Chapter 8.5
"Duel with a devil"
Twilight was walking along, minding her own business, checking out all the duels going on as she went. But she was also keeping a lookout for anyone suspicious. 'I need to keep my eyes open, who knows where the Rare Hunters could strike next.' she thought. Soon, she came to the one place that could put her mind at ease, the Domino City Public Library. "Somehow, this reminds me of the library in Canterlot, even though I've been here quite a few times." she said with a smile. But then, she felt someone was watching her. "Hello? Is someone there?" she asked. "By the pricking of my thumbs, something special this way comes." said a voice. "Quoting Macbeth isn't making this any better, now show yourself!" Twilight demanded before she saw a Rare Hunter step out from behind a lion statue. "I figured you were a person of literature, so I figured, why not greet my prey with a line from one of Shakespeare's best works?" said him. "Charming, but just who are you, Rare Hunter?" Twilight asked.
"So, you know my occupation? Then I may as well introduce myself. I'm Yamino." the Rare Hunter answered. "And I have a reason for being here, to pay off my debts." he continued. "Debt repayment? That's why you joined up with Marik?" Twilight asked, not sure if Yamino was on the up and up. "You know my master's name? It matters not, for once I bring him your Dark Magician and sell it on the black market, I'll be a step closer to buying my way out of this life." Yamino stated. Twilight, though shocked, stood her ground. "There's only one place for someone like you, and it's not on the most popular beach in Tokyo. If you want my Dark Magician, you'll have to take it from me in a duel." she said firmly. "Very well, and if you win, you'll get three rare cards from me. One of them being this one, the Cosmo Queen." Yamino responded before holding up said card. "Fair enough. It's time to duel!" Twilight shouted before she switched on her ring, sending a transmission to KaibaCorp, and then activating her Duel Disk. At KaibaCorp, a technician saw the signal
"We have a signal from Twilight, inform the police but tell them to hold position." she said to her fellow technicians. Meanwhile, back at the library, Twilight and Yamino had their Duel Disks activated and their hands drawn. "Time for me to write a tragedy." Yamino stated. "You write stories?" Twilight asked. "Used to, but after I hit a two year long writer's block, I fell on hard times and couldn't keep my home. But once I sell your Dark Magician for Master Marik, things will change." Yamino answered. "As much as I enjoy a good book, this tragedy won't end with me losing my Dark Magician!" Twilight bravely declared. "We shall see." Yamino responded before both players gave a hardy "Let's duel!" as their life points set to 4000. "I'll go first, since I'm a Battle City rule enforcer." Twilight said as she drew her first card. "And for my first move, I summon the Fire Princess in defense mode!" she added as her monster, a level four, Fire attribute pyro/effect monster with 1300 attack points and 1500 defense points, appeared.
"An interesting way to start the story, with a princess. Well, this is no fairy tale, and you're about to see why. I play Instant Fusion!" Yamino said. "I've never heard of Instant Fusion." Twilight pointed out. "By paying 1000 life points I can summon a fusion monster, and I choose Barox!" Yamino explaiend as his life points dropped to 3000, while Barox appeared on the field. "However, due to using Instant Fusion, I can't order Barox to attack and it'll just be destroyed once I end my turn. So instead, I'll tribute it to summon Ushi Oni!" he continued as his new monster, a level six, Dark attribute fiend with 2150 attack points and 1950 defense points, appeared. "Now, Ushi Oni, attack the Fire Princess! Demonic Claw Strike!" he commanded before, with one slash, Fire Princess was destroyed. "Consider yourself lucky that your Fire Princess was in defense mode." he concluded. 'Well, an Ushi Oni. I think Applejack has that monster. I guess I should stay on the defensive, and set up a little surprise for this guy.' Twilight thought as she drew. "I'll simply set a monster in defense mode for my turn." she said aloud.
"Well, still defending are you? Well, it'll only last you for so long." Yamino stated before drawing. "You see, as a teenager, I found myself startled yet fascinated with stories about someone realizing just what they had gotten themselves into when it was far too late. For example, one story is about a young man who bought an antique mirror, but the mirror turned out to be cursed. Nothing happened to him, but his family, along wiith anyone else who looked into the mirror that he had purchased, met a terrible end. And it's time for you to meet the creature that did it! I instigate the Beastly Mirror Ritual!" he continued before activating said card. "You're preparing a ritual summong?!" Twilight asked in shock. "Yes. You see, the story had many more victims who looked into the cursed mirror, but this story will have only two. I sacrifice my Curtain of the Dark Ones and Frenzied Panda from my hand to ritual summon, Fiend's Mirror!" Yamino explained before his monster, a level six, Dark attribute fiend/ritual monster with 2100 attack points and 1800 defense points, appeared.
"Looks like the story of the cursed mirror is about to become real once more! Fiend's Mirror, attack!" he declared, but Twilight smiled as her defense monster was revealed, a level four, Earth attribute warrior/effect monster with 1400 attack points and 1200 defense points known as Obnoxious Celtic Guard. "Here's a little twist in the narrative, my Obnoxious Celtic Guard's special ability! If a monster with 1900 or more attack points targets him, the attack fails!" she said with gusto before her Celtic Guard deflectd the attack. Yamino just grit his teeth and growled. "This demonic tragedy isn't going to play out as you think it will!" Twilight declared as she drew. "I summon Maha Vailo in attack mode!" she added before her monster, a level four, Light attribute spellcaster/effect monster with 1550 attack points and 1400 defense points appeared. "You think that your magician will save you? Think again! In the story of the cursed mirror, its revealed that the mirror was cursed by a wizard, much like your monster on the field!" Yamino stated.
"Oh, trust me, this isn't like the wizard in your story. Now watch as I give my Maha Vailo extra power with the Black Pendant!" Twilight responded as she played said card. "Now, Maha Vailo gains 500 extra attack points. But that's not all, because he has a special ability that allows his attack points to go up by 500 more points!" she continued as her magician's attack power jumped up to 2550. "Now, Maha Vailo, attack Ushi Oni!" she commanded before Ushi Oni was destroyed, dropping Yamino's life points to 2600. "Not bad, but I'm the master of this story, and I know how it's gonna end, with your defeat and your Dark Magician becoming mine!" Yamino declared before drawing. "I'm pretty sure you heard of the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp, right? Well, a wish is exactly what the man in the tale of the cursed mirror had. But it was a wish that he would end up regretting, because the mirror granted it. And now I summon La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp!" he continued before summoning the genie. "Your Obnoxious Celtic Guard won't be part of the story much longer. But for now, I'll end this chapter with a facedown." he concluded as he finished his move.
'Looks like he'll target my Obnoxious Celtic Guard on his next turn and then go after my Maha Vailo once he finds a more powerful monster to summon. Well, may as well get rid of Fiend's Mirror just in case.' Twilight thought to herself before drawing. "I summon the Witch of the Black Forest in defense mode!" she said aloud before her monster appeared. "And now, Maha Vailo, attack the Fiend's Mirror!" she commanded, but Yamino sprung his trap. "You're not the only one with magic of their sleeve, I activate my facedown Spellbinding Circle!" he declared as, with the press of a button, his trap activated, ensnaring Maha Vailo. "Oh, no! That lowers Maha Vailo's attack power by 700 points!" Twilight said in shock as her monster's attack points dropped to 1850. "Played you right into the next chapter of this tragic tale!" Yamino said with a smile as he drew his next card. "I hereby tribute both La Jinn and Fiend's Mirror to summon the main character of the story, Cosmo Queen!" he continued before his two monsters disappeared to make way for the Cosmo Queen, a level eight, Dark attribute spellcaster with 2900 attack points and 2450 defense points.
"She's the most powerful monster in my deck, and she's gonna be the one helps write your final scene! Go, my Queen, attack Maha Vailo! Galactic Magic Blast!" he declared before Maha Vailo was annihilated and Twilight's life points dropped to 2150. However, she suddenly smirked. "I guess you didn't know what you were getting into when you destroyed my Maha Vailo, because since he was wearing the Black Pendant, you activated its magic! When its sent to the graveyard, you take 500 points of damage!" she stated before Yamino's life points dropped to 2100, giving Twilight a slight 50 life point lead. "This story only has one author, and that's me. I won't let anyone else write this story!" the distressed Rare Hunter bellowed. "Defensive about who's writing the narrative, are you? Well, it's not always about the main character!" Twilight retorted as she drew. "Take every Duelist's deck for example, it tells more about the Duelist's personality than you think. And based on what I've seen in your deck, you're a down-on-his-luck character in a tragedy of your own." she stated. "You've never seen the life that I had to live, so stop talking and make your move!" Yamino responded, sharply. "I will, by playing Sangan in defense mode." Twilight replied as her monster appeared.
"Now its time to make preparations to write the final chapter!" Yamino declared as he drew. "Go, Cosmo Queen, destroy the Witch of the Black Forest! Galactic Magic Blast!" he commanded before his monster obliterated her witch. "Well, you actually did me a favor, by destroying my Witch of the Black Forest, I can add a monster with 1500 defense points or less to my hand." Twilight said before picking said card and activating the automatic shuffling feature in her Duel Disk. "I think I've had about enough of you turning this duel, and this story, around to your favor. I am the author of this story, and I will be the one who gets a happy ending!" Yamino bellowed, clearly unhappy with how Twilight kept turning things around. "Sorry, Yamino, but that's not how my life story works!" the young princess shouted as she drew. "Now, it's time to bring out the hero of this story! I play the Black Magic Ritual!" she declared as she instigated said ritual. "What?! No!" Yamino shouted. "I sacrifice my Rogue Doll and my Horn Imp to bring forth the very monster that brought Yugi and Yami to victory in Duelist Kingdom! I summon, the Magician of Black Chaos!" Twilight declared before her mighty magician appeared. "Next, I give my magician extra power with the Book of Secret Arts!" she added as she activated said card, increasing her magician's attack power to 3100.
"But that's not all! Next I tribute my Sangan to summon forth, Des Volstgalph!" she continued as her dragon came forth. "Once your Cosmo Queen is done, your life points are next!" she shouted before Yamino started to panic. "No! This isn't how my story was supposed to end!" he screamed. "Magician of Black Chaos, destroy the Cosmo Queen, with Chaos Scepter Blast!" Twilight commanded before, with one amazing blast, the Cosmo Queen was obliterated, dropping Yamino's life points to 1900. "And now, Des Volstgalph, attack him directly and end this duel!" she added before Des Volstgalph attacked and eradicated Yamino's remaining life points, ending the game. "This... This can't be. This was...my chance to end my terrible story the way I wanted to." the Rare Hunter said in shock as he dropped to his knees.
"Well, you should've thought of that a long time ago... before you signed up with Marik." Twilight said as she pushed the jewel on her ring down, giving a signal to both KaibaCorp and the police to move in. In mere moments, the police came up to the library. "We got your signnal, Miss Twilight, we'll take it from here." said one of the officers. "Thanks. But before I hand him over..." Twilight responded before she picked up the Cosmo Queen card. "I believe this belongs to me, per Battle City rules." she said as the officers put the Rare Hunter in cuffs. "So, this is really how my story ends, huh? Stripped of my deck, my Duel Disk, and my rarest card." Yamino said, humble, yet distant. "Twilight, Cosmo Queen isn't my only rare card. I have a Zera the Mant card along with its ritual card. You may take them." he said, knowing that since he was in police custody, there was nothing he could do. "Thank you. You know, I think after you serve some time, you may be able to write a new chapter in your life story." Twilight said humbly. Yamino, surprised, looked up to her and smiled, thinking that she may have given him something he never thought he'd have again, hope.
And so, the police car Yamino was in pulled away as Twilight picked up her other two newly won rare cards, Zera the Mant and Zera Ritual. 'I guess this is a good start to this new chapter in my own story.' she thought with a smile. 'And I hope Yamino finds the happy ending he's looking for.' she added as she saw the police car drive off until it was out of sight.