Agony of Eternity

"Show me first!" Dan demanded as he reached out for a card while Ray held him back.

"I was here first! Get in line!" she pushed him back and snatched the card Alex held out.

"Ow! Not fair!"

"Woah… the background is half purple and half silver! Like a real hybrid of fusion and synchro monsters!"

Dan got up and chased Ray as she ran away to admire Super HERO Starlight Striker.

"Hey, you better give that back." Alex yawned as he had just woken from his nap.

"Sure thing!" Ray giggled as she dodged Dan again.

"An integration summon…" Emma said out loud as she approached Alex.

"Cool, isn't it? You wanna try?" Alex gestured for her to sit next to him on the circular couch.

"I'd love to… but Monarchs don't have any Extra Deck monsters." she replied as she sat down next to him, "Also, you don't really have to come watch my match. You look like you need a lot more sleep."

"No way! I haven't seen any of your matches, I've got to at least see one! Once you win this, then we get to duel! And this time, I'll win."

"Well… I don't think I'll win. My opponent is ridiculously strong…"

"That's what I said about Raine and I beat him. Besides, you're just as strong if not stronger."

"Heh… Thanks." Emma smiled, "And you're right, I am strong! I'll beat her no problem!"

They both sat in silence for a moment, other than Ray and Dan's chasing.

"Hey, listen, about… spilling your secrets." Emma shyly turned her head away.

"I already told you, it's fine. I'd really rather just put that whole thing behind me. You're my friend, Em, you always have been."

Stunned by his words, Emma didn't say anything. A ping on her duel disk interrupted the silence.

"Ah… it's time." Emma stood up, "Let's talk more after I come back with a win!"

"Welcome one and all, to our second group's last match! I'm Marie Crawford, and we're all in for a destructive duel tonight!" Marie announced from her booth.

Emma walked up to her spot on the field, with her opponent already waiting there.

"One one side of the field we have the most confident duelist I've seen in these parts, with flair to match! Give it up for Emma!"

The crowd cheered for Emma as she waved back at them.

"On the other side we have the fiercest duelist we all have ever seen! Racking up the fastest duel wins, we have Elise!"

The crowd applauded her, but she paid them no mind. Instead, she focused her scary gaze at Emma. Emma was unsure how to feel being intimidated by a girl who looked as adorable as she did deadly.

"Now put in your predictions on how you think this duel will go!" Marie yelled out, "Though if we follow the pattern of the last few duels… I think we know how this will turn out."

The screens above whirled with numbers before stopping.

"Elise's curse continues even here! We have another 100% on her and 0% on Emma! Let's hope she doesn't make the duel too short this time! Now then, let's get this started!"

DUEL START

EMMA: 4000

ELISE: 4000

"My turn!" Emma drew a card," I think… I'll summon Relinkuriboh (ATK: 300)!"

A cute furry monster floated onto the field, with sharp claws and a machine on the back of its head.

"Then I'll set two cards and end my turn."

"Huh?!" Marie questioned, "Why would you summon that in attack position?"

"Is that really all you want to do?" Elise asked, a blank expression on her face.

Emma placed her hand on her hip and replied back, "Try me."

TURN 2

EMMA: 4000

ELISE: 4000

"My turn." Elise spoke in a quiet voice, "When there are no monsters on my field, I'm allowed to normal summon this without tributing. Come out, Eternity - Teardrop (ATK: 2500)."

Above the field, a stormy sky appeared with many grey clouds. Thunder rumbled as a single drop of water fell onto the field before morphing into a warrior with hair made of pure water, shifting into twin tails. She wore a vest made of small pieces of blue armour laced together with cords, leaving her arms bare. A large and heavily padded skirt that fell to her ankles shuffled in the wind. Her blue eyes pierced the land that was Emma's field as she readied her curved sword.

"That's a cool looking monster, but it doesn't scare me!" Emma grinned.

"You should know that with a single drop of rain, a heavy storm follows. I activate the spell card, Eternity- Petrichor. This allows me to special summon an Eternity monster from my deck as long as I control only 1 Eternity monster. I summon Eternity- Black Raven (ATK: 2800)."

A dark hawk with red tipped feathers soared above, letting out a chilling screech.

"Eternity- Teardrop's effect activates. Whenever an Eternity monster is special summoned, I can send one Eternity monster from my deck to the graveyard and then special summon another Eternity monster to the field. I'll send Eternity- Monachopsis Maiden to the graveyard and summon Eternity- Shadow (ATK: 2900)."

The stormy skies rumbled as rain fell faster and clouds hovered around the moon, with a single ray of light falling upon a lone warrior in a dark cloak. It slipped through the dark and shadows of clouds and landed on the field.

"Now for my battle phase. Raindrop's effect prevents me from attacking you directly this turn, however, I can destroy your monster." Elise informed Emma before launching an attack.

"I activate the trap card, Escalation of the Monarchs and I'll also activate The Monarchs Stormforth!" Emma declared, "The Monarchs Stormforth lets me use one of your monsters for a tribute summon this turn, and Escalation of the Monarchs lets me tribute summon during your battle phase! I tribute my Linkuriboh and your Eternity - Black Raven and summon Raiza the Mega Monarch (ATK: 2800)!" Emma retaliated.

From the shattered sparkles of the two tributed monsters, a heavily green armoured winged beast levitated on Emma's monster zone. A slim semi-circle metal hovered behind the monarch's back as it crossed its hands along with his sharp claws.

"Whenever Relinkuriboh is tributed, I get to draw a card! Now for my monarch's ability. I can target a monster on the field- two actually, since your raven was a WIND monster, and shuffle them back to the deck. I also get to add a monster in either of our graveyard back to the hand. I'll return your Teardrop and Shadow back to your deck and add my Relinkuriboh to my hand!"

Green gusts of wind blasted from the Raiza the Mega Monarch's hands and picked up the two Eternity monsters on the field and blew them back into Elise's deck. A softer wind picked up the tiny kuriboh from the graveyard and carried it into Emma's hand.

"Woah! This is the first time anybody has done anything to Elise's monsters! Emma has gotten rid of her whole field!" Marie shouted out.

"Not bad, huh?" Emma smirked, "Just wait till you see what I do on my turn."

"Interesting. You did all the work I needed you to do during the same turn I had set everything up." Elise said, "I activate Eternity - Monachopsis Maiden's (ATK: 3000) effect in the graveyard. If I have summoned an Eternity monster in this duel and have no monsters on my field, I can special summon her."

A small girl with unruly, curly hair emerged on the field. A sad expression was on her face and uneasiness was in her dim eyes. She clutched her faded plain pink dress as she struggled to stand on the field.

"Now I activate the continuous spell card, Eternity - Fireworks." A dazzling performance of fireworks erupted in the rainy sky above them, "With this card, none of my Eternity monsters can be destroyed by battle. If they are attacked however, they are destroyed at the end of the battle phase and you take 500 effect damage for every one of my monsters destroyed. I'll end my turn here, which activates Monachopsis Maiden's effect. She gains one Melancholy counter."

TURN 3

EMMA: 4000

ELISE: 4000

"I don't even know what a Melancholy counter is." Emma drew a card.

"It doesn't do anything. Yet." Elise gave her a half crooked smile, which did not have the desired effect she hoped for.

"Okay… I'll just go ahead and attack your Maiden! Go Raiza!"

The WIND monarch blasted the girl with wind. The wind turned around and blasted him into pieces instead. The Maiden then fell to the floor in dismay.

EMMA: 4000-200=3800

"Alright, I'll end my battle phase which means she should get destroyed."

The Monachopsis Maiden curled into the fetal position.

"Why isn't she destroyed?" Emma complained, pointing to the unhappy monster.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should have mentioned. Eternity - Monachopsis Maiden cannot be destroyed by card effects."

"Ughhh… Fine. I'll activate the spell card, Return of the Monarchs. This one doesn't do anything yet either, not until I normal summon Edea the Heavenly Squire (ATK: 800)! And with her on the field, she summons Eidos the Underworld Squire (DEF: 800) from my deck. Now Eidos' effect lets me tribute summon along with my regular summon. I'll tribute Edea to summon Caius the Shadow Monarch (ATK: 2400)!"

A fully equipped and armoured squire shined onto the battlefield, her helmet bouncing off the heavenly light she produced from her silver and gold armour. Behind her another squire emerged, this one in complete dark armour, with his red eyes glinting from under his helmet and dark cape fluttering in the wind. Edea turned into sparkles to bring out a monster in black armour. Gathering energy in a dark orb, he cast it into the air.

"Thanks to Return of the Monarchs, every time I tribute summon a monster, I can add one to my hand with a different name than the one on the field. I'll add Erebus the Underworld Monarch. Now for Caius! He has the ability to remove from play 1 card on the field. I'd love to get rid of your monster, but you'd easily bring the other 3 back with an empty field. Let's get rid of that battle protection then. I banish your Fireworks!"

The orb of energy expanded into the air, erasing the fireworks exploding in the sky and banishing Elise's spell card. The crowd booed Emma for taking away the pretty explosions.

"I'll set a card face down to end my turn now." Emma looked fired up as she ended her turn.

"Eternity - Monachopsis Maiden gains a second Melancholy counter now." Elise reminded.

The sad maiden lay down on the floor with her arms spread out and her face towards the sky.

TURN 4

EMMA: 3800

ELISE: 4000

Elise started her turn, "I draw. I'll set two cards and end my turn, giving another counter to Eternity - Monachopsis Maiden."

TURN 5

EMMA: 3800

ELISE: 4000

"I don't understand how you got quick victories with turns like that." Emma taunted as she drew a card, "Alright, perfect! I activate the field card, Domain of the True Monarchs!"

Dark fog filled the air and a shadow loomed above the whole arena, scaring some of the audience.

"What in the world is that?" Marie cried as she pointed out the giant figure of a monarch sitting on his throne, looking down at all of the monsters.

"Welcome… to my domain." Emma revealed, "With this card, as long as I have no monsters in my Extra Deck and am the only one who controls a tribute summoned monster, you can't special summon anything from your Extra Deck."

"I didn't think there was someone who also didn't like Extra Deck monsters." Elise spoke, "I hate them, so I don't use any."

"You don't use any? So much for that… and for the record, I don't hate any kind of card, I just prefer Monarchs. Domain of the True Monarchs lets me reveal Erebus the Underworld Monarch in my hand and reduce its level by 2, making it a level 6 monster. Now that he is, I only need to tribute Edea on my field to summon him! On to the field, Erebus (ATK: 2800)!"

A giant monster appeared on the field, wearing dark black armour with purple spikes on his shoulders and knees.

"And now for his effect. By sending from my deck two spell or traps: The Prime Monarch and Tenacity of the Monarch, I can shuffle back your Mono- Monac- your Maiden to the deck!"

"My counter trap card, Eternal Dream! I sacrifice half my life points to negate any effect that would remove an Eternity card on the field. This also lasts for the rest of this turn."

ELISE: 2000

"Seriously?" Emma said, exasperated, "Well too bad that doesn't work with attacks. Destroy her monster, Erebus! With Domain of the True Monarchs on the field, he gains 800 attack during damage calculation!"

"I activate my trap, Eternal Reprieve. You cannot declare attacks while this card is on the field, however, I have to give 1000 life points each turn to keep it on the field."

"You're really hanging on by a thread. I end my turn."

The Monachopsis Maiden began to sob as she gained her 4th Melancholy counter.

"And with that Elise makes it to her new turn! I wonder what her plan is with her single monster!" Marie commented at the end of the turn.

TURN 6

EMMA: 3800

ELISE: 2000

"My turn. I'm not going to pay 1000 life points, so my Eternal Reprieve is destroyed. Now that my Eternity - Monachopsis Maiden has 4 counters, I can send her to the graveyard and special summon Eternity- Agonized Maiden (ATK: 3000)." Elise summoned out a small girl with cracked skin and sharp nails. The monster's plain pink dress had been dirtied with blood. Her eyes were now red from crying as her tears ran down her face. Her expression was one of pain and suffering.

"Eternity - Agonized Maiden gains 4 Agony counters when she's summoned, and gains effects for the amount of those counters she holds" Elise explained as her monsters screamed in pain, "With 1, she gains 1000 attack. With 2, she gets an attack for each counter she has. With 3, she deals piercing damage. With 4, you can't activate set cards during the battle phase."

Emma stepped back in shock, "Wait, what?!"

"Now to finish this duel. Attack Caius."

The Maiden lunged at the Monarch, shredding him into bits with her sharpened nails.

EMMA: 3800-1600=2200

"Destroy the Underworld Monarch."

The angry red eyes of the Maiden stared down the red glow inside the Underworld Monarch's helmet before slashing him into dust.

EMMA: 2200-1200= 1000

"Attack her directly."

The terrifying lunge from the monster made Emma flinch as she took the damage.

EMMA: 1000-4000= 0

DUEL END

"There it is! Even with all the setbacks, Elise has managed to win! What a strange duel that was. It really felt like Elise would have won no matter what."

Emma shouted over the crowd's noise, "Hey! What the hell was all that?"

Elise replied back, "Thank you for the duel."

Her voice was soft, yet Emma could hear her as if she was standing right in front of her.

"Don't ignore me! What in the world was all of that? You just summoned monsters that I have no idea what we're all about to finish me off with some weird monster? That didn't feel real at all!"

Elise turned around and walked away, ignoring her.

"Elise! Did you even want to win? You didn't seem to have any fun at all."

Elise stopped and turned around.

"You're the one who destroyed those monsters and left me with no other choice. You're the one to blame for how that ended."

"Those monsters? They're yours! Do you even care about them?"

"Not a single bit."

Elise gave her an icy stare before heading out. Emma bit her lip in frustration and left the other way.

"It's all on you now, Alex."

I've decided to put a random custom card I've created at the end of each chapter. I'll try putting some in previous chapters but they'll be in future chapters for sure. The wording in yugioh cards can be really iffy but I'll try for them to have their intended effects as they would in a real game scenario. Since this is the first time I'm doing this, I'll put three in here.

DARK LV8 ATK: 3000 DEF: 2000

Eternity - Monachopsis Maiden

This card, its name and its effects cannot be duplicated by any means. You can special summon this card from the GY if you control no monsters and have summoned an "Eternity" monster during this duel. This card cannot be destroyed by card effects. During the end phase of each turn: Place 1 Melancholy counter on this card. If this card has 4 Melancholy counters, you can send this card to GY and special summon "Eternity - Agonized Maiden" from your deck or hand.

DARK LV8 ATK: 3000 DEF: 0000

Eternity - Agonized Maiden

This card cannot be summoned, except by the effect of "Eternity - Monachapsis Maiden". If this card is summoned, put 4 Agony counters on it. This card gains these effects for every Agony counter it has:

1+: This card gains 1000 ATK

2+: This card can attack up to the amount of Agony counters it has.

3+: This card deals piercing damage.

4+: Your opponent cannot activate set cards during the battle phase.

If you take damage, place 1 Agony counter on this card. Remove 1 Agony counter from this card at the End phase.

CONTINUOUS TRAP

Eternal Reprieve

During your opponent's battle phase, you can activate this card: Your opponent cannot declare attacks. Pay 1000 LP during each of your standby phases, otherwise destroy this card. During either player's turn: you can banish this card from the GY, you take no battle damage this turn, and any effect damage you would take is instead added to your LP.

Thank you for reading this far! I greatly appreciate it.