Something unexpected happens

As you desperately try to remember your last resort plan, 5 of your cards suddenly vanish from your hand, leaving you with only 1 card. In front of you, the air starts to shimmer, almost as if its vibrating. Your eyes are transfixed on the oddity as a thin black line suddenly starts to appear in the middle of the shimmering air. The line starts to thicken and lengthen before suddenly ripping apart, forming a blackish purple hole in the air. Harmony looks like she is about to say something, but stops before the words make it out. Her eyes, and those of her witnesses, seem to get larger as something apparently steps out of the rift. With the rift between you and you summon, you can’t tell what it is, but judging from the look on Professor Zizana’s face, it must be something truly unexpected.

Once the rift closes, you finally get a good look at what has appeared. A skeletal horse stands in front of you, its hooves cloaked in bluish black flames. Every snort it makes releasing a puff of black smoke. Atop the horse sits a cloaked figure, whose back is currently to you, so you can’t really tell what it looks like. However, it does have a rather large Scythe held in one boney hand, which you think might be actual bone. Before you can speak, the figure turns his head to look at you, and what you see chills you to your soul. Looking out from under the hood is a skull, its glowing red eyes fixated on you, as it seems to be judging the depths of your soul. Its eyes seem to waver and flicker different shades of red before a voice rings out in the air.

“WHO DARES SUMMON ****?!” The voice sends chills down your spine, the sound like nothing you ever heard before. It’s almost as if the voice is coming from the underworld itself. The eyes give off a bright, menacing glow as the rider’s gaze never leaves you. Thinking quickly, you muster up the courage to say something.

“I did, sir. I apologize. It was an accident. We are dueling and I was trying to think of some last ditch move to help me win, and then you appeared.”

The glow in his eyes dimming slightly, he glances back across at Harmony and the Dustborne Rider in front of her. “AM I TO ASSUME THAT THEY ARE THE OPPONENTS?” the voice asked, still ringing through the air, but no longer tinged with anger.

“Yes. She is at an **** advantage. I had 6 cards left, and my desperation seemed to summon you.” The figure doesn’t respond immediately.

A few moments of silence go by before you hear the most awful sound one could imagine. It takes you a moment to recognize that the skeletal rider is laughing, the sound seeming like a crime against the natural order of the world. He turns back to look at you, his eyes now a deep smoldering red. “OK, ILL HELP YOU.” He says, “BUT ONLY THIS ONCE. AND ONLY BECAUSE I FIND THE SITUATION MILDLY AMUSING. I'M ****.”

Looking back across the field, you see Harmony frozen in place. The sight of the skeleton rider seeming to have her too terrified to move. Professor Zizana, on the other hand, is yelling at Harmony, trying to get her to respond. Before she can get through, though, **** is off, racing across to field to slice at the Dustborne Rider. “I summon ****,” You yell above the thunder of hooves, just before **** slices the Dustborne Rider in half with his scythe. The Rider crumbles to dust as Harmony is **** backwards in pain, the shock and suddenness breaking her out of her trance as she experiences the accompanying pain from magical backlash as 12 cards vanish from her hand and deck.

“Stop the match!” you hear Professor Zizana yell off to the side. “You can’t win Harmony! Forfeit now, before something horrible happens!”

Harmony only glares at Professor Zizana as she struggles to her feet. Once she regains her footing, her breathing still ragged, she yells at Professor Zizana.

“He just got lucky! There is no way such a lowly Worm could possibly beat me.”

“You don’t understand, Harmony! That is ****!! One of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse! He is an immortal being that exists only to reap the souls of the living! There is no way you can destroy him! It wasn’t even supposed to be possible to summon immortal beings! Something has gone wrong here. We should’ve ended the match after the way his Succubus was destroyed. I should’ve realized that was a sign thing were awry.”

Harmony only glares back before turning her attention back to you and ****. “Ashcroft’s don’t give up, Professor. You were my tutor. You should know that.” Harmony says, not backing down from the challenge she issued.

“YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO YOUR ELDER, CHILD.” **** says, waiting to see what will happen. You don’t think his voice will ever seem natural.

Staring daggers at you from across the field, Harmony draws 5 cards. Immediately 7 vanish as the ground starts to rumble. A crack appears before Harmony as orange goo bubbles out of it. Once enough oozes out of the earth, it starts to take the shape of a humanoid blob. Once the monster fully forms, you can clearly tell it is made from lava, as it seems to glow from in inner heat, the air shimmering around it. “I summon Lava Guardian” Harmony says, “and equip him with the Sword of Flames.” As she speaks, 2 more cards vanish from Harmony’s hand. Left with only 3 cards, she seems to be gambling with this last monster.

Staring directly at you, Harmony orders the Lava Guardian to attack. Despite his size, the Lava Gaurdian moves quickly, covering the distance between it and **** in the blink of an eye. ****, however, doesn’t seem concerned by the giant monster rushing him. With a flick of his wrist, he sends his scythe spinning off towards the Lava Guardian. Bringing the sword up to block the incoming scythe, everyone lets out a collective gasp as the scythe slices through both the sword and the monster, turning both into glowing piles of rock.

Harmony collapses to her knees as her remaining cards vanish from her hand, the backlash and loss of her final cards bringing her to her knees. **** disappears, signaling the end of the match.