//------------------------------// // Turn 23, Twilight's Swan Song // Story: Yugioh EQG: Shadow Gates // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Celestia: I hope you enjoyed the last Duel, but if you didn't then don't worry. We have another action packed Duel coming up in a couple minutes. Luna: Twilight Sparkle and Adagio Dazzle will face off to see who takes the last semifinal spot in the Celestic Cup Finals. "I hope Twilight's up for this," Spike said. "She'll be fine," Rainbow said, "Twilight's watched Adagio closely and no doubt she's got a way to beat her." "Maybe," Rarity said, "but take it from someone who's Duelled her. Adagio isn't going to make it easy." Up in the VIP box, Shining was obviously nervous about his sister Duelling one of Sombra's minions. "Hey," Cadance said placing her hand on his, "relax. She'll be fine." "I wish I could agree with you on that," Shining said, "but no matter what I can't help being scared." "I know," she replied, "I am too. But we can't let Twilight see it. We have to show her we believe in her." "I know," Shining said, "but still." "I'm more worried about Twilight's state of mind," Sunset said, "I get the feeling she's still focused on what happened to Flash." The three went silent, remembering what had happened earlier. "Hopefully she can snap out of it," Cadance said, "or that Flash shows up to tell her to." Meanwhile down below, Flash and Cold's Duel continued. Cold currently had Frozen Heart Dragon and Demon on his field, while Flash had just summoned Chaos Command Dragon. However in doing so, Flash's personality suddenly shifted and Cold realised what had happened. He wasn't Duelling Flash any more, instead he was Duelling someone or something else. "Who are you?" Cold asked. The red eyed Flash simply chuckled, before giving him a piercing look. "Who do you think," he glanced up at Chaos Command Dragon. Cold looked up at the monster. "Are you saying you're Chaos Command Dragon?" "In a way," Flash said, "I was born from the anger and hatred the two felt during their first meeting." "Anger," Cold replied, "hatred?" "Flash's anger at the ones he Duelled and Chaos Command Dragon's anger at the boy's want to use him as a weapon, both mixed together and combined with the magic of the Spirit World resulted in me." "So your not real," Cold said, "just a set of unstable emotions." "Oh I'm quite real," Flash replied before pointing his thumb at himself, "and as long as Flash and Chaos Commands link remains as it is, I'm going no where." "Oh you will be going somewhere," Cold said, "once I beat you, Flash'll be back to normal." "We'll see," Flash said, "I activate Chaos Command Dragon's ability. On the turn he was Xyz Summoned using an Xyz Monster as an Overlay Unit, he can send every monster on your field to the bottom of your decks!" Cold watched as Chaos Command raised its giant staff, which fired out a beam of light into the sky. The sky suddenly seemed to break, creating a tear in the space time continuem which unleashed a sucking force. Cold watched as Frozen Heart Demon was sucked up. "Frozen Heart Dragon's ability protects him from all monster effects," he said, "so he's not going anywhere." He looked over at where Flash had been standing and saw him running across the ice, before sliding to a stop and plucking an Action Card off the top of an ice boulder. "I activate the Action Spell Frostbite," Flash said. "You know what it does, it weakens your monster by one thousand points for this turn. Cold looked up and saw flakes of ice covering Frozen Heart's body. (A2000/D2500/L8/P5) "I switch Gladio to ATK mode and then I'll use an Overlay Unit to allow Chaos Command Dragon to attack!" One of the Xyz Monster's Overlay Units flew into its staff, which began spinning its gears as a massive bolt of lightning surged from it and headed towards Frozen Heart Dragon. "I don't think so," Cold said as he discarded a card, "I activate the effect of Frozen Heart Shield Bearer!" Suddenly a monster looking like Frozen Heart Gardna, only its shield was bigger, appeared and held up its weapon. The lightning struck the shield and bounced off it, protecting Frozen Heart Dragon from harm. "By discarding Shield Bearer, I can negate your attack and end the battle phase." Flash growled at this, but ended his turn anyway. "That's enough," Cold said, "release Flash and end this." "Not happening," Flash replied, "I'm having to much fun." "Very well," Cold said as he reached for his deck, "it's my turn...I DRAW!" He looked at the card he'd gotten and nodded, before turning to Flash. "I activate the Spell card Icicle Crash." The ground shook as three pillars flew up from it, with Lord of the Javelin, Enchantress and Shield Bearer inside. "By removing these three monsters, I can add any three cards from my deck to my hand. The icicles shattered as Cold removed three cards from his deck. "Those won't help you," Flash said. "Won't they," Cold said, "I summon Frozen Heart Knight." The warrior in ice armour appeared and stood next to Frozen Heart Dragon. "And next, I activate the Eternal Ice Ritual Spell. By tributing Frozen Heart Dragon and a level two or higher Frozen Heart monster, I can unleash my dragons ultimate form!" Frozen Heart Knight suddenly turned into snow, which spiralled around Frozen Heart Dragon and encasing him in an icy cocoon. "Now watch as the ultimate icy monster appears," Cold said as the cocoon shattered and released his monster. "I RITUAL SUMMON!" The new monster looked similar to Frozen Heart Dragon, only it was now roughly thirty feet tall and wore armour made of a light blue ice around its chest arms and legs. Its wings were now larger with five blades instead of three and the pick axe of its tail was replaced by a snowflake shaped blade. Its head was the same only it had more spikes and a large mouth with razor sharp teeth. "Eternal Ice Dragon!" (A3500/D3000/L10) "What?" Flash asked in horror. "I activate Eternal Ice Dragon's ability," Cold said, "by paying half my life points, I can negate the effects of every other monster on the field while lowering their ATK points to zero." "WHAT!" Flash screamed in horror. Flash: 1700 Cold: 1025 Eternal Ice Dragon flapped its wings and unleashed a powerful blizzard, which caused the two monster to become frozen solid. (A0/D2500/R7/P4), (A0/D2200/L6/P4) Flash's red eyes became saucers at the sight. "This ends now!" Cold said as his monster flapped its wings and took off, before it brought its clawed hands together and formed a giant icicle which it threw at Chaos Command Dragon. It struck and Chaos Command exploded into millions of pieces, which flew towards Flash and struck him. Flash: 0 Cold: 1025 (Winner) The Action Field disappeared and Cold looked down at Flash, who was laying on the floor. Walking over and shaking him, Cold saw Flash's now blue eyes slowly drift open. "Er," he said unintelligently, "what happened?" "You lost control again," Cold said. "What?" Flash said sitting up, "how?" Cold sighed, knowing he was in for a long explanation. Celestia: It's time for the final match. Luna: Let's welcome them onto the field. First up is the Spellcaster Duelist, Twilight Sparkle! Twilight stepped out onto the field. "Go get them Twilight!" She heard Spike call out as she walked "You've got this," Rainbow said. "We believe in you darling," Rarity said. "I'm cheering for you too," Fluttershy cried. Celestia: And her opponent. The dazzling musical Duellist, Adagio Dazzle. Adagio stepped out onto the field, waving as if she was on a catwalk. Up in the seats, Shadow was watching with a stoic look on his face. "Do not lose this," he said, "in order for my fathers dream to come to pass we must not fail. To awaken the five remaining cards we cannot risk losing a single drop of Ener-D. The two stepped into the centre, where they stared each other down. "I've been looking forward to this," Adagio said. Twilight just glared. "Your rain of terror ends here. I'm taking you down and making you pay for what you've done." "Oh will you," Adagio said, "well forgive me if I have my doubts." The ref flipped the coin and the outcome had Twilight taking the first move, which the two agreed to before stepping away to a descent distance. Luna: Now let's see which Duel field our two lovely ladies will be Duelling on today. She held up her remote and pressed the button, causing the floor beneath the two girls to glow as it generated the Action Field. "AUGMENTED REALITY COMBAT SYSTEM ENERGISED." In the blink of an eye Twilight and Adagio found themselves underwater, in what looked like a sunken opera house with the roof missing. Twilight was in the seating area and looked over at the stage, which was in the shape of a giant clam, where Adagio was standing. Celestia: Oceanic Opera House! "Finally an Action Field I can get behind," Adagio said, "it's the perfect place for a star like me." "Wrong," Twilight said as she attached and activated her Duel Disk, "after this Duel, you won't be getting an encore." "We'll see about that," Adagio said as she did the same with her own. Luna: Looks like our Duellists are ready to get started. Celestia: Then in three! Luna: TWO!" Both: ONE! "DUEL!" Twilight: 4000 Adagio: 4000 "ACTION CARDS DISPERSED!" "Spirit of Anger?" Flash said after Cold finished his story. "That's what he called himself," Cold said, "he said he was born from the anger you and Chaos Command Dragon felt when your bond was formed." "So it is my fault," Flash sighed down heartened, "I tried to use Chaos Command Dragon without even thinking about how it felt. Now I can never use him again." "That's not true," Cold said, "he said he exists as long as the link that you and Chaos Command Dragon shares remains as it is. If you can forge a proper connection to it, you might be able to destroy the spirit that you two created. Then you can use Chaos Command Dragon to your hearts content." Flash wasn't so sure about this. After how he acted to the monster, did he even have the right to try and fix it. "I don't think I can," he said. "You have to," Cold said, "your father gave me those cards because he knew they were the only thing that could stop what's coming. Chaos Command Dragon may be integral to that goal and without it, we may not stand a chance. "Then maybe someone else should try and forge a connection to it," Flash said as he pulled his deck out of his Duel Disk. "No one else can," Cold replied, "you are the only one who can create a link to the Duel Monster Spirit World. Only you can communicate with the cards like that. Like it or not, this is your destiny and no one else can fill in." Flash looked down at his deck and then pulled out the Xyz Monster he'd wronged. Doubts still plagued his thoughts, but he knew Cold was right. This was his mess and he needed to find a way to fix it, if he could. Suddenly a buzzing coming form Cold's jacket caught their attention, causing him to pull out his phone and answer the call. "What is it?" "Where are you?" Sunset called out through the line, "you've missed the first match of the B Block. Shadow defeated Micro." "I see," Cold said, "then that means Twilight will be facing off against Adagio." This caught Flash's attention. "WHAT!" Flash almost screamed before putting his deck and Duel Disk away and rushing towards the elevator. "We'll be right there," Cold said before hanging up and following after Flash. "Here we go," Twilight said as she reached for the deck, "I draw." She looked at her hand and nodded, before turning to Adagio. "I'll start by summoning Defender the Magical Knight, in DEF mode." (A1600/D2000/L4) The magical knight appeared, before kneeling down and raising its defence shield. "And don't forget," Twilight said, "when he's summoned I can place a Spell Counter on him." The jewel in the centre of Defender's shield began to glow. "I end my turn with a face down." "Then it's my turn," Adagio said as she reached for her own deck, "I draw and activate the Spell card Unified Stage." The stage appeared behind her inside the clam shaped stage. "With this card I can use cards from my hand field or deck as tributes for a high level monster," Adagio explained, "so I'll send Alluring Siren from my deck to the graveyard to summon Alluring Pop Idol." She held up a card with a blue copy of Alluring Siren on it, before discarding it. A second later a mermaid with a silver tail and hair appeared, looking very at home in the holographic water as she swam around without a care in the world. (A2300/D1200/L5) Twilight frowned at this. Adagio now had the monster she needed in the graveyard, so once she got the two other cards she needed then Twilight would be in serious trouble. "I'll now attack with my Alluring Pop Idol," Adagio said as her monster swam down and stared at Defender. She opened her mouth and unleashed a powerful sound wave, which caused the water around them to become unsteady as the attack hit Defender. "I activate my Magical Knight's ability," Twilight said, "which lets me remove a Spell Counter from him and negate his destruction." The light inside the jewel on the monster shield glowed brighter, forming a force field which blocked the sound waves hit and protected Defender. Adagio glared at that. "I end my turn with a face down," she said as she did so. Celestia: Both Duellists are working to fine tune their stratagy, but which one will manage to pull ahead. "Twilight needs to be careful," Rarity said, "she can't afford to summon her most powerful monsters right now. If she does and Adagio summons Dark Siren, Twilight won't have anything to fight back with." "But she won't win if she just plays defensively all game," Rainbow said, "her only hope is to end the Duel before she can get a chance to summon it." "If she can," Applejack said. "It's my turn," Twilight said as she went to her deck, "I draw and first I'll activate my face down." her card flipped up, revealing a Trap. "Mystic Curse," she said, "with this I can destroy one Spell or Trap on your field and deal you a thousand points of damage," A beam of light shot out the Trap and struck United Stage, flying through it and destroying it before the beam struck Adagio. Twilight: 4000 Adagio: 3000 "Next I'll summon Aqua Charmer to the field," Twilight said as the water based wizard appeared alongside Defender. "And now," the teen continued, "I'll tune Level two Aqua Charmer with Level four Defender the Magical Knight."  Twilight's tuner monster transformed into two lights, which carved the two rings her other monster leaped into. "Watch as the eternal flow of the sea, unites the impregnable defence of a knight," The monsters disappeared in an explosion of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!" The light faded revealing Twilight's monster. "Tempest Conjurer!" (A2200/D1400/L6) Luna: Twilight's pulling out the big guns here. Will it be enough? "Now I'll activate Tempest Conjurer's ability," Twilight said as she reached for her deck and drew three cards. "For every Spell card I reveal, I can discard them and he gains three hundred ATK points." She looked at he cards and smiled, before revealing them to Adagio, "two Spellbooks." She discarded them as her monster gained more power. (A2800/D1400/L6) Celestia: Now this is getting interesting. Will Twilight's Synchro Summon give her the edge? "Time to fry that fish," Twilight said, "Tempest Conjurer attack!" Her monster raised its staff and unleashed a powerful thunderbolt, which flew towards Alluring Pop Idol. Adagio leapt off the stage and into the seats, before running along the back of the chairs towards a nearby pillar. She leapt up and grabbed an Action Card off the pillar, before placing it in her Duel Disk. "Go Miracle." A force field appeared around the mermaid, which the lightning bolt allowing only a little of its power through. Alluring Pop Idol was shocked, but not enough to be destroyed. Twilight: 4000 Adagio: 2750 "I place one card face down and end my turn," Twilight said. "Then I'll go," Adagio said as she went to her deck and drew her card, before smiling a wicked smile up at Twilight. "I play the Spell card Corrupting Melody," she said as she placed her Spell card inside her Duel Disk. By sending another copy of Alluring Siren from my deck to the graveyard, I can add a copy of Dark Siren and Dark Melody Ritual to my hand." Her deck shuffled around before it slotted out a card which she took and held up. This one was a purple version of Alluring Siren, which she sent to the graveyard before her deck slotted out to more card. She took them and and then placed one of them into her Duel Disk. "You know what's coming next," Adagio said, "I activate my Dark Melody Ritual Spell!" Suddenly the water around Alluring Pop Idol began to spin into a tornado, which then turned murky black. Twilight frowned seeing this, knowing her chances of winning had just been severally cut. "With my Alluring Sirens in the graveyard, I can now tribute the Alluring Pop Idol on my field along with the Alluring Vocalist in my hand." She took a card out her hand and placed it in her graveyard, as the monster she had just mentioned appeared on the field and was then sucked into the tornado. "Now I can summon my most powerful creature," Adagio said as the jewel around her next glowed while the tornado exploded. "I RITUAL SUMMON!" The last of the water disappeared, revealing Adagio's monster. "Dark Siren!" (A1000/D1000/L8) Celestia: Things aren't looking good for Ms Sparkle. Adagio has summoned her best monster, which she's used to win her two previous matches. Luna: Will Twilight be able to counter, or is this the end for her. "I activate Dark Siren's special ability," Adagio said as her monster unleashed sludgy black tendrils from its stomach, which struck Tempest Conjurer and wrapped around its arms, legs and waist. They then started retracting and pulling the Spellcaster towards it Dark Siren. "Now your Tempest Conjurer's mine," Adagio said, "my monster will absorb yours and equip it to itself, increasing Dark Siren's power by that of your monsters." Twilight's Magician struggled, but couldn't break free and was soon pulled into Dark Siren's stomach and began to sink into the sludge. Eventually Tempest Magician 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 Tempest Conjurer. (A3200/D2400/L8) This isn't looking good," Spike said, "that monster's way to powerful." Twilight's gotta find a way to take it out," Rainbow said. "If she can," Rarity said. "No ifs about it," Applejack said, "she can take it down. She just needs to summon something stronger then it." "But if she attacks with it," Fluttershy said, "Dark Siren will just use Tempest Magician as a shield." "Then Twilight just needs to get another monster out," Scootaloo said, "summon something that get over power Dark Siren and then summon another monster to attack when its weakened. "It seems your sister's in trouble," Chrysalis said to Shining. "She'll be fine," Shining said, though he didn't look convinced. "She knew this was coming," Cadance said, "she must have a plan for it." "Let's hope," Sunset said. "Dark Siren," Adagio said, "attack her directly." The sludge monster raised its staff and unleashed a tornado of black sludge at Twilight, who tensed up ready to take the hit. Celestia: If this attack hits, Twilight will only have eight hundred life points left." Luna: But will it hit? That's the question. "And the answer to that question," Twilight said, "is no. I activate my face down," her card flipped up to reveal a Trap, "Negate Attack!" A force field appeared around Twilight and blocked the tornado, leaving the girl completely unharmed. Adagio frowned at this, before taking a card from her hand and placing it in her Duel Disk. "I'll end my turn by activating the Continuous Spell card Dark Door," she said, "now we can both only attack with one monster during our turn." Twilight's eyes went wide hearing this. If she could only attack once, then how was she suppose to defeat Dark Siren? "Oh come on!" Spike called out, "that's not fair." "That one card's pretty much eliminated Dark Siren's weakness," Rarity said, "how's Twilight suppose to defeat it know." "A'h don't know," Applejack said, "but if anyone can figure out a way, then it's Twilight." "It's my turn," Twilight said as she reached for her deck, "I draw." She looked down at her cards, but none of them stood a chance of beating Dark Siren. "I summon Magician's Valkyria in DEF mode," Twilight said as the magician appeared on her field and took up a defensive stance. (A1600/D1800/L4) "I end my turn," Twilight said. Celestia: Twilight's being backed into a corner. If only one monster allowed to attack and Dark Siren sitting at thirty two hundred ATK points, she'll have a tough time finding a way to overcome this opponent. "It's my turn," Adagio said as she went to her deck, "I draw." She looked at the card and smiled, before turning to Twilight. "I play Stop Defence, to change your monster from DEF mode to ATK mode." Twilight growled hearing this, before turning to see her Valkyria standing up. "Dark Siren attack!" Adagio said as her monster waved its staff at the magician and unleashed a tornado of sludge at it. Twilight leapt from her position, running through the aisle towards a nearby pillar where an Action Card was waiting. She leapt up and reached for it, but in that moment the tornado struck Valkyria and destroyed, the force of the attack sending Twilight flying away for the card and crashing into another pillar. Twilight: 2400 Adagio: 2750 "TWILIGHT!" Her friends called out seeing her fall to the ground in a lump. Adagio ended her turn before looking down at her opponent and smiling, loving the sight of her like this. She watched as Twilight slowly began to push herself back to her feet, unsteady but upright, before turning towards Adagio and frowning. "Just look at you," she said, "unable to even stand up straight against me. You thought you could defeat me, to get pay back for the people I've hurt, but you'll be lucky if your even able to save yourself once I'm done." Twilight hated to admit it but she might be right. So what if she summoned a monster that could beat Dark Siren, it would just use Tempest Magician as a shield and with Dark Door Twilight couldn't attack again. "Twilight!" Spike called out, "don't let her get into your head." "You can't give up," Rarity said, "you have to keep trying." "You can win," Rainbow said, "we know you can." "Ya'll find a way," Applejack said. "GO, GO, TWILIGHT!" Pinkie screamed. "Please Twilight," Fluttershy cried. "You friends all really believe in you," Adagio said, "I'll make sure to look over at them when you lose. See the look of defeat in their eyes." Twilight didn't reply, instead she was simply trying to think up a stratagy to beat Dark Siren, but nothing came to mind. "DON'T GIVE UP!" Twilight's eyes went wide hearing that voice, before she looked around and saw him. Flash panted heavily after running all the way to his current location and screaming at the top oh his lungs. Once he'd caught his breath he looked down at Twilight. "Don't you dare give up," he said, "I won't let you give her the satisfaction of beating you." "Flash," Scootaloo said as she stood up to look over at where her brother stood, "what's he doing here." "Yeah," Rainbow said, "he should be in bed." "Looks like he didn't get the message," Pinkie said. "Come on Twilight," Flash continued, "you can beat her!" Twilight wanted to believe him, but what could she do? "Oh how quaint," Adagio said with a laugh, "is having your little boyfriend around suddenly going to give you a new strength? Stop wasting my time and get on with the Duel already." Twilight turned back to Adagio, a feeling of annoyance building up in her heart. She was so sick of that voice. "Fine," Twilight said as she placed her hand on her deck, "but don't complain when you lose. It's my turn, I...DRAW! Could Twilight defeat Adagio, or will Dark Siren prove to much for her? Only time would tell.