//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 - Relinquished Souls // Story: Ranking Up to Infinity // by Mona_Chromatic //------------------------------// Trixie rolled her shoulder as she got her cards in place. She placed one of the card in her hand onto her duel disk and grinned. "Alright, here goes! I'm activating my field spell, Magician's Salvation!" A bright white ring appeared beneath the field, encircling the two of them. It spun in place before slowing down, revealing the runes that line the edges of the circle. Trixie pulled a card out of her deck, and said, "When this card is activated, I can set one 'Eternal Soul' directly from my deck!" The card appeared, lying face flat on the field, and immediately, Rainbow pressed a button on her duel disk. One of her own cards flipped up, and shone brightly. "Ha! Gotcha! I'm activating the quick-play spell, Cosmic Cyclone!" said Rainbow, smirking to herself. A bolt of lightning appeared from the card, blasting Trixie's freshly set card off the field. "At the cost of 1000 life points, I can banish one spell or trap from the field!" Rainbow's LP: 8000 ------> 7000 Trixie looked at her hand again, then smiled. "Alright, then. Let's try this: I'm playing the spell card, Pot of Prosperity! I'll banish 3 cards from my extra deck, to look at the top 3 cards of my deck, add one to hand, then shuffle the rest to the bottom of my deck. After that, all damage my opponent takes is halved." Trixie selected her cards, from her duel disk, and set them in the banished zone. Three cards appeared before her on her display. After a brief moment, she chose one. "I'll now summon this card! Apprentice Illusion Magician!" (Level 6, 2000/1700). A tanned woman appeared onto the field, wand at the ready. She bore clothes similar to the Dark Magician Girl, but Rainbow didn't know this. Fluttershy did. She felt a small nervous chill up her back. "I can special summon her by discarding one card from my hand. Upon summon, she can add one 'Dark Magician' from deck to hand." Rainbow smirked, and pressed a button on her duel disk. "Nice try, but now I can do this! Go, Clear Wing!" The white, metal dragon roared, and it's wings spread across the field. Beams of light shot out from the tips of the wings, blasting everything that came across their path. The light pierced the magician, and once the light show was over, Trixie's monster was no more. "When my opponent activates the effect of a level 5 or higher monster, I can negate the effect and destroy it! Then, Clear Wing can absorb the destroyed monster's attack points". The dragon began to glow from the wings, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon: 2500 -----> 4500 Trixie smiled. "Well then. Not half bad. But what if I do this!" She placed another card on the field. "I'm activating the continuous spell, Dark Magical Circle!" Another ring, similar to before, glowed from Trixie's feet, and expanded around the field. "When this card is activated, I can search the top 3 cards from my deck to my hand, and if the Dark Magician or a card that mentions him is among them, I can add it to my hand." She skimmed the top of her deck, and took one of the cards into her other hand. Trixie smirked, looking over her hand. "I'm now gonna activate effect of Bystial Druidswurm from my hand! I banish one Dark monster from either graveyard to special summon him from my hand! I'll banish my own Apprentice Illusion Magician from my graveyard to play him in attack mode!" (Level 6, 2500/2000) Dust rose from the ground as a winged, blue dragon with red eyes materialized on the field. The two dragons roared at each other, screeching as they attempted to coerce the other into backing down. "And to top things off," said Trixie, grinning deviously, "I'm activating my quick-play spell, Secrets of Dark Magic! With this, I can fusion summon using a Dark Magician or Dark Magician girl from my hand, and another monster on the field!" Druidswurm vanished from the field, into a swirling pool of energy. Trixie's Dark Magician appeared from Trixie's hand to join it. Rainbow let out a small grunt as a forceful blast of hot wind shot out from the vortex, as Trixie began her chant. "Dark sorcery and draconic forces, combine together to form the king of primordial powers! Come forth, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon!"(Level 8, 3000/2500) The figure that leapt from the swirling energy landed with such force that Fluttershy felt the ground shake. Several other students in the other dueling fields stopped to stare in awe at him: a pale man with strong figure, clasped head to toe in black and gold armor, emblazoned with rubies that gleamed in the sun. In his hand was a jewel-encrusted spear, towering over Clear Wing. Rainbow took a step back, not in fear, but in awestruck wonder. "What the.... when did you get THAT card?!" "You like it? Meet me ace in the hole - Mr. Dark Dragoon himself!" Trixie cackled, before calming herself down and clearing her throat. "Ahem.... you like it?" "OH, THAT'S SO COOL!" said Rainbow. She took a moment to collect herself before smirking. "I mean, as cool as he is, he's not beating Clear Wing." "Oh, I'm not done. I activate the effect of Bystial Druiswurm in my graveyard!" said Trixie. "When he's sent from the field to the graveyard, I can target one monster my opponent controls and send it to the graveyard as well!" In that moment, several clawed fingers rose from the ground, clutching onto Clear Wing. Rainbow let out a low growl, before declaring, "It won't work. I activate Clear Wing's other effect! When a monster effect targets it, once per turn,I can negate that effect!" Bright pillars of light shone from Clear Wing's back, piecing the claws and causing them to retreat back into the ground. Rainbow wiped the sweat off her brow. "Phew... that was a close one." "I activate the effect of Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon!" said Trixie, pointing at Rainbow. "Once per turn, I can target and destroy one monster my opponent controls! And when I do, I can inflict damage equal to that monster's original attack points!" Rainbow's eyes widened as she watched Trixie's monster lower it's spear, coursing with red lightning. A bolt shot straight through Clear Wing as it cried in pain, before shattering in an explosion of metal. The force pushed her back a few paces. Rainbow's LP: 7000------> 5750 "Now, I'll attack you directly with Dark Dragoon! Infernal Dark Magic Attack!" The black warrior raised his spear again and rushed towards Rainbow. The impact of the blast could be felt all the way to the bleachers, causing Fluttershy to cover her eyes. Rainbow's LP: 5750------> 4250 Rainbow chuckled as she dusted herself off. "Was that all you got?" Rainbow cracked her neck as she spoke. Trixie sighed and took one cards from her hand. "I set one card face-down and end my turn," said Trixie. Rainbow took the top card of her deck, and added it to her hand dramatically. "I draw!" "What a showboat..." thought Trixie. Rainbow glanced at the card in her hand, and smiled. "You're not half-bad, y'know? That monster you got is pretty infamous for being indestructible." Trixie smiled and nodded. "Untargetable, and indestructible to card effects". "Well, keep telling yourself that. 'Cause I just found a way to get rid of it and win!" said Rainbow. She pumped her fist. "This duel is mine!" ____________________________________________________________________ Stealth Kragen drifted down on the field, it's tendrils extending in all directions. Twilight adjusted her glasses. "So long as Number 4 remains on the field," said Twilight. "All monsters on the field are given the WATER attribute. I'll set one card face down and end my turn." Tempest eyed the field carefully as she drew from her deck. She tapped her duel disk several times, eyeing each card right now. Smiling, she glanced up at Twilight. "That face-down card....that's Gozen Match, isn't it?" Twilight flinched, but remained silent. This didn't go unnoticed by Tempest. "I knew it. I've seen this kind of combo before. A card that forces both players to play one kind of card, and a floodgate to lock me out. It's not half-bad." Spike looked on nervously. "Hey...you're not cheating, are you?" Tempest shook her head. "Oh, my dueling is the real deal. And my experience will crush you like a roach!" She slammed a card on the field. A blinding light covered the field. The air around them suddenly became hot and dry, and Twilight's eyes widened. "This...this is ...!" Twilight gasped. Toadally Awesome and Stealth Kragen were suddenly enveloped by molten rock that rose up from the ground, turning them into black pieces of charcoal almost instantly. The lava rose into a hill, growing a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Spike glanced down at his duel disk, looking at the new monster that had appeared on the field, replacing his sister's ace monsters. "To summon Lava Golem..." said Tempest, "...I can special summon him onto my opponent's side of the field, by tributing two of my opponents monsters. Unfortunately, during this turn, I cannot normal summon a monster." Twilight lowered her head slightly, still glaring at Tempest. "I... I activate the effect of Toadally Awesome. When he's sent to the graveyard, I can return one WATER monster to my hand. Or, since I'm returning Stealth Kragen, he goes back into my extra deck." "You'll never get the chance to use it again," said Tempest, smirking. "I activate the spell, Cosmic Cyclone! At the cost of 1000 life points, I can banish one spell or trap card one my field." She points at Spike. "I'll take care of that pretty little trap you've got there." A bolt of lightning struck from the sky, and Spike watched in silent despair as his card was taken off the field. Tempest checked her duel disk screen again. "Dragonmaind tidying, huh? That's annoying." She smiled as she picked two cards from hand. "By discarding one card, I can special summon Gimmick Puppet Bisque Doll from my hand!"(Level 8, 1000/1000) A rattled, cracked porcelain doll rose from the ground, slumped over and twitching. "Next, since my opponent controls a monster, and all monsters I control are Gimmick Puppets, I can special summon Gimmick Puppet Magnet Doll from my hand!" (Level 8, 1000/1000) The metal doll skeleton clattered to the ground, limply, twitching like the other one. "I overlay my two monsters together!" The ground shook and rumbled as Twilight and Spike watched as a black void sucked in the two dolls, before exploding in a flash of red light. "Oh, puppet who controls the strings of fate! Lead these fools into their doom, and shatter their hearts with your blade that brings despair! COME, NUMBER 40, GIMMICK PUPPET OF STRINGS!"(Rank 8, 3000/2500) The giant puppet rose from the ground, blade in hand, hair billowing in the wind. Spike took a step back in fear, and Twilight froze in horror. Tempest raised her arm. "I activate the effect of Gimmick Puppet of Strings! By detaching one overlay unit, I place one String counter on all other monsters." The figure raised it's sword and, barely glistening in the light, Twilight could spot thin wires being placed onto both the Lava Golem and the Dragonmaid on their fields."Now comes the fun part....I activate this spell card! Rank-up Magic Barian's force!" Twilight grimaced. "What?! What is that?!" She backed away. "That card...I thought it was just a myth!" Tempest glared and grinned. "Dead wrong! It's real, and it's here to annihilate you! With this card, I can take one XYZ's monster on my field and evolve it into an XYZ's monster that is one rank higher!" The mannequin began to shift and change, and it's skin went from pale to black, and the sword glowed red. "Break this world in two! Spread discourse among the people and eradicate hope from thier lives! COME, CHAOS NUMBER 40, GIMMICK PUPPET OF DARK STRINGS!"(Rank 9, 3000/2500) The new monster roared as power surged through it. Shockwaves pushed Twilight and Spike backwards, watching as it towered over both of them. "I activate the effect of Chaos number 40! When summoned, I destroy all monsters with string counters, then inflict damage equal to the attack points of the monster that was destroyed by this effect. Lava Golem has 3000 attack, meaning you two take 3000 points of damage!" A massive explosion erupted from the ground, and Twilight let out and audible scream as the heat burned her arm. Singed marks were spotted all over her wrist and fingers. "Twilight!" Spike cried in fear. Twilight's LP: 8000 --------> 5000 Spike's LP: 8000 --------> 5000 "Oi! Kid!" said Tempest, pointing at herself. "You're eyes should be on me." Twilight staggered to her feet, groaning. "W-what was that? This is just a simulation....why did that hurt?" "Welcome to the world of real dueling, kids!" said Tempest. "Where losing hurts, and you're gonna like it!" She raise her arm and added. "I'm activating my equip spell, String of Destiny, and equip it to Dark Strings!" The sword in the hand of Tempest's monster turned red. The metal groaned as it stretched out, becoming a dreadful-looking cleaver. "Now, I'll attack your life points directly with Chaos number 40! Go! STRINGS OF FATE!" Dust kicked up from the alleyway, as the puppet swung the sword overhead, knocking Twilight and Spike back on their backs. Twilight barely could hear her own duel disk beeping as her life points dropped. Twilight's LP: 5000 --------> 2000 Tempest smiled. "Now comes the fun part. I activate the effect of String of Destiny! When the equipped monster has attacked, I can send the top card from my deck to the graveyard, and if it's a monster, Dark Strings can attack a number of times equal to that monster's level!" Spike backed away, looking at the field on his duel disk. "This can't be real... I have to do something!...But what?!" Twilight's eyes widened in fear. "Rank eights...monster reliant... she's betting so much, and yet... she's completely calm?" Tempest cackled, taking her time as she slowly drew from her deck. She raised it up and smiled. "Gimmick Puppet Twilight Joker... how fitting. Twilight Sparkle, ace duelist, is nothing but a joke." "It's level is eight. That means..." Tempest continued, smiling as she sent the card from her hand to the grave. "I can attack eight times this turn!" Twilight's eyes widened in fear, turning to her brother right before Tempest yelled out, "Battle! First attack!" The first swing of the sword came, and Twilight let out a scream of pain, her duel disk flatlining. Spike's eyes widened in horror, as he watched his sister lie next to him, still as stone. Twilight's LP: 2000 --------> 0 "Twilight....Twilight!" cried Spike, dropping to his knees. "C'mon, get up!" "There's no point..." said Tempest. "Second attack!" The sword came again, and Spike found himself being flung against the wall from the impact. Spike's LP: 2000 --------> 0 Spike slowly rose to his feet, as his duel disk flatlined. "Le-leave us alone...." Tempest cackled. "Oh...how cute," She raised her arm. "Third attack...." Spike's eyes widened. "Th-the duel's over! Why isn't the simulation ending?!" The impact shook him out of his thoughts, his cards scattering all over the alley. Tempest was now laughing uncontrollably! "It's like throwing around a ragdoll! Fourth attack!". This time, Twilight's limp body was flung into Spike's. "What's wrong?! Get up and make this fun for me! Fifth attack!" Another explosion rocked the alleyway, and the only voice that could be heard was Tempest's, laughing in between the following rumbling explosions. ____________________________________________________________________ "I can special summon Gadarla, the Mystery Dust Kaiju, to my opponent's field by tributing one monster they control!" said Rainbow. "What?! A kaiju?!" Trixie watched as her Dark Dragoon was suddenly slammed by as fuzzy, insect-like creature. Pollen drifted down from the wings, and fell onto the magician's skin. Dark Dragoon vanished from the field, leaving only a flying, giant moth in it's place. (Level 7, 2700/1600) "Here goes!" said Ranbow. "I'll normal summon Speedroid Doube Yoyo!" (Level 4, 1400/1400) A spinning yellow top appeared onto the field, before slowing down and letting it's "arms" dangle: two pieces of string with round wooden yoyos at the ends. "When it's summoned, I can special summon one Speedroid monster from my graveyard. Come back, Speedroid Red-eyed Dice!" The eight-sided dice appeared back onto the field once more. "When Red-eyed dice appears on the field, I can change the level of one other Speedroid monster on my field to a level between 1-6. I'm changing the level of my Speedroid Double Yoyo to level 2!" (Level 4 ------> Level 2) "I'm tuning my level 2 Double Yoyo and my level one Red-eyed Dice! I'll synchro summon!" The distant sound of a motor roaring to life could be heard, as a pillar of light shone behind Rainbow, as she chanted: "Let's go, faster and faster, racing for the stars! Let's go, the synchro tuner, Hi-Speedroid Cork Shooter!" (Level 3, 500/1000) Out of the pillar came out an object that remined Trixie of an old toy she had. A toy rifle, white and long, with a wide barrel. Rainbow smirked, as she pressed several buttons on her duel disk. "I'm activating Cork Shooter's effect! When summoned, since all my monsters used for it's material were Speedroids, I can special summon it's material back onto the field! Come back, Double Yoyo and Red-eyed dice!" Out of the barrel, Rainbow's monsters shot out, and descended back onto the field. "I'm activating Red-eyed Dice's effect again! This time, I'm changing Double Yoyo's level to 6!" (Level 4 ------> Level 6) "Now, I'm synchro summoning again! I'm tuning Red-eyed dice and Double Yoyo to make a new monster!" The field began to glow white as Rainbow declared. "Let's go! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon's twin! Clear Wing Fast Dragon!" (Level 7, 2500/2000) A white dragon, very similar to Clear Wing, descended onto the field. The only slight differences was a the shape of the wings: while Clear Wing Synchro dragon's wings were scattered and clear, while this one was white and wide. "Rainbow..." Fluttershy said, looking on in awe. "Now, I'm tuning Clear Wing's Fast dragon and Cork Shooter together!" said Rainbow, much to Trixie's dismay. A giant beam of light appeared behind Rainbow, who cracked her knuckles. "Time to go all the way! Faster than fast! Quicker than quick! Outspeed the light and shatter the darkness! Level 10, Crystal Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!" A giant white metal dragon descended onto the field. The black interior of the dragon under the creature's armor shifted as it swayed down onto the field. Trixie backed away from the creature, in fear and awe. Rainbow laughed and said, "You showed me my ace, now meet mine! Battle!" The dragon fired a beam of white light from it's mouth, scorching the moth and the ground around it. Trixie covered her eyes from the dust that spun up from the impact. Trixie's LP: 8000 -------> 7700 "Dammit...", thought Trixie. "I was hoping Dragoon could hold me out, but .... now I'm down to only one card in hand." "Well?" said Rainbow. "It's your move!" Trixie sighed and drew from her deck. "I'll set one card face-down and end my turn..." Rainbow drew from her deck. "My turn." She looked down at her hand, frowning. "Crud...I'm out of gas. Crystal Clear wing should hold me out, but I can't do much with this hand." "I'll summon Speedroid Ultra Hound in attack mode!" (Level 3, 800/800). A bright red dog, mechanical and robust, appeared onto the "When he's normal summoned, I can send one Speedroid monster from my deck to the graveyard. I'll send Speedroid Tri-eyed Dice." Rainbow adjusted her duel disk. "Battle! Crystal Clear Wing and Ultra hound, direct attack!". Both monsters charged forward and fired from their mouths. Trixie shuddered at the impact. Trixie's LP: 7700 -------> 3900 Rainbow sighed. "I... end my turn." Trixie drew her next card, and her eyes widened. "Wait.... is this...?" She looked up at the field and her mouth curled into a slight smile. "I got it..." ____________________________________________________________________ The library was almost empty in the evening. A few young adults were still walking about, mostly on their way out. Mona, however, was firmly fixed at one of the computers, with a pile of books by his side. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, feeling the exhaustion washing over him. "None of it make sense..." he muttered, looking at the screen. The article showed up the search results for whatever Mona thought could be helpful. Even after hours, he had little to show for it. Hitch had no better luck. He had just picked out another book from the shelf, when he felt a hand gently touch his shoulder. "Sorry, dear," said the librarian, an old lady with a sweet gaze and tiny glasses. "We're closing in three minutes." Hitch glanced at the book in his hands and holds it up. "Can I check this book out?" The librarian nodded. "Of course. But be quick." She turned and left as Hitch climbed down from the stepping stool. He picked up a few of the books that he had set aside, putting a few back onto the shelf, and tucked the others under his arm. "Any luck?" he asked as he approached Mona, who shook his head. "I've looked through every article on the history of Number Cards, rank-up magic cards, duels that result in pain and even comas... with little to show." Hitch sighed and rubbed his head. "It's okay. We can call it a day for now." Mona pressed the keyboard to power the computer off, then picked up a few of the books. The two made their way to the checkout counter. "I just don't get it," said Mona. "What?" "My sister has nothing to gain by taking these Number cards. Most of them aren't even all that strong. So why is she going out of her way to get them?" Hitch scanned his library cards, then the books. "Did she ever mention anything about them that might give a clue?" Mona shook his head. Hitch was silent as he put the books away in his bag. By now the sun had set, casting the parking lot in a dark, orange hue. Their long shadows were cast behind them as Hitch revved up his duel runner. Mona climbed in on the back seat, before he perked his head up. "Woah...what's going on over there?" Hitch glanced in the same direction. A few blocks away, several ambulances and police officers were gathered around the opening of a small alleyway sandwiched between two buildings. A large crowd had gathered around the scene, with people chatting and whispering nervously. "Hitch..." said Mona. "You don't think...." Hitch narrowed his eyes, revving his duel runner. The two rode down to the scene, squeezing past most of the people. Mona caught a glimpse at the scene, and his eyes widened in fear. "No...!" Twilight's limp body was being loaded up onto a stretcher. Her face and clothes were dirty, her lip was cut and bleeding slightly. Her duel disk had been completely shattered, dangling from her forearm. He pushed through the crowd, bumping into one of the paramedics. "Ah, sorry, I-" The paramedic grabbed his arm and said, "Woah, kid. You can't be here. She's in critical condition." Mona looked on as Twilight was loaded up to the back of the ambulance, and as the door closed, he turned back to the medic. "What happened here?" Before the paramedic could answer, the driver popped his head out. "Hey, we need to go, now!" The man nodded in response, letting go of Mona's arm, and joining his compatriots in the ambulance. Hitch and Mona were both silent. Both could feel what the other was thinking. Mona clutched his fist, trembling a bit. "Tempest....how could you...?" "H-hey!" A voice rose up behind them. The two turned to see a younger boy, covered in sweat, and dirt. His purple hoodie had been pulled back, letting Mona see his full face for the first time. "Spike..." Spike walked up to Mona, pulling him by the collar, and half-crying, half-screaming, he said, "Where... is she?! She's gonna pay!"