Hitch's apartment was as tidy as one could picture. Every bit of the waxed wooden floor was dust-free and polished. Had it not been for the slippers tucked neatly by the door, Mona would have feared that he would be stepping on to the equivalent of an ice rink. The counters were wiped down, the plates and cooking ware were neatly stashed away in the various cupboards, and the entire space had the small scent of lavender wafting around.
Hitch bent over and put his shoes on the shoe rack before putting on the slippers. "Alright, just, er, make yourself comfortable, Mona, and I'll get your room ready."
"What?" Mona said, looking up from his phone. "Oh. You don't have to do that for me, Hitch."
"Psssh, nonsense. Sprout's room has been empty for a while, and everything's pretty much all set up already," said Hitch. He opened the door to the bedroom and turned on the light.
Mona immediately noticed that the bedroom seemed rather colorful for someone Sprout's age. The walls were brightly colored blue like the sky, with posters of every animated cartoon TV show Mona had ever heard of. A low bar, but Mona was still impressed. The bedsheets had the image of smiling trains and planes, and the furniture had several miniature trains placed on top. A few things, such as an old computer and monitor, were tucked away in a small corner in a cardboard box. Aside from that, the room was rather spacious. A large window looked out to the east, looking over the city's main streets. Well, as much as a third-floor view can get.
Hitch drew the curtains. "How about you just get settled in? Bathroom is to your left." He smiled and patted Mona's shoulder. "I'll cook up some dinner."
At this point, Mona was too overwhelmed and clouded in the head to refuse. A small pang of guilt came over him. "I....okay."
Hitch nodded and left the room, leaving Mona with his thoughts. Mona sat down on the chair by the desk, staring at the walls. He caught a better look at the posters on the wall. Not all of them were cartoon shows like he initially thought. A few news articles were spotted over the walls. Some were dueling related. but one picture caught his eye. It seemed to be a selfie, with a strange, white, multi-colored hair girl who looked to be on the cusp of adulthood holding the camera. Hitch and Sprout were seen in the back, with three other girls.
The wall had a few other photos of with these mystery friends. Mona looked through them, curious.
Hitch's other friends? he pondered.
From what Mona had been told about happened with Sprout, he figured it would be better not to ask too much about them. Instead, he turned his attention to his deck. Fanning the cards out in front of him, he started swapping his cards with the extras in his duel disk's spare compartment.
"Time to get serious...
About an hour later, Hitch had finished boiling the soup and pulled the bread out of the oven. He set it on the table, filling two bowls with the hot broth of tomato soup, and began cutting up the bread. A gentle fragrance rose from the meal. He sighed.
“That should do it. Mona, you hungry?”
There was no response. Hitch called again, with the same response. He peered into the bedroom, to find Mona asleep over the desk. His deck was still spread out over table, but most of the cards were laid over each other. Surprisingly, a calculator was placed next to the sleeping boy.
Hitch slowly took the blanket from the bed, and gently draped it over Mona’s shoulders. He carefully made sure to avoid scattering the cards laid out, and noticed something. He looked over Mona’s cards and got an idea. Reaching into his own compartment from his own duel disk, he pulled out two cards, placed them on top of Mona’s own cards, and quietly turned off the light.
___________________________________________________________________
The sun peeked through the windows of Trixie’s trailer window. Her phone buzzed a few times with messages. Trixie stretched over her bud, running her fingers through her disheveled hair. A few of the cards around her fell off the bed.
“Ugh,” she groaned, sorting out the cards around her, loosely fitting the cards into her deck slot on her duel disk. Rubbing her eyes, she started stretching more, letting her back crack, and she felt the knots in her back unravel. She checked her phone, a few messages and notifications popping up on screen. All of them were from Hitch. Apparently, Hitch was dropping Mona off at Crystal Prep while he would meet Trixie at their own school.
School…. “FIDDLESTICKS, I’M LATE!”
Trixie scrambled out of bed, shoving her books and papers into her bag. She nearly gagged as she hastily brushed her teeth and washed her face, before slipping on her shoes and locked the door with her bag, and blasted off on her bike. The wind whipped her already messy hair into just a flurry of white hair.
“C’mon, C’mon!” She nearly crashed into the school’s wall as she tried to brake in time, locking her bike and running up the stairs to Canterlot high school, barely having any time to take off her helmet. Her feet were practically flying off as she bolted through the halls, just as the bell was ringing, tumbling into the classroom out of control, and landing in her seat, glistening with sweat.
“Present!” she called out. The teacher looked up from his clipboard, rolling his eyes.
“I haven’t begun attendance, Miss Lulamoon. Stop making such a racket,” he said, scribbling some notes down. Trixie blushed, and caught Hitch sitting in the different corner of the classroom, giving Trixie a smile and a shrug.
“Yes, mister Atlas,” she said, mumbling. “Ugh. I hope Mona’s having better luck than me…”
___________________________________________________________________
Crystal Prep dueling school was known for many things: prestige, fame, and of course, dueling. Having a kind atmosphere was NOT one of those things. Sitting in class, Mona could feel a cold stare coming from almost every direction. He was used to it by now, but today, he was focused on the violet-haired girl giving her presentation in the front of the classroom. She adjusted her black-rimmed glasses as she concluded:
“…thus concludes my presentation on the King of Games,” she said, her emerald eyes gleaming alongside her stone-cold expressions. The class gave a light, half-hearted applause. The teacher simply nodded.
“Very nice, Miss Sparkle. Once again, you have shown a firm grasp on the history of such a core figure in our history. You may be seated.”
The girl simply walked back to her desk, without saying a word. The teacher made marks on his paper before him, before clearing his throat. “Alright, next we have mister Chroma and his presentation on Maximillion Pegasus and the creation of Duel Monsters.”
Mona rose from his seat as the class gave the same half-hearted applause. As he walked by, he slipped a note on the girl’s desk. She raised her eyebrow as Mona walked to the front. She lowered her hands and head to read the note under her desk.
“Twilight, meet me after class. Please. – Mona”
Twilight looked up as Mona began his presentation. “To understand the story of Maximillion Pegasus we must understand that duel monster’s did not originate with him, but rather, a group of ancient individuals, as a means of protecting the Millenium Items….”
Twilight scoffed. “Is this a joke?” she thought to herself. She watched as Mona proceeded through the presentation, going on about the ancient history of the card game, thinking about the message. Of all people, why would Mona come to her? Her curiosity got the better of her, and as soon as his presentation ended and was returning to his seat, she gave him an acknowledging nod.
A few more boring presentations later, the bell rung to dismiss the class. A bunch of students sighed in relief, getting up and leaving the classroom as soon as possible. Twilight exited the classroom to see Mona, leaning against his locker, giving her a small wave, with a stern expression on his face. She walked up to him, gently pushing him to the side to open her locker.
“Chroma,” she said, without looking at him directly. “I hope what you have to say is important, otherwise, you’re wasting my time.”
“I’ll cut to the chase” he said, closing the locker, catching Twilight off guard. “Look, I think you might be in danger.”
Twilight’s eyes twitched, partially in anger, and partially to hold in a laugh. “Excuse me?”
“Put simply, my sister has been going on a rampage,” said Mona, keeping his voice quiet. “I think she’s after every Number monster. Including yours.”
“Tempest?” Twilight tilted her head. “Why?”
Mona threw his hands up, putting them behind his neck in exhaustion. “I don’t know. But she’s recently started dueling with a lot more hostility. Her recent duel has ended with her opponent in a coma.”
“I’m worried for you, Twilight,” he added.
Twilight seemed to process all this, as if she was trying to solve a difficult math problem. She shook her head. “So what? You want me to just give up my ace? Fat chance.” She brushed past Mona, shaking her head. “Tempest would stand no chance against me.”
Mona quickly grabbed Twilight’s shoulder. “This is serious. I’m not asking you to give up anything, but I am asking you to be careful. My friends and I are going to-“
“You have friends?” Twilight asked bluntly. Mona paused, taken aback.
“Ouch,” he said. Before he could get his offer out for her to hear, they were interrupted by the voice of a younger boy.
“Twilight?” The boy who spoke up seemed to be around 10 or 11, with long green hair that was somewhat spiky. He was wearing a purple hoodie that was slightly oversized for him, with a long of cotton “scales” lining the back. The hood had fake eyes and teeth sewn onto it, so that when pulled up, it would look like a little roaring dragon. The boy shyly approached the two, and quickly held Twilight’s arm. “Who’s this?”
“Just an associate, Spike,” said Twilight, patting the boy’s head. “Nothing to worry about.”
She noticed Mona’s confusion and cleared her throat. “Chroma, this is my little brother, Spike. Spike, Mono Chromatic.”
Mona was still slightly taken aback by this sudden introduction, and waved. “H-hey.” He looked back to Twilight. “You never told me you had a sibling besides Shining.”
“Spike is adopted,” she responded bluntly. A worried glance came over Mona, until he saw Spike nod in confirmation. He relaxed slightly, and shook his head.
“I’m sorry….” He mumbled. “He’s lucky to have a sister like you.”
Twilight was visibly unprepared for such a statement, and a small blush appeared on her cheeks. “He means a lot to me. I don’t believe in luck, I believe in conviction and dedication. Something you clearly lack.”
There was a long silence in the air, before Twilight sight. “Thank you for the warning, but I will not simply give up my Number card. Not to you, not to Tempest, not to anyone.”
Mona looked at Twilight, then at Spike. The young boy took a step to hide slightly behind Twilight, but his eyes shone with the same steely look Twilight had. Flashes and memories went through Mona’s head. He could almost hear Tempest’s voice in the background of his mind, as he nodded. “I get it. I won’t force you into anything. Just know that my sister is relentless.”
Twilight nodded, and turned. “I hope you all the best, Chroma,” she said, walking down the hall.
___________________________________________________________________
“I tried my best. Twilight seems unconvinced.”
The message on Trixie’s phone caused her to sigh as she read it. On the one hand, she felt relieved that Mona managed to get in touch with his classmate. After all, even if the warning was ignored, it was sure to put Twilight on guard. On the other hand, it just meant that the risk of Tempest coming for Twilight next was all the higher.
None of that, however, could change the fact that Trixie still had to reconcile with Fluttershy, of all people.
“This is so dumb,” she mumbled to herself. “How could Fluttershy possibly have a Number card? I’ve barely ever seen her duel.”
Her constant muttering complaints did not go unnoticed, and a few of her peers cast sideways looks at her as she walked through the halls. One such peer was particularly alerted by Trixie’s ramblings upon Fluttershy’s name, and without hesitation, slipped into the crowd of students to follow her.
By now, the school day had ended, and the hallways were packed with students discussing their next assignments and homework, or how much they wanted to forget such things. Outside, several students were engaged in duels all over the courtyard, or trading cards on the bleachers. Some students were simply spectating the duels happening before them, simply content to watch for now.
One such student was a pale-yellow toned girl, dressed in nothing more than a white tee and green skirt and black shoes. Her pink hair fell gently over her shoulders, with a white lily placed on top of her head. Her emerald eyes shone like crystals as she gently stroked the white rabbit in her arms. To many, she was an absolute angel.
To Trixie, just a girl too shy to even introduce herself. A part of her was jealous Fluttershy barely had to do anything to get the attention of nearly every boy at the school, while Trixie couldn’t even get her peers to applaud at her magic tricks. Then again, maybe personality had to do with it.
Fluttershy glanced up at Trixie’s arrival and flinched. She turned away, letting her hair hide her face.
“Oh…h-hello, Lulamoon,” she said in a quiet voice. The rabbit hopped out of her arms, nestling itself comfily in Fluttershy’s bag under her seat.
Trixie took a deep breath, and sat down on the seat next to her. “So. How are you?” she asked, trying to ease her way into the conversation.
“Fine…” Fluttershy muttered. She continued to avoid eye contact with Trixie, who was starting to lose her patience already.
The girl huffed in exasperation. She didn’t want to drag out this conversation more than needed, so instead, Trixie decided to go for the direct approach. “I know about your Number card.”
This time, Fluttershy turned her head and looked at Trixie’s face. A look of slight worry came over her, and she curled her knees slightly.
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Fluttershy quietly.
“Oh, come on. You can stop lying, Pinkie Pie told me about it.”
“Pinkie said that? I…I don’t know what you mean.”
Now, Trixie was annoyed. “Look, I don’t have time for this. Can you just-“
She was ready to raise her tone, when a different voice arose from the bleacher behind them. “Oi. Sparkles. She’s doesn’t know about it.”
Both girls turned to look behind them. Sitting on the bleachers and munching on a bag of potato chips was a similarly aged girl in a zipped-down sky-coloured hoodie. Her shorts hung down to her knees, with the rest of her leg covered in tube socks and soccer shoes. Her hair flowed down to her lower back, and seemed to go through the whole color wheel, going from red to yellow to green to violet the further to the right it went.
Fluttershy recognized her immediately. “Rainbow Dash?” she said quietly. “I thought you had soccer practice today.”
“It got cancelled. Coach Wheeler ran into a problem with his car, so he’s letting us go for the evening,” said Rainbow. Her eyes kept trained on Trixie, who glared back at her. The air between them suddenly went cold.
“Dash,” said Trixie, with a defiant tone. “I know how this must seem, but I assure you, I have GOOD REASON to ask.”
“Oh, sure~”, said Rainbow, rolling her eyes. “And I’m sure if I look up, there’s gonna be a pig just gliding overhead.”
“Seriously?” thought Trixie. It had only been a few seconds, but Trixie knew that Rainbow wasn’t changing her stance on things.
Fluttershy glanced between the girls nervously, attempting to speak up. Her quiet pleas were ignored as Rainbow stood up and descended to the seat between Fluttershy and Trixie.
“Just leave her out of whatever it is you’re planning, Trix,” said Rainbow, wrapping her arm around Fluttershy, who seemed to lean into it. Her cold steely glare never broke eye contact with Trixie.
“Argh, that’s it!” Trixie finally stood up and readied her duel disk. “I’m trying to help you! Her Number card is gonna lure in some very bad people, okay?”
“Like you?” said Rainbow, standing up, with her own duel disk ready.
Fluttershy was in full-panic mode, her eyes widening as the other two slotted their decks into their duel disks. “Guys, p-please don’t-!”
Rainbow smirked and patted Fluttershy’s head. “Hey, it’s okay,” she said, softly. “We’ll be fine. I’m just gonna make sure sparkle fingers here leaves you alone.”
“R-rainbow, I-“
“Fine by me!” said Trixie. The two girls made their way down the bleachers and into an open arena. “But if I win, you HAVE to listen to me!”
“I’ll end this duel in ten seconds flat…” said Rainbow, smirking. “You don’t stand a chance!”
Fluttershy sat closer to the arena, feeling slightly deflated. A pounding in her head began to arise….
“DUEL!”
Rainbow’s LP ----- > 8000
Trixie’s LP ----- > 8000
________________________________________________________________________
Twilight held Spike’s hand as she walked down the busy sidewalk, full of other students eager to go home. Spike seemed tired after a long day of classes, and yawned as Twilight guided him back to their apartment. This time, however, she seemed to be holding Spike’s hand tighter than normal, though she wasn’t sure why. She was thinking back on Mona’s warning, brushing it off as nothing more than just a simple mind game to throw her off.
Or, she tried to. No sooner had she thought of that theory, her brain shot it down. Mona had nothing to gain from throwing her off. They were on decent, albeit neutral, terms with each other, and while Mona was a fine student, her grades and reputation excelled his by a mile. She shouldn’t be worried about some sibling of his trying to duel her. Right?
She decided to take her mind off things and turn her attention to Spike.
“So,” she asked Spike as they stopped in front of the traffic light. “Anything interesting happen today?”
Spike nodded happily. “I got to duel my friends again.”
“Oh? How did that go?”
“Won them, three for three,” said Spike. “It got really close, though.”
Twilight laughed slightly at this. “Nice. You’ve really grown over the years. I remember when I gave you that deck, you were so confused about their effects in the battle phase. Sheou especially gave you trouble.”
The light turned green as Spike nodded. “It’s mostly thanks to your coaching, sister.”
“Speaking of which,” he added. “My friends are wondering if you could coach them. You know, just to help them get better.”
“The girls?” Twilight asked, raising her eyebrow. “I suppose I could spare some time for them. If they’ll pay me.” She winked at this last part.
Spike laughed along. “Come on, Twily…” he said. The two rounded a corner as they continued to laugh and chat. For a brief moment, Twilight felt the knot in her stomach begin to unwind, each time Spike laughed or smiled as they walked along. She lived for these moments of calmness, where she could forget all about her problems and just be…her.
The sense of calm suddenly vanished when Twilight felt a chill up her spine. A sense of nervousness permeated the air around her, and her eyes widened. Though the crowd of people, near the entrance to a dark alley between two tall buildings, stood an elder girl, staring at Twilight with piercing violet eyes. She was leaning against the building, arms folded, and her jacket tied around her waist. Her hair was combed over her eye, almost like a mohawk on its side. She smirked, and raised and twitched her finger, beckoning her to follow as she entered the alleyway.
Spike saw the figure and held Twilight’s hand tighter. Twilight took a sharp breath, and slowly made her way into the alley. “Stay close, Spike….”
Tempest smiled when she saw that her prey had accepted the challenge. “You look scared, dear,” she said, in a half-snarl. “My guess is Mona warned you about me, right?”
Twilight drew her duel disk from her back, her eyes fixed on Tempest. “I’m not scared of you, Shadow. Turn around and leave before things get messy.”
“Not scared?” said Tempest. “Then clearly, my brother didn’t warn you enough.” Her duel disk beeped as she slid in her deck. The automated duel disks began to speak.
“Special duel challenge: 2 – on – 1 duel rules ready”
Both girls looked at their duel disks in confusion. “Two-on-one? Why is –“ Twilight cut herself off when she saw Spike getting his own duel disk at the ready.
“Spike, no!” A look of panic spread over Twilight’s face. Spike’s fear was replaced a look of steadfast determination as he stared Tempest down.
“You’re not gonna hurt my big sis. Not on my watch!” he said, drawing five cards from his deck.
Tempest’s eyes widened in surprise, before she started laughing, until her eyes were watering. “Oh, that’s ADORABLE!” she laughed, wiping her eyes. “Fine then. I’ll break BOTH of you in one go….” She pressed a few buttons on her duel disk, and drew her own cards.
“Duel Challenge accepted.”
Twilight turned her attention to back to Tempest, but not before giving Spike a nod. “Follow my lead, okay?”
She knew she couldn’t stop Spike, but the least she could do is keep him out of harm’s way. She accepted the challenge prompt on her duel disk, and drew her cards.
“DUEL!”
Tempest’s LP ----- > 8000
Twilight’s LP ----- > 8000
Spike’s LP ----- > 8000
________________________________________________________________________
“My move!” said Rainbow, as she picked up a card from her hand. “I’ll play my spell card Speedroid Scratch! I’ll send Speedroid Ultra Hound from my hand to the graveyard, to add Speedroid Terrortop from my deck to my hand.”
She smiled as she placed the card her deck ejected onto the duel disk. “When I control no monsters, I can special summon Speedroid Terrortop from my hand!” (Level 3, 1200/600) A long, centipede-like monster consisting of round orbs and spikes appeared onto the field. “When he’s summoned, I get to add one Speedroid monster from my deck to my hand. And the card I’ll add is Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice!”
Trixie sighed. She had seen Rainbow duel before, and knew this combo line very well. She ignored the urge to just roll her eyes and pull out her phone and focused on her own hand.
“Next, I’ll summon Red-Eyed Dice!” (Level 1, 100/100) An six-sided dice with eyes on each side appeared next to Terrortop, and began rolling in the air. “When Dice is summoned, I can change the level of one other Speedroid I control to a level between one and six. I’m raising Terrortop’s level to six!”
The dice stopped rolling, and glowed bright red. Terrortop began to glow red in unison. (Level 3 à Level 6) “I’m just getting started! I’m tuning my level 6 Terrotop and level 1 Red-Eyed Dice!”
The two monsters glowed brightly, before shooting into the sky like beams of light, and unifying above Rainbow, as she chanted, “Dragon of crystal wings, shine through the sky like a shooting star, and illuminate the path to victory, stretching on forever! Go, Level 7! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!”
(Level 7, 2500/2000) A whit dragon, lined with green and blue highlights, and blazing blue eyes descended from the pillar of light, roaring with power as it’s shining wings glowed bright.
“How about that?” said Rainbow, smirking. “I’ll set two cards face down to end my turn! Your move, Trix.”
“Don’t call me that….” Trixie mumbled, drawing a card from her deck. Fluttershy watched the duel with interest, and her headache was starting to fade. “Rainbow already has one of her best cards on the field…that’s just like her to go all out from the start….” she thought.
Trixie looked down at her hand and smiled. “Crystal Wing… I know what it does. Which means, I know how to beat it. Let’s hope this works…”
________________________________________________________________________
Spike slammed a card onto his duel disk. “To start off, I’ll summon Kitchen Dragonmaid!” (Level 3, 500/1700) A red-haired woman dressed in a maid outfit descended onto the field with her tiny wings on her back, bowing politely as she landed. “When she’s summoned, I can add a Dragonmaid monster from my deck to my hand, then send a Dragonmaid monster from my hand to the graveyard.”
Spike scanned through his options. “I’ll be adding Chamber Dragonmaid to my hand, and pitching Dragonmaid Tinkhec from my hand. Next, I’ll set one card and activate my quick-play spell, Dragonmaid Send-Off! By returning Kitchen Dragonmaid to my hand, I can special summon a different Dragonmaid from my hand. I’ll summon Chamber Dragonmaid.” (Level 4, 500/1800)
The red-haired maid vanished, replaced with a slightly older, white-haired maid with the same outfit. Tempest raised her eyebrow. “Maids? Really? You got some kind of special interests, kid?”
Spike ignored the comment. “Chamber Dragonmaid let’s me add one Dragonmaid spell or trap from my deck to my hand. I’ll add the spell, Dragonmaid Changeover.”
“I’ll end my turn by setting one card face-down,” Spike added, then nodded at Twilight.
Twilight gave a nod back. Tempest, meanwhile laughed as she stared down the two. “That’s it? This is gonna be easier than I thought.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “I’ll draw next. I’ll summon Buzzsaw Shark, attack position.” (Level 4, 1600/500). A shark with a motor revving on its head rose from the ground, ready to tear through its prey. “I activate his effect. I can target one WATER monster I control, and special summon another water monster from my deck with a different name, but their effects cannot be activated. I’ll summon Right-hand Shark.” (Level 4,1500/1300) A razor-toothed shark, round and spiked near its tail, splashed out of Twilight’s deck.
Twilight adjusted her glasses. “Since I control a water monster, I can special summon Silent Sea Nettle from my hand.” (Level 4, 800/1300) A large, jellyfish-like creature appeared before the field. “With the same conditions, I can also special summon Silent Angler from my hand, but I cannot special summon any monsters from my hand for the rest of the turn.” (Level 4, 800/1400) A large anglerfish, with its lure glowing bright and it’s jaw open, burst from the ground, and Twilight smirked.
“I shall first overlay my Silent Angler and Silent Sea Nettle to XYZ summon,” declared Twilight. The two monsters became absorbed into the swirling pool of stars that formed beneath them, like a whirlpool.
“Land and sea merge to create a viscous hunter of both worlds. Behold, Bahamut Shark!” (Rank 4, 2600/2100)
A blue-tinged shark, mutated with arms and legs, stood before Tempest. Its white eyes gleamed with energy, and it gave a deafening roar. It extended its claws as Twilight said, “By detaching one overlay unit from Bahamut Shark, I can special summon a Rank 3 or lower Water monster straight from my extra deck. Go, Toadally Awesome!” (Rank 2, 2200/0) A giant white toad appeared onto the field, followed by a white frog landing on top of it. A small round orange was on his back.
“Finally, I’ll use the remaining Buzzsaw Shark and Right-hand Shark to XYZs summon once more!” The swirling storm of stars appeared as the two sharks dove into the abyss.
“This feeling….here comes her number card” Tempest thought to herself smiling.
Twilight’s glasses shone as a monstrous shadow rose from behind her and Spike, covering the alleyway. The whole duel field went from the dry concrete of the city to a watery wasteland.
“The portal to hell lies at the bottom of the sea, and the guardian who drags sinners down into their watery demise spares no quarter! Come forth, Number 4! Stealth Kragen!” (Rank 4, 1900/1500)