making Yurik and Twilight look down to realize their surface was glass, and they were looking down at the cylindrical machine with the two large metal orbs as one of the ends tilted up towards the glass ceiling below.
“No way!” Yurik shouted. “A solid vision generator!”
Magenta beams shone through the orbs and onto the glass, covering it in light. Once the light faded, a blue-tile floor had appeared, with a red carpet laid down the center where Yurik and Kieran stood. The light began to spread to the walls and ceiling, changing them into ornate marble. Pillars also rose up from the floor extending on both sides of the hallway. Twilight marveled at the sight.
“What kind of magic is this?” she asked.
“Twilight,” Yurik instructed, “go off to the side. This could get messy.”
Twilight, feeling the weight of concern in his voice, quickly trotted to a space in between two pillars, watching intently as the field finished forming.
“Alice,” spoke Kieran.
Alice immediately walked to the next space to the right from Twilight, keeping herself at the center between the two.
“That is it then,” Kieran said. “Your test will begin now, Yurik.”
Yurik clutched his hand into a fist, prepared to fight.
“Then let’s stop wasting time,” growled Yurik.
“DUEL!” the two of them shouted.
================
Yurik:
LP: 4000
Kieran:
LP: 4000
================
“I’ll let you take the first turn,” said Kieran, “but that only means that you cannot conduct your draw phase this turn.”
Yurik looked at his hand nervously. With his card now on the line, his deck would need to come to his aid like it never had before. But with his head swimming with questions, one question became more important than all the others: would he himself be able to come to his own aid?
Twilight anxiously observed, still haunted by the alien world and creatures that surrounded her. The only one she could look to for any kind of comfort was Yurik, who still continued to look for a way out of the situation he was forced into.
“Stalling won’t do you any good,” Kieran stated. “The only thing that can help you now is your deck. You better hope that it will.”
Yurik looked to Alice, her face looking indifferently and solemnly at the center of their dueling field. Unsure of Alice's alliegance, Yurik felt hope draining from him fast. Taking a deep breath, Yurik placed a set of fingers on a card in his hand and pulled it out, swiftly placing it on the right zone of his left blade.
“I normal summon Light Pony!” Yurik declared.
A bright, blue-ringed portal formed at the ground. Leaping out of the indigo void was a small, white, glowing horse with a flowing mane and tail that looked to be made entirely from light itself. With a loud whinny, the monster stood in an offensive stance before Kieran, protecting its master from him
Light Pony
ATK: 1600
Lvl.: 4
Yurik looked a touch more at ease with his monster there for him, a more indifferent frown on his face. Twilight, on the other hand, was stunned with her mouth agape at the seemingly-impossible feat that Yurik had performed.
He brought that monster to life with his card! Twilight mused exasperatedly. What kind of magic are these creatures capable of?
Unable to focus on the pony to the right of him, Yurik’s mellowed nerves allowed him to calmly pluck two purple colored cards from his hand and slip them both into a slot on the bottom end of his duel disk below the tablet. Instantly, two large card backings materialized onto the floor between Light Pony and Yurik in a digital whir.
“I place two cards face down and end my turn!” he finally declared.
Status: Hand: 2 Life: 4000 Monsters: 1 Pendulum Zones: 0 Pendulum Scale: - Spell/Traps: 2
“Just what is this?” Twilight asked, still confused and flustered. “How are you even doing this?”
“This is dueling,” Kieran answered, still without any hint of being amazed at the talking mythical creature in front of him. “It is the clashing of two souls wanting to make a difference for their future. Yurik here is fighting to protect his power, and I’m dueling him to see if he's worth owning it.”
Twilight shuddered, frightened by Kieran’s coldness and seeming apathy.
“Yurik,” called Kieran, “you have been granted a great power, and it would be a true shame if I would have to take that power from you. But if you want to prove me wrong, show it on my next turn!”
Kieran placed his fingers atop his deck, the thumb prepared to pinch the top card.
“My turn!” he shouted. “Draw!”
With a whip of his arm, Kieran drew his card from the top of his hand. Glancing at the card, he grabbed another card from his hand, the recently drawn card still in his grasp.
“I set the pendulum scale with the scale 3 Guardia Gatler and the scale 6 Guardia Tank,” Kieran declared.
Placing both of his pendulum monsters on the outer zones of his blades' zones, two large machines rose from the ground from pillars of blue light on both sides of Kieran’s field.
The one on Kieran’s left looked to be a large, black, seated Gatling gun with what appeared to be a long, dragon’s skull armoring itself over the barrel. On Kieran’s right, there appeared to be a black tank with a demonic, ash-blackened skull for the turret, the gun shooting out from the skull’s nose. Above the Gatling gun was a bright number 3, while the tank had a bright 6 above it.
Guardia Gatler
Pendulum Scale: 3
Guardia Tank
Pendulum Scale: 6
“I can now special summon any monsters from my hand whose levels are 4 through 5,” he further explained, pulling two monster cards out from his hand.
The entire room began to turn blue as the gigantic, multi-pointed star formed in an ethereal space on the ceiling.
“Pendulum summon!” he cried out as he placed both monsters on the zones directly next to his blade disk.
At that moment, a red portal opened, two dark-purple trails of energy flying out of them and landing directly in front of Kieran.
When the light faded, the auras gave way to reveal two fiendish looking creatures. The one standing directly in the center zone was dark-red, very skinny and had a long snout. It knelt down on one knee with a sizeable rifle in his grasp, a belt of bullets strapped across its chest. The other one standing to its right was a pudgy, but large blueberry-colored giant with razor-sharp teeth and snug overalls.
“Come,” Kieran beckoned, “Guardia Sniper! Guardia Sentry!”
The dust from the magnificent summon finally cleared, revealing all four of Kieran’s cards in full clarity.
Guardia Sniper
DEF: 2000
Lvl.: 5
Guardia Sentry
ATK: 1500
Lvl.: 4
Twilight was in complete awe and confusion. The rules and mechanics of Yurik and Kieran’s game were becoming more foreign and more fantastical by the second, and she could not know what would happen or how. Meanwhile, Alice bravely continued to stare Yurik down, expecting him to make a counter. Yurik chuckled, albeit nervously, but felt safe in doing so.
“An impressive display of monsters,” Yurik complimented, “but your Sentry’s ATK is a bit lower than my Light Pony’s.”
“Is that so?” Kieran asked, shocking Yurik.
“What?”
“Now, I activate the effect of Guardia Gatler! Once per turn, I can target one Fiend-type monster I control, and have it gain 800 ATK until the end phase, and I choose Guardia Sentry.”
“Oh no,” winced Yurik, trembling at his predicament.
Both Yurik and Twilight fearfully watched as the chubby demon bounced his way to the gun and hopped up, landing in the seat and barely managing to fit.
ATK: 1500 -> 2300
“Attack!” shouted Kieran, his monster grabbing both handles with its fingers on the triggers. “Guardia Sentry! Attack Light Pony!”
“Attack?” questioned Twilight.
The barrels of the massive gun aimed itself at Yurik’s monster, which trembled in fear at its dismal fate. Twilight, realizing what was happening, widened her eyes and mouth wide in pure terror.
“Stop it!” shouted Twilight. “It’s just a defenseless pony!”
“RPM Requiem!” declared Kieran.
With a squeeze of the triggers, the barrels began to spin and whir loudly. Once the humming reached shrill levels, a barrage of ammo launched out of the machine and towards Yurik’s monster as it let out one final, scared, whinny.
“NO!” Twilight shouted.
“I activate the effect of Light Pony!” Yurik shouted, his voice filled with a sudden determination. “Once per turn, I can negate the attack of an opponent’s monster! Shimmer Call!”
Bursting forth from the ground, a bright yellow barrier rose up between Yurik’s monster and the oncoming rounds from Kieran’s monster’s gun. The bullets all hit the barrier, phasing into nothingness upon contact. With the last bullet hitting the barrier, it shattered like glass before fading away into sparks that floated to the ground. To both Yurik and Twilight’s relief, Light Pony was left unscathed.
“Alright,” panted Yurik, “I’m safe now.”
“Safe now?” questioned Kieran, restoring Yurik’s dread. “I still have one more monster left to attack.”
“Huh? But you cannot attack in def–”
“I use the effect of Guardia Sniper! This card can attack while it’s in defense position, using its ATK for damage calculation.”
Kieran’s other monster lifted its rifle up, keeping it up with its other hand and taking aim through the scope fixed atop it.
DEF: 2000 -> ATK: 1000
“But my monster still has higher ATK!” shouted Yurik. “There’s no way it can attack.”
“With the effect of Guardia Sniper,” explained Kieran, “it can attack the opponent directly, even when they control a monster.”
“No way!”
Through the crosshairs in Kieran’s monster’s scope, it set its target at Yurik’s heart.
“Wait,” Twilight shouted, “what?”
“Guardia Sniper,” ordered Kieran, “attack Yurik directly. Sure Shot Blast!”
With a pull of the trigger, the rifle fired off its bullet and hit Yurik straight in the chest, knocking him backwards off his feet with a loud, sharp grunt. Twilight gasped loudly as Yurik fell, groaning in pain.
Yurik’s Life Points: 4000 -> 3000
“Oh no!” Twilight cried, tears falling from her eyes.
As she ran to Yurik’s aid, he stopped her by quickly sitting up and tapping the center set card from his spell and trap card zone on the screen of his duel disk's body.
“I activate my trap:” spoke Yurik, finally managing to step up, “Picking Up Pieces."
A purple colored card flipped up, revealing art of a blue vase cracked all over.
"When I take 1000 or more damage through a direct attack…” he explained, placing his fingers atop his deck, “…I draw one card.”
With a whip of his hand off his deck, a single card was pinched within his fingers that he quickly added to his hand after an inquisitive glance. Twilight cocked her head to the left, confused over his nonchalant reaction to being shot. Yurik turned to face her, frightening her again as she took one cautious step back.
“I’m okay,” breathed Yurik, giving her an honest smile. “I’m going to be okay, okay?”
Twilight, surprised to see his capacity for gentleness, pursed her lips lightly, her eyes wide and wondering. Kieran hissed, unhappy with Yurik’s nearly replenished hand and remaining monster. Regardless, he selected one purple card from his hand and threw it inside the slot, where it appeared behind his Guardia Sniper back-up.
“I set one card face down,” he said. “Now, I can activate the effect of Guardia Tank in my pendulum zone.”
“What was that?” Yurik exclaimed, returning to a state of apprehension.
“During the end phase, I can target one monster my opponent controls and destroy it.”
Yurik’s teeth were clenched, knowing that nothing could save his monster now. He then watched as the gun of the tank aimed itself at the now-fearful pony. Twilight’s mouth dropped open as the barrel locked itself on with its target, knowing that it would soon be destroyed.
“Go!” shouted Kieran. “Guardian Tank! Destroy Light Pony!”
The inside of the barrel glowed from dark red to a bright white as a mortar fired out from the gun of the tank, going right online with Light Pony. Upon making contact, both the mortar and Yurik’s monster exploded in a burst of sparks and dust that blew roughly into Yurik, forcing him to shield his face and lean into the wind.
“Light Pony!” cried Yurik, his voice choking with sadness.
Twilight stood still with trembling lips and moist eyes as the dust began to clear away.
“I end my turn,” Kieran stated simply as he could finally see Yurik through the smog.
Status: Hand: 1 Life: 4000 Monsters: 2 Pendulum Zones: 2 Pendulum Scale: 4 – 5 Spell/Traps: 1
Yurik finally uncovered his eyes, seeing the empty field before him as well as the two monsters awaiting for him in the next turn. Yurik’s arms drooped to his sides, demoralized with the loss of his monster. Twilight wanted to speak, but her mind couldn’t tell whether to be sad or furious.
“Why?” she finally wheezed out. “Why would you kill a defenseless creature like that?”
Kieran turned to Twilight, whose stare still unnerved her.
“Defenseless?” wondered Kieran. “I understand you are unfamiliar with this world and dueling, but do know that everything about this duel is merely a simulation.”
“What…” she stammered. “What do you mean?”
“There is no reason for you to be upset,” Alice told Twilight, keeping her eyes focused on Yurik. “The monsters you see before you are holographically rendered images of the monsters that appear on the cards these two are holding. Think of it like a game of chess brought to life.”
“Chess? How does this game have anything to do with chess?”
“It’s simple,” resumed Kieran. “Pieces do battle with other pieces, taking down each other to reach the king and finish them off. These monsters are our pawns, our rooks, knights, bishops, and queen, and we are the kings.”
Twilight’s breathing became quicker as she realized how accurate his analogy was. Meanwhile, Yurik glanced down at his hand, looking at the new card added to it from the last turn. One of them was his newest monster: Twilight Alicorn. Yurik tensed up upon seeing the card that put him in his current spot, but the card then glimmered slightly. Almost as if Yurik could understand the card’s language, he relaxed himself and looked determinably at Kieran.
“There is no difference between the wooden pieces on a board and the monsters that do battle on our zones,” Kieran said.
“No,” Yurik responded quietly, distracting both Kieran and Alice, “you’re wrong.”
Twilight’s surprise returned with Yurik’s sudden statement.
“What was that?” asked Kieran.
“These monsters are not just wooden pieces to be thrown to the side once they’re finished. They are my allies, my comrades. They are the ones that give me strength when I have none of my own.”
Twilight couldn’t help but find a sweetened smile appearing on her face, moved by Yurik’s speech. While Kieran looked passively at Yurik’s resolve, Alice couldn’t help but be surprised by Yurik’s mounting energy.
“My monsters are my friends who I need as much as they need me. That’s why we can’t let you toy with us any longer. I’m not going to let you have your way with me; not if my deck and I can say anything about it!”
Yurik placed his hand on top of his deck.
“My turn!” he shouted. “Draw!”
With a whip out of his arm and a turn of the wrist, Yurik looked at the card he drew: a pendulum monster.
“Yes,” he whispered loudly.
Grabbing another pendulum monster from his hand, he held his cards out for Kieran to see.
“I set the pendulum scale with the scale three Unioncorn of Fire and scale nine Unioncorn of Night,” Yurik declared.
Yurik threw both cards onto the outer zones of his blades. Much like with Kieran’s monsters, two equine creatures rose from the ground in blue pillars. On Yurik’s left was a bright-yellow unicorn with a tail and mane formed entirely from fire. On Yurik’s right was a pitch black unicorn with a red eyes and a deep-purple mane and tail that radiated like a clear night sky. Appearing above the fiery unicorn was a bright number 3 while a number 9 appeared above the dark unicorn.
Unioncorn of Fire
Pendulum Scale: 3
Unioncorn of Night
Pendulum Scale: 9
“I can now special summon any monsters from my hand whose levels are 4 through 8,” he continued to shout.
The room began to turn blue again and the star began to appear over Yurik’s field.
“Pendulum Summon!” Yurik called. “Come to me, Twilight Alicorn!”
“Twilight Alicorn?” questioned Twilight.
Once Yurik threw the card onto his center zone, the red portal formed, and a lavender colored aura flew out from it and landed right before Yurik, producing a blast of dust that concealed it further. Kieran’s eyes widened a bit, intrigued by being before Yurik’s newest monster.
Twilight Alicorn
ATK: 2500
Lvl.: 7
Once the dust cleared, Twilight could not contain her shock, surprised to see how much the monster’s likeness mirrored hers. Despite looking much more like a large horse and being much more muscular, the monster shared Twilight’s lavender coat, her purple mane and tail as well as its cut. It also bore the six-pronged star marking on her flank.
“That... pony,” Twilight thought aloud. “It looks just like… wait.”
She then remembered Yurik’s words when she first saw her.
“You look just like–”
“…me,” she finished.
As Yurik stood confidently with his monster, both Kieran and Alice looked in amazement at the very first appearance of Yurik's monster, as well as the resemblance it bore to Twilight.
“Just where…” she wondered. “Where did this thing come from?”
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Well... at least it's not a cosplayer story...
EDIT: This is going off of the description, I didn't actually read the story until just now where it mentioned Chicago...
Yay, it's out! I like the story so far, good work.
ill be watching you guy, hope you dont dissapoint
(if you need tips on yugioh card decks or whatever feel free to ask, i am a judge here in a friends hobby center and i am usually playing all things spellcaster)
4365139 Cool beans, but I have most of the characters' decks all planned out. However, if I need help with rulings, then you'll be the first person I call.
4365226 ok ill be here if you need me
If you ever need info on Rulings I happen to be a Dueling Network In-Game Administrator; I would be happy to offer my services.
FINALLY, someone who knows OGC(Offical Card Grammar).
I swear, next to everyone who makes custom cards doesn't know the correct terms.
if you are ever unsure of the grammar, here.
http://forum.duelingnetwork.com/index.php?/topic/92251-ocg-thread-common-terms-and-phrases-other-useful-tips/
Finally, someone with a 'Pony' deck that isn't just characters from the show!