//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Shadow Games // Story: The Magic of Dueling // by CrystalQueen //------------------------------// Red 8000 LP Hand: 6 Yugi 8000 LP Hand: 1 Red could feel the pressure of the situation in the air "Holy shit! I-I'm Dueling Yugi Muto! The Duel King!" He thought to himself "But how am I gonna go about this? He has Illusion Magic and Magician Navigation facedown, and his Circle will Banish one of my cards whenever Dark Magician is Summoned...How to go about this..." "Scared, aren't you?" Yugi taunted from across the room "Spare us both the trouble and give up! My Dark Magicians are unbeatable!" "I don't think you'll be so smug when I activate this card! Heavy Storm!" Red shouted as he slid his card into his Duel Disk's Spell/Trap slot, causing a harsh windstorm to kick up in the castle "Heavy Storm destroys all Spells and Traps on the field, so say goodbye to your precious circle!" "I have other plans! I activate my Solemn Judgement Trap Card! By paying half of my Life Points, this can negate the activation of a Spell or Trap or the Summon of a monster!" As Yugi's card flipped up, the windstorm Red's card caused instantly died down, with the card it originated from shattering like a mirror Yugi 8000 LP -> 4000 LP "Well then, looks like I'll have to summon Gearfried, the Red-Eyes Iron Knight!" (Level 4, 1800 ATK 1600 DEF) "Well then, I don't know what you're planning with that, but I won't allow it! I activate my Illusion Magic!" Yugi shouted as he pressed a button on the back of his Duel Disk "This card lets me tribute a Spellcaster I control to add 2 copies of Dark Magician from my deck or Graveyard to my hand, and I tribute my Magician's Rod!" "So what? I'm still able to activate the effect of-" "That's not all! Because I activated a Spell or Trap Card on my opponent's turn, I can Special Summon Magician of Dark Illusion from my hand, in Defence Position!" (Level 7, 2100 ATK 2500 DEF) "And there's even more! When Magician of Dark Illusion is on my field, its name changes to Dark Magician, meaning that it triggers my Dark Magical Circle!" As Yugi's shadow cloaked magician materialized, the circle surrounding both Duelists began to shine brighter than previously before "When Dark Magician is summoned to my field, my Dark Magical Circle allows me to Banish one card on my opponent's field, and I target your Iron Knight!" Red watched in anger as his knight simply vanished in front of him, not even exploding as if it were destroyed "Damnit...Well, I set two cards face down and end my turn!" "It's my turn! I draw!" Red 8000 LP Hand: 3 Yugi 4000 LP Hand: 3 "During the Draw Phase, I activate my face down card! Heavy Storm Duster! I can't go into my Battle Phase, but I can destroy up to two of your Spells or Traps! I target your Dark Magical Circle and that face down right beside it!" Red shouted "I activate my other face down card! Wiretap! This Trap Card negates another Trap Card for free, then it shuffles that Trap back into its owner's deck!" Yugi shouted, pressing another button on his Duel Disk. Red grit his teeth as he took put his card on top of his deck and allowed the auto shuffle to bury it deep in his deck "Now then, if you won't interfere anymore, I activate my face down Magician Navigation! This allows me to Special Summon Dark Magician from my hand, and a Level 7 or lower DARK Spellcaster from my deck!" Red watched in awe as Yugi's world famous ace monster appeared before him, but was confused to see it wearing bright red armor instead of the purple it was usually depicted in (Level 7, 2500 ATK 2100 DEF) "Now, from the deck, I summon another Magician of Dark Illusion!" (Level 7, 2100 ATK 2500 DEF) "Now, my Dark Magical Circle activates! I Banish your face down card!" "To that, I chain my face down Ring of Destruction!" Red shouted as a ring of grenades materialized around the Dark Magician's neck  "This destroys a monster on the field and inflicts damage to both of us equal to its original Attack!" The grenades then proceded to explode, destroying Yugi's monster with them Red 8000 LP -> 5500 LP Yugi 4000 LP -> 1500 LP "I shift my Magician of Dark Illusion to Attack Position! Battle Phase! Both of my Magicians of Dark Illusion attack you directly!" Red was blown across the room after being blasted directly by magic from both of Yugi's magicians "What the hell?" Red thought to himself as he pulled himself off the floor "Why did that actually have impact? Could this be the power of Equestrian Magic?" Red 5500 LP -> 3400 LP -> 1300 LP "Now, on Main Phase 2, I I overlay the Level 7 Magician of Dark Illusion with another Magician of Dark Illusion! With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network!" Yugi shouted as he placed both his monster cards on top of eachother "A Rank 7 on Main Phase 2?" Red thought to himself "XYZ Summon! Appear, Ebon High Magician, in Defence Position!" Red looked in awe as Yugi's two shadowy magicians flew into a red portal that appeared before Yugi, and as his new magician appeared from it with two orbs floating around it as if it had a gravitational pull (Rank 7, 2300 ATK 2800 DEF, 2 OLU) "I end my turn!" "Kaiba Corp mass production Disks had XYZ animations patched into them? Er, I draw!" Red 1300 LP Hand:4 Yugi 1500 LP Hand: 2 "Damn, never expected Yugi to be able to Duel this fast..." Red thought to himself "But, to be fair, cards did suck back in his time period, but anyway, how am I gonna get myself out of this mess? He hasn't even begun to budge like Jonouchi did...Now let's see here...I just drew Graceful Charity, please give me something I can work with!" Red slid his new card into a slot underneath one of his Duel Disk's Main Monster Zones as a giant version of the card he played appeared in front of him "I activate Graceful Charity! This lets me draw three cards!" "But then you have to discard two of them!" Yugi said "Let's see here, I've got Black Metal Dragon, Mage Power, Return of the Dragon Lords, Pot of Greed, Red Reboot and Red-Eyes Black Dragon...Pot of Greed is a free +1 so I can't toss that, and Red Reboot just might buy me the turn of free set up that I need to build a board to beat Yugi so that has to stay, but wait! Yugi only won Battle City because he had Jonouchi's Red-Eyes! That might just be the key!" Red thought to himself before putting his plan into motion "I discard my Mage Power Equip Spell and Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" He said, making sure to show Yugi the Red-Eyes Black Dragon card before placing it in the Graveyard slot on his Duel Disk "Red-Eyes Equip? I used to know a Duelist who also played Red-Eyes with an Equip theme." Yugi remarked as Red's face lit up, hoping he had begun to crack away at the magic controlling Yugi "He was a pathetic Duelist who didn't deserve a single one of his victories!" "I activate Pot of Greed!" Red shouted as a giant version of the titular Greedy Pot appeared in front of him "Its mystical magic allows me to draw two more cards from my deck!" After Red drew his cards, the pot promptly exploded, yet caused no damage to the surrounding area ********************************************************* Twilight heard a loud rumble that woke her up from her dream of books taking over the world, with Twilight inexplicably ruling as its new queen "Huh? What was that? I better go make sure Red and Spike aren't breaking something downstairs..." She muttered to herself as she reluctantly got out of her bed and began to walk to the source of the loud rumble ********************************************************* "Sweet! I drew into this card! Pot of Desires!" Red shouted "This card is a lot like Pot of Greed, but it requires me to Banish the top ten cards from my deck face down, which basically renders them as untouchable for the rest of the game!" "You're willing taking options away from yourself? You Red-Eyes players are something else." Yugi said in a dismissive tone of voice "Oh shut up!" Red retorted as he drew his cards and began planning his next move "Now let's see, in total I drew into Red-Eyes Insight, Red Dragon Revival, and XYZ Veil...I got it! I'll keep his from targeting that monster, and create a stalemate!" Red thought to himself "Because I control no monsters, I can activate my Red Dragon Revival Trap Card from my hand!" "A Trap Card from the hand!?" Yugi responded "That's right! And once per turn, Red Dragon revival lets me Special Summon a DARK Dragon type monster from my Graveyard! And I'm pretty sure it's obvious which one I'm going for! Revive! My heart and soul! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" (Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF) Red looked on in joy as Yugi appeared to struggle with a headache in a manner not unlike Manjome and Jonouchi before him "Now, I activate my Red-Eyes Insight! This lets me dump a Red-Eyes from my hand or deck to the Graveyard, then it lets me add a Red-Eyes Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand! I'm dumping my Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon, and searching my Red-Eyes Fury Equip Spell!" "I activate the XYZ effect of my Ebon High Magician!" Yugi shouted "By using one Overlay Unit, I can activate a Quick Play Spell Card or any Trap Card from my hand during my opponent's turn!" One of the orbs floating around Yugi's XYZ monster flew directly into its staff as it proceded to chant an unintelligible magical incantation, before Yugi's Trap Card appeared next to his Continuous Spell "Eternal Soul! This lets me Special Summon Dark Magician from my hand or Graveyard! And I-" "Chain Red Reboot!" Red interrupted "What!? Another Trap Card from the hand!?" "Take a good look in the mirror! Anyway, I can play Red Reboot from my hand by paying half my Life Points!" Red 1300 LP -> 650 LP "Red Reboot is a Trap Card that negates your Trap Card, sets it face down, and lets you set another Trap from the deck, but you can't activate Traps for the rest of the turn!" "Damnit! Well, I set my Magician Navigation from the deck! Just make sure you don't regret giving it to me!" Yugi taunted as his cards returned face down "So! Now that I'm free to set up my road to victory, I activate my Return of the Dragon Lords! This lets me Special Summon a Level 7 or 8 Dragon type from my Graveyard, and my choice is my Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon!" (Level 7, Gemini, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF) "Now, the winning play! I overlay the Level 7 Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon! With these two monsters I build the Overlay Network! Rise, the hellish flame dragon of legend! My flaming anger incarnate! Rank 7! Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!" Red's two dragons turned into floating orbs and flew into a red portal that appeared before Red in a manner not unlike Yugi's magician, before a larger dragon coated in metal appeared with both orbs orbiting around it and roared (Rank 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF, 2 OLU) "Now, I set one card and end my turn!" "It's my draw!" Red 650 LP Hand: 2 Yugi 1500 LP Hand: 2 "I activate my Eternal Soul! I use its effect to Special Summon Dark Magician from my Graveyard!" Yugi shouted as he pressed a button on the back of his Duel Disk, with his crimson clad magician appearing soon after (Level 7, 2500 ATK 2100 DEF) "The effect of Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon activates!" "What?" "While Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon has XYZ material, not only can it not be destroyed by card effects, but everytime you activate a card or effect, you take 500 damage, and seeing as you activated both your Eternal Soul and its effect this turn, that adds up to 1000 damage!" Red shouted as his dragon proceded to throw a stream of fire towards Yugi Yugi 1500 LP -> 1000 LP -> 500 LP "What? But how could your monster have an effect like that?" "Dude, didn't you read the card on your Disk? Or if you can't, it's fully within your rights to ask me to read it off for you, it's face up on the field, and therefore its Rank, number of remaining Overlay Units, Attack, Defence, Attribute, type and effects are all public knowledge. You do know that, right?" Yugi stood there, speechless at how his simple misplay cost him the game, as his Dark Magician was summoned in Attack Position, and activating the effect of Dark Magical Circle would cost him the game, and both Duelists stood there, speechless, until Red broke the silence "...Hey, Yugi! You still there? If you don't make a play in 10 seconds, the Duel Disk anti stall is going to declare it to be my turn. You're just gonna stand there? Ok then, my turn I guess, I'll make this quick." Red 650 LP Hand: 3 Yugi 500 LP Hand: 2 "I Equip my Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon with my Black Metal Dragon! I can equip this monster from my hand or field to a Red-Eyes Monster I control as an Equip Spell, and it gains 600 Attack Points!" (Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon 2800 ATK -> 3400 ATK) "Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon! Attack his Dark Magician! Hell Flame Burst!" Red's flaming dragon launched a massive stream of fire from its mouth towards Yugi's magician, incinerating it completely, and reaching far enough to burn Yugi himself Yugi 500 LP -> 0 LP Yugi said nothing as he faded into light, leaving no traces of his existence, except for two cards that Red picked up, one of which being the only proof to Starlight Glimmer's existence as well "I better take these to my room and find a safe place for Starlight and Trixie, and Twilight needs to be told in the morning." Red thought to himself as he walked back to his room "Spike, are you and Red breaking anything?" Twilight asked, not having reached the castle foyer until Red was completely out of ear shot "Just what in Equestria was that? Ugh, I'm going back to bed..." ********************************************************* The next morning, Twilight was running frantically through the castle "Starlight? Starlight?" She called, until she ran past her guest rooms when she heard a loud shout from the other side of a door "That's it!" It said, with Twilight cautiously walking in to investigate "Oh, it's just you Red, what's what?" "My new deck of course!" Red said, reminding Twilight of how others described her after several sleepless nights "I see, what's so special about it, exactly?" "Well you see, Legendary Duelists from my world who have died have been appearing throughout Equestria for some reason, right? Well, just last night, I had to Duel Jonouchi and get this, Yugi Muto himself! He's like, the greatest Duelist of his time!" Red said, with Twilight noticing that his eyes were completely bloodshot, a fact that he didn't even bother trying to hide with his goggles "Right, so what does that have to do with your deck? Also, just wondering, but how long have you been up?" Twilight asked, a sense of caution in her voice "Well, Luna grabbed me in the middle of the night just two days ago, so I'd say somewhere between 30 and 36 hours! But back on topic, one of the Duelists I had to Duel was Jack Atlas! I don't remember if I told you this, but he's what's known as a Signer, there's 6 of them, and they all have these special dragon Synchro monsters that are linked to their Souls, and while they've never been reprinted out of both respect for the Signers and the simple fact that none of the experimental prototypes worked right, they have printed retrains of them in celebration of how the Signers have saved the world like, two or three times! I have a full set that I keep with me at all times for good luck!" Red excitedly said "Okay, slow down, I'm barely understanding what you're saying, not even Pinkie Pie gets as derailed as you are right now." "Well, I've had to Duel four Duelists from my world so far, and when I used cards that they would have been familiar with in life, I broke them basically! Because they're all off somehow, but after I break them, they go back to being normal! So if I have to Duel anymore Signers, my new deck is designed to just shit out all the Signer Dragon retrains at once! They're all Level 7 or 8, so that just makes it easier for me!" "Right, well have you seen Starlight? I just got a letter from Princess Celestia and I need to talk to her about it!" Twilight said, a sense of urgency apparent in her voice, with the mention of Starlight seeming to calm Red down "Oh, well, you remember how I told you about Penalty Games, right?Well, I'm not sure how to put it, but, um..." Red pressed a series of buttons on his Duel Disk's touch screen, and ejected his Side Deck, where he proceded to show Twilight what remained of Starlight and Trixie "Oh no-! Starlight! Trixie!" Twilight was speechless at the cards Red held out to her, a sense of guilt washing over both of them "I'm sorry, there was nothing I could do, some Duelists broke in last night, they beat Trixie before coming to Duel me, and by the time I found Starlight, the Duel was already over basically, and even then, Duel Disks automatically reject all other forms of communication, except for spectating, while a Duel is in progress, Dueling is just that important where I'm from. I'm sorry." Red said "I see, well, maybe Celestia will know a way we can save them, she wants us to come meet her in Canterlot, Luna's already gone ahead of us, you and Spike go wait at the train station, I'll go  get the girls!" Twilight said with a sense of urgency "Alright, got it! To the train station with Spike!" Red replied, ducking back into the guest room to grab his goggles and D-Board, lodging the Board in between his black and red shirts while leaving the red hoodie behind "Well, guess I'm finally going to meet this 'Princess Celestia' everyone's been raving about." He thought as he made off to find Spike