Yu-Gi-Oh E-Quest: Malefic Wars

by DakariKingMykan

Episode 38: Part 2: Minds of the Matter

EPISODE THIRTY-EIGHT

“Attack now!” shouted Rubeus.

“You attack too!” called Loki. His Triple-D Kings went after a large, shadowy beast; one that his brother had created.”

In a big blaze of light, the practice duel was over, and neither brother got hurt as they used their powers to keep each other safe.

“Well done, brother.” exclaimed Loki.

Rubeus agreed, “These new cards have been tested enough. I am satisfied they will serve well to our purpose.”

The time had come, and the brothers agreed.

It was time to take their conquest to the next level and personally confront the heroes themselves.

Meanwhile, the heroes had been wandering about for a while searching for the remaining members of their group.

“I hope we find the soon.” panted Rainbow. “I’m already growing beat.”

Pinkie stomach growled. “And we haven’t eaten either.”

“And you two don’t stop yakking!” grumbled Raven, but the girls heard her and gave her a cross stare.

Everyone was starting to grow a little peckish; having consumed the last of their food supplies long ago.

“We’ve got to keep moving.” said Dick.

Vic checked his power-cell, which was still high since his charge up, but even he was starting to feel a bit tired in the knees. “I could actually use some grub myself.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like we can expect to find anything out here.” said Kori.

Looking around, she was right. All around there was a collapsed shopping mall, a crumpled restaurant or two. Not one of them was likely to have a scrap of food inside.

Suddenly, she could see, “Gar!”

He was standing by an old newsstand.

“It is him.” cried Cadance.

No surprises, everyone was non-too thrilled to find him, but they all reluctantly agreed to approach him to see if he had seen the others.

Gar didn’t even so much as turn around. He was just staring blankly at the piles of very old newspapers dating from three to five years back.

Jump City couldn’t afford to get new papers when the news business collapsed, so many articles remained behind, unsold, and untouched unless used to make fires, or paddings for clothes, and other things.

“Gar…” Dick called to him.

Gar simply held his arm up, making everyone stop dead in their tracks. “Stay back.” he hissed deeply at them.

Everyone looked around and could see nothing much to worry about.

“Why stack back?” asked Rainbow.

“Just do it!” Gar insisted.

“Uh… oooooookay.” said Pinkie.

Suddenly, Gar collapsed to his knees, clutching his head, and groaning!

“What’s wrong?” asked Cadance.

“Get away!” he simply shouted. “Don’t come near me!”

He almost looked like he was going to explode.

The reason he was in so much anguish was because of what was going on inside his mind!

Yes, he could feel the duel occurring inside, and the angrier his in-mind avatar became, the more anguish he seemed to suffer.

Gar LP: 200

Terra LP: 2700

“You don’t have a chance against me, Terra!” he balked. “Not here, not in the real world, and not anywhere.

Maybe now you understand what I’ve known all along!

YOU ARE WORTHLESS!!! And I should never have fallen in love with you ever!!”

Terra quivered with pain from each stinging blow, but rather than fly off into a raging fit or insulting him back to his face, she replied with…

“…You don’t mean that!” and she looked up at him. “I know you don’t, and the fact that you regret loving me is a sign that there’s still hope in you.”

“Ha! You’ve lost it!” scoffed Gar. “Then again, it’s not like you ever “had it” to begin with!”

The spectators didn’t know how much more of this they could take.

“I do have it!” she insisted. “I mean look at us. Here we are for the first time in five years, and we’re actually fighting a great duel.

Can’t you just put your anger aside, ever? Can’t you just duel for the thrill of things instead of turning it all into some big war.”

She finally made herself blunt. “Can’t you just have fun?”

Gar gave a quick and straight answer, “No! I don’t have fun.”

Every single one of the others gasped in horrible shock, and Gar pointed to a gravestone near the spectators, which was marked “Fun.”

“I play games and I duel to gain power, wealth, and to be the best! Not to have fun!

I used to have fun, but everyone always saw it as annoying, or pathetic, and resorted to pushing me away!

Fun only serves as another pain in my side I’m glad to have little to nothing to do with!”

“Whoa!” exclaimed Spike. “He’s even more miserable than I thought.”

Twilight felt faint for hearing someone dis fun in such a way.

Finally unable to take any more of this, Sci-Twi, “I can’t believe you!”

Everyone turned to face her way.

Gar looked her way. “Keep out of this!”

“No, I won’t! I mean look at you, you’re a horrible mess!

True: you lived a bad life, and I’m sorry that you did. Nobody deserves to be treated the way you did or denied happiness and comfort, but do you really think that you’re any better the way you are?”

Gar merely snuffed, showing no interest, but Sci-Twi continued.

“Look at her!” she said pointing at Terra. “Can’t you see how much she regrets what she did to you, and she wants to make it right again!”

“She had her chance… Five years ago!” replied Gar. “She can cry all the crocodile tears she wants. I don’t trust her, or anyone!

The only real reason she and the Titans have any respect for me now is because I’m stronger and richer than they are-- practically a threat.

They just want me to help them get their own lives back on track, for all the many times they preached to me about saving Jump City… which they caused to fall when they didn’t listen to me when I warned them.

Just like always-- they use me when I’m convenient, and they dump me when I’m no longer needed!

Well, I’m never letting it happen again!”

He turned to face Terra. “And the sooner I get you all out my head the better! So, hurry up and make your move, and quit wasting my time with more of your lies of love and apologies!”

Terra clutched her heart in pain. It was beginning to look totally hopeless that she’d be able to convince him of her sincerity.

“I can’t let it end this way.” she thought. “He didn’t give up on me. He never stopped thinking about me, even after all I did to him.”

Still it seemed that no matter how many good times she tried to remember, the bad times continued to haunt her and remind of the present and how things got to where they were, and how she and her “Things Change” played a large role in it.

Still, she managed to stand upright. “I can at least show you that I’m not some quitter, by finishing this duel.”

She placed her fingers over her next card.

“I just need one good draw, and I might be able to turn things around!”

In one swift motion she drew her card out, and her eyes widened.

“Now we’re talking!”

She gazed over at Gar, and then called. “Now I activate GEM-KNIGHT FUSION from the graveyard!”

“Hmm?” said Gar.

“But I thought she wasn’t allowed to use that card?” asked Twilight.

Sci-Twi explained, “She’s only not allowed to activate it on the field. She can still use it’s power in the graveyard.”

“That’s right!” agreed Terra. “By simply banishing Tourmaline, I can add Gem-Knight Fusion right to my hand.

You always taught me there’s more that one way to use a card.

That’s why I activate this, DOUBLE SPELL. So now, I just send Gem-Knight Fusion back to the graveyard, and I can use any spell you did… like CARD OF DEMISE!”

Gar growled.

“Now I draw five new cards as well, and each one of them is going to help me!

Like this one-- I play MONSTER REBORN, and I’ll use it to bring back Prismaura.”

Her Fusion Monster appeared back on the field, much to Gar’ annoyance.

(Atk: 2450)

“And now…” Terra called. “I’ll banish Lady Brilliant Diamond from the graveyard, so I can once again add Gem-Knight Fusion to my hand.

And now that I actually have it, I can discard it to use Prismaura’s ability. So, say goodbye to your monster!”

With a mighty use blast, her monster blew Gar’s fiend clear off the field.

“Awesome!” exclaimed Spike “Gar’s wide open now!”

The two Twilights nodded with excitement.

“And I’m not finished yet, because now I summon GEM-KNIGHT GARNET!”

(Atk: 1900)

“But it won’t be staying long, because activate the spell PARTICLE FUSION, fusing both Garnet and Prismaura!”

Gar looked up angrily as the two monsters merged, and Terra called out…

“Furious gems of fires that burn,
Grant the creature whose power I yearn!

I Fusion Summon GEM-KNIGHT CITRINE!”

Her monster appeared with it’s blazing sword, and he growled behind its helmet.

(Atk: 2200)

Gar didn’t seem the least bit impressed, not even when Terra explained…

“And now, since I used Particle Fusion, it gets banished from the graveyard, and then… Citrine will gain attack points equal to Prismaura’s attack points, and that’s 2450!”

(Atk: 2200) -----> (Atk: 4650)

Twilight was nearly taken back in shock. “That’s amazing!” she cried. “That monster can take out Gar’s life points in one hit.”

Spike was snickering with glee. “You don’t know the half of. When Citrine attacks, Gar isn’t allowed to activate any card effects. He’s toast!”

Sci-Twi, however, wasn’t so sure, and her fears were confirmed when Gar laughed at Spike’s remark.

“…Am I?” he hissed “I don’t think so!”

“Huh?” said Terra!”

“You really think that by making this move, you have it all won? You’re an even bigger disgrace to dueling than I thought.”

“What are you talking about?” Terra asked, but then she saw the image of a card next to Gar.

“You were so busy grand standing; you didn’t realize that I already activated my trap card, COMPULSORY EVACUATION DEVICE!”

“Ah!”

“Oh, no!” cried Sci-Twi “That means Citrine gets sent off the field and back to the Extra Deck!”

Terra’s monster began to fade away.

“I told you; you were an amateur!” growled Gar.

Terra only smirked, “I figured you’d try a stunt like that.”

“What?!”

“I suspected you’d try a stunt like that before I attacked, and I have a back up ready.

From my hand I play DE-FUSION!”

“Impossible!” shouted Gar.

“Now I send Citrine back to the Extra Deck myself, and then… the monsters that I used to form him come back to the field. So come on back, Garnet and Prismaura!”

The two monsters reappeared!

(Atk: 2450)

(Atk: 1900)

The spectators were overjoyed again, just as she was.

Then she looked a bit uneasy for she was about to do, but she summed up her courage and entered her battle phase.

“Garnet, wipe him out!”

Her monster complied and dove straight over to strike Gar down.

“Who’s the amateur now?” Terra cheekily asked, only for Gar to reply “…You are!”

“Huh?”

“Did you really think it would be that easy to get at me? I summon BATTLE FADER!”

(Def: 0)

Terra gasped hard, so did the spectators.

“Yes, you remember him! He jumps out on the field when you try to attack me directly, and he brings the battle phase to a halt!”

With that, Terra’s monster screeched to a dead stop, and both her creatures went at ease.

“No! I was so close!” Terra wailed in thought.

Spike pulled on his ears in frustration. “I can’t stand it! Won’t anything take this guy down?!”

Gar scoffed at Terra, “Any other “Brilliant” moves you’d like to make? Not that anything you play will save you now! You rely too much on Friendship, Love, and Hope to win your duels, but I rely on skills and strength, as well as keeping my head in the game.

Now hurry up and finish your turn so I can end this duel!”

Terra still didn’t believe she was totally beaten yet. She thought deeply as she gazed down at the lone card in her hand.

“It’s not over yet. This could still be my last hope…

…BRILLIANT SPARK.

If he tries to destroy either of my Gem-Knights, this trap will make him take damage equal to the destroyed monster’s attack points, and with only 200 life points left, either one of them could qin it all for me.”

“I’ll place one card facedown, and that’s all.”

“Oh, really?” taunted Gar. “Well, finally, you and I agree on something-- that IS all!”

He drew his next card, and snickered at what it was, not that it was any surprise seeing as he generated it.

“You’re finished, Terra! You don’t know how long part of me has been waiting for this! It’s time for me to teach you for everything you’ve put me through!”

Terra cringed softly.

“I activate MONSTER REBORN! Revive Jinzo!”

(Atk: 2400)

“Oh, no! He’s back!” cried Terra.

Spike growled, “That means traps can’t be used again!”

Twilight observed, “But wait…! Jinzo can take out Garnet, but not Prismaura.”

Sci-Twi had a sickening feeling. “He’s got to be up to something huge.”

“Yes! I am!” hissed Gar. “For what I’m about to play will show you all finally and for good why my skills are superior to all of yours combined!

I tribute Battle Fader and Jinzo…. so that may summon ORGOTH THE RELENTLESS!”

The great, hulking monster roared as he held up a giant sword.

(Atk: 2500)

Everyone else felt shivers run down their spines.

Terra looked through the monster’s wicked helmet, at his glowing raging eyes. “…He’s… he’s almost like you!”

Gar looked up at Orgoth. “He’s not “almost,” he is EXACTLY like me. Relentless, powerful, big, and full of surprises.”

Three large dice blocks then appeared before Gar, and he grabbed all of them in his arms.

“What’s happening?” asked Twilight.

Sci-Twi explained, “It’s Orgoth’s ability; Gar rolls those three dice blocks, and then Orgorth will gain attack points equal to 100 times the amount rolled.”

Everyone felt a sickening feeling, while Gar snickered, and with a great big “Ha!” he tossed all three dice blocks up high, and down they all came.

“Three 6s?!” wailed Terra. “That’s unreal!”

“Believe me, it’s quite real.” insisted Gar “I’m a master gamer, and my skills are incredible… even with dice.

And now, Orgoth will gain 1800 attack points!”

(Atk: 2500) -----> (Atk: 4300)

“Forty-Three Hundred!” wailed Terra.

“Yes, but that’s not all. Since all three of my dice came up the same, Orgoth can’t be destroyed this turn, and I also get to draw two more cards.”

He took his two cards and shouted, “Now, Orgoth, prepare for attack!”

“This is it!” thought Terra “I’ve got him for sure!”


Orgoth rushed forth with his blade at the ready, and Terra stood ready to spring her trap… only to her shock; Orgoth sped past both her monsters!

“What the--”

“Oh, and did I mention Orgoth has one other specialty?” taunted Gar “Thanks to my incredible triple dice roll, he can bypass your monsters and attack you directly!”

“No!!” Terra screamed “My trap doesn’t work on direct attacks!!”

“Terra!!” cried Sci-Twi.

“She’s finished!!” wailed Spike.

“I can’t watch!” groaned Twilight.

“ORGOTH… END THIS!!!” Gar shouted.

Orgoth gave a huge swing with his sword, slashing Terra hard and making her scream!!!

Terra LP: 2700 -----> 0

The attack was so hard and strong, it caused a massive burst of bright lights that enveloped Terra, and headed straight for the others too.

Outside, A big flash of light burst through from Gar, flying straight towards the friends. It hit the ground, and the others all appeared.

“Twilight!” cried Rainbow.

“Terra!” added Kori.

The gang ran up to their friends and expressed their greatness to see them alright, but Terra, she had a dead expression on her face, and tears of despair in her eyes.

“What’s the matter?” asked Vic.

Terra was far too crushed to answer. Even in her thoughts she was bewailing to her defeat. “I couldn’t convince him.

He won’t ever come back… to the Titans… to me…!

He’s really gone, and it’s all because of me!”

Cadance tried to approach Terra, but she felt her foot hit something on the ground.

A newspaper had been knocked off the newsstand with a very interesting front-page story from five years ago. She couldn’t help but pick it up and look at it.

Dick spoke severely to Gar. “What did you do?”

Gar got to his feet feeling much better after ejecting the others from his mind, but he paid Dick no notice.

“Answer me!”

Gar walked right past him without saying a thing and he stopped before Sci-Twi.

She glared up at his face coverings, neither of them said a thing to each other. Spike growled, and Twilight trembled softly.

Then, Gar reached into his coat and pulled out Sci-Twi’s duel disk with all her own cards and rather than just politely hand it to her, he softly slid the disk towards her, and it stopped at her feet.

Sci-Twi gawked at them. “My duel disk… My deck…?”

The others were all astounded as well.

Gar then snuffed and turned to walk up the other way, only to run into Dick. “You’re not going anywhere until we talk this out.”

Gar stood where he was, as if he was willing to fight with Dick, and Dick felt and looked the same-- ready to let the fists do the talking.

“Dick, stop!” Kori called as she ran up to her husband.

Seeing his chance, Gar began to walk off.

“Gar, wait…!” Kori called.

“Masquerade!” Gar thundered at her. “My name is “Masquerade!” And I don’t know how many times I have to tell you… “Stay away from me!” I want nothing to do with you traitorous losers!”

He looked down at Terra, “…Something she just learned the hard way!”

Raven’s head was throbbing with rage, and her lips were quivering too, but she still did her best not to show.

“Okay, now… everyone just calm-down.” said Pinkie, and she took in a huge breath and let it out, “Ahh…” and when she opened her eyes, Gar was already out of sight.

“Well, so much for him.” grumbled Rainbow. “How can that guy be such a jerk?”

“We already know…” replied Sci-Twi, and she glared rather sternly at the Titans.

“Uh… you okay, girl?” asked Vic.

Sci-Twi and two card victims looked back and forth and all the Titans.

“I think you all have some explaining to do.” said Twilight.

The Titans all fell silent, while Rainbow blinked her eyes in confusion. “Uh… someone want to fill me in here?”

Gar felt glad to be away from the group again, even more so to have Terra and the others out of his head.

But his head still ached from all those horrible memories, even the good ones, still floating through his mind.

He said to himself. “The sooner I get out of this world and away from those morons, the better! Then I don’t have to put with them, and they don’t have to put up with me!”

Suddenly, he had a strange feeling he was being watched.

“What now?”

He turned sharply and saw Violet standing up the street.

“We meet again.” she hissed at him. “I think it’s time you and I finished what we started back in the desert.”

She flicked her robe, holding her arm and her disk up ready for action, and before Gar could react, Sapphire showed up.

“Hey, what are you doing?” he hollered.

“What does it look like? I’m about to teach this scum a lesson.”

“Uh, usually I’m all for it that, but we’re supposed to be looking for Celestia, and we still have to find Khaos.”

Violet didn’t care in the least. “I’ve made up my mind…” and she glared nastily at Gar “You’re mine, and I’m not leaving until I add you… trapped in a card… to my deck!”

Gar was already annoyed with these threats, but he did know that both these creeps, like Karle, couldn’t be turned into cards if they lost, and their weak spots weren’t so well known this time.

“Look, we’ve got orders!” insisted Sapphire “So let’s get going, and we can come back later!”

“And for the last time: I’m not leaving!” thundered Violet.

Sapphire sighed, “No choice then, and I can’t believe I’m going to do this…” but he raised his duel disk and fired a duel beam at Violet.

“Hey!” she growled.

“You won’t listen to reason; I’ll just have to stop you myself.”

Violet wouldn’t accept, and she quickly surrendered the duel at once, setting herself free, and of course, the lightning didn’t strike either one of them.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” called Sapphire, and he fired another duel beam forcing violet to dodge to avoid getting hit again.

“Knock it off!” she thundered.

“No, you quit disobeying orders!” bellowed Sapphire, and he kept on shooting and shooting, and Violet kept dodging…

…Only to suddenly realize Gar was nowhere to be seen.

“Thanks a lot! He got away!”

Sapphire snuffed. “He’s not important-- not right now anyway. So come on! The sooner we finish up, the sooner we can kick some dueling butt.”

With no other choice Violet complied, and she and Sapphire flew off on their clouds.

Gar saw his chance while the two were bickering, and he took shelter in one of the buildings. He bounded his way up, up, up to the roof of a small apartment building, and he secretly watched the two fly off over the distance.

“I’ve got to follow them.” he thought, “If I stay close to those freaks, maybe I can find a way out of this place.”

Using his incredible athletic skills, he began to leap along the roofs and used his coat as gliding wings to float gently along the air to cross huge gaps and doing his best to remain unseen!

Meanwhile, Rainbow and Pinkie were positively horrified when they were explained what Sci-Twi friends had seen.

“I cannot… I absolutely cannot believe it!” growled Rainbow.

“I can’t either.” added Pinkie “…You really went into Gar’s mind?”

Sci-Twi stood with her arms folded and glaring angrily at the Titans.

“You knew Gar was grieving, and you never showed him the least bit of sympathy? You just berated him, belittled him, treated him like dirt…” she paused and glared at Raven “…And you physically abused him for such petty and minor infractions!”

Raven just folded her arms and gave her the same angry glare back, proving it was all true! The other Titans all looked deep in regret, with shameful expressions, only further confirming it.

“No wonder he ran away.” said Rainbow. “I mean some friends you turned out to be. Even I’d want to get away if my friends treated me that way.”

“We know!” replied Dick. “We realized we were a little harsh with him.” then he corrected himself, “Okay, we were really bad.”

“And that’s not nearly as bad as your aiding in the corruption and devastation that killed your city.” said Cadance.

She held up the newspaper she had taken with her, which not only showed the front-story of how the four Titans made those horrible business deals.

“Look at these stock ratings!”

Cadance pointed out chart that listed cities all over America, including one piacular city in the middle.

“Canterlot City!” exclaimed Sci-Twi.

“…And now things have officially gone too far!” added Rainbow.

Pinkie felt like choking. “The corruption would have reached our beautiful home. Businesses would go bankrupt! Industries would have closed, and people would have lost their jobs, their homes, their friends their…” she stopped when she ran out breath.

She calmed herself down and took deep breaths to regain herself, but she was still horribly livid, especially about the part where the Titan’s negligence in aiding the greed and corruption also caused breakups, family loses, and suicides!

Now she felt like crying!

Kori did too… in shame. “We didn’t know. If we did, we would never have done it.”

“Well Gar tried to warn you!” scolded Spike “And all you did was ignore him, call him crazy, and treat him like a problem even more…” he paused “…Just like you did with every single idea he came up with, even if they were good.”

He cast Raven another sour look, “…You swatted him just for suggesting Mexico as a vacation spot!”

Now Raven starting to look mad!

Sci-Twi calmed Spike down from letting his mouth fly, but she was still horribly disgusted with the Titans. “Why didn’t you tell any of us this? You all held back all this stuff since we met.”

“We didn’t want to remember it all that way.” replied Dick.

Vic nodded, “For the past five years, all of America’s been hating on us. They take one look at us and go “Keep away!” or “Greedy Guts!”

…We try and make up for our mistakes, but the people won’t let us, and who could blame them-- all the damages done, the lives ruined, and people offing themselves… and because of us!”

Kori clutched her belly; all the guilt was flowing through her nine stomachs. “We wanted to try and put it all behind us and save our people-- give them another chance at life that no one else would.”

Twilight shook her head, “As understandable and noble as that all could be,” she paused “That really doesn’t excuse you all. You made the mistakes in the first place, when they all could have been avoided, but you wouldn’t listen.

You’ve been lying to other people…

…And it cannot be denied that you are all largely responsible for the reason Gar is so mad and mean all the time. You killed his gentle soul with your negligence, and you just up and demand he suck it up, and get over things, and just come back to you because you want him to?”

She wasn’t trying to defend or justify Gar’s bad behavior. His attitude would never be on the level of any excuse, but it was highly understandable, and not entirely without justification.

Cadance felt sick to her stomach. “It seems more like you all only want him back so you can feel less guilty for what you did and use him because he’s rich and has resources to get you out of your troubles.”

“No, no! That’s not true.” Dick said, desperately trying to prove his sincerity, but in the end it was no good. It was clear that whether the Titans really cared for their former friend or teammate was questionable.

Twilight could not believe what she was about to say, “In all my years, I have never seen such horrible acts of negligence, greed, dysfunction, and above all else… Hatred.

…I don’t think even I can help work out this friendship problem.”

A long moment of silence happened. Three of the Titans, and Terra were so ashamed.

“…He deserved it.”

Everyone looked towards Raven.

“He was always annoying, bratty, goofy. How a jerk like him ever became a hero in the first place is beyond me.”

“Okay, what?” Rainbow asked. “Are you saying it’s true, and that you never really cared about him at all?”

“No!” cried Pinkie “You can’t mean that.”

“She doesn’t.” Dick assured them “She’s had her bad say of Gar from time-to-time, but in the end--” but he was cut off by Raven saying “…I mean it.”

Terra put her hand over her mouth in shock.

Raven fully confessed that she never really liked Gar since the first time she met him. “…He was always immature. Always wisecracking horrible jokes. Getting in the way.

…I was happier when he wasn’t around, why we never kicked him off the team before is an even greater mystery.

I was glad when he was gone!” she paused and looked at the others, “And yet I still had to hear about him from all of you-- how we were hard on him, and how he was right about things.”

Her every word only further incriminated herself, and proved how Gar was right, that she saw him as nothing but a worthless nobody!

“How can you say all that about him?” protested Terra.

Raven refused to answer, and she didn’t have to. It was clear that she blamed Gar for all her troubles, and everything wrong in her life.

“You guys don’t actually agree with her, do you?” Cadance asked the other Titans.

Dick, Kori, and Vic, though livid to hear what Raven truly thought of Gar.

“Well… he was annoying sometimes.” Vic admitted.

“There were times when even we thought he was too immature.” added Kori.

Then Dick finally sealed the deal, “He managed to accomplish and show us things even we thought were unbecoming of him.

…That’s not the point! He was one of us, and we know we treated him wrongly. We want to make things right!”

At this point, the Equestrians were totally unsure.

“Oh, isn’t this heartbreaking.” hissed an evil voice.

Everyone looked up and saw Sunset laughing at everyone.

Features hardened, but Sci-Twi, Terra, and the card victims couldn’t believe their eyes.

“Sunset?!” cried Spike “What the heck happened to her?”

“Well,” Pinkie said, and she drew in a deep breath making one of her long and breathless explanations. “After you left, we went looking for you four, and we ran into Khaos who told us about this evil power called Z-Arc, and how Sunset now holds the power of Z-Arc in her, and she’s totally brainwashed and wants to duel us all forever, and ever until we expire.”

She stopped and panted. “That was easy to say.”

The other four blinked in shock and confusion, while Sunset snickered, “Yes, very good. Now who’s up for a duel? I know I am.”

“Don’t duel her!” cautioned Vic “She’s got these strange new cards none of us have ever seen. She’ll clobber you!”

“He’s not kidding!” agreed Rainbow.

Sunset only armed her duel disk and snickered, “This is going to be super fun!”