//------------------------------// // Countdown to Defeat // Story: Yu-Gi-Oh! EG: Neo W.R.P.G U.S. Selection Arc // by foxmaster //------------------------------// Silver sped right past Sunny and then drew his opening hand. Sunny decided it was time to commence “Phase Two” of the plan to beat Team Silver Wing. Despite everything Lightning had left behind for Silver, Sunny was determined to keep fighting. DUEL Silver Chance: 4000 LP Sunny Flare: 900 LP “My turn -- I draw!” Silver said as he drew his sixth card. Thanks to Lightning, Silver had a good initial lead over Sunny in terms of card advantage. Silver was eager to end things before they got any tougher for him. “I use Lightning’s already Set Scales to Pendulum Summon my Buster Blader in Attack Mode!” Buster Blader appeared from a stream of orange energy and swung his sword in a wide arc; ready to fight. Buster Blader LV: 7 ATK: 2600 “Time for me to end this! Buster Blader: attack Sunny directly!” Buster Blader charged forward and leaped into the air. Just as Buster Blader was about to land his attack Sunny grabbed an Action Card and activated it. “I activate the Action Spell: Sonic Boom! Not only does this stop your attack, but it also ends the Battle Phase!” “Fine. I Set three cards face-down and end my turn,” Silver reluctantly said as each of his face-downs appeared behind his one monster. “My turn; I draw!” Sunny said as she drew her fourth card. Sunny decided to initiate the plan she had in mind -- hopefully leaving Indigo in a good position to fight Silver. “First, I summon The Phantom Knights of Tattered Scarf.” A phantom made of blue fire wearing a black tunic and a ripped up blue scarf materialized on Sunny’s field. The Phantom Knights of Tattered Scarf LV: 4 ATK: 1200 “Since I Normal Summoned Tattered Scarf, I can use its first effect to summon The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves from my Graveyard and make it level four!” Sunny explained as Tattered Scarf threw its scarf into a portal and dragged Ragged Gloves back from the great beyond. The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves LV: 3 + 1 = 4 ATK: 1000 “I hope you’re ready for what I’m gonna do next -- I Overlay my Tattered Scarf and Ragged Gloves!” Both of Sunny’s phantoms turned into purple streams of energy and entered the galaxy-like Xyz Summoning portal. “Collective souls of the knights that have fallen on the battlefield -- revive, and become the light that protects the innocent! Xyz Summon! Come forth! Rank Four! The Phantom Knights of Shattered Shield!” A headless knight wielding a massive shield, run through with a multitude of cracks across its surface, was enveloped in a blue fire; falling hard onto the field. The new knight slammed what was left of his shield onto the ground and crouched behind it. The Phantom Knights of Shattered Shield RANK: 4 DEF: 3000 “Since I used Tattered Scarf as a Xyz Material, you must mill the top five cards from your Deck!” Shattered Shield threw out some blue flame-like threads that went flying at Silver’s Deck, yanking five cards from it. 36 - 5 = 31 “Don't think you're off the hook just yet -- because next, I activate the Spell Level Domination! This Spell Card forces you to mill cards equal to the level of the highest level monster you control. Since that's your friend’s Stardust Dragon: you have to mill a total of eight cards.” Silver began the milling process again and then realized what Sunny was doing. She was aiming to beat Silver by Deck Destruction. 31 - 8 = 23 “Before I let you whittle away at my deck any further, I activate my Trap: Destruction Sword Showdown!” Silver said as a trap depicting an image of Buster Blader fighting an army of dragons revealed itself. “This Trap not only switches your monster hiding behind that shield in Defense Mode to Attack Mode; it also forces it to attack my Buster Blader.” Shattered Shield placed his massive shield on his back and drew a long cobalt sword made from the spirits of the fallen warriors. The Phantom Knights of Shattered Shield RANK: 4 ATK: 1100 Sunny’s monster charged forward at Buster Blader until Sunny noticed an Action Card to her left and leaned in to grab it. Sunny felt relieved as she saw what she had grabbed. “I activate the Action Spell Offensive Block! This allows me to switch my monster back to Defense Mode, which will also cancel the attack.” Shattered Shield skidded to a halt and sheathed his sword, pulling his massive shield back out and kneeling behind it once more. The Phantom Knights of Shattered Shield Rank: 4 DEF: 3000 “Now that your little attempt at finishing me off is done, I activate Shattered Shield’s effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit: I can force you to mill two more cards from your Deck for each face-up monster on the field! UNITS: 2 - 1 = 1 “Since you have three monsters, and I have the one; that's a total of eight cards that you can kiss goodbye.” Shattered Shield slammed his shield on the ground and sent the debris flying at Silver’s Deck. Silver milled the eight extra cards with a frown. 23 - 8 = 15 “To end things off, I play one card face-down!” Sunny said as a face-down card appeared behind Shattered Shield. “My turn -- I draw!” Silver said as he drew his third card. Silver needed to end this before his Deck ran out if he wanted to win, and he figured the best way to do so was to break through that sturdy shield of Sunny’s. “First: I Normal Summon the Tuner monster Golem Buster Destruction Sword in Attack Mode!” A grey dragon clad in gold armor carrying a heavy sword made of freshly-dug ruby flew up as high as it could before dropping the sword and landing on the hilt. Golem Buster Destruction Sword LV: 2 ATK: 800 “Next; I play the Trap Call of The Haunted and bring back my Whirlwind Buster from the Graveyard!” Another grey dragon rose up from a portal, but this one had feathers in its fur and was carrying a different sword with a wing-like design on the hilt. It flew next to Silver carrying its sword. Whirlwind Buster Destruction Sword LV: 1 ATK: 300 “Time for me to bring out my secret weapon! I tune my level two Golem Buster with my level one Whirlwind Buster and level seven Buster Blader!” Golem Buster jumped off its sword and then burst into two stars and then two green rings that encircled Buster Blader and Whirlwind Buster which then formed into a straight pillar of light. 1 + 7 + 2 = 10 “mighty hero who slays all that is evil; evolve -- with the power of a mighty dragon’s flame, come forth and slay my foes! Synchro Summon! Slay them all! Level Ten! Buster Blader The Dragon Champion!” A much stronger version of Buster Blader with ruby colored armor and an impossibly big sword with six different gems embedded into the blade appeared and raised his sword high above his head. Buster Blader The Dragon Champion LV: 10 ATK: 3500 + 5000 = 8500 “As you probably guessed: just like Buster Blader, my new monster gains extra ATK for every dragon that's on our fields and in our Graveyards! Dragon Champion gains a shiny new 1000 for each!” Dragon Champion’s sword glowed brightly as it absorbed the power of Stardust from the field and the veritable army of Dragons sent to Silver’s graveyard. Silver was about ready to declare his attack when he saw an Action Card in front of him and grabbed it. “I activate the Action Spell Silver Wind! This gives my Stardust Dragon an extra 800 Attack Points!” Stardust was briefly surrounded by a shining silver tornado, that when dispersed left Stardust covered in a shimmering silver aura. 2500 + 800 = 3300 “Time for me to smash that shield of yours! Dragon Champion, attack Shattered Shield with Elemental Dragon Soul Slash!” The six gems on Dragon Champion’s sword began to flash and six beams each representing one of the six attributes spun around the sword as Dragon Champion swung down hard and sent a rainbow tornado blasting against Shattered Shield, eventually breaking through its shield and then destroying it in a great explosion. “Fool! You just activated my Shield’s final effect! When it’s destroyed, either by battle or by an opponent’s card effect, you must mill the top six cards of your deck!” The fragments of the broken shield struck Silver’s Deck once again and blue flames covered the top six cards, sending them to the Graveyard to join Silver’s other milled cards. 15 - 6 = 9 “No matter! As long as I still have a chance I will keep fighting! Stardust Dragon; let's put an end to this!” Stardust was about to pull its head back to attack until Sunny interrupted Silver’s command. “I activate the Trap Damage Lance! When you attack me directly with a monster with over 2000 Attack Points, not only does your monster lose 1000 ATK -- but you also take 1000 points of direct damage!” An energy wave hit Stardust and drained its ATK by 1000 and then washed over Silver. 3300 - 1000 = 2300 Silver Chance: 3000 LP Sunny Flare: 900 LP “Gooooooo! Cosmic Flaaaaaaaare!” Silver shouted with all his might as Stardust launched its beam attack and sent Sunny into a state of shock as her runner sputtered and emitted a trail of white smoke. Silver Chance: 3000 LP Sunny Flare: 0 LP Winner: Silver Chance 3300 - 800 = 2500 Lyra was cheering loudly in celebration of Silver’s victory -- until Lightning pointed out that Silver now only had nine cards left to work with against the last member of Team Shadowbolt, who would be coming out fresh. Sunny Flare pulled into her team’s pit and handed the baton to Indigo Zap for the final leg of the Duel. “Well, Indigo; the stage is yours! Silver only has nine cards left, so feel free to drag things out as much as you want.” “That Dragon Champion thing might be a challenge, though -- and I'm so stoked to accept it!” Indigo said as she took off, catching up with Silver in record time and drawing her own opening hand. DUEL Silver Chance: 3000 Indigo Zap: 4000 “My turn -- I draw!” Indigo said as she drew her sixth card. Indigo decided to first deal with Lightning’s Revolution Falcon. “First; since I currently have no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon my Photon Thrasher from my Hand!” A paladin made of light blue energy wearing cobalt armor appeared and readied his sword. Photon Thrasher LV: 4 ATK: 2100 “Next, I Normal Summon Photon Crusher in Attack Mode!” Another warrior made of light blue energy appeared and then spun its double tipped club around and then held it forward, taking a fighting stance. Photon Crusher LV: 4 ATK: 2000 “Now that I have two monsters with at least 2000 ATK on my field, I can Tribute them both so I can Summon my ultimate beast!” Both of Indigo’s monsters vanished as were replaced by strange looking shuriken which Indigo grabbed, tossing it high into the air, where it spun around and gathered energy inside of it. “Here comes a creature more savage than a supernova! Watch as he destroys all that oppose him! Behold, my Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!” The shuriken expanded, transforming into an armored dragon made of light photon energy, with eyes as deep and swirling as the galaxy itself. Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon LV: 8 ATK: 3000 8500 + 1000 = 9500 “I hope you’re ready, Chance! Galaxy-Eyes, attack Revolution Falcon with Photon Stream of Destruction!” Galaxy-Eyes reared its head back and fired a beam of photon energy from its wide-open mouth. “During the Battle Step, I activate Galaxy-Eyes’ effect! When he battles with a monster, he can banish both it and himself -- but here's the part you won't like! If he banishes a Xyz monster with this effect, he absorbs its remaining Overlay Units and gains 500 extra ATK for each of them!” Both monsters disappeared from the field, but after the battle ended, both Galaxy-Eyes and Revolution Falcon returned to their previous positions -- but this time, Lightning’s Falcon had indeed lost its Overlay Units and Galaxy-Eyes had gained strength from each of them. 3000 + 2000 = 5000 “I end my turn by setting two cards face-down!” Indigo said as two Set cards appeared behind Galaxy-Eyes. “My turn -- I draw!” Silver said as he drew his third card. 9 - 1 = 8 Silver needed a plan to get past Galaxy-Eyes. With no Overlay Units, Revolution Falcon had little to no tactical use, so Silver decided to do something with it. “To start things off: I activate the Spell Rank-Up Magic: Elemental Dragon Force! This Spell allows me to turn Revolution Falcon into a Dragon-Type Xyz monster that is one rank higher -- as long as its Attribute is the same as Revolution Falcon’s DARK Attribute!” Revolution Falcon turned into a burst of purple energy and then entered into the swirling, galaxy-like Xyz portal. “ mighty falcon of revolution; break free of your metal shell and evolve into a dragon of ultimate power! Rank-Up Xyz Evolution! Rise! Rank Seven! Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!” Revolution Falcon’s abandoned metallic armor shattered and from the explosion emerged Silver’s mighty Flare Metal Dragon. Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon Rank: 7 ATK: 2800 Units: 2 “Oh, and I almost forgot: Elemental Dragon Force then becomes an Overlay Unit for my new monster.” Pondering his next move, Silver decided to try and trick Indigo into using Galaxy-Eyes’ banishment effect to clear the way for his other monsters to end the match. “Time to finish this! Dragon Champion, attack Galaxy-Eyes!” Dragon Champion launched his attack with the hopes Silver had that Indigo would fall for his trap. However; Indigo knew just what Silver was planning -- and decided not to use the effect of Galaxy-Eyes this turn, instead she allowing him to destroy it. Silver Chance: 3000 Indigo Zap: 2500 “Nice try, Silver -- but I'm on to you! I knew you would try and trick me into banishing our monsters so mine would revert back to its original power level, while yours would only get stronger, but I'm not letting that happen! Now; since my Galaxy-Eyes bit the dust I can activate my Trap: Big Bang Overlay! When a ‘Photon’ or ‘Galaxy’ monster I control is destroyed by battle, I can Xyz summon using monsters in my Graveyard regardless of their levels -- and end your turn automatically!” Photon Thrasher, Photon Crusher, and Galaxy-Eyes all rose from the Graveyard and then turned into bright yellow streams of energy only Galaxy-Eyes’ light was spearheaded, instead of flat like the others. “Here comes a monster with more fury than ten black holes put together! Watch as he rips your hope to shreds! Xyz Summon! Roar! Rank Eight! Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!” A three-headed dragon made of a deep crimson energy roared fiercely as it flew onto Indigo’s field. Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon RANK: 8 ATK: 4500 UNITS: 3 “There’s this one thing I must mention: when Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon is used as a Xyz Material for this monster’s Xyz Summon, all of your face-up cards have their effects negated!” Neo Galaxy-Eyes roared once more and unleashed a pink soundwave that not only shut down Shield and Sword Lanius but also drained Dragon Champion of his additional draconic power. 9500 - 6000 = 3500 “Which means it’s my turn now -- I draw!” Indigo said as she drew her second card. Indigo finally had everything she needed to beat Silver and win the Duel. Now; she only needed to act. “Now I activate Neo Galaxy’s effect! By detaching an Overlay Unit, not only can Neo steal all of your monster’s Overlay Units, but each one stolen gives him 500 Attack Points and it can declare another attack for each one absorbed!” Neo Galaxy-Eyes latched onto and absorbed both of Flare Metal’s Overlay Units, using their power to grow even stronger. 4500 + 1000 = 5500 “Time for me to win this! For the glory of Crystal Prep! Neo Galaxy-Eyes, attack Dragon Champion with Ultimate Photon Stream of Destruction!” Neo Galaxy-Eyes fired a massive burst of red photon energy from its mouth, but the attack but was cut short when Silver played his last face-down card. “I’m not going to let this end here! I activate my Trap, Synchro Out! This Trap allows me to return my Dragon Champion from my field to my Extra Deck and Special Summon all the materials used for its Summon as long as they’re still in the Graveyard.” Buster Blader, Golem Buster, and Whirlwind Buster all came back to the field in Defense Mode -- and Neo Galaxy’s attack was stopped dead. Buster Blader LV: 7 DEF: 2300 Golem Buster LV: 2 DEF: 1500 Whirlwind Buster LV: 1 DEF: 2000 “Fine, then! Using the three attacks its effect allows it, I’ll just use my Photon Dragon to attack all three of them!” Neo Galaxy-Eyes launched another attack. As the blast approached, Silver noticed one final Action Card up ahead of him, and he decided to pin his hopes on it. Silver accelerated and grabbed it -- relieved to see that it could save him. “I activate the Action Spell Zero Out! This Spell lets me target one monster on the field and reduce its ATK to zero until the End Phase of the turn!” Neo wound up with a black zero stamped on its chest as its power drastically dropped. 5500 - 5500 = 0 Neo continued to attack since there was no turning back now and hit Golem Buster which caused it to deflect the blast with the power of reflection and hit Indigo right in the chest with a beam of light. Silver Chance: 3000 Indigo Zap: 1000 Indigo decided to end her attack since there was no point in attacking any further if she had no attack power to use. “Before I end my turn, I activate the Trap Photon Blast! This destroys one of your cards and inflicts 800 points of direct damage to you -- and the card I choose to destroy is Flare Metal!” A burst of blue light hit Flare Metal and blasted it into oblivion, catching Silver in the ensuing fiery blast. Silver Chance: 2200 Indigo Zap: 1000 0 + 4500 = 4500 “My turn -- I draw!” Silver said as he drew his third card. 8 - 1 = 7 Silver was still on a clock -- he needed to end this before he ran out of cards. Fortunately for him, Indigo had opened up one of his Monster Zones so he could Summon another monster in its place. “First, I Normal Summon Dragonpulse Magician in Attack Mode!” A man in a white robe wielding a double caliber with a long braid spun his sword and prepared to fight. Dragonpulse Magician LV: 4 ATK: 1800 “Time for me to bust out my ace! I tune my Golem Buster With Dragonpulse Magician and Whirlwind Buster!” Golem Buster threw its massive stone sword into the air with a lot of adrenaline and turned into two stars and then two rings and performed the usual synchro summon process. 1 + 4 + 2 = 7 “ mighty dragon that speeds through the boundaries of time and space! Rise from the ashes and shine your wings brighter than the sun! Synchro Summon! Roar! Level Seven! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!” A bright white dragon with see-through, emerald-tinted wings flew out and maneuvered swiftly through the mines, stopping by Silver’s side and letting loose a mighty roar. Clear Wing Synchro Dragon LV: 7 ATK: 2500 “But I’m not stopping there! Next, I mill my top card to Special Summon my Glow Up Bulb from my Graveyard!” 7 - 1 = 6 Glow-Up Bulb sprouted from the Graveyard and then bloomed on to Silver’s field. Glow-Up Bulb LV: 1 DEF: 100 “Now; it time that I showed you my newest power! I tune my level one Glow-Up Bulb with my level seven Clear Wing!” Glow-Up Bulb burst into a star and then a ring and encircled Clear Wing’s body. 7 + 1 = 8 “ mighty dragon that shines brighter than the sun! Evolve, and shine brighter than before -- with wings of crystal and power! Synchro Summon! Evolve! Level Eight! Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon!” An evolved version of Clear Wing -- sleeker, with wings made of shining crystals descended from the sky and took its previous form’s place next to it master, Silver. Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon LV: 8 ATK: 3000 “Before I begin the battle, I activate the Spell Rank Exchange! This spell changes one Xyz monster’s Rank into a Level -- so I change Neo Galaxy-Eyes from a Rank Eight monster to a Level Eight monster!” “Time for me to end this! Crystal Wing, attack Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and end this Duel!” Crystal Wing cried out and shot up high into the sky. It moved quickly and in a constellation-like pattern, before diving down, covered by a whipping whirlwind of energy. “Before you ask; when Crystal Wing fights with a level five or higher monster, it gains that monster’s Attack Points during the damage calculation! It’s all over here!” Crystal Wing’s speeding form glowed brightly as it gained the power of the opposing dragon. 3000 + 4500 = 7500 Crystal Wing rammed into Neo Galaxy-Eyes and ripped right through it, destroying it in a blaze of light and flame, thus draining the last of Indigo’s Life Points. Silver Chance: 2200 Indigo Zap: 0 Winner: Silver Chance “It’s all over, ladies and gentlemen! The winners of the first round of the A-Block are Team Silver Wing!” The MC shouted as Silver took a celebratory victory lap. Indigo shrugged and drove her way to her team’s pit and parked, moving to high-five her own and the other team for a well-fought and well-earned victory. Silver pulled over and went to the center stage to join his team in the GG high five. Unfortunately; the principal of Crystal Prep ran out of the stands and onto the stage in hysterics just to yell at the Shadowbolts for losing. “You three... are absolutely WORTHLESS! Not to mention a COMPLETE disgrace to the RESPECTED name of CRYSTAL PREP HIGH! You three will NEVER be allowed to show your faces in MY establishment EVER again because you three are hereby EXPELLED!” Cinch shouted down at her students with all the fury she could muster. Silver already had enough of this uptight old hag treating Lemon, Sunny, and Indigo like her own personal tools after only about a second of listening to her, and decided to stand up to her and defend them. “Now just WHO do you think you are, putting our new friends down like that?! They may have lost the Duel, but they gave it EVERYTHING they had! My dad was right about you! You ARE a TYRANT!” Silver shouted back to her face, almost as loud as she had been. Lemon and the other two Shadowbolts were surprised, but touched by Silver’s words -- and the crowd chanted Silver’s name as he showed such sportsmanship as he stood up for his opponents. As Cinch came ever closer to popping a blood vessel, she opened her mouth to argue, but Dean Cadence and the Superintendent of ECPS came on to the stage to offer their own two bits on the matter at hand. “Young Mister Chance here is RIGHT, Principal Cinch. This was meant to be a FRIENDLY competition, and the ONLY reason the school board approved of your students’ entrance into this tournament was to IMPROVE our relationships with other schools! But YOU only care about some stupid legacy! Abacus Cinch; I hereby relieve you of your position as the principal of Crystal Prep High School, and move to remove you as a teacher from the Equine County School District -- effective immediately!” the Superintendent declared with all the authority she had. Dean Cadence walked up to Silver and thanked him for doing what no one ever had the courage to do, and for defending her students. Silver told her that he was just doing what he thought was right. The crowd’s cheers grew ever louder as Cinch was escorted out of the arena by the stadium’s security for causing a disturbance. Silver invited the Shadowbolts to come to celebrate with him and his team, but they said they had to decline the offer since they had a school system to rebuild -- and with no principal left to guide them they were needed back at CPA. The Superintendent told them that she planned to promote Cadence to the principal’s seat since she felt Cadence would do a better job -- and that she had the right attitude for it. Back at the Saloon in Appleloosa, Sky Stinger -- along with everyone else in town watching the match -- began to cheer loudly as both sides went back to their pits to park and proceed to the endgame high-five. Sky was impressed by Silver’s resolve, and his courage when it came to defending both his friends and even his rivals. Vapor quipped at Sky to get his attention off the TV to join her and the others in the celebration of Team Silver Wing's first victory. The bartender pulled out the highest quality barrel of cider Appleloosa had, and everyone drank to the first win of Silver Wing’s W.R.G.P. season. Sometime later, after the group had returned to the Silver Mansion: Silver and his team were celebrating their first victory in the W.R.G.P tournament, currently in the midst of a victory toast. “To our first victory! Hopefully; the first of many!” the three of them said together as they clinked their glasses against the others’. While the celebration was in motion, Sunset and the rest of the Mane Seven -- or Nine, in this case -- came to congratulate them on their well-earned victory, not to mention Silver’s valiant act of courage that may have solved the massive friendship problem known as Crystal Prep. Sunset relayed that she and her team had also won their first round. Sunset alone managed herself against all three of the opposing Duelists after their first member had swept through both Twilight and Starlight. Silver was impressed by that feat and hoped that they would eventually meet in the final round. As Silver and Sunset fist bumped on that promise that they would do just that, Silver’s family butler reminded him that the second half of the first round of the A-Block was about to start, in just ten minutes! Silver and his friends left for the Stadium as quickly as they could to see who Team Silver Wing would be up against in the upcoming second round. Everyone arrived at the Duel just in time to see the endgame of the third Duelist from Team Wonderbolt. Unfortunately. their opponent was one that Silver remembered all too well: Oil Slick of Team Skull Crush, and his signature monster, Hook the Hidden Knight. Just as the Duel was about to end, Soarin’s Runner’s rear wheel suddenly locked up and caused him to spin out and crash in a spectacularly brutal way. The on-site medics rushed to his aid and wheeled the significantly injured Duelist out -- along with his teammate, Spitfire. Their final member Fleetfoot was the lucky one of the group. She had come out of the Duel with only minor injuries. Due to Soarin’s crash and subsequent disqualification by technicality: Team Skull Crush was declared the winner by default, as the officials could not find any evidence of foul play or signs of sabotage. Not only did Silver decide to avenge the injured team; but he also swore he and the others would get to the bottom of all this.