//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Two Birds, One Stone // Story: The Magic of Dueling // by CrystalQueen //------------------------------// “Hinotama!” Shouted a robed humanoid figure as it slid a Duel Monster card into what appeared to be a Duel Disk on its arm, and as it did, a fireball appeared out of a portal and flew forwards, hitting his target directly. “Starswirl, why do you resist me so? Do you seriously intend to separate ponies until the end of time?” It said. “Ernesh, you maniac-!” The injured Starswirl said. “Do you really believe this to be better than allowing the natural circle of life to run its course? You’ve even gone so far as to completely wipe the inhabitants of Manehatten from our realm of existence!” “Starswirl, how long do you plan on remaining ignorant?” He asked. “I am not tearing Ponies apart, I’m uniting them forever. After all, when I’m finished with you…” Ernesh opened his robe to pull out a binder full of card sleeves and opened it to reveal a page full of Ponies Starswirl immediately recognized. “You’ll be reunited with your friends, what were they called, the Pillars of Old Equestria?” “You monster!” “Please Starswirl, do you truly wish to return to your friends in a mood such as that? Be thankful, for now you can be with them forever. Meteor of Destruction!” Ernesh said as he slid another card into his Duel Disk, and just as the meteor was about to hit Starswirl, he completely flattened onto the ground and moved behind Ernesh. “What the!? It must be-!” “Me!” Discord gleefully shouted as he emerged from the flattened Starswirl, holding the injured pony with a single hand. “Why Ernesh! It’s been far too long!” “Ah yes, Discord, surely another God of Equestria will be willing to assist me.” Ernesh said. “After all, only one with a strong will such as yourself would be able to help me see this through to the end.” “Actually, I had other things in mind.” Discord said. “It would be dreadfully boring if I were to just confine you in a cage or something, but…” Discord dropped the unconscious Starswirl, and with the snap of his fingers, his Duel Disk rematerialized on his right arm. “Surely, this would be much more interesting!” “So, you too will oppose me?” Ernesh asked as he put his binder back in his robe and replaced the deck he was using in his Duel Disk with another one conjured with his magic. “Very well then, I will see to it you rest until the end of time!” DUEL ***************************************************************** “Holy fuck! Just how big is this godforsaken castle!?” Red thought to himself as he ran through Celestia’s castle before coming up to the front entrance. “Well, nothing’s happening here, guess I better-” “Hey! Dog Boner!” A voice shouted as Red began to turn around, a look of frustration plastered on his face. “What the-a human!?” Red said, as he saw the human climb off a familiar D-Wheel. “Wait, that D-Wheel-! It belongs to-” “Me! Crow Hogan!” The human said as he took off his helmet and attached his Duel Disk to his wrist dealer. “I’m under orders to take you out, so come on! We’ll have a Ground Duel!” “Well how convenient! Not only am I under orders to take you out, but I’m a goddamn monster on the ground! You’re on!” Red said, noticing Crow’s black sclera as both Duelists activated their Duel Disks. DUEL Red 8000 LP Hand: 5 Crow 8000 LP Hand: 5 “For once, I’ll go first!” Red shouted. “Crow! I’ve built this deck specifically for your kind! I’ll release you from the black magic!” “What? You’re not making any sense!” Crow responded. “Fuck, he’s lost himself to the magic.” Red thought to himself. “To begin this Duel, I Normal Summon my Red Resonator!” (Level 2, Tuner, 600 ATK 200 DEF) “Good to see that you picked out a monster that matches your name perfectly!” Crow said. “Actually, it looks nothing like a dog boner, so never mind.” “Please let my name only be a synonym for that here in Equestria…” Red thought to himself. “Back on topic! When Red Resonator is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand, and I Special Summon my Reborn Tengu!” (Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF) “A Synchro Summon on the first turn!?” “Not quite! Appear! The guiding circuit that leads me to victory!” Red shouted as the Link Portal opened above them. “The summoning conditions are at least 1 Tuner! I set my Red Resonator and Reborn Tengu in the Link Markers! Appear! Link 2! Crystron Needlefiber!” (Link 2, 1500 ATK  ) “What even is that thing?” Crow asked. “It’s a Link Monster! The latest and greatest evolution in Dueling! And I’m activating its effect to Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Tuner from my deck as well as the effect of my Reborn Tengu to Summon another one from my deck when it leaves the field! I summon Krebons and my second Reborn Tengu!” (Level 2, Tuner, 1200 ATK 400 DEF) (Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF) “Now, I’m Tuning my Level 2 Krebons to my Level 4 Reborn Tengu!” Red shouted. “From the black of night to the light of day, aid me now O eternal hunter! Synchro Summon! Level 6, Celestial Wolf Lord, Blue Sirius! And another Reborn Tengu!” (Level 6, 2400 ATK 1500 DEF) (Level 4, 1700 ATK 600 DEF) “And with that, I end my turn!” Red shouted. “That’s it? Well it’s my turn! I draw!” Crow shouted. Red 8000 LP Hand: 3 Crow 6000 LP Hand: 6 “First, I’ll activate my Black Whirlwind Permanent Magic!” Crow began. “Crystron Needlefiber’s effect!” Red interjected. “During the opponent’s Main Phase or Battle Phase, I can Banish Crystron Needlefiber to Special Summon a Synchro Tuner monster from my Extra Deck, treating it as a Synchro Summon! And my Tuner of choice is Formula Synchron!” (Level 2, Tuner, 200 ATK 1500 DEF) “When Formula Synchron is Synchro Summoned, I get to draw a card, and I’m also activating its effect!” “You’re activating a monster effect in the same Chain it’s being summoned in!?” “That’s right! I Tune my Level 2 Formula Synchron to my Level 6 Celestial Wolf Lord, Blue Sirius! O mighty dragon of feathers black! Please, lend me your strength to free your true master! Synchro Summon! Level 8, Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon!” (Level 8, 2800 ATK 1600 DEF) “So you made a knock off of my own dragon, good for you! I’ve got the real Black-Feather Dragon in my Extra Deck!” Crow shouted. “Now seeing as it’s still my Main Phase, when the opponent controls a Monster but I don’t, I can Normal Summon Black Feather - Sirocco the Dawn without Releasing!” (Level 5, 2000 ATK 900 DEF) “Releasing?” Red thought. “This activates my Black Whirlwind! When a Black Feather monster is Normal Summoned to my field, I can add another Black Feather with lower Attack power from my deck to my hand! And I select Black Feather - Gale the Swift Wind!” As Crow declared the card he was adding to his hand, much like with Red’s Duel Disk, the auto shuffle function on Crow’s Duel Disk shuffled the searched card to the top of his deck, which Crow added to the cards he was already holding. “Now, when I control a Black Feather with a different name, I can Special Summon Black Feather - Gale the Swift Wind!” (Level 3, Tuner, 1300 ATK 400 DEF) “Black Feather - Gale the Swift Wind’s monster effect! Once per turn, I can target one monster you control, and halve its Attack and Defence Points until the End Phase! And my target is your Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon!” “What!?” (Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon 2800 -> 1400 ATK 1600 -> 800 DEF) “Now, when I control another Black Feather monster, I can Special Summon Black Feather - Blast the Black Spear!” (Level 4, 1700 ATK 800 DEF) “Black Feather - Sirocco the Dawn’s monster effect!” Crow shouted. “I can add the Attack of all my Black Feather monsters to a single Black Feather, but my other Black Feather monsters cannot attack during the turn I activate this effect. I add the Attack of Black Feathers Gale the Swift Wind and Blast the Black Spear to Black Feather - Dawn the Sirocco!” (Blackwing Sirocco the Dawn 2000 -> 5000 ATK) “Battle Phase! Black Feather - Dawn the Sirocco! Attack his Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon!” With Crow’s command, his humanoid bird punched Red’s dragon in the face, causing it to explode into mirror shards. Red 8000 LP -> 4400 LP “Now on Main Phase 2, I Tune Level 3 Black Feather - Gale the Swift Wind to Level 4 Black Feather - Blast the Black Spear!” Crow shouted. “Darkened gales, become the wings which will soar to the heavens! Synchro Summon! Blackfeather - Armored Wing!" (Level 7, 2500 ATK 1500 DEF) “Lastly, I place one card in reverse! Turn end!” “My draw!” Red shouted. Red 4400 LP Hand: 5 Crow 8000 LP Hand: 2 “Fuck-!” Red thought to himself. “Crow... something’s different about him from the rest, he’s speaking perfect English, but it’s all the Japanese terminology, and he didn’t even react to Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon...Could this Ernesh guy be getting better at recreating people? But that’s beside the point, how am I going to get out of this situation? I can’t destroy his Blackwing Armor Master by battle, and this deck was designed to do nothing but shit out the Signer Dragon retrains…But wait! There’s a card in this deck that can solve almost any problem! I just need to draw it-!” “Look, if you won’t play a card, then-” “First, I activate my Swords of Revealing Light!” Red shouted, as a large quantity of swords made of pure light cascaded Crow’s field. “This prevents you from attacking for three turns! Now I discard my Speed Warrior to Special Summon my Quickdraw Synchron in Defence Position!” (Level 5, Tuner, 700 ATK 1400 DEF) “Also, I shift my Reborn Tengu to Defence Position and end my turn!” “My turn! I draw!” Red 4400 LP Hand: 2 Crow 8000 LP Hand: 3 “Well then, if you’re just going to stall, then I’m going to build up my field!” Crow said. “I Normal Summon Black Feather - Shura the Blue Flame!” (Level 4, 1800 ATK 1200 DEF) “The Permanent Magic Black Whirlwind’s effect! This adds a Black Feather from my deck to my hand with less Attack than the Black Feather I Normal Summon! I select Black Feather - Zephyros the Elite! Turn end!” “I draw!” Red 4400 LP Hand: 3 Crow 8000 LP Hand: 3 “Damnit! It’s not here yet!” Red thought as he looked at the card he drew. “Swords of Revealing Light will protect me for two more turns, but after that, if I don’t have it…” Red shuddered as he thought of the fate Starlight and Trixie had. “I Normal Summon Junk Synchron in Defence Position, and when Junk Synchron is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from my Graveyard in Defence Position, but its effect is negated. I Special Summon Speed Warrior and end my turn.” (Level 3, Tuner, 1300 ATK 500 DEF) (Level 2, 900 ATK 400 DEF) “It’s my turn! I draw!” Red 4400 LP Hand: 3 Crow 8000 LP Hand: 4 “Not going to attack, are you? Well if that’s the case, I activate my Treasure Cards of Black Feathers! I banish Black Feather - Zephyros the Elite from my hand, and draw 2 cards! Now I’ll place one more card in reverse. Turn end!” “I draw!” Red 4400 LP Hand: 4 Crow 8000 LP Hand: 3 “Dark Hole! Yes! Now when I draw into Scapegoat, I can make room for my four...sheep...tokens…” Red thought to himself as he took a good look at his field. “Wait a minute! I’m being a fucking moron!” He shouted. “Appear! The guiding circuit that leads me to victory! The Summoning Condition is 3 or more effect monsters! I set my Junk Synchron, Quickdraw Synchron, Speed Warrior and Reborn Tengu in the Link Markers! Appear, Link 4! Borreload Dragon!” (Link 4, 3000 ATK ) “Borreload Dragon’s effect! Once per turn, during either player’s turn, Borreload Dragon lets me Target one monster on the field and reduce its Attack and Defence by 500! Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to this effect’s activation!” Red shouted as his dragon used its gun-like body to take aim at Crow’s monsters. “My target is Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame! Fire!” With its master’s command, Borreload Dragon fired a series of bullets at Crow’s monster, filling its wings with holes. (Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame 1800 -> 1300 ATK 1200 -> 700 DEF) “Now I activate my Heavy Storm!” As Red slid the card into his Duel Disk’s Spell/Trap slot, a heavy gust of wind began to surround both Duelists. “This Spell card destroys all Spell and Trap cards on the field, regardless of who controls them!” Just then, the gust of wind intensified, shattering all of Crow’s face down cards, as well as Red’s remaining swords. “Nice job numbnuts! One of those cards you destroyed was Black Feather - Mine! When I control a face up Black Feather monster, I get to draw one card while you take 1000 points of damage!” Crow shouted. Red 4400 ->3400 LP “That won’t stop me! Battle Phase! Borreload Dragon attacks Blackwing Armor Master!” Red shouted as his dragon began to prepare another attack, aiming for Crow’s Synchro monster instead. “You idiot! Black Feather - Armored Wing cannot be destroyed by battle, and I take no damage from battles involving it!” “Fire!” With his command, Red’s dragon fired a series of bullets towards Crow’s monster, with the resulting dust cloud completely enveloping both Duelists. “What was even the point of-” “Blackwing Armor Master! Attack his Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame!” Following Red’s command, Crow’s Blackwing Armor Master clawed at Shura the Blue Flame, cleaving it in half, much to Crow’s shock. Crow 8000 -> 6800 LP “What the-!? But how did you-!?” “When Borreload Dragon attacks an opponent’s monster, I can take control of the monster and place it in a Main Monster Zone Borreload Dragon points to, but it’s sent to the Graveyard during the End Phase of the next turn. Speaking of which, I end my turn.” “I draw!” Red 3400 LP Hand: 3 Crow 6800 LP Hand: 5 “My Disk isn’t displaying your dragon’s Defence Points, so it must have 0!” Crow shouted as he looked at the card he drew. “I Normal Summon Black Feather - Foehn the Steel Chain!” (Level 2, 500 ATK 800 DEF) “Battle Phase! Black Feather - Foehn the Steel Chain attacks directly with its effect!” Red 3400 - 2900 LP “This activate the second effect of Black Feather - Foehn the Steel Chain!” Crow shouted. “When Black Feather - Foehn the Steel Chain inflicts damage to you by way of a direct attack, I can Target one monster you control and change it to Defence Position! And the targeted monster-” “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but…” Red interjected. “Not only is Borreload Dragon immune to all targeting effects, including my own, but as a Link Monster, it has no Defence Points, and as such it can only exist in face up Attack Position, so even if it could be targeted by your effect, it would simply resolve without doing anything.” “So my only options are to destroy it in battle or with a non target card effect.” “That’s right, although you would need at least 3500 Attack Points, otherwise I’d just use its effect to reduce your Attack Points, which of course, cannot be chained to.” “Dammit...I shift Black Feather - Sirocco the Dawn to Defense Position, turn end.” “During the End Phase, the monster stolen by Borreload Dragon is sent to the Graveyard, now I draw!” Red 2900 LP Hand: 4 Crow 6800 Hand: 4 “I activate Pot of Greed! Red shouted. “This lets me draw two cards! Now I set those two cards, and activate Borreload Dragon’s effect, reducing Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain’s Attack by 500!” (Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain 500 - 0 ATK) “Battle Phase! Borreload Dragon attacks Fane the Steel Chain!” Following Red’s command, his Borreload Dragon fired a massive volley of bullets at Crow’s bird, resulting in a massive explosion. Crow 6800 - 3800 LP “And back to you!” “It’s my turn! I draw!” Red 2900 LP Hand: 3 Crow 3800 LP Hand: 5 “I summon Black Feather - Kalut the Ghibli the Searing Wind in Defence Position!” (Level 3, 0 ATK 1800 DEF) “Now I place a card in reverse, turn end!” Red pressed two buttons on the back of his Duel Disk, causing the face down cards in front of him to rise, revealing what they were. “During the End Phase, I activate both my Scapegoat and Ring of Destruction! First, Ring of Destruction will destroy one monster of my choosing and inflict damage equal to its Attack to both of us, and I choose Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn!” Just then a ring of grenades locked itself around the neck of Crow’s monster, exploding just as it began to struggle. Red 2800 -> 800 LP Crow 3800 -> 1800 LP “Now Scapegoat will create four Sheep Tokens on my field in Defence Position!” (Level 1, 0 ATK 0 DEF) X4 “Now, it’s my turn!” Red 800 LP Hand: 4 Crow 1800 LP Hand: 3 “Now, I Normal Summon my Glow-Up Bulb!” (Level 1, Tuner, 100 ATK 100 DEF) “Wait, how can you control six monsters!?” “Under Master Rule 5, Link Monsters summoned from the Extra Deck are placed in the Extra Monster Zone, or in a Main Monster Zone that another Link Monster points to. If Master Rule 4 was in effect, then Fusion, Synchro, and XYZ monsters would be placed under the same limitation. On the topic of Link Monsters, appear! Two Guiding circuits that lead me to victory! The summoning conditions are a Normal Monster and a Level 1 monster! I set my Sheep Tokens in the Link Markers! Appear! Link 1 and Link 1! Link Spider and Linkuriboh!” (Link 1, 1000 ATK ) (Link 1, 100 ATK ) “And here comes the last Link Summon! Return! The guiding circuit that leads me to victory! The summoning condition is at least 3 effect monsters! I place my Link Spider, Linkuriboh, Glow-Up Bulb and a Sheep Token in the Link Markers! Circuit combine! Appear, Link 4, Borrelsword Dragon!” (Link 4, 3000 ATK ) “I activate my own Ring of Destruction!” Crow shouted as a ring of grenades appeared around the throat of Red’s new dragon. “This will destroy a monster on the field and inflict damage to both players equal to the destroyed monster’s Attack!” “I don’t have Red Reboot in my hand, so that means-!” Just as Red realized he couldn’t stop the destruction of his monster, the ring around its neck detonated, the resulting smoke completely enveloping both Duelists. Red 800 - 0 LP Crow 1800 - 0 LP As the smoke began to clear, Red started looking down at himself, expecting particles of light to turn him into a card. “What the? But I could have sworn-” Just then, he noticed that his opponent was gone and as he looked into the distance, he could see a D-Wheel driving away. “We’ll settle the score some other time!” Crow shouted before turning a corner and disappearing from sight. “That motherfucker!” Said Red. “He just draws me and runs off!? I’m chasing him down for a Riding Duel!” Just then, Red grabbed his D-Board and began running towards the direction Crow drove off into, only to trip over a pony walking around the corner. “Ow! Fuck! What the hell is-!? Rarity? Weren't you supposed to go check on part of the city?” “I was, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.” Rarity said. “But, darling, why were you running away from the castle if you were tasked with defending it?” “Because Crow, a Duelist from my world, challenged me to a Duel, but he caused a Draw and ran off on me! You just don’t fucking do that!” Red said. “But, because you got in the way, he’s probably built enough distance for me to not be able to catch him, even if I went at top speed and took every turn perfectly.” “Well, I was on my way to report to Twilight that there was nothing over in the commercial district, why don’t you come along too?” Rarity said. “I’m sure the rest of the girls will be along shortly.” “Fine, might as well.” Red said, clearly still bitter over the result of his Duel. ********************************************************** “Armageddon Knight! Attack him directly!” Ernesh shouted as his knight slashed Discord directly. Discord 800 -> 0 LP “No...Fluttershy-!” Discord said, being turned into a card alongside Starswirl before he could finish his sentence. “Perfect.” Ernesh said, walking up to and grabbing the remains of Discord and Starswirl. “Starswirl, Discord...you two could have helped me reign in a new era of peace, one where nopony would have to be seperated...Regardless, Starswirl, you can now be with your companions until the end of time, and Discord, you never did have any friends, did you? Oh well, you have eternity to make some.” He said, placing the cards into his binder. “I believe that he should have the Crystal Empire under control now, time to gather my followers and return there. I activate Emergency Teleport and Monster Recovery!” Ernesh shouted as he held up two cards, teleporting himself to some other location in Equestria. ****************************************************************** “So, Princess Luna, you understand that by putting a whoopee cushion on your seat, Celestia was only trying to lighten the mood and try to get you to not be on edge as much, right?” Twilight asked. “Yes, Princess Twilight, I understand.” Luna responded, a look of complete disinterest on her face. “And Princess Celestia, you understand that by constantly bringing it up, Luna was only expressing her concern for the well being of Equestria, right?” Twilight asked. “Yes Twilight, I understand Luna’s concern for the kingdom and its future.” Celestia said, faking interest. Just then, the door to the throne room began to open. “Ah yes, that should be Lance and the rest of your friends.” “Great! So, did you guys see anything unusual?” Twilight asked. “Nope, the Cloud Stadium was perfectly normal.” Rainbow said. “Resterant Row was perfectly normal!” Pinkie said. “Although I did stop by a cafe while I was there and their coffee was awful!” “The commercial district was exactly as it was the last time we were here, although there were far less ponies than I’m used to seeing.” Rarity said. “And I had to Duel someone from my world.” Red said. “You were Dueling!?” Twilight asked. “Do you know how badly that could have gone!?” “Please, I have Riding Duels with the Duel Chasers, a section of Sector Security back home who handle D-Wheel related crimes at least once a month, if anything, not having my life on the line makes me play worse.” Red said. “The cocksucker got away though, he forced a draw and it seems that the magic that turns the loser into a card doesn’t work if there is no loser.” “Cock...sucker?” Luna asked. “What do you mean by that?” “I’ll...tell you when you’re older.” Red said. “My sister and I are both over a thousand years old.” Luna said. “Then, I’ll uh, tell you later when these girls aren’t around.” “We’re all adults who have jobs and pay taxes.” Rainbow said. “Now go on, tell us!” “Oh, well, uh, fuck…” Red said. “Say, what happened to Fluttershy and Applejack? Shouldn’t they have gotten here by now?” “Yes, Applejack and Fluttershy aren’t the kinds of ponies to be late like this.” Rarity said. “You don’t think that maybe they lost a Duel do you?” Spike asked. “Well, that is possible.” Red said. “But unless you have some form of convinient long distence communication, we really can’t know.” Just then, a royal guard came running into the room. “Princesses! I beg your pardon, but I bring urgent news!” “It’s fine.” Celestia said. “Now, what is this message you have for us?” “The Crystal Empire was under attack!” “It was what!?” Cadence asked. “Please, calm down.” Celestia said. “Now, take a deep breath, and tell us your story from the beginning.” “Right, well, I was stationed at the Crystal Empire, when a two legged creature of some sort appeared and commanded a dragon to start attacking innocent civilians, and commander Shining Armor told me to abandon my post to come here and request reinforcements.” The guard said. “Hold on, you said a creature of some sort with two legs? It didn’t happen to look like me, did it? And did it have a device on its arm like this one I have?” Red asked, holding up his Duel Disk. “Yes, yes it did.” “Alright, now this dragon, describe it. Specifically, what color was its scales and eyes?” “I didn’t get much of a good look at it, but I belelive its scales were white, I think.” “And its eyes? What color was its eyes?” “I-I think they were blue.” “You think? Or you know?” “Yes, they were definately blue!” “Blue-Eyes...Alright, you got your reinforcements right here!” Red said. “Come on girls, we’re going to this Crystal Empire of yours.” “Are you crazy!?” Twilight asked. “We barely know what we’re going against, and you want to head right towards it!?” “Hey, can’t punch someone in the face unless you get close enough.” Red responded. “Now who’s with me?” “Alright! We have to get back Applejack and Fluttershy!” Rainbow said. “If going means we can Duel, then I’m going!” Pinkie said. “Yes, I do beleive we should deal with this problem while we know the solution. It’s what Applejack would want!” Rarity said. “Oh fine, we’ll all go. Spike, are you coming?” Twilight said. “Of course Twilight! Where you go, I go!” Spike said. “Alright then, let’s go!” Red said.