//------------------------------// // Turn 19: Battle Royale // Story: Crossover Into Chaos // by dabestgamer //------------------------------// “It can’t be. That’s Princess Luna?!” Twilight muttered. “That must be why she appeared in that dream before…” “Sister,” Celestia called out, approaching the armored alicorn. “Answer me, please.” In an instant, the alicorn sunk into the blackness in the concrete. The shadow quickly rushed beneath Yusei. “Yusei!” Twilight shouted, stumbling into flight towards him as the darkness began to surround him. Wrapping her hooves around him, her horn glowed brightly. Light flashed in the area as the two were teleported back to Yusei’s Duel Runner. “Are you okay, Twilight?” he asked. “Yeah…” she panted. “Just… exhausted…” Yusei and Twilight looked up to see the armored alicorn charging towards them, only to be stopped by Celestia. “Stop this at once! This is not who you are, Luna!” Celestia said. Their horns glowed. Bursts of energy shot out from their horns towards each other. The explosion shook the Duel Lane. Yusei glimpsed at the cracks in the ground. “Twilight, we gotta move!” he shouted, boarding his Duel Runner. Twilight, taking notice as well, spread her wings but found she was too exhausted to lift herself into the air. “What’s wrong?” asked Yusei. “I must be too worn out after that battle with Crow…” she answered. “Then you better hop on.” Yusei raised the armpiece on his Runner as Twilight galloped onto the seat behind him. Lowering the armpiece, he started up the Runner and began driving away from the cracked Duel Lane. Celestia and the armored alicorn rose from the smoke as the Duel Lane below them crumbled. She turned her head to see Yusei and Twilight moving into the distance. She prepared to fly after them only to be stopped by the black alicorn as it intercepted her path. Its horn gave off a black aura as a sword materialized in front of it. Hesitant, Celestia summoned her own sword. “If I must…” Celestia uttered. “I’ll do whatever it takes to bring you back!” “I can’t believe this. Princess Luna is fighting us? She must be under that mind control,” Twilight stated. “What do you mean by that? And how did you know Crow was being controlled?” asked Yusei. “You mentioned green eyes and odd behavior. The first time I remember seeing that was at my brother’s wedding, when he was to marry Princess Cadance. They were being controlled by the changeling Queen Chrysalis.” “Changeling?” “They’re creatures that can change their form to match others and can feed off of others’ feelings of love. The queen somehow trapped Cadance in the mines beneath Canterlot and took her place. She was going to use Shining Armor—my brother—as a source of power to overthrow Celestia and conquer Equestria. All she had to do first was to get him to weaken the magic barrier surrounding the city that only he was able to conjure up.” “I see.” “Because she siphoned so much from him, she was able to weaken my brother’s will—and a few other ponies as well—just enough to be able to control them.” “And they began acting strange.” “Yeah. Their eyes turned green as well.” “So this queen had been controlling Crow and possibly…?” “Princess Luna, too, it looks like,” Twilight nodded. “Close, but not quite,” said a voice behind them. “Who was that?!” Twilight and Yusei turned their heads to see another Duel Runner behind them, merging onto the Duel Lane. The Runner itself was dark-coated, giving its rider an ominious appearance. “Who are you?” asked Yusei. “My name is Callos,” the man answered. The hooded woman stepped towards the docks. “Well, now. Looks like the main event has started,” she chuckled. Celena held her left arm up in front of her, revealing her Duel Disk with a card on it, and glanced in the direction of Princess Celestia and her opponent. “Death Armor Moon! It’s time we finish this!” “Callos, you say?” Yusei said. “Does the mean—?” “Yes, Yusei Fudo,” Callos answered. “I am the same Lieutenant Callos that is your former friend’s superior.” “What exactly did you mean before?” asked Twilight. “I suppose there’s no reason to hide anything anymore at this point. You two are the last of your friends, after all.” “Last? So I guess means that Jack was, after all—” “My colleague was the one to handle him.” “And what about my friends, Leo and Luna?” Yusei asked. “Oh, those two? They were the first to catch wind of us, and the first to go,” Callos grinned. “You mean… you are the ones behind all this?!” Twilight exclaimed. “What did you do to Crow?” demanded Yusei. “He was a merely a test subject. Had a few more hours passed by, the effects of our experiment would have faded,” answered Callos. “Experiment?” “I’m sure you’ve noticed it yourself, Yusei.” “You can’t mean—” “Crow…” Yusei’s head hung. “Why didn’t you help her…?” Crow was silent. “Answer me! Why?!” “She was in the way. It’s my job to bring you both down.” “‘In the way’…?” Yusei looked up at Crow. “She’s our friend! Why would you—” Something about Crow had caught Yusei’s attention. He couldn’t help but notice Crow’s eyes. The blank expression alone was more than enough, but now there was something else to it. “You’re the reason Crow was afflicted with mind control?” Yusei asked. “It was a difficult process, especially since we were working with other-worldly substances. Given the results, however, it only needs some fine-tuning,” Callos smirked. “Other-worldly…?” “He must mean ingredients he could only have obtained from…” Twilight gasped in horror. “What is it, Twilight?” “It seems the princess has figured it out,” Callos stated. “Yusei… that list of ingredients I translated…” Twilight muttered. “It must’ve been the experiment!” Yusei finished. “None of the substances I recognized on that list had a mind control effect, even when used together…” “…which means, it’s the Collective Mind Fluid that was the key to the experiment. But then… if Crow was showing the same behavior as your brother…” “…that fluid has the same effects as Queen Chrysalis’s mind control.” “Not bad,” Callos commented. “I commend you for figuring out that much. That fluid is certainly changeling fluid, straight from the wretched queen herself.” “So the changelings are involved in this?” Twilight asked. “In a manner of speaking, but none of that matters now. All I need to do now is to eliminate you both.” Yusei scoffed. “All of your friends belong to us… all that remains are you two and the other princesses!” Callos pressed a button on his Runner. The Speed World 2 Field Spell appeared on both of their Runners’ monitors. “OVERRIDING SUSPECT DUEL RUNNER. DUEL MODE ENGAGED,” said the computer voice. “This will be it for you. Your resistance ends here,” Callos grinned. “I don’t think so!” Yusei stated. He and Callos drew five cards from their Decks with the alicorns’ battle in the sky as their backdrop. DUEL! Yusei (LP 4000) VS Callos (LP 4000) “I’ll go first!” Callos declared, drawing a card. “I Summon Disharmony Valkyrie in Attack Position!” Disharmony Valkyrie LV: 3 ATK: 1300 “Disharmony?” Yusei mumbled. “To think that there are Disharmony monsters that aren’t Tuner Monsters or Synchro Monsters… does this mean that some of our opponents may have Disharmony Decks?” “He said he was Crow’s superior, right? Doesn’t that make him in charge of Sector Security?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, why?” “Remember that officer that Akiza Dueled?” “So this is where he lives after all…” the man mumbled. “You won’t win,” Akiza stated, turning towards her opponent. “It’s my turn!” “At this moment, the monster banished by Serene Psychic Witch is now Special Summoned to the field! Come, Tuner Monster… Disharmony Core!” Disharmony Core LV: 1 DEF: 0 “Did he say ‘Disharmony’? Akiza, be careful!” Yusei warned. “I’m thinking he was sent by Callos,” Twilight concluded. “You might be right. He may have also arranged for Dobocle to break into the laboratory to kidnap you when you were still unconscious,” Yusei added. “He must have anticipated that I’d flee Sector Security with you.” “And what about the humans that invaded Equestria?” “There’s probably a connection,” replied Yusei. “But if this man, Callos, can plan this far ahead… what of the other members of his group?” “Disharmony Valkryie’s effect activates! Once per turn, I can send the top card of my Deck to the Graveyard, and since it’s a Monster Card, Disharmony Valkyrie gains 1000 ATK until the end of your turn but you draw a card.” Disharmony Valkyrie LV: 3 ATK: 1300 + 1000 = 2300 “I’ll Set two cards face-down and end my turn,” Callos finished. “It’s my turn!” Yusei declared, drawing a card. Callos LP: 4000 SPC: 0 + 1 = 1 Yusei LP: 4000 SPC: 0 + 1 = 1 “Since I have control no monsters, I can Special Summon Junk Forward from my hand!” Junk Forward LV: 3 DEF: 1500 “Then I Summon the Tuner Monster Drill Synchron!” Drill Synchron LV: 3 ATK: 800 “I tune Level 3 Drill Synchron with Level 3 Junk Forward!” 3 + 3 = 6 “Gathering power will turn into a spear that pierces the earth! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Break it apart, Drill Warrior!” Drill Warrior LV: 6 ATK: 2400 A warrior whose right forearm was a drill descended to Yusei’s side. “Coming at me right off the bat with a Synchro Summon, eh? But this much is expected,” Callos remarked. “I activate the Trap Damage Break! Because you Summoned a Level 5 or higher Synchro Monster, this turn, Disharmony Valkyrie cannot be destroyed and I take no Battle Damage from battles involving it!” “In that case, I activate Drill Warrior’s effect! By halving its ATK, I give it the effect of being able to attack you directly!” Yusei countered. Drill Warrior LV: 6 ATK: 2400 / 2 = 1200 Callos scoffed. “Go, Drill Warrior! Attack Callos directly!” Yusei commanded. “Drill Shoot!” His monster’s drill struck Callos. Callos LP: 4000 – 1200 = 2800 SPC: 1 “All right!” Twilight cheered. “And now I activate Drill Warrior’s other effect! I discard one card from my hand to banish it!” Yusei continued as his monster vanished. “Wait, what?” “I Set three cards face-down and end my turn.” Disharmony Valkyrie LV: 3 ATK: 2300 – 1000 = 1300 “Clever,” commented Callos. “You knew I was going to protect my monster, so you prepared a countermeasure. You may have banished your only monster, but it’s obvious you’re not without your protection. Not bad, but now it’s my turn!” Callos LP: 2800 SPC: 1 + 1 = 2 Yusei LP: 4000 SPC: 1 + 1 = 2 “Disharmony Valkyrie’s effect activates! I send the top card of my Deck to the Graveyard. Since it was a monster, you draw a card and it gains 1000 ATK until your End Phase!” Disharmony Valkyrie LV: 3 ATK: 1300 + 1000 = 2300 “And I now I summon Dark Wing Galee!” Dark Wing Galee LV: 4 ATK: 1600 “Dark Wing?!” Twilight exclaimed. “But that’s—” “The same card Crow used,” Yusei finished. “No doubt about it; Callos was the one who gave him those cards.” “But doesn’t that mean you’ll have to face—” “I tune Level 1 Disharmony Feathers with Level 8 Black-Winged Dragon!” Crow stated. “What?!” Akiza reacted. “Even using Black-Winged Dragon?” Yusei added. The small bird transformed into a black ring that surrounded Crow’s dragon, the latter became eight bright stars before they were engulfed by a black pillar as Crow began to chant. 1 + 8 = 9 “Let the limitless chaos pour into your soul as you soar through the dark skies! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Disharmony – Dark Wing Serpent!” Disharmony – Dark Wing Serpent LV: 9 ATK: 3300 A large serpent-like creature floated in the sky. “It’s likely,” Yusei answered. “Be careful,” warned Twilight. “When Dark Wing Galee is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or below DARK Winged Beast from my Deck,” Callos continued. “I Special Summon Disharmony Buzzard!” Disharmony Buzzard LV: 1 DEF: 500 “Not Disharmony Feathers?” Yusei muttered. “I tune Level 1 Disharmony Buzzard with Level 3 Disharmony Valkyrie and Level 4 Dark Wing Galee!” Callos declared. 1 + 3 + 4 = 8 “Dissonance seeps into your heart, your resentment breaking through and tearing down the walls of harmony! Synchro Summon! Be born, Disharmony – Scavenger of Cruelty!” Disharmony – Scavenger of Cruelty LV: 8 ATK: 2500 The winged beast gave a mighty shriek as it emerged from the gray clouds above. Twilight froze. “What is this…?” she wondered. Something felt terribly wrong about the new creature. Why she felt what she did was a complete mystery to her. The two alicorns clashed swords. The armored alicorn abruptly backed away, firing a blast of darkness from its horn. Celestia quickly created a small bubble to deflect the oncoming blast. Just as it faded, another burst of darkness struck her from above. Celestia fell towards the sea, but in her descent, her eyes caught something at the end of the land. Regaining her balance, she swiftly flew above the water’s surface towards the docks. Her focus shifted from her opponent to the hooded figure that stood facing her. “My, my, it looks like she’s noticed,” Celena grinned. Celestia slowed to a halt in front of Celena. “You…” she muttered, holding back her rage. “You’re one of the attackers. You must be responsible for my sister’s transformation, aren’t you?” “And what if I am?” “Release her.” Celestia’s horn began to glow. “A bit rash, don’t you think, Princess?” “I will not lose her again.” “I wonder about that,” Celena smirked, pointing behind Celestia. The princess turned her head to see the armored alicorn approaching, its horn glowing and firing another blast of darkness. Celestia darted into the sky, avoiding the explosion. The smoke cleared as Celena boarded her Duel Runner and drove onto one of the Duel Lane’s entrances. “Where are you going?” Celestia flew after her, the black alicorn in close pursuit. “I think you should be more concerned about your life. Go! Death Armor Moon!” Celena commanded. Celestia ascended, narrowly avoiding another blast from Death Armor Moon. “What a repulsive name,” she mumbled, glancing once more at the alicorn before following Celena. Celestia looked up once more to see a large winged beast, surrounded in a dark aura, in the distance. “That beast… it can’t be! Twilight!” She quickly turned to see Death Armor Moon slashing at her with its sword. Evading the blow, she thrust her own sword at the alicorn. “Disharmony Buzzard’s effect… since it was used as Synchro Material for a “Disharmony” Synchro Monster, this turn, while I control a face-up Level 5 or higher “Disharmony” monster, you can’t activate any of your Set Spell or Trap Cards!” Callos stated. “What?” Yusei replied. “Disharmony – Scavenger of Cruelty! Attack them directly!” Callos commanded. The clouds above turned gray. Several lightning bolts shot out of the sky and were absorbed into the beast. The beast shrieked as electricity burst out of its body towards Yusei and Twilight. “From my hand, I activate the effect of Swift Scarecrow!” Yusei declared. “By sending it to the Graveyard, your monster’s direct attack is negated and the Battle Phase is ended!” A small scarecrow emerged onto the field next to him. “I can’t let you do that! I activate the Counter Trap Forced Wing!” Callos stated. “I banish Galee, Valkyrie, and Buzzard to negate the activation of your Swift Scarecrow’s effect!” “What?!” Yusei watched as his scarecrow was shattered. “Take this! Lightning Animosity!” Yusei and Twilight screamed as they were struck by the electricity. Yusei LP: 4000 – 2500 = 1500 SPC: 2 “Twilight… are you all right?!” Yusei asked, straightening out his Duel Runner. “Yeah…” Twilight panted. She froze once again. “What was that I just heard…? Was it… a scream…?” She turned her head to look at the winged creature. “Did it… come from that monster…?” “I Set two cards face-down and end my turn,” Callos concluded. “It’s my turn!” Yusei declared. Callos LP: 2800 SPC: 2 + 1 = 3 Yusei LP: 1500 SPC: 2 + 1 = 3 “I activate the effect of my banished Drill Warrior! During this Standby Phase, it’s Special Summoned!” Drill Warrior LV: 6 ATK: 2400 “Next, I add a monster from my Graveyard to my hand. Then I activate the Speed Spell – Angel Baton! Since I have at least two Speed Counters, I draw two cards and discard one! Now, I Summon Nitro Synchron!” Nitro Synchron LV: 2 ATK: 300 “A Tuner, huh?” Callos mumbled. “I tune Level 2 Nitro Synchron with Level 6 Drill Warrior!” Yusei continued. 2 + 6 = 8 “Clustering wishes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!” Stardust Dragon LV: 8 ATK: 2500 Yusei felt a strong pulse in his arm as his Signer mark began to glow. “Battle! Stardust Dragon, attack Scavenger of Cruelty!” His dragon turned to face the winged beast. “Oh? So you’re attacking me now? But your monster has the same ATK as my Scavenger,” Callos stated. “I have a bad feeling about this,” Twilight thought. “I activate the Trap Card Meteor Wave!” Yusei continued. “This increases the ATK of a Synchro Monster I control by 300 until the End Phase!” Stardust Dragon LV: 8 ATK: 2500 + 300 = 2800 “Go, Stardust Dragon! Shooting Sonic!” “I wonder, though, how you’ll react once you see this,” Callos motioned towards his beast. Yusei and Twilight watched as a small bulge appeared on the center of the Scavenger of Cruelty. The bulge slowly took the shape of a pony’s silhouette. “Why does it… look like that…?” Twilight wondered. An extra limb extended from the body, holding the silhouette, as the blackness surrounding it began to fade away. “A pegasus? No… it can’t be…” Twilight’s eyes widened. “FLUTTERSHY?!” “What?!” exclaimed Yusei. The yellow pegasus was held tightly in the monster’s new limb, eyes closed and moaning. “That’s right,” Callos sneered. “Your friend is mine! And she is about to take this attack!” Stardust Dragon fired its blast. “NOOOOO!” screamed Twilight. “This is bad! I activate the Continuous Trap Scrubbed Raid!” Yusei panicked. “By sending a card from my field to the Graveyard, I can force the Battle Phase to end!” He frantically grabbed his remaining face-down card and placed it in his Graveyard. A barrier appeared and intercepted his dragon’s attack. He and Twilight watched as the extra limb retracted and pulled the pegasus back into its body. “No…” Twilight whimpered. “Just as I expected,” Callos chuckled. “Even stopping your own attack just to save her friend. As long as I have her, you cannot win!” “NO!” Twilight screamed, leaning out of the Duel Runner. A burst of magic shot from her horn towards the winged creature. “Let my friend go!” Her magic faded. Twilight looked up to see that the beast had survived. “I’m afraid that isn’t enough, Princess,” Callos stated. “I doubt you could save her in your exhausted state.” “But how… how is this possible… why is she inside that monster?” she cried. “Yusei!” “I don’t know,” Yusei replied. “I can’t attack that monster as long as Twilight’s friend is trapped inside of it. On top of that… how many other of her friends does he have? There’s no way I can fight back like this…” “Now then, I activate the Trap Card Disharmonic Balance!” Callos declared. “Since you used a Trap Card while I have a “Disharmony” monster on the field, I draw one card, and if it’s a Level 4 or lower monster, it can be Special Summoned! And as luck would have it, it is, indeed, a monster! Come, Dark Wing Teerpaak!” Dark Wing Teerpaak LV: 3 DEF: 1700 “Next, I activate the Trap Card Dark Wing Buster! By Tributing my Teerpaak, I can banish Scrubbed Raid, but you may draw an extra card.” Yusei drew a card as the image of his Trap Card faded away. He then grabbed the newly drawn card and the remaining two cards in his hand. “I’ll Set three cards face-down and end my turn!” Stardust Dragon LV: 8 ATK: 2800 – 300 = 2500 “You can’t be serious! You’re continuing like this?!” Twilight shouted. “My friend’s in that thing!” Yusei replied, “I know that, but—” “Just stop!” she cried. “I heard her screaming in there earlier… I have to save her… before she gets hurt any more than she already has.” “But you haven’t fully recovered yet!” “I don’t care… it’s better than leaving my friend in there to be hurt by a game of chance.” Just as she leaned out of the Duel Runner, an object was hurled into the concrete between the two Runners. Both slowed to a halt. “Celestia?!” The white alicorn struggled to rise. “Celestia, are you okay?!” Twilight asked. “I’m fine, but right now, you need to—” Celestia’s breathing was cut off. Yusei’s and Twilight’s eyes widened as they saw the shadows in the pavement pierce through Celestia’s body, even though there didn’t appear to be physical damage. As the darkness faded into the ground, Celestia collapsed onto the Duel Lane as the pitch-black alicorn landed next to her. “And that’s one more princess for us,” Celena said, approaching the group. “Now for you two.” “You! You’re the one from my dream!” Twilight exclaimed. “Nice to see you again, Princess Twilight. It’s a shame I couldn’t capture you then, but no matter.” “How are you—huh?” Callos, Celena, and Death Armor Moon appeared to be frozen in place. “Twilight…” Celestia moaned, her horn’s glow fading. “Princess…?” Twilight responded. “You’re doing this…” “What’s going on?” asked Yusei. “She’s temporarily stopped time around us.” “You must… return to… Equestria… and save… the other Elements of Harmony,” Celestia said. “But I don’t know how to get back…” Celestia grunted as her horn glowed once more. A bright line shined just past Yusei and Twilight. “A portal… But how?” “I followed the four lights here…” “Four lights?” Yusei spoke, “Maybe she means…” Yusei looked up to see a light on the horizon. “What’s that?” he asked. Four small lights approached from the sea and, along with a fifth light from Crow’s right arm, flew into Yusei. “I can feel it. The Crimson Dragon’s power,” he thought. “Everyone’s power.” “She followed the Crimson Dragon here,” Yusei stated. “That must mean…” “Yusei…” Celestia struggled to speak. “Please… protect Twilight…” “Princess?” Twilight said, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Princess!” A darkness appeared in the pavement beneath Celestia. “I hate to interrupt such a tender moment, but the time for talk is over,” Celena said. “Now for the rest of you. Go! Death Armor Moon!” The armored alicorn rose into the air and charged towards Yusei and Twilight. With the last of her strength, Celestia conjured up an explosion of light, tearing up the Duel Lane as it expanded. Noticing the Duel Lane crumble, Yusei started up his Duel Runner and drove into the portal, his dragon close behind. “Yusei, stop!” Twilight shouted. She and Yusei gasped as she turned her head to look behind them. Pieces of the Duel Lane fell from the smoke toward the sea. Among the falling debris was a white alicorn. Twilight cried out her name as she and Yusei vanished into the light.