By the gods, it's been four years. After a brief trip down the story, I realize what a difference in themes (so to say) between my teenage years and my early twenties (far edgier before). So yeah, among leaving the fandom, university, emotional issues, I figured I'd give this gig another go. Sure, I'm unaware of anything that happened after the first two EQG movies, and only watched up to S3, so not much of an emphasis there. This chapter is a bit of a spin-off, and I realize that Spike was overpowered to the degree it's sad. This said, been four years, least I got a bit more progress than a certain chalice-gobbling developer, and I hope you enjoy.
- Equestrian Ghost
The air was brittle in the chamber, and the visitors quite nervous. It had been years since they last heard of Solaris, the ally turned enemy who was once the pride of Duel Academy. There were many suspicions about his fate, such as him dying the night of the fire, or in the other world due to falling rocks. They questioned these outcomes, but there was one they did not question when mentioned: his durability.
He had proven this when making his way through Hell per Death’s words, his brief time in the Shadow Realm and even his time as a Revenant, so him surviving, while unlikely after all these years, was not out of the realm of possibilities. A quick visit later and the GX group sans Bastion was in a room where three entities were seated in their thrones. The left belonged to Equestria’s incarnation of Death, who looked at them from underneath their hood. The middle belonged to a shambling bipedal being whose skin was that of glassy tar and had a knight-like armor of a matching color. Finally, on the right throne was Faust herself, a thin frown on her face.
“We cannot grant you this request,” Faust said, looking at them. Celestia, who was also in the room, spoke up.
“Why not, mother? I get that I retired, but such a request should be within your reach!” the former ruler of Equestria pleaded, getting on her knees.
“Such a request is not one within our boundaries. Despite setting up a connection with your world, the world he is in is a different one altogether.”
“But if you did it with our world, shouldn’t his world be possible? I mean, it’s not like a different universe or something, right?” Alexis asked, looking at the three entities.
“You are not wrong, yet you are far from correct,” the middle entity said.
“And who are you supposed to be, huh?” Chazz asked, clearly annoyed by the situation.
“Pardon my manners, I am Requiem, the entity of Purgatory of this and many other worlds. I watch over the souls and worlds that are left in a state of limbo, never-ending life if you please. For instance, the following,” he said, motioning a door and watching as a brown-haired woman with matching rabbit ears and a camera trudged along, followed by a red-haired woman dressed as a Spartan who had a shield and spear.
“Who are they?” Syrus asked, looking at them in shock.
“Those who go to neither Heaven nor Hell, or those who have been forgotten or had their stories left untold. They come from a world where a major incident killed them off either metaphorically or literally. You could say they were written off, but the interpretations vary,” the now identified Requiem stated.
“In technicality, I watch over the dead who originated in our world. However, I received no soul from him. When consulting with the others, we got word that another entity governs that world. The problem is that he is quite busy,” Death sighed, looking away.
“And who is that?” Celestia asked, looking up at the deathly being.
“The Red One,” she said grimly, her fear being evident.
Slifer Red dorms, Academy Island, ???
“Here lies Spike Solaris, student and paragon of Slifer Red.”
??? – 2007
“I don’t know about the paragon part, but the student part checks out,” a black haired-woman said, checking a tombstone and then checking her scroll, seeing the image of a green-haired teen with messy hair and a Slifer Red blazer. “Hate to say it, but I dig the blazers over whatever you’re rocking.”
“Keep that to yourself, Carly. I am not too fond of you, but I know that you are the one capable of finding a connection between the Duel Academy incidents and my father. I had an inkling, but said inkling is useless without proof,” another voice answered, this belonging to a woman who was wearing a cloak.
“Should we head in? It looks like it’ll fall apart at any given minute,” Carly said, removing her glasses to wipe them with her shirt before putting them on once more.
“Yes, though you can stay out here if you’d like, keep an eye on the surroundings,” the mysterious figure answered, entering the biggest room that looked like the common room. A television that at this age would look obsolete, dusty furniture, a table that looked like it was on the verge of breaking, nothing interesting. Sighing, she made her way to the other rooms on the lower floor, the results also the same.
She made her way to the upper floor, holding onto the railway that creaked under her grasp. One by one she went through the rooms as she did before until coming across a well-furnished room. The furniture was covered with plastic sheets, and so the young woman proceeded to remove said sheets. What caught her curiosity was a mini-fridge that she then connected, smiling as it began to run. One could say that not a day had passed within this room, and she took her time looking around said room.
As she went around the room, a creaking noise caught her attention. Looking beneath her, she saw a wooden floorboard. To come and think of it, it was odd that the floor was of wood unlike the other rooms where aside from the dining hall the floor was made out of carpet. She stepped on a few other floorboards, the only troublesome board being the one that creaked. Bringing out a small screwdriver she kept on her person, she shimmied it to try and get it between the gaps, managing to loosen it enough before removing it.
Putting the screwdriver away, she brought out a flashlight, using it to shine its light upon the gap. She quickly removed the cobwebs before extracting the hidden contents the floorboard offered: a notebook. Taking a seat on the bed, she proceeded to carefully read the contents of the notebook, her eyes widening as she kept on reading. After a short while, she got up, leaving the room as it was before she entered.
“Hey, are you okay? You took a while, I was starting to get worried,” Carly asked, concern evident on her face.
“Yes I am. However, our trip was worthwhile.”
“Why, what did you find?” Carly asked, only for her eyes to widen when seeing the notebook before the two made their way to the boat.
“A lead.”
“Do you think this will summon him?” the former Duel Academy students asked, watching how Celestia, Ingram, Faust, Death and Requiem stood in a circle, the five standing over a seal that had five different symbols. Faust stood over the symbol of Light, Ingram over Wind, Death over Fire, Celestia over Wind and Requiem over Dark.
“You dare question me?” Ingram asked, raising an eyebrow and earning silence from them.
“Grace us with your power, Ultimaya, transcend the limits space and time imposed upon you and accept our humble invitation,” the five beings said, the seal glowing res as a beam of red light shot up. A massive being rose, this being one of crimson energy. The duelists and divine beings watched as the serpent-like creature unfurled its wings and let out a massive roar.
“What is it you require that called for my presence?” the crimson being asked.
“Oh Crimson Dragon, we apologize for bringing you up in such a manner. What happened was that one of our residents ended up in your world, and we were wondering if you could aid us by granting us passage into your realm,” the solar princess said, bowing to the cosmic dragon.
"Such an unusual yet specific request. Who was it that ended up in my world?" the now identified Crimson Dragon asked.
"Spike Solaris," Sunset Shimmer spoke up, in her human form as she looked at Ultimaya.
"Hmm, such a tricky request... I am afraid I cannot grant you to him in such a fashion. If he is to return, it shall be by his decision or a death not caused by any of you. Let it be known, that should you die there, you will either be killed, or resurrected by them."
"Who's them?"
"The Dark Signers, or your equivalent of the Seven Stars. From here on out, I will not have power beyond that of an observer in my world, understood?" he asked, receiving several nods from the duelists and Equestrians.
"Good. Stand in the center of the circle, as a warning: you might end up separated," the Crimson Dragon said. The group of eight stepped in the middle of the seal, vanishing in a crimson pillar of light.
No Man's Land, Satellite, ???
A cloaked man stood atop the highest point in Satellite, watching over the citizens. What caught his attention, however, were multiple crimson pillars. These were not the kind of presences he'd feel from duel gangs when he began to clean up the Satellite, or the activity in the B.A.D. that overwhelmed him. Goodwin was up to something, Sayer was up to something as well, his children scrambled and Martha the only person running the orphanage. No, this presence was much, much more different.
These presences were alienating, yet familiar. Presences that are not meant to be in this realm, jeopardizing the current series of events for better or for worse. Unfurling his feathery wings, the mysterious being began his hunt.
Several minutes later.
'What happened here? It looks like a wasteland,' Chazz thought to himself, going through the tunnels that were threatening to crumble. He had ended up in a dark tunnel, seeing the occasional passerby as he tried to find a way out. His prayers were answered when he heard a commotion.
"Get out of here," a distorted voice said.
"What about Yusei?" a young voice asked.
"There's no time Rally, I'm pretty sure he's okay, it's Yusei we're talking about!" an adult voice said, 3 adults and a child running past him. Paying them little to no attention, the former Slifer got into a small sprint, only to stop when seeing a figure with a tattered cloak, his face hidden as a Duel Disk on his left arm. There was also a chain wrapped around his waist, an aged gun on his hip and a rusty strip of metal strapped to his other hip.
"What are you doing here?" the unknown figure asked.
"None of your business," Chazz answered, walking by only to hear the stranger's Duel Disk being activated.
"Stepping into Satellite made it mine. Duel me, or is your disk for show?"
"You want a show? I'll give you one," Chazz answered, his Duel Disk turning on.
"DUEL!"
Chazz: 4000 - ???: 4000
1. Chazz
"My turn!" Chazz said, drawing a card. "I'll summon 'V-Tiger Jet' in defense mode (1800 DEF)!," he said, a yellow machine tiger with green wings on its shoulders along with a green back. "I'll end my turn with a face-down, your move creep." Sets Royal Decree.
2. ???
"I'll tribute your V-Tiger Jet, to Special Summon 'Gameciel, the Sea Turtle Kaiju' in attack mode (2200 ATK)," the voice said, the tiger being squashed by a scaly blue foot, coming from a long-necked turtle-like creature.
"What did you do to my monster?!" Chazz asked.
"Kaijus can tribute enemy monsters to be summoned from the hand. However, each player can only control one Kaiju. Now that you know this, I'll Special Summon 'Radian, the 'Multidimensional Kaiju' in attack mode, and normal summon 'Jet Synchron' in defense mode (0 DEF) as well)," the stranger said, a bipedal pitch-black being with red eyes appearing from nowhere before it was joined by a monster whose main body was a turbine engine and jet wings on the side of its body, along with a pair of arms and legs.
"Now, I'll tune my 'Jet Synchron' and Radian to synchro summon! Scars are to be learned from, todays defeats shall be tomorrows victories. Arise, 'Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend', in attack mode (3000 ATK)!" the stranger cried, as his two monsters merged, the pillar becoming bright red as a red dragon rose from it, its right horn missing as its right arm was in a bone-like cast that went from its hand to the elbow.
"W-what did you just do?!" Chazz stammered.
"I synchro summoned a monster, it's quite evident you're not from around here, let alone this time," the cloaked being answered before continuing. "I'll discard a card to special summon Jet Synchron from my Graveyard in defense mode (0 DEF), but it'll be removed from play when it leaves the field. Not that it concerns me, especially with Scarlight's ability. Go, Ruthless Inferno!" With a flap of the Archfiend's wings, Gameciel and Jet Synchron were destroyed by being combusted. "Once per turn, I can destroy every special summoned effect monster on the field whose attack is equal or lower than Scarlight's except for the Scarlight who activated it," the being said, before the two fires that were in the place of the destroyed monsters were shot at Chazz.
"Aah!"
"And for each monster destroyed by this effect, you lose 1000 points. Doing the math, it's 4k total. Scarlight, end this duel with Hell-Scarred Scorcher." With the order given, the dragon charged up an attack and engulfed Chazz in flames, making him pass out.
Chazz: 0000 - ???: 4000
Wrapping the chain around the fallen duelist, the stranger unfurled his wings and began shortened the distance between himself and Chazz as to avoid dragging him.
'Who the hell brought you here and why, Princeton,' the being pondered.