The World Duel Championships X

by The Avenger

We Meet Again, Wang Hu Zhong

It has been a day since Team Excalibur humiliated Sagittario and Yu, and Team Star Swirl are at the beach next to their hotel, though not all of them are focused on the same thing. Bismarck and Radiance, for example, are just lying on some chairs under an umbrella, just relaxing. “This is nice, huh Bismarck?” Radiance asked as she drinks some lemonade.
“It sure is,” Bismarck said as Andromeda walks by and takes a seat next to Radiance, but the two soon laugh a little when they see that Andromeda’s mane is now in a ponytail, her hair just hanging as a scrunchie hold it in place.
“What’s so funny?” Andromeda asked them.
“Your mane!” Radiance said. “It’s in a ponytail!”
“We just can’t see you with your mane in a ponytail like that!” Bismarck added.
“Yeah,” Andromeda sheepishly said. “I decided to try out this new look.”
“Why?” Radiance asked. “You're not trying to attract a certain colts attention, are you?”
“No!”
“Ah! You do! You're trying to get Tempest, are you?” Radiance asked.
“No! No, no, no!” Andromeda said as she shakes her head. “Where is he and the others anyway?”
“Over there, trying to get their teamwork to work,” Bismarck said as he points toward a small rocky area. Sure enough, Firestorm, Tempest, Sagittario and Yu are by a ring, getting ready to train.
“Okay! Time for some intense training,” Tempest said.
“We’ll get this teamwork thing down,” Sagittario added.
“So we can beat Excalibur for sure,” Yu added.
“And then we can stand at the top of the world,” Firestorm finished. “Yeah!”
“Everyone sure is fired up,” Bismarck said.
“I can’t imaging how they feel after losing to the EU team, but they seem fine,” Radiance said as she drinks some more lemonade.
“As long as they don’t get too competitive, it’ll be all right,” Andromeda said.
“Okay, first we’ll split into pairs and practice by having a team duel,” Tempest said.
“Cool,” the other three all said.
“Um, how do we decide who pairs up with who,” Sagittario said.
“Let’s decide with rock paper scissors,” Firestorm suggested.
“That could be a problem,” Bismarck said.
“The two winners and the two losers will form the teams. Okay?” Firestorm asked.
“Yeah!”
“All right, 1, 2, 3, shoot!” Firestorm said as they all hold out there hoofs.
“Rock,” said Tempest.
“Rock,” said Sagittario.
“Paper,” said Yu.
“Scissors,” said Firestorm.
“Huh? Okay, let’s try that again,” Tempest said as they al draw back there hoofs. “One, two, three, shoot!” They all said.
“Scissors,” said Tempest.
“Rock,” said Sagittario.
“Paper,” Firestorm and Yu both said.
“Ugh! Another tie,” a disappointed Sagittario said. “Why are we even doing this game? We don’t even have fingers like griffins and minotaurs do.”
“Its like they’re expects at not working together,” Andromeda said as the four boys keep going, despite Sagittario’s protest, every time it ends in a 4-way draw. “This is not gonna be easy.”
“Its official! This game is totally useless!” A very annoyed Tempest shouted.
“Let’s try this instead,” Andromeda said as she walks up to the four, carrying a tissue box that had four straws in it. “You guys are gonna draw straws to decide the teams,” Andromeda said as she levitates the box to the four. “Whoever draws the straws with red tips will be one team while the other two will be the second team.”
“Finally, something that won’t take hours,” Yu said as he and the others takes a straw. Yu and Tempest have the red tipped straws, while Firestorm and Sagittario have the other two.
“Okay, it’s been decided; Yu and Tempest are a pair and Sagittario is with Firestorm,” Andromeda said.
“Uhhh?” The four all try to say, not really sure about the teams.
“Done deal! Start training!” Andromeda shouted as she heads back to the chairs. “Listen, this is training to improve your teamwork. You have to make sure you combine your strengths when you fight, understand?”
“Yep, we understand,” Tempest said, though he’s still unsure if he should be paired with Yu. “Let’s get started,” Tempest said as the four get ready while Andromeda sits back down with Radiance and Bismarck.
“Why aren’t you two taking part in this?” Radiance asked.
“Well, then this would be a 3 way team duel, but that’s just plain unlikely to happen,” Andromeda said as she takes out a book to read.
“Do you think those match-ups will work, Andi?” Bismarck asked as he watches the team duel.
“Yeah, why?”
“Because I think they’re startin’ to argue,” Bismarck said. Andromeda looks over to the others direction, and sure enough, they’re are starting to yell at each other.
“What were you doing, Firestorm!?!?” Sagittario shouted.
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb! Were you trying to send me flying as well!?”
“Oh! I can’t take this anymore!!!!!” Yu yelled at the top of his lungs. “Inferno Blast!” Yu shouted, which shocks everyone.
“Stop it!” A terrified Tempest shouted. “Are you trying to drag me in as well!?”
“I don’t care! You can all take a nap!” Yu yelled.
“Yu!” Tempest screamed as he, Firestorm and Sagittario are drag in. By accident, Tempest accidentally hits Sagittario.
“Hey! Now you’ve done it, Tempest!” Sagittario said as he tries to back away, and knocks away Firestorm.
“Hey! I’m on your team, did you know that?!” Firestorm shouted.
“That was then, this is now!”
“That’s tears it! If that’s how it is, then there’s no more enemies or allies!” Firestorm shouted.
“I’m number 1, do you hear!?”
“Stop it now, Yu!”
“I’ll stop all of yoooooouuuu!”
“Get a hold of yourselves!” Andromeda yelled at the top of her lungs, which makes everyone stop, even Yu’s Inferno Blast stops. “What are you guys doing? Your supposed to be improving your teamwork, not fighting each other!”
“Yeah, Tempy? Why are you?” Yu asked.
“Yeah right! Yu started it!”
“Its Firestorm’s fault for doing whatever he wants!”
“I don’t know what you're talking about.”
“It’s all Tempy’s fault!”
“Take a look in the mirror, Yu!”
“You have a gloomy personality, ya know that!?”
“What difference does that make. Your big mouth is a lethal weapon!”
“AGGGGH!!!! STOP! IT! NOOOOOW!!!” Andromeda screamed, which terrifies Tempest, Yu, Firestorm, Sagittario, Bismarck and Radiance. “Fine! Fine, fine! Just give it all up and quit everything! The training, the world championships, just quit it all. There’s no way we can win against Excalibur like this! It's over! Team Star Swirl is disbanded!” She yelled as she storms off toward the hotel.
“What!?” The entire team asked. “Andromeda, wait a minute!” Tempest said.
“No way!” Andromeda yelled, not even looking back as she enters her room and slams the door shut.
“So … so what now?” They all asked.
“If she’s really that upset, she might actually disband the team,” a worried Firestorm said.
“This ain’t good,” Bismarck said.
“We won’t become number 1 in the world if she does disband the team,” Sagittario added.
“What should we do?” Yu asked.
“The only thing we can,” Radiance said. “We go apologize.”

A bit later, Tempest, Firestorm, Sagittario, Bismarck, Yu and Radiance are in front of Andromeda’s room, room number 216, carrying some gifts for her. “Helloooo,” they all said.
“Andromeda, please change your mind.”
“We will do our training this time.”
“We brought you a super cold drink.”
“Along with some Greek yogurt.”
“And a fruit basket.” Tempest, Sagittario, Yu, Radiance and Firestorm all said. Suddenly, a still infuriated Andromeda opens the door, growls, and slams it shut. “This is bad,” they all said.

Later, back by the beach, the group are all sulking. “She was really angry,” Sagittario said.
“This means she’ll probably break up the team,” Yu added.
“Isn't there something we can do?” Firestorm asked.
“I don’t think so,” Tempest said. Suddenly…
“What’s up? I haven’t seen faces that long since the horse show,” a familiar voice said.
Looking toward the source, they all see 4 familiar faces. “Dashan!”
“Chi-yun!”
“Chao Xin!”
“Yo.”
“Mei-Mei!”
“It’s been a while, guys,” Mei-Mei said as she and the other members of Wang Hu Zhong walk up to them.
“What are you all doing here?” Tempest asked.
“We came to see you dudes, of course,” Chao Xin answered.
“Really? How come?” Radiance asked.
“We heard about your duel at the Festival of Warriors,” Chi-yun answered.
“Yu and Sagittario lost to the EU team, isn’t that right?” Mei-Mei said.
“You already know about that?” A slightly embarrassed Yu asked.
“We have China’s 4,000 year old information network,” Chi-yun answered.
“Is anything in China not 4,000 years old?” Sagittario asked.
“We thought you might be bummed out so we came to enrage you,” Mei-Mei said.
“She means we came to encourage you,” Dashan corrected, which makes Mei-Mei chuckle sheepishly. “If there’s anything we can do to help, we will be glad to.”
“You came all this way for that?”A happy Firestorm asked.
“Thank you from all of us,” Radiance said.
“Don’t think of it as a favor,” Dashan said, which confuses the team.
“We’re not doing it for you,” Chi-yun added.
“What does that mean?” Yu asked.
“It means that if we beat you while your bummed out from losing to the EU team, it won’t be any fun.” Chao Xin said.
“If we don’t defat Star Swirl, then it's not a win.”
“We just what to even the score and on our terms,” Mei-Mei and Chi-yun added.
“Why is that important?” Bismarck asked.
“We still have a chance at becoming the wildcard,” Dashan answered.
“What wildcard?” Tempest asked.
“The World Duel Championships has a system that where the teams that lost in the first and second rounds of the A and B-Blocks compete in another tournament,” Dashan answered. “The winning team in that tournament gets to reenter the world championships.”
“I see. It's like a consolation match,” Firestorm said.
“We’ve already won our first duel,” Dashan continued. “We plan to keep on winning and reenter the world championships.”
“And this time, we, Wang Hu Zhong, are gonna win,” Chi-yun finished.
“Cool! That sounds like a plan,” Tempest said.
“Except that our team still intends to win it,” Sagittario said.
“Don’t so sure,” said Mei-Mei. “That disorganized looking team we saw isn’t effective at all.”
“Besides that, I can’t believe you guys are in the world championships and yet don’t know about the wildcard,” Chao Xin added.
“You guys really are just total rookies, aren’t you.” Mei-Mei said.
“Did she say ‘rookies’?” Tempest asked.
“She means that we don’t know much about anything,” Yu said.
“Well, we did have our qualifying duels right before leaving, so we didn’t have much time to learn about the in’s and out’s of the world championships,” Firestorm pointed out.
“But your leader, Andromeda, can easily find out about those things,” Mei-Mei said.
“Now that you mention it, where is Andromeda?” Chao Xin asked.
“Uh … Well … You see, we … uh?” Tempest tried to say.

“Oh, wow! You guys really did blew it, huh?” Chao Xin said as he, Tempest, Sagittario, Radiance, Bismarck, Yu and Firestorm reach Andromeda’s room. “No biggie. Just leave it to me.”
“To you?” Tempest asked.
“You better watch it.” Yu warned.
“She is really mad at us,” Sagittario added.
“Don’t underestimate her anger. She could totally mess you up!” Firestorm said.
“Ha-ha-ha. Its fine,” Chao Xin said as he turns towards the door. “Just trust me, okay?” He said as he knocks on the door.
Soon, they hear Andromeda’s voice. “Agh! You guys just don’t get it!” She said as she opens the door, but she gets confused when she sees Chao Xin standing there.
“Yo! How’s it going, Andromeda? Long time, no see.” He said.
“Chao Xin? What are you doing here?”
“Well, I just want to talk for a minute. That’s okay, right?” Chao Xin said as he walks in.

About a minute later, Tempest, Sagittario, Radiance, Bismarck, Yu and Firestorm all hear Andromeda laughing, which shocked them. “I guess they are just silly little boys,” they heard Andromeda saw while she laughs
“I know, right? You can't just leave them bumbling by themselves,” Chao Xin said, while the other members of Star Swirl just stare on in shock.
“No way! Someone has to look out for them.”
“They’re just out of their dippers.”
“They’re just toddlers, really.”
“What in the world is going on in there?” Sagittario asked. Suddenly, the door opens, and Chao Xin, followed by a giggling Andromeda, walk out.
“Thanks for the advice, Chao Xin.” Andromeda said.
“Well, you know what, you definitely look the best when you're smiling, Andromeda. And I love what you’ve done to your mane,” Chao Xin said.
“It’s amazing! Now she’s back in a good mood again,” a shocked Tempest said.
“Is that a 4,000 year old Chinese technique too?” Firestorm asked.
“Everyone!” Andromeda suddenly said. “Let’s start the training. Chao Xin and the others said they’ll help out. Its back on!”
“Uh … Right on!” Star Swill all said, still unsure of what just happened.

Later by the beach, Dashan is standing on one leg on a giant blue ball, while Chao Xin is standing on Dashan’s head with just one hand, while Chi-yun is standing one of Chao Xin’s legs, carrying a chair that Mei-Mei is standing on with one leg, while holding two sticks that have spinning plats on them. Team Star Swirl are at aw at Wang Hu Zhong’s teamwork. “Amazing!” Andromeda said.
“So that’s China’s 4,000 year old teamwork?” Firestorm asked.
“We can work 24/7 and still not be able to do that,” Sagittario pointed out.
“That,” Bismarck began, “just plain looks…”
“Impossible!” The entire team said.
“No kidding,” Dashan said. “You have to learn to walk before you can run.”
“We’d be happy to teach you something much simpler if you like?” Mei-Mei said.
“What’s the deal than?” Tempest asked. “Why did you show us this first?”
“Just to bug you, that’s why!” Chi-yun shouted.
“Not cool!” Tempest and Sagittario both said while Bismarck, Andromeda and Firestorm slap their heads as Yu slums his head down, while Radiance giggles a little.

A bit later, the six teammates are all tied together at their ankles in three teams: Andromeda and Tempest, Firestorm and Yu, and Bismarck and Sagittario. “Okay, is everyone ready?” Dashan asked them. “Good. We’ll begin the special Chinese 4,000 leg teamwork training. The first step is practicing running in sync with each other.”
“Why do I have to be with you?” Bismarck and Sagittario asked each other.
“Don’t hold me back. Okay, Firestorm?”
“That’s my line and you know it.”
“Why are you blushing, Tempest?” Andromeda asked.
“Oh! Um … No reason,” Tempest nervously said. “Actually, I was gonna ask you the same,” Tempest said, which nearly makes Andromeda’s entire face turn a bright red.
“Okay, on your marks, guys,” Mei-Mei suddenly said. “Get set. Go!” Right as she said that, Sagittario and Bismarck fall over each other right away.
“What are you doing, Sagittario!?”
“What are you doing?!” Sagittario said, while Yu holds on for dear life as Bismarck runs, the two being way out of sync. As for Andromeda and Tempest, the two have fallen over each other.
“Tempest, please get off!” Andromeda said after Tempest landed on her back.
“Sorry,” Tempest said as he tries to get up, only for the two to roll over, now with Andromeda on top, the two facing each other.
“Now I get why you suggest those two to work together,” Chao Xin said to Radiance.
“Yep, that’s the reason,” Radiance said. “I just wish they weren't so far from actually working together.”
“It's no big deal,” Chi-yun said. “All of us looked like those guys when we started.”
“Really?”
“That’s right,” said Chao Xin.
“But after a lot of training and sweat, we ended up with a perfect teamwork routine,” Mei-Mei added.
“Perfect?”
“One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two,” they heard as Sagittario and Bismarck start timing there steps perfectly.
“Just take it one step at a time,” Andromeda said to Tempest as the two get into sync also.
“Got it.”
“Is this okay?” Firestorm asked Yu, having slowed down.
“Yeah. Just match my stride and timing,” Yu said.
“They’re already starting to sync up,” Chi-yun said.
“Yeah. No worries there, Radiance,” Chao Xin added.

Not long after that, the three match ups are now juggling bowling pins to each other. “This is easy!” Sagittario said, only to be proven wrong when all four pins hit him in the head, which makes the others laugh.

Next, they all do ping pon match, and Firestorm and Yu are in the lead. “All right! We won!” Yu said after he and Firestorm beat Andromeda and Tempest.
“You were just lucky that we hit each other.”

“How are we supposed to do signal flags again?” Sagittario asked as each of them hold two flags.

“Why am ah at the bottom?” Bismarck asked as he, Sagittario, Firestorm, Tempest, Andromeda and Mei-Mei form a diamond.
“To help build trust,” Dashan answered. “Besides, you're the physically strongest on your team.”

Later, its sunset as Andromeda, Tempest, Sagittario, Firestorm, Bismarck and Yu all run together, there ankles tied together, moving in perfect sync. “One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two,” the six all said.
“They really got the hang of this teamwork thing,” Radiance said.
“Indeed,” said Dashan. “However, the real test is in a duel. We would be happy to have a practice duel with them, but we need to be going soon.”
“We understand!” Andromeda said as she and the others stop and take the knots off.
“That sure was exhausting.” Yu said as he falls to the ground.
“I’m amazed that you all made such surprising progress,” Chi-yun said.
“Thanks,” Tempest said as Andromeda gets a drink from cooler she brought with her.
“Andromeda,” Dashan said, getting the purple unicorns attention. “Hear me now. Our team will be returning to the world championships. We will not lose until we get to duel you again. So you guys must keep winning too. We’ll compete in the finals and settle this once and for all.”
“You can count on it, Dashan,” Andromeda said in a serious tone.
“We’ll see you there. Okay?” Sagittario added.
“Say, Andromeda, do you know which team you will face next?” Mei-Mei asked.
“Oh! I haven’t checked yet,” Andromeda said as she ask her Zapple Brick and opens it. After a few seconds, she finds it. “Ah! Here it is. Apparently, we will face the winner of the upcoming duel between the Mexicolt team, Elementales, and the African representative team, Wild Fang.”
“Team Wild Fang!?” A shocked Dashan asked.
“Huh?”
“You know them?” Radiance asked.
“I’ve heard of them,” Dashan corrected. “Even though they seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, that 7 member team won the African qualifying tournament with crushing strength.”
“They did?” Andromeda asked.
"So it's a full team like ours," Firestorm noted.
“If I remember correctly, the leader is a blue and green unicorn,” Dashan added, which intrigues Andromeda. “They say he fights like a lion, like the actually king of all beast himself.”
“He fights like a lion?” Andromeda asked, the description oddly familiar. “Could the leader be him!?”