Yu-Gi-Oh E-Quest: Malefic Wars

by DakariKingMykan

Episode 50: Part 2: False Protection

EPISODE FIFTY

Due to the expanding rifts, the people in all cities began to flee in terror, but this was all useless as there was literally no place to run to.

The rifts were slowly expanding, and coming closer, and closer to sucking in all the buildings, the people, and the animals into the darkness.

Meanwhile, Z-Arc and all his evil dragons continued to glare Dick and Celestia down.

Z-Arc LP: 10,700

Dick LP: 7000

Celestia LP: 8000

“Well, this is certainly charming.” Z-Arc mocked. “I’d ask if you’re ready to give up, but I don’t think any of us would like that.

…I like my victories to be well-earned, not simply fly by. It makes it all the sweeter to see all your efforts be in vain.”

Dick and Celestia were still faced with incredible odds stacked against them.

“We can’t give up.” Celestia reminded herself. “We have to beat Z-Arc so we try to free Sunset from his grasp.”

“Right.” agreed Dick “Not to mention we must put an end to Z-Arc’s trouble making so we can move on to confronting the Prince Brothers.

Every world depends on it.”

Z-Arc liked where this was going. “So, you’re not going to give up? Please say “No.”

Rather than give a direct answer, Dick called out, “It’s my turn! I draw…!”

The sideliners all watched with such anxiety.

“What did he draw?” wondered Pinkie.

“Whatever it is, I hope it’s good.” whimpered Terra.

“…Come on, Dick!” Kori muttered.

Dick peeked over his card, and his mask narrowed like his eyes.

“I play XYZ REVENGE! This spell helps me avenge my parent’s name.

Since you control an Xyz monster with overlay units, I can revive an Xyz monster of my own, so come on back Trapeze Magician!”

His magician swung back into action, standing bathed in spotlight along side the other magician.

(Atk: 2500)

Dick felt really pleased, being able to see both his magicians in play again, as if his parents were both still offering him all the strength they could.

“And what’s more…” he declared “Xyz Revenge steals your monster’s overlay unit and gives it to mine!”

Z-Arc growled and watched the switch take place.

“But it won’t stay around for long,” said Dick. “I now use that newly acquired unit to use Trapeze Magician’s ability, which grants my High Magician to attack twice this turn.”

His Magician was bathed in a magical glow, and he swung up high on his bar to show off his dazzling, which made most people gaze in awe.

“And that’s not all…” said Dick “I can still use High Magician’s own effect, by using his last overlay unit, he won’t be destroyed up to three times this turn, which is just what I need to take your dragons down, Z-Arc!”

“I’d like to see you try!” Z-Arc dared.

“I’ll do more than try-- I’ll succeed!

Trapeze High Magcian, attack Supreme King Dragon Clear Wing!”

His magician obeyed and swooped on in…

(Atk: 2700) VS (Atk: 2500)

Clear Wing couldn’t use its power due to the magician being indestructible and was kicked hard in it’s huge face.

The dragon wailed in pain and was destroyed in a big explosion.

“Ah, Yeah…!!” Rainbow cheered.

“Take that!” added Pinkie.

Z-Arc snuffed, “A minor setback, but hardly a concern to me. You forget, thanks to Supreme King Gate Zero, I take no damage.”

Surely enough, the monster absorbed all the negative energy, leaving Z-Arc unscathed.

“It was still worth it, seeing as I got rid of your dragon.” said Dick “And now I’ll go for other dragon, but this time I’ll use Trapeze Magician…

…Attack Supreme King Dragon Dark Rebellion!”

Everyone was confused.

“Why would he do that?” asked Terra. “Both monsters have the same attack points. They’ll both be destroyed.”

“I think that’s just what he wants.” replied Sci-Twi. “When Trapeze Magician is destroyed, Dick is allowed to summon another “Performage” monster from his deck.”

Everyone got the idea…

…The attack got closer, and closer.

“A bold attempt, but it will not work!” thundered Z-Arc “I activate Dark Rebellion’s special ability: During the Battle Phase, I can send back to my Extra Deck.”

The opponents and the sideliners were very surprised—having not seen this ability the last time.

As promised; the dragon glowed and vanished.

“And what is more…” Z-Arc continued “I am now able to summon SUPREME KING GATE ZERO, in the Extra Deck straight to my field.”

(Def: 0)

“It’s back?” cried Dick.

“It is, only now it’s a regular monster.” said Celestia. “But why summon it? It doesn’t even have any defense-points.”

Dick was undeterred and proceeded to continue. “At least I get a replay now. I’ll just have to attack you, Z-Arc! My plan will still work, and I won’t take any damage thanks to Trapeze Magician’s ability.”

He then ordered his magician to attack again.

“Your plan will fail!” sneered Z-Arc “I activate the trap SUPREME RAGE!

Since I-- Supreme King Z-Arc-- am present, I can destroy as many monsters as possible on my field, except for myself!”

Gate Zero on the field shattered, and the ground began to tremble.

“What’s happening now?!” cried Celestia.

Z-Arc snickered and pushed out his arms “Behold, I am now permitted to summon as many “Supreme King Dragon” creatures from my Deck, Hand, my Graveyard, and even my Extra Deck-- all while ignoring their proper summoning conditions!”

The opponents gasped, as did the sideliners.

“He’s going to WHAT now?!” cried Rainbow.

“BEHOLD…!!” Z-Arc shouted as four rains of light rained down and his monsters appeared.

“I call… SUPREME KING DRAGON(s) CLEAR WING and DARK REBELLION! Return!”

(Atk: 2500) x2

“They’re back!” wailed Dick.

“And that’s not all…” yelled Z-Arc “Behold, my Fusion Monster… SUPREME KING DRAGON STARVING VENOM!”

(Atk: 2800)

The Fusion Dragon roared furiously, and Pinkie shuddered at the sight of it. “That dragon! That’s another one that Z-Arc beat me with!”

The other sideliners felt deeply concerned.

“And finally…” Z-Arc announced, “From my Deck I play the creature to complete my unstoppable forces… SUPREME KING DRAGON ODD-EYES!”

(Atk: 2500)

This new dragon made everyone gawk at it with total disbelief.

“That looks just like… Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.” said Rainbow. “…Only weirder; like it’s been poisoned.”

Sci-Twi was more fascinated by the number of different monster types Z-Arc had played. “…One dragon representing each of the summoning techniques.”

“Behold…!!” Z-Arc laughed “The ultimate combination of the great forces…

Fusion…

Synchro…

Xyz…

…Pendulum!

I have harnessed the might of these dragons to form an army that is completely indestructible, and therefore rendering me unbeatable!”

Each of the four dragons let out a mighty roar, and their bodies were shrouded in the different colored auras of the respective summoning technique, and Supreme King Z-Arc let out a roar of its own, with Z-Arc laughing wickedly.

Celestia was panting very stressfully. Never had she seen so many incredibly dangerous monsters all together before.

Dick was just shocked as she was, but he snapped to his senses. “I won’t let you get away with this, Z-Arc!

It’s still my turn, and I’ll still take your dragons down!

Trapeze Magician, attack Dark Rebellion! Since it has no overlay units, it can’t use its ability. So, both monsters will be destroyed.”

The magician dashed for the dragon.

“Again?” teased Z-Arc “You think I’m not ready for this? I activate the trap WALL OF REVEALING LIGHT!

This trap allows me to pay any amount of life points I need, and since I am fortunate enough to have so many, I’ll go ahead and pay 5000!”

Z-Arc LP: 10,700 -----> 5700

Z-Arc glowed in a burning aura but held on strong. He only laughed more at his opponents as glowing sparkles flickered all over their side of the field. “As long as my Wall of Revealing Light remains in play, neither of you will be able to attack me with monsters with 5000 attack points or less!”

Dick and Celestia were nearly horrified, and Dick Magician stopped where he was since his attack wasn’t high enough to continue.

The two duelists stood nearly flabbergasted.

The sideliners all fell silent with their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide!

Z-Arc was positively cackling with glee. “What are you going now? You can’t attack me, and you can’t stop my monsters.”

Dick, trembling with outrage, growing fear, and total loss, shamefully said “…I end my turn.”

Kori could feel her husband’s growing stress. “This is bad! Really bad!”

“Oh, this is way beyond really bad!” whimpered Pinkie. “This is so bad, it makes “Bad” look almost good.”

Celestia’s stomach was growling with anxiety as she gazed back and forth at all the mighty dragons, and Z-Arc himself and how wickedly he was grinning.

“I can’t believe all this!” she thought “Z-Arc really thinks of everything, and now he’s got us so boxed into a corner, I really don’t know if there is any hope to get out of this.”

As she continued to glare at Z-Arc-- remembering that he had control of Sunset’s body-- she was reminded of how when she was poisoned by the darkness and how none of the others gave up on her, no matter how many times she told them off or they lost to her.

It also put her in mind of how she was, once again, fighting for her friends and save them and her family.

Images of all the fallen duelists and her three family members sped past her and gave her a big boost of confidence.

“No! I must keep going, and I will!” she declared with fire in her eyes. “I draw…!

I activate the spell MONSTER RECOVERY! I can now return Double-C Critical Eye to my deck, and then I draw five new cards.”

With her hand refreshed, she now had a whole set of new options.

“For my next move, I activate the spell GRACEFUL CHARITY. So now I’ll draw three more cards, and then I discard two.”

She still had five cards in hand after this was done, but she felt she knew what she was doing.

Since I just discarded MAKYURA THE DESTRUCTOR, his effect allows me to play traps from my hand, such as this one… ELEMENT CONVERSION. It changes the attributes of all the monsters on the field to whichever one I choose for the rest of the turn-- I choose Wind!”

“What?” snapped Z-Arc.

“Not “What” -- “Wind.” teased Celestia, and in a magical billowing gale, all the monsters changed into Wind Type monsters, including Dick’s.

“Hey, I think I know where this is going!” Dick said with glee, and Celestia winked at him.

“I summon DOUBLE-C CRITICAL EYE!”

(Atk: 1400)

“But I’m not through yet, because I activate the spell MONTAGE FUSION! It can clone itself into a perfect copy of any of your monsters, such as your Supreme Clear Wing!”

With a simple snap, the card produced a perfect copy of the dragon.

“And now, thanks to my spell, both it and Critical Eye are about to come together.”

The two monsters rose up high and Celestia chanted the same verse to her emerging monster…

“Swift as the howling winds will blow,
I call on a creature to smite all I know!

I Fusion Summon TRIPLE-C SONIC HALBERD OF BATTLE!”

(Atk: 3000)

The mighty staff reappeared, and the sideliners were actually happy to see it again for once.

“It’s nice now that that thing’s on our side.” said Rainbow.

“Yeah, but it’s still too weak to attack.” Pinkie pointed out.

Z-Arc noted this as well. “Let me guess: you plan to power up your monster so that it may pass by the barrier I’ve cast?”

“More than that.” replied Celestia replied. “But don’t take my word for it, I’ll show you by activating another trap from my hand…

…Activate UNBREAKABLE SPIRIT!”

“Huh?” said Z-Arc.

“What’s that do?” asked Dick.

Celestia grinned and explained, “Since I have only one monster in play, it’s attack points will now gain attack points equal to one monster my opponent has with the lowest attack points.”

Z-Arc’s eyes widened. “I have three dragons each with the same amount of attack points.”

He looked between his Clear Wing, Dark Rebellion, and Odd-Eyes. Since they all had attack power of 2500, it meant that Celestia’s Halberd would rise in power by that very amount.

(Atk: 3000) -----> (Atk: 5500)

“Oh, no!” cried Z-Arc.

“Awesome!” exclaimed Dick.

The sideliners were all cheering with glee.

“All Right!” said Terra “That means her monsters can smash through the barrier and attack!”

Sci-Twi agreed, “And don’t forget, since all the monsters are still Wind Types, that means it can attack three times.”

Celestia flicked her hair back hard, “And I know exactly what my first target will be…” and she pointed straight at “…You, Supreme King Z-Arc!”

“You dare?!” bellowed Z-Arc.

Celestia engaged her battle phase.

“I’m going to take you down, and we’ll be one step closer to saving Sunset Shimmer!

Halberd, attack!!”

The magic staff levitated up high and pointed itself squarely at Z-Arc.

“Come on…!” Dick muttered with hope.

The sideliners all watched with anxiety as the attack was ready to fire.

Kori caught a glimpse of Z-Arc grabbing a single card from his hand. “Wait a minute. What’s he doing?”

“Nice try…!” Z-Arc taunted, and there, right between himself and the Halberd appeared a dumpy little monster.

“That monster!” cried Dick.

“No way!” exclaimed Rainbow “That’s RAINBOW KURIBOH!”

Everyone recognized it when Gar used it before and knew very well what it does.

“No!” cried Celestia as she watched to her horror “…It stops my Halberd! I can’t attack!”

The tiny little fella leapt up onto to Halberd, sending an electrified shock through out the monster’s body, and forcing it back over to where Celestia stood.

Z-Arc could only laugh. “You Fools…! You really think you can take such a cheap shot at me?

Remember, I spent centuries planning and waiting, and I had plenty of time to study up Duel Monsters. This allowed me to think and plan when devising strategies for myself.

You can try all you like, but I assure you, there is no way you’ll ever get through my defense and do me in!”

Dick and Celestia both felt struck at such a thing.

“I don’t believe it!” yelled Rainbow.

“Neither do I.” whimpered Pinkie. “How are they supposed to beat him now?”

Nobody had an answer, not even Sci-Twi.

Celestia had no other choice, and she stuttered fearfully. “I’ll… I’ll place this facedown…. and end my turn.” She looked up at her paralyzed scepter. “Halberd’s attack strength returns to normal now.”

(Atk: 5500) -----> (Atk: 3000)

“Oh, what a shame.” sneered Z-Arc. “You gave it your best, and just as I expected… it wasn’t good enough.”

Dick growled with his fists clenched tightly.

“Well, now… let’s see what I can do. I draw!”

Z-Arc grinned at his newest card.

“Before I finish you both off, I have a little gift to give my Xyz Monster.

By banishing Supreme Rage from my graveyard, the two Supreme King Dragon Darkwurms in my graveyard attached to Dark Rebellion as overlay units!”

The duelists gasped and watched as the dragon spirits emerged from the graveyard and changed into light orbs around the mighty Xyz Dragon.

“He got his overlay units back!” cried Dick.

Z-Arc glared at him, “Oh, but he’s the least of your worries.

You remember Supreme King Gate Infinity, don’t you? I now target your Sonic Halberd, and I gain life points equal to its attack points!”

Z-Arc LP: 5700 -----> 8700

now activate the effect of my Starving Venom Dragon.

I can target one monster on the field, and it gains that monster’s effect, and I choose Triple-C Sonic Halberd of Battle!”

“No!!” cried Celestia. “But that means…!” she stopped in mid-sentence as she watched the evil dragon absorb her monster’s power in a powerful energy wave.

“…Exactly!” bellowed Z-Arc. “Since you both still have Wind monsters in play, my dragon can now attack three times!”

The duelists cringed!

“But before I attack, I’ll place two cards facedown, and I activate the spell CARD OF DEMISE! Now I refresh my hand with five more cards, but I must discard all the cards I hold in five turns.

A small price for me, but a bigger one is headed your way!”

He glared squarely at Dick and his magicians.

“Dick!” cried Kori.

Z-Arc held his hand out, “Supreme King Dragon Clear Wing, attack and destroy Trapeze Magician!”

“No!!” shouted Dick. He looked up at his magician, and all he could see was that tragedy that day when his parents died-- the trapeze wire broke, and they fell to their doom before his eyes!

Only this time, it was a horrible dragon attacking the magician, about to knock it off the swing.

“And Clear Wing still has his power to use!” Z-Arc declared, “It automatically destroys your magician, and you’ll take damage equal to it’s total attack points!”

Dick shut his eyes tightly, unable to watch his beloved magician fall… when a bright flash of light forced him to look up again.

“Huh?”

The dragon was bathed in a dark aura and changing its direction to shoot at Celestia’s Halberd.

“What’s going on?” bellowed Z-Arc “Why is my dragon changing direction?”

Then he noticed the image of a trap card Celestia had played, and he gasped.

“Surprise-Surprise!” she taunted. “Thanks to my CALL OF THE EARTHBOUND trap card, I diverted your attack away from Dick’s Magician, so now you have no choice by to attack mine instead!”

“What are you, crazy?!” asked Z-Arc “You do realize that you’ll be taking damage now—the same amount of attack points as your monster had!”

The Halberd exploded, and Celestia stood strong. “It’s a small price to pay to protect my partner.”

Dick watched as Celestia got burned with 3000 points of damage, and she wailed in pain from the energy waves.

Celestia LP: 8000 -----> 5000

She nearly went down on her knees, but managed to keep on her feet, while Dick continued to gaze at her with a perplexed look on his face.

“She… took a huge hit to save my magician.”

The sideliners were gawking with the same looks as Dick had.

“I can’t believe she did that.” said Terra.

“But look!” cried Rainbow “Now she’s got nothing left to protect herself!”

She was right, Celestia was wide-open, to which Z-Arc found amusing.

“Well, as noble as that act of yours is, I’m afraid I’m going to have to show you how foolish it was to sacrifice your monster like that.

Starving Venom, with your new power, I order you to attack her directly!”

Celestia looked up in horror at the huge dragon looming over her, ready to strike!

“No, you don’t!” snapped Dick. “She saved me, now I’ll save her, with PERFORMAGE BALL BALANCER! He gets summoned from the graveyard whenever a direct attack is declared.”

A small shot of light fired out from the graveyard, and his monster popped up in front of Celestia.

(Def: 1800)

Celestia looked over at Dick with thankful eyes.

“So, she protected him, and now he’s protecting her.” said Kori. “This is almost rather moving.”

Pinkie shook her head declaring, “…She’s not safe at all.”

Everyone gasped in realization.

“She’s right.” cried Sci-Twi “That dragon can attack two to three times this turn.”

“That’s not even the worst of it!” Pinkie cut in, remembering how she faced this dragon before.

“…You mean there’s more?” Rainbow spat in disbelief.

“She is correct.” replied Z-Arc. “You see, when my Starving Venom uses its effect, it also gains on additional power. Whenever it attacks a monster in defense-mode, my opponent will still take damage in the point difference!”

“What?!” cried Celestia.

“It can’t be…!” wailed Dick.

“…But it is!” shouted Z-Arc. “Starving Venom, attack!”

The dragon unleashed its burning venom waves…

(Atk: 2800) VS (Def: 1800)

The monster was burned away, and Celestia’s life points took a hit, burning her as well.

Celestia LP: 5000 ---à 4000

Celestia was down on her knee.

Dick felt horrified that he couldn’t save her, and there was far worse to come.

“And now… for you.” Z-Arc roared at him, and he, himself, moved in closer. “Time to finish what I started by attacking you myself!

Supreme King Z-Arc, attack Trapeze Magician! Good luck saving yourself this time!”

There was no way to save the magician this time! Dick couldn’t bear to watch, but he did inform Z-Arc. “You may destroy my magician, but his ability will save my life points.”

(Atk: 4000) VS (Atk: 2500)

“Since I only would take 1500 points of damage, that’s lower than my magician’s attack points. So, I don’t take any damage at all.”

“…Wrong again!” snapped Z-Arc.

“Huh?”

“As long as I have Supreme King Dragon Odd-Eyes by my side, whenever a Pendulum Monster attacks your monster, any battle damage you receive is doubled!”

The duelists and the sideliners all gasped in horror as the attack was launched. Supreme King Z-Arc was both a Fusion and Pendulum Monster!

“So. you don’t take 1500 points of damage; you take 3000 points of damage, and still lose your precious magician!”

“Ohh…!!” Dick wailed as he saw his magician be consumed by the flames of the attack-- feeling the same hurt and pain like when he watched his parents plumet to their doom.

The pain was so strong he could hardly feel the burning waves strike him with the energy drain.

Dick LP: 7000 -----> 4000

“Dick!!” yelled Kori, and she wanted to run up and help her husband out, but it took all the others to hold her back.

“No, Kori!” said Sci-Twi.

“You can’t go out there. It’s dangerous!” added Terra.

Really, they all wanted to rush in and help, but what could they possibly do at this point.

“And now for your other magician…!” sneered Z-Arc. “Dark Rebellion, attack, and use one overlay unit to steal all that monster’s attack points!”

(Atk: 2700) -----> (Atk: 0)

(Atk: 2500) -----> (Atk: 5200)

“Dick, No!!” shouted Kori.

“He’s going to get wiped out!” added Rainbow.

“Attack!” bellowed Z-Arc, and his dragon fired its attack towards the helpless magician.

Poor Dick was in such a despondent state-- feeling he was losing his parents all over along with his monsters-- that he didn’t move or even look up to see the brightness of the power heading his way.

“DICK!!!!” Celestia shouted as the attack consumed the magician, and the force of the blast knocked Dick back hard and he skid along the ground.

Dick LP: 4000 -----> 0

Kori gazed at her fallen husband in near tears, and her insides were about to collapse with overwhelming devastation!

Celestia gazed with extreme pain at her fallen partner.

“…And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you.” Z-Arc called.

She turned round and saw Odd-Eyes and Starving Venom glaring at her. There were no more Wind monsters out, but Starving Venom was still allowed to attack once more, and Odd-Eyes hadn’t attacked at all yet.

“Destroy her!!” Z-Arc ordered.

The dragons, with their attacks combined, wiped out Celestia’s life points in a huge explosion.

“CELESTIA!!” The Equestrians all shouted.

Z-Arc snickered wickedly as the brightness of the explosion faded out.

Celestia lay on the ground, several feet away from where she stood. The explosion had knocked her way back, and just like Dick, she was all dirty, frazzled, and looked a bit hurt too.

“That was too easy.” laughed Z-Arc. “And there’s more to come…!”

Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike had been running endlessly to catch up with that mysterious light.

They were able to run on, and on without losing their breaths as they were souls, but they were getting rather annoyed. It seemed to take forever to get closer and closer to the light, as if it were a million miles away.

“Spike, can you hear me?” called Twilight.

“Yeah, I got you.”

“We’re almost there.”

“We better be!”

Finally, they two of them entered the light, and where they emerged, the first thing they saw was each other.

“Spike!”

“Twilight!”

Spike jumped into Twilight’s arms, nearly knocking her down, and he licked her face almost to no stop.

“Oh, Spike, I thought I’d never hold a friend again!” Twilight cried as she squeezed him close.

Then she looked up past him. “Whoa!”

Spike turned round and saw exactly what she saw. They both could hardly believe their eyes!

To Be Continued…

Comments

[Tower of gray]

Nice, long, with the right amount of suspense.