Chapter 1: Kayden, Savior of Equestria
"Now class," Professor Alexis Rhodes said with a stern yet kind voice, "can any of you tell me the difference between Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Monsters?"
Most of the students in the class raised their hands, patiently waiting to answer her question, but one student in particular, a boy named Kayden Ichijoji, was sound asleep in his seat. "Kayden?" Professor Rhodes said in a kind voice, attempting to wake the boy up and get his attention, "Kayden? KAYDEN ICHIJOJI?" she screamed, as the boy woke with a start, "What are the differences between Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz monsters?" the professor asked him as he yawned loudly.
"Wha-?" he asked, confused that she was asking him a question while he had been snoozing in class for the millionth time that semester.
"What are the differences between Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz monsters?" she repeated for the third time.
"Oh, yeah I know that one!" he said, his eyes brightening up as he said, "Fusion monsters require two specific monsters, and a means to fuse them such as 'Polymerization', while Synchro monsters use a tuner monster, and several non-tuner monsters to add their levels up to equal the level of the Synchro monster being summoned, and Xyz monsters require two or more monsters of the same level to stack on top of each other, allowing the Xyz monster to not only be summoned, but gain access to its special abilities as well."
"Very well answered Kayden!" Alexis said with a smile and pride. Kayden may not pay attention in class, but he was a REMARKABLE duelist and student. Even without hearing the lectures of his teachers, he would answer questions flawlessly, and passed his tests with flying colors. "Now remember, your reports on Shadow Games are due in two weeks time," Professor Rhodes said to her students as the bell rang, "Class dismissed."
Kayden was out the door in a jiffy, the Ra Yellow student ran out the doors of the main building and back to the Ra Yellow barracks, where he collected his deck and duel disk, and headed out the door, in the direction of the islands volcano, where he was supposed to duel some mysterious person that had left him a letter in his dorm two nights ago. It had said, "Meet me at the volcano in 2 days time, I want to duel the best duelist at the academy. Blazr" He didn't know who this Blazr character was, or what he wanted with him, but Kayde never turned down a duel in his life, and he wasn't gonna turn one down now...
The palace of Canterlot was a very beautiful place, in fact, it was the most beautiful structure in the land of Equestria. Princess Celstia, the ruler of Equestria, sat on her throne, examining a pool of water, where she looked into another dimension.
"The tides have changed, Blazr has moved to stop the Chosen One before we can summon him here. If the demon succeeds, all of Equestria will be turned to ashes by that demons wrath!" the Princess said to herself as she watched an image of a boy in a yellow blaizer, a strange machine attached to his arm, running through the woods towards a smoking volcano. "I can't allow him to face Blazr yet!" the princess decided, and began to chant a spell that would summon the boy to her...
Kayden was running like a dog runs from a bath, faster than the speed of light he ran through the woods, adrenaline keeping him from tiring, the thought of a duel worth remembering being just up ahead giving him more energy. He kept running, and as he ran he noticed the scenery around him beginning to distort, the colors changing, the trees and leaves warping around, before he knew what was happening, Kayden found himself no longer on Duel Academy Island, in fact, he was suddenly in what appeared to be a palace!
"I see you made the journey safely," said a soft, kind, and gentle voice from behind Kayden.
Kayden turned to look behind him at the source of the voice, and yelled, "WHAT?" he said as he started to back away, feeling like he was having the weirdest acid trip ever. "D-did that h-horse just t-talk?" Kayden stammered.
The horse laughed, "Of COURSE I was the one who spoke silly, who else would it have been?" she asked, giggling.
"B-but horses c-can't t-talk!" Kayden said, feeling a bit scared at the idea that he might be losing his mind.
"In your world they don't, but in this world they do," the horse replied, "Allow me to introduce myself young man, I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria."
"Uh, I'm Kayden, Kayden Ichijoji, Ra Yellow student at Duel Academy. Now um, if you don't mind, where's the exit? I kinda have a duel that I'm gonna be late for if I don't hurry..."
"I know all about your little duel Kayden. Just like I know all about you, which is why I can not allow you to go back to your world and duel. The person who challenged you is someone you can not beat alone," Celestia replied.
Kayden looked confused. "WHAT? I GOTTA go back! If I don't duel this Blazr guy then it'll RUIN my rep as a duelist!" he said angrily to the equine.
Princess Celestia snorted, "You WILL duel him, but not today. You will duel him when the time is right, when you are READY. When you can actually WIN."
"You're gonna doubt me? You've NEVER even seen me duel before!" Kayden said, his anger getting the better of him, he charged the few feet between himself and Celestia and punched her dead square on the nose, his hand almost breaking on impact. "OWWWWWWW!" Kayden yelled, withdrawing his hand.
"I would suggest you refrain from hitting me, the magic that protects me is too powerful for you to break, boy," she said kindly, "Sit down, and I will explain to you all that I can."
Kayden sat, cradling his injured hand, and listened, knowing he really didn't have much choice.
"The worlds we live in are all connected through magic, the different planes of existence being able to be travelled through by those who possess the magic to do so," Celestia began, "I am one such being with the power to open portals in other dimensions and travel through them, or bring people through them as I did with you. The person who challenged you, Blazr, is a demon from a plane of death and decay. He wants to control all of the planes, and because of this, I sealed him away when he came to Equestria two hundred years ago. His seal has been broken, and he has escaped, and hidden himself deep within the Everwood Forest, a place that ponies dare not go. I can not defeat him, for the power he possesses comes from the same cards you duel with in your world. Therefore, it is imperative that I ask you to help save Equestria, and all the planes of existence, including your own."
Kayden looked at her, a look of disbelief, mixed with acceptance in his eyes. "You say I'm the only person who can stop this guy? Well, I might be losing my mind, but if it means I get to duel someone strong, then I say, bring it on!"
"Thank you," Equestria said, "I will send you to the town of Ponyville, there you will stay with my student, Twilight Sparkle, and await the time when Blazr makes his move."
Kayden stood. "Ok, piece of cake! I can do this!"
The royal carriage took Kayden and Equestria to the town of Ponyville, where upon arrival, Kayden was introduced to a young unicorn pony named Twilight. She greeted him with kindness, and the princess left the two and returned to the palace quickly, after the princess had left Twilight turned to Kayden and said, "What exactly are you? I've never seen anything like you before in all of Equestria."
Kayden laughed and said, "Well Twilight, I'm a human. I'm actually from a different dimension of existence or something, Celestia told me but I can't really remember all the details."
Twilight laughed and said, "Well, as soon as Spike gets back with my friends, we'll give a a true welcome to the town." Twilight gave a him a smile, trying to make him feel more at home, she saw him looking back into her eyes, and saw grattitude, she then turned to lead him into the library, he began to follow and, an explosion rocked the town.
Turning to face the source, a large cloud of smoke had appeared on the edge of town where the explosion had taken place. Kayden rushed towards the source.
"Kayden!" Twilight cried out, and ignoring her better judgement, ran after him.
Kayden ran through town, past all the terrified ponies, and charged through the fading cloud of smoke, straight ahead of him, laying on the ground, was a small pegasi, her light yellow pelt and purple mane all scorched from the explosion. Kayden knelt down to check her for signs of life, and felt her chest moving softly as she breathed slowly. Kayden noticed that her lower flank, on her right hand side, had been burned fairly badly.
Twilight caught up with Kayden. "Fluttershy!" she cried out upon seeing the injured pony next to Kayden. "What happened?" Twilight asked Kayden, in an angry voice.
"Twilight, I know you don't know me well yet, but you need to believe me when I say that I am not responsible for your friends injuries, and I don't know how she obtained them for sure or who is responsible, but I promise you, I'm gonna find out!" Kayden said, then stood and looked through the area, trying to find who caused the explosion. "Come out here, you heartless bastard!" he cried out, knowing without knowing how he knew, that the person responsible was still there. "Come out and face me! I'll make you PAY for what you've done!"
A cold, heartless laugh came from out of the smoke. "YOU? You're going to avenge that weak little pony? Don't make me laugh!" said a voice that matched the laugh. From out of the bushes came a tall man, but he wasn't a man. He was a monster! Tall, with red skin, and dark yellow eyes, the demonic thing stood tall and menacingly over the three of them. "I am the lieutenant of Blazr's right hand man Stormcry, I am called Deathsinger!"
"Well Deathsinger, I don't know why you're here, but if you work for Blazr, then I know I have to defeat you, so now I'm gonna teach you that you don't harm innocent creatures in front of me and get away with it!" Kayden shouted, activating his duel disk and inserting his deck, "I'm gonna beat you right here, right now!"
"Very well," Deathsinger said with a grin, holding out his arm as a duel disk formed out of his own flesh, "I'll crush you here and now, and Blazr will reward me, possibly even making me Stormcries replacement!"
"Let's do this!" Kayden shouted, drawing five cards from his deck.
"Duel!" replied Deathsinger.
Kayden: LP 4000 Deathsinger: LP 4000
"I'll start!" Deathsinger decreed, drawing his card. "I'm summoning the Celtic Guardian to the field in Attack Mode!"
Celtic Guardian: Atk/1400, Def/1200
"I'll end my turn with that!" Deathsinger said with a hint of overconfidence in his voice.
"My draw!" shouted Kayden as he drew his first card. "I summon Gravekeeper's Descendant, in Attack Mode!"
Gravekeeper's Descendant: Atk/1500, Def/1200
"Gravekeeper's Descendant, attack Celtic Guardian!"
"What? No way!" replied Deathsinger.
1500-1400=100
Kayden: LP 4000 Deathsinger: LP 3900
"I'll throw down two facedowns and end my turn!" Kayden said to end the round.
"I can't believe I'm losing to a human!" Deathsinger thought to himself as he drew his next card. "I'll play the Spell Card, Cost Down! This card will lower the level of all monsters in my hand by 2 stars!" Deathsinger gloated, now he could play a stronger monster without needing a tribute. "So without further ado, I'm summoning my Freed, the Matchless General to the field in Attack Mode!"
Freed the Matchless General: Atk/2300, Def/1700
"Freed the Matchless General, attack Gravekeeper's Descendant!"
"Not so fast, I'm activating my Trap Card, Mirror Force!" Jayden countered, flipping the card up to show his opponent.
"What?" replied Deathsinger.
"Mirror Force, this handy little Trap Card destroys all of your monsters on the field in Attack Mode whenever you declare an attack!" Jayden explained, watching as Deathsinger's monster exploded from the traps effect. "Sorry, but you'll have to do better than that!"
"I'll place one card face down and end my turn," Deathsinger responded angrily.
"Then check this out!" said Kayden, drawing his next card, "Sweet! Looks like my Gravekeeper's will be playing on their home field, cause I'm activating the Field Spell Card, Necrovalley! Now, all of my Gravekeeper's monsters get a 500 point boost to their attack and defense points, but that's not all, now I'll sacrifice my Gravekeeper's Descendant, in order to summon Gravekeeper's Chief in Attack mode!"
Gravekeeper's Chief: Atk/1900, Def/1200
1900+500=2400, 1200+500=1700
"And my Gravekeeper's Chief has a special ability, it brings back one Gravekeeper's monster from my Graveyard, so welcome back Gravekeeper's Descendant!"
Gravekeeper's Descendant: Atk/1500, Def/1200
1500+500=2000, 1200+500=1700
"Now my two monsters will end this duel now, with a direct attack to your life points!"
"Not so fast, I'll play my trap card, End of Days. This card will destroy your Gravekeeper's Chief!" Deathsinger countered.
"That's what you think!" Kayden replied, "I activate my Trap Card, Dark Illusion! This will negate and destroy your End of Days Trap Card!"
"What?" cried Deathsinger as his trap card was negated.
"Now guys, let's end this duel, Chief and Descendant, direct attack!"
2400+2000=4400
Kayden: LP 4000 Deathsinger: LP 0
"Looks like I just slayed the demon!" Kayden shouted in victory.
"N-no, p-please master Blazr, I-I won't underestimate the boy again! Have mercy!" shouted Deathsinger as he suddenly was pulled into shadows.
"No way, that was a SHADOW GAME?" Kayden said out loud. "Never mind that now!" he turned back to Twilight who was kneeling over Fluttershy's burnt leg, using some form of healing magic to heal the burn. "How's she doing?" Kayden asked, a bit of worry in his voice.
"Well, the burn was pretty bad, and I don't think I can completely heal it on my own, but I can stabalize it and it will heal just fine," Twilight replied, sounding a little unsure of what she said being true.
Kayden sighed, "Well I sure hope your friends ok, I wouldn't want to start things off by being known as "The Guy Who Hurt Fluttershy"," Kayden said, more to try to get Twilight to laugh than anything else, and it worked.
"Hey, it's all ok, Fluttershy's gonna be just fine, and it wasn't your fault anyway. Princess Celestia sent me a letter before you arrived and I know all about Blazr and what he plans to do. It's not your fault he's evil, so don't worry yourself. I'm not blaming you over what happened," Twilight said, smiling. "I do however, need to ask you a favor."
"Oh really? Well what is it?" Kayden asked, unsure of what Twilight was wanting him to do.
"Can you carry Fluttershy for me? She's too heavy for me to carry and you look like you're strong," Twilight said as she stood up, her work done.
"Oh um, ok sure," Kayden replied, feeling like this day couldn't have gotten any weirder than it already had.
The coming days would only be stranger...