//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: New Friends and a New Beginning // Story: Mlp Yu-Gi-Oh! Shining Gem // by Blaze-saber //------------------------------// At the card shop, DS's mom was wiping the sweat from her brow as she was done stacking the cards, booster packs, starter decks call and duel disks on the shelves and had placed the Duel tables in the back for a nice game for anyone to play. "All right, that's everything." She said as she is proud with her work. "I wonder if DS had made any new friends at that school." As if on cue, the doors to the shop first open and her son along with Sparks and the Young Six tumbled in. "You guys complained about me about not stopping on time!" DS complained as he was on the bottom of the pile. "Oof!... Well at least give us a warning you are stopping next time!" Said Gallus as he had Silverstream and Smolder laying on his back. Smolder puts hand on her head and begins to gently rub it as Silverstream has spirals over her eyes. "Whoooooa..." Said Sandbar, as he was on top of everyone in the pile. He was scanning the area, looking at all of the display cases housing all the different card packs and dueling gear. "Dude, this is gnarly!" "Sandbar! Could you please get off me and look later!" Whined Ocellus who was being crushed under the weight. "Yona don't like being in a pile after crash..." Yona whined before DS's mother's shadow cast over the pile. "Are you all okay?!" She asked with concern as they were getting up from the ground. "Yeah, we're fine." Sparks replied as she dust herself off. "You must be DS's mom, right? I'm Sparks." "Oh DS, is that your mom!? She is so pretty!" Exclaimed Silverstream as she was dusting herself off. "And this is really her card shop? This place looks incredible!" Said Sandbar as he approaches one of the display cases that has duel disks inside. Sandbar presses his face and stares at them in amazement. "Yeah, these are like top of the line." Gallus agreed as he looked at the duel disks in the display cases with Sandbar. "Mom, meet my new friends I've made at school." DS said as he pointed to each one. "Sandbar, Gallus, Sliverstream, Smolder, Yona, and Ocellus." "Well, it's very nice to meet all of you." She said with a warm smile. "My best guess is you brought them here, not only to show where we live, but to give them some cards?" "Well yeah!" Said Smolder approaching DS and his mom, giving him a firm and almost painful slap on the shoulder. "We saw him duel, and it looked awesome! Now we all want to give this game a try. You should have seen him, we were locked out of the school by this punk called Chancellor Neighsay. DS challenged him to a duel and gave him a certified butt kicking!" "Nasty Pony closed down school and said Yona and Friends were not allowed. New Friend DS Stood up to Nasty Pony and got school to open back up!" Said Yona with a huge grin on her face. "Really, you dualed against a s-rank dualist?" His mother asked in surprised as he blushed a little and nodded yes in response. "What do you mean 's-rank', what's it mean?" Sliverstream asked with curiosity as his mother gave a smile in intriguement. "Oh, some of you don't know about the duelist system." She said before walking over to the counter. "Well, why don't we tell you all about it." "That sounds good, because two of them don't even know about Rush Duels!" Sparks said as she glared at Smolder and Sliverstream. Smolder sticks her tongue out a Sparks playfully as the others get in closer to hear DS's mom explain ranks. Gallus leans his back against one the shelves as he crosses his arms. Ocellus leaned forward on one of the counters, putting her hands underneath her chin. Sandbar gets down on his knees and joins in with Ocellus leaning on the counter. "You see, the duelist system works sort of like a role playing game." She began. "Only it works with how well you play the game. You see duelist who's just started to play the game, starts out in e-rank then they work their way up to s-rank." She then pointed to her son. "DS for example is a c-rank duelist." "C-rank, huh?" Sparks asked before holding up her own Duel Disk which is bright yellow. "I'm a b ranked duelist." "I'm d-rank so I'm behind both of you." Sandbar admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "When Yakyakistan opened up back to ponies, Yaks were given gift of Dual Monsters." Yona spoke up as she brought out a light brown Duel Disk. "Yona is c-rank too." Smolder huffs a little as smoke bellows out of her nostrils. "So I would be at the very bottom at e-rank when I get my own deck. That's lame." Smolder then crosses her arms. "Don't worry about it Smolder, the more you win, the faster you will excel in rank." Sandbar assured her. "I'd be happy to be one of your first opponents." "Hold on for a second, DS, if you are a c-rank, and you beat an S rank who is practically the best of the best, wouldn't that cause you to rank up?" Asked Ocellus looking at DS. "All thanks to me and my dueling practice." His mother answered her with a smug smile. "I practically worked for the company that makes the cards and when you work for a company that makes the cards, you practically pick up a thing or two." "Yeah, and it thanks to her company that my deck was made." DS said before he took out his deck box. "You see, when I was little I always thought about how cool it would be if Dragons could wear armors made of the gems that they always eat. You know like a knight in shining armor. I drew some drawings and show them to my mom and she in return show them to her boss which made the cards." "Wow... that's amazing!" Said Silverstream as she looks at his cards in his box. "But that's when the strangest thing happened when they were all finished." His mother spoke up. "The cards themselves sort of sealed themselves in some sort of magical crystallized casing." The others were shocked to hear something like that. "We had the top spellbinders in all of Equestria to try and break the casing, but nothing worked. That wasn't up until DS walked up to one of the cards and the casing just vanished. "You mean like some sort of cocoon? Asked Ocellus, interested in the story. "But why did the cards seal themselves away? And how come only DS freed them? I never heard of anything like that." "We don't know." His mother answered. "We even showed them to Princess Celestia and even she couldn't figure it out. As for why they only been freed when DS was near, we have no idea either." "But I think it has to do something with my dream." DS said as he remembers a occurring dream. "You see in my dream, I saw a stallion with the exact same monsters standing behind him. The ones that are my Gem Dragon Knights. Plus when my mom took me to her work one day, I could hear voices coming from the sealed cards. I didn't know why, but they sounded familiar and well they said that my destiny was coming." "Thats super weird..." Said Gallus taking a few steps back from the card box. "Destiny huh?" Said Sandbar standing up and placing his finger and thumb to his chin. "I for one think that sounds interesting. Have you looked into whatever that could mean? Have you heard voices from them once you finally broke the seal?" "Wait, what about your Saffira, Queen of Dragons card?" Ocellus spoke up in curiosity. "Was she one of the cards sealed away too?" "Well no." DS answered. "When the creator of the game saw me unseal those cards, he was impressed by it. Even though I didn't use any special magic to do so and just touch them. He brought me to his office with my mom and he gave me Saffira. He said that I was meant to have her." "All right, that's enough storytelling for now." His mother spoke up before she walked over to Smolder. "Let's get you few your starter decks so we can get started on your training." She then narrowed her eyes as she looked over Smolder before snapping her fingers. "You...like a deck that can get with the competitive spirit of both the game and you." Smolder stepped closer, making sure she got a good look at her. "Yeah I want something strong, reliable, and very competitive! There is nothing we dragons like more than being tough and ruthless!" Said Smolder as shoved her fist into her hand and began to rub her knuckles into her palm. "We like competing against each other and showing off who is the strongest! Whatever deck matches that description, I'm all for it!" "I think I have something in mind." She said as she walked over to a cabinet with see-through doors and open it up. She then looked around before picking up one of the decks inside and walking back to Smolder. "This is the Rise of the Dragon Lords deck. I think you'll find it'll fit your description very well." Smolder looks at the deck pack before taking a hold of it and looking at it. "Wow! Thank you so much!" "Pshh, Hehehe." Chuckled Gallus. "A starter deck? Everyone knows that starter decks are for noobs." Teased Gallus. Smolder glares back at him, he could practically see the fire in her eyes. Gallus gulps hard. "Kidding! Just kidding!" "Nothing is wrong with having a starter deck Smolder!" Said Sandbar as he wraps his arm around Smolder's neck. "After a while and getting some dueling experience under your belt, you can customize your deck however you want, adding and taking out whatever cards you want. Though I do recommend you keep the deck how it is so you can familiarize yourself with the game first." Smolder nodded as she took the cards out and began to look through them. "Oh, oh, me next!" Sliverstream shouted with excitement. "I want to deck that can really make a big splash and wash away the competition. You know, like bang and kapow!" "Hmmm..." DS's mom looked over Silverstream as well. She gave a slight chuckle at her bubbly personality. "You like the ocean huh? I think I have the perfect deck for you that will have the perfect amount of bite for you." She said as turned and began looking for the deck she was thinking about. "Ah-ha! There it is." She then turned around and handed Silverstream a deck. "This deck was structured around a single archetype, Sharks." "EEEEE!!!" Silverstream squealed as she was unable to contain her excitement. "Sharks! That is so awesome! Thank you so much Miss DS!" Silverstream took the deck and began to look over the cards immediately. DS's mom then turned to Ocellus and looked her over. Ocellus gave a nervous smile before DS's mom returned it with a warm smile. "You may have heard about Duel Monsters but never played it and you are very curious to learn how to play." She said as Ocellus gave a nod in response. "That's right Ma'am. Just like Smolder, there really aren't any card shops close by. I've always been interested in the game though." Said Ocellus. She blinks a few times. DS's mom gives her a warm smile as she knew exactly what kind of deck was perfect for her. This time she reaches under the counter and pulls out a more advanced deck. "Since you already have some knowledge about the game, and you seem like a pretty smart ling, I'll give you a more challenging deck. You may have heard of the Dark Magician deck right? Well did you know that Dark Magician's understudy, the Dark Magician Girl, has her own archetype as well? I think it will suit you perfectly." She then slid the deck towards her. "Wow, I'm really flattered ma'am." Ocellus said as she picked up the deck. "So, what's next? Does Gallus get one?" "I've already got my deck." Gallus said as he pulled out one from his jacket. "Sometimes in Griffin Stone, travelers would trade us rare cards if they don't have any money with them. So, I built myself a Raidraptors deck from those trades." "Yeah, same here!" Said Sandbar pulling out his own deck. "A while ago I was with my folks in Manehattan. Since I was getting older they let me get any deck I wanted, so we went to the big card shop that was there and we looked around for a bit. It didn't take me long to find myself a deck, Elemental Heros! I'm a huge comic book fan, so it was an easy choice." "And Yona has a deck too!" Exclaimed Yona, pulling out her own deck. "Like Yona said, Duel Monsters were introduced to yaks by ponies, Yona got Super Heavy Samurais!" "And I have my Sevens Road deck, miss..." Sparks said before she realized something. "Uh, what's your name?" "It's Golden Aurora." She answered before she cracked her knuckles. "Now, prepare yourselves. Because thanks to my duel training, you'll be ranking up in a matter of hours." The others looked excited before they noticed DS hiding behind a shelf. "Good luck, guys." He said nervously. "Whats wrong with you DS?" Asked Gallus crossing his arms. "You don't want to come with us?" "Yeah, you are our friend now, no reason to be shy." Said Sandbar. "It's not that." DS told them. "It's just when my mom gets into a duel training mood, let's just say things get intense." "What do you mean by 'intense'." Smolder asked before they a firing aura in the air before they looked at Golden Aurora and could feel something different emanating from her. "Get ready, because starting...YOUR DUEL TRAINING STARTS!!!" Aurora shouted, like a mountain lion roaring. Ocellus instinctively hides behind Smolder, getting startled by Golden Aurora's new demeanor. Smolder looks at Ocellus and rolls her eyes with a chuckle. "Oh Yeah! Yona likes the sound of that!" Said Yona getting pumped up. Over the next few hours, Aurora started to teach Smolder, Sliverstream, and Ocellus how to play Duel Monsters. She taught them spell cards, trap cards, monster cards and how many different types there are. She taught them how to shuffle their decks and the many ways to summon a monster onto the field. Smolder, Silverstream, and Ocellus were able to follow along decently well, about as well as you would expect from some who had never picked up a deck before. Ocellus raises her hand high in the air as she had a question for Golden Aurora. "Oo! oo! Miss Aurora, I have a question!" Said Silverstream enthusiastically. "I understand we get to one normal summon per turn, but how many times can we special summon a turn?" "Excellent question Silverstream, there is no limit." Said Golden Aurora as a huge smile began to form on Silver's face. "If you have the right materials on the field, in your hand, and even in your graveyard, you can special summon as many times as you want in a single turn.” "But in a Rush Duel, you can summon as many monsters as you want." Sparks told them. "But in Rush Duels, you can only have three monstersomes as well as three spell/trap card zones. Plus you have to start out with four cards in your hand and not five. But you get to draw multiple cards until you have five in your hand when your turn rolls around." "Just how many different types of duels are there?" Ocellus asked. Golden Aurora Thinks for a minute before answering. "Let's see... there are Normal Duels, Rush Duels, Tag Duels, Speed Duels, and Turbo Duels" "How can a single card game be played in so many ways!? That's nuts!" Said Smolder as Golden Aurora chuckles at her. "That's what makes the game so fun." DS spoke up. "The many different type of duels that can happen and everything." "No matter what, it's just the same game with a few different rules." Sparks added. "Well I can't wait to play it in every way possible!" Said Silverstream with a huge smile on her face. "I just want to start ranking up. I wanna be the first dragon to ever become a s-rank duelist." Said Smolder confidently. "Well if you want to start to rank up, then the real training begins." Aurora told them as she cracked her knuckles before walking to a display case and grabbed three duel disks. She gave Smolder a light orange duel disk, Sliverstream a pink duel disk, and Ocellus a light blue duel disk. "Now, join me in the back and we'll begin the real training. The rest of you stay out here and wait." "Yeah! Finally!" Said Smolder as she slid on her duel disk. "Wait... Are we going to duel now? B-B-But we only just now started learning!" Panicked Ocellus. "Oh yeah! I can't wait! Come on, you guys!" Said Silverstream as after putting on her duel disk, grabs both of their wrists and pulls them both to follow Golden Aurora. Hours later as the sun was setting, the three of them looked tired as they mean their way back to school. "You weren't kidding when you said that your mom can be intense when it comes to duel monster training..." Smolder huffed as DS put his hands behind his head with a wide grin. "I tried to warn you." He said with a small chuckle. "My wrists hurt from drawing so much." Said Ocellus as she rubbed her wrist and had a tired expression. "I think I have memorized every card in my deck by all the drawing we had to do." "That... was... Fantastic!" Yelled Silverstream. She didn't seem as worn out as the others. All the more proof that she was just a big ball of energy. "You are something, Sliverstream." Gallus commented as they walked. "At least you got the basics down." "Yeah, all you need to do now is to win a few duels and then you'll rank up a bit." Sandbar added as DS came to a halt and looked in a different direction. "I can't wait, let's make it a competition between us. Let's see who can become an s-rank duelist first out of us 8." Said Smolder with a smirk. "Huh? Friend DS, you ok? What's wrong?" Asked Yona. The rest of them stopped before looking at DS and wondered what got his attention. DS then started running in the direction he was looking before they were running after him. "Yo DS, why are we running?!" Sparks called out as they ran. "There's some duel action going on right now!" DS answered as they were running torrents would look to be a large arena. That's when everyone came to a screeching halt. They looked over the arena with amazement. "Whoa... Is this for duel monsters?" Asked Ocellus asked. "Dude, no way! We are actually getting an Arena in Ponyville! Sweet!" Said Sandbar as he started to grin from ear to ear. Nearby are a couple of unicorn stallions talking to each other while one other with a gray coat, navy blue eyes, dark red mane and tail with a jacket vest that is red with a black line in the middle. He also wore a dark black T-shirt with red long pants as he was checking out his duel monsters deck. "You practically feel it in the air!" DS told them as he took in a deep breath. He then went over to the two unicorns stallions and held up his deck. "Hey! Do one of you want to have a duel?" "Hey, it's you." The unicorn in yellow said when he saw DS. "You're that colt who beat Chancellor Neighsay." What the unicorn said surprised both DS and the group except for Sparks. The unicorn in the stands looking at his deck perked up when he heard that. "Well yeah, but how did you know that?" He asked before Sparks walked up. "I probably forgot to mention that I streamed your duel with him when I saw the action." She confessed as she rubbed the back of her head. "You streamed it, Sparks? HA! Dude, that means DS humiliated Neighsay for the entire internet!" Said Gallus. Smolder snickers at that as she and gallus then fist bump each other. "Yeah, we saw your duel with Neighsay online. It's starting to become popular." Said the Unicorn in yellow. "Neighsay is a S-rank duelist, so it's rare to seem him lose, especially when he gets Ancient Gear Golem on the field. Very few can say that they have." "Well what can I say, I just really love the game." DS said with a smile on his face. "Hey Night Aura, it really is that colt from that school the princess of friendship opened up." The light green unicorn told the one in the stadium. He just let out a scoffed before he stood up. "You ask me, it was only a fluke that he was able to beat our Chancellor." Night Aura said in a smug tone. "A fluke!? A FLUKE!? What makes you say that!?" Said Silverstream, getting offended for DS. Her feathers puff up showing that she was mad. "Yeah, what Silverstream said! It was no fluke, DS kicked Neighsay in his rear end, and he'll do it to you too!" Said Smolder crossing her arms. "His a C-rank duelist and our Chancellor was probably off his game." Night Aura said. "You keep on saying 'our Chancellor', does that mean you go to an EEA School?" DS asked. "Look at that, the C-rank is smarter than he looks." Aura said before looking at Smolder. "Although he looks way smarter than that dragon." "What did you say?!" Smolder shouted as flames came out of her nostrils. She looks ready to count on him before Yona grabbed her tight. "Calm down, Smolder!" Ocellus told as Smolder struggled to get free. "Didn't you hear what he said?! He's asking for it!" Smolder growled. "What's your deal dude?" Said Sandbar. "You need to back off." "Quiet D-rank, the big kids are talking. You're not worth my time." Said Night Aura sharply. "I'm pretty sure there is a kindergarten around here, their dueling skills sound like they’re the same as yours." "Oh, this chump is asking for it now!" Said Gallus as he digs his fist into his palm. "Whoa guys, don't let this guy get to you!" DS quickly told them before Aura walked down the steps and over to the other two stallions. "Where are you going?" "Out of here if a bunch of kitties are playing around here." Aura answered before his horn lit up and the three teleported away. "Not three minutes in and already I don't like that guy." Sparks growled as her horn sparked. "Come on, we better get back to school and help out." DS suggested as they made their way out of the arena. School has started back up for the first time since Neighsay had it shut down. He remained true to his word and allowed the school to continue operations without following EEA Guidelines. It was early in the morning and the group decided to meet up a bit before classes started so that they could give DS and Sparks a quick tour since they were new. "I understand you guys wanted to show them around the school, but did we had get up so early?" Asked Gallus. He had bags under his eyes and he yawned quite loudly. "It's only to show thanks for what he did." Ocellus remarked with a cute smile. "Plus, I never been here before and you guys have." Sparks reminded. "Yeah, they have no idea where to go, this is this the least we could do for them." Said Sandbar. "I understand... you could have at least wait till we got some coffee first." Said Smolder. "Coffee? What's coffee?" asked Silverstream. "Uh, I'll tell you later Silverstream." Said Sandbar. He shudders at the thought of Silverstream all hyped up on caffeine. "Anyway, What's your guy's first class? We can show you where it is." "Well--" DS was about to say before he heard his Duel Disk ringing. He took it out and saw he got a video message. "Somepony sent me a message?" "Who could be sending you one this late?" Sparks asked. DS shrugged his shoulders, he pressed a button on his duel disk to see the message. He was met with the face of Night Aura. "Hey you, C-rank, or whatever your name is. I'm getting pretty sick of all the people talking about the video of beating Neighsay. I know for a fact you're just a hasbeen, so I challenge you to a duel. Once I beat you, everyone will realize the truth, that your duel was dumb luck, and you are nothing special! Meet me at the arena, and you will see what a real duelist looks like." Night Aura ranted as he then ended the message. "That guy is challenging you to a duel?" Smolder asked. "I could take him on!!" "But he's an A-rank duelist and you're still a E-rank." Sandbar reminded her. "And who's to say that I'm going to turn it down." DS told them which nearly made them tumble to the ground. "Who knows, it could be lots of fun." "Are you really sure you want to accept his challenge DS? Sandbar just said he is an A-rank, he won't be just some push over." said Ocellus. "If friend DS can beat Nasty S-rank unicorn, then friend DS can beat nasty A-rank unicorn! Yona has faith He'll win." Said Yona. "Thanks, now let's get going!" DS said as he was already on the move. The others followed behind as Ocellus had a worried look on his face. "I just hope this isn't a trap. We don't know him and he could be up to no good." She thought to herself as they made their way to arena. Night Aura was standing on one side of the arena shuffling his deck. His two friends from yesterday sat in the stands on his side. Night looked up as he saw the group approaching. He slid his deck into the holder on his duel disk and then crossed his arms. "About time you showed up, I was starting to think you would have wussed out on me." Said Night Aura. There were a decent amount of ponies in the stands, it looked as if Night wanted to humiliate DS in front of a crowd. "I never turn down a challenge before." DS told him as his friends were sitting on the sidelines. "I hope you're ready to have fun because I know I am!" He tossed up his duel disk before jumping up and sliding his arm through the hole to put it on. Once he landed on the ground, he placed his deck box in the slot above his wrist and his dual disc activated as the blade appeared. The goggles popped out and he quickly put them on. Night Aura placed his dual disc on which is a dark gray before he placed his deck in it as well. Soon the world around them went dark as to white rings expanded everywhere as the two duelist drew five cards from their decks. "Let's duel!" They both shouted as the duel began. DS L.P.: 4000 Night Aura L.P.: 4000 "I'll let you take the first turn." Aura told DS after seeing what's in his hand. "Oh how kind of you." DS said as drew a card from his deck. "By the way, my name is Duelist Striker. DS for short and I'll start off by summoning my Gem Dragon Knight: Jasper Basher to the field in attack mode." He placed a card on the blade and his monster appeared. Gem Dragon Knight: Jasper Basher Atk/2,200 Def:2,000 "I can special summon this monster when I have no other monsters on my field." DS explained. "The only downside is, it's attack points have to go down to 1500. But he won't be alone be I summon Gem Dragon Knight: Ruby Archer to the field." His second monster appeared once he lay down his card. Gem Dragon Knight: Ruby Archer Atk/1,400 Def/600 "And due to his special ability, you take 500 points of damage for each Gem Dragon Knight on my field." DS told Aura as Ruby Archer bit flames on two arrowheads and aimed right towards him before firing. Aura grunted after the two arrows hit him and his life points went down. Night Aura: 3,000 "Next I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." DS said he placed down two cards on the field and they appeared behind his two monsters. Night Aura's eyes widened as he was hit by Ruby Archer's effect. He was annoyed how his life points were hit on the very first turn. "Is that the best you got? I can handle that!" Said Night as he drew his card for the turn. "While you control monsters while my own field is empty, I'm able to special summon my Cyber Dragon to the field!" Cyber Dragon Atk/2,100 Def/1,600 "Fear my Cyber Dragon! Not many have stared down my beasts and have walked away victoriously! As that was just a special summon, watch as I now normal summon my Cyber Valley!" Yelled Night Aura Cyber Valley Atk/0 Def/0 "I think it's high time you pay for striking my life points with your card's effect! Cyber Dragon, Attack his Ruby Archer!" Commanded Night Aura. Cyber Dragon reels its head back, powering up its attack. "I activate my trap card!" DS declared as one of his face downs flipped up to be a trap. "Rising Energy! Now I discard my Gem Dragon Knight: Lapis Mage from my hand to the graveyard so that Ruby Archer gets an extra 1500 attack points until the end of the turn!" He discarded his card and his monster had a fiery aura around it as its attack points went up from 1400 to 2900. Night Aura's eyes widened, with the monster's attack boost, it will destroy his dragon. "Gah! No! I won't let you destroy my Cyber Dragon! I activate the quick play Spell Cybernetic Zone! This card banishes any machine monster on my side of the field until the end phase, in which it returns! I use this card to banish my own Cyber Dragon before it can attack your Ruby!" Yelled Night Aura. Before Cyber Dragon could attack, it slowly dissipates from the field. "Now I will enter my end phase, now my cyber Dragon returns to my side of the field and it's attack is doubled!" As Night Aura ends his turn, his Cyber Dragon rematerialized, but this time with 4200 attack points. "Lucky for you, when it becomes my next standby phase, my Cyber Dragon will destroy itself before I can attack you, but he will shield me from any attack, now make take your turn C-Rank!" "Then I draw!" DS declared as drew a card from his deck and his Archer's attack points return to normal. "First, I play my face down, Compulsory Evacuation Device! I can use this to take your Cyber Valley and send it right back to your hand." A large device rose up from the ground and sucked up Cyber Valley before firing it from the top and sending the card back to Aura's hand. "Next I play, the spell known as Card Destruction! Now we both have to send the cards in our hands to the graveyard and draw the same amount cards we had!" "No! I need my Cyber Valley!" Night Aura grits his teeth as he begrudgingly sends his hand to the grave, 4 in total. He draws three cards and looks at them, actually, it wasn't too bad of a draw. He looks back at DS before standing up straighter. "Alright C-Rank, you had your fun getting around my Cyber Valley, but I'm far from done with you!" "Well if you're feeling that down about it, the I play my spell Card of Sanctity." He held up the spell card before playing it. "Now we both draw until we have six cards in our hands." Both Duelists did just that. "Next, I play my polymerization card and use my Ruby Archer with my Jasper Basher to Fusion summon my level eight Gem Dragon Knight: Fire Jasper Slasher!" The moment he played the card, both his monsters merge together before forming a bigger version of his Jasper but with claws on his knuckles and his scales looking like flames while armor of both ruby and jasper on. Gem Dragon Knight: Fire Jasper Slasher. Atk: 2800 Def: 2200 Night Aura drew two more cards, he raised his eyebrows upon seeing what he drew. He then looks towards DS's new monster. He looked unfazed as he shifted his eyes back to DS. "Impressive attack, but not impressive enough. My Cyber Dragon still has 4200 attack, I'm safe this turn." He said as he crossed his arms. "You really should worry about its special ability." DS told him. "When I use Jasper and a fire attribute monster to summon him, your monster loses attack points equal to Jasper's original attack points. Her attack points were 2200 and that means..." "His dragon is weaker than DS's!" Ocellus said as Fire Jasper breathe flames around Cyber Dragon and its attack points went down. Night Aura's eyes widened as he watched his dragon get powered down to 1900. "You... you dare disrespect my Cyber Dragon!?" Yelled Night Aura yelled, balling his hands into fist. "You should be more worried about your life points! Go Fire Jasper Slasher!" DS commanded as his dragon launched forward and pulled its fist back as flames lit up on the claws. "Flame uppercut!" After delivering a punch that send Cyber Dragon flying, it then burst into flames and exploded. "How's that for C-rank?" Night Aura: 2,100 Night Aura shields his face from the explosion. He was feeling absolutely humiliated. He grits his teeth and balls his hands into fists. "...You done yet!?" He yelled, giving him an angry expression. "Yeah, after I place three cards face down and end my turn." DS answered after placing them down. "DS is dueling like a pro!" Smolder cheered. "How do you think this'll end?" Night Aura drew his seventh card and added it to his hand. "You messed up C-rank! Time for some payback! Since you control a monster, And I don't, I special summon my second Cyber Dragon from my hand!" Cyber Dragon Atk/2,100 Def1,600 "Now I activate the spell card Cyber Revsystem! This allows me to special summon the Cyber Dragon from my graveyard back to the field, and now he can't be destroyed by card effects! Now I activate the spell card Photon Generator Unit! This card makes me tribute the two Cyber Dragons on my field so that I can special summon from my deck Cyber Laser Dragon!" Cyber Laser Dragon Atk/2,400 Def/1,800 "It looks tough, but not strong enough to beat Fire Jasper!" Smolder shouted. "Don't be so sure about that." Sparks told her. "In a duel, anything goes." "Just like your monster, it has more than just it's attack, it has a special ability!" Said Night Aura. "Once per turn, this card can instantly destroy one monster on the field that has an Atk or Def equal to or more than this card's own Atk and Def! Since your monster has 2800 attack, that makes it a target for this effect! Say bye bye to your monster!" Cyber Laser Dragon looks at Fire jasper, the laser on its tail then begins to power up. "I won't let you do that, so I activate defusion!" DS declared as one of his face Downs flipped up to reveal it to be a quick play spell card. "Not only does it save my monster from yours, but it also brings back the two materials I used to summon it." Just as the laser fired, Fire Jasper split into Ruby Archer and Jasper basher, both in defense mode. The laser powered down, as both monsters do not have an attack or defense stronger than Cyber Laser Dragon's. Night Aura gives a slight smirk. "Man you're predictable. I saw that coming. Now that you have your two weaker monsters on the field, I activate this spell card, Stop Defense! I change one of your defense position monsters back into attack mode. Your Ruby Archer is the weakest, So I'm switching him into attack!" Ruby Archer is forced into attack positon and Night aura only chuckles to himself. "Cyber Laser Dragon, Destroy Ruby Archer!" Once again, Cyber Laser Dragon began to power up its laser. "I activate my Gem Jamming trap!" DS declared as another face down flipped up to show a cracked gem on it. "Now by discarding one Monster card from my hand to the graveyard, your Cyber Laser Dragon loses attack points equal to the monster I just discarded. So, I send my Gem Dragon Knight: Garnet Soldier to the graveyard that has 2300 attack points." When he sent it to the discard pile, Night Aura's dragon lost its attack points thanks to the trap. Night Aura watched on as he couldn't do anything his dragon dropped down to just 500 life points. He kept on getting around his best strategies, and it was making him very, very angry. That wasn't even the worst part, DS was smiling, and standing confidently, like he wasn't even trying his hardest yet. "I place three cards face down and end my turn, you're up C-rank." He told DS. "Then let's do this!" DS declared as drew a card from his deck. One look at the card he drew made him smile bright. "Get ready, because things are about to shine bright! I play my rituals spell Hymn of Light and I offer up my two dragons on the field so then I can ritual summon!" His two dragons on the field then shot up into the sky as a beam of light king down. "May the light shine down on this due as the queen of the light arrives! I ritual summon Saffira, Queen of Dragons!" His favorite monster appeared on the field as he placed his card down. Saffira, Queen of Dragons. Atk: 2500 Def: 2400 "So that's the card that beat Neighsay." Aura said when he saw Saffira. "Yeah and now it's going to be beat you!" Smolder shouted. "She must really what he said get her bad." Ocellus commented as she scooted away a little. "Go Saffira, end this duel!" DS declared as Saffira ready a serrated light attack. "Thanks, I was hoping you would attack." Aura said, which made DS baffled. "I activate my trap, Draining Shield!" One of his face downs flipped up to reveal itself. "Now I don't take any damage from your monster's attack and I gain life points equals your monster's attack points." The moment Saffira launched her attack, he was protected by a barrier from his trap and his life points went back up. Night Aura L.P.: 3000 "Ah dude, he's back to square one." Sandbar complain when they saw his life points went up. "Oh boy." DS said before he took one of his monsters and place it on the field. "I place a monster face down in defense mode. That's all I can do for now." "My move, I draw!" Said Night Aura. "Since my Laser dragon is useless to me at the moment, I will use it as tribute to summon my third Cyber Dragon!" Night Aura's third Cyber Dragon was summoned, taking the place of his weaker one. "Now I activate the spell Cyber Repair Plant. This card has two effects that I can choose from, I can either add a light machine monster from my deck to my hand, or I can send a light machine monster from my grave to my deck. Since I have 3 Cyber Dragons in my grave, I'm actually allowed to activate both effects." "Wait a minute." Said DS. "You have one of your Cyber Dragons on the field right now? How can you have three?" "Simple, during the turn you made us discard our whole hands, you made me discard my Cyber Dragon Zwei, while in the grave, it's name changes to Cyber Dragon. Now I add a monster to my hand, and one monster to my deck and now I shuffle." His duel disk shuffles his deck for him. "You're Saffira is a bit too strong for me at the moment, so I will end right there." "What's he talking about?" Sliverstream asked. "His Cyber Dragon has less attack points than Saffira." It was then Sparks figured out what's Aura up to, and it made her worry. "By themselves they are, but combined they form something much more powerful." She told the group. "What does that mean?" Smolder asked as Aura had a grin on his face. "Then it's my go!" DS declared as drew a new card. "Okay, if I know anything about Cyber Dragons is that they're stronger together they are alone." He thought. "I could try attack his Cyber Dragon on the field, but one of his two face downs might be anthro trap. So, I got to play it safe." He then took one of his monsters and place it on the field. "I place one monster face down in defense mode and end my turn with a face down." "I draw." Night Aura smirks at his hand, as he has all the cards he needed for his ultimate move. No one has ever beaten him once he has a certain card on the field, and he was about to summon it. "I activated the spell Cyber Emergency! This card allows me to add 1 Cyber Dragon from my deck to my hand!" The cyber he put into his deck just the turn before was added to his hand. "Thats two. Now I activate the spell Monster Reincarnation! By discarding one card, add one from my graveyard to my hand, I add my third Cyber Dragon!" "No! He got all three of his Cyber Dragons!" Said Sparks getting a bit worried. "If you think your card is impressive C-rank, then you haven't seen true greatness!" Said Night Aura with a smirk. "I activate the spell card Polymerization! By fusing the Cyber Dragon on my field, with the two in my hand, I fusion summon my ultimate monster! Cyber End Dragon!" Cyber End Dragon Atk/ 4,000 Def/2,800 "That thing has 4000 attack points!" Gallus shouted when they saw the three-headed dragon appeared on the field. "That's not all it has." Sparks told him. "When Cyber End Dragon attacks a monster in defense mode, it can deal damage in the difference in the attack and the defense points of the two." "That's right, and now it's time to put you in your place!" Aura declared as his End Dragon looked ready to attack. "Cyber End Dragon, attack that face down!" All three heads of the dragon powered up as DS's face down monster flipped face up and revealed to be his Pearl Defender. "Only 2400 attack points? My End Dragon is about to take it out, no problem!" "I activate my trap card, Half Un-Break!" DS declared as one of his face down cards flipped up. "This protects Pearl Defender from being destroyed and cuts the damage I take in half!" Bubbles emerged from the trap and formed around Pearl Defender. Cyber End Dragon fires three separate electric blasts from its heads, the three beams forming into one as they strike the bubbles around Pearl Defender. One spark of electricity breaks through, just grazing the monster, but doesn't destroy it. DS L.P.: 3,200 "Still finding ways to weasel out ain't ya?" Said Night Aura Crossing his arms. "At least you finally took some damage C-rank. But your end is near, no one, and I mean absolutely no one has ever beaten my Cyber End Dragon. You might as well accept defeat now. I end my turn." DS hang his head down as his mane covered his eyes. "Aw what's wrong C-rank? Feel hurt because I finally delt damage to your life points? Don't worry, the pain will end--" He stops when started to hear chuckling from DS before that chuckle became laughter. "I got to say, I've always wanted to see Cyber End Dragon!" DS said with a bright smile. "But it actually face it in a duel is even better!" "Wow, nothing keeps pony friend down." Yona commented as the others nod in agreement. "DS is laughing? Wow, he is either brave, or crazy... or both." Said Sandbar. "How? How are you unfazed by my dragon!? Aren't you scared at all? Aren't you worried that this monster has the potential to destroy you with one single attack!?" Yelled Night Aura. He was getting angry how DS wasn't taking his best monster seriously. "It doesn't matter any way. Because thanks to my trap card, Grand Horn of Heaven, if he special summons a monster, I can use this to banish it from play." "I know all that, but I'm having lots of fun to even be scared." DS admitted as he still had a smile on his face. "After all, dueling is all about fun no matter the situation. It's my turn now, I draw!" He drew a card from his deck and saw it was the quick play spell Mystical Space Typhoon. "All right! I play the spell Mystical Space Typhoon! And I'll use it to destroy your face down!" A giant gust of winds blew from the card and destroyed his Grand Horn of Heaven trap. "No!" Aura growled as his trap was gone. "Next I play my face down known as Monster Reborn!" DS declared as he played another spell card that's on his field. "I can use this spell to bring back a monster from my graveyard! You remember Lapis Mage, the card I discarded before, right?" The ground shook before a new dragon appeared on the field. It was a light blue water dragon with lapis armor and holding a staff in one hand while a white cape was down its back. Gem Dragon Knight: Lapis Mage Level: 4 Atk: 2000 Def: 1700 "And her special ability kicks in!" DS declared as Lapis Mage held up her staff and the gem on the end of it glowed bright. "You see, when she's special summoned to the field, I can bring back one spell for my graveyard and added to my hand. And I choose my Polymerization card! But I'm not done because I use polymerization to fuse together Pearl Defender and Lapis Mage!" Both dragons flew up into the air as their bodies merged and a bright light shine down. "Get ready, because I Fusion Summon Gem Dragon Knight: Ocean Quartz Magician!" His new monster had a pattern of light blue and white scales along its body while it was wearing a robe and holding a staff. Gem Dragon Knight: Ocean Quartz Magician Level: 8 Atk: 2800 Def: 2500 Night Aura took a few steps back after seeing the monster. He had been underestimating DS this entire time, but he knew this time, this monster had to have a devastating effect if DS took the time to summon it while he had Cyber End Dragon out. "What... What does that monster do!?" "Glad you ask! When Ocean Quartz Magician is summoned to the field, her special ability allows me to take one spell for my deck and added to my hand." His deck glowed when Ocean Quartz Magician turned and fired a magic beam at his deck. A card then glowed when the light died down before it slide out from his deck and he took it. "Get ready, because my soul is about to shine like a diamond in the starry night! I play The Continuous spell known as Solidarity! Now my two dragon type monsters gain 800 attack for every dragon in my graveyard!" Night Aura began to count. He counted three. "You have three in your grave, that means they gain 2400... NO!" Shouted Night Aura as he came to that realization. "That's right! meaning Saffira has 4900, and Quartz Magician has 5300!" Said DS as he fist pumped the air. "Now it's time to end this! Go Quartz Magician, attack Cyber End Dragon!" His dragon held up her staff and a giant tidal wave appeared behind her. "Gem Tsunami Strike!" "This duel is in the bag!" Smolder cheered as it looks like DS is going to win. "For me that is!" Aura shouted. "I activate my trap card, Ring Of Destruction!" One of his two-facedowns flipped up to reveal a ring with flames around it before the card itself transformed into it. "Now this card will attach itself to your Quartz Magician and we both take damage equal to her attack points!" The ring itself flew out and wrapped itself around Quartz Magician's neck as the different orbs around it glowed red. "But why would he do that?" Ocellus asked. "This will end in a tie if that ring blows up." "No, I will win this duel." Aura corrected. "Cuz now I activate my other face down, Ring Of Defense." His other face down card revealed to be a quick play spell card. "Now thanks to this spell, you're the only one that will take the blow." "No I won't!" DS shouted as he had a look of determination. "Because I activate my countertrap, Dark Bribe!" His final face down flipped up and shot a beam at Aura's spell card. "Thanks to this trap, your spell is negated and destroyed, plus you get one card out of it!" This shocked Aura as his spell was sent to the graveyard. "But, that means--" Aura was about to say before the Ring Of Destruction exploded and both him and DS were sent flying back. The moment the two crashed on the ground, both their life points went down to zero as color returned to the world around them. DS L.P.: 0 Night Aura L.P.: 0 Draw. Night Aura's friends in the stands quickly stood up and ran towards him. DS's friends did the same for him. "DS, you ok man? Here let me help you." Asked Sandbar offering him a hand to help him up. "Dude Night, are you ok?" Asked the Yellow stallion. Night just swats his hand away. "I'm fine!" He said angrily as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Hey!" DS called out to get Night Aura's attention. "This was fun, we should do this again sometime." "Hey!" DS called out to get Night Aura's attention. "This was fun, we should do this again sometime." "You just got lucky." Night Aura replied. He then looked to his friends. "Come on, let's get out of here. This place is getting lame." Night Aura then used his magic to teleport him and his friends away. "What a sore loser... or drawer or whatever he is!" Said Silverstream with a huff. "Yeah seriously, I wonder what his problem is." Said Sandbar before turning to DS. "Forget him though, you did amazing DS. I can't believe you're only a C-rank, you dueled like an S-rank against him!" "Well, either way I had fun." DS told them. "I can't wait to duel him again." Gallus gave him a bump on his shoulder. "You're really are something else, aren't you?" He retorted. "Come on guys, let's head back to school." Sparks told them before she a had a grin on her face. "And maybe tomorrow, I can show you how to Rush Duel."