Turn 26: A Shadow in the Light
Long ago, in the Duel Monster Spirit World.
On a cliff overlooking the ocean, a large castle could be seen. And around that castle, multiple people were flying around while holding staffs of varying designs and materials. In the courtyard of the castle, several of these wizards were sitting around talking, reading, showing off new spells and whatever else they could think of.
Every type of spellcaster imaginable could be seen there. Breaker and Defender, Valkyria and Blast. Timegazer, Dragonpulse, Stargazer and Timebreaker. Many amazing magicians.
But up in one of the castle's towers, a young girl with silver hair was currently sweep up. She was wearing a light blue turtle-necked sweater with an open back and a dark blue skirt. She also wore a pair of light blue boots and white socks, along with a pair of white fingerless gloves.
The girl swept at the floor while simply staring at it, not looking where she was going as she stepped backwards. Doing so caused her to accidently knock into a suit of armour, causing the helmet to fall off the top and crash to the ground. She flinched with each hit until the helmet stopped before throwing her broom away and picking the helmet up, turning to the armor sheepishly. "Sorry."
The armor suddenly started moving and crossed its arms in an unimpressed way before reaching out and yanking the helmet out of her grasp. It placed the helmet on its head before using it to shoot death glares at the girl, who flinched back.
"I said I was sorry!" The armor continued to glare at her for several seconds before returning to the pose it had been in before and going still, the girl sighing before she picked up the broom. She then looked out at the room and sighed seeing the mess it was in, with books thrown about the floor and dust covering every bookshelf. "I'm never gonna get this all done." It was then she had an idea.
Staring down at the broom, she took a quick look around as if expecting to suddenly see someone in the room. But when the cost was clear, she smirked before holding out the broom and whispering something in another language. Her hands glowed a silver light that quickly spread to the broom, the girl letting it go and seeing it floating in place. It then started sweeping on its own, the girl smirking as she turned to the books and whispered something else.
The books then began to float up and place themselves on the shelves, the girl smiling as she sat down and sighed in relief.
"Glorianna!" The girl gasped as she opened her eyes, just in time to see the freshly shelved books fly out while the broom swung around and swept the chair she was on so she would fall on the floor. The owner of the voice was a middle aged man with greying hair, wearing silver ropes over an armoured chest piece with a wooden staff in one hand and blue book in the other. The man was standing at the doorway with an unimpressed look on his face. "What have we talked about?"
Glorianna sighed as she pushed herself back to her feet, "magic isn't a permissible shortcut to hard work."
The wizard nodded as the broom was currently swinging itself through the air for no reason. "Carrying on and don't-"
"But master-"
"But master me," he stepped passed the girl and moved towards a cauldron next to a table covered in jars that were filled with strange-looking things.
Glorianna groaned. "It's just...I know I'm capable of doing more then pushing a broom." She summoned said broom to her hand, but even then it kept moving wildly and she had trouble keeping hold of it. It even managed to get a few hits off on her head. She grunted as she wrestled with the broom, "please teach me to be a proper...sorcerer!"
The man didn't even look at her as he opened his book, which was floating infront of him. He then used his magic to lift several objects out of their jars before dropping them int he cauldron. "If there is a universal truth in this world, it is that struggle is the flame that forges one's soul into steel." He dropped the items into the cauldron, causing it to let out a puff of green smoke. "Magic cannot be a crutch."
"Haa!" Glorianna pinned the broom to the ground, only to find herself hit in the face again and falling to the ground. The broom them started sweeping her face.
"To take the easy way out is to merely exist, Glorianna." His staff glowed again and the light around the broom turned green, causing it to stop sweeping the girl's face before falling on top of her.
Glorianna looked up at her master. "So why am I learning spells if I'm not suppose to use them?" She sat up, "I wanna be a magician like you. With a staff and everything."
Her master smirked as he looked down at his wooden instrument, "staffs are for those with mastery over magic." He then turned to Glorianna, "magic, is mastery over life. So first, you must learn how to live."
Glorianna pouted. "Everyone else has a staff. So why can't I? Am I not as special and your precious favourite student. He just got a title, right? What was it again? Twilight...Sorcerer, right?" She crossed her arms, "I haven't seen him sweeping any floors."
"Glorianna," Starswirl sighed. "I accepted you into this school so you could learn magic, yes. But learning magic isn't cheep. This work isn't just to teach you the value of a hard day's work, it's a stand-in for your tuition."
"Everyone else gets to earn their tuition fund doing jobs. Hunting and gathering items. Proper Spellcaster stuff. If you let me do that-"
"No," he shook his head, "this is your path." He summoned the broom and held it out to her. "Continue to study and work hard and you will be rewarded. Then, I vow your days of pushing brooms will be over."
Present day.
Trixie yawned as she pushed the broom across the floor, sweeping up the metal control room she was standing in.
By her leader's instructions, the Omega Zealot of Light had travelled to the base their Zenith Generators were stored. So far, nothing had happened and she'd found herself simply doing manual chores like cleaning and making sure their generators weren't malfunctioning. And so far, it was boring as heck.
The girl held out her broom and sighed, wishing she had her magic and could make the broom sweep on its own. But then she remembered something. "Magic, isn't a permissible shortcut to hard work." And so she kept sweeping, completely unaware that her boredom was about to disappear.
"There it is," Tidal stated from a rooftop.
He was currently staring at an old warehouse building that looked no different from the hundreds of other warehouses currently surrounding it. But this one was different, hopefully.
"Are you sure this is the place?" His cohort asked as he turned to her, seeing Aria Blaze with crossed arms. "It doesn't look any different from the rest of the place."
"That's why it's a good hiding place," Adagio pointed out. "If it stood out, the place would be easy to find. The Zealots want to stay hidden. They wouldn't have a big sign hanging over the doorway saying 'Zealot hideout.'"
"It'd be funny if it did," Sonata giggled while sipping out of the milkshake she was currently drinking. "So what now?"
Tidal smiled. "We get in there and see if we can't find anything useful. If they have a computer system, we could tap into it and maybe find out what they're planning."
"What if we run into a Zealot?" Aria asked. "Please tell me we can take them down." Tidal didn't look so sure, remembering what had happened when Twilight faced off against Trixie.
"We'll have to wait and see. Now come along." The four of them headed down the building and crossed the street, unaware that they'd just triggered an alarm.
"What now?" Trixie asked as the alarm went off.
She turned to the computer and checked the cameras, groaning when she saw who was in the warehouse. "Seriously. How do they keep finding us?"
She knew there was a chance they might not find the entrance, but she had to be sure. As such, she removed her glove and raised her right hand. The mark glowed before it unleashed a black and red light, which flew up into the air before splitting into three. Those lights hit the ground and turned into a type of red and black slime, which slowly shaped itself into a humanoid figure.
The creatures the Zealots had come to call Shades stood there, waiting for their orders. "Go. If you see them, keep them busy as long as possible." They nodded before turning to piles of slime and moving across the floor, leaving the room while Trixie turned to the computers. "Need to be ready to transport the generators if needs be." With that, she started typing.
Tidal and the Dazzlings looked around the large warehouse, but found nothing but stacks and stacks of empty boxes.
"Find anything?" Tidal asked them, the girls frowning as two of them stepped out from between the aisles.
Aria huffed. "You mean other then enough dust bunnies to make a perfectly scale version of Adagio, hair included? No. Nothing."
"I didn't find anything either," Adagio frowned before looking around for Sonata. "Where is she?"
"Up here." They looked up and spotted the girl standing atop a large stack of wooden boxes. "I thought maybe I could find something from up here. But all I see are boxes, boxes and more boxes."
"Well get down from there before you hurt yourself," Tidal told her.
"It's fine," she smiled. But in that moment, she suddenly found herself losing her balance as the stacks began to rock. "Wow, wow, WOW!" She cried out as the stacks collapse and see fell into the boxes as they broke apart, the others rushing over to the pile and seeing her pick herself up with tears in her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Tidal asked, Sonata holding up a finger.
"I got a splinter." The others all huffed, unable to believe she was complaining about that considering she had just survived something that should have injured her far more. But then, Aria spotted something that'd been hidden under the box stack.
"What's that?" The others looked around and saw it was some kind of hatch, similar to something you would see on a submarine.
"That doesn't look like it belongs there," Tidal hummed.
"Meaning only one thing," Adagio stepped over to it and began spinning the wheel until the hatch opened. It revealed a long metal tube with a ladder, the four of them smiling. "Bean-pot." She turned to Sonata, "knew we kept you around for a reason." Sonata smiled, completely oblivious to the insult as Tidal began to descend the ladder with the girls following after it.
"Seriously?" Trixie asked as she four headed down. "What does a girl have to do to get some privacy?"
She quickly got to work, preparing the transport. But when the system was online, she groaned seeing it would take a while. "Just gotta keep them occupied until the transport is done." She hummed. "The Shades should deal with most of them, but that'll leave one unaccounted for." She turned towards the door and nodded, an idea forming in her head.
When the four got to the bottom of the tunnel, they found themselves in an underground building.
They were in a large hallway that went straight ahead, but had multiple entrances to other hallways along the walls. It was quiet...too quiet. "Well this place isn't creepy at all," Aria sarcastically commented.
"Come on," Adagio lead the way. "Let's see if we can't find a computer terminal." But as she said this, an alarm went off that surprised the four. Then, before they could ask what was happening, part of the ceiling descended behind them and formed a new wall cutting them off from the way in.
"We're trapped!" Sonata cried.
"Really?" Aria asked, "what was your first clue."
"Someone's here," Tidal pointed out. But before they could make a plan, the floor beneath their feet moved. "WOW!" Tidal found himself being travelated into one of the adjoining hallways. And when he was within it, a wall came down and separated him from the Dazzlings.
The girls didn't have time to react as the floor moved under them, Aria and Sonata being thrown into another hallway before the walls came down. "NO!" Adagio tried to rush towards them, but another wall came down and blocked her from them. "Not again!" She cried as she hit the wall, then heard a sound and looked around to see another wall coming down behind her.
She frowned and rushed forward, managing to slide under the wall Indiana Jones style before it closed.
She looked forward and spotted a door infront of her. The Dazzling had a feeling she knew what was waiting for her behind it and got up, rushing to open it. When she did, she found it was a computer room that had several monitors beeping and buzzing. She then spotted someone standing infront of said computer. "Trixie Lulamoon."
The Omega Zealot spun around and smiled, "Adagio Dazzle." She stepped forward, "so nice to meet you."
"The feeling isn't mutual," Adagio frowned before spotting something on the monitor behind her. A countdown, with words above it.
Self-destruct sequence, phase one.
"What have you done?" She asked, only for Trixie to suddenly rush forward. And when she was right infront of Adagio, she raised her hand before a light exploded out of the mark.
"Nothing you need to worry about," she smiled as the light enveloped them both.
Tidal moaned as he recovered from the surprise and stood up, looking back at the wall and banging on it. "Girls, can you hear me. Hola!"
It was then that he sensed a presence behind him, the Mexican Duellist spinning around and seeing a blob of black and red slime behind him. It quickly began to morph and take humanoid shape, the slime eventually fading to reveal a paler version of himself. "So, you're the strange creature I heard about from Rainbow."
He wasn't the only one facing a dark reflection of himself. Both Aria and Sonata were also looking at perfect copies of themselves, both frowning as they all knew what was about to happen.
Adagio opened her eyes and found herself within the dark, space-like, Omega Field.
Trixie stood a ways off, attaching her Duel Disk to her arm. "I'm sure you realise what happens now?" Adagio smiled back and pulled out her own Duel Disk. 'I don't need to win. I just need to keep this Duel going until the transport's complete. Easy'
"I hope you're ready," Adagio smirked. "You're about to find out what happens to people who try to mess with me or my sisters."
"Oh," Trixie smirked, "I'm so scared." Both of them activated their Duel Disks and drew their cards.
"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"
Trixie: 4000
Adagio: 4000
"I'll take the first move!" Adagio drew her card and nodded. "And I'll start with the Spell Card, Double Summon! With this, I can normal summon twice this turn. Then, I'll summon Ocean's Idol Nera!" A portal opened before her mermaid pop-star swam out of it. (A1400/D1300/L4/P8) "This'll be followed by Ocean's Idol, Allegra!" Another portal appeared with a second mermaid swimming out of it. (A1000/D1000/L3/P8) "I place one card face down and end my turn."
"My draw then!" Trixie drew her card and nodded before focusing back on Adagio. "I'll start by playing the Spell card, Reincarnation of Hope." She discarded two cards, Adagio frowning as she had a feeling she knew which card she'd be getting with it. "Then I'll summon Dunames Dark Witch!" A flash of light revealed a women wearing brown valkyrie armour, with a pair of metal wings on her back. (A1800/D1050/L4) "ATTACK!"
Adagio watched as the valkyrie flew forward, aiming for Allegra. "Trap card, open!" Her face down flipped up, "Idol's Harmonic Blast!" Nera glowed before transforming into a light, which flew into Adagio's hand as the Trap unleashed a blast at the Dark Witch. "Now I can subtract half of her ATK points from your monster's ATK points." Dunames grunt as the blast hit it (A1100/D1050/L4)
Trixie frowned, "that's still not enough to save your monster." Dark Witch fired a blast of magic from the orbs on her armour, hitting Allegra and destroying her and making Adagio grunt.
Trixie: 4000
Adagio: 3900
As she recovered, Adagio reached for her deck. "Since Nera was sent back to my hand, I can now draw two cards." She did so and smiled when she saw what she'd gotten.
"I place one card face down and end my turn." As she said this, Trixie's Dunames Dark With returned to its normal points total. (A1800/D1050/L4)
Adagio took a deep breath. Despite her field being empty, she's managed to reduce the damage she had taken and increased her hand. As long as she stayed calm, she would be fine. Her friends on her other hand.
Tidal and his doppelganger were in the mist of battle, both appearing even with Tidal having Riptide Gunner on his field and his opponent having Big Wave General Stain on his.
"Alright falso," he reached for his deck. "It's my turn." He drew his card and smiled, "I set scale eleven Torpedo Jet Dolphin into the Pendulum Scale!" The pillar of light appeared next to him before the monster flew up into it. "And with him in my Pendulum Zone, I can now discard a card and search my deck for a Spell card of my choice." He did so as a card slotted out of his deck. "And now I'll activate it. Raging Storm Ritual, which by sacrificing monsters of seven stars or more will allow me to summon Commander of the Raging Storm, Soveruin!"
An underwater tornado appeared behind Riptide Gunner as Splash Sargent appeared besides him, the two then getting sucked into the vortex. "I RITUAL SUMMON!" The tornado exploded, revealing Tidal's ace riding the giant seahorse and swinging its cutlass. (A2400/D2200/L7) The fake remained stoic despite the danger it was clearly in, while Tidal simply smiled. "Let me show you what a true Duellist can do."
"I PENDULUM SUMMON!" Both Aria and Sonata cried as the portals opened above their heads, shooting out a bunch of lights that struck their fields.
On Aria's field, Arietta, Rhapsody and Vespers appeared. And on Sonata's field, Sonatina and Nera appeared.
"Arietta's skill!" Aria cried as Vespers returned to her hand, now I can send one card from your field to the bottom of your deck." Her fake had three face downs, so she had to pick wisely. "Middle one." Her fake placed it on the bottom of her deck, while the effects of Vespers and Rhapsody activated. "Now, Vespers deals you three hundred points of damage. And whenever a monster is sent from my field to my hand, Rhapsody gains five hundred ATK points for the rest of the turn. (A2800/D1900/L6/P2)
"I activate Sonatina's skill!" Sonata cried as Nera returned to her hand, "now I can return one card on your field to your hand." The fake Sonata's Sonatina returned to her hand. "And now, thanks to Nera, I can draw two new cards." She did so and smiled. "Then I'll place the Spell, Card Sniper!" She held up her hand. "Now we both pick a card in each others hands and that card's sent to the grave before he draw a new card."
Sonata's fake only had two cards in her hand, while Sonata had many more. So when Sonata's fake picked a card, it was one she didn't mind losing. Meanwhile, Sonata got lucky and managed to pick the fake's Sonatina. Both discard the cards and drew new ones, the fake now much worse off then the real on.
"Adagio," Tidal whispered as he decided on his next move, "just be careful."
"I know you're probably Duelling a Zealot," Aria whispered. "Don't you dare lose."
"You promised we'd never be apart again," Sonata said. "You're not allowed to break that promise."
As the three continued to Duel, they all said the same thing. "We're here for you."
"It's my turn!" Adagio drew her card. "And now, I set the Pendulum Scale with scale one Ocean's Idol Medley and scale eight Ocean's Idol Crescendo!" The pillars of light flew up before the two mermaids flew up into them. One was a new mermaid who had a orb-like gem on the front of her dress. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal formed above her, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out and struck the ground, revealing Adagio's monsters. "Ocean's Idol, Allegra!" (A1000/D1000/L3/P8)
"And Ocean's Idol, Nera!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8) "Now I play the spell card, Idol's Spotlight!" Nera swam behind Allegra and patted her shoulder before morphing into a light that shot into Adagio's hand. "By returning an Ocean's Idol to my hand, I can power up a lower levelled Idol by half Nera's ATK. (A1700/D1000/L3/P8)
"That won't be enough to destroy Dunames," Trixie pointed out.
"I know that," Adagio drew two cards thanks to Nera's skill. When she saw what she'd gotten, she smiled. "But don't forget about Crescendo!" The orb on the mermaid's dress suddenly had a one within it. "Whenever an Ocean's Idol returns to the hand, she gets a Voice Counter. Next, I'll summon Nera back to the field!" The portal opened before the mermaid swam out of it. "ATTACK!"
Trixie raised an eyebrow as Allegra swam towards her Dark Witch. "But she's not strong enough." But then, she heard a beautiful sound and looked up at Crescendo. As she sang, Nera and Allegra glowed.
"During the Battle Phase, Crescendo powers up any Ocean's Idol by three hundred points for every Voice Counter she has." (A2000/D1000/L3/P8) (A1700/D1300/L4/P8) When Allegra got close, she unleashed a sonic blast that flew forward and struck Dunames.
"Augh!" Trixie cried as her monster exploded, dealing her damage.
Trixie: 3800
Adagio: 3900
"Now, Nera!" The mermaid unleashed a burst of sound, which struck Trixie and made her stagger back in pain.
Trixie: 2100
Adagio: 3900
"Trap Card, open!" Trixie's face down flipped up, "Cleansing Light of the Heavens! Now I gain four hundred points for every Light monster in my graveyard."
Trixie: 3300
Adagio: 3900
Adagio smirked. "I place two cards face down and end my turn." Her monster's ATK points returned to normal.
"My turn!" Trixie drew her card. As she did, she looked down at her Duel Disk and spotted a timer in the corner. She still had a while before the transport was complete. "I play the Spell Card, Stardust Reload. And by banishing my Dark Witch, I can draw four cards." She did so and smiled, "then I'll play Monster Reborn, to revive my Neo Barrier Statue of the Heavens!" In a flash of light, the statue appeared infront of her. (A1000/D1000/L4) "Then I'll summon Lustre Mage, Alina!" Another flash of light revealed the teenage witch. (A1400/D1100/L4)
Adagio frowned, wondering where she was going with this.
"Now," Trixie cried as the monsters morphed into lights that flew into the air, "I'll use these two monsters to build the Overlay Network." A black hole opened before the lights shot it, said black hole quickly exploding. "I XYZ SUMMON!"
From out of the portal came a blonde witch with blue and white robes, carrying a silver spear with a round gemstone embedded in the blade. "Dimensional Spear Mage, Saranay!" (A2300/D2200/R4) "Skill of Saranay!" One of the lights shot into the gemstone on the spear before the monster swung it at Allegra, unleashing a light blade the flew through the air. "By removing an Overlay Unit, I can send the weakest monster on your field to the bottom of your deck." The light blade caused a rip to appeared in the fabric of space, which began to slowly suck Allegra inside it while Nera watched in horror.
"NO!" Adagio cried as her monster vanished, turning to glare at Trixie. "I should have expected as much. You just love ripping people from those they care about."
"I do what I must," Trixie told her.
"Don't you have any empathy?" She asked. "You were the one that sent Twilight to Void, causing her to be Dominated. She was a living person and you just ripped her away from her friends and family. The same way you ripped Starlight away from those she cared about when you Dominated her. And again when you did the same to Trixie. Don't you regret anything." As she said this, Trixie seemed to stand still while she looked to the ground, thinking this all over.
"There are many things I regret," she explained. "Many...many things."
Years ago.
An older Glorianna frowned as she stood at the back of the hall, which was filled with magicians that were currently clapping for their guest of honour. Said guest of honour was Twilight Sorcerer, who'd just graduated from the magic program top of the class.
"I hear he's been offered a position at the royal court," she heard Apple Magician Girl tell her friend, Lemon Magician Girl. "If he takes it, he'll gain the title of Imperial Magician."
Lemon nodded. "I heard he's also been offered the chance to study at the brotherhood of the Celestial Body. Can you imagine what he could learn there?"
Apple nodded. "Maybe he'll stay here and eventually take over the school. He might even get a new title. Something higher then sorcerer, like a sage or warlock."
Glorianna rolled her eyes and left the hall, wondering about the place until she eventually arrived at her master's quarters. When she stepped inside, she looked around the room at all the magical items. Then down at the book she saw her master use regularly. It was a blue book with light blue stars and dark blue swirls on the cover, with red flaps coming out of places.
She picked it up and frowned. "I bet if I learnt a spell out of you, people would start seeing how good I could be." It was then a smile crept onto her face. "Yeah, that's exactly what I'll do." She cast an invisibility spell on the book before rushing out, being careful not to look suspicious. "Master won't even know it's gone." He was expected to leave for a meeting at the royal court tomorrow and by the time he got back, she would have learnt the spell and returned the book. "Perfect."
She soon got to her room and rushed inside, leaping onto her bed and making the book visible again. Once that was done, she prepared to open it up and find a spell that interested her. But before she could, a magical alarm went off and she grew scared. Had her master found out she had taken the book?
She quickly hid it away, making it invisible again, and rushed out of her room towards the tower. On the way, she spotted her master come around the corner and begin to make his way to the tower. "Master?" He turned to her as she caught up, "what's going on?"
"An army was just spotted approaching the castle. It's a bunch of archfiends."
"Archfiends?" Glorianna had not been expecting that, "why are they here?"
He frowned. "Over the centuries, my family has guarded this realm and collected many mystical items of great power. Even my spellbook, which was granted to my ancestor by a divine being, could be a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. That's why they're here. To get their hands on something that could increase their power and allow them to conquer this world. But I won't let that happen. I have the perfect spell in my spellbook that'll completely wipe them out." Glorianna's eyes went wide when she realised what was about to happen.
She was gonna need to tell her master where his book was and why it was there, meaning she was in big trouble. "Master-"
"Oh, that reminds me." He turned to her before gasping a spell, a flash of light occurring before something appeared in his hands. That something was a staff, which made Glorianna gasp.
"Is that..."
"I was hoping to present it to you in a more befitting manor, but you'll need it if you wish to join us in battle." Glorianna could hardly breath as she reached out and took the staff, feeling a rush of power as she took it in hand. It felt right. Like it was meant to be hers. "I told you your hard work and patience would be rewarded. Now," he turned towards his tower, "we must prepare for battle." He began to walk off with prideful strides, Glorianna suddenly remembering what she needed to do.
"Master," he stopped and turned to her. She was about to tell him about the book, but then she looked down at the staff. Fear rushed through her at the thought of losing it, something that would clearly happen if he knew what she'd done. "I...I...I just wanted to thank you for everything." Her master smiled and nodded before turning to walk off, leaving Glorianna to shake in regret. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you don't need that book."
"I've made many mistakes in my life," Trixie explained. "Mistakes I can never make up for." She looked up at Adagio, "that's why my only hope...is to start again!" With that, Saranay shot forward and impaled Nera with her spear.
"AUGH!" Adagio cried in pain as her monster was destroyed.
Trixie: 3300
Adagio: 3000
She panted as Trixie placed three cards face down, "I end my turn." She continued to stare at the timer, seeing there was still a lot of time left. "I have to keep going."
Back with Tidal, he and his fake now both had their Ritual Monsters out and its was currently Shade-Tidal's turn.
"I activate Soveruin's ability!" Tidal's Pendulum and Face Down were sucked into the tornado of water that Soveruin had produced, turning back into cards that flew at him and sliced right through him.
"Augh!" He cried as his life points went down.
"Then, I equip Soveruin with Neptune's Trident!" In a flash of light, Soveruin's cutlass turned into a giant golden fork. "This Spell raises Soveruin's ATK points by one thousand points." (A3400/D2200/L7) "Finally, I summon Officer Cadet Andrew!" The young naval officer appeared besides Soveruin. (A1000/D1000/L3) "Soveruin now attacks!"
Tidal watched as his ace monster began to charge towards him, the real Soveruin blocking it. If Soveruin was destroyed, the damage done coupled with Andrew's attack would knock him out of the game. "I pay half my life points to activate a Trap card from my hand!" His life points went down as the played the card, "Maelstrom Guard!" A tornado of water exploded around Soveruin as the fake tried to impale him, but the trident couldn't get through the water. "Maelstrom Guard prevents any Water Monster from being destroyed and negates any battle damage I take for this turn."
The faker remained stoic as he placed a card face down. "I end my turn."
"Then it's my draw!" Tidal drew his card and smiled as a plan formed. "First, I'll use Soveruin's ability to send your trident back to your hand." Soveruin created a tornado that sucked up the Equip Spell and shot it at the fake, who didn't even flinch when it sliced through its cheek. Then I'll set Torpedo Jet Dolphin back into the Pendulum Zone, allowing me to use its Pendulum Ability!" The dolphin appeared in the pillar as Tidal discarded a card, with another one slotting out of his deck. "And with that, I activate my Rebirth Ritual!"
The shade remained stoic as the tornado exploded around Soveruin, appearing to not care that it was about to face off against one of its deck's best cards.
"RITUAL EVOLUTION!" The tornado exploded, revealing the evolved version of Tidal's best card. "Master of the Storm, Admiral Soveruin!" (A2800/2500/L8) "And I'm sure you already know this, but Rebirth Ritual increases his ATK points this turn." (A3800/D2500/L8) "GO!" Soveruin swam forward before slashing through its weaker form, destroying it and leaving Shade-Tidal with only eight hundred points. "And when Soveruin destroys a monster he can destroy a weaker monster on your field and deal you its ATK points as damage!" Soveruin's leviathan opened its mouth and fired a powerful burst of water, which struck Andrew and destroyed him.
The Shade finally screamed as its life points hit zero, causing it to melt away and vanish.
Tidal sighed in relief as he took off his Duel Disk, looking around. "There has to be a way out of here." He then noticed an extension in the wall and smiled. "That could work." He moved over to it and plugged his Duel Disk in, connecting to the system. "Let's see what we can do with this."
"It's my turn!" Adagio drew her card and smiled as the Portal formed above her head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened before a trio of lights shot out and exploded when it hit the ground. "Ocean's Idol, Nera!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8)
"Ocean's Idol, Vespers!" (A1800/D900/L4/P2)
"And Ocean's Idol Operetta!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4) Trixie frowned seeing Adagio's best monster. "Operetta's skill!" Vespers and Nera glowed before flying into Adagio's hand before her monster unleashed a powerful sonic wave, which struck Saranay and powered her down. (A1300/2200/R4) "And since they were returned to the hand, Crescendo, Vespers and Nera's abilities activate." Adagio drew her cards as a ghostly Vespers appeared and unleashed a sonic blast before disappearing, the blast striking Trixie.
"Augh!"
Trixie: 3000
Adagio: 3000
"Trap card open!" Trixie cried as one of her face downs flipped up, "Numinous Healer! With this, I gain a thousand life points."
Trixie: 4000
Adagio: 3000
Adagio frowned. "Well I summon Vespers back to the field," the mermaid pop-star once again appeared before swimming forward. "And don't forget about Crescendo's Pendulum ability!" The monster sung, Vespers and Operetta glowing. (A3300/D2100/L7/P4) (A2700/D900/L4/P2) She then unleashed a sonic blast that struck Saranay and destroyed her.
Trixie: 2600
Adagio: 3000
"You've activate my Trap!" Trixie's other face down flipped up, "Shining Intervention! With this, I can now summon a Light monster from my graveyard with less attack then Saranay!" In a flash of light, Neo Barrier Statue of the Heavens appeared. (A1000/D1000/L4)
"Fine!" Adagio announced as Operetta took a deep breath, "then I'll destroy that monster too!" Operetta unleashed a sonic blast, hitting Neo Barrier Statue and making it crumble to dust. But both girls knew what that meant.
Trixie: 300
Adagio: 3000
"Since Neo Barrier Statue was destroyed, its ability lets me summon a new Light Monster to take its place. So now I summon Generous Mystical Elf!" In a flash of light, the elf appeared in ATK position (A800/D2000/L4)
"I end my turn."
In the other room, both Sonata and Aria were about to finish up their Duels.
Both had their aces, along with Allegra, Vespers, Nera and Medley, while their fakes had only their aces and four face downs. "I activate Arietta's/Sonatina's skill!" They cried as their other monsters returned to their hands, activating their ace's effects and removing all but one of their fakes face downs.
"Now for Nera, Vespers, and Allegra's skill!" They drew their cards as Vespers dealt their opponents three hundred points of damage and Allegra destroyed their last face down. "NOW ATTACK!" They both screamed as their aces unleashed a sonic wave, which struck the opponent head on and wiped out their life points.
The shades screamed as they were destroyed, leaving the two safe but still trapped.
That was until the wall began to lift, freeing them. "Aria!" Sonata waved at her, "you're alright!"
"Obviously," Aria rolled her eyes before looking around, "where's Tidal and Adagio?"
"I'm over here," they heard Tidal's voice and rushed over to his hallway. There they spotted Tidal with his Duel Disk hooked up to the wall. "I've managed to get into the base's computer system. I managed to open the walls but that's all I've been able to do?"
"So where's Adagio?" Sonata asked.
Aria then heard a crackling noise and looked around, spotting an open doorway. But said doorway was blocked by a black and red mass, which she had a feeling she knew the name of. "I'm guessing she's in there." The others looked around the corner and saw it, both frowning before Tidal looked back at his Duel Disk.
"Maybe I can find out a little more." He continued to type away and the tablet, but all the other files were much more encrypted. It was then that he managed to break into a document. "Hello, what do we have here." The girls stared at the screen as it showed the image of something they had heard about. The strange looking shape Pinkie and Maud had told them about.
Said shape then multiplied into six, each one having a particular element kanji in the round part. The image that shifted, showing a picture of the planet. After a few seconds, the devices appeared around the planet. Once all six appeared, they began to connect to one another by a blackish-red light that flew from one device to another. Eventually, they made a hexagon around the planet.
"What is this?" Aria asked.
"I don't know," Tidal looked back to the door. "But I doubt it's anything good."
"It's my turn!" Trixie drew her card. "And since two turns have escalated since it's activation, Reincarnation of Hope's effect lets me add a monster card to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card that she took. Looking at it, she couldn't help but remember what Adagio had said earlier.
'Yes, I do regret things. Many things. But on thing I regret more then anything, is the thing I'm trying to put right.
Years ago.
Glorianna cried out as she fired a magical blast at an Archfiend Solider, destroying it before casting a protection spell to push several more away.
As the shield was raised, she looked around and saw the battlefield littered with corps. When he master discovered his book was missing, he had assumed the archfiends had snuck in and taken it to keep him vanquishing them. This had caused the spellcasters to march out and meet them head on. Now, many archfiends and magicians had fallen.
"Glorianna!" She turned to her master, who had just destroyed several high level archfiends. "You must be strong. Ignore the carnage or you'll join these unfortunate souls." She nodded and continued fire at the monsters. But no matter how many of the she took down, another would just show up to replace it. They were unending.
A flash of purple light made her look up and see Twilight Sorcerer literally flying through the horde of demons, destroying anything that came close to it.
Meanwhile, her master blasted several back and spotted the Imprisoned Queen approaching. She was the strongest monster of the army and as the wizard charged, it launched a burst of dark fire at him. But he easily deflected it and fired a beam of green magic that wrapped around the archfiend and pulled it to its feet, the demon struggling as tried to escape. "Where is my spellbook. You will return it this instant." He then saw a confused look on the creatures face, a genuine one. It had no idea what he was talking about.
He didn't get a chance to find out more as a cry of fear broke his focus and made him turn to see Glorianna surrounded by monsters. His instincts kicked in and he fired a burst of magic from his hand, exploding at their feet and blinding the monsters. This allowed Glorianna to blast them away before smiling at her master, though that smile quickly vanished.
The reason was simple.
The Imprisoned Queen broke free of the magic and before he could react, it fired a blast of dark energy right in his face. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as he was thrown backwards, crashing into the ground while his armour shattered.
Glorianna gasped seeing this, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Present.
Trixie's eyes shot open, "and I will fix it!" With that, Generous Mystical Elf exploded into a pillar of light. "I now tribute my elf to summon...myself, Shining Magician, GLORIANNA!" The light faded, revealing the monster currently dominating Trixie. (A3000/D2500/L8) The spellcaster swung its staff around, ready to put an end to this Duel. As she did, Trixie looked down at the timer and smiled. "This game is mine."
Stats
Page generated in 0.031 seconds
Total duration
823 users online
583,848 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oh, well i was hopping to see more of Flash, but this is also ok.
Yeah i hope Adagio beat Glorianna and defeat another Zealoth
I just know Foxhelm's got more than a few things to say about this chapter, but I won't talk about that. "shrug"
Hmm, I was expecting a Fantasia reference somewhere in here. If that part in the beginning was meant to be a reference, it's pretty subtle.
Wait. After looking at these backstories and remembering what happened in the last chapter, that roller coaster of pain and sadness that you put us through earlier was meant to give Flash a deeper level of understanding of the kind of pain, guilt, and regret that motivated the Zealots into joining Zeronull, and that's going to be important when we finally get to the climax, isn't it?
I can't decide if that's going to end up playing out in a good way or a bad way. 
Okay, we're roughly halfway through the installment. In my opinion, that's a little far along the story to be adding a twist, but knowing you, you might try it. 
I guess I'll have to wait and see. 
I wonder if Saltalunam is going to make an appearance in Glorianna's backstory.
Okay so let me see if I got it right,
Hellfire Emperor was motivated by self preservation (to a selfish degree)
Amphitrite and Rhodos the preservation of their people
Ouravas restoration of what he failed to protect (through really no fault of his own)
And Glorianna is to restore what she caused to be destroyed due to her bad choices
Other than Hellfire, the only Omega Zealot that seems to have no noble (albeit wrapped) reason is Draconequus, but even then that's a son honoring his father...
Not sure how I feel about this duel.
On one hand I don't want Adagio to lose, but on the other I'm really having a hard time buying the idea that Glorianna's defeat shouldn't be Starlight's victory... I just don't know.
I do have a question that you might answer, are the heroes privy to the details in the Omega Zealots flash back, or can we expect a Pinkie Ex Machina giving the rest of the heroes the run down before they face Midnight?
10427976 No. The flashbacks are purely for the readers. The heroes don't need to know ever detail of the villains backstory
10427978
Damn, a Pinkie-exposition dump just before the final battle would have great tension relief.
10427973
What, pray tell, do I have to say?
10427992
You already said it, so there really isn't any point in repeating it.
10427993
Well there is one thing, I find the idea that Adagio would consider Tidal a friend almost story breaking. At best she's view him as 'a cocky guy that is sometimes more helpful than a hindrance'
So that's what all the death surrounding Glorianna was that we saw briefly in the last story. And her actions of stealing her master's spell book indirectly led to his death, and what makes it even worse was it wasn't even necessary since he was going to give her a staff anyway. Certainly tragic, but it is ultimately her own fault for being too impatient and it does not excuse her actions now.
I am glad Adagio is finally getting some time in the spotlight. I doubt she will free Trixie but I certainly hope she at least wins this duel. I especially liked the part when she called out Glorianna on having no empathy for the suffering she has caused with her actions. Shows a bit of character development for her.
believe
have
You forgot to add "summon".
On
one
You put "in my graveyard" twice.
I think you mean "court".
Was that supposed to be "aces"?
other
her
Are you trying to make it difficult to not have sympathy for these Zealots?
In all seriousness, Glorianna’s backstory was just tragic. She wanted to be seen as a great magician, and then everyone around her was killed in the blink of an eye. However, it’s less sympathy inducing when you remember that her master’s death was really her own fault. She let her impatience get the better of her, just like Sonic said.
You know, she’s a lot like Flash in a sense. They both suffered horrible events that resulted from their own actions. The only difference is, Glorianna wants to wipe everyone else out and get a do-over so she can pretend it never happened. Flash acknowledges that it happened, and he’s working to make up for it as we speak. That puts him on a higher moral ground than her, along with any of the other Zealots. At least, that’s my opinion.