Walt continued to stand bravely before Yurik with his newly drawn card. Although he was outnumbered, he was far from being the weakest duelist at the moment.
================
Yurik:
LP: 2400
Walt:
LP: 2900
================
Yurik stared out intently at Walt’s hand, wondering what kind of card he must have drawn, his monsters prepared for the onslaught that would more than likely occur.
Twilight Alicorn
ATK: 3100
Lvl.: 7
Allicorn of Typhoons
ATK: 2900
Rnk.: 4
Unioncorn of Light
ATK: 2500
Lvl.: 4
While the strength of Yurik’s monsters were nothing to scoff at, Walt’s Tungsten Dragon looked upon the three monsters as if they were nothing more than a snack to it.
Tungsten Dragon
ATK: 2700
Lvl.: 8
Tesla Coil
Pendulum Scale: 1
Walt peered at his newest monster in his hand, smirking with delight as he did.
“Yurik,” called Walt. “Do you think Kieran is going to allow me in now?”
Yurik glanced to Kieran, who peered at him with unhopeful eyes.
I have no doubt in my mind, Yurik thought. But if I lose like this in front of Kieran, will he still let me in, yet alone keep my Alicorn Twilight card?
Yurik knew that no duelist would be allowed to let up at any moment, but upon looking at the nervous Twilight by Alice’s and Marcus’s sides, he knew he would lose something else if he was defeated now.
“Walt,” spoke Yurik, “you’re a great duelist, and I can tell that Kieran sees great potential in you. However, I think he’s eyeing you better than he is me now.”
“That’s good, right?” he questioned with his arms out, gesturing to Yurik that he was stating the obvious. “We’re both going to be in the Guardiaboliques together then!”
Yurik spotted a shimmer in Kieran’s eyes, reading from it that at the rate the duel was going, this would not be the case.
Dammit, Yurik hissed in his mind. How do I tell him what’s going to happen? If I say that I’ll be rejected if he beats me like I am, he might not play as hard, and I’ll screw everything up for the both of us.
With nothing else to say or do to help him, Yurik forced a smirk to his friend.
“Yeah,” he replied warily. “The both of us… together.”
Kieran squinted harder at Yurik in scolding manner for his naiveté.
“Then hold still so I can end this!” shouted Walt, picking out the monster card from his hand and placing it on his blade. “I summon Tungsten Voltarantula!”
Popping out from the blue portal that appeared beside Tungsten dragon was a large, shiny blue spider with a large yellow star on its thorax and metallic pincers on the mouth.
Tungsten Voltarantula
ATK: 1300
Lvl.: 3
“He got a monster that strong?” Yurik muttered fearfully.
Twilight looked back at Walt’s newest monster, blinking with disbelief.
“Strong?” she asked herself. “It doesn’t look very strong.”
“That monster isn’t for going against Yurik’s monster,” Alice explained. “It’s for helping Walt.”
“What do you–”
“I now activate the effect of my Tungsten Dragon!” Walt declared, pointing up at his monster. “Once per turn, I can equip a level three or lower Tungsten monster to it, and I choose my Voltarantula!”
With a cheerful squeak, the arachnid hopped up onto Tungsten Dragon’s chest and clung on, causing a yellow aura to cover Tungsten Dragon.
“When a monster is equipped to Tungsten Dragon through its effect,” Walt continued, “it gains ATK equal to the ATK of the monster equipped to it.”
“So that’s what Yurik meant by that!” Twilight realized. “Now Tungsten Dragon’s ATK is going to become 4000!”
Tungsten Dragon roared loudly as the energy coursed throughout its entire body.
ATK: 2700 -> 4000
“Now my monster’s ATK is even stronger than any of yours,” Walt elaborated, “and with the combined effects of my Tungsten Dragon and Tungsten Coat, my monster is practically invincible!”
Yurik huffed in anguish, feeling his end coming closer and closer.
“Let’s see you try and defend your monsters now!” Walt shouted. “Tungsten Dragon. Attack Unioncorn of Light! Incandescent Inferno!”
With the glowing of the giant spider on its chest, Tungsten Dragon inhaled deeply and blasted its beam of energy at Yurik’s monster, the light now infused with blue light that matched the spider’s body.
“Yurik!” shouted Twilight.
“I’m not letting that happen!” responded Yurik. “I activate my trap, Allicorn Call!”
A purple card flipped up, featuring art of an alicorn covering a horse in a bright aura that came from its horn.
“When a monster I control is targeted by an attack,” Yurik clarified, “this card lets me target one Allicorn monster I control and increase the attack target’s ATK by the original ATK of that Allicorn monster until the end phase of this turn. That means my Unioncorn of Light gains 2300 ATK!”
“No way!” Twilight gasped.
“Incredible!”
“Sorry,” Walt shouted, “but that will not do! I activate my counter trap, Candid Camera!”
Walt quickly waved his hand over his field, allowing a trap card with a curved-arrow icon under the card’s title to appear, the art featuring a security camera aiming its lens at a face-up trap card.
“When my opponent activates a trap card during the battle phase,” explained Walt, “this card negates that card’s activation, shuffles it into the deck, and then my attacking monster gains 500 ATK during damage calculation.”
“Are you kidding me?!” Yurik shrieked.
Twilight and Marcus gasped at Walt’s maneuver as they watched a security camera on a metal arm extend from out of the card’s art and focus on Yurik’s trap card. With a bright glimmer in the lens, Yurik’s trap card glowed brightly before it became a loose shape of light that shrunk to the size of a card and slid into Yurik’s deck, which began to shuffle itself. A similar glint appeared in Tungsten Dragon’s eye as it continued to breathe out its beam of energy.
ATK: 4000 -> 4500
“4500 ATK?” Twilight cried out. “That’s insane!”
“Tungsten Dragon!” declared Walt. “Finish your attack and destroy Unioncorn of Light!”
The dragon’s breath finally made it to Yurik’s monster, who crouched down as a final forms of defense as the attack hit it. It’s painful whinnies were quickly silenced as the monster burst into bright sparks.
“Unioncorn of Light!” screamed Yurik. “No!”
Tungsten Dragon’s blast wouldn’t let up, covering Yurik in hot, blinding light that burned nearly every inch of his body, making him wail out even harder.
Yurik’s Life Points: 2400 -> 400
Yurik slid to a stop far from his other monsters. As Yurik slowly got up, he looked at Walt with unyielding pity. Twilight shuddered as her eyes wavered, saddened for Yurik for the loss of his monster. With the battle over, Tungsten Dragon’s ATK had returned.
ATK: 4500 -> 4000
“And now that a monster has been removed from your field,” Walt reminded him, “the ATK of your monsters goes down from your Pony Power card.”
The glowing of Yurik’s monsters returned as their ATK was drained.
Twilight Alicorn
ATK: 3100 -> 2900
Allicorn of Typhoons
ATK: 2900 -> 2700
Yurik finally made it back to the playing field, standing with his hands on his knees for support. Kieran monitored Yurik’s signs of tiring and weakness with additional scorn.
“Next,” spoke Walt, holding up a spell card, “I activate the continuous spell card Dismal Charge.”
As Walt slipped his card inside his duel disk’s slot, the enlarged version of the card, which showed art of Tungsten Dragon with bolts of lightning coming down from its outstretched wings, appeared face-up on Walt’s back row of the field. Yurik gasped, knowing that this card put him in an even tighter bind.
“During each of my end phases,” Walt explained, “I can send one monster equipped to my Tungsten Dragon to the graveyard and inflict 500 points of damage to my opponent!”
Twilight frowned at Walt, stepping out from the others she was with.
“That’s too bad for you!” Twilight yelled out. “Yurik can just put his Twilight Alicorn into his pendulum zone, which reduces the effect damage to 0!”
“That’s very perceptive of you,” complimented Walt, “but it still doesn’t matter, because cards and effects cannot be activated in response to the effect’s activation.”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“It means,” answered Yurik, “either I place Twilight Alicorn on my pendulum zone right now as a chain to his card’s activation, or I don’t and take 500 points of unavoidable damage…”
Walt smirked at his situation, but Yurik was not so easily disheartened.
“…which is exactly what I’m going to do!” concluded Yurik. “I activate the effect of Twilight Alicorn, placing it inside my unused pendulum zone!”
Twilight Alicorn disappeared and appeared on Yurik’s left side of the field in two short pops of magenta light.
Twilight Alicorn
Pendulum Scale: 6
“Wait,” Twilight wondered, still confused, “if you can’t activate cards in response to his spell card, how can your monster stop the damage?”
“Because a monster’s pendulum effect is a continuous-type effect,” Alice explained. “That means that it’s not an effect that’s activated, it’s an effect that stays in effect as long as the card’s in play.”
“I see!” she exclaimed, turning back to Yurik. “Good move there, Yurik!”
Walt grimaced, his victory stalled once again.
“That’s fine!” Walt called out. “Now your monster loses more ATK now that your other monster’s left the monster card zones.”
Allicorn of Typhoons’s body glowed again as its ATK was lowered.
ATK: 2700 -> 2500
“Plus,” added Walt, “my monster’s still packing a walloping 4000 ATK, and not one of your monsters can even scratch that right now. Not only that, my Voltarantula’s effect gives the monster equipped with it the effect of piercing damage.”
Yurik grunted in frustration once again.
“No matter which way I attack your monster,” Walt reminded him, “it’s going to hurt. Either way, best of luck to you. I end my turn.”
Status: Hand: 0 Life: 2900 Monsters: 1 Pendulum Zones: 1 Pendulum Scale: - Spell/Traps: 3
“Piercing damage?” questioned Twilight.
“That means even when a monster attacks a defense position monster,” explains Walt, “which wouldn’t inflict damage onto the attacked monster’s controller, this effect inflicts battle damage equal to the difference between the monster’s ATK and the other monster’s DEF.”
“What? Yurik’s going to take damage again?”
“Unless he can find a card that can save himself, yes, he will.”
Incredible! Twilight thought. Walt has all of his bases completely covered. His monster is nearly impenetrable, and he’s left Yurik’s field almost completely empty. All Yurik has on his side is luck now.
“Come on, Yurik!” cheered Twilight. “I know you can do it!”
Yurik, hearing Twilight’s support, felt a joyful giggle rise in his throat, gaining the hope to continue on despite his seemingly impossible odds.
“I’ve got too much riding on this duel to stop here,” Yurik responded, reaching his hand towards his deck. “I’ve still got life points, so I still have a chance! My turn! Draw!”
Yurik looked up into his hand to see a monster card, but upon seeing the monster card he was given, he just barely managed to hide his excitement and keep a serious face.
“I activate Twilight Alicorn’s effect,” Yurik spoke, “special summoning it in attack position from my pendulum zone!”
As Yurik had said, Twilight Alicorn teleported itself back to the center of Yurik’s field, taking its place with Allicorn of Typhoons.
Twilight Alicorn
ATK: 3100
Lvl.: 7
“And now Pony Power increases my monsters’ ATKs again,” he told Walt.
The two monsters glowed, now strengthened by each other’s presence.
Twilight Alicorn
ATK: 2500 -> 2900
Allicorn of Typhoons
ATK: 2500 -> 2700
“Now,” declared Yurik, sliding the final card from underneath his xyz monster out and putting it in the graveyard, “I activate Allicorn of Typhoons’s effect, detaching its last xyz material to destroy one spell or trap card you control and have my monster gain 500 ATK as a result until the end phase, and I’m choosing to destroy your Tungsten Voltarantula equipped to Tungsten Dragon!”
The last orbiting sphere of light melded into the alicorn’s horn as it soared out towards Walt and fanned a mighty gust at the center of the dragon’s chest, casting a spell that flew inside with the wind and blasted the blue spider mounted onto it. The spell forced Tungsten Dragon back, but it caught itself by the claws on all four of its limbs as it tried to recover.
ATK: 4000 -> 2700
The glowing on the Allicorn of Typhoons’s horn spread over its entire body as it returned to Yurik’s side of the field.
ATK: 2700 -> 3200
“Now both of his monsters are stronger than Walt’s!” Twilight exclaimed.
“But they still won’t destroy it thanks to his monster’s effect and his Tungsten Coat,” Kieran dismissed. “Just what is the purpose of this struggle?”
“I’m going to continue fighting,” answered Yurik furiously, having overheard him. “Now, Allicorn of Typhoons, attack Tungsten Dragon!”
With a flapping of its wings and a glow of its horn, another wall of water barreled towards Tungsten Dragon and Walt. While his dragon’s wings shielded most of the wave, much of it still passed through and washed over Walt, knocking him down to the floor.
Walt’s Life Points: 2900 -> 2400
“Finally,” declared Yurik, “attack Tungsten Dragon, Twilight Alicorn!”
With a charge of its horn, Twilight Alicorn fired off a pillar of magenta light that struck Tungsten Dragon. While the dragon managed to weather though it, the spell split off into six beams around the dragon’s body and redirected their aim at Walt, who tried to stand back up. The individual beams struck Walt at the joints of each of his limbs, his chest, and his stomach, thrusting him back further with a painful yelp.
Walt’s Life Points: 2400 -> 2200
Yurik looked at the card in his hand one last time, ensuring that he’d be able to defend himself for one more turn. With a reluctant sigh, Yurik faced Walt once more.
“During the end phase,” Yurik concluded, “my Allicorn of Typhoons’s ATK goes back to normal.”
A soft green glow appeared around the green-and-black alicorn.
ATK: 3200 -> 2700
“I end my turn,” he finally said.
Status: Hand: 1 Life: 400 Monsters: 2 Pendulum Zones: 0 Pendulum Scale: - Spell/Traps: 1
“If Walt can summon another level three or lower Tungsten monster,” Walt said, “this duel is as good as done. If he draws a spell or trap, there’s still a chance for Walt to continue defending himself and driving Yurik into a corner.”
“We’ll see,” Twilight responded. “I think Yurik has something planned that not even we see coming.”
Walt smirked at Yurik, feeling the duel reach an interesting stage.
“Nervous about what I’m going to draw?” asked Walt.
“As a matter of fact,” Yurik admitted, “I am. Whatever you draw could very well mean the difference between winning or losing this duel.”
“I have to say though, man,” Walt admitted with a much calmer and friendly face, “this is probably the most fun dueling that I’ve ever had in my life.”
Yurik and Twilight perked up, surprised by this statement.
“I mean,” chuckled Walt, “I’m dueling in front of Kieran of the Guardiaboliques and impressing the everlasting hell out of them! How much more cool could this be?”
“Perhaps joining them,” Yurik said, which finally got a surprised reaction out of Walt. “You really are a very skilled duelist, Walt, and I think you would make a perfect addition to the Guardiaboliques.”
Walt, touched by Yurik’s honesty, gasped once again.
“You really think so, man?” he wondered.
“I really know so, man,” replied Yurik. “You have a great eye for detail, you’re very loyal, and you have the right sense of justice and morality that the Guardiaboliques are looking for.”
Walt smiled, unable to hold a chuckle in.
“Oh,” added Yurik, rubbing the back of his head, “and you’re a pretty good duelist, and stuff…”
Walt let out a laugh, completely won over by Yurik’s humor and sincerity. Kieran looked to Twilight and Marcus, both of whom looked to Yurik with a similar smile, agreeing with every word of his. Kieran couldn’t help but smile a little as well, knowing Yurik’s kind words about Walt to be spot on. Alice sighed, feeling that Kieran had just made a right decision.
“So, hey,” Yurik said, “whether either of us wins or loses here right now, let’s just have a hell of a good time, huh?”
“Right on,” Walt agreed, putting his fingers onto his deck. “That’s all I want right now in this moment! My turn! Draw!”
With only a simple glance, Walt already moved his card to the blades of his blade disk.
“I summon Tungsten Jouleyfish!” he declared.
Another blue portal appeared to the right of Tungsten Dragon once Walt’s card had been placed onto his blade. Floating out from the portal was a light-blue man o’ war jellyfish whose tentacles appeared to be strands of glowing wires while the bladder of the creature was shaped very much like a halberd’s head.
Tungsten Jouleyfish
ATK: 700
Lvl.: 2
“Next,” Walt continued, “I activate the effect of Tungsten Dragon, equipping my Tungsten Jouleyfish to it and having it gain ATK equal to Tungsten Jouleyfish’s ATK!”
The jellyfish flipped to the left and began to shift towards Tungsten Dragon’s wrist, where its tentacles wrapped around the arm and formed a luminescent band, the blade-like bladder now a weapon for it. With a testing slash, Tungsten Dragon managed to stand to its back legs, holding its arms and balled fists up in a fighting stance.
ATK: 2700 -> 3400
“I guess that’s it then,” responded Yurik. “I activate Twilight Alicorn’s effect, placing it on an unused Pendulum Zone of mine!”
Twilight Alicorn quickly zapped itself back to the left side of Yurik’s field, Yurik sighing in relief as a result.
Twilight Alicorn
Pendulum Scale: 6
“Hmph,” Walt chortled, “of course you won’t make it easy. Battle! Tungsten Dragon, attack Allicorn of Typhoons! Stinging Slash!”
The dragon began to charge at Allicorn of Typhoons, who braced itself, knowing the fate it was about to meet.
“Yurik!” shouted Twilight. “Do something!”
“Sorry, Typhoons,” muttered Yurik, solemnly closing his eyes.
Yurik then took his only card from his hand and revealed it to Walt, showing a monster card of a plump, brown, furry body with only a pair of large eyes for a face, stubby hooves and a short brown mane and tail.
“I activate the effect of Kuripony from my hand!” he called out.
“That’s what you drew?” Walt shouted out.
“When a Pony, Unioncorn, Pegassist, or Allicorn monster I control is attacked by an opponent’s monster, I can discard this card and reduce the battle damage to 0!”
Yurik quickly placed his card into his graveyard slot, and appearing in a puff of golden sparks was the strange, spritely Kuripony, bouncing around in the air until it floated in front of Allicorn of Typhoons. With a hard punch, Kuripony and Allicorn of Typhoons were both slashed by the Tungsten Jouleyfish latched onto Walt’s dragon. Both creatures burst into similar gold sparks that flew into and around Yurik in a strong gust.
“Thank you, Kuripony,” he whispered with a genuinely grateful smile, “Allicorn of Typhoons.”
“And you survive yet again!” congratulated Walt. “However, minus your Twilight Alicorn and your Pony Power, your field and hand are completely empty. Unless you can draw a card that can beat me next turn or even stall once again into the next turn, this will be your final chance. I end my turn.”
Status: Hand: 0 Life: 2200 Monsters: 1 Pendulum Zones: 1 Pendulum Scale: - Spell/Traps: 3
“I’m not even going to wait!” Yurik called. “I can’t stand to! Here goes!”
Yurik gripped the top card of his deck with his thumb and index and middle fingers.
“My turn!” he cried. “DRAW!!”
Kieran, Alice, Marcus, and Twilight waited with an equal sense of impatience, unsure what card Yurik might have drawn to either win or lose the game. Yurik, glancing up at it, easily worked a smile onto his face, unnerving both Walt and Kieran.
“It was my final chance,” Yurik stated, “but it was the only chance I needed! I activate Twilight Alicorn’s effect, special summoning it from the pendulum zone in attack position!”
Twilight Alicorn teleported back onto the center of Yurik’s field, ready to finish its opponent off.
Twilight Alicorn
ATK: 2500
Lvl.: 7
“Finally,” he resumed, revealing his drawn spell card, “I activate my spell card Spell of Banishment!”
Walt seized up immediately, knowing at this very moment that he would lose. Yurik threw his card into the front slot of his duel disk, a green card featuring art of an alicorn manifesting a dark portal from it horn with a fiendish-looking monster stuck inside it phasing onto the ground.
“I can activate this card when my life points are below 500,” Yurik explained. “While I control a spellcaster-type monster, I can target another spellcaster-type monster that I control or exists in my graveyard and one monster my opponent controls and banish both targets.”
Marcus and Twilight both gasped at the stunning effect.
“But wait!” Twilight exclaimed to Marcus. “I thought Tungsten Dragon couldn’t be destroyed by card effects!”
“Destroying and banishing are two completely different things,” Marcus responded. “Even with Walt’s cards’ effects, they do not protect Tungsten Dragon from being banished.”
“No way… but that means…”
“I banish my Allicorn of Typhoons in my graveyard to banish Tungsten Dragon!” Yurik decided.
A bright, purple-rimmed portal with a black vortex opened on the ground besides Twilight Alicorn. Slithering up from the portal was the smoky apparition of Allicorn of Typhoons as it lost its shape and began to form a green aura with a black outline around Twilight Alicorn’s horn.
“Twilight Alicorn,” commanded Yurik, “send Tungsten Dragon into oblivion!”
With a small charge of its horn, Twilight Alicorn shot its green-and-black spell past Tungsten Dragon, causing a large, starry portal to appear behind it. Walt stepped back as the edge of the portal spread out to just at the toes of his shoes.
With a tremendous force, Tungsten Dragon and Tungsten Jouleyfish were pulled into it, the former roaring in finality as the portal closed up, leaving an awestricken Walt wide open to Twilight Alicorn’s mercy.
“It was a blast, Walt,” bid Yurik, “but this is where it ends. Now, battle! Twilight Alicorn, attack Walt directly!”
Twilight Alicorn’s horn began glowing a brightness that was matched by the unkempt fury on its face.
“Bright Burst Magic!!”
The magenta beam blasted out from the winged unicorn’s horn, with Walt standing straight and unflinching as it came closer to him. The spell struck Walt in the torso, sending him off his feet and through the air.
“Aha!” he painfully laughed. “Dammit!”
Walt tumbled back to the ground, but managed to roll onto his back as he stopped, looking up at the ceiling lights and settling down from the end of a tight, climactic duel
Walt’s Life Points: 2200 -> 0
Yurik wins.
Yurik quickly placed his Twilight Alicorn card back into his deck, allowing the blades of light coming from the blade disk to recede back into the disk, which allowed Yurik to connect the blade disk onto the side of his duel disk. Yurik, Alice and Twilight ran to the still motionless Walt as his blade disk turned off on its own, the blades receding into the device, which cluttered softly to the floor without the duel disk’s support.
“Walt,” shouted Yurik, reaching Walt at the same time as Twilight and Alice, “Walt! Are you okay?!”
Yurik reached down to grab his hand, only to have it slapped away by a snickering Walt.
“Dude,” he continued to giggle as he sat himself up, “it kind of defeats the purpose of kicking someone’s ass if you help them up right afterwards.”
“Just shut up and take my hand,” Yurik demanded with a smile and another outstretched palm.
Walt finally clasped Yurik’s and hand and pulled himself to his feet, Yurik brushing off his shoulder.
“Man,” Marcus responded, applauding to Walt, “that was truly amazing.”
“Walt,” Twilight gasped, approaching them both, “Yurik, you’re both amazing!”
“Indeed they are,” Kieran responded as he walked up to the five of them. “They both have great levels of dueling skill, and I can really see the camaraderie between the two of you. I do think it would be a grave mistake on my part to keep you apart.”
“So…” Twilight wondered. “Does that mean…”
Kieran nodded to affirm his answer.
“Yes,” he stated, “the both of them are officially affiliates of the Guardiaboliques.”
Yurik, overwhelmed with joy by this news, groped Walt in with his left arm and managed to pull Alice in with his other arm, jumping up and down, laughing, and spinning about with the two of them in his grasp.
“This is awesome!” he shouted. “My two best friends in the Guardiaboliques together!”
Twilight observed them with a smiling face, glad to see that everything was beginning to work itself out at this moment.
“Just wait until I tell mom!” joked Walt.
“Yurik,” Kieran interrupted, stopping their celebration, “Walt, Alice. I know you have homes and families to return to now. You are excused for the night. I’ll see you to the exit,” he said with a motioning of his hand to the exit door. “Follow me.”
“Wait!” Twilight called out, trotting in front off Kieran to stop him. “Aren’t I coming with them?”
“Twilight,” Kieran responded as if he were talking down to a child, “I highly recommend that you stay with us here until we find your friends. We have all the resources you need here: food, water, a bed, all the information you could ask for–”
“Can’t I get any of that with them?”
“We also provide you with security. You’re safe with us.”
“What about my comfort?”
Kieran raised an eyebrow, prompting Twilight to explain herself.
“I’ve only been on this world for a little over a couple of hours, Kieran. Whether I’m safe here or with them is yet to be determined. I can’t thank you for the help that you’re providing me, Kieran, but I think I’d be more comfortable staying with Yurik and Walt.”
Kieran stared at Twilight intently, hoping that his look would change her mind.
“Are you really set on doing this?” he asked. “Out there, people are going to be looking for you. You don’t know them, and if they find you–”
“Then I’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For right now though, I feel like I’d be safer and more comfortable staying with Yurik.”
Kieran, knowing that she wouldn’t change the alicorn’s mind, sighed and walked to the door.
“Very well,” he calmly relented. “You shall join Yurik and the others on the trip back to Naperville. Come. Follow me to the garage.”
Before Twilight could follow Kieran, she turned to Yurik and Walt and gave them both smiling nods. Yurik, surprised by the level of trust she already had in him, couldn’t help but blush, unsure of what he had gotten he and his friend into. Regardless, Kieran and Twilight were almost to the door, and Yurik, Walt, and Alice all jogged ahead to catch up.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Alice’s van pulled off the highway and into the Freedom Dr. exit. Walt was sleeping against the window on the front passenger’s side seat. In the very back with Twilight, along with their backpacks and Walt’s equipment was Yurik, gently petting the sleeping Twilight. To keep from shifting about, he kept his back to one side of the van while his foot pushed against the other.
As they reached the T-intersection of Diehl Rd. and Freedom Drive and stopped at the light, Alice nudged Walt awake, where he shifted himself up with an exhausted groan.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Alice tossed a small ring of keys onto Walt’s lap, continuing to look ahead at the light, expecting it to change.
“You left your bike back at the park when you followed me there,” Alice responded. “I’m sorry.”
“You… you stole my keys?”
Their conversation began to be picked up by Yurik, who cocked his head and kept his focus to them.
“I would have given them back to you in the morning,” excused Alice. “I would have told you that you dropped them in the crater when we were picking Twilight out of it.”
“Why the hell would you do that?” Walt asked, raising his voice. “Did you intend to strand me at the park back there?”
The green arrow came, allowing Alice to turn left towards Naperville Rd.
“I’m sorry, okay?” she exclaimed back. “I didn’t want you following me to the headquarters and knowing I was part of the Guardiaboliques. I didn’t want our friendship tainted by that.”
“Alright,” Walt grumbled sarcastically, “finding out that my friend is a vigilante, that’s bad, but stealing my keys and leaving me alone at an abandoned park in the middle of the night, that’s where we hit the grey area.”
“You don’t understand, do you?”
Twilight, awoken by the car and the argument, shifted her body towards the front.
“What’s going on?” she mumbled.
“Guys,” Yurik spoke, “you just woke up Twilight.”
Walt and Alice, realizing what they were doing, relaxed back into their seats, Walt still visibly bitter at Alice.
“There might be police and other authorities monitoring the crash site,” Alice mentioned, getting Walt to jerk his head towards her again. “I’ll have to drop you off nearby so they won’t spot Twilight.”
Walt threw his arms up into the air and let them flop back onto his lap.
“So, what,” he asked, “is my bike going to get confiscated now for being near this thing?”
“I highly doubt it, Walt,” Alice assured him.
“Best case scenario, I’m going to get a ticket for leaving it there.”
“If that happens, I’ll vouch for you. Just explain to them that you were running to your friend’s house and took a ride with me because you lost your keys and they’ll more than likely let you off the hook.”
Twilight looked at the sudden animosity between Walt and Alice with some caution as Walt sulked back into his seat.
“Get ready,” Alice warned Walt as they turned onto Plank Rd. “We’re almost there.”
As expected, the red-and-blue flashing lights of police vehicles were clearly visible from the park, making Walt squirm in his seat.
“Walt,” scolded Alice, “if you want to be a part of the Guardiaboliques, you’re going to have to nut up in front of the police. What we do almost always involves police intervention, and if you can’t handle that, I’d have to let Kieran know.”
Walt, feeling a sudden fire burning inside of him, unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed the handle to the door.
“Drop me off here,” he demanded.
Alice slowed the car down to a stop on the side of the road, Walt opening his car door and jogging out to the park’s parking lot. Twilight could only see as far as her angle and the windshield would allow her.
“Alice,” wondered Twilight, “does Walt have astynomiaphobia?”
“What?” Yurik asked.
“A fear of police officers,” Alice clarified. “Yeah, a bit.”
“Why? Do the police officers not like you guys?”
“No, not at all. In their eyes, it’s their job that we’re doing.”
“Well, that’s silly! If you guys want to help them, they should let you.”
“It’s just the law of the land here, Twilight,” Yurik mentioned. “And when Walt has had as bad experience with the police as he’s had, it’s only natural that he’d developed a fear for them.”
“But why? What happened?”
“It’s very… personal to him,” Yurik could only say. “It also doesn’t help when he sees police negligence on the news and internet so often. But he trusts the Guardiaboliques because they have a sense of justice that’s not corrupted by power. They uphold the right as they see the right.”
“But not every police officer is corrupt. Most of them want to uphold real justice too.”
“I know that. But the very last thing Walt wants is to meet one that is…”
________________________________________________________________________________________
Walt slowed down his jog as he approached the driveway to the parking lot to Seager Park, which was already blocked off by police cars as several officers were investigating the scene of what happened. Walt saw a middle-aged guard with a pointy, black soul patch beneath his bottom lip patrolling the entrance and bravely walked up to him. Noticing him, the guard already began to shoo Walt away with his fanning hands.
“Hey,” he ordered, “this area is off limit to civilians!”
“Sir,” Walt mustered, “I left my bike here, and I came to get it back.”
“Oh, yeah? What kind of a bike is it?”
“1998 Harley Davidson.”
The guard turned his torso to the left as well as his head, peering out to see the bike still where he left it.
“Yeah, we have it,” he responded. “Any idea why you left it here? ‘Gainst the law to just leave your bike parked here overnight, you know?”
“Yeah,” Walt sputtered, feeling his nervousness start to take hold of him. “I’m… I’m a student at Naperville North, and there was an after-party here for the school musical when that planet appeared in the sky. My friends and I were frightened by its appearance and we drove off back home for safety. I thought I lost my keys in the scuffle, so I hitched a ride with my friends to go a friend’s house while the whole thing blew over. I remembered that I left my keys in my bag and I came back to get my bike.”
“Really? Reports also state that there was a beam of light that came from this area prior to the planet’s appearance. Would you care to tell us what happened?”
The officer already began to pull out a notepad from off his waist, eager to get a story from him.
“Please, sir, I’m extremely tired and I just want to get home and in bed.”
“I see,” he said with genuine disappointment as he hooked his booklet back on. “You mind if I see your license and proof of insurance before you go then?”
“Is that really necessary, sir?”
“Just a checkup. You do have them, do you?”
Walt, feeling cornered, pulled his wallet from his pants and fished through the pockets, pulling out the plastic ID and his paper Allstate insurance card.
“Thanks,” the officer said with a pleasant smile. “Let me just run this through real quick and I can let you on your way.”
The officer went back to his car to run his information through his computer. Walt, feeling relieved that he had sated the officer, sighed with relief.
________________________________________________________________________________________
“What about you?” Twilight asked to Alice. “What made you want to become part of the Guardiaboliques?”
“Me?” Alice queried, seriously surprised by the question. “It’s not so much I wanted to join them. I had to.”
“Huh?” Yurik questioned. “What do you mean by that?”
“Kieran saved me a long time ago, even before we first met, Yurik. I felt indebted to him, and he agreed to let me join the Guardiaboliques while it was still very young. I moved to Chicago right then, and that’s when I met you and Walt.”
“So… our friendship…”
“Yurik, our friendship was very real. I just wasn’t the quite the person you and Walt thought I was, and like I told Walt, I’m sorry about lying to you. I just didn’t want to put the Guardiaboliques in danger… or you guys.”
Yurik, weighing in Alice’s words, heavily considered them and realized that she was indeed right.
“Alice,” Yurik spoke, “I’m sorry for getting angry at you during my duel with Kieran.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” she told him. “I stood and watched as your back was to the wall. It wasn’t until Twilight cheered you on that I went and did something. What I did was really crappy as a friend, and I don’t want to do that anymore. Can you forgive me?”
Twilight turned to look up at Yurik, waiting for his answer.
“Of course I forgive you, Alice,” he responded. “I don’t want to work alongside you untrusting of you.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Alice sighed.
Just then, the repeated flashing of light came in through the windshield. Alice turned to see a motorcycle pulling a U-turn and going west down the road towards the direction of Walt and Yurik’s home.
“Looks like Walt got his bike back,” Alice said with a shifting of her car’s gears. “Hold on, you two.”
Alice let off the brake and began to make her way down the road, picking up speed to ensure that Walt wouldn’t be too far ahead.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Walt’s motorcycle and Alice’s van came down the somewhat deserted street to their home. Few people stood on their lawns and looked up at the alien planet that was now in their sky. Alice watched as Walt pulled into the driveway of his house, the garage door opening up, allowing Walt inside. Alice came up to the driveway as well, stopping itself before the garage’s entrance, Yurik and Twilight keeping themselves firm on the floor of the can.
“Well,” she asked, “how are you going to get Twilight inside without your mom or sister noticing?”
Yurik groaned, having been unable to provide answer.
“I can teleport into one of your guys’ rooms,” Twilight responded.
“Teleport?” Alice wondered. “You mean… like how Yurik’s monster could teleport between the field and the pendulum zones?”
“I can,” Twilight said. “All unicorns and alicorns are highly magical beings, and few of them are proficient in teleportation, such as myself.”
“So that beam you used to attack Kieran…” Yurik responded.
The knocking on the side of the van startled Alice, Yurik, and Twilight.
“Hey,” Walt hissed. “I got stuff I need loaded out. Help me!”
“Just stay here,” Yurik instructed Twilight. “Just keep Alice company for a few minutes and I’ll signal you in. Look for three flashing lights.”
With that, Twilight climbed into the front seat next to Alice while the back doors opened, Walt on the other side. His camera bag, backpack, and tripod stand were all slung onto his shoulders as Yurik slid out the back, grabbing his own backpack, using his free hand to close the doors behind him.
Twilight and Alice watched as Yurik and Walt got to their front door, already being greeted by the latter’s flustered looking mother, who anxiously motioned them inside.
“I was worried sick about you guys!” she cried. “Do you know how late it is?”
“Too late to be waking up Evey,” Walt whispered with a stern expression as he closed the door behind him.
“Mom?” cried Evey’s voice. “What are you…”
Evey was in her pajamas when she came down the top flight of stairs to see Walt and Yurik with their mother as well. Walt’s mother ran her hands through her hair, embarrassed over what she had done.
“Walt!” she happily squeaked. “Yury!”
Running down the stairs, Evey ran to Walt, who hoisted her up and let her hang her arms around Walt’s neck in a welcoming embrace.
“At least someone is happy to see her brother in one piece,” he guffawed, pursing his lips as he spoke to Evey.
Walt’s mother crossed her arms and looked away as Walt laughed with Evey.
“Evey, honey,” her mother stated, picking her up from Walt’s grasp. “It’s too early for you to be up. Go back to bed.”
“But I haven’t gotten to say ‘hi’ to Yury yet!” she pouted.
“Evey,” Yurik breathed, “please listen to your mother.”
Without another word, Evey and her mother were already ascending the stairs, leaving Walt and Yurik alone in the foyer with their things.
“Help me get the tripod to the attic,” Walt requested.
Yurik suddenly thought of something, standing still even as Walt was grabbed his bag and camera case.
“Walt,” asked Yurik, following him up, “do we have a spare mattress up in there?”
“Yeah,” Walt answered back. “Why– oh…”
Without muttering anything else, Yurik grabbed both of their own backpacks and hiked up the stairs in bounds of two steps. As Yurik passed his and Walt’s bedroom doors, he placed his backpack beside his door and Walt’s backpack next to his camera bag beside Walt’s bedroom door where Walt was waiting with this tripod.
Yurik looked up to see the attic door in the ceiling as well as the string that dangled down from it. With a tiny hop, Yurik grabbed the string and pulled down walking further into the hallway as the door slowly swung down, stopping at moderately steep angle.
Walt flipped out the bottom half of the wooden stairs that connected with the rest of them, letting them touch the ground softly. Yurik sidled out from the side and grabbed Walt’s bag, going up the stairs with it.
“You got this?” Walt asked.
“Yes,” Yurik assured him. “Go to bed now.”
“Okay, then. See you when you get home from work.”
Yurik widened his eyes and opened his mouth to a toothy grimace upon the sudden reminder as he turned up to the stairs again.
“You know,” Walt said, pointing upwards, “all things considered, I don’t think there’s going to be many people at Blast because of… yeah.”
“Still,” Yurik excused, “there might be a chance. Goodnight, Walt.”
Yurik disappeared up the stairs, refusing Walt a rebuttal. With a slight shrug, Walt picked up his camera bag and his backpack and slipped into his room just before Walt’s mother could exit Evey’s room. Seeing the opened attic, she peaked up inside, listening for signs of life, hearing it as Yurik set the tripod down.
“Walt?” she quietly asked. “Yurik?”
“Yeah?” Yurik answered. “Just putting Walt’s tripod away.”
“Okay. Don’t forget to close the attic back up when you’re done.”
“Of course, mom.”
“‘Kay then. Goodnight, Yurik. Congratulations anyway for tonight.”
With a slight silence, a soft response had come.
“Thanks, mom.”
With that finished, she slipped around the staircase and wearily walked to her bed room further down the hall. Upstairs, Yurik pulled out his phone and walked towards the attic’s sole window. Opening it up, he switched his phone to its flashlight switch, holding it out as long as his arm could reach. Inside the van down below, Alice and Twilight were engaging in small talk, when the three flashing lights became visible from the tall room above.
“Well,” Twilight said, getting out of her seat and walking to the back of the van, “it was nice getting to know you, Alice. I expect we’ll see each other soon?”
“As soon as Kieran calls with something,” she responded. “So, yeah, I guess we’ll see each other then.”
Twilight bid her farewell with a gracious nod. Turning to the back of the van, she focused herself as her horn glowed a bright pink. With a bright burst of an enchanted aura, Twilight had disappeared. Alice, shocked to see this in real life, quickly turned to the source of the light, seeing as another bright flash up above had Twilight appearing in the air and swooping in through the window. Alice smirked, wondering what Yurik’s reaction would be upon seeing Twilight appear like she did. With a start of the gas, she pulled out of Walt’s driveway to make the short trip back to her home.
Inside the attic, Twilight and Yurik groaned as Twilight was splayed over Yurik on the floor. Twilight quickly picked herself up and stepped aside to let Yurik up.
“Twilight,” hushed Yurik, “I have two others inside the house who are trying to sleep. I don’t want them finding you… not yet at least.”
“I’m sorry,” Twilight replied with genuine remorse. “I’m more comfortable teleporting to places that I know about.”
Yurik finally stood to his feet, dusted himself off and walked to the right of the attic where a mattress laid on its side was resting.
“It’s fine,” Yurik responded, grabbing it and sliding it towards the center of the room. “Let’s get your bed set up. Sorry if I can’t let you share a room with Walt or I.”
“No, I understand,” she said. “Do people come up here normally?”
“Not as often as they do our rooms. Besides, you have plenty of spaces to hide if someone does come up.”
“Okay then,” he said, trying to set it down, only for it to fall from his fingers. “No, no, no!” he shouted.
Before the mattress could land, Twilight managed to catch it in a magic magenta aura that held the mattress up before gently setting it down. Yurik stood shocked at Twilight’s ability.
“I’m not going to get used to that,” Yurik breathed.
“I’m sure the more time we spend together,” she assured him, “you will.”
“Alright… I’m going downstairs to get you a pillow and a blanket. I’ll be right back.”
Yurik quickly descended the stairs as quietly as a mouse, allowing Twilight to lie on her mattress and set her head down to relax. With a few steady breaths, her eyes closed as she drifted into slumber.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Twilight opened her eyes to the sound of something climbing the roof directly above her. With her sleep not having completely enveloped her yet, she managed to easily sit up out of the bed, only to find at blanket over her entire body minus her head, the covers sliding down as she sat up. Looking down, she also managed to find a pillow underneath where her head had been.
Gasping at this sight, she felt the steps directly above her as they seemed to settle at the front end of the roof. Twilight grumbled slightly as she walked out to the ajar window and opened it further, peering outside and beginning to turn her head to the right, seeing a body sitting atop the roofs
“Twilight?” Yurik’s curiously asked as he looked down on her.
“Yurik?” whispered Twilight. “What are you doing out here?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I come out here when I’m feeling stressed. I can come down if you want,” he said, already beginning to crawl to the downwards slant to the roof on his left.
“Hold on,” Twilight excused. “Is there anyone out now?”
“Not that I can see. Why?
“Because I’m going to join you,” she said, climbing out the window already.
“Twilight, wait!”
Twilight didn’t listen, and with a gentle leap, she swooped up to the roof with a flapping of her wings as she settled on her feet on the flat surface of the section of roof, lying herself on her stomach beside Yurik’s left side. Looking up at the sky, she finally got her first real look of her planet in the sky, her eyes falling back to the sheer awesomeness of it.
“Wow…” whispered Twilight. “I still can’t believe that’s Equus.”
“It must be like how the first astronauts saw Earth from the moon,” Yurik responded. “It’s breathtaking.”
“I wonder…” she spoke, before she looked forlornly at the ground.
“You wonder what?”
Yurik noticed that Twilight’s eyes began to well up with tears as she looked up to him.
“I wonder if my friends are out there looking at Equus like I am.”
Yurik, not wanting to hear Twilight’s cries, leaned towards her and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him.
“Please don’t cry, Twilight,” Yurik pleaded. “In all honesty, I’m scared too. Because of me, Walt and I are wrapped up in this mess and I don’t want anything bad happening to him… I don’t want anything bad happening to any of my friends. I mean,” he said, turning to her, who already seemed somewhat calmed down by his words, “we are friends, aren’t we?”
“Well,” she said matter-of-factly, “of course we are. I find it difficult to believe that I would want to stay the night at the house of someone who wasn’t a friend of mine.
“Hehe…” he chuckled, letting go of her back and hugging his knees towards his chest. Fair enough.”
“I just want you, Walt, and the rest of our allies at the Guardiaboliques to be strong with me. The more support I feel from you guys, the better I’ll feel.”
“Hmph,” Yurik chuckled, letting his legs go and letting them hang off the edge of the roof again. “You’re probably going to need to learn how to play Duel Monsters soon.”
“Hmm?”
“Walt and I will take good care of you,” he assured her, “but I highly doubt Kieran is going to allow him and his men to take on the brunt of the work.”
“What? Absolutely I’m going to help! If that means learning how to play a card game such as that… in fact,” she giggled, realizing something, “that sounds much more like a fun activity than a challenge!”
Yurik smiled at Twilight’s sudden fervor, a couple more chuckles escaping his lips.
“Huh?” she asked. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” he quickly answered. “I just love duelists with that level of enthusiasm. Just promise me that when you try out whatever new deck you get, I get to be the first person to test you on it.”
Twilight smiled back, enamored by Yurik’s equal enthusiasm.
“It’s a deal,” she said, extending her hoof to Yurik.
With an equal amount of energy, Yurik gripped Twilight’s hoof and shook it once firmly. With their agreement settled, the two of them looked out into the sky and up towards Equus with a new sense of ease and tranquility.
“So,” asked Yurik, “what kind of deck were you thinking of running?”
“I have no idea!” Twilight exclaimed. “There’s still so much to the game itself that I don’t even know!”
Yurik and Twilight laughed quietly, careful not to wake the other neighbors. Twilight, feeling more comfortable and trusting around Yurik than ever, unfurled her right wing and gently wrapped it around Yurik’s back, the bar resting on his shoulder.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Yurik carefully climbed down a wooden structure that ran along the side of their house, keeping his eyes on the ajar window to his right. With nimbleness, Yurik stepped on the sill of the window, opening the window wider, and slowly dropped in. Yurik quickly tip-toed through the hallway, turned a corner and walked to his open bedroom door, stepping inside and closing it behind him.
With his talk with Twilight easing his burden slightly, he looked to his deck that was placed on his desk. Walking up to it, he picked the top card up, looking at Twilight Alicorn upon it. Yurik then looked out to the window and the night-shrouded world outside of it.
Dad, Yurik wondered. I don’t know why this card you gave me made all of this happen, but… thank you. I know that with this card, I’m going to save Twilight and her friends.