//------------------------------// // Turn 9, Dark Melody // Story: Yugioh EQG: Shadow Gates // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Day two of the Celestic Cup tournament continues. After Twilight's victory over Comet Tail and his Meteor Black Dragon, the second match had pitted Photo Finish against Upper Crust with Photo being victorious. Now the third match was on, which had Time Turner face off against Sandalwood in the Action Field Great Forest. Time currently had his Chrono Fighter, which was currently Level nine, while Sandal's field only consisted of a Pendulum Monster named Mandragon in DEF mode. Time: 900 Sandalwood: 1100 "It's my turn," Time said, "I draw and my Chrono Fighter will now evolve into the Level ten form." His robotic knight glowed and evolved. (A4600/D3700/L10) "Next I'll activate my Stop Defence Spell card, to switch your Mandragon to ATK mode." Sandalwood gulped as his monster rose up. "Not Righteous." "Now attack!" Time said as his monster charged forwards and sliced the plant dragon to salad. Time: 900 (Winner) Sandalwood: 0 Celestia: And with that, Time Turner moves onto the next round. Luna: Poor Sandalwood will be going home early today. "To bad," Fluttershy said, "I liked that Sandalwood." "Yeah but Time was way to good," Flash said. "What'd you expect," Rainbow said, "he did beat me after all." "Another strong Duellist to watch out for," Twilight said. Celestia: Now it's time to see who'll be Duelling in our next match. She pressed the button and brought up the images, which all spun around hiding the Duellist. Seconds later they began randomly spinning, with one eventually shooting out and flipping around, revealing the first Duellist. Luna: Adagio Dazzle! "Wonder if she's as cowardly a Duellist as her sisters," Rarity said, "whoever she's Duelling needs to be careful." The second image shot out, revealing Adagio's opponent. Celestia: Rarity! Luna: Both Duellists please make there way down to the field. Everyone looked over at Rarity, concerned. "I've got this," Rarity said as she got up. "Good luck Rarity," Sweetie said, "you'll do great." "Thank you darling," Rarity said before heading down. Meanwhile Adagio had a big smirk on her face. "Oh I'm gonna enjoy this," she said as she turned to head down, only to see Shadow standing near one of the stadium corridors. "Don't underestimate her," he said, "your sisters made that mistake. You remember what happened to them don't you." Adagio's fists tightened. "Yes, but I won't lose." With that she headed down. Up in the main box, Cold frowned. So one of his lackeys was about to show him what they were made of. "Everything okay Cold?" Chrysalis asked him. "Of course," Cold replied, hiding his concern, "just wondering how this Duel will go." "My money's on Rarity," Shining said, "her Gem-Knights are powerful." "But Adagio did place third in the points," Cadance reminded him, "we have to admit its most likely she's a powerful Duellist." "Only one way to find out," Sunset said, "wait and watch." Celestia: It's time for the next Duel of the Celestic Cup's first round. Luna: Let's welcome our two contestants to the field. The singing sensation, Adagio Dazzle! Adagio stepped onto the stage, strutting towards the centre. Celestia: And her opponent. The diamond in the rough, Rarity. Rarity joined Adagio on the field, waving happily to the cheering fans. "Go get them Rarity!" Spike cheered. "Win this," Sweetie told her. "It shouldn't be a problem," Twilight said, "you've seen her style before so you know what to expect." "I've been looking forward to this," Adagio said once Rarity joined her and the ref. "Time to get you back for humiliating my sisters and me." "I defeated your sisters," Rarity said, "and now I'll defeat you. Adagio glared at her, obviously upset at the mention of her sisters. "Heads or tail?" The ref asked. "Tails," Adagio said. The ref nodded and flipped it, getting heads as a result. "Ms Rarity will take the first round." The two nodded and stepped off to a decent distance away from each other. Luna: Now let's see which Duel Field they'll be competing on. She held up the remote and pressed the button, a second later the floor glowed as it formed the Duel Field. "AUGMENTED REALITY COMBAT SYSTEM ENERGISED." In the blink of an eye, the two beauties were transported to a large long room made out of many different diamonds. There were also diamond windows and diamond columns. Celestia: Crystal Corridor! Luna: A beautiful place to Duel. Rarity marvelled at the action field, while Adagio just rolled her eyes. "Can we get on with this?" "Impatient to lose?" Rarity asked as she pulled out her Duel Disk. "You wish," Adagio replied as she did the same with a yellow disk with an orange blade. Celestia: It looks like our Duellists are ready. Luna: Then lets get this Duel on the way. Celestia: Three! Luna: TWO! Both: ONE!" "DUEL!" Rarity: 4000 Adagio: 4000 "ACTION CARD DISPERSED!" "I'm first," Rarity said as she went to her deck, "I draw!" She looked at her cards and nodded. "I'll start by setting the Pendulum Scale, with scale two Gem-Knight Opal and scale six Gem-Squire." She placed two cards on her Duel Disk as it lit up. One either side of her, two columns of light appeared as two monsters flew up into them. The first was a knight in white armour with multicoloured jewels embedded. The second was a shorter Gem-Knight in grey amour with dull stones embedded. The two monster stopped flying up as they reached ten feet in the air, before numbers appeared below them. They then looked up as a beam of light shot out of the jewels in their chest, connecting above her head and form the portal. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and shot out thee beams of light, which struck the ground and took shape. The first two in ATK mode while the last was in DEF. "Gem-Knight Tourmaline!" (A1600/D1800/L4) "Gem-Knight Garnet!" (A1900/D0/L4) "Gem-Knight Sapphire!" (A0/D2100/L4) "Not bad," Adagio said, "you've obviously been practising since the last time I saw you Duel." "You haven't seen anything yet," Rarity said, "because now I'm using Gem-Knight Opal's Pendulum Ability, which lets me Fusion Summon a Gem-Knight monster!" The gem in Opal's chest shot out a beam of light, which struck the area above Rarity's knight and creating a vortex that Tourmaline and Garnet were sucked into. "Brilliant warrior in armour of flames and the stone warrior in armour of lightning, come together as one" and portal exploded in light. "I FUSION SUMMON!" The light faded, revealing Rarity's monster. "Gem-Knight Topaz." (A1800/D1800/L6) "I'll end my turn with a face down," Rarity said. "I'm confused," Fluttershy said, "why'd she summon Topaz? She could of summoned a more powerful Monster with those three." "Yeah," Spike said, "Ruby, Prismaura or even Master Diamond. Why summon her weakest Fusion Monster?" "No," Twilight said, "this is a good stratagy. Remember, Adagio's stratagy involves stealing her opponent's best monsters. If Rarity summoned her more powerful cards and they were stolen, she'd have nothing to fight back with." "We beat her sisters using Super Polymerisation," Pinkie said, "but Rarity knows the odds of drawing that card's slim." "Pinkie's right," Flash said. He remembered when he Duelled Lyra, who used that stratagy on him, and how hard it'd been to fight back. "Rarity needs to be careful." "It's my turn," Adagio said as she went to her deck, "I draw and summon Alluring Vocalist in ATK mode." In a splash of water a blue tailed mermaid appeared with a microphone headset appeared. (A1000/D1000/L3) "Why summon a monster that can't even scratch mine?" Rarity wondered. "Next I play the Spell Grand Ballad," Adagio said as she discarded a card. "By discarding Alluring Melodist, I can increase the ATK of my Vocalist by half its ATK points." The ghostly form of a mermaid with a purple tail appeared besides Vocalist, before the two began singing in harmony. (A1900/D1000/L3) "What's more, when Alluring Melodist is sent from the hand to the grave, I can draw two cards." Adagio did just that, before looking over at Rarity. "ATTACK!" Alluring Vocalist let out a powerful sonic wave from its mouth, flying directly at Topaz. "Plus when Vocalist attacks, she gains a hundred ATK points for every Alluring monster in my graveyard." (A2000/D1000/L3) The sonic wave struck Topaz, destroying it and causing Rarity to be pushed back a few feet. Rarity: 3800 Adagio: 4000 "I activate my face down," Rarity said as she card flipped up to reveal a Trap, "Gem Re-Cutting. Since you destroyed Topaz I can add Gem-Knights to my hand with the combined level of six." She took three cards from her deck and added them to her hand. Celestia: Both sides are playing a strong game. But this is only the beginning. Luna: That's true. I wonder which Duellist will pull out the big guns first? "I'll end my first number with this face down," Adagio said as her monster's ATK points returned to normal. "She's good," Twilight said, "she's only just getting started and already she's managed to overpower Rarity." "No doubt trying to force her to summon her more powerful monsters," Flash said. "This Adagio girl seems to be keeping her best moves close to her chest," Chrysalis said, "while Ms Rarity's got it all on display." "No doubt hoping to surprise her opponent," Cold said, "we have to assume she has something planned." "I'm sure Rarity's prepared for whatever her opponent has for her," Cadance said, "she's faced this kind of opponent before." Shining Armor nodded. "Although for all we know, Adagio has a whole new style of Duelling. She might surprise Rarity." "We'll have to wait and see," Sunset said. "It's my turn," Rarity went to her deck, "I draw and activate Gem-Squire's Pendulum Ability. By discarding one card, I can take a Gem-Knight Pendulum Monster and place it in my Extra Deck." Her deck shuffled before slotting out one card, which she took and placed in the Extra Deck holder. "Next, since I sent Gem-Knight Obsidian to the graveyard from my hand, I can summon a Level four Normal Gem-Knight to my field." In a flash of light, Gem-Knight Garnet appeared. (A1900/D0/L4) Adagio frowned seeing this. "Now I'll once again carve the arc of victory," Rarity said as her Pendulum Monsters shot the beams from their jewels and formed the portal. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and two lights shot out, striking the ground and taking form. "Gem-Knight Lapis (A1200/D100/L3) The second was a lime green armoured knight with green jewels. "Gem-Knight Jade!" (A1800/D1100/L4/P4) "Next I summon Gem-Knight Lazuli in ATK mode." A young female knight with brown armour. (A600/D100/L1) "And now," Rarity said, "I'll use Gem-Knight Opal's Pendulum Ability to fuse her with Gem-Knight Lapis!" Once again her monster unleashed a beam from its gem, creating the vortex which the two were sucked into. "I FUSION SUMMON!" The vortex exploded, unleashing Rarity's new monster. It was a Gem-Knight with white skin and wearing dark blue rope like armouring and a crystal necklace around its neck. "Gem-Knight Lady, Lapis Lazuli!" (A2400/D1000/L5) "Now I activate Lapis Lazuli's ability," Rarity said as her deck shuffled out a card which she sent to the graveyard. "By sending Gem-Knight Alexandrite from my deck to my graveyard, I can deal you damage equal to the number of Special Summoned monsters times by five hundred." "Wait," Rainbow said, "how many Special Summoned monsters does Rarity have?" "Sapphire, Garnet, Jade and Lapis Lazuli herself," Applejack counted, "makes four. Times by five hundred is..." "Two Thousand points!" Twilight finished. "That's half Adagio's life points," Sweetie said. Lapis Lazuli unleashed a brilliant light, which struck Adagio and pushed her back. Rarity: 3800 Adagio: 2000 Celestia: Ooh, that had to hurt. Luna: Adagio went down in a big way there. "And that was only her ability," Rarity said, "wait until she attacks." "Well you'll have to wait until after my Trap activates," Adagio said as her face down flipped up. "Painful Harmony, now an Alluring Monster's ATK will increase by half the damage I just took." The Trap released a horrible sound, causing everyone to flinch and cover their ears as Alluring Vocalist glowed. (A2000/D1000/L3) "That doesn't matter," Rarity said, "because my Lady Lapis Lazuli can still take it down!" The Fusion Monster charged at the mermaid, ready to attack. However, Adagio leaped into action. She rushed over to a load of crystal stairs, running up them and grabbing an Action Card from the top. "I activate the Action Spell Miracle," she said as she placed the card in her Duel Disk. "Now I can save my monster and cut the damage I take in half." The Gem-Knight struck the Alluring Vocalist, but the mermaid survived. Rarity: 3800 Adagio: 1800 Celestia: Despite taking such large amounts of damage, Adagio managed to keep herself in the game. Luna: And now Rarity doesn't have any monsters strong enough to destroy Alluring Vocalist. "I end my turn," Rarity said. "Aw man," Sweetie moaned, "Rarity almost had her then." "But she's still ahead in life points," Spike said, "and if she can keep those monsters on the field, she can use Lapis Lazuli's ability next turn." "But Adagio know's that and obviously she's gonna try and stop her," Twilight said. "And I think I've got an idea how," Flash said. It's my turn," Adagio said as she came back down the stairs and drew her card, "I draw." She looked at the card she'd drawn and smiled an evil smile. "I activate the Continuous Spell card Unified Stage!" A giant stage appeared behind the Dazzlings, with spot lights and curtains and anything else you'd find on one. "You remember this card don't you," she said, "It allows me to summon a high Level monster by banishing the tributes from my field or deck." Rarity knew that card all too well. Aria had used it in a combo to get her best monster out. "Now I'll banish my Alluring Vocalist along with Alluring Diva," Adagio said as she took a card out of her deck, "to summon my most powerful monster!" In a flash of light a new monster appeared, looking like the cross between a horse and a sea horse. It was yellow in colour with the front half looking like a horse, with with only difference being instead of hair it had a webbed dorsal fin like appendage. It's bottom half however was more like a sea horse with a fish like tail. "You remember this card, Alluring Siren!" (A0/D0/L7) Everyone in the stands stared at the monster. "So that's it," Twilight said, "the card that gave you so much trouble last time." "Yeah," Pinkie said, "it wasn't fun." "But Rarity's faced it before," Flash said, "let's hope she's prepared." "Now I'll ditch my Level seven Alluring Songstress," Adagio said, "to activate my Siren's ability." The horse creature opened its mouth and let out a loud, beautiful sound. The music spread across the field and was heard by Lapis Lazuli, causing her to go limp. "Now your monster is under my control," Adagio said as Lapis Lazuli slowly drifted over to her side of the field. "Not again," Rarity said as she saw her monster leave her. "And with that," Adagio continued once Lapis Lazuli was on her side, "my Alluring Siren's ATK and DEF points increase by that of your monsters." (A2400/D1000/L7) Luna: That can't be legal. Celestia: I'm afraid it is. The only upside is Adagio can't use Rarity's monster to attack. "But my Siren can!" Adagio screamed as her monster unleashed a high powered sound wave which swept over the field. The attack struck Gem-Knight Garnet, who forged a shield of fire which he used to defend against the attack. Eventually however the sonic blast managed to push through and struck Garnet, causing him to go flying before he was destroyed. Rarity: 3300 Adagio: 1800 "That monster's dangerous," Thorax said, "how'd you beat something that can take control of your best monsters?" "If I'm right," Cold said, "the trick is to get rid of the monster its controlling, then summon something to destroy the Siren." "Hopefully Rarity can do that," Cadance said. Chrysalis just frowned. "We'll see." "I end my turn," Adagio said. "It's my turn," Rarity said as she went to her deck, "I draw." Rarity looked at her card but it was no use against Adagio. "I'll switch Gem-Knight Jade to DEF mode and end my turn." "My draw," Adagio said as she to drew her card. Looking at it she smiled and said, "this'll come in handy later." She added it to her hand and looked over at Rarity and her monsters, "but for now I'll have my Siren attack Gem Knight Sapphire!" Once again the fish monster unleashed its sonic attack, which struck Rarity's knight and caused it to crumble to dust. "I'll end my turn there," Adagio said. "My turn," Rarity said, "I draw!" She looked at her card and smiled, seeing just what she needed. "Thanks to Gem-Knight Jade's effect, when I sacrifice him to summon a Gem-Knight, he can count as two monsters. So now I'll tribute him, in order to summon Gem-Knight Crystal!" He Pendulum Monster disappeared and was replaced by a large more powerful knight. (A2450/D1950/L7) "Next I'll carve the arc of victory, to Pendulum Summon Jade back." The portal formed, before opening and unleashing a stream of light which struck the ground and took the form of Gem-Knight Jade. (A1800/D1100/L4/P4) "Gem-Knight Crystal, attack Lady Lapis Lazuli!" Rarity ordered as her monster charged forward and was about to strike. Adagio looked around and saw an Action Card nearby, which see leaped at and grabbed. "I activate Evasion, which will allow my monster to dodge your attack." Just as Crystal threw a punch, Lapis Lazuli ducked and the fist flew overhead. Luna: To bad. Rarity almost had it there. "I end my turn," Rarity said begrudgingly. "It's my turn," Adagio said as she drew her card and smiled. "I activate the Equipped Spell Heavy Burden, which I'll equip to your Gem-Knight Crystal." "You're equipping it to my monster?" Rarity asked, "why?" Adagio smiled as a large pole with two heavy looking weights on either end appeared, before falling towards Crystal who caught it but looked like it was struggling. (A1950/D1950/L7) "What's happening?" Rarity asked in shock. "Heavy Burden is an Equipped Spell which weakens a monster by five hundred points," Adagio explained. "Now your Gem-Knights weaker then Lapis Lazuli. Now I'll attack Gem-Knight Jade with Alluring Siren!" The fish horse creature once again unleashed its sonic attack, which flew at Jade and struck destroying it. Rarity: 2700 Adagio: 1800 Rarity felt herself be pushed back as it hit and lose her balance, falling back and rolling away. "I place one card face down and end my turn," Adagio said. As Rarity picked herself up, she looked over at Adagio and knew she needed to finish her this turn. "Go on," Adagio said with a condescending smirk, "make your move. It won't save you." "We'll see about that," Rarity said as she went to her said. "I DRAW!" She looked at the card and smiled seeing it, a plan forming in her head. "I activate the Spell card De-Fusion!" She screamed as she placed the card in her Duel Disk. Adagio's eyes went wide seeing this. "Now I can separate Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli," Rarity explained, "and summon the monsters I used to summon her." Lapis Lazuli glowed, before she split into two lights, which flew over to Rarity's field and became Gem-Knight Lapis and Gem-Knight Lazuli. (A1200/D100/L3), (A600/D100/L1) "And without Lapis Lazuli, your Siren loses a few points." Alluring Siren let out a weak sound as its power dropped down. (A0/D0/L7) "Now I'll use Gem-Knight Opal's Pendulum Ability," Rarity continued as her monster unleashed the beam of light, which opened the portal that her three monsters were sucked into. "I fuse Gem-Knight Lapis, Lazuli and Crystal," she said as the vortex exploded, "to FUSION SUMMON!" The light faded, revealing Rarity's monster. "Gem-Knight Lady, Brilliant Diamond!" (A3400/D2000/L10) Adagio was horrified to see one of the monsters that beat her sisters. Celestia: Incredible! With one card Rarity was able to turn the tide of the battle in her favour! Luna: Can Adagio find a way out of this? "Let's end this," Rarity said, "ATTACK!" Her monster raised its sword and charged at Alluring Siren. "If this attack hits she'll win," Pinkie said. "Go Rarity!" Sweetie cheered. As Adagio saw Rarity's monster draw closer, she looked down at her face down and groaned. "No choice," she said. Brilliant Diamond struck Alluring Siren and caused an explosion, which covered the whole Action Field. Celestia: Is that it? Is it over? Slowly the smoke began to clear and it finally did, it showed Adagio and her monster unharmed by the attack. Alluring Siren was now trapped within some kind of green dome. Rarity: 2700 Adagio: 1800 "What happened?" Rarity asked, "how'd you survive?" "My Sound Barrier Trap card," Adagio explained, "it can equip to an Alluring monster and prevent it from being destroyed by battle and cancelling out any damage I would take." "So it's basically indestructible?" Rarity asked. "Yes," Adagio replied, "but the down side is my Siren can't activate its abilities while inside." "So she can't take control of Rarity's monster," Flash realised. "Meaning she can't attack," Applejack finished. "Why save her monster when it can't use its abilities?" Spike asked. "We'll have to see what she has planned," Twilight said. "You may have saved yourself," Rarity said, "but with your monster's abilities locked away, there's no way you can beat me." "Is that so?" Adagio asked her. "It is," Rarity said, "face it. I beat your sisters and now I'm going to beat you!" Adagio's fists tightened hearing the mention of her sisters. "I know you beat them," She growled, "that's why I'm going to beat you." In that moment horrid images flashed before her eyes, showing her the faces of her sisters who were showing horrified looks. "I can't lose," Adagio said, "I have to win for them. It's their only hope." She went to her deck and drew her card, seeing it her eyes went wide. This was it, her only hope. "First," she took the one other card in her hand and placed it in her Duel Disk, "I activate Monster Reborn. With this I can revive a monster in either of our graveyards, so I'll revive your Gem-Knight Lazuli." In a flash of light Rarity's monster appeared on her side of the field. (A600/D100/L1) Rarity was confused. Why would she summon her monster. "And now," Adagio said as she took the card she'd just drawn and held it high, "I activate the Dark Melody Ritual Spell!" From out of nowhere, a tornado of black water engulfed her two monsters. "I can only activate this card whilst I have Alluring Siren on my field or in my graveyard," she explained, "now by sacrificing a total of eights star monsters, I can now summon my most powerful monster!" Everyone's eyes went wide as the tornado of water grew large. "What's she summoning?" Sweetie asked in literal fear "I don't know," Twilight said. The jewel around Adagio's neck began glow, as her eyes did the same. "I RITUAL SUMMON!" The tornado exploded revealing her new monster. It looked like Alluring Siren, but it's body was made out of black sludge with bright red eyes. "DARK SIREN!" (A1000/D1000/L8) Rarity looked up at the horrible monster in disgust, but also feared what powers it might posses. "And now," Adagio said darkly, "I activate Dark Siren's Special Ability." The sludge monster unleashed a load of black tendrils from its stomach, which struck Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond and wrapped around her arms and legs. "What are you doing!?" Rarity screamed, before she saw the tendrils begin to retract and pull her monster towards Dark Siren. "Unlike Alluring Siren who controls monsters," Adagio explained, "Dark Siren absorbs them into itself and then becomes them." Brilliant Diamond struggled, but couldn't break free and was soon pulled into Dark Siren's stomach and began to sink into the sludge. Eventually Rarity's monster was completely absorbed into Dark Siren, who then transformed into a ball of sludge. Seconds later the sludge reshaped until it was now the spitting image of Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond. "And now Dark Siren's ATK and DEF points increase by that of the absorbed monster's." (A4400/D3000/L8) "No!" Rarity whispered. "This is for my sisters," Adagio said, "ATTACK!" Her monster charged at Rarity, brandishing the sludge rapier which with swung down towards the ground. The weapon struck the ground and unleashed a torrent of water, which flew at Rarity and then spiralled around her into a tornado of sludge. "AAAAARRRRR!" Rarity screamed as she was barraged by the force of the attack. This wasn't some simple hologram, she could actually feel the attack. This was real! Rarity: 0 Adagio: 1800 (Winner) "RARITY!" Her friends all screamed as they watched her be attacked. Then when the field disappeared and the attack finally ended, Rarity went limp and fell towards the ground and smashed into it with a loud thud. Everyone went silent seeing this. Even the Celestic Sisters were quite. Adagio slowly walked over to Rarity, who weakly tried to pick herself up and look up at her. "There's nothing better then revenge," Adagio said, "don't worry, you'll heal...maybe." With that she turned and left the Duel Field, while Rarity tried to get up but lost the last of her strength and collapse. The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness, was seeing her friends running towards her and screaming her name.