It's Time To Duel!

by DagaYemar

Turn 3: Harpie Party Frenzy vs. A Day at the Rodeo

4000 4000

“Ah’ll start things off!” Applejack declared, drawing a card from her deck. “Ah’ll place one card face-down, and summon my Show Dog in defense position!”

A brown and white dog jumped out from a flash of light on the field and landed in a crouch. It bent forward defensively and growled in Mai’s direction.

“That the best you’ve got?” Mai taunted, clearly not very impressed. “Although I see where you got the idea to wear that hat of yours. The resemblance between the two of you is striking.”

“She’s just trying to shake you! Don’t listen to her!” Rainbow shouted from the sidelines.

“Ah know, but it’ll take more than that to rattle me!” AJ returned, putting on her serious face and picking another card from her hand. “My little friend may be small, but she’s got one big special ability. By sendin’ one critter to the graveyard, ah can take any beast from my deck and add it right to my hand.”

She discarded an Enraged Battle Ox and pulled out her deck, fanning it with her hand. Now the only question is which one? Well, can’t go wrong with this guy! “Ah’ll end my turn there. You’re up, partner!”

“Then I’ll show you a real monster!” Mai declared. “I summon Harpie Lady 3 in attack mode!”

A winged monster shimmered into existence and swept its wings out, sending a gale of wind blowing in all directions. Applejack shielded her eyes with her free hand and gritted her teeth. “Not bad. Got anythin’ else?”

“How about Fairy Meteor Crush?” Mai asked, as the spell card shone into existence behind her monster. “Once I equip it to my harpie, your dog will be powerless to protect you. Now go crush that cur!”

The harpie cackled and launched itself across the field with a single stroke of its wings. It pulled itself up short above AJ’s dog and lined up the sharp claws on its right leg, lashing straight down with a savage kick. The dog shattered into fragments with a yelp.

“Urg… well, my Show Dog has one last trick.” Applejack said, placing a hand on her deck. “Now each of us can draw a new card.”

Mai drew and placed one card face down on her field. “Fine by me. I’ll just leave this one here for later. OK, Honey, you’re up.”

“Hey Yug,” Joey said in a low voice, leaning in to his friends ear, “Do you notice anything different about that Harpie Lady?”

“Now that you mention it… its hair is off.” Yugi pointed out. Every time they’d seen Mai play that monster it had long pink hair, but this one had short blue spikes.

The astral form of the real Yugi faded into view behind the Pharaoh. It looks like one of the other harpies, after she’s played that Elegant Egotist card.

“I think your right, partner.” Yugi said aloud. “But I wonder why this version is out now…”

Applejack picked a card from her hand and slapped it onto her disk, breaking the two of them from their discussion. “So ya want to see a real monster? Then take a gander at Calamity, Rodeo Star!”

A cowgirl appeared on her side of the field and unhitched a lasso from its belt. It started twirling it in a slow circle above its head in anticipation.

“No point in waitin’,” Applejack declared, pointing out her target. “Calamity, tie up that harpie of hers. Lasso Trick!”

The cowgirl grinned and threw its rope, throwing its whole body into the toss. The harpie tried to fly up out of range, but the lasso arced around its head before it could get very high. The rope tightened and pinned the monster’s arms to its sides. Calamity yelled and yanked back on her end, pulling the harpie out of the sky. The winged beast crashed into the ground and raised a big cloud of obscuring dust.

Mai coughed into her left hand against the smoke and gestured to her face down with her other. “If you think that’s the end of my Harpie Lady, then-”

“Hold your horses, Sugar.” Applejack interrupted with a cheeky grin. “Your feathered friend is just fine, see?”

Indeed, the smoke cleared to reveal that Mai’s harpie hadn’t been destroyed in the attack. It lay on the field, arms still tied to its side and glaring daggers up at her captor.

Mai pulled her hand back before her trap could activate. “Why didn’t you destroy it?”

“My Calamity actually can’t destroy monsters in battle,” Applejack explained, “But she does wrap them up nice and pretty, droppin’ their attack points by five hundred each time. And ah’ll activate my Mask of Restrict, just in case ya were gonna get rid of it yourself.”

Mai crosses her arms and turned away smugly. “Not bad at all, but you’ve overlooked something. My Harpie Ladies have gotten an upgrade, and now they each carry a curse within them. Curse of Fear!”

The trapped harpie suddenly bared its fangs and hissed, its eyes opening wide and seeming to glow with a dark energy. Applejack’s monster backed up half a step and shuddered, pulling its end of the rope a little closer to its chest.

“Since your little cowgirl battled my monster, she’s too afraid to attack again for another two turns!”

AJ tsked and looked down at her hand. “Can’t attack, huh? Well, there’s more than one way around that. Ah’ll set this card and end my turn.”

About time, Mai thought, drawing her card and glancing at it. Perfect, it’s my Mirror Wall! That’ll put an end to this duel quickly.

“I’ll set this card face down,” she said aloud, “And next I’ll summon Harpie Lady 1. And her Curse of Frenzy is immediately cast on the field, raising the attack of all my monsters by three hundred!”

Another harpie monster appeared on the field, this one sporting long hair all the way to its waist. It spread its wings out and shrieked a battle cry, unleashing a rush of wind out from it in waves. Calamity backed up yet again, trying to protect its eyes with its free hand. Mai’s other harpie managed to get to its feet and grinned evilly.

“That’s so cool, Mai!” Joey called out from the sidelines. “When did you get those new cards?”

“Pegasus asked me to try them out.” Mai answered, playing it off like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Harpie Lady 1 and 3…” Celestia muttered under her breath. Her eyes widened and she turned quickly to Pegasus. “Wait a minute, did you…?”

Pegasus smiled and waved his hand like it was no big deal. “I thought I’d try something and see what you thought.”

Mai thrust her hand forward. “That boost is more than enough for my Harpie Lady 1 to overpower your monster. Attack!”

“Just what ah was waitin’ for!” Applejack shouted, revealing her face-down card. “Ah power up Calamity with the Rush Recklessly spell, and she’ll meet you head on!”

As Mai’s harpie flapped up to gain height, a red flaming aura surrounded Calamity and wiped any vestiges of fear from its features. The two monsters charged straight at each other, but Calamity launched a kick that landed first, driving its boot right into the harpie’s unprotected stomach. The bird woman fell out of the air with a strangled gasp.

“No…” Mai said, but Applejack wasn’t done.

“Oh, ah almost forgot to mention that Calamity has another effect.” AJ grinned. “She forces all monsters on your side of the field to attack, whether they want to or not!”

Mai’s other harpie tried to back up, but the lasso around it wouldn’t let it escape. Calamity violently tugged the rope back, dragging the trapped monster through the air towards it. The cowgirl lined up and kicked the harpie hard as soon as it got close, sending it sailing back to the other end of the field.

Calamity flicked the lasso and it unraveled from around the first monster. The cowgirl retracted the rope and swirled it around its head a couple of times before snapping it sharply forward. Instantly the two harpies were ensnared back to back, their arms pinned to their sides. They hissed helplessly against their binding.

“And of course my Calamity drops their attacks by five hundred again.” Applejack said smugly. “Anythin’ else ya want to do, Sugar?”

“I end my turn…” Mai growled, glancing quickly down at her two face downs. Keep laughing, I’ll change your tune fast enough…

Applejack drew and considered her options. Should ah pull out the big guns? Nah, it’s still a little too early. She might have some fight left; best soften her up a bit more…

“Ah’ll summon Texas Jack, Rodeo Big Name!” she said, playing the card. A tall cowboy appeared next to her other monster, standing as if leaning back casually against a wall. It tipped its hat at Calamity and grinned. “And ah’ll send him to attack that Harpie Lady 1. Ten-Gallon Charge!”

“You've run right into my Mirror Wall!” Mai cried, activating her trap as AJ’s monster ran forward. “Your little cowboy’s attack is blocked, and his points are cut in half-”

Texas Jack suddenly dug its feet into the ground, stopping just short of running into the shimmering barrier that had risen out of the ground. With a deft motion it unclipped a lasso from its belt and snapped it forward. The rope passed through the barrier in a golden shimmer and its loop circled the trap card. The wall dividing the field in two faded away as the lasso closed.

“What happened to my wall?” Mai demanded.

“Texas Jack can negate the effect of any card ah pick when it attacks.” Applejack explained, “And speakin’ of his attack, he’s still got one to finish!”

The aforementioned cowboy leapt forward, spinning in place before the two trapped monsters. They leaned back as if to get away from it, but the rope binding them held them in place. Texas Jack lashed out with its left leg, bucking the harpie with the long hair right in the head and shattering it to pieces. The rope tightened around the remaining harpie before it could make use of the slack and escape.

The cowboy retreated back to its side of the field, playing out rope so it could keep its grip on Mai’s trap card. Soon it was side by side with its compatriot, their lassos tying down nearly all the cards on Mai’s field.

“Ah’ll play another card face down,” Applejack continued. “Without your Harpie 1, your last harpie’s attack drops to three hundred. And when Calamity forces it to attack next turn, there won’t be much left of your life points!”

“See, it’s more than just giving them a similar ability.” Celestia explained to Pegasus, leaning over so he could hear her better. “You should instead build a theme, so that even though two monsters don’t have the same effect, they still work together.”

“I see…” Pegasus said, nodding in agreement and thoughtfully tapping his chin.

“What are the two of you talking about?” Rainbow asked. The rest of them also looked on in interest.

“I suppose we have been a little vague, haven’t we?” Pegasus asked rhetorically. “Let’s see, has anyone on my team noticed anything interesting about our visitor’s decks so far?”

“A lot of their monsters have had the same names.” Bakura volunteered, starting to tick them off on his fingers. “Solar Guards, Wonder Bolts, and now Rodeo.”

“Hrmph, just lucky draws…” Kaiba grumbled, turning away from the group.

Pegasus smiled as if enjoying a private joke. “Not as lucky as you might think, Kaiba-boy. My dear colleague has created a new way to look at card designing, called archetypes. They’re like your XYZ machines or Yugi-boy’s magnet warriors, but instead of three or four card combos, a duelist’s entire deck shares a common theme!

“Think of it! Entire decks that flow like well oiled machines. It could revolutionize the game!”

“That’s actually my half of our little bet.” Celestia put in, idly toying with a golden bracelet on her left wrist. “If his team wins I agreed to explain exactly how he can produce the kind of cards I’ve come up with on his own. Of course, it occurs to me that you’re getting an awfully good look at these cards from just this tournament alone…”

“Don’t sell yourself short, my dear Celestia!” Pegasus cooed. “You personal input would be a great assistance!”

“Themed decks…” the Pharaoh mused, testing the idea out in his mind. It would certainly make your strategy stronger, but if your opponent discovers a weakness, your entire deck would fall apart. A dangerous trade-off…

“If you all don’t mind, I’m in the middle of a duel right now!” Mai shouted angrily, drawing attention back to the fight. “And I’m going to turn it all around, starting with this! I play Pot of Greed!”

She drew two cards from her deck and smiled once she saw what they were. “And now for my signature spell, Elegant Egotist! It allows me to summon any Harpie from my deck, such as Harpie Lady 2!”

Her trapped monster on the field pulsed as if lit within by a strobe light. It seemed to double as an almost perfect second image faded back from it, solidifying into yet another winged monster with short orange hair. It leapt up into the air and hovered, cackling wickedly.

“And why not another spell? I’ll use Harpie’s Feather Duster to destroy every spell and trap card on your side of the field!”

Her new harpie spread its wings and slashed them sharply, creating a mini tornado that bore down upon its enemies. Applejack’s Mask of Restrict and face-down card were sucked up into the tornado and blown clear off the field.

“No! My defense!” Applejack cried, holding her hat down lest it get blown right off her head.

Nothing could stop Mai’s roll now. “And now that that pesky Mask is gone, I can sacrifice my two monsters to summon the Harpie’s Pet Dragon!”

A bright light engulfed her field and her two harpies vanished into it. Calamity quickly reeling in its lasso once its prisoner disappeared, but all attention was drawn to the giant red dragon rising out of the ground on Mai’s side. It reared back and let out a roar at the skies above.

“My Pet Dragon gains an additional three hundred attack points for each Harpie Lady on my field.”

“But you’ve gotten rid of all your Harpies!” Applejack pointed out.

“That’s why I have this!” Mai declared, activating her trap card. “Hysteric Party lets me revive every Harpie Lady in my graveyard!”

She discarded a Rose Whip to activate the card, and a bright light shone out from her graveyard slot. One by one her three harpies reappeared, glaring at the cowpokes on the opposite field. They each reached down and picked up the end of a trio of chains trailing from the dragon’s collar, and the dragon roared again as its attack points rose by nine hundred.

“And don’t forget my first Harpie’s curse!” Mai continued. “Each of my monsters goes into a battle frenzy, gaining three hundred more points!”

“Th-thirty-two hundred!” Fluttershy squeaked in awe. Joey jumped nearly out of his skin noticing her standing next to him; he had honestly forgotten she was there.

“Still thinking I’m going to be easy pickings?” Mai challenged, cutting the air in front of her with her newly emptied left hand. “Harpie’s Pet Dragon! Eliminate Texas Jack!”

The dragon reared back and opened its jaws wide. Emerald fire collected into a fireball that the dragon launched with a snap of its neck. The fireball engulfed Texas Jack and exploded, driving everyone watching back a step. Before it disappeared completely, the lasso wrapped around her Mirror Wall snapped closed, crushing the trap and shattering it into fragments.

“Shoot…” Applejack grunted, bracing herself against the force of the attack. “Well, Texas Jack doesn’t go down empty-handed. Any card he happens to be tyin’ up goes with him!”

Mai brushed aside the destruction with a wave of her hand. “Doesn’t matter, because the duel’s going to end right here! I attack your last monster with Harpie Lady 2! Slashing Claws!”

“Not so fast! Ah’ll discard Pawnee, Rodeo Clown to activate its effect!” Applejack quickly discarded the card as the harpie bore down on her cowgirl. A phantom cowboy wearing exaggerated colors and a mask danced onto the field, right into the path of the attack. The harpie balked but still managed to awkwardly slash Calamity from around the clown. The cowgirl cried out in pain, but Pawnee spun around and caught the cowgirl before it could fall.

“Whoo-ee, just in time!” Applejack sighed in relief. “Pawnee prevents Calamity from bein’ destroyed in battle this turn. And since ya attacked her, she’s gonna wrangle that bird-brain out of the sky!”

Calamity wound up its lasso and wheeled it through the air, launching it at the retreating Harpie Lady. At the last second the orange haired monster spun around and crossed its arms over its chest. It ripped out as the rope settled around it, shredding the lasso to pieces.

“Oh, did I forget to mention that this Lady comes with a curse as well?” Mai asked. “Her Curse of Incompetence completely negates the effect of any monster she does battle with. And while I may not be able to destroy your cowgirl, your life points are a different matter!”

Her remaining two harpies sped forward and slashed at the cowgirl. Calamity cried out and fell back, but the clown caught her once again before fading away from the field, its job finished.

“Looks like you managed to survive somehow.” Mai said, crossing her arms. “This is your last turn, Honey. Better make it count.”

You bet ah will! Applejack thought sharply, eying the monsters arranged against her. Ah’ve been savin’ something special for ya, and it’s time to let it out!

“Ah’ll start by usin’ Silent Doom to revive Texas Jack.” She began, playing the card she’d just drawn. “And since ya were so fond of spells on your turn, ah think ah’ll play another one as well. Breakin’ the Barrier!”

Texas Jack had no sooner shown up back on the field than a gigantic wooden fence rose out of the ground behind Applejack. Something large slammed hard into the gate just behind the duelist, causing it to buckle outward. The two monsters glanced at each other and leapt up to the top of the fence. They cast their lassos down at something and seemed to strain against it as it slammed against the gate once again, cracks spreading through the wood.

“Brace yourself now, because ah’m unleashin’ Blue Rampage!” Applejack cried, and at that instant the gate burst open. A gigantic blue-furred bull charged out; lungs bellowing, nose blowing steam, hooves digging up great clouts of earth. Her two cowboys each had a rope around its neck and the bull pulled them after it as it charged forth, trailing like a pair of broken kites. The bull dashed madly around the field, barely missing running over any other the other monsters, duelists, or spectators.

"Eeeek!" Fluttershy shrieked as the monster rushed passed, not stepping back as quickly as the others. She tripped over her own feet and would have fallen had Bakura not managed to catch her at the last minute.

"Careful, I've got-" Bakura started, but he suddenly froze up. His gaze refocused quickly, studying her closely as he finished helping her back to her feet. "...That was almost a nasty spill you took."

"Thank you." Fluttershy responded, blushing a little at the attention she was getting as Rainbow and Pinkie both crowded around her in concern. She turned away from Bakura, not noticing the dark cast fall over his eyes.

“Once Blue Rampage is out of its pen, even ah can’t stop it.” Applejack declared, hopping back just before the bull gored her in passing. “Certainly neither Calamity nor Texas Jack can, although they each give the critter a five hundred point bonus. That’s just enough to break through that dragon!”

The beast seemed to focus for the first time, glaring balefully at the dragon. The harpies glanced fearfully at each other and dropped their chains, putting as much distance between themselves and their pet as possible. The dragon flapped its wings and tried to gain altitude, but the bull slammed into its chest and pulled it under its hooves. The dragon disappeared, roaring, into a cloud of dust.

The bull stomped around in place after, throwing its body wildly about. Above it the harpies hissed in anger and almost didn’t get out of the way when Texas Jack sailed up past them. The cowboy had lost its grip on the leash and had been sent flying. It shattered when it reached the limits of the duel.

“You think destroying my Pet Dragon will be enough to stop me?!” Mai shouted.

“Of course not, and it’s not enough to stop Blue either!” Applejack returned, spreading her arms apologetically. “Nothin’ can stop it now, and for each Rodeo monster it bucks from the field, its attack continues. This is the end!”

The bull bellowed and whipped its head around, throwing Calamity about like a flail. The three harpies ducked low so as not to be hit by the flying cowgirl, but that unfortunately brought the pink-haired one down in line with the beasts’ head. It charged the winged monster and ground it into the earth.

“This can’t be happening!” Mai shouted. The loss of Harpie Lady 1 dropped the attack of her monsters, but that hardly mattered anymore. Calamity finally lost its grip on the rope, sailing out over Mai’s head and out of sight. The bull leapt up at the remaining two monsters and tore them out of the sky. It bore them down to the earth and shook the ground with the impact, raising a giant cloud of dirt.

“And that’s that.” Applejack said, snapping off her disk with a flick of her wrist. “That was a pretty good one, ah have to admit. Ya got yourself some skills!”

“Hmph!” Mai sniffed, turned away sharply and stalking back to her place on the sidelines. “I don’t need any of your fake sympathy!”

Applejack frowned. “Well, ya don’t have to act so stuck up about it…” she muttered, but walked over to her cheering friends without another word.

“So we’re tied one to one.” Pegasus said, clapping his hands for attention and walking to the center of the stage. “And we can’t have that, now can we? If your team wants to take the lead, one of you will have to beat me to do it. Now, who wants to duel me?”

On that last line he spun on his feet and leveled a defiant stare at the rest of the duelists. All the girls, even those who had already dueled, were taken aback by the weight of his gaze and froze for a second. Well, almost all of them.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! ME!!!!” Pinkie shouted, scrambling forward and zipping over to her designated spot. “I’ll duel you! Let’s get it on!”

“My, how energetic!” Pegasus laughed. “Very well, let’s see what you can do against me!”