Episode 46: Part 2: Winning through Loss
EPISODE FORTY-SIX
Masquerade continued to snickered, “Are you ready, kids, because this next monster I summon is going to clean you all out you won’t know what hit you!”
Sunset and Rainbow shuddered.
“Quit yaking and just play it already!” growled Karle.
“As you wish.” hissed Masquerade “I play the spell ADVANCED RITUAL ART!”
The duelists all gasped.
“A Ritual Spell?!” cried Sunset.
“Yes, and the power of this spell lets me summon any Ritual Monster from my hand, as long as I send Normal Monsters from my deck to the graveyard, and their combined levels equal that of the my summoning.
So, I send two Level 4 monsters to the graveyard to initiate the ritual!”
Two monster images appeared, and vanished into a large vortex that appeared, causing the entire field to quiver.
The spectators could feel the shockwaves rumbling below.
“What’s happening?!” cried Pinkie.
Fluttershy felt her knees starting to give way in her own trembling.
“The ritual is complete!” said Raven “Here it comes!”
The monster’s huge arm emerged from the vortex, followed by its other arm, and slowing the creature rose up for all to see.
Masquerade called out, “And there he is… DEMISE, KING OF ARMAGEDDON!”
(Atk: 2400)
The dark looking monster gripped his strong axe, and moaned in an angry sneer.
Karle growled softly, while Sunset and Rainbow gawked at the creature.
“Yes, marvel in his wickedness.” said Masquerade, “But wait until you see his special ability!
All I’m required to do is pay 2000 life points…”
Masquerade LP: 2500 -----> 500
“…And now every single other card on the field will be destroyed!!”
One-by-one, the girls let out a horrified gasp, and the king then raised his mighty axe as it glowed bright, creating another vortex above, unleashed a strong wave of lightning bolts that stormed the field.
KAPOW!! Such brightness, such rumbling, and explosions as all the cards were vanquished, the girls all groaned and held on tightly to their seats!
The spectators could only watch helplessly on the screen!
Onboard the Titans’ camper, Kori and Cadance had returned safely, but Kori couldn’t herself back anymore and she cried softly when she told the others the news.
Robin gave her a cup of water and stay down next to her. He honestly didn’t know what to say. He felt angry and upset now that the banishment was final and the people of the city didn’t want the Titans back anymore.
Vic sat by himself in the driver’s seat-- The auto-pilot was on keeping the camper on free-float—he was silent and as downhearted as his teammates.
Luna approached him softly. “Vic…?” she put her hand on his shoulder, and he hardly moved. “Don’t despair, we’ll figure this out.”
Vic raised his hand and placed it over hers, but shook his head in disbelief. “For once in my life I just don’t see how.
The people just chucked us out like old gloves. They don’t even want our help anymore, and hardly anyone out there is willing to help us.
…It’s really beginning to look like the end of the line.”
Luna still hadn’t given up hope for the Titans, and from what Cadance told her, she, too, was convinced the people were just overly insane from lack of stability over the years.
Cadance was explaining the same thing to her husband. “There’s got to be a way to show them and help them.”
Shining Armor agreed, but neither he nor any of the others had the slightest idea, every other idea at this time only seemed like wishful thinking.
Suddenly, the screens showing the duel glowed brightly.
“Hey, what’s going on?” wondered Shining, and everyone turned to watch the duel.
“Uh, oh!” said Robin “Looks like Masquerade’s stepping up his game!”
The light from the storm cleared, and the entire field was nearly bare, except for the king.
Of course, since Masquerade paid a load of his life points, his chair rose up higher and higher, now more than two stories above all the girls, but they were still able to hear him because of the mics and speakers places around the field.
As for Rainbow, she called up to him. “You sent my Fuzzy Lanius to the graveyard, which means I can add a third Fuzzy Lanius to my hand!”
But really she was most concerned as she thought, “He just totally cleared out the field! At least he put himself in a spot though. With only 500 life points left, it shouldn’t be too hard to knock him out.”
Sunset was not so convinced however as she thought, “That was a pretty risky move, giving up all his life points like that. I’m positive why he did it was well worth it.”
“Now then,” said Masquerade “I activate CARD OF DEMISE! So now I draw five cards, as long as I discard my hand in five turns, but it doesn’t matter, seeing as I’m going to wipe the floor with all of you!”
Karle pointed out, “Um, reality check: Your monster has 2400 attack points. It’s not allowed to make any direct attacks.”
Masquerade scoffed, “Pathetic as always.”
Karle cringed.
“Now watch, and learn--if you can! I send one card in my hand to the graveyard, so I can equip my king with this: TWIN SWORDS OF FLASHING LIGHT- TRYCE!”
The king sheathed his axe onto his back and grabbed two twin blades that appeared before.
“What are those for?” asked Sunset.
“Simple,” hissed Masquerade “The power of these two blades grants my monster one additional attack each turn. So he can now attack twice!
…However, it does come at a price. The swords also reduce my monster’s attack power by 500 points.”
(Atk: 2400) -----> (Atk: 1900)
The girls gasped again.
“Nineteen-hundred?!” cried Rainbow.
“That means…!” wailed Sunset.
“…Now he CAN attack us!” added Karle.
Masquerade then looked between the three opponents trying to figure out whom to strike first.
“If I attack Rainbow Dash, I’ll wipe her out, but still, with my own life points low, I can’t take any chances just yet.”
He then looked between Sunset and Karle.
“Yes, that will do it.”
He then called to his king, “Demise… I order you, attack Sunset and Karle!”
Karle and Sunset braced themselves as the king pitched the two swords straight for them, striking them both hard and dealing them 1900 points of damage each.
Sunset LP: 4000 -----> 2100
Karle LP: 4000 -----> 2100
Their chairs both began to rise, up, and up, passing by and stopping just a little above Rainbow’s. Now all four duelists were high up off the floor.
Sunset didn’t like being up open high places, unless she was in her Magic Form, which allowed her to levitate safely.
She managed to hang on and stay in her seat.
Masquerade was amused. “Now I’ll place three cards facedown, and end my turn.”
The spectators were feeling really stressed out.
Rarity spoke with her hankie clenched between her teeth. “I can’t take much more of this suspense!”
“That Masquerade!” groaned Applejack “He always seems to pull some trick out of hat!”
“And worse still,” said Twilight “Remember, none of the others can summon monsters on their next turn. If they don’t do something, Masquerade can wipe them out on his next move.”
The Prince Brothers watched the duel with delight and amusement.
“Things are certainly starting to heat up.” said Loki “Masquerade has the others right where he wants them. This duel shouldn’t last too much longer.”
“Now, now,” said Rubeus “The duel isn’t over until it’s over.”
He then thought silently, “Plus, the longer the duel carries on, the more energy is harnessed. A few more turns will do very well for us.”
For now it was Sunset’s turn.
“Here I come!” she shouted as she drew her card.
“My Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!” she cried out in thought “Oh…! If I only summon this, but I can’t Pendulum Summon in this duel, and I can’t even play a single monster this turn anyway. Even if I could, Odd-Eyes would still require two sacrifices for me to summon.”
Then she looked down at her other two cards, and she began to devise a plan. “It’s a long shot, but it’s my only one right now.”
“I activate GRACEFUL CHAIRTY! Now I draw three cards, and then I have to discard two.”
She got her cards, and one of the cards she threw out was her Odd-Eyes.
“I’ll place one card facedown, and end my turn.”
“That’s it?!” snapped Karle “That’s all you’re going to do? And you wonder why I call you and your friends “Lamos?”
Sunset and Rainbow felt insulted.
Karle drew her card “I’ll show you a real move!
I’ll start by playing POT OF GREED, so I can draw two cards.
Next, I’ll activate this little beauty; FISSURE! It destroys one monster in play, which means your king is about to be dethroned Masquerade, so say bye-bye to it.”
Masquerade said nothing, and just watched causally as his king was vanquished.
“What’s with him?” thought Karle “He just lost his monster and he acted as if it was nothing.
Maybe one of his facedown cards-- maybe he expected his king would be destroyed this turn, and he set up something to bring it back?”
She looked between Sunset and Rainbow. “I still can’t let these two beat him and face him in the next duel. That’s going to be me.”
She placed two cards facedown, ending her turn.
“My move now.” said Rainbow, and she drew her card and looked deeply at it, as well as the other cards in her hand.
“This is it! This card can help me, but I can’t play it just yet, even if I could summon monsters, I need things to be exactly perfect to play it.”
She looked back and forth at the other players.
“I really cannot believe this, but I’m going to have to rely on everyone’s help, not just Sunset. Plus, she doesn’t even know what I’m going to do, and I can’t just blab it.”
She knew she couldn’t stall forever, and she decided to just play it all as best she could.
“I’ll place two cards facedown, and end my turn.”
With their turns now complete, the No Summoning restriction was broken, but now it was back to Masquerade.
“I draw…!” he called “And now I activate CALL OF THE HAUNTED!”
“Here it comes!” Karle thought.
“With this trap, I shall summon one monster from my graveyard, and I choose… JINZO!”
The girls gasped in confusion and watched as the monster appeared and folded its arms at everyone.
(Atk: 2400)
“Ah! Jinzo?!” cried Karle.
“I see you know of this monster, bravo.” taunted Masquerade “Then you and the others should know that as long as Jinzo is out, Trap cards cannot be activated, and their effects are canceled out!”
The girls were outraged, and Rainbow wondered.
“How did that monster get into his graveyard?” then she realized he had discarded it when he played Non-Aggression Area.
“A clever move!” cried Twilight “By summoning Jinzo, now even his own traps are negated as well, which means Jinzo is no longer tied to Call of the Haunted.”
“Yeah, but it’s still too strong to attack anyone.” Fluttershy pointed out.
“I believe he still plans to attack anyway.” said Celestia.
She was right on the mark as Masquerade continued his move.
“I now activate the spell card SHRINK, which I can use to cut the attack points of Jinzo in half for this turn.”
(Atk: 2400) -----> (Atk: 1200)
The girls didn’t like this one bit.
“Now…!” shouted Masquerade “Jinzo, I order you to attack Karle directly!”
“Me?!” cried Karle, and she watched as Jinzo fired a huge pulse of energy straight at her.
POW!! The blast struck, and Karle was forced back hard into her seat by the force of the shockwaves.
“You’ll pay for that!” she threatened as her chair rose higher.
Karle LP: 2100 -----> 900
Her chair then stopped, just a few feet from being on the same level as his chair.
Sunset looked up at the two and wondered, “Why did he go after Karle? Now they’re both closer to the top, while Rainbow and I are closer to the bottom.”
She suddenly realized the truth…
…Rainbow realized the same thing, “Oh, no! Masquerade is trying to fix it so he faces Karle, and Sunset and I will have to face each other!”
Karle was most astounded, having realized the truth as well. “So he wants to face me? Well, I don’t know if I should feel honored, but it does make my job a little easier.
Maybe I should just let him wipe me out then.”
The spectators all were very concerned.
“If Masquerade and Karle lose,” said Pinkie “Then that means Sunset and Rainbow will end up facing each other!”
“No!!” shrieked Rarity “We cannot let that happen! We mustn’t!”
Of course there was nothing that any one of them could do about it.
Luckily, Masquerade ended his turn with one facedown card. His hand was now empty, and Jinzo’s attack power returned to normal.
Rarity sighed so heavily that she fainted over backward.
Some of the others felt the same way; all them wondering how Sunset and Rainbow could turn this around so they wouldn’t face each other.
It was Sunset’s turn, but she was seriously contemplating things.
“Karle and Masquerade are both trying to face each other; which means they’re probably going to be starting some kind of alliance to wipe each other out since their both so high up there.”
She realized there was only one possible way out of this, and she looked over at Rainbow.
“Maybe if either Rainbow or I can get knocked out first, then there’s no way we’ll end up facing each other.”
Rainbow seemed to happen upon the same idea.
“Still,” thought Sunset “We’ve got to get Jinzo off the field first.”
Nothing she had in her hand or on the field would help her do that, so she had to put all her faith into her next draw.
She laid her fingers on the card, and pulled it out.
“Aha!” she called “Just the thing! I activate DOUBLE SPELL! Now I just send one spell in my hand to the graveyard, and now I can activate this card as any other spell that’s been played…
…and I choose, BOOK OF MOON!”
Karle looked down at her graveyard as her card activated beyond her control, and seeing as Jinzo was the only monster in play, Sunset turned him facedown, much to Masquerade’s annoyance!
“All right!” cheered Rainbow “With Jinzo down, that means traps can’t be stopped anymore!”
Sunset nodded, “That means I can activate my own trap card. Does it look familiar…? Well, it should!
…CALL OF THE HAUNTED! Now I get to revive a monster, and the one I choose is my ever-so-faithful ODD-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON!”
Her mighty dragon roared as it burst in from out of nowhere.
(Atk: 2500)
Rainbow was pleased, the others were hardly.
The spectators were going wild with cheers.
“Sunset just got her ace onto the field!” cheered Terra “Things may finally be turning around.”
“Yes, but don’t forget.” said Celestia “She can’t make any direct attacks, so her only option will be to attack Jinzo.”
She was right too. Sunset had no choice and diecded it was best before Jinzo was played face-up again.
“Go Odd-Eyes; attack Jinzo while he’s still face-down!”
Her dragon complied and unleashed its fiery wrath at the card images, shattering it to pieces.
Masquerade looked, after bracing himself from the blast. “Well played, I suppose…”
Sunset didn’t take kindly to his hollow comment, and ended her turn with one last face-down card.
“Now it’s my move.” said Karle “I draw…!”
She liked what she had.
“First I activate the trap RECKLESS GREED! So now I may draw two cards, but I have to skip my next two draw phases, not like it matters.”
She drew her cards.
“Now I summon LUNALIGHT BLUE CAT!!”
(Atk: 1600)
“And I’ll use it to Attack you directly Masquerade!”
Her dumpy little monster jumped forth, and prepared to bash into Masquerade.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” he hissed at her, “But I can’t let the duel end so easily, so I activate DRAINING SHEILD!”
“You what…?!”
“Oh, yes! Now the attack of your monster is instead absorbed into my life points!”
Masquerade LP: 500 -----> 2100
Because his points increased, his chair lowered down a little bit, but the girls were most confused, all of them knowing Masquerade wanted to face Karle. “So why would he stop a much-needed attack and increase his life points?” they wondered.
Masquerade then thought to himself, “I need to ensure things play out myself. She doesn’t realize that the other two may be planning something sneaky. I can’t let myself get knocked out until I’m absolutely sure.”
Karle was livid, but not discouraged, “You won’t get away from me that easily, especially when I activate my face-down, FUSION TAG!”
“Fusion Tag?” said Rainbow “What’s that do?”
Karle snickered and explained, “It allows me to show you all one Fusion monster in my Extra Deck. So here’s Lunalight Cat Dancer!”
The card image then fired beam of light onto her Blue Cat that was on the field.
“What’s happening?” asked Sunset.
“Simple,” said Karle, “Now my Blue Cat is treated as if it were my Cat Dancer, and just in time, because now I use POLYMERIZATION!”
The other three gawked hard.
“What is she playing that for?” wondered Robin “She doesn’t even have the appropriate monsters she can fuse.”
“Actually, she does.” corrected Shining Armor “Back when Twilight used to duel, she showed me about the Hex monster, and that it has the ability to substitute itself for any one appropriate Fusion Material monster.”
The others all gawked at the screen.
Karle then shouted out, “I substitute my Dark Hex as “Lunalight Cat Dancer! Now I fuse it along with this Lunalight Blue-Cat in my hand.
I Fusion summon LUNALIGHT PANTHER DANCER!”
(Atk: 2800)
Her monster appeared, and Sunset was simply shocked.
“…She actually managed a Fusion Summon!”
Rainbow getting a bit worried. “That monster can’t be destroyed by any card effects either!” then she calmed down, “Not that it matters. She already wasted her battle phase this turn.”
Karle snickered, “Don’t you ever get tired of misjudging?”
“Huh?”
“I activate MISCHIEF OF THE TIME GODDESS!”
“Ah!” cried Rainbow.
“Oh, no!” added Sunset “That skips ahead to her next battle phase!”
Karle grinned wickedly, and looked down at Odd-Eyes, since it was the only thing she could attack.
“Here I come!” she shouted “And remember; Panther Dancer’s ability allows it to attack your monster twice each turn, as long as your monster isn’t destroyed the first time round.”
She then ordered her monster to attack Sunset’s dragon!
“I don’t think so!” shouted Sunset “I activate the trap MAGIC CYLINDER!”
“What?!” shouted Karle.
Sunset smirked, “Your monster only can’t be destroyed by card effects, but this trap reflects your monsters attack into a direct assault on you!!”
“No!!” cried Karle, but she had no cards left to use, and neither Rainbow nor Masquerade were willing to play any cards-- if such-- to stop it.
The attack was absorbed through the magical tubes and then turned and fired straight back at Karle.
She screamed and groaned as the light hit her!
Karle LP: 900 -----> 0
“Yeah!!” cheered Rainbow “Way to play it, Sunset!!”
Sunset shot her a thumb up, while Karle was livid as her chair rose all the way to the top.
The spectators were all hoping around and cheering like crazy. Terra even grabbed Raven, choking her in a hug.
“They did it!! They wiped Karle out!”
“Hooray…!!” Raven groaned in her choke.
Now it was Rainbow’s turn, and hopefully she could do what had to be done to end the duel the way almost everyone wanted it to be.
Rainbow took a huge breath in to concentrate. “Here goes… I draw!”
“This is it!” she thought, “If I play my cards right, I can wipe out Sunset, and that way she’ll be facing Karle in the next round.”
She caught a glimpse of Sunset and her welcoming expression, telling her to “Do it!”
Rainbow agreed.
“First: I once again summon RAIDRAPTOR – FUZZY LANIUS!”
(Atk: 500)
“And while I’m at it, I’ll enhance him with another RAPTOR’S ULTIMATE MACE!”
(Atk: 500) -----> (Atk: 1500)
“Now I’m ready to attack, and I choose to strike Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”
Sunset grinned, Masquerade grumbled, and the spectators… they were just stunned!
“Has Rainbow gone mad?” asked Rarity “Her monster is far too weak to destroy Odd-Eyes.”
The others all agreed, but some of them began to feel maybe it was exactly what Rainbow wanted.
“Go Fuzzy Lanius!” shouted Rainbow.
“Odd-Eyes, counter the attack!” called Sunset, and her dragon complied and unleashed its flames upon the oncoming monster. “So much for him, and thanks to Odd-Eyes’ ability, you take double the damage!”
The flames struck Rainbow, and she seemed to welcome them with a smirking expression.
Rainbow LP: 2500 -----> 500
Her chair then rose way up high, well past Masquerade. She gave him a sneering looking as if to say “…You’re mine!”
When her chair stopped, her features hardened, “Now I have everything exactly as I need it to be, so I can play DIMENSION XYZ!
This card can only be played when I have 1000 life points or less, and three copies of the same monster in my graveyard. Now I can Xyz Summon using all three of my Fuzzy Laniuses!”
Her monsters began to resonate in the graveyard and appeared before her as the vanished into the Overlay Network.
“Now I Xyz Summon RAIDRAPTOR – RISE FALCON!”
(Atk: 100)
Her monster cawed loudly as it spread out its wings!
“Impressive.” thought Masquerade “She finally managed to pull off an Xyz Summoning. Too bad it won’t help her too much.”
“Now!” shouted Rainbow “I activate my face-down, “RANK-UP-MAGIC RAID FORCE!
Now I can rebuild the Overlay Network using my Rise Falcon, and I can summon a monster one rank higher.
Go Rank-Up-Xyz-Evolution!!”
The monster was bathed in light produced by the portal, and it grew in size.
“I summon RAIDRAPTOR STRANGER FALCON!”
(Atk: 2000)
“Nice play, Rainbow!” hollered Sunset.
Rainbow flicked her hair in a cool pose. “And it’s going to get all the sweeter, because Stranger Falcon allows me to destroy one monster on the field, and my opponent will take damage equal to that monster’s original attack strength!”
The spectators all watched with extreme hope in their eyes.
“If this works, Sunset will lose 2500 life points!” said Fluttershy.
“Which means, Sunset will lose the duel,” added Pinkie “She’ll face against Karle and Rainbow will face Masquerade!”
“Let’s hope it pulls through!” said Applejack.
Karle didn’t like this one bit. “This can’t be happening!!” she groaned in thought “I’m supposed to face Masquerade, not one of those brats!”
Rainbow was just about to activate the effect of her monster, when Masquerade suddenly shouted, “I play the quick-play spell FORBIDDEN CHALICE!”
Rainbow and Sunset gasped.
“This card will grant your monster an extra 400 attack points, but the catch is that it loses its special abilities for this turn!”
“Oh, no!” cried Sunset “If Stranger Falcon loses its effects our plan won’t work.”
“Ah, but it will work!” said Rainbow “I suspected he’d pull a stunt like that, so I have a trap, RAPTOR’S GUST!”
Masquerade grumbled!
“Since I have a “Raidraptor” in play, your spell is canceled out.”
The trap blew a strong gale of winds at the forces of the spell, and cancelled it out, but Masquerade didn’t seem the least bit concerned, and he snickered.
“What’s he laughing about?” wondered Sunset.
“He’s just trying to psyche me out.” gloated Rainbow “Well it won’t work, because now I use Stranger Falcon’s ability: By using an Overlay Unit, Odd-Eyes will be destroyed!
Go Stranger Falcon!!”
That’s what she wanted, but nothing happened. All of the overlay units were still intact, and Stranger Falcon didn’t do a thing.
“Hey! What’s going on?!” wailed Rainbow “What happened to my Falcon?!”
Masquerade snickered, “…I stopped it, that’s what; Thanks to my BREAKTHROUGH SKILL!”
The girls gasped again, and Karle muttered, “…Very clever.”
Masquerade then explained, “I had a feeling you’d try and stop me from stopping you, so I prepared a perfect backup!-- not one, but two cards capable of blocking your monster's ability.
Too bad you didn't think of that yourself, but as usual... you fail to outwit me!"
Rainbow growled, frustrated in humiliation!
“Maybe if you had paid better attention you could have avoided it, but as usual your dueling skills are the same as ever: highly disappointing.”
Rainbow and Sunset were furious, but unfortunately there was nothing Rainbow could do now. Not one of the cards she had left would help her.
So she ended her turn.
The spectators were all trembling now.
“Sunset… Rainbow…!!” whimpered Fluttershy.
“This cannot be happening!!” wailed Rarity “They were so close!”
Terra and Raven clenched their fists, both angered at Masquerade’s cunning slipperiness.
Now it was his turn. He drew a card.
“Perfect.”
Sunset and Rainbow didn’t like the sound of that.
“I summon BABY DRAGON!”
(Atk: 1200)
His dumpy little dragon didn’t seem so fierce compared to Sunset’s Odd-Eyes, Sunset feared that was the whole point.
“Oh, no!” she cried.
“He wouldn’t!” shuddered Rainbow.
Karle grinned widely.
Masquerade snickered and ordered his dragon to attack Odd-Eyes.
The little dragon blasted a huge fireball, which did absolutely nothing, and Odd-Eyes looked down at the little runt, growling angrily.
“Odd-Eyes don’t…!!” cried Sunset, but of course her pleas were fruitless as the hologram was forced to return fire, and with a might blast of its flames, the little dragon was destroyed instantly.
“No!!” cried Sunset “Now Masquerade will take double the damage from the attack!”
Masquerade LP: 1500 -----> 0
Sunset and Rainbow were frozen in shock, while Karle nearly leapt out of her chair with delight!
“What just happened?” asked Pinkie.
The others didn’t answer, too upset and too shocked. They didn’t have to either.
A bell rang signifying the duel was over and the images on the field vanished.
“The duels are decided!” called the referee, and the monitors showed the standings for the next round. “…Karle Plight versus Masquerade and Rainbow Dash versus Sunset Shimmer!”
Onboard the camper, the gang was flabbergasted.
“Never thought I’d see Masquerade pull such a stunt like that.” said Vic.
“Unbelievable!” cried Luna “He willfully lost the duel in order to pit himself against Karle, so that Sunset and Rainbow would duel each other.”
This was only the beginning!
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That was a cheap trick man. I'm impressed.
10262836
It's all part of the game... (But it seems that butthurt downvoters can't respect that)
10262869
True. Although I just thought of something u could have done in the beginning.