Yu-Gi-Oh E-Quest: Malefic Wars

by DakariKingMykan

Episode 57: Part 1: Malefic Malice

Author's Note:

It's hard to make long duels that last several chapters.

Always best to wait a make sure you have it perfectly set, so that way you don't have to go back and make any changes

EPISODE FIFTY-SEVEN

Twilight and Spike were blinded by a sudden glow of light that just popped in out of nowhere.

“Now what’s happening?” Spike groaned, but he got his answer when the light had faded, and a new sphere appeared containing another soul.

Twilight took one look at who it was, and she couldn’t believe her eyes; neither could Spike.

“It’s Gar?” Spike asked. “Did he actually lose a duel?”

Twilight couldn’t believe that. The way he dueled he would never lose a duel.

“Um… Twilight.” Spike called. “Why is it suddenly getting even darker?”

Twilight looked up and realized it was getting darker; so dark, she could barely see her hand before her face.

Then Spike and Twilight both looked up, and what they saw scared them out of their wits…!

An evil, black aura was high up overhead, with sinister, glowing eyes.

“Why hello there.” he hissed at them.

It was Z-Arc, or rather what was left of his dark spirit when he was defeated.

“I may have lost the battle, but this isn’t the end of me, it’s just minor setback. I rose from the depths once before, and I will do it again!”

His monstrous eyes glowed brightly, and the darkness above him began to swirl.

In almost an instant, Spike and Twilight were encased in spheres of their own.

“Hey!” shouted Twilight.

“Let us out of here, you creep!” thundered Spike.

Z-Arc snickered, “Don’t worry, you’ll all be free… eventually.”

Twilight and Spike wondered what he meant by “you’ll all be free.”

Back at the mountain peak, all the duellists were finally finding the strength to get up after resting from their beatdown for so long.

Terra was on her knees, still in total shock from what she just saw.

The smoke from the last attack was beginning to settle.

Rainbow looked ahead and could see someone lying on the ground where Z-Arc and Gar were last standing.

“Who’s that there?” she asked.

“Is it Z-Arc?” asked Celestia.

“It couldn’t be…!” said Dick.

The young girl let out a soft moan as she slowly sat up. Then she looked round at all her friends.

“Sunset!” cried Sci-Twi.

“It’s her!” shrieked Pinkie.

Sunset’s eyes lit up as she finally realized, “I’m back!” she cried for joy, and the next thing she knew, she was sharing warm hugs with her Equestrian friends.

Pinkie sniffled and burst into tears. “WE MISSED YOU!!!” she yelled and put more squeeze into her hug, nearly choking everyone.

Dick and Kori were pleased to see her back and safe as well, until something else caught their eye…!

“…Are you okay?” asked Rainbow. “I mean, you’re not still Z-Arc, are you?”

“Rainbow!” snapped Celestia, but really everyone wanted to know.

Sunset felt herself all over. The body was hers; the clothes were hers. She had her duel disk back, and she quickly checked her cards.

It was her own deck again, only with several new cards including the four new magicians, while all Z-Arc’s cards were gone, including the Supreme King Z-Arc card itself.

Sci-Twi theorized, “When Z-Arc was beaten, all his magic went away with him, including all the cards he made.

They were just too evil to exist.”

Sunset’s features began to sadden. “…Evil that I unleashed.”

She thought back to all the horrible things Z-Arc had been doing, even if she was sealed within him for a long time and couldn’t see it, she sure felt it-- all the pain, all the suffering, all the damage inflicted on her friends.

Rainbow immediately stepped up and placed her hand hard on Sunset’s shoulder, almost hitting her and telling her, “…Snap out of it. It wasn’t your fault at all. So don’t go into one of those “woe is me” acts.”

The others were surprised at her, but she did have a point.

“But…” Sunset tried to protest.

“No buts!” sneered Rainbow. “Z-Arc’s gone, and that’s all there is to it, and more important than that, we’ve got our friend back, and we’re together again.

So, pick yourself up and let’s put an end to all this! Let’s go take down the Prince Brothers once and for all!”

Sunset blinked twice and seeing the seriousness in all her Equestrian friends, she felt her confidence coming back, and took Rainbow’s hand to help onto her feet.

“Welcome back.” said Sci-Twi.

The mood was suddenly broken when Celestia noticed, “…Look!”

Everyone could see Dick and Kori over by Terra, who was still on her knees and looking bluer than a rainy day.

In her hand she clutched a single card she found on the ground-- Gar’s soul card.

Her tears were falling, a few splashed on it, but not simply because he was turned into a card, but once again it was becoming crystal clear that he did not forgive her and was not willing to even try.

True: he did beat Z-Arc and saved Sunset, as well as the rest of the group, but his anger, his hate, and the things he said!

“Don’t act like you care! Nothing will change between us!

I’ve always been hated and mistreated, and everyone always wanted me gone!”

The fact he was willing to sacrifice himself just to keep away from her more; that hurt, a lot!

Out from her duel disk, her Change of Heart card slipped and fell on the ground, almost like her own sagged and broken heart.

“Don’t do this to me!” she cried softly to herself. “Don’t break my heart like this!”

Dick was furious. “Darn you, Gar!” he grumbled under his breath, and he proceeded to berate him with more insults, “…Overgrown, stuck-up, egotistical--” until Kori nudged him hard.

“Stop it!” she growled.

Her husband was shocked, but then he realized and remembered all his attitude likes that were largely part of Gar’s descend into hatred.

Sunset didn’t know whether to have pity on them or felt they deserved it.

All three of them did try and help save her, but they still had their own problems, their own difficulties, which ran far deeper than anything she had ever seen-- perhaps even beyond any friendship problem she and her friends could help if no one was willing to try and change.

…Still, this was no time to be bewailing.

“Let’s go!” she said while pointing at the castle. “It’s time to make the Prince Brothers pay for everything they’ve done!”

The Equestrians all agreed, Kori and Dick turned and nodded with them, but Terra was still down and out of it.

“Terra…?” said Dick.

After a moment or two, Terra wiped her eyes, picked up her fallen card and stood up. “…I’m okay. Let’s do this.”

She looked down at Gar’s card, and thought to herself, “He may have broken my heart, and I broke his many times… but he doesn’t deserve this. No one does.”

Her desire to help people and do good was nothing short of outstanding.

Suddenly, a ray of light shone directly on Sunset.

“Hey!” she cried, and she was suddenly lifted bodily up into the air, towards the tallest tower of the castle.

“SUNSET!!” the Equestrians all shouted.

“Not again!” groaned Dick.

The two groups huddled together as one.

“I’m getting really tired of these surprises!” growled Rainbow, but right at that moment, just like before, a trapdoor had opened, and the group all fell through it.

“…ME AND MY BIG MOUTH!!!” Rainbow’s voice echoed.

Sunset groaned and growled, demanding to be let go… and she was. She landed with a small thud on the stone floor in a dark chamber.

“Ow!” she rubbed her bottom. “I can’t take much more of this sudden transporting.”

“Welcome. Sunset Shimmer.” hissed a voice from the shadows.

“That voice…!” gasped Sunset.

That’s when torched through the chamber lit up, and Sunset found herself in the castle’s main sanctum…

…And there, standing at the other end of a large, round platform, stood Rubeus, snickering at her, which made her features hardened.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it.” he hissed.

“You!!” Sunset roared as she sprung onto her feet. She was also surprised to see he was alone without Loki. “Where’s your brother?”

“At the moment, that is none of your concern.”

He would not tell her that Loki was still trapped in that forcefield in the hallway, deep within in the castle, and he had been there ever since before Z-Arc’s mega duel began.

He wasn’t all alone; the trio had been standing by watching him.

“…This stinks!” groaned Sapphire. “We missed the Ultimate Challenge just to play babysitter to a guy who can’t even more. I’m starved for some action.”

“Well, get in line.” snuffed Violet. “Thanks to Z-Arc I wouldn’t be able to get my revenge on Gar anymore.”

“The reason we are here…” hissed Khaos “…Is to prevent a great disaster from occurring, and the time has nearly arrived. Now that Z-Arc has been defeated, Prince Rubeus is ready to put the final part of the plan into motion.”

Rubeus glared at Sunset from afar, “I’m very impressed that you and your friends have made it this far, you’ve even managed to do the unthinkable-- you defeated Z-Arc; the most devious of all Maleficans.”

“Yeah, after you sicked him on me!” growled Sunset. “You gave me all those mystery cards knowing it would gain power to unleash Z-Arc back into the world!

That’s why you forced me to enter the Friendship Cup Tournament. You knew my Equestrian magic combined with my dueling would unlock it all just to do your dirty work!

Well, the joke’s on you! We beat Z-Arc, and now we’re going to beat you and stop all this madness!”

Rubeus snickered. “Is that so? How do you know for certain you defeated Z-Arc?”

“Huh?”

“You may have stopped Z-Arc, but stopping someone isn’t the same as ending them.”

Sunset felt her stomach turn.

“Are you saying… Z-Arc is still alive?”

Rubeus remained silent for a moment, and then he answered, “He very well may be. After all, he managed to return once after being defeated, and I’m certain he will rise again.

…Just look at me, I am on the verge of restoring The Malefic World to its proper glory.

It has been centuries since my world was defeated by Equestria, and all its dark power sealed away, forcing my brother and I to refuge in the world you resided in…

But nothing is strong enough to last forever. Even the greatest of friendships can falter. Whom was once your friend can later become your deadly enemy. It’s always how it goes.

Therefore, The Malefic World is no exception. If even a single speck of it remains, there is always the chance for it to revive.”

He paused, narrowing his eyes at Sunset, and then shouted, “…Especially Now!!”

He raised his arms up, and the entire chamber trembled and shook as if an avalanche was coming. Sunset barely managed to keep on her feet.

From the very back of the room, the large generator with its glowing center took rose high.

“What is that?” wondered Sunset.

Rubeus explained, “This device is the result of centuries of planning, constructing, and powering.

It absorbs the negativity that people can’t help but feel and converts into the very power we Maleficans fed off.

By combining it with the energy from Duel Monsters, things accelerated immensely, for Duel Monsters has always been a game of incredible power. Even if the opponents play simply for pure fun and enjoyment, they still exhibited stressful feelings, using up precious energy while plotting their strategies. How could they help themselves, there’s no way around it.

Even the simplest of thoughts can drain even the strongest of beings.”

He paused and laughed, “And then, I found you and your friends, and realizing the Equestrian energies you had, you’d be the perfect instruments to further accelerate the plans.

Having the Titans join, and knowing their superpowers and strong emotions. It felt like it was my birthday every day-- Such power, such emotions, such energy… it was wonderful!”

He didn’t have to go further; Sunset already knew the rest… and she was completely livid.

Then suddenly, she heard a voice calling to her…

“Sunset, Help!”

“…That sounds like Pinkie!”

It was…!

All of Sunset’s friends-- The Equestrians, and the Titans-- were shown to be encased in magical tubes with solid, unbreakable, surfaces.

“Help!”

“Get us out of here!”

Rainbow and Dick furious knocked and kicked at the solid surface, but it was no good.

“What are you doing to them?” Sunset demanded to know.

“Isn’t it obvious?” teased Rubeus. “Their energies will slowly be drained and added to the machine’s power, which will be the final, really big burst it needs to fully absorb every world into the darkness.”

He then referenced to outside, at the vast amounts of people entering the Malefic World. “Already, the people are about to undergo a startling transformation.

All the goodness, all the light, all the love they feel will begin to seep away, until only the darkness within remains.

They will become pure Maleficans, and together, The Malefic World shall be restored, repopulated, and dominate the entire universe, with everyone bowing to me-- their ultimate ruler!”

Having heard enough of the evil man’s intentions and plots, Sunset shouted at him, “I won’t let you do this!” and in a fit of rage, she rushed past him towards the machine, intending to ram it, smash it, or whatever she could do to stop it…!

…A very foolish move! An invisible barrier surrounding the massive device pushed her right back, sending her sailing through the air, past Rubeus again, and she bounced and rolled along the floor, right back to where she stood before.

“SUNSET!!” the prisoners all shouted.

She wasn’t hurt… much… as she struggled to get up while clutching her sore arm.

Rubeus laughed at her. “You really think a device as powerful as this can be shut down that easily? I’m disappointed in your lack of judgment.”

Sunset growled. “If I can’t take down the machine itself, then I’ll have to do the next best thing-- I’ll take you down instead! If I take you down, it’ll break whatever evil you’ve done.”

Rubeus flicked his robe, exposing his left arm, which sickly began to mutate into the shape of a duel disk.

“Now we’re starting to get somewhere.” he taunted her. He then held up his right hand, and in a magical glow, a deck appeared in his hand.

Though she couldn’t see the cards, because they just materialized out of nowhere, Sunset had a bad feeling about them.

“You seem concerned.” hissed Rubeus. “You should be. This deck is unlike anything you have ever seen, but I’ll let you worry about its secrets momentarily.”

He stuffed it into his disk arm while thinking, “This is it. This is truly it. By the time this duel is over, once and for all, the fates will be determined, and we’ll see if my theory has been correct all along.

All the challenges that Sunset Shimmer has tackled to this point were all the pieces falling into place. Let’s see if she can overtake this last one!”

Sunset loaded up her restored deck while thinking to herself. “I sure hope I know what I’m doing. I haven’t had much of a chance to look over all my new cards yet, let alone try them in a duel…

But I can’t let that get to me. Ever since this whole Malefic Nightmare began, it’s all come down to this. I’ve got to take down Rubeus and stop his machine.

It’s the only way to rescue my friends and save the universe from the darkness!”

She thought back to the very first day, school was out for summer, and Princess Twilight had come for her usual visit.

Back then, dueling was just fun. Nothing was on the line, and winning or losing didn’t matter, but when the Prince Brothers appeared and took Twilight’s soul, the game was on…!

Then there was the tournament, and all the hardships and struggles to make it to the finals, which were most likely setup by the brothers to allow Sunset and friends to lend their powers to them for their evil plots.

Along the way, Spike had his soul taken too.

The Finals were even harder-- having to face each other.

Then they were all sucked into the Malefic World where the stakes were higher than ever-- losing a duel meant losing your soul inside a card.

So many of the others were lost, and then Z-Arc took over Sunset’s body, and the evil mad warrior terrorized everyone.

“It’s time to make up for all that!” thought Sunset. “I just hope I’m not in over my head.”

Meanwhile…

All the captured souls were beginning to look a little pale inside their spheres, and Twilight and Spike noticed their own colors starting to fade.

“Twilight!” cried Spike. “What’s going on?”

Twilight had only one theory, “Our energy is being drained away.” Then she looked up and realized, “…It’s you!”

Z-Arc laughed. “The energy all these souls, I will feast on it all, and my next rebirth shall begin. I’ll become even stronger than I was before.”

“No, don’t!” shouted Twilight. “If you drain these souls of all their energy, they’ll be gone forever!”

Spike shuddered at such a thought happening to him, but Z-Arc merely shrugged it, “…Things happen. If you want power, you’ve got to make sacrifices.

But look at it this way; you’re sacrificing your energies to power the future, ultimate ruler of all things. I’ll make sure to mention you here and there.”

Twilight and Spike were so worried, if their stomachs could still feel, they would feel turned inside out.

Neither one of them could see any way out of this one!

Sunset and Rubeus stood ready to go at it.

“I’m ready when you are!” Sunset declared.

“Then let the duel commence!”

Rubeus LP: 8000

Sunset LP: 8000

“I shall begin!” hissed Rubeus, “And to start us off, I activate the field spell MALEFIC WORLD!”

Sunset was most surprised, “Malefic World? As in this Malefic World?”

A large burst of light emitted from the card image, spreading magic all over the chamber and transforming it all into a perfect replica of the world outside.

The shadowy skies…

The spatial-coated, rundown buildings…

The massive stretches of desert beyond…

…All of it!

“You made a card out of your very world?” asked Sunset.

Rubeus motioned at his cards, “This deck was specifically designed by me. The cards I have created are infused with the very Malefic energy that surrounds us.

I could only use so much energy, so I had to ensure that every card was made-- how shall I word it…” he paused. “…A little fair, just for your sake. After all, what fun would it be if I simply crushed you so quickly when the longer, we duel the more energy you and your friends will surrender.”

Sunset looked up at her friends.

“Just duel, Sunset!” called Celestia.

“Don’t let him freak you out.” added Dick. “You’re the only hope we have.”

Rubeus snickered, “Quite the load of confidence they have in you, but never mind. Let’s get back to business.

With Malefic World spell in play, instead of drawing during my Draw Phase, I may choose three different “Malefic” cards from my deck, and then you will pick one that is to be added my hand…

…But this is just the beginning.

Now, I shall send the CYBER END DRAGON from my Extra Deck to the graveyard, and by doing I am able to summon MALEFIC CYBER END DRAGON from my hand.

Rise my mighty beast!”

The ground rumbled as the huge, hulking, three-headed machine monster appeared, and growled at Sunset.

(Atk: 4000)

Sunset could only gawk in horrors.

“He’s already got a monster with 4000 attack points in play?!” she wailed, and that wasn’t the only thing concerning her. She had seen Cyber End Dragon before in her many duels, but this was completely new version of it.

It was darker and covered in black metal plating.

“You’re beginning to see now.” said Rubeus. “Just as the Malefic World itself drains all the light from humans, it now does the same to my monsters.

By getting rid of their pure, light forms, I can give birth to their darker, evil counterparts to serve me in this duel.”

Sunset grew angry, “This is just nuts! You would poison anything or anyone to get what you want.”

“Yes, very good…” remarked Rubeus. “Now that we’ve established that, I’ll end my turn with a facedown.

Now let’s see if you’re truly capable of thwarting me and my forces, but we both know that’s a longshot at best.”

Sunset struggled with her thoughts. “This is so not good. The duel just started, and I’m already facing down a huge, hulking beast I hardly know anything about, and who knows what else this deck of his can do?

Well, I won’t be able to anything just sitting here like this. I have to duel only my best.”


She drew her card.

“It’s time to give these new cards of mine a go…!

I’ll use Scale 1 WHITE WING MAGICIAN and Scale 8 BLACK FANG MAGICIAN to set the Pendulum Scale!”

Her two new magicians took their places in the light and the magic Pendulum swing between them.

The two looked down at Sunset and nodded at her, as if to say, “We shall serve you well.”

Sunset nodded thankfully at them.

“With this, I’m allowed to summon as many monsters between levels 2 and 7 as I need!

As the pendulum swings from forth to back
My monsters come forth… to launch an attack!

…Behold my monsters!”

Two shots of light rained down as her monsters appeared.

“DRAGONCALLER MAGICIAN…” (Atk: 2400)

“ODD-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON…” (Atk: 2500)

It felt wonderful for her to see her two monsters again, especially Odd-Eyes… but suddenly…

…Odd-Eyes gave a huge roar, causing dark aura to emit from his body, the two magicians in the Pendulum Zones were glowing too.

Sunset then felt the pain strike her. “What’s happening?!” she wailed while clutching her chest.

The prisoners saw this as well, and Sci-Twi deduced. “It must be Z-Arc. She still has little bits of his aura within her!”

“Maybe that’s why Odd-Eyes is going crazy too.” said Kori. “Z-Arc made an evil version of it. Maybe all of Sunset’s card are affected by it too.”

Rubeus glared at Sunset and explained, “You see what I said: Z-Arc isn’t completely gone. He used your knowledge of dueling and your cards to revive himself. So he left a little bit of his power infused.

The more you use your cards, the stronger you just may give to Z-Arc, which only further increases the odds that he’ll revive again.”

Sunset’s eyes widened.

“Ah, come on!” groaned Rainbow. “You mean the more Sunset duels, the more power she’ll give to Z-Arc.”

Pinkie pulled on her hair in frustration! “And I thought we were rid of that creep for good!”

As for Terra, she looked at her hand and gasped. “My hand! It’s fading! I can see through it!”

Dick looked at his hand, “Mine too!”

Everyone was starting to fade just a little as their energies were being drained, much to Rubeus’ delight. “Honestly, it’s like no one pays attention to me. Each passing second, your energies are being absorbed into the machine, and soon you’ll be nothing but faded memories.”

The prisoners all felt sickening chills, while Sunset was growing even more nervous and frightened.

“So, if I keep dueling, I may resurrect Z-Arc, but if I don’t beat Rubeus and fast, I’ll lose my friends!

…Worse than that: the longer I stall, the more the worlds are being cursed by the darkness!

What am I going to do?!”

“Good question.” hissed Rubeus. “Duel, or don’t duel… either way, I’m quite literally holding all the cards here, and there’s not a thing you can do.”

To Be Continued…