• Published 15th Aug 2019
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Duelist Team of Canterlot High - Brony-wan-kenobi



Six students will represent Canterlot High in a childrens card game tournament. And none of them are the main seven!

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Tournaments End

Duel Score

Appleloosa High: 10

Canterlot High: 16


Silence covered the entire field as the scoreboard changed, signaling the end of the duel. The people in the stands seemed glued to their seats with their mouths open. A cold wind blew past them, strong enough to knock over their empty cups, plates, and bags of chips. Only one man, Pegasus, moved at all. He stood up tall and politely clapped his hands which echoed through the silence.


Then…


“THE WINNER IS CANTERLOT HIGH!” screamed the announcer who seemed to just be coming out of a daze, his voice ringing through the speaker system. If one were to listen close enough, they might be able to hear his voice slightly breaking. As if he were about to break into tears of relief. “ITS OVER! CANTERLOT HIGH HAS WON!” The sound of his voice seemed to snap everyone in the stands out of their funk. Many of them stood up, knocking over whatever hadn’t already fallen down to the ground. But rather than scream in anger, demanding a rematch, or whatever else they cried out with joy at seeing an amazing come from behind victory. They hooted and howled, with some even unwisely jumping up and down in the stands. There were those who shook cans of soda before opening them, sending the drink flying into the air while others threw up popcorn as well as anything else they could use as confetti. From the sounds of it, they were reacting as through they had won themselves.


Down on the field itself, Wallflower and Liberty lowered their arms as their duel disks retracted. Both women were smiling, with Wallflower’s being the biggest. Tears threatened to appear in her eyes while she wished wholeheartedly that her monsters were real. That way she could give them all a hug for everything that they did tonight. Liberty took her loss with stride, picking up her cards and then kissing them before putting back her deck. She then turned around and waved at Wallflower without turning back, walking away like a badass.


At that moment, hands and voices surrounded Wallflower. It was her teammates! They were all saying things but, with all the noise, she couldn’t hear a word of what they were saying even though they were all right next to her! But she could see the smiles on their faces right before they picked her up. Before she knew what was happening Wallflower was being tossed high into the air, laughing all the while. As this continued, fireworks were fired into the night sky illuminating the background like glowing flowers of light. The joy that filled Wallflower’s heart was like nothing she had ever felt before and she knew deep down that this would be a night she would remember for the rest of her life.


It took fifteen minutes for things to sort of die down. The students had stopped throwing Wallflower into the air and had allowed her feet to touch the ground, but the celebration was far from over. As the crowd milled out of the stands, Wallflower’s teammates continued to congratulate her.


“That was amazing!” screeched Autumn from directly behind Wallflower, wrapping her arms around the green girl’s neck before bouncing up and down. “I thought you were a goner out there but you showed everyone!”


“It certainly had me at the edge of my seat,” said Hunter with a nod. “I thought my heart was going to explode when you played that Jackfrost at the last second.”


“That Liberty girl might have made superior fire power, but guerilla tactics can usually get around those sorts of things,” said Pharynx. “That and plenty of traps.”


“The ones in the hand were the most dangerous,” said Moondancer in agreement. “She had no idea what she was in for.”


“Yeah, way to go…what was your name again?” asked Lightning. For a moment, everyone there froze on the spot before turning to look at Lightning with wide eyed disbelief. Lightning looked back at this with a blank, confused expression before it broke. Her lips began to wiggled as her face scrunched up. Her eyes looked like they were beginning to water before finally the dam within her broke. “Pfff, hahaha! You should all see your faces! Of course I remember she’s Wallflower.”


At first, everyone looked at each other as if unsure how to react to this. Should they laugh alongside her or scold her? Wallflower, however, didn’t need much time to decide as she too burst out laughing. Soon the rest of the team began to double down with laughter. By the time the people in the crowd had approached them, the entire team was laughing so hard they were nearly in tears.


Off to the side, Luna watched her team with pride as the people in the stands began to shower them with praise. She stood there, allowing it to happen as she felt they deserved this. All of them did an amazing job tonight.


The crowd seemed to agree as well. While some headed home, talking quickly about the match or hurrying home in order to put their children to bed, others were approaching the Canterlot team. Head among them were Rainbow and Spitfire, making a beeline for Lightning. The Vice-Principal watched as Rainbow and Lightning high-fived each other with Spitfire standing a few feet away with her shoulder slumped and looking utterly miserable. Neither of the two girls paid her any mind, letting her stew in the situation she had put herself in. Luna was sure that, in time, they would forgive her for what she had done. But tonight? No, not tonight.


Others approached the rest of the team. Many of them just seemed to pat the duelists on the back while a few stayed, seeming to ask questions. If Luna hazard to guess they were asking questions that might improve their own decks. A few of them were handing out coupons. One of those was the pulled pork guy, if Luna’s memory served correctly. He was there, handing Wallflower several of them looking increasingly nervous as he rubbed the side of his head.


But movement caught her eye from the other side of the field. It was Silver Star, leading his team towards theirs. They all walked in a straight line behind their teacher, but even this couldn’t hide the towering form of Breaburn whose appearance caused Luna’s eyes to flash dangerously. If he was going to cause more trouble then, well, she would have much stronger words with Silver Star before they left. As well as after!


Thankfully nothing seemed to happen. Silver Star broke from his team before approaching Luna. Yet while he did this, Luna kept her eyes on the Appleloosa team. She watched as they all approached their opposing duelists to congratulate them, tensing as Breaburn approached Hunter with a raised hand. Thankfully, they both shook and gave each other a nod. Autumn and Strongheart shook very quickly before Autumn seemed to burst into a series of questions, pointing at Strongheart’s duel disk and motioning the throwing motion she had done before. Quick Strike shook Lightning’s hand while Pharynx and Troubleshoes did the same. Liberty and Wallflower shook before the America loving teen wrapped an arm around Wallflower’s neck and began to laugh loudly. Sadly, not everyone seemed to be in the best of spirits. Sparkle shook Moondancer’s hand with much reluctance, looking away as they shook and putting on a pouty face. After it was over, Sparkle broke their connection and proceeded to storm off.


“Howdy there,” said Silver Star as he walked towards Luna. Within moments, he was standing in front of her with his hand outstretched. “Heck of a night, heh?”


Luna smiled as she took his hand. “It’s had its highs and lows,” she replied as she shook. “I’m at least glad that this night ended on a high note. For both our teams.”


“Couldn’t agree more,” said Silver Star. “Mighty upset with them right now. The way some of them acted out there. No ma’am, ain’t the Appleloosa way.” At that, Silver Star’s eyes darted towards Breaburn and Sparkle. “If they stay on, well, they’ll be practicing their drawing and a whole heck of a lot of laps around the gym. Gonna make the rest of them do it too, group punishment an all that.”


“Well, hopefully I get to see them at their best next time we duel,” said Luna. “Perhaps it’ll be in Canterlot.”


Silver Star smiled broadly. “Ya’ll need the home field advantage the next time we face each other,” he said with a laugh. “Course we could always swing by for some group training an whatnot. Strengthen ties between our schools, help each other with strategies, an all that. Come on, we can talk more about the details over one last helping of ribs.” Still smiling, Silver Star held out his arm like before.


“Well now, that sounds simply marvelous,” said a new, third voice which startled the two of them. Looking over, they saw a man with long hair and a red suit not too far away from them. Before either of them could say anything, the man bowed. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Vice-Principal Luna. I must say that you put together a very strong team there. The final duel was by far my favorite as I simply adore Ghostricks. They remind me so much of my beloved Toons. A pity they didn’t go over so well with most duelists otherwise I would have ensured they continued to get support!”


“Ah…thank you Mr.…” began Luna as she took in this man.


“Oh, how absolutely rude of me,” said the man, a hand on his cheek that looked very theatrical. “Here’s my card.” With a flourish, the man pulled a card out of his front pocket and handed it to Luna while bowing a little once again. Luna, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow at this strange behavior but took the card nonetheless. On it was a name written in golden letters with a phone number below. Her eyes widened when she saw the name Maximillion Pegasus.


“A-Are you the-” began Luna, stammering as she showed Silver Star the card. Her friend’s eyes seemed to bug out before he too began to gape at the famous card game creator before them.


“That I am,” said Pegasus as he rose. He smiled an almost disarming smile before raising both his hands up to shoulder level in a manner that looked like he was going to give them a hug. But he just stood there as he continued to talk. “Now then, seeing as your school is about to join the ranks of other school dueling teams, I think it would be best for you to have the proper sponsorship!”


“Y-You want to sponsor us?” stammered Luna, her jaw dropping a little.


“Indeed I do,” said Pegasus, reaching out a hand to touch Luna’s chin before pushing up to close her jaw. “There now, much better. You won’t catch any flies like that! Now then, there is so much your school is going to need in order to properly compete without someone like myself you might be forced to cut funds from theater or music classes! Something like that would be simply dreadful. I couldn’t imagine a world where a school could not teach its students to appreciate the works of Mozart! So it would be my pleasure to provide your school with team issued duel disks utilizing the latest in hard light technology, the proper facilities in which to duel on, and even a few other things. Oh, and while I’m at it, some funding to help some of your other school activities. That should help secure your fledgling team from the petty grips of the school board, making you the envy of all the schools.”


Luna felt her legs growing weak as she stood there as she took this information in. Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of the game, was recognizing them as a serious team! Once word got out about this, the attitudes of many of the other schools in their district would no doubt change. They would see them as being serious about Duel Monsters, with a team to be taken seriously! Not only that, but they would be the envy of all others. There were not that many schools that provided the latest in dueling technology to help their teams, and even fewer had hard light duel disks! On top of that, he was offering them a new facility! Luna hadn’t really thought about where they were going to be putting the team in order to get training done. Normally Celestia or Iron Will would be in charge of things like that. She had assumed that, at best, they would be outside for as long as the weather would permit it. Then, when it didn’t, they would have to hope that the gym wasn’t in use.


The rest, well, that was icing on the cake! Funding was getting harder and harder every year affecting everything from sports, to classes, and even lunches. If someone like Pegasus, who was rich enough to provide their normal funding with the loose change he would find underneath his sofa, was willing to openly fund their school then the school board would have to be legally insane not to agree! And yet…


“Thank you,” said Luna finally. “But, I still don’t understand: why our school? There are so many out there with more established teams that also need this sort of help.”


“Oh, don’t worry. I can assure you that I have nothing nefarious in mind for your little school,” said Pegasus with a smile. “It just so happens that I have a personal interest with your team. So I am merely ensuring that it gets the attention that it deserves. As well as making sure that everyone will be watching it.” Luna wanted to say something about that, but Pegasus quickly turned and began walking away. “Please, have your sister and the school board give me a call when they are able to. So that we can hash out any trivial details. As long as it doesn’t interfere with my bubble bath, I’ll answer any time. Don’t keep me waiting too long.”


And with that, the man walked away leaving behind the stunned figure of Luna and a confused, as well as jealous, Silver Star.


“So, what'cha got planned?” asked Breaburn. “Really gonna use them cards?” Hunter didn’t answer right away as he and the taller teen continued to walk around the now empty field. It had been some time since the last duel had ended leaving the two all alone. Off in the distance, he could hear the sound sounds of cars leaving the parking lot as well as the crowd getting one last bit of food from the various fire pits, barbeques, and whatnot. Music was also in the air mixing well with the scent of food, making the teen wonder if everyone was partying right now. Briefly he pulled out his phone, checking to see if Vice-Principal Luna had sent him a text yet saying it was time to go. Seeing nothing, he placed the phone back into his pocket.


With that done, Hunter’s hand went to reach for the new cards he had which were secure in a deck box attached to his belt. He didn’t open it to pull them out but simply rested his hand over the plastic cover. Even with this barrier, Hunter could feel the warmth and comfort emanating from the cards. So much so that it took a great deal of effort to pull away from them.


“It feels weird,” answered Hunter. “Like…Like they’re old friends I can barely remember, but they remember me very well. Yet I feel drawn to them somehow and want to get to know them once again. I can just tell that they genuinely care about me and what to ease my-” Hunter then shook his head. “Honestly, it doesn’t make much sense.”


“That fella got you believing in that there magic talk?” suggested Breaburn, a hint of concern in his voice.


Hunter let out a laugh. “I have no idea,” he said, surprising even himself. “But, if these cards are as legal as he says they are then I see no reason in trying them out. They seem interesting enough. When I get home I’m going to do some testing to see how well they work. Maybe add a few of the cards I have in my own stockpile to them.” A thought then came to mind, causing Hunter to let out a sigh of frustration. “Then again, when Chaser finds out I got these cards, he’ll probably be sending me so much hate mail that the postman will have to have a separate truck just for me.”


Now it was Breaburn’s turn to laugh. “Getting’ that there fella all rattled up might just be worth it. Not that it should matter to ya. Ya said you were gonna start steppin’ out of his shadow, remember?”


“Yeah,” said Hunter with a nod. “You have a point there.” He then looked over at the Breaburn as they turned the corner of the field. Their walk was going nowhere, just them walking and talking. “So, what do you have planned?”


“Ah…Ah got some rebuilding ta do,” said Breaburn. “Don’t mind tellin’ that Ah lost a lot after our duel, even without me coming clean. Lost trust, respect, an even mah spot as Captain. Rightly too. So, Ah’m a gonna work on that trust an’ respect for right now. Becoming Captain again don’t mean as much as those two, ya know? Then, when Ah’m standing tall again, Ah was hoping ta have a rematch with ya. No yellin’, no blamin’. Just a simple rematch ta see where Ah stand against them there cards.”


“I’d like that,” said Hunter, closing his eyes for a moment. He then felt his phone buzzing in his pocket, which he pulled out. Sure enough, it was V.P. Luna, telling all her students to return to the bus. “Well, I have to go.” With that, Hunter separated from Breaburn and began to head off towards the parking lot.


“Hey, got a quick question for ya,” said Breaburn after Hunter had walked several feet. The teen turned, his golden yellow eyes fixed on Breaburn. “Ah know ya want ta walk out of his shadow, but Ah got ta know: was Chaser always so rotten?”


The question surprised Hunter more than he would have realized. No one had ever really asked something like that. So, for a moment, Hunter stood there as a chill wind blew in his face as he stared at the only other figure around.


Slowly, Hunter closed his eyes as he tried to remember the past. He thought back to all the abuse he had taken from Chaser, which lessened as the years were pulled back. Well, there was less calling him retarded outright and other such insults. Eventually, he was back at some of his earliest memories. He could see himself and Chaser at the kitchen table playing duel monsters for the very first time. A recently unfolded playmat separated them while, off to the corner, were the many booster packs that they had just opened. Their small hands were trembling with excitement, their life points written in red crayon next to them showing that they were both near zero. The duel had been going on for almost an hour now, with neither side gaining any long term advantage. Neither of them had gotten up from the table, not even to go to the bathroom. Then Chaser’s face lit with excitement, showing that had had lost his front tooth, as he played the Red-Eyes Black Dragon he had just gotten that day. With a single move, Chaser had attacked and won the duel. But what happened after that, Hunter couldn’t really remember. How had Chaser reacted to that first victory? All he could remember afterwards was their parents rushing over to congratulate Chaser, praising him for beating his older brother before telling Hunter to clean up the table. As for Chaser, he went to go watch cartoons.


“It’s been so long,” muttered Hunter as he looked up at the stars. “I think, maybe he wasn’t all that bad. But, well, you know what they say: Absolute power corrupts absolutely? I wonder if it’s the same with absolute adulation.”


Several days later, Luna stood in her sister’s office a few hours after the last bell had rung, doing her best not to smirk or burst out laughing. Celestia sat behind her desk looking very unlike her normal self. Most noticeable was her skin. Her normal, milky white complexion had been replaced with large patches of red. Her entire face was burnt, with dark circles around her eyes from a lack of sleep. Perhaps it was because her entire body had suffered this fate, made evident that she winced whenever she moved and was avoiding sitting back in her chair. Or it could have something to do with the several nights of non-stop partying she had been doing. Even though Celestia had washed her body and rubbed plenty of aloe on her skin, Luna could still faintly smell the alcohol on her. Finally, Celestia had clearly gained a little weight from her trip. The Hawaiian All-You-Can-Eat buffets had done a number on her figure, making her normal attire seem a little tight on her. Nothing she couldn’t fit with dieting and exercising for a couple of weeks.


A couple of weeks with no cake. Again, Luna fought hard not to grin at the personal hell her sister was in.


“It is done,” said Celestia, bringing a hand to her face as she smiled. However, the touch caused her to wince but eventually sank into it. “I have just been in contact with Spoiled Rich. She has, begrudgingly, agreed to allow this school to have its own dueling team. As a permanent addition.”


“Not that she had much choice,” said Luna as she moved to the opposite wall in the room, making sure her sister could see her leaning back against it. She could feel her sister’s ire shooting towards her from her eyes, no doubt jealous of the fact that she was not in any pain. And Luna was loving every moment of this! “Not when the school board heard about everything that Mr. Pegasus is offering. I heard he’s going to be sending his lawyer over sometime this week to go over how the money he is donating is to be spent.”


“Yes, I heard about that as well. From what I have gathered, he wants to make sure the money he is so graciously giving this school goes to the right places and not the pockets of people like Spoiled. And he wants one of us to be there at the table,” said Celestia, her eyes flickering towards her sun burnt skin, tight fitting clothing before returning to Luna. “And since you were the one to make contact with him, I think it would only be appropriate for you to-”


“But sister,” interrupted Luna in a sickening sweet tone that sent shivers through her sisters body, causing her to wince even more in pain. “I wouldn’t dare deprive you of putting the skills you learned from your Leaders in Education conference. I’m sure you learned much from the six straight days of non-stop boredom, listening to lecture after lecture. Who am I to deprive you of everything that you learned? Now, if you will excuse me, I have a meeting with a parent.”


With that, Luna turned so that Celestia could not see the smirk on her face. Some people would think that this sort of revenge was petty, beneath someone of her station. But right now, she didn’t care!


At the same time, Chaser sat at a long bench table eating his crappy dinner while seething with uncontrollable rage. The stuff they called ‘food’ here was little better than pig slop, looking more like they had blended together several different things, ate it, and then vomited it onto his plate! As he dug around for something, anything, edible his eyes couldn’t help but glance at his sleeve. No longer was the great teen dressed in the finest clothing his parents could afford to give him, but instead a full body orange jumpsuit that reminded him of that Apple hick! He didn’t even have his own boots, just a cheap pair of sneakers!


Gritting his teeth, Chaser looked around at the people he would be spending the vast majority of his life with. All of them wearing the same crap that he was with a few having ripped off the sleeves. These…utter losers were all older than he was, showing off their muscles and shaving their heads as they chatted with each other or ate their slop with gusto. Glancing upwards, Chaser spotted several guards walking on railings. They moved cautiously, their eyes alert for any signs of trouble.


Now his hands began to tremble with rage as all of this only served to remind Chaser that he was in a maximum security prison. It had been decided to try him as an adult, something about the seriousness of his crimes. Oh, please. All he did was make a few people sick by slipping rat poison into their drinks! Resisting arrest, bah! They were keeping him from returning to his rightful place at the top. His parents were nowhere to be found, skipping town and forcing him to be saddled with some court appointed loon who tried to defend him by saying he was insane! Did that moron get his degree from a cereal box?! The whole farce just seemed to go on and on, with whiny little losers coming up to the stands to whine about what he had done to them like that titless Rainbow whatever. Doctors soon took the stand, telling the court how close their loser patients had come to death and he just droned them out at that point. Then there was that rat Flash Sentry who told them how he had spotted Chaser sneaking into the locker room and caught him putting the rat poison in water bottles. Video footage was shown to the jury of his resisting those feeble brained officers who might as well be mall rent-a-cops.


Then, it was Chaser’s turn on the stand. He tried to get them to understand how stupid they all were. That this was all Hunter’s fault, that he should be the one on the stand and not him. Rather than helping him out like he was supposed to, his lawyer just covered his face with his hands. Not like the rest of the court was any better, their tiny brains not able to comprehend what he was trying to tell them. When it was all over, the jury came back in less than three minutes to declare him guilty on all accounts.


Then came the sentencing. The bitch of a judge prattled on about him showing no remorse of sanctity of life or some shit like that. Then that dog faced woman then gave him the most unfair ruling of 25 years for each person he poisoned!


So yeah, now he was stuck here with his only comforts being the occasional duel and thinking about all the ways he would get his just revenge. How he would break both of Flash’s hands until they were nothing but dust followed by kicking him in the head. How he would hunt down that flat chest loser who thought she was a great athlete and make her pay. Oh, he couldn’t forget about that Apple hick. No, couldn’t forget about that humiliation. It was her fault things got this far. If she had just lost like she was supposed to, he would have been able to duel against Crystal Prep! That bitch Celestia, for not going along and giving him what he deserved. She should have been there, fighting to ensure that the best duelist was on their shitty team. That and she clearly didn’t like him for some reason. How a stupid thing like that was ever made principal of anything was beyond him. Sombra for putting that life long ban on him! It was his fault he had to drink and then robbed that liquor store! His Aunt Star Chart for stepping in and taking Hunter out of the house so-…Oh Hunter, he would get it the worst. If there was anyone to truly blame for all of this, it was Hunter. Had he just lost in their duel in Crystal Prep, no one would have ever found out he had cheated. He would be there, living the good life with a phone filled with the contacts of finest booty at that school and a one way trip to the pros. It was his fault Applejugs won, giving her his cards! Sure he didn’t play them, but they were still his! And that stupid inbreed hick lost with them in her duel against the Prep! Yes, it was all Hunter’s fault. When he got out of here, he would make sure that Hunter would suffer like he should.


But all that would be in the distant future. Several times now Chaser had done what he could to find some weak point that these idiots overlooked. Only it seemed that in this case they weren’t as stupid as they looked! Each entrance had three bullet proof doors that people had to go through that required both a physical key as well as someone from the monitoring room to buzz them in. All of the widows were too high up to reach without someone noticing. The guards patrolling the walls were well armed, he had seen them enough times to get that. But that was all he could gather. Perhaps in time he would find a way out…even if time was his only option. And when he got out, he would make them all pay before trying to reclaim his glory!


Out of the corner of his eye, Chaser spotted someone staring at him. It was an older man with blue skin, short white hair, and a goat like face. Slightly leaning back, he watched Chaser in a way he didn’t like while chewing his food slowly. For a moment, Chaser wanted to grab the crap that this place called food and fling it at him. The only thing that stopped him was knowing what the guards would do to him. Several times these morons had isolated him from the rest of the prison, taking away his deck and his outdoor time so that he could sit inside a small windowless room for days on end. During that time, food had been sent to him through a slot at the bottom of the door ensuring that he received no contact with any other living thing. It was so dull.


After a moment or two, the man picked up his tray and began to move towards Chaser. The goat man kept his eyes on Chaser the entire time and eventually sat in front of him.


“Beat it geezer,” snarled Chaser, stabbing his fork into the mush before him. It seemed that the old goat was either hard of hearing or growing senile as he remained where he was. “Hey, old fart. I told you to-”


“I heard you,” said the man in a gravely, cold tone as he stared at Chaser. “Best learn some manners if you want to survive around here. If you want to get anywhere.” Chaser snorted, beginning to rethink his position on starting trouble. The old geezer was annoying him, wasting his time when he could be thinking about his revenge and how sweet it would be. Then, the geezer pulled out a deck of Duel Monster cards. Sliding his tray to the side, he began to shuffle them. “How about we play a nice simple game? Something to get your mind off things?”


“Why should I waste my time on someone like you?” snorted Chaser, gripping his fork a little tighter now. “Last chance: get out of my sight?”


“Ah, I see,” said the old man, a hint of a smirk on his lips. “Afraid to duel an old man.” Chaser felt his body stiffen as the older man leaned closer. “Not that I blame you. Heard some interesting things about you. Doubt you could beat anyone without those little tricks of yours. Best to run and hide, mewing like the frightened kitty you really are.”


Red hot anger surged through Chaser’s body as he slid his tray to the side, pulling out his deck while ignoring the look of satisfaction on the old man’s face. “Fine. It’ll be like twisting a baby’s arm,” said Chaser as he began to shuffle his deck.


The duel soon got underway, with Chaser taking an early lead. Not surprising since all the old fool had were useless non-effect monsters, summoning them one at a time like they were back in the beginning days of the game. Meanwhile, Chaser was using his Red Dragon Archfiend deck to beat his opponent with its burning might. It might not have been his Red-Eyes deck, but it had failed him far too often. But then, something began to change. The old fool began to draw just the right card to counter his board while building up on his own. The cards in his hand became useless with each passing turn and even his mighty dragons were destroyed. Then, soon enough, his life points hit zero.


“Well, that was fun,” chalked the old man.


“No, no!” seethed Chaser as he felt a fit of rage. “How did you do that? You had to have cheated! It’s the only way anyone could defeat me!”


“How?” echoed the old man. “Why, magic of course.”


Chaser stood up, glaring at the old man with hate burning in his eyes. “Don’t you give me that crap!” he all but shouted. “There is no such thing as magic!”


“Hmm, then tell me: what was the card I used to defeat you with?” asked the old man as he picked up the card and turned it so that its back was facing Chaser.


“I just saw it,” roared Chaser. “It’s…It’s…” But Chaser couldn’t remember. Even though it had just happened, he couldn’t remember. Slowly he began to sit down again, his mind working into overdrive. He could remember him playing a card. It was a mons- NO, a spell. NO, a trap. It defeated his monsters, it defeat HIM! So how could he not remember?!?


The old man chuckled as he turned the card to reveal that it was a spell card. “The name’s Grogar sonny,” he said.


“I don’t care,” whispered Chaser, his mind still reeling. “How…How did you do that?”


“I told you, magic,” replied Grogar, looking pleased with himself as he shuffled his deck. “The same magic that allows me to draw whatever card I want to turn the tide of the battle or, if I don’t have it, I can just create the card I need. Then, when the duel is over, people just forget and accept the loss.”


“That’s it?” asked Chaser. He didn’t know if he really believed all this, he really didn’t, but he couldn’t explain how he couldn’t remember that card. Or how the old man just kept drawing everything he needed. But… “Why show me this? To mock me?”


“No, you do that well enough on your own,” growled Grogar. “There was more to this magic. Power! Power to hurt others you dueled against. Power to torment them, leave them as nothing in things called the Shadow Games. I dueled many back in my day, defeating powerful magic users like myself. I drained them of their own magic growing stronger with each passing duel. Soon, I had acquired enough magical power to take over entire cities. But…I was defeated. My magic gone and my crimes laid bare, even through the magic’s fog they all knew the horrible things I had done.”


“Is there anyway you can speed up to the fucking point?” demanded Chaser.


“The point,” growled Grogar. “Is that my magic right now is only a fraction of what it once was. Not nearly enough people with the power coming through here. Right now, these basic tricks are all I can manage. Not nearly enough for me to break out of here. But if I had some help…”


Chaser’s eyes widened slightly. “What are you saying?” asked Chaser, although he already had a guess.


“I’m saying you have magic inside of you,” said Grogar. “You just need a little help pulling it out and learning how to use it. Now, I could just rip it out of you and use it for myself but I think we stand a better chance of getting out of here if we work together. So I’ll teach you how to use it and then together, we’ll make our escape.”


The insides of Chaser’s body began to burn as he hid a smile from the old fart. He had magic?!? Magic that would give him the ultimate cheat? Magic that could hurt people? Oh, he knew he was special. So much better than every other loser on this planet, but never in his wildest dreams did he believe he could do this! As the old man continued to blab on, Chaser was already scheming for himself. Yes, he would train under this old goat and endure whatever it took. If it was all a hoax then, well, he would make the old fool sorry. But, if it was real, he would learn everything he needed before finally going after those that wronged him.


And he would start with his dear, older brother.

Author's Note:

One chapter to go...

and it has nothing to do with Chaser