//------------------------------// // Episode 19: Friendship Follies: Final Part // Story: Yu-Gi-Oh E-Quest: Malefic Wars // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// EPISODE NINETEEN The force of the explosion knocked Fluttershy down onto her back, while Karle barely managed to stay on her feet herself. Both their scores dropped to zero as promised. Fluttershy LP: 10,200 -----> 0 Karle LP: 3000 -----> 0 The light faded and was gone. The friends finally looked onward, as Fluttershy sat upright, though wearily and looking dry and a little bruised, while Karle still had not a scratch. “Fluttershy!” called Rainbow “You alright?” “Let’s get over there.” suggested Kori. The friends began to make their way down the hill towards her, but suddenly the Malefic light began to come in. Fluttershy looked up in complete horrors. “What?! But the duel was a draw!” Karle looked up at the forming lightning and snickered at it. “Fluttershy, get out of there!!” shouted Dick, but it was too late, the lightning had already struck her hard, and she screamed and wailed as the force consumed her. “FLUTTERSHY!!!” Rainbow and Pinkie screamed. When the light had faded, all that was left was Fluttershy’s duel disk, her cards scattered about, and Fluttershy herself was sealed into a card. Pinkie seemed to run faster than all the others, with a stream of tears streaking as she dashed. “Fluttershy…!! FLUTTERSHY…!!!” she wailed as she ran up to the card pile, and scooped up her friend’s soul card in hand. She began to sob miserably as her hands quivered. “No…!! Fluttershy…!!” Rainbow skid to a dead halt, with her own pain and her own tears catching up to her. The two titans couldn’t believe their eyes. “But how?” cried Kori “I thought you only lost your soul if you lost the duel?” Just there, there was the sound of a familiar and sickening laugh. Everyone turned, and they were shocked and appalled to see Karle was still standing and mocking them all. “Isn’t it painfully obvious? Oh, wait, it’s not… to you losers anyway.” The others took great offense to that. “If you don’t win the duel, then you lose your soul, and since this duel was a draw, poor little Fluttershy paid the price!” Pinkie looked down miserably at the card in her quivering hands. “But wait…!” shouted Rainbow “You didn’t win either. So how come you’re still standing?” Karle gave a sinister grin, “Looks like I have to explain this again, but long story short… I’m not like you dolts; I’m artificial. I have no soul to lose!” The gang all gasped in shock and near disbelief, but nothing else would explain why Karle never once succumbed to any weakness or pain from being attacked or losing life points. “So that’s why you want to duel, Gar.” said Kori. “You may lose a duel, but you’ll never be beaten.” Karle nodded, and then her features hardened into sternness. “Consider this a warning: The next time you or anyone gets in my way again, I’ll go even harder on you than I was on Fluttershy!” Rainbow was quivering with rage. Then Karle turned to look for Gar to duel him, only to find “…He’s gone!” The others looked on and saw that Gar was indeed no longer there, hinting he had left earlier, having seen enough of the duel when the last card was played. Karle was outraged at first, but then her anger faded as she said to herself, “Perhaps it’s just as well. After all I went through; I could probably brush up on a few more skills and snag some more cards.” She turned to leave. “HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!” bellowed Rainbow. Karle turned and saw her rushing up to her in a blinding rage “…YOU’RE GONNA PAY!!” Rainbow was so enraged, she was willing to defy the rules of the duelist and attack Karle herself for what she did to her friend. “Rainbow, stop…!!” called Kori. Rainbow didn’t listen and aimed a powerful punch for the lady’s face, but Karle simply stepped back slightly causing Rainbow to miss, and roll down the hill. “Rainbow!” shouted Robin and he and Kori leapt down the hill. As for Karle, she merely snuffed, and then she walked off into the shadows. Rainbow pushed herself up, but remained down on all fours with her face pointing downward at the dark sand. She was cringing and grumbling painfully, but not from her fall, but from her outrage and msiery of all that had just happened. “Rainbow?” Dick said softly, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say, especially when Rainbow’s fingers curled into fists, leaving marks in the sand. “First it was Princess Twilight, and then Spike got zapped.” she grumbled. “Now both Rarity and Fluttershy are down too.” Pinkie was still atop one of the hills looking down tearfully at Fluttershy’s card. “It’s not fair.” she said to herself. “Dueling is supposed to be about having fun, and being all excited, not danger, power, and suffering.” She began to cry again letting her tears fall past the soul card. Kori and Dick were both outraged and upset by the loss, the revelations of Karle’s supposed immortality, but was really aggravated them was that Gar had left, and obviously was still unmoved by Fluttershy taking a hit for him. They even remembered before the duel started when they tried to be sincere with him, only for him to remark… “…You don’t deserve my help, and even if you did, I still wouldn’t give it to the likes of you. …Traitors!” The two Titans would have questioned how he could be so cruel, so heartless… …But really they knew exactly why, but now was not the time to really think about that, especially when Rainbow lifted her head and slowly got on to her feet with her eyes still raging. Pinkie did the same atop the hill-- rose up onto her feet with a blazing, angry expression. “She’ll pay…!” growled Rainbow. “They’ll pay…!” hissed Pinkie. And the two angry girls said together, “…They’ll All Pay!!” Overtaken by their rage to get even, the girls had really lost their composures, replaced with these raging beasts. Kori and Dick felt worried. Meanwhile, Sunset, Applejack, and Terra were still concerned with that distant shimmer they saw. Sunset and Applejack also had that sickening feeling strike them that something was horribly wrong. “That light…!” cried Sunset “You don’t suppose it was one of our friends, do you?” Applejack kept look off to the darkness in the distance, and she never denied her own senses when she felt something was up. “We better finish this duel fast.” she suggested. That’s when the two girls re-awakened to their own predicament. Sunset LP: 6900 Applejack LP: 8000 Whichever of them won this duel, the other would lose their soul. Terra felt sick for both girls, as well as herself; sick with worry and tension beyond anything she had ever felt in her life. “Hey, come on you two!” she called to them “Can’t one of you just surrender?” then she held her hand over her mouth “…What am I saying?!” The two duellists were both tempted by such a thought, but just the same neither one of them seemed to be willing to go through with it. “I can’t just surrender this duel.” said Sunset. “Sure, Applejack and Terra would be able to go after the others and try to end this, but… I just don’t know.” The Prince Brothers were watching from their lair, and they were both deeply concerned. “Sunset Shimmer can’t surrender this duel.” said Rubeus “She is vital to ultimate goal.” “She wouldn’t dare.” said Loki “She knows she has great power and potential.” Sunset’s hand was quivering, as if it had a mind of its own telling her to surrender and be done with it. “No…!” she snapped at no one in particular. “I can’t give up. There’s too much on the line here.” Applejack didn’t wish to give up either. Even though it meant delaying themselves to go find their friends, she couldn’t just quit now, not when she and Sunset were fighting a good duel here and now, and she was trying to help Sunset unlock the mysteries of her Extra Deck. “So… we continue?” she asked. Sunset nodded with reluctance. “It’s still my turn, and I play POT OF GREED, so I can draw two other cards.” This gave her four in hand, including Applejack’s Fox card, which she refused to play or send to the graveyard. Terra could hardly believe this as she thought. “They’re still willing to go through with this? Are they crazy or just--” she paused, unable to come up with anything else. “…I don’t know what else to call them.” Sunset then grabbed one of her cards. “I activate Dragonpit Magician’s pendulum ability; by sending Xiansheng Magician in my hand to the graveyard, I can destroy one spell or trap card, and since you have only one…” She pointed at her own Wisdom-Eye Magician, still on Applejack’s field. “Now, I’ll use this magic and destroy Wisdom-Eye Magician, thus sending him to my own Extra Deck where he belongs.” Applejack growled as she saw the monster shatter into sparkles of light, and the card magically leapt off of her duel disk, slipping itself into Sunset’s Extra Deck. “That’s Pretty smart.” remarked Applejack, “But now it’s my turn to use an effect of my own; the effect of my Bujinki Amatersaru. By using an overlay unit while it’s your turn, I get to target one of my banished Bujin monsters, and add it to my hand. I think I’ll go ahead and take back my faithful BUJINGI HIRUKO.” Sunset had a pretty good feeling she knew why Applejack took that card. “I know what you’re up to, and it won’t save you, because I’ve got a plan of my own.” She pointed up to her Pendulum monsters. “WithScale 3 Xiangke Magician and Scale 8 Dragonpit Magician, I can summon monsters between levels 4 and 7 all at the same time. …Behold my monsters!” Two shots of light rained down from up high as her monsters appeared. “HARMONIZING MAGICIAN…” (Def: 0) “WISDOM-EYE MAGICIAN…” (Atk: 1500) Her two magicians stood together, and Sunset gazed proudly at her Wisdom-Eye Magician. “Welcome back.” she said softly, and her monster nodded at her thankfully. “As for my Harmonizing Magician… When she’s pendulum summoned from my hand, she lets me call on a “Magician” Pendulum monster from my deck to join us on the field, and I choose TIMEGAZER MAGICIAN.” (Def: 1200) Applejack could sense where this was going. Sunset held out her arms, “I overlay my Harmonizing Magician with Wisdom-Eye to build the Overlay Network!” Her two magicians vanished into the portal, but since it was not the summoning of a dragon, Sunset did not glow with the eerie light, and she also didn’t bother to call out to this monster with a chant, but she still hollered out… “I Xyz Summon TIMESTAR MAGICIAN!” Her magician stood tall and majestically, holding its staff strong. “There’s a monster I haven’t seen in a while.” said Applejack. Sunset gave her a smirk, “Now I use his ability; by using one overlay unit, I can add one Dark Attributed “Magician” monster to my hand, and I choose Harmonizing Magician, which I summon right to the field.” (Atk: 0) Applejack growled softly, while Terra watched with anxiety… “I now tune Level 4 Harmonizing Magician with Level 3 Timegazer Magician.” Her monsters began to tune up, but, again, Sunset was not bathed in light as this was not a dragon summoning, nor did she chant, but still hollered to her creature. “I Synchro Summon ARCANITE MAGICIAN!” (Def: 1800) Applejack gazed up at the sparkling magician remaking; “Now there’s a creature I haven’t seen in a while.” Sunset gave her a smirk. “Then you remember his ability; he gains two spell counters, which do raise his attack up, but I have different plans. By using one of those spell counters I can destroy your Kagutsuchi.” The magical force began to fire, straight at Applejack’s monster. “I don’t think so.” said Applejack “I banish BUJINGI HARE from my graveyard, which activates its ability and prevents it from being destroyed by battle or card effects once this turn.” As her hare’s spirit began to come forth, Applejack felt relieved she had sent the hare to her graveyard on her last turn. “That won’t help you this time.” called Sunset “I still have Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon, and all I have to do is shuffle Harmonizing Magician back into my Main Deck, and I can stop your hare’s effect.” The spirit of the hare was roared at by the mighty dragon, causing it to fade into the darkness, much to Applejack’s annoyance. “Still no problem…” she stated “I still have my Kagutsuchi’s ability. Whenever a Beast-Warrior type “Bujin” I control would be destroyed, I just use an overlay unit instead. With that, her monster stood where it was, shrouded in magical light, shielding it from destruction. “No matter,” said Sunset “I still have another spell counter to use.” She fire another burst of magic. “Yeah...? Well I still have an overlay unit to use.” protested Applejack, and her monster defended itself again. Sunset only grinned again “That takes care of them.” Applejack gasped realizing what she had just done-- using up all the overlay units. “Oh, no…!” “Oh, yes…” called Sunset “But since both your monsters are too strong for me to face right now, I’ll just set this card facedown and call it a turn. So you’re up, Applejack.” Applejack was most confused, and thought surely that Sunset would have done something much more impressive than that. “What is she up to?” she wondered. She looked at Vortex dragon, knowing it was still a huge danger, and the facedown card behind it. She also checked the graveyard, and she couldn’t see her Bujingi Fox, which told her it was still in Sunset’s hand. “I can’t let her see me stall like this. I need to give it my all, because that’s what I promised her, and I intend to live up to it.” “Here goes…!” she hollered as she drew her fifth card. “Perfect!” Sunset and Terra both gawked at her. “Now I set my Hikuro into my Pendulum Scale once more!” “Oh, no you don’t!” called Sunset “I use Vortex Dragon’s ability, by shuffling Harmonizing Magician back into my main deck, your Pendulum Card is negated and destroyed.” With that said, her dragon blew Applejack’s card off the field. Terra gazed in awe at the move and said to herself, “Now Applejack can’t use its power to Xyz Summon.” …But Applejack began to snicker sinisterly. She then said “Nice shot, but not nice enough.” “Huh?” said Sunset. “I activate the spell MONSTER REINCARNATION. So by discarding one card in my hand to the grave, I get Hiruko back.” Sunset narrowed her eyes. “So let’s try this again. I set my Hiruko back into the Pendulum Zone!” Sunset was unable to block it this time. “Even though I can’t Pendulum Summon anymore, I don’t need too, because I got something better in mind. I use Amaterasu’s last overlay unit. Since it’s my turn, I get to target one of my banished “Bujin” monsters, and summon it, and I choose my BUJINGI CENTIPEDE!” (Atk: 1700) “And now, from my hand, I summon BUJINGI SINYOU!” (Atk: 1100) “I use Wolf and Centipede to build the overlay network!” She didn’t bother call out to her monster this time, and preferred to just summon it out. “Brace yourself, because I Xyz Summon BUJINTIEI TSKUYOMI!” (Atk: 1800) The new monster was glowing bright, and while it wasn’t as strong as any other creature, Applejack only grinned. “Now, by using one overlay unit, and discarding every card I hold, I get to draw two new cards. And by the way, I just sent Centipede to the graveyard. You know what that means...” Sunset cringed, “You’ll banish it, and then you’ll destroy one card on my field.” Applejack tipped her hat, “Eeyup, and that’s just what I’m doing now, and I know just the card to blow out too. …Go on, Centipede… take down that facedown card.” The spirit of the Centipede rose, and dove straight at Sunset’s card. “Hold up!” she then shouted “I activate my trap PENDULUM BACK.” Applejack growled angrily. Sunset then called, “Since my Pendulum Scale is still intact, I get to add two monsters from the graveyard to my hand, as long as their respective levels are within the scale.” Two shots of light shot out from her deck, straight into her hand. “I’ll take Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Dragoncaller Magician… which you forced me to discard with your Power Balance.” Applejack snuffed. “I see… well, I can still use Hiruko’s Pendulum Ability. When I banish it from the Pendulum Zone, I can Xyz Summon using my Tskuyomi.” The Overlay network appeared again as the monster leapt into it. “And I know just who to Xyz Summon now… my old faithful friend, BUJINTEI SUSANOWO.” (Atk: 2400) “Not another one!” cried Sunset. “Eeyup, and you remember his ability. I use one overlay unit to add this baby to my hand; BUJINGI CRANE.” Sunset began to fret softly, remembering fully-well what that card did. “And remember…” called Applejack “Susanowo can attack every monster you control.” A large drop of sweat rolled down from Sunset’s hair bangs as Applejack engaged her battle phase. “Go Susanowo, and destroy that Vortex Dragon… …With a little help from Crane. I send it to the graveyard so Susanowo’s attack becomes double for this battle!” (Atk: 2400) -----> (Atk: 4800) Sunset could only watch as her dragon was beaten down and destroyed before her eyes. “Good thing it was in defense-mode.” she said to herself. Yet she looked up at the other monster, “…But that thing’s still not done yet.” “Darn tootin’ it ain’t.” replied Applejack “Susanowo’s attack may go back to 2400… but the fun’s just getting started. Now I’ll destroy your Arcanite Magician. Go Susanowo.” KAPOW!! Another monster was destroyed. “That’s two down and one to go.” said Applejack, and she glared at Sunset’s last monster, lowering her hat down, putting her eyes behind the shadow. “Susaowo… destroy Timestar Magician!” Her monster complied and rushed in to attack. (Atk: 2400) VS (Atk: 2400) “Both those monsters have the same attack points.” cried Terra “They’ll both be destroyed.” “Oh, no, they won’t.” called Applejack “Not after I banish Sinyou from my graveyard, which lets my Susaowo gain attack points equal to the attack of the monster it’s battling.” (Atk: 2400) -----> (Atk: 4800) “Oh!!” wailed Sunset. The attack got closer, and Applejack informed, “But, lucky for you, all the damage you take from this battle is halved.” That still didn’t hurt sunset any less as she took damage and was burned by the waves of destruction. Sunset LP: 6900 -----> 5700 Sunset managed to stay on her feet after the energy drain. Thanks to her last move, she didn’t lose quite so many life points, and that was a very good thing for her! It pained Applejack to have just harmed her friend, but not nearly as much as what was about to happen now. Sunset was wide open to her other monsters. Fighting her tears strongly, Applejack called “I don’t know if this is going to hurt me more than you, Sunset, but I can’t hold back.” Sunset was quivering nervously inside, but she shut her eyes tightly. “Go on! I’m ready!” Applejack shut her eyes too, not wanting to see… Terra was the only one with her eyes open, and they were flooding with tears of pain for both girls. “Now, Kagutsuchi… Amaterasu… give sunset a huge direct attack!” The monsters complied and both leapt up in the air. Kagutsuchi fired a magic beam from itself into Amaterasu’s sword, making it glow brightly with the combined force of the attack strength of both monsters, which totaled 5600 points!! Sunset braced herself, knowing she would still survive the attack. The monster leapt down and took a huge swing with its might glowing blade, slashing her across the front, and making Sunset scream in pain. Terra winced and looked away while crying out in emotional pain, and couldn’t bear to watch sunset fall flat on her back. Sunset LP: 5700 -----> 100 “SUNSET!!” cried Terra. Sunset could barely feel herself after such a powerful attack as she lay on the ground, letting her strength slowly return. Applejack felt crushed inside for what she had just done. “Sunset, come on!” she called “I know you’re not out yet. Please… say something!” Sunset’s fingers began to twitch. Terra slowly turned round and gawked in astonishment. “Sunset…?” Slowly but surely, Sunset managed to struggle to force herself back up. “That was… an amazing attack.” she said wearily. Finally she was back on her feet, and looking raring to go for more. Applejack only felt the slightest of ease. “That’s the spirit.” she said as she ended her turn by placing the last two cards in her hand facedown. Then she thought to herself. “I can’t believe Sunset just took all those blasts I gave her. Of course, even then, if I had beaten her, she wouldn’t be around for another turn, and then I’d be down on my knees. I don’t think I could ever live with that, and I know she can’t either.” Sunset was just as upset as she felt, if not then worse; especially because it was her fault they were both in this mess in the first place. “How has it come to all this?” she thought, and she recalled back to how she tripped up and shot Applejack’s duel disk with the challenge beam. She shut her eyes tightly, but couldn’t supress the feelings. “I guess there’s no other way out. It’ll just keep on eating me until this duel is over. So I guess the quicker I get this over with the better it’ll be… for one of us at least.” Terra and Applejack kept looking at her and how she was struggling with herself. But finally, Sunset managed to draw a card. “Sunset…?” said Applejack. Sunset only gave her a weak, but proud grin, meaning she was still willing to keep dueling the best that she could… even if she was in a horrible position. Terra couldn’t help be fret in thought. “How can Sunset beat all those monsters? She’ll have to pull off something really huge. Oh, but then… Applejack… she’ll be in trouble too.” There was just no way could she root for one of her friends over the other; not in a game like this. Sunset noted that she had no cards in her field, and just the three in her hand were not good enough. She thought as she looked down at one card-- Applejack’s Fox, “I can’t play this card. If it goes to the graveyard, Applejack will probably use its power to shield her from taking damage, and I’ll never be able to get at her life points.” She looked down at her deck. “I only have 100 life points left. Whatever I draw now will ultimately decide this duel. It’ll either be me or Applejack” That’s when her pain began to resurface-- the very thought of guilt of defeating her friend and trapping her inside a card. …It made her stall. “Don’t you be stalling on me again.” called Applejack. “I’ve seen you duel your way out of tougher situations than this, and every time you never stopped trying.” “But Applejack…” “No buts! Look, I’ll even show you by playing one of my cards. I play BUJIN REGALIA- THE SWORD. This here trap lets me add my banished Sinyou back to my Graveyard. Now, if you try to attack me, my monster will get stronger, and even with half the damage, with only 100 points left, you won’t have a chance. You see…!” she paused, and wasn’t able to hide her oncoming tears this time. “…This hurts me just as much as you, but I’m willing to go all the way, because… you’re my friend… and I’m still trying to help you be the best duelist you can be.” Sunset felt touched; real touched. A tear rolled down Terra’s face. She had never seen such acts of friendship before, which made her hurt inside… feeling she never was that much, for her own reasons. “Now come on!” called Applejack “Show me what you’re made of, and draw that card.” Finding enough strength, Sunset laid her fingers on her top card. “Here goes…!” and she drew it out. She gawked down at it, and could hardly believe what she had just taken. “Applejack, you asked for it and here it comes.” Applejack looked proud, but inside she was also cringing. “Since I still have my Pendulum Scale, I can summon as many level 4 though seven monsters 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!” Two strong light flashes shot down as her monsters appeared. “DRAGONCALLER MAGICIAN…” (Atk: 2400) “ODD-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON…” (Atk: 2500) Her Odd-Eyes gave a might loud roar, and since it was properly Pendulum Summoned, both it and sunset were bathed in the green summoning light for the Pendulum Force. Sunset roared right up into the sky like an angry warrior giving her battle cry. Her eyes were now blazing more fiercely than ever, which frightened Terra as she watched from the sides. Sunset’s voice even sounded deeper, and madder. “And now, I activate the spell card FUSION SUBSTITUTE, which allows me to fuse Odd-Eyes and Dragoncaller Magician!” The two monsters began to merge, and Sunset called to them as they formed her monster. “With magical forces and a dragon’s might I summon a creature of amazing sight! I Fusion Summon RUNE-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON!” The mighty dragon appeared, and it roared as both it and Sunset were bathed in the purple glow of Fusion Power. Sunset continued to howl and roar. She looked as if she was going to burst herself out. The Prince Brothers, watching from their lair, could feel the very power flowing through her. “She’s done it!” cried Loki “…Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum-- she did it all in one duel.” “Yes…” hissed Rubeus, and then he thought “Simply amazing. Even though she is dueling her friend, knowing she is putting her in danger, she manages to overcome herself, and now she is stronger than ever. …The final step approaches, and with her power, the ultimate goal will be seized.” Sunset, still feeling and looked more pumped up than ever, glared at Applejack, almost as if they were sworn enemies rather than friends. “You feeling alright?” asked Applejack. “I’m more than alright.” Sunset called “I’m about to crush you once and for all.” She suddenly gasped, as the blazing began to go down. “Whoa! What just happened to me?” Applejack and Terra wondered themselves, but all three ladies had their suspicions that the summoning lights had something to do with it. “For a short while it felt like I had incredible strength and power, like I could move the moon with my bare hands.” thought Sunset. She had no time to think of it though, for she still had to finish the duel. “As you know,” called Sunset “Not only is Rune-Eyes immune to card effects this turn, but since Dragoncaller Magician was fused to form it, not only can it attack your monsters three times, but its attack power doubles.” (Atk: 3000) -----> (Atk: 6000) Applejack gawked in horrors at how strong that dragon was. “That’s pretty good, but you remember, I put Sinyou in my graveyard, and you won’t be able to attack me without destroying yourself.” “Not quite…” said Sunset “There’s still one last chance.” “What?” “I banish Fusion Substitute from the graveyard, which sends Vortex Dragon back to the Extra Deck… …and in exchange, I get to draw one card.” She drew without even stopping to think, or hesitate, or even worry. “I banish another card from my graveyard, which you sent there… …WINGS OF MISDIRECTION. “Wings of what?” asked Applejack. Then she noticed her remaining facedown card was locked down by an electrical force-field, and Sunset’s two Pendulum Magicians were beginning to vanish. Sunset explained, “Wings of Misdirection: when it’s banished out of the graveyard, I have to banish two cards I control, like my Pendulum Magicians.” The two cards vanished off the field. “But it’s well worth it, because now, until the end of the turn, all cards that you have out on the field can’t be activated.” “Ah!” cried Applejack. “And what’s more, Rune-Eyes will gain an additional 800 attack points.” (Atk: 6000) -----> (Atk: 6800) “It’s time!” hollered Sunset. “Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Amaterasu!” The dragon gave a roar and prepared to launch its attack. “Hold up!” shouted Applejack “I can still banish Sinyou out of the graveyard, and that means Amaterasu gains the attack points of your monster.” (Atk: 2600) -----> (Atk: 9400) Terra was all aghast. “Whoa! All those attack points!!” “You dueled good Sunset,” said Applejack “But it looks like it’s all over now.” Sunset smiled very weakly, as her tears began to fall “You’re right… it is over… but not for me.” “Huh?” As the two monsters prepared to engage battle, Sunset turned around the card she had drawn. “I play the quick-play spell HALF-SHUT!” All at once, Applejack went numb inside, and her arms slowly dropped to her side. “But that-- That means… my monster can’t be destroyed, but it loses half its attack strength!” (Atk: 9400) -----> (Atk: 4700) Rune-Eyes continued its attack, and blasted Applejack’s monster hard. (Atk: 6800) VS (Atk: 4700) The shockwaves zipped right past, and hit her hard, yet Applejack felt so numb inside she hardly felt too much. Applejack LP: 8000 -----> 5900 The two girls stood where they were, gazing at each other from afar. Rune-Eyes still had to two attacks left, and with its attack still super high, and the remaining monsters were still weak… …It really was all over for Applejack. Sunset was quivering again, and her tears were cascading down her face. “Applejack…” she sobbed. Terra felt her own heart aching for both the girls. Applejack… with a brave smile, and her eyes filling with tears, looked up at Sunset and called to her. “Thanks for a great duel; best I’ve ever had.” Sunset’s lips quivered sadly, but she managed to crack a very small smile. “Go on. Do it!” said Applejack “…I know you’ll beat the Prince Brothers, and I know you’ll save us all. It’s what you’re supposed to do, remember?” Sunset knew this, but it wasn’t making things any easier for her now. “Come on! Do it now!!” shouted Applejack. Shutting her eyes tightly and clenching her fists, Sunset yelled at the top of her lungs. “RUNE-EYES… ATTACK NOW!! END THIS!!” Her dragon complied, and fired its remaining two shots at Kagutsuchi, and Susanowo, resulting in Applejack taking 8200 points of damage. The shockwaves struck her hard, enveloping her in an enormous blast of light, and knocking her hat off her head. Applejack LP: 5900 -----> 0 Sunset, so overwrought with grief, fainted over forward, and Applejack landed on her back. The light had faded, and the duel images vanished. “Applejack…!!” Terra shouted as she began running towards her, only for Applejack’s hat to come flying through the air and hit her in the face. With the last of her strength, Applejack was smiling and saying, “Watch yourself, girl, and help Sunset for me.” That’s when the lightning came and struck her hard, and she screamed and wailed as she vanished. Terra pulled the hat off her face just as the last of the light faded. “Oh, no…!!” She ran up to where Applejack’s duel disk lay with her cards all scattered around it. She fell to her knees, and she sadly scooped up a lone card, with Applejack’s picture on it. She began to cry very softly while clutching the card and the hat close to her, while poor Sunset lay unconscious in her misery with Applejack’s fox card still clutched in her hand. The Prince Brothers saw the whole thing. “Aww, how tragic.” mocked Loki, and then he snickered wickedly. Rubeus looked at the generators. “We just got two more souls. Two powerful souls that further aid us in our mission. All we require now is the final item.” Loki nodded, “And the Malefic World will rise once again, and all the light shall be swallowed by the shadows. That’s when we shall rule all order or all existence.” Just then, a Melfican sentry entered, for he had news to report to their majesties. “What is it?” asked Rubeus, and the sentry whispered into where his ear would be, were it visible. Rubeus then seemed annoyed, and he then whispered to Loki the news. His brother gasped softly, and his cheeks went bright red. “Oh, at last.” then he caught hold of himself. “Excuse me, I must prepare myself.” He left, and Rubeus sighed while shaking his head. “…I have bigger things to deal with.”