The Magic of Dueling

by CrystalQueen

Chapter 7: A Clash of Red Dragons

Author's Note:

So, this actually came along better than I thought it would, although while writing this, I realized that while the whole gimmick to Riding/Turbo Duels is that they're faster than a normal Duel, Speed World and Speed Speels actually slow down the game to the point where it's almost unplayable, as Yugioh wasn't designed around Speed Counters or any other major resource management like Magic the Gathering's Mana system

But all things considered I like how this chapter turned out

“Damn good view from up here!” Red said, looking over the side of Luna’s personal chariot “But I gotta ask, why is there no guardrail over the back?”

“Ponies walk on four legs, giving us a greater sense of balance in comparison to creatures such as yourself that only walk on two legs.” Luna responded in a very matter of fact tone “Say, if you don’t mind me asking, why were you sleeping fully dressed?”

“Simple really, I didn’t have any pajamas to change into.”

“...That’s it?”

“Yep, that’s it. So, remind me, why are we going to some city in the middle of the night?”

“Right, we’re going to Manehattan because my sister, Princess Celestia, has a history of prophetic dreams that warn us of great disasters, the last one was in Manehattan, and cards played a heavy theme in it, and it hasn’t been long since you first arrived in Equestria, so I believe that destiny may be involved in this matter.”

“Seriously? Destiny? Look, I’m nothing special, not even my ace, Master Diamond is special, I found it lying on the floor while we were moving some boxes around one day.”

“Right, and if most players get new cards from packs, why did you find it on the floor?”

“I don’t know, probably because it fell out of a box?”

“It was there because destiny wanted you to find it, and it is your destiny to use it to defeat this evil threatening Equestria!” Luna said in a very dramatic manner.

“Right, well, regardless of how I got Master Diamond, just point me at whoever needs a good Dueling and I’ll-” Red was cut off when he looked towards Manehattan and saw a red and black dragon flying above the city, which Red immediately recognized and almost fell off the chariot after reeling back in shock “R-Red...Dragon Archfiend!?”

“Red! Red, are you alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just...Jack Atlas was the only person to use Red Dragon Archfiend, and when he died nearly 70 years ago, he took that card to the grave with him and no further copies were printed, so what is it doing here in another world!?”

“I do not know, but we are almost there, so you had best hold on to something.”

Red took a deck out of a side pocket on his backpack and looked at it for a good while “Well, if there’s any time to use this deck, now’s the time. Please help me, old friend.” He thought to himself before placing the deck in his Duel Disk

*****************************************************

Manehattan was normally a loud bustling city full of Ponies with places to go, even during Princess Luna’s night, but to Red and Luna’s confusion, the city streets were empty with holes and burn marks being found on the side of several buildings

“This is terrible...What creature could possibly do this?” Luna said, a feeling of despair in her voice.

“I’d say it’s the target, let’s spread out and look for him, if you find him, just magic a symbol in the sky or something so I can find you, got it?”

“No, I believe it is best if we stay together, that way, we are safer.”

“Yeah? Well if we split up, we can cover more ground and find him faster!”

“And if I were to find him alone, what would you do?”

“Rush over to wherever you set off the magical flare or spotlight or whatever from, what else would I do?”

“Do you know how reckless that would be!? I am a ruling Princess of Equestria! If something were to happen to me, I don’t even want to think about the ramifications it would have on Equestria!”

“Hey, you’re the one who said Equestria is helpless without me, right? And besides, I’m the Dueling expert here! So maybe you should let the professional do his job!”

“Wha-Well I never-” Luna was interrupted when she and Red heard a loud explosion coming from just around a corner

“That must be him! Let’s go!” Red ran towards the source of the explosion, with Luna tailing right behind him, and the pair of them were horrified by what they saw

“Mad Archfiend! Direct attack!” Red and Luna watched in horror as a Duel Monster attacked an innocent Pony, with blood splattering against the wall behind her, with Red recognizing the Duelist immediately from his D-Wheel alone, possessing only a single wheel that contained the driver's seat, with the Duel Disk being part of the dash

“What the fuck-!? Did-did you just kill someone with Solid Vision!?”

“That’s right!” The Duelist responded, turning his head towards Red to get a good look at his next ‘challenger’ “Do you want to be the next sod to meet his end at my Archfiend? Wait, a Duel Disk...You must be a Duelist!”

“That’s right! And I’m not just a Duelist, I’m a Riding Duelist!” Red grabbed his D-Board from between his hoodie and backpack, holding it beneath his arm. “And I challenge you to a Riding Duel, Jack Atlas!”

“A Riding Duel? Well, it would be a direct insult to my Duelist’s honor to reject! Very well! We’ll ride through the city itself! And here, take this!” Jack threw a card at Red, who caught it with his Duel Disk’s Graveyard slot. “A map card containing the city map, you’ll need it for your autopilot.”

“Wait, are you sure you can trust whatever it is he just gave you?” Luna asked. “We just saw him kill an innocent bystander! Who’s to say that card won’t do the same with you!?”

“Because he mentioned Duelist’s honor, that alone is enough for me to trust him with anything Duel related.” Red responded, setting his board in front of a 4-way intersection beside Jack.

“Speed World, on!” Just as Jack pressed a button on his D-Wheel’s console, the entire surrounding area became developed by a purple light, as both Red and Jack’s auto shuffle began shuffling their decks and the auto pilot activated itself.

DUEL MODE ON-AUTO PILOT STANDBY

“3…”

“2…”

“1…”

DUEL

Red made a motion along the side of his D-Board as if he were kicking off while Jack floored the acceleration on his D-Wheel as they took off, leaving Luna behind. “There’s no way I can run or fly that fast, but wait! I never released that spell on Red’s mind! I’ll just keep track of the Duel that way!"

RED 8000 LP 0 SPC
HAND: 5
JACK 8000 LP 0 SPC
HAND: 5

“I’ll go first!” Jack shouted “I summon my Dark Resonator in Defence Position!"
(Level 3, Tuner, 1300 ATK 300 DEF)
"Once per turn, my Dark Resonator cannot be destroyed by battle, so don’t even try it! Now I set 2 cards face down and end my turn!”

“I draw!”

RED 8000 1 SPC
HAND: 6
JACK 8000 1 SPC
HAND: 2

“You know what? I’m gonna match your defence! I Summon my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon in Defence Position!"
(Level 3, 1200 ATK 700 DEF)
"If Red-Eyes Baby Dragon is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a Level 7 or lower Red-Eyes Monster from my deck, just a heads up! Now I’ll set a card and end the turn!”

“This stall war won’t last much longer Draw!”

RED 8000 LP 2 SPC
HAND: 4
JACK 8000 LP 2 SPC
HAND: 3

“I Summon my Mad Archfiend!"
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 0 DEF)
"And I shift my Dark Resonator to Attack Position! Battle Phase! My Mad Archfiend attacks your Red-Eyes Baby Dragon!”

RED 8000 LP -> 6900 LP 2 SPC -> 1 SPC

“What the- but my monster was in Defence Position!”

“When Mad Archfiend destroys a Defence Position monster by battle, it inflicts Piercing damage!”

“Right, well when my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a Level 7 or lower red-Eyes monster from my deck, and I summon Gearfried, the Red-Eyes Iron Knight!
(Level 4, 1800 ATK 1600 DEF)
"Also, I can Equip my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon to the summoned monster and have it gain 300 Attack!"
(Gearfried 1800 ATK -> 2100 ATK)
"This triggers Gearfried’s effect! When a card is equipped to him, I can destroy the equipped card and one Spell or Trap on your field! I destroy my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon to destroy your face down on the left! This also triggers my Baby Dragon’s third effect!”

“How much does that fucking baby do!?”

“When my Red-Eyes Baby Dragon is sent from the field as an Equip card to the Graveyard, I can add a Level 1 Dragon Monster from my deck to my hand, and I pick The Black Stone of Legend!”

“I continue the Battle Phase! My Dark Resonator attacks Gearfried, and I activate my other face down Trap! Prideful Roar!”

“Prideful Roar!?”

“When a monster on my field has less Attack than the monster it’s currently battling, Prideful Roar lets me pay Life Points equal to the difference in our monster’s Attack, and my monster gains that much Attack during damage calculation! I’ll pay 500 Life Points, and Dark Resonator gains 800 Attack Points!”

JACK 8000 LP -> 7500 LP (Dark Resonator 1300 ATK -> 2100 ATK)
RED 6900 LP -> 6600 LP

“Now, on Main Phase 2, I Tune my Level 3 Dark Resonator with my Level 4 Mad Archfiend!” Jack’s Dark Resonator turned into a green wireframe of itself before turning into three glowing green circles, an equal amount to its Level, with his Mad Archfiend flying through said rings, also becoming a green wireframe before turning into four stars, just as its Level would suggest, with a bright flash of light enveloping the cascade of circles as the Synchro Monster began to form “The ruler's shouts echo throughout! Hammer of victory, shatter the very earth! Synchro Summon! Flap your wings, Exploder Wing Dragon!"
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1600 DEF)
"I end my turn!”

“Fuck-! I draw!”

RED 6600 LP 2 SPC
HAND: 6
JACK 7500 LP 3 SPC
HAND: 3

“Get ready! I summon my Black Stone of Legend!”
(Level 1, 0 ATK 0 DEF)
What appeared to just be an egg appeared beside Red, floating alongside him just as any other monster would. “Now, I use the effect of The Black Stone of Legend, tributing it to Special Summon a Level 7 or Lower Red-Eyes monster from my deck! O flaming dragon with heart black as night and soul bright as flame, show yourself to win this fight and end this accursed game! Appear! My faithful servant! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!” The egg that was floating alongside Red began shaking, before finally hatching into a ferocious, black scaled dragon with bright red eyes that pierced through the darkness of nightfall, and let out a loud roar, effectively warning all the Ponies around to get inside.
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)

“That’s your ace monster? What a joke! That thing is outclassed by single Tribute monsters!”

“Let me tell you something Jack! Red-Eyes brings boundless potential, and I’m about to open that potential all over you! I Equip Black Metal Dragon from my hand to my Red-Eyes Black Dragon, boosting its Attack by 600!”

“What the-!” (Red Eyes Black Dragon 2400 ATK -> 3000 ATK)

“Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Black Dragon attacks your Exploder Wing Dragon! Metallic Fire Blast!” With his command, Red’s dragon shot a powerful blast of flame towards Jack’s Exploder Wing Dragon, causing it to shatter into pieces

JACK 7500 LP -> 6900 LP

“Now, I set a card face down and end my turn!”

“Grr, I draw!”

RED 6600 LP 3 SPC
HAND: 4
JACK 6900 LP 4 SPC
HAND: 4

“Well then, looks like the Goddess of Victory is on my side today! I Normal Summon my Red Resonator!"
(Level 2, Tuner, 600 ATK 200 DEF)
"Lastly, because I Normal Summoned a Red Monster this turn, I can Special Summon Red Warg from my hand by halving its Attack!
(Level 6, 1400 -> 700 ATK 2200 DEF)
"Also, I cannot declare an attack this turn, but I won’t need to in order to get rid of your disgrace to all dragons! I Tune my Level 2 Red Resonator to my Level 6 Red Warg! Rend the obsidian darkness! Scorch Heaven and Earth! Isolated, absolute king! Synchro Summon! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend!”
(Level 8, 3000 ATK 2000 DEF)

“I knew it!”

“Knew what?”

“I knew you weren’t the real Jack Atlas! Jack died in a Riding Duel accident 60 years ago, and when he died he took his Red Dragon Archfiend card with him, and no copies were ever printed again! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend was printed to honor his memory many years later, and is worth jack shit! Also, I noticed that your arm didn’t light up like legends say about any of the Signers when summoning their Dragons!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I am Jack Atlas, and I’m clearly alive right now! And I’m also activating the effect of my Hot Red Dragon Archfiend! Once per turn, I can destroy all other face up Attack Position Monsters on the field, but other monsters cannot declare an attack this turn!”

“Wait, what!?” Hot Red Dragon Archfiend let out a loud roar that destroyed Red’s dragon like a mirror “When Black Metal Dragon is sent from my field to the Graveyard, I can add a Red-Eyes card from my deck to my hand, and I’ll add my Red-Eyes Spirit! But that’s not the only move I’m making! When a Red-Eyes monster is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon Red-Eyes Retro Dragon from my hand in Defence Position!"
(Level 4, 1700 ATK 1600 DEF)
"And this will turn back time to before my Red-Eyes was destroyed! Revive! Red-Eyes Black Dragon!” Red’s new dragon let out a loud roar, and the mirror shards that remained from Red’s destroyed dragon began reforming themselves into his bigger dragon, which let out a louder roar upon being revived.
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)

“I Set one card and end my turn!”

“Draw!”

RED 6600 LP 4 SPC
HAND: 5
JACK 6900 LP 5 SPC
HAND: 1

Red looked at his hand, and wasn’t exactly pleased by it, containing Blazing Mirror Force, Red-Eyes Spirit, Speed Spell - Speed Fusion, Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight, and the Return of the Red-Eyes that he had just drawn “Well, guess I gotta make this work. First, I activate my Speed Spell - Speed Fusion! I can activate this card when I have 4 or more Speed Counters! Speed Spell - Speed Fusion lets me perform a Fusion Summon by sending monsters from my hand or field to the Graveyard! I’ll fuse the Red-Eyes Black Dragon on my field and Gearfried the Red-Eyes Iron Knight in my hand! Appear, from the black miasma of hell! The armored dragon of nightmares! Fusion Summon! Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!"
(Level 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF)
"Now, I activate my facedown Metalmorph! I equip this card to a monster I control, and it gains 300 ATK! (Red-Eyes Slash Dragon 2800 ATK -> 3100 ATK) Also, I shift my Red-Eyes Retro Dragon to Attack Position! Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Slash Dragon attacks-”

“Nothing! I activate my Threatening Roar Trap Card! You cannot declare an attack this turn!”

“Fuck, well then I set three cards face down and end my turn!”

“I draw!”

RED 6600 LP 5 SPC
HAND: 0
JACK 6900 LP 6 SPC
HAND: 2

“I activate my Speed Spell - Angel Baton! This lets me draw two cards and discard one! I discard my Makyura the Destructor! Now I can activate Trap Cards from my hand until the End Phase! Now, I activate my Speed Spell - Shift Down! By removing 6 of my Speed Counters, I draw 2 cards!”
JACK 6 SPC -> 0 SPC HAND: 0 -> 2
Jack’s D-Wheel slowed down tremendously, winding up behind Red’s D-Board “Ahh, it’s been too long! As King, there’s no greater feeling than being chased for your throne, but I’ve forgotten how satisfying being the chaser can be! I Normal Summon my Double Resonator!"
(Level 1, Tuner, 0 ATK 0 DEF)
"And now, thanks to the effect of Makyura the Destructor, I activate Call of the Haunted from my hand! This Continuous Trap lets me Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position! I revive my Dark Resonator!”
(Level 3, Tuner, 1300 ATK 300 DEF)

“You dumbass! All Synchro Monsters require 1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuners! You’re accomplishing nothing by swarming the field with Tuners and high level monsters!”

“Oh really then? Well look closely! Because I Double Tune my Level 1 Tuner Double Resonator with my Level 3 Tuner Dark Resonator to my Level 8 Hot Red Dragon Archfiend!” Jack’s Tuner monsters dissolved into wireframes before turning into rings like a normal Synchro Summon, however, instead of green rings, they turned into rings of fire, with Hot Red Dragon Archfiend being enveloped in a pillar of flame as the Double Tuned Synchro Monster began to form.

“Double what now?”

“Aloof, God of Destruction! Descend from your sacred realm and bring about the end! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity!”
(Level 12, 4000 ATK 3500 DEF)

“What the fuck is that thing!?”

“This is my ultimate monster! When Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity is Synchro Summoned, you cannot activate cards or effects for the rest of this turn, not even in response to this card’s effect!”

“WHAT?”

“Battle Phase! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity attacks your Red-Eyes Slash Dragon! Crimson Absolute Break!” Jack’s dragon launched a massive fireball towards Red’s Slash Dragon, incinerating it completely.
RED 6600 LP -> 5400 LP 5 SPC -> 4 SPC
“Furthermore! When Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity destroys a monster by battle, you take damage equal to its original attack!”
RED 5400 LP -> 2600 LP 4 SPC -> 2 SPC “I end my turn!”

“Fuck… looks like it’s all on this next draw!”

RED 2600 LP 3 SPC
HAND: 1
JACK 6900 LP 1 SPC
HAND: 1

“...I set one card face down and end my turn…”

“That’s your best? It’s all over for you! I draw!”

RED 2600 LP 4 SPC
HAND: 0
JACK 6900 LP 2 SPC
HAND: 2

“Battle phase! Hot Red Dragon Archfiend attacks your Red-Eyes Retro Dragon! Crimson Absolute Break!”

“Not so fast! I activate my Trap Card! Blazing Mirror Force! This card destroys all Attack Position monsters you control, and then burns both of us for damage equal to half the collective Attack!”

“What the-!?” Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity’s fireball was reflected back towards it by a magical barrier that suddenly enveloped Red’s Red-Eyes monster, with the collision resulting in a major explosion that caught both Duelists.

RED 2600 LP -> 600 LP 4 SPC -> 2 SPC
JACK 6900 LP -> 4900 LP 2 SPC -> 0 SPC

“When Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon Hot Red Dragon Archfiend from my Grave-”

“Sorry Jackie, but I’m afraid I can’t allow that either! I activate my facedown Solemn Judgement! By paying half my Life Points, I can negate absolutely anything! And that includes the summon of your dragon!”
RED 600 LP -> 300 LP
“Now go ahead, and say that phrase! You can do it!”

“I...end my turn-!”

“Alright! My draw!”

RED 300 LP 3 SPC
HAND: 1
JACK 4900 LP 1 SPC
HAND: 1

“I activate my facedown card! Return of the Red-Eyes! So long as I control a Red-Eyes Monster, once per turn I can Special Summon a Red-Eyes Normal Monster in my Graveyard! Revive, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
(Level 7, 2400 ATK 1700 DEF)
"Now, I activate my next facedown card, Red-Eyes Spirit! This lets me Special Summon a Red-Eyes monster from my Graveyard! I Special Summon my Red-Eyes Slash Dragon!"
(Level 7, 2800 ATK 2400 DEF)
"Battle Phase! Red-Eyes Slash Dragon attacks directly!”
JACK 4900 LP -> 2100 LP 1 SPC -> 0 SPC
“It’s all over now! Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Direct attack! Inferno Fire Blast!” Red’s dragon launched a fireball towards Jack, with the console’s Duel Support screen turning completely red with bold white text on it saying LOSE as it suddenly stopped accelerating.
JACK 2100 LP -> 0 LP

“Master...I’ve failed you…” Jack said, as he and his D-Wheel disintegrated into a card not unlike Manjome just earlier that night

“Red! That was very impressive!” Luna said, flying to where Red had managed to stop his acceleration “

“Oh, hey Luna, how’d you see what was happening?”

“I had a spell planted on your subconscious when I first encountered you in the dream realm to monitor your thoughts to determine where you were, and it had occurred to me that I had not dispelled it yet. Speaking of which, I shall do that now.” Luna’s horn lighted up a gentle blue, as Red felt something snap in his head.

“Ow! Fuck that hurt! And why the fuck did you put a thought sensor on me!?”

“It was to monitor your position when I thought you were a threat to Equestria, and for not dispelling it earlier, I apologize.”

“Right, well, I think Jack turned into a card like Manjome did, so I’m gonna go check it out.”

Red Dragon Revival
Continuous Trap
Once per turn, you can target 1 DARK Dragon Monster in your GY; Special Summon it. If you control no monsters, you can activate this card from your hand.

“Damn, now this is a good card! You go back to Ponyville on your own, I’m gonna take the train if you don’t mind.”

“Very well, but we should discuss what these attacks could mean for Equestria as a whole, so I shall go with you.”

“Alright, do what you want, princess.”

**********************************************************

“So it seems that Jack has also failed, but he wasn’t broken like Manjome was, so I can still use him later if I so desire…” Said a voice in Tartarus “The time has almost come for me to break free of these shackles, and for Equestria, nay, the entire world to burn at my hands...But I just need a few more Ponies to be afraid of me, to be afraid of death itself for that to happen…So be it, I shall conjure another minion, this one shall just be weak enough to collect the energy I need to escape, nothing fancy like Jack was…”