My Little Pony: Duelist Reborn!

by Bakuda

Chapter 2: Ninja's in the Mist

"Well, what a fine mess we are in. So much for being heroes." a male voice stated from inside a prison cell. Right after being captured, both Baku and Crystal found themselves escorted and placed inside the castle dungeons; "I guess this is how they treat people they help. Or at least that orange one does anyway." Baku remarked, slumped up against the wall.

On a nearby table, where a guard was stationed, their Duel Disks and decks lay. They couldn't use their cards to escape this mess as much as they wanted to.

Crystal was silent and surprisingly calm, having used most of her energy fighting off the unicorns that dragged the pair of them to the prison cells. As much of a temper Crystal had and as much Baku tried to get out, the Unicorn magic was enough to get them under their control. Baku held onto hope however, they had to see that they weren’t the bad guys.

“Why the hay do you want to help the bad guys?!” Applejack shouted at two of her friends. Ever since those guards had left, she had been on the firing line from two of her friends ever since the two humans had been dragged off by the royal guards. Twilight and Spike had head off to meet with Celestia to see if she could help clean up the mess both the behemoths and the dragons had left, leaving Applejack to defend herself on her own.

She found herself face to face with one of her oppressors the moment it left her lips, Rainbow Dash pushing her nose against Applejack’s; “Those two helped us out and you just tied them up! That wasn’t very cool AJ.” She spouted, her eyebrows furrowed as she spoke challengingly, as if to get Applejack even more riled up.

Rarity was beside the cyan Pegasus, nodding in agreement with her flying friend; “Precisely my standing as well. How could you Applejack? How could you just betray those who were just torn from their homes and didn’t think twice to help us survive that monster attack?” she demanded, sticking her nose up high with a ‘humph!’ after speaking.

Growling, Applejack stomped her hooves down; "Will you two girls’ git your head ou’ of the clouds an’ just see what happened! Tha’ guy brought out a giant dragon to blow that big beastie up. I am mighty grateful fo’ that, yet what if they do that to US?" she asked, jabbing Rainbow in the chest with a front hoof.

Narrowing her eyes, Rarity stared at her friend; “You have made your case Applejack, though I do not buy it. I will not stand here while you have our saviours rotting in some horrible dungeon. Come Rainbow; let us at least give them some quality company while we wait for the princesses to sort out this icky mess.” She announced, striding off with her nose in the air once more. Rainbow Dash wasn’t too far behind her, not before shooting Applejack a glare however.

When they left through the doors, Applejack sunk to the ground, guilt racking upon her mind; “I did the right thing, didn’t I?” she asked aloud, not expecting a single yellow wing to drape over her.

Fluttershy smiled weakly as she lay next to her, her need to help friends in need overpowering her need to be afraid by leaps and bounds; “You did what you thought was right, that’s all anypony can do.” She spoke calmly, watching as Applejack gained a small smile to her face.

“You’re a saint Sugercube.” She spoke; closing her eyes to take a brief rest, today had just been too weird for her to keep up.

Rainbow trotted beside Rarity with a small smile on her face as they went towards the dungeons, her thoughts cast back to the battle they had just witness taking place; "So, what did you think of those dragons that guy summoned? Baku I think his name was?" she asked, trying to rise up a conversation.

The fashionesta nodded with a bright spark igniting with her eyes as she too thought back to it; “Oh yes darling, they were magnificent. I might just make a line of clothes inspired by those dazzling colours! Did you see the deep orange that melded so well with the golden armor? I’m not a real stickler for orange, no offense to Applejack, though it was pulled off superb!" she stated, going off a slight tangent, muttering about new fashion designs she could make.

Laughing with her friend, Rainbow got the picture in her head of her wearing the armor Heliopolis was wearing.  The thought of it was both awesome and hilarious; "Oh yeah, I thought you might say that. What I liked about them is the amount of power they just had. They brought each other out by supporting each other, then using their combined power to not only blow away the bad guys but they even changed the day into night just by showing up!" she spoke with a wild grin, her own spark catching flame in her eyes. With that sort of power, what could she pull off with her stunts?

Rarity nodded at once, her head slightly bowing; "Indeed they do have a massive amount power. Applejack does have a point in how they can be dangerous, though they haven’t done wrong yet and they may be just what we need though that monster looked horrifying and so much damage."

Nodding, Dash looked ahead; "Yeah... But what were those cards abou-" she started, yet had to stop when she felt something under hoof. Raising her front hoof, she found a card laying face down in front of them; "Huh? Maybe they struggled and this came free?" she wondered, picking them up.

Upon reading the title and seeing the picture, Rainbow gave a slight smile; “Yujo Friendship. Offer your opponent a handshake. If they accept your handshake, each player's Life Points become half the combined Life Points of both players. If you have "Unity" in your hand and show it to your opponent, they must accept the handshake.” She read aloud, stopping a moment at the mention of ‘hands’, though she presumed it was at the end of their front legs.

“So this card combines the two players ‘life’ and then splits it evenly. So if a friend was struggling, they hurt themselves just to give their friend extra life?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow as she thought about it.

Keeping still for a moment, she looked up to Rarity with a solemn expression. The pair nodded to each other silently before galloping off towards the dungeons.

In the castle dungeon, someone had beaten the pair of them there, the doors opening to welcome him and the guards surrounding the visitor as he entered. He was a stallion with a pure white coat, his blond mane looking bleached enough to shine like a torch; "So, you two are the beasts that caused that mayhem. Guards, what are their current imprisonment grounds?" he asked, ignoring the two within.

Crystal glared at the stallion as he spoke, his very tone of voice aggravating her. The guards saluted to him as one of them, the one wearing the most elaborate headgear, began to speak; "My lord! There here under word of the Element of Honesty, sir. She fears their powers are too great and that the Princess should decide their fate."

The stallion was silent for a moment before nodding; "If the Element of Honesty believes they are a threat, then her word on it must be true. It is not in her nature to lie and hide a possible threat. Under the royal order of Prince Blueblood, I change this sentence to execution. We haven't done since ages past, yet the amount of danger following them cannot be ignored. I shall retire to my chambers." he stated, turning towards the prisoners one last time.

"Enjoy your last day, monkey's." he stated with a 'humph', leaving the room in a pompous manner.

Baku just gave a sigh from within the cell, sitting back from his seat; "What's with this place?" he muttered softly; "Is not one of these equines trustworthy?"

It was at that moment that all the guards had left after 'Blueblood', apparently to make the paperwork of his new command. However, that left Rainbow to peek her head in without being caught; "Hellloooo?"

Crystal looked back up when she heard the voice, her face seemingly stuck on a scowl; “Oh great, it’s the blue one that thought we were spies." She said with her head now resting in her hands; "What do you want?" She called out to her.

Rainbow trotted in before Rarity, stopping before the bars; "Hey... Look, I just wanted to apologize for what I said and everything. You saved all of our hides back there. Even if some of us don't see it. Thanks." she stated, bowing her head softly.

"Good to know, though t won't do us much good. Unfortunately, some 'Prince Blueblood' just ordered our execution." Baku stated in a somewhat bitter tone, not able to help it since it was just too unfair in his mind.

This stumped the pony in front of the bars, dropping to the floor with mouth hanging open; "SAY WHAT?!" she screeched, leaping up to the bars and tugging on them; “That’s not fair!” she stated, echoing the human’s thoughts.

Rarity was silent for a moment before giving a rather un-ladylike snort; “Blueblood! Stand aside Rainbow Dash.” She instructed, her horn lighting up with a mystical white light. The lock on the door promptly fell off with a clatter, causing her to smile slightly; “When one deals with gemstones, one has to learn a good locking and unlocking spell. Come along darlings!” she called to them, rushing for the door.

 Baku raised an eyebrow once she finished speaking, confused by the concept of a pony actually ‘helping’ them; "So your fighting with us just to stop Blueblood?" he asked, yet in a lighter tone, rushing out the door and to the desk, picking up his Duel Disk; "I get why you are doing it... And thanks you two, though we have to get going. That order's been made and if you two are seen with us, you'd be enemies of the crown." he explained, passing Crystal her own Duel Disk.

Looking back, Rarity gave a small grin to the pair; “Not quiet. There is a safe place for you, princess Luna keeps a room here by equestrian law the Solar guard cannot enter it and Princess Luna knows you her Luna guard will make sure your safe until Celestia can make things right we just need to get there."

"And I know the perfect way... Now let's see..." Baku started, looking through his deck, yet he made for the door quickly; "Show the way and let's get going, the guards will be back shortly!" he stated, Rainbow bursting out the door before him and flashing him a smirk on the way past.

Looking behind her, Rainbow gave a slight chuckle; "It's this way, come on slowpokes!" she teased, shooting off with Crystal and Rarity not too far behind. Baku remained just for a moment to fish out a card from his deck, though started to run after them while continuing to look.

While running, Crystal snapped on her own Duel Disk and tried to get used to the twisting halls of the palace; “So, we just wait in the princess chambers until she can sort all this out?” she asked.

Rarity gave a nod as they passed a set of barracks for the guards, the noise they made alerting a few of them already. Baku passed by and caught up with them while barely holding his deck together, searching for a card to help them out of this mess. Rainbow didn't stop to answer, though looked back from the air towards her pursuers; “Yeah, though to also find out what's going on. Luna knows more of what's going on, so maybe she can talk!" she called, the guards skidding out in front of them and halting their path.

Growing at the sight of them, Crystal surged forward; “No one is killing me!" She cried charging them with her arms out, looking like she was going to punch them in the face.  However, she just charged onwards, catching both in the neck hard and close-lining them hard to the floor. Even if it wasn’t much, they'll be fighting for breath for a little while.

Rainbow Dash and Baku stood still for a moment, looking at the guards that fell coughing. They continued their run and flight in silence until they both spoke at the same time; "Whoa. Remind me not to get on your bad side." they stated to each other, looking towards each other after speaking since it was a little creepy to be in sync like that.

The four of them were almost to the tower when a few more guards seemed to have caught up, holding out spears above them, held in their magic. Baku flipped through his cards before finally finding the one he needed, slotting the others away quickly; “Alright!” he called with a smirk.

His glee was not shown with the guards, who reacted the moment a flicker of the card was shown. Since these guards didn’t seem to have much training, or organisation for that matter, one of them threw their spear towards Baku only for it to divert to another target by its poor accuracy.

“RARITY!” Rainbow cried out, diving back to try to intercept it, though she would be too late. The spear cut through the air and was about to pierce the frightened mare when the spear bounced off an invisible field, the spear launching to the roof and imbedding inside. Smirking, Baku took off again with the group. Slotted into his disk was a magic card, a picture of a samurai sitting on a seat, seemingly relaxing.

"’One Day of Peace’ stops all Battle Damage until the end of my next move!" Baku explained to the group. It was mainly used when he pulled a bad hand or needed to go second in a duel, though it did have a good second job of deflecting the spears of defunct guard Ponies; "Though why are these guards attacking on sight?" Baku asked as he dodged a spear thrown. He couldn't be harmed, yet that didn't mean his body didn't scream out 'dodge!' whenever one came his way.

Upon reaching the top of the tower, Rainbow kicked the door open and rushed inside with Crystal. Rarity and Baku getting inside right after and grabbing the doors, slamming it shut once everyone was inside; "Whew! That was clo-" Baku started, yet a shrill voice cutting off his sigh of relief.

"Why are you all here?!" A dark figure in the shadows of the room called, female and apparently very angry at their intrusion.

Rarity looked up once she recognised, or at least she thought she recognised, the voice of the pony speaking; “Oh Princess! I’m so sorry. Please forgive this intrusion but we need your help. These two are the ones that stopped those beasts from destroying Canterlot and our friend Applejack had them falsely arrested. When Prince Blueblood ordered there execution, we couldn’t think of anywhere else they would be safe then here with you."

The figure approached from the shadows, yet it wasn't Luna. Prince Blueblood came forth, a wide smirk on his face; "Indeed." he stated, using the same female voice. He seemed bigger than the norm, his form shifting a little as he spoke; "That's exactly why their execution was called. I cannot have them here and ruining my plans... Especially you stupid little Ponies! Now stand still!" he commanded, standing up onto his hind legs and forcing his hoof forward, a wave of dark energy blasting off of it and towards them.

The blast disintegrated however, One Day of peace still in effect. Growling, Blueblood looked at the Duel Disk on Baku's arm; "Under a spell are we?" he taunted.

Having enough of this, plus the fact that this guy had ordered an execution on them, Baku stepped forward; "Enough of this, tell us who you are! Where is Luna and the real Blueblood?!" he demanded yet only earning a laugh from the stallion, who seemed to be both growing and mutating before their eyes.

The group found it hard to look at the mutating creature. Rainbow Dash and Rarity both seemed to gag, Rarity a little more than Dash. When it finished, it looked like a muscular black humanoid monster with a red eye on its chest, black wings with red jewels sticking out of its back. Wisps of dark energy came off from it with a hint of red energy, its very eyes reflecting the dark energy it seemed to ooze out.

Baku stepped back a little from the beast, growling as he recognised it from old textbooks; "Number 96: Dark Mist. Be careful, it can both shape shift and corrupt people it touches!" he commanded, eyeing the fiend warily.

Rainbow was about to jump in to attack the monster yet Baku just held her back; "Don't get close, he can take you over. Alright Dark Mist, I think it's time you let the Ponies you took hold of go!" he commanded, holding up his duel Disk for protection.

The monster was silent for a moment before laughing its head off, its gaze turned to Crystal and Baku with its sinister snicker; "You have guts to demand such things from a God. Very well then, I shall humour you a little. You have a very powerful Duel Force, both of you. However, the girl has the most. I shall make it mine and fully take over that pitiful ‘Princess’. She still defies my orders." He spat suddenly, as if the idea of someone going against him hurt him to the very core.

He got his drive back however when finishing up; “If you do not accept my challenge, the Ponies will pay the price!” he warned, forming a Duel Disk shaped like a sheathed sword in a scabbard on his arm, his other hand pointing to Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

Crystal glared at him with fire dancing in her eyes; "You’re not going to lay a hand on another Pony here. I’m going to destroy you and send you back to whatever black pit you came from." she stated, her disk sliding out and locking into place. She pulled out her main deck and grinned at him as she slotted it into the card recogniser, the cards automatically shuffling; "You might know a few of these guys." she said, preparing for battle.

Crystal drew the five starting cards, though drew her sixth right after, a smirk on her face; “Ladies before jerks. I’ll place down one card and then summon forth the Flame Armor Ninja!” she announced, her face down card appearing right before a pillar of flame shot up from the ground.

The flames shocked the living daylights out of Rainbow Dash and Rarity, though the former tried to play it off as nothing. When the pillar dispersed, it showed a young male warrior dressed in a garb adorned with red flames. He crouched to the floor once landing a forward flip, keeping his stealth daggers at the ready. Grinning at the sight of one of her favourite cards, Crystal lowered her Duel Disk and relaxed; “I end my turn.”

FLAME ARMOR NINJA
LEVEL: 4
ATK/1700
DEF/1000

Dark Mist chuckled a little as he drew his sixth card; “Ninja’s? Not much of a challenge. I’ll have fun ripping them apart!” he called, taking a glance at the card he had picked up; “Interesting. Take the bait little fish.” he taunted, slotting down one face-down card and set a monster into face-down Defence position.

The Duel Disk on Crystal’s arm lit up, showing that Dark Mist ended his turn. Surprised a little by how much of a fight he didn’t put up, she gave a shrug; “Fine then, I will. Come forth Air Armor Ninja!” she called out, slapping the card onto the Duel Disk and letting her monster appear. Flipping from seemingly nowhere, a green robed ninja fell to his brother, taking the same position.

AIR ARMOR NINJA
LEVEL: 4
ATK/1400
DEF/1400

“Another boring ninja joins the fray. Whatever shall I do?” he taunted, a clear smirk on his face; “You don’t really know what you are doing, do you?”

Crystal just glared at him, her eyes narrowing as she accessed the situation; “He has one face down. That must be a trap that stops the bigger monsters from coming out, like Horn of Heaven. It may also be Mirror Force; I won’t give him what he wants.” She thought quickly, lowering her Duel Disk; “I end my turn!”

A little confused by her lack of fighting spirit, Dark Mist drew his card; “Very well, if the cowardly girl doesn’t want to fight, I’ll do it for her! I summon Apprentice Magician in Attack mode!” he declared, a bright light filling his field. What appeared was a young man that was dressed in an odd purple tunic and held a green staff in his hand.

APPRENTICE MAGICIAN
LEVEL: 2
ATK/ 400
DEF/ 800

This seemed to take Rainbow over the edge, flying up a little to be at equal height with Baku; “What is this ‘Attack Mode’ stuff? Fill us in!” she asked with frustration.

Rolling his eyes a little, Baku gave it a try; “Okay, this is going to be tough to explain to you guys. Duel Cards have two modes. Defence mode and Attack mode. They can also be face up or face down. When face down, they can’t be seen. Like that one Dark Mist has over there.” He explained, pointing to it.

“When that card is set, we can’t tell if it is strong or weak. When face up however, we both see the monster and how strong it is. For example, Air Armor Ninja has 1400 Attack points and 1400 Defence points. Depending on the mode it is in, depends on what points it uses. Now, this is how battles work. When monsters battle in Attack mode, the one with the highest points wins and the other goes to the graveyard. The losing player also loses life points to the difference in Attack points. In a tie, both are destroyed with no damage to either player.” He explained before taking a breath and going on.

“Defending monsters can’t attack. Yet if they are destroyed by an attacking monster, life points aren’t taken.  If the defence is higher, neither monster is destroyed but the attacking player takes damage.” He finished up, causing both Rarity and Rainbow Dash to nod in understanding.

However, Baku continued on; “Something is wrong though. Look at Dark Mist’s monster. It’s weaker, much weaker than either Ninja.” He spoke up.

Dark Mist didn’t seem to mind however, throwing out one hand; “Attack my magician! Attack Air Armor Ninja!” he bellowed, the low powered magician raising his staff and shooting a thin beam of green energy.

The beam went straight through the green ninja, the body billowing into smoke to show that he wasn’t there. A cry of distress came from the other side of the field when the magician fell to the ground, a knife dug into his back. Flipping back over, Air Armor Ninja bent down next to his brother once more, watching the magician burst into golden particles.

Dark Mist just grinned as he watched his monster die; “When he is destroyed, I can activate his ability, enabling me to place a monster from my deck in face-down Defence position.”

This spiked another rise from Rainbow, though Baku was way ahead of her and speaking before she opened her mouth; “Some monsters have special abilities that activate whenever a condition is met. Like how I beat those monsters this morning, I used their abilities instead of attacking.” He offered, the battle resurfacing back in their minds.

“With that, I play this last card before my End Phase. You should know this one.” Dark Mist stated with a dark smile, slamming a magic card into a slot.

When the card appeared, both Crystal and Baku recoiled as they recognised it. Baku immediately went into explanation when Rarity and Rainbow Dash looked to him for a reason why; “That is Wave Motion Cannon. Every time it comes to Dark Mist’s turn, it will increase in power by one point. Dark Mist can release that card at any time during his turn to deal one thousand points of damage per point it has. If he waits long enough, he could win the duel in one shot!” he spoke, turning back to the duel with worry brewing in all three of them.

 “My turn!” Crystal said with a grin, looking to it before placing it down; “I lay down one card before going on the offensive. Go, Flame Armor Ninja! Stealth Flame Strike!” she announced, the ninja in red garbs bursting forward with a trail of fire following him. He jumped into the air and vanished into the darkness, seemingly gone. A moment passed however and a single blade shot through the set card from the bottom, the ninja jumping right through it.

From the ripped card, a female warrior showed up to battle from the card, dressed in spandex and looking like from an odd anime. She was destroyed instantly however, the Ninja's blade slicing through her easily; “You destroyed Rai-Mei. By doing so, you added one monster card from my deck, to my hand.” Dark Mist replied simply, not really caring that his monster was destroyed.

“Air Armor Ninja, follow up!” Crystal commanded, a set of shuriken shooting from the shadows and sinking into the second set card. It exploded in a flash of particles, briefly showing a blue skinned fairy. Agent of Mystery - Earth.

Smirking a little, Crystal straightened up and chuckled; “No field left, apart from that face down that won’t do you any good. I’ll let loose next round. I play a second Flare Armor Ninja and get ready for the next shot.” She stated; a second red robed ninja appeared before the first, the trio silent as they awaited orders.

Rainbow seemed to be enjoying the duel, eying the ninja’s like they were pulling off magic tricks she wanted to figure out; “They are so AWESOME! Did you see that Rarity?” she asked, though she discovered that Rarity was inspecting their outfits happily instead of what they did. Groaning a little, Dash turned back to the action; “Never mind...” she muttered.

Things were about to take a turn for the worse however, Dark Mist slamming the card he obtained from Rei-Mei onto the field; “I summon Venus – Agent of Creation!” he called out, three orbs trailing around a tall woman in heavenly robes. The orbs were three different colours; blue, red and purple. Each one followed the woman, sticking around her long auburn hair. Unlike its picture on the card however, its expression was blank, dark moulting wings replacing the golden and pure wings she was supposed to have.

Venus – Agent of Creation
LEVEL: 3
ATK/ 1600
DEF/ 0

“I pay 1500 life points to summon three Mystical Shine Balls.” He announced, the three orbs off of Venus growing larger and settling down onto the field, each one seemingly loosing colour to become dark spheres of pure darkness.

Mystical Shine Ball
LEVEL: 2
ATK/ 500
DEF/ 500

Crystal was confused by the action, raising an eyebrow to show it; “Why? They are so feeble, why do that?” she asked in bafflement, though it then clicked...

“I overlay my three Mystical Shine Balls to build the overlay network!” he shouted with laugher echoing through the room. The three balls shot into the air, twisting together and blowing into a giant wormhole above them. Upon the three joining together inside, a mighty explosion of power blew back nearly everything in the room. Dash and Rarity had to hold onto Baku as wind blew them towards the wall.

A dark fog rolled over the field as a massive blob of dark sludge fell onto Dark Mist’s side of the field; “I XYZ summon my avatar, Number 96: Dark Mist!” he cried out, the blob redefining itself by glowing claws and a rather stubby head. Yet fangs and eyes grew in at the middle, a mouth right in the middle of its chest. Its eyes were literally on fire when it turned towards Crystal.

“You summoned yourself?!” Crystal asked in shock, taking a step back after witnessing the horrible sight of the beast before her. It was repulsive to say the least, the dark fog around her nearly making her choke; “No matter, this is considered a special summon so I can play this trap! Go, Armor Ninjitsu Art of Rust Mist! Now Number 96 has half its attack points!” she bellowed, a heavy downpour coming down upon Number 96 once the trap card on Crystal’s field flipped up, the fire in his eyes dying out as it took effect.

This didn’t seem to bother Dark Mist too much, watching as Dark Mist lost half its attack. It wasn’t much to lose.

Number 96: Dark Mist
RANK: 3
OVERLAY UNITS: 3
ATK/ 100 - > 50
DEF/ 1000

With its attack points sitting at 50, Dark Mist looked to his side. The Angel of Creation's feathers were slowly falling out by his mere presence. Yet this gave him an idea; "Go my minion! Attack that face-down!" he bellowed, the now dark fairy raising her hands, a wave of black electricity erupting from her fingers.

However the lightning struck what appeared to be a barrier before reaching the monster, a barrier that shone like a mirror. Crystal smirked as she activated her last face down trap card; “Mirror Force! Now all your monsters are destroyed!” she called out.

Growing, Dark Mist flipped up his own face-down card; “I counter with Forbidden Lance. By reducing the attack points of one monster, I can save it from traps and Spell Cards this turn!” he shouted, an ornate spear shooting from the quick-play spell and impaling itself through Number 96. When the mirror reflected the dark lightning back, Venus was destroyed instantly while Number 96 was unharmed.
...Minus the fact he had a lance sticking through the chest that is.

Crystal glared at him before crossing her arms; “Fine, so he sticks around a while longer. Big deal.” She spoke, though was surprised when her Duel Disk lit up, showing it was now her move. With Dark Mist’s turn over, the lance vanished, giving back Number 96 its abysmal 50 Attack points back.

Picking up her next card, the girl nodded; “Alright, I play one card in defence mode. Then, I switch all my other monsters to defence mode. At that, I end my turn.” She spoke, switching the positions of her ninjas. They didn’t do much except bring their hands up into a guard after placing their weapons away.

“What? Why?!” Rainbow declared, a look of utmost horror on her face; “That walking disaster has just 50 attack points, the ninja’s could crush him!” she spluttered, though Baku just shook his head at her.

Looking to the field, he gave his analysis; “She made the right move. Number 96 has a very deadly ability. If the textbooks are anything to go by, when it attacks it can detach one overlay unit to absorb half the strength of the monster, always becoming stronger than its opponent.” He explained, much to the horror of Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

Rarity looked aghast at the situation; “So, Crystal can’t win? That beast will always be able to beat her that way!” she complained, yet stopped upon seeing the smile on Baku’s face; “Baku? What are you smiling at?” she asked at once.

Looking down to the two ponies, the human male pointed to Dark Mist; “It only has three overlay units. Once out, it loses its effect. Crystal is playing safe and trying to help her ninja’s survive Number 96 before she crushes it into a pile of dust.” He explained, much to the relief to the mares.

Dark Mist didn’t even look at his drawn card before throwing his hand out; “Number 96! Attack that Face-Down!” he commanded, dark tendrils flying out of the beast and stabbing through the card. One flying orb around the monster struck its chest, the tendrils becoming a dark red.

Number 96: Dark Mist
OVERLAY UNITS: 3 - > 2
RANK: 3
ATK/ 50 -> 950
DEF/ 1000

Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke
LEVEL: 4
ATK/ 1700 - > 850
DEF/ 1000

Chuckling, Dark Mist placed his hands on his hips; “Well, it seems I lost some life there. However, Dark Mist did get quite the power-up.” He rationalised, ending his turn there.

Crystal had a quick look at her card, frowning as she set it down; “There is nothing I can do.” She spoke with a soft whine.

With her turn over surprisingly quickly, Dark Mist picked up his next card and grinned; “I play Golden Sarcophagus! With this, I can send one card from my deck to the banished zone, where I can pick it up after the second turn.” He spoke. He did so, placing one card out of his deck and placing it on the floor next to him; "And one little tip, it's going to be the beginning of the end for this world." He cackled darkly, causing everyone in the room to flinch.

With that done, he threw his arm to the Flame Ninja, the coils appearing again on Number 96; "I attack the Flame Armor Ninja, detaching to gain an additional 850 attack points, bringing me to 1800 total!" he shouted, the Overlay Unit slamming into Number 96 to power him up.

Crystal wasn’t giving up though, her face-down flipping up; “Ninjitsu Art of Freezing! When I have a Ninja on my side, I can negate that attack and all of your monsters can’t change their battle positions.” She explained, a roar of ice shooting over the field and swarming around Number 96. It let off a roar as it stopped its attack; its feet stuck to the floor. It still gained the attack bonus, though didn’t destroy the monster.

Number 96: Dark Mist
OVERLAY UNITS: 2 - > 1
RANK: 3
ATK/ 950 -> 1800
DEF/ 1000

Flame Armor Ninja
LEVEL: 4
ATK/ 1700 - > 850
DEF/ 1000

Giving a sigh of relief that she survived that round with her ninja’s, Crystal looked up; “So now what?” she asked Dark Mist, who merely growled lowly and set one card onto the field.

When her Duel Disk lit up, Crystal drew her card. Giving a groan, she set it down and looked to her Ninja’s. Some were barely able to stand, only her second Flame Armor Ninja and Air Armor Ninja stood a chance of surviving this battle.

Growing, Crystal switched Air Armor to Attack mode; “Bring it on ugly!” she shouted, her Air Armor Ninja lunging forward and sinking three ninja throwing stars into the set card. It exploded in a blast of particles, showing a small child that screamed as it was destroyed. It was Saambell the Summoner, though it didn’t look like Dark Mist card about its destruction.

“Now I have a target dear Crystal. My turn!” he said while drawing a card; “Attack that Air Armor Ninja!”

Number 96 roared as the tendrils appeared once more and its last overlay units were used. Though cutting through the air, it was blown away by the Air Armor Ninja who started to charge towards it. Crystal had activated another of her face-down cards, grinning like a shot fox; “Sekuretsu Armor! Now the attacking monster is destroyed!”

Dark Mist seemed to recoil when the card had flipped up; “What’s that?! No, I won’t let you!” he cried out desperately, though he couldn’t help it at all when Air Armor Ninja charged the beast down with a full body tackle, disintegrating it with a barrage of wind that slammed into its fallen body. Letting off a snarl, Dark Mist set one monster; “You will pay for that! I set one card and end my turn!” he shouted.

Air Armor Ninja
LEVEL: 4
ATK/ 1400 - > 700
DEF/ 1000

Laughing at the predicament he was in, Crystal just drew her card; “They may be weak now, though you have hardly any monsters to hide behind! Go my Ninja’s!” she called out, switching them all to Attack Mode and letting them loose.

Sasuke was the first to go, slicing the last defence on Dark Mist’s field, another Saambell the Summoner. She too disintegrated into dust, yet this time she was more important to Dark Mist since her destruction meant leaving him open for the other Ninja’s to go on a full assault.

When Crystal ended her turn, Dark Mist seemed to get in a slightly happier mood. The card from the floor became encased in a golden hue once his turn started; “It’s time! I gain the card I placed in the Gold Sarcophagus, are you ready for the end?!” he asked, his eyes seemingly popping out of his head when he plucked it out of the air.

 Crystal put up her guard whilst Baku prepared for the worst. His speech about it being the beginning of the end got them ready for a maelstrom of pain. And did it deliver! Dark Mist looked at the card before slotting it into his Duel Disk with a massive smirk; "Let’s see you stand up to this! I play 'END OF THE WORLD'!" he shouted, the room around them starting to shake once he played it.

A blast of blue energy shot up in the middle of the room, slamming through the roof and tower as the power from this single card was unleashed. Above the tower seemed to be an intricate pattern of runes that were forming from the top of the massive pillar, flames of blue roaring up around the room and scorching all it touched.

Rarity screamed to high heaven as the tower began to quake a little harder, the cries of the man demon before them not doing her nerves any favours.

“This is a ritual card,” Dark Mist stated, as if reporting the weather; “By getting rid of a worthless card in my hand and sending it to the grave, I can Ritual Summon the King of Armageddon. Demise, rise from your slumber!" he commanded, the pillar slowly thinning out to show a large skeletal man wielding a giant axe. His body was encased in large and bulky Armor, face covered in a mask made of metal.

Demise, King of Armageddon
LEVEL: 8
ATK/ 2400
DEF/ 2000

Just looking at him gave everyone but a certain demon the chills. Continuing on, Dark Mist threw out his right hand to the massive warrior; “I tribute 2000 of my life Points to wipe out your entire clan of Ninja’s!” he announced. The colossal warrior rushed ahead and slammed its axe onto the ground where the Ninja’s were, hardly giving them a chance to escape as the axe crushed the ground around them, forcing them to fall into the hole that led down into the tower that was created by the ritual card.

Dark Mist let out a loud cackle before thrusting a hand out; “I may be nearly out of life points, but soon you will be too!” he called, thrusting a hand out; “Go, crush her!” he commanded his monster, Demise shooting forward once more with his mighty axe raised.

Crystal barely had time to raise her Duel Disk in time to catch the axe, the axe slamming into it and creating a shockwave that spread across the room. Crystal buckled under the axe and had to dive to the side before the axe came bearing down upon her. Where she was once standing was a giant gash reaching out from the hole Demise had made earlier.

Panting, Crystal got back to her feet; “You’ll regret that... Oww...” she muttered, holding onto her left arm as it still shook with pain; “Note to self, avoid giant axe.” She muttered before getting back up.

Dark Mist wasn’t done however, his arm flinging out; “Now I set off my Cannon. With five turns having passed, you’re one strike away from the eternal darkness!” he called, the space behind him shimmering to reveal the head of a rattling green cannon. It was building up a white energy beam within, causing the room to become almost blinding.

“You may not even survive this anyway. As you know, all battle damage in this duel has been real. This has been my plan all along. To lull you into a false sense of security and not pay attention to the instrument of your destruction!” Dark Mist cackled, throwing his hands out; “So be prepared for the next world! Wave Motion Cannon, fire!” he shouted, the white energy from the cannon letting loose in an exploding torrent that all flew right towards Crystal.

Crystal flung up her hands while Baku tried running towards her, though it was all too late... When the beam reached her, it swallowed the girl whole. All that was heard was a cry of pain along with the shouts of worry from her friends.

Baku watched the beam swallow his friend all at once, his eyes wide with shock and despair as he dropped to his knees; “No... Crystal!” he cried out, his fists clenching upon the ruined carpet underneath. A flicker in the corner of his eye caught his eye moments after however, bringing his eyes back to the beam that was still flowing. The beam seemed to be breaking apart with streams shooting out. Baku just had enough time to dive back to his new pony friends when a stay bolt struck where he was once kneeling.

With the beam splitting, Dark Mist raised an eyebrow in confusion; “What is this?” he asked with a growl, watching the beam for a moment before it burst at the end, shooting to the side and carving new holes into the tower.

Any more structural damage and the tower would collapse, though everyone’s minds were set to that new barrier at the end of the beam... Crystal barely standing. She was burnt but still alive.

Before her were four humans in the same ninja robes as her monsters, their hands out and forming the shimmering barrier as they combined some mystical power they all shared to stop the attack. They ranged from red, blue, green and grown for their garbs.
It didn’t take long for all to recognise who they were, Red Armor Ninja looking back to Crystal while the four continued to push the beam back; “We shall protect you, Mistress Crystal! Live on and smite the evil that plagues this land!” he spoke, struggling to hold back the barrier with his brothers.

Crystal looked back up to him and stared for a moment, an understanding between the two of them becoming clear. Leaping to the side with her burns stinging her body, she barely managed to avoid the beam breaking through the barrier and incinerating the four brothers in their attempt to save her.

Dash and Rarity stood beside the fallen Baku, who joined them in their bewilderment. While Crystal got back to her feet, the trio rushed over to her. Helping her up, Baku looked over her burns; “We need to get you to a hospital!” he declared, looking to Rarity and Rainbow for a little help.

However Crystal batted his hand away, walking back to the duellist position; “My monsters were willing to sacrifice all they had to spare me from his assault and to have a chance to make him pay. I won’t let them down!” she yelled to Dark Mist, who merely looked irritated.
“You may have survived my cannon, though you will be seeing your pathetic Ninja’s very shortly. I’ll see to that.” Dark Mist spat; “I end my turn!"

When her duel disk lit up again, she prepared to take her move; “All I need is to draw a monster, that’s all I need...” she thought to herself, drawing a card from the top of her deck. Looking at the card however, she groaned; “Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I’ll take it.” she whispered.

Putting it into her hand, she then turned her attention to the hulking behemoth of death before her; “It’s the end of the line, Demise!” she called, slamming a card into her Duel Disk. The moment she did, Baku grabbed hold of the two ponies before him, trying to bunker down.

“I activate Dark Hole! Welcome to the Void!” Crystal shouted in a lightly distorted voice, the very space above the room shifting shape and twisting to form a hole leading into the deepest darkness. Swirling winds filled the room right after, sucking up loose furniture and anything not tied down, including the players. Crystal had to hold onto the bolted bed to not get sucked in and the ponies were under Baku, who held onto anything within his grasp.

Demise wasn’t so lucky however, his body flung into the void and cast into an endless abyiss. Dark Hole destroyed every monster on the field, though there was only one monster at the time. After Demise was gone, the hole closed up on itself and leaving everyone panting for breath except for Dark Mist, who looked livid; “You! Do you realise what you just did?!”

“I just killed your monster without killing myself.” Crystal replied with a small smirk, taking another card from her hand and playing it; “Next I play One Day of Peace. This allows us to both draw a card from our decks. Secondly, no damage can be dealt to either of us until my next turn. With one card set, I end my turn.” She explained.

A set card appeared in her Monster Card zone before her turn ended, Dark Mist drawing from his own deck.

Dark Mist looked down to his hand, his most recently drawn card displayed first; “The first card is Honest. By discarding this card from my hand during battle, I can have a Light Attribute monster on my field gain ATK points by however many ATK points its opponent is. The second card is much more interesting...”

Lifting the second card, he immediately played it; "I activate Tri-Wight! Now I can summon three level two monsters from my graveyard. It's time for me to take to the field once more!" he called, a wild smirk appearing on his face once more.

Appearing in his Monster Card zones was three of small glowing balls, each holding a hint of darkness to their power. These were the same three he had used before to summon Number 96: Dark Mist earlier in the game. Instead of overlaying his three new monsters however, he gave a small frown; “I summoned them in Attack mode even though they only have 500 ATK points. If I wait for her to attack me, I can strike back with Honest. With only 400 Life Points, she will fall. Honest raises my monster by its opponent’s ATK. Therefore, it will always have 500 more attack than its opponent if I use Honest. But I refuse to battle with the Light! DARKNESS is the world’s TRUE power!”

"I overlay my three Mystical Shine Balls to call on yours truly once more!" he exclaimed, repeating the process and forming the Overlay Network. The red wormhole swallowed the three glowing balls into it and exploded with power, a large blob of dark energy appearing from it, assembling itself into the demonic, chest-jawed beast that had been hard enough to destroy once.

Dark Mist grinned as he looked to the face-down monster on Crystal’s field; “I attack your face down monster with Number 96! With One Day of Peace working for my turn as well, I won’t take any damage. I also use Dark Mist’s ability!” He reported, the titan of darkness launching tendrils of darkness to the card.

Crystal looked to her hand and gave a small sigh; “I need to draw the right card now. I can’t let him win... I won’t let him win, not with the pain he caused!” she spoke to herself, two fingers resting on her deck; “Just one card can save me right now but the odds are against me.” She whispered.

The three voices from her best friend and their new pony acquaintances broke through her own doubt, her eyes sparkling with an odd glow of a rainbow; “I believe and I can win!” she called, drawing the card from her Duel Disk with a faint rainbow path travelling from it.

The ‘Aqua Armor Ninja’ stood up and let a rainbow coloured ball engulf his body, his silhouette slowly changing to become larger and bulkier. When the ball faded, he was replaced by a young man with jet black hair, his garbs the same blue but styled so the face could be shown. Surrounding the young man was a flowing blue dragon that liked to stay around his arms, looking at Black Mist hungrily.

“By discarding one Ninjitsu Art and one Ninja from my hand, I can activate his special ability. One of your monsters has its special abilities negated!” Crystal called, tossing the two cards in her hand to the graveyard. The Ninja closed his eyes as the dragon on his arm opened its maw and fired a stream of water towards Number 96. When the stream of water soaked the monster, the fire in its eyes died out, the body going into a slump.

Dark Mist stared in bafflement to what happened to his beast, fear growing in his eyes; “With his effect negated, he can’t gain more attack points!” he cried, his fear growing as he saw Crystal smirk at him.

“That’s right Dark Mist. Now crawl back to the hole you came from! Blue Dragon Ninja, Dragon Squall Slice!” she commanded, the blue ninja opened his eyes in an instant and rushing forward. The dragon beside him launched another wave of water to bathe the weakened monster, though let up for the ninja to soar from down from a large jump and carve the beast in two with a single chop of his right arm.

Number 96 howled as it exploded in a fury of flames shooting from its body, Dark Mist howling himself as he was caught in it; “You haven’t seen the last of me yet! I’ll be back and next time, I’ll show no mercy!” he bellowed, his threats cut out when the blast encompassed him completely.

When the smoke cleared, Dark Mist was gone. Nothing but a scorch mark where he once stood.

Baku looked at the mark for a moment before turning back to Crystal with a smile, though with shock he realised Crystal was still barely standing up. Rushing over to Crystal when she began to fall from her injuries, Baku tried to reach for her whilst she fell right for the hole in the tower.

He barely missed her hand as she fell, though that didn’t stop Rainbow Dash from getting in her way and grabbing her back and flapping hard to try and pull her up; “Hey! Mind giving me some help?!” she called, Rarity and Baku grabbing hold of the Pegasus and pulling the two of them back to safety.

Panting a little from the adrenaline, Baku looked up. It wasn’t long before he started to laugh a little; “It’s a miracle we’re actually alive right now. Thanks Rainbow Dash. You too Rarity.” He spoke with a smile.

“No problem at all dear. However it would be best if we find the real Princess Luna before we come into more trouble.” She spoke with a small smile of her own.

They didn’t need to go far since hoof steps were heard upon the balcony. Stepping into the room, a midnight blue Alicorn with a mane made of ethereal starlight came inside with her head held high and her eyes closed; “Do not be alarmed Dame Rarity. The curse the foul beast has placed upon thee has been lifted. We thank you deeply for the beast would have taken our place and caused havoc upon the populace if not stopped.” She stated with a smile.

“We thank you also, warriors from a distant land. If not for you, we would have already descended into anarchy.” She said with the same smile, though something didn’t seem right to the human male.

“Why do you have your eyes closed?” he asked curiously, raising himself to his feet.

Luna was silent for a moment before sighing gently, her eyes opening to view the carnage around her; “From the prison made of darkness where we were held captive, we were forced to watch the struggle that decimated our tower. We didn’t wish to view it so soon.” She spoke, looking around to her destroyed bed.

Nodding slowly, Baku gently helped the still burnt Crystal to her feet, the girl looking up to the princess across the room; “I’d kneel if I could actually stand on my own in the first place.” She spoke in a slight pained laugh.

When Luna’s horn lit up with a bright blue however, she felt her wounds and burns slowly start to give relief, some open wounds even closing and burns starting to clear immediately; “In the time before our banishment, we knew spells to aid during battle. The most important were healing spells.” She explained with a small smile; “We shall heal you as a small token of our thanks.”

Rainbow Dash grinned as she took to the air once more; “So you saw it too Princess? It was awesome! She fought with Ninjas! NINJAS!” she cried out, obviously excited to have a potential friend who had such abilities; “Oh yeah, almost forgot. Princess, we have a bit of trouble. The guards think that Crystal and Baku are bad guys. Blueblood also tried to make an execution! Can you help?” she asked before landing on the ground beside Rarity.

Luna was a little surprised by the request yet gave a swift nod; “It shall be done. We shall send word to our sister make sure the matter is sorted. While doing so, perhaps you can tell me something...” she started.

“What is it princess?” Baku asked immediately, getting a relieved feeling in his chest. Ever since the talk of an execution had been uttered, his chest was tight with worry. By now, it was slowly loosening.

With a small but cheeky grin, she looked over them both; “You both served us well in saving us. As such, would you both like to join the bearers of the Elements of Harmony in Knighthood of Equestria?” she asked, earning a few widening glances.