Let's Duel!

by Snake Staff

Duels of Darkness (IV)

Twilight did her best to maintain her dignity while on her way to the arena. Her efforts, stymied as they were by the four cloaked figures alternatively dragging and pushing her, were only partially successful. She stumbled over the edge of her skirt and hit the ground roughly, to general laughter. Face flush, Twilight hurried the rest of the way, brushing dirt from her dress even while she stepped onto her side of the dueling arena.

Alright, she thought. This isn’t so bad. Sure they may be… crazy… and violent… and backed up by extremely potent magic… but they aren’t unbeatable. They’ve lost every duel so far. This woman can’t be that much tougher than the rest of them, right?

Both platforms reached their apex of height on either side of the dueling arena. In between them the holographic terrain flared into life, this time choosing a graveyard setting. Around the arena the lights dimmed, then died away, leaving only pale moonlight holograms to see by. As if seeking to blend in, the arena’s field even added a layer of mist to the terrain.

On the opposite side, only dimly visibly through the darkness and fog, was the cloaked leader of the lunatic demon cultists and presumable source of all of this. Though she squinted, Twilight could make out little of her features. Her hooded cloak covered half her face easily, and conservative black clothing did the rest.

“Draw your cards,” the woman said, following her own advice.

“Fine,” Twilight picked up five cards.

“I shall begin,” she continued, drawing once more. “Did you know, Ms. Sparkle, about the legends of this place?”

“What legends?”

“They say that this town is haunted, little girl.” Twilight couldn’t see, but she could have sworn that she heard a grin. “By the ghost of a knight who lost his head in battle. Now, when the clock strikes midnight he bursts from his grave to wander in search of his missing head.”

“You’re just making that up!” Twilight waved a hand. “You’re only trying to psyche me out!”

“Am I?” she answered softly.

“Of course you – huh?”

Twilight froze as she noticed a slight rumbling sound from down below. Her eyes wandered downwards, peering over the edge of her platform towards the mist-shrouded cemetery below. The rumbling grew louder and louder, and she felt the machinery at her feet start to shake. But she still couldn’t make out the source–

*BOOM*

One of the graves below exploded upwards, showering the field with dirt and rubble. Twilight jumped with a faint shriek. A hideous, wailing suit of armor leapt out, rusted sword drawn and leveled up at Twilight.

“Meet the Headless Knight!” the woman crowed. “And to keep him company I think I shall place one card face-down. That’s all.”

It’s only a monster card, Twilight gripped her shoulders against the sudden chill overtaking her. It’s only a monster card…

“Well, has my knight terrified you into surrender yet or do you need more punishment?”

“Surrender? Because of some flimsy bucket of rust? No way!” Twilight drew a card, looked at it, and then smiled. It was the very same card she’d drawn against Pinkie but refused to play.

Let’s see… she peered at her hand. Looks like I’ve got everything I need right here.

“Alright, let’s show that monster something really scary! I play the Field Spell Magical Citadel of Endymion!”

The ground behind Twilight rumbled before itself bursting up. A mighty white fortress coated in mystic runes, bedecked in jewels, and overflowing with blue magical energies rose high above both combatants and the arena itself. A great tower rose from the center of that, shining brightly in the darkness as if a lighthouse.

“This card is one of the most powerful in my entire deck, and soon you’ll see why.” Twilight allowed herself a smile. The knight didn’t seem so intimidating when it was so puny in comparison. “But first I’m going to summon my Maiden of Macabre!”

The mist near the knight coalesced as a ghostly woman in a kimono materialized atop a gravestone. She gripped her scythe and gave an outsized grin with unhealthily pointed teeth.

“She’s more than powerful enough to shred your knight, but… I’ve got bigger plans! So instead I play Magical Dimension!”

A golden sarcophagus appeared behind Twilight’s monster, and she floated back inside of it. The lid slammed shut over her, and the sarcophagus disappeared into the mist.

“This card lets me sacrifice one Spellcaster monster to summon any other Spellcaster monster from my hand! And I choose the incomparable Ice Queen!”

The sarcophagus reappeared across from Headless Knight and opened once more. This time a different woman stepped forth. This one was fair-skinned and wore a white dress. Her hair consisted of light-bluish green crystals, and she carried a staff of the same material.

“And that’s not all! My Magical Dimension now allows me to destroy one monster on the field! And I choose your Headless Knight!”

The headless armor let out a ghostly wail as it crumbled to pieces, parts rusting into dust before they even hit the ground.

“So, I guess he just lost a lot more than his head. And now, you will too!” Twilight leveled her finger. “Ice Queen attack her life points directly!”

The monster spun her staff nimbly in one hand, a bright white light building on the end of it.

“I summon Juragedo in defense mode.”

“What?!”

A floating purple demon creature appeared out of the fog, clawed arms crossed over its chest. Ice Queen’s charge continued to build for a moment longer, and then she fired a beam of freezing magic. Juragedo took the blast head on, its body deep freezing in an instant before shattering into a million tiny ice crystals.

“You see,” the woman explained. “I can automatically Special Summon Juragedo from my hand in either player’s Battle Step. And not only does he protect my life points but his special ability grants me an extra 1000 points for summoning him in that manner.”

“Fine!” Twilight retorted. “My cards have special abilities as well! Since I played Magical Dimension, my Magical Citadel gains on Spell Counter!”

One small orb of blue magic began to rotate around the citadel’s center tower.

“That will happen every time a Spell Card is resolved! And that’s only the first of my citadel’s powers! Next I’ll place one card face-down and that’ll do it!”

“Very well.” The woman drew. “My turn. I think I’ll start by playing a Trap Card.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “A trap?!”

“Indeed. I reveal my Sinister Yorishiro.” She flipped her face-down card up. “This allows me to Normal Summon my most powerful Fiends once per turn without sacrificing any weaker monsters. And I think I shall start with my Ambitious Gofer.”

What looked to be a hideously ugly head mostly made out of brain rose slowly from the earth, easily larger than Ice Queen. It stared down at her balefully.

“Next I shall activate Gofer’s effect. Once per turn I can target up to two monsters that you control and destroy them!”

“No!” Twilight cried.

“Of course, you do have that option to reveal one monster card in your hand to negate this effect. If, that is, you can.”

Twilight looked down at the only card left in her hand, grimacing. Slowly, reluctantly, she turned it around, revealing her Royal Magical Library.

“Ah, very well then. Since my monster’s 2400 attack points are clearly no match for your beast’s 2900, I will lay one card face-down and end my turn.”

That has to be a trap, Twilight thought as she drew. There’s no way she would be so amateurish as to leave her monster and life points open like that… Or it could just be a bluff. She looked at her hand. I don’t have too many options. If I just leave her monster on the field she’ll use her Sinister Yorishiro to build up an army of them, or make it strong enough to destroy Ice Queen. I’ll have to take a chance.

“Alright, I’ll start by summoning Royal Magical Library in defense mode!”

A half-dozen bookshelves littered with mystic tomes and magical green spheres appeared amidst the tombstones.

“Now, Ice Queen, attack her Ambitious Gofer!”

Once again, Ice Queen spun her staff and began building up a charge of magic on it. Twilight braced herself for something to happen, eyes intently on her opponent’s face-down card. Unconsciously, she gripped the rails on the side of the platform. And then Ice Queen unleashed a lance of magic that went right through the loathsome head, destroying it on the spot.

Twilight breathed a faint sigh of relief.

“Well?” Twilight could hear a foot tapping impatiently. “Is that all?”

“For now, I suppose so,” Twilight replied.

“Excellent, then it’s my move. I’ll start by revealing my face-down, Fiend’s Sanctuary! This allows me to summon one Metal Fiend Token to my side of the field!”

A runic circle appeared amidst the graves. From it, a small creature looking like nothing so much as a doll made from grey metallic beads rose up.

I know that I take any battle damage from an attack on that thing. But it’ll cost her 1000 points per Standby Phase to keep it in play. So I just need to wait it out.

“Don’t forget that because you played a Spell Card, my Magical Citadel and Royal Magical Library gain a counter!”

The woman ignored her. “Next I shall activate Sinister Yorishiro’s effect to summon Dark Ruler Ha Des in attack mode!”

A portion of the graveyard’s mists rose up and began to coalesce. A great robed figure took shape – a wicked, green-skinned demon king clutching a glass in one hand. He locked eyes with Twilight and leered.

“I’m not ready to attack yet, so I shall place one more card face-down and end my turn.”

She could have destroyed my Royal Magical Library. What’s she thinking?

“I’ll draw one card…” Twilight looked at it, then smiled. “Exactly what I needed! I place one more card face-down and then activate Card of Sanctity! This forces both of us to draw until we each have six cards in our hands, which gives me an entirely new hand! And, of course, a third counter for my citadel, plus a second for my library!”

As both players filled up their hands, the tower behind Twilight now featured three orbs of blue energy orbiting it.

“Not bad…” Twilight looked down at her cards. “Not bad at all. I activate Spell Absorption! Now every time a Spell Card is played not only do I gain a Spell Counter, but I’ll also receive 500 life points! And speaking of counters, my citadel now gets a fourth, while my library gains a third!”

“You’ll find that will matter a lot less than you think,” her opponent answered. “The Queen is with me. You will fall, as will your precious princess.”

Twilight snorted indignantly. “I doubt that very much. You lunatics won’t beat her, just like you won’t beat me! I summon my Alchemist of Black Spells in attack mode!”

A blue-skinned, black-armored man appeared, perched narrowly atop a tombstone. He folded his arms across his chest, seemingly indifferent to the demon across the field from him.

“Next I’ll use his special ability! By switching him into defense mode, I can automatically add one Spell Counter to any card I can put one on! Like my Magical Citadel of Endymion!”

A fifth glowing orb joined the orbit around Twilight’s massive tower. The blue-skinned man hopped off his gravestone and sunk to one knee, head low and arms crossed protectively in front of himself.

“Next comes Spell Power Grasp! This lets me place yet another counter on my citadel and add a second copy of Spell Power Grasp from my deck to my hand! And don’t forget that it’s also a Spell Card, so that puts my mighty citadel’s total at no less than seven! Plus, Spell Absorption gives me 500 life points!”

“So? Is there a point to that?”

“Oh, you’ll see soon enough. But for now, Ice Queen, attack! Destroy her Dark Ruler!”

Twilight’s monster chose to twirl its staff a third time. The now-familiar charge of white magic began to build on the end of it.

“Foolish girl! You’ve just triggered my Trap Card, Dark Spirit of the Silent!”

A skull-faced spirit flew out from one of the graves littering the field. It crossed the field and swirled around Ice Queen, who froze on the spot. Slowly but surely Twilight’s monster lowered her staff, the magic around it dissipating into nothing.

“Not only does Dark Spirit of the Silent negate your monster’s attack, but it also allows me to choose one of your other monsters and force it to attack, even if it’s currently in defense mode!”

Twilight flinched, taking a step back.

“Now, which victim to choose…” the woman chuckled. “Royal Magical Library! Switch to attack mode and attack Dark Ruler Has Des!”

“No!” Twilight reached out a hand, but there was nothing she could do.

The swirling spirit left Ice Queen behind and soared over to the towering bookshelves. It disappeared inside them in an instant. A second later the bookshelves’ green orbs shone brighter than ever, and then were fired in rapid succession across the field.

“Dark Ruler counterattack!”

The fiend king’s grin widened. He stretched out one hand and unleashed a wave of dark magic that shattered the incoming green spheres with ease. It continued on back across the field, washing over the numerous shelves. With the creaking groan of old wood, Royal Magical Library crumbled to pieces.

“Even though my Library may be gone, its three Spell Counters aren’t! My Magical Citadel’s effect allows it to absorb the counters from any card that’s destroyed with Spell Counters on it! That gives it no less than ten counters!”

The tower now looked as though it had its own small solar system in wild orbit around itself.

“I don’t care. Are you done or not?”

Twilight looked down at her cards. “I’m done.”

“Excellent, then it’s my move,” the cultist declared as she drew. “I’ve been leading you by the nose throughout this entire duel, little girl! And you’ve fallen for it every step of the way! I expected better from the pupil of Celestia!”

“All I hear is a lot of talk!”

“Then here’s some action! I pay 1000 life points to keep my Metal Fiend Token on the field!”

What’s the point of that? Twilight wondered. She has to know that I’m not going to attack it.

“Next I will sacrifice my Metal Fiend Token!”

“What?! Why?”

“Patience, Ms. Twilight,” the woman wagged a finger. “For you’re about to find out! As I was saying, I sacrifice Metal Fiend Token to play my Puppet Master!”

The small metal creature vanished into a portal of darkness. In its place arose a horrid, pallid demon creature in a blue and yellow jester’s outfit. Rings attached to glowing red strings were affixed to each one of its fingers, while its eyes gave off an identical crimson glow.

“Whenever my Puppet Master is Tribute Summoned, I can pay 2000 of my life points to bring two Fiend monsters back from my Graveyard!”

The fiendish jester screeched horribly as it rose high into the air. The strings on its fingers lashed out, growing ten times their initial length and burying themselves amidst the tombstones below. A moment later the earth exploded as Headless Knight and Ambitious Gofer tore their way out of the Graveyard.

“You forgot to mention that those monsters can’t attack this turn!” Twilight retorted. “And besides, none of them are strong enough to defeat my mighty Ice Queen! You spent your life points for nothing!”

“Heh heh heh heh…” her opponent chuckled. “Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Aha hah hah hah hah hah hah! You puny little runt! I told you I’d been leading you since the beginning of this duel! Is Celestia really that bad a teacher?”

Twilight clenched her fist. “How dare you insult her good name?! After everything else you horrible freaks have already done?!”

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the princess papered pupil would be too thick to see this coming.” She picked one card from her hand. “I sacrifice all four of my monsters to Special Summon the all-powerful monster of your ultimate defeat, Legendary Maju Garzett!”

The Dark Ruler, Puppet Master, Headless Knight, and Ambitious Gofer were all consumed in an instant by a pillar of pure blackness. The dark energy rose higher and higher into the air, twisting and shaping itself into something vaguely humanoid. Seconds passed as it took on a solid form that easily towered over the entire battlefield and even came close to the Magical Citadel’s height. A purple and pink fiend, rippling with muscle and sporting two white-feathered wings, glared down at Twilight’s monsters with soulless yellow eyes.

“Let me explain,” the cultist gloated. “Legendary Maju Garzett can only be summoned by sacrificing every monster I have on the field. In return, he gains the combined attack of all of my monsters put together!”

“That g-gives him 6300 attack points!” Twilight stumbled backwards, barely catching herself before falling from the edge of the platform.

“More than enough to destroy your puny monsters and your life points!” the woman finished for her. “The Queen is eager, so let’s not waste any time! Garzett attack her Ice Queen! End this duel!”

The towering monster cupped its clawed hands. An orb of red and yellow energy took shape in its palms, glowing like a small sun in the deep darkness. The ball started the size of a human head and only grew larger from there, Garzett spreading its hands wider as even they failed to contain the power. At last it lifted the energy sphere above its head and, with one mighty roar, hurled the building-sized attack downwards, directly onto Ice Queen.

The explosion that followed was immense, creating a blinding white flash that temporarily blinded anyone unable to shield their eyes in time. Smoke rolled from the arena all directions, enveloping the entire crowd and causing those not paralyzed by magic to double over, coughing wildly.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” the cultist woman roared with laughter. “Aha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha HA HA HA HA HA HA! I win! It’s over!”

“Oh?’ came the sound of a soft voice. “Is it?”

“Huh?”

The smoke slowly began to fade away, revealing Twilight Sparkle standing atop her platform with a card in her hand and a smile on her face.

“I saw it coming.”

“What?! Impossible!”

“Very possible. You seem to have forgotten about the face-down card I laid on my very first turn, and now it’s going to cost you! Because you’ve just trigged my Trap Card, Mirror Force!”

The smoke swept away from the arena’s floor, revealing Ice Queen standing completely unharmed – and surrounded by a shimmering barrier. The energy attack strained against it.

“Not only does my card negate your attack, it also destroys every attack position monster on your field!”

“NO!”

The yellow-red energy reflected off the shimmering barrier, traveling back the way it came as a mighty lance. It pierced directly through the towering fiend’s heart. Garzett managed one last pained roar before exploding into little more than a shower of ash.

“My fiend! No!” the cultist cried. “How could you destroy such a powerful creature with the Queen on my side?! How?!”

“It’s easy,” Twilight couldn’t resist the urge to grin. “When you’re not a raving lunatic worshiping a voice in your head.”

“Grrr…” the woman clenched both fists, pounding on her platform. “You’ll pay for that, you little runt! This duel isn’t over! Not by a mile!”

“Sure seems to me it is,” Twilight crossed her arms confidently.

“See what you think of this! I activate the Spell Card Nightmare’s Steelcage!”

Twilight and her monsters were suddenly enveloped by a wide cage of blackened steel. Gold spikes littered its exterior. Ice Queen strained against its bars, but couldn’t make them budge.

“This card prevents any of our monsters from attacking until two of your turns have passed!”

“And it gives my citadel an eleventh counter and me 500 life points!” Twilight added.

“I’m well aware,” the cultist growled. “I’ll place one card face-down and end my turn.”

“Then I’m up to bat.” Twilight drew. “First comes my Spell Power Grasp! You remember that, don’t you? My citadel gets two counters and I gain 500 more life points!”

“Next I think I’ll summon Apprentice Magician in defense mode!”

A blonde-haired young man in purple armor appeared on one knee, clutching a green staff.

“His special ability gives me yet another Spell Counter, raising the total on my Magical Citadel to fourteen!”

“Do you ever plan to actually do anything with all those counters?”

“Patience. You’ll see when I’m ready. In the meantime I switch my Alchemist to attack mode, then use his special ability to switch him back to defense for still another counter! That’s fifteen!”

“Hmph. Are you done?”

“Actually, I am.” Twilight folded her arms. “Take your best shot.”

“You’ll regret those words,” the woman declared as she drew. “For I shall continue my onslaught by sacrificing three monsters from my Graveyard to bring forth one more beast! Now allow me to introduce you to Dark Necrofear!” She slammed the card hard onto her platform. “A great beast of ultimate darkness that will show you no mercy! Now go Dark Necrofear!”

A pure white spirit trailing energy flew from the card, touching down in the center of the field. It spread out, transforming itself into a gruesome blue-skinned bald woman surrounded by a dark aura. In her arms, she clutched a broken doll that looked disturbingly like a baby.

“Next I will summon my Phantom Skyblaster in defense mode!”

A small, bat-winged fiend with two small cannons atop its back took up position next to Dark Necrofear.

“And whenever it’s summoned, I get Skyblaster Tokens equal to the number of monsters I control. I’ll put them in defense mode!”

Two identical fiends appeared beside her other two monsters.

“And then I’ll end my turn.”

“Then I’ll go.” Twilight smiled and drew.

I’ve got her on the ropes! Just a little more and I’ll have won.

“You know what’s first, my Spell Power Grasp to raise my Spell Counter total to an incredible seventeen and give me even more life points!”

“Unfortunately per the rules I only have three copies in my deck, so no more of those for me! Then I’ll switch my Alchemist to attack mode and back to defense to make that number eighteen!”

“Grrr…” the cultist woman growled.

“I think I’ll sacrifice my Apprentice Magician to summon my Dark Red Enchanter!”

A red-robed woman appeared, clutching her quarter-moon staff. Her blonde hair flowed gently in the soft night breeze.

“Now check out her special ability! Once per turn I can sacrifice two Spell Counters from her to force you to discard one random card from your hand! She comes with two naturally, but I’ve got a better idea! You see, once per turn I can use the counters on my Magical Citadel to activate one card’s effects! So its counters go down to sixteen, but you lose one random card from your hand!”

Dark Red Enchanter spun her staff and unleashed a spike of ruby-red energy. It slipped between the cage’s bars and flew across the field to strike the cultist’s hand. One of her cards crackled with red electricity, and she grudgingly discarded it.

“I think that’ll do for now.” Twilight smiled again. “And since two of my turns have now passed, your cage is no more!”

Around Twilight and her monsters, the blackened steel rusted at a supernatural pace. Within seconds it crumbled into so much dust.

“Which mean we’re both free to attack!” Twilight finished with a satisfied nod.

“We’ll see about that, little girl.” The woman drew with gritted teeth. “My Skyblaster’s effect activates during my Standby Phase! For each Skyblaster monster on my field I can dish out 300 points of direct damage to you! And by my count that’s three!”

Each of the three tiny fiends aimed their back cannons at Twilight and blasted her with shots of dark energy.

“Next, I activate my own Card of Sanctity!”

“So I get more cards, another Spell Counter, and 500 more life points?” Twilight grinned mockingly. “You’re too kind.”

“You won’t get with mocking me or the Queen,” she answered. “I activate my Sinister Yorishiro’s effect to summon my Gaap the Divine Soldier!”

A pale, bug-like fiend with a second enormous pair of clawed arms jutting from its back appeared on the field, perched nimbly atop a gravestone.

“First, he forces all monsters on the field into attack mode and prevents any of them from changing position!”

Twilight’s Alchemist got to his feet, as did all of the cultist’s Skyblaster monsters.

“I’ll activate his special ability, which allows me to reveal any number of Fiend monsters in my hand to boost his attack points by 300 for each one until the end of my turn!”

The woman picked three cards from her hand and placed them on the platform where they could clearly be seen. Twilight made out Gil Garth, Newdoria, and Dark Jeroid.

“This puts my mighty beast’s attack points at 3100! Now attack her Ice Queen!”

The beast leaped across the field, claws bared. Its mighty second arms slashed Ice Queen through her midsection, cutting the monster in half. Mercifully, both halves exploded a second later.

“Dark Necrofear, it’s your turn! Attack her Alchemist of Black Spells!”

The ghastly monster’s black eyes opened unnaturally wide and it fired a powerful red beam from them. The attack burned straight through the Alchemist, who disintegrated rapidly.

“Finally I shall activate Dark Door! This Spell Card allows us each to only attack with one monster per turn!”

“And grants me a Spell Counter plus life points.”

“Indeed. Your go.”

“Alright,” Twilight drew.

I’ve got almost all the cards I need to win in spite of that Dark Door. I only need to draw one more to clinch this!

“Alright, try this on for size! I summon Defender, the Magical Knight in attack mode!”

The trusty blue-armored knight appeared, sword in hand and shield by his side.

With him on the field and Dark Door in effect my Spellcasters are all but invincible!

“You’ve made a critical mistake,” Twilight explained. “Gaap affects your monsters as much as mine. And your Phantom Skyblaster has a measly 1100 attack points against Dark Red Enchanter’s 2300! So I’ll play my face-down Spell Card, Malevolent Nuzzler, to boost my enchanter’s attack strength by 700 and give my Magical Citadel eighteen Spell Counters! Now, Dark Red Enchanter, attack her monster and end this duel!”

The woman leveled her staff, power building on the end.

“Did I?” the cultist sounded confident. “Fool! I activate my Trap Card, Fiendish Chain!”

Black iron chains burst from the soil at the enchanter’s feet, wrapping tightly around her. Very quickly all her limbs were immobilized, and her magic faded away.

“This not only stops your monster from attacking, but negates all of her effects!” she gloated. “Better luck next time!”

“Fine then! That’s all for now!”

Just wait until I get the card I need. Then you’ll be sorry.

“My move!” she drew. “Phantom Skyblaster, deplete her life points now!”

All three fiends aimed and fired again.

“I can’t reveal cards I’ve already revealed… and I don’t feel like showing you any more of my cards, so… Dark Necrofear, attack her Defender now!”

Dark Necrofear’s eyes widened again, and it launched another red beam across the field, hitting the knight in the chest.

“I use Defender’s special ability to sacrifice one Spell Counter on my Magical Citadel and save him from destruction!”

The knight raised his shield and weathered the assault with stoic fortitude.

“Is that all you’ve got?!” Twilight called out. “I barely felt it!”

“That will be all for the moment, yes.”

“Goody, then it’s my draw.” Twilight picked her card. Her eyes widened, and then she smiled. “Well, I think it’s about time to end this duel! I activate the card I just drew, Mega Ton Magical Cannon! For the bargain price of ten Spell Counters from my side of the field, I can destroy… every card you have on the field!”

“WHAT?!”

“You heard me!” Twilight grinned as a massive piece of arcane artillery appeared on her side of the field. “Go my cannon! Destroy all of her cards now!”

The mystical cannon leveled its gun barrel across the field, a powerful white energy building in its depths. The cult woman shrank back as the charge built, shielding her face with her hands. And then, without warning, it fired.

The white magical blast enveloped the field like the sun itself, temporarily blinding anyone not shielding their eyes. Nothing could be seen, but the wails of demons and the sounds of explosions could be heard as the entire field was wiped clean Twilight’s enemies. The light had barely begun to dim when Twilight made her next move.

“My cannon gives me 500 life points, thanks to Spell Absorption!”

“I’ll sacrifice six more Spell Counters from the Magical Citadel to summon my favorite card, the master of the citadel and wizard supreme! My incomparable, all-powerful monster, Endymion, the Master Magician!”

Six of the blue sphere orbiting the mighty white tower broke off and flew over Twilight’s head. They swarmed over the field before settling in one place, forming a tornado of sapphire-blue energies. Then, all of a sudden, the merged and solidified. From them stepped a tall, well-built man in black and green armor. A purple cape billowed out from behind his shoulders, and in his hand he clutched a mighty crescent moon staff.

“His special ability lets me take the Magical Dimension from my Graveyard and add it to my hand!”

Twilight rooted through the Graveyard and seized her prize.

“Endymion!” Twilight called. “The honor is yours! Finish her off with a direct attack right now!”

The sorcerer twirled his staff once, then leveled it at the enemy. A purple-black charge built up in the jewel at the end of it.

“I summon a second copy of Juragedo, in defense mode!”

The purple fiend appeared again, arms crossed.

“What good will that do? I have three monsters on the field! Endymion, destroy Juragedo!”

The magician’s staff again began to light up.

“Now that you’ve declared an attack, I sacrifice Juragedo on the field and Gil Garth from my hand to summon my Darkness Neosphere!”

Twilight gasped as the massive winged fiend appeared on the field, taking one step back. But the gears of her mind were already motion, on more levels than one.

“Do you like her?” the woman sounded smug. “She’s the most powerful monster in my deck and completely unstoppable! The Queen herself gave this card to me! You’re done!”

“Oh?” Twilight said softly. “Am I… Diana?”

The woman across the field, winced visibly even through the mist.

“I’m not some helpless little girl that you can beat up on. I don’t know why you’re doing this or what you hope to gain, but I promise you that you won’t win! I activate Endymion’s other special ability! By discarding one Spell Card from my hand, I can destroy one card on the field! So goodbye to Arcane Barrier from my hand and Darkness Neosphere on the field!”

“NO!” she shrieked.

Endymion got another chance to twirl his staff. This time he unleashed a dark-purple blast of energy that impaled Darkness Neosphere right through the chest. The great beast cried out, and then exploded.

“Since I’ve already conducted my Battle Phase for this turn I can’t attack, but I can still sacrifice two Spell Counters to activate Dark Red Enchanter’s special ability!”

Dark Red Enchanter twirled her staff and blasted one card in Diana’s hand. She reluctantly discarded Newdoria.

“To close the deal I play my Magical Dimension to sacrifice Defender for Dark Magician!”

The blue-armored knight disappeared into a golden sarcophagus, which opened a few seconds later to disgorge the legendary monster. The purple-clothed magician joined Twilight’s already impressive lineup.

“Stare into the face of defeat!” Twilight called out. “I have three monsters with 2500 attack points or more, and you have nothing! There’s not a card in your deck that can save you from this assault!”

“Grrr…” Diana clenched her fists. “I still have some tricks up my sleeve! You destroyed Dark Necrofear this turn, so she can activate her special ability! Her spirit possesses one of your monsters, making it mine! And I choose your Dark Red Enchanter!”

A wispy white orb rose from the graves, trailing mist. It flew across the field and entered Dark Red Enchanter’s back. She twitched, and then stood ramrod straight before floating over to Diana’s side and turning to face her former mistress.

“That won’t save you,” Twilight crossed her arms.

For a good few seconds, her opponent said nothing. Silence reigned over the desolate graveyard, as Twilight’s monsters seemed to chaff at the bit, eager to destroy the enemy.

Even if she does destroy Endymion, Twilight thought. I have Monster Reborn in my hand to bring him back, and Emergency Provisions to discard to destroy her monster. Then I can wipe out her life points in one final attack.

“My Queen,” the sound of Diana’s soft voice cut off Twilight’s thoughts. “There’s only one card in my deck that can save me now. I need to draw it, now. I need…” her words sounded forced. “Your help.”

Twilight couldn’t be sure at her distance in the dark, but she could have sworn that she saw faint shadow pass over Diana’s deck. Then she blinked, and it was gone.

“I draw,” Diana picked up her card. Then she fell silent, staring almost blankly at it. And then… she grinned. “Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! I WIN!”

“Have you lost it?” Twilight demanded. “You’re all out of tricks and cards!”

“Not quite, little Twilight,” Diana answered with a vicious grin. “For now I summon Jowgen the Spiritualist!”

A yellow man in monk’s robes appeared, carrying a simple wooden staff.

“What good will that do?”

“I can sacrifice one card from my hand to destroy every monster on the field that was Special Summoned.”

Twilight’s eyes widened with realization.

“So I discard my Dark Jeroid from my hand to activate Jowgen!”

The monster spun his staff nimbly, launching twin silver beams that hit Endymion and Dark Magician. Both monsters were obliterated in the blink of an eye.

“As you may recall, the only monster on your field that you Normal Summoned was… your Dark Red Enchanter.”

“No…” Twilight breathed.

“YES!” Diana’s hood had fallen back, and she looked practically ecstatic. “Dark Red Enchanter, attack Twilight’s life points directly! End this duel now!”

To Twilight, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Dark Red Enchanter twirled her staff in her hands once, twice, three times. She pointed it across the field. The ruby-red energy gather she’d seen so many times before gathered at its tip. Then it flashed. There was pain – lots of pain – and she was on the ground, smoking.

Vaguely, through the disorienting haze of pain and fuzzy feelings in her head, Twilight heard noise. Some sounded celebratory, others distressed. She couldn’t make out the words. Suddenly there were people around her, vague shadows her eyes couldn’t quite focus on.

And then she heard it. A voice in her head.

All hail the coming of the Queen of Nightmares, it said. All hail to Nightmare Moon.