High above Manehattan in the Cloudcastle, the same man seated on the throne wathed his screen as the Crusaders walked out of the Ninth Circle. He frowned a little and shook his head.
"So, they've made a deal with our local devil it seems," he said as he eyed them. "I wonder what they were up to in there, she's dangerous enough but at least she's not interested in getting involved."
"Do not be so quick to judge, Morning Star" Eternal said as she shuffled the tarot deck and placed a card down on the table. "Justice, she is a powerful being of law and power, there is always the chance that she will play a role."
"Of course, even the Devil cannot keep out of the affairs of mortals," the man on the throne said. "What about Apple Bloom, what do the cards tell us about her?"
"Lets see, Apple Bloom," Eternal said as she drew her next card and set it next to the Strength and the High Priestess. "The Empress, a card of femininity, nature, and abundance. Curious, but she does come from a farming family."
"Indeed," the man on the throne said as he took out a tablet and swiped through it. "Lets see, who to send against them this time. With almost all the duelists in the city under our control we have a lot to choose from."
Eternal looked thoughtful for a long moment as she looked back at him. "Perhaps something more unconventional. The Crusaders are skilled duelists, but they cannot prepare for every eventuality."
"Unconventional, hmm..." the man on the throne said as he pressed an option and nodded. "Very well, I'll send this one for now, lets see if he can handle them."
He waved his hand as a magical sigil appeared in his hand and the command was sent. He looked back at the screen and paused a moment.
He could feel a strong power coming from the three young women's decks now and he looked at his deck box thoughtfully for a moment. If it was what he thought it was, then he had to get ready to fight them.
"Keep an eye on things here, I will be in the Forge," he said as he got to his feet and walked out of the throne room.
Eternal watched him go for a long moment before she drew her next card and her eyes went wide when she set it down. It depicted a tower with an explosion rocking.
"The Tower, a catastrophe is coming..." she said softly.
00000
"So, what are we gonna do now?" Apple Bloom asked as they walked down the empty street. "Ah swear, walkin' through an empty city like this gives me the creeps somethin' fierce."
"Yeah, I agree," Sweetie said as Scootaloo was looking over the map. "So where are we going?"
"Well, I was thinking that we should check out one of the places that Morning Star pointed us towards," Scootaloo said. "Given that we don't really have any food or anything, we should probably see if we can find some supplies."
"Yeah, that makes sense, where's the nearest one?" Sweetie Belle asked as they looked at the map together.
"Pretty close, we just have to go to this building here, there should be something there," Scootaloo said as she pointed at the spot on the map. "Lets just hope that we don't have to cook anything given that none of us can cook and we don't even have a kitchen if we could."
"Yeah, lets hope," Apple Bloom said as she looked down at her deck. "Do yah think these Pendulum monsters are gonna help us any?"
"Maybe, I mean we've got some great cards here already," Scootaloo said as she took out her two Pendulum monsters. These are going to make things even better, I just hope we know how they work."
She looked at her disk thoughtfully for a moment. This was the latest model and it came with two extra slots on either side, though no one was really sure what they were for, it was probably to get ready for Pendulums.
"Lets just hope that we don't run into any more..." Sweetie said as they approached the store where the cache was and stopped in mid-step. "Trouble."
Standing in front of them was a man with slate grey skin and a shaved head. He was dressed in a torn shirt and jeans and had visible golden lines running along his body with his eyes glowing golden.
"Okay, that's new," Apple Bloom said as they backed off a little. "What's up with the light show?"
"This is the full power of what we unleashed in this city," the man said in an echoey voice. "Those who were exposed to the power of the light are now fully under our control. And if you lose, the same fate will befall you."
"Crap..." Scootaloo said and gulped a little as she looked at the man. "So what now?"
"One of you will face my pawn Slate here," the man said. "If you win, you will free him from my control. In this city, the stakes are higher than you've ever experienced, lets see if you're lucky enough to win."
The golden glow faded but not the lines or the golden tint to his eyes. He raised his arm and activated a duel disk. "I'm here to duel for the Light, and I'll challenge you!" He said and pointed at Scootaloo.
"Wait, me?" Scootaloo asked in surprise as she raised her disk. "Why me?"
"Probably because they see yah as tha biggest threat," Apple Bloom said. "Don't worry Scoots, we have faith in yah."
"Thanks," Scootaloo said as she activated her duel disk. "Lets duel!"
(Scootaloo: 8000) --- (Slate: 8000)
"I will go first," Slate said as he drew 6 cards while Scootaloo drew 5.
"Whatever happened to ladies first?" Scootaloo said with a shake of her head.
"I will let you go first when you start acting like a lady," Slate said as he slipped a card into his disk. "I activate the spell card Gather Your Mind, this lets me add another Gather Your Mind to my hand but I can't activate it this turn."
"We seem to be running into a lot of older cards lately," Sweetie commented as a card slipped out of Slate's deck and he put it in his hand. "Hey, do you notice anything weird?"
"Like what?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Slate's deck, its larger than normal," Sweetie commented. "Most duelists use only 40 cards in their deck, but if I didn't know any better he had a full 60 card deck."
"Huh, weird," Apple Bloom said and blinked a little in surprise as Slate picked his next card.
"I'll set this monster in defense mode and set two cards face down," Slate said as three cards appeared face down in front of him. "Make your move."
"Alright, I draw," Scootaloo said and drew her next card, she smiled a little when she saw what was in her hand. "I'll start with my Call of the Mummy spell card, and since I have no monsters on my field, I can special summon one zombie from my hand, so I'll special summon my Mezuki in attack mode!"
The humanoid horse demon appeared and swung his ax as he snarled at Slate (1700/800).
"And since that was a special summon, I can normal summon my Shiranui Samurai!" Scootaloo continued and a man with black hair in a bun and dressed like a martial artist appeared drawing a flaming sword (1800/0). "And I'll add my Pyramid of Wonders, which gives my Zombies a boost of 200 attack for every monster you control!"
A vortex appeared above them and Mezuki and Samurai started to glow with an eerie light.
"Yeah, go Scootaloo!" Sweetie said excitedly as her monsters attack points rose to 1900 and 2000. "Keep this up and this duel will be over in no time!"
"I'll set this card face down and then attack your face down monster with Mezuki!" Scootaloo commanded as the horse demon rushed forward and slammed his ax down on the monster that appeared to be an arm made of ice, before it shattered it punched up and hit the pyramid shattering it. "What was that?"
"That was my Ice Hand, when its destroyed it takes out one of your spell or trap cards with it," Slate said as he took a card from his deck and placed it on the field and a flaming hand appeared in front of him. "And I also get to summon my Fire Hand."
"Darn it," Scootaloo said with a facepalm. "Fine, Shiranui Samurai attack his Fire Hand with Burning Katana!"
The Samurai ran forward and slashed at the hand and then it opened its hand and grabbed the Samurai, shattering it. Then the first hand appeared again.
"And thanks to that I get another Ice Hand," Slate said and shook his head. "Do you want to do anything else?"
"I end my turn," Scootaloo said with a sigh.
"Come on Scoots, don't let it get you down, its just a setback!" Sweetie said. "You'll figure something out, he can't do it forever!"
"At least we hope he can't," Apple Bloom said.
"Thanks that fills me with such confidence," Scootaloo said with a sigh as Slate drew his next card.
"I'll play my second Gather Your Mind," he said and the spell card appeared a second time as he took a third card out of his deck.
"Yeah, but since that was your last one you can't use it again!" Scootaloo said and Slate just shrugged a little.
"That might be the case, but I have other uses for it," he said and picked another card and set it face down on his disk. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"Are you ever going to attack?" Scootaloo asked with a groan.
"Patience, I'll attack when I'm ready," Slate said with a shake of his head. "My deck still has a lot of tricks waiting in the wings. This game isn't about winning fast, and you'll have to be patient."
"Great, Scootaloo's in trouble then," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head. "She's ain't exactly tha most patient person Ah've ever met."
"Hey, I heard that!" Scootaloo said.
"Scootaloo, stay calm, you just need to do your best and win this!" Sweetie called to her. "We've got faith in you!"
"Alright, I draw!" Scootaloo said and drew her next card, she flinched when she saw that it was her Despair From the Dark. "I summon another one of my Yokai, the Shutendoji!"
A red faced fiendish monster with spiked blonde hair appeared carrying a jug. He cackled and beared his teeth at Slate (1500/800).
"Now, since I know what'll happen if I attack your Ice Hand, I'll take out your face down monster, Shutendoji attack with Sake Slash!" She continued as the fiendish zombie took a drink from his jug and rushed forward and slashed at the face down monster.
The monster that appeared briefly was a robotic bunny with the words "Love it" on its head. It fired a laser that went through Call of the Mummy and hit Scootaloo as she flinched.
"Since you attacked Mecha Bunny, you lose 500 life points and I get to set another one," Slate said as he took out a card and another face-down monster appeared in front of him.
"Okay, this is getting annoying, but I think I get the idea," Sweetie said. "He seems to be using cards that can replace themselves easily."
"So, why is he usin' them?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I, honestly have no idea, I can't think of a strategy that would benefit from having that many monsters in the graveyard," Sweetie said with a frown. "Whatever it is, I'm sure he's got something big planned for Scootaloo."
"I end my turn," Scootaloo said with a sigh. "Its your turn, lets see what you've got now."
(SC: 7500) --- (SL: 8000)
Slate drew a card and added it to his hand before he picked another card and set it on the disk. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"Okay, this is getting weird, don't you do anything else?" Scootaloo asked.
"Patience," Slate said and crossed his arms. "I learned a long time ago that patience is the key to winning a duel. If you rush into a fight so easily, then you'll do nothing but hurt yourself."
"We'll see, I draw!" Scootaloo said and smiled when she saw what it was. "I activate my spell card, Brain Control! And I'll use it to take control of... your Ice Hand!"
A brain appeared in front of her as two ghastly hands reached out and grabbed the frozen hand before it pulled it over to her side of the field.
"Now I'm going to tribute your Ice Hand and my Mezuki to normal summon my Despair From the Dark!" She continued and the two monsters vanished before the large ghastly horned zombie appeared in front of her and cackled (2800/3000).
"Yeah, go Scootaloo!" Sweetie cheered. "You can do this!"
"And now I'll activate the effect of Mezuki and I'll bring back my Samurai!" Scootaloo said as the card slipped out of her disk and she put it in her pocket as Shiranui Samurai appeared in front of her in a burst of flame (1800/0). "Now Shutendoji, attack his face down Mecha Bunny!"
The fiend took a drink from his jug and rushed forward, slashing through the robotic bunny as energy flew out and hit Scootaloo through Call of the Mummy.
"And I get a third Mecha Bunny, thank you," Slate said as another face down card appeared in front of him.
"Fine, Despair From the Dark, take out his other face down monster with Despair Rend!" Scootaloo said and Despair From the Dark charged forward and slashed through a monster that was revealed to be a turtle with a metalic back.
"That was my UFO Turtle, and I get to special summon another one," Slate said as he took another monster out of his deck and placed it on the field and a second turtle appeared in front of him (1400/1200).
"Fine, I'll deal with that last Mecha Bunny then!" Scootaloo said and nodded to Shiranui Samurai who rushed forward and slashed through the bunny as energy flew into her again.
"Why did she do that? She just lost 1800 life points this turn and he didn't lose any," Sweetie commented. "Is she being reckless?"
"No, Ah think she's got a plan," Apple Bloom said. "Now Slate can't summon another Mecha Bunny and if he had anything planned with that, then its ruined."
"Before I end my turn, I'm activating Shutendoji's effect," Scootaloo continued as she took out her Mezuki card. "I'll place this monster on top of my deck and end my turn."
(SC: 5700) --- (SL: 8000)
Slate drew a card and slid it into his disk. "I'll activate my Spellbooks Inside the Pot, now we can both draw three cards," he said as he drew the next three cards off his deck.
"Fine," Scootaloo said though she was a little confused as she did the same. "What's the point of that?"
Slate didn't answer, he just picked a card from his hand and slid it into his disk as a golden box appeared in front of him. "I activate Golden Sarcophagus, I can banish one card from my deck and get it back in two turns, and I'll pick this one," he said and held up a card that Scootaloo didn't recognize before he put it in his pocket.
"Are you going to do something with that other than set it?" Scootaloo asked.
"We'll see, I'll end my turn by setting these two cards face down and switching UFO turtle to defense mode," he said and another monster appeared in front of him followed by a face down card and the turtle knelt down. "Its your turn."
"Alright, I draw!" Scootaloo said as she drew her next card and looked at it before she opened her field slot. "I activate my field spell, Zombie World!"
The city around them shifted into a rotting cityscape with a broken road and buildings. There was the sound of moaning and groaning in the distance as she smiled.
"Thanks to my field spell, all cards on the field and in the graveyard become zombies," she said and picked another card. "And now I'll get rid of those two face down cards you set before by activating Twin Twisters, I'll discard a card and destroy your face down cards!"
She slid a card into her graveyard and two twisters appeared and blew the cards off the field revealing a Damage Condenser and Jar of Avarice.
"And I'll re-summon my Mezuki!" She continued and the horse headed demon appeared again (1700/800). "Now Mezuki, take out the UFO Turtle!"
The demon slammed his axe down on the turtle and it shattered, only to be replaced by another one. "Fine, I'll take that one out with my Samurai!" She said and the Samurai slashed at it. "And that's all of your Turtles."
"But not all my monsters I can summon," Slate said as a dragon with a mask appeared (1400/1100). "Like my Masked Dragon."
Scootaloo looked at her monsters and then smiled. "Alright, but first I'll take out your face down monster with my Shutendoji!" She said as the fiend took a drink and rushed forward, slashing through a monster that was revealed to be a giant rat before another one appeared (1400/1450). "Now Despair From the Dark, take out Masked Dragon! And since its in attack mode, you take damage!"
The ghostly fiend rushed forward and slashed at the dragon as Slate's eyes went wide and it shattered.
"Lucky break," he said with a frown.
"Finally, Scootaloo dealt some damage to him!" Sweetie said.
"Yah can do it Scoots!" Apple Bloom said. "Show him what yer made of!"
"I'll end my turn there," Scootaloo finished with a smirk. "Lets see what you can do now."
(SC: 5700) --- (SL: 6600)
Slate drew his next card and selected another card. "I'll summon my Cyber Larva," he said and a small robot monster appeared (400/600). "And I'll play my One Day of Peace, so we can both draw a card but neither of us take damage until my next turn."
Scootaloo blinked as they both drew a card.
"And now I'll swtich Giant Rat to defense mode," he continued and the rat knelt in defense mode. "I end my turn there."
Scootaloo drew her next card and frowned, it was going to be helpful if she got the right card with it. "Alright, I'll set this monster in defense mode," she said and a set monster appeared in front of her.
She paused and looked at the three monsters in front of her. She could take them out, but it felt more like that was exactly what he wanted her to do. One Day of Peace was in play so she couldn't deal damage anyway.
"I'll, end my turn there," she said and sighed a little.
Slate drew his next card and then took the card he had banished and put it in his hand. "I start with the spell card Thunder Crash!" He said as lightning rained down around him and the monsters shattered before the lightning flew out and hit Scootaloo.
"Okay... that's not good..." Scootaloo said as she rose back up to her feet.
"Indeed, I summon the monster I had put in my Sarcophagus, the Chaos-End Master!" He said and a pale skinned man with long white wings and gold on his outfit with spiked white hair appeared (1500/1000). "Chaos-End Master, attack her Despair From the Dark!"
Scootaloo blinked as the angel flew at her zombie and she was about to say something when Slate's trap card flipped up and he discarded a card as the monster's attack rose to 3000 and he slashed through the ghostly zombie.
"And now I get his effect, I can special summon one level 5 or higher monster with 1600 or lower attack," he said and took his deck out.
"What do yah think he's summoning?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Honestly? I don't know..." Sweetie admitted, and she was afraid to know as he placed the card on his disk.
The monster that appeared was green with red orbs that looked like eyes. It was long and had long claws as it stared at Scootaloo (1600/1300 + 1300).
"That's, Shadow Ghoul!" Scootaloo said as she recognized the monster.
"Indeed, now I'll attack your Shutendoji with Shadow Ghoul, savage rend!" Slate said and the fiendish monster rushed forward and slashed through the zombie and it shattered. "So, do you still want me to do something?"
"Not really," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head.
"Too bad, I end my turn there," Slate finished.
(SC: 3200) --- (SL: 6600)
"Come on deck, don't let me down!" Scootaloo said and drew her next card and frowned when she saw what it was. She had some moves she could make, but they wouldn't do her much good. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and switch my two monsters to defense mode and end my turn."
Slate drew his next card and added to his hand before he picked another card out and slid it into his disk. "I activate the Shallow Grave, so we can both set a monster from our graveyard."
Scootaloo blinked a little as she took out her Despair From the Dark and set it on her disk as it appeared in front of her. Slate smirked as he did the same with his Cyber Larva.
"Why did he do that?" Sweetie asked. "He just gave Scootaloo access to her strongest main deck monster again."
Apple Bloom didn't reply but she had a bad feeling about whatever it was that Slate was going to do.
"To make things interesting, I'll sacrifice my set monster to summon my Cannon Soldier MK-2!" Slate said but nothing happened. "What happened?"
"Its simple, my Zombie World field spell keeps us from tribute summoning monsters that aren't zombies," Scootaloo said with a smirk. "So you're going to have to do something else I'm afraid."
"Fine, I activate my Nobleman of Crossout!" Slate said as an efiminate knight appeared and slashed at the face down monster that vanished. "But since I can't tribute summon, I'll now attack your Shutendoji with my Chaos-End Master!"
The angel rushed forward and slashed at the drunk zombie who shattered.
"And that means I get to special summon a second Shadow Ghoul!" He added as a second green ghastly monster appeared with a wicked chuckle (1600/1300 + 1200).
"Come on Scoots, yah have this!" Apple Bloom said.
Scootaloo looked back at them and nodded. She actually smirked a little, she had a plan now that was going to deal with his monsters, it was just a matter of time.
"Shadow Ghoul number 1, attack Shiranui with Savage Rend!" Slate commanded as the ghoul flew forward and slashed through the ghostly warrior. "Now, number 2, take out that face down monster!"
The second ghoul slashed through the monster, revealing a turtle with a pyramid on its back that shattered.
"Thank you, that was my Pyramid Turtle, now I can special summon a zombie with 2000 or less defense points from my deck," she said and a bloated man dressed in a prisoner outfit with a shadowed face and a face on his stomach appeared (2100/800). "So I summon my Il Blud."
"I... end my turn," Slate said as he looked at his hand and shook his head.
Scootaloo drew a card and pointed at Il Blud. "Since my Il Blud is a Gemini monster, I can second summon him and special summon one zombie from either graveyard," Scootaloo said and Il Blud roared as the sake swilling demon appeared again. "So welcome back Shutendoji!"
Her monsters looked at the opposing ghouls nervously for a moment, but Scootaloo seemed determined.
"Now, I activate the effect of my Shiranui Spectralsword, I banish it and Samurai to synchro summon!" She said as the two monsters appeared in spectral form and flew up into the sky together.
(2* + 4* = 6*)
The robed man with the ponytaill appeared and drew his sword. "And that lets me summon my Shiranui Samuraisaga."
"He's still too weak to destroy my monsters," Slate said with a chuckle. "You're not doing much better than you were before."
"I'm activating my Shogunsaga's effect, I can shuffle one of my banished zombies back into my deck and switch all your monsters that have less attack to defense mode!" She said as she took a card out of her pocket and shuffled it back into her deck. "And since that was my Despair From the Dark, all your monsters are switched to defense mode!"
Slate's eyes went wide as the two ghouls and the angel knelt in defense mode. "No!"
"And that's not all, I activate my trap Shiranui Style Samsara, so I'll send both my monsters back to my deck and draw a card," Scootaloo said as she shuffled the cards into her deck and drew a card. "And I'll play it, my Foolish Burial!"
She took another card out of her disk and slipped it into her graveyard before she smiled and looked back at Slate.
"Now Shutendoji attack his first Ghoul with Sake Rage!" Scootaloo ordered and the fiend took a swig and slashed at the monster. "Now Mezuki, attack his other ghoul!"
The horse headed demon charged forward and slammed his axe down on the Shadow Ghoul and shattered it.
"Il Blud, take out his Chaos-End Master with Chain Gang Strike!" Scootaloo said as the lumbering zombie attacked the angel and punched it and it shattered. "Now, Samuraisaga, attack his face down monster, Blazing Katana!"
The samurai drew his sword and rushed at the face down monster that appeared to be a Cyber Larva and it shattered.
"I end my turn there, but you're in trouble!" Scootaloo said. "This duel's almost over, so make your move!"
Slate drew his next card and simply set it on his duel disk. "I'll set this monster in defense mode and end my turn," he said.
"Great, here we go again," Apple Bloom said.
"Yeah, but at least he can't tribute summon another Shadow Ghoul," Sweetie said. "So, he's basically stalling now."
"Yeah, but Ah've got a bad feelin' about this," Apple Bloom said as Scootaloo drew her next card.
"Shutendoji, attack his face down monster!" Scootaloo said as the drunken zombie rushed forward and slashed through the monster that appeared to be a purple orb.
"And that's my Giant Germ, so I can special summon two more," Slate said as two more appeared in front of him (1000/100).
"Oh come on!" Sweetie said. "Scootaloo could've done more damage if it wasn't for that!"
"Its not as bad, they're all in attack mode," Apple Bloom pointed out. "Ah think she's gonna be just fine."
"Mezuki, Il Blud, take out those Germs!" Scootaloo said as he two zombies destroyed them as the purple liquid flew into her again. "Now Samuraisaga, attack him directly!"
The Samurai rushed forward and slashed at Slate as he cringed and fell back, the sword slash had left a hole in his shirt.
"Yeah, that brings it closer!" Sweetie said. "You can do this!"
"I end my turn," Scootaloo said.
(SC: 1700) --- (SL: 2300)
Slate drew his next card and smiled. "Perfect, I've drawn the most powerful monster in my deck," he said.
"Yeah, but you don't have any monsters to tribute!" Scootaloo said, though she was nervous all of a sudden.
"I don't need one," Slate said and showed the card, Scootaloo's eyes went wide when she saw that it was only level 1. "I summon, the Chaos Necromancer!"
The monster that appeared was fiendish and dressed in purple, gold, and blue armor with a cape behind it. He smirked as he looked at Scootaloo and her friends (0/0).
"And he gains 300 attack for every monster in my graveyard," Slate added as the fiend's attack jumped up to 5400. "Now, win this for me and the Light, attack Shutendoji with Chaos Blast!"
The Necromancer gathered energy in his hands and threw it at Shutendoji. The explosion that followed sent up a cloud of dust.
"Its over!"
"No its not!" Scootaloo countered as the dust settled and both Shutendoji and Mezuki were gone. "I activated the second effect of my Shiranui Style Samsara, by banishing one of my Zombies I took no damage!"
"Fine... I end my turn," Slate said as he growled at Scootaloo.
"I draw!" Scootaloo said and drew her next card and then smiled. "Its over now, I summon Shiranui Solitare!"
A robed man with long brown hair and carrying a staff appeared. He looked over at Samuraisaga and nodded a little (500/0).
"And now thanks to his effect, I can sacrifice him to bring out a Zombie Tuner, so I summon Spectralsword!" Scootaloo added as Solitare vanished and the spectral swordsman appeared (800/0). "And I tune it and Samuraisaga together!"
(2* + 6* = 8*)
Shiranui Shogunsaga descended and drew his sword as he held his sword aloft and stared Slate down (3000/0).
"That's still not enough," Slate said.
"It will be in a moment, because I can banish one of my zombies from my graveyard and Shogunsaga gains its attack points," Scootaloo said as she took out Samuraisaga and Shogunsaga's attack rose to 5,500. "And on top of that, I can lower your monster's attack by 500!"
Samuraisaga's spirit appeared and flew into the necromancer and its attack fell to 4900. Slate stepped back and gulped.
"Shogunsaga, attack Chaos Necromancer!" Scootaloo said as the Shogun drew his sword and flew forward, slashing at the necromancer as it shattered. "Now, Il Blud, end this!"
The ghastly zombie lumbered forward and punched Slate hard as he went flying back into the wall behind him.
(SC: 1700) --- (SL: 0)
Scootaloo blinked as the golden marks vanished from him but he didn't wake up. She nodded to her friends as they headed into the store to get the items promised.
They didn't notice a man with spiked black hair and wearing sunglasses with a skin tight black and orange outfit watching them.
And he smiled.