//------------------------------// // Episode 1: Welcome to the Nightmare // Story: Yu-Gi-Oh E-Quest: Malefic Wars // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// EPISODE ONE Sunset slowly began to awaken. Her vision was all blurry and fogged as she swore she was looking upward at the sky-- the dark shadowy sky with outer-space like stars, and streaks of lightning bolts, but no thunder. “What’s… happened?” she groaned. As her vision began to clear up, she sat up, rubbed her eyes, and shook her head, but then, as she gazed all around her-- at all the shining buildings, the dark grounds, and the eerie shadows. “It can’t be…!” “Sunset?” groaned a familiar voice. “Rainbow Dash…?” Sunset cried as she looked over at her friend. All the others were lying flat on the ground near them, and they, too, were beginning to awaken. Sunset and Rainbow helped the other girls up. “How long have I been out for?” groaned Applejack. Rainbow had trouble getting Pinkie up. “Just five more minutes mom.” Pinkie yawned. Rainbow shrugged, and then shook her, “Oh, wake up already!” As the rest of the girls awakened, the adults began to wake up too. Celestia held her aching head, feeling worse than any dizzy spell had experienced. “Sister?” groaned Luna. “Luna! Thank goodness you’re alright.” Shining Armor and Cadance had come too, and the first word out of Shining’s lips was, “Twilight…?” he could see his sister lying just a ways ahead of him with her glasses lying next to her. He leapt up onto his feet and dashed over and scooped her up gently in her arms “Twily.” He said softly as he softly stroked his sister’s forehead and she began to stir. “Come on. Come on, wake up.” Twilight’s eyes opened and she looked up at her brother through her blurred vision. “Bro? Is that you?” Smiling lovingly, her brother put her glasses on her face, which made her smile grow bigger, and they hugged warmly, and Cadance sniffled. “Where are we?” asked Fluttershy as she looked around. “Wait a minute… I think I remember this place.” “…The Malefic World!” whimpered Rarity. All around there were shadows, buildings with no visible points of entry, mountains, and deserts…! “Somebody, wake me up!” cried Pinkie “I want to wake up from this dream!” Sunset was convinced. “This is no dream, not this time.” “…You’re right about that.” hissed an evil yet familiar voice. The girls and the grownups all leapt at the sound, and Sunset’s anger showed. “Rubeus…!” Another voice snickered and called “…And don’t forget me, Loki.” Sunset remembered, after she and Rainbow Dash finished their duel, the Prince Brother’s used the gathered duel energy from their tournament and opened a large portal, sending everyone here. Rubeus’ voice called out, “Welcome to our domain. It has been sometime, but it feels great to be home again. You may as well make yourselves comfortable. You’ll never be leaving here.” The girls and the adults were furious. “But don’t worry.” said Loki “This is only the beginning. Soon we’ll have enough power to bring everyone on Earth into our realm, and before you know it, we’ll have the biggest army in the history of dimensions. For now just feel free to walk around, and enjoy the sights and the local folks.” The brothers said no more, and their evil laughs echoed through the darkness. “You creeps…! Come back here!” shouted Rainbow, but the voices were gone, and Rainbow angrily kicked a rock, hurting her foot. “Ow!!” “Easy now!” said Applejack “Losing our fits won’t help a thing.” “She’s right.” agreed Pinkie “We’ll find where those guys are, and then we’ll make them sorry, and then we’ll go home, and then we’ll… we’ll…” she stopped where she realized she was getting way too ahead of herself “Where are they anyway?” Sunset hadn’t the faintest idea, but then she remembered, “…The Titans! Where are the Titans?” The Titans were all lying on the sands just a few ways from the girls, and they were just starting to come too as Sunset ran up to them. “Kori, are you alright?” Kori rubbed her head, “I think so.” “Ah… man…!” groaned Vic “What hit me?” Raven and Terra were getting up too. Finally, Dick was starting to awaken, and right next to him lay Masquerade, whom was starting to come too himself. However, during the shocking and frightening transport into the realm, he had lost his mask, and his sphere hood had been tattered and damaged, leaving his face and his hair exposed. Dick took one look at the awakening man’s face before him, and he could hardly believe his eyes. “…Garfield?” The other man glared at him with a look of fury. “…Gar?” cried Kori. The other Titans all turned towards the young man, and Terra’s heart gave a shocking yet sickening leap. “It can’t be…!” she muttered under her breath. The man slowly got to his feet and green face and hair were full revealed to everyone. “Beast Boy?” muttered Sunset. “It’s him.” Rarity cried softly “That’s the missing Titan they spoke of.” Gar felt his exposed face with his gloves and he looked mad enough to chew through solid rock. “My face…!” he spoke in a very soft tone. He slowly turned and could see his reflection in the polished surface of a building, and he nearly froze in shock at the very sight of himself. “Garfield is Masquerade?” asked Raven. “I cannot believe it.” “It was him all along?!” wondered Kori. Terra was easily the most shocked, nearly horrified, and tears were forming in her eyes as she thought back to ho horridly he had acted towards everyone, but then she thought deep down, and she knew he had some reason to. Gar continued to glare angrily at his reflection, almost as if he wanted to fight it. “UGH!!” he growled and he turned and began to stomp away, only to stop before Dick. “Gar…! What the heck is this-- You-- You’re Masquerade?!” Scowling fiercely at him Gar said, “Surprise-Surprise. You never would have found out, would you? I’m not surprised.” Dick took that as an insult. Gar turned and glared at the other Titans, but more at Terra. He narrowed his eyes so fiercely at her, piercing her soul. “Okay, everybody, calm down here.” said Applejack. “We got bigger things to worry about.” Right at that second, her words came to true pass as the ground began to rumble. “What’s happening?” cried Cadance. She got her answer when a whole bunch of humanoid creatures similar to Rubeus and Loki-- horns on their heads-- four each. Muscular, or slender and wearing robes and capes, and they had faceless features except for eyes and eyebrows. Yet some of them seemed to be wearing armor, or carrying weapons. Some even had demonic or dragon-like wings. “They look like duel monsters!” cried Sunset. She then remembered what the Brothers meant by “…The local folk” and also how the brothers had used the came to incorporate power into the realm. “They’re coming straight for us!” cried Shining Armor. The Titans, excluding Gar, all stood together. “Titans, attack!” shouted Dick. “No, wait…!” shouted Sunset, but Dick already rushed forth to attack a monster himself… while the others tried to activate their powers, but nothing happened. Kori couldn’t fly or shoot her star-bolts. Vic’s sonic cannon wouldn’t fire. Even Raven and Terra couldn’t so much as lift a pebble or even create a single dark spark. The monster only gave one stomp of its massive foot, sending a shockwave along the ground, hitting him and sending him crashing back towards into the other Titans… knocking them down like bowling pins. “Idiots!” grumbled Gar. The girls and the adults all ran up to the Titans. “Are you guys okay?” asked Celestia. “Just peachy!” groaned Vic. Rubeus’ voice was then heard laughing again. “Fools…! Have you forgotten where you are already? This is our domain-- The Malefic World. Only Malefic Magic and Duel Energy function here. Every other type of magic or power won’t function here.” The girls were very concerned. It meant that their Equestrian Magic wouldn’t work here either, but Twilight then noticed on one of the monster’s arms, “He’s wearing a duel disk.” Some of the other Maleficans also had disks on their arms. “Maybe that’s what they meant by duel energy.” said Sunset “Maybe we can duel them all down.” Rainbow’s eyes gave a small shimmer. “That’s all I needed to hear.” and she looked ready and raring to go. “Wait Rainbow…!” said Sunset “Let me. I have to try something.” Rainbow hesitated at first, but then she agreed. “Okay, but we’re all here if you need us.” She went back to help the Titans and the others, while Sunset prepared her disk. “I’m ready to duel if you are!” The Malefican snickered. “Foolish girl, you have no idea the horrors you just stepped into.” Nevertheless, he stood ready, and the two players shouted. “…DUEL!!” Sunset LP: 8000 Malefican LP: 8000 The others could only watch at the moment, and stay vigil for anything strange. “I hope Sunset knows what she’s doing.” said Kori. The others all agreed, but Terra was more distracted, looking over at Gar who stood far from the others, still unable to believe it had been him all along. “I shall go first.” announced the Malefican “I call forth VAMPIRIC LEECH!” (Atk: 500) Rarity shuddered in disgust at the sight of the ugly creature. “I think I’m going to be sick.” she groaned. “Attack now!” shouted the Malefican. “What?!” cried Sunset, and before she knew it, the large creature had rammed straight into her, knocking her down. Sunset LP: 8000 -----> 7500 “That’s not fair!” wailed Fluttershy. “How could he attack on the first turn?” The Malefican explained. “That is the special ability of my leech; it can attack even if it is the first move of the duel.” Poor Sunset looked a little sore and tired as she got up. “That attack…!” she groaned “It felt so real for a hologram?” then she suddenly had a sickening feeling about something. “Now to continue the hurt…” said the Malefican. “I shall activate my leech’s second ability: I send one card in my hand to the graveyard to switch my monster into defense mode.” (Def: 1500) “And next I shall cast the spell of MONSTER REBORN, which I use to revive the monster I had just discarded. Reveal yourself, JOWGEN THE SPIRITULAIST!” (Def: 1300) “As long as my spiritualist is in play, the both of us are forbidden from special summoning any monsters.” Sunset’s eyes widened and she fret in thought, “Oh, no…! That means I can’t Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, or Pendulum summon!” The Malefican ended his turn with two facedown cards, leaving his hand empty. Fluttershy was worried. “If Sunset can’t special summon, how is she supposed to win this duel?” “Easy now…” said Celestia. “The duel has only begun. I’m sure Sunset can find a way out of this.” “It’s my turn,” said Sunset. “I draw…!” She then pondered over her cards and what she could do, and she thought, “I may not be able to special summon, but I can still use my cards to make things work out.” She gazed at her opponent. “First, I’m playing POT OF GREED, so I can draw two more cards, to give me seven. And now, I’m summoning WISDOM-EYE MAGICIAN.” (Atk: 1500) “And next, I’ll set the Pendulum Scale with Scale 1 STARGAZER MAGICIAN and Scale 8 TIMEGAZER MAGICIAN.” The two magicians leapt up into the tubes of light, but because special summoning was impossible, the magic pendulum did not appear… which she didn’t mind. Sunset gazed at the two face-down cards on her opponent’s field and thought, “With Stargazer and Timegazer set in my Pendulum Zones, my pendulum monsters can attack without worrying about spells or traps, and then I can destroy his Jowgen and be able to pendulum summon.” That’s what she wanted, but her opponent began to chuckle at her, “I activate the quick-play spell, SPELL-SHATTERING ARROW!” “What?!” The magical arrow fired, streaking across Sunset’s field and destroyed the magicians in the pendulum zones. “Sunset’s Pendulum cards are gone!” cried Pinkie. Twilight nodded and explained, “Spell Shattering Arrow destroys all of Sunset’s face-up spell cards, which includes pendulum cards.” The Malefican snickered, “That is correct, and what is more… now my opponent takes 500 points of damage for each card that was lost.” Sunset whimpered, and the magic arrow then struck her right in the chest, making her yell in pain! Sunset LP: 7500 -----> 6500 She was down on her knee, clutching her aching chest, and feeling more tired than ever. “Sunset, are you alright!” called Vic. “What’s happening to her?” wondered Dick. Sunset wondered the same thing, which was exactly why she chose to step up and duel. “I was afraid of this…” she said aloud “Here in the Malefic World, the duels are far more real than what we’re used to back home. …Not only do the attacks feel more real, but whenever I lose life points, it’s as if I lose my actual life energy!” From within their secret lair, Rubeus and Loki were observing the duel, and enjoying watching Sunset suffering. “She catches on quite quickly…” said Rubeus “And for every life point she or our soldier loses, the duel energy continues to increase our powers.” He looked behind him at a rather large generator. “As our power increases, the closer we get to unleash our wrath across all worlds. The Malefic World will become the center of worlds, and only darkness shall rule once again.” Loki chuckled and rubbed his hands at the thought of so much power. “And that’s not all that happens when you duel in our domain, but they’ll find out soon enough.” Sunset bolted up onto her feet. “I can’t let this guy get to me. I’ve got to win this!” She engaged her battle phase. “Now, Wisdom-Eye Magician attack Jowgen!” Her magician readied to fire its magic, but the opponent sneered. “I activate the trap MASSIVEMORPH! And with that, his defense and attack points become double! (Def: 1300) -----> (Def: 2600) “No!” cried Sunset. “She can’t win this battle!” exclaimed Applejack. “I can’t watch!” groaned Pinkie. Sunset couldn’t stop her monster from attacking, and the magical blast bounced right off the monster, and headed straight back towards her, hitting her hard! Sunset LP: 6500 -----> 5400 Gar didn’t even know at this point why he was watching anymore. “This is like watching a train-wreck.” he thought “If she keeps dueling like this she’ll be clobbered in no time.” Sunset could hardly believe this was happening; the duel had barely started and she was already falling badly behind because she couldn’t special summon. “I’ll place two cards face down, and that ends my turn.” The Maelfican snickered and drew his next card. “Now then, I shall tribute my Vampiric Leech, so that I may summon AIRKNIGHT PARSHATH.” (Atk: 1900) He ordered the monster to attack. “I activate my trap, PENDULUM SWITCH.” shouted Sunset “Now I take my Wisdom-Eye Magician, and place him up in my Pendulum Zone.” With that, her magician leapt off the field and into the light with its scale of 5 showing. “Why would Sunset do that?” exclaimed Rarity “Now she is completely defenseless!” The others were inclined to agree, but the Malefican didn’t seem to mind a bit, and he replayed his attack to strike Sunset directly. Sunset wailed as the monster blasted her hard with bright light beams. Sunset LP: 5400 -----> 3500 The others began to fret for her, but still Sunset remained undeterred and she roared as she threw out her arms and stood up tall. The Malefican was impressed. “You seem to have more strength that I believed. However, since my knight dealt you damage, I now will draw one card… and I place it facedown, which shall end my turn.” He felt most confident that his victory was assured as he said in his mind, “If she attempts to attack me again, my Magic Cylinder trap card will repel the attack towards her life points, leaving her weaker than ever. Then on my next turn I shall finish this fool once and for all.” The other friends were really starting to fret for Sunset. “Sunset needs to special summon to get out of this mess.” said Cadance. “But how can she?” asked Shining Armor as he pointed at Jowgen “As long as that guy is around, she can’t special summon, and its defense is still at 2600. It’s not going to be easy to beat.” Even Raven shook her head in dismay “It’s going to take a miracle to get her out of this one.” Sunset looked pretty weary from the many attacks she had suffered, but she still wasn’t willing to quit as she looked down at her deck. “If I play my cards just right this turn…” she thought “Then I should be able to win, and then we can start to figure out a way to get out of this realm.” She drew her next card, which gave her three in total. “Yes! This could work!” She gawked over at her opponent. “It’s been fun, but it’s time that I took control of this duel, starting with my Scale 1 DRAGONPULSE MAGICIAN, which I set in my pendulum zone.” Her mighty magician took his place in the light. “Now that I have another “Magician” up there, I’ll activate Wisdom-Eye Magician’s pendulum ability, which lets me destroy him, and then I get to replace him with any other pendulum magician from my deck… …I choose Scale 8: XIANGSHENG MAGICIAN.” One magician left the field while another one appeared.” “You switch one worthless pendulum card for another?” asked the opponent “You must be desperate.” Sunset smirked and said, “Hardly…! I now use the pendulum ability of Dragonpulse Magician: by discarding my Xiangke Magician to the graveyard, I can destroy one face-up card you have!” The Maelfican winced, “No…! You can’t…!” “Can, and will!” protested Sunset “Say bye-bye to your Spiritualist!” With a bright spiraling twister of winds, the monster was blown off the field. The Malefican was devastated and couldn’t believe his eyes, while the friends were all overjoyed. With the Jowgen destroyed, the magical pendulum appeared and began to swing. “Thanks to my playing my cards right,” boast Sunset “I can now summon as many monsters between levels 2 and seven as I need!” She called up to the swinging pendulum! “As the pendulum swings from forth to back My monsters come forth… to launch an attack! …Behold my monsters!” Four mighty blazes of light rained out from her hand and Extra Deck and her monsters appeared. “STARGAZER MAGICIAN…” (Atk: 1200) “TIMEGAZER MAGICIAN…” (Atk: 800) “WISDOM-EYE MAGICIAN…” (Atk: 1500) “ODD-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON…” (Atk: 2500) As the four monsters all stood in a line, Sunset was shrouded with an eerie green light. “What’s happening to her?” wondered Terra. The light faded before anyone could say another thing, and even Sunset herself was confused. “What was that all about?” she thought. She shrugged it off and stayed focussed on the duel. “Now I activate my Pendulum Switch card, which lets Dragonpulse Magician join us on the field.” Her magician did just so, leaping down from the light, and joining his comrades. (Atk: 1800) “Next, I’ll take my Dragonpulse and Wisdom-Eye, and build the Overlay Network!” The two level 4 monsters leapt into the portal, and in a bright flash of light, the new monster appeared as Sunset shouted, “I Xyz Summon TIMESTAR-MAGICIAN!” (Atk: 2400) Nothing happened to her this time. Sunset was still baffled herself, but she continued on. “I activate my Magician’s special ability: by using one overly unit I can retrieve Xiangke Magician from the graveyard and place him in my hand… …and now that he’s back, I’ll set him into my Pendulum Zone!” Her two magicians in the light tubes looked at each other and nodded gracefully. “Time for some Pendulum Power!” hollered Sunset. “Fisrt: Xiangsheng Magician uses her power so my Timestar Magician’s rank becomes the same as Odd-Eyes’ level.” With a bright shot of the magician’s arrow, the two monsters were struck hard, and Timestar’s rank became 7. “And now…” Sunset continued “Xiangke Magician uses his power to change that rank into a level!” The magic was done, and the Malefican was near speechless. “You have two level 7 monsters?!” Sunset nodded, “And now I overlay both of them to Xyz Summon an even greater monster!” Sunset nodded, “And now for my next trick, I activate the trap card DRAGONS TRIBE. It casts a special curse on my field, changing all my monsters into Dragons until the end of the turn.” With the curse in effect, all her monsters began to sprout scales, teeth, claws, and they all growled like fierce dragons. “What sort of plot is this?” asked the Malefican. “You’ll see…” said Sunset “I need my Timestar Magician to be a dragon for what I’m about to do… and here goes…! I overlay Timestar with Odd-Eyes to Xyz Summon an even greater monster!” The two monsters faded off into the portal, and Sunset called out to the forming new creature! “From deep within the rages of war, comes a mighty beast with power to pour! …ODD-EYES REBELLION DRAGON!” (Atk: 3000) Her mighty dragon appeared and roared fiercely, and Sunset roared with it. This time, she was shrouded in blackness, which was stronger than ever! “What is that?” asked Twilight. “You don’t know?” asked Pinkie. Twilight shook her head. Not even Raven could tell what it was. “First she pendulum summoned and the light was green, and then she Xyz Summoned and that dark light happened. I have no idea what it is.” Everyone watched in awe until the light vanished again, leaving everyone confused, and baffled, especially Sunset. “What’s happening to me?” she wondered. “It’s like every time I summon from Extra Deck, I feel this strange force.” Then she had a strange vision…! She was standing in a stark, dark realm with absolutely nothing else around, except for two large glowing eyes gazing at her. Before she could even begin to wonder what it was, the vision had ended, leaving her stunned and puzzled. Still, she managed to snap to her senses and focus back on the duel. “I activate my dragon’s ability: since he was summoned using an Xyz Monster, your knight is automatically destroyed, and you take 1000 points of damage!” Her dragon’s wings pulsated with flowing power, which it unleashed at the opponent’s field. The Malefican growled as the waves consumed his only remaining monster! Malefican LP: 8000 -----> 7000 “This can’t be happening!” “Oh, it’s happening all right.” said Sunset “And I’ll tell you what else is about to happen. Odd-Eyes can now attack three times this turn!” The opponent screamed and thought, “No! This can’t be! Even with my Magic Cylinder trap, I can’t defeat her!” “Odd-Eyes, attack him directly!” shouted Sunset. As her dragon prepared to strike, the Malefican decided, even though he couldn’t win, to at least drain Sunset down to size. “I play the trap MAGIC CYLINDER! Now your attack is absorbed and fired straight back at your life points!” As promised, the dragon’s blast struck Sunset the hardest she had been hit all match long, making her scream louder than ever. “SUNSET!!” everyone shouted. Even Gar felt this was getting extremely freaky. Poor Sunset lay on the ground, with a few dirt marks on her face as she tried to catch her breath. Sunset LP: 3500 -----> 500 She felt pretty sore after all that, and almost as if she wanted to pass out, but she still managed to call up to her dragon and her other monsters… “Attack… All of you! Now!!” Her dragon and her two magicians complied. Odd-eyes remaining two attacks with the two magicians left, completely wiped out the Malefican’s life points. Malefican LP: 7000 -----> 0 The Malefican screamed and roared as he was knocked to the ground by the incredible force of the attacks. “She did it!” squealed Pinkie “Sunset won!” Everyone felt their smiles growing, but suddenly… “Wait… what’s happening to him?” Celestia motioned at the downed Malefican. The creature roared and yelled as his body was struck by strange lightning bolts from the skies, and his body began to break up into tiny light particles… and he was transformed into a card! Everyone stood wide-eyed at what had just happened; even Gar was shocked to see such a thing, though he hid his expressions well. Rarity felt faint, and Fluttershy turned blue with fright. “It can’t be…!” cried Luna. “Oh, but it is…” hissed Rubeus’ voice. “It’s just what happens here in the Malefic World. You don’t just lose the duel… you lose your soul!” Everyone shuddered with worry, now fully realizing just how high the stakes around here were. “You sick creeps!” thundered Rainbow “Why don’t you come out of hiding and show yourselves?!” Loki laughed, “Now what fun would that be if we made it too easy? Why don’t you try to find us instead? …If you can brave the dangers long enough.” He said nothing more and was gone again. Gar looked up at the sky narrowing his eyes, and his clenched fist quivering. Rainbow angrily kicked a rock across the field, to where the other Maleficans stood, but they were gone; having run off when the duel ended. As for Sunset, she felt exhausted, and Vic went over to her and helped her up onto her feet. “You okay, girl?” Sunset nodded “I just need to relax for a bit, but I think we all need to prepare ourselves for the rough road ahead.”