Author's Note: GOOOOOD MORNIN', VIETNAM! Hello readers. I apologize for the long wait, but I had to rollback on writing so I could focus more on my college classes. That and I'm pretty sure Deadpool has possessed my iPad, because I kept on finding random story sequences in my drafts with him in it. Either that, or the three wombats (see: Housemates I spilt up rent with) I live with have figured out my password, and are pranking me. Either way, it was a big headache getting rid of those sequences. Now, without further ado, I present the much awaited chapter 3 of The Duelist of Equestria.

Chapter 3: A Failed Return

I was asleep, that much was for certain. So, why was I back in Detroit? It was that night, the night I was sent here. I was in pain, that much I knew, as I pushed myself up off of the ruined street. I saw the group of Orichalcos Possessed gang members approaching me. I opened my mouth to speak, when I was interrupted by… myself.

"Who has the Seal?" I whirled around, and saw myself, the way I was that night.

"The Great One will rule all." They responded in the same unison monotone I remembered. They approached me, but just walked right through me. I saw my other self parkour sprinting away. I was going to follow, when a hand grabbed my shoulder.

"Don't." It was the same voice from before, the same encouraging, comforting, light drenched voice. I turned, and saw a the monster I had cosplayed as. Ma'at was with me, in person.

"James." He said, turning to face me. He smiled, a warm, loving smile.

"You deserve some answers, and I believe it's time you got them." He said, before my memories faded. First, the colors went, then the shapes, then the outlines, all replaced with darkness. I felt myself flying towards something, but I just didn't know what. I was terrified, until Ma'at grasped my hand. I could see him, and his presence filled me with hope and light.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Poker Night." Ma'at replied vaguely. I was about to ask him what he meant, when we flew through a mass of clouds. I was staring at a massive expanse of land and ocean, filled to the brim with little villages, each one home to the monsters of Yu-Gi-Oh. The diversity was impressive. I saw so many different places from the field spells and continuous spells and traps; on my right was the Dragons' Ravine, dragons and winged beasts flying in and out of it. There was the HERO City, represented by the field spell Skyscraper, with just about every HERO monster in it. I saw Elemental HERO Flame Wingman leap from the top of a massive skyscraper that resembled the Chrysler Building, take down a criminal, and swoop up to give Ma'at a high five before dropping back to the city below. Next to HERO City was Dark City with all the Destiny Heroes on patrol. My jaw dropped at the Sogen Battlefield, with warriors and beast-warriors either milling about, or fighting each other. Jurassic World was up ahead, herds of dinosaur monsters magnificently striding around, or battling each other to show their dominance. There were magical mists from Yami with numerous spellcasters and fiends in it, firing off bursts of light that illuminated the dense cloud fields. We had to take a small detour so Ma'at could stop a fight that had broken out between the Red-Eyes Black Dragon family and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon family (Apparently, these two major dragon clans have been bitter rivals for countless millennia). (A.N: The Red-Eyes family and the Blue-Eyes family are two massive archetypes that include every card that has some connection to the two original cards [Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and Blue-Eyes White Dragon]. Just a quick FYI) That was just some of the highlights. There was too much to describe. I didn't even notice when we landed.

"We're here." Ma'at said. I looked at the structure he called home in amazement. His house was a massive, golden Egyptian pyramid. The pyramid was surrounded by a small nature reserve (sorry, garden). Towering obelisks with protective Egyptian hieroglyphs jutted up from random points in the garden, each one next to what looked like an upgraded version of the Slifer Red dorm from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. The buildings were connected by a network of paths that all joined up to a main stone path that led up to the front doors of the pyramid. Floating islands secured by massive black chains were anchored to parts of the property. The main walkway had Doric columns lining it, with massive stone slabs connecting them on top. The columns were decorated with bright, colorful ancient Egyptian-style murals, depicting famous events that happened in the Shadow Realm.

"Home sweet home." Ma'at muttered, opening the surprisingly plain doors. The inside was just as beautiful as the outside.

"You have an impossibly beautiful home." I said awestruck. Ma'at smiled, but there was sadness in his expression. His smile looked forced. We didn't speak, until we made it to another set of doors. Ma'at paused before the doors, and turned to me.

"A word of warning, things may get a bit out of hand." Ma'at said cryptically, before we walked inside. Inside, I saw something so amazing, yet at the same time so ridiculous, it made me question my sanity. I saw Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos, Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor, and the Winged Dragon of Ra, Uria-Lord of Searing Flames, Raviel-Lord of Phantasms, and Hamon-Lord of Striking Thunder, Ultimaya Tzolkin, Exodia the Forbidden One, and Horakhty The Creator of Light, all playing poker. Two vacant chairs sat unoccupied at the table, presumably for Ma'at and I.

Exodia turned around as we walked in, smiling broadly.

"Look who finally decided to show up, everyone." Exodia said good naturedly. Ma'at chuckled, and climbed into his seat. I was still too awestruck to move. Exodia's voice finally brought me back to reality.

"Well, are ya just going to stand there all day, catching flies, or are ya gonna join in?" The bronze behemoth joked good naturedly. Embarrassed, I sat down in my seat, looking at the others at the table. My seat was between Exodia and Ma'at. The others smiled at me, and then the game began. I love playing poker. I don't do casinos, I just do it for fun with my friends, and I had gotten plenty of experience. Horakhty dealt everyone five cards, distributed the chips, and we finally started. The dealer's left always goes first, so Ultimaya started us off.

"Ten thousand." He said blandly, tossing the appropriate chips into the center. Starting off with a bet of ten thousand? He must have either a major straight, a flush, a full house, a straight flush, or a royal flush. I checked my hand again. I had a full house, so I was pretty safe, for now. Uria went next. He rubbed his chin for a minute, his face not betraying anything as he stared at his hand.

"Fifteen thousand." He finally said, tossing more chips into the center. Either he had a good hand, and was disguising it, or he was trying to bluff us out. Timaeus went next.

"Raise you a thousand." He said, a slight smugness in his tone. Obelisk was after Timaeus, and tossed another three thousand into the center. Hermos went next, and raised Obelisk six thousand. Hamon opened up his first turn by tossing in seven thousand. Critias folded. Raviel put twenty thousand into the center, making everyone worry. Slifer added another twenty thousand, adding even more worry to everyone else. Hermos and Ra both put in nine thousand. Ma'at narrowed his eyes at his hand, before making his move.

"Thirty thousand." He said, placing his chips in the pile. We gawked at the physical embodiment of order. Thirty thousand? WTF?! Now it was my turn. I could either play it safe, or pull a bluff to scare the others. I chose door number two.

"Twenty-five thousand." I said, tossing in the chips with a slight air of pompous attitude. The others looked at me studiously. I was used to that look. Exodia went next, pulling out a bet of ten thousand. Horakhty ended the first go round with a bet of six thousand. The first game ended with Exodia taking in the windfall with a royal flush. Then, things quickly escalated.. I found that when these guys play poker, they REALLY play poker. New rules were added to the mix, like those that folded had to yodel while gargling salt water, bluffers that lost were forced to chug beer mugs of olive oil (don't do it, it's NASTY), if you bet more than ten thousand in one turn you had to stick your head in a bucket of saliva (Raviel made that mistake), if you had a jack in your hand, win or lose, you had to run three miles on a treadmill with denim underwear on the fastest setting the treadmill had (Critias and Timaeus almost murdered Ultimaya for making that one), and other crazy stuff like that. We played six rounds of classic poker, before swapping over to the Texas Hold-Ems. Halfway into the second round, they broke out the drinks, which they simply referred to as 'elixir'. I was wary at first, but after Exodia explained that it wasn't alcoholic, I got right into it. Elixir is just wow. It has the energy of the infamous coffee-tea mix, the texture of a thick smoothie, the sweetness of fresh, golden honey, and the taste was simply indescribable. Halfway into the second round, the group finally revealed why I was brought here.

Raviel had put fifty thousand into the pot, when Ma'at finally spoke.

"James, it's time you got some answers." He said after a small sip of elixir. True, I was curious, and I did need an explanation.

"Brace yourself, kid." Ultimaya said gravely.

"First question, why was I sent to a world full of talking anthro ponies?" I asked. The others shared uneasy glances.

"It's where we stashed a certain artifact." Raviel said nervously. A light bulb went off in my head.

"You mean to tell me that you hid the Orichalcos Crystal on that world?!" I burst out.

"Yeah, that's right." Exodia said nonchalantly. I almost fell over, anime style.

"But I thought the crystal was destroyed after the battle with Dartz and the Grand Dragon Leviathan." I protested. The three legendary knights looked uncomfortable.

"No, it wasn't." Timaeus said awkwardly.

"Dartz was able to harness the crystal's power, and the crystal gave him small fragments of itself for him and his minions to use, but after he and the leviathan were defeated, the crystal wasn't destroyed." Critias explained.

"Dartz had no idea what the crystal truly was, and we didn't understand it ourselves, until Ma'at, Exodia, Ultimaya, and Horakhty filled us in." Hermos said.

"The Orichalcos Crystal is a relic left behind by Zorc, meant to be a final means of bringing him back, should he be imprisoned." Ultimaya said.

"But, Horakhty destroyed Zorc though, so it's power should be broken." I said, confused as to why they were bringing this up. Exodia sucked a breath in through his teeth.

"Ummmm uhhh yeah no. The crystal was a freestanding power, so Zorc's demise never did anything to hamper its power." He explained.

"And there's been a breach in the seal we placed on that accursed thing." Ma'at said irately. More pieces of the puzzle fit together.

"Is that how this… great one was able to harness the power of the crystal?" I asked fearfully. I was afraid for good reason. The Orichalcos Crystal is arguably the most destructive and evil thing in Yu-Gi-Oh, right next to the Malefic cards, the Wicked God cards, the Dark World cards, and Zorc himself.

"We believe this great one that was spoken of is attempting to use the Orichalcos Crystal to resurrect Zorc." Uria said gravely.

"Can they do that?" I asked, genuinely confused. Zorc was annihilated by Horakhty in Egypt, after Pharaoh Atem summoned her. I was sure of it.

"We sent the gravekeepers out to see if this was possible, seeing as they're the experts in necromancy. They barely made it back with their lives, after six months of brutal research and tracking. Apparently, this is possible, but one must sacrifice a world of powerful magic and light, transforming it into darkness to fuel the crystal's power." Ultimaya said bitterly.

"And, in our shortsightedness, we hid the crystal in the exact world needed to do the deed; Equestria." Horakhty said.

"Why did you hide it somewhere so full of light?" I asked incredulously. Ma'at looked a bit sheepish.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. According to the Multiversal Laws of Balance, light cannot exist without an equal amount of darkness to oppose it. Since Equestria was so full of light, it was also filled with an equal amount of darkness as well, and we hoped that the darkness present would be able to mask the hidden crystal's power from the eyes of evil." Ma'at explained.

"And it worked for quite a long time, until the seals we placed upon the crystal somehow gained a small crack, but it was enough to draw an evil to the crystal's hiding place, and harness the leaking energies." Ultimaya said. Now I was terrified. Whoever this was, they clearly had the knowledge, power, and resources to do this.

"Worst part is we have absolutely no idea who did this." Hermos grumbled.

"I want nothing more than to strike them down with the full fury of my lightning." Hamon snarled, slamming his fist on the table.

"Get in line, I have first dibs." Ra muttered angrily. The others looked just as eager to turn this guy into fertilizer.

"So, I'm supposed to be the one to stop all this?" I asked.

"Pretty much, yeah." Exodia said in an unruffled tone. I wanted to strangle the ancient guardian, but my hands wouldn't fit around his tree trunk of a neck, and he could squish me with his big toe. I was going to settle with shanking the behemoth, when Horakhty slammed his head into the table.

"You are such a moron." She said, exasperated. Horakhty then looked back at me.

"Yes James, you are supposed to do this, but you won't have to do it alone." Horakhty soothed. Uria nodded.

"Sending you out to do this on your own would be suicide, so we decided to fully awaken your powers with the tournament." He explained, reaching over to tap my duel disk with his tail.

"Wait a second, hold the phone!" I said, a bit of heat entering my tone. "Whaddya mean 'fully awaken my powers'!?" I exclaimed. "I had powers BEFORE this?!" I shouted, making even Exodia jump slightly. "EXPLAIN YOURSELVES!" I roared in my best Edna Mode impression. More uneasy glances were exchanged, like they were debating who should be the one to explain this. I looked from each nasty expression to the next when Ma'at stood. All heads turned to him, effectively ending the silent battle.

"Well, we've exceeded out time limit for the game, and I have one last thing to say." He said with a shit eating grin, revealing his hand. We all stared. I swear, my eyes popped out of my head, like how Jiraya's did when he saw Naruto use his 'Sexy Jutsu'. The man somehow scored a pair of motherfucking aces.

"I win." Ma'at raked in the mountain of chips on the table, still watching our gawking faces with satisfaction.

"I do believe it's time for us to go now." Ma'at stated, bringing us out of our shock. Slowly, the others left, with much grumbling that he had gotten that final hand. Ma'at chuckled, and turned to me.

"It's also time for you to return." He said cryptically.

"Wait, is this real, or a dream?" I asked. Ma'at smiled.

"That's for you to decide, James." He took my hand, and the room began to spin, swirling together until it was all just a maelstrom of color. It all began to contract, closing in on us. I turned to find Ma'at, but he was nowhere to be found. I braced myself for the inevitable squelch, but it never came. That's when I awoke. I shot up, only to collide with something hard, and metal.

"Ow!" Was my immediate response, as I clutched my head.

"I thought you'd never wake up." A deep tritonal voice said. I shook my head, to clear the pain, and found myself staring into the golden eyes of Valkyrion the Magna Warrior. I almost fell back down onto the ground, when he stopped me.

"Don't go knocking yourself out again." He said, a bit amused. He set me in an upright position, pushing a rock against my back to keep me up. Surprisingly, I didn't feel sore from the summoning, but I did feel quite weak. I took in where Valkyrion had decided to hole up. We were in a cave, one that I figured Valkyrion carved out himself, judging by its unnatural shape. I was currently sitting on a bed of thin, bendy branches, leaves, and soft grasses. Valkyrion had turned back around, with a slab of rock shaped like a bowl, and heaped with wild blackberries and raspberries.

"I figured you might be hungry, so I gathered this." He said. As if on cue, my stomach growled loudly at the mere mention of food. I wasted no time devouring the berries. The bowl was surprisingly deep, and by the time I had finished, by stomach was slightly distended. I felt energized, and stronger, like my old self again. I stood up, feeling better than I had in days.

"How long have I been out?" I asked my winged defender. Valkyrion looked at me.

"Five days." I staggered backwards. Five whole days?!

"Well, it makes sense. Your body wasn't ready to handle using its full power right away, and you never had any food in you while you were doing your thing." He explained. Valkyrion was right, it actually did make sense. Having food in your body does wonders. I walked out of the cave, watching the sunrise. It was beautiful watching it come up over the mountains in the distance, illuminating everything. I breathed in the rich morning air, letting it fill my lungs, rejuvenating me even further. This was shattered by the sound of wings flapping, and a brown, furry object slamming into me.

"Kuworh!" It exclaimed, nuzzling into my chest. It took me a bit to recognize Winged Kuriboh. I hugged him back, feeling his soft, comforting fur.

"How did he get here so quickly? It took me four days of nonstop flying to reach here!" Valkyrion exclaimed upon seeing Kuriboh. We broke the embrace, and he began a rapid fire exclamation of sharp, angry burbles, which I couldn't understand, but Valkyrion did. He stared at the furry monster with wide eyes.

"You know, for such a cute monster, you have a very dirty mouth." Valkyrion said in amazement. I looked back and forth between the two monsters, contemplating what was said.

"What did he say?" I asked hesitantly. Valkyrion took a moment to think before answering.

"Don't kill the translator." He said, before letting loose a string of language so foul it made the Hudson River look crystal clear. I stared at the winged fuzzball now nuzzling my leg.

"Kuriboh… do us all a favor and never repeat those words again." I said faintly. Kuriboh burbled his assent, and gave me a crumpled wad of paper. I smoothed it out, sat down, and began to read, Valkyrion doing the same, ignoring the fact Kuriboh didn't have pockets and was somehow able to pull this out of his fur. My eyes widened, and my jaw went slack at what was written. I don't know whether to curse or thank fate. I was now linked to eight mares, similar to how a link monster would be linked to other monsters on the field. I guessed that the purple furred unicorn, Twilight, was one of them, and judging from what I read, that meant the other five from before were also linked to me as well, leaving the final two unknown. I looked up from the paper as I realized I had a fucking harem of girls. I closed my eyes, banishing those dirty thoughts, quickly composing a plan. I stood up, and began to think of two monsters I needed. Golden particles shot out of my disk, forming into the two cards I needed.

Valkyrion looked at the cards in my hand, and realized what I was going to do.

"Have you lost all sense of reason?!" He exclaimed. I looked at him, determination in my gaze.

"Even if it was unintentional, I made this mess, so I have to be the one to clean it up." I said in a steely voice. Valkyrion stood up as well, facing me.

"You don't have to do this, James!" He protested. "If you go back there, those mares will be on you faster and harder than a starving pride of lions that just found a fully stocked meat locker!" I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself before answering.

"Like it or not, this is my responsibility." I retorted, hardening my resolve. "You can either help me, or stay in the deck while I do this." I finished, summoning one of the monsters I chose. Delta the Magnet Warrior appeared. Delta isn't really a part of the three major magnet warriors, but he is pretty useful in a duel. I turned back to Valkyrion.

"Have you made your decision?" I asked, a tad impatiently. Delta and Kuriboh looked at him expectantly. Valkyrion looked at Delta pleadingly.

"Delta, back me up here." He said nervously. Delta shook his head before responding.

"Val, I'm going to help James, despite the danger." He said in a gravelly, metallic, teenage voice. "If you help him, we'll have a better chance of pulling this off." He continued. Valkyrion closed his eyes. We all waited for several awkward moments, before he answered.

"Delta's right." The Warrior said. "It's suicide, but with my help we'll have a better chance of success." I smiled at his new resolve.

"I guess I'll be flying us then?" Valkyrion said moving to pick us all up. I shook my head.

"Not this time. I have a different ride." I said deviously. "Val, I need you to split into Alpha, Beta, and Gamma." Valkyrion did as I said, deconstructing into the three most known magnet warriors. I smiled at Alpha, Beta, and Gamma affectionately, looking back on some nostalgic memories. Remember how I said that the first deck that I got had Valkyrion and the Magnet Warriors? It was a rock deck that someone tossed out. The cards were smeared with dirt and on the verge of dying. When I picked them up, I sensed a bond between us, like this was meant to happen. I took the cards home and gently, thoroughly, lovingly cleaned and repaired them. This was the deck I used to win my first official tournament. I used a deck with monsters that people had railed against and scoffed upon and beat every last one of those duelists with that deck. The final match was me against a snobby, spoiled, uber-rich moronic twenty some odd year old man who was a professional duelist with a deck stacked with some of the rarest cards ever known. The look on his face when I beat him is a memory I'll forever cherish. I was a noob, with a deck of monsters that only novice duelists used, and still beat the living shit out of this moron, ending the duel with half my life points still intact. He had a temper tantrum on the spot, ambushed me shortly after I left the building, wrested my deck from me, and burned it in front of my eyes, just like when Weevil Underwood tossed Yugi Muto's Exodia The Forbidden One cards into the ocean on the way to Maximillion Pegasus' Duelist Kingdom tournament. That scene will be forever remembered as one of the saddest moments in Yu-Gi-Oh history.

"Hey boss, what are we going to do?" Beta asked, bringing me back to the task at hand. It would take us a while to get to Ponyville with Valkyrion flying us there, so I got a faster ride; one of my favorite machines, B.E.S Big Core MK2. This machine is a powerhouse of a ship, with tons of applications, despite being only a level six monster. I'll reveal its abilities in time. I was forced to tribute Winged Kuriboh to summon Big Core, seeing as my monster zones were all full, and I might need Delta later on. Kuriboh transformed into a streak of white energy, shooting back into his card. His card morphed into a bolt of electric blue energy, shooting out to form into B.E.S Big Core MK2.

Big Core landed in front of us after doing an aerial loop. A hatch opened up in the side of Big Core, allowing us to enter. Big Core had a larger interior than I initially thought. It was around the size of the quinjet from Avengers 2. There was plenty of room for everyone to sit, stand and move around. There were thirteen seats; one in the cockpit and six on the port and starboard sides of the ship. The other twelve seats had hatches underneath them, and quick release harnesses, presumably for making a fast exit, or for a parajump. I climbed into the cockpit, getting a feel for the controls.

The cockpit had two moveable computer screens on my right and left. The controls were similar to the ones in The Milano from Guardians of the Galaxy. The chair was adjustable, and pretty comfy as well. I sat down in it, strapped myself in, and grabbed the controls.

"Hello, James." A rich, slightly computerized female voice sounded. After my initial shock, I realized this was the voice of Big Core. The interior lights of the ship turned on, as did the computer screens. I could feel the rumbling of the engines, and boy did it feel awesome.

"I suggest everyone straps in for this flight." I called out. The others complied, as shown by the sounds of sitting down, and fumbling for the harnesses. After I made sure everyone was secured, like a good driver should, we took off. After a few slight mishaps that required Big Core to auto correct, we were safely in the air, on a direct course for Ponyville. After a few more minutes of flying, I heard Delta speak.

"James, please tell us you have a plan." He said, a slight tone of urgency in his voice. I grinned.

"I just have to… bed… the eight mares I'm currently linked to, and the H.E.F.O side effects should end." I said confidently. Little did I know how hard that would be.

Time Skip: Two hours later…

My breath was taken away at the sheer speed of Big Core. In two hours alone, I saw Ponyville appear on the horizon.

"Alright everyone, we've made it to our destination." I called out. Relieved sighs came from the monsters I had summoned. I myself was also glad, because Big Core didn't have a bathroom built into her, and I DESPERATELY needed to relieve myself. I was pulling Big Core around the edge of Ponyville to find a suitable place to land, when Big Core suddenly swerved to the right.

"Big Core, what the fuck!?" I roared, enraged at being delayed a bathroom break. Hey, when you've gotta go, you've gotta go.

"Sorry James, but we have company, and you know what happens if I don't have any counters loaded." Big Core explained. I pulled up the left screen, showing the rear view. A squad of five Pegasi were tailing us, the cyan furred one in the lead. My heart dropped into my shoes. Big Core suddenly swerved again, pulling into a tight loop, giving me a good view of the ground below. Twilight, Rarity, and a ton of other unicorn mares were on top of the roofs, firing off spells at us. Big Core kept up the evasive maneuvers, barely able to avoid the blasts of energy and the attacks from the pegasus squad. This kept up, until we were caught in a lavender energy field. I looked out the starboard side window, and saw Twilight holding Big Core in place. Big Core strained, and finally broke free, but a second too late. The unicorns then unleashed a powerful barrage of spells on a direct collision course with Big Core, and this time I had a feeling they wouldn't miss. See, Big Core can be normal summoned without tributing, but only if I don't control any monsters. Big Core can't be destroyed by battle, but she does have a big weakness. In order for Big Core to attack, she has to have a counter on her, otherwise she destroys herself. Same if she's attacked. If Big Core has no counters on her, she must be sent to the graveyard.

I grabbed the right computer screen, and hit the eject command. The hatches dropped open, the harnesses opened up, and the five of us hurtled towards the ground at breakneck speed just as Big Core exploded. Despite the danger, I refused to let myself scream. I was absolutely sure I was going to die, when a rainbow bolt caught me. My relief instantly turned to dread when I saw who my rescuer was.

I looked up into the smirking, lust consumed face of the cyan furred pegasus.

"You're not getting away from us this time, stud.~" she said in a tomboyish, half cocky, half seductive voice. It sent shivers down my spine, and not in a good way. I HAD to get away and regroup with the Magnet Warriors, or I would be turned into a fuck toy. I kicked out of her grasp, and gravity took hold of me again. Thankfully, I saw Gamma shooting out of the treeline, on a direct course for me. Grinning, I tucked myself into a ball a few seconds before he caught me, minimizing the impact force.

Gamma was able to keep himself and I aloft with ease, despite him being made of life-energy infused magnetite. The Pegasi were pretty pissed that I had gotten away,

"Hold on, boss!" He said, zipping along above the treetops. Gamma had to perform several dizzying maneuvers to keep the mares from getting us, which also nearly made me lose my lunch, and that's saying something. I had a stomach of iron. I downed three foot long sandwiches, an extra large soda, and a massive sundae, went on the "Ride of Steel" coaster at Six Flags, and walked off of it without jelly legs or emptying my stomach. I thought we had avoided all of the mares, but a rainbow bolt slammed into Gamma, knocking me from his firm grip, sending me spiraling towards the ground. I slammed into the trees, hard. I groaned, clutching my head in pain after I painfully crashed to the ground. I tried to get to my feet, but to no avail. That's when several sets of hands that felt like they were hewn from rock picked me up. I breathed a sigh of relief, as I briefly looked into the concerned faces of the four magnet warriors. Emphasis on the word 'briefly' in the last sentence. I was torn from their grip by a set of furry hands, and they were blasted back by several bursts of magic. I watched in a daze as I was covered in a lavender aura, and pulled over to face a mass of twenty-some-odd mares, the six from before in the lead. I had one last gamble that I prayed would work. I sent a massive surge of energy into Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, transforming them into Valkyrion. It took a lot out of me, due to the fact that I had to force the energy past the lavender aura that was holding me in place. Once again, I blacked out.

Location shift: Skytop Mountains

P.O.V shift: third person

The Skytop Mountains seemed to always be stormy. They were the tallest peaks in Equestria, and were also nearly uninhabitable, due to the extreme cold and the powerful winds, which always seemed to be blowing. This range of mountains held the record of the harshest blizzards and snowstorms, and the most famous storm of all had just begun that very day. It was a rare blizzard in the mountains, which only came around once every three hundred years. Known as the Unholy Tempest, it lasted for a fortnight, blasting the mountain slopes with razor sharp ice chips and freezing snow. No living thing would dare enter this storm and expect to live. All except one.

A single upright figure trudged through the deep snow. Completely covered from head to foot in thick wrappings of insulated white cloth that repelled almost every form of precipitation nature could produce. It was slightly hunched over, and carried a black wooden staff inlaid with gold lines. Its head was covered in a white hood, with cloth covering its mouth, and black tinted ski goggles covering its eyes. It pushed through the harsh winds, until it finally took refuge in a small cave the winds uncovered.

Once inside, the figure sat down against the cave wall. It took off its hood, stripped off the wrapping around its face, and pulled up its goggles. This was no pony, but a human. He set his staff next to him, detached a water bottle holder from his hip, and opened it. Steam drifted up from the warm water inside. The man drank slowly from the insulated bottle, taking a long sip before putting it away. The water felt good on his dry throat. The fingers on his right hand spasmed and twitched suddenly, causing the man to groan slightly.

"I thought I secured that loose wire already." He grumbled.

The man unwrapped the cloth on his right arm, revealing a strange duel disk. It was white, gold, and black, with several glyphs engraved on it. The duel stage wasn't hanging below like on most duel disks, but sat on the top. The man pressed on a small panel below his right wrist, making it open to reveal a mass of wires, sensors, receptors, and circuit boards, all glowing and humming with energy. He expertly fiddled with the parts for a bit, before snapping the panel shut. He flexed the fingers on his right hand, finding they responded properly. Smiling, he began to wrap his arm back up in the cloth, when he was interrupted by a deep voice.

"Phyux… we've got a problem." Phyux turned his head to see a good friend of his; The Guardian of Order. (A.N: Phyux is pronounced Fyooks, just F.Y.I)

"What is it?" Phyux asked.

"We just received a distress signal." Guardian said, opening his left hand. An image of James appeared. He was unconscious, secured to a large bed with thick ropes, and was stripped completely naked. What caught Phyux's eye was the duel disk fused to James' right forearm. Phyux's eyes widened at the image. He had sensed another duelist when he entered Equestria from the Shadow Realm, but had merely dismissed it as fatigue from losing almost a months' worth of sleep. His blood began to boil. NOBODY did this to a fellow duelist and expected to get away with it. Phyux stood up, his face shifting to one of grim determination, a plan rapidly forming in his mind.

"What's your idea?" Guardian asked hesitantly, watching Phyux's face morph into a mischievous ear to ear grin. He turned to face the monster.

"Go tell the deck that it's time for a raid." Guardian's eyes widened, and his face morphed into a shit eating grin.

"Gladly, boss." He said, disappearing in a small flash of light. Phyux then sensed four distinct monsters, and their distress. He waved his hand, and a golden holographic image of Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta the Magnet Warriors appeared in front of him. Phyux sensed a deep connection with the four and the captured duelist, a connection almost nobody had. This feeling only strengthened Phyux's resolve. His mind was made up. On the morrow, he and his trusted deck would strike, rescue the duelist, and reunite him with his monsters.

Author's Note: Things are REALLY heating up now. James has been captured (again), the Magnet Warriors are pissed, and Phyux has entered the building. Yes, Phyux is the "Big Guy" that Ma'at was talking about in the other chapter. Now we know what the purpose of the Orichalcos Crystal is, and I have big, big plans for a ton of foes James will have to face. I re-wrote this chapter about six thousand times before I finally settled on this version. Special thanks to Tarnum427 for beta reading this chapter, and to OmegaDecion for writing the inspiration for this story. I cannot express just how much fun your stories are, and how much I appreciate your writing. And thank you, dear reader, for taking the time to read this story. If any of you have a suggestion for future chapters, you're always free to send me a P.M, and I'll be sure to get back to you as quickly as I can. If you want to read more awesome stories, I highly reccommend you check out TitanKing_666, OmegaDecion, Bladewolf_101, SilentShadow15, and Wolfman6565. They're all fantastic authors. This is Imagineer379 signing off.