The Magic of Dueling

by CrystalQueen

Chapter 17: The Game of Darkness Part 1

“Come on! Almost there!” Red grunted as he climbed to the top of a cliff, hanging on by the edge. “Yes! I made it! I can even see the Empire from here! Don’t worry girls, I’m coming!” Just then, Red felt the rock he was clinging onto start to give way. “Of course, that’s assuming I don’t fall!”
********************************************************

Twilight 8000 LP
Hand: 5
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 5

“I’ll go first!” Twilight said as she waved her hoof in front of her face, causing her cards to materialize in front of her. “”I’ll start with my Emergency Teleport Spell Card! This lets me Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Psychic Type monster from my hand or deck, but I Banish it during the End Phase! I Summon Ghost Fairy Elfobia!”
(Level 3, 900 ATK 500 DEF)
“Now I tribute her to Tribute Summon my Overdrive Teleporter!”
(Level 6, 2100 ATK 1200 DEF)
“I activate the effect of my Overdrive Teleporter! Once while it’s on the field, I can pay 2000 Life Points to Special Summon two Level 3 Psychic Type monsters from my Deck!” Twilight shouted. “I’ll Special Summon Hushed Psychic Cleric in Defence Position and Mental Seeker!”
Twilight 8000 -> 6000 LP
(Level 3, 0 ATK 2100 DEF)
(Level 3, 800 ATK 600 DEF)
“Now, I’m Tuning my Level 3 Mental Seeker with my Level 6 Overdrive Teleporter! Appear from beyond the event horizon, and eviscerate everything with your beams of light! Come to life! Synchro Summon! Come forth! Hyper Psychic Blaster!”
(Level 9, 3000 ATK 2500 DEF)
“It’s not over yet!” Twilight shouted. “I activate One for One, discarding my Necro Gardna to Special Summon Mind Master from my deck!”
(Level 1, 100 ATK 200 DEF)
“Now I activate the effect of my Mind Master! By paying 800 Life Points and tributing my Hushed Psychic Cleric, I’ll Special Summon my Level 4 Psi-Blocker!”
(Level 4, 1200 ATK 300 DEF)
Twilight 6000 -> 5200 LP)
“Once per turn, while Psi-Blocker is on the field, I can declare one card name and prevent both that card and its effects from being used until your next turn!” Twilight shouted. “I declare Raigeki!”

“Nicely played, princess.” Ernesh responded.

“And now I’m Tuning my Level 1 Mind Master to my Level 4 Psi-Blocker! Arise from the deepest lab, and show the world your might! Come to life! Synchro Summon! Magical Android!”
(Level 5, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)
“Lastly, I’ll set one card and end my turn.” Twilight said as a giant hologram of her card appeared in front of her. “During the End Phase, Magical Android increases my Life Points by 600 for each Psychic Type monster I control, for a total of 1200 Life Points.
Twilight 5200 -> 6400 LP

“An excellent starting turn, princess.” Ernesh said. “But now it is my turn. I draw.”

Twilight 6400 LP
Hand: 0
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 6

“To begin my turn, I’ll activate the Card Destruction Spell Card, which forces both players to discard their entire hand and draw an equal number of cards. Your hand is currently empty, while I now hold five cards, so by this effect I’ll discard five, then draw five more!”

“What could he be up to…?” Twilight thought to herself. “I don’t have anything in my hand, so why did he discard his entire opening hand, losing one card in the process?”

“Now, I’ll my Lair of Darkness Field Spell!” Ernesh said as he placed a card into a slit on the edge of his Duel Disk, causing the Crystal Throne Room to become engulfed in pitch black darkness. “So long as Lair of Darkness remains in play, all monsters on the field become DARK attribute, and once per turn, I can tribute one DARK monster you control in place of one of mine as cost to activate a card effect.

“Wait, if all of Twilight’s monsters become DARK attribute, then that means-!” Spike said to himself, cowering behind one of the doors.
(Hyper Psychic Android EARTH -> DARK)
(Magical Android LIGHT -> DARK)

“Now, because I have exactly three DARK monsters in my Graveyard, I’ll Special Summon my Dark Armed Dragon!”
(Level 7, 2800 ATK 1000 DEF)
“Now I’ll activate the effect of my Dark Armed Dragon! By Banishing a DARK Monster from my Graveyard, I can target and destroy one card you control! I’ll Banish Dark Grephor, and destroy your Hyper Psychic Blaster!” Ernesh shouted, as a silhouette of his Dark Grephor appeared in front of Dark Armed Dragon, as it swallowed the silhouette before swinging towards Twilight’s monster with its massive tail.

“I chain my Trap Card! Assault Mode Activate!” Twilight shouted as her card revealed itself.

“What the-! You have that in your deck!?” Ernesh shouted, taken back in shock.

“This lets me tribute a Synchro monster I control, and Special Summon its corresponding Assault Mode variant from my deck! I tribute my Hyper Psychic Blaster, and summon Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode!”
(Level 11, 3500 ATK 3000 DEF)
“Because Hyper Psychic Blaster left the field after it was targeted by your Dark Armed Dragon’s effect, it resolves without any visible effect!” Twilight shouted, as Dark Armed Dragon missed its strike, leaving a massive crack in the floor.

“Shit! I didn’t account for you to be playing the Assault Mode variant, or to have Assault Mode Activate on the field on the first turn.” Ernesh said. “But I must commend you, Princess, most Duelists wouldn’t go for the throat as quickly as you did. I set two cards face down, and activate Veil of Darkness. During my Draw Phase, if I draw a DARK monster, I can send it to the Graveyard, and then draw a new card to replace it. Battle Phase! Dark Armed Dragon attacks Magical Android! Jaws of darkness!” Ernesh’s dragon slashed at Twilight’s Android with its claws, but was intercepted by a ghostly apparition of a monster.

“During the opponent’s turn, by Banishing Necro Gardna from my Graveyard, I can negate one attack.” Twilight explained.

“An excellent move! I end my turn!”

“Draw!”

Twilight 6400 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 0

“I’ll start this turn by activating my Pot of Avarice!” Twilight said. “This lets me return five monsters from my Graveyard to my deck and draw two cards. I’ll return my Mind Master, Psi-Blocker, Overdrive Teleporter, Ghost fairy Elfobia and Mental Seeker to my deck and draw two cards. Now, I activate my Spellbook of Secrets! This lets me add Spellbook Magician of Prophecy to my hand, who I subsequently Normal Summon!”
(Level 2, 500 ATK 400 DEF)
“When he’s Normal or Flip Summoned, I can add a Spellbook Spell Card to my hand, and I’m adding Spellbook of Knowledge, which I now activate!” Twilight shouted. “By sending a Spellcaster I control, such as Spellbook Magician of Prophecy to the Graveyard, I can draw two cards!”

“Very impressive! You’ve turned a single card into three!” Ernesh commented. “But it came at the cost of this turn’s Normal Summon! Were they worth it, Princess?”

“Battle Phase! Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode, attack his Dark Armed Dragon! Assault Blast!”

“I activate the effect of my Necro gardna in the Graveyard!” Ernesh shouted, as a ghostly apparition of Necro Gardna blocked the attack from Twilight’s monster. “As you know, by Banishing Necro Gardna from the Graveyard, I can negate one attack. It’s still your turn, princess.”

“I’ll shift Magical Android to Defence Position and set one card face down. During the End Phase, Magical Android will increase my Life Points by 600 for each Psychic type monster I control, for a net gain of 1200.” Twilight said, as her android rested on one knee crossing its arms and a hologram of her face down card appeared in front of her.
Twilight 6400 -> 7600 LP
“With that, I end my turn.”

“It’s my turn, I draw!”

Twilight 7600 LP
Hand: 2
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 1

“I drew my Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair, so I’ll discard it to draw another card!” Ernesh shouted as he placed his card into the Graveyard slot on his Duel Disk and drew another card. “Now, I’ll discard my Relinkuriboh, and draw once more! Now I discard my Absolute King Back Jack, triggering its effect, although Veil of Darkness must finish resolving before I can apply the effect of Back Jack. I draw, and now I apply the effect of Back Jack! This lets me rearrange the top three cards of my deck! Lastly, I set one card face down, and Dark Armed Dragon attacks your Magical Android! Jaws of Darkness!” Following Ernesh’s command, his dragon lunged straight towards Twilight’s android, the slash causing it to explode into countless shards. “With that, I end my turn!”

“My go!”

Twilight 7600 LP
Hand: 3
Ernesh 8000 LP
Hand: 0

“During the Standby Phase, I activate my Dark Spirit Art - Greed!” Ernesh shouted. This lets me tribute a DARK monster and draw two cards! Due to the effect of my Lair of Darkness Field Spell, I can tribute your LIGHT attribute treated as DARK Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode!”

“What!?”

“And because Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode was tributed, it cannot activate its effect to Special Summon the Original Hyper Psychic Blaster from your Graveyard!”

“Shoot! That was my ace in the hole! But I can still turn this around!” Twilight shouted. “First, I activate my Trap card, Psychic Tuning! This will Special Summon a Psychic type monster in my Graveyard, and treat it as a Tuner! I Special Summon my Hushed Psychic Cleric!”
(Level 3, 0 ATK 2100 DEF)
“And now I summon my Psychic Jumper!”
(Level 2, 100 ATK 1500 DEF)

“So you’ve summoned two low level Tuners, do you expect me to be afraid of that when I have my Dark Armed Dragon on the field?” Ernesh asked, gloatingly. “It has far more Attack Points than those pipsqueaks, and you can’t even Synchro Summon!”

“Who said I was using my monsters to attack?”

“What?”

“I activate Psychic Jumper’s effect!” Twilight shouted. “Once per turn, by paying 1000 Life Points, I can target one monster you control and one Psychic type monster I control, except Psychic Jumper, and switch control of those targets!”

“What the-!?”

“As Princess of Friendship, I’ll send Hushed Psychic Cleric to your field as an ambassador of friends, and as Headmare of Equestria’s first school of friendship, take Dark Armed Dragon in as an exchange student!” Twilight shouted as her monster teleported both her cleric and Ernesh’s dragon to opposite sides of the field.
Twilight 7600 -> 6600 LP

“Alright! Way to go Twilight!” Spike shouted out from behind the door.

“Battle Phase! Dark Armed Dragon, attack Hushed Psychic Cleric! Jaws of Darkness!” Following Twilight’s command, Ernesh’s dragon slashed its claws fiercely at its former master’s new monster, shattering it.
Ernesh 8000 -> 5200 LP

“When Psychic Tuning is sent to the Graveyard, you take damage equal to the Special Summoned monsters Level multiplied by 400!” Ernesh shouted as he braced himself from the explosion of his monster.
Twilight 6600 -> 5400 LP

“It’s not over yet! Psychic Jumper, attack directly!”
Ernesh 5200 -> 5100 LP
“Main Phase 2! Appear! The shining circuit that leads us to the future!” Twilight shouted, as the Link Portal appeared in the air above her. “The summoning conditions are at least one Tuner Monster! I set Dark Armed Dragon and Psychic Jumper in the Link Markers! Link Summon!”

“Link what now!?”

“Appear, Link 2, Crystron Needlefiber!”
(Link 2, 1500 ATK , )

“What the hell is that thing!?” Ernesh shouted, “And why doesn’t it have any Defence Points!?”

“It’s a Link Monster! Link Monsters only require a number of monsters equal to their Link Rating to be Summoned!” Twilight explained. “And when Crystron Needlefiber is Link Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 3 or lower Tuner from my deck in Defence Position, although it can’t activate its effects this turn. I Special Summon Psychic Commander!”
(Level 3, 1400 ATK 800 DEF)
“Return, the shining circuit that leads to the future! The Summoning Conditions are two or more effect monsters! I set Psychic Commander and Link 2 Crystron Needlefiber in the Link Markers! Appear, Link 3, Decode Talker!”
(Link 3, 2300 ATK , , )
“Lastly, I set two cards face down, and end my turn.”

“...During the End Phase, Lair of Darkness will Special Summon a Torment Token to the player’s field for each one of their monsters that was tributed that turn.” Ernesh reluctantly explained as a ball of darkness appeared on Twilight’s field.
(Level 3, 1000 ATK/DEF)
“But now it’s my turn, I draw!”

Twilight 5400 LP
Hand: 0
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 3

“Shit-! I only have one option with this hand…” Ernesh mumbled to himself. “I summon Kuribandit!”
(Level 3, 1000 ATK 700 DEF)
“Now I end my turn. During the End Phase of the turn Kuribandit is Normal Summoned, I can tribute it so excavate the top five cards of my deck, add one Spell or Trap to my hand, and send the rest to the Graveyard. I’ll add Pot of Greed to my hand, while sending Necro Gardna, Armageddon Knight, Solemn Judgement and Battle Fader to the Graveyard. However, because a monster I control was tributed, I can Special Summon Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair from my Graveyard!”
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2000 DEF)
“Now, Lair of Darkness will create a Torment Token on my field!”
(Level 3, 1000 ATK/DEF)
“Your turn, Princess!”

“During the End Phase, I activate my face down Scapegoat!” Twilight shouted. “This will Special Summon four Sheep Tokens to my field in Defence Position!”
(Level 1, 0 ATK/DEF) X4
“Also, for each monster Decode Talker points to, it gains 500 Attack Points!”
(Decode Talker 2300 -> 3300 ATK)
“Now I draw!”

Twilight 5400 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 3

“I activate my Natural Tune Spell card!” Twilight shouted. “This will treat a Normal Monster on my field as a Tuner until the end of this turn. I select a Sheep Token! Now, I’m Tuning my Level 1 Sheep Token to another one of my Sheep Tokens! From one to another, the highest speed comes through! Synchro Summon! Synchro Tuner, Formula Synchron!”
(Level 2, 200 ATK 1500 DEF)

“A Synchro Tuner?” Ernesh asked. “That means-!”

“When Formula Synchron is Synchro Summoned, I can draw a card! Now, I’m Tuning my Level 2 Formula Synchron to my Level 1 Sheep Token and the Level 3 Torment Token you gave me! From the depths of the ocean, come to us and prove your might! Synchro Summon! Synchro Tuner, Coral Dragon!”
(Level 6, 2400 ATK 500 DEF)
“Decode Talker, attack his Darkest Diabolos! Decode End!” Twilight’s monster leapt towards Ernesh’s Dragon, preparing to cleave it in half with its mighty blade, before a ghostly apparition of Necro Gardna blocked it.

“By Banishing Necro Gardna from my Graveyard, I can negate one enemy attack!” Ernesh said. “Princess, you should have known that would happen!”

“I did know that would happen. Removing your Necro Gardna from the Graveyard was my plan all along!” Twilight retorted. “Now, Coral Dragon attacks your Torment Token! Coral Thunder!” Twilight’s Dragon launched a bolt of thunder from its mouth towards Ernesh’s Token, leaving nothing but a burn mark where the monster once stood. “Now, on my Main Phase 2, I’m Tuning my Level 6 Coral Dragon to my last Sheep Token! The powers of magic and psychic abilities unite to unleash a greater power! Synchro Summon! Come forth, PSY-Framelord Zeta!”
(Level 7, 2500 ATK 1800 DEF)
(Decode Talker 3300 -> 2800 ATK)
“When Coral Dragon is sent to the Graveyard, I can draw another card! Now I’m getting rid of this problematic board! I activate Heavy Storm! This will destroy all Spells and Traps on the field!”

“I chain my face down Dark Bribe!” “Ernesh shouted as his face down revealed itself. “This will negate one Spell or Trap at the cost of letting the opponent draw one card!” Twilight simply groaned in frustration as she waved her hoof in front of her face to draw another card and examine the rest of her hand.

“Fine, then I’ll set one card and end my turn!” Twilight said, as a giant hologram of her card appeared face down in front of her.

“My draw!”

Twilight 5400 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 4

“To begin this turn, I’ll activate my Pot of Greed Spell Card!” Ernesh said. “This card allows me to draw two cards from my the top of my deck! And would you look at that! They’ll both allow me to finish this! But before that, I activate the effect of my Darkest Diabolos, Lord of the Lair! But to pay the cost I have to tribute a DARK monster, so with my Lair of Darkness Field Spell, I’ll tribute your now DARK attribute PSY-Framelord Zeta!”
(Decode Talker 2800 -> 2300 ATK)

“I don’t think so!” Twilight shouted. “I activate my Mask of Restrict Trap Card! While this card is face up on the field, neither player can tribute monsters!”

“A useless effort.”

“What?”

“Costs must be paid before an effect has the potential to be negated, so by waiting until I activated my effect to activate your Mask of Restrict, your PSY-Framelord Zeta died for nothing!” Ernesh shouted.

“No! That was my trump card…” Twilight said, her ears drooping at the thought that she was going to lose, knowing the consequences.

“That’s right Princess, just allow me to defeat you, and you’ll be reunited with your precious friends in but the blink of an eye, and you’ll be together forever!” Ernesh shouted from the other side of the room.

“Rarity! Hurry up! We have to be there to support Twilight!” Said a voice from down the hall.

“I’m trying! You must remember that I’m not as fast as you!” Said another voice.

“Pinkie? Rarity?” Twilight thought, before seeing the shadows of her two friends alongside the wall. “Ernesh, you’re wrong! My friends are right here! I don’t know what you’ve done to APplejack or Fluttershy, but you will pay for what you’ve done to Starlight, Trixie, and all the countless other ponies you’ve hurt to get your way!”

“Twilight!” Said Pinkie and Rarity as they ran into the room.

“Twilight, you’re not hurt, are you darling?” Rarity asked, looking over Twilight for injuries.

“No Rarity, I’m perfectly fine.” Twilight responded.

“Hey what’s all this dark stuff?” Pinkie asked, looking at the throne room and how it was covered in darkness. “Is it a card effect?”

“Yes, it’s-”

“As much as I hate to interrupt such a tender moment between friends, the Duel must continue until a victor is declared!” Ernesh shouted, commanding everypony’s attention. “Darkest Diabolos’ effect will now resolve! Twilight, place the only card in your hand on the top or bottom of your deck!”

“Shoot! I’ll place this card on the bottom of my deck.” Twilight said as her card dematerialized, and an animation of the card going on the bottom of her deck appeared on a holographic screen her Duel Disk emitted.

“Battle Phase! Darkest Diabolos, attack Decode Talker! Hell Shackle!” Ernesh shouted as his dragon proceded to punch Twilight’s monster with enough force to destroy it.
Twilight 5400 -> 4700 LP
“With that, I end my turn! Draw your last card Princess, let your friends witness how futile it is to resist! I’ll end you next turn!” Ernesh taunted. "During the End Phase, Lair of Darkness will Special Summon a Torment Token to your side of the field!"
(Level 3, 1000 ATK/DEF)

“She’ll draw way more cards than just this one!” Pinkie shouted.

“Yes, Twilight, defeat this ruffian, and bring back Applejack and Fluttershy!” Rarity said.

“Ernesh, with my friends by my side, anything is possible! It’s my turn, so I draw!” Twilight shouted, waving her hoof across her face to draw her next card.

Twilight 4700 LP
Hand: 1
Ernesh 5100 LP
Hand: 5
**************************************************

Red sped toward the Crystal Empire full throttle, only thinking about how badly he wanted to Duel Ernesh, and end the chaos in Equestria, before leaping off his D-Board as he came closer to the Crystal Empire proper.

“Alright! I made it! Now to hurry and meet up with the girls!” He said to himself, placing his D-Board back between his shirts as he came across the entrance to the Crystal Castle. “What the hell? It looks like a Duel broke out here or something. That must mean-!” Red said, before running inside the castle. “Ernesh! No more games! I’m coming for you!”

Author's Note:

So, this long ride's almost over, Twilight's actually Dueling the main antagonist, I was starting to think I would never get this far
My plan is to have the next chapter up later in the month, and then have the whole story wrapped up by Christmas, if this somehow goes into 2019 I'm going to seriously hate myself