EPISODE TWENTY-ONE
Loki took his new queen to the main chamber where his bother and the trio were gathered.
“Meet your new subjects, my queen, and your new future brother. I know they may not seem like much, but in time you will grow accustomed.”
The queen looked at everyone, seemingly unimpressed. “Well… I suppose we all need to make adjustments.”
“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?” snarled Sapphire, but Violet and Khaos stomped on each of his feet for that one.
Rubeus cleared his throat, “Moving along… It is pleasing to have another member of our team, and while we have cause to celebrate, we have much to do.”
He turned to address the trio. “You three get out there, and see what can be done to further Sunset Shimmer’s power. Shake things up a little for her friends while you’re at it.”
“Yes, sire.” replied chaos. “Let’s go.” he then said to the others.
Violet followed him, and Sapphire limped softly do to his sore feet. “Oh! Ow! Ouch!”
Celestia scoffed at them, which Loki found admirable.
“Tell me, my prince…” she asked him. “Will I be getting my chance to go out there and deal with those meddles.”
Loki softly tickled her chin with his claw, “All in due time, my pet. First we need to do some alterations for your deck.
As good as it is, it could use improvement, and together you and I shall be unstoppable!”
Rubeus cleared his throat hinting at his own presence. “…“We”… shall be unstoppable”
Loki corrected himself. “Yes, my apologies, brother.”
He then offered his arm to Celestia, “Shall we…”
She snickered playfully as she looped her arm around his, “Lead the way, my love.” and she headed off with him leaving Rubeus feeling rather annoyed, and he grumbled to himself, “I still don’t really trust her.
I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on those two.”
Meanwhile…
Gar had traveled quite a ways from the group since Fluttershy lost, still not caring a bit that Karle was out there for him, or that Fluttershy had just sacrificed herself for him.
He had a couple of duels and defeated more opponents, but his mind always went back to Kori and Dick talking to him, and trying to convince him to join them again, which only made him angrier.
“They sure have a nerve.” he thought. “I don’t need their help, and I’m not going to let them or their friends get to me.”
He began to feel a little tired and decided to find someplace to sit and rest.
Luckily for him there were some large rocks nearby in the plains, just perfect for him.
As he settled in and tried to relax, he suddenly heard the sound of a creature howl echoing from nearby.
He could tell instantly that it wasn’t the howl of any monster-- he would know from his extensive knowledge of animals from his powers.
He heard the howl again. “That sounds like… a dog.”
He didn’t believe there really were normal dogs here in the Malefic World, but he kept on following the sound, which seemed to coming from a single card that was stuck, by its corner, deep in the sand.
Gar figured there was only thing that could be making that sound, and he picked up the card.
Spike howled again, and he looked on, and was shocked to discover, “…It’s you!”
Gar didn’t bother to respond, or even ask how Spike got where he was or where the other groups were.
Instead, he just flicked the card down.
“Hey!!” yelled Spike as his card landed face-up on the sand.
Gar began to walk away.
“What about me? You can’t just leave me here. What am I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know, or you don’t care?”
“Pick one!”
Spike growled, “Wow! You’re even more heartless than I thought.”
“So what if I am?” called Gar.
Spike said nothing else, but then, miraculously, Gar stopped dead in his tracks. His fists were clenched tight and quivering.
Much as he wanted to keep on going and forget about the helpless little dog, he turned round and picked the card back up, much to Spike’s surprise.
“What? But I thought you--” was all he could get out before Gar pulled out a card pack from his overcoat.
“Hey, I don’t want to go in there!” he protested, but Gar stuffed him right inside and said sternly to him, “…I’m already regretting this. If you don’t want me to throw you back in the sand, zip it!”
He shut the case, and re-pocketed it in within his coat. Then he thought, “I’m just doing this to prove a point; that all this friendship and moral nonsense means nothing!”
Finally, he managed to rest up against a rock and relaxed.
Despite that Spike was now in total darkness, his prison itself was still in the same. HE just no longer could see things outside the card no.
He was very angry and appalled at Gar’s behaviour, but there was no point in trying to talk with him.
“What is with this guy?” he thought. “He almost left me without care, and then he shoves me here in the dark…!”
He growled, and really wished he had an old shoe to chew on, but he hadn’t, so he calmed down.
“I just don’t’ get him. I mean… sure, I know he and the Titans have had their issues in the past, but that’s no excuse to denounce all friendship and morals, and take it out on the girls.”
He thought Sci-Twi carried the grudge, but Gar took it to a whole new level. It was like more than just a game to him. It was more like he was trying to actually battle the world itself, and anyone who believed in friendship at all.
“I wonder…” thought Spike, thinking back to the stories the Titans had told the girls when they had first met, and the more he thought, the more he remembered Terra… and how she kept looking extremely guilty about something probably really bad.
Not that breaking up with someone you loved was bad enough, and they wanted you back and rejected you making it worse.
…She never got around to telling it on the count of always being interrupted.
“…I’ve got a strange feeling that there’s more to the Titans’ stories than they told us.”
Still, he knew he wouldn’t get the answers from Gar; he never seemed to want to talk about it, which only further made Spike believe it was probably worse than it seemed.
For now, all he could do was wait to be reunited with some of the others, at best, especially since Gar had fallen asleep.
Meanwhile, Sunset was still unconscious, because she was actually trapped in another vision.
There she was in the darkness, before the huge eyes of the giant creature in the shadows.
“I’m here again?!” she groaned.
This time, however, things were slightly different.
There were now flowing currents of energy, each a different color representing each of the four summoning powers, and all them seemed to be coming from below the creature’s huge eyes; from four jewels similar to the ones on the mystery card.
“What is all this?” wondered Sunset. “I get these are the four summoning forces.
Fusion… Synchro… Xyz… and Pendulum…
…But I still don’t get it.”
Then she looked up at the creature’s big eyes, and she began to see something she had never noticed before…
There, in each of the creature’s eyes was a symbol, one seeming to represent a large Number Zero, and the other seemed to be the “Infinity” symbol.
Sunset figures those two symbols, like the jewels and the energy streams, had only just appeared.
“I still don’t get it.” she said aloud, and she addressed the creature directly. “What do you want me to do?”
The creature gave a soft growl and repeated the same request.
“Unleash the power. Free me…!”
“You keep saying that!” yelled Sunset. “…But how? How do I free you?”
The flowing energy streams glowed brighter than ever, and Sunset could see very faint images of monster silhouettes all around her.
“Those are all my Odd-Eyes Dragons.”
Then the large creature called to her again saying. “…Combine.”
Sunset was most confused. “…“Combine?” Combine what.”
“Combine… and Unleash the power.” was all the voice said before all began to fade again.
“No! Please don’t go!” Sunset hollered, but it was too late.
At that exact moment, she awoke and snapped upright.
“Yo’ welcome back to the living.” said Vic.
Sunset noticed some of the others around her.
“Are you okay?” asked Terra “You really passed out.”
Sunset suddenly remembered, “…That’s right! Applejack and I were dueling and--” she paused. “…Applejack! I won the duel, and she’s…!”
Nobody had to say a thing about that, and Sunset wouldn’t even had to see Terra clutching Applejack’s hat or hold up the soul card.
Ashamed and deeply upset, Sunset hung her head low, and she began to shake with small sobs that were creeping up on her.
“It’s all my fault. I trigged the duel, and I beat her. It’s my fault she’s trapped in that card.”
“Stop it.” said Raven. She couldn’t stand anymore crying or hard emotions, and said “If anyone’s to blame it’s those Prince Brothers.”
“She’s right.” agreed Sci-Twi, and she explained what happened to Celestia, Princess Twilight, and Spike.
“That… That’s just awful!” cried Sunset. “We have to get them back. We have to do something!”
Then her stomach gave a sickening growl, and Sci-Twi offered her a sandwich from the food supplies. “Yeah… you should eat first.”
Some of the others were already snacking, and Sunset’s hungry really called to her. “I guess so, but it’s so hard. I mean… who knows what’s going to happen next? This whole Malefic world and all the horrors are really starting to get me.”
There was a moment of silence as everyone felt speechless, and Sunset continued. “We didn’t ask for any of this to happen and yet here we are, dueling for our lives, for the safety of our world, and losing our friends in the process, and we don’t even get a choice to refuse.”
Raven, Terra, and Vic looked at one another, and shook heads.
They both proceeded to say something, but Sunset held up her hand stopping them. “…I know; it’s what a hero goes through.”
Then she looked up bravely, “I’ll keep fighting… for everything we’re fighting for.”
The others were pleased with her.
Shining Armor whispered to Cadance, “At least she can actually fight, we can’t do a thing about this.”
His wife agreed, and she like her husband didn’t want to let on that they were more scared than Sunset or any of others could be.
As everyone continued to eat, Sunset then got out her mystery card, and nearly spit out her food in shock…
There, on the card’s surface were the two symbols she saw on the creature’s eyes in her vision.
“What’s that?” asked Cadance.
Sunset showed everyone the card, and she explained what she learned in her vision.
“What did it mean, “Combine?” asked Raven.
“I don’t know,” replied Sunset “But all I know is that it has something to do with the four summoning powers.”
Terra remembered during the duel, every time Sunset summoned one of her dragons with any of the summoning powers, she began to go berserk, and the more she summoned, the more she raged on.
Sci-Twi examined the card herself, but couldn’t make much sense of it. Then she passed it back to Sunset. “Are you sure it’s safe to be experimenting with this anymore?” she had to ask.
“…I don’t think she should.” Terra cut in.
Everyone turned and looked at her.
“This about it, Sunset… During the duel you very nearly lost control of yourself.”
Sunset only remembered feeling strange every time she summoned, and then a little tired, especially when she passed out after the duel.
She looked down at the card, and wondered if it was responsible-- what if it had some kind of incredible super power that no other card had.
Regardless of the ever-growing feelings of warning and signs of danger, Sunset wouldn’t relent. “I have to unlock this card. It may be powerful, but it also just may be the one thing that can help us end this nightmare once and for all.
That’s what whoever sent it to me said in their note.”
“But do we know that for certain?” asked Vic.
“We don’t.” replied Raven “And we won’t know unless she unlocks it, but I get it… that it could be dangerous too.”
Sunset looked down at the cards again while thinking, “All the other cards I unlocked have helped me so far, but what if the others are right and there is something evil within this?
Am I making the right decision?”
She then thought back to those who had been lost.
“I can’t be discouraged. If we’re going to save them, we’ll need all the power we can get… no matter what.”
Far away, the rest of the group were on their way again, treading through the shadows in search of their friends.
Rainbow and Pinkie still had sheer looks of fury on their faces for Fluttershy’s loss to Karle, and they both looked ready to get some serious dueling action on the first Malefican that showed up.
Dick just had to ask. “You two okay?”
“We’re fine.” Pinkie growled with gnashed teeth.
Rainbow said nothing. She just kept looking forth with the same deeply angered expression she had before.
Kori felt shivers run up her spine, and she whispered softly to her Dick, “…I don’t think we should let them duel. They’re not about to be thinking straight.”
Her husband agreed, “One of us will have to duel in their stead, no matter how dangerous it is.”
“Um, we can hear you…” said Rainbow “And for your information, we can duel just fine.”
Pinkie nodded and grunted, but the Titans were not convinced.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the winds began to pick up, and in a huge crash, Sapphire landed right near them.
“Yo… what up!” he snickered.
Though the group had never seen him before, judging from the way he was dressed up like Violet was, Kori could already tell… “You… You’re one of those Terrible Three!”
Sapphire’s features hardened. “It’s “Terrible Trio” and yeah, I’m part of them, which means you know why I’m here; I’m edging for a duel. So who’s up for one?”
“Kori, who is this guy?” asked Dick.
“He’s one of three dueling sentries created by the Prince Brothers. Their purpose is solely to duel, to cause us more trouble, and gather more power for their masters.”
Pinkie and Rainbow’s rages began to boil.
“So you…” sneered Pinkie “You’re the ones who captured Rarity!”
Sapphire acted smug, “Just doing our job.”
He then created a magical view of his last duel against Celestia, which resulted in Luna’s capture.
“You captured Vice Principal Luna too?!” yelled Rainbow.
Sapphire couldn’t resist goading them, “And that’s not all, we also got your friend with that silly hat. We didn’t duel her, but we got her.”
“Applejack…?!” cried Dick. “She’s gone too?!”
“Hey, that’s what happens.” said Sapphire. “You lose the duel… you lose your soul… we GET your soul, period, and you better get used to it, because soon your entire world will be exactly like this.
In fact, with all the energy we’ve gathered, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was already started.”
He envisioned it so clearly; people of Earth screaming in terror-- whether they were a duelist or not-- as the darkness engulfed their pureness, leaving only shadows, and everyone slowly became wicked and nasty like the Maleficians.
Rainbow and Pinkie looked as if they were going to blow/
“THAT’S IT!! IT IS ON!!” they both yelled at the exact same time.
“Huh?!” They looked at each other.
“This one’s mine this time.” said Rainbow.
“Nuh-Uhn, I’ll be taking this one.” protested Pinkie.
The girls continued to protest to who would be dueling, much to Sapphire’s amusement, and he chuckled “…Keep it up, it only means more energy for me to capture.”
Suddenly, a challenge beam struck his duel disk.
“Hey, what the--”
He looked on and saw Kori stepping forth and glaring at him. “You’ll be dueling against me.”
“Kori…!” snapped Dick, but she wouldn’t hear any arguments, especially from the girls who were both outraged.
“What are you doing?!” snarled Rainbow.
“I wanted to duel him!” whined Pinkie.
Kori ignored them both and focussed on what lay ahead of her.
Sapphire only snickered, “Don’t be scared little lady, you have no idea what I’m capable of doing.”
Kori narrowed her eyes. “I’m not afraid, but by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be running scared when I turn you into a card.”
“…Whatever you say.” teased Sapphire. “Let’s do this.”
Dick and the girls moved back a bit. The girls were sulking miserably for not dueling, which deeply concerned Dick, but he was concerned far more for Kori.
“I hope she knows what she’s doing.” he thought. “We don’t even know what kind of strategy this guy uses, even after looking at those images we saw.”
Kori had already considered from what she saw; Sapphire’s big dragon, blowing Celestia down, and she could also tell by the blue shadings of Sapphire’s outfit and appearance.
“He must be a Synchro Duelist, but that dragon of his… I have no idea how it works, or what it does, and that doesn’t even begin to tell me what strategy he uses.”
Nonetheless, they were ready to begin.
“DUEL!!”
Sapphire LP: 8000
Kori LP: 8000
Much as Pinkie and Rainbow were still outraged and wished they were dueling, they still called out to their friend.
“You can do it, Kori.” cheered Pinkie.
“Kick his Malefican can!” hollered Rainbow.
Dick couldn’t tell just how serious the girls were, but he looked at his wife and gave her a brave and proud nod, which told her he was wishing her luck, and telling her to be careful.
Sapphire couldn’t help but chuckle, “You sure got some kind of support there, but it’ll take more than that to beat me…”
Kori growled at him.
“… Especially when I play this… SPEEDROID HORSE STILTS!”
(Atk: 1100)
“But he won’t be alone for long, because he lets me call a friend my hand to join him on the field, so here comes the Tuner monster… SPEEDROID RED-EYED DICE.”
(Def: 100)
“Now I’ll tune both these bad boys together, to summon forth a heavy hitter that’s really going to give you a bashing.”
The two monsters tuned up, and the new monster appeared in a big flash of lightning.
“I Synchro Summon HI-SPEEDROID HAGOITA!”
(Atk: 2000)
This new monster seemed to look like some giant mechanical bug, which buzzed as strong electrical currents coursed through it.
“What kind of monster is that?” asked Kori, earning her only a chuckle from Sapphire as he laid one card facedown. “You’ll find out soon enough.
Now go ahead. Show me what you got.”
He sure seemed pretty confident, which only concerned Kori more as she thought, “I thought he would just bring out that dragon of his from the get-go. It’s like he’s toying with me or something.”
She looked down at her first five cards, and she was pleased with them. “I have what I need to make a perfect Xyz Summon, and maybe take control the entire duel right now.
…I’m going for it.”
She placed her fingers over her deck, “Here goes! I draw…!
And I summon SATELLARKNIGHT VEGA.”
(Atk: 1200)
“And just like your monsters, it also lets me call another to join it on the field.”
She was about to play her next monster when Sapphire cut in. “Hold it right there! I activate Hagoita’s special ability.”
“Huh?”
The spectators all cringed softly.
“During either turn, I can tribute him, and therefore raise the levels of all the monsters on the field by one until the end of the turn.”
“What?!” snapped Kori, and she watched as her monster instantly went from Level 4 to 5.
“Oh, no!” she thought “I was all set to Xyz Summon, but now I won’t have two monsters with the same level.”
The spectators were a mix of emotions from that last move.
“He just messed up Kori’s strategy.” wailed Pinkie.
“Yeah… but look.” said Rainbow “He just left himself totally wide open. Kori could still attack him directly. I know I would.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” said Dick. “He wouldn’t just leave himself open like that, unless he has something else in mind.”
Kori thought of this as well, and even though she couldn’t Xyz Summon, she still knew something she could do.
“I’ll continue to use Vega’s ability, and summon STELLARKNIGHT ALSAHM.”
(Atk: 1400)
“You’re in for a world of hurt now, because when Alsahm is summoned, you instantly get dealt with 1000 points of damage.”
Sapphire growled angrily, and braced himself as the monster shot him with strong rays of light.
Sapphire LP: 8000 -----> 7000
“Yeah! Take that!” Rainbow taunted.
“You go, girl!” cheered Pinkie.
Even though would have sided with them, he didn’t take too nice to their loud remarks, fearing the girls were still tainted by their rage.
The smoke from the blast had cleared, and Sapphire didn’t look the least bit damage or tired, which made everyone gaze at him.
Sapphire snickered, “What… we’re you expecting something?”
Kori ignored the calls and stayed focussed on her strategy. “I’ve got to take this chance.” She thought “I have to attack now, regardless of what that facedown is. At least I can get him to use it up.”
She took in a deep breath and engaged her battle phase. “Now, Alsahm, wage a direct attack!”
Her monster leapt up into the air, and came down in front of Sapphire, socking him hard in the face.
Sapphire LP: 7000 -----> 5600
“Yeah!!” shouted Rainbow.
“That was for Rarity, and for Fluttershy!” added Pinkie.
Sapphire, still didn’t look to be too much in pain, and his groans turned in wicked chuckles. “…Actually, that was just what I needed, because since I took battle damage, I get to summon this…
…SPEEDROID GUM PRIZE.”
(Def: 800)
“And now I’ll chain that with the trap CALL OF THE HAUNTED, which I use to summon Horse Stilts back into action!”
(Atk: 1100)
Kori snuffed, “Nice move, but I still have my Vega, and he can blow either one of your monsters away.”
“Oh, no he can’t, because I wasn’t finished!” sneered Sapphire. “See, when I summon Gum Prize, and I have another Wind monster on my field, I’m allowed to use them both to Synchro Summon.”
Kori’s eyes widened, and the spectators all gasped.
“And that’s just what I do now! I tune level 1 Gum Prize with level 4 Horse Stilts!”
“Not another one!” cried Kori as she watched the monsters tune together, and the monster appeared as a giant sword, and Sapphire called out to it.
“I Synchro Summon HI-SPEEDROID CHANBARA!”
(Atk: 2000)
The mighty blade’s tip shimmered, despite the lack of light in the shadows.
“My vega can’t beat that!” cried Kori.
“No joke.” sneered Sapphire, “And what’s more, since Gum Prize was used to Synchro Summon it, I get to send the top card from my deck to the graveyard, and if it’s a “Speedroid” monster, Chanbara will gain a 1000 attack boost.”
He flipped up his top top.
“Sweetness…! It’s good old SPEEDROID DEN-DEN DAIKO DUDE. Thanks for the help pal! Your sacrifice means our buddy gains a power-up!”
(Atk: 2000) -----> (Atk: 3000)
“Three-thousand points?!” shouted Rainbow.
Pinkie growled and fussed. “Why you little cheat! You can’t do that! It’s just… just-- A’RGH!!”
Kori felt a little discouraged. “You haven’t won yet you know.” she called as she set two cards facedown. “I can still take you on, especially since my Vega now gains his original level back.”
Then she began to think to herself, “He still hasn’t played that dragon of his yet, that’s what dreading me the most. I have no idea how strong it is or what it can do. I just know that’s it has to be super dangerous.”
Sapphire was thinking the same thing.
“I can see the fear in her eyes. She’s scared of my dragon.” he paused and chuckled, “This is turning out even better than I thought.
Maybe I’ll play her along a little longer and let her wait when and how I’ll play it. Because after all…
When my dragon comes to play,
All in its path shall pay.”
He began to laugh wickedly in thought as an imaginary image of his dragon appeared behind him, with its eyes glowing ready to strike.
To Be Continued…