The week leading up to the card shop's tournament seemed to whirl by. Swamped by schoolwork and other assorted prior commitments, the girls didn't meet up at the card shop together as a full group again. Regardless; they all stopped by at one time or another when given the chance -- some to say hello to their new clerk acquaintance, who seemed more energetic as of late, or in the case of a certain few: to work on their Decks. Thus time passed, bringing Ashen Onyx to this moment: the Saturday morning of the event, which by this time was only a few hours away.

Onyx looked around the park to make sure everything was in order. There were signs that indicated that the Duel Field had been reserved by the shop for that day in a wide area surrounding it, and several booths operated by the employees had been set up in order to vend cards and refreshments to the players and any spectators that showed up -- seeing as admission was free, as long as the person in question wouldn't be Dueling in the tournament.

Onyx remembered the grumbling and complaints from Rainbow Dash when she had realized there was an admission fee, but along with Pinkie and -- as far as Onyx knew, unknown to the others aside from Twilight -- Sunset Shimmer, she paid for her entry just like the other contestants. As the scene was still developing within Canterlot, the final roster had ended up being relatively small. Even so; out of the sixteen participants, only one could be declared the winner -- and in the single elimination environment, they would be sure to play their best. At least, that was the plan.

Handing a handful of printouts displaying the bracket to one of his fellow employees, Onyx took a moment to sit down in the shade beneath one of the oak trees. Conflicting feelings raced through his mind as he tried to take some calming breaths and relax. While the weather outside seemed as though it would be fantastic and the preparations were proceeding as smoothly as possible, there was something that nagged at his thoughts -- a faint uneasiness that assured Onyx that something dark was on the horizon.

He laid back against the bark and rested his head against his arms. Hopefully I'm just overthinking things. Maybe I'll ask how Sunset or Twilight feel when they show up. They seem like they'd be more in tune with this stuff.

"Hey, Onyx! You going to keep lazing around like that or do you feel like getting back in gear soon? We don't have all day, you know!"

Onyx groaned. "I've been sitting here for like ten seconds!" he called back as he got to his feet. Whatever, might as well try to take my mind off of things...

As Onyx and his fellow employees continued to prepare the area and the to-be vendors and other such personnel for their duties for the day, a quiet onlooker glared in the direction of the Duel Field with a sinister look in his eye. "Looks like it's almost time," he muttered. "Let's just hope they show up soon."

Rainbow Dash practically cackled as she rubbed her hands together. "This is going to be easy! I'll swoop in, beat everyone in one turn with all my awesome combos and take the first place prize! The... the, uh..." she trailed off, coming to a full stop in the middle of the sidewalk, her friends all pausing behind her as to not slam right into her back. "What exactly is the prize for winning?"

"The shop's home page said that top three contestants -- or four, actually; due to the single elimination style and number of participants -- all receive a number of card packs of their choice and a trophy, with first place getting five and it decreasing by one from there. The winner and runner up both get a custom set of card protectors and a play mat. And... it looks like the one who takes it all gets to also choose a specific 'prize card' from a small pool of choices," Twilight rattled off, having gone over every detail of the event prior to meeting up with the others in the event something like this happened to come up.

"It's a policy of the company that actually produces the game. They don't offer any direct cash prizes in their tournaments, so One/Two Shuffle!! simply decided to follow that precedent."

Applejack smirked and lightly nudged Rainbow in the side. "Might be gettin' a little ahead o' yourself there, girl. Already talking 'bout prizes and whatnot? You ain't even seen the rest of the competition yet!"

"She's got a point, Dash." Sunset fell into step beside Rainbow Dash -- who was currently swatting away Applejacks prodding elbow -- as the group walked along. "And don't forget: I'm not planning on making things easy for you."

"Me neither!" Pinkie Pie squeezed between Applejack and Rainbow, bounding along the sidewalk. "Or is it either? Whichever it is, I'm also not going to just let you win! Pinkie needs a new pair of slinkies."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I'm not sure if you're being serious or you just wanted that to rhyme. Well; whatever! We'll just have to see which of us is more skilled." Rainbow ducked back, wrapping her arm around Fluttershy's shoulder. "At least 'shy over here is gonna be in my corner, right?"

"Oh! Um; if that's what you want, Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy smiled. "I'll be able to put all that cheering practice we did to good use!"

"Ooh! Ooh! If Fluttershy is going to be on Team Rainbow Dash, then I'm going to be on Team Sunset Shimmer!" Pinkie exclaimed, waving her arms frantically.

"Pinkie," Twilight laughed. "If you're going to be on any team at all, shouldn't you be on 'Team Pinkie Pie?'"

"You're only saying that because you want to be on Team Sunset all by yourself!"

"Oh, yeah. Then in that case: I call Applejack!" Pinkie zipped back over to the farmhand and pulled her in. "You know what they say: (possible) family comes first!"

Applejack chuckled. "I reckon somebody somewhere has gone and said that at least once. Team Pinkie sounds good to me. Who're you rootin' for, Rarity?"

"Me? Hm; I wasn't aware I was going to have to choose a side. I think I shall reserve my decision for after I've seen the cards you've all chosen to play. Provides an opportunity to weigh my options and such."

"Of course! I'm on the side of fabulousity, darling -- always have been. I thought you would have picked that up at some point."

The group turned and their gazes followed Pinkie's outstretched finger. They were greeted with the sight of a sizable crowd gathering around the central Canterlot Park's Duel Field -- some strangers, but others familiar. As they approached the "venue" for the day, they were even able to spot a multitude of students from Canterlot High: including the DJ Vinyl Scratch and exchange student Octavia Melody, Photo Finish, Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon, Bulk Biceps, and even Flash Sentry.

"Wow," whistled Sunset as she and her friends walked ever closer to the arena and all the contestants and spectators present. "Looks like we're going to be putting on quite the show today."

"Ha ha; you can say that again." Onyx waved as he walked over to the seven girls, an employee lanyard labeled "T.O/Judge" slung around his neck.

"Sure are. Well; for the most part, at least." Onyx looked pensive for a moment. "Setup has been great, everything's gone according to plan -- but the whole time I had this bizarre feeling like... I dunno how to describe it other than: something felt off."

"That's... reassuring." Sunset looked around for a bit, but didn't see anything even remotely suspicious that could have been the cause of her friend's distress. "Maybe it's just nerves. I'm sure everything's going to be fine."

Rainbow and Twilight grimaced. "Oh, great. That's the thing that only ever gets said when something is definitely not going to be fine."

Onyx shrugged. "Well; let's hope she's right. Though that's enough from me -- what about you guys? You find anything interesting to report about the, uh... the one thing?" he asked, eyes shifting over to the box clipped to Sunset's belt.

Sunset, following his gaze, removed the box from her belt and flipped it open. She pulled the one card from the box covered by a black sleeve rather than the bright orange she had chosen for her own set. "We did find out a few things, but I'm not sure we have the time to elaborate on any of them right now. I do think you should take this back, though," she said as she held the card out in front of her.

Onyx stared at the card for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah. I'll wait until the day's over. You can make it with that deck of yours, so why don't you let it stretch its legs out there?"

"Hey, Onyx!" a second employee called, jogging up to the group. "We're having one last quick meeting before things get started. We need you over there, stat."

"On it." Onyx turned back towards the girls and flashed an apologetic smile. "Guess I'll see the seven of you in a bit. Head over to the stand that says 'Contestants' on it as soon as you can -- you can pick up the bracket listings and your rental Duel Disks from there. Catch you later!"

Sunset and the others watched as Onyx headed over to a gathering of other employees, chatting cheerfully with the one who had come to fetch him.

Twilight patted Sunset on the back. "We'll try again once things start winding down. Let's head to that stand so we can get you, Pinkie, and Rainbow ready to go once they're done over there."

The girls whirled around to see Trixie standing with her hands on her hips, equipped with a lanyard of her own: this one labeled "Volunteer."

"Trixie? Oh yeah, you did say you were gonna be helping them out here today. Don't you have to go to that meeting thing?" Rainbow asked, glancing toward the employees gathered around Onyx, who appeared to be going over some sort of checklist.

"I may be helping out, but I'm not an employee. The Great and Powerful Trixie! is simply here to help her old friend. And... her new ones, I guess? Come on, I can grab your brackets and the Disks you're renting." Trixie motioned for the others to follow and headed to the "Contestants" stand, rummaging around for a few moments before popping back up with the aforementioned items.

Rainbow grumbled as Sunset and Pinkie had their Disks fitted by Trixie. "Still can't believe they're handing these new models out for practically nothing at all, even if it's only for a few hours." She looked over the tournament bracket, scanning the list for her name among the sixteen total.

Trixie clicked Sunset's Disk into place on her wrist and activated the hard light blade, switching the display color to a reddish-orange. "Everything was set up randomly, no seeds or anything -- so blame the web site for the set up if you're not happy about it."

Fluttershy peeked over Rainbow's shoulder to look over the list beside her. "Oh; I hope that the three of you don't have to face each other in the first round."

Rarity leaned in from Rainbow's opposite side. "It would make my inevitable team selection that much easier, though."

Trixie moved on to Pinkie's Disk, igniting the blade and changing the display color to a soft, baby blue as per the bubbly girl's request. "Team selection? You mean you all split into groups based on who's competing?"

"Yeah!" Pinkie chirped, waving around the blade and giggling at every whoosh that followed it. "Me and AJ are on Team Me; Twilight and Sunset are on Team Sunset; and Fluttershy is with Dashie on Team Rainbow! Rarity didn't pick because she hasn't seen how pretty my cards are yet!"

Trixie stepped back to avoid getting smacked by Pinkie's Disk. "Uh-huh. If I had to pick one at all, I'd probably go with Team Rainbow. I did use my astounding level of expertise to lend a hand with her Deck construction, after all."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she fished her own Duel Disk out of her bag, laying the paper out on the table the stand was set around. "Thanks, I guess. Do you know if the matches have to be played in the order they're listed here?" she asked as she donned and activated her peripheral, nodding with satisfaction as it clicked into place.

Applejack strode over to the other side of the stand and spun the paper around so she could check it for herself. "And you're up against... no way! You're up against Braeburn? Well; I'll be!"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at Applejack. "I thought the name sounded kind of familiar. Friend of yours?"

Pinkie snatched the list and smashed it into her face in an attempt to find her own name in quite possibly the least efficient manner possible. "What about me? Where are me and Sunset?!"

Sunset gently peeled the list off of Pinkie's face and held it a few inches from her eyes. "Try now."

"Oh, that's better!" Pinkie said, scouring the names for her own. "A-ha! There I am! It looks like I'll be playing in the fourth match of the first round!"

"Seems that I'll be playing in the third match." Sunset noted with a frown, looking up at Pinkie. "That means we'll already be Dueling each other in round two if we both win our games."

To her credit, Pinkie seemed much more excited by the prospect than Sunset. "I guess that means we have to make sure we do just that. Playing against you should be a whole lot of fun!" she giggled. "But I can't let you win if I want to play with Rainbow Dash, too!"

Sunset's features softened into a smile and she chuckled. "Glad you're so excited. You're right; it should be a blast."

The sound of microphone feedback rang out across the park, coming from the direction of the Duel Field. "Competitors! Spectators!" came Onyx's voice from the field's built-in speakers. "It's about noon, which means we're just about ready to roll up the curtain and start this show proper!" he announced to the cheers and whoops from the people assembled in the park.

The eight girls left the stand, after making sure they had their bracket lists and other assorted belongings and headed toward the arena. Trixie smirked as they approached the stage. "It's not quite the presentation The Great and Powerful Trixie! is used to, but it's effective enough."

Onyx waited for the rabble to calm before he continued. "However; it seems as if a few of our contestants are running a little late -- but they've all called to assure us that they're on their way. Until then, I'm sure you'd rather we bring up some of our competitors right away so you can get a taste of what's to come, huh?"

Another round of cheers affirmed this, and it looked like the response Onyx had been hoping for. "That's good! I was hoping you'd all agree. One of our players has a bit of an issue when it comes to being patient, so since she and her opponent are already here, why don't they get their round sorted out nice and early? Come on up to the stage: Braaaebuuuurn and Raaainbooow Dash!"

Rainbow laughed and pumped her fist as the applause sounded around her. "Perfect! Looks like I was worried for nothing. I'll say 'hi' to your cousin for you, AJ!" She ran to the field and hopped up the side, waving to the crowd while flashing a confident grin.

Braeburn was the next to come up to the stage, donning a western-style hat of his own -- that enough bringing out a great deal of the family resemblance between himself and Applejack. "Howdy there," he greeted Rainbow Dash as they met in the middle of the stage. "My cousin over yonder has told me a bit about you. Like the man over there said: the name's Braeburn. Nice to meet'cha." He extended his hand for a shake, which Rainbow accepted.

"Same to you. Sorry in advance, by the way. You know; for embarrassing you in front of her and all."

Braeburn laughed. "Funny. Was about to say that myself. May the best player win."

Onyx took that as his cue to take over one last time. "All right, everybody! One last time I'd like to welcome you to One/Two Shuffle!!'s 'Burgeoning Battles' Duel Monsters tournament! After this match concludes we'll be opening the vendors's stalls and setting up the side events -- so make sure to take a look around once these two fierce competitors lay down their Disks. Without further ado: Duel start!"

The two competitors took their cues, backing up into their respective sides and raising their Duel Disks, the system blinking between the two before stopping on Rainbow Dash, naming her the first to play. Both Duelists drew their first five cards, looked into each other's eyes, and sounded off the call:

“DUEL FIELD: ONLINE;
SINGLE GAME -- ONE ON ONE;
SOLID VISION SYSTEM FUNCTIONING NORMALLY;
DUEL START.”

TURN: ONE
RAINBOW -- 4000 LP
HAND: 5

Rainbow looked over the cards in her hand properly, finding that she had lucked out big time right off the bat. Awesome! she thought, a plan hatching in her head. Since I'm the one starting, there should be nothing he can do to stop this play from happening! "Get ready, Braeburn! I'm gonna start things off with a bang. Since I control no monsters: I can Special Summon Speedroid Terrortop from my hand!"

The multi-part spinning top rushed to the field to heed its master's call, wriggling its body to and fro. "When this monster hits the field, I can use its effect -- which lets me grab one of my other Speedroid monsters from my Deck." Rainbow tapped a button and a card was stuck out amidst the others, the whole stack being shuffled automatically once she took a hold of it. "Like this one: Speedroid Taketomborg -- which I'm allowed to Summon since I control a WIND Attribute monster!" she declared as the spindly robot manifested itself in a flash of light.

"This feels mighty familiar," Applejack mused as she looked at Rainbow's two creatures. "Ain't this how she started her Duel against Trixie?"

"It is," Twilight replied, consulting her notes. "It's one of her deck's more potent openings, if I understand the Speedroid archetype correctly."

Trixie nodded in agreement. "You'd probably be right in saying that. Though don't expect it to stay the same from here on out -- she's definitely picked up a few new tricks since back then."

"You know, it's kind of funny," Pinkie said. "It has only been about a week, but it somehow feels like it's been closer to a year. How weird is that?"

Rainbow Dash picked her Taketomborg right back off from her Disk and moved to place it in her Graveyard. "I'll activate its effect; Tributing it so that I can Summon another Speedroid from my Deck -- though this one has to be a Tuner."

Braeburn let out a low whistle. "You're doin' a whole lot considerin' you ain't even used your Normal Summon yet. Should I be scared?"

The good duke was decked out in what might be considered regal attire -- including a red cape that reached to its ankles, but the effect was ruined by the cartoonish nature of the card. Den-Den Daiko held its drum-topped staff aloft and did its best to look as intimidating as possible.

"A Tuner and a non-Tuner... that means you're gonna pull off one o' them Synchro Summon things, right?" Braeburn wondered aloud as he sized up Rainbow's newest card.

"Not this time!" Rainbow Dash denied. "Instead I'll go ahead and place both of my monsters in the Link Markers!"

That got a hoot out of Braeburn. "You too, huh? All righty then, let's see what you've got!"

Both of Rainbow's monsters turned into spirals of energy as a large gate-like object adorned with eight red arrows pointing in various directions appeared over the right side Extra Monster Zone of the holographic playing field. The two spirals drilled into the arrows on the bottom-left and bottom-right of the gate and the opening glowed a bright blue.

"Arrowheads confirmed! The conditions for this monster are any two WIND Attribute monsters!" Rainbow explained, holding up two fingers. "I Link Summon the Link Two Monster: Greatfly!"

The monster that emerged from the Link Circuit gate was a sight to behold. It was an absolutely colossal six-legged insect -- the forward two legs resembling arms more than anything. Or, rather; the left foreleg resembled an arm. Its right foreleg was more of a curved scythe-like protrusion that it brandished threateningly. The monster's violet eyes, locked in a perpetual glare, stared ahead as liquid dribbled out of its mouth between its rows of razor-sharp teeth.

From the audience, Rarity recoiled in horror. "Eugh! That beast is just absolutely horrid!"

"'Horrid' or not, this monster's gonna take me places! Right, big guy?!" Rainbow called to the insectoid beast, though this elicited no response from the monster. "While it's on the field, all WIND monsters -- including itself -- gain a big five hundred Attack and Defense Points!"

Greatfly was surrounded by a green aura, and its ATK value increased from its base 1,400 to a more impressive 1,900.

"Remember that Normal Summon you were talking about earlier? Well; here it comes: let's do this thing, Double Yoyo!" Rainbow continued, placing her next card onto one of the Monster Zones on her Disk. Double Yoyo emerged from its card and took its place on the field. The monster then spun one of its disc-like appendages into a glowing chasm that opened beneath it.

"When Yoyo here is Normal Summoned, I can use its effect to Special Summon a Speedroid from my Graveyard; and as it just so happens: I recently wound up with a couple of those. Come on back, Daiko Duke!" Rainbow commanded, waving as the monster was yanked back from the great beyond before taking its place on the field once more.

"Now I'll Synchro Summon! I'll tune the Level Four Yoyo with the Level Three Daiko Duke," Rainbow announced. The duke burst apart after sounding a beat on his drum and morphed into a series of rings. Yoyo leaped through the rings and became a pillar of bright green light. A blinding flash of white erupted from the point of contact, forcing those present to shield their eyes.

Rainbow Dash clasped her hands together and closed her eyes tightly, brows knit as if she was trying to remember something. "Blistering dragon with your translucent wings, rush headlong to my side so that we can take this guy down in no time! Appear! Level Seven: Clear Wing Fast Dragon!"

The dragon zipped out of the flash of light with a roar, spun in place and struck a fierce pose. Its angular body was mostly made of a metallic-looking silver plating, though it was interrupted in several places by segments of stark white, black, and green. Instead of legs, it simply had a long pointed tail, also segmented into black and silver sections. As its name implied: its wings appeared to be made of a teal transparent, almost glass-like material.

Braeburn -- after lowering his arms and taking in the sight before him -- frantically looked between the new beast on the field and his Duel Disk's display, stunned by the sheer amount of information it presented him with. "W-whoa. I gotta tell you, partner: I ain't ever seen anything like that before. It sure is... mighty impressive."

"Thanks!" Rainbow replied. "I've taken a liking to it, myself. Oh -- by the way; Clear Wing here gains five hundred Attack Points thanks to Greatfly. Almost forgot about that." Rainbow looked on as Clear Wing was surrounded by the same aura that enveloped Greatfly and its strength increased from its base 2,500 to 3,000. "This move's gone on long enough, so I'll place this card face-down," she said as she slotted a card into her back row, "and end my turn!"

Braeburn adjusted his hat before drawing a card from his deck. "All that in one play. Looks like I've got quite the act t'follow, don't I?"

TURN: TWO
BRAEBURN -- 4000 LP
HAND: 6

"It's a good thing this ain't my first rodeo! Let's do this!" Braeburn said as he picked a card from his hand. "I'll start by activatin' my Field Spell: a little number called Boot Sector Launch."

Rainbow frowned and looked at her own Field Spell Zone -- currently occupied by Greatfly, due to the age of her Duel Disk model -- as the arena around her transformed. "Every time."

"I'm gonna go ahead and use the first effect of my Boot Sector, lettin' me launch these two Rokket monsters outta my hand!" Braeburn continued, taking two more cards from his hand and placing them on his own Disk. "Gather 'round, y'all; welcome my Metalrokket Dragon and Autorokket Dragon to the game!"

Sunset hummed, looking over the new dragons with furrowed brows -- the two Rokkets were both long, serpentine creatures coated in armor. Going along with the theme established by Boot Sector and the massive chamber that resembled the chamber of a revolver, their heads were shaped like various bullet casings.

"Oh; nothing." Sunset shrugged. "It's just that I don't really get it. His deck choice. Or; rather, I guess I wasn't expecting it. Since he's related to you, I figured he would play something more... I don't know -- apple and/or farm-related?"

"He's always been real into ol' Western movies. I just figured he was goin' off of that. Hollywood cowboys and those guns o' theirs an' all."

Braeburn crossed his arms and smirked at Rainbow. "Your monsters might get a bit o' help from your big bug there, but mine'll get a three hundred point boost from my Field Spell too," he explained as Metalrokket and Autorokket both had their DEF values increase from 1,400 and 1,000 to 1,700 and 1,300, respectively.

"Big deal! Neither of them can beat Greatfly or Clear Wing. Your Spell brought both of them out in Defense Position -- and they're not going to be doing any damage to me that way."

"According to this here," the onlooker that had spent much of his morning in the shade of the various trees scattered around the park muttered to himself, glancing occasionally from afar at the ongoing Duel between Rainbow Dash and Braeburn. "I'm going to have to get through one of these two in order to get to the girl who's holding on to that Xyz Dragon card."

He closed his eyes, forcing his hand to stay at his side and not rush up to his head in reflex as the now expected but no less severe pain tore through his mind. "You're really going to need to shut up if you don't want us getting called out for being suspicious," he growled, his eyes darting toward the direction of the box clipped onto his own belt.

"You knew this was going to be a process. We both did. The more we know about these people, the easier it'll be for you to get exactly what you want," he continued, folding the bracket paper and stuffing it into his pocket. "Until then: we sit back, relax, and 'enjoy' the show."

TO BE CONTINUED...

What Lies Within

by Rebellious_Requiem

The Day of Conflict Arrives! Beware the Looming Darkness!