Dueling is Magic! A Rip in Time Chapter 7: Defeat
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Discord has challenged Paradox to a duel! Will chaos triumph over time? Or will Paradox defeat Discord? Meanwhile, Celestia has lost the Elements of Harmony and stumbles across an incredible discovery...
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Author’s Note: I’d originally intended for there to be only one duel, but one of the comments got me thinking that I could right up a quick one between Discord and Paradox. So here you go.
I’ll get back to the Main 6 in the next chapter.
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“DUEL!”
Life Point Count
Paradox: 4000
Discord: 4000
“I shall take the first turn,” said Paradox. “I activate the Field Spell ‘Malefic World’. Within this sinful realm, our lives are forfeit should one of us lose.” The atmosphere around them changed to appear like a purple nebula. Stars twinkled in the distance. Discord kept his gaze fixed on Paradox.
“Next I play the Continuous Spell ‘Field Barrier’,” Paradox continued. “Field Spells cannot be destroyed and neither of us may play a new Field Spell. Then I summon ‘Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon’ and ‘Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon’.”
As he spoke, two dragons appeared behind him. One was the familiar Blue-Eyes, while the other was a smaller, black dragon with many spikes. Both of them wore black and white half-masks which covered the right eye. Their wings had similar markings on them.
Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon
ATK/3000
LV 8
Malefic Red-Eyes B. Dragon
ATK/2400
LV 7
“Blue-Eyes... you and I aren’t that different, are we?” said Discord.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” said Paradox.
“You’ll see soon enough,” Discord replied. “Are you done?”
“I end my turn with two face-downs,” Paradox answered.
Discord drew a card. “First, I send ‘Darknight Parshath’ to the Graveyard to Special Summon ‘Dark Grepher’ from my hand.” Discord’s dark warrior appeared before him, grinning evilly as he brandished his black sword.
Dark Grepher
ATK/1700
LV 4
“Next, I’ll use Grepher’s effect by discarding a DARK monster from my hand, so I can send a DARK monster from my deck to the Graveyard. And now all the pieces are in place!”
“For what, exactly?” asked Paradox.
“For my own corrupted monsters. When there are exactly three DARK monsters in my Graveyard, this monster can be Special Summoned from my hand. Behold, ‘Dark Armed Dragon’!” A deep roar echoed throughout the gardens as a monstrous black dragon appeared. Axe blades and drills jutted out of its armor and a massive club rested at the end of its tail.
Dark Armed Dragon
ATK/2800
LV 7
“I’ll use my Armed Dragon’s ability! By banishing a DARK monster from my Graveyard, I can destroy one card on the field. Go, Dark Mambele!” The black dragon grabbed the massive blades that were its wings and pulled them off their stands, then threw them forward. They spun through the air with a loud whistle, then sliced through the corrupted Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The blades turned and spun back to Dark Armed Dragon, reattaching themselves to its armor.
“I play the Trap ‘Malefic Tune’,” said Paradox. “When a Malefic monster is destroyed, I draw 2 cards.”
“As if I care,” said Discord. “Dark Armed Dragon, attack Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon with Dark Armed Punisher!” Discord’s dragon slashed at Paradox’s remaining dragon, its claws slicing through it like paper, and it exploded. Discord ordered Dark Grepher to attack directly after. The warrior jumped through the smoke and brought his sword down on Paradox.
Life Point Count
Paradox: 1900
“I play another Malefic Tune,” said Paradox. He seemed unfazed by the attacks as he drew his two cards.
“I Set two cards face-down and end my turn,” said Discord.
“I wonder,” said Paradox as he drew, “why you didn’t simply destroy both monsters and attack me directly?”
“You had two face-downs,” said Discord. “Sure, it turned out they were just draw cards, but what if you had gotten a hand effect? I lost to Yusei because of such a card.”
“A misplay on your part regardless,” said Paradox. “I Special Summon ‘Malefic Cyber End Dragon’ to the field!” A massive mechanical dragon emerged from a portal in the ground. Both of its wings were covered in the same pattern as Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes before it. Each of its three heads wore a mask. The center head wore one of both black and white, while the ones on the sides wore only black and only white.
Malefic Cyber End Dragon
ATK/4000
LV 10
“I also activate ‘Malefic Divide’, that I may revive Malefic Blue-Eyes White Dragon,” Paradox continued. The white dragon appeared once more, roaring loudly.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” said Discord.
“I plan to,” replied Paradox. “I summon the Tuner Monster ‘Malefic Parallel Gear’.” A thin mass of gears and springs appeared.
Malefic Parallel Gear
ATK/0
LV 2
“Malefic Parallel Gear, tune with Malefic Blue-Eyes!” said Paradox. The gears of the little monster began to spin faster and faster. As its body vanished, two bright stars appeared and drew black rings around Malefic Blue-Eyes. “Born from the threshold of the dimension of Darkness, time to lower the curtain of destruction on the stage that surpasses time and space! I Synchro Summon ‘Malefic Paradox Dragon’!”
A black pillar appeared around the dragon and enveloped it completely. A much larger dragon emerged from within. Its body was black with white running along the ridges of its armor and thick wings. Yellow spikes jutted out from behind its head. Its eyes were two red slits that stared emptily ahead.
Malefic Paradox Dragon
ATK/4000
LV 10
“Battle! Malefic Paradox Dragon, attack Dark Armed Dragon!” The dark dragon inhaled deeply, then released a stream of purple energy that destroyed Discord’s monster. “Now, Malefic Cyber End Dragon, attack Dark Grepher! Eternal Evolution Burst!” The three-headed machine launched a fireball from each head at Discord’s monster. It was utterly obliterated and Discord was thrown to the ground by the explosion.
Life Point Count
Discord: 500
“I Set two cards face-down and end my turn,” said Paradox.
“Not... yet... you don’t,” growled Discord as he stood up. “I activate the Quick-Play Spell ‘Fires of Doomsday’! This summons two ‘Doomsday Tokens’ to my field in Defense Mode!” One of Discord’s face-down cards flipped up. Two small creatures made of smoke appeared. Each one had a single, expressionless eye in the center of its head.
Doomsday Token
DEF/0
LV 1
*****
Celestia’s eyelids slowly opened. The wind and the rain stung her eyes and pushed against her wings. She saw the bag falling beneath her, but no thoughts passed through her mind except those of survival. She tried to fully extend her wings, but the wind pushed against them, keeping them at their odd angles.
Celestia looked down at the bag again. A thought passed through her mind: The Elements! She pulled her wings in and regained control, then beat her wings to speed up her dive.
It was so close.
A time rift snaked its way toward her. She saw it out of the corner of her eye and swerved to avoid it. It missed her, but only just, and the bag containing the Elements of Harmony had gained some distance. Celestia redoubled her speed.
Another rift flew into her path, but much further away. Realizing where it was headed, Celestia tried to speed up again, but it was too late.
The rift caught the bag and then vanished. Celestia pulled up and slowed to a stop.
“Oh no,” she said. “Oh, this is beyond bad.”
A rift came out of nowhere and struck her from the side.
*****
“My turn!” said Discord. “First I play ‘Smashing Ground’! This card destroys the monster on your field with the most Defense Points.” Discord’s card appeared before him. The earth trembled and a fissure opened up in the ground, sliding its way toward Malefic Paradox Dragon.
Malefic Paradox Dragon
DEF/4000
Malefic Cyber End Dragon
DEF/2800
“Don’t get hasty,” said Paradox. “I activate the Trap Card ‘Malefic Force’. A Malefic monster equipped with this card is unaffected by my opponent’s Spell Cards. A good try, but you will have to do better than that.” A web of chromatic light weaved itself in front of Paradox’s dragon. The fissure winding its way through the ground stopped at the web.
“Plan ‘B’ then,” said Discord.
“You have but one Set card and two unremarkable tokens,” said Paradox. “Your hand is empty and you have no other options. I don’t believe you have a ‘plan B’.”
“I do," replied Discord. “I just don’t know what it is yet. I play the Trap ‘Dark Spirit Art - Greed’! By sacrificing one of my tokens, I can draw two cards. You can negate this effect if you’re holding a Spell Card. But look! Your hand’s empty too!” Discord grinned as he drew his two cards. “Oh. So that’s Plan ‘B’. I Release my remaining Doomsday Token to summon ‘Darklord Zerato’!”
The angel of darkness unfurled his bat-like wings and pointed his scimitar at Paradox. A deep rumble emanated from beneath his mask.
Darklord Zerato
ATK/2800
LV8
“Normally he requires two sacrifices,” said Discord, “but since there are four DARK monsters with different names in my Graveyard, I can summon him at half the cost!”
“Your monster pales in comparison to mine,” said Paradox nonchalantly. “My deck draws on the power of the strongest creatures throughout Duel Monsters history.”
“Then how come they’re about to get blown up?” Discord sneered. “I activate Zerato’s effect! By sending a DARK monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can destroy all monsters on your field!” Darklord Zerato flared out his wing-like cape and raised his sword. Bolts of black lightning shot out of the blade and danced through the gardens in an unholy manner, spiralling toward Paradox’s dragons.
“You will not get the best of me!” said Paradox. “I activate the Trap ‘Malefic Claw Stream’! If I control a Malefic Synchro Monster, I can destroy one of your monsters!” A violet whirlwind spun out of the card and struck Darklord Zerato, destroying him. The black lightning continued its dance, striking down both of Paradox’s monsters.
The smoke cleared. Both Paradox and Discord were panting.
“It seems we are at a standstill,” said Discord. “Neither of us has any monsters, and our hands are empty.”
“And yet I will win,” said Paradox calmly. “You are out of time, Discord.”
“What makes you say that?” Discord asked.
““Time is a malevolent current which flows into destruction, pushing all things to an end,” said the masked man. “It is beyond even your chaotic powers.”
“Then it’s fortunate that time never interested me,” said Discord. “I’m immortal, so why should it?”
“In my grand experiment, I seek preservation. If my people survive, then we can escape the flow of time.”
“Yawn,” said the draconequus mockingly. “Just take your turn already, would you? Pinkie and I have to go dump strawberry milkshakes on Twilight.”
“The Bearers of Harmony have long since been dealt with,” the masked man. “As I shall deal with you. I activate the effect of Malefic World. In lieu of drawing a card, I can add a random Malefic monster from my deck to my hand.”
Discord’s eyes widened as a familiar white dragon appeared above him.
“No,” he said quietly, shakily.
“Malefic Stardust Dragon, attack!” ordered Paradox.
*****
Celestia floated through space. In infinite blackness, swirling portals were opening. Rivers of light flowed from them into a glowing point.
“What is this?” said Celestia. “Where am I?”
“You are at the end of my experiment,” said a voice. Celestia turned and saw a masked human standing beside her. “The end and the beginning.”
“Who are you?” asked Celestia. “What is all of this?”
“The tunnels you’ve seen growing in the sky all lead here,” said the man. “The energy flows into this point. This is the end of all things. How ironic that we are at the beginning.”
“What are you talking about?”
“My name is Paradox. This point, this... singularity is where your universe began. I shall use this energy in my grand experiment.”
“You’re destroying our world!”
“A regrettable loss. It is truly a beautiful place. But I must do this to save my people.”
*****
Storm clouds gathered overhead. Deep thunder rumbled across the sky. Discord lay at the feet of his statue, once again encased in stone.
Paradox’s D-Wheel raced off and disappeared.
TO BE CONTINUED