“Odd-Eyes Arc Pendulum Dragon’s Pendulum effect: If an Odd-Eyes is destroyed, once each turn, I can Special Summon an Odd-Eyes monster from my hand, deck or graveyard,” Sunset’s automated shuffled engaged, a card being ejected for her to take. “I’ll finish this with the pride of my deck: My one and only partner; Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”
Adagio observed the bout between the infamous Sunset Shimmer and the appallingly dressed Night Quill most intently: Not only was she the first duelist she’d personally observed using the currently elusive Pendulum Summon method, but seeing her utilize it in conjunction with Fusion to get the upper hand.
“Something’s wrong here,” remarked Aria from beside her, her middle sister seeming strangely disappointed. “Sunset Shimmer was never this cordial; let alone she lacks the viciousness from the Underground.” Her brows furrowed in what could only be interpreted as utter disgust, “Was all that an act now? Or is she hiding it? If so, she’s doing a bang-up job with it.”
Adagio glanced between her sister and Shimmer, just as their target of interest readied the finishing strike. While she couldn’t take her exact words for it, Shimmer did not seem all that vicious and dominating as she’d been led to believe: The absolute best duelist, allegedly, in the Canterlot chapter of the Ghouls. Whatever had happened between then and now, there was still something to this fiery-haired girl: The air around her was still different to that of the rabble around them, and the familiarity of the home dimension clung to her so strongly. More reconnaissance would be required.
Either way, she will prove essential for my plans. Her ilk hasn’t been seen for centuries.
-
Sunset disengaged her duel disk after another hard-won victory, observing as students began to quietly make their way off the bleachers. No applause, no words of reconciliation towards the loser, just cold, apathetic murmurings and disappointment it seemed. This was not what Princess Twilight sought to achieved with her victories.
“Holy crap, Sunset!” she felt the grasp of a firm, light blue hand on her shoulder. “That was the quintessential definition of awesome!” Though on seeing a few glances her way from some students, she immediately let go and took a few good feet of personal space. “I mean, yes; nicely handled, I guess.”
“I concur,” said Rarity, who made no attempts to distance herself. “I did not expect you to use Fusion. How in the world did you obtain such a card?”
Sunset thought back to that moment of desperation, when she had the Polymerization spell in her hand: Initially it had been implemented for use of the generic dragon support, King Dragun. It was then when the familiar voice from her dreams spoke to her.
“I heard her again; Twilight,” muttered Sunset. “She said “let them be your power”, and from there I knew what I needed to do.” So those things in my dream; was that one of those… Those eggs?
Before she could indulge further, she noticed Night Quill begin to slowly make his way out. Against her better judgement, Sunset found her legs carry her forth, intercepting the bowler hat wearing student, “Night Quill…”
He glared at her with a furrowed, sideward glance, “Come to gloat over the failure of a younger sibling?” He looked almost ready to reel away when Sunset reached out and put a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Listen; I don’t know what the beef is between you and your brother, and it’s none of my business,” said Sunset, trying to sound as empathetic despite her dismissive choice of words. “But all I ask is that you consider the scope of a legacy: I tried to make one for myself, but all that did was cause a shitload of suffering. For everyone around me, and me.” With that she gave an encouraging pat on the man’s shoulder. “You did good. If you can only take my word for it, then so be it.”
Night Quill was evidently at a loss for words. Complimented and encouraged by the infamous “She-demon,” as he himself had put it, must have come as an utter impossibility. The anachronistically dressed student raised a finger, as if to voice out grievances, but the best he managed to do was stutter. Sunset continued to look him in the eye, hand still grasped to his shoulder, awaiting patiently for any impending retort. When enough time had passed that Applejack and Rarity, as well as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie who’d been seated on the opposite row of bleachers had time to gather around, Night Quill seemed to grunt before walking off in silence.
“That was kindly said,” remarked Fluttershy, looking at Sunset with pride in her eyes.
“Yup-yup!” concurred Pinkie with a nod. “I mean did you see those robots? Imagine if they’d gotten even bigger!”
“I shudder to think,” said Sunset with a mirthful chuckle. Night Quills relentless assault at the end had given her the case of trembles when a duel got particularly heated. It felt genuinely good; the game was becoming more of an enjoyment rather than the twisted image of a horrific tool the entity possessing her had me her believe. “Has there been any word on Trixie?”
Her response came at a solemn silence from everyone. If only her state and whereabouts were known to them, perhaps CHS would be at least welcoming.
“Oh, Mr. Turner!” came the voice of Rainbow, who jogged off towards the stage.
Sunset looked after, spotting the mysterious new teacher still up on the stage, grasping a closed laptop computer under one arm. He seemed slightly startled as Rainbow approached, holding something up in her hand.
“You dropped your… screwdriver, yesterday,” she stated, leaning up on the stage, presenting the pocket screwdriver to its owner.
Mr. Turner seemed to hesitate for a moment, before reaching out to grab the specified tool, “Uh, yes. My screwdriver. I was just… looking for it, back here. Thank you for finding it, Miss Dash, it was a present from my mother. She knows how much I like to… screw and unscrew things.” His odd choice of wordings was not lost on him as he hastily pocketed the tool and leapt off the stage. “Now I must be off. Got lots of teacher-y activities to do. Thank you for your help in today’s entrance test Miss Dash… You too, Miss Shimmer. Have a good day.”
The six watched as the strange man walked off in a hurried pace. Pinkie was the first to break the silence with a snicker.
“It’s funny because screw means sex…”
“Pinkie!” admonished Rarity with a look of disgust.
“What? Not my fault Mr. Turner is a looker and about as awkward as a bishonen,” said Pinkie with a flutter of her eyelids.
“Pinkie, with all due respect; that guy just came off as a real creep just there with the talk of- What ‘cha doin’ back there, Sunset?” Applejack called out, as Sunset had made her way behind the curtains.
To her surprise, she found the same device she, Rarity and Pinkie had uncovered just the other day, having been sloppily hidden behind an old cardboard tree prop. It remained plugged into the wall socket, the jury-rigged device with the exposed wiring and lacking chassis continuing to emit quiet beeps.
Alright, this has gone unanswered long enough. Sunset came back around from behind the curtain, hopping back down onto the gymnasium floor and proceeding to hastily make her way towards the exit.
“What’s up, Sunset?” asked Applejack, as Sunset made her way past everyone, eliciting them to follow.
“Mr. Turner’s definitely up to something. It’s high-time I get some answers,” she declared with finality in her voice.
“What’re ya talkin’ about? … You mean?”
“The device backstage,” said Rarity in realization. “We completely forgot about it during the search for Trixie. It’s still there?”
“It sure as hell is,” Sunset muttered with frustration. “I don’t know what that man is up to, so it’s about time he fess up.”
“You don’t suppose he might be from the… the government?!” peeped Fluttershy, bringing her hands to her mouth in fear.
“For all we know, he might be,” said Sunset, when she abruptly stopped in her tracks. That meant she couldn’t get the rest involved if it was true. “You girls stand back. I’ll confront him solo.”
“Whoa, whoa!” Applejack grabbed her by the shoulder. “You’re not going after ‘im on yer own! For all we know he could be dangerous!”
“That’s hot,” remarked Pinkie.
Sunset couldn’t discount the possibilities. However, Mr. Turner so far seemed quite the scatterbrain and more than a little awkward. Nor could she discount the possibility of the man’s exterior being but an act, of course. Or if he might have had access to back-up, maybe even weapons, be it some form of taser or even firearms. Regardless, Sunset knew well enough she couldn’t risk getting her only friends involved.
“I can’t risk you and your families getting tied up if he really is from some government agency,” stated Sunset, softly brushing Applejack’s hand off her. “I need to do this myself. You stand back. If anything does happen, just… Just don’t come after me, alright? I can’t risk my only friends having their lives possibly ruined because of me.”
“S-Sunset?” Fluttershy stepped forth, when Sunset placed comforting hands to her shoulders.
“I’ll be fine, Flutters,” said Sunset as reassuringly as she could. “If things go wrong just… Thank you for you believing in me.”
With that, Sunset sped off, making for the closest exit to the car park. She heard Fluttershy call out to her one more time, but she refused to look back. She needed answers, and by Celestia, she would have them, one way or another. On the way, she passed by the three new arrivals, whose eyes seemed to trail her as she went.
Getting out through the back entrance, ignoring any stares or retorts from close evasions, she spied the parking lot, zeroing in on the new car in the faculty row. The car itself was anything but new; a Beetle, probably circa the eighties, based on some of the wear over the arguably well-preserved blue paintjob. Seeing the vehicle, something that at this point might as well have been interred at an auto museum, made Sunset begin to second guess about the government being involved, since she figured they had the resources to outfit their field agents better. On the other hand, looking as ramshackle and, as Sunset herself thought of the man, eccentric, might have also helped to throw off suspicion for an infiltrator.
Part of her wanted to just forget about this stunt and get out of there, just as Mr. Turner was seen exiting the school, seemingly talking with someone: Squinting to get a better view, Sunset recognized the bespectacled Micro Chip, who’d been helping him with the strange hardware earlier for her test. The two seemed deeply in conversation over something, right up to when they could see her. Micro Chip seemed eager to leave, no doubt due to many of Sunset’s unsavory tendencies since their first year, to which he hastily bid goodbye to Mr. Turner and walked off. Turner himself seemed mildly perturbed at Sunset standing before his car, blocking access to the trunk, but he nonetheless approached, until the two were in respectable talking distance to one another.
“Is there something wrong, Miss Shimmer?” he asked, still carrying his laptop under one arm while. Ever the image of unprofessional with his bedraggled hair and slight stubble contrasting his strangely well-kept suit combined with the badly matched converses, the notion of him being some government spook continued to feel so farfetched. Regardless, the man had to be up to something, seeing how intent he was towards Sunset since the beginning.
“As a matter of fact, there is, Mr. Turner,” said Sunset. Passive aggressive, certainly, but she wanted him to know she did not approve. “If Mr. Turner is even your real name.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“My friends and I found one of your toys backstage. I don’t know who you are, but a certified representative of the schoolboard would not use cobbled-together tech, let alone during official observation.”
Turner seemed to look at her in a studious manner, his face remaining largely expressionless. This was a stark contrast to the usually awkward and jovial image Sunset had of the man. “I guess I should have hidden it better than just behind the tree prop, huh?” he asked in a mirthful manner. “Funny isn’t it? How every time you need an outlet, and it just happens the only one is in the most inconvenient place, right?”
Sunset was not in the mood for wit. “Who are you?”
“Time Turner, certified teacher in physics. Nothing special. And I have a lot of physics papers to grade right now, so if you wouldn’t mind, Miss Shimmer, I really do need to have these graded by Monday, so-”
“I’m well aware you’ve been hounding me!” Sunset snapped, taking a threatening step towards the lanky man, who admirably didn’t budge. “How many times more since my duel with Trixie? The duel between me and Spitfire on the soccer field? You know damn well we saw you backstage, “looking for your screwdriver,” right? Who the hell carries a screwdriver when multitools are more convenient?”
“And illegal, I should add; those things have knives,” Mr. Turner remarked. “To be fair, I carry one with me everywhere. You never know when it might come in handy. And I did indeed misplace it, so much kudos to Miss Dash on finding it for me. You know, one time I actually-”
“I’m not here to chatter about how you… I dunno, lockpicked your way out of your car trunk with it!”
“Well now that you mention it-”
“Have you been stalking me? Did you also observe me and my friend Fluttershy’s duel in the park the same day I had my test with Trixie? Or when I dueled Lightning Dust the day after on Rein Street?”
“Well funny you should also mention Miss Lulamoon, Miss Shimmer,” said Turner her expression turning stern.
“So, you do know,” concluded Sunset, meeting Mr. Turner’s gaze. “About a month ago, the CHS incident?”
Turner looked less stern but more just obstinate to say anything, not helped that a few bystanders were looking at them. Wouldn’t do well for a government spook at any rate, being out in the open. Perfect. She was going to end up pressuring him.
“I do know about the incident you speak of, Miss Shimmer,” said Mr. Turner, looking outright dour. “I know plenty about such incidents, more so than you could ever imagine. I know this doesn’t look pleasant on my end, but I want you to trust me in that I am not your enemy.”
“Then who are you working for?” asked Sunset, glad to have made some progress, but further concerned if this Time Turner really knew more than he let on. “The government?”
Turner outwardly scoffed at that, “Now let’s not get all conspiracy-theorist here.”
The man seemed to jolt for a moment when Sunset’s duel disk engaged with its heavy clicks and whirr of electronics and mechanisms. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned here at CHS; as a duel school, dueling is as crucial as convictions. You’re not on the clock at the moment, Mr. Turner, and if you were a certified teacher at a certified dueling academy; you would have in your possession a deck. And you are also under the effect of the duelist’s code.” The last bit was an outright lie; at a dueling academy, teachers reigned over the students, and unless specifically requested, were forbidden from challenging teachers, or any faculty, on the grounds of trying to subvert authority.
Mr. Turner seemed to scrutinize her, looking between her eyes and the deployed magenta and orange duel disk. Either Turner might not know the rules thoroughly, or he did and would pull rank on her, or would simply brush her off. A smirk formed on his lips, a glint of something Sunset could only gleam as eagerness visible in his eyes.
“Takes me back, this does…” he murmured. “Very well, Miss Shimmer, in compliance with the rules and regs, I accept your challenge…” He used his arm carrying his coat to reach into a pocket on the inside of his suit coat, presenting that he did, indeed carry a deck on his person. “Though I much prefer if I were to use my own duel disk, which is in my trunk. I kindly ask you step aside for a moment.”
Sunset eyed him warily, but complied, stepping aside to allow the man to open his car’s miniscule trunk. Upon placing his laptop in, he took out something else. At first Sunset wasn’t certain, but it did turn out to be some form of duel disk, as evident by the circular screen, though it was placed differently, centered in a rectangular frame. The device itself was completely blue.
“So, Miss Shimmer,” he asked, fastening the device to his left arm, the metallic clink of the wrist clamp folding shut coming out clearly, “where shall we do this?”
-
On the flimsy pretense of a “performance re-evaluation”, as stated by Mr. Turner, Sunset knew of a good spot where they wouldn’t be interrupted, though if anything illicit did happen, it was still visible enough for deter any outward hostilities and had an easy escape route: The roof of CHS next to the glass dome overlooking the library. The site where Twilight rekindled Applejack and Rarity’s love, and where she came out with her true identity.
Sunset covertly insisted she take the side closest to the exit, while Turner stood across from her, back facing the admittedly gorgeous view of Canterlot in the distance. Attaching their decks to their respective devices, automated shufflers engaging. With a blue glint being cast up on both parties from their screens, the virtual coin was tossed; landing in Sunset’s favor.
“Duel!”
Sunset Shimmer Life Points: 4000
Time Turner: 4000
Turn 1: Sunset Shimmer (Hand: 5)
We’ll see your true colors soon enough. “I start with the spell ‘Pendulum Call’,” she slid her first card of the duel into her disk. “This spell lets me add two ‘Magician’ Pendulum monsters from my deck to my hand.” Her two choices were fed into her hand, followed by a shuffle. “I take the scale one ‘Dragonpulse Magician’ and scale eight ‘Dragonpit Magician’ to set the Pendulum Scale!”
Her original two Pendulums found their rightful spots on her disk, the two dragon sorcerers arising to her sides, unveiling the six colored motes of light revolving between them.
“With these I can now Special Summon any monsters that are levels two to seven.”
“The swing of the pendulum connecting two worlds draws out the arc of harmony.”
“Pendulum Summon! Come forth, my companions!” Sunset beckoned, the motes forming the portal where two lights shot forth.
-
Fluttershy shuddered when the sensations normally described as warm and soothing overcame her. She stopped in her tracks to look back in the general direction of CHS, a sense of trepidation coming over her.
“What’s wrong, Flutters?” she heard Rainbow ask her.
“Sunset’s… Sunset’s dueling someone right now.”
-
“Level 3, ‘Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon’! (1200/600) and level 6, ‘Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon’ (1200/2400).” With her two smaller Odd-Eyes were in play, now the fun could get started, “I then play ‘Polymerization’, fusing together my dragons on the field!”
The fusion vortex opened over her field, her two dragons rising into it and melded like colors on a palette, until they degraded into a surging light erupting from the eye.
“Dragons of dichromatic eyes, unite together and combine your power under the arc of harmony.”
“Fusion Summon! Take flight, dragon of dichromatic eyes who lords over the storm winds: Level 7 ‘Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon’!” (Level 7, 2500/3000)
With her newly acquired Odd-Eyes in play, with its hefty 3000 defense and its ability to negate effects, on top of having her Odd-Eyes in her Extra Deck for immediate return to the field.
“I end my turn.” Now to see if he’s actually a genuine duelist worth his salt.
(Hand: 1)
Turn 2: Time Turner (Hand: 5)
“Ah, the new dragon you showed during your duel with Mister Quill. Brilliant, I say!” said Turner on making the first draw. “But if you want my personal stance; you should never open up with your best immediately.” As he held out one card from his hand, a small segment folded out beneath his duel disk’s screen, which he slapped it onto. “I summon ‘Time Thief Regulator’ in attack mode.”
To Turner’s field leapt a small robot: Its vertically flat body, which seemed to teeter just slightly due to its lack of width, had a shape strongly reminiscent of a dog (as evidenced by its distorted call of “bow-wow”), the side of its body being covered in geometric shapes forming a strange technological pattern. (Level 4, 600/200)
“Since I control no other monsters, I sacrifice Regulator,” his monster barked “Affirmative” before vanishing in a ripple from the field, “to which I can Special Summon two ‘Time Thief’ monsters from my deck. I summon ‘Time Thief Chronocorder’, and ‘Time Thief Bezel Ship’.”
First came a small blue and white robot reminiscent of a drone, the top blue portion of it extending a pair of dazzling multi-chromatic wings, giving it the look of a butterfly. (Level 4, 1000/1000) The second was a significantly larger ship, appearing hovering over the field: It was best described as a tapered point, extending from a gold ring, within a rounded gold hexagon. (Level 4 1000/2000)
“Next, I take my two level four monsters and overlay them.”
His two monsters devolved into swathes of light which shot up. The nebula representing the Overlay Network opened before him, to which the swathes descending into, resulting in the power of Xyz erupting forth in a pillar.
“Valiant savior beyond time and space: Locked in your eternal crusade, unravel the mysteries of the universe.”
“Xyz Summon! Come forth, rank 4: Hero of time, ‘Time Thief Redoer’!”
Swinging back a cape in flourish, to Turner’s field emerged a very human-looking monster: An indeterminate age with pure white hair, wearing a monocle over his right eye; he was garbed in a most peculiar outfit: Black, fine loafers, purple pants and an intricate garb somewhere between a coat or a robe: Purple at the front, it became either a black or navy blue at the back, with long coattails, bronze linings and red diamond shaped decors just beneath either shoulder. A white neckerchief was just barely visible from the long, black cloak he wore with a tall crimson red collar, and mismatched gloves; black on the left hand and white on the right, the back of the palm on the latter bearing some form of flowing apparatus. (Rank 4, 2400/2000)
“And from my hand, I equip Time Thief Redoer with ‘Time Thief Resonation Wand.’” Materializing onto the field, Redoer snatched a small, scepter-like device in his left hand, the tip extending out with a blue dome, while a series of circuitry lines and bulbs along its shaft lit up.
“I set two cards, then end my turn.”
(Hand: 2)
Turn 3: Sunset Shimmer (Hand: 1)
Okay, so he’s not just a “set a few cards and call it” kind of guy. “I draw,” Sunset swiped her first draw from her deck.
“During your stand-by phase, Time Thief Redoer’s effect activates,” Turner declared. “I attach your topmost card from your deck to Redoer as an overlay unit.”
Sunset looked over at the monster in confusion. Not knowing whether or not it counted as something to be concerned about enough to trigger Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon’s effect, she decided to acquiesce, taking the topmost card of her deck, pressing the image against her duel disk’s screen before placing it in a special compartment in the back. The system identified as the card being active on Turner’s field, with a third orb materializing hovering around Redoer. The card designated was ‘Pendulum Switch’.
I could Pendulum Summon if I so choose; his monster is just one hundred attack points below Vortex Dragon. But if it has some other effect, I will need my monsters in the Extra Deck for now… “I activate ‘Magical Star Illusion’ from my hand. This turn, if I control less or the same number of monsters, our monsters gain 100 attack points multiplied by the levels of monsters we currently control.”
Turner frowned, “But because Xyz monsters don’t have levels, that means Redoer gains zero.”
“Exactly,” said Sunset with a smirk. “I therefore switch Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon to attack mode (Level 7, (7 x 100 = 700) ATK: 2500 -> 3200). I attack Time Thief Redoer with Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon! Spiral Vortex Strike!”
Vortex Dragon drew in the power of storm into its maw (ATK: 3200), launching it in a swirling whip of wind winding towards its intended target (ATK: 2400).
“In battle, Time Thief Resonation Wand’s effect activates,” Turner responded. “When the equipped monster battles, its target loses 300 attack and defense points times each overlay unit it has (3 x 300 = 900).”
Sunset gasped when the scepter let out a low, humming tune, releasing faint ripples into the air (Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon ATK: 3200 –> 2300). With a snap of his finger, Redoer’s white glove began to surge with energy from whatever the apparatus it contained was, and then lunged forth, literally punching through Odd-Eyes attack and striking the green-scaled dragon on the forehead. A glowing crack was left, which began to violently split and spread over Odd-Eyes form until shattering the dragon to shards.
Sunset Shimmer Life Points: 4000 – 100 = 3900
“Case in point, Miss Shimmer; don’t be hasty,” remarked Turner, as his monster landed gracefully back on his side of the field, casually flicking a stray strand of hair out of the way from his face.
Sunset mentally kicked herself for her recklessness, having lost one of her strongest monsters so easily. Fortunately, her Pendulum Scale remained, so she was only entirely helpless; “I Pendulum Summon! Return my companions!” To her field remerged Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon (Level 3, 1200/600) and Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon (Level 6, 1200/2400), reduced to a defensive role for now. “I end my turn.”
(Hand: 1)
Turn 4: Time Turner (Hand: 2)
Turner drew his next card, after which Redoer’s glove apparatus lit up once more, “Redoer’s effect activates again, so another card from your deck gets added (Overlay units: 4).”
Sunset frowned as another card was taken, scanned for confirmation and placed in stand-by. So this is his strategy? He powers up his monster by stealing my cards? The card taken was Pendulum Halt, a card she could have made use of, but it was now in Turner’s use, which would only make his equip spell stronger.
“I go to battle phase and attack Persona Dragon with Redoer,” her foe declared.
“I activate Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon’s effect,” Sunset responded. “Once per turn, I can return a monster summoned from the extra deck into the hand! You Redoer therefore returns to your extra deck!”
“Ohhhh, we can’t have that, now can we? I activate Redoer’s other effect: I detach three overlay units, one trap, one spell, one monster…” Three overlay units erred and embedded into Redoer’s glove. “With a trap, I return your Persona Dragon to the top of your deck. With a spell, I draw one card, and with a monster, I banish Redoer until the end phase.”
With a courteous bow, followed by an extravagant flourish, Redoer snapped a finger, to which Persona Dragon, with a protesting roar, vanished from the field, along with Redoer, while Turner was given a new card to draw into his hand.
“Since the monster overlay unit is in the graveyard while the effect goes into effect, I can now activate Chronocorder’s effect after an Xyz monster of mine left the field: This lets me Special Summon it to the field, but it gets banished if it leaves the field this time.” With that his second monster from the duel, the butterfly-looking drone, remerged, flaring its aurora-like wings. (Level 4, 1000/1000). “In addition, since ‘Resonation Wand’ went to the graveyard, I can add one ‘Time Thief’ card from my deck to my hand. And since the battle phase is still on, I attack Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon with Chronocoder.”
Appearing to shift in and out around the field, Chronocoder (ATK: 1000) warped before Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon (DEF: 600) and body-slammed into the small green dragon, making its form shatter into pixels.
“With that, I must end my turn. Thus, during my end phase, Redoer returns to my field.” In a flash, an apparition in the shape of a cog appeared to the field, the hands of a clock revolving wildly within, until Redoer’s form smashed through the facet and performed another flourish with his cape. (Rank 4, 2400/2000)
(Hand: 4)
Turn 5: Sunset Shimmer (Hand: 1)
After drawing, which was nonother than Persona Dragon, Redoer’s glove lit up, signifying it stealing another card from Sunset’s deck. The card stolen this time was Pendulum Reborn, meaning Redoer could once again return a monster to the top of Sunset’s deck if Turner wished. But before Sunset could even decide on a plan of action, one of Turner’s set cards unveiled itself.
“In response, I activate the trap ‘Time Thief Flyback’; this lets me attach a ‘Time Thief’ card from my deck to a Time Thief Xyz monster,” with the rattle of the automated shuffler, his chosen card was slipped underneath Redoer’s. “I attach Time Thief Startup, a spell card.”
I have you now, you slippery bastard… “I activate Dragonpulse Magician’s Pendulum effect; if both my Pendulum Scales are ‘Magicians’, by sending a Pendulum monster from my hand to the graveyard, I destroy Redoer.”
From within the scales, Dragonpit Magician brandished his glaive and flung it across the field, the spinning blade zeroing in onto Redoer. One of Redoer’s overlay units erred into his glove before the glaive ran him through, shattering his form.
“I used Redoer’s ability to detach Time Thief Startup, as such, I draw a card.”
“Pendulum Summon! Return, Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon! (Level 3, 1200/600)” There’s nothing else I can really do at this point, now is there? “To my battle phase; I attack Chronocorder with Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon!”
As the only possible thing she could do at that moment, Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon rand forth (ATK: 1200) and lashed out with its tail towards the hovering Chronocorder (ATK: 1000). With a direct strike with its spiked limb, the little machine was shattered.
Time Turner Life Points: 4000 – 200 = 3800
This man… He’s in a completely different level compared to everyone else I’ve dueled so far. At this point she’d figured she’d had reduced his life points by at least a thousand. “I end my turn.”
(Hand: 1)
Turn 6: Time Turner (Hand: 5)
Now with an almost fully filled hand, Turner may have not had Redoer to steal more cards, but he now had a significant advantage due to Sunset’s lack of a hand, one monster and no backrow. “Now, since you so rudely destroyed my primary playmaker, I guess I’ll just have to call for backup: I play ‘Monster Reincarnation’ from my hand. By discarding a card, I bring one monster from my graveyard back to my hand. I then summon the returned Time Thief Regulator.” With another robotic “bow-wow”, the vertically flat robot dog returned. (Level 4, 600/200)
“I then activate Regulator’s effect; by sending it to the graveyard, I special summon a second ‘Time Thief Chronocorder’, and ‘Time Thief Winder’.”
Aside from a duplicate of the butterfly drone (Level 4, 1000/1000), the next monster was another human, this one with wavy silvery hair, with a pair of pricey looking shades worn over his forehead. He was clad in a predominately black suit, though the right pantleg was a distinct dark purple, as was the front of his black jacket. Unlike Redoer, his sleeves were folded back, the gloves were on opposite hands this time, and a billowing light blue scarf adorned his neck. (Level 4, 1800/1300)
“With my two level four monsters, I once again overlay,” on Turner’s command, his monsters devolved into energy and dove into the opening Overlay Network.
“No hero is complete without companionship. Loyal friend and ally who carries on the legacy.”
“Xyz Summon! Rank 4: Student of time and space, ‘Time Thief Perpetua’!”
A woman backflipped and wheeled to Turner’s field: Young with vivid red hair accented with a light red bow at the back: Her outfit matched well that of Turner’s own mismatched style: A white dress shirt a frilled front and with Winder’s jacket worn with only her left arm sleeved. A skirt reaching just past her knees, similarly colored and styled as that of Redoer and Winder’s outfit; black with light red inner layers. Her more exposed right leg was adorned in a thick-soled black boot, while her left leg wore a mismatched, taller brown leather boot that disappeared up her skirt. Adorned on her left hand was a black fingerless glove with a similar apparatus on the back as Redoer’s white glove. (Rank 4, 1900/2500)
“Time Thief Perpetua’s effect: By removing one overlay unit, I Special Summon one ‘Time Thief’ monster in the graveyard: So come on back, Time Thief Redoer!”
Raising her gloved hand, one of Perpetua’s overlay units embedded into it, giving it a bright glow. The cog-shaped clock appeared beside her, from which Redoer broke through with a grand entrance, billowing his cloak to the side with a triumphant laugh. (Rank 4, 2400/2000)
“Next, I activate the effect of Time Thief Startup in my graveyard. By banishing this card, I can take one Time Thief spell, trap and monster card from my graveyard and attach them to a Time Thief Xyz monster as overlay units.”
With a twirl and another flourish, to which Perpetua seemed to applaud, Redoer snapped his gloved hand. In a burst of light from his glove apparatus, three overlay units emerged and began to revolve around him.
“Then with some more timey-wimey magic, I banish Time Thief Flyback from my graveyard to attach one card from our graveyards to Perpetua as an overlay unit. I choose your Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon: We can’t have him splitting up the magnificent duo, now can we?”
Now was Perpetua’s turn to point towards Sunset with her gloves hand and to snap her fingers. Sunset’s duel disk registered Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon not being present, while a new overlay unit emerged from Perpetua’s glove and began to revolve around her.
“Time Thief Perpetua, attack Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon!”
Prepetua pulled something from a satchel on her waist, a simple spherical device, the top of which she pressed down with a thumb (ATK: 1900). She then tossed the device at Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon (ATK: 1200), which burst in a crackle of sparks, causing the dragon to vanish, while the electrical discharge arced around Sunset’s revealing forcefield.
Sunset Shimmer Life Points: 3900 – 700 = 3200
“And there’s my gap: Time Thief Redoer, attack Miss Shimmer directly!”
With another flourish, pulling his cloak to cover himself, in a blink Redoer appeared right in front of Sunset (ATK: 2400). Grasping his right arm with his left hand, the strange man’s glove apparatus began to surge with power, some stray arcs dancing across Sunset’s forcefield, before Redoer revved his hand back for an obvious powered punch. Only for the surging to cease and he, in a quite patronizing manner, brought his hand level to Sunset’s face and simply flicked at her with a finger. In an uncontrolled gasp, Sunset found her left arm being flung backwards from the feedback of the system.
Sunset Shimmer Life Points: 3200 – 2400 = 800
“And with that, I end my turn.”
(Hand: 4)
Sunset grimaced, looking over the field, and by extension, the gap between the two in terms of power: Turner had two very powerful Xyz monster, currently standing back-to-back like the hero and sidekick dynamic they clearly went for, with one that could disrupt Sunset’s plays before she even made them, and one that could bring back the other at the cost of one overlay unit, one of which was Sunset’s only dragon that could stand up to the former with its effect.
He’s right. I went in too cocky with Fusion. I have only one card in my hand, without Persona Dragon I can’t defend against either of his monsters, and Mirage Dragon can’t protect itself without Odd-Eyes in my Pendulum Zone. If I could draw Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon I could buy some time, but what if Redoer steals it before I can?