Bay
“I’ll ask you again, what were you doing to this girl?” Arctic asked angrily from his spot between Luthor and Sonata.
“Why would you care?” Luthor asked. “You don’t know her like I do.”
“I don’t need to know who either of you are to see that something about this situation smells funny.” Arctic retorted. “At the very least, I could tell that neither of you seemed to enjoy being in each other’s company.”
“Smart guy.” Luthor noted. “I mean, all of us who work under Dartz don’t necessarily like one another. Sometimes I doubt the three Sirens even like each other.”
“Wait, is this boy standing up for me?” Sonata questioned internally confused. “He doesn’t even know the situation, yet he was willing to… Could this be what Luthor is trying to achieve? Does he want me to use this situation to stick with this boy in hopes of entering the castle?”
“You seem to have already made up your mind, and I have little patience to argue against that.” Luthor responded. “I’ll tell you what, let’s do what this tournament was made for and duel. We’ll naturally bet some star chips, but an added bet will be placed. If I win, you leave us.”
“If I win, you leave this girl alone.” Arctic declared firmly.
“Heh, works for me.” Luthor walked back to the red side of the arena. “By the way, ‘the girl’ is Sonata Dusk, and I’m simply Luthor.”
Before he moved to duel this guy, Arctic realized more of the situation. “Great, I’m not really sure what’s going on, and if I have made a mistake, it’s likely Luthor isn’t going to tell me.” He turned to face Sonata while rubbing the back of his head bashfully. “Hey.”
Sonata blinked in surprised. “Uh, yeah?”
“Probably a weird question at this point but has that guy been bothering you?” Arctic asked. “If I’ve genuinely made a mistake, even though I didn’t like the situation, I’d like to know, so I could apologize.”
“Uh… well…” Sonata began uncertain.
She was a little lost since everything kind of just happened, but she slowly began to piece everything together. Ultimately, she lost the one avenue she had in fulfilling the mission she’d been assigned; however, Luthor was providing her another.
“Is this to better appease Dartz?” Ultimately, Sonata decided to just do as Luthor said. “Yeah, he was bothering me a bit because I’d lost my deck.”
“A lost deck?” Arctic asked interested. “What was in it?”
“I use Lyrilusc.” Sonata responded. “They excel at Xyz summoning; however, there is one fusion in there. Regardless of that, all the main deck monsters are level 1. They were in a light blue deck box with purple trim. Oh, there was also a small, red charm hanging off it.”
“I believe I’ve found your deck then.” Arctic stated as he produced the exact deck box she just described. “Is this it?”
“That it!” Sonata snatched the deck box with a smile and quickly looked over the deck. “Everything’s accounted for! Thank you!”
“Yeah, no…” Arctic began.
“I’ve already told you I don’t want to waste any time.” Luthor called out as he now stood atop the red platform. “Let’s settle this.”
“That guy is impatient.” Artic walked to the arena. “Wait here, and I’ll do my best to make sure he leaves you alone.”
“Oh… okay.” Sonata was still a little uncertain, and it was compounded with the return of her deck. “Right, I’ll stay here.”
Luthor watched as his opponent took to the blue side. “While unexpected, having another set of eyes on this is too good to pass up.” He decided on his Ojamas for this duel at least. “Best to give him a chance. If he can’t beat me when I’m not at my best, then this idea can be scrapped.
It’d be unlikely he’d even make it to the castle at that point.” A small smile of satisfaction graced his lips. “If he has the potential to make to the castle, there is the bonus that seeing my current deck will at the very least catch him off guard. That could be amusing.”
“Alright, how many star chips are we betting?” Arctic asked once he made it up to his console.
“Considering you only need two, I think that’s a fair amount to put down.” Luthor responded.
“Agreed.” Arctic returned.
“Let’s Duel!”
(Arctic 2000/Luthor 2000)
“Since you decided to challenge me, I’ll take the first turn.” Luthor drew. “I summon Rescue Cat(LV 4/300/100).” A small cat in a yellow rescue helmet appeared. “Then, I utilize his ability sending him to the grave to special summon 2 level 3 or lower Beasts from my deck.
The condition are that they are destroyed during the End Phase, and their effects, if they have any, are negated. I choose Ojama Black(LV 2/0/1000) and Ojama Green(LV 2/0/1000).” A black monsters and green monster appeared wearing speedos.
“What’s this deck’s thing?” Arctic questioned internally. “I mean, he’s been able to summon quite a bit, but neither of those monsters are strong.”
“Now, I activate Polymerization to combine my Ojamas Black and Green with the Yellow in my hand to bring about the king of all Ojama. Fusion Summon Ojama King(LV 6/0/3000) in defense mode.” A large, white Ojama with a cape appeared.
“Whoa, 3000 DEF!” Arctic had rarely seen a monster with that much DEF before.
“This monster allows me to target three of your monster zones, and you can’t use them as long as King is on the field.” Luthor declared. “I’ll wipe out your two end zones and the middle zone.”
“That’s a perfect monster to get out on your first turn.” Arctic thought as the three zones on his console turned red.
“I’ll then end my turn with one set card.” Luthor declared. “Your move.”
“Right, my turn!” Arctic drew. “I’ll summon Silent Magician LV4(LV4/1000/1000).” A young spellcaster in white and blue robes with white hair appeared. “I then activate Level Up! which allows me to send one monster on the field to the grave.
Then, I can special summon any monster from my hand or deck, that mentions that monster, while ignoring its summoning conditions. I summon the strongest monster within my main deck Silent Magician LV8(LV 8/3500/1000).” A woman in white and blue robes appeared.
“Huh, I didn’t expect someone like him to use feminine cards.” Sonata noted.
“Compared to everyone in the Swords of Doma, that’s not all that impressive; however, it’s certainly more impressive than what most duelist can utilize at this point.” Luthor noted. “For how powerful that card is, my monster is in defense meaning you won’t touch my life points.”
“Are you sure about that?” Arctic smiled. “My monster is one unaffected by your spell cards; however, mine can be freely used. I activate Fairy Meteor Crush and equip it to my Silent Magician allowing her to deal piercing damage. Go, Silent Burning!”
Silent Magician fired off her magic shattering Ojama King (Artic 2000/Luthor 1500).
“Well, looks like duelists have a little more fight in them than I thought or remember.” Luthor thought. “With the destruction of Ojama King, your zones are free.”
“I only needed the two, and I have nothing more I can summon now.” Artic responded. “As such, I will simply set one card to end my turn.”
“My move.” Luthor drew. “I think it’s time I step things up by activating Obedience School. With this, I can special summon 3 Level 2 effect monsters; however, their effects are negated, the monsters summoned through this effect are destroyed at the End Phase, and I’m locked into only being able to special summon Beast monsters this turn.”
“Sounds risky even with Synchro monsters being a thing.” Arctic commented.
“Synchro?” Luthor questioned. “Clearly, you’re unfamiliar with the fact that dueling has evolved since Pegasus introduced it. First, the monsters I special summon are Ojama Red(LV 2/0/1000), Baby Racoon Tantan(LV 2/0/800), and Baby Racoon Ponpoko(LV 2/800/0).”
A red speedo wearing monster, a bulky, bipedal raccoon, and a small racoon appeared. “Now, I overlay my level 2 Ponpoko and Tantan to bring about the racoon with no master to call his own. Xyz Summon Ronin Racoon Sandayu(R 2/O 2/1000/1000).” A red armored racoon appeared.
“Actually, I am familiar with those, but they are still a rarity.” Arctic sweat dropped. “Come to think of it, I probably should have expected Duelist Kingdom to house arguably the largest number of Xyz users at this point.”
“Regardless of that, allow me to show you what my monster can do.” Luthor continued. “By detaching one overlay unit from Ronin Racoon Sandayu(R 2/O 1/1000/1000), I can special summon a Kagemusha Raccoon Token(LV 1/?/0).”
A yellow racoon appeared. “His ATK will become equal to the monster on the field with the highest ATK, and that just happens to be your Silent Magician LV8.” Kagemusha Raccoon Token(LV 1/3500/0 effect).”
“You just got a monster with the ATK of one of my strongest!” Arctic exclaimed in shock.
“That’s not all because I’m activating my face down card Horn of the Phantom Beast.” Luthor continued. “This cards lets me target 1 Beast or Beast-Warrior I control and grant them 800 more ATK. I’ll target my Kagemusha Raccoon Token(LV 1/4300/0 effect).”
“Your token is stronger, but my monster will survive any encounter with it thanks to my face down Dimension Guardian. I target 1 face up ATK position monster I control, and they can’t be destroyed by battle or card effect. I target Silent Magician LV8.”
“In the end, you’ll still take the damage.” Luthor declared. “Kagemusha, attack Silent Magiocian LV8. Through this attack, I activate the quick-play Rush Recklessly which allows me to target one monster I control and increase their ATK by 700 until the End Phase. I target my Token.”
Kagemusha Raccoon Token(LV 1/5000/0 effect)
“Five thousand ATK!” Arctic exclaimed in shock.
The Token slammed into Silent Magician who managed to withstand the attack (Arctic 500/Luthor 1500)
“You probably assume that saving your Silent Magician means you can end this next turn; however, Sandayu can’t be attacked if I control other Beast-type monsters. Even with Ojama Red being destroyed at the End Phase, my token counts as a Beast monster.”
“That means, if I want to beat you, I’ll have to do it by getting over your token one way or another.” Arctic stated.
“Exactly.” Luthor responded. “On that note, I’ll end my turn meaning Ojama Red is destroyed, and my token loses his boost from Rush Recklessly. Your move.”
Kagemusha Raccoon Token(LV 1/4300/0 effect)
“For a scummy guy, he’s skilled.” Arctic admitted to himself before looking at his hand. “Fortune Fairy Ann and Double Summon. Given what I know, none of these cards can help me win this turn and waiting isn’t an option. This guy is just too much for that.
My best bet would be to deal with that token for my Silent Magician to attack that Xyz monster unimpeded.” He placed his hand on his deck. “All I need is one of my cards that can do that. Here goes.” He drew before smiling. “This duel is over!”
“Oh really?” Luthor asked. “How are you going to manage that?”
“I’m manage it because I just drew Fortune Fairy Swee(LV 4/0/0). As we’ve discussed, my Fortune Fairies can be special summoned from the hand, upon being drawn, and then utilize an effect for being summoned in that way.
So, special summon!” A fairy in a blue dress with blue hair appeared. “Her effect is one that will break your defense. When she’s special summoned from the hand, I can target any face up card on the field and banish it until my next Stand-By Phase. Your token is the obvious target.”
“Whoa, he managed to break through Luthor’s wall!” Sonata thought.
“Well, isn’t that something.” Luthor thought.
“Now, Sandayu can be targeted for attacks.” Arctic declared. “Silent Magician LV8, Silent Burning!”
Silent Magician LV8 fired her magic at Sandayu destroying him (Arctic 500/Luthor 0). With the duel concluded, Arctic and Luthor met back on the ground with the former standing between him and Sonata.
“Alright, I won which means you got to leave Sonata alone.” Arctic declared firmly.
“That is what we agreed on.” Luthor passed over the bet star chips. “Along with two star chips. Now, I will take my leave.” He walked away. “The next time we meet, weather I duel you or someone else in that castle, I’ll reveal my true skills and relish the shock that will come.”
Once he was gone, Arctic turned to Sonata. “By the way, what’s your deal with that guy? Why were you on the same island as him?”
“Oh…” Sonata had lost herself for a moment, but she did have a whole duel to come up with something… well, on the grounds that this is what Luthor wanted her to do… she hoped. “Well, we were both sent here by our employer.”
“You’re employer?” Arctic asked.
“Yeah, he wanted one of us to duel in Pegasus’ tournament, and Luthor was the one chosen while I was meant to accompany him. We separated for a bit, and he found me relaxing here which he didn’t like. Well, you saw the saw the results.”
Sonata couldn’t easily lie like her sisters, but she always found it easier to weave as much of the truth into her lie as she could. It made her more believable and made things easier to keep track of.
“Hm, if I had an employer, and they sent me out with a guy like that, I’d be reconsidering my employment opportunities.” Arctic responded.
“Luthor’s not that bad.” Sonata retorted. “He’s just really focused on the mission. As for my employer, I honestly owe him a great deal. My sisters and I would have been lost without his intervention.”
“No matter what you owe this guy, you shouldn’t let him put you into positions like that.” Arctic returned. “I mean, I know sometimes you just got to work with people you may not like, but there’s got to be a line. To me, that guy and your boss both crossed it.”
“Despite misreading the situation, it is sweat how much this guy seems to care about my wellbeing.” Sonata took a deep breath. “Well, I’ll think about what you’ve said, but ultimately I still need to see this mission through to the end.”
“With someone like Luthor on the island, I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting any sort of partner he’d have go it alone.” Arctic crossed his arms. “Considering you were sent with Luthor as your way into the castle,
I got to suspect that’s where your employer wants you to be to observe some dueling. Why not join my brother and I?” He showed his gauntlet. “I mean, unlike him, I’m already in. Also, no one should really go it alone with night coming in.”
Again, Sonata had to assume this is what Luthor wanted. Plus, this seemed like her only real way to stay on the island considering she has seen people without star chips being loaded onto boats which took them away.
“Alright, I’ll join you and your brother for the remainder of the tournament.” Sonata stated.
“Cool, follow me back to our meeting place.” Arctic stated.
Forest: Night…
After Joey collected his star chips and new cards, the gang moved on with the night quickly coming upon them. It was, eventually, unanimously agreed that they’d all set up camp for the night.
“Now that we aren’t out hunting star chips and starting to settle down, I’ve been wondering something.” Yugi voiced.
“What’s on your mind Yugs?” Joey asked.
“Well…” Yugi looked at Sunset not quite sure how to broach this yet deciding he had to. “It’s actually about you Sunset.”
“Hm, me?” Sunset asked.
“Yeah.” Yugi nodded. “I’ve noticed you tend to be a little hard on yourself. I mean like back on the ship when you couldn’t get back my Exodia pieces, or when Mai was being harsh about our friendship.”
Tea looked worriedly from Yugi to Sunset who was clamming up, and letting her gaze drift off to the distance. “Hey Yugi, why don’t we change the subject?”
“I don’t know Tea.” Tristan crossed his arms. “I kind of have been noticing it myself to. Especially when she and Yugi came after me during Joey’s duel. She implied she was ‘weaker’ than any of us. I just didn’t really question it at the time given how conflicted I was over Joey.”
“She said that?” Joey questioned. “That’s doesn’t sound right to me.”
“Guys, I don’t think Sunset wants to…” Tea began.
“No, it’s okay.” Sunset took a deep breath before looking at everyone. “Tea’s only speaking up because I’ve told her most of my past and asked her to let me tell all of you when I was ready. Since I’ve come to consider you all my friends, I think now is the time that I’m ready.
Before I do tell you everything, I want to apologize. Tea, I’m sorry, but I didn’t trust you with the full truth at the time. This was before we had any real dealings with magic, and I was still hesitant about sharing everything given what did happen at my old school.”
“Wait, you’ve had dealings with magic before?” Tea asked.
“I have a lot of experience with magic outside of what we’re dealing with now.” Sunset responded. “Just know I did tattempt to tell you everything without the inclusion of magical elements.”
“Well, given how Joey and Tristan reacted to yours and Yugi’s story about Pegasus, I can’t exactly blame you for not being completely truthful.” Tea looked at Sunset. “Just promise what your about to say will be the complete truth.”
“Of course.” Sunset nodded. “I’m going to tell you all everything…”
After Sunset’s Entire Explanation…
“You’re a magical pony from a different world called Equestria and studied under the closest thing to a mom you can remember?” Tea asked.
“At this point, I don’t know.” Sunset responded. “That’s what I initially thought, but that dream I keep having feels more like a memory every time it happens. I feel like that’s not what I truly am, and I guess Princes Celestia was my mother. To me it just felt like a teacher student thing.”
“Regardless, you ended up leaving her and the place you once considered home.” Tristan continued. “Then, you bullied all Canterlot High, broke friendships, and eventually went back to this Equestria to steal some magic thing. With it you attempted to raise a teenager army.”
“Looking back on it, the magic corrupted my initial plans for the Element of Magic.” Sunset responded. “It doesn’t change what I did, but my initial plan was to utilize the crown to become an Alicorn.”
“After you were beaten by Twilight, and the human versions of her friends, you at least fixed the school.” Joey proceeded. “Not only that, but those girls said they forgave you for your past.”
“I spent months fixing the school, attempting to make amends, they weren’t all that accepting, and hung around the girls who beat me. Well, except for Twilight because she was needed back in Equestria.” Sunset responded.
“Ultimately, everything culminated in Anon-a-Miss, and everyone, even the girls your were thinking of as your friends, thought it was you.” Yugi added. “In the end, the girls who said they’d forgiven you, accepted you as a friend, and even had sleepovers with you discarded you.”
“Honestly, that about sums it up.” Sunset shrugged. “I mean, what the school did certainly hurt, but I don’t exactly blame them after everything I did. I’m more surprised at the people who didn’t partake or seem to think I was Anon-a-Miss.
I will say that the girls tossing me aside hurt worse than anything else, but it’s not like I didn’t deserve any of that from them. Out of everyone, I believe I hurt those five the worst.” She nodded. “Maybe, I just don’t deserve friends in the first place. Maybe it’s too…”
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Yugi interrupted.
“What?” Sunset asked.
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Yugi reiterated. “Sunset, you did a lot wrong, but I don’t think you’re the one responsible for what Anon-a-Miss was doing. That’s not the person I’ve come to know nor the person we met that first day you attended Domino.
All the student body of Canterlot High did was show they learned nothing from Twilight Sparkle. They let Anon-a-Miss divide them just as you once did. No one bothered to notice how different you were. Many probably blinded themselves to it just to get back at you.”
“My thoughts are the same as they were that night, even with the new information, you first told me most of this.” Tea shook her head. “No matter what you think, no one deserves what you went through. Honestly, it’s even worse for those five that claimed to be your friends.
They were meant to teach you what friendship was only to end up tossing you aside at the first signs of a relapse.” She shook her head. “If they honestly thought of you as a friend, rather than just doing what Twilight asked, they’d have tried talking rather than throw you out.”
“I don’t…” Sunset gulped as her eyes watered. “How can you all just accept this… accept what I’ve said… accept me? How can you believe in me after everything I’ve done?”
“That’s just who Tea and Yugi are.” Joey voiced. “Tristan and I weren’t that different from who you were…well, we didn’t have magic or come from some other world…Still, the two us bullied Yugi hard. It all culminated with us taking a piece of his puzzle before he completed it.
I threw it into the water near the school, but even after we did that, Yugi was there for us. We’d been beaten down by a bigger bully, but rather than leave us there, he stepped in to defend us. That day, he showed us what it meant to be a true friend.”
“If anything, even though what you did in the past was wrong, it just means you belong with us more than we ever thought you did.” Tristan continued. “Everything you’ve done since that day we met you only solidifies that you are one of us.”
“Yeah, welcome to the former Bullies Club.” Joey joked with a thumbs up and a grin in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Sunset’s eyes only filled with more tears at their words.
“No matter what you did in the past, what we told you that day I dueled Kaiba still stands.” Yugi declared. “From that day on, we were all friends. Nothing you’ve told us now changes what we’ve already been.”
At this point, Sunset covered her mouth and cried which worried the guys.
“Gah!” Joey exclaimed. “Did we say somethin’ wrong?”
“I don’t know!” Yugi exclaimed.
“Whatever it was, it was probably you, Joey!” Tristan accused.
“No, none of you said anything wrong.” Sunset wiped her eyes and sniffled. “I’m just happy I met all of you. Thank you.”
Sunset felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her chest as she confided in people that genuinely trusted her. Despite there still being many things on her mind, Anon-a-Miss wasn’t really one of them now. Seeing her friends smile as they let her have this moment cemented that.