//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Lightwave Tuning // Story: Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Crusaders // by RuinQueenofOblivion //------------------------------// That night, a quiet darkness had fallen over the city of Manehattan. They say that the city never sleeps, but on this evening it was quiet as if it knew that something was coming and that nothing it could do would stop it. Scootaloo yawned as she picked up her cards and finished putting her Shiranui deck back together. She put it into a deck box next to her old machine decks, while she liked the Shiranui she figured that maybe she could still surprise some people if needed. "We'll take one pepperoni and one cheese pizza," Apple Bloom said into her phone as she was ordering pizza for a late dinner. "Alright, see yah in 30 minutes." "Those Six Samurai were pretty tricky huh?" Sweetie asked as Scootaloo flopped down on the couch where she was sleeping. "Yeah, pretty tricky," Scootaloo said with a shrug as she picked up her cell phone and looked at it for a moment. She was wanting to call Rainbow Dash in Canterlot, but she wasn't sure what she was going to say. She had been adopted by Rainbow Dash's family a few years back after her parents had died and she wasn't sure what to tell her big sister. Rainbow Dash was the Equestrian Duel Monsters champion so Scootaloo had always felt like she was kind of in her shadow. It was why she had come to the Manehattan Invitational without even telling Rainbow until the finals so that she didn't live in her big sister's shadow. Not that she didn't love her sister, Rainbow had taught her everything about how to duel and had been there when her parents had died. She owed a lot to Rainbow Dash, but she wasn't sure about everything that was going on. "Are you going to call her?" Sweetie asked as she looked at Scootaloo. "I'll bet she'd love to hear that you won." "Yeah, maybe," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she looked down at her phone before she opened her contacts after a moment and called Rainbow on facetime. After a moment there was an answer with the blue face and rainbow haired girl that smiled at the sight of her adopted younger sister. "Hey Rainbow." "Hey Scoots, we saw your duel on Twitch," Rainbow said with a smile. "You did great, I'm proud of you!" Scootaloo smiled a little. "Thanks, I wasn't sure if I'd make it to the finals, but, yeah, I won and everything went well. Though if I hadn't drawn the right cards..." "Scootaloo, don't think like that," Rainbow said with a shake of her head. "You won and that's all that matters in the end. And you did it on your own terms, the Shiranui monsters are cool, what inspired you to use them?" "I, don't know," Scootaloo admitted as she looked at her deck. "I mean I like them and I find it kind of symbolic, but..." "You just felt a connection to them somehow?" Rainbow asked and she nodded. "That's why I use X-Sabers. Everyone has cards they connect to on some level, don't worry about it. Your cards are cool, and if they're what you want to use, use them." Scootaloo nodded a little and smiled. "Thanks Rainbow, that means a lot," she said with a nod as she took a deep breath. "So when are you coming back? Rainbow asked. "The day after tomorrow, we wanted to see more of the city before we came back," Scootaloo said with a smile. "Tell Fluttershy I said hey and I'll see you both soon." Rainbow nodded and hung up after a moment. Scootaloo yawned a little and laid back on the couch, it was going to be nice to be able to relax and enjoy the evening. 00000 As the night went by quietly and the sun began to rise the next morning, the figure on the throne got up and drew a staff out and stuck it in the ground. His servants gathered around him dressed in robes as they started to chant in unison. The staff glowed brightly with white energy as he raised it into the air, the chanting growing louder as they kept going. The energy flew up out of the end of the staff and it flew through the ceiling and up into the sky above Manehattan, as the energy flowed through it a dome was formed around the city and the energy flew out through it, intersecting with people across the city. The Crusaders slept unaware of what was going on around them as a protective sphere formed around their hotel room. Two women, one carrying a staff with a pointed hat and another carrying a whip watched the shield fluxuate around it. "Did it work?" The whip carrying woman asked as she looked at her companion. "Are they protected from the Light's attack?" "Yes, they were," the woman said as she lowered her staff with a shake of her head. "The Light has gotten brazen, last time they didn't dare go after an entire City like this. That feels more like something Nightshroud would do." "Yes, well, there's nothing we can do at the moment," the whip carrying woman said with a shake of her head. "I didn't expect to get the call from her majesty, why me?" "Well, we needed someone of your talents," the other woman said with a shrug as the wave of light finally finished, the dome having been formed over the city shimmered. "Come on, we have to get back home." "What if he shows up in the city?" "We'll worry about that if it happens Meanae," the woman said with a shake of her head and raised her staff up in the air and the two women vanished. 00000 Rainbow leaned back in her bed as she felt the soft kisses of the pink haired woman that was moving down her bare chest. She shivered a little and just as the kisses were getting interesting, she was being shaken awake and looked up to see the yellow skinned woman with pink hair who was looking scared. "Hey Flutters, what's wrong?" Rainbow asked with a yawn as she looked at her fiance who was terrified. "Rainbow, did you say that Scootaloo and her friends were in Manehattan?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah, they were participating in a tournament there and Scootaloo won," Rainbow said and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Why do you ask? What happened?" "You need to see something," Fluttershy said and got up, Rainbow shrugged and got up too, pulling on her robes as they walked down the hall to the living room of the house they shared where the TV was on. "A few hours ago, all contact with the city of Manehattan was cut off due to unknown forces," the anchor said. "The military is doing everything they can to try and uncover what happened in the city, but as of right now all attempts to enter the city have failed due to an unknown force. The status of everyone in the city is as of yet unknown, and we can only hope that the situation will be dealt with soon." Rainbow didn't say anything, instead she grabbed her cell phone and called Scootaloo frantically. She was afraid for her adopted sister and her friends and was hoping that maybe they hadn't been in the city. "Hey this is Scootaloo, I can't come to the phone right now, leave a message after the beep," the answer was without even a ring and she ended the call. "Rainbow, what are we going to do?" Fluttershy asked as she looked at Rainbow scared. "I mean, if she's in the city..." "I don't know Fluttershy..." Rainbow said with a sigh as she looked back at her phone. "Lets call the others, and hope that they're going to be okay." 00000 Sweetie Belle was the first one to wake up that morning and she looked out the window and blinked in surprise. Manehattan was quiet, quieter than it had been since she had arrived, there were no sounds of people or cars outside. When she looked out she saw that the city streets were totally empty except for a few cars that were stopped in the street. She ran over and shook Scootaloo awake first before she went to wake up Apple Bloom. Scootaloo yawned a little and rubbed her eyes as she looked around confused. "What's going on?" "I don't know, something feels weird," Sweetie said as the other two young women got dressed. "And the city, is, well, quiet." Scootaloo shrugged and picked up her phone before she noticed that she didn't have any service or wi-fi. "What is going on here..." Apple Bloom picked up the receiver on the landline and hung up after a moment. "Tha phone's dead too, what tha heck is goin' on?" None of them had much of an answer as they opened the door and found an envelope taped to the door. They opened it up and took out the paper and read it. If you want answers, come to Times Square at 0930. The three friends looked between each other a bit surprised but they didn't have much of a choice, so they got their stuff together and headed out of the hotel. 00000 When they reached Times Square however they were surprised to see that there were more people. The trip there had been uneventful as they hadn't seen anyone so they had been surprised to see more people there. "What do yah think is goin' on?" Apple Bloom asked as they looked around confused, the other people didn't even respond to them. "I have no idea," Sweetie Belle and started to say something before the screens around them turned on and a voice echoed from speakers around them. "Good morning Manehattan!" A loud male voice said and they looked up to see a man's face on the screen. He had yellow skin with bright red hair and was dressed in a muscle shirt and khaki pants with star tattoos lining his arms. "I'm sure you're all wondering who decided to hit the pause button on the city if you can think at all. I'm here to give you some answers, if you're willing to listen of course." The screens shut off again and the man stepped into view as the crowd parted, he was still speaking into a microphone as he spoke. "The name's Bright Star ladies and gentlemen, elite member of the Society of Light! We're back and better than ever!" "Tha Society of Light?" Apple Bloom asked. "What tha heck is that?" "Wait, I seem to recall hearing something about this," Scootaloo said with a pause. "From the memoirs of someone who was at Duelist Academy, they tried to take over the island and the world at one point. They're a cult that worships some, evil form of light I think." "That's right, and we're not going down so easily this time," Bright Star said with a smirk. "And the boss wants me to take you all down and bring you into the fold. So lets see, who to duel first..." Scootaloo started to step forward when he raised his hand. "Nope, I'm not dueling the winner of the Manehattan invitational. I'll duel your pink haired girlfriend over there instead." "What, me?" Sweetie Belle asked and looked at Bright Star strangely for a moment as she took out her Duel Disk and deck. "And she's not my girlfriend!" Bright Star rolled his eyes and took a card out of his deck. He chanted in a language none of them understood and the card glowed and shot up into the air. The clouds above the city parted and a strange creature descended. At first glance it looked like a bird, but its body was made up of an island with a castle on its back. There were more parts of it jutting out that looked like it was part of the castle as it moved into position. "And now with the Cloudcastle in play above the city, the duels become real!" Bright star said as a disk and deck appeared on his arm and he activated it. "So, lets duel." "Lets duel," Sweetie said as she activated her disk. (Sweetie Belle: 8000) --- (Bright Star: 8000) 00000 High above the city in the Cloudcastle, the figure on the throne was seated there again and watching the duel begin. "Eternal, what can you read about this one?" Eternal shuffled her deck again before speaking. "Sweetie Belle," she said and drew a card and set it down next to the Strength. The card depicted a robed woman with a crown on her head. She sat on a throne calmly with her hands folded. "The High Priestess, a card of intuition, mystery, and the subconscious mind," Eternal said as she looked back at her master. "Curious, first the Strength and now the High Priestess. We shall see how things play out from here." "Indeed," the figure on the throne said calmly and gave her a nod. "We'll keep an eye on things from here. We will take this time to put our new followers into position, a shame we had to just use Bright Star as a distraction, but he was always expendable." Eternal said nothing as she drew the next card and placed it down on the table. This one had a single sword pointing upwards with a crown on it. The Ace of Swords, a card of victory, but for who? 00000 "I'll make the first move," Bright said as he drew his next card and then picked a card from his hand and showed it as an insect made of gold. "I'm activating the effect of my Golden Ladybug, I reveal it in my standby phase and keep it revealed for the remainder of this turn and I gain 500 life points." "Great, so does he use insects or life point gain?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked over at Scootaloo. "What do yah think?" "I think we need to see what's going to happen next," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "Lets just hope Sweetie Belle can win this one, something tells me this guy is dueling for more than just fun." "And now I'll activate my spell card Goblin Thief," Bright continued as the Goblin of Greed appeared and drew out two gold coins. He threw one at Sweetie Belle which turned into a knife that hit her and made her scream out in pain while the other made a light shine down on bright. "That... felt real," Sweetie said as she rubbed the spot where it hit. "Get used to it, as long as the Cloudcastle is here, everything is real," Bright said with a grin as he picked another two card and slid it into his disk. "I'll set this card face down and set a monster in defense mode to end my turn." (S: 7500) --- (B: 9000) "So, do you know what kind of deck Sweetie Belle uses now?" Scootaloo asked as she looked over at Apple Bloom. "Ah have no idea," Apple Bloom admitted with a shrug. "Ah think she said somethin' once about usin' spaceships or psychics or somethin'. Ah don't really know how that works." "We'll see I guess," Scootaloo said as she watched curiously as Sweetie Belle drew her first card. "I'll start with two cards face down," Sweetie said as she slid the two cards into her disk and they appeared in front of her. "And I'll summon my Kozmo Farmgirl in attack mode!" The monster that appeared was a teenage girl with red hair tied into braids. She was dressed in a green one piece outfit with a short cape tied around her neck and goggles on her head holding a blaster (1500/1000). "Okay, that's not what I expected at all," Scootaloo commented. "What the heck is a Kozmo monster?" "Ah don't know, but somethin' about her seems familiar ta me," Apple Bloom said as the Farmgirl twirled her pistol and pointed it at Bright Star. "Kozmo Farmgirl, lets show him how we do things back home, attack his face down monster with Quick-Shot Strike!" Sweetie said as the Farmgirl fired a shot at the face down monster which was revealed to be a flying squirrel like creature. "Thanks, that was my Nimble Momonga," Bright said as energy flew into him. He took two cards out of his deck and set them on his disk. "I gain 1000 life points and get to set two more Nimble Momongas." "Well, that answers that question, its definitely a life point gain deck," Scootaloo said and frowned a little. "That's going to be trouble, I hope Sweetie knows what she's doing." "Me too," Apple Bloom said with a sigh. "So, what is she goin' ta do if he gets out somethin' powerful?" "We hope she has something that can deal with it," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "Come on Sweetie, you can do it!" Sweetie looked at her hand for a moment and sighed. "I'll end my turn there." (S: 7500) --- (B: 10,000) Bright Feather drew a card casually and looked at it before he picked out another card and showed it as his Golden Ladybug as it glowed around him. "I get 500 more life points, and I'll activate the spell card Ancient Leaf." "Ancient Leaf?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Its simple, since I have over 9000 life points I can pay 2000 life points and draw two cards," Bright Star said as his life points fell by 2000 and he drew two cards. "Now I'll summon my Hysteric Fairy." A monster with medium length black hair and wearing a pair of glasses appeared holding a book. They had blue-white wings and adjusted their glasses for a moment before looking at Sweetie Belle (1800/500). "Oh look, its Twilight Sparkle if she was a fairy type monster," Scootaloo said with a chuckle as the fairy gave her a stern look. "Testy too I see." "Hysteric Fairy, attack that Farmgirl, throw the book at her!" Bright Star said as the fairy closed the book and threw it at the Farmgirl. "I activate my trap card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Sweetie countered and a rusty metallic scarecrow appeared and the book bounced off it and flew back into the fairy's hand before the scarecrow vanished and was replaced by a face down card. "And its re-usable so I don't have to worry about losing it." "Fine, I'll activate Hysteric Fairy's effect," Bright Star said and the fairy opened her book and the two face down monsters vanished and energy flew out and into Bright Star. "I'll end my turn there. Lets see what you can do now." (S: 7500) --- (B: 9500) Sweetie drew her next card and smiled a little as she picked out a card and set it on the disk. "I'll summon my Kozmo Scaredy Lion!" She said and a bipedal lion with a wild mane and dressed in black armor with bandoliers over his chest appeared shaking (1200/500). "Oh, I get it!" Scootaloo said as she facepalmed. "What?" Apple Bloom asked. "Its Star Wars!" Scootaloo said with a chuckle. "Well, Star Wars mixed with the Wizard of Oz strangely enough. I'm, honestly not sure how that works, but that makes more sense at least." "And all the monsters I've summoned so far are the pilots," Sweetie Belle said with a smile as she pointed at Scaredy Lion. "I'll banish him to summon one of my ships, so welcome to the field Kozmo Sliprider!" Scaredy Lion vanished and something streaked by overhead before it moved into its place in front of Sweetie Belle. It looked like a sleek red colored fighter with two wings jutting out, two fins, and a cockpit with Scaredy Lion visible (2300/800). "And when its special summoned I can destroy one of your face down cards, so say good-bye to that one," she continued and pointed at the first card Bright had set and it flipped up to show the trap Destruct Potion and then shattered. "Sliprider, attack Hysteric Fairy with Ruby Lasers!" The fighter steadied itself and fired several lasers into the fairy monster which shattered and Bright covered his face. "Now its your turn Farmgirl, attack him directly!" Sweetie said and Farmgirl twirled her pistol before firing at Bright Star and he stumbled back a little. "I activate my trap card, Numinous Healer!" He said and his other trap flipped up and motes of energy fell around him. "Since I took damage I gain 1000 life points." "Well, I'll pay 500 life points to activate Farmgirl's effect, since I dealt damage I can add one of my Kozmos to my hand," she said and took a card from her deck and added it to her hand. "I'll save that for next turn though, I'll end my turn there." Hopefully my Wickedwitch will help a little, she thought as she looked at the card she had added to her hand. (S: 7000) --- (B: 8500) Bright Star drew and then revealed Golden Ladybug as light fell down around him again before he slid a card into his disk. "I play Hand Destruction, so now we both have to discard two cards and draw two cards," he said and took two cards out of his hand and slid them into his graveyard before he drew two cards quickly. "Fine," Sweetie said and did the same as she looked at the cards and smiled a moment, this would help her a lot. "Now I'll activate the Messenger of Peace!" Bright Star continued and a holy man carrying a book appeared with a light shining around him that made Sweetie's monsters bow in respect. Great, that's going to make things hard, Sweetie thought as she looked at her monsters and then at her hand. She had cards that could attack, but if he summoned anything else then she wouldn't be able to use them. "And I'll summon my White Magician Pikeru!" Bright Star continued as a little girl in a white dress with pink hair and wearing a hat that looked like a sheep token appeared carrying a small wand (1200/0). Sweetie groaned, she didn't have anything in her deck that was both weak enough to attack and strong enough to destroy it without destroying her monster too. "Seeing as how my monster is too weak to destroy your monsters, I'll end my turn there," Bright Star finished as he turned the card back around and looked at Sweetie. "What are you going to do now?" (S: 7000) --- (B: 9000) Sweetie drew a card and shook her head, this wasn't going to help right now. It was actually one of her stronger monsters, but if she summoned it right now it wouldn't be able to attack. She sighed and added it to her hand before she picked another card. "I'll summon the monster I added to my hand before, Kozmoll Wickedwitch!" The monster that appeared was dressed in a black cloak with a hood pulled over her face that showed brown hair and silver legs. She took out what looked like a long wand and she pressed a button and with a snap-hiss two red blades came out of it on either side (1900/300). "So, you've got one of your Sith on the field," Bright Star said with a chuckle. "Too bad the dark side has always been weaker than the light." Little does he know that the strongest monsters in this deck are dark types, Sweetie thought with a chuckle. "We'll see about that, I'll now equip it with the Telekinetic Charging Cell!" Two devices flew out and surrounded the Wickedwitch and a green energy field surrounded it. "Oh hey, Ah remember that card," Apple Bloom said. "Ah guess she has some normal psychic support cards in there since that makes it so she doesn't have ta pay life points fer Wickedwitch's effect." "I'll have to end my turn there since your spell keeps me from attacking," Sweetie said as she crossed her arms. "But you have to pay life points to keep your spell." "Not that it matters with my deck," Bright said as he drew his next card as his life points fell by 100. "And now I get the effect of the monster I discarded with Hand Destruction." A black skinned fallen angel with medium lengh blonde hair and a simple dress appeared behind him. She blew him a kiss as motes of light flew around him. "Wow, that's an old card," Scootaloo commented as she looked at the spectral form of Darklord Marie. "Actually come to think of it he's using a lot of older cards." "Well hey, Ah use a lot of older cards too," Apple Bloom said with a shrug. "If they work they work. Lets see what Sweetie has up her sleave at least, Ah'm sure she can win this one." Scootaloo nodded a little and looked at Sweetie Belle again. She was looking determined but Scootaloo knew that she probably knew what she was doing. "So, why do yah think he's gainin' all these life points?" Apple Bloom asked. "He doesn't seem ta be doin' much ta do damage ta Sweetie yet. Yah can't just gain life points fer tha purpose of gainin' them can yah?" "Well, there's a few combos you can do with it," Scootaloo said with a shrug. "Though, none of them are good for Sweetie. I'm a little worried about all of this, he's got something very dangerous planned." "And next Pikeru's effect activates and I gain 400 life points," Bright Star continued as Pikeru's wand shined and his life points went up again. He finally revealed his Golden Ladybug as more magical energy flew into him. "How many life points do you need?" Sweetie asked, which he ignored as he set another card on his disk. "I'll summon my Spirit of the Breeze in attack mode," Bright Star said and a green fairy with long blue hair and a yellow dress and wings appeared (0/1800). "I'll end my turn there." (S: 7000) --- (B: 10,000) 00000 On a rooftop overlooking the square the same two figures from the night before are watching. One of them is dressed in leather and carrying a whip with long brown hair and the other was a girl with blonde hair and an off blue outfit with a pointed hat and talking into a cell phone. "Yes ma'am, we'll be right on it, they're dueling one of their minions now," the blonde spellcaster said. "What are our orders once the duel is over?" There was a pause as she got her answer from whoever was on the other side. Meanae looked away from the duel for a moment to look at her curiously. "Understood, I'll tell her, we'll be right on it." "The Light must be getting desperate for duelists if they're relying on such old fashioned cards," Meanae commented as she looked at her partner. "What do you think G.G.?" "I think spirits in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," Gagaga Girl commented with a chuckle. "You are the one who still uses Dark Scorpions after all Meanae." "Touche," the thief said with a roll of her eyes as she looked down at the black metal duel disk on her arm. "So what does her majesty want us to do when they're done here, test 'em?" "Not yet, she wants us to direct them towards the 9th Circle," Gagaga Girl said as she nodded down the street. "Ah, so we're sending them to her, I see," Meanae said with a frown. "Is she sure that is our best option? I mean, we are sending them to, well, one of the more powerful darkness beings in the city. Is she even on our side?" "She's neutral in this conflict, but she doesn't want the Light to win either," Gagaga Girl said with a shake of her head. "Lets just hope they win this, Sweetie has interesting taste in cards." "Yeah, she does," Meanae said with a shrug. "Come on, lets get back to watching since its her turn." The two duel spirits went silent as they watched the duel continue. 00000 "Alright, its my turn!" Sweetie said as she drew her next card with a bit of flourish, she had to hope that she'd get something good. Her face fell when she saw that it was a second copy of Soartroopers. "Didn't get what you wanted I see," Bright commented with a smirk. "No, I'm just, trying to make you sweat," Sweetie said as she tried to sound more intimidating than she really was as she picked out her Kozmo Strawman. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn." "Ah wish Ah knew more about these Kozmo monsters," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head. "Ah don't even know if she might have somethin' in her deck that she can use." Scootaloo was getting more and more worried for her friend. She knew Sweetie Belle was a good duelist, but there was a lot of risk here. Now she knew why Bright didn't want to duel her, her Shiranui deck would've had a lot of ways to destroy his cards or even banish his monster. She just had to hope that Sweetie had something in mind. "She'll figure something out... I hope," she said, the last part quietly as she watched Bright draw his next card. "I won't pay the 100 life points to keep Messenger of Peace," he said with a smile as the holy man vanished, then Marie appeared behind him and Pikeru raised her wand as light flew into him and he finally revealed Golden Ladybug again. "Geez, like he really needs more life points," Scootaloo said with a groan. She didn't like the look on his face when he had drawn that card. "I'll summon my Agent of Mystery - Earth," he said and a new fairy appeared, this one had blue and green wings with pale white hair and skin wearing a green and blue dress and carrying a staff. "Which lets me take another one of my Agents out of my deck and add it to my hand." "That's, really not good," Apple Bloom said as he took a card out of his deck. "If he's goin' fer what monster Ah think he is, this is gonna be bad." "Luckily for you, I can't summon him yet," Bright said and then grinned evily as he pointed at his three monsters. "But what I can do is tune together all three of my monsters since Earth is a Tuner." "Oh crap..." All three friends said at the same time as the monsters flew up and formed the synchro. (2* + 3* + 2* = 7*) The monster that descended resembled a white serpentine dragon with several wings jutting out of its body. It also had a long golden mane and it let out a roar as it looked at Sweetie Belle and her monsters hungrily (2100/2000). "My Ancient Sacred Wyvern is one of the most powerful monsters in my deck!" Bright Star said with a wicked grin as the Wyvern's attack suddenly jumped up to 7600. "Since my life points are more than yours, he gains attack equal to the difference. Which means that this is going to hurt, a lot." Sweetie backed up in fear as the Wyvern started gathering up energy into its mouth. "Ancient Sacred Wyvern, attack the Farmgirl with Sacred Light Blast!" Bright Star said as the wyvern fired a massive burst of energy right at the farmgirl taking it out, making Sweetie's life points plummet down to 900. "And that just makes my Wyvern stronger!" Bright star said as the monster's attack now jumped up to 13,700. "I end my turn. So what are you going to do now? You don't have a card in your deck that's strong enough to stand up to my Wyvern." (S: 900) --- (B: 12,500) "We'll see about that," Sweetie said as she drew a card and flinched, it wasn't going to help though it may help get her what she needed down the line. "I'll set this card face down and switch both of my monsters into defense mode." Wickedwitch knelt down and Sliprider landed on the road. She looked at the last card in her hand and shook her head, summoning it right now would do her no good. She looked at Sliprider and an idea was starting to form in her mind, she just had to wait for the right moment. "I'll end my turn there," she said. "Then its my turn!" Bright said and drew a card, his life points going u thanks to Marie and when he revealed Golden Ladybug as the Wyvern's attack rose to 14,400. "And I'll summon my Granadora!" The monster that appeared was hideous, it was some sort of freakish reptile creature that no one could really tell what it was supposed to be (1900/700). It spat water at Bright and his life points went up again, followed by the Wyvern's attack to 15,400. "And now Granadora, attack her Wickedwitch!" Bright said, not paying attention as Sweetie said something and the reptile charged forward and slashed at it but she survived. "What? How?" "I activated her effect, she can't be destroyed this turn, normally I'd have to pay life points but that equip spell takes care of it!" Sweetie said with a grin. "Anything else?" "Fine, Ancient Sacred Wyvern, attack her Sliprider!" Bright said and Wyvern fired off a burst of energy destroying the fighter ship. "And that activates Sliprider's effect," Sweetie said as she took the card and put it in her banished spot. "By banishing it I can special summon another one of my Kozmos from my deck as long as its level 4 or lower." She took a card out of her deck and set it on her disk and a green skinned woman in brown and tan robes with long blonde hair and wings appeared holding a wand with a green blade (1800/1000). "My Kozmo Goodwitch, but that's for later," Sweetie said and gave him a nod. "Grr... I'll end my turn there," Bright finished. (S: 900) --- (B: 14,200) Sweetie drew a card and looked at it and then at Bright and smiled broadly. "What's got you smiling?" Bright asked, for a moment he actually sounded a little worried as she slid the card into her disk. "I'm going to play a life point gaining card of my own, I activate Soul Absorption!" She said and blue energy circled around her. "And then I'll activate my trap card Psychic Trigger, so I can banish two of my psychic type monsters and I can draw two cards." She took two cards out of her graveyard and put them in her banished slot as the blue energy flew into her and the Wyvern's attack fell to 14,400. She looked at the cards and smiled a little, they were going to help a lot. "So what are you going to do now?" Bright asked. "Your monsters aren't nearly strong enough to destroy my Wyvern with how strong it is." "You're right, with how high your monster's attack points are I can't beat it," Sweetie said and then pointed at Goodwitch. "So instead I'll activate my Goodwitch's special ability, by paying 500 life points I can flip one of your monsters face down. So Goodwitch, flip Wyvern face down!" Bright's eyes went wide as Goodwitch raised her hand and it glowed as it forced the wyvern into defense mode and it turned into a horizontal card. "Next I'll flip summon my face down Kozmo Strawman," Sweetie continued and a gangly gold loking creature appeared (500/1800). "And I'll activate his effect, by banishing him I can special summon a level 3 or higher Kozmo monster. Including one of the most powerful, which I'll summon now!" A huge shadow crossed the field and the duelists and the spectators looked up and gasped. Above them was a huge spaceship that was black with glowing red lines crossing it (3000/2600). "Welcome to the field, Kozmo Dark Eclipser!" Sweetie said and the ship just hovered there for a moment. "But I'm not done yet, I'll equip my Goodwitch with my Kozmo Lightsword!" A second wand appered in the Goodwitch's free hand and she ignited it as her attack points rose to 2300. Sweetie moved Wickedwitch's effect vertically and she stood up and re-ignited her wand. "Goodwitch, attack the face down Wyvern with Dual Saber Strike!" Sweetie said as the witch flew forward and slashed through the face down Wyvern that roared loudly and shattered. "You... no one has ever destroyed my Wyvern before!" Bright said in protest and looked down at his duel disk. "How did I lose life points?" "Well, there's a first time for everything," Sweetie said. "And the equipped monster can deal damage through defense. Oh, and one other thing, the equipped monster can attack twice as long as they attack another monster. So take out Granadora with Dual Saber Strike!" The witch charged forward and slashed through the strange monster as it shattered. Then water flew back towards Bright and he screamed as it hit him and he lost 2000 life points. "Granadora comes with a cost of course," Scootaloo said with a chuckle. "He must've figured that he'd win before he had to worry about that." "Too bad, Dark Eclipser, attack him directly with Turbolaser Barrage!" Sweetie said as the ship pointed a cannon down at Bright and it fired a shot that hit the ground and sent him flying backwards. "Wickedwitch, attack him now with Fate Slash!" Wickedwitch rushed forward and spun around and hit Bright as he let out a groan and slowly got to his feet. His clothes were torn from the attacks and he was breathing heavily. "You're a lot better than I expected..." he said with a growl. "What are you going to do now? This isn't over yet." "You're right, its not over yet, for now," Sweetie said as she crossed her arms. "But the tables have turned and you've got a long way to go before you're going to win this. I'll end my turn there." (S: 1900) --- (B: 6600) Bright growled and drew a card as Marie appeared behind him and motes fell around him as he revealed Golden Ladybug again. "And now I'll activate my field spell, the Sanctuary in the Sky!" The city around them turned into a golden city on the clouds. "And now, I'll summon my Agent of Force - Mars!" Bright said and a new fairy appeared, this one had red wings and dark red skin with a hammer and armor and his attack went up to 5400. Sweetie froze for a moment as the world around her went quiet as the angel flew up at Dark Eclipser. She didn't even hear the attack command and she froze for a moment as she watched, knowing that she was going to lose if she couldn't stop it. "Sweetie, your face down card!" Scootaloo called out at her. "You can stop this!" "My..." Sweetie said and facepalmed, she had forgotten all about her trap card with everything that was going on. "Go Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" The Angel swung his hammer and hit the metal scarecrow before it could hit the starship and it was sent flying back. "That was a close one," Sweetie said breathing heavily. "I forgot all about my Scarecrow, thanks Scoots." Scootaloo smiled and gave her the thumbs up before Sweetie turned back and looked at Bright who looked furious. "I'll end my turn!" He said and spat at Sweetie. (S: 1900) --- (B: 7300) Okay, I need to draw the right card right now if I want to win this, Sweetie thought as she looked down at her deck. She had a few cards that could save her right now, she just had to hope that she'd draw one of them. "Looks like someone's afraid," Bright said and gave her a smirk. "Don't make me start the timer before you lose." "Oh shut up," Sweetie said and drew her next card and her eyes went wide when she saw what she had drawn. "I summon my Kozmo Soartroopers in attack mode!" Three monsters appeared in front of her, they were all dressed in black armor that looked kind of like a monkey. The only thing that set them apart was the fact that they had wings (1000/1000). "Flying Monkeys meet Stormtroopers," Scootaloo said. "Is it just me or does this game get weirder and weirder?" "I'll activate their effect, by banishing them I can special summon one of my Kozmo monsters from my hand," Sweetie said and the monsters vanished and the lights flew into Sweetie again. "So I can special summon the Kozmo Dark Destroyer!" The monster that appeared was smaller than Dark Eclipser and was more streamlined. It was silver with purple markings on it and two wings that jutted out from its body as it adjusted itself to look down at Mars (3000/1600). "Its still too..." "Yeah, its still too weak I know, but it also has a special ability, when its summoned I can destroy one monster," Sweetie said and the spacecraft aimed at the angel. "Take it out!" Dark Destroyer fired lasers at it that intersected with Mars and it shattered. Bright took a step back and looked up at the two spacecraft in fear. "Lets finish this, Dark Destroyer, Dark Eclipser, and Goodwitch, attack him directly!" Sweetie ordered and the two ships fired their lasers as they hit him then Goodwitch flew forward and slashed him with her swords. Bright let out a scream as he fell back onto the pavement. (S: 2400) --- (B: 0) "Oh crap, is he alive?" Sweetie asked as she deactivated her disk and ran over to the fallen form of her opponent with her friends close behind. She checked his pulse and let out a sigh of relief. "He's alive, just unconscious." "Hey, where did all the people go?" Scootaloo asked as they looked around, they had been so focused on the duel they hadn't noticed the crowd had vanished. "Ah have no idea," Apple Bloom said and they were about to say something else when a whip cracked from behind them. When they turned however there was only a letter laying on the ground. Scootaloo paused a moment before she bent down and carefully opened it up. She wasn't sure what to expect as she read it. Chosen Ones, You've managed to beat your first opponent, well done, but things in Manehattan aren't going to get any better. Go to the Ninth Circle, the owner will be there to shed more light on the situation, if she's willing to help. A friend. "There's a map of the city in here," Scootaloo said as she took out a map of Manehattan. "Its got a lot of important spots marked, including the Ninth Circle. Should we check it out?" "Do we have much of a choice?" Sweetie Belle pointed out. "We need information on this situation and if whoever is inside there can help us, we don't have a choice." Scootaloo and Apple Bloom thought about it for a moment and sighed before they started walking towards where the Ninth Circle was marked on the map.