Duelists of the Friendship Cup

by DrakeyC

King of Destruction – Sunset and Twilight vs Sombra (Part 1)

Duelists of the Friendship Cup

King of Destruction – Sunset and Twilight vs Sombra (Part 1)

-Sunset Life Points: 8000-

-Twilight Life Points: 8000-

-Sombra Life Points: 8000-

Sombra looked between the two and slowly smiled. “I will allow you two to take the first turns. Use them to prepare yourselves.”

“If that’s how you want it.” Sunset looked to the side. “Twilight, go for it.”

Twilight swallowed heavily. “Right.” She reached to her duel disk and drew her opening hand, spreading them out in her fingers.

Sunset looked at her evenly. She’s breathing heavily and she’s not holding her duel disk up fully. She’s not ready for this. She shook her head and winced. Who am I to talk, we’re both still recovering from that Shadow Game. She looked at Sombra, who was watching Twilight. Doesn’t matter, we’re stuck here now, we have to do what we can. We both saw Sombra’s D/D deck before, we know what it can do. We have to be careful.

“I summon ‘Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn’, in attack mode.” Twilight set her card on her duel disk and a man in armored purple and silver trousers and a purple scarf appeared in front of her, brandishing an ornate golden dagger (1700/1000).

“I activate Raiden’s ability. Once per turn I can send two cards from the top of my deck to the Graveyard, and if either of them is a Lightsworn monster, Raiden gains two hundred attack points until the end of my opponent’s turn.” Twilight’s duel disk beeped as two cards retracted from her deck, and she looked at her screen. “My sent cards were ‘Jain, Lightsworn Paladin’ and ‘Ryko, Lightsworn Beast’, so Raiden gets a power boost.” Raiden (1700 → 1900) briefly lit up in yellow light before her.

Sunset pursed her lip. Looks like her deck is back to normal. Does that mean she can’t use her powers anymore, or did they just run out for the moment?

“I set a card and end my turn, and during my end phase, Raiden sends two more cards from my deck to the Graveyard.” Twilight let out a breath and lowered her arm.

-Twilight’s deck: 31 cards-

“My move.” Sunset took two cards from her hand and held them out. “Using the Scale 3 ‘Harmony Guardian Gracia’ and Scale 5 ‘Harmony Guardian Honestas’, I set the Pendulum Scales!” She swung her arm and placed the cards on her duel disk. Pillars of yellow and orange light rose from the ground on either side of her, the yellow and green-armored Gracia and the orange-armored Honestas floating overhead within the light.

“Then, I summon ‘Harmony Guardian Magnanimity’.” A woman in pale blue armor shaped like crystal shards materialized in front of Sunset, a rapier strapped around her waist. (1200/800). “And then, using my Pendulum Scales, I Pendulum Summon! From my hand, I call ‘Harmony Guardian Pietas’.” A portal opened between Sunset’s two monsters and a streak of blue light shot to the field next to Magnanimity. The light faded to reveal a warrior wearing swirling curved armor in pale blue and holding a spear with a jagged tip (1600/800).

“Since I Special Summoned a Harmony Guardian, the effect of Magnanimity activates, letting me draw a card.” Sunset took another card and set it in the tray. “I set a card face-down and end my turn.”

“Very well.” Sombra smiled as his disk ejected his top card for his draw and he reached down to pick it up.

Sunset turned her head to check on her teammate. Twilight’s hand at her side was shaking, her eyes glued to Sombra. “Twilight.” The other girl looked over at her, and Sunset gave a firm nod. “We can do this.” Twilight inhaled and nodded back.

“Can you?” Sombra said softly, looking over the cards in his hand. “Your confidence is highly misplaced.” He raised his eyes and closed his fingers on two cards. “I shall begin with this!” He lifted his cards and flipped them over. “Using the Scale 1 ‘D/D Savant Copernicus’ and Scale 8 ‘D/D Savant Nikola’, I set the Pendulum Scales!”

Sunset’s eyes widened. What!?

Beams of blue and red light shot into the air beside Sombra. From the blue rose a massive golden gyroscope, its rings rotating around a central core of bright orange energy. A pair of blue eyes lit up on the outermost ring as the construct slowed and stopped. From the red energy beam came a demonic head emerging from a black cloak encircled by a golden ring. The cloak parted to reveal a red energy core.

Twilight snapped her head to stare at Sunset. “How does he have Pendulum monsters?”

Sunset slowly shook her head as she stared up at the two monsters floating over the field. “I have no idea…”

Sombra chuckled. “Surely you did not think they would be yours alone forever? True, your power to create new types of cards is unique. But the power to create new cards itself, that is well within my capabilities.” He spread his arms, gesturing his hands to the two monsters. “I would have preferred to acquire their secrets directly from you. But for now, I have learned enough of your Pendulum cards to manifest my own. Would you like to see what they are capable of?” He reached back to his hand.

“Allow me to show you. I Pendulum Summon!” Blue and red energy crackled around Copernicus and Nikola, and then shot between them. The energy waves coiled and swirled together above Sombra, forming a circular portal. “From my hand, descend, ‘D/D Orthros’ and ‘D/D Berfomet’!”

Streaks of blue and orange light shot out of the portal and landed in front of Sombra. From the blue light rose a humanoid canine with two furry grey wolf heads, blue banded armor wrapped around its body and a snake in identical armor curled around its torso (600/1800). The orange light receded to reveal a figure with a pair of white wings and a black wing emerging from its left arm, its right arm splitting into two sharp claws (1400/1800).

“I activate D/D Berfomet’s effect to change the level of a monster I control. I change my Orthros to Level 3.” Orthros briefly lit up in dark orange light. “With that done, I tune my Level 3 Orthros and my Level 4 Berfomet!”

Berfomet glowed green and split into four green rings. The rings floated around Orthros and began to spin, electricity crackling between the rings. Sombra spread his arms in the air. “Demon of feathers and demon of canines, align your power and invoke the form of a storming demon king!” Sombra’s eyes flashed as he grabbed his card from his duel disk. “Synchro Summon! Arise, Level 7, ‘D/D/D Gust King Alexander’!”

The ground in front of Sombra burst apart in a funnel of wind. The winds receded to reveal a towering knight in pale grey armor with a long sword and a flowing green cape. Circular crests on its armor lit up blue as it bellowed and thrust its sword into the air (2500/2000).

Sombra smiled and reached to his hand as Alexander descended to the ground. “I now summon ‘D/D Lilith’.” A thick tendril of plant petals curled out of the ground next to Alexander, and a bloom on the end opened to reveal a feminine figure with glowing yellow eyes (100/2100). “Summoning Lilith activates its effect, allowing me to return my D/D Orthros to my hand. Further, summoning a D/D monster activates Alexander’s effect, letting me revive my D/D Berfomet.”

Alexander swung its sword to the side and fired a ray of green light from the tip. The light expanded into the form of Berfomet and then faded, revealing the monster kneeling beside it.

“I now overlay my D/D Lilith and my D/D Berfomet! Using my two Level 4 monsters, I construct the overlay network!”

Lilith and Berfomet turned into nebulous black masses and slid together, the writhing form flashing and undulating. Sombra held a hand out towards them. “Demon of petals and demon of feathers, unite your powers and invoke the form of a crashing demon king!” He clenched his fist and brought it back. “Xyz Summon! Come forth, Rank 4, ‘D/D/D Wave King Caesar!”

A torrent of water sprayed out of the black mass. It tore apart as Sombra’s monster climbed out, a knight in dark purple and silver armor with a massive broadsword in its two hands and two orbs of blue light orbiting it. It swung the sword out with a loud growl and stepped in line with Alexander (2400/1200).

Sombra smiled. “Alas that I do not have the ability to Fusion Summon at the moment, or else I would demonstrate for you the full power of my demon kings. But, no matter – the two I have now will suffice well enough!” Sombra pointed across the field. “D/D/D Wave King Caesar, attack Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn!” Caesar hefted its sword back and charged, the ground shaking with its footsteps.

“I activate my Trap card!” Twilight called, reaching to her duel disk. “It’s a Continuous Trap, ‘Lightsworn Barrier’. By sending two cards from the top of my deck to the Graveyard, I can negate your attack on a Lightsworn monster!”

Twilight’s card projected a shield of glowing white light around Raiden, and it held its dagger up. Caesar’s attack struck the barrier and Raiden swung its weapon to knock it back, the monster landing in front of Sombra.

“Very well.” Sombra gave a short nod and then turned his eyes from Twilight. “Let us see if your ally has comparable defenses. D/D/D Gust King Alexander, attack Harmony Guardian Magnanimity!” Alexander leapt into the air and dove toward Sunset, its sword over its head.

“Unfortunately for you, I do!” Sunset called. “I activate my face-down card, the Quickplay Spell ‘Harmony Shock’. By returning my Harmony Guardian Pietas to the Extra Deck, your Alexander is destroyed!”

Pietas turned into an orb of blue light and was drawn into Sunset’s Spell card. The card sparked and sends a lightning bolt up at Alexander.

“I will respond with the effect of Wave King Caesar.” Sombra tapped his duel disk screen. Caesar flung its hand out, and one of the two lights orbiting it came into its palm and dispersed in a spray of particles. “By detaching my D/D Berfomet as an Xyz Material, Caesar will revive all destroyed monsters at the end the current Battle Phase, but I will take one thousand points of damage for each revived monster at the start of the next turn.”

Alexander lit up blue as the lightning struck it. It convulsed and exploded.

“I end the Battle Phase, and my Alexander returns to me from the Graveyard.” A flurry of wind next to Caesar appeared and dispersed, revealing Alexander again. Sombra held up a card and set it on his duel disk. “I will set one card and end my turn.”

Sunset let out a breath. We got through that unscathed. She looked at the field display on her duel disk and smiled. He may have some Pendulum Monsters, but those monsters aren’t, so the only way he’s getting them back if we destroy them is with Caesar, and that comes with a payment. Speaking of…

“My turn.” Twilight drew and paused. “During my Standby Phase, the negative effect of Wave King Caesar inflicts a thousand damage to you!”

Caesar glowed red, and red sparks flew from Sombra’s duel disk. He closed his eyes and grunted at the sensation.

-Sombra Life Points: 7000-

As the red faded, Sombra smiled. “Good.” He flipped a card in his hand over. “You recall I returned my D/D Orthros to my hand, I’m sure. Since I just took damage, Orthros summons itself to my side of the field in defense mode.” Sombra set his card on his tray and the two-headed canine rose next to Caesar out of a blue portal.

“Summoning Orthros activates the effect of D/D/D Gust King Alexander, allowing me to revive my D/D Lilith.” Another portal, teal, opened and Lilith rose from it. “This then activates Lilith’s effect, returning my D/D Berfomet from my Graveyard to my hand.”

“Have him,” Twilight replied. “I offer Raiden as tribute to summon ‘Celestia, Lightsworn Angel’.” Raiden dissolved and in his place materialized a woman with bright blue hair and white and gold armor, a pair of large white wings spreading out from her back. She twirled a staff with a sun emblem on the end and planted it on the ground (2300/200).

“I activate Celestia’s special ability! By sending the top four cards of my deck to the Graveyard when I summon her, Celestia lets me destroy two cards on the field.” Twilight pointed. “I choose your Alexander and Caesar.”

“And I will activate the effect of Caesar, detaching its second Xyz Material to revive my destroyed D/D monsters at the end of your battle phase.” Sombra tapped his duel disk and the second blue orb surround Caesar dispersed.

“But for now, they’re gone.” Celestia pointed her staff out and fired two beams of yellow light. The beams struck Alexander and Caesar and they dissolved in flashes of light.

Twilight’s duel disk beeped, drawing her attention to it. She reached down and took a card from her Graveyard. “One of the four cards I milled for Celestia’s effect was ‘Felis, Lightsworn Archer’. When she’s sent from my deck to the Graveyard due to a monster’s effect, I can summon her to my field.” A figure with cat ears and a blue tail appeared in front of Twilight, garbed in a white and blue uniform with leather armor over her torso. She raised her arms and aimed a bow and arrow across the field (1100/2000).

“I also will be activating an effect.” Sombra reached to his deck. “When my Wave King Caesar is removed from the field, I can add a Dark Contract card from my deck to my hand.” Sombra’s card ejected into his fingers and he flipped it over. “I will take this, ‘Dark Contract With the Gate’.”

“Fine. As for me, I’ll use the effect of the Felis I just summoned. I offer her as tribute to discard three cards from my deck and destroy your D/D Orthros.” Felis glowed brightly and fired her bow, vanishing in a flash after. The arrow pierced Orthros’ chest and it exploded in the same light.

-Twilight’s deck: 21 cards-

Sombra gave a small sniff. “As a Pendulum monster, my D/D Orthros goes to the Extra Deck, not the Graveyard.”

“It’s still out of the way.” Twilight pointed across the field. “Celestia, Lightsworn Angel, attack D/D Lilith!”

Celestia twirled her staff over her head and then thrust it out, firing a ray of light at Lilith. The rose monster wilted and turned brown before shattering.

“I end my Battle Phase,” Twilight said.

“And when you do, my Lilith, Alexander and Caesar are revived.” Sombra smiled as his monsters rose from the ground in swirls of petals, wind, and water. “And since Lilith was summoned once again, her effect activates to add D/D Orthros from my Extra Deck to my hand.”

Twilight nodded. “I set a card and end my turn.” She looked over at Sunset.

“My move.” Sunset put a hand on her duel disk. He’s going to keep recycling his monsters over and over with Lilith and Alexander. I need to put a stop to it now. She drew and paused. “It’s my Standby Phase, so you take a thousand damage for each monster revived by Caesar last turn.”

Sombra’s monsters sparked and lit up red.

“I think not.” Sombra calmly reached a finger out and tapped the screen of his duel disk. “I activate my Trap card, ‘Life Regeneration’. Since I am about to take damage from a card effect, this Trap reverses that damage and restores my Life Points by the same amount.”

The red aura around Sombra’s monsters shifted to blue, and the light flowed off of them and around him, swirling into his duel disk.

-Sombra Life Points: 10000-

Sunset grit her teeth. “Damn.”

“I am not one to make such reckless plays without a form of insurance,” Sombra said. “That is wisdom I advise you to heed, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Thanks for the concern, but I’ve got this covered!” Sunset replied. “I call upon the monsters in my Pendulum Zones! Using the Scale 3 Gracia and Scale 5 Honestas, I Pendulum Summon!” Floating above her, Gracia and Honestas held their hands out and conjured a portal between them. “From my hand, I summon ‘Harmony Guardian Infernal Bellis’ and from my Extra Deck I summon Harmony Guardian Pietas!”

Pietas shot out of the portal in an aura of blue light. Beside her descended a warrior in dark green and red armor, holding a scythe with a glowing green-blue blade (1000/1000).

Sunset held her hand up toward Gracia. “I activate Gracia’s Pendulum effect! Once per turn I can return a Special Summoned monster you control to the deck. I’ll get rid of Wave King Caesar!”

Gracia held her hands up before her and an orb of yellow light circled toward Sombra’s field. The light struck Caesar and it dissolved.

Sunset took a breath. “And now, I use the effect of Harmony Guardian Infernal Bellis. Once per turn, I can conduct a Fusion Summon using Bellis and a Harmony Guardian monster in my Pendulum Zones! I fuse my Level 4 Bellis and my Level 4 Gracia!”

A dark purple vortex opened in the air above Sunset. Bellis was drawn into it as Gracia’s light pillar faded and she followed. Sunset’s eyes flashed red as she spoke. “I combine the spirits of the fallen guardian of nature and the guardian of kindness, and open the dimensional gates to call on the greatest of dark musicians!” She held her card up in the air. “Fusion Summon! Awaken, Level 8, ‘Harmony Guardian Infernal Adagium’!”

The fusion vortex dispersed and Sunset’s monster descended. Armored in deep purple with spikes on her boots and gauntlets, orange wings stretching into the air, she reached up and summoned a large mace to her hand, spikes crackling with orange energy (2100/1200).

Sombra’s eyebrows lifted. “So, you have managed to control your magic. I’m quite impressed.”

Sunset nodded. “And I didn’t need any help from you to pull it off, either. I just needed faith in myself, and to remember my friends have faith in me.”

“Ah, your friends. So very precious to you.” Sombra snorted. “Then show me the full extent of your powers, Sunset Shimmer, and we shall see how far ‘faith’ can take you.”

“I’m only just getting started. First, since I Special Summoned a Harmony Guardian, the effects of Magnanimity and Pietas activate. I can draw a card, and Adagium is allowed to attack twice this turn.” Sunset pumped her fist. “But first, I overlay Magnanimity and Pietas! Using my two Level 4 monsters, I construct the Overlay network!”

Sunset’s monsters glowed bright blue and slid together in front of her, the light growing brighter and obscuring them. “I unite the spirits of the guardian of generosity and the guardian of loyalty, and open the dimensional gates to call on the liveliest of dark musicians!” Sunset’s card appeared in her hand as she swung it onto her duel disk. “Xyz Summon! Awaken, Rank 4, ‘Harmony Guardian Infernal Sonare’!”

With a flash the light dispersed, revealing a warrior in blue and pink armor with leathery wings on her back. She drew a pair of curved pink daggers from her waist and twirled them between her fingers before thrusting them toward Sombra (1500/2400).

Sunset flipped over another card in her hand. “I now equip Adagium with the Equip Spell ‘Harmony Necklace, raising her attack power by five hundred points!” Adagium looked down as a necklace appeared around her breastplate, a shield with six gemstones on it dangling from the chain (2100 → 2600).

“With that, Adagium is strong enough to take down your Alexander,” Sunset called.

Sombra’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “Indeed she is. You had best do so promptly then, as my turn is next.”

He’s way too calm… Sunset tensed. She looked over the cards in front of Sombra. He has no face-down cards, and the only cards in his hand are ones I know. Still, I don’t know what his deck is fully capable of, especially now that he has Pendulums. She shook her head. It doesn’t matter. I can’t leave a monster that powerful in play.

“Harmony Guardian Infernal Adagium, attack D/D/D Gust King Alexander!”

Adagium charged across the field, her mace sparking. She reached Alexander and spun, swinging the mace into its chest. Alexander groaned under the impact and crumbled back, exploding in a blast of wind.

-Sombra Life Points: 9900-

Sunset gave a small smile. “Now Adagium’s effect activates. When she destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster’s defense points.” Adagium held her mace towards Sombra and fired a bolt of orange lightning at him.

“I am afraid not.” Sombra lifted his head and smiled. The orange energy turned blue as it struck him and surrounded him. “You see, the benefits of my Life Regeneration Trap persists for the rest of the turn I activate it. So I’m afraid the damaging effect of Adagium will also be reversed.” The blue aura faded and Adagium stepped back with a scowl.

-Sombra Life Points: 11900-

Sunset grunted. “Now what?”

“Well, there is still the matter that your turn is not over.” Sombra waved a hand. “You are entitled to attack with Adagium twice, as I recall.”

And then when I destroy Lilith, he’ll regenerate another round of Life Points. Sunset’s hand clenched. But I still have Sonare to attack with, that’ll minimize the gain. “Adagium also attacks D/D Lilith!”

Adagium twirled her mace and swung it up and into Lilith, pitching her back to shatter on impact with the ground.

“And thus do I regain her defense points as Life Points.” Sombra lit up blue again.

-Sombra Life Points: 14000-

“Fourteen thousand…” Twilight whispered.

“He’s not staying that high for long!” Sunset thrust her hand out. “Harmony Guardian Infernal Sonare, direct attack!”

Sonare leapt up and dove forward, daggers held out. Sombra stepped to the side as she descended past him, slashing where he had been.

-Sombra Life Points: 12600-

“I end my turn.” Sunset took a breath. He has a lot of Life Points, but I have Sonare to protect me and Twilight has her Trap for herself. We can do this.

“Then it is my turn again.” Sombra drew and reached to his hand. “I’ll begin with this card I’m sure you’re expecting, the Continuous Spell Card ‘Dark Contract with the Gate’.” A demonic hand rose from the ground in front of Sombra, clutching a contract written in ancient script. “This affords me the right to add a D/D monster from my deck to my hand once per turn, but I will take a thousand points of damage during my Standby Phase. I will invoke this power now.” Sombra’s deck lit up green and a card ejected; he grabbed it and held it up. “I will add ‘D/D/D Supreme King Kaiser’ to my hand.

“I then invoke the power of the monsters in my Pendulum Zones!” Sombra held up three cards. “Using the Scale 1 D/D Savant Copernicus and Scale 8 D/D Savant Nikola, I Pendulum Summon!” The swirling blue and red vortex that opened between Sombra’s floating monsters shot three streaks of light out, colored orange, blue, and red. “From my hand, I summon D/D Orthros, D/D Berfomet, and D/D/D Supreme King Kaiser!”

Berfomet and Orthros kneeled on either side of Sombra’s newest monster. Clad in bright silver armor with a flowing red cape and kilt, Kaiser towered over the two, yellow eyes glowing in the shadowed opening of a silver helmet with spikes lining the bottom. Kaiser reached behind its back and swung out a massive curved blade as long as it was tall, gripping the handle with both hands (2800/2100).

“Since it was Pendulum Summoned, the effect of Supreme King Kaiser activates.” Sombra snapped his fingers. “For the rest of this turn, the effects of all face-up cards on my opponent’s field are negated!” Kaiser drew back its sword and swung, sending a wave of red energy across the field. Twilight’s Lightsworn Barrier sparked red and dulled in color, while the same happened to Sunset’s Adagium and Sonare.

“We’re defenseless!” Twilight hissed.

“Quite right, but I am not yet prepared to attack.” Sombra held up the last card in his hand. “I activate the Continuous Spell Card ‘Dark Contract with the Swamp King’. This allows me to conduct a Fusion Summon using monsters in my hand or field once per turn. But, if I am summoning a D/D monster, I can also banish monsters in my Graveyard for the fusion. I will do so now, and fuse the Lilith and Alexander in my Graveyard!”

Above Sombra, a purple vortex spun out of empty air. The spectres of Lilith and Alexander appeared before him and were drawn into it. “Demon of petals and demon of gales, combine your powers and invoke the form of a miraculous demon king!” Sombra thrust his hand out, his card appearing in his hand in green light. “Fusion Summon! Awaken, Level 7, ‘D/D/D Oracle King d’Arc’!”

A monster in slim silver and gold armor descended out of the fusion portal, a pair of leathery wings spreading into the air behind it. She raised her head, a silver mask covering her eyes with a small pair of wings emerging from the sides, and thrust a slender sword into the air with a cry (2800/2000).

Sombra looked down at his field. “And then of course, there is the matter of Berfomet and Orthros to see to, but I’m sure you already know what is to be done with them. Using my two Level 4 monsters, I construct the overlay network!”

Berfomet and Orthros turned into a viscous black mass and pooled together, swirling up into a familiar form. “Demon of feathers and demon of canines, unite your powers and invoke the form of a crashing demon king!” Sombra’s eyes flashed. “Xyz Summon! Come forth, Rank 4, ‘D/D/D Wave King Caesar!” The black mass receded, revealing Sombra’s monster, purple armor shining and sword held over its shoulder.

“For the moment, my Pendulum Monsters have served their purpose. And so, I have no further need of them.” Sombra waved his hand towards his central monster. “I activate the effect of D/D/D Supreme King Kaiser. During the turn it was Pendulum Summoned, I can destroy two Spell or Trap cards on my side of the field, and Kaiser can perform an additional attack for each. I destroy the two cards in my Pendulum Zones!”

Kaiser held its sword up, the metal gleaming. Sombra’s Copernicus and Nikola lit up red and the light pillars around them vanished. The two turned into energy and glowed into Kaiser’s sword, the metal glowing bright red.

“And now, my Battle Phase!” Sombra thrust his hand out. “D/D/D Supreme King Kaiser, attack Harmony Guardian Infernal Adagium!”

Kaiser charged across the field, sword raised. It jumped in front of Adagium, bringing the blade down over it. Adagium screeched as she was bisected and shattered, a blast of wind washing over Sunset, her arm raised to shield her face.

-Sunset Life Points: 7300-

“Next, I attack Harmony Guardian Infernal Sonare!”

Kaiser pivoted on its heel and sliced through Sonare, the monster exploding.

-Sunset Life Points: 6000-

Sunset lowered her arm. “I activate Sonare’s special ability! When it is destroyed, I can place it in my empty Pendulum Zone!” Above her, Sonare rematerialized floating opposite Honestas.

“It will do you no good against my third attack! Kaiser attacks you directly!”

Sunset looked up as Kaiser stomped toward her, eyes gleaming in its helmet. It lifted the sword and swung it down. The ground cracked under the impact, Sunset tumbling backward.

-Sunset Life Points: 3200-

“D/D/D Oracle King d’Arc, attack Sunset directly as well!”

D’Arc coiled its legs and sprinted forward, sword held back. Sunset sat up as the monster reached her, and she dove away as its sword stabbed into the ground, dirt and grass flying.

-Sunset Life Points: 400-

Sombra let out a low chuckle. “A pity for you that I have one monster still left to attack.” Opposite him, Sunset pushed herself onto her hands and knees and looked over her shoulder. Sombra gave a small smirk. “You did your best, Sunset. But your best wasn’t enough.” He thrust his hand out. “D/D/D Wave King Caesar, attack Sunset directly!”

Caesar ran forward and leapt, twirling its sword over its head.

Sunset looked at her duel disk. There must be something I can do… no face-downs, nothing in my hand. She raised her head to Caesar. No…

“Activate Trap card!”

Sombra’s eyes widened and he snapped his head to the side. Sunset looked over.

“Twilight?”

Hand on her duel disk, hologram shimmering in front of her, Twilight looked up at the descending Caesar. “I can activate ‘Call of the Earthbound’ when you declare an attack. For this battle, I can select your attack target! I make Wave King Caesar attack Celestia, Lightsworn Angel!”

Celestia vanished from in front of Twilight and reappeared above Sunset, staff raised between its palms. Caesar’s sword struck it and cleaved through it, Celestia shattering after.

-Twilight Life Points: 7900-

“Twilight…” Sunset climbed to her feet and smiled. “You saved me.”

Twilight nodded. “Of course. I’m not going to let my teammate lose if I can help it.”

“A touching but futile effort.”

Sombra’s voice prompted the two to turn their attention back to him. He folded his arms over his chest. “My Life Points are over twelve thousand and my field is full of powerful monsters, while one of you clings with a handful of points and neither of you has any monsters left at all.”

Wisps of green energy coming from his eyes, Sombra shook his head. “This duel is as good as over for the both of you.”

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

True, your power to create new types of cards is unique. But the power to create new cards itself, that is well within my capabilities.

Heh. This is actually quite familiar to me. Sure, I can hazard the occassional mechanic myself, but ninety-nine times out of a hundred, I'm riffing on cards that already exist.

Wonderfully tense moment, though Sombra really shouldn't count the girls out. The very powers he wants to cultivate outnumber him two to one. Let's see what bullhonkery the two can produce.

[Vakama95096]

D/D cards are very tricky to beat. I know that Yuya had a hard time defeat Declan because Declan had those cards.

[GermanMagineering]

Painful reminder of how disgusting D/D/D was before MR4

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Man, in the hands of a pro D/D/D are nearly unbeatable. Seeing Declan's record in Arc V is proof enough of that. Hope Twilight and Sunset have a plan.

[JMP]

Waiting for more friendship powers to make new cards I guess. This was kind of insane how much Sombra did in so little time

[Norwegian boy]

Love it and I am looking forward to the next part.

[Breakfateschain]

I think it’s knda awesome Sunset’s deck has the Sirens in it. I wonder if Aria’s a Synchro, since I don’t think we’ve seen her yet

[DrakeyC]

9976986
We have, and she is.

[Ghost Mike]

It's not the first time I've brought the duel of Yugi & Kaiba vs Dartz up here, but it's such a perfect counterpoint to this story: the main villain that has supernatural powers (although here, both the main characters do too) facing the main characters in a 2-on-1 duel where despite having no balancing advantage (not alternating between him and one of them, nor starting with double the LP; theoretically he should be at a huge disadvantage) he proceeds to completely dominate the battle, all while racking up LP well above the starting count to boot. Now, DrakeyC obviously has seen all the Y-Gi-Oh animes, unlike myself, and the game plays totally different, even in anime form, to the way it did circa 2003, so I cannot say how much of this was intentional. Regardless, its a remarkable series of coincidences.
It also shares something with the climax of Dark Side of Dimensions in the main character and their rival duelling the big bad right after a duel of their own, again with no balancing advantage and yet getting dominated because anime scripting means Sombra never bricks. Though given DrakeyC's distaste for the original elements of that movie, I don't doubt none of that was intentional.
Though unlike either Dartz or Diva, apparently all of Sombra's cards are real, given how many are comparing his deck and strategy and toughness to this Declan character from Arc-V. I'll take their word for it.

Anyway, tense stuff, and while I don't doubt they'll end up winning somehow, it'll be interesting to see how (my guess is Twilight at some point sacrificing herself to save Sunset who wins in her stead - typical Yu-Gi-Oh stuff). Though like many, keeping up with all the original cards at this point is just not worth the hassle, so I just read the duels at face value. With DrakeyC's recent comments about being glad that he doesn't have to write another duel after 3 years of doing so, I can kind of see that. Bring up the duel's conclusion and that of the story itself.

[DrakeyC]

9977865
The Dartz allusion wasn't intentional but did occur to me in the writing.

There's no original cards yet, they come next chapter.

As for grateful not to write another duel, this one just kept falling apart as I noticed oversights and errors in my plan and had to revise to keep things together. I'd start to write the chapter, notice a play error, head to my duel notes and spend an hour fixing it, and be like "no more writing, I'm tired of Yugioh for the day"

[RuinQueenofOblivion]

“Fourteen thousand…” Twilight whispered.

Eh, I've seen higher... seriously read one fic where a duelist had over 700,000 Life points.

Good chapter, looking forward to seeing how this goes.

[MLPMekarm]

man. someone needs to knock sombra off his high horse for good. but great chapter btw.

[narusakufan]

This is an intense duel. I can't wait to see how this ends.

[Noctis Prism]

Damn he’s strong!

[DanaO]

9976386
It's almost a shame this narratively has to be Twilight and Sunset, specifically - as soon as I hit the game type definition I was already thinking "Who within Crystal Prep wouldn't like Sombra very much now if they could tell what was going on, and in which ways can a 'teammate' who can't directly attack you or your cards still screw you over?"