This story was done in collaboration between me and Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and we both own the OCs that are used in the story. Credit to author AaronCottrell97 for a few ideas and character suggestions. Everything else belongs to their respective owners:
Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel
The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry
Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami
Song used in Intro and Outro (c) Unknown
WARNING: Again, this story is rated T (13-plus) for moments of violence, bloody moments, and some suggestive themes. Viewer discretion may be advised.
Opening up in a dark mountain area, Airknight Parshath was riding his Tri-Horned Dragon through the passage. Why he was here, was something only the member of the Court of Darkness knew himself.
"I must make sure I'm prepare to face the girl." Airknight Parshath said to himself. "And to do so, I must know all of her ultimate dueling tactics."
Soon, his dragon landed on a cliff-side outside a cave. Upon getting off, Tri-Horned Dragon turned itself back into a Duel Monsters card. Airknight Parshath pocketed the card and walked inside the cave.
(elsewhere...)
Inside the cave, it was bleak, damp, and only had lit torches to allow some light and vision. As Airknight Parshath continued walking, a new voice spoke up...and a rather creepy one at that.
"Halt! Who goes there?" The voice demanded in a hostile tone.
Airknight Parshath remained calm and collected. "It is I, your old battle ally! Airknight Parshath of the Court of Darkness."
"Ahhhh... Airknight Parshath, my old friend... Please, come right in."
Nodding slowly, Airknight Parshath ventured forward deeper into the cavern.
"It's nice to see you again..." continued the voice.
As the member of the Court of Darkness walked further into the cave, he saw a male spellcaster-type monster leaning against the rocky wall. He wore black clothing and had pale skin and demonic headgear (or something like that). It was an evil Duel Spirit known as Chaos Sorcerer.
"What brings you to this neck of the woods?"
Airknight Parshath halted. "I'm in need of your assistance."
Chaos Sorcerer raised an eyebrow, but said nothing back. This allowed Airknight Parshath to continue speaking...
"I am trying to find an escaped girl we've captured from the human world."
"What purpose does catching this girl serve?" asked Chaos Sorcerer, failing to see the point in kidnapping a human female.
"Because this just isn't any girl." insisted Airknight Parshath. "She is the key to reviving our fallen master!"
Chaos Sorcerer was surprised. "What?!"
"Yes! This girl has the most darkness in her heart than anyone we've captured so far! Professor Melvin even proved it to us!"
"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" groaned Chaos Sorcerer.
Airknight Parshath remained silent and stoic. At least he had gotten his old ally's attention over the matter...
"As I've just mention, I'm aiming to recapture the girl." The member of the Court of Darkness pointed out. "But she isn't exactly helpless. According to some scouts, she demolished three Battleguard monsters in one single turn."
"Hmm..." said Chaos Sorcerer thoughtfully. "That powerful, eh?"
"If I am to stand a chance against her-" went on Airknight Parshath. "-I need to learn her dueling tactics...so I can counter them with the greatest of ease."
Chaos Sorcerer smirked. "You don't have to tell me twice. As you can see, I'm not one to be defeated so easily."
"Very good."
Airknight Parshath immediately tossed over a small bag full of gold coins. Chaos Sorceror caught the bag and opened it. When he was done looking over the gold, the spellcaster-type monster looked up and smiled some more.
"This will be enough." said Chaos Sorcerer in a creepy tone. "Now tell me... where might I be able to find her...?"
Airknight Parshath nodded and took out a small Crystal Ball. The device quickly activated and revealed...a 16-year old girl with long dark green (almost emerald) hair. It would seem she was in a village full of friendly Duel Monsters.
"I remember this village." Airknight Parshath remarked. "This is where Vampire Lord had kidnapped several children and lured Thomas into a trap..."
That was all Chaos Sorcerer needed to hear. "Then that's where I shall go. I will get her to embrace the darkness one way or the other."
Airknight Parshath smirked in response. Oh boy...this isn't gonna be pretty. Am I right? Scratch that - I KNOW I'm right.
Title: Chaos Sorcerer's Gambit
Over in the village of Duel Monsters, Emily had just finished hearing the whole tale from some of the villagers.
"Wow." she breathed. "I don't believe it..."
"Yes." nodded a Gemini Elf. "Autraius was the one who slayed the 'Evil One' and brought peace to our land."
"At the cost of his own life." added the other Gemini Elf.
"And your friend resembles Autraius very much." came from a Blade Knight.
"Then that must be why the Court of Darkness wants him." said Emily. "But why would they take me instead?"
"Your inner darkness is what the Court of Darkness needs." A Jack's Knight pointed out. "Your friend's body will eventually be needed for the revival...once his own inner darkness has gotten strong enough."
"But how can the inner darkness be destroyed?"
"Come with us." invited a Gemini Elf, gesturing to the Inn. "We have a book our old friend, Amazoness Sage, gave us a while ago."
Emily followed the two Elves inside the building.
(elsewhere...)
Inside the Inn's library, one of the two Gemini Elves was searching the shelves for a book. Eventually, she found it...
"Aha! Here it is!"
The Gemini Elf brushed the dust off and brought it over to the table Emily and the second Gemine Elf were both seated at.
"The answer you seek may be in here." said the first Gemini Elf, handing the book to her sister.
The second Gemini Elf flipped through the pages, while Emily looked on with interest.
"Wow, this is so cool." she mumbled.
Finally, the page containing the prophecy was found and the description of it began...
"One day-" The second Gemini Elf read. "-the darkness will return to tarnish the land. By then, the Great One will return in a new form to vanquish it once and and for all, and truly bring peace. However, he will find himself through a trial of his own soul. If he passes, the darkness will be destroyed. If he fails, then he will be consumed by the darkness and all will be lost."
"Trial?" Emily blinked worriedly. "What sort of trial?"
"He must battle the darkness in his heart. And if he succeeds...the darkness will be destroyed. If he fails..."
The dark green-haired girl waited for the answer...but got dismayed when it was finally given...
"He will be consumed by the darkness and the rest of our world will soon follow." finished the Gemini Elf.
"WHAT?!" screamed the dark green-haired girl. "You mean if Thomas is unable to conquer his inner darkness, he'll be consumed by it?!"
"Forever." said the Gemini Elf gravely.
"And nothing would be able to save him from it." added the other Gemini Elf.
"There just has to be a way he can be saved!" insisted Emily desperately. "I can't bear the thought of losing him!"
"The only way to prevent it is by ensuring that the 'Evil One' never resurfaces...and the trial must be accomplished successfully."
"It will not be easy." added the second Gemini Elf. "For you, Emily, will have to accomplish a trial of your own."
"A trial of my own? What do you mean?"
The first Gemini Elf had a serious look on her face. "You have darkness in your heart, yes?"
Emily nodded.
"Then you will have to conqueror that darkness one way or another." added the second Gemini Elf. "Even if you have to..."
"Die?"
"Face your own inner demons." corrected the first Gemini Elf.
"Oh." sighed Emily in relief. "It's just the way you were saying that made me assume that I would possibly die from this trial."
"Do you even know what we mean by it?" The second Gemini Elf questioned sternly.
"I will most likely have to face the darkness of my past actions."
"This raises a question I have." continued the first Gemini Elf. "What exactly were your past actions?"
"What were you like back then?" added the second Gemini Elf.
Emily sighed once more. She guessed it was time to tell the Duel Monsters a bit of her dark past...even if it did hurt very much.
"Very well, I'll tell you both a bit about it... it won't be pretty mind you."
So Emily took a deep breath and told the Elves all about what she had gone through during her first year of Middle School.
FLASHBACK
It had been less than three weeks since Young Emily was warmly welcomed to Sodor Middle School (and even managed to save two lives in a short period of time). Because of her pretty face, as well as kind, gentle, friendly, self-sacrificing personality, Young Emily became quite popular with many of the students. Like so...
"Hi, Emily." called Young Edward.
"Good day, lass!" called Young Donald.
"Good of you to save Oliver from being run over!" praised Young Duck.
"You were very brave to get help for Henry when his appendix needed to be removed at the hospital!" came from Young BoCo.
Young Emily honestly thought her new life couldn't get any better. Unfortunately...
(elsewhere...)
Outside during noon hour, a 13-year old Gordon was lying on a large blanket near the race track, soaking some rays and listening to some music on his headphones. Young Emily was walking near the track field when she saw the young, tall blue-haired boy.
"Hello, Gordon!" called Young Emily cheerfully.
Unfortunately, Young Gordon didn't seem to hear her. Curiously, Young Emily walked over and tried to get the young, tall blue-haired boy's attention.
"Hello, Gordon!" The young dark green-haired girl said loudly.
That got Young Gordon's attention alright... but not in a way Young Emily was expecting...
"Goodness gracious, what cheek! Who do you think you are, interrupting music time?!" he roared.
Young Emily was surprised, and a little bit hurt, by the outburst. "I...was just trying to say hello."
"Huh! I bet..." grunted Young Gordon, standing back up. "So, you're the new student to Middle School? Phooey! I was actually expecting someone as athletic as me. Not someone as girly as you."
And the tall, young blue-haired boy grabbed his belongings and walked away in a huff. Young Emily felt rather annoyed over being called girly.
"Now what reason has he to be rude?" The young dark green-haired girl said to herself. "I was only trying to be nice."
Unfortunately, things were not gonna get any better...
(elsewhere...)
The next day, Young Emily was at her locker getting a few things. Young James, meanwhile, was walking down the hall when he saw the new girl minding her own business. Seeing how pretty she looked, the young red-haired boy smirked and decided to turn the charm on.
"Hey there." he greeted, giving a wink.
Young Emily, hearing the voice, turned towards it and saw the red-haired boy.
"Um... hi there."
"My name's James Hughes." said Young James, slicking his hair back. "You must be Emily."
"Y-Yes." The young dark green-haired girl nodded, getting the feeling that boy was trying to hit on her. She was not gonna have any of that. "Ca-"
"You're in luck." boasted Young James. "You're talking to one of the most popular kids in the whole school...and the most handsome, too."
"Listen, can-" Young Emily tried to speak up, but was cut off.
"Can you deny ever seeing such magnificence in your life?"
Young Emily was starting to get annoyed. This boy, while indeed handsome for a 10-year old, seemed to be quite vain, boastful, and liked to talk about only himself.
"Yes, I can." The new girl said as calmly as possible.
Young James was alarmed. "What?!"
"I can deny ever seeing someone as 'magnificent' in my life." Young Emily continued firmly. "You are nothing but a vain, arrogant showoff."
Red faced with anger and humiliation at being told off like that, Young James gave a snort of disgust.
"Yeah? Well, what would you know?!"
And thus, he walked away in a huff. As soon as Young James was gone, Young Emily sighed to herself.
"Well... that could have gone better..." she remarked aloud.
The new girl got her books out of her locker and made her way to class.
(new scene...)
A week later, Young Emily was at her locker again, when suddenly it slammed shut on her. It was Young Gordon who did the deed, and Young James was standing beside him.
"What did you do that for?" Young Emily asked in surprise, but got nervous when she saw that the taller boy was smirking deviously. "W-What's the meaning of this?"
"Lookie what we have here, James." said Young Gordon.
"Yeah..." agreed Young James, also smirking. "Someone who doesn't appreciate someone as handsome as me..."
"And someone who dares to interrupt my time when I was busy listening to music."
Young Emily was again annoyed. "Oh, you two are still upset about-"
Suddenly, Young Gordon roughly shoved the young dark green-haired girl until her back smashed into the locker. Young Emily wasn't hurt, but she was feeling scared right now. But what really made her upset...was where she was touched for the shove (her chest, that is).
"D-Did you just touch my-?" Young Emily began, getting red in the face.
"Keep quiet!" threatened Young James, cutting off what the girl was about to say. "Because of what you said to both of us, Gordon and I don't like you."
"W-Well...I-I don't like you either." retorted Young Emily, trying to remain brave...but her eyes were getting wet with tears. "Now leave me alone or I'll report you both to the principal."
This only caused Young Gordon and Young James to burst out laughing.
"You? Tell on us?" chortled Young James. "Did you hear that, Gordon?"
"You were right." laughed Young Gordon. "She is a nothing but a goody goody tattletale."
"T-Tattletale?" Young Emily spluttered.
"Oh yes..." The young red-haired boy confirmed. "No likes a tattletale...like you."
With that said, Young James went and shoved Young Emily back into the lockers (touching her clothed chest in doing so) as he and his older friend both walked off laughing, unaware of what they would eventually be responsible for. Feeling humiliated, threatened, violated, and hurt, Young Emily finally started to cry as she ran down the hallway towards one of the girls' bathrooms.
(new scene...)
From that point onward, Young Gordon and Young James both continued to secretly bully Young Emily up until one night, while asleep in bed at her home, the young dark green-haired girl was moving about while sleeping and hearing voices in her head (she was definitely having a nightmare).
"Girly girly tattletale..." - (Young Gordon / Young James)
"Ms. Perfect know-it-all..." - (Young James)
"Tell on us, and you'll be forever labelled a goody-goody tattletale..." - (Young Gordon)
"Goody-goody tattletale..." - (Young Gordon / Young James)
Finally, Young Emily woke up with a start. Again, her eyes were wetting with tears...
"I wish those two would just leave me alone." weeped Young Emily. "What reason have they to pick on me? Maybe I'm too tall or something..."
That could have been one possible factor. You see, even though Young Emily was only one year older than Young Thomas (and Young Percy by the same extention), she was tall enough to be the same age as Young Gordon. This growth rate was a trait she had inherited from her Mother.
"Or maybe... Maybe it's because I'm too nice..."
(new scene...)
The bullying got to such an extreme, that eventually...Young Emily made her dramatic fall from grace. At her locker one day, a saddened Emily was getting her things for class...when Young James walked by and rudely slammed the locker shut.
"Oops, my bad!" he said sarcastically.
Suddenly, without any warning, Young Emily turned, clenched her fist, and punched Young James in the chest so hard that the young red-haired boy was knocked onto the ground.
"Oops, my bad!" growled Young Emily in the exact same sarcastic tone that the Young James had used.
And she walked away in a huff. Young James wasn't hurt badly from the punch, but he was surprised by this sudden change.
(elsewhere...)
During noon hour, Young Gordon was eating some lunch in the lunchroom when he saw that Young Emily was in a bad mood. Smirking, the young, tall blue-haired boy decided to throw his pudding at the young dark green-haired girl.
"Hey, Emily, think fast!" called Young Gordon.
With that said, Youg Gordon tossed the pudding in the air, hoping it would hit Young Emily...which it did...in the face. From there, she started getting many stares from the surprised students in the lunchroom. Almost in an instant, the tall, young blue-haired boy started laughing... not expecting this event to happen...
"Hey, Gordon! Think fast!"
Suddenly, the tall blue-haired boy was hit in the face by a container of applesauce. Everyone else in the cafeteria was shocked per say. Who did that, anyway? As it turned out...it was Young Emily who did it.
"That was for the pudding, you jerk!" she snapped, getting up and leaving.
Young Gordon could not believe it.
(elsewhere...)
Unfortunately, Young Emily also started having moments of taking her anger out on other people, teacher and student alike. One minute, she was being her regular sweet self. The next, however, she was being bossy and rude...almost like being a bully herself.
"No, no, no, no!" The young dark green-haired girl snapped at Young Edward, when they were partnered for a math-like game. "You're doing it all wrong!"
"What do you mean I'm doing it wrong?" asked Young Edward.
Young Emily responded by mixing the numbers in different orders. Young Edward, however, knew that his friend was in the wrong and tried to explain...
"I'm sorry, Emily, but that's not-"
Unfortunately, Young Emily wouldn't hear of it, and thus she and Young Edward both got into an argument over it. This attracted the attention of Mr. Starr, the math teacher, and resulted in some noon hour detention for both kids for the disturbance. That was only one such incident...
(new scene...)
Outside during gym class, the students were about to play softball. The teams were chosen and Young Emily started giving orders to her team...
"Alright, you lot!" she called in a bossy tone. "If you want a chance to win this, then just do as I say and when I say it. Got it?!"
"But, Emily, we just want to play and have fun." protested Young Percy. "You usually play the game just for the fun of it."
Young Emily got very cross. "Forget it! WE play to win it all, and nothing more!"
Mr. Baldwin then walked over to the young dark green-haired girl and gave a sigh of disapproval over her behavior.
"That is not how we do things around here, Miss Sterling." The gym teacher said sternly. "The point of sports is to have fun and to make new friends, not boss your team around just for the sake of winning."
"But, sir-!" objected Young Emily, but was cut off.
"Furthermore, this is the third time this month you've bossed everyone about when we go outside to play sports. I'm afraid you'll have to go see Mr. Arkwright in his office."
Young Thomas could only watch sadly as his dark green-haired friend was lead back to the school by Mr. Baldwin. Over with the other team, Young Gordon and Young James both snickered quietly over Young Emily getting into trouble.
(new scene...)
Later in the winter, Young Thomas and Young Emily were both in Knapford park trying to build a big snowman...but the latter wasn't exactly being very...responsive in teamwork - she was being rather being bossy than helpful.
"You alright, Emily?" asked Young Thomas. He had heard about what his friend had been doing and he was feeling rather worried about her.
"I'm fine." huffed Young Emily. "Now go and make that bottom half! The snowman won't build itself, you know."
"There's no reason to be so bossy." snapped Young Thomas, just as he set to work. "I'm just concerned with this new attitude of your's. Lately you've been bossing the others around and getting into trouble for it. Why are you acting like this, anyway?"
"I said I'm fine!"
"Rubbish!" replied Young Thomas. "Please, Emily, just tell me what's-"
Finally, the young dark green-haired girl lost her temper. "I SAID I'M FINE, YOU LITTLE TWIT!"
With that said, she pushed her young blue-haired friend down into the snow, turned about, and stormed out of the park to go home and cool off from her outburst. Rather than be angry or upset for being pushed down like that, Young Thomas merely felt more worried than ever for his new friend.
"What's wrong with her?" he thought to himself. "I thought we were friends...?"
As she walked out of the park, Young Emily looked back, feeling bad for what she had done.
"I'm so sorry, Thomas." The young dark green-haired girl whispered only to herself, with a teardrop of regret falling from her eye.
(new scene...)
Christmas Break had helped Young Emily feel a little bit better. During that free time, she would be free from Young Gordon and Young James's bullying and even feel a little more like her old self once again (including when she and her family spent some time with Thomas and his family). But I'm afraid that her new-found attitude became so much worse only a month after the Christmas holidays and school resumed; a new student named Molly Russell had been accepted into the Middle School. But rather than be warm and welcoming like she usually was in the past, Young Emily instead began to bully Young Molly upon meeting her! Like so...
"Look at you!" Young Emily said in a taunting tone. "You look almost like me, yet you don't even have any curves. But take a good look at me...!" The young dark green-haired girl pulled her shirt up a bit and showed off her own figure (her waist-line) before wiggling her hips in a rather...suggestive matter (for a young old girl, nonetheless). "I am tall and beautiful enough to be in high school already! But then again, I suppose not every girl at this school can be as lucky as me. Oh well!"
Poor Young Molly felt very embarrassed over this.
(new scene...)
Later during the transition from 3rd to 4th period, Young Molly was walking down the hallway when she suddenly tripped and fell on her face.
"How was the fall, loser?" laughed a voice.
Young Molly looked up and saw that it was Young Emily, smirking in a mean gesture.
"Why did you do that?" asked the young black-haired girl, feeling hurt.
"Oh, I don't know... Maybe you should watch where you're going?"
Young Molly honestly felt like crying right about now.
(new scene...)
In May, Young Emily and Young Molly were both partnered for a project. The young black-haired girl worked the best she could, but that was sadly not good enough for Young Emily.
"Geez, you're so slow!" The young dark green-haired girl criticized. "Do you want us to fail?"
"I'm doing it as best as I can!" protested Young Molly. "If you're not happy, then do it yourself!"
"This is a group project, dummy! We HAVE to work together if we wanna pass!"
Yup, things weren't getting any better.
(new scene...)
During a bake sale one day in April, Young Emily was working with both Young Percy and Young Toby in selling baked goodies. They were making lots of money, but it didn't seem to satisfy Young Emily at all.
"This isn't working." said Young Emily. "We need a better sales approach."
"I think we're doing just fine." commented Young Toby.
"Me too." agreed Young Percy.
"That's your opinion, but mine is final. We NEED a better idea!"
"Well, what do you suggest?" asked Young Percy.
"Not what I suggest-" snapped Young Emily. "-what YOU both suggest! You two started this event, you two should have an idea and not me!"
Rather than just argue with their troubled friend, Young Toby and Young Percy both got up from their and walked away, leaving Young Emily to yell and call for them to no success.
(new scene...)
One year later, despite her short recovery during Summer vacation, Young Emily (now 12-years old) and her new attitude had hit an all-time low. She continued to bully Young Molly, continued to get bullied by Young James and Young Gordon, and continued to be troublesome all-around with everyone else. Like the year before, one minute she was being sweet. The next minute, she was being bossy, rude, and/or mean. The worst part was that no one knew why the young dark green-haired girl had suddenly changed in personality. The only one who Young Emily had not been nearly as rude to was Young Thomas, but he was now even more worried than ever before.
One night, while she was asleep in bed at her home, Young Emily was once again tossing and turning about while hearing voices in her head (a nightmare of a sort). This time, however, it was worse than from before...
"I hate her guts! She's nothing but a bully." - (Young Arthur)
"We hate you, Emily!" - (Young Duck)
"You're nothing but a bossy, short-tempered, witch!" - (Young BoCo)
"You know what the scariest monster in the world is? YOU ARE!" - (Young Charlie)
"Goody-goody tattletale...!" - (Young Gordon / Young James)
Finally, Young Emily woke up with a heavy start, and then started to cry herself back into a very uncomfortable sleep. Unfortunately, she was completely unaware of feeling something growing within her tainted heart. Something dark... evil... and powerful.
END FLASHBACK
The flashback ended, and Emily, once she had finished her story, had buried her hands in her face and began crying.
"I never meant for any of that to happen! I only became so desperate to stop it, but in the end I failed to prevent it from getting worse!"
"Then why did you let those two bully you in the first place?" asked the first Gemini Elf. "Why did you not tell your friends what was wrong?"
Poor Emily weeped some more. "I... I was afraid."
"Afraid?" blinked the second Gemini Elf. "Afraid of what?"
"I was afraid that if I told on Gordon and James-" explained Emily, sniffling and hiccuping. "-everybody would refer to me as nothing but a goody-goody tattletale and hate me for it."
"Well, what made you stop acting that way?" asked the first Gemini Elf.
Emily then shuddered. It was one memory she did NOT want to give away to anyone who didn't know.
"Emily?"
"I... I can't tell you." The dark green-haired girl said meekly. "I'm too ashamed of it."
"It's for the best that you let it out." reassured the second Gemini Elf. "We want to help you."
Emily sighed. She had heard that exact same phrase before. And these Duel Monsters spirits looked like they truly wanted to help her.
"Alright." The dark green-haired girl said at last. "I'll tell you more."
But before anymore talking could ensure...
"Come out, little girl!" called a voice (male). "I know you're here somewhere!"
"Who's that?" asked Emily, standing up.
The door to the Inn burst open and revealed a Blade Knight.
"We've got trouble in the town square!"
The three followed Blade Knight outside to see what the matter was.
(elsewhere...)
In the middle of the village, Chaos Sorcerer was firing magic blasts at anything he could hit. The point of it? For the laughs and such.
"Come on out!" The evil monster called out. "I know you're here somewhere!"
At last, Emily came out into his view.
"Hey, you!" The dark green-haired girl called out. "What do you think you're doing?!"
Chaos Sorcerer was pleased that his target had arrived to confront him. Now the fun could REALLY begin!
"So you've finally showed yourself!" The spellcaster-type monster said pleasantly. "Good! The Court of Darkness will be very pleased."
"So they ARE after me." Emily thought to herself. She then gave a fierce glare at her enemy. "Sorry, but you're not gonna get a hold of me!"
"Then fight me!"
"What's happening to our village?" The two Gemini Elves showed up and joined their human friend.
"It looks like this guy is from the Court of Darkness." answered Emily. "And he's trying to take me back as prisoner. Well, that's not going to happen!"
With that said, she activated her Duel Disk. Chaos Sorcerer activated his own Duel Disk in response.
"I think this will be a fun little duel!" Chaos Sorcerer cried joyfully.
The two then drew their opening hands (LP: 4000).
"DUEL!"
Kuribon, who had not been seen since Emily told some of her story to the two Gemini Elves, appeared as a faintly spirit.
"Kuribon, what do you know about this guy?" asked Emily mentally.
Kuribon spoke in its own 'Kurbi' language to the dark green-haired girl.
"A Chaos deck?" quizzed Emily mentally. "I don't like the sound of that."
"I will take the first move." insisted Chaos Sorcerer, drawing a card from his deck.
Turn One: Chaos Sorcerer (LP: 4000)
Deck: 54
Current Hand (6): Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, Black Luster Soldier, Magician of Black Chaos, Dark Magician of Chaos, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, and Chaos Sanctuary(!)
The monster's drawn card was a Spell card called Chaos Sanctuary. Upon seeing it, Chaos Sorcerer started to snicker quietly before bursting into loud laughter.
"Huh?" Emily gasped.
"I have already drawn the card that will ensure my victory!" Chaos Sorcerer cackled, slotting the drawn card into his Duel Disk. "I activate Chaos Sanctuary!"
A facedown card materialized on the field... but then flipped face-up and revealed itself.
"Chaos Sanctuary?" Emily quizzed.
"Now, watch what happens!"
Suddenly, the ground began to shake as a large palace with different tones of light and darkness appeared.
"This is a very powerful Continuous Spell card!" declared Chaos Sorcerer. "Once per turn, I may send one monster from my deck to the graveyard. Whenever I do so, I can special summon from my hand, ignoring the summoning conditions, one monster from the 'Chaos' archtype."
"'Chaos' archtype?" Emily blinked.
Chaos Sorcerer merely ignored the dark green-haired girl's question as he sent a monster card from his deck to the graveyard.
"I've sent a copy of Black Luster Soldier from my deck to the graveyard." he declared, taking a card from his hand. "From there, I will special summon Magician of Black Chaos from my hand to the field in attack mode!"
Appearing onto the field was the similar blue-skinned magician that Thomas had used once before (Level: 8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600).
"A 2800 attack point monster on the first turn!?" Emily stepped back in shock.
"Impressed, are you not?" asked Chaos Sorcerer arrogantly. "Let's see if you can do any better."
"My pleasure." nodded Emily. "I took on three Battleguard Kings in one turn, so you'll be much easier."
With that said, she drew her card.
Turn Two: Emily Sterling (LP: 4000)
Deck: 44
Current Hand (6): Kuribon, Waboku, Ultimate Offering, Damage Mage, Wingweaver Shield(!), and Wingweaver
Emily added the drawn card to her hand and looked a bit dismayed.
"Not as good as I was hoping." she sighed to herself.
Regardless, the dark green-haired girl took another card from her hand and placed it onto a monster field slot on her Duel Disk (sideways).
"I summon Damage Mage in defense mode!"
A woman wearing a black cloak materialized on the field in a defensive stance (Level: 6/DEF: 1200). A facedown card then materialized behind her.
"Finally, I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." Emily finished.
"Heh! Is that really the best you've got?" teased Chaos Sorcerer, drawing his card. "Then allow me to get the ball rolling once more!"
Turn Three: Chaos Sorcerer (LP: 4000)
Deck: 52
Current Hand (5): Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, Black Luster Soldier, Dark Magician of Chaos, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, and Chaos Slavery(!)
His drawn card was another Spell card called Chaos Slavery.
"For this turn, I will not use the effect of my Chaos Sanctuary." The spellcaster-type monster then slotted the card into his Duel Disk. "Instead, I'll play this Spell card - Chaos Slavery!"
The mentioned Continuous Spell card flipped face-up and revealed itself.
"Now when you lose a monster by battle to a 'Chaos' monster, you take 500 points of damage!"
"That's not fair!" protested Emily.
"It's the life of war! Get used to it."
Emily knew she was in a tight spot. She was faced with a powerful monster, and didn't have a very good hand dealt to her, right now.
"Magician of Black Chaos-" command Chaos Sorcerer. "-Spell of Destruction - Death Ultima!"
Magician of Black Chaos fired a blast from his scepter at Damage Mage, destroying her in an instant.
"And thanks to my Spell card, you've lost 500 life points!"
Emily frowned as she took slight damage (LP: 3500).
"If I can get either Wingweaver or Serapheem out, I can win this duel!" she thought to herself, looking at her hand. "It won't be easy, but I won't quit until I get the cards I need to defeat this guy."
"My turn is over." said Chaos Sorcerer proudly. "Now give me your best!"
Emily silently drew her card, hoping it would be a good one.
"Please let it be something useful."
Turn Four: Emily Sterling (LP: 3500)
Deck: 43
Current Hand (5): Kuribon, Ultimate Offering, Wingweaver Shield(!), Wingweaver, and Cry of the Wingweaver
Her prayers were answered. The drawn card was shown to be the Cry of the Wingweaver Spell card.
"I activate Cry of the Wingweaver!" Emily cried out, slotting her card into a Spell/Trap slot on her Duel Disk.
The mentioned Spell card materialized face-up on the field.
"This must be one of her big strategies." Chaos Sorcerer thought with a smirk. "It seems to usually help her win duels... But not today, I'm afraid."
"This Spell card allows me to pay 1000 life points in order to special summon, from my hand, my deck's ace; Wingweaver!" explained Emily, taking a life point hit (LP: 2500).
On cue, the mighty Wingweaver appeared on the field (Level: 7/ATK: 2750/DEF: 2400).
"In addition - her attack points double for the remainder of my turn!"
Nothing happened.
"Huh?" Emily blinked dumbly. "I said Wingweaver's attack points double!"
Still, nothing happened.
"Why isn't it working?"
"Oh, did I forget to mention that my Slavery card prevents your monsters from gaining any sort of attack or defense buffs from Spells or Traps?" teased Chaos Sorcerer. "Silly me!"
"Oh no!" cried Emily. "Now my Wingweaver can't take down your magician!"
"Exactly! And the moment you lose, you'll be returning to the Court of Darkness."
Turn Five: Chaos Sorcerer (LP: 4000)
Deck: 51
Current Hand (5): Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, Black Luster Soldier, Dark Magician of Chaos, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, and Black Magic Ritual
Upon adding his drawn card to his hand, another card slipped out from Chaos Sorcerer's deck.
"I shall activate my Chaos Sanctuary's effect one more!" The spellcaster-type monster declared, taking and holding his card up. "I will send a copy of Magician of Black Chaos from the deck to the graveyard to special summon Black Luster Soldier from my hand to the field!"
Now appearing onto the field was the Black Luster Soldier (Level: 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).
"Any last words before you lose?" asked Chaos Sorcerer mockingly. "Never mind... Chaos Blade, now!"
Black Luster Soldier obeyed and charged forth towards Wingweaver. Just before that scimitar could slice through the fairy-type monster...
"Reveal Trap card!" Emily announced, motioning her right hand up. "Waboku!"
Her facedown card flipped face-up and revealed itself.
"For one battle phase, your monsters cannot touch my Wingweaver or my life points!"
The first Gemini Elf sighed. "Saved..."
"But how is Emily gonna get herself out of this?" The second Gemini Elf added.
Chaos Sorcerer chuckled. "Buying time until your defeat, eh? That's what makes hunting you down so much fun! So go ahead and make your final turn!"
"I'm not about to lose this duel!" insisted Emily, drawing her card. "Not against a creep like you!"
Turn Six: Emily Sterling (LP: 2500)
Deck: 42
Current Hand (5): Kuribon, Ultimate Offering, Wingweaver Shield(!), and Pot of Greed
The dark green-haired girl looked at the card. Hopefully it could help her turn things around...otherwise...
"This has to get me what I need." she thought to herself. "Otherwise, I'll have no chance of winning."
On cue, the Pot of Greed Spell card materialized face-up on the field.
"I activate the Spell card Pot of Greed!" announced Emily. "This lets me draw two cards."
The two cards were shown to be Luminous Rays(!) and Cestus of Dagla.
"These cards might help me." The dark green-haired girl thought to herself. "Alright, I first activate the Spell card Luminous Rays!"
The mentioned Spell card materialized face-up on the field behind Wingweaver.
"This can only be activated if I control a light attribute monster. Now, all your Spell and Trap cards, set or face-up, are destroyed and 500 points of damage is dealt per card!"
"What?!" cried Chaos Sorcerer.
True to Emily's words, the spellcaster-type monster's face-up Spell cards were all destroyed, causing him to take damage (LP: 3000).
"Not my two Chaos cards!"
"That's right." grinned Emily, taking another card from her hand. "But there's more to come."
On cue, the Cestus of Dagla Equip Spell card materialized face-up on the field.
"Next I activate an Equip Spell card called Cestus of Dalga! This increases the attack power of any fairy-type monster I control, like Wingweaver, by 500 points - and thanks to the destruction of your Chaos Slavery card, nothing is to stop my Equip Spell from powering up my monster!"
Two blade-like weapons materialized and Wingeaver took hold of them. This granted her a power boost (ATK: 2750 - 3250).
"Now, attack the Magician of Black Chaos!" ordered Emily. "Luminous Spark Rain!"
Wingweaver obeyed, causing a rain of light to fall, striking and destroying Magician of Black Chaos.
"The light!" winced Chaos Sorcerer (LP: 2550).
Kuribon reappeared and happily said a few 'Kurbis' to her human friend.
"That's right." said Emily. "Pure, wholesome light... But I'm not done!"
The blades Wingweaver was wielding suddenly started glowing all white... and so did the dark green-haired girl.
"Wh-What?!" gasped Chaos Sorcerer.
"Damage you're dealt when a fairy-type monster attacks while equipped with Cestus of Dalga restores my life points equal to the exact amount of damage taken!"
Emily ceased glowing as her life points recovered a bit (LP: 2950).
"So, this must be another of her strategies..." thought Chaos Sorcerer. "Powering up her monsters and recovering lost life points... very interesting."
"I'm not out of this duel yet." continued Emily. "You are not taking me back to the Court of Darkness! I now end my turn."
"Heh! You're so stubborn." teased Chaos Sorcerer, drawing his card. "But that's the fun of the challenge!"
Turn Seven: Chaos Sorcerer (LP: 2550)
Deck: 49
Current Hand (5): Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, Dark Magician of Chaos, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, Black Magic Ritual, and Chain Destruction
Black Luster Soldier suddenly went into a defensive stance.
"I switch Black Luster Soldier to defense mode." The spellcaster-type monster said simply. "I'll end my turn, now."
"I have him on the ropes." Emily thought to herself. "If I can keep up the pace, I will win!"
The dark green-haired girl drew her card.
Turn Eight: Emily Sterling (LP: 2950)
Deck: 39
Current Hand (4): Kuribon, Ultimate Offering, Wingweaver Shield(!), and Emergency Provisions
The drawn card was the Spell card Emergency Provisions.
"This could come in handy later on." Emily remained in her thoughts. She then slotted the card into her Duel Disk and spoke aloud. "I set two cards facedown!"
Two facedown cards materialized on the field. Wingweaver then began to attack once more.
"LUMINOUS SPARK RAIN!"
Wingweaver obeyed, attacking and destroying Black Luster Soldier.
"My turn is over!" concluded Emily confidently. But was caught off-guard by some laughter. "Huh?"
The laughter was coming from Chaos Sorcerer. Even though he had lost both his powerful monsters AND best Spell cards... the monster was laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"Forgive me if I sounded...crazy." replied Chaos Sorcerer coolly. "But did you honestly think your monster can beat me? All along, I've been toying with you. Learning all I need to know to stop your best strategies."
With that said, he drew his card.
Turn Nine: Chaos Sorcerer (LP: 2550)
Deck: 48
Current Hand (6): Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, Dark Magician of Chaos, Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, Black Magic Ritual, Chain Destruction, and Pot of Greed
"First-" Chaos Sorcerer held out his drawn Pot of Greed Spell card. "-I'll use my own copy of Pot of Greed to draw two more cards from my deck!"
The cards were shown to be Chaos Sorcerer and Chaos Return(!). Upon seeing one of the cards he had drawn, Chaos Sorcerer started to laugh once more.
"And this card will prove it! Prove that you cannot hope to beat me!"
Emily was worried. "What did he draw?"
"And now, I'll activate it!" The spellcaster-type monster declared, slotting the card into a Spell/Trap slot on his Duel Disk. "Chaos Return!"
The mentioned Spell card flipped face-up and revealed itself.
"What does that do?" asked Emily, feeling more and more worried.
Chaos Sorcerer drew about ten cards from his deck and sent them to the graveyard.
"Very simple; I must send ten random cards from my deck to the graveyard-" As the monster explained his Spell card's effect, two monster cards slipped out of the graveyard. "-and I can revive two monsters that were destroyed previously while ignoring summoning conditions!"
Black Luster Soldier and Magician of Black Chaos both returned to the field.
"I've destroyed those two monsters once-" reminded Emily. "-and I'll do it again!"
"Oh, you're so naive!" taunted the spellcaster-type monster. "Can't you see why I'm building up my field... or sending ten cards from my deck to the graveyard?"
Hearing that made Emily and Kuribon both feel uneasy. It looked like the dark green-haired girl was in trouble... REALLY big trouble.
"And now... I banish a light and dark attribute monster from my graveyard out of the game!"
A Dark Magician of Chaos (Dark) and Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning (Light) appeared briefly before fading away.
"By doing this-" explained Chaos Sorcerer, selecting another card from his hand. "-I'm allowed to call forth one of the two Envoys of Chaos."
A powerful blast of fire erupted the field.
"And I choose to play... the almighty Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End!"
From the flames came the silhouette of a huge dragon.
"Meet the instrument of your defeat, you foolish girl!" cackled Chaos Sorcerer madly. "AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
A huge dragon with bone-like parts emerged from the flames with a powerful roar (Level: 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500).
"C-Chaos Emperor Dragon?" Emily sounded very scared now.
"That's right." confirmed Chaos Sorcerer, suddenly taking a life point drop (LP: 1550). "And now, for its special ability! By giving up 1000 life points, my dragon can wipe out every card on the field and in our hands. Then you lose 300 life points for each card sent to the graveyard!"
He started counting up the cards on the field and in both players hands. There were...
"Five in my hand and three on my field. That makes eight. And as for you, there's a total so far of four on the field and three in your hand. That makes seven."
"That's 4500 points of damage!" Emily gasped with horror.
The two Gemini Elves were equally terrified at the fact Emily was about to lose the duel to the legendary Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End.
"Chaos Emperor Dragon-" commanded Chaos Sorcerer. "-destroy all of the girl's cards, now... CEMETERY OF FIRE!"
Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End obeyed and started to torch the field with an enormous blast of fire. Emily screamed in agony as the fire surged around her. Chaos Sorcerer, meanwhile, was laughing at his impending win.
"I'VE WON!" he shouted in triumph. "I'VE DEFEATED THE GIRL WITH DARKNESS IN HER HEART!"
The Gemini Elves were solemn that their human friend had been beaten.
"Emily..." The first Gemini Elf whispered.
The flames eventually died down, and Emily was revealed...to still be standing (LP: 450).
"Emily!" called the second Gemini Elf.
"She's still standing?" added the first Gemini Elf in shock.
"What?!" shrieked Chaos Sorcerer. "You should have lost! Why are you still standing?"
His question was answered when the smoke cleared to show a face-up Spell card.
"Emergency Provisions?!"
"Correct-" panted Emily. "-before I lost my cards, I went and activated this set card to send my other facedown card and face-up Cestus of Dalga both to the graveyard to gain 1000 life points per card. This increased my life points up to 4950 before being reduced by 4500 points. This allowed me to survive your Chaos Emperor Dragon's devastating effect with 450 life points."
Chaos Sorcerer felt enraged that his best move was survived by a girl.
"You may have survived that-" he screamed. "-but you're barely standing! Now make your final move!"
With her hand and field completely wiped out, Emily had to make this final draw REALLY count... or it could be all over for her.
"One last chance..." The dark green-haired girl thought to herself. "Either I make it count... or I never see my friends again."
The two Gemini Elves wished the best for their human friend.
"Come on, Emily..." The first Gemini Elf mentally said.
"You can do it..." The second Gemini Elf mentally added.
Kuribon closed her eyes and wished for her human companion to win, too. Finally, Emily drew her card, slashing a wave of color from her deck (Destiny Draw).
"Please, Heart of the Cards..."
Turn Ten: Emily Sterling (LP: 450)
Deck: 38
Current Hand (1): Heavenly Light - Type B(!)
Emily looked at her drawn card and gasped at what it was.
"What is this card?" The dark green-haird girl thought to herself. "I've never seen or added it to my deck!"
It was a Spell card called Heavenly Light - Type B.
"How did it get in here?"
Kuribon opened her eyes and said a few words to the confused Emily.
"Kuribon?" asked Emily. "Was this your doing?"
Kuribon nodded before adding a few 'Kurbis' that seemed to resemble 'Play that card, and you'll witness its power'. Quickly getting the hint, the dark green-haired girl nodded.
"Alright." she said mentally. From there, Emily slotted the card into her Duel Disk. "I activate Heavenly Light - Type B!"
The mentioned Spell card materialized face-up on the field. The Gemini Elves were shocked to see the card.
"Such a rare and powerful card!" gasped the first Gemini Elf.
The card emitted a powerful beam of light.
"AGH!" wailed Chaos Sorcerer. "T-The light...!"
"This is an exceptionally powerful Spell card that allows me to send five light attribute monsters from my deck to the graveyard." explained Emily, taking her whole deck out of her Duel Disk. "Once that's done, I can special summon a light attribute ritual monster from my hand, deck, or graveyard while ignoring the summoning conditions!"
Upon sending five light attribute monster cards to the graveyard, a ritual monster card slipped out in response.
"And I choose to summon my guardian angel - Serapheem!"
The beam of light shot into the sky as the clouds parted. From there, the most powerful form of Wingweaver descended from the bright heavens (Level: 12/ATK: 2900/DEF: 2500).
"Such a beauty..." whispered the second Gemini Elf.
"You don't think...?" added the first Gemini Elf, with a look of realization on her face.
Many of the other monsters in the village looked up and noticed Serapheem, too.
"Is that...the legendary Serapheem?" asked a Jack's Knight.
"It is... and she's the true form of Wingweaver!" protested a Legendary Fisherman.
"Could it be that this girl-" said a Big Shield Gardna. "-is blessed by the gift of the angels of our land?"
"This can't be!" protested Chaos Sorcerer, shocked to see Serapheem in action.
"Yes, it is!" confirmed Emily hotly. "I do in fact wield the legendary power of Serapheem! And she gets 600 attack points stronger for every light attribute monster I have in my graveyard!"
"600?!"
Emily nodded in affirmation. "And right now, I believe that's 7 in total I have. Meaning Serapheem gains 4200 attack points!"
Serapheem started glowing all gold-like as her attack stat climbed up to VERY high heights (ATK: 2900 - 7100).
"Amazing..." breathed a King's Knight. "This girl IS blessed by the angels of our land!"
"Leave a message to the Court of Darkness, Chaos Sorcerer!" bellowed Emily. "I will never turn over to the dark side! Not now, not ever! Serapheem, direct attack!"
Raising her hands into the air, Serapheem started raining down from the sky numerous beams of light. Chaos Sorcerer was eventually struck by one (but didn't give a scream or anything), and that was more than enough to finish him off (LP: 0).
DUEL RESULTS: Emily Sterling wins!
When the light faded away, Chaos Sorcerer was gone. Destroyed or escaped? No one really knew what happened.
"He's gone..." whispered the first Gemini Elf.
"Good riddance." said Emily to herself.
Serapheem then looked towards the dark green-haired girl and lowered herself down.
"Hmm?"
The angel-like monster finally reached Emily and stared into her eyes while smiling warmly while she (Emily) looked up at one of her favorite monsters.
"Child, you have a special gift." Serapheen said softly. "You are this world's gift from the heavens. You will be the one to clear the dark from this land."
Emily was speechless, while Kuribon merely floated beside her while looking up at the beautiful Duel Monsters spirit happily.
"I wait for your challenge at The Sanctuary in the Sky... farewell..."
With that said, Serapheem disappeared into spores of light, leaving Emily to try and think things over.
"I'm..." The dark green-haired girl tried to speak, but couldn't seem to finish.
"Our village's newest savior!" cried out a voice.
The village monsters began to cheer for Emily. Unfortunately, the dark green-haired girl did not smile, she only remained silent over the words Serapheem had said to her before departing. Those words, and I quote, were...
"Child, you have a special gift. You are this world's gift from the heavens. You will be the one to clear the dark from this land."
What could this mean? This will be something we'll find out much later.
(elsewhere...)
Outside the village and in the woods where Thomas and Vampire Lord first clashed, Chaos Sorcerer was running through the place trying to make his escape. When he stopped to take a breather, the monster...smiled to himself.
"I may have lost-" he thought to himself. "-but I was able to reveal her strategies. Including the one to summon Serapheem..."
Suddenly, a new voice spoke up. "You've done well, my old friend."
Chaos Sorcerer looked up to see Airknight Parshath standing atop a tree branch.
"The girl's strategies, I think you'll be most interested in hearing them."
And Chaos Sorcerer explained all of Emily's big strategies (especially in summoning Serapheem). Once the explaination was finished, Airknight Parshath smiled from all he heard.
"So that's her game?" asked Airknight Parshath knowingly. "Heh! She'll be no match for me and my deck when I eventually confront her."
"She even went as far as to insist that she will never give in to the dark side." added Chaos Sorcerer.
"Hmm..."
The spellcaster-like monster was feeling confused by his ally's thoughts. "Do you have a plan to ensure she falls into the darkness one way or another?"
Eventually...
"Yes, I do." Airknight Parshath spoke up, grinning at his plan. "Do you remember anything about my master's old 'special' arena?"
Chaos Sorcerer gasped at first at being reminded of that secret arena... but them smirked evilly in response (confirming that he did indeed).