//------------------------------// // Turn 33, Crystal Clarity // Story: Yugioh EQG: Shadow Gates // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Darkness, everywhere. That was all Flash could see as his eyes drifted open. He wasn't sure where he was. He couldn't feel anything, not even the temperature of wherever he was. He was just floating in a black void of darkness where nothing existed, no sound, no smell, just an infinite void of nothingness. "Where am I?" He asked but there was no reply. "How did I get here?" Again there was no reply. Seconds passed as he continued to float there. But had it been seconds, or maybe hours. Time seemed to be the one thing he couldn't keep track of. "Am I," Flash asked himself, "going insane?" Once more there was no answer and slowly his eyes began to grow heavy, as he slowly began to drift back into unconsciousness. "Somebody, help me." It had been a week since the failed attempt to capture Sombra and stop whatever he was planning. Since then there hadn't been any sightings of Sombra or his goons. We find our heroes at Freeze Stadium, where they were trying to find a way to locate them. "Find anything?" Cold asked from the computer room. "We're sorry sir," one of the tech specialists said, "but nothing we do is bringing up any information." "Their out there," Sunset said as she arrived in the room, "we just need to keep looking." "How are the others?" Cold asked as he turn to her, "any change in them." "Afraid not," she replied, "the four of them are all still unconscious." In the medical bay we find Twilight stilling in a chair, next to the bed she'd been in after her Duel against Shadow. This time however the bed was occupied by Flash, who'd been out since his run in with Sombra. As she watched him resting on the bed, she looked over at the other bed in the room. Thorax was laid on it and was also still asleep. She'd been in the room all week, wanting to be there when Flash woke up. Scootaloo, Grand Hoof and the rest of their friends had been in and out, but still there seemed to be no change in him. The door of the room opened and Spike stepped in with Shining and Cadance. "Hey," Cadance said, "how are they doing?" "No change," Twilight said sadly, "it's been a week and their still unconscious. Why?" "Well we don't exactly know what they did to Thorax," Shining said, "brainwashing's not exactly a well known science, so it's side effects are up in the air. "And we don't even know what Sombra's machine did to Flash," Spike said, "who knows what it's side effect are." Twilight's heart sank as she heard this. She'd already known this of course, but hearing someone actually say it made it feel all the more real. "This is all my fault," she said as she placed her hand on his, "if I'd been there." "But you weren't there," Cadance assured her, "you can't blame yourself. They separated you on purpose just so you couldn't help him." "But I let Adagio distract me," Twilight replied, "I should have just tried to get away and find the others." "Stop it Twilight," Cadance told her as she turned the girl towards her, "we were all tricked by Sombra, it's not just your fault. Yes we messed up and yes Flash got hurt because of it, but sitting here crying isn't going to change anything." "She's right Twilight," Shining said. "If Flash were awake," Spike said, "he'd say you're just wasting time." Twilight wanted to agree with them, but even so she couldn't shake the feeling of hopelessness that filled her heart. "Come on," Cadance said as she directed her towards the door, "you've been in here to long. Some fresh air should help you." "I don't know," Twilight said but Cadance simply pushed her outside. "No excuses," Cadance said, "Shining and Spike can keep an eye on them until you get back." And with that they were out the door. While this was happening, the rest of the group were in the underground Duel Arena. "Rainbow Assault Wing Gold!" Rainbow called out, "attack." The bird man flew at Orchard Cowboy, who was able to hold him back. Rainbow and Applejack had been training hard all week, with the intention of stopping the ones they'd Duelled back during the invasion of Sombra's lair. Meanwhile, Mac and Maud were also Duelling each other. Like the other two, they hoped to help stop Sombra's goons. Rarity and Pinkie weren't Duelling. They'd gone to the other medical bay, where Sonata and Aria were resting. Like Flash and Thorax, the two had been unconscious for a week now and showed no signs of waking up. "It hurts thinking back," Pinkie said, her hair limb, "they're only like this because we beat them." "Maybe," Rarity said, "but they made their choice when they agreed to help Sombra. "Yeah," Pinkie said, "but I still feel guilty." Rarity continued to stare at the two, before nodding in agreement. "Me to." Twilight was outside in the stands of the main stadium, sitting on one of the seats. Cadance stepped into the stands, having gone to get them both something to drink, before seeing where she was and stepping over to her. "Here," she said as she handed Twilight a can of her favourite soda. "Thanks," Twilight replied as she took it and started drinking. For some reason she couldn't enjoy it like she normally would. "You okay?" Cadance asked. "I don't know," Twilight said, "I can't stop thinking about how scared I was when I heard Flash's scream." Tears began to fill her eyes, while Cadance placed her hand on her shoulder. "It's okay Twilight, of course it hurt when someone you love is hurt like that." "What?" Twilight asked as she turned to her, her eyes going wide. Cadance just smiled at this, before taking out a handkerchief and wiping her eyes. "Don't try to deny it missy," she said, "you're in love with Flash. It's perfectly alright." Twilight thought about what she'd just said. Was she really in love with him? She thought back to all the times since she and Flash had met and couldn't help but smile at the memories. But then her heart once again ached when she remembered his scream back in the lab. "It's okay," Cadance said, "Flash will be fine. He's one of the strongest guys I know. He beat Shining, Cold and Shadow. He'll pull through this." "But what if he doesn't?" Twilight asked. "You have to have faith in him," Cadance said. Seeing Twilight wasn't going to be getting out of the funk, Cadance tried to think up something to help her. It was at that moment that an idea popped in her head and she looked out at the Duel Field. "Okay," she said as she got up, "come on. We're gonna get your mind off this." "How?" "The way all Duellists forget their troubles," Cadance replied, "we're gonna Duel." "Really," Twilight said in confusion, "I'm not in the mood." "A real Duelist is always ready to Duel," Cadance said as she grabbed Twilight's arm and pulled her up. Before pointing her towards the Duel Field. Twilight wanted to try and say no, but she had a feeling Cadance wasn't going to take no for an answer. The two arrived at the field and Cadance pulled out her Duel Disk and began typing away at it. Suddenly the floor began to light up beneath their feet. "AUGMENTED REALITY COMBAT SYSTEM ENERGISED." The light took form and eventually the two female Duelists found themselves on the street of a city made entirely of Crystal, with crystal houses, crystal streets and a giant crystal castle in the centre of the city. "Welcome to the Crystal Empire," Cadance said. "You ready to begin." Twilight took a deep breath and nodded, before pulling out her Duel Disk and attaching it to her arm. "Let's do this," she said. "Alright then," Cadance said as she did the same. "DUEL!" Twilight: 4000 Cadance: 4000 "ACTION CARDS DISPERSED!" "I'll take the first move," Cadance said as she reached for her deck, "I draw." She looked at her hand and nodded, before turning to Twilight. "I'll start by summoning my Crystal Butterfly to the field in ATK mode." In a flash of light, the crystal winged butterfly appeared on the field. (A1200/D1000/L3) "And when Crystal Butterfly is Normal Summoned," she explained, "I can add a random Crystal monster to my hand." Her deck shuffled before slotting out a card that Cadance took. "I end my turn." "Then I'll go," Twilight said as she reached for her deck, "I draw." She looked through her cards and a plan quickly formed in her head. "I summon Magi-Beast, Twilight Unicorn in ATK mode." In a flash of light, Twilight's ace Pendulum Monster galloped onto the field as Twilight leapt onto its back. (A1800/D1300/L4/P7) "Now attack Crystal Butterfly!" Twilight ordered as her monster fired a beam of magic out of its horn, striking Cadance's monster and destroying it. Twilight: 4000 Cadance: 3400 "I end my turn with a face down," she said as she did so. "Then it's my turn," Cadance said, "I draw and summon Crystal Knight in ATK mode." In a flash of light, a man who looked remarkably like Shining Armour appeared wearing crystal armour and carrying a crystal sword. (A1800/D1100/L4/P5) "A Pendulum Monster," Twilight said as she saw this, "if she has one of those, then she must have more. She's gonna try and Pendulum Summon her monsters later to try and Synchro Summon." "Crystal Knight," Cadance then said, "attack Twilight Unicorn!" "But their ATK points are the same?" Twilight said, "if you attack then they'll both be destroyed?" "Not once I use my knight's special ability," Cadance said. Her monster raised his sword and the light of the sun refracted off it, hitting Twilight Unicorn and blinding it. (A1300/D1100/L4/P7) "When he attacks a monster, it loses five hundred ATK points." The knight charged at Twilight's Unicorn." "Run!" She ordered as her monster galloped away, rushing down the street in search of an Action Card. "THERE!" She cried as she saw one in a crystal windowsill. Her monster leapt up and she reached out and grabbed the card, but when she saw it her heart stopped seeing a Trap card. "To bad." Twilight looked up and saw Cadance, standing on the crystal roof of the house she'd pulled the card from. "That Action Trap's called Crystal Rain," she explained, "which deals you five hundred points of damage." The card transformed into a stream of light, which flew up and turned into a dark cloud that began raining down crystal fragments on Twilight. She cried out as she was struck by them. Twilight: 3500 Cadance: 3400 Before Twilight could try and recover, Crystal Knight caught up and slashed at her monster. He destroyed it and sent Twilight flying back. Twilight: 3000 Cadance: 3400 "I end my turn," Cadance said. Twilight sat herself up and looked over at her sister-in-law, who was still standing on the roof. "You okay?" Cadance asked. "I'm...fine," Twilight said as she stood up. "It's my turn," she reached for her deck, "I draw." She did so and saw it was Shadow Charmer, but without a monster in her graveyard she couldn't use it's ability. She looked down at her face down, Ritual of Rebirth, which also wouldn't help her. "I summon Defender, the Magical Knight in DEF mode." Her magic warrior appeared on the field and raised his giant shield, ready for whatever Cadance threw at him. (A1600/D2000/L4) "And when Defender is summoned," Twilight said, "he gets a Spell Counter." The crystal in the centre of his shield glowed. "end my turn." "Then it's my turn," Cadance said as she reached for her deck, "I draw and play Pot of Greed." She drew her card and when she saw the card she'd drawn, she smiled. "I summon Crystal Lion in ATK mode!" In a Flash of light, a pink Lion wearing crystalline armour appeared. (A1600/D1300/L4) Twilight frowned at this. That card couldn't hurt her monster, so what was with the smile? "Now I tune Level four Crystal Lion with Level four Crystal Knight," Cadance called out as the lion glowed as it shot into the air and transformed into four rings, which Crystal Knight flew into as they became transparent. "Crystals are seen as little pieces of the earths heart," Cadance said, "and when they shine it feels as if that heart is beating." Her monsters exploded in a burst of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!" The light faded, revealing Cadance's best monster. "Crystal Princess!" (A2000/D2000/L8) Twilight began to grow nervous at this. "Next," Cadance said as she took two other cards from her hand, "I'm setting the Pendulum Scale, with scale two Crystal Phoenix and scale six Crystal Guardian." She slapped the cards onto her Duel Disk, as the columns of light appeared on either side of her. Two monsters then appeared and flew up into them, one being a bird with crystals for wings and the other being a shield carrying knight with crystal armour. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory," Cadance called out as the portal formed, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and from it came a light, which struck the ground and took the form of Crystal Knight. (A1800/D1300/L4/P5) Twilight frowned at this, knowing Cadance was preparing something big. "With Crystal Knight on the field," Cadance explained, "Crystal Princess gains five hundred points. (A2500/D2000/L8) "Now attack!" The Synchro Monster waved her hand and sent her crystals flying towards Defender, which struck the knight's shield. "By removing a Spell Counter," Twilight explained, "I can prevent my knights destruction." The light from the shield's crystal intensified and formed a force field which protected it against the attacking crystals. Cadance then leapt off the roof, using the crystals as a stepping stones to reach the roof of a higher building. There she grabbed an Action Card. "I activate Offensive Light, which causes a monster to switch to ATK position." A bright light appeared and shone on Defender, causing him to stand up and lower his shield. "Now my knight will attack!" Cadance ordered as her monster charged at Twilight's. It reflected the sunlight with its sword, blinding Defender and reducing his ATK points. (A1100/D2000/L4) With one strong slash, Cadance's knight slashed Twilight's to bits. Twilight: 2300 Cadance: 3400 "I end my turn," Cadance said as she stepped back onto her monster's crystal as they floated through the air. They flew over to the crystal castle, while Twilight rushed over to it on foot. Twilight frowned as she looked over her situation. She needed to beat Crystal Princess, but with Crystal Knight on the field she couldn't target it for an attack. "Need something big," she said as she reached for her deck, "I draw." She looked at her card and an idea formed in her head. "I summon Shadow Charmer to the field in ATK mode!" Her favourite Tuner Monster appeared next to her. (A1200/700/L3) "Then I'll use his ability," Twilight said as she discarded a card. In a flash of light, Defender reappeared back on the field. "Now since we have the same number of monsters on the field, I can Special Summon Illusionary Magician to the field." Another Flash and the show magician appeared besides Twilight's over monsters. (A1400/D1300/L4) Cadance raised an eyebrow, wondering what Twilight's plan was. "And now!" Twilight said as her Tuner Monster rose its staff, "I'm tuning my Level three Shadow Charmer with Level four Illusionary Magician." Shadow Charmer flew into the air and transformed into three balls of light, which carved the circle that Illusionary Magician flew into. "When two mighty magicians unite their magical power an amazing event will occur." In that moment her monsters disappeared in an explosion of light, "I SYNCHRO SUMMON." The light faded revealing Twilight's ace. "Twilight Sorcerer!" (A2100/D2800/L7) "Now I'll activate Twilight Sorcerer's special ability," Twilight said as her deck began to shuffle before slotting out a card for her to take. "I activate Spellbook of Secrets, which lets me add another Spellbook to my hand." Her deck once again shuffled, before slotting out a card for her to take. "Now I'll activate it, Spellbook of Power." Defender glowed as his power increased. (A2600/D2000/L4) "Attack!" The knight charged forward and smashed Cadance's monster with his shield, destroying it. Twilight: 2300 Cadance: 2600 "And since he destroyed a monster," Twilight said, "Spellbook of Power's second effect lets me add another Spellbook to my hand." Another card slotted out, which Twilight took and added to her hand. "Now Twilight Sorcerer will attack," she said as her monster raised its staff, "and with two Spellbooks in the graveyard, he gets two hundred extra points." (A2300/D2800/L7) The Synchro monster fired a magical blast, which struck Crystal Princess. Cadance leapt off the crystals and onto the balcony of the castle, before looking up to see her monster be destroyed. Twilight: 2300 Cadance: 2300 I end my turn," Twilight said. Cadance smiled down at her sister-in-law, happy that she seemed to have taken her mind off Flash for now. "I think it's time I end this," she said as she reached for her deck. "I draw," she looked at her card and nodded. "I summon Crystal Chick." In a flash of light, a pink baby bird with crystals in its feathers appeared by her side. (A400/D100/L2) "And with Crystal Chick's ability, I can also summon another monster to my field. I summon the Tuner Monster, Crystal Fairy!" Another monster appeared, a fairy with crystalline wings. (A100/D100/L1) "A Tuner monster?" Twilight asked. If she Pendulum Summoned Crystal Knight, Cadance could Synchro Summon a Level six monster but did she have one? "And now," Cadance said, "I tune Level one Crystal Fairy with Level one Crystal Chick." The small fairy glowed before she transformed into a single ball of light, which then carved a ring that Crystal Chick flew into. "Let the glimmering light of crystals bath your innocent soul," Cadance said as her monster were engulfed by an explosion of light, "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!" The light faded revealing a new, cute, monster. It looked like Crystal Princess, but it was a toddler with whitey pink skin and pink and blue hair. "Crystal Child!" (A300/D200/L2) "Such a weak Synchro Monster," Twilight said in confusion, before a thought entered her head. "Unless." "I activate Crystal Child's ability," Cadance said, "when she's Synchro Summoned, I can revive one Crystal Monster from my graveyard until the End Phase." In a flash of light, Crystal Princess appeared before grabbing Crystal Child and holding it like a mother would her child. "It must be," Twilight said. "Next I'll once again cut through space time and carve the arc of victory," Cadance said as the portal began to form above the castle. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and out shot a single light, which took the form of Crystal Knight. (A1800/D1300/L4/P5) The three monsters stood by side, a little crystal family ready to take Twilight down. "And now," Cadance said, "I tune Level two Crystal Child, with Level eight Crystal Princess." Crystal Child leapt out of her mothers arms and then transformed into a ball of light, which then carved a pair of light rings. Crystal Princess flew into those lights and became transparent. "Let the heart of the earth shine brighter then ever before and unleash a new level of power!" Cadance chanted as her monster were was consumed by an explosion of light. "GO ACCEL SYNCHRO!" The light faded, revealing Cadance's newest monster. It looked like Crystal Princess, but her dress was longer and more elegant. Her hair had been done up into a beautiful design with crystal styled hair pins and atop it sat a brilliant crystal crown. She stood atop a large crystal platform in the shape of a heart and the crystals that had been floating around her were now shaped like hearts. "Crystal Empress!" (A3500/D2500/L10) Twilight looked up at the new monster, mesmerised by its beauty, before realising she was in serious trouble. "I activate Crystal Empress's ability," Cadance said, "an ability which increases the ATK of every other Crystal Monster on my field by a thousand!" The Accel Synchro monster raised its crystal hearts, which shined and sent that light into Crystal Knight's sword which was held above his head. (A2800/D1300/L4/P5) "Oh boy," Twilight said. "Alright my knight," Cadance said, "take out Defender." And he did, jumping off the balcony and falling towards Twilight's monster. He reflected the sun off his sword and blinded Defender, (A1100/D2000/L4), before slashing at the monster and destroying it. Twilight: 600 Cadance: 2300 "And now Crystal Empress," Cadance said, "finish this!" Her monster raised the crystals, which then refracted the sunlight and created a beam of light which flew towards Twilight Sorcerer. Twilight rushed through the street, looking for an Action Card but as she finally managed to spot one on top of a crystal roof, the blast struck her monster and destroyed it while sending her flying. Twilight: 0 Cadance: 2300 (Winner) As the Action Field faded, Cadance rushed over to Twilight and helped her up. "You okay?" She asked. "Yeah," Twilight said as she brushed herself off, "but it looks like I lost." "It was a close match," Cadance said, "but the good thing was you got your mind off of Flash. Hopefully it also got you to start thinking clearly again." "Yeah," Twilight said, "I guess I am feeling a little better." "Good," Cadance told her, "because you need to be focused if you're gonna help us stop Sombra and his goons." "Me?" Twilight asked. "You beat Adagio," Cadance replied, "and if she's still helping Sombra then it's most likely you'll have to do so again. But to do that, you need to be at your best." Cadance's words flowed through her head and made a large amount of sense. She had defeated Adagio and if they ran into her again, she did have the best chance of doing so again. But no doubt Sombra would have upgraded her deck, so to beat her again, she'd need to improve her own skills. "You're right Cadance," Twilight said, "if this Duel is anything to go by, I'm still a ways off from being to best I can be. I can't let my emotions get the better of me. I need to be focused on the task at hand." "Exactly," Cadance said as she placed her hands on Twilight's shoulders, "but promise me something. When Flash wakes up, tell him how you feel. You'll be happy you did and Flash will have something even more to fight for." Twilight smiled hearing this and nodded in agreement. Yes, she would do that. She would tell him everything when he woke up. "TWILIGHT!" The two turned to the stands, where Spike had just come running into looking out of breath. "There you are!" He called out when he saw them. "What's up?" Twilight asked. "It's Thorax," Spike said, "he's awake!" The two's eyes went wide hearing this, before rushing out of the stadium. They arrived back in the medical bay and found Cold along with the rest of their friends standing around Thorax's bed. The teen boy was eating some food out of a bowl, obviously trying to regain his strength after being asleep for so long. "You doing okay?" Twilight asked him. "Yeah," Thorax replied, "my head still hurts a little, but it's getting better." "Well don't worry," Sunset said, "we'll have our medical team give you a full check up once we're done." "Thanks," Thorax replied before realising something. "What happens to me after that? If I'm missing my country may grow concerned." "Don't worry," Cold said, "it seems your mother planted a story that you were both staying in Canterlot to work on a project. We haven't had anyone suspecting anything." Thorax frowned hearing mention of his mother, obviously upset about learning she was working with an evil mad man. "Thorax," Cold went on, "I know this is hard, but you need to tell us anything you know about what there planning." Thorax nodded and went on to recount the story of how he'd followed his mother to the warehouse and snuck in, before finding the computer lab and looking through the files. "The Crystal Tower?" Rainbow asked, "what's that." "I have no idea," Thorax replied, "when I clicked on the file I saw blueprints for it, along with words and numbers I didn't understand. Before I could find out I got caught. Then I Duelled my mother and lost." "Did they mention anything else?" Shining asked. "Just something called the Shadow Gate," Thorax replied, "but I've no clue what that is." Everyone else sighed hearing this. They had very little to go on and probably very little time to find anything else. What was Sombra and his minions planning? Sombra stepped into a dark room and walked inside, spotlights switching on as he walked. He then arrived at a computer terminal, which he began typing. Seconds passed and the screen switched to show the image of a man with bright red hair and scars covering his face. "Doom Raizer," Sombra said, "how goes the extraction process?" "Slowly I'm afraid my king," the man named Doom Raizer replied, "the stronger spirits are handling it better, but if we overtax them they'll fade completely." "Then find stronger spirits," Sombra said, "we can't afford anymore delays." "Yes my king," Doom said before the screen went blank. Once again alone, Sombra pulled out the last remaining card and sighed. "I'm so close."