Yugioh EQG: Shadow Gates

by Banshee531


Turn 32, A Sombra Story

"Hello, HELLO!" Sunset yelled into the computer. They'd been monitoring everyone from home base and had been about to tell them of Spike's victory, when suddenly a large number of their group had suddenly vanished.

"We've lost contact with eight of our field team," one of the computer experts said as they began typing.

"They must have blocked communications," another said.

"Negative," another replied, "the rest of the party are all present and accounted for."

"SHINING!" Cadance screamed into her headset, "TWILIGHT! ANSWER ME!"

"Grand Hoof!" Sunset said once she'd opened a channel to the rest of the team. "What's happening."

"We don't know," Grand Hoof replied, "we were fighting against these robots when they all suddenly disappeared."

"A teleporter?" Sunset wondered.

"That's just a theory," Cadance said, "no one's actually mastered that technology."

"It seems not," Sunset said before turning to the computer team, "scan the whole area. I want them found!" The team all nodded and began their work, leaving Sunset and Cadance to worry.

"Please be alright," Cadance said.


As Shining slowly began to stir, he felt himself laying on a hard surface.

Slowly picking himself up, he looked around and found he was in some kind of rocky labyrinth. He was standing on a platform in the centre of the room, with different bridges connecting it to the surrounding walls which had holes lining it.

"Where am I?" He asked as he continued to stare at the place, "and how did I get here?"

"I brought you here."

Shining spun around and saw someone stepping towards him, their face masked by the darkness. Finally they stepped into the light, revealing themselves as Chrysalis.

"I hope you like it," she said, "it's my favourite Action Field."

"Action Field?" That would explain it. "Wait!" Shining said as he turned to the woman, "Chrysalis, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help fulfil my kings desires," Chrysalis said.

"King?" Shining asked. The way she spoke wasn't like Thorax or the Dazzlings. She sound like she normally did, meaning one thing. "You're here through your own free will," Shining said.

"That's right," Chrysalis said, "what, you thought I'd be hypnotised or something?"

"How could you work for Sombra?" Shining said, "and how could...you let them do that to your own son, WHY!?"

"The boy needed to be straightened out," Chrysalis said, "you try having kids some time and see how well you cope."

"You're a monster," Shining said. With that he raised his arm and activated his Duel Disk. "You're going down."

Chrysalis just smiled as she did the same.


As Twilight began to open her eyes, she picked herself and looked around.

She saw she was standing on a familiar clam shaped stage.

"Oceanic Opera," she said, "this is where I Duelled-"

She froze when she heard someone's footsteps getting closer. Turning around she saw a figure in a cloak, strutting down the aisle towards her.

"Enough of the cloak," Twilight said as she glared at them, "I know it's you."

The figure stopped and reached up to pull her hood of her head, revealing an enormous amount of orange hair.

"Adagio," Twilight growled, but her anger quickly faded when she saw her eyes. They were cloudy and unfocused, similar to how her sisters and Thorax had been. "Not you to," she said.


"Rainbow, please wake up."

Rainbow's eyes fluttered open as she looked up and into the face of her best friend. "Fluttershy," she said, "what's going on?"

"I don't know," Fluttershy said, "I don't know where we are."

The rainbow haired girl picked herself up and looked around, but couldn't see anything but darkness. She felt the ground beneath her and realised it was grass, possibly AstroTurf, making her even more confused.

"Did we get brought outside?" She asked as she stood up.

"Not exactly!"

Before the two girls could answer that unusual vice, they were suddenly bathed in bright light. Looking around they realises they were in the centre of a soccer pitch.

"That voice," Rainbow said, "I know that voice."

Suddenly a spotlight came on and illuminated one of the goals and there, standing on it, was a figure in a cloak.

"Long time no see Rainbow," the figure said before dehooding themselves.

"No way!" Rainbow said seeing them.

"How?" Fluttershy asked.

Lightning Dust just smiled at this, as she stared down at the two. "We've got a score to settle."


At this moment, Applejack and Big Mac were both coming around to.

"Err!" She moaned as she picked herself up and held her head, "what happened?" Turning to see her brother she asked, "ya'h okay Mac?"

"Eyup," Mac said as he picked himself up.

Looking around they saw they were in a familiar looking canyon area.

"A've been here before," Applejack said.

"Well well well, looks like their awake."

The two turned to a nearby canyon ledge, where two tall cloaked figures stood.

"Indeed brother of mine," one said, "best not leave them hanging."

"Agreed brother of mine," the other said.

They reached up and pulled off their hoods, revealing two identical men standing side by side.

"Flim and Flam," Applejack said as she glared at them, "what are you two doing here?"

"We're here to get our payback," Flim said, "for when you humiliated us in the Survival Duel."

"We wanted to also get even with that Sentry boy," Flam said, "but he was off limits for some reason."

Applejack and Big Mac glared at the two brothers.


"Flash, FLASH!"

Flash's eyes shot open as he suddenly sat up.

Looking around he saw he and Cold were in a dark room, so dark that he could barely see Cold who was kneeling down a few feet away.

"Good," Cold said, "you're awake."

"Where are we?" Flash asked as he picked himself up. He tried to step closer to Cold, but suddenly felt himself walk into something he couldn't see. "What the?" He asked as he held out his hand but once again felt the force field and felling around him, he saw he was trapped in a circular prison.

"I'm in the same boat," Cold said as he placed his hand on the one he was stuck in.

"What happened?" Flash asked, "how did we get here?"

"I transported you here."

Flash and Cold turned towards the voice, as the room was suddenly filled with light. There they saw a flight of stairs and at the top of those stairs was a large throne like chair. And sitting in that chair was a man they both knew, even though neither had ever met him.

He was a sickly looking man with wrinkled skin and a scared face. The whites of his eyes were in fact green.

"Sombra," Cold said.

"Yeesh," Flash said, "guess you got the looks."

"Hello there little brother," Sombra said, "how good to finally see you after all these years."

Cold just glared over at him.

"Sombra!" Flash yelled out, "where are my friends?"

The weak man smiled as he pressed a button on his chair and caused a bunch of screens to appeared around them. On those screens they saw a bunch of Duels going on.

One showed the mass battle royal taking place in the hanger they'd been in.

Another showed Grand Emperor battling against a dark copy of itself.

One had Twilight Alicorn facing off against Dark Siren, which appeared to have captured Tempest Conjurer.

Another showed Rainbow Assault Wing Gold and Scared Guardian Beast Rush Rabbit, battling Jetstream Thunderbird.

And the last had Orchard Cowboy and Handyman battling against Exodia Necross.

"Lightning," Flash said, "and the Flim-Flam Brothers."

"All working for me," Sombra said, "and thanks to them your friends are generating an excellent amount of Ener-D."

Cold's eyes went wide. "So that's it. How could I be so stupid? You're using us to generate the Ener-D needed to summon the last two monsters."

"That's right," Sombra said, "the amount I need is at eighty eight percent. Once it reaches one hundred, I'll be able to do it."

"Why?" Flash said, "why are you doing this? Why cause so much pain? Why'd you betray my parents?"

Sombra's face turned to one of rage hearing that. "I didn't betray them," he said, "they betrayed me!"

Flash and Cold didn't understand, seeing this Sombra sighed and spoke calmly. "I guess it is time I explain why I'm doing this. It started when I was a boy."

<Flashback>

"Hello there."

A young Sombra, who'd been curled up in the corner of an alleyway, looked up. There he saw a man with pale blue skin and white hair. The man smiled at the boy and held out his hand.

"Don't be afraid," he said, "my names Icy Winds. what's your name?"

Sombra. It was the only word I could remember when they found me. No matter what they asked me, the only thing I could say to them was this one word. So they made it my name.

"This is your new home Sombra," Icy said as he and the boy stepped out of the limo.

Sombra looked up and saw the large skyscraper, the sign above the door saying 'Freeze Industries'.

"It's the company our family runs," icy explained, "at the top is an apartment building where we live."

And so I went from living on the streets, to living in the lap of luxury. I was grateful. They treated me as if I was their own son, but deep down I never truly felt like I belonged.

"He's an amazingly quick learner," Sombra's tutor told Icy Winds and his wife Winter Snow.

"I'm happy to hear that," Icy said.

"He'll be a great heir," Winter said.

I knew they were grooming me for taking over the company and I was happy to accept. I spent every waking moment preparing to take on that role, until.

"Oh," Winter said as she held a baby in her arms, "he's so beautiful."

"He looks just like me," Icy said "what should we name him?"

"Cold Steel," Winter replied.

Meanwhile a twenty year old Sombra watched from the other side of the room. A frown on his face.

All my hard work, taken from me in an instant. I knew they chose their true heir over the ward. I felt my future slipping away.

Not long afterwards, they passed away. Killed in a car crash. Despite his legal heritage, Cold was to young to run a company. And so I stepped in and began to put everything I'd learned into play, but I knew it was just a temporary fix. Once Cold grew up, he'd take the company and I'd have nothing. And so it was that I tried to find something else in my life that could give it meaning and one day, I found it.

"Hello Mr Sombra," Misty Vail said, "it's nice to meet you."

She was amazing. Like no other woman I'd ever met. Over the year she worked for me, I slowly grew to feel for her as more then just an employee. I knew she was meant to be what would give my life meaning, so I set about to make her mine.

"Are you sure you want me to do this?" Misty asked as she took the note with the address on it.

"I trust you," Sombra said, "just go to this location and show them your ID. They'll give you the case and you'll just have to bring it back here."

"Okay," Misty said as she bowed and then turned to leave.

I planned to ask her to dinner as a reward, where I would confess my feelings to her. However, someone got in the way.

"Excellent work Ms Vail," Sombra said as he took the case from her, "how about I take you out for dinner as a thank you."

"I'd love to," Misty said, "but I'm afraid I have plans."

"Oh?"

"I met this amazing guy," Misty replied, "he helped me protect the case from some thugs. I'm letting him take me out as a thank you."

"Oh," Sombra said.

I thought it was just a small delay, that this man, Trail Blazer, would just be a passing fancy and they'd soon break up. However, one date turned into several as the weeks turned into months and a year later.

"You may kiss the bride," the priest said as Misty and Trail did so.

Everyone in the church cheered at this, everyone except Sombra, who stood at the back with a glare on his face.

How dare he take the woman that was destined to be mine. Once again I felt my future being ripped away from me. Anger and hatred began to fill my heart as I continued to watch them happy together, enjoying the life I should have had.

<Flashforward>

"Wait a minute!" Flash said, "are you saying you've done all this because my mom married somebody other then you?"

Sombra didn't reply.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Flash yelled, "that's the stupidest reason to turn evil ever!"

"Are you in love?" Sombra asked.

Flash didn't reply, though the image of a certain violet haired girl popped into his head.

"I can tell you are," Sombra said, "what would you feel if the one you loved decided to be with somebody else, even though you knew they belonged with you?"

"It'd hurt," Flash said, "but in the end it would be her choice. I definitely wouldn't try and take over the world!"

"I'm not just doing this because of her," Sombra said, "I'm doing this to make this world better. It is my destiny!"

<Flashback>

"Breeches?" Misty asked as she and Trail sat in Sombra's office.

"That's right," Sombra said, "my science department have been experimenting with this theory. That the creatures in the Duel Monsters game are real and that they come from another universe. It's through these breeches that they come to know our world, either being pulled through them by something or someone, or simply falling through them."

"And you want to see if you can find these breeches?" Trail asked.

"That's right," Sombra said, "if we can find one and pass through it, we'll be known the world over as the people who proved the multiverse theory true. We'll be famous."

"But why do you want our help?" Misty asked, "I'm sure there are those you can help you better."

"Maybe," Sombra said, "but none have your abilities."

He was of course talking about Misty Vail's ability to see the Duel Monster Spirits that existed in this world.

"It is my belief that you are extra sensitive to the breeches," Sombra said, "meaning you may be able to act has a homing beacon for them. And you Mr Blazer, are experienced in this line of work. That's why I want you two to help me."

Misty and Trail glanced at each other, before nodding and turning back to him.

"We'll do it," Misty said.

A so it was that we began our journey. I knew this had to be it, my purpose, the thing that would make me remembered. We began our journey, searching areas my scientist had theorised to have breeches. But.

"Nothing?" Sombra asked Misty. They were in Scotland, at Loch Ness.

"I feel something," she replied, "but it's very weak. There may have been a breech here, but not anymore. I think it closed."

"Well try harder!" Sombra said, "we've been doing this for months with nothing to show for it!"

"Hey relax," Trail said as he placed a hand on Sombra's shoulder, "we knew this wouldn't be easy. If it was somebody would have already done it by now."

Sombra didn't reply. He just brushed Trail's hand off and walked away.

Trail and Misty both watched him walk off, before sharing a worrisome glance.

My hopes to find a breech slowly began to dwindle, until they were almost none existent. But then we arrived in Egypt, a place where Duel Monsters had first began centuries ago. We searched and learned about a tomb strongly connected to the ancient games. We found it and chose to rest for the night before heading inside. Then that night, I had a dream.

Sombra was flying through a dark tunnel at high speed.

"What's happening?" He asked as he looked around, "where am I."

"You!"

Sombra looked around to see where that mysterious voice came from. "Who said that."

"You are like us!"

"What?"

"You have no place, like us. We are the same."

"What do you mean no place?" Sombra asked, "I'm going to have a place, once I find the breech."

"Is that your place? Is it where you truly belong?"

"I...I...I don't know," he replied.

"We are the same. We have no true place, so we must make one."

"Who are you?" Sombra asked.

"We are known by many names. Shadows, Umbrum, but the name we chose for ourselves is...Doom-Vaders."

"Doom-Vaders," Sombra repeated, "where did you come from?"

"From another universe. So alike yet dislike. We came into being by wondrous accident, and have tried to spread our beautiful gospel of darkness across the land. However, we were stopped by a band of light and now find ourselves sealed away, waiting for someone like us to free us.

"Me?" Sombra asked, "what can I do."

"We can give you power, in exchange you must free us."

"How do I do that?"

"You will know soon enough, but to gain this power a sacrifice must be made.

"I don't care what I have to do," Sombra said, "I'll do it."

Then we are in agreement.

In that second a bright light blinded Sombra and the next thing he knew, he was awake.

I knew that was more then a dream. I knew I'd been chosen by something and that it was my destiny to help them.

The next morning, Sombra, Misty and Trail entered the tomb.

"Be careful," Trail said, "it'll be easy to get lost down here."

Misty nodded as she and Sombra followed him deeper into the tomb. For many miles they searched, using a rope to guide them back.

"We may have to stop for the day," Trail said as he showed the end of the rope. "We'll comeback with more rope."

"Wait," Misty said as she stepped forwards, "I feel something."

Suddenly she shot forwards, down further into the tomb.

"MISTY!" Trail called out, "wait! We'll just get lost."

"This could be it," Misty said, "if we don't hurry it might close."

She continued into the tomb, Trail and Sombra following after her. Eventually she stopped infront of a large stone door, while looking for some way to open it.

"It's through here," she said. "If we could just find a way to open this."

"It's like I always say," Trail said as he reached into his bag and pulled out several sticks of dynamite. "If you can't open a door, make a new one." He took a single stick and attached it to the door, before lighting it and rushing back several feet.

BOOM!

As the smoke cleared they looked at the door and saw it was no more.

Misty smiled as she rushed in, followed by Trail with Sombra at the back.

The room was a large open space, with only a bridge in the centre which they walked along

"This is it," Misty said, "I can feel it."

"Look!" Trail said. He pointed down below the bridge, where a single light shined.

"Is that?" Misty asked.

"It must be," Trail said, "it's a breech. The doorway to another world."

"WE DID IT!" Misty screamed as she jumped into Trail's arms and kissed him.

"We did," Trail said before turning to Sombra, "we done what you wanted Sombra. We've found a breech."

Sombra however was staring down at the breech, the voice he'd heard last night whispering in his ears.

"This is your chance, your one and only chance. Release us and we will help you make your place."

Sombra reached into his bag and pulled out several sticks of dynamite.

"What are you doing?" Trail asked.

Sombra didn't answer and instead lit them, before tossing them at the doorway.

BOOM!

The doorway collapsed as rubble filled it up.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Trail screamed as he ran towards Sombra.

However, Sombra turned back around and threw another stick of dynamite at them. It landed at their feet, giving them only a few seconds to leap back before going off.

BOOM!

The bridge gave out, causing Misty Vail and Trail Blazer to fall. Trail managed to grab his wife's hand and cling onto the ledge, before looking up into the eyes of his supposed friend.

"Why?" Trail asked, "why have you done this?"

"It is my destiny," Sombra said as he stepped on Trail's hand, crushing his fingers beneath his boot. "But to achieve my destiny, a sacrifice must be made." With that he raised his boot, causing Trail's weakened fingers to give and let go. He watched as the two fell towards the breech, holding onto each other as they were engulfed. They, were gone.

Seconds passed and the light slowly dimmed, turning into a dark glow. Suddenly it exploded with that dark light and Sombra was engulfed by it.

When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the tomb. He was in a dark place and he wasn't alone. Several creatures hidden within the darkness stared down at them, their eyes a combo of red and green.

"Are you the Doom-Vaders?" He asked.

"We are," The largest of the shadows said, "and you are the one who will set us free."

"How?"

"You will know how," the shadow said, "once you yourself have become one of us."

Suddenly the shadows began to surround Sombra, encasing him in a cocoon of darkness.

"You will return to your world and eventually bring us to it. You must open a doorway for us, the Shadow Gate, but to do that you must make a connection between this world and yours. How that is done, you must find."

That was the last thing Sombra heard before passing out.

<Flashforward>

"After that I awoke and discovered I was back in this world," Sombra explained, "and since that day I have been working to summon them to this world. I found loyal servants who wished to help me, I discovered a way to create cards that could hold the Doom-Vader's dark power and I have collected the Ener-D needed to summon them here. Now I am only two cards away from completing my mission."

Flash and Cold were horrified by the tale. Unable to believe he would do such a thing.

"How could you?" Flash asked as he punched the wall of his cage, "how could you do that to my parents? YOU'RE FRIENDS!" He pulled out his Duel Disk and activated it, before pulling out a card and slapping it on it. "FLASH HEART!" Flash called out as his eyes glowed.

In a flash of light, his ace monster appeared and with one solid punch, smashed through the force field holding Flash.

The teen looked up at Sombra and slowly began to step towards the stairs.

"You could have had everything you'd ever wanted," he said, "but you let your greed get the better of you. You betrayed people who cared about you, just because you were jealous." He then burst into a run up the stairs. "HOW COULD YOU!" He reached the top step and leapt at Sombra, ready to deliver an all out punch to him, but he was suddenly stopped.

From out of the floor and ceiling came a bunch of mechanical arms, which had grabbed Flash around the arms and legs.

Sombra just smiled. "Perfect," he said, "all that Ener-D is just what I needed."

The arms pulled back, pulling Flash into the air.

"FLASH!" Cold yelled out before turning to his brother. "What are you doing?"

"As you can see," Sombra said, "summoning these monsters takes a mighty toll on the body. I was the only one who could do it, so I did. It was likely I wouldn't have survived summoning the last two, but now you've brought me the very thing I need to do it."

Cold's eyes went wide hearing this. He was going to use Flash's link to the Duel Monster Spirit World to summon them.

"No," he said.

Flash struggled against the restraints, but they were to strong. Suddenly from our of the ceiling a metal helmet came out and strapped itself to Flash's head.

"It's time," Sombra said as reached out and grabbed a far off leaver. "Like father like son," he said, "you both end up helping me." With that he pulled the leaver and activated the machine.

Flash's eyes went wide as the energy flowed through him. He let out a horrifying scream, which filled the entire building.


Twilight and the rest of the group had been in the middle of their Duels when they heard the scream.

"That voice," Twilight said, as dread filled her heart.


"Flash," Grand said.

He and the rest of the group were filled with fear at this.


Back in the lab, Flash's screams continued as the lights suddenly gave out.

Sombra watched as the card in the chamber glowed and began to take form.

Cold was so focused on Flash, that he didn't realise the force field around him had given out.

Finally the yelling from Flash stopped as the machine finished its job. The mechanical arms released him and he began to fall to the ground.

Kicking into action, Cold ran forwards and managed to break his fall. Looking the teen over, he saw he was completely unconscious.

"Flash?" He said, but got no reply. Suddenly his focus was on the laughing that came from his brother.

Looking up he saw Sombra standing up from his throne, the new card in his hand, before looking down at the two. "Only one card remains." Suddenly a bunch of shadows appeared around his arm and took the form of a pitch black Duel Disk, which activated and made a blood red blade. Sombra took the new card and placed it on the blade. "Arise, Doom-Vader, Tyrant Reaper Dragon!"

A bunch more shadows appeared, before taking form behind Sombra. Eventually they faded, revealing his monster. It was a a giant twelve meter high dragon with black crystal armour with red crystal trim. It had a pair of black wings which folded to look like a cape and in its hands was a black scythe like weapon, with a red crystal blade.

Cold was horrified at the monster, before looking back at his brother.

Shadows were gathering around him, sealing him inside a cocoon of darkness. Seconds passed and the cocoon cracked, releasing Sombra. Gone was the frail and weak man, who had somehow been restored to his younger self. He now wore a metal suit of armour with a blood red cape hanging from his shoulders.

Sombra looked at his new body and smiled.

"Excellent," he said as he held out his hand. A nearby hatch opened and the rest of the cards flew out and into his Duel Disk. "I'd suggest you get out of here," he said, "this whole place is about to blow." With that there was a flash of light and Sombra vanished.

Before Cold could react, a loud siren went off. Knowing Sombra wasn't bluffing, Cold picked Flash up and ran towards a nearby exit.


The siren was heard all over the building.

"Looks like that my cue," Chrysalis said as she deactivated her Duel Disk. The images disappeared and she turned to Shining. "Hope we meet again some time."

"I'm not letting you escape," Shining told her as he tried to tackle her, but in that second she disappeared in a flash.


Adagio did the same.

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked, but the girl didn't answer, instead just disappearing. "NO!"


"Later losers," Lightning said before also vanishing.

"Get back here!" Rainbow called out.

"Rainbow," Fluttershy said, "we have to go." She pulled her to a nearby door.


"Looks like we'll have to finish our business another time," Flim said.

"Agreed brother," Flam replied.

"What are you two talking about?" Applejack asked.

In that moment the brother both disappeared, leaving the Apple Siblings to try and find a way out.


Outside, Spike and the Celestial Sisters heard the sirens and grew concerned.

They grew even more so when they saw Grand Hoof and the rest of the group rushing out the building.

"What's going on?" Spike asked, "where's Twilight."

"We have to get out of here," Grand said, "I think this place is about to blow."

"WHAT!" Spike screamed.

"Look!" Applebloom called out as she pointed to the barn.

Rainbow and Fluttershy were rushing out the barn, followed shortly by Applejack and Mac. Twilight was soon to follow and Shining brought up the rear.

"You're all okay," Spike said.

"Not all of us," Twilight said as she turned back to the barn, "where's Flash?"

They all waited, but as the time passed they grew more and more worried. Eventually they all sighed in relief as they saw Cold rushing out of the barn, Flash over his shoulder.

"COME ON!" Cold yelled, "let's get out of here!"

They all leapt into the transports and began to speed away. Not ten seconds after they did.

BOOM!

The whole building was obliterated.

Everyone looked out the windows at the mushroom cloud, wondering what could have happened.

Meanwhile Twilight was looking over Flash, who was still unconscious, before turning to Cold.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?"

Cold frowned as he began to shake. "Sombra played us all for fools."

That was all he said, but somehow everyone understood what he meant. Sombra had tricked them and now they had no way of knowing where he was or what he had planned.