//------------------------------// // Turn 37, Trail Blazer // Story: Yugioh EQG // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Everyone was quiet as they tried to let what had just happened sink in. After getting his DPM stolen by Garble and his lackeys, Flash's points had been taken by Cold Steel leaving him with zero points. "What now?" Spike finally broke the silence with that question, "I'll tell you what we're gonna do," Rainbow yelled angrily. "We head over to Freeze Industries, bust our way in and force Cold to give Flash his points back." "All that'll do is get us kicked out of the tournament," Twilight told her. "Then what do you suggest we do?" Rainbow asked. "Nothing," everyone looked over at Flash, who had now stood back up. "There's nothing we can do, I'm out." "Don't say that," Scootaloo told her brother. "She's right," Rarity said, "there must be a way to get you back in the tournament. "What would you have me do?" Flash asked, "without points I can't compete." "We'll give you some of our points," Scootaloo said. "Do you know how many points you would need to give me for that to work," Flash told her, "more then you can afford to give up." "But-" "But nothing," he almost yelled, "I'm done." And with that he turned and began to walk away. "Amigo," Tidal whispered. As Flash walked off a voice suddenly caught his attention. "So that's it, one minor set back and your ready to throw in the towel. How disappointing." Flash's head flew up and his eyes went wide seeing who was standing not to far off. "Gramps," he said to his grandfather Grand Hoof. "Grandpa," Scootaloo said, "what are you doing here?" "I came to watch the Survival Duel," Grand Hoof said, "then when I saw what happened with those thugs I gave chase." "Then you saw me get kicked out of the tournament," Flash said. "All I saw is you running into a problem and not even try to overcome it," Grand said. "What could I do?" Flash asked in irritation. His grandfather sighed hearing this. "Where you get that negative attitude from I'll never know, since you certainly didn't get it from your father." Flash winced hearing a mention of one of his missing parents. "If this had happened to him he wouldn't have just given up," Grand explained, "he would have kept trying even if it seemed hopeless." "Well he isn't here right now is he?" Flash said. "No," Grand Hoof replied, "he's not. If he was he would be slapping some sense into that thick skull of yours, but looks like that falls to me." He strode over to his grandson and grabbed him by the back of his jacket, before he began to drag him away. "HEY!" Flash yelled struggling, "what are you doing?" "Your coming with me," Grand told him, "there's someplace you need to see." As the two left the rest of the gang stood slightly confused about what had just happened. "So um," Fluttershy asked drily, "do we follow or...or what?" "Come on," Scootaloo said, "seeing Gramps knock some sense into Flash is a once in a life time event." And with that the gang ran out of the construction site after Grand Hoof and Flash. The sun was beginning to set as everyone traversed the town and were now about to turn down an alley. "Hey Gramps," Flash finally said, "I know your trying to be all mystical and Kung fuy, but could you at least tell us where we're going." "No need," Grand replied, "because we're here." Everyone raised and eyebrow and looked around the rather large alleyway. "This is it," Flash said, "seriously. What's so special about this dump?" "This dump," Grand Hoof replied, "holds significant meaning to you, me and your sister." "It does," Scootaloo asked, "but we've never been here before." "Maybe not," Grand said, "but this is the place where your existence began." "Enough with the Zen Riddle crap," Flash almost yelled, finally having enough of all this, "what is so important about this place that you dragged us all here." "What's important about this place," Grand almost yelled back, "is that that it is where your mother and I met your father for the first time." Everyone's eyes went wide hearing this. "Not the most romantic location is it," Rarity said. "Maybe not a first glance," Grand Hoof replied, "but the situation is something right out of a mushy romance novel." He turned to his grandson. "This is where you and I will Duel." "You wanna Duel me?" Flash asked. "I might be old," Grand replied, "but Duelling is even older." He pulled a grey Duel Disk out of his jacket and affixed it to his arm. Flash frowned but did the same, attaching his own to his arm. "Let's do this old man." "Watch who your calling old," Grand said. "DUEL!" Grand: 4000 Flash: 4000 "Age before idiocy," Grand Hoof said, "I summon Shinobi Stealth Rouge in ATK mode." A man appeared on his field wearing black ninja clothing. (A1200/D1100/L3) "Oow," Pinkie said, "ninjas." "Pretty fitting," Scootaloo said, "Gramps is known on the force as the ninja. Back in his youth he was said to be able to disappear into the shadows when hunting criminals and strike without warning." "I activate Stealth Rouge's ability," Grand said as he discarded two cards from his hand. "I discard any number of cards from my hand and then get to look at your hand, so show them." The ninja suddenly vanished into thin air only to reappear behind Flash. A little freaked, Flash did as he was told and placed the cards on his Duel Disk. Holographic cards appeared in front of him, allowing everyone to see them. The cards were Solaris, Lunara, Stardust Draw, Reverse Polarity and Twin Lazor Dragon. Grand Hoof smiled. "Solaris and Lunara, hand them over." "What?" Flash asked. "The other ability of Stealth Rouge, lets me take any number of cards from your hand as I discarded. Since I discard two I can take two." Flash growled but threw the cards towards his grandfather, who caught them with ease. Grand Hoof looked at the cards he had taken. "Pendulum Summoning, it's such an interesting form of summoning. One your father would have loved." Flash frowned hearing this. "Now," Grand said, "I'll set the Pendulum Scale with scale one Magna Caster Lunara and Scale eight Magna Caster Solaris." The pillars of light appeared besides him, as the magicians flew up. "Watch as I cut through space time and carve the arc of victory," Grand Hoof chanted as the portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and three lights shot out and hit the ground. The first was a ninja in similar gear to Stealth Rouge, only with a hood over his head and a ninja claw. "Shinobi Shadow Striker." (A500/D1000/L3) The second was a ninja in yellow ninja clothing, with thin crimson armour covering most of his body and a katanna in his hand. "Shinobi Commander." (A1500/D1400/L4) The last one was a large figure in black ninja clothing and silver armour, carrying a pair of twin katanna. "Twin Blade Shinobi." (A2400/D2300/L7) "Gramps Pendulum Summoned," Scootaloo said in amazement. "Which means Flash has his work cut out for him," Twilight said. "I end my turn," Grand Hoof said, as the Magna Casters disappeared. "Stealth Rouge's ability ends meaning the cards I took now return," he took the cards and threw them back at Flash. Flash caught them and added them to his hand before looking up at Grand Hoof's field. Those ninja monsters could have abilities that could be a problem, so what could he do?" "There's that look again," Flash looked over to his grandfather with a confused look. "That look you have, the one that says you have doubts whether you can win or not. I have to wonder where you get it from, because it certainly wasn't your father." "So your saying my dad would just Duel blindly without thinking?" Flash asked. "I'm saying your father never worried about winning or losing a Duel," Grand said, "he would just Duel his hardest and never give up. A quality you seem to be lacking right now." Grand Hoof looked around the alleyway and sighed. "I remember the first time I saw him Duel." "Thanks for the help Daddy," a young Misty Vail said as she and Grand Hoof were walking down the street. Misty was carrying a metal briefcase in both hands. "It's nothing Pumpkin," Grand Hoof said. "I just can't believe Mr Sombra entrusted me with picking up these cards and bringing them in," Misty said. Grand Hoof let out a unfriendly hum at that, making his daughter roll her eyes. "You have got to get over this Daddy," she told him, "Mr Sombra's a good man." "I don't trust him," Grand Hoof said, "call it intuition." "I just think being on the force for so long as made you paranoid," Misty said. Before the two could say anything else Grand Hoof stopped the two, causing Misty to follow his sight towards a trio of teens in punk gear with outrageous hair styles. "So our tip was right," one with a mohawk said staring at the case with the Freeze Industries logo. The trio stepped forwards as Grand Hoof pushed Misty back. "Just hand it over sweetheart," Mohawk said, "and we won't hurt ya." "What do we do?" Misty asked. They couldn't give up these cards. Grand Hoof growled at the punks who would threaten his daughter, but knew they couldn't fight them off. He grabbed her by the hand and yelled, "RUN!" They shot back down the street, and then turned into an alleyway he knew lead to a busy street. The only problem was when they were half way down it, two more punks jumped down from out of no where and blocked their path as the other tree arrived behind them. "You had your chance," Mohawk said. Misty was shaking but she couldn't let them have the case, so she put it down and then pulled out her D-Pad and affixed it to her arm. "Oh," Mohawk said as he and his gang laughed, "the little lady wants to try and Duel her way out huh?" "I won't let you take these card," Misty said. "Is that so?" The five punks took out their own D-Pads and placed them on their arms. "Good luck Duelling all five of us." "She won't be," Grand Hoof said affixing his own D-Pad to his arm. "The old fart can Duel?" "Watch who you call old," Grand Hoof said. "Whatever," Mohawk said, "just don't have a heart attack when we beat ya." He stepped forwards ready to Duel, but then something flew through the air and stuck itself into the ground. Looking down everyone saw it was a Duel Card, but where did it come from? "Every card has a destiny," everyone heard a voice say. They looked up and saw a man with orange skin and blue hair, sitting on the edge of the roof of one of the buildings they were between. He wore a red overcoat with a white yolk, pockets and cuffs with a collar that struck up. "Stealing those cards will deny the Duellist destined to have them, to Duel with them." "Who's this guy?" Mohawk said. "Names Trail Blazer," the guy said as he stood up and then leaped down off the roof, his coat acting as a parachute to cushion his fall allowing him to land between the first three punks and Misty and Grand. He pulled a D-Pad out of his jacket and attacked it to his arm, "I got these three." "You can't take them on your own." Grand Hoof said. "Of course I can," Trail replied, "anything is possible in Duelling as long as you believe." "Your father never let the impossible slow him down," Grand Hoof said, "he would keep pushing no matter what got in his way." Everyone was speechless at the tale of how Flash's parents had met. The only one not effected was Flash it seems. "Whatever," he said, "it's my turn and with it I'll show you a real Pendulum Summon. I set scale one Magna Caster Lunara and scale eight Magna Caster Solaris into the Pendulum Scale," the pillars of light appeared as the magicians flew up. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory," Flash chanted as the portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and two lights shot out. "To arms, Flash Knight." (A1800/D600/L4/P7) "Twin Lazor Dragon, energised." (A2100/D1500/L5) "Next I play Reverse Polarity," Flash said, "This card raises the attack of a monster on my field by the difference between it and a monster on your field. I'm raising Flash Knight's ATK to equal you Twin Blade Shinobi." (A2400/D600/L4/P7) "Meanwhile your Twin Blade's ATK is lowered by the same amount." (A1800/D2300/L7) "Now I attack with Flash Knight," he ordered as his knight raised his weapon and charged. "I activate Twin Blade Shinobi's ability," Grand Hoof said. "By tributing a Ninja monster I can negate your attack." "But you don't have any Ninja monsters," Flash said. "My Shinobi monsters count as Ninjas so I can sacrifice Shinobi Shadow Striker," Grand Hoof said. Twin Blade Shinobi swung its katanna and sliced through Shadow Striker, then used them to block Flash Knight's attack. "Now I activate Shadow Striker's ability, since he was destroyed due to an effect I can target another Ninja monster in my graveyard and add it to my hand." Grand Hoof removed a card from his graveyard, "and now Shinobi Commander's ability activates. Since a monster was added to my hand due to a card effect, I can Special Summon it face up on the field. In a flash of light a monster appeared on the field, revealing Shinobi Shadow Striker. "But how?" Flash asked. "Remember Stealth Rouge's ability?" Grand asked, "I used it to send another copy of Shadow Striker to the graveyard. Now I've created the ultimate defence." Flash growled. "Twin Lazor Dragon attack Shinobi Shadow Striker," his robotic dinosaur fired its blaster at the ninja. "Once again I activate Twin Blade's ability." "So you can stop any attack?" Flash asked, as he watched the ninja once again destroy Shinobi Shadow Striker and negate the attack before using the same combo as before to resummon Shadow Striker. "He can keep using that ability again and again," Flash said. "So what will you do?" Grand asked, "this is a wall for you to overcome. Can you?" Flash frowned hearing this. "Your father wouldn't hesitate with that question," Grand Hoof said. "I've seen him do it many a time, significantly the first time I saw him Duel." "Divine Sky Angel attack" Misty ordered, as her monster drew its heavenly arrow and fired a shot destroying her opponents monster, reducing their life points to zero. "Great work sweetie," Grand Hoof said as they deactivated the D-Pads after their Tag-Duel. They turned to where Trail Blazer was in his three on one Duel, with two of his opponents down to under a thousand while Mohawk was still at his origanal four thousand. Trail Blazer currently had only eleven hundred life points and no monsters on his field. The punks meanwhile each had three copies of Gear Golem the Moving Fortress, a copy of Level Limit Area B and a face down each. "Face it loser," Mohawk said, "you can't win." "Says who?" Trail said, "In Duelling there's no such thing as a no win scenario. With the right card you can do anything." What a load of bull," Mohawk said, "just give up." "He's right," Misty told him, "let us help you." "Don't worry about it," Trail said back to her, "I'll be fine. Just because a Duel looks bad, it doesn't mean you can't turn it around. You know what it is? It's kind of like those swingy things." "Swingy things?" Grand asked. "You know, those things you see on clocks that always swing." "You mean," Misty guessed, "a pendulum." "There we go," Trail said, "a pendulum. Duelling's like a pendulum. If it swings one way, then it can just as easily swing back the other way to." "Enough talk," Mohawk said, "just finish your turn so you can lose." Trail Blazer smirked back at them. "Oh I'll finish something alright, but it won't be my turn." He placed his hand on his deck, "It's time for this Duel to swing my way. I...DRAW." Trail looked at his card and smiled, "I play the Spell card Mystical Revival. By paying a thousand life points I can revive one monster for every Spell card on your field." Trail Blazers life points dropped to a hundred as his opponent's Spell cards glowed, before shooting out a dark light which flew onto Trail's field. "I summon..." The lights faded revealing Trail's new monsters "Blazing Soul Firefly." (A900/D1400/L3) "Blazing Soul Dragon, Magma Breath Dragon." (A1800/D1500/L4) "And Blazing Soul Dragon, Burnout Dragon." (A2200/D1800/L6) "Those three can't get passed our unbreakable defence," Mohawk said. "They can't," Trail said as he took the last card in his hand, "But this can." He held the card high and chanted, "with the flame of adventure burning in his soul, he will incinerate anything in his way to forge a path to the future." His three monsters suddenly burst into flames which pulled together into a tornado of fire. Everyone watched in amazement as they saw something appear in the tornado. "Blazing Soul Dragon, Trail Blazer Dragon." The flame dissipated revealing a massive red humanoid dragon, with two sets of wings and three large horns. Two were where his ears should be while the third was on his snout. (A3000/D3000/L8) "Your monster might be powerful," Mohawk said, "but with our Level Limit Area B it's useless." "That's what you think," Trail said before looking up at his dragon, "do it." The dragon flapped its wings and shot giant embers onto the field, causing everything to be set ablaze. "What's happening?" Mohawk yelled. "When Trail Blazer Dragon is summoned using three monsters, he destroys every other card on the field and inflicts two hundred points of damage to each cards owner." The fires destroyed everything on the field, and burned the three punks, reducing two of them to zero life points leaving only Mohawk who had three thousand life points. "Now Trail Blazer Dragon," Trail said, "destroy him." The dragon let out a fire ball which flew straight at Mohawk, sending him flying back as his life points were reduced to zero. With the Duel over everyone was in shock at the turn around. Misty came out of hers when she saw the briefcase being offered to her. "I believe this is yours miss," Trail said. Misty smiled and took the case, holding it close to her. "Thank you," she said, "you have no idea how much trouble I'd have been in if I'd lost this." "It's fine," Trail said, "I'm Trail Blazer." "I know," she said, "my names Misty Vail." "Well it's nice to meet you miss Vail," Trail said with a smile, making Misty blush. "That was quite an impressive feet Mr Blazer," Grand said. "Just call me Trail," he said, "and that was nothing. I've gotten out of worse situations." "How did you know you could still win?" Grand asked. "I didn't," Trail replied placing a hand over his heart, "but as long as my spirit burned with the will to win then I knew I still had a chance." "Even when things were at their bleakest, your father would never give up trying." Grand Hoof finished his story, letting it sink into their minds. "It's my draw," Grand said, "I attack Flash Knight with Twin Blade Shinobi." The ninja held out its blades and slashed them at the Pendulum Monster, destroying it. Grand: 4000 Flash: 3400 Flash felt himself fall to his knees after the attack. "I end my turn with a face down," Cold looked over at his grandson. "Get up Flash. Get up and push on." "I can't," Flash said. "Yes you can." "No I can't," Flash almost yelled. "I'm not like you and I'm not like my dad. I don't have this blazing spirit he talked about." "That's a lie," Grand Hoof said getting Flash's attention. "You do have that spirit, I've seen it many times and so have your friends." "What are you talking about?" Flash asked. "Ever since I learned you'd begun Duelling again I've kept an eye on you. I was there at the Micro Tournament. Four times that day I watched you face a great obstacle and overcome it, using that same burning spirit your father had. Then last week, when you and Scootaloo snuck out." "You saw that?" Scootaloo asked nervously. "I did," he replied, "and I watched your Duel against the last Celestic Cup Champion. How you managed to overcome that wall. And then there was the Survival Duel, where I saw you Duel against many great Duellists. Each time you came across an obstacle you managed to push back against it despite the odds, using that unshakeable will you inherited from your father...but now." Flash froze. "Losing your points like that has caused you to lose that fire." He pointed at him, "can you feel it Flash? Your willpower is weakening." Flash took what Grand Hoof said to heart. "Understand?" he asked. Flash was shaking as those thoughts ran through his head. "It's true, my will as a Duellist was lacking." "Oh Flash," Twilight said. "Losing my points," Flash said, "it made me realise that for the first time." "Well," Grand asked, "what are you going to do about it?" Flash wanted to say he didn't know, but that would be a lie. He knew what he had to do! "I will get stronger," he said as he slowly stood up, "I'll overcome anything in my way and grow stronger with each challenge." Finally he stood tall, "from here until I win the Celestic Cup." Everyone smiled hearing this. Flash was back, his fire rekindled. Grand Hoof nodded. "Then come at me," he said, "right now I'm what's standing in your way. Show me that will, the will to overcome anything." "Hope your ready old man," Flash said, "because this is where the real Duel starts."