Yu-Gi-Oh E-Quest: Malefic Wars

by DakariKingMykan

Episode 5: Gals and Shaddolls: Part 1:

The Brothers had observed Vic’s win, and they were not the least bit disturbed.

“So they defeated our chef?” asked Rubeus. He then snickered, “They seem to have more backbone than we thought.”

Loki agreed as he checked the energy flows into their absorption. “It still doesn’t matter if our soldiers lose. They are all prepared to, all for the sake of our purpose.”

Then he thought of the others. “It still fascinates me how these humans continue to strive when there is really no chance. It would be so much easier if they just surrendered.”

His brother agreed. “Well, if they prefer to do it the hard way… then so-be-it.”

Sci-Twi was practically skidding down the long flight of stairs in the tower, with Applejack and Terra behind her and catching up.

“Twilight, slow down!” called Applejack.

“Who’d have thought she could run so fast?” said Terra.

Finally, they reached the bottom, and ran through a doorway into a large round room.

“Where are you?!” called Twilight, hoping to get an answer from that voice. “Where’s my brother and his wife?!”

He voice echoed all along the stone walls.

Terra and Applejack covered their ears, and so did Spike in his card, and he grumbled “Sure… that’ll get them to come out.”

That’s when a bright tube of light shone above the center of the room, and there, floating high above a large, and eerie-looking oriental-like carpet on the floor-- Cadance and Shining Armor sat in an iron cage suspended by a strong chain.

“Twily…!” cried Shining.

Cadance was so glad to see them.

Suddenly, more torched lit up, followed by the sound of familiar voice snickering at them

There, sitting on a throne up ahead was a female Malefican, wearing black robes with a dark purple shawl across her shoulders, and a matching sash for a belt.

“Welcome…” she hissed in a rather ghastly voice. “I am the Malefican, Spectra. Welcome to my Tower of Terror.”

Eyes began to turn cross at her, especially Twilight, but it was Terra who spoke up first. “So you’re the one who’s been freaking us out.”

“Not cool, girl.” said Applejack. “Not even funny.”

Spectra snickered, “Well, what do you expect there to be in a place like this-- Flower fields? Candied mountains, children laughing and playing?!

You humans are ridiculously pathetic. Not to mention horrible cowards.”

“Now wait just a--” Applejack said before she was cut off.

“SILENCE!!” thundered Spectra, and large jets of fire erupted behind her, making everyone jump, and Cadance whimpered. “…You try my patience.”

Chains on the walls rattled, and whistling winds seemed to pass through the room. “The spirits feed on fear and disparage, and their appetites is never satisfied. They hunt for more, and their lust for darkness carries on.

Those who cannot overcome their own darkness are doomed to be plunged-- lost within its ominous veil.”

A huge gust of wind billowed as the fire flared up again.

Shining Armor and Cadance didn’t like this all one but, while the others were all growing more annoyed than frightened.

Spike was non-too amused himself. “I’ve seen old bones I buried scarier than this.”

Sci-Twi stepped forth and demanded the release of her relatives. “Give them back, now!”

Spectra only laughed, “Either you are braver, or more foolish than I thought to make demands from me.”

She stood from her throne and stepped onto the rug. Then she rolled up her long sleeve revealing her duel disk. “Perhaps you would like to duel me for the release of your friends instead?”

Applejack clenched her fists and then stepped forth. “Missy, you got yourself a duel.”

“No, don’t do it!” called Shining Armor.

“You saw what happened before.” added Cadance.

Applejack was well aware of the consequences and danger involved if she lost, but that didn’t stop her. “There’s no other way. It’s the only way to get ourselves out of this place.

Besides, someone’s got to stand up to this witch for scaring us.”

Spectra took that more as a compliment. “If you only knew of the terrors you’re stepping into. Soon, I’ll have you quaking in those boots of yours before I send your soul into darkness!”

Applejack, unnerved, took her place at the end of the carpet and got her duel disk ready.

“This one seems stronger than most of my victims ever were.” thought Spectra. “No matter, especially considering when you duel in my lair, there’s so much more bound to happen.”

Her evil eyes began to glow, followed by large, skeletal hands to burst up from the ground and snare Terra and Sci-Twi, holding them firmly in place.

Spike’s card fell to the floor, facedown.

“Hey!!” cried Terra.

“I can’t break free!” added Sci-Twi.

Shining Armor and Cadance were horrified, and Applejack was livid. “What are you doing?!” she bellowed.

Spectra glared at her, “You’ll find out soon enough.”

None of the others liked the way she said that, which made them all feel they were all in bigger trouble than ever.

“Whatever you’ve got planned, it won’t scare me that easy.” said Applejack. “Now let’s do this! The sooner I beat you, the sooner I can set my friends free.”

Spectra only seemed amused.

Cadance looked down through the bars of the cage. “I hope Applejack knows what she’s doing.”

“That makes two of us.” agreed Shining Armor.

“LET’S DUEL!!” the two duelists shouted.

Meanwhile… Raven was continuing to peruse Garfield, by following his footprints in the sandy grounds.

She had pursued him far outside of the city and out into the open dark plains, and she was growing heavily exhausted, especially after outrunning the monsters from before, as well as running up and down the stairs of that huge building she went into.

She sat on a rock trying to catch her breath, and she snacked a little on some of the food she had pocketed earlier.

“Maybe I should exercise more.” she groaned to herself.

She was astounded how much of a head-start Gar had on her, and she was astounded by how much shape he was in to just keep going.

“It just isn’t like him.” he said to herself.

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, preferably the rock she was sitting on.

She quickly jumped off as the rock rose up out of the ground, to reveal it was in fact another Malefican monster, and a giant one at that.

Raven gawked up in horror as the monster glared down at her.

The monster raised his huge arm looking like he really wanted to duel, but Raven couldn’t fight back at all.

“Hold it!” shouted a voice.

Raven turned and saw Gar standing there with his coat billowing in the winds.

“Gar…?”

He paid her no notice as he was focussed directly on the monster, and his duel disk was ready. “I’m ready to duel!”

“Gar, what are you doing?” Raven asked.

“Be quiet, and stay out my way!” he snapped at her, making her scowl at him, but then remembering from before, she guessed what was about to happen and stepped away.

The duel was on and Gar was up first.

“I activate the spell PAINFUL CHOICE!”

He said nothing more, because he knew how his own card worked.

He selected the five cards he wanted to show his opponent.

“I knew it…!” Raven thought as she gazed at the card images. “…It’s the five pieces of Exodia The Forbidden One! He got them all in just one turn.

But wait a minute! What good does that do? Now he only gets to keep one of them, and the rest go to the graveyard.”

Gar called over to the monster. “Take your pick!”

The monster growled and raised its huge arm, and pointed at the Left Leg card.

Gar complied, adding the chosen card to his hand and ditching the other four.

“Now, I activate the spell MONSTER REINCARNATION!”

He sent one card from his hand to the graveyard which allowed him to add a monster card from there to his hand, but before he actually did, a familiar monster spirit was glowing from the graveyard.

Raven’s eyes widened, “I see what he’s doing now!”

She was correct as Gar called out…

“Since I sent MAKYURA THE DESTRUCTOR to the graveyard, I can activate this trap from my hand… BACKUP SOLDIER…

Thanks to this, I can now retrieve three pieces of Exodia and place them in my hand, and also Monster Reincarnation allows me to gain hold of the final piece!

Thus, Exodia is now complete!”

Raven and the monster were in complete shock!

The five cards glowed as the ground shook, and the magical portal appeared, summoning the all-powerful Exodia.

The monster had lost all its courage and tried to run for it, but Gar called up to Exodia,“…Obliterate!”

Raven yipped and ducked down behind a real rock as the mighty force was unleashed destroying the monster’s life points, and leaving nothing but a card where it once stood.

The explosion was so massive that it caught the attention of Sunset’s group.

“Hey, what’s that?” cried Sunset.

All the others could see the light from the explosion from way far out, beyond the city limits.

“Do you think it could be some of the others?” asked Luna.

“It has to be…” replied Vic “My com signal shows the energy source is stronger from that direction.”

“Let’s go.” said Celestia, and she and the others began to dash through town heading for the outskirts.

Raven was actually trembling, unable to believe what she had just seen. “He won the duel on the very first turn?!”

She even remembered during the tournament, and how he crushed Terra, and the two opponents on his first turn during the final qualification round.

He totally wiped them all out, and acting rather ruthless too!

She then looked up over the rock, only to find he was gone once again; having walked off as soon as he won the duel.

“Oh, brilliant!” she grumbled to herself. “Now where did that punk go?”

She was beginning to view him with more and more hostility by the minute.

She clutched her head in realization, “What’s wrong with me?!” she wondered, remembering what the other Titans had said of trying to find him and reason with him…

…But Gar wasn’t exactly the reasoning type. He had made it clear he had no intention of cooperating with, or being nice to any of them.

Still, the number one thing Raven knew was she couldn’t just stand out here all alone, unarmed and powerless.

“I’ll never forgive myself.” she groaned, and she went off to find Gar again, following his footprints.

Back at the tower, the duel had begun, and Spectra decided to go first.

“Let the terrors begin…” she hissed “I’ll set this one monster in defense mode, and that ends my turn.”

Applejack was confused. “That’s a pretty small move.” she said “You sure that’s all you want, because now it’s time for the harvest.

…I draw!”

It was a good thing for Spectra that her face showed visible emotions, or Applejack would have noted her sniggering softly. “Just you wait my dear.” she thought.

The spectators wondered why Spectra would have made such a small move, while poor Spike could only complain. “What’s going on? I can’t see a thing.”

Applejack made her first move.

“I summon this here critter, BUJINGI QUILIN.”

“And while I’m at it, I’ll go ahead and activate the ability of BUJINGI IBS in my hand. By discarding it, when my Quilin attacks your defense monster, you’ll get his with piercing damage!”

Her monster growled and then charged forth to destroy the facedown card, which flipped up revealing a rather fiendish and ghastly creature, but it was destroyed nonetheless, and it only had 200 defense points, meaning Spectra was dealt 1400 points as damage.

Spectra just stood where she was, complete unfazed or deterred.

“All right!” cried Shining Armor “Way to sock it to her!”

Sci-Twi didn’t seem so optimistic. “…It was a Shaddoll!”

Applejack whirled round, “Huh? A Shaddoll?”

Spectra snickered, “Your friend is correct. My deck is built around the dark creatures known as the “Shaddoll” and when played in just the correct way, they can be quite the deadly force.

The monster you just destroyed was known as SHADDOLL HEDGEHOG, and when it is flipped over, I am granted the power to add this special spell to my hand…

…NEPHE SHADDOLL FUSION!”

“…A fusion card!” cried Applejack.

“That means she can Fusion Summon.” said Terra.

Sci-Twi nodded, and she tried to explain how nasty the Shaddoll cards were…

“Silence!” shouted Spectra, and with a wave of her hand, Spike’s soul card on the ground magically came into her hand.

“Put me down!” Spike demanded.

“Hey! Let him go!” shouted Sci-Twi, but Spectra preferred to keep onto the card, tucking it into the folds of her shawl. “Continue to disrupt and give away my strategies, and I will have no choice but to destroy your dog’s card, eliminating him from existence forever!!”

Everyone’s hearts gave a sickening leap, and Spike never looked so frightened.

“Why you dirty, witch!” sneered Applejack. “Using a poor, helpless dog’s soul to get your way?!”

Spectra snickered, “Oh? And I suppose that you having your friends tattle and cheat is not sickening either? And you’re supposed to be the Element of Honesty?”

Applejack felt struck hard, but then again, despite the dangers and the desperation to win the duel, she turned to face Sci-Twi and the others. “No offense but y’all better keep your mouths shut up there.

I got to do this the right way.”

The others were deeply concerned for her, but Applejack preferred to stay focussed. “I still have the lead over you, but now I end my turn with one card facedown. So bring it on.”

“With pleasure.” hissed Spectra. She drew her next card thinking, “But you’ll regret having said that. It’s time for the real fun to begin.”

“I now I summon forth SHADDOLL HOUND!”

The ghastly dog growled.

“And now I shall use the Nephe Shaddoll Fusion. By equipping it to my hound, the spirits will infuse with its own, and allow me to change its attribute to any type that I wish.”

“Who-to-the-what now?!” said Applejack “You’re changing its attribute.”

“That’s what I said.” hissed Spectra “And I chose the blazing Fire type!”

With that, her monster was encased in flaming aura, making Cadance tremble and hold her husband tight.

“And now…” hollered Spectra “Now I am able to use the secondary effect of my spell, which, you may have guessed, allows me to Fusion Summon using my Hound and SHADDOLL SQUAMATA in my hand!

The two monsters merged together, forcing Darkness and Fire into an frightening explosion, making everyone wail as they covered their eyes from the brightness.

Spectra laughed at their fears and then shouted out, “From the depths of the fiery shadows, I Fusion Summon… EL SHADDOLL GRYSTA!”

The monster spread out its huge flaming wings and let out an eerie screech. The spectators gawked in horror.

“Now I get it…” Terra thought “That monster could only be summoned with a Fire Type monster, and so Spectra had to change her monster’s attribute to make it work!”

Sci-Twi could barely contain herself. “Be careful, Applejack!” she called. “That’s monster’s real bad news…!”

“Silence!!” shouted Spectra, and she motioned at Spike’s card in her shawl, “Or say goodbye to your precious pooch!”

“Twilight… you better zip it!” shouted Spike “She’ll do it! She will!”

Applejack was growing furious.

“Now then…” said Spectra, “Since my Squamata was sent to the graveyard by card effects, I activate its ability.”

“You got to be kidding me?!” groaned Applejack.

“I kid you not. The darkness holds many surprises, and now, Squamata allows me to send one “Shaddoll” monster from my deck to the graveyard to join it… so be gone, SHADDOLL FALCO.”

The spirit of her monster out from the deck, and headed straight for the graveyard.

“Of course, since Falco was demised by an effect, its special ability allows me to call it to the field facedown!”

The monster then reappeared, and flipped itself over, but not before Applejack saw its defense points were 1400.

“This is getting crazy.” she thought “That must be what Sci-Twi was trying to warn about-- all them creatures must have special powers that activate when they get sent to the graveyard.

This could be a bit tougher than I thought.”

Spectra then engaged her battle phase.

“Go Grysta… attack now!”

The monster soared up high and came crashing down ready to strike…

KAPOW!! Applejack’s monster was destroyed in an instant. She managed to hold herself steady as the grueling pain coursed through her.

…But suddenly, right behind her, the spectators were being tortured by painful electric-shock coming from the cage and the skeletal hands.

All of them wailed and yowled as the pain struck them hard.

“No!!” cried Applejack.

“What’s happening to them?!” shouted Spike.

Spectra snickered, “I told you, the darkness holds many surprises. With every life point you lose, not only will you suffer the torment, but you friends will share the pain as well.”

Applejack was scowling, but really she and her friends were starting to really feel freaked out.

“Have you begun to understand the nightmare you walked into?” asked Spectra. “As I told you, those who enter the darkness unprepared are doomed to be plunged.

If you continue to duel, you’ll put so much more than your own soul on the line-- you’ll risk the safety and well-being of your friends as well.”

Spike was completely infuriated and wanted nothing more than to jump up at her, biting and clawing, but, of course, he couldn’t. He was helpless to do anything, and so were all the others.

Applejack felt a mix of fear and anger, but she hardly knew what to do at this point.

“Risking my own neck is one thing…” she thought “But risking the safety of my friends… I can’t do that to them!”

“Is that fear that I see in your eyes?” hissed Spectra. “Perhaps all the boldness hasn’t helped you after all. You’re just a frightened little speck that’s about to be stomped into the blackness forever.”

Applejack growled, but she still wasn’t sure of all this.

“Keep going, Applejack!” called Terra.

“Huh?”

Sci-Twi agreed and added, “You have to keep dueling.”

“I can’t!” cried Applejack “I couldn’t bear it if y’ll got hurt because of me.”

“Oh, suck it up!” called Shining Armor. “You helped me get through the window, and I was scared like a baby. So you can get through this too. We all can!”

“He’s right…” agreed Cadance “Spectra’s just trying to use all this to discourage you, but you’ve been through tougher things than this.”

Their words of encouragement felt her find the spark she needed, and she turned round to glare at her opponent, with newfound flares burning in her eyes.

“Sorry, Spectra, but I ain’t giving up just yet.”

Spectra was annoyed yet impressed at the same time. “So you choose to continue? Very well, it only makes things more exciting… for me.

For now, I shall end my turn with a face-down.”

“And with that, I play my facedown trap SESSION DRAW.” hollered Applejack. “Now that it’s my turn, I get to draw two cards instead of just one, and if both of them cards happen to be monsters with the same levels, I can use them to Xyz Summon!”

Spectra narrowed her eyes, while the spectators all watched with anxiety.

“This could work for her.” said Terra. “All of Applejack’s monsters have the same level.”

“Even still,” said Sci-Twi “She needs to draw two exactly, and the odds are still fifty-fifty.”

Applejack placed her fingers over her deck, and without hesitating, she drew two cards and looked down at them.

“Yee-Haw, that’s what I’m talking about!”

She then held the two cards up high, “I use BUJIN YAMATO and BUJINGI HIRUME to build the Overlay Network!”

The two cards glowed bright and the images of the two monsters vanished into the forming portal.

Spectra shielded herself from glowing lights the portal emitted while the spectators watched with glee.

“I Xyz Summon… BUJINTEI KAGUTSUCHI!”

Her monster stood tall and proud; its glowing body illuminated the room.

“A’RGH!! That light!” groaned Spectra, and she quickly took a card out of her hand… and her Grysta’s eyes began to glow eerily.

“Wow! What a summoning!” cried Cadance.

“That Spectra’s really in for it now.” cheered Shining Armor.

…But suddenly, the monster stopped glowing.

“What the--?” gasped Applejack “What’s going on? My monster…!!”

The creature began to disintegrate before her eyes, and it was gone!

“What happened?” asked Terra.

Sci-Twi growled in the direction towards Spectra who was laughing wickedly. “… What’s happened is I used Grysta’s special ability: by sending a “Shaddoll” in my hand to the graveyard, I was able to negate your monster’s summoning and obliterate it like that!”

“Ah!!” cried Applejack.

“No way!” complained Terra. “…Talk about a cheap shot!”

“Oh, but there’s more…” hissed Spectra “The card that I sent out was SHADDOLL BEAST, and since it was sent away by a card effect, I draw one card.”

Applejack was growling and quivering in anger. “You think it’s that easy to break me down?! Well, think again…

I may have lost my Xyz Monster, but I got others.

I summon BUJINGI FOX in defense mode!”

“Then I place one card face down, and that’s about it.”

Spectra snickered. “You’re beginning to show fear again, you poor thing.”

Applejack growled, “Just make your move.”

“Oh, I shall…” hissed Spectra, and she drew her card.

“Firstly: I shall activate a special trap known as SHADDOLL CORE!

This card transforms into a special monster, and summons itself right to my field.”

“A trap monster?!” cried Applejack.

She watched as the creature took the forum of of shadowy beasts that growled at her, and made the Spectators quiver.

“And there’s something you should know,” said Spectra “The card calls upon the dark forces to change its attribute to any kind I choose, and I choose “Water!”

The evil creatures were shrouded in waves of wet energy.

“I’ll bet I know what’s coming now!” said Applejack.

Spectra held another card and shouted “Now I activate the spell SHADDOLL FUSION, fusing my Grysta with my newly-summoned water creature!”

The two creatures merged together, and by combining water with fire, they vanished into a cloud of eerie mist as a new creature was formed.

“I Fusion Summon EL SHADDOLL ANOYATYLLIS!”

Applejack and the spectators all gawked at the new creature. Though it seemed less creepy or violent-looking than the last, they still felt it was going to be trouble.

Applejack couldn’t help but think, “Why would she sacrifice a perfectly good fusion monster to summon another one?”

Sci-Twi knew exactly why, but she couldn’t say a word. “Applejack’s in big trouble now!” she thought. “Spectra’s playing this duel with incredible skill.”

Spectra thought “The darkness conceals many things. The more your opponents are kept guessing the easier it is for the forces to strike and catch them off guard.”

She then reached for her graveyard, “Since I sent both Grysta and Core to the graveyard, their abilities each let me take a card back, and so I’ll take back my Core, and my Shaddoll Fusion.

And now I shall flip my Falco up into attack mode!”

The second the monster was revealed, it let out a spooky shriek, making Applejack and the spectators all groan at the irritating sound.

“What’s happening now?” asked Applejack.

Spectra flicked her robe, “When my Falco is flipped over, its special ability allowing me to revive a “Shaddoll” out of the graveyard.”

Applejack’s eyes widened. “You mean…?!”

Spectra snickered as her monster appeared in a twister of dark fog. “Welcome back, El Shaddoll Grysta!”

“Oh, no…! It’s back again!” cried Cadance.

“Bad… very bad!” whimpered Shining Armor, “…Not to mention way creepy.”

“And it gets much worse, for you…!” Spectra sneered “My Anoyatyllis has a special power, one that shrouds the field in cursed fog which forbids either of us to summon monsters from our hands or graveyards with any spell or trap cards.”

Applejack gasped, and then looked up at the two ferocious creatures, trying hard not to break a sweat.

“There’s no sense in trying,” hissed Spectra “The darkness senses your fears, and from there it gains strength, just like my forces, and soon they devour you and your friends whole, only to want more and more…

…No one stands up to the darkness and lives to tell the tale! Nobody…!!”

Her evil laugh echoed all through the tower as the monsters glared Applejack down, and made her feel incredible shaky.

To Be Continued…