//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Plot of the Poker Queen // Story: Yu-Gi-Oh! Myths of Equestria // by SoundBreakers //------------------------------// Team Hope was sat outside of the coliseum, their heads hanging low with grief around their necks. After Twilights attempts at healing, Pinkie Pie’s wounds had been mostly knit and wrapped with bandages, while Rainbow Dash was still unconscious, yet in a stable condition. “Given her current condition, I doubt she will be able to fly or move much at all for a couple of weeks at least,” Twilight announced, finishing her analysis of RD’s condition. The group simply nodded in acknowledgement. “We need to get her into an active status as soon as possible,” Chris sighed, “We have no idea how long it will be before she’s called up to duel, and if she can’t compete, that’s an automatic loss, which is something we DEFINATELY can’t afford to surrender after Pinkie’s defeat.” Pinkie’s head dipped low at the comment, aware that she was the reason that her friends were in such stress. “I’m sorry you guys, it’s my fault that things are like this,” she sniffled. Ashley moved to hug the pony. “Aww, don’t stress yourself! It was your first time playing the game, and Gilda had a VERY strong deck!” she comforted, but Pinkie simply shook her head. “And mine wasn’t good enough, or I didn’t use it correctly,” she replied, prompting a sigh from Ashley, who hugged the pony harder. “But Chris is still correct,” Sammy noted, “We need Rainbow Dash, we can’t afford an automatic loss. Getting her in top condition should be our top priority, with duelling practise coming second.” At these words, Jason jumped to his feet. “The fact of the matter is that we can’t lose more than two thirds of our team in this round or we instantly lose and surrender our cards. There are eleven of us, and a third of eleven is about 3.7, so once we hit 3 members remaining, we lose. We’ve already lost Pinkie, so we can afford to lose another six players in this round before losing,” he explained, pacing back and forth. “Not to mention that the fewer players we have in this round, the lower chance we have of surviving the next,” Teagan added. The gathered humans and ponies nodded in agreement. “Well, we’d better not lose then!” Rarity declared, earning more nods. “Then we’d best get in some practise,” Jason smiled, pulling out his deck. “We’ll only play tabletop, so it’s less likely to actually bring our monsters to life.” There was a slight cheer from the team, before they set out to duel. Jason, however, walked over to Twilight, who was busy attending to her fallen friends. “Hey there Twilight, how’s it going?” he asked, earning him a meek smile from the alicorn. “Given the circumstances, I’m hurt emotionally, but physically I’m fine,” she replied. Jason nodded his head sombrely. “I’m not surprised; this whole situation is messing with me too. I’m lucky enough to make friends with six great ponies from another world, but unlucky enough to be forced to fight for my life and my mother as well.” He cast his head down in sorrow, while Twilight gave the boy a caring smile. “It’s alright Jason, we’ll get her back, don’t you worry. And we’ll save both our worlds as well!” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, a certain brown stallion was crouched behind a stack of bin bags down some disgusting alleyway, hiding from the many humans going about their daily lives not ten feet from him. While night activity was simple enough, day walking was almost impossible, given the sheer number of humans present. Time Turner examined his box, playing with its wooden frame aimlessly. He traced his right hoof along the strange circular markings, exploring the enigmatic contours that had inspired his previous clock making. As his hoof lingered on, he found its tip resting against the switch button to the bottom compartment. At once, his entire body seized up and his mind hazed, as foreign thoughts began to invade his head. “It doesn’t work on wood...” In a panic, Turner yelped and tossed the box away from him, where it clattered down the alleyway. From nowhere, a foreign foot stepped on its frame, ceasing its movement. Turner snapped his neck around to face his possible antagoniser, coming face to face with a red headed human. “You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?” the figure asked. “W...what?” Turner questioned fearfully. Instantly, the strange man burst into laughter. “I’m very sorry, I always wanted to use that quote, and this seemed like too good an opportunity to miss,” he said. “What quote?” the frightened pony asked. The man sighed. “It doesn’t matter, the point is, you’re clearly not from this planet. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Shane, and I know of your kind and your horse planet above, and I want to make you an offer.” “What offer?” Turner questioned warily. Shane gave another chuckle. “It’s quite simple really, I want you to participate in a little tournament I’m running nearby, and if you win, I’ll help send you home. What do you say?” “How can I have your assurance that you can send me home? As far as my knowledge goes, my homeland seems to be in a state of phased reality, and this planet doesn’t have access to magic. Even if you could physically send me home, the planet is still not solid, so I would still be stuffed,” Turner questioned. Shane smirked again. “You’re completely right about everything there, except one thing; we DO have magic.” Turner gasped at the news. “You do?! How?” “Well, humans themselves don’t possess magic than can actually be used, but my employer is far from human,” Shane explained. “What do you mean?!” Turner cried, earning a frown from Shane. “I’d keep it quiet if I were you; I wouldn’t want people to know about my existence prematurely, would you?” Turner sighed with a frown. “Yes, you’re right, my bad. But seriously though, what do you mean?” “Well, let’s just say that my employer possesses some power beyond all human ability,” Shane chuckled. Turner leered at the man. “There’s no doubt in my mind that this man’s intentions are FAR from in my well being,” he thought, “But as it stands, I have no choice but to trust him for now; I need to return home at any cost, and maybe he can help with these visions in the meantime as well.” Turner sighed and nodded. “Very well Shane, I shall do as you wish,” he said. Shane grinned. “Brilliant!” he laughed, “I’ll get you started right away.” At once, Shane grabbed onto Time Turner’s hoof and pulled him down deeper into the alleyway, chuckling all the way. “What a great turn of fortune!” Shane thought, “Khaos was right, I can just sense the power emanating from this one, there’s no doubt in my mind that he possesses the greatest power, aside from my mistress, that I’ve ever seen! He will be a powerful asset indeed.” “What have I gotten myself into...” Time Turner wondered... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Welcome to the second match of the Serpentine Lake Duelling Competition!” The MC declared, coming with a great cheer from the audience in the stalls. Team Hope was sat in their dugout, waiting anxiously for the participants to be introduced, hoping that Rainbow Dash would be spared for the time being. Twilight and Fluttershy were still tending to the two injured ponies, ensuring that they were as comfortable as could be. Applejack stood guard over the four, just in case anyone attempted to cause them harm. Meanwhile, Rarity and the humans stood forward of the others, waiting for the MC’s declaration. They didn’t have to wait for long. “So without further ado, let’s find out who the two duelists who will be fighting to the tooth and nail for their beliefs will be! Time Roulette go!” the MC declared, smashing his staff into the nearby slot machine-esque feature, instantly setting its rollers spinning. Team Hope watched with bated breath, their prayers going out to their injured team mates’ safety. As the rollers came to a rest, their eyes went wide. “Rarity vs Demensha!” “What sort of name is Demensha?” Ashley queried with a raised eyebrow. “Back in Equestria, Twilight duelled against a draconequus-like thing called Kakophony. This “Demensha” could be something similar,” Rarity said, causing frowns from the humans. “What’s a draconequus?” Teagan asked. “My apologies dear, I forgot that humans don’t know of draconequi. Simply put, these creatures have body parts from various different races from our planet. The small ones also seem to have minor reality warping magic as well!” Rarity explained. “So it’s a magic Chimera?” Jason asked. “Somewhat crass explanation, but yes,” Rarity nodded. “Hardcore,” Ashley breathed. “And now I have to fight one,” Rarity gulped. Applejack trotted up to the pony, while her other conscious pony friends watched on from their seats. “Don’t ya worry sugarcube, ah’m sure you’ll do positively fantastic!” she cheered. Rarity couldn’t help but smile. After Applejack had said these words, there was a great cheer from the audience, causing the others to snap their heads around in interest. On the face of the roulette wheel that had decided the combatants, there was displayed the characters, “x2”. They watched as the announcer took up his podium once again. “It appears that the gods have chance have chosen a random ruling for this match! How exciting for our combatants!” “Extra ruling?!” Teagan cried, “That can’t be good!” Jason nodded in agreement while Chris simply watched. “It appears that this match shall be fought with both players starting with double the life points!” the announcer continued. “Is that good?” Rarity questioned, unsure. “Well, it means that you will be twice as hard to defeat, but you’ll also need to work twice as hard to win,” Ashley shrugged. Rarity was not overly happy with the news. Jason turned to Rarity, “Rarity, while this may seem like a harder challenge, remember that while we hold confidence and passion in our hearts, there is no challenge that can take us down without a fight!” Rarity smiled at his words, blinking a smile. “Thank you very much Jason, I shall endeavour to do as well as I can!” she said. Rarity then began to pace her way over to her side of the duelling arena, smiling with pride with the cheers of her friends behind her. “Come on Rarity, we’re all counting on you...” Jason whispered. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Nothing but good news to report, mistress,” Shane smiled, kneeling before Khaos in her ebony black throne room. The goddess herself lay slouched comfortably on her throne, resting her legs over the chair’s right arm. “Excellent to hear, my faithful student,” Khaos purred, languidly turning a twin branch of cherries around in her fingers. Shane grinned with a firm fire in his eyes. “I have managed to recruit the pony known as Time Turner into our ranks.” At these words, Khaos’ eyes lit up, a tooth filled grin filling her face. “In addition to this, our agents are well at work scouring the country for the target. At the current progress rate, we should find it within the next two weeks.” At these words, Khaos’ smile faltered slightly, a slight frown creeping onto her face. “Too slow,” she commented simply, edges of venom in her voice. Shane’s mouth dropped in surprise. “But mistress, we are systematically mapping every corner of the United Kingdom! A feat like this should take months! Our teams are going as fast as they can!” “WELL TELL THEM TO MOVE FASTER!” Khaos roared, her normally lax body tightening up with tension as she jumped to her ethereal feet. Shane stood speechless in fear, his lower lip trembling slightly. “Y.. yes mistress. Right away,” he blurted, before running hurriedly out of the throne room. Khaos herself simply sighed and sat back down, tension relaxing in her body. “Damn morons...” she breathed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rarity stood, her body tensed and ready, awaiting the moment when her opponent would enter from the portcullis at the other end of the stadium. A glow of light began to envelop her foreleg, and she dully noted that her duel disk and deck were forming on her, but her mind was currently focused on the task at hand. With a dark look, she noticed the portcullis begin to rise, and out slithered the recognisable form of a young female draconequus. Her teeth began to grit as a strand of her otherwise perfect mane separated from its companions, coming to rest over Rarity’s left eye. Demensha floated smugly over to the opposite side of the duelling arena, coming to rest menacingly. “So I get the prissy pony to fight? Shame, I wanted to face the sparkly one, as payback for Kakophony, but you? Hah, this is going to be easy...” she spoke. “Watch your tongue, you uncultured swine,” Rarity rebuked with a scowl, earning an amused look from her enemy. “Quite the mouth you’ve got there. I look forward to silencing it.” Jason and the other’s faces contorted into an antagonistic scowl. “How dare she treat my friend so shamefully!” Twilight protested, looking up from Rainbow Dash’s still unconscious body. Rarity barely heard her friend, her mind too distracted by anxiousness and determination. “So are we going to begin this duel, or are we going to spend all day tossing insults at one another?” she questioned. Demensha giggled childishly. “Well if you want to rush your demise, far be it from me to deny you your wish!” Rarity growled angrily. “So what are we waiting for then?” “LETS DUEL” The two cried. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna slammed her hoof repeatedly at Celestia’s study door, her body’s desperation carrying through into her knocks. “Celestia! Open this door! We need to talk!” she cried, briefly silencing her knocks to wait for a reply. None came. Luna resumed her knocking with increased vigour, determined to get an audience with her sister. “Please sister,” Luna thought, “Too much is at stake here. Please, let me speak to you!” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time Turner stood in the administration box, with Shane positioned nearby to his left. Turner was painstakingly aware of Shane’s gaze upon him, but chose to ignore it for the sake of watching the duel. Shane’s eyes scanned Turner thoroughly, looking for the slightest hint of changing emotion coming from the tan pony. Though he was an ally for now, Shane knew that his allegiance was tenuous at best, and that he must ensure that his needs, both physically and psychologically were met, lest he lose this most powerful tool, though the pony himself did not know it yet. “It is only a matter of time before your true potential awakens itself,” Shane thought to himself, “And once that happens, your alignment could potentially decide the fate of us all. And for the sake of Khaos, you WILL be on our side of the fence when that happens.” Time Turner’s gaze flicked over to Shane, sensing the dubious intent in the man. “I dont trust him...” he thought. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DUEL START --------------------------------- DEMENSHA LP: 8000 RARITY LP: 8000 DEMENSHA TURN 1: “The first turn is mine!” Demensha cried, ripping her five starting cards from the top of her deck. She looked through her hand with mild interest, strategies beginning to bounce around inside her head. “I summon Steelswarm Scout to the field!” At these words, a small bug-like create manifested onto the battlefield from a small, dark portal. The monster scampered around the field for a few seconds, before coming to rest. [Steelswarm Scout: ATK 200, DEF 0] “A monster with only 200 ATK in attack position?” Applejack questioned, earning nods of confusion from the other team members. “She probably plans on baiting Rarity into a risky attack, and then wiping out her monster with a trap card,” Chris answered warily, earning a nod from Teagan. “That does make sense,” Applejack nodded, her eyes still fixed on the match. Jason, however, cast his gaze downward. “I dont know, it seems like too obvious a trap...” he murmured. Demensha flicked a wicked grin Jason’s way. “Two face-down’s end my turn,” she finished with a slight smirk, earning a grim frown from Rarity. “Woah, Rarity sure changes when she duels,” Pinkie commented, earning a nod from Fluttershy. “She definitely seems more ferocious...” she confirmed. --------------------- STATUS: DEMENSHA: LP: 8000 HAND: 2 CARDS. MONSTERS: Steelswarm Scout SPELLS/TRAPS: 2 Face-down RARITY: LP: 8000 HAND: 5 CARDS. MONSTERS: X SPELLS/TRAPS: X ----------------------------- RARITY TURN 1: “I guess it’s time to show you that being a lady doesn’t mean that I cant fight back. Draw!” Rarity boomed, telepathically sliding the top card from her deck, adding it to her currently floating hand. “Her attack position monster is clearly an attempt to play some sort of mind game with me. Surely she wouldn’t place her monster like that without laying some sort of trap? Or maybe she’s just bluffing?” Rarity thought to herself, before scanning her opponents face to search for any tells. “Whatever the case, she has an extremely good poker face. I cant tell either way! For now, I should just play defensive and wait for a more readable situation in which to make my attack...” “Wow, Rarity looks like she’s concentrating extremely hard!” Ashley commented, earning a chuckle from Twilight. “Rarity is one of the best poker players I’ve ever met, and I know she’s extremely talented at reading ponies. She should fare well in this game!” “Thats good to hear!” Ashley smiled. Rarity, meanwhile, was scanning her hand for a play. “I will set one monster face-down, as well as a spell/trap card. The next turn is yours,” she said simply, watching with barely a glimmer of excitement as the three card back images appeared on her side of the battlefield. Demensha scoffed in amusement. “Is that all? Hah, what a coward you are...” she said, earning a piercing glare from Rarity. --------------------- STATUS: DEMENSHA: LP: 8000 HAND: 2 CARDS. MONSTERS: Steelswarm Scout SPELLS/TRAPS: 2 Face-down RARITY: LP: 8000 HAND: 3 CARDS. MONSTERS: 1 Face-down SPELLS/TRAPS: 1 Face-down ----------------------------- DEMENSHA TURN 2: Demensha swiped her next card with gusto, before adding it to her hand. “From the look of you, I can tell you excel at these kind of mind games just as much as I love them. While I could probably destroy your face down normally this turn, I feel like it would grant you some kind of advantage, and I’d rather you be left with as little to fight with as possible!” “If you are so confident in your own arrogance, then stop talking and act, before I faint of boredom,” Rarity scoffed, earning an amused laugh from Demensha. “I really like you Rarity! While I’d love to make friends with you after this game, currently I really need you to go ahead and lose for me. Unless you want to give up and surrender now, let me show you how a real duelist battles. I activate one of my face down cards, Soul Exchange!” Rarity grimaced, knowing that one of the cards that had deterred her was a bluff after all. “This card allows me to use one of your monsters as a sacrifice for the summon of one of my monsters. I sacrifice your face down and my Steelswarm Scout to summon Steelswarm Girastag!” The two cards of the field broke apart for the tribute, revealing Rarity’s face down to be Shining Angel. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, knowing that her insurance policy had been outmanoeuvred. After the two cards had been destroyed, a great rumble came from the earth in front of Demensha’s mismatched feet. The earth at the surface of the field began to split apart, and from its depths, clambered a great armoured insectlike creature, nearly eight feet tall, which took its stand next to its master. [Steelswarm Girastag: ATK 2600, DEF 0] “Now, I know I could have simply summoned my little beastie here by just tributing my Steelswarm Scout, but I decided that I would much rather clear your field instead, prime for a direct attack!” Demensha cackled, while a bead of sweat ran down Rarity’s cheek. The rest of the team were stunned by Demensha’s ruthlessly offensive play. “She gave up a more cost effective strategy simply to deal extra damage,” Chris gasped. “But I’m not done yet! Because Girastag was sacrificed using a Steelswarm monster, I can target one of your cards and send it to the graveyard! Say goodbye to your face down!” Demensha cackled, as her monster raised its arm. Its hand began to charge with eldritch energy, before firing it off at Rarity’s card, the pony gritting her teeth is frustration. “Halt yourself!” she cried, “I activate my set card, Common Charity!” The set card flipped face up, revealing an young man wearing a tattered longcoat with a glowing card floating above his hands. “This card allows me to draw two cards, and then banish one normal monster from my hand. If I have no normal monsters, I must discard my entire hand,” Rarity finished. “She’s taking a big risk just for the extra cards,” Teagan growled. “Both of them are playing very riskily,” Sammy agreed, “Its only a matter of time before one of their luck runs out.” Jason’s frown deepened, “Well we’d better hope that its not Rarity...” Rarity telekinetically pulled two cards from the top of her deck and added them to her hand, before confidently pulling another card from her hand. “I banish my Jack’s Knight for Common Charity’s effect. Continue...” she finished, to wit Demensha grinned. “So nothing to disrupt my plays then? Very well. Girastag, attack!” At her words, Girastag leapt up and sprinted towards Rarity, who’s confidence wavered in front of the great beast. It raised its gauntlet high into the air, before thrusting it downwards at Rarity’s terrified face. Its fist collided straight into Rarity’s torso, sending her flying backwards. She shot eight feet through the air before colliding hard with the invisible barrier that kept the two combatants trapped. Rarity slid down the barrier slowly, coming to rest on the ground with a slump. RARITY LP: 8000 --> 5400 “RARITY!” the team cried unanimously. Twilight’s forced her gaze away from Rarity’s impact, barely able to witness her friend being tossed around like a broken puppet. Rarity lay still for a couple of seconds, before struggling back to her feet. She was clearly bleeding from several cuts and scrapes on her body, as well as a large bruise beginning to stain her otherwise clear white torso. She glared daggers right into Demensha’s eyes. “You... despicable ruffian!” she spat. Demensha merely smirked, “You having a little trouble speaking there?” she jeered, “I told you that I’d get you to shut up.” Rarity found herself at a loss of words to retort with. Demensha picked up on this and grinned slowly. Sammy’s expression turned sour. “Her image is breaking up, Demensha is getting to her!” she sighed. Twilight picked up on this with another frown. “Come on Rarity!” “I suppose I can leave off my turn here. I’ll let you have your shot now. Good luck darling!” Demensha mocked. --------------------- STATUS: DEMENSHA: LP: 8000 HAND: 2 CARDS. MONSTERS: Steelswarm Girastag SPELLS/TRAPS: 1 Face-down RARITY: LP: 5400 HAND: 4 CARDS. MONSTERS: X SPELLS/TRAPS: X ----------------------------- RARITY TURN 2: Rarity pulled her top card from her deck calmly, trying to regain her composure. She scanned her hand with barely disguised desperation, her poker face almost visibly cracking. “Come on Rarity, keep it together,” she thought to herself, repeating the message like a mantra. “I activate the spell card Cantrell Draw! I shuffle two cards from my hand into my deck and redraw, drawing one additional card, but I must pay 1000 life points!” Rarity declared, shuffling her cards into her deck. RARITY LP: 5400 --> 4400 “Such desperate tactics,” Demensha giggled, “How pathetic.” Rarity growled at her opponent, “Dont underestimate me...” “Yeah, you go girl!” Ashley cheered, with accompanying cheers from her pony friends. Chris however, had a concerned look on his face, which Jason picked up on. “Problem Chris?” he asked. Chris simply sighed and spoke up, “Demensha is right. Cantrell Draw shows that her luck hasn’t fully helped her so far this game. Whether or not Mallet helps her is irrelevant, she’s falling apart.” Jason’s mouth hung open in disbelief, but he knew that Chris had a point. “Lets hope for her sake that youre wrong...” “Now I draw my two cards,” Rarity declared, adding the two cards to her hand. She glanced at them, her confidence conflicted. Demensha noticed a slight twitch on her face, but said nothing, merely widening her grin. “I set two cards before ending my turn,” Rarity sighed. The team gasped in shock while Demensha cackled yet again. “She didn’t summon no monsters!” Applejack cried. The rest of the team shared her sentiments. “See what I mean?” Chris spoke solemnly. Jason shook his head. “I refuse to believe it!” he cried, “She’s not out yet!” Chris kept quiet, knowing better than to crush his team mates hope. “Looks like you’ve really cracked then?” Demensha insulted. “I’m far from out yet you beast!” Rarity cried, which only intensified Demensha’s laugh. “Well allow me to fix that!” --------------------- STATUS: DEMENSHA: LP: 8000 HAND: 2 CARDS. MONSTERS: Steelswarm Girastag SPELLS/TRAPS: Face-down RARITY: LP: 4400 HAND: 3 CARDS. MONSTERS: X SPELLS/TRAPS: 2 Face-down ----------------------------- DEMENSHA TURN 3: “Girastag! Attack her life points directly once more!” Demensha cried, cackling maniacally. Girastag nodded its helmed skull and leaped towards Rarity with deadly ferocity. “Rarity!” Team Hope cried, feeling terrified on behalf of their vulnerable friend. Rarity began to hyperventilate as the gigantic monster’s form came barrelling towards her. “Oh no...” Girastag’s armoured shin swung forward in a deadly arc, connecting with Rarity’s body with humongous force. Rarity was sent flying upwards into the air, her body compacting with the upper side of the dome around the arena before collapsing back onto the ground in a bloodied heap. Demensha grinned evilly, watching Rarity as she gradually clambered back onto her hooves. RARITY LP: 4400 --> 1800 “Hah! What a weakling! You’ve still got plenty of life points left and you’re already down for the count! I expected a greater challenge than...” “Quiet peasant,” Rarity spoke calmly, her face set back into her competitive blank stare. Demensha gasped in surprise, along with the entirety of the team, though their surprise was much more positive. “Yeah, go Rarity!” Pinkie cheered, earning an approving smile from the other team members. “See! She’s still got the confidence, she can still do this!” Jason said, directing his comments towards Chris. The teen merely closed his eyes in response. “We’ll see...” As he opened his eyes, he directed them straight towards Demensha, scanning her for answers. “H... How can you be so confident?!” she cried, “I’m about to destroy you and steal another card from your team, how can you have that battle face back on?!” Rarity simply blinked. “End your turn and find out, unless you’re too much of a chicken.” Demensha hissed in anger at the pony’s comments. “Although, being a draconequus, you probably know what that’s like already,” Rarity finished. Demensha’s face dropped, while the rest of the team cheered even more enthusiastically. “How DARE you?! I would finish you right here if I had the cards!” Demensha roared. Rarity blankly replied. “Your temper is obscuring your judgement darling; you just revealed to me that your hand is running out of options. A good card game player never gives even the slightest hint of the hand they hold to their opponent.” “H... How dare you! I set one monster face down and end my turn! Let’s see if that confidence matches up with your deck!” Demensha growled. Rarity changed nothing. “My turn then.” --------------------- STATUS: DEMENSHA: LP: 8000 HAND: 2 CARDS. MONSTERS: Steelswarm Girastag, 1 Face-down SPELLS/TRAPS: Face-down RARITY: LP: 1800 HAND: 3 CARDS. MONSTERS: X SPELLS/TRAPS: 2 Face-down ----------------------------- RARITY TURN 3: “I draw,” Rarity spoke calmly, sliding her card towards her. She examined her hand with a careful eye, making sure to hide her excitement from her enemy. “Here goes...” she whispered to herself. “To start things off, I’ll summon Queen’s Knight to the field!” Rarity declared, placing her card on her disk. In a bright flash of light, a crimson armoured female warrior stood in front of her mistress, her armour adorned with the symbols of the 4 poker suits. [Queen's Knight: ATK 1500, DEF 1600] The five humans gasped in surprise. “She owns the Poker Knights? I thought Yugi was the only duelist to use them!” Teagan cried. “Her cards appeared from nothing in a flash of light,” Sammy informed, “When one’s deck appears from literally thin air, I think thats a pretty good excuse to use otherwise one-of-a-kind cards.” “Fair enough,” Teagan shrugged, “Makes sense to me.” “Let’s watch,” Chris spoke softly but firmly, silencing his friends. “Now I activate my set card, Ultimate Offering!” Rarity continued, “Now at the cost of 500 life points per card, I am allowed an additional normal summon or set.” “I know what the damn card does!” Demensha screeched, “Just make your damn move!” “Very well. Now, through Ultimate Offering’s effect, I summon this; King’s Knight!” At these words, a familiar flash of light blinked, and an old man of around 50 years of age appeared on the field, standing next to his queen and wearing golden regal armour. [King's Knight: ATK 1600, DEF 1400] RARITY LP: 1800 --> 1300 “What are these weak and useless knights going to achieve for you?! Get to the point!” Demensha bellowed, her cracked tempter splitting even further. The edge of Rarity’s mouth curved upwards. “If you would be so kind as to wait for a brief moment, you’d see for yourself,” she spoke smoothly. “The effect of King’s Knight activates, allowing me to special summon my second Jack’s Knight directly from my deck!” With a third flash of light, the last of the three knights stood firm on the battlefield, clad is shining blue armour and brandishing a humongous broadsword. [Jack's Knight: ATK 1900, DEF 1000] “Great, so now you have THREE useless monsters. Get to the point!” Demensha snarled. “You underestimate my monsters. Let me show you one of their many secret powers as a team. I activate the spell card, Royal Flush!” Rarity’s card floated in front of her face, revealing a hand holding three cards, a King, Queen and Jack of Diamonds. “I can only activate this card while I control all three Poker Knights on my side of the field. I am now allowed to draw an extra three cards from the top of my deck.” “Rarity’s deck really seems focused on drawing cards and making sure her hand has exactly what she wants in it...” Sammy wondered. “Thats because her deck is most powerful when she has all three of her Knights on the field. The Queen and King’s Knight play is quite inconsistent, so she needs to make sure the cards in her hand are the right ones at all times,” Jason answered. “Now it’s time to get dangerous!” Rarity grinned, “I use Ultimate Offering again, allowing me to summon another King’s Knight, which in turn allows me to bring my third Jack’s Knight to the table!” Two more Knights came crashing into existence, illuminating the field as they touched down. [King's Knight: ATK 1600, DEF 1400] [Jack's Knight: ATK 1900, DEF 1000] RARITY LP: 1300 --> 800 Demensha was getting quite worried by this point. “Wha, what are you doing?!” she questioned, shaking slightly. Rarity smiled fully now, tossing her mane back over her head into its preferred styled form, “Well, I suppose you could say that I’m going all in. I overlay my King’s Knight and my Queen’s Knight to summon Heroic Champion - Excalibur!” The two smaller knights took a kneeled stance before vanishing into balls of light, before beginning to spin around one another in the air. A column of light shot down from the sky, illuminating the field below. The light grew so intense that nothing could be seen through it, its glow blinding the eyes of the assembled duelists. Suddenly, a great thud was heard, and the light vanished, as if turned off by a switch. Where the column was stood a great knight, clad head to toe in thick plate armour, his right gauntlet brandishing a deadly looking sword. Demensha’s gaze paled. [Heroic Champion - Excalibur: ATK 2000, DEF 2000] “Now I activate his effect; by detaching both his materials, my brave knight in shining armour can attack with double the striking power!” The two shining lights orbiting Excalibur zoomed in towards his sword, merging with the cold steel. “Now go my knight, attack Steelswarm Girastag!” Excalibur tightened his grip around his sword before dashing forward at great speed, far greater than one would have assumed given his heavy armour. As he approached Girastag, he leaped high into the air, his sword raised above his head. Girastag moved to block with his gauntlet, but the sword of the descending knight held more power in its body. The blade crashed down onto the Steelswarm monster, shattering it into thousands of specks of black dust. The dust flung back towards Demensha, the heat of her fallen monster scorching it into deadly burning embers. Demensha let out an unearthly scream as the cinders burnt at her flesh, leaving sore red marks all over her body. DEMENSHA LP: 8000 --> 6600 Demensha grunted with agony and rage as she cast her gaze back to the pony who had injured her. “You’ll pay for that you bitch!” she cried. “What’s the matter? The little baby doesn’t like the taste of her own medicine?” Rarity retorted with a smirk, earning a sizable laugh from her teammates. “Hah, BURN!” Pinkie cheered, “Pun intended! You know, cause of all the ashes and stuff! Hee hee!” “But I’m still not done, I attack with my remaining King’s Knight and two Jack’s Knights, with my King’s Knight targeting your face down, and my two Jack’s Knights going straight for your life points!” “Gah... no!” Demensha squealed, but her protests were in vain. The three knights dashed forwards with a kiai, each one aiming for their intended target. King’s Knight sprinted over to the set monster while the two Jack’s Knights each flanked Demensha, attempting to seize her in a pincer movement. King’s Knight drove his sword downwards, connecting easily with the card backing before him. A brief image of a metallic bug appeared around King’s sword, squealing in pain, before both the card and the illusion burst into shatters. Meanwhile, the two Jack’s Knights were staring daggers at a frightened Demensha, and at a small with from one, the two leaped into action. They sliced at Demensha with their swords, their cuts aimed with perfect poise and position. If the two knights had been real soldiers, the young draconequus before them would have been exotic beef stew in seconds. After being satisfied that their work had been done, they returned back to their starter positions, eager to continue on next turn. DEMENSHA LP: 6600 --> 2800 Demensha herself was woozily attempting to steady herself after the brutal onslaught she had undertaken. While she visibly fought to keep her balance, an unnerving snicker began to emanate from her mouth. Rarity picked up on this with concerned interest, as her chuckling began to grow louder. “Whats... Whats happening?!” Fluttershy squealed. Applejack looked towards her friend with an uncertain face, “Well, either she’s gone kookoo, or ah reckon our friend out there is in for some hurtin’ next turn.” “Oh dear...” Demensha’s laugh ascended into a great bout of maniacal laughter, her grating laugh penetrating the ears of the Team as if it were nails down a chalkboard. “Agh, my ears!” Twilight cried, clapping her hooves over her head. The others quickly followed suit, desperate to block out the sound. “You think just because you dealt me some damage that I’m down and out? Hah! Pathetic! I can and WILL beat you right here and now! My turn!” --------------------- STATUS: DEMENSHA: LP: 2800 HAND: 2 CARDS. MONSTERS: SPELLS/TRAPS: 1 Face-down RARITY: LP: 800 HAND: 3 CARDS. MONSTERS: Heroic Champion – Excalibur, Jack’s Knight, Jack’s Knight, King’s Knight SPELLS/TRAPS: Ultimate Offering, 1 Face-down ----------------------------- DEMENSHA TURN 4: Demensha grinned evilly as she pulled her card from the top of her deck. She didn’t even glance at it before casting her glare back towards Rarity. “You said that you went all in last turn, but you didn’t manage to defeat me. It is that mistake that will cost you this game!” she cackled. Rarity simply kept a straight face. “Now without further ado, allow me to introduce you to the main event! By banishing three Fiend type monsters in my graveyard, I can summon this card!” Demensha slammed her card onto her duel disk, its form instantly beginning to swim with dark energies. The Team looked on in dread as what appeared to be a cascading river of dark energy began to flow from the card and onto the field. It snaked across the terrain like an ugly black slug, bisecting both sides of the battlefield. The blackness began to sink down, cutting away at the terrain like acid, an audible hiss being heard as it sank downwards. Eventually, it sank no further, coming conspicuously to a rest, though the energy did keep on flowing, as if an inky black river had formed on the field. Demensha’s face revealed an expression of pure glee, despite the burn marks from earlier that had begun to form bubbling welts and blisters upon her face and body. “Allow me to introduce you to my deck’s true ace monster! Rise, STYX – RIVERGOD OF HATE!” At these words, the blackness erupted upwards, as if someone had set off a depth charge underneath the surface of the watery energy. The fluid shifted and swirled amongst itself, as if it were morphing between several different shapes and forms. [Styx - Rivergod of Hate: ATK 3000, DEF 3000] “That thing reminds me of something I read about in an old history book,” Twilight exclaimed to no one in particular. “Oh?” Jason queried. Twilight shook her head quickly, shrugging off the thought. “It was a book of old fairy tales. It was about this large mass of purple ooze that spread across the land, devouring anything that it touched...” “Hmm... Charming...” Jason muttered. Suddenly, in a great explosion of black light and discordant sound, the swirling mass flung off all of its excess shadow, revealing the form of a great black cloak, completely obscuring its apparent wearer. The construct moved as if still a fluid, and its shape had an unnatural smoothness to it, as if it were being controlled by a puppeteer. Demensha grinned as its terrifying aura shook Rarity’s seemingly calm face. “Well, let me explain to you the effect of my ace monster. It shares the same drawbacks as every Greek god card thusfar, it cannot be destroyed by card effects,cannot attack you directly, and neither of us suffers battle damage from its battles. However, this is where it’s special effect comes in; when this card attacks an opponent’s monster its ATK points are doubled for that battle! Also, if it annihilates one of your monsters in battle, it inflicts damage to your life points equal to the ATK of the monster it destroyed! And with 3500 ATK points, thats not too shabby, well enough to take out you and the rest of your life points!” Demensha cackled, causing a frightened gasp from the Team. “Another one, I’m going to lose another one!” Jason cried, cupping his face in his hands in anguish, “I’m going to be responsible for the injury of another one of my friends!” Jason sobbed into his hands briefly, but stopped when he heard an annoyed grunt from nearby to him. “She’s not down yet,” Chris said sternly. “Now I activate my face down card, Pride Before The Fall, targeting your Heroic Champion - Excalibur!” Demensha’s face down card flipped face up, revealing a haughty looking man grinning arrogantly and laughing, while in front of him lay the edge of a cliff face descending into oblivion. “With this card’s effect, one of your monsters gains 2000 extra ATK points, but is switched to defence mode and is banished if it is destroyed.” “But why? Why would you do such a thing?! If that monster’s attack goes through, I’ll lose regardless!” Rarity protested. Demensha grinned and spoke, “Because if I use this card on your Heroic Champion Excalibur, and destroy him, you will lose 6000 life points in one fell swoop. Ive seen what one attack of 2800 can do to you, and you barely managed to survive two, and they were after a short gap! 6000 damage in one strike would be more than enough to completely annihilate your small and weak pony body, killing you outright! Without you, those precious Elements of Harmony of yours are completely useless, and you and your pathetic team lose one of your most powerful weapons! I’m not ‘in it to win it’, I’m ‘going in for the kill’!” At these words, the blood drained from the face of every human and pony sitting in Team Hope’s dugout, Rarity included. A few short breaths and she managed to somewhat calm herself, though she was still quite shaken as the reality of the situation began to sink ever deeper into her. Demensha’s ugly tooth filled grin stretched even wider. “Go, Styx, Rivergod of Hate, destroy Heroic Champion – Excalibur, end this duel, and wipe out her life points!” she cried crazily, her wide eyed mangled expression gleefully living the duel as it proceeded. Styx leaped forwards towards Excalibur, its shadowy embrace longing for the company of a mortal. “NO, RARITY!” Team Hope cried, as both their friend and her monsters were swamped and submerged between the inky shadows of Demensha’s monster. “HAHAHAHAH! YES!” the draconequus cried, “ARE YOU HAPPY WITH ME MISTRESS?! ANOTHER USELESS LITTLE PONY VANQUISHED IN YOUR NAME!” Back in the dugout, the team was overwashed with hopelessness and defeat. “That’s it, we’re done,” Jason whimpered, “There’s no way we can fight back from three injured and possibly deceased comrades. First Rainbow Dash, then Pinkie Pie, then this. I’m sorry everyone, I’ve failed you.” At his words, the remaining conscious ponies and Sammy snuggled up to him for comfort, embracing one another for support. Teagan and Ashley had attached themselves together. Teagan had ripped his gaze away just in time to save himself from the experience of watching his friend die, but Ashley was not so lucky. Her gaze was horrendously transfixed on where Rarity once stood, the streams of tears leaking from the corners of her wide eyes the only indication of the emotion she was feeling inside. Chris, however walked up to where Jason was standing with the ponies. “Jason?” “Yeah?” “Get a hold of yourself you moron,” he growled, before backhanding Jason across the face, sending him sprawling into the dirt. Jason staggered onto his hands and knees, spitting out a mouthful of dust as he did so. “What the bloody hell was that for?!” he screamed, his enraged glare transfixed on Chris’ face. “Look at Rarity’s life point calculator on the stadium’s screen,” he said simply. Jason’s expression softened to one of confusion. He scrambled to his feet before jogging a few metres forward to get a better view of the screen. The others followed him with interest, looking to examine the sight. RARITY LP: 50 DEMENSHA LP: 50 “WHAT?!” They all unanimously cried, which attracted the attention of a certain celebrating draconequus. “What are you all... WHAT?!” she screeched, her eyes transfixed onto the screen. She lingered her gaze for a few seconds, attempting to process all of the information. She snapped her gaze back to where Rarity had stood, searching for her white coat. As the shadowy form of Styx retreated from its attack, what greeted her eyes shocked her to the core. Rarity was stood, completely unharmed, with a devilish grin upon her face. “I activate my Trap Card; Final Showdown!” The set card on her field flipped face up, revealing an image of two men in smart suits sat at a poker table, each about to lay down their hand to each other. “I can only activate this card when my life points are 1000 or less, but that was the perfect amount all along!” she grinned. “What do you mean?!” Demensha cried. Rarity only chuckled, “Honestly I should win an award for performance the last few turns!” “Wha, WHAT?!” “Oh, let me explain it so that you’ll understand. The moment I drew Ultimate Offering, I knew that I had the stage set so that I could lull you into continuing your aggressive strategy, shaving away at my life points. I had this card set for just that moment. But let us move on, shall we? Let me explain my card. When this is activated, both players’ life point totals become 50. After that, we each reveal as many monsters as we wish in our hands, and whoever has the most amount of monsters with the same name, type or attribute, among the cards they revealed and the card on their field gets a little surprise. And I think we can all agree that no matter if your hand is filled with dark monsters, you won’t be able to beat my 4 warriors, but just so I can make the most out of this card’s effect, I’ll reveal my second Queen’s Knight in my hand! Because I won the hand, I can special summon the monsters I revealed to my side of the field. So welcome back, Queen’s Knight!” The all too familiar flash illuminated the field once again, revealing Queen’s Knight standing firm. The three Knight’s were back together again, ready to fight. “Now the last effect of my Final Showdown takes place! If possible, I can now Fusion, Synchro or Xyz Summon using monsters I control, and have that monster battle one monster you control. The person who loses this battle takes EXACTLY 50 points of damage!” Demensha was absolutely shocked at the card’s power, barely able to accept her situation. “You... You cheater!” she cried, “There’s no way you could pull of something like that!” Rarity scoffed, “Not so high and mighty now that you’re losing are we?” “B... but, I had you cornered! You were out of options! You said you went all in; you had made your final push!” Rarity glared at Demensha with eyes of condescension, “I lied.” “This, this can’t be!” “Oh it is! Using my King’s Knight, Queen’s Knight AND my Jack’s Knight, I bring together the Fusion bonds that join the three!” At her words, King’s Knight, Queen’s Knight and one of the Jack’s Knight each reached out with their swords, their tips touching. “Wild card in the pack, come forth into my grasp so that I can claim victory for my friends! I call upon your services; ARCANA KNIGHT JOKER!” In a final flash of a white column of light, the three knights transformed into glowing spheres of gold, red and blue, which all swirled up into the light, their colours mixing and refracting as if inside a kaleidoscope. With one final great explosion, the light subsided, and in its place stood a magnificently purple armoured knight, equipped with great golden pauldrons, white trimmings and a gleaming steel sword clasped firmly in his right hand. The warrior eyes Styx with contempt, and prepared his weapon for his attack. Demensha was almost on the floor in panic, but Rarity was positively glowing with power. [Arcana Knight Joker: ATK 3800, DEF 2500] “Yeah, you go girl!” Twilight cheered, earning an approving nod and chuckle from Jason. “Try to learn not to lose faith when the going gets rough,” Chris instructed, eyeing Jason with interest. The teen chuckled awkwardly, “Yeah, I suppose that’s something I really should work on...” “Now then, Arcana Knight Joker, attack Styx – Rivergod of Hate and end this duel!” Rarity cried, and her monster gave an agreeing nod, before leaping off to face Styx in battle. The team watched with bated breath, while Demensha screeched in horror, as the valiant knight approached her precious monster. ... ... ... DEMENSHA LP: 50 --> 0 RARITY WINS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rarity was reclining leisurely on the team’s dugout bench, keeping her natural grace and poise despite the pain of her injuries, which Twilight tended to nearby. Sammy was stood with the dugout’s emergency first aid kit, aiding the two ponies where she could. “You did amazing Rarity!” Fluttershy squealed with pride. “You really sticked it to that meanie!” Pinkie agreed, earning approving giggles from the rest of the team. Jason smiled to himself, happy that his team mates and friends were safe, though the ever persistent threat of Shane, his missing mother and Rainbow Dash cruelly preventing him from sanctity of thought. Jason was lost in his own world for a few seconds, before his daydreaming was interrupted by a soft thump next to him, as Chris sat down to provide company for his friend. “Quite a duel,” the dark clothed duelist commented. “Yes I suppose it was,” Jason joked, the edges of his lips cracking into a smile. Chris sighed as his own smile began to form. “I think things are going to improve,” Chris commented, earning a frown from Jason, “Why do you think that?” he asked, interested. Chris chuckled softly. “Well, we may lose a few more friends as we continue, in fact, it’s inevitable, seeing as there can only be one winner, but I feel like this victory is what we need for our morale after our first round loss. Things are looking up for us. I can feel it.” Jason was stunned at his words. “Chris... “ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Would you care to tell me what in Tartarus’ name that was?” Khaos spoke, her soft face and apparently sweet smile disguising the vein of bile in her tone. Demensha was kneeled before her mistress in the throne room, her blistered face dripping with sweat and fear. There were several other figures stood behind her in a horizontal line, each one was cloaked in long black robes. Among them, Shane stood, head bowed in reverence to his mistress. Kakophony was positioned at one end of the line, his heart beating quickly as he feared for his sister. Shane’s frown was heavy set as his eyes glared towards Demensha with loathing. “I... I’m sorry mistress. I made a mistake!” the frightened draconequus squeaked. Khaos smiled even wider and stood from her throne, gliding down towards Demensha’s prostrate form. “Oh that doesn’t sound right!” Khaos cried, feigning surprise, “Because I thought that you’d just lost one of our special little cards. That doesn’t sound like a plain ol’ mistake to me.” Demensha gulped. “That sounds like a gigantic fucking cock-up, doesn’t it?” Khaos spoke, the venom in her otherwise saccharine voice flaring up loudly. “Y... Yes mistress.” Khaos snorted, “Who would think that someone as magnificent as I could create a servant as weak and useless as you and your brother?” At these words Kakophony visibly shook in nerves, which Khaos picked up with interest. “Is there a problem, whelp?” Khaos queried. Kakophony’s shivers began to grow more violet. “No! Nothing mistress, nothing at all!” he blurted. “Come forward. Now,” Khaos ordered. Kakophony gulped nervously and took a step towards Khaos, before falling to his mismatched knees. The goddess walked forward, so that she was standing betwixt the two. She reached out with her long and slender arms, resting her hands on top of each of the twins’ heads. She began to slowly turn their multitoned fur between her fingers. The young draconequi were both shaking in terror, their whole bodies trembling against their mother’s touch. “Now now darlings, please stay calm. Mother is here...” At the words, Khaos’ grip tightened intensely, her fingers pressing into the sides of her children’s heads. Pain welled up inside both of the twins, and what air was stored in their lungs was forced out with a bloodcurdling scream. The two screeched in agony as their mother’s hands dug into their skulls, the goddess herself showing no visible signs of effort. “Shush my babies,” Khaos spoke soothingly, though her words had no affect on her suffering children. With a sickening crunch, Khaos’ fingers penetrated the skulls of her children, her nails digging directly into their brains. Blood and cranial fluid began to leak from the gaps in the skull between her fingers and the holes, its viscosity causing it to stick and drip slowly from Khaos’ hands. Some of the assembled black-cloaks averted their eyes in horror, many showing signs of throwing up, but Shane’s eyes were transfixed on the scene before him. The two draconequus’ eyes had glassed over, catatonic, but somehow they were clearly still very much alive. Khaos began to coo with satisfaction as her fingers began to massage the inside of their skulls, as if she was a hairdresser massaging a client’s scalp. Black magics began to dance around her fingers and hands, passing into the two heads as she did so. After a few long moments of massaging, and a lot of fluid on her fingers, she pulled out her fingers, leaving the two to go limp. “Do not fail me again. Any of you. I will not tolerate failure,” Khaos stated plainly. Those hooded figures that were not throwing up nodded in affirmation , Shane being one of their number. “Good,” Khaos smiled, “Send word to our field agents; they have five days to discover the location of the treasure or I will not hesitate to raze this country to the ground.” Three of the hooded figures nodded and ran off, while the others stood still and watched Khaos with intent. “Shane, prepare the others for their upcoming duels. Now,” Khaos demanded. Shane smiled aggressively, before turning on his heels and leaving the throne room, taking the rest of the servants with him. Khaos waited for the familiar click of the door settling on its hinges, before sighing in relief and returning to her chair, wiping her hands clean from a cloth she conjured from thin air. “I will have that orb as my own,” Khaos cackled menacingly...