//------------------------------// // Turn 23, Fluttershy // Story: Yugioh EQG // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// It was now the day before the Celestic Cup and we find Flash and Scootaloo in their apartment Duelling on the table. The rest of their friends were all doing some last minute prep work with their own decks at home, so the two siblings were on their own as they Duelled. "Magna Fighter Gladio will attack Wild Rush Raptor" Flash said, as his sister removed her Xyz monster from the field. "Brass Wing Magna Hawk will then attack you directly." "Oh man" Scootaloo said, "that wipes out the last of my life points." "Sorry squirt" Flash said, "want to go again?" "No thanks" Scootaloo said, "five loses in a row is enough for me. Maybe I'll go through my deck again." "You've been through it ten times since breakfast. I wouldn't be surprised if you could recite the cards serial numbers." "I gotta make sure my deck is the best it can be" Scootaloo said, "the Tournament begins tomorrow." "Yeah your right" Flash said, "but I think my deck is as good as it can be right now." He grabbed his Duel Disk and headed for the door. "Where you going?" Scootaloo asked. "Out for a walk" Flash replied, "see who wants to hang out." "But everyone will be working on their own decks." "I'll think something to do," Flash said. Before he reached the door he looked over at pair of boxes with the Freeze Industries logo, which had been delivered to Flash and Scootaloo that morning. Inside each one was a watch like device, blue for Flash and purple for Scootaloo, along with a map explaining to be at Canterlot town centre tomorrow before noon. Flash looked at them for a moment before turning back and heading out the door. That was how Flash found himself wondering the streets looking for something, anything to pass the time. "Come on Flash" he said to himself, "you survived seventeen years without friends. You can find a way to kill a couple hours." Suddenly a loud banging noise caught his attention. Looking to his side he found he was outside the Ponyville Animal Rescue Centre, which currently had a large hamster plastered on one of the glass windows before slowly sliding down. Curiosity getting the better of him, Flash opened the door of the building and stepped inside. Chaos was what he found inside as many different animals scurried around the place, some being completely drenched. "Oh no," a familiar quite voice caught his attention, "please stop...that's not very nice." Fluttershy was running around after the out of control animals. "Fluttershy" Flash called over the commotion. Fluttershy looked up at him and gasped. "Oh Flash," she said, "I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in." "It's fine" Flash replied, "by the looks of things you seem quite busy." He narrowly dodged a kamikaze bunny which instead flew over him, "what the heck's going on?" "A pipe in the back broke flooding most of the animal habitats," Fluttershy said, as she managed to grab a distressed pussy cat and place it on one of the high shelves away from the water. "I'm trying to calm everyone down but the water is still running." Flash couldn't bring himself to leave her in distress like this. He might not have been good with animals, but he knew a thing or two about plumbing. That was how he ended up fixing the shelters faulty pipes, as Fluttershy finally managed to get the animals calm and dry. "There you go" she said as she finished towelling off the last guinea pig, "now your all clean" she gave him a quick scratch before putting him in the basket with the rest of his group. "FLASH" she called walking into the back, hoping Flash wasn't to overwhelmed by the job, only to be amazed at the progress he had made. Most of the water had been mopped up and the cages had been cleaned of the waterlogged bedding. She found Flash tightening the last bolt of the pipping, before wiping his forehead with his sleeve. "My word Flash" she said looking around, "I thought this place would be a disaster after the flood. But you cleaned it up so quickly." "No biggy" Flash said, "a rusted bolt snapped causing the pipe to burst. I taped it up but you should really have a professional get it checked out." "Thanks again" Fluttershy said with a bow, "if you hadn't come along it would have taken so long to clean up." "It's fine Fluttershy," Flash replied. "But I would have thought a Rescue Centre like this would have more people to help out." "There are other volunteers" Fluttershy replied, "but most of them are competing in the Celestic Cup and needed today to prepare. The other two both called in sick, so it's just me today." "You should have called your friends and asked for help" Flash said, "you know we would have dropped everything and come." "Oh no" Fluttershy said, "I could never waste their time like that. The Celestic Cup is just to important to them." "Your important to" Flash replied. "But still" she said, "I'm not competing in the Tournament so it's not like I need the time." "Yeah I figured" Flash said, "I mean why enter a Tournament when you don't even Duel?" "I Duel" Fluttershy replied, "I just don't enjoy competitions." "Really?" Flash asked. "I just figured since I've never seen you play." "I'm not that big on more modern Duels" she said, "but I do enjoy the occasional table top Duel. I like to imagine my monsters instead of letting a Duel Disk do it for me." "Cool" Flash said with a smile. "Say, since everything's pretty much done here, why don't we have a Duel?" Fluttershy thought for a moment, before nodding. "Okay, I guess I do owe you for helping me today." "Great." The two went into the Centre's kitchen, where a table large enough to place their cards was, and they set everything up. They took out their Duel Disks, Fluttershy's being yellow, and placed them on the counter to act as point counters. The two shuffled their decks and placed them on the table as their Duel Disks counted out their points "You ready?" Flash asked. "Sure" Fluttershy replied, though she didn't sound confident. "Then let's go" he said. "DUEL/duel." Flash: 4000 Fluttershy: 4000 "I'll go first if that's okay" Flash said. "Okay" Fluttershy replied. "Then I'll summon Aura Spear Dragon, in ATK mode" then he noticed Fluttershy closing her eyes. Realising what she was doing he closed his eyes and did the same. He imagined himself in a grassland. He looked down at his body and saw he was corporeal, like a spectre looking into the world. Fluttershy stood a hundred yards off, also corporeal, and his silver dragon stood between them. (A2000/D100/L4) "I end my turn." "My turn" Fluttershy said, "I draw." "In ATK mode I summon Kuriboh" she said, as a furry creature appeared before her. It looked like a furry brown hairball, with green paws, claws and purple eyes. (A300/D200/L1) "Kuriboh" Flash looked at her monster sceptically. Why would she play such a weak monster in ATK mode? "And now I activate Block Attack" Fluttershy continued, "which will switch your monster into DEF mode." "Uh-oh" Flash said. Aura Spear Dragon knelt down into DEF mode as Kuriboh stared it down. "Now I attack with my Kuriboh" Fluttershy said. The fur ball charged at the dragon and body slammed it, destroying it. "And now I end my turn with a face down." "My turn," Flash drew his card and smiled at what he had gotten. "I set the Pendulum Scale with Scale two Magna Fighter Lucidum, and Scale four Magna Fighter Gladio." The pillars of light appeared besides him as his monsters rose up. "Now I'll cut through space time and carve the arc of victory" the portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and a pair of lights shot out, hitting the ground. "Howl to the moon, Shine Crest Magna Wolf." (A1200/D1100/L3) "K.O, Magna Fighter Deck Striker. (A1300/D500/L3) "You may have a pair of strong monsters on the field," Fluttershy said "but my trap will make them useless." She flipped her face down up, "Threatening Roar. It forces you to skip your Battle Phase." "So I can't attack Kuriboh" Flash said, "but I can still prepare for later. I'll place one card face down and end my turn." "My turn" Fluttershy said, "I activate the Spell Charity of the Weak. This card forces me to tribute one level one monster" she explained, moving her Kuriboh from the field to the graveyard, "and now I can view the top five cards of my deck." She took five cards and looked at them, "I add on to my hand and the rest go to the grave." Flash gave a quizzical look. Was she looking for something? "I now summon Sacred Guardian Beast, Rush Rabbit." In a flash of light a white humanoid rabbit appeared, standing at five foot and wearing brown gloves and boots. (A1800/D1300/L4) "Now I attack Deck Striker" the rabbit leaped at him, pulling his foot back ready to launch a kick. "I activate Rush Rabbit's ability" she picked up her deck. "I take one level one monster from my deck and send it to the graveyard," she revealed a copy of Winged Kuriboh and placed it in the graveyard. "Now I can negate the attack I just ordered." Flash was quizzical at this. Why would she attack only to negate it? "Now I end my turn with Downfall of the Prideful. This continuous Spell card forces every monster on the field to attack a weaker monster or be destroyed during the End Phase." "So any strong monster I summon has to attack" Flash said. What was she planning? He drew and smiled seeing his ace. "I tribute Deck Striker and Magna Wolf to summon Flash Heart Dragon." The two monsters disappeared, replaced by the robotic dragon. (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Because of your Downfall of the Prideful I have to attack" Flash Heart Dragon flew forwards and aimed a punch at the rabbit. "Rush Rabbit's ability activates" Fluttershy took her deck again. "I discard Kuribon and negate the attack." Flash couldn't make heads or tails of her stratagy. It was so timid and defensive, plus at this rate she would burn through her whole deck in no time. "That's seven" Fluttershy said putting her monster in the graveyard. "Seven what?" Flash asked. "You'll see" she said as she drew. "I summon Sphere Kuriboh." An orange metal sphere with green feet and hands appeared. "I attack Flash Heart with Sphere Kuriboh," the odd looking creature charged at Flash Heart. "Once again Rush Rabbit's ability activates." "Even if another monster battles?" Flash asked. "Rush Rabbit can negate any attack as long as I have level one monsters to discard," Fluttershy said. She revealed a card named Clear Kuriboh, and placed it in the graveyard. "Eight, now Rush Rabbit will attack before I activate his ability and send another Winged Kuriboh to the graveyard...nine." "It's almost like she wants them in the graveyard" Flash said to himself, but couldn't see the reason. "I end my turn" she said. "My turn" Flash realised he had drawn Alchemy Dracokid, which would come in handy later. "I attack Sphere Kuriboh." "And I activate Rush Rabbit's ability and send Kuribon to the graveyard, to negate the attack." "I end my turn" Flash said. "My draw...and I activate Charity of the Weak, so I tribute Sphere Kuriboh and look at the top five cards of deck. I chose one and the rest go to the graveyard. That makes twelve...twelve level one monsters in the graveyard." "So what?" Flash asked. "I tribute Sacred Guardian Beast, Rush Rabbit. In its place I summon Sacred Guardian Beast, Grand Grizzly." The humanoid rabbit disappeared in a flash of light, and was replaced by a giant bear. It had brown fur and wore metal armour around its chest, head and each of its four arms. (A2300/D1800/L6) "So what?" Flash asked, "your bear only has twenty three hundred points. It's not strong enough to beat Flash Heart Dragon." "But your forgetting my graveyard contains twelve level one monsters" Fluttershy said. "And?" "My Grand Grizzly's ability increase his ATK points by one hundred, for every level one monster in my graveyard." "Each one?" Grand Grizzly let out a roar as its power rose. (A3500/D1800/L6) "I attack with Grand Grizzly" the bear shot at Flash Heart, ready to slash it with its claws. "I activate Reflection Guard" the attack hit but it revealed to only be a mirror image. Flash: 3000 Fluttershy: 4000 "I still take the damage but my monster's safe." "I end my turn." Flash drew his card and saw it was a card he had recently added to his deck. "I activate Mythical Wormhole, which lets me look through your graveyard and had a Spell to my hand." Fluttershy handed him her graveyard pile and he looked through it. "I chose Swords of Revealing Light," he handed the pile back to her. "Now I'll activate it." From the sky came swords made entirely of light which encircled Fluttershy's field, caging her in. "Now you can't attack for three turns" Flash told her, "I end my turn." "My turn" she drew, "I end my turn." "My draw" Flash drew Magna Caster Lunara, if only he had an open Pendulum Zone he could Fusion Summon. "I summon Starbreak Dragon in DEF mode." His dragon appeared kneeling down. (A1500/D1200/L4) "I end my turn." "My draw" Fluttershy drew, "I end my turn." "My draw" Flash drew his card, and saw it was another monster that couldn't beat Grand Grizzly. "I summon Brass Wing Magna Hawk in DEF mode." The robotic bird appeared on the field, landing next to the rest of Flash's monsters in DEF mode. (A1400/D800/L4) "I end my turn" Flash said. "My draw" Fluttershy drew again, "I end my turn." "Sword's of Revealing Light's effect ends" Flash handed the card back to Fluttershy. Next turn she could attack, meaning he need to draw a card that could beat Grand Grizzly this turn." "My...draw" he drew and slowly opened his eyes, before they went wide at what card he had gotten. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon." A powerful gust of wind blew across the field. "This Spell card will destroy one Spell or Trap on the field." "But I only have Downfall of the Prideful" Fluttershy said, "why bother destroying that?" "I'm not" Flash replied, "I'm destroying Lucidum." His Pendulum Monster vanished in the storm. "Why would you do that?" Fluttershy asked. "Because it allowed my to empty the Pendulum Scale, which I can fill with Alchemy Dracokid." The pillar of light reappeared as the small dragon rose up." "Oh no." "Now I tribute Magna Hawk to summon Magna Caster Lunara," his bird disappeared, replaced by the magician. (A2400/D1200/L6/P1) "Finally I'll use Alchemy Dracokid's ability, to Fusion Summon without a Polymerisation." Flash Heart and Lunara were sucked inside the dragon's beaker. "Now I'll fuse the Unequalled might of a Dragon, with the mystic properties of a Spellcaster." The smoke shot out of the beaker, "I FUSION SUMMON!" The smoke cleared showing, "Spectral Nova Dragon." (A3000/D2000/L8) "Oh dear" Fluttershy said. "I switch Starbreak Dragon to ATK mode before attacking Grand Grizzly with Spectral Nova." The Dragon aimed its cannons at the bear, "Spectral Nova Dragon's ability" "You ready?" he asked placing his hand on his deck. When Fluttershy nodded he drew and revealed, "Twin Lazor Dragon." The large bear roared as its power was drained. (A1400/D1800/L6) "Mystery Flare Cannon...fire" the cannons fired, destroying the bear. Flash: 3000 Fluttershy: 2400 "Now I attack with Starbreak Dragon," his dragon shot at Fluttershy. Flash then revealed the last card in his hand, "I activate Lightspeed. This raises my light monster by a thousand points." Starbreak Dragon's points rose to twenty five hundred as he slashed the pink haired girl. Flash: 3000 (Winner) Fluttershy: 0 Fluttershy sighed as she sat back. "Another loss." "It was close" Flash told her. "I could have gone either way. "Your right" Fluttershy replied. "I don't think you have to worry about the Tournament, with your deck and your skills you could win the whole thing." "Thanks" Flash said with a smile. After he and Fluttershy finished the clean up Flash returned home. It was now midnight and we find Flash walking out onto the roof of his apartment. He was unsure whether it was nervous, or excitement, or even just impatience but he couldn't seem to sleep. As he looked out over the city, he couldn't help but wonder about what kind of Duels he would face in the tournament? Taking out his deck he remembered all the fun Duels he had had up till now. Facing Twilight and her mighty magicians, Pinkie and her Balloonimals and Fluttershy's Kuribohs and Sacred Guardian Beasts. Then he remembered all the important Duels he had had. Garble and his Dragons, The Duel-Bot and its Justice Robos. Flash growled as he remembered facing Cold and his Frozen Heart Monsters, the memory of his Pendulum Monsters still haunting him. Then there was the Shooting Star Micro Tournament. His Duel against Gizmo, Lyra, Tidal and Spike had pushed him to the limit each time. Each of those Duels had pushed him beyond what he thought he was capable of. And now he would be competing in the biggest Tournament this side of the country, and if he wanted answers then he need to win and keep winning to get an audience with Cold Steel. So many thoughts flashed through his head, until one hit him and made his laugh in disbelief. Had it only been three months since he had gotten this deck? three months since he met his friends? three months since his love of Duelling had been rekindled. With everything that had happened since then it felt like years since all this started. "No turning back" Flash told himself. He looked back out at the city waited for sleep to begin taking it's hold. Fireworks filled the skies as the competitors of the Celestic Cup gathered in the town squire, waiting to hear the lay out for this years tournament. "Look at all these people" Scootaloo said as she, Flash, Twilight and Spike waited for their friends. "Their all Duellist" Twilight said, "they've gathered from every corner of the country to compete in the Celestic Cup." "This tournament might be tougher then I thought" Flash said. "What did you expect?" they turned to see the rest of their friends arrive. "The first round will be the most testing part of the tournament" Rarity said, "barely ten percent of the competitors will make it through to the finals." "So how do we get to the finals?" Pinkie asked. "No clue" Twilight replied. "All I know is it has something to do with these device we got sent." She held up a purple watch device strapped to her wrist. Before they could say anything else, every screen on every building suddenly cut to show the Celestic Sisters. "HELLO DUELLISTS" they both cheered. "It's finally time for the Celestic Cup to begin" Celestia said. "How will the Tournament play out?" Luna asked, "I can't wait to find out." "Now before we explain the way this will work" Celestia continued, "let's hear from the tournament sponsor." "HERE IS COLD STEEL" they both yelled before the screen cut to Cold Steel. "The Celestic Cup is a tournament where only the strong can survive. Anyone who doubts they have what it takes should step down now." "Well isn't he Mr Cheerful?" Rainbow said. "The first round of this tournament will last until the bells toll noon in exactly one months time. That will test the Duellists stamina and skill to the limit." "A whole month just for the first round?" Flash asked. "Now you see why this is so high maintenance a tournament" Twilight explained. "Constantly winning again and again for a month" Rarity said, "only high level Duellist can pull that off." "Only the best" Applejack agreed." "At the end" Cold continued, "only thirty two competitors will make it through this tournament. My question to you is...are you strong enough to be one of them?" The screen changed back to the Celestic Sisters. "Here is how the first round of the tournament will go" Luna said. "Each competitor was issued a Duel Point Meter," Celestia revealed a golden coloured version of the watch everyone had. "Once the tournament begins they will activate with a starting point count of one hundred." "With each Duel Duellists will wager any number of points agreed upon" Luna said, "the winner of the Duel will keep the points wagered." "At the end of the first round the thirty two competitors with the highest accumulated points, will move on to the finals" Celestia finished. "The tournament will begin at the stroke of noon" Luna finished, "that is in five." Celestia: Four. Luna: Three. Both: Two. "ONE" everyone yelled. The bells of noon rang. "WE DECLARE THE CELESTIC CUP BEGUN." Flash looked down at his DPM as it flashed to life, and displayed. Flash Sentry: 100Ps "This is it" Rainbow said. "We know what we gotta do" Applejack said. "Gather as many points as we can" Twilight agreed. "I wonder who'll be the first to Duel?" Flash asked. Unknown to him that was about to be decided. Not far off someone armed a bow and arrow, before raising it high. "The finals are my target" he said, "so I'll let my bow decide who will be the first to fall." He let the string go and the arrow released. It flew upwards for several seconds before it began to curve back towards the ground, straight towards the crowd where our young heroes were standing. "Hey what's that?" Spike asked seeing whatever it was fly through the sky. "Whatever it is" Rainbow said, "IT'S COMING STRAIGHT AT US." Everyone scrambled around, except Twilight who had froze as the UFO drew closer to her. "TWILIGHT LOOK OUT" Flash yelled as he pushed her out of the way, only for the object to hit him. "FLASH" everyone screamed as they saw him get hit, only to be confused when they saw him still stand. His head now had an arrow stuck to it by a suction cup. "What the?" he said pulling it off his head. "So your the one?" he and the girls turned to see a boy their age, carrying a bow. He had light brown skin and dark brown hair. "You are the one my bow chose as my opponent." "Wait" Flash said, "did you fire this?" He held up the arrow. "Indeed" the boy said, "the names Sharp Shooter. Since you were struck by my arrow it means the two of us are destined to Duel in this tournament." "So your a Duellist?" Twilight asked. "I am" he pulled out a Duel Disk, "and now it is time to Duel. Flash wasn't sure what this guys deal was, but if he wanted to get to the finals he needed to take on all challenges.