//------------------------------// // Turn 41, Rise of the Crystal Tower // Story: Yugioh EQG: Shadow Gates // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// We find Sombra in his lab, looking up at the computer screens which lined the walls. "The time of awakening draws near," he said to himself, "soon the Shadow Gate will open and my perfect world will come to pass. Only one thing stands in my way and when they are dealt with, nothing will be able to stop me." In that moment a door opened and Chrysalis stepped into the room. "My king," she spoke once she was close to him, "we are ready to proceed to the final phase." "How are the rest of our comrades doing?" Sombra asked. "They are ready." Lightning was looking through her deck, making sure it was at its best. "This is it," she said, "finally I will stand above all overs. Once I've dealt with you Rainbow, the world will finally see who the true number one is." Flim and Flam were also preparing. "The world is ours for the taking," Flim said. "And take it we will," Flam replied, "after we've settled the score." "Then nothing will be able to stop us," Flim finished. Adagio was sitting in the mind control device, the helmet strapped to her head. It had been decided that she would be under this device as long as she is needed, to ensure nothing like with what happened to Thorax would happen to her. "Aria," she whispered, "Sonata." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "Just say the word," Chrysalis said, "and we'll roll out." "Very well," Sombra said, "gather them in the main hall." Chrysalis nodded before turning around and walking out, leaving Sombra alone. He reach into his cloak and pulled out his deck, flipping through the multiple cards and nodding to himself. "Soon my friends," he spoke, "soon you shall be free and when you are, you can help me lead this world into a brighter future." With that he placed the cards back into his cloak and turned to walk out the room. He found Chrysalis and the others all standing in the main hall. When he stepped in, they all turned to him and then got down on one knee with their heads down. "My faithful servants," he preached, "today is that day that we bring our world into a new era. We will purge it of violence, pain and suffering. But to do this, we must free the monsters that will give us the power to rule and to do that we must open the Shadow Gate. As you know to open the Shadow Gate requires vast amounts of Ener-D and to gather that much we must do it in one fell swoop. There will be those who will try to stop us, but for the sake of our perfect world we can't allow that. Can I trust you all to help me do this?" "Yes my king!" The five of them said. "Very well," Sombra replied, "then let us begin. The final battle will soon be upon us and for the sake of our world, we must not lose." At Freeze Stadium, we find the gang all gathered in the VIP box. Right now they had a large TV on, with images of their different allies. Tidal, Maud, Grand and even Relic Fragment were on it, all communicating with the group. "We have no idea when Sombra might attack," Cold said, "so we must be ready to act at a moment's notice. We also need to be ready should Sombra find a way to open the Shadow Gate before we can stop him." "How?" Flash asked. "That's where I come in," Tidal said from his point on the TV. "I've been working to gather every skilled Duellist I can find. I've already managed to find a few who are willing to help. The TV images showed Duellists they all knew, such as Poindexter, Lyra, Bon Bon, Shining Spoon and even Gilda. "Whoa," Rainbow said, "those are some seriously skilled Duellists." "They'll surly be a big help when the time come," Applejack said. "Eeyup," Mac said. "But we don't even know where Sombra is," Rarity said, "how are we suppose to stop him if we can't find him." "That's where I come in," Grand said, "I have the whole police department out in force looking for any evidence that might lead to his location." "It's likely he'll be moving his location constantly," Sunset said, "he's doing everything in his power to keep himself from being found." "That's concerning," Twilight said. "For all we know," Spike said, "he could pull off whatever he's planning without us even knowing about it. One minute everything's fine and the next, end of the world. "No," Thorax said as he shook his head, "he'll show himself eventually. I don't remember much about my time with them, but I do know they'll want this to be a public event. They'll want it to be seen by as many people as possible." "He's right," Cold said, "according to the information we have, opening the Shadow Gate isn't something he can do discreetly. It needs to be someplace open and easily seen." "So we'll be sure to know when it happens?" Scootaloo asked. "Exactly," Cold said, "but I'd much rather not leave finding him to the last minute. Every second we spend searching for him is a second wasted and a second more Sombra has to finish hi plan." "So what do we do?" Fluttershy asked. "For now we need to just make sure we're at are best," Flash said. "And I have something that might help with that," Cold said as he pressed a button on his phone. The next thing they knew, a table folded out of the floor. On the table were several Duel Disks they all recognised. "Our Duel Disk?" Pinkie asked as they each picked theirs up. "Not just that," Cold said, "I had each of them equipped with an Action Field Generator which will create the Crossover Action Field. Hopefully this will give us all a chance should any of us end up facing Sombra or his entourage." "Smart," Shining said, "since we'll most likely be facing them on their turf, we'll need something to even the odds." "Since Crossover is an Action Field they don't know about," Cadance agreed, "that'll be a big help." "Exactly," Cold said, "I suggest we all begin training using this Action Field. We'll need to know everything about it so we can be ready when the time comes." They all nodded and headed out the door towards the Duel Arenas to practice. As they were heading down the hall, Flash suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder. Turning around he noticed Twilight behind him looking nervous about something. "Can I talk to you," she asked, "in private?" Flash just shrugged in response. "Sure," he said as they waiting for the rest of their friends to leave and then they moved over to an empty corridor. "So what's up?" He asked. Twilight rubbed her arm, obviously nervous about what she was about to say. "Well first I wanted to say that I was really worried when you wouldn't wake up." "Yeah," Flash replied as he rubbed the back of his head, "sorry about that. Cold suspects that when Sombra zapped me to drain my Ener-D, the dark energy rebounded onto me and forced me to retreat back into my own mind. Vail Pixie and Scootaloo managed to free me from my own mind, so I shouldn't have any problems now." "That's good," Twilight said, "I was really worried about you you know." "I know," Flash said, "thanks." "And I'm worried about what's gonna happen," Twilight said, "about you having to go up against Sombra." "I know It's scary," Flash said, "heck I'm scared. To be honest if I could help it, I wouldn't wanna be anywhere near that creep. But someone's gotta take him down and me and my deck are the ones best suited for it." "Maybe," Twilight said before looking at the floor, "but I'm still concerned." Flash smiled at this, happy that she cared so much about him. Stepping closer to her, he placed his hand under her chin and made her look back up at him. "I'll be fine Twilight," he assured her, "it's not like I'm doing this alone. I've got you and the rest of my friends." Twilight smiled at this. He was right, it wasn't like he'd be alone when the time came from him to face Sombra. No matter what, she'd make sure she was there to support him. Just like in his Duel against Shadow, she'd be there for him. "There's something else," she told him, "something else I need to tell you." "What is it?" Flash asked as he stepped back away to give her some space. Twilight took a deep breath, obviously she had some kind of speech prepared. "When you were unconscious, Cadance helped me realise something which I promised I'd tell you when you woke up." "Which is?" Flash asked. "Flash," Twilight said, "I-" She couldn't finish as in that moment, Flash's phone suddenly went off. Pulling it out, Flash looked between the ringing device and Twilight, as if asking what she wanted him to do. "Go on," Twilight said, though she obviously didn't like being interrupted. Flash nodded and switching on his phone's screen, before frowning. "Unknown number," he said before answering it and placing the device to his ear. "Hello." "The time has come," Flash froze hearing that voice, "meet me at the location I'm sending you." With that the call ended and Flash stepped back and leaned against the wall. "What's the matter?" Twilight asked. Flash didn't answer, in that moment his phone buzzed. Looking down he saw he'd got a text with co-ordinates on it. Looks like Sombra had finally made his move. It's funny how some things work out. Months ago when Flash was walking through this very park and heard Spike cries of pain, leading to him meeting Garble and using his deck for the first time, he never would have imagined he'd be rushing towards it on the way to defeat a crazed super villain. But there he was, rushing towards it with Twilight, Cold, Sunset, Spike, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, Thorax, Mac, Scootaloo, Sweetie and Applebloom. Cold had told Shining and Cadance to stay at the stadium, to act as a safety net encase this proved to be a trap and they needed saving. Grand was also keeping back, just encase. They finally arrived at the location they'd been sent, the same fountain where they'd first met Thorax before the Celestic Cup Finals, and there they saw him. Sombra was staring at the fountain water, watching his reflection as he tossed a coin into the water and causing the surface to ripple. "Sombra!" Flash called out, catching his attention. Sombra slowly turned towards them, making most of them feel intimidated at the sight of his green and red eyes. "That's Sombra?" Rainbow asked. "Freaky?" Scootaloo called out. Sombra remained completely still, a dark smile on his face, until he finally moved and reached into his cloak. Then he pulled out something that made Flash and the others all grow nervous, his deck. In that moment, Flash felt something coming from the deck. It felt almost like a heartbeat, each beat seeming to send a pulse from the deck towards them and causing him to grow uneasy. Then that heartbeat seemed to stop and replaced by a slight glow, which seemed to slowly intensify when suddenly. Their was a radiant burst of light, which was so strong that Flash was forced to shut his eyes in order to shield them from being burned out of their sockets. When Flash finally opened his eyes, he realised he was no longer in the park. Now he was in a dark abyss, filled with nothing in all directions. His friends were gone, leaving him alone. "Okay," he said, "this is becoming to much of a habit." Suddenly he heard something, footsteps, drawing closer. Turning towards the sound he saw Sombra walking towards him, looking calm and focused as he did so. "What's the deal Sombra?" Flash asked as he got into a fighting stance, "come to take me out why'll I'm alone? Well it won't work!" He ran towards Sombra and attempted to punch him, but suddenly the man calling himself king disappeared into the shadows and caused Flash to go flying and almost trip up. Sombra reappeared behind him, causing him to spin around and throw another punch but he just disappeared again and made him miss. This seemed to go on for a few moments until Flash, panting after the seventh time of doing it, just stood there as Sombra stood infront of him calmly. "Are you finished?" Sombra asked. Flash replied with one last punch, which worked as well as the last seven, and then nodded. "Yeah," he said, "I'm done." "Good," Sombra said, "then we can get down to business." "What business?" Flash asked. "We don't have to be enemies Flash," Sombra explained, "we can work together." "You want me to work with you?" Flash asked, "you're insane!" "Before you fully reject my offer," Sombra said, "let me show you something." "What?" Flash asked. Then there was a mighty flash of light, causing him to once again shield his eyes and when he eventually opened them, he found he and Sombra were no longer in the darkness. Now he and Sombra were flying above a vast mountain range. "Where are we?" Flash asked as he looked around. "This is the Duel Monster Spirit World," Sombra replied, "centuries ago." "No way," Flash whispered as he looked around. "Look down there," Sombra said as he pointed towards an area of the mountain range. Flash did so and saw something. It was an army, filled with monsters of many different shapes and sizes. Dragons, warriors, spellcasters, dinosaurs and fairies filled the ranks, each showing off their own tremendous power and all seemed to have a vicious look in their eyes. "Whoa," Flash said in amazement. "Now look over there," Sombra said as he pointed to an area on the other side of the mountain range. Flash did and saw another army, this one filled with dragons, fiends, beast, winged beasts and fish type monsters. They to appeared powerful and had their own viciousness in their eyes. "What's going on?" Flash asked. Sombra didn't look away from the two armies. "Just watch, you'll see." Suddenly a horn sounded and the two armies charged towards each other and clashed, the dragons meeting tooth and claw while the spellcasters and fiends fought along with the warriors and beasts. The two armies battled it out, not holding back against their opponents or showing any mercy for those they'd already defeated. Flash's eyes went wide as he watched, hardly believing this was happening. There was a flash of light around the two of them and when it faded, Flash saw they were now on the ground of the mountain range. It seemed they'd fast forwarded to the end of the battle as the monsters had all stopped fighting and were now trying to recover. Flash doubted either of the two armies could be called the winner, with their troops now decimated as they were. "Please." Flash turned to the sound of the weak voice and saw a monster he recognised as Freed the Matchless General, holding another warrior which Flash didn't know in his arms. The unknown warrior was bloodied and didn't look like he would make it. "Please help me," he said. "I'm sorry," Freed said, "but I don't think I can." The warrior's eyes began to fill with tears. "General," he said, "please tell me. Have we made a difference? Will this make our world a better place." Freed's face told him everything. He didn't think they'd made a difference, that the world would remain the same dangerous place. "I see," the warrior said before shutting his eyes. The next thing Flash knew, the warrior exploded the same way a Duel Monster would when destroyed. Now Freed's eyes filled with tears at the loss of his friend and comrade. "Believe it or not," Sombra said, "this was only a small battle. Mere peanuts compared to other battles." "Why would you show me this?" Flash asked as he turned to Sombra. "To show you why the Doom-Vaders were right," Sombra said. Suddenly there was another flash of light and the two found themselves back in the darkness. "The Duel Monster Spirit World was once a land of constant war and destruction," Sombra continued, "where anyone who couldn't fight wouldn't survive." "What does this have to do with anything?" Flash asked. When Sombra looked up, Flash did the same and saw something. A sphere of reddish-black light floated above them and within it, there was a large figure that Flash could only guess was a Duel Monster of some kind. "What is that thing?" Flash asked. "I don't know," Sombra said, "the Doom-Vaders won't tell me. But what I do know, is that whoever this creature is, they created the Doom-Vaders." Suddenly from the sphere came a small orb of dark energy, which suddenly grew and took a new shape. The dark energy faded, revealing the being beneath to be Doom-Vader, Tyrant Reaper Dragon. More and more orbs came out of the sphere, before they each morphed into a new monster. "No way," Flash said. "They were sent to the Duel Monster Spirit World," Sombra explained, "with a single mission. Stop the wars and bring peace to it. They realised there was only one way to do this." "Conquer the Duel Monster Spirit World," Flash guessed. "Under their leadership," Sombra said, "the world would be brought into a new time of peace." "You call conquering and oppressing innocent beings peace?" Flash asked. "I do," Sombra said, "and it would have worked if not for your monsters." "My monsters?" Flash asked. Suddenly there was another flash of light and the two found themselves in another valley, where they saw the Doom-Vaders marching through it. Before Flash could comment, a brilliant flash of light caught his attention. Turning towards its source, he couldn't quite make it out until the light faded. Looking at it, he smiled seeing Flash Heart Dragon standing infront of of the army of Doom-Vaders. "I don't know where that monster came from," Sombra explained, "but he was somehow able to overcome the dark power of the Doom-Vaders and over time he was able to find allies." There was another flash and when it faded, they saw two armies facing off. One being the monsters in Flash's deck, while the other was the Doom-Vaders. The two armies charged at each other and collided, the light and dark monsters. Flash watched as the two forces battled. Destiny Bound and Chaos Command Dragon were taking on the more powerful of the Doom-Vaders, though Flash could tell they were using a lot of their power. Was this why they were encased in stone, because they'd used so much of their power defeating the Doom Vaders that they had to rest. He soon got his answer when Tyrant Reaper Dragon showed up and used in scythe like weapon the strike both monsters, causing them to scream in pain at the damage they took. They both fell back as they slowly succumb to their injuries, allowing Tyrant Reaper to raise his weapon for a kill blow. However in that moment, Flash Heart appeared and blocked Tyrant Reaper. He grabbed the monsters scythe and pushed him back, using all the strength he could muster to keep the Doom-Vader at bay. While this was going on, Vail Pixie flew around the battle field. She flew over to Destiny Bound and Chaos Command, before opening a breech that the two pushed themselves into. When it closed she looked over at the battle and saw how badly it was going for them. Suddenly an idea appeared to pop into her head, making her smile before she flew over the battle and found the ones she needed. Opening four breeches, she pulled the four Magna Casters out of their battles and to where she was. Flash watched as Vail Pixie and the Magna Casters talked, though he couldn't hear what they were saying, until finally they all nodded and began their plan. Vail Pixie flew above the battle, while the Magna Casters stood in four different corners and raised their staffs. They each shot a beam of energy, which struck Vail Pixie and formed a bubble of magic energy. She absorbed the magic and suddenly directed it to a point behind the army of Doom-Vaders, allowing her to open the largest breech she'd ever made. It was in this moment that Flash realised this was how they'd sealed the Doom-Vaders away. Seeing the breech, Flash's monsters seemed to be renewed in strength and one by one they managed to push the Doom-Vaders inside the breech. Eventually only one Doom-Vader remained, Tyrant Reaper Dragon. They all watched as Flash Heart tried to push the monster into the portal, but Tyrant Reaper proved to powerful. Suddenly, Vail Pixie flew out of her bubble and touched Flash Heart. In a brilliant burst of light, the dragon transformed into its evolved Flash Dragon Accel form. "Hurry!" Vail Pixie cried, "the breech won't last much longer!" Accel nodded and unleashed its four cannons, which charged up and released the Supreme Energy Blast. It struck Tyrant Reaper and pushed him towards the breech, but the monster began to push back. In that moment the four Magna Casters surrounded Accel and raised their staffs, causing all the monster from Flash's deck to glow. That light was then channelled into Accel, increasing his power and causing the strength of his Supreme Energy Blast. The force of the attack proved to much, causing Tyrant Reaper Dragon to be sent flying backwards into the breech. It let out a powerful roar as it tried to fight back but was unable to and was soon sucked into the dark realm that the breech was connected to. As soon as he was gone, the breech closed and the monsters from Flash's deck all cheered at their victory. Flash Dragon Accel glowed as it transformed back into Flash Heart, while Vail Pixie landed on his shoulder and smiled at him. A flash of light brought Flash and Sombra back to the darkness, were they stood back to back. "Because of your monsters interference, the Doom-Vaders were unable to complete their mission and as a result, the wars and destruction continued. It would be many more centuries before anything that even remotely close to peace was achieved, but in that time many lives were lost." "Maybe," Flash said, "but at least they got to live their lives as free beings. Instead of being oppressed." Sombra just growled. "Well now the time for their return has come," he said, "despite what you think will happen, they will be freed and with them my perfect world will be born." "Perfect world?" Flash asked. "Don't you see it?" Sombra asked, "our world is the same as the Duel Monster Spirit World was centuries ago. War, pain suffering, all things that mankind are destined to continue feeling should they be given the chance. But under my leadership, all those things will disappear. This is and always has been my destiny and the Doom-Vaders knew this, that's why they chose me." "That's enough," Flash said, "I don't want to hear any more of this crap." Sombra sighed hearing this. "You think this world is a wreak," Flash said, "but I happen to like it just the way it is. Sure it's not perfect," he continued, "but perfection is an illusion. It's the imperfections that make us human, our world wouldn't even exist without imperfections. As humans we make mistakes, but simply washing the slate clean is another mistake. We need to learn from our mistakes and work to fix them, not give up and start again. You asked me to wait before rejecting your offer to join you, well I've waited and my answer is still no. I won't join you and I never will. Sombra sighed once again. "I had hoped you would understand," he said, "but it seems I was wrong." With that, he walked into the darkness and a burst of light caused Flash to shield his eyes. When Flash opened his eyes, he was back in the park with his friends. "What was that light?" Spike asked. "I don't know," Cold said, "but it didn't seem to do anything." "No," Sombra said, "it didn't. Despite my hopes it seems I will have to do this on my own." "That won't happen," Rainbow said. "Yeah," Applejack said, "we ain't gonna let you get away with this." "There right," Flash said, "no matter what you do, the darkness will never overcome the light." "YEAH!" His friends all said. "Very well," Sombra said as his face became incredibly serious, "then the time for final judgement has come to pass!" Suddenly the group all heard the rustling of bushes coming from four different directions. Looking around, they saw Sombra's minions step out into the opening. "Mother," Thorax whispered seeing her. "Lightning," Rainbow growled. "Flim and Flam," Applejack said. "And Adagio," Twilight said seeing her. Looking into her eyes, she saw the girl was still under Sombra's control. They watched as the five of them gathers around Sombra, who was still holding his deck to his heart. "My four shields," he spoke as he raised the deck, "the time has come!" They each held up a single card, Flim and Flam holding the same card, which then all glowed along with Sombra's deck. That light began to increase until it engulfed them all, while shooting upwards. "Everyone get back!" Cold called out, making them begin to run away as the light got closer. They ran as fast as they could, as the light was hot on their tail. It wasn't until they reached the edge of the park, that the light stopped spreading and the group were able to catch their breath and looked back. The second they did they saw the light actually beginning to take a particularly shape, before the light faded and revealed what it had created. Everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing, as they looked up at the monstrosity. It was a giant tower made of a dark red and black crystal. It was ruffly eighty meters in height and seemed to cover the entire park. It had several towers branching out from it and at the very top, was a castle like structure which overlooked the entire town. "No way," Flash said. "is this what I think it is?" Thorax asked. "Yes," Cold said with a node, "it is. This is the Crystal Tower." Everyone continued to look up at the construct, realising that this was were the final battle would take place. The question was, who would win? The light side, or the darkness?