It's Time To Duel!

by DagaYemar

Turn 15: Dark Magic React vs. Crystal Clear

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Twilight asked once again, squeezing Fluttershy’s shoulder in a supportive way, “You were thrown hard enough to knock you out.”

Fluttershy shook her head. In her hand she held Ataxia and Discord, and she regarded them with a soft smile before slipping them into her pocket. “I’m fine. I’m more concerned with everything I missed. The last thing I can clearly remember was playing Ataxia. I guess I’m not as good as Celestia said I would be with it…”

“Better than this guy…” Joey said, giving the unconscious form of Bakura a small kick in the leg.

Applejack hunkered down next to the boy and appraised him critically. “What’s the deal with him? There a good reason he went all psycho on us?”

Pegasus stepped forward. “The boy was in the possession of a dark spirit for a long time. It was my understanding that Yugi-boy had driven the spirit out, but something may have caused its lingering shade to resurge.”

Fluttershy nodded as if she understood this cryptic explanation and looked around. “And the others? Where is Yugi, and Rarity and Rainbow Dash, for that matter?”

Before anyone could supply an answer, the entire building shook violently. Everyone was driven to their knees as the tremor rocked the rooftop. When it was over they all looked about warily, half expecting the tower to slowly topple over or something.

“What was that?!” Mai shouted, first to her feet and looking around for the source.

“Some kind of explosion, I think,” Pegasus said, holding a hand to his head as he rose, “It sounded like it came from somewhere in the building.”

Twilight rushed over to the railing and leaned over to get a good look at the castle. “I don’t see any damage, no smoke or shattered windows.”

“Could it have been someone duelin’?” Applejack asked.

Twilight frowned. “There aren’t many cards that can produce an explosion of that size, but it is possible. Spike has a trap in his deck that could do it, for example, though he hardly ever can meet the requirements to use it…”

Mai scoffed at the idea. “How could a duel have caused the building to shake like that? I know there’s some feedback when you duel, but they’re still holograms!”

“Unless,” Pegasus said thoughtfully, “Unless there was Shadow magic involved…”

Everyone glanced towards the still form of Bakura and it hit them just how many of their number were still unaccounted for somewhere in the castle. As one they rushed to the door off the rooftop.

“I will begin!” Yugi declared, drawing a card and immediately placing it on his field. “I summon the Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode!”

The ground shook and split as a towering figure rose up from the fissure. The golem silently got down into a kneeling position and crossed its mighty arms across its chest. Even on its knees it loomed over both duelists, forming an imposing wall between them.

“Be careful, Yugi!” Rainbow shouted, clenching her fist in anger. “That guy’s deck is full of machines that can blow apart any card you play, and he’s got crazy luck!”

“Thanks, but I think this duel might be a little different than the last one.” Yugi said, staring intently at his opponent. Confused, Rainbow followed where he was looking and squinted in confusion.

The dark smog-like energy wrapping Keith’s body had formed a ball around his duel disk, slowly shrinking until they covered his deck like a second skin. Still moving like a puppet, Keith drew these black cards and held them before his face. The glowing eyes flared and pulsed sickly, denying even the most human expression to reveal whether it was pleased with its hand.

The Pharaoh grit his teeth and shouted in a commanding tone as Keith pulled one card out from the others. “Reveal your name to me, spirit. I would know the name of who I’m fighting!”

Keith paused, and the smoke thickened about the eyes. “Sombra… and you… will be mine…”

The field spell slot popped open and the black card slipped in. “Clear… World…”

A low mist spread across the ground and up from it rose a perfect prism, as tall as either duelist. It rose into the air and suddenly burst into brilliant light, dispelling the mist and temporarily blinding Yugi. Blinking his eyes clear he saw that the floor had become glassy and the ceiling had faded away into a pale blue expanse.

There was a cry behind him and Yugi spun around to find a clear wall was pushing the others away from him. Rainbow Dash strained against the wall, which for some reason had a physical presence, but it pushed her back relentlessly. Rarity and Spike, still supporting a woozy Celestia, had to hurry to avoid being squished against the railing and getting pushed over. It finally stopped growing, leaving the two of them locked in a mostly empty glass-like room.

“Are you alright?” Yugi called to them.

“We’re fine,” Rainbow responded, her voice muffled by the barrier. She struck the wall and produced only a slightly ringing thud. “But you should watch out for yourself! Look, he’s playing something else!”

Yugi spun around, but Sombra was already continuing on. “Clear Cataclysm…” he said, his voice sounding stronger in this space of his creation. His new spell card appeared next to him and floated on the field, apparently doing nothing.

“So what do these cards do?” Yugi asked, glancing up at the giant floating crystal. It was almost perfectly see through, but it was reflecting some small amount of orange light for some reason.

Instead of answering, the red eyes narrowed slightly and leaked more green mist. “End turn…”

“No monsters, huh?” Yugi muttered, drawing his card for the turn.

“I don’t understand,” Rarity said, “These aren’t the cards he used against us. I have no idea how they work.”

“I do,” Celestia said, pushing herself away from her students and stepping closer to the barrier. “Yugi, is it? Listen to me, he used these Clear cards against me when he first took over my mind! They’re unique strategy turns your-”

“Enough!” Sombra said in a commanding tone and Keith’s free hand shot up and pointed directly at the spectators. A wave of light washed over the barrier and when it passed Yugi could only see his reflection in it. A few soft thumps as his friends beat on the barrier were the only indication that there was anyone on the other side of it.

“Now… it’s just us in here…” Sombra hissed, letting Keith’s arm drop back to his side.

Too bad for him, you’re never alone, the real Yugi said, materializing next to the Pharaoh’s shoulder. Together, we can beat this guy easily!

The Pharaoh gave his partner a smile of agreement and returned to the duel. “First, I’ll-”

“Ah… ah… ah…” Sombra growled condescendingly, as orange light started to play over the field. Yugi glanced up in confusion and saw that the crystal was spinning a bit, sending light patterns scurrying over the field. Then a crackling sound caught his attention and he gasped.

Orange crystals were growing all over his golem’s body. Within seconds the monster was incapable of moving anymore as the small growths sprouted over every inch of its body. Once it was completely hidden from view the entire pile flashed with an inner light before shattering with a clear ringing tone. There was no sign of the stone monster amongst the pieces of crystal that rained down.

“What happened to my soldier?!” Yugi demanded, but the only reply he received was laughter.

It must have been that field spell, his partner said, looking up at the crystal above them. The orange light from its depths was absent now. I bet it has the power to destroy a monster each turn. That must be why he didn’t play any!

Maybe… the Pharaoh thought, before continuing his turn. “Let’s see what happens when I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior in attack mode!”

A yellow ball appeared on his field, unfolding itself to reveal a weird creature with large magnets coming out of its head and hands. Above them the orange light returned to the depths of the crystal and Yugi looked at it in triumph.

“So your spell is reacting when I have a monster,” he said, thrusting his finger out dramatically, “But I doubt it will destroy my monster before it can attack! Go Beta, strike him directly!”

His monster leapt to obey, but Sombra was already playing a card from his hand. “Battle Fader…”

A monster that looked like nothing more than an evil spirit crossed with a pendulum clock appeared on Sombra’s field in Beta’s path. The fiend swung its arm around in an arc and the bell on the end let out a sonorous ring that echoed around the perfect acoustic walls of the glass room. Beta froze in the face of that sound and slowly drifted back to Yugi’s side. Above them, a purple light joined the orange one in the depths of the crystal.

Yugi grunted and waved his hand palm up in his opponent’s direction. “So you managed to save yourself, and got material for a tribute out of it too. I’ll acknowledge your skills as a duelist, so how about telling me what your goal in coming here is?”

Sombra was silent long enough that Yugi wasn’t sure he was going to get an answer, but then the spirit pulsed and rose a bit off Keith’s shoulders. “Gods…”

“Gods?” Yugi asked, taken aback by the response.

“Gods!” Sombra cried, his voice stronger and clearer than ever. “This form I am reduced to… it barely has any of the power I once commanded… When I possess my slaves, my power is divided, until it is spread too thin… This paltry display I command now is only possible because this puppet is the only slave I have left…

“But the god cards have limitless power! If I could just tap that power… I could become Legion!”

Yugi slashed his palm in denial. “If the god cards were your goal, why did you not then come at me from the beginning? Why involve innocents in your schemes?”

Sombra flared in anger, his glowing eyes contracting to slits. “I do not need the god cards… They only respond to certain duelists in that form, and are useless to me… But if I could find out how they were infused with power, I could make my own… I could infuse Clear World with their power… Make myself a body of my own once more…”

“I doubt such a thing is even possible,” Yugi said confidently, picking a card out of his hand. “The Gods can’t simply be copied that easily. But you’ll never find out how flawed you plan is, since I will stop you right here and now! I’ll play one card face down and end my turn.”

Across from him, Sombra made no move to draw a card from his deck. Instead his eerie laughter echoed around the room as he held up Keith’s arm towards his other spell. “Clear Cataclysm activates…”

A large crystal growth suddenly sprouted out of the ground next to Yugi. It quickly rose to the height of a man, the pillar smooth all the way to the top with bursts of smaller crystals around its base.

“What is this?” Yugi asked, looking down at his duel disk. A thin layer of crystal had grown over one of his monster card zones, rendering the spot completely unusable. Is he trying to seal my field?!

But Sombra was not done. “One face down… and Scroll of Bewitchment…”

The spell rose out of the ground and its face burst into light. From the center of that light a scroll unfurled and soared across the field, wrapping itself around Yugi’s monster several times. The paper’s blank face bled ink all along its length, writing the symbol for fire over and over again while Beta’s skin took on a reddish hue.

“What was the point of that? All that does is transform one monster’s attribute to a different type!” Yugi demanded, but its speech earlier seemed to have tired the spirit out. It lay thickly about Keith’s head and shoulders like a mantle, mocking Yugi with his silence.

The Pharaoh drew and looked at his bound monster, waiting for crystals to sprout and destroy it. So he was taken completely by surprise when flames engulfed his body in a furious inferno, and he screamed in pain.

Are you alright? his spectral partner asked, somehow helping him to his feet. Why did that happen?

I think I know. Look up! The Pharaoh responded, and the two of them stared up at the center of Clear World. Purple and red lights glowed inside it, the orange one having vanished at some point during the last turn.

“I believe I have a grasp of Clear World now,” Yugi said, confidence slipping into his voice as he spoke, “It is reacting to the different attributes of our monsters and providing different effects. My Giant Solder of Stone was an earth type, which must have been why he was destroyed. But thanks to your scroll, you turned Beta into a fire type, so I took damage instead!”

“Clever…” Sombra chuckled, and he suddenly thrust out Keith’s hand at his trap. “Nightmare Archfiends…”

His strange fiend contorted in agony as green flames licked over its body and reduced the monster to ash. But rather than dying out the flames only burned brighter, shooting up into the sky in the form of three comets. They soured around wildly for a little while before coming to a rest in a row next to Yugi. From their cores grew bodies of pitch black imps, which cavorted in the flames still licking their skin.

“Two thousand attack points each?!” Yugi said, consulting his duel disk in surprise, “Why would you give me such powerful monsters?”

Sombra pulled Keith’s head back and laughter echoed off the crystals. Black smog poured off his shoulders like a second cloak, and his voice seemed to grow stronger still.

Thanks to that crystal and these imps, my field is completely filled, Yugi thought. He tilted his head slightly and smirked. “I suppose it would be rude not to put your thoughtful gift to good use. I’ll attack you directly with my four monsters!”

The three imps cackled and scampered in place, occasionally tossing small green fireballs at each other. Beside them floated Beta, holding its magnet hands up in a ready stance. After a while it became apparent to Yugi that they weren’t going to be responding to his command any time soon.

“What?!” he demanded, “What’s wrong?”

Could this be Clear World again? Yugi said. The two of them looked up at the floating crystal as the purple light coincidentally played over them at that moment.

“So having dark monsters means that you become unable to attack?” the Pharaoh said, looking back down at his deck as Sombra’s mocking laugh once again rolled over him, “That’s going to be a real problem for us… most of the monsters in my deck are dark.

“But that’s a problem I’ll have to deal with later. First I’ll place this card face down, and I’ll protect my life points from further damage by sacrificing Beta for Dark Magician Girl!”

His magnet warrior vanished to be replaced by a young witch. It floated lightly down to the field, twirling its wand and shooting a wink in Yugi’s direction. Yugi gave her a nod in return and picked out one more card from his hand.

“Lastly, I’ll use Monster Reincarnation to return the Giant Soldier of Stone to my hand, at the cost of discarding another card. And that will end my turn.”

“Useless…” Sombra growled in response and lifted his borrowed arm. A pillar of crystal exploded out of the ground behind the magician, and a quick glance at his duel disk confirmed that the spirit had chosen to seal away one of his spell and trap card zones this time.

Yugi smiled and pointed his finger condescendingly at his opponent. “That’s an impressive card you’ve got there, but it appears to have quite a few weaknesses. It doesn’t seem like you can seal any zones that are in use, and you haven’t drawn a single card since you’ve played it. And with only one card remaining in your hand, I doubt this duel is going to last much longer!”

Sombra tilted to the side and chuckled at some private joke. “Is that what you think? Here’s my last card…”

Yugi’s eyes widened as the spell appeared as it was cast. “It can’t be! Card of Demise!”

“Yessss…” Sombra gloated as his hand was refreshed, drawing out the word with relish, “And now… Owner’s Seal…”

The three imps on Yugi’s field cackled gleefully and hopped about the field, eventually bouncing to a halt across the way by Sombra’s side.

“But why?” Yugi demanded, “I thought they couldn’t attack due to your spell. Why take them back?”

Sombra held up another card. “Because with this… Clear Coating removes their attribute!”

Starting at their feet, a crystal prism grew over each of the imps, sealing them inside. The imps slowly stopped capering as they were sealed and slumped, supported on nothing in the exact center of their prisms with blank expressions on their faces. The green fire licking their bodies died down to a bare flicker due to the lack of oxygen.

Sombra’s smoky form swelled as he eagerly leaned forward. “Crystal slave… slay the girl!”

One of the encased imps shot forward like a stone from a sling, but Yugi was prepared. “I activate my face down card, Magical Hats!”

His card flipped up and shimmered into the form of a giant top hat which floated quickly into the air. The hat dropped down over the Magician Girl, completely covering it, and suddenly split into four hats. The hats shuffled themselves in a fast blurring fashion before settling to a halt. The crystallized imp shot through the hat second to the right and blasted out the other side, but there was no satisfying shattering of duel shards as the hat simply faded away.

Yugi smirked and gestured at his remaining hats. “Too bad. I’ve hidden my Dark Magician Girl under only one of these hats and you wasted your attack destroying an empty one. Want to give it another shot? Only a one in three chance of getting it right this time!”

“Wrong… two in three…” Sombra growled, and both of his remaining crystal monsters shot forward.

The gems burrowed holes through the hats in the middle and on the left, but they came out the other side with just as much to show for it as the first imp. The remaining hat’s top shimmered and burst open and the Magician Girl popped out, tipping a salute with a cheery wave of her hand.

“Looks like you’ve wasted your entire turn,” Yugi mocked, crossing his arms and grinning in a satisfied way. Keith’s fists clenched and trembled for a few seconds, but then all the tension seemed to drain out from his body.

“If that’s is how you see it…” Sombra hummed mysteriously. He placed one more card from his hand face down on the field and rocked back, clearly waiting for Yugi to take his turn.

Yugi drew and smiled as he reviewed what he’d gotten. “Even though your fiends are no longer on my field, my Dark Magician Girl remains a dark type, sealing my attack phase. So the first step is to clear my field and I shall do so with this, Monster Recovery!”

The spell card appeared on his field and a vortex of wind appeared centered on its face. His spellcaster floated backwards into the card and the whole thing vanished with a flash. Yugi picked up her card and placed it, along with the rest of his hand, on top of his deck. The duel disk’s auto-shuffler kicked in, and when it stopped he drew a new hand of five cards.

“Let’s see, I’ll start by placing this card face down, and then I’ll activate Monster Reborn to bring Queen’s Knight back to life!”

A pillar of light shot up from the ground and a woman bedecked in armor rose up from it. She brandished her sword and awaited the order to put it to use.

“When did you lose that monster…” Sombra growled.

Yugi smirked and held up his disk for emphasis. “When I used Monster Reincarnation, of course. Next I’ll… wait, what’s this?!”

His hand suddenly burst out into bright light and a trio of holograms rose up from them, growing in size until three large cards floated above Yugi’s head. The three cards were exactly identical to the ones left in his hand, showing for all to see that he was holding King’s Knight, Polymerization, and The Winged Dragon of Ra.

Look there! Yugi shouted, pointing over the Pharaoh’s shoulder at the floating crystal. The two of them quickly saw the bright yellow gleam shining out from its depths and realized what it meant.

“So having a light monster reveals my hand to you?” Yugi asked, not expecting a reply and unsurprised when one wasn’t given. “Well, that’s not as bad as it might have been. All that means is that you know what moves I’m about to make to swing this duel in my favor! For my normal summon I bring out King’s Knight, and his special ability will summon Jack’s Knight straight from my deck!”

A second, much older knight appeared next to the first, this one wearing armor of brightest orange to contrast with the Queen’s polished red. The two crossed their swords high in the air and a bright light shone from where the blades met. When the flare died away it revealed a third sword joined with the others, held aloft by another knight. This knight was taller than the others and its armor was a radiant blue.

Sombra lifted Keith’s arms in a shrug and laughed. “Your monsters are weak, none of them a match for my slaves… Are you going to summon your god now?”

Yugi shook his head and gestured to his other card. “There’s no need to summon a god right now. Instead, I’ll just fuse my three Knight together to summon the mightiest warrior of all, Arcana Knight Joker!”

His three knight twisted and swirled together under the power of his spell, which burst apart in a wash of light when it was finished. The resultant monster wore armor of the finest violet and gold plate and it easily gripped a shining sword nearly five feet long in one hand. The knight lifted the blade and set into a ready stance, prepared to receive its first orders.

“Arcana Knight!” Yugi shouted, slashing his hand dramatically, “Show Sombra your power! Imperial Sword Strike!”

Joker gave a cry of approval and leapt forward, its sword raised high. Yugi half expected his opponent to stop his attack once again somehow, but Sombra stood silent and the knight closed the distance. It swung in an arc so fast it passed through the crystal prison of one of the imps completely without apparent effect. Then a shimmering line bisected the monster straight through the middle and the upper half started to slide away from the bottom.

“Yes!” Spike shouted, pumping his fist in excitement. “He finally broke through his defenses!”

He was about to say more, but was cut off by a loud thump as Rainbow Dash charged past him and slammed her shoulder into the wall for the umpteenth time. She rebounded off and tumbled back, barely keeping on her feet and clutching at her shoulder. “Ow…”

“Oh, give it a rest, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity sniffed in annoyance, “It didn’t work the first time you tried, what made you think you could break it down this time?”

“Well, he was distracted this time,” Rainbow said defensively, rubbing the soreness from her shoulder, “Anything is better than sitting here uselessly, unable to help.”

“GIRLS!”

The four of them turned at the shout and broke into their own cried of happiness as their friends appeared around the corner, followed by Joey, Mai, and Pegasus. The two groups rushed together and there was a brief exchange of hugs and clasped hands.

“Spike, what are you doing here?!” Twilight asked, giving the young boy a concerned once over for signs of injury or trouble.

“We came to warm you!” Spike said, “Luna and me, we brought the Element cards, but they got lost!”

“Luna? And the Element cards?” Twilight shook her head and focused on him more fully, “Wait, warn us about what?”

“Well, about that!” Spike said, gesturing behind him. The field spell had completely sealed off the entire corridor from end to end, but everyone could see the duel that was transpiring within.

“Who’s that dueling Yug?” Joey asked, rushing forward to support his friend. Unfortunately the barrier was just as solid for him as it was for Rainbow Dash, and he rebounded off the clear wall face first and landed flat on his backside. He held a hand to his face in surprise as it flushed red from the blow.

Rarity helped him to his feet and instinctively brushed dust off his back. “That’s Sombra.”

“Sombra?!” Twilight started, “But we’ve already defeated him!”

“It seems he can possess people now,” Celestia said, putting a hand on her student’s shoulder, “He came to this island inside of me, but he was apparently already possessing several men as well, waiting for this opportunity. Right now he’s trapped Yugi in a duel and there’s nothing we can do to help him.”

A sudden flare of green light dragged everyone’s attention back to the duel in progress. The top of the crystal Yugi’s knight split had shifted enough for air to get inside and the emerald flames licking the imprisoned imp’s body exploded as if they were starved of air. The eruption consumed the imp and its prison before rushing back and covering Sombra’s puppet. Keith almost seemed to come back to himself as he shrieked and beat at the flames.

“Doesn’t seem like he needs any of our help,” Applejack said with an appreciative whistle, tilting her hat back, “He’s got this guy dancin’ on the ropes as is.”

But Celestia was already shaking her head. “No, he used these same tactics when he dueled me, and this is just how it looked right before he crushed my Supremacy Sun like a tin can.”

…

“I wasn’t expecting your imps to have such an explosive weakness,” Yugi said as the fires died finally died down enough for his opponent to stop flailing, “It seems like this duel will be over sooner than I thought. Those things won’t even be able to properly protect you from my attacks!”

Sombra grunted and thrust Keith’s arm out savagely. A crystal burst out of the ground on the other side of his knight, flanking it between the other one. There was also a large crystal on his field now, marking the place where his imp had perished. Sombra held up his cards and slowly drew one of them out and held it up reverently.

“I sacrifice my slaves…” he purred, taking great pleasure in his imminent victory, “To summon the Clear Vice Dragon…”

His two remaining imps tilted into each other and their crystal prisons melded together like jelly. The contortions of the various fractured sides of the crystals as they merged and grew hid the imps from sight, but they appeared to be faring no better than the crystal. Suddenly the gem expanded into a large many-sided sphere with a black mass trapped within. The mass slowly unfolded, great black wings and thick block-like arms peeling off a body covered in flat plates of armor. The dragon’s eyes glowed a malevolent green as it hung suspended as its tributes had. A pair of crystal towers burst out of the ground on either side of it as two more of Sombra's monster zones were consumed by his own powers.

“So you’ve finally decided to summon a monster,” Yugi said, then did a double take as he looked closer, “But it doesn’t have a single attack or defense point!”

Sombra’s laughter echoed stronger than ever as his smoky form flowed forward, eager to watch the Pharaoh’s last moments. “Your strength… becomes my strength… Eat him, my slave!”

The dragon raised its arms and a flash of light washed over the crystal surrounding it, leaving Yugi’s knight perfectly reflected in it like glass. Power swam through the crystal, drawn to the dragon like iron fillings as its attack power shot to the sky.

Yugi blinked in disbelief at what his duel disk was telling him. “Its attack points just leapt to seventy-six hundred! That’s twice the power of Joker!”

It slowly brought its arms together and grasped the reflection in its talons. The knight gasped in pain as its arms were squashed to its sides as if the dragon were holding it instead of just its image. It was lifted into the air as the dragon pulled its reflection up to its head and spread its jaws wide.

“I won’t allow it! Spellbinding Circle!” Yugi shouted, activation one of his traps.

A magic circle made of bright emerald light appeared around Sombra’s monster, piercing through the hard outer shell to reach the dragon within. It screeched in surprise and lost its hold on the reflection, causing the knight outside to fall back to the ground. The dragon thrashed, but it couldn’t throw off the circle.

“What have you done?!” Sombra roared, his smog billowing out like a chimney stack on an overworked train.

Yugi slashed his hand for emphasis. “I’ve sealed your monster in a magic circle that will stop it from attacking or switching to defense mode. Your ace monster is grounded!”

Sombra flared up almost completely off Keith’s shoulders into the air and thrashed about, growling like an animal. Below, Keith groaned and lifted a hand to his forehead. Sombra’s glowing eyes snapped back down at the sound and he flowed back over him instantly. Keith’s grunts ceased as Sombra regained control over his puppet. He was silent for a while, but when he spoke again he had regained control over his temper.

“No matter… I can still take my time taking you apart…” he took the last card from his hand and played it, “Another Card of Demise…”

He keeps refilling his hand! The real Yugi said as Sombra drew five more cards. It’s as if that Clear Cataclysm has no downside for him at all!

“One more card face down… and now struggle for all you’re worth…” Sombra commanded, settling down and going perfectly still.

Yugi drew and considered his options. Clear World shone a light down on his hand and a new hologram rose up, revealing he had drawn a De-Fusion.

Arcana Knight Joker’s special ability allows him to negate any card by discarding a card of the same type, the Pharaoh thought, so right now I’m safe from monster effects and spells. But I’ll bet every last life point I have that one of those face down is a trap card. Should I defuse Arcana Knight Joker to summon Ra?

He glanced up at Sombra’s gently flowing form and shook his head. No, thanks to his field spell he’s known about my god card for a while now and he isn’t scared of it at all. One of those must be a way to counter even a god. Better to test him out rather than risk giving him exactly what he wants.

“Go, Joker!” Yugi shouted, “End this duel by splitting his Clear Vice Dragon in half!”

His knight leapt to obey, but Sombra was ready for it. “Attribute Chameleon… fill it with darkness…” he declared as his trap card flipped up. Dark light poured out from the card face and played over the knight, as black lines appeared crisscrossing its armor and bared skin. The giant floating crystal pulsed with purple light and Joker froze where it stood, its blade mere inches from cutting into crystal. It strained, sweat breaking out all over its arms and face, but it eventually succumbed to the inevitable and let its sword fall.

“So you can change my monster’s attribute on a whim now,” Yugi said through grit teeth as he noted that Attribute Chameleon wasn’t fading away. That means I have to use this now or Clear Cataclysm will seal too many monster zones! “I activate De-Fusion and split Joker back into my three knights!”

Sombra leaned forward in anticipation as Yugi’s knight dissolved into three, but Yugi merely crossed his arms. “And I think that will do it for my turn.”

The dark spirit hissed in a breath and growled. “Coward…” he spat, thrusting out its hand in Yugi’s direction. Another pillar of crystal burst from the ground in the back row, sealing away a spell and trap zone.

“Scroll of Bewitchment… set the girl aflame,” Sombra commanded, and reams of paper wrapped around Queen’s Knight, turning her armor to an even brighter red. “Another card face down… now suffer…”

Yugi drew and prepared himself for the pain he knew was coming as the crystal above played harsh red light upon him. Despite that the fire still caused him to cry out as he was engulfed.

Yugi gasped and rose shakily to his feet. Above him there already was a hologram of the Dark Magician he’d drawn, but Sombra was already making his move before the Pharaoh had straightened.

“Create a dark King…” Sombra growled, activating his trap once more, “And another Attribute Chameleon, to fill the Jack with water…”

Black lines crawled like living things over the King’s armor, and its face grew drawn and evil looking as its eyes filled completely with darkness. Similar blue lines wrapped themselves around his remaining knight, and it’s armor grew damp with dew. Lacking a light monster, the pair of holograms representing Yugi’s hand faded away, but not before he noticed a blue aura had wrapped around the cards in his hand. It didn’t take looking up at the blue light streaming from Clear Work along with the red and purple ones to guess what that meant.

Sombra’s laughter echoed around the room as if from dozens of throats. “Your attacks are blocked… Your hand will soon be discarded… Your life points burn away… You have no options left… Summon the God!”

Yugi smiled and tsked a finger at him. “You shouldn’t be so obvious about it. Now I know for sure that despite what you claimed, you do want my God cards.”

Sombra shrugged Keith’s shoulders. “My trap is hungry… perhaps your God can overcome it… want to try…?” Magical power rippled the air around the spirit, creating a pressure Yugi could feel even from all the way across the field.

The Pharaoh chuckled and shook his head. “I think not. I’m not fool enough to be led along on your game.”

Glowing eyes growing narrower, Sombra’s voice somehow took on even more menace. “Then you will die… There are no other moves left…”

Yugi smirked and pointed down at his last face down card. “It seems you’ve overlooked this! I activate Royal Straight and summon the Royal Straight Slasher!”

A circle of light appeared at the feet of his knights, shooting up into the sky where they met. That point of light descended to the ground and a sword suddenly slashed through it, scattering the light like raindrops. A new knight dressing in fine turquoise armor stood ready on the field, holding a giant curved sword easily in one hand.

Sombra roared like a cornered lion and angrily pointed at his last trap. “You… FOOL!!! Forcing me to waste Clear Prism Prison on that worthless knight…”

A half dozen floating opaque crystals appeared around Yugi’s new monster. It looked around at them warily and barely got its arms up before the crystals surged forward, pressing it from all sides. The knight managed to catch two on its sword from the front, but its face showed the pain it felt from the others crushing it.

“Did you think my Slasher doesn’t have a special ability?” Yugi shouted, as his deck started to glow and eject cards, “By sending monsters from level one to five to the graveyard, he destroys every card you possess!”

He pulled the first card from his deck and slipped it into his graveyard. Instantly the spectral form of Kuriboh floated out of it and shot across the field. It gave the Slasher a pat on the shoulder before floating down to its sword and disappearing. The knight’s muscles flexed and it was able to push the crystals back a little bit.

“IMPOSSIBLE!!!!” Sombra roared, magic and smoke flowing off his body in waves.

The crystals pressed harder, responding to their master’s rage, but Slasher only grew stronger as Yugi added more spirits to its strength. Old Vindictive Magician went next, followed by Giant Soldier of Stone and Big Shield Gardna. By the time Yugi discarded the last card the knight didn’t seem to even need the help anymore, easily pushing back against the pylons. Its sword exploded into light as the spirit of Berfomet joined the others, and Slasher gave a great cry as it swung the blade with all its might.

The arc of energy was all anyone could see of the sword as it crossed horizontally through entire field. The floating crystals shattered first, and the slash took the tops off at the pillars on Yugi’s field. Sombra’s dragon roared as its protective layer was breached and the shining attack took it right through the middle. Cracks spread up the sides of Clear World, and bright beams of lights in all the colors of the rainbow shot out of the holes as pieces flaked off.

And then, with an earth-shaking crash, every crystal shattered and filled the air with glittering shards.

“Now,” Yugi shouted as the diamond rain surrounded everything, “Royal Straight Slasher, put an end to this duel!”

“GRRAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!” Sombra roared, and the rain of slivers were pushed aside as he cast every bit of magical power at his hated enemy. But Slasher’s sword still glowed with holy light and met the invisible force head on, diverting it to either side easily. The knight charged forward and cleaved right through Sombra’s smoky form with a single swing.

Sombra bellowed in pain and thrashed about, straining to escape the light tearing through his body like the spider-webbing cracks in a broken glass. With one final burst of power his body exploded, his own magical power back-lashing on him and scattering the fragments of his essence in every direction. Sombra’s howl of denial faded away to nothing, and then less than nothing. Freed of his influence, Bandit Keith collapsed face down and lay still on the floor.

Yugi sighed tiredly as his duel disk disengaged and turned around to the cheers of his friends.

It was some time later, and the two groups stood facing each other on the docks by Celestia’s yacht.

“Well, this certainly got out of hand,” Pegasus said with a laugh, offering his hand.

Celestia shook it with a smile. “We shouldn’t wait for one of us to be possessed by an evil spirit to see one another again.”

On her other shoulder, Luna gave a weak smile. She didn’t really need the support anymore, but her head was pounding like nothing else and she was glad for the contact. Spike had been overjoyed when they found her collapsed on the pier; tired, groggy, but otherwise unharmed.

“Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay for a while, my dear Celestia?” Pegasus asked. He politely didn’t say that they were worried that Sombra’s influence might still have a hold on the sisters. Bandit Keith and the Paradox brothers were safe back in the castle, still unconscious, and Pegasus was planning on keeping a careful eye on them while they recovered.

But Celestia was already shaking her head with a smile. “Thank you for your concern, but I still don’t know what Sombra did while he was in my mind. I will rest better when we get back home and I can be sure everything I left is safe.”

“Well I for one would rather stick around for a while!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, putting a thumb to her chest, “I hardly got to duel at all! I’ve plenty of energy left to take on a few more duels!”

“I think I will pass,” Bakura said softly, putting a hand to his chest as if it still pained him. He had come to pretty quickly, following the sound of the rest of the group to where they were celebrating in the hallways. He apparently didn’t have much memory of the tournament either, and was very apologetic for any harm his other side might have caused. “It was a pleasure meeting you all.”

Mai crossed her arms and looked away. “Yeah, you kids weren’t too bad.”

“Kids, huh?” Applejack muttered under her breath, and then brightened up. “Ya’ll were pretty good yourselves. We should do this again sometime.”

“Or now!” Pinkie practically shouted, snatching Twilight’s hand and pulling her forward as she grabbed Yugi’s wrist. “We still don’t have a winner yet!”

Yugi shrugged and gave Twilight a smile. “I suppose your friend won’t let the tournament end until we have a match.”

Twilight looked at her mentor, who nodded back. She turned back to the Duel King with a wide grin. “We don’t have to leave just yet.”

“Then shall we?” Yugi said, gesturing for her to stand back. Their friends spread out on the dock to give them plenty of room as the two of them squared off. They gave each other identical salutes and raised their duel disks as one.

“DUEL!”