Yu-Gi-Oh! P†H

by moviemaster8510

Episode 20: Tearing Down the Walls, Part 2

Kieran sat at the desk of his multi-monitored computer. With a tap of his enter key, his computer whirred back to life, filling his screens with files, pages, and applications. Ignoring it, he moved his mouse to the extensive taskbar where an icon of a phone was set. Clicking it, a larger phone had appeared on the screen.

Using his number pad at the right of his keyboard, he typed in ten numbers at a comfortably familiar speed. Hitting the enter key, a ripple of light shone out from the phone’s edge as the call was made. Kieran listened in to two dial tones before the line was picked up.

“Kieran,” the voice of Orpheus greeted.

“Orpheus,” Kieran replied in kind. “Or, should we call you Ron again?”

“That depends. For what purpose do you call me?”

Kieran smirked as he was quickly caught.

“Fine, then,” he said. “Orpheus…”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Yurik stood before Alice, still continuing to withhold his answer from his opponent.

================
Yurik:
LP: 2700

Alice:
LP: 3500
================

Yurik’s sole alicorn on the field, as well as the unicorn in his pendulum zone, stared down Alice’s giant, armored praying mantis fearfully, while Stopper Spider stood obliviously still on Yurik’s field.

Allicorn Magician
DEF: 2500
Rnk.: 5

Unioncorn of Fire
Pendulum Scale: 3

Stopper Spider
Pendulum Scale: 3

Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord
ATK: 2800
Lvl.: 9

“Well?” demanded Alice. “What’s it going to be?”

Yurik hissed as he clenched his fists.

“Just end your turn already,” he growled.

Alice nodded in acknowledgement, but kept her angered expression.

“That’s it,” she encouraged. “This is exactly what you need to do. Even though you’ve lost your monster, you can get it back; I know you can. However, don’t use those wussy defensive strategies again, or I’ll get you where it hurts.”

Alice plucked a single card from her hand and slipped it face down into her spell and trap slot.

“I place one card face down and end my turn,” she said.

Status: Hand: 1 Life: 3500 Monsters: 1 Pendulum Cards: 0 Pendulum Scale: – Spells/Traps: 1

Yurik has a real good chance of turning this around, thought Alice, looking to her Stopper Spider monster. If Yurik draws a pendulum monster, he can reveal it to destroy my Stopper Spider with its other pendulum effect. He could easily use that card to bring back his Twilight Alicorn and turn this duel around. Let’s hope he actually can…

Yurik’s eyes were focused on Alice’s monster before he glanced down to his deck.

Come on, he thought, I need a Unioncorn monster here. Whether it be my scale 8 Unioncorn of Earth, my scale 9 Night, or my Unioncorn of Water and use its effect to raise its pendulum scale to 8 with Unioncorn of Fire on my field.

Walt, Mary, the ponies, and Spike looked cautiously as they saw Yurik reaching out for his deck.

I have good odds, he mused. Even if the pendulum monster could just get rid of Alice’s spider…

“You can do it, Yurik!” cried Mary.

With her encouraging words, Yurik quickly moved his hands to his deck and pinched its top hard.

“My turn!” he shouted. “Draw!”

Yurik looked up, unable to believe his luck. With his card in his right hand, he thrust his arm forwards and revealed it to his opponent, also showing a relieved smile.

“I reveal my drawn card,” stated Yurik, “the pendulum monster Unioncorn of Night!”

Alice let out a sickened smile at Yurik’s situation.

I guess it’s over then… she reasoned.

“With Stopper Spider’s effect,” he shouted, “when I draw a pendulum monster and reveal it, it’s destroyed from my pendulum zone!”

Alice’s spider glowed brightly before it blew up in a blast of smoke. Yurik removed the card from his blade and tossed it back to Alice with confidence.

“You can have that back now,” he said.

Alice caught her card and slipped it face up into her extra deck slot on her blade disk. With his card still revealed, wound his arm back as he prepared to continue his turn.

“I set the pendulum scale with the scale 9 Unioncorn of Night!” he shouted, slapping the monster onto his now open zone.

A blue pillar rose up from the ground, along with Yurik’s ebony-black unicorn with red eyes. With two monsters back into the pendulum zone, a 3 and a 9 rose above them, as well as the large star.

Unioncorn of Night
Pendulum Scale: 9

“I can now special summon monsters whose levels are 4 through 8!” he proclaimed. “Pendulum summon!”

Twilight Alicorn ejected itself from Yurik’s blade disk and was promptly removed and swiped onto the leftmost zone of Yurik’s right blade. Likewise, a red portal opened up beneath the star and let a magenta aura fall from it.

“Come back to me!” yelled Yurik. “Twilight Alicorn!”

The aura landed upon the ground, a pair of lavender wings blowing the subsequent dust away and revealing itself with a proud, loud whinny before it stood offensively, ready to fight.

Twilight Alicorn
ATK: 2500
Lvl.: 7

Yurik looked to his revived monster, almost as if he was experiencing a pleasant fantasy. With a childlike giggle, he watched as Twilight Alicorn turned its head to him and gave him a nod and smirk. Suddenly, Yurik’s smile went wide and energetic, earning the surprise of Marcus, Donald, and Alice, and the joy and cheers of Walt, Mary, the ponies and Spike.

“Go, Yurik!” they shouted gleefully.

“Alright!” Yurik exclaimed. “Now, the effects of the monsters in my pendulum zones activate! First is my Unioncorn of Fire, inflicting 100 points of damage times the total levels of pendulum monsters pendulum summoned this turn! Twilight Alicorn’s level is 7, so you’ll take 700 points of damage!”

Yurik’s yellow unicorn began to charge its horn as fire swirled around it.

“Go, Unioncorn of Fire!” commanded Yurik. “Singe Spell!”

Yurik’s monster shot out a powerful plume of flames from its horn and at Alice, causing her to squeak in anguish as she felt the fire’s searing heat.

Alice’s Life Points: 3500 -> 2800

“Finally,” said Yurik, “there’s the pendulum effect of Unioncorn of Night, allowing me to draw a card for every pendulum monster I pendulum summoned, which is one!”

Yurik drew his card with gusto. With everything in place, he smirked as he reached for his Allicorn card.

“Next,” he said, turning his xyz monster upright, “I switch Allicorn Magician into attack position!”

The monster stood up straight and reared itself back to charge.

DEF: 2500 -> ATK: 2500

Yurik’s friends on the sidelines gasped happily as they saw their friend prepare his onslaught.

“He’s back!” cheered Pinkie Pie, hopping up and down. “Yurik’s back like hacky sack!”

Alice too looked very glad to see Yurik’s change in mood and play style, smiling warmly.

That’s it! thought Alice. Fight back! However… she mused with a smirk.

“It’s good to see you back in the swing of things,” Alice remarked, “but both of your monsters’ ATKs are still lower than Cao Cao’s, so unless that card you drew will increase your monster’s ATK, you’re out of luck.”

“But luck has been on my side since this turn began,” Yurik replied, “because now I activate the effect of Allicorn Magician!”

“His monster’s effect?” she wondered.

“By detaching one xyz material,” he explained, removing a card underneath his xyz monster and slipping it into his graveyard, “I can negate the effects of all face-up spells and trap cards on the field and have my monster gain 300 ATK for each one until the end phase!”

Alice gasped as she watched one of the orbs circling Yurik’s monster melded with its horn. Suddenly, the monster shot its head up and let out a narrow tornado from it, swirls of purple, green, and orange appearing inside of it. At that moment, both Unioncorn of Fire and Unioncorn of Night became covered in an orange aura while Spark Barrier was covered in green.

That’s right! realized Alice. His pendulum monsters count as well! His monster will be much stronger than mine!

“The effects of Unioncorn of Fire, Unioncorn of Night, and Spark Barrier have been negated,” said Yurik. “That’s three cards in total, so my monster gains 900 ATK!”

At once the orange auras of Yurik’s monsters and the green aura on his spell card were sucked into the twister, melding into one orange and green shape. The tornado receded back into the monster’s horn, where it began shining even brighter than before.

ATK: 2500 -> 3400

“Wow,” sighed Spike. “He really is good…”

“Now, go!” shouted Yurik. “Allicorn Magician, attack Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord! Umbral Conjuring!”

The orange-and-green glow of the alicorn’s horn now became a deep purple as it shot its beam at Alice’s praying mantis. The spell enveloped both Alice and her monster, the latter stripping away as the sheer energy of the blast tore through it. Alice shielded her face and grunted loudly as she was pushed back by the force.

Alice’s Life Points: 2800 -> 2200

The blast finally ended, allowing Alice to see the field once again.

“Yurik,” she wheezed fearfully, “what have you done?”

The others on the sideline looked much more gladdened by Yurik’s imminent win.

“If Yurik can land this attack,” Applejack exclaimed, “Yurik wins!”

“Go, Yurik!” shouted Mary.

Walt, Donald, and Marcus however, could easily feel unease in their guts as they appeared far more nervous about what was happening.

“This attack will end it!” shouted Yurik. “Go, Twilight Alicorn! Attack Alice directly! Bright Burst Magic!”

Twilight Alicorn’s horn shot out its signature stream of magenta light at Alice, striking the ground below her and blasting a thick mass of dirt, dust, and smoke into the air. Regardless of their individual expectations, each of the humans, ponies, as well as Spike, were all awed by the result of Twilight Alicorn’s attack.

“Whoa,” cooed Fluttershy.

“Did…” Walt wonder with a doubtful tone, “did he really do it?”

Yurik panted as he watched the dust begin to settle, his eyes scanning to where the side of Alice would be and waiting for a counter to affirm that he had depleted all of her life points. Finally her body could be seen emerging through the parting dust, still standing strong despite the hit she took. Finally, a counter appeared.

Alice’s Life Points: 100

Yurik, the ponies, and Spike all gasped loudly and fearfully as Walt bared his teeth, affirming Yurik’s fatal error.

“Impossible!” shouted Yurik. “My monster should have wiped out your life points.”

“Yeah?” Alice responded, looking up with a disappointed scowl on her face. “But you didn’t, because I activated my trap card, Karma Cocoon.

More dust passed away from the field to reveal a trap card showing a green cocoon with bright, sparkling light emitting from the numerous cracks atop it.

“When I would take battle damage,” Alice said, “I can shuffle one Insect-type monster from my graveyard or face-up in my extra deck that was destroyed this turn into the main deck and reduce the battle damage equal to the ATK of the targeted monster.”

Alice then revealed a card in her hand: her Stopper Spider, it ATK revealed to the side of the fingers that held the card.

“I chose my Stopper Spider with 400 ATK,” she clarified. “Your monster’s ATK was 2500, which means I take only 2100 damage, leaving me with 100 to spare.”

Yurik stood helpless and scared as Alice added her card onto her deck, which then began to shuffle up. Walt stood on the sidelines seething as Yurik’s hope and energy drained out of him.

“You should see Walt’s face,” Alice said.

Yurik turned to see Walt’s anger, which only grew as Walt could see Yurik’s confusion for his disposition.

“He and I are both thinking the same thing,” she clarified. “You could have won this duel had you thought it out.”

“I…” Yurik squawked. “I could have? How could I…”

Suddenly, Yurik looked to the sides of his field, seeing his pendulum monsters looking back at him with a sense of rejection. It was then that Yurik realized.

No… he thought. I could have won… If I had used Twilight Alicorn’s Summon Shine effect to special summon them, I could have…

“Yurik!” screamed Walt. “Use your god-damned head! You’re not going to win duels by playing safe and easy!”

“And what’s my other option?” he yipped back. “Risk her trap destroying all of my monsters and clearing my field?”

“That’s a risk you always run when you duel!” Alice shouted out, stepping forwards. “It’s the same risks you took to beat Kieran, it’s the same risks you took to beat Twilight, Billy, and Orpheus! What makes me any different? And don’t tell me that it’s because your deck is riding on it! You faced to lose your card against Kieran! You faced losing Pinkie Pie by dueling Billy, and you ran the risk of losing every pony dueling Orpheus, so don’t tell me that your stakes are any higher than they’ve ever been right now!”

Yurik clenched his fists as anger and fright began to seize him once again.

“You just granted me another turn because of your fear of Keifer,” Alice continued. “If you’re really set on forfeiting your deck, then you can just quit now!”

“Shut up!” barked Yurik. “I won’t let you get near my deck! I activate the effect of Twilight Alicorn, special summoning two monsters from my pendulum zone!”

Twilight Alicorn charged its horn a magenta aura coating Unioncorn of Night and Unioncorn of Fire.

“I special summon Unioncorn of Night and Unioncorn of Fire with this effect,” he declared. “Go! Summon Shine!”

Both of Yurik’s monsters disappeared from the pendulum zones and appeared beside Yurik’s other two monsters in a bright, pink bubble.

Unioncorn of Night
DEF: 0
Lvl.: 4

Unioncorn of Fire
DEF: 1200
Lvl.: 4

“Next,” Yurik proclaimed, waving his hand over his field, “I overlay my level 4 Unioncorn of Night and Unioncorn of Fire!”

Yurik’s two monsters transformed into a purple and red beam and danced about in the air over a red portal forming at the ground.

“With these two monsters,” Yurik shouted as both monsters flew inside the vortex, “I construct the overlay network! Xyz summon!”

The portal blew out with white as Yurik’s black alicorn with a dark-purple mane and tail, black crown, and two whitish-purple orbs of light surrounding it flew out from it right before it closed.

“Appear!” cried Yurik. “Allicorn Queen of Night!”

The monster’s hooves landed upon the ground with finesse, quickly reverting its form to that of impending malice.

Allicorn Queen of Night
ATK: 2600
Rnk.: 4

Yurik looked calmly at his now open pendulum zones, suddenly pointing to the one on his right with his outstretched arm.

“I activate the effect of Twilight Alicorn,” he stated, “placing it on an unused pendulum zone I control!”

With another charge of its horn, Twilight Alicorn vanished and rematerialized onto Yurik’s right pendulum zone as he had instructed.

Twilight Alicorn
Pendulum Scale: 6

“Then,” continued Yurik, “I activate the spell card Galloper’s Respite!”

Yurik threw the remaining card in his hand into his duel disks spell/trap zone, the card that fazed on to the field appearing with art of Unioncorn of Light, Pegassist of Water, and Earth Pony lying on the bottom of their stomachs on a grassy field.

“This card changes all attack position monsters I control to defense position,” he explained, “but they cannot change their battle positions until my next end phase, where they’ll be changed back to attack position.”

Both Allicorn Magician and Allicorn Queen of Night widened their stances and bowed their heads down in a restful manner.

Allicorn Magician
ATK: 2500 -> DEF: 2500

Allicorn Queen of Night
ATK: 2600 -> DEF: 1000

Alice’s eyes shrunk into thin, furious slits as her right hand squeezed as tight as the muscles could allow.

“Lastly,” Yurik said, pointing to his black alicorn, “I activate the effect of Allicorn Queen of Night!”

Yurik reached for his xyz monster card and removed both cards that were left underneath it and slipped them into his graveyard slot.

“By detaching two xyz materials from this card while I have no cards in my hand,” he said as both orbs melded with the monster’s horn, making both it and the top of his deck glow, “I can draw two cards!”

Yurik put his fingers onto his deck and whipped his arm out, two cards left pinched in his hand. He glanced at them, spotting an armored pony without a horn nor wings, as well as his Earth Pony card. With nothing else to help him, he kept his cards in his grasp.

“I end my turn,” he said, staring straight back at Alice.

Status: Hand: 2 Life: 2700 Monsters: 2 Pendulum Cards: 1 Pendulum Scale: – Spells/Traps: 2

As Yurik finally added both cards in his left hand, the humans and Equestrians looked upon the field with a new sense of dread and forlornness. Alice, however, breathed out through her gnashed teeth, her fist unrolling and flexing out in fast motions.

“What did I say?” asked Alice. “What did I say about you playing that defensive crap?”

Yurik worked his own face into a scowl as he prepared his body for Alice’s imminent rage.

“I told you it was going to hurt, Yurik!” she began to scream. “And now I’m going to hurt you until you’re forced to fight back! My turn! DRAW!!”

Alice looked to her card, stunned immensely by her fortune and the assault she was about to deliver.

“I activate the spell card Burrower’s Endurance!” she shouted, revealing the card to Yurik featuring a beetle-shaped mound of dirt on a forested path. “This card lets me target one of my banished insect-type monsters and add it to my graveyard, and the monster I choose is my Larva Queen Ant!”

A small crumpled card began to appear and unfold out of thin air, straightening out into a perfect copy of Alice’s monster card. A purple and black portal then formed beneath the Larva Queen Ant card, where it sunk in before the portal closed back up.

Alice then looked at the final card in her possession, smiling madly as she picked it out of her left hand with her right. Shudders of laughter could be heard escaping Alice’s lips, unnerving Yurik and even Walt, Donald, and Marcus greatly.

“When my life points are below 500,” said Alice, “and I control no cards and have no other cards in my hand other than this one…”

While frightened for Alice’s sanity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike leaned in closer for what she had in store.

“…I can activate continuous spell card Super Swarm – Rise of Insects!” she bellowed, slamming the card into her duel disk.

A card appeared on Alice’s field, showing artwork of purple lines shooting off to the sides and down the center and hundreds of insects of varying sizes flying from the bottom of the art’s frame. Likewise, the card began to shine purple beams of light at Yurik, their brightness forcing him to shield his eyes while the onlookers watched in awe.

“When this card is activated,” explained Alice, “I can add two insect-type pendulum monsters from my deck to my hand!”

“Two of them?” gasped Yurik.

“Unreal!” Donald sighed in exasperation.

“She can add any pendulum monsters to her hand?” wondered Marcus. “That guarantees her a decent scale.”

“I can’t believe she even had such a card in her deck!”

Alice’s deck shuffled once again, two cards sliding out from the top of her deck for her to grab. She revealed her two cards: a hornet with a skirt made of leaves attached to the sides of its hind legs and a long black millipede that rolled itself into a sphere.

“The monsters I choose are my Sweet Tea Honey Bee and my Millionpede!” she declared.

Yurik stood trembling as Alice nonchalantly added the cards to her hand.

“Also,” she exclaimed, pointing her hand to her card, “Super Swarm has another amazing effect! Once per turn, I can add up to three insect-type monsters from my graveyard to my hand!”

“No way!” gulped Yurik. “That card is insane!”

Three cards, two orange and one white ejected from the graveyard slot of Alice’s disk. She picked the white one up and placed it into her extra deck slot and then took the two others and revealed them to Yurik.

“I add Larva Queen Ant and Diamond Moth to my hand while Cao Cao, the Mantis Warrior is returned to my extra deck!” she said.

Adding her two cards back to her hand, she grabbed her two pendulum monsters and revealed them both to Yurik once again.

“I set the pendulum scale with the scale 1 Millionpede and the scale 8 Sweet Tea Honey Bee!” Alice shouted.

With a quick movement of her hand, Alice threw both cards onto the very ends of both of their blades. Two blue pillars rose on the sides of her field, and from the left and right ones, respectively, were a large millipede with its body snaked about inside the spherical coil it was stuck in and a hornet with bright-green leaves draped over its back legs. A 1 and an 8 appeared over both monsters as a dark-blue sky formed on the ceiling with the multi-pointed star appearing in it.

Millionpede
Pendulum Scale: 1

Sweet Tea Honey Bee
Pendulum Scale: 8

“I can now special summon monsters from my hand whose levels are 2 through 7,” Alice declared. “Pendulum summon!”

Alice slammed her last two cards from her hand onto her monster zones, allowing a red portal to appear under the star and spit out an orange and a green beam that landed on the ground and picked dust into the air.

“Return!” she beckoned. “Larva Queen Ant! Diamond Moth!”

The dust settled, revealing that both monsters had indeed returned to the field.

Larva Queen Ant
ATK: 100
Lvl.: 4

Diamond Moth
ATK: 1800
Lvl.: 5

“Next,” Alice continued, “the effect of my Sweet Tea Honey Bee in my pendulum zone activates, allowing me to draw a card for every insect-type monster I pendulum summoned during the turn this card was activated, which means I draw two cards!”

As said, she whipped her hand over her deck, producing two cards from it.

“Regardless,” Walt thought aloud, “she has Cao Cao back in her extra deck and the proper materials back on the field. It’s coming back with a vengeance.”

“Now,” shouted Alice, “I tune my level 4 Larva Queen Ant with my level 5 Diamond Moth!”

Diamond Moth flew back into the air with its glowing wings before it burst into five stars that formed into three green rings. Larva Queen Ant leapt up at the descending rings as they aligned together. The ant flew into the rings, leaving nothing but its orange outline and four bright stars inside of it.

“General of the insects,” chanted Alice, “obliterate the enemy forces with your magnificent military might!”

The outline of Larva Queen Ant disappeared as the stars were left to be pierced by a line of light that grew around them and the five rings.

“Synchro summon!” she cried out.

Alice’s armored praying mantis emerged once again from the bright pillar and took its place proudly on Alice’s field.

“Reappear!” she called out. “Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord!”

The massive insect rubbed its bladed scythes together, producing a wide array of sparks that fell crackled as the metal ran against each other.

Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord
ATK: 2800
Lvl.: 9

Yurik growled at the monster’s reappearance at it glared back at him.

“That can only mean…” he thought aloud.

“The effect of Larva Queen Ant in my graveyard now activates,” Alice stated, “special summoning an Egg Token to my side of the field when it’s sent to the graveyard!”

A purple portal with a black vortex opened on the ground, Alice’s monster’s abdomen poking out from it. With a secretion of yet another egg, the insect disappeared into the void while the portal closed back up.

Egg Token
DEF: 0
Lvl.: 1

“Next,” spoke Alice, “I normal summon String Shooter!”

Placing the card on the zone to the last available side of Cao Cao, a portal opened back up on the field, a from it, an anthropomorphic brown spider with a sizable rifle hopped out and aimed its weapon at Yurik’s field.

String Shooter
ATK: 1000
Lvl.: 3

“I now activate the effect of String Shooter,” Alice shouted, “negating the effect of one monster on the field until the end phase when it’s normal summoned, and I’ll choose your Allicorn Magician!”

“What?” exclaimed Yurik.

Alice’s spider pulled the trigger on its weapon, releasing a web-like net that wrapped itself around Allicorn Magician and caught tight, making the monster cry out in fear.

“Allicorn Magician!” Yurik cried.

“And with your monster’s effect negated,” Alice reminded callously, “you will take battle damage again, and with your Spark Barrier still in play, your monsters won’t be destroyed, but you’ll still feel the damage.”

“Damn you, Alice,” hissed Yurik.

“The only one who’s damned is you! Now, battle! Cao Cao, attack Allicorn Queen of Night! Red Scythe Slash!”

Yurik backed away, frightened as Alice’s monster approached him. The others on the sidelines watched with amazement as this event was happening. Yurik turned and ran as Cao Cao brought its blade down on Yurik’s monster. While the monster remained intact, a bright crescent shaped light flew out from the point of the strike and into Yurik’s back, hurling him off his feet and making him land on his stomach with a loud, painful groan.

Yurik’s Life Points: 2700 -> 900

The ponies and Spike winced at Yurik’s hit while Walt stood blankly and furiously, watching a seemingly-justified hurt. Yurik stood himself up and turned to face Alice again with contempt in his eyes. Alice glared back, not threatened in the slightest.

“I place one card face down and end my turn,” Alice simply responded as she put the last card in her hand into her spell and trap slot, the backing appearing flat on the field.

Status: Hand: 0 Life: 100 Monsters: 3 Pendulum Cards: 2 Pendulum Scale: 2 – 7 Spells/Traps: 2

Yurik glanced about the field and finally spotted String Shooter, suddenly beaming with madness in his eyes.

“You made a really big mistake there,” he giggled. “A really big mistake! I have two cards in my hand, and one left to draw. I could have a monster with at least 1100 ATK now or in the future. Even if I really didn’t, I still have the attack of my Twilight Alicorn to finish your String Shooter and the rest of your life points!”

“That’s right!” gasped Applejack. “She overpowered Yurik’s monster to do some hefty damage, but now she’s left vulnerable again!”

Looking back at her, her face showed no signs of fear, regret, or danger, confusing the ponies and dragon.

“What do you think she has?” wondered Spike.

“I don’t’ know,” Marcus said, “but we should not expect this duel to be over. Not by a long shot.”

Yurik didn’t seem to hear their words, concentrating his entire gaze on her weak monster.

“Let’s go!” Yurik shouted. “My turn! Draw!”

If I can beat her here, Yurik thought as he looked at his drawn card, which appeared to be a green pegasus with tribal markings, I won’t have to worry about Galloper’s Respite’s effect going out. I just need to deliver this last blow!

Yurik immediately added the card to his hand and pointed to his Twilight Alicorn with his hand.

“I activate the effect of Twilight Alicorn,” he stated, “special summoning my monster in face up attack position to my field!”

Twilight Alicorn’s horn shone brightly before it disappeared and reappeared on the field along with Yurik’s other two monsters, ready to finish the fight.

Twilight Alicorn
ATK: 2500
Lvl.: 7

“This will end it!” screamed Yurik. “Now, Twilight Alicorn, attack String Shooter! Bright Burst Magic!!”

Twilight Alicorn launched its magenta beam at Alice’s monster, but her expression refused to change.

“I activate my trap!” she yelled. “Beetle’s Boon! When I would take battle damage involving an insect-type monster, I reduce the damage to 0!”

“No!” shouted Yurik.

The magic blast exploded the spider, but all of the debris and smoke flew straight into the air, the only thing Alice feeling was a wind that blew into her body. Yurik pressed his fingernails into his palm as he squeezed his hand, feeling them just about to pierce the skin. The ponies looked very scared by Yurik’s enraged and animalistic face as his next chance of defeating her fell through.

“Told you,” sighed Marcus.

“You seem too eager to win,” called Alice. “That’s not going to help you either. If you want to win this duel, you need to think, Yurik! You’ll never beat Keifer like that, and Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike are all going to be taken away!”

“Shut up!” Yurik barked. “I won’t lose this duel! I’m going to prove to you and to Twilight that I can still save her!”

Alice gasped, genuinely surprised at his response. At that moment, he caught what he had said and recoiled in his own shock. He then sported a look of shame and humiliation on his face that he tried to conceal with a tilted head. The ponies leaned in, realizing something was happening to their friend. Walt and Mary too softened up their glares and appeared to look at Yurik with concern.

“Yurik?” questioned Mary.

Yurik threw his head forwards, revealing his anguished face.

“Yes!” Yurik relented with moistening eyes. “I want to save Twilight with all my heart! But I’m scared, Alice! I don’t want to watch these guys leave because I messed up! I don’t want to do that again! I don’t want to live my life knowing I was a failure to them!”

Yurik closed his eyes and let his tears flow down his face, hanging his arms and his head again down low. Walt reformed his determined face, stepped forwards from the crowd towards his friend.

“Yurik!” he shouted. “You aren’t a failure! The reason we were able to save most of them in the first place was because of you. You should feel really proud of yourself!”

“And it’s because of me almost half of them are gone!” Yurik cried back. “I don’t know if I have the strength to defeat him!”

“Then find it!” Alice yelled. “If you really want to rescue Twilight so badly, then defeat me, because I’m almost certain that if you can’t beat me, you won’t stand a ghost of a chance against Kieran.”

Yurik gasped with trembling eyes, feeling even more stress strike his gut.

“Now,” Alice said, “about your turn?”

Yurik frowned slightly as picked his arms back up.

“During my end phase,” he said, “the effect of Galloper’s Respite changes all of my defense position monsters into attack position.”

Yurik begrudgingly turned all of his monsters so that they were upright in their zones. At once, both Allicorn Magician and Allicorn Queen of Night stood straight up and picked up their heads in an alert fashion.

Allicorn Magician
DEF: 2500 -> ATK: 2500

Allicorn Queen of Night
DEF: 1000 -> ATK: 2600

“I…” Yurik struggled to say, “end my turn.”

Status: Hand: 3 Life: 900 Monsters: 3 Pendulum Cards: 0 Pendulum Scale: – Spells/Traps: 2

“Come on, Yurik!” shouted Applejack. “Don’t let her prove herself right!”

“We believe in you!” cheered Pinkie Pie.

“Sorry, Alice,” whispered Mary, sudden breathing in for a shout. “Kick her ass, Yurik!”

“You got this!” Spike roared.

“Don’t let her prove you wrong!” bellowed Walt.

Yurik found his spirits gradually uplifted by the cheers of his friends, finding his posture straightening and the strength in his heart and body increasing.

“Your friends don’t think you’re a failure,” Alice said. “I can understand that you’re scared; we can understand that you’re scared, but we won’t allow someone like you to let their fear overcome them. You have been entrusted with a great power, and I’d hate for you to squander that power because you’re afraid to use it.”

Yurik stepped a foot back and held his left arm close under his chin, bracing himself for Alice’s upcoming attack.

“That’s more like it,” she muttered with a smirk. “Now, let’s finally see you fight back! My turn! Draw!”

As Alice drew her card, the coiled Millionpede began to glow.

“During my standby phase,” explained Alice, “Millionpede’s pendulum scale increases by 1!”

Yurik saw as the front end of the massive insect snaked about itself, forming a slightly larger version of itself.

Pendulum Scale: 1 -> 2

“Now,” Alice called, pointing to her face up spell card, “I activate the effect of Super Swarm – Rise of Insects, allowing me to add up to three insect-type monsters from my graveyard to my hand!”

Three cards ejected from Alice’s graveyard, allowing her to take them and present them all to her opponent.

“I return Larva Queen Ant, Diamond Moth, and String Shooter to my hand!” she stated.

At that moment, the dark-blue sky reappeared as well as the large star. As well, two pillars enveloped both Sweet Tea Honey Bee and Millionpede.

“With Millionpede and Sweet Tea Honey Bee in my pendulum zones,” Alice shouted, “I can special summon monsters from my hand whose levels are 3 through 7! Pendulum summon!”

In an ornate twist of her wrist, she swiped all of her cards onto the remaining three monster zones on her field with their top ends facing the left. Two orange auras and a green aura shot down from the red portal that appeared under the star and landed on the empty spaces on Alice’s field.

“Return!” she shouted. “Larva Queen Ant! Diamond Moth! String Shooter!”

Once the dust cleared, each of the monsters were all visible on the field, each one in a submissive-looking or defensive pose.

Larva Queen Ant
DEF: 2000
Lvl.: 4

Diamond Moth
DEF: 2000
Lvl.: 5

String Shooter
DEF: 0
Lvl.: 3

The ponies and Spike were in awe at Alice’s now filled field. However, Yurik looked more annoyingly perplexed.

“Hey!” he shouted. “What are you doing Alice? Were those lectures of me fighting back all for nothing?”

“Far from it,” Alice said. “Most of these monsters will be gone by turn’s end… not that there’s going to be an end to this turn.”

“What are you saying? Do you really think you’re going to–”

“I now tune my level 1 Egg Token with my level 5 Diamond Moth!” declared Alice.

Yurik gasped as he watched Diamond Moth fly while glowing in the air, turning into five bright stars that in turn transformed into five green rings. Cao Cao picked up the Egg Token with the sides of its blades and tossed it up, sending it towards the aligning rings, where it became an orange outline with a single star inside of it.

“Parasitic bug of pestilence,” chanted Alice, “let your opponent be your food and strength!”

The outline disappeared and left the star behind, where a light piercing through it and grew out around the five rings.

“Synchro summon!” she shouted.

With the light fading, a large brown-and-white flying bug that appeared to be a cross between a mosquito and a wasp flew about above the field and towards Alice’s side.

“Appear,” she called, “festering terror! Botfly of Blight!”

The bug landed down on the field and stood unnervingly still in an instant, awaiting Alice’s command.

Botfly of Blight
ATK: 0
Lvl.: 6

“A new synchro monster?” spoke Yurik with a shaky voice. “With 0 ATK?”

“And now to finish this,” purred Alice. “Battle! Botfly of Blight, attack Allicorn Queen of Night!”

The giant fly sped off towards Yurik’s black alicorn.

“What?” shouted Spike and Applejack incredulously.

“That’s suicide!” exclaimed Walt.

“What are you thinking, Alice?”

“This is what I’m thinking,” she responded. “When Botfly of Blight battles, all battle damage I take involving it is reduced to 0!”

“What?”

The fly collided into Allicorn Queen of Night, destroying itself in a fiery explosion and covering the alicorn in its smoke.

“I don’t understand,” thought Yurik as the smoke too blew into him. “Why would you do that?”

“Just watch,” Alice instructed.

As the smoke cleared, Allicorn Queen of Night was seemingly unharmed, but to Yurik’s shock, there appeared to be a large, writhing bump on its back by the base of its wing, making the alicorn stamp in sheer discomfort.

Larva Counters: 0 -> 1

ATK: 2600 -> 1300

“Impossible!” Yurik spat. “What is that thing?”

“When Botfly of Blight declares an attack and is destroyed by battle,” she clarified, “a Larva Counter is placed on the monster it attacked and its ATK is halved. Then, during your standby phase, I can remove that counter from your monster to destroy it. Then, I can special summon Botfly of Blight from my graveyard and have its ATK become equal to the destroyed monster’s original ATK.”

“No…” Yurik sighed with fatality. “This can’t be…”

“This is it now! I now activate the effect of Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord, tributing an insect-type monster during my battle phase and reducing a monster’s ATK by 1000!”

“What?” gasped Spike. “She isn’t just attacking the weakened Allicorn?”

“No,” Walt said, “she’s insuring herself!”

“I don’t get it! What does that–”

“Just watch, Spike.”

“I tribute my String Shooter to reduce the ATK of Allicorn Magician by 1000!” Alice declared.

Cao Cao picked up the armed spider and tossed it at Allicorn Magician, the projectile blasting on contact. The smoke weakened the alicorn into swooning feebly.

ATK: 2500 -> 1500

“Now,” she commanded, “Cao Cao, attack Allicorn Magician! Red Scythe Slash!”

The gigantic mantis charged its way at Yurik’s monster with its arms winding back, making Yurik scowl at his situation.

“Yurik!” screamed Alice.

“I activate my trap,” Yurik shouted, “Hero’s Martyrdom!”

A purple card flipped up, showing what appeared to be a heavily armored knight silhouetted before a strong blast as an unarmored soldier watched on.

“While I all monsters I control have less ATK than an attacking monster you control,” explained Yurik, “that monster must attack the monster I control with the highest ATK!”

“Unbelievable!” huffed Alice. “The strongest monster you control is Twilight Alicorn! Are you really willing to destroy it to save yourself?”

Twilight Alicorn turned to Yurik and gave him a nod, a now proud smile on her face. With her assurance confirmed, Yurik faced Alice again.

“Yes,” he answered, “we are!”

Cao Cao went on its attack and raised its bladed arm up.

“Fine then!” shouted Alice, revealing a spell card in her hand, showing Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord with its blade catching fire. “I activate the quick-play spell card Insect General’s Fury! When the opponent activates a trap card during the battle phase, I can target one level-7 or higher insect-type monster and increase its ATK by 500 until the end phase!”

Yurik bared his teeth as he awaited the blow and watched the monster’s blade go alight.

ATK: 2800 -> 3300

The blade struck Twilight Alicorn, its pain-riddled whinnies silenced in a burst of sparks and fire. The blast collided into Yurik and threw him off his feet. Yurik shrieked in anguish as the fire burned his skin.

Yurik’s Life Points: 900 -> 100

Yurik crumpled to the floor, choosing to lie still and rest his sore and scratched up body, much to the shock and fear of Walt, Mary, and the ponies.

“Yurik!” shouted Walt and Spike simultaneously.

“Hmph,” spoke Alice. “I thought you were saving that card for something.”

Yurik slowly got up onto all fours, facing Alice the entire time with a agony-riddled grit in his teeth.

“I hoped to use it to protect Allicorn Magician,” he wheezed, “in case you found a way to bypass my Spark Barrier and tried to destroy it.”

“I see,” she remarked. “Either way, it won’t be helping you anymore.”

“What was that?”

“The next effect of Insect General’s Fury activates! When the targeted monster manages to destroy an opponent’s monster by battle I can destroy one other card you control, and I choose your Allicorn Magician!”

“Oh no!”

Cao Cao wound its right arm and slashed it down, a crescent of fire flying out from its blade and crashing down onto the alicorn, which only had enough time to look up before it was incinerated from the field. The digitized pieces of Yurik’s monsters blew into him, forcing him to shield his face in aggravation.

“During the end phase,” spoke Alice, “Insect General’s Fury’s effect ends, and Cao Cao’s ATK returns to normal.”

The fires around the monster’s blades receded, leaving no trace of a fire having ever been there.

ATK: 3300 -> 2800

“And once you begin your next turn,” Alice reminded, “your Allicorn Queen of Night will be destroyed and my Botfly of Blight will be reborn with your monster’s ATK added to it. So without further to do, I end my turn.”

Status: Hand: 0 Life: 100 Monsters: 2 Pendulum Cards: 2 Pendulum Scale: 3 – 7 Spells/Traps: 1

Yurik stood still and grimly turned to his suffering monster, the lump getting bigger and moving even more as it looked close to breaking the skin. The others watched as the alicorn’s head turned to him with tears welling in its eyes, begging its master for the pain to end.

Yurik felt his own tears welling as he stepped forwards to the side of his horse and laid both his hand and his forehead onto his side, his downward tilted head letting the water drip from his eyes. He then wrapped as much of his arm around the back of the alicorn as he could to give it a final embrace.

“I’m sorry for putting you through this,” he lovingly whispered. “You’ve done so well for me, my monster.”

Allicorn Queen of Night then turned its head as far as the lump in its body could allow and lightly nuzzled the top of Yurik’s head with its muzzle in an equally affectionate way. With a last pat on his side, he backed away and stepped back to his spot, much to the wonder of the onlookers.

“Alright, Alice,” Yurik growled, a fire of fury in his voice, “it’s time to take my final turn.”

With his hands upon his deck, he gave a final glance to his ailing monster as it prepared its end.

You won’t be in pain anymore for my sake, he thought. I’ll certainly avenge you… Twilight!

“My turn!” he shouted on high. “DRAW!”

“The effect of Botfly of Blight now activates!” declared Alice. “I remove the Larva Counter from your monster and destroy it!”

The bulge in Allicorn Queen of Night’s skin grew even larger, a noticeable bright crack spreading across the skin and the light shining over the entire monster’s body with a shrill cry of pain. The monster finally burst away and left behind a sphere of light.

“Next,” Alice continued, “I can special summon Botfly of Blight from my graveyard and have its ATK become the original ATK of your Allicorn Queen of Night!”

The ball of light grew out into the shape of Alice’s former monster, the bright skin shattering off and revealing the restored form of the giant fly.

Botfly of Blight
ATK: 0
Lvl.: 6

“Allicorn Queen of Night’s ATK was 2600,” said Alice, “which means my Botfly of Blight’s ATK too becomes 2600!”

With speed equal to its attack, the large botfly flew back to Alice’s side of the field and landed beside Cao Cao.

ATK: 0 -> 2600

Yurik looked to his recently drawn card: Pony Switch Shuffle, and then to his hand, which contained Earth Pony, the green pegasus, and the armored pony cards.

Looks like it’s this card to the rescue, thought Yurik. However, if I want to win this duel, I’ll need to draw the right cards right here and now if I want to make up for all the life points I lost playing like I have.

“I activate the spell card Pony Switch Shuffle!” Yurik shouted, revealing his card to Alice. “This card allows me to shuffle two monsters with Unioncorn, Pegassist, or Pony in their names into the deck.

Yurik removed two of the cards from his hand and showed them both to Alice, them being the green pegasus card and Earth Pony.

“I shuffle Earth Pony and Pegassist of Wind to my deck,” he declared as he slipped both cards onto the top of his deck.

The cards inside the slot shuffled and then came to an abrupt stop, allowing Yurik to place is hand atop it.

Come on, begged Yurik with closed eyes. I know I’ve been a complete wuss these past few hours, but I’m not going to let Keifer have his way with my friends, and I need your help more than ever!

“And then,” stated Yurik, his fingers pinching the deck, “I draw two cards!”

With a whip of his arm, two cards were held tightly in Yurik’s hand. With a slow revealing twist of his wrist, he saw his two cards, a spell and his Unioncorn of Water. Yurik’s growing smile confused Alice while it raised the spirits of Walt, Mary, the ponies, and Spike.

“My deck has answered me…” Yurik sighed, “and it believes in me!”

Yurik added his cards to his hand and picked out the spell card.

“I activate the spell card Return to Pasture!” Yurik declared, throwing his card into his spell and trap slot.

On the field, a green card with art of Light Pony running along a grassy field towards a group of Unioncorn, Pegassist, and Pony monsters.

“This card allows me to target a Unioncorn, Pegassist, or Pony monster in my graveyard and return it to my hand, and the one I choose is…”

Yurik’s Unioncorn of Fire ejected itself from Yurik’s graveyard, which he took and revealed to Alice.

“…Unioncorn of Fire!”

Alice growled as she suspected what was coming for her. Yurik, with his card in his hand, picked up his other pendulum monster and revealed them both together to his opponent.

“I set the pendulum scale with the scale 3 Unioncorn of Fire and the scale 4 Unioncorn of Water!” he declared.

Yurik placed his cards on the outer zones of his blades, and with it, two blue pillars rose from the ground with Unioncorn of Fire and Unioncorn of Water rising inside them at Yurik’s left and right, respectively. The sky began to turn blue, the star appeared inside of it, and a 3 and a 4 appeared over Yurik’s monsters.

Unioncorn of Fire
Pendulum Scale: 3

Unioncorn of Water
Pendulum Scale: 4

“Wait a second!” shouted Spike. “How’s Yurik supposed to pendulum summon with a scale like that?”

“Just watch, Spike,” urged Walt. “He’ll explain.”

Spike obediently turned to Yurik and listened in on the rest of his turn.

“I activate the effect of Unioncorn of Water,” exclaimed Yurik. “By negating the effect of a FIRE-attribute monster in my pendulum zone, I can double its pendulum scale this turn!”

A pool of water formed on the ground beneath Unioncorn of Fire’s hooves, its mane and tail of flames dying down until they were both extinguished. As the now barren unicorn let out a shivering huff, a blue aura surrounded Unioncorn of Water, its horn shining brightest of all.

Pendulum Scale: 4 -> 8

Twilight Alicorn ejected itself out of Yurik’s extra deck slot, with Yurik taking both his armored pony card and his Twilight Alicorn in his right hand.

“I can now special summon monsters from my hand and extra deck whose levels are 4 through 8!” he shouted, holding both cards up in the air. “Pendulum summon!”

Yurik threw both cards onto his center open zones on the field, followed by the red portal opening up and shooting out a purple and magenta colored aura each. Both beams struck the ground and covered his field with dust.

“From my hand,” cried Yurik, “Armored Pony! And from my extra deck…”

A massive fan from a pair of lavender wings blew the cloud away and revealed both monsters: Twilight Alicorn, and the armored stallion pony from Yurik’s other card.

“…Twilight Alicorn!”

With the dirt cleared, Yurik and his monsters stood before Alice and her field of monsters with full preparedness to attack.

Armored Pony
ATK: 2300
Lvl.: 6

Twilight Alicorn
ATK: 2500
Lvl.: 7

“Unbelievable,” Alice muttered with sheer surprise on her face as she saw her imminent defeat laid before her. “Yurik, you…”

“And with Unioncorn of Water’s other pendulum effect,” reminded Yurik, “I gain 100 life points for every level of every pendulum monster I pendulum summoned this turn. Twilight Alicorn’s level is 7, so I gain 700 life points!”

Unioncorn of Water’s horn charged as water snaked from its horn and formed a halo over Yurik, drizzling a refreshing an soothing mist on his body.

Yurik’s Life Points: 100 -> 800

“Now then,” resumed Yurik, “I now activate the effect of Twilight Alicorn, special summoning two monsters from my pendulum zones! Go! Summon Shine!”

Twilight Alicorn’s horn charged up and covered its magic aura around the two unicorns on the side of Yurik’s field. Then in an instant, both monsters disappeared from the field and reappeared next to Twilight Alicorn and Armored Pony.

Unioncorn of Fire
ATK: 1600
Lvl.: 4

Unioncorn of Water
ATK: 1500
Lvl.: 4

“Here it comes,” Donald said. “Perhaps this kid really has some brass after all.”

With his field all set, Yurik pointed his finger to the ceiling.

“I overlay my level 4 Unioncorn of Fire and Unioncorn of Water!” he declared.

Both of Yurik’s monsters transformed into a red and a blue aura and spiraled around Yurik in a seemingly joyful manner before spreading out in their ascent.

“With these two monsters,” he said as the two auras sped into a red vortex that had appeared before him on the field, “I construct the overlay network! Xyz summon!”

The portal burst open with Yurik’s red Unioncorn with the mane-tail, and wings made of vapor flying out from it, two light orbs circling about it.

“Let’s win,” called Yurik, “Allicorn of Steam!”

The monster landed beside Twilight Alicorn, a warm, wet puff skating across the floor of the field.

Allicorn of Steam
ATK: 1900
Rnk.: 4

“I now activate the effect of Armored Pony,” he went on, “equipping it to a monster I control and having it gain 300 ATK! The monster I choose is my Twilight Alicorn!”

Armored Pony burst away in a flash of light, leaving its armor floating where its bearer had originally stood, now with a hole for the horn and two on the side for the wings. The armor lifted itself over the targeted monster and fit itself upon the lavender alicorn, giving her a much needed boost of strength.

ATK: 2500 -> 2800

“Amazing!” Fluttershy gasped. “Now its ATK is equal to her mantis’s.”

“We’re about to see a real battle of the aces,” commented Pinkie Pie loudly and cheerfully, “and they have strength in spades!”

“Not quite,” Walt said, confusing the two ponies.

“Finally,” cried Yurik, “I activate the effect of Allicorn of Steam!”

Reaching for his xyz monster, he removed a single card from underneath it and placed it in his graveyard. One of the lights orbiting the alicorn melded with its horn, making its tip leak with water.

“By detaching one xyz material from this card,” he explained, “I can target one monster the opponent controls and halve its ATK, and then increase the opponent’s life points by that same amount, and the monster I choose is Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord!”

Allicorn of Steam pointed its horn at Alice’s monster, producing a strong blast of vapor at Cao Cao, its shrill screams indicating its agony.

ATK: 2800 -> 1400

The steam rolled on, blowing onto Alice and providing a relaxing and warm feel on her skin.

Alice’s Life Points: 100 -> 1500

Once the steam faded away, Alice’s growled as she watched her Super Swarm – Rise of Insects card begin to glow brightly before bursting with an electronic shatter. The onlookers were all shocked at what they had seen.

“Her card just exploded?” Pinkie Pie asked. “That can just happen now? This game must be really hard!”

“It’s no coincidence,” said Yurik with a surefire smirk. “Super Swarm is a very powerful card, but it has one major drawback. If that card is still active when the controller’s life points are above 500, then the card destroys itself.”

“No way!” Marcus sighed. “He figured that out all on his own!”

Spike examined the field, specifically the weakened Cao Cao, the strengthened Twilight Alicorn, and their ATKs.

“Wait a minute,” Spike said. “Why didn’t Yurik use that Allicorn’s effect on her botfly monster? With Twilight Alicorn’s ATK and half of 2600, which is 1300, that should have been enough to wipe out Alice’s life points. At this rate, Alice will still have enough life points at the end of the turn!”

“No, Spike!” Pinkie Pie chirped, wrapping her arm around the dragon’s neck and pulling her close. “Don’t you remember?”

Spike looked to the field to find what Pinkie Pie was referring to.

“Now, Twilight Alicorn,” ordered Yurik, “attack Botfly of Blight! Bright Burst Magic!”

Twilight Alicorn launched a magic beam at Alice’s botfly, making it blow up on contact. The resulting smoke and flames blew into Alice, but they didn’t seem to affect her at all.

“Huh?” Spike wondered. “I don’t understand! Why didn’t Alice take any damage…”

Suddenly, he remembered Alice’s statement when she first attacked with it.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“When Botfly of Blight battles, all battle damage I take involving it is reduced to 0!”
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“That’s right!” he finally realized. “If he used the effect on that botfly and attacked it, Alice wouldn’t have taken any damage and she still would have been safe!”

“Not only that,” added Walt, “but she’d still have Cao Cao with her. It will be a slower win, but now its Yurik that has Alice in a bind. It seems Yurik finally has his head in the game.”

“That’s awesome! Go, Yurik!”

Spike’s cheering encouraged the roots and applause of Walt, Mary, and the ponies as Yurik’s spirit was fully restored.

“Now, it’s your turn!” Yurik yelled. “Allicorn of Steam, attack Cao Cao, the Mantis Warlord! Boiler Bomb!”

Steam swirled about the alicorn’s horn until it formed a sizable sphere at its tip. With a thrust of its head, the ball was hurled at Cao Cao’s chest. Upon striking it, the steam spread over the insect’s body like wildfire before it blew up. The excess steam struck Alice hard and pushed her back several feet before coming to a stop.

Alice’s Life Points: 1500 -> 1000

Alice whipped her arms down, trying to shake off the burning sensation she felt on her body now. Yurik panted as he saw Larva Queen Ant as the sole monster on the field.

Now, planned Yurik, it’s just a matter of whittling her away. I just have to keep enough monsters on the field to wipe her monsters out and the Egg Token that will come after Larva Queen’s destruction and then make a direct attack. If I can do that next turn, I’ll win.

With this scenario comforting him, Yurik stood up straight with a smile.

“I end my turn,” he finished.

Status: Hand: 0 Life: 800 Monsters: 2 Pendulum Cards: 0 Pendulum Scale: – Spells/Traps: 1

The room was silent as everyone inside could now grasp how quickly the tables had turned. Yurik held his breath as he took in the chilling and deafening quiet. Alice stood herself up straight and let out a relaxed chuckle.

“Welcome back, Yurik,” she said.

“It’s great to be back,” he responded. “Too bad for those dummy mistakes of mine; I actually would have beaten you.”

“But you came back, and you came back well. I’m pretty stuck now as you can tell.”

“If you draw a monster, I’d think you’d be in decent shape.”

“You think so? That’s some strange wishful thinking for someone who’s looking to win.”

“Who says I want you to win? I’m just trying to plan how I’m going to defeat you once and for all.”

“Well, you can figure that out at the end of this turn!”

Yurik prepared himself, wondering what could be coming from Alice.

“My turn!” she shouted. “Draw!”

Alice’s Millionpede glowed once again.

“During my standby phase,” reminded Alice, “Millionpede’s pendulum scale increases by 1!”

The coiled insect grew even longer, forming an even bigger ball.

Pendulum Scale: 2 -> 3

The onlookers leaned in, completely drawn by the tension that mounted with each passing second that something was not done. Alice finally looked to her card, and Yurik could see as disappointment filled her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Yurik,” she finally said.

“What?” Yurik questioned.

“I summon Bomb Beetle!” she cried, throwing the monster onto her monster zone.

A blue portal opened beside Larva Queen Ant, and from it, Alice’s black dung beetle with the short-fused bomb popped out from it and onto the field.

Bomb Beetle
ATK: 1100
Lvl.: 2

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Walt gasped loudly at the monster Alice managed to summon. Yurik stumbled back, overwhelmed by the finality of Alice’s move.

“No,” he sighed exhaustedly. “There’s no way…”

Alice grit her teeth as she made the final move.

“I activate the effect of Bomb Beetle!” she shouted. “By tributing this attack position card, I can have all players lose life points equal to its ATK!”

“That’s crazy!” exclaimed Spike. “Yurik can just use Twilight Alicorn’s effect to protect himself!”

“Losing life points and effect damage are two different things,” Walt hissed. “There’s no way Yurik’s getting out of this.”

“But that means…”

“It’s a draw,” growled Yurik.

Bomb Beetle rolled its weapon to the center of the field by pushing it with its legs. Once it reached its destination, the insect put its legs over the top of the fuse and rubbed together, providing the spark that burned the string towards the center of the bomb.

The resulting massive explosion threw both Alice and Yurik back of their feet screaming. Both of them landed and slid on their backs away from their field and monsters. Once they eventually stopped, the two struggled to stand to their feet, weakened significantly by the final blow.

Yurik’s Life Points: 800 -> 0

Alice’s Life Points: 1000 -> 0

The duel ends in a draw.

The ponies and Spike moaned concernedly as Yurik got up and watched the monsters fade away from the field. Yurik leaned over and supported himself with his hands on his knees, panting and wheezing himself back up.

“Yurik,” Alice said, standing up herself, “I’m so sorry about that. My life points went to 0, so you can say that you beat me.”

“Don’t bother trying to pep talk me,” Yurik growled, shocking Walt and Applejack. “I had a perfect opportunity to beat you back then and I blew it. You were right. I let me fear dictate my dueling, and now we’ve ended in a draw because of it.”

Alice stood still and blinked, her eyes opening wider each time.

“I’m not going to let that happen when I duel Keifer,” he declared. “Once he comes for us again, I’m going to drive that son of a bitch into the ground.”

Alice slowly morphed her mouth into a smile, happy for Yurik’s restored drive. Walt stepped forwards and alerted Yurik, having both him and Alice turn to him.

“And we’ll be there to help,” Walt responded. “If he wants to take the rest of them, they can do it over our dead bodies.”

Mary stepped forwards next, taking Walt’s side.

“And I’ll be there too,” she promised. “I don’t care how strong we think he is, I don’t let my friends get pushed around like that!”

“And we’ll join you,” Marcus said as he and Donald joined the two of them. “We’ll give him a fight he won’t care to remember.”

“But a fight he won’t dare forget,” Donald added.

The ponies and Spike stepped towards and joined the group.

“We won’t let you fight alone, Yurik,” said Alice as she walked up to them. “We’ve always been by your side, and we always will.”

Yurik, gladdened by the words and company of his friends, sighed peacefully and closed his eyes.

“Then it’s settled,” he whispered. “Tonight, Keifer’s going down. And Twilight and the rest of her friends are going back home.”

Yurik looked reflectively at the ceiling, almost as if he was able to see Twilight and her prison, and the satisfaction of breaking her out of it.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

“So,” confirmed Kieran, “it’s settled?”

“Yes, Kieran,” responded Orpheus’s voice on the line. “I think I got the gist. Never dealt with dragons before.”

“But if he comes from Equestria, he has to have some extension of humanity in him. Be sure to work whatever angle you can to bring those ponies to us.”

“I’ll will.”

“Where do you think he’ll be?”

“Depends. I have a few ideas. Either way, once we finish this call, I’ll already be there.”

“I see. Best of luck to you… my friend.”

A loud rush of wind was heard on the other line before the call died out. Kieran leaned back in his chair and pondered to himself.

“Orpheus,” he muttered, “if there was ever a time for you not to fail me…”

Author's Note:

Featured Card:

Super Swarm – Rise of Insects
Continuous Spell Card

You can only activate this card if you control no cards and you have no other cards in your hand except for this one. When this card is activated: you can add 2 Insect-Type Pendulum Monsters from your deck to your hand. Once per turn: you can target up to 3 Insect-Type monsters in your Graveyard; add those targets to your hand. If your Life Points are 500 or more: destroy this card.