Dueling is Magic!

Many Futures

Chapter Five

The Resistance

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Jack wiped the sweat from his brow. The sun was at its highest point and it was unbearably hot. He opened his canteen and took a drink of water. When he’d finished, he looked over and saw his partner drinking as well.

“Don’t drink it all, Leo,” he said. “Otherwise you won’t have any for the return trip.”

“It’s just a stakeout mission, Jack,” said Leo. “The Black King never sends anyone out during the day anyway.”

“Besides, I still think we should be back at Home Base, strengthening our defenses,” Leo continued. “Every time he’s found us, we’ve lost people, and it’s always because they could just walk right in like they owned the place! ...Jack, are you even listening?”

“Gaaaah! Jack, I was saying that we can’t keep running away like this. We have to protect Home Base and take the fight to them!”

“I’ll yell as much as I want!” shouted Leo. “It’s the middle of the day! There’s no one around for miles, and if they are, they’re not coming out!”

“Dark Troopers!” said Jack. “Good work, Leo, now they’ve got us surrounded!”

“I just don’t understand why this war has to be so violent,” said Aki. “It’s not as though they can’t win through duels. Why do they have to use force?”

Her patient groaned as she removed the bandages around his arm, exposing his wound. A piece of shrapnel from an explosion had pierced his arm front to back.

“I can’t make sense of it either,” said Luna. She was carrying new bandages. Aki took them and began to redress the man’s arm. “But that’s what we’re here for, right? In case things go sour like this.”

“Dr. Izayoi! Luna! Come quick!” A boy, younger than Luna, ran up to the two of them, panting. “The comcenter sent me. They just got a message from Jack and Leo!”

“I think so, but you should hurry anyway!” said the boy. He started running toward the door and shouted over his shoulder, “Come on!”

“Nurse, please finish tending to this man!” said Aki before taking off after the child. Luna followed right behind her.

“Leo, they’re here,” said Jack. Leo nodded and pressed a button on his D-Wheel’s console. Aki and Luna’s faces appeared on his screen.

“We’re fine,” said Leo. “Nothing we couldn’t handle. But we’ve got a new problem.”

“The Dark Troopers can come out in daylight,” said Jack. “We were just attacked by a group of them. Warn the council and get them to prepare for an attack.”

“Jack, wait a minute,” said Aki. “Why do you think we’ll be attacked now?”

“It’s not just because the Dark Troopers can move in the day,” Jack answered. “It’s also because we know they only do what they’re told. They’re drones. All they do is follow orders and never disobey!”

“And with what we learned just last week...” said Leo. Luna’s image on the screen nodded and she took off.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” said Jack. “One more thing, Aki. Have you heard from Crow yet?” Aki shook her head. Jack grimaced. “Understood.” He turned off his console and revved the engine of his D-Wheel, spinning it around sharply and taking off down the hill with Leo in pursuit.

It was just as Jack had predicted. A group of Dark Troopers had arrived at the headquarters. Luna watched them through a pair of binoculars.

“They’re not making any moves,” she said. “At least it looks like they didn’t bring any guns this time.”

“Are they wearing Duel Disks?” asked Aki. Luna nodded. “I’d almost rather have the guns,” Aki said with a sigh. “They never shoot to kill.”

One of the Dark Troopers stepped forward. Like the others, he wore a black leather suit with orange lines running along the edges of each piece of leather used. The pattern seemed familiar to Aki, but she couldn’t quite place it. The man lifted a megaphone and began to speak.

“We know you’re in there!” he said. “Come out and duel us! Or do we have to invite ourselves in?”

“We can’t let them get in here,” said Luna. “Last time, they took ten people! Ten! Aki, we’ve gotta go down there!”

“Luna, wait!” said Aki, but she was too late. The young girl had already taken off. Aki stood and ran after her. Maybe we can stall for time until Jack and Leo get here, she thought to herself. Yeager should be able to help us with that.

“You have one minute to send some duelists out here!” the man shouted through the megaphone. “You know the rules!”

“Not exactly your strongest,” said the man. “Where is Jack Atlas? He cost me five of my best Troopers last time.”

“No, actually. Asking was merely a courtesy. Our orders were to attack while he was away.”

Suddenly a bright light appeared in the empty road. A pink bubble flew out of it and struck the ground, causing it to pop. Out of the bubble tumbled several brightly colored animals, all screaming as they fell, then groaning as they lay in a pile.

The lavender one rolled off the top of the pile and picked itself up. It stood on all fours and resembled a unicorn.

Twilight and her friends tumbled screaming to the ground. She moaned as she rolled off the pile of ponies and stood, shaking herself.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Rainbow Dash. “Ow! Okay, maybe not. I think I clipped my wing.”

“Can someone make the world stop spinning?” said Spike. “Huh? Hey, who’re those guys?” Spike pointed. Twilight and the others looked in the direction of his finger and saw a group of-

“Humans!” said Twilight. “Spike, we made it!” She quickly ran over to one of the black-garbed humans. “Excuse me! Is this Neo Domino Ci-”

“Get away!” shouted another voice. Twilight turned around. Another human, one shorter and with green hair, was running toward her. This one sounded like a girl. “Those men are dangerous!”

Twilight looked back at the man in front of her. Just as she did, his fist caught the underside of her chin, sending her flying through the air.

“Ow... I think so,” Twilight groaned. She sat up and moved her jaw around, making sure it was still in place. “Why’d he hit me?”

“I told you, those men are dangerous!” said the girl. She pointed toward a building behind her. “My friends are in there. Get inside!”

“No one is going anywhere,” said the man. “That is, if you don’t want more of your comrades to suddenly disappear.”

“Little girl! How about you and me have a duel?” said the man. “If you win, we’ll all leave.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said the girl. “Just get your friends inside, quick-”

“No, I wasn’t asking,” said Twilight. She stood up. “I know what he’s talking about. This means we made it!” She looked around herself, beaming like a filly with a new toy. But the more she saw, the smaller her smile became, until it was gone entirely.

“I wasn’t expecting a war zone!” said Twilight. “What happened here?” The girl pointed over Twilight’s shoulder at the man that landed that uppercut on her chin. He was cracking his knuckles.

“So you guys are responsible for destroying Yusei’s home this time!” said Twilight. “Well, if it’s a duel you want, it’s a duel you’ll get!”

The man laughed. “I don’t know how you intend to duel me,” he said, “but I’m fine with that if you’ve got the cards.”

Twilight’s horn lit up and a pink beam of magical energy connected it to her assailant’s Duel Disk. “So that’s the wave signature,” she muttered. “Got it!” Her horn faded and lit up again. Blinding light shone from her horn for several seconds. As it died down, a mass of magic in front of her began to take shape. Within moments, her Duel Disk had reformed and she had drawn five cards from the top of her deck.

“Duel!” she shouted. The man stepped back, but then grit his teeth and drew his cards.

“You... can duel?” asked the girl. “Wait! You said Yusei’s name! How do you know him? Have you-”

“It’s a long story,” said Twilight. “I’ll be happy to explain later, but right now, I need to take care of these guys.”

“I will take the first move,” said the man as he drew a card. “I activate the Spell Card ‘Double Summon’, allowing me to Normal Summon twice this turn. Next I summon two copies of ‘Solar Flare Dragon’ in Attack Mode!”

Two massive serpents emerged from blue circles in the air. Their bodies were made of fire and their scales were like hardened magma. Each one roared and their flames intensified with the sound.

“I’ll activate the Continuous Spell ‘Wave-Motion Cannon’ and end my turn,” said the man. A strange cannon-like structure appeared. It had gauges and levers on the sides, six pipes at the back spewing steam, and four vacuum tubes coming out of the top. It crackled with electrical energy. Twilight wondered to herself what it might do.

“During the End Phase of my turn, the effects of my Solar Flare Dragons activate!” he said. “Each one will deal you five hundred points of damage!”

The two dragons roared and leapt at Twilight, bringing their fiery fangs down on her. She covered her eyes as they passed through her and reappeared on the opposite side of the field.

“My turn!” she said. “I summon ‘Magical Exemplar’ in Attack Mode!” A woman in a green robe emerged from the blue portal before her. Glowing turquoise runes ran down the dark green center of her robe.

“Magical Exemplar, attack Solar Flare Dragon!” ordered Twilight. Several moments passed and nothing happened. “What? Why won’t she attack?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, did I forget to mention Solar Flare Dragon’s other effect?” said the man. “While there’s another Pyro-Type monster on the field, you cannot attack it!”

The man grinned as he drew his card. “You’ll only have one turn after this,” he said. “I activate Wave-Motion Cannon’s effect! During my Main Phase, I can send it to the Graveyard to deal a thousand points of damage for each of my Standby Phases that it’s been in play!”

The cannon began to whir and spew steam from the pipes on the back. A massive ball of electricity exploded out the end, destroying the cannon as it did. The ball struck Twilight and exploded with a roar and a crackle.

“And that’s not all!” said the man. “I end my turn and activate the effects of my Solar Flare Dragons!” Once again, the dragons lunged for Twilight, passing through her harmlessly.

“Good one,” said Twilight. “You intend to ‘burn’ me with effect damage. But if it’s effect damage you want, then let me show you how it’s done! My turn!” Twilight drew her card. Perfect she thought. “I activate the Field Spell ‘Magical Citadel of Endymion’!” Twilight’s new card slid into a panel that opened on the end of her Duel Disk. The scenery around them changed and the great citadel appeared in the distance behind Twilight.

“Each time a Spell Card is activated,” said Twilight, “Magical Exemplar gains two Spell Counters.” Two green orbs appeared above the emerald-robed woman.

“Next, I activate ‘Spell Power Grasp’, which places a Spell Counter on one card I control and lets me add another copy of ‘Spell Power Grasp’ to my hand. I’ll place that Spell Counter on the Citadel, which also places a Spell Counter on itself because I activated a Spell Card. And Magical Exemplar gets two Spell counters of her own.”

Two orbs of light appeared over the tower in the middle of the distant city, while two more appeared over Twilight’s monster.

“I activate Magical Exemplar’s effect,” Twilight continued. “By removing any number Spell Counters from her, Exemplar can Special Summon a Spellcaster from my hand or Graveyard whose Level is the same as the number of counters I used. I’ll remove all four Spell Counters to Special Summon ‘Alchemist of Black Spells’ in Attack Mode!” Emerging from the familiar blue ring came a black-robed magician, his face concealed by a pale clothe. In his left hand he held a book with the Spell Counter emblem on it.

“I activate the Alchemist’s effect. Once per turn, I can switch him to Defense Mode and place a Spell Counter on a card I control.” The alchemist knelt down on one knee, then turned to aim the palm of his right hand at the Citadel. The Spell Counter emblem was tattooed onto his palm. A green Spell Counter orb appeared in front of his hand, then raced off toward the tower.

“Finally, I summon the Tuner monster ‘Arcane Apprentice’!” Twilight’s short, robed wizard appeared on the field, his red eyes gleaming beneath his hat. “Level Two Arcane Apprentice, tune with the Level Four Alchemist of Black Spells!”

The Arcane Apprentice vanished and two stars appeared in his place. They moved in circles, drawing green rings that encircled the Alchemist. “The drive of friendship gives strength to the gales of the strongest spells! Magic, do as you will!”

The Alchemist had turned into an orange outline that was quickly stripped away, leaving only four stars behind. These formed a line within the circles, and all were soon enveloped by a column of green-white light.

“Synchro Summon!” shouted Twilight. “Bring the magical storm! Tempest Magician!”

Another human woman appeared, this one similar in appearance to Magical Exemplar, but taller and wearing blue robes. In her hands she held a long, intimidating scythe.

Twilight’s opponent laughed. “What do you think you can do with that?” he asked. “Did you forget that you can’t attack me?”

“Nope,” said Twilight. “Tempest Magician’s and Arcane Apprentice’s effects activate! When Tempest Magician is Synchro Summoned, she gains a Spell Counter; and when Arcane Apprentice is sent to the Graveyard for a Synchro Summon, I can add ‘Assault Mode Activate’ from my deck to my hand.”

Twilight ignored him. “I activate Tempest Magician’s effect! Once per turn, I can discard any number of cards from my hand to place that many Spell Counters on monsters I control. I’m holding four cards. I’ll discard all of them to place four Spell Counters on Magical Exemplar!”

“Nuh-uh,” Spike answered with a shrug. “I’ve never seen that Tempest thing before.”

“Tempest Magician’s final effect!” shouted Twilight. “By removing all Spell Counters on the field, Tempest Magician inflicts five hundred points of damage for each of those counters!”

“There are three Spell Counters on the Magical Citadel, one on Tempest Magician herself, and four on Magical Exemplar,” said Rarity.

“Tempest Magician! Tempest Fury!” Twilight ordered. The tall woman swung her scythe, which seemed to summon tremendous winds that pushed at Twilight’s opponent until he was swept off his feet and fell onto his back.

“Now leave,” said Twilight. “And don’t let us catch you coming back here again!”

The man stood up and chuckled. “Very well,” he said. “I did agree to that. We will leave... for now.”

The shadows of the buildings behind them seemed to stretch, reaching for the Dark Troopers. They stepped backwards until they began to blend with the shade. Soon, they had vanished entirely.

“That’s never happened before...” said the human girl. Suddenly she jumped on Twilight, hugging her as tight as she could. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

“Oops!” said the girl as she let go. “Sorry! It’s just- well, they’ve never left without taking anyone before. They’ve never left without taking someone! Who are you? Where’d you come from?”

“Luna!” shouted another voice, this one young and harsh. Another human ran over to the girl. “Luna, are you alright?!” he said frantically. He looked almost exactly like the girl, except for his hairstyle.

“I’m fine, Leo, you don’t have to worry,” said Luna. She looked at Twilight. “She saved us. She saved all of us!”

“A purple unicorn?” said Leo, his expression one of confusion. “Were you saved by a Duel Monsters Spirit?”

“Actually, we’re not Duel Monsters Spirits,” said Twilight. “We’re just ponies from Equestria. I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends.”

“Talking ponies that aren’t Duel Monsters Spirits,” said another voice, this one deep and strong. “Now I’ve seen everything.” He turned and walked toward the building Luna had come out of.

“That’s Jack,” said Luna. “He’s the strongest duelist here. Without him and Leo, we’d have lost a lot more people to those Shadow Troopers.”

“About what happened... what’s going on here?” asked Twilight. “We’re in Neo Domino City, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, you are,” said Luna. “Um... maybe we should talk about this inside.”

Twilight and the others stood in a large room, surrounded by three tables. Seven humans sat on the far side of the center table.

“I believe introductions are in order,” said the short man in the center. “I am Yeager, mayor of Neo Domino City and director of the resistance movement against the Black King. We are the council that governs the resistance. And you are?”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle,” said Twilight. “These are my friends, Applejack-”

“Twilight. Very well,” Yeager continued. “While I’m sure you and your friends have many questions, we have several of our own that must be answered. We are at war, you see, and our trust in strangers has been weakened. For starters, where are you from?”

“That would make sense, given your appearance,” said a woman with blue hair.

“So why are you here?” asked a man with a gruff voice and a scar on his face. “And how did you know the name of this place?”

“We came to help,” said Twilight. “Bad things are happening in our dimension, and we believe the source is here. As for how we knew about Neo Domino City, that’s because another human told us when he visited Equestria.”

“Yusei,” Twilight answered. There was a collective gasp from every human in the room. “You know Yusei?”

“Yusei is a very close friend of all of us,” said Yeager. “He was the savior of this city on many occasions.”

“We’d like to see him, if that’s okay,” said Twilight. “Do you know where he is?”

“Yusei has been missing for several months now,” said Yeager. “We’ve not heard from him or about him in that time. When was the last you heard from him?”

“It’s been a while for us too,” Twilight answered. “The last time he was in Equestria was when a man named Paradox was wreaking havoc in our dimension.”

“You’ve met Paradox as well?” asked Yeager. “Yes, the anomaly that appeared in Satellite about eight months ago... I suspect it was a portal that led to your realm, correct?”

“Yusei disappeared two months after that incident. A month later, the Black King appeared and declared war on the city. We have been fighting a losing battle ever since.”

“We don’t know,” said Luna. She was standing behind one of the side tables. “He just showed up one day, called himself the Black King and started taking people into the shadows.”

“Most who disappear at his hand are never seen again,” said the blue-haired woman.

“And the rest reemerge as Dark Troopers,” said Yeager. “They find us and attack us, harming our people or kidnapping them into the darkness. We have next to no information on this man, and all attempts at investigation have failed. We only know what he calls himself and what he has told us.”

“He only gave us a cryptic statement,” Yeager said. “‘Life can only go on in silence.’ Other than that, he has told us that he wishes to make us despair. Everything he’s done has been for that purpose.”

“Twilight,” said Luna, “we saw that you can duel, and that you’re strong. Will you and your friends help us?”

Jack slammed his fist against the table. All eyes turned to his seat at the far end of the table.

“How do we know that this isn’t another trick orchestrated by the Black King?” he said. “He could be trying to bring our hopes up just to smash them to the ground again. Well I’m not buying it!”

“Yeah, and she’s not the only one who can duel!” said Rainbow Dash. “Me and Spike are pretty good ourselves! We can help too!”

“Then maybe I can prove it by knocking some sense into you!” said Rainbow Dash. “You, me, Turbo Duel! Let’s go!”

“Ha! You honestly think you stand a chance against me? I was once known as the King of the Cards, the Master of Faster!” said Jack. “Very well, I accept your challenge.”

TO BE CONTINUED

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Next time on Dueling is Magic! Many Futures

Jack Atlas’ distrust of the ponies has provoked Rainbow Dash into challenging him to a Turbo Duel. As the two race off to battle it out, will Rainbow Dash be able to prove that she and her friends can be trusted?

Chapter 6

A Duel of Trust: Rainbow Dragon vs. Red Dragon Archfiend!

Dueling is Magic! Many Futures

by Wolfgang

Chapter 5: The Resistance