Yu-Gi-Oh E-Quest: Malefic Wars

by DakariKingMykan

Episode 46: Part 4: Synchro Struggle

EPISODE FORTY-SIX

The Forest Room was burning down fast, but the fire wouldn’t spread too far since the castle mostly stone.

Sunset approached Violet, who was backing away from her in actual fear as she thought “I knew Z-Arc was supposed to be powerful, but I never guessed this much!”

Sunset snickered as she came forth. “This is your final warning: Take me to you leaders!”

“Never!” shouted Violet.

Sunset’s eyes blazed. “Very well…!” and she looked ready to zap Violet into oblivion, but she stopped. “…I’ve got a better idea. One that I’m certain will please everyone.”

“What are you talking about?”

Sunset snickered. “I’m going to hold the biggest and most grand duel I’ve ever had, where everyone will have a chance to challenge me at different times.

So, gather everyone up, and you’ll all meet me outside at the castle gate in one hour!”

“And if I don’t?” Violet dared to ask.

Sunset laughed. “Oh, you don’t want to know “Or Else.”

One hour!” she then turned and dashed back towards the opening in the wall again, laughing wickedly.

Violet was most outraged. “She wants to duel… I want to take her down!” It was easy to see what she was thinking.

“Don’t do it!” someone snapped at her.

She nearly jumped in fright and saw Khaos standing with his arms folded.

“How long have you been standing there?” Violet bellowed “Did you even bother to help me?!”

“I only just got here in time to see her leave, but I heard what she said. It matters not. Our orders are not to deal with her.”

“But you heard what she said? We’ve got to stop her!”

Khaos wouldn’t hear of it, knowing how powerful Z-Arc’s power was. “We better find Sapphire and then consult their majesties then.”

Violet reluctantly agreed, and followed along, leaving the rest of the forest to burn away, and the fire just burned itself out.

Sunset stood out in the wide-open of the mountain top. From up here she could see the entire view of the crumpling remains of Jump City, and the vast desert lands of the Malefic World with the Malefic cities far in the distances.

She snickered wickedly, “All this will soon be mine, and the worlds beyond it. There’s not a soul out there who can defeat me and my power.”

Suddenly, she felt strange again, as if she were struggling to maintain control.

“Stop!” she growled. “You… are not… going to… hold me back!”

She regained control…

…Supressing what was really Sunset’s true and good nature locked inside her, within in the shadows of her dark soul.

Poor, girl… she was beginning to feel that things were hopeless.

“How could I have let his happen?” she kept asking herself. “I was set up from day one, ever since I got those strange cards!

Now all my friends are in danger, and so is every world out there-- not just the human world, not just Equestria-- but every world!”

She was really losing her faith and her strength, and all this only made Z-Arc’s hold over her body stronger.

An evil, raspy male voice-- Z-Arc’s true voice-- snickered at her. “Don’t take it so hard. Thanks to you lending me your body, I’m about to become the most powerful being in this and any existence.”

Sunset snapped fiercely, “I didn’t lend you anything, and if I had known this would happen, why I’d--”

She was cut off by Z-Arc “It’s a little late for you to do anything about, except sit back and enjoy the fun that’s about to commence.

Your little friends, and even their enemies won’t resist a chance to confront me.”

He said no more, leaving Sunset feeling hopeless in the darkness.

Pinkie and Terra were hiding nearby amongst loads of rock formations on the flat of the peak by the castle. They could see Sunset just standing out in the open-- just standing there with her arms folded.

They had heard what she said to Violet about the Ultimate Duel.

“What are we going to do?” Pinkie asked softly.

“We’ve got to round up all the others, that’s what.” said Terra.

Pinkie mockingly scratched her head “Um… you mean… go back into that big, scary castle? Where we could get lost, end up in another hopeless duel, get turned into cards, and doom us all?!”

Terra quickly covered Pinkie’s mouth to keep her from shouting too loudly. “Look, we can’t face Sunset by ourselves. The only real chance we have of helping her is if we find all the others.”

Pinkie remained unsure of anything, given the horrible experiences she had, and her loss of confidence in her dueling.

“I’m open to other suggestions.” said Terra.

Pinkie was beaten, and then she pointed out. “How do we get back in. We can’t go the way we came-- Sunset will see us.”

Now Terra was stumped. It wasn’t as if they could just waltz in through the main gate of the castle. “There’s got to be another way in.”

She got her answer when a trapdoor opened right under her and Pinkie’s feet. The two girls screamed as they fell in…

…Which alerted Sunset. “Huh?” she grunted as she turned her head, but she saw no one in sight. The trapdoor had already shut.

“Hmm… perhaps waiting for the Ultimate Challenge wasn’t such a good idea. I should have issued the challenge right away.

Ah, well. I wonder what those fools are up to now.”

The Prince Brothers saw her through the magic view. As outraged as they were of the damages Sunset had inflicted, they made no desire to go after her and stop her.

“We didn’t plan for this Ultimate Challenge.” said Rubeus. “Still, I suppose it can’t be too much harm to our plans. It may even be beneficial.”

“How can we be certain?” asked Loki. “You know how Z-Arc operates; his power increases over time, especially with every victim he defeats. Pretty soon, his power may become too much for even you and I to bear.”

Rubeus clenched his fist in concern. “That is a possibility… but even still I have my doubts Z-Arc will succeed this time.”

Then he thought silently, “How can he succeed when there is one thing, I know, he can never stand up to.”

Vic was still in serious trouble, but he finally managed to get up onto his feet.

Vic LP: 3300

Sapphire LP: 8000

“So, you’re not going to give up?” asked Sapphire.

“No way, I’m not!” snarled Vic. “There’s way too much on the line for me to quit now!”

Sapphire could only scoff, “Nice attitude, but my Clear Wing Synchro Dragon and my Kendama still have you stuck in an awful fix.

You should’ve just surrendered while you could have.”

Vic’s clenched fist trembled, but he had to be careful not to blow his top and waste more of his power-cell.

“I’ve got to get rid of his monsters, but I can’t summon too much because of Dragon’s Bind.” he thought.

He looked down at his two useless cards. “There’s got to be a way out of this.” Then he looked down at his deck and prepared to draw. “Come on, Baby… show me some love!”

He pulled out his card, and gawked at it, almost breaking out in excitement. “This may work!”

“Now then, I summon another DESKBOT DOUBLE-O FOUR!”

(Atk: 500)

“Now, let’s get busy, Double-O Four, attack Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!”

His bot complied and readied himself to attack!

The bot, once again, grew to giant size, and he launched an attack against the dragon.

“You just don’t learn.” snapped Sapphire “I can banish Tri-Eyed Dice from the graveyard and stop your attack just like that!”

Just as promised, the attack was neutralized again, sparing the dragon from destruction.

“And of course, no Damage Step means you can’t use your bot’s effect again!”

Vic didn’t seem the least bit concerned. “There, that takes care of the dice.” he thought.

“In that case, I’ll place one other card facedown, and that ends my turn.

Celestia continued to watch the two duelists, not knowing if whether to feel bored or somewhat impressed.

“It’s my draw…!” shouted Sapphire. He now had two cards in hand, but he stopped to think for a moment. “He’s playing a bit too cool. He knows my Clear Wing’s abilities, and I also know that he can power that bot of his when I declare an attack, and it’ll destroy my own monster.”

Vic just continued to gaze at him with a smug expression, which really annoyed him.

“If he thinks he’ll outsmart me, he’s got another thing coming, and I have just the card to help me too.”

“First thing’s first!” he bellowed “I activate Kendama’s ability. You know how it goes-- I banish Taketomborg from the graveyard, and you get hit with another 500 points of damage!

Blast him!”

Vic braced himself as Kendama shot him, making him growl and groan in pain.

Vic LP: 3300 -----> 2800

Sapphire snickered at him, “And now get a load of this, I play the spell SOUTHERN STARS!”

A bight light shined right on Vic’s little bot.

“Yo’, what do you think you’re doing?!” Vic demanded to know.

“Chill out, I’m just giving him a little upgrade that’s all-- a Level 10 upgrade to be exact.”

“Huh…???” Vic then saw his bot’s level had changed from 4 to 10, leaving Vic shocked beyond words.

Sapphire explained, “Southern Stars permanently changes a monster’s Level to 10.

Now what are you going to do? After all, if you try to activate his effect, now that’s he’s way over level 5, Clear Wing can negate the effect and destroy your monster.”

Vic cringed in horrors as he looked at the snarling dragon.

Sapphire spoke to his own monster. “Easy there, big boy, this is a job for Kendama. Once he destroys that bot, I get to draw another card thanks to Break Draw, then you can finish him off!”

“That’s what you think, fella.” Vic sneered in thought.

Sapphire readied himself, “Kendama, attack!”

Kendama prepared to power up and stab the bot to pieces.

“I activate Double-O Four’s ability!”

“What?!” snapped Sapphire.

“During the damage step, I can send DESKBOT DOUBLE-O NINE from my deck to the graveyard, and it’ll boost Double-O Four’s attack by 500 points multiplied by Double-O Nine’s level!

Which means, 4500 attack points come his way!”

(Atk: 500) -----> (Atk: 5000)

Sapphire was furious, “Weren’t you listening to what I just said?! Your Bot is at least Level 5 now, which means I can use Clear Wing’s ability to stop your ability and destroy your bot!”

Clear Wing powered up and prepared to unleash his fury.

“You just fell for everything!” hollered Vic “I activate the trap CORKSCREW COUNTER!

When you activate a monster’s effect during a fight, this card negates your effect. Then it destroys your card and deals you 500 points of damage!”

“AAAAHHH!! NO WAY!!” cried Sapphire.

Clear Wing began to glow, and it roared painfully as he vanished in a burning stream of light.

“CLEAR WING…!!!” Sapphire shouted as his points dropped, and the Dragon’s Bind card shattered as well.

Sapphire LP: 8000 -----> 7500

Vic’s plan had worked perfectly. He knew that Sapphire would probably try and pull a stunt to change the monster’s levels to ensure that his dragon could stop it, but he didn’t expect the trap Vic had set.

He leapt up high in the air, “BOO-YAH!! Clear Wing has left the building, baby!” He paused and then pointed out to the field, “…And Kendama’s next! Since Clear Wing was stopped, my Deskbot powers up again, just in time to take the hit!”

(Atk: 500) -----> (Atk: 5000)

Kendama was unable to stop, and crashed into the, now, giant, bot, which glared down at it.

“Uh, oh!” cried Sapphire.

“Let’s show ‘em!” shouted Vic, and he ordered his bot to counterattack!

(Atk: 5000) VS (Atk: 2200)

KAPOW!! Kendama was blown up hard and the waves sped past Sapphire. Unfortunately, he took no battle damage due to Double-O Four’s effect, but was on his knees after the blast, and he looked up quivering with rage.

Celestia was astounded. “Amazing!” she muttered to herself. “With just that simple card combo, he got rid of all of Sapphire’s cards, including his dragon.”

Then she felt strange again, remembering the feeling of dueling for sheer thrill, and not power and glory.

She clutched her head, still managing to shake off the feelings.

“And just like that, Cyborg’s back in action!” Vic cheered. “Now that your Dragon’s Bind is gone, I can use Double-O Four’s other ability…

Since he successfully destroyed a monster, I can summon two “Deskbot” monsters out of my graveyard or from my hand in defense-mode!”

Two flashes of light shone down, “Coming out to play it’s… DESKBOT DOBULE-O NINE, and DESKBOT DOBULE-O TWO!”

(Def: 500) x2

“When Double-O Two is special summoned, he let’s me add DESKBOT DOUBLE-O ONE to my hand, and as long as he’s in play, all my other Deskbots gain 500 additional attack and defense points.”

(Def: 500) -----> (Def: 1000)

(Atk: 500) -----> (Atk: 1000)

“So how to you like that!” Vic hollered. “You know, it was kind of cool the way I outsmarted you and beat your strategy.”

Sapphire only stood with fire blazing in his eyes and quivering with fury. “You destroyed my Clear Wing Synchro Dragon! You made a big mistake, and I’ll see to it that you pay!”

Vic’s cheer dissolved into concern. “Yo’ man… don’t get so worked up over it.”

Sapphire angrily flicked his robe. “I’ll show you worked up!

“I play the spell SPEEDRAW. Since I don’t have any cards in play, I draw two cards, and then, I send Tri-Eyed Dice from my hand to the graveyard!”

“Ugh! Not another Tri-Eyed Dice!” Vic growled in thought.

Sapphire huffed. “Now, I activate Kendama’s special ability. Since I have no cards in play, I can special summon him from the graveyard!”

In a big flash, his machine had returned.

(Atk: 2200)

“Ah, man!” groaned Vic. “Well, it’s better than Clear Wing.”

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

“Fine! My move.” said Vic, and he drew, giving him two cards. Then he thought to himself, “Just when I thought I was rid of Kendama, it shows up again… but I can’t let that rattle me.”

“First off, I’m switching all my monsters into attack mode.”

(Atk: 1000) x3

“And now… I’m allowed to do what I longed for at the start…” he pointed up to the now swinging pendulum. “…I can summon as many bots from Levels 2 through 9 as I need!

…It’s PENDULUM TIME!!”

A single beam of light shot down from above, and his monster appeared.

“DESKBOT DOUBLE-O FIVE!” (Atk: 500) -----> (Atk: 1000)

Now he had a full row of four bots in play, which made Sapphire cringe a bit.

“I activate Double-O Five’s ability!” hollered Vic “Since he was successfully summoned, it destroys one spell or trap in play.”

He then pointed squarely at Sapphire’s facedown card.

“Oh, no!” cried Sapphire.

“Ah yeah!” teased Vic. “Strut your stuff my bot and blow it away!”

His bot complied and fired a laser blast from its visor straight at the card.

“In that case, I’ll activate it before you destroy it!” yelled Sapphire. “Activate RE-DYCE-CLE!”

“Say what?!” snapped Vic.

Sapphire snickered, “This trap lets me summon a “Speedroid” tuner monster from the graveyard, and it’s a no-brainer, I pick Red-Eyed Dice!”

(Def: 100)

“Unfortunately, his effects are negated, but I get something else…!”

A large dice block appeared in Sapphire’s hands. “Now I get to roll this, and whatever number it comes up, that becomes my monster’s new level.”

Vic was confused by all this, but he watched as Sapphire skillfully threw the die, and it bounced all around stopped on 2.”

“Perfect!” exclaimed Sapphire. “Good thing I’m good at rolling dice, just like I was made to, because this trap now lets me Synchro Summon using both my monsters.”

Vic gasped almost in an overly dramatic scene in which his gasp was repeated three time. “…You’re joking!”

“Ha!” scoffed Sapphire “We’ll see who’s joking.

I tune level 2 Dice with level 6 Kendama!”

The Synchro Process commenced, and Sapphire called out…

“On wings of wind and shining bright,
I call on this beast to win me this fight!

I Synchro Summon, CRYSTAL WING SYNCHRO DRAGON!”

(Atk: 3000)

The sparkling, shining dragon let out a mighty roar, making the entire corridor shake. Vic and Celestia nearly fell off their feet.

Sapphire laughed while standing by his monster. “I told you that you’d pay for beating Clear Wing, and it’s coming your way!

There’s no way you’ll get out of this one!”

Vic looked up at the fearsome beast, remembering how it worked. “I can’t believe this!” he wailed in thought. “That dragon’s worse news than the other one.

When a monster effect activates, it can negate that effect and destroy the monster, and then if it battles a monster that’s at least level 5 or above, its attack power goes up!

And even worse, he’s got another Tri-Eyed Dice in the grave, so he’ll block my next attack! What is with this guy?!”

Sapphire thought quietly, “This is what happens when you play against a guy who stacks his deck just right. I’d almost like to see how he’ll try and make his way out of this.”

He looked down at his Double-O One in his hand.

He was thinking of a possible Synchro Summon, but he was still far concerned about Crystal Wing and all its powers.

“Hold it…!” he looked at the second card beneath the first one, and then remembered his facedown card-- the one he played at the start of the duel.

“I think I know another way to end this duel for good.”

“Here goes! I summon my main Tuner monster, Double-O One from my hand!”

(Atk: 500) -----> (Atk: 1000)

“A tuner monster…?!” cried Sapphire.

Celestia watched in awe, “This is about to get interesting!”

“I guess the best way to match you is to fight Synchro-to-Synchro, and so I tune Double-O One and Nine together, to from me my ultimate machine!”

Sapphire watched as the tuning process began, and Vic called out to his monster…

“From the great big assembly line,
Check out this mechanized monster of mine!

I Synchro Summon… DESKBOT JET!”

(Atk: 500)

His mighty jet soared in magical circles before landing softly behind him, nearly taking up the entire space of the hallway.

Sapphire gawked up and the giant mechanical creation.

Vic clenched his fist. “Ah, yeah! Who’s da’ man, or should I say… “Jet” because it gains 500 extra points from Double-O Two, and 500 more points for very “Deskbot” card I have in play, including those in the Pendulum Zone!”

(Atk: 500) -----> (Atk: 4000)

Sapphire growled miserably at how strong the jet had become, stronger than his dragon!

“Now, let’s party!” Vic shouted, “I use Jet’s special ability! His lasers now target Double-O Eight in the Pendulum Zone, but it also target’s your dragon there!”

Two large, green-glowing cursor marks appeared on the two monsters.

“Get ready folks, because now both these monsters are about to be destroyed!”

“No!!” shouted Sapphire “I activate Crystal Wing’s ability to negate your monster’s ability and destroy your overgrown plane there!”

“Ah!” cried Vic, and he watched as Crystal Wing’s eyes glowed brightly, and he fired a magical blast, making the Jet explode in a huge flare, shaking the entire area again!

Celestia covered her eyes as she braced herself from the violent rays.

Far, far amongst the hallways, Kori and Sci-Twi had been running about for quite a while, but they were no closer to finding any of their friends.

“Twilight… This isn’t working.” panted Kori.

Sci-Twi hated to agree. The castle just seemed to twist, turn, and go in many different directions.

Suddenly, they both felt a small tremor.

“Did you feel that?” asked Sci-Twi.

Kori nodded. “That didn’t feel like it came from outside.”

Sci-Twi looked down at her feet, keeping the feel of the tremor in her mind, and using her incredibly calculative skills, she figured which direction it came from.

“What?” asked Kori. “What’s up?”

Sci-Twi didn’t answer, and instead she got down on her knees and put her palms flat on the floor hoping for just one more shake.

Celestia watched as Vic slowly got up with his head hanging down a bit. She actually took pity on Vic for the blunder. “Poor guy, he should’ve known better than that.”

Just then, even standing far away from the duelists, she couldn’t help but notice the look on Vic’s face.

“…Is he, smiling?”

He was indeed smiling, much to Sapphire’s shock.

The smile then turned to a sinister snicker. “Got’cha! You fell for it just as I hoped you would.”

“What are you talking about?!” growled Sapphire.

Vic motioned at the card he set at the beginning of the duel. “This is what-- one doozy of a trap I call SYNCHRO SPIRITS! It lets me banish Deskbot Jet out of the graveyard…

…And then, I get to summon the two monsters I used to summon it back to the field. So Double-O One and Nine return!”

(Atk: 500) ------> (Atk: 1000)

Sapphire suddenly caught the idea. “You wouldn’t?!”

“Would he?” wondered Celestia.

“Willing and going to!” shouted Vic. “I tune both these bots together, and Synchro Summon a new DESKBOT JET!”

(Atk: 500) -----> (Atk: 4000)

Sapphire was quivering in fear now.

“Let’s try this again.” said Vic “I target Deskbot Double-O Eight and your Crystal Wing!”

Sapphire was powerless to stop the jet this time as it armed its lasers.

“Fire!” Vic shouted.

POW! POW!! The Jet fired two huge lasers, destroying the two monsters.

Sapphire couldn’t bare to watch, not just because of the brightness of the explosions, but the very sight of his dear Crystal Wing being vaporized before him!

“No! No!! How could this happen!” he wailed.

His field was totally empty, while Vic huffed. “I’ll tell you why, it’s because you duel for the wrong reasons. It’s bad enough that you duel for evil, but when you mess with my friends, especially Celestia… you’re in big trouble!!”

That struck Celestia hard, and more feelings began to come over her making her struggle with herself.

Dueling was fun…

Having friends whom she cared for was nice…

“…No!” she groaned softly “I… can’t… think like this! I’m loyal to… Loki… I’m loyal!”

While she continued to battle herself, Vic was planning to battle Sapphire down.

“There’s one less Deskbot in play, which means my Jet loses 500 attack points.”

(Atk: 4000) -----> (Atk: 3500)

“However, Double-O Five now gains 500 points because there’s a face-up Deskbot in my Extra Deck!”

(Atk: 1000) -----> (Atk: 1500)

“Now, let’s get busy! Deskbot Jet, attack him directly!”

His jet armed its lasers to attack, but Sapphire still had a trick up his sleeve.

“I banish Tri-Eyed dice, and that pulls the wall over your jet’s attack!”

With that, the attack barely made it towards him, shrinking away to nothing.

Vic growled angrily. “No matter, I still got my other bots—Double-O Two, Four, and Five!

…Go get him, Bots!”

The bots complied, and combined their attacks together into one big blast, which struck sapphire hard, knocking him across the floor, and dealing him a full 3000 points of damage!

Sapphire LP: 7500 -----> 4500

“BOO-YAH!!” Vic hollered, but then felt woozy again with his power still dwindling. “… Shouldn’t have done that.”

Sapphire lay flat on the carpet, and angrily slammed his fist on the floor. “I can’t believe this!” he thought. “First he beat Clear Wing, and now Crystal Wing is down too.”

He got back up onto his feet while glaring Vic down. He was so incredibly enraged, so determined to strike him back for what he had just done, that his eyes were glowing light blue, and his body was shrouded in his Malefic aura.

Vic couldn’t help but feel a bit freaked out by the look he was getting.

“You think this is over?!” Sapphire hissed. “I’m just getting warmed up. In fact, I’m seething with rage, just like my fallen dragons are!”

The spirits of his dragons appeared behind him, roaring in wails of desire for vengeance.

Vic had never seen anyone so attached to cards like this before.

With his eyes shut tightly, Sapphire drew a single card.

He opened his eyes and looked at what he drew, and his aura flared up as if he were stoked.

“This guy is so going down!”

To Be Continued…

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