RANK 29: Fun Center Feud:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
THE STORY SO FAR...:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
In Canterlot High School, every student is wild over the world's most popular trading card game: Duel Monsters! Every day, players of the card game, known as "Duelists", go head-to-head to see who among them is the best around. Among the Duelists in attendance at CHS, one of the best is a young teenager named Sunset Shimmer, a girl from another world...
Besides Sunset Shimmer, there are many, many other aspiring Duelists walking the halls of Canterlot High. Among them is Scootaloo, who, along with her friends Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Babs Seed, have formed a club known as the Duel Monsters Crusaders. The group was formed by them in hopes that it could help improve their dueling skills, as up to that point, none of them (except Babs) had ever won a Duel against anyone other than themselves.
Later on, after the Number cards surfaced in CHS, the group enlisted Sunset herself to tutor them in Duel Monsters. She taught them everything she knew about Dueling and also offered some of her own cards to add to their Decks. The additional training seemed to have paid off, as Sweetie Belle, who had traveled to Manehattan with Rarity and Pinkie Pie, had managed to defeat a teenage girl named Diamondbright that had been causing trouble for them in an effort to posses them with a blank Number card.
Now, during the week of Spring Break, Scootaloo is currently rushing to Rainbow Dash's house, as she had been invited to come with her to the fun center owned by party enthusiast Cheese Sandwich. Little does she know that today will be a big step for her in her dream to become a full-fledged Duelist...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
It was around 10:15 in the morning, and the sun was as bright as it could be for the residents of the Canterlot suburbs. By now, most everyone was awake and on their feet, ready to start their day. But for one individual, their start to the day was a bit faster and more hectic than others. Rushing down the sidewalk in a hurry was Scootaloo, a young orange-skinned, magenta-haired girl that was a student at Canterlot High School and friend to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Babs Seed. But today, she wasn't meeting up with any of them (especially since Sweetie Belle was still with Rarity and Pinkie Pie in Manehattan); instead, she was on her way to see Rainbow Dash and her parents at their house.
"Darnit, darnit, darnit!!" Scootaloo said to herself, clutching onto her backpack as she ran as fast as she could. "Of all the days that I could oversleep, why'd it have to be TODAY?!" Picking up the pace a little, she checked her watch and added, "If I don't get there fast enough, Rainbow Dash and her folks'll leave without me!! There's no way I can let that happen!" She ran even faster so that she could make it to Rainbow's house on time, closing her eyes shut on reflex.
That proved to be a mistake, as she couldn't see someone in a cloak and black baseball cap walking down the sidewalk in front of her. So it was no surprise that, despite that person noticing her coming from behind, it was too late to prevent what happened next. "OOOF!!" grunted Scootaloo as she collided with the other person and fell down on her rear end. "Oh man..." she groaned, rubbing her head. "What hit me just now...?" She then opened her eyes and saw the person she had bumped into. Gasping, she immediately apologized, saying, "Oh! I-I-I'm so sorry, mister! It's all my fault! I-I was in a rush to get somewhere, and I could see where I was going, and-"
"Hey, don't sweat it, kid." the other person said, the tone of voice suggesting that they were male, as Scootaloo had guessed. "I ain't hurt at all. It's you I'm worried about; after all, you did fall down pretty hard."
"Aw, it's nothing." Scootaloo replied. "I have WAY nastier falls than this when I'm on my scooter."
The man chuckled a bit, amused by how the young girl was trying to act tough and brush off the fall like it wasn't a big deal. Looking around a bit, he then asked her, "Say... uh, by any chance, you wouldn't happen to be a Duelist, would you?"
"Huh? Me?" asked Scootaloo, a bit surprised by the question. "How'd you know that, mister?"
"Your, uh... your Deck's kinda all over the place." the man noted, pointing all around her.
Realizing what he had just said, the young girl looked and was startled to see all of her cards scattered around the sidewalk. "AHH!! Oh no!! My Deck!!" she panicked. "As if I didn't have enough trouble already!! Aw man, this is a disaster!!"
"Woah, woah, calm down kid. It ain't the end of the world, believe me." the man said to her. "Here, tell ya what: I'll help ya get your Deck back together, how's that sound?"
"R-really?? Aw gee, thanks a lot!" Scootaloo replied, grateful to the man's generosity. "Maybe this won't be a total disaster after all!" The man chuckled again as the two of them picked up all of her cards.
As they gathered together all of the scattered cards, the man saw that one of them was face-up. He took the card and looked at it for a while. "Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn..." he said, reading the card's name out-loud. "You use a Blackwing Deck?"
"Uh huh!" Scootaloo told him. "They're my favorites! My friends and I are part of a club where we help each other get better at Duel Monsters and stuff like that! I wanted to go with something really strong for my Deck, and since I heard about how powerful Blackwing Decks were, I decided that would be my Deck!"
"Heh, well I can't blame ya for thinkin' that, kid." the man told her. "After all, these guys really are tough in a Duel." Taking the card, along with the others he gathered up, he then presented them to her and added, "But dueling's more than just havin' the best Deck available. It's also about making sure that all of the cards in it can work together as best as they can, just like how a flock of birds look after one another."
Taking the cards from him, the orange girl told him, "Yeah, my friend Sunset said something like that a while ago, too." Smiling, she then put all of her cards back in her deck box and said to the man. "Anyway, thanks a lot for getting my cards back, mister. I really appreciate it."
"No problem, kid." the man told her. "And good luck with-" But his statement was interrupted when a sudden gust of wind blew by. The two stood their ground, resisting the wind as best they could. While it didn't blow them away, the gust DID manage to blow away the man's baseball cap.
Once the wind died down, Scootaloo said to the man, "Woah... that was some wind, huh? Good thing I put my cards back, or we'd have to pick them up all ov-" But she stopped her sentence short when she got a look at the man in front of her, shocked when she saw who it was. "I... I... I-I don't believe it...!" she said. "It's really you! You're-"
But the man shushed her as he got his cap back on and told her, "Don't say it out-loud, kid! I'm tryin' to keep a low profile."
"Why's that?"
Sighing, the man then explained to the girl, "Thing is, I'm kinda on vacation; y'know, gettin' some 'me time'. And I can't exactly get any me time if my fans knew that I was hangin' around here. So, could you promise not to tell anybody that I'm here?"
Understanding his concern, Scootaloo told him, "Yeah, I guess so. I won't tell anyone; I promise."
"Thanks. Appreciate it." the man told her. "But since I did hold you up a little from whatever you were doin', I suppose I could sign somethin' of yours if ya want."
"R-really?!" Scootaloo responded, her eyes lighting up.
"Really." the man confirmed. "Think of it as a little incentive to keep my secret. Whad'ya say?"
"Of course! Thanks!!" said the enthusiastic young girl, handing him her favorite notebook from her backpack.
The man then flipped it around and - after asking for her name, used a permanent marker to sign the back of it. After handing it back to her, he then told her, "There ya go, kid. Hope this makes your day today."
"Oh man, it sure does! Thanks!!" she said, taking the notebook and admiring the signature on it. But as she did, she then noticed that a Duel Monsters card had slipped out of the inside of the notebook and fell onto the sidewalk. "Huh? A card?" she asked herself. "But I don't remember putting one in there..."
"That's 'cause ya didn't." the man told her. "I slipped it in your book in after signing it. Go ahead and take a look at it."
Nodding, Scootaloo picked up the card and was shocked by what it was. "Hold on!" she said in surprise. "Isn't this your-?"
"It's an extra copy I picked up a while ago." he explained to her. "But I prefer to use the one I already have. So go ahead and take this one. Somethin' tells me it belongs with you... But if anyone asks, you didn't get it from me."
"F-for real...?" asked Scootaloo, still not sure if what was happening right now was really happening. After getting a confirming nod from the man, the young girl smiled and said, "Th-thanks! Thank you so much!! I promise to take really good care of it!"
"Hey, no problem. Just happy to help out a fan." the man said. He then turned to leave and said to her, "See ya, Scootaloo. And good luck with your duelin'."
"Bye, mister! Thanks again for everything!!" Scootaloo said, waving goodbye. She then noticed her watch and gasped when she saw the time. "Uh oh! Not much time left before Rainbow and her parents leave! I gotta hurry!!" She then put her new card away in her deck box for now and ran as fast as she could to get to her destination on time. As she left, the man smiled to himself, happy that he had helped her out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, at the home of Rainbow Dash, the athletic student yawned as she leaned up against her parents' sky-blue car. Looking at her watch, the bored teen then loudly asked, "Are you guys ready yet?!"
"Now, now. There's no need to rush, Rainbow." said a woman's voice. "There's still plenty of time before we leave." The woman in question was Rainbow Dash's mother, Windy Whistles. She had light-blue skin that was a shade lighter than that of her daughter, along with light scarlet hair with orange streaks that was cut real short. Her eyes were light purple, and underneath each eye were freckles that were colored even lighter than the rest of her skin. She wore a yellow shirt with an aqua-blue collar, white cuffs on the ends of each sleeve, and white buttons, over top of a white undershirt. She also wore a long skirt that was also aqua-blue in color, with a picture of a cloud with a gust of wind coming out of it imprinted upon the side. She wore a simple pair of brown shoes to complete the ensemble.
"I guess so." said Rainbow. "I guess I'm just excited to get there. I mean, you n' Dad know how much I like goin' to Cheese Sandwich's place. I mean, you can do almost anything there! Mini-golf, go-karts, laser tag, bumper boats... the list keeps goin' on!"
"We're well aware of how great it is." Windy replied. "After all, your father and I met there back when Cheese first opened the center. I still remember it all like it was yesterday: We had so much fun there together, we knew that we were meant to be from that day forward..." The woman then sighed to herself, reflecting on the day that she met the man that she would later marry.
"Yeah, those were the days, weren't they Windy?" asked the voice of Rainbow Dash's father, Bow Hothoof. His skin was also blue, but darker in shade compared to both his wife and daughter. His short hair was rainbow-colored (indicating that Dash had likely inherited her hair color from him), his eyes were colored a dull yellow, and he had a bit of a five-o'-clock shadow. He wore a simple teal shirt with a picture of a horseshoe in front of a rainbow imprinted on left side of the chest area, over top a white undershirt. He wore dark-blue jeans and pale yellow shoes. "That day was so special to us, we even invited Cheese Sandwich to our wedding as thanks."
"I didn't know about that." said Rainbow. "Is that why we always seem to have a discount there?"
"You could say that." replied Hothoof. "Anyway, don't worry so much about when we'll get there. I'm sure that we'll get there long before the crowds come. Besides, we still have to wait for your little friend to arrive before we can hit the road."
"You mean Scootaloo?" asked Rainbow Dash, remembering that she had invited her to tag along. "Yeah, where is that kid? I told her t' get here before 10:30, and just now, it's 10:27. I thought she'd be here by now..."
"I'm sure she's on her way, honey." Windy informed her daughter. Just then, she noticed something coming towards them from down the sidewalk. Recognizing the figure immediately, she then said, "And wouldn't you know it, here she is right now! It's like I always say: When you start talking about someone enough times, they always have a knack for showing up right at that moment."
Indeed, it was Scootaloo, who was running as fast as she could to reach Rainbow Dash's house on time. Luckily, despite everything that had stalled her, she was able to get there before they left. Running up to Rainbow and leaning up against her (as the running had made her very tired) she said in-between gasps, "I... made... it... Rainbow Dash...!"
"About time you got here, Squirt." said the cyan teen. "What took ya so long?"
Taking a moment to catch her breath, the orange girl explained, saying, "I... I kinda overslept a bit... So I only had about five minutes or so to get ready... But I made it...!"
Giggling a little, Windy Whistles said to Scootaloo. "I'll bet you were so excited about today, that you couldn't sleep a wink, right?"
"I... I guess that could be it." the young girl replied, blushing a little out of embarrassment. "I'm sorry if I kept you guys waiting too long."
"Well, you're here now, and that's all that matters." Hothoof told her. "But now that you are here, we can get a move on. So let's all get into the car."
"Yeah! Let's go already!!" cheered Rainbow Dash, wasting no time in hopping into the back of the car along with Scootaloo. Rainbow's parents then sat down on the front seats, with Hothoof offering to drive them all there. He then started up the car, pulled out of the driveway, and headed for the open road ahead.
As they rode down to the fun center, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo decided to talk Duel Monsters for a while. "So, Scoots," Rainbow began to ask, "how's your training with Sunset coming along?"
"Great!" the orange girl told her. "She told me about all sorts of cool things I could do with my Blackwing Deck! She even traded me a bunch of her cards to improve it!" Scootaloo then asked, "What about you? Word around the school is that you're building another Deck. Is that true?"
"Yep." the cyan teen confirmed. "I heard about these Formula Athlete cards that came out recently and decided to make a Deck with them to use right alongside my Ultra Athletes. Somethin' about the whole 'racing' theme with them just looked so cool, I couldn't resist."
"Well, I hope you finish it soon, Rainbow!" Scootaloo told her. "I'd love to see it after it's done!"
"...By the way," Rainbow began to ask her younger friend, "why did it take you so long getting to my house earlier? I know you don't live THAT far away from me, so what's up with that?"
"Um... well..." Scootaloo couldn't tell her about the identity of the man that she had literally bumped into on her way over. Still, she could tell her something that wouldn't be a complete lie. "Well, I kinda ran into somebody earlier; like REALLY ran into them." she managed to say. "That's what held me up. Nothing major."
"Who was it?" asked the cyan girl.
"Um... uh, just some guy." she responded. "Nobody that I knew."
"Oh, okay." Rainbow said, satisfied with that answer. "But next time, watch where you're goin', or you might get yourself hurt or somethin'."
"She's right, Scootaloo." Windy Whistles said, agreeing with her daughter. "And she should know a thing or two about safety; after all, our little girl IS Canterlot High's star athlete!"
"Aheheh... well, I don't know about being a 'star athlete'..." said Dash, rubbing her head and blushing a little at her mother's comment.
"You're not just a star athlete; you're THE star athlete!" Hothoof said, praising his daughter. "I can see it all now: Rainbow Dash, Super-Sports-Star of Canterlot- no... Super-Sports-Star of the WORLD!!"
"Oh, just thinking about it gets me all giddy inside!" said Windy, becoming excited by the mere mention of it. "Our little girl becoming a star and a pro!"
"Aw c'mon guys... you're embarrassing me..." said Rainbow, a bit annoyed by her parents' overenthusiastic cheering. Scootaloo, however smiled a bit from hearing all of the praise that her role model had gotten. "Uh, sorry ya had t' hear that, Scoots." the cyan girl told her. "My mom and dad... well let's just say that they can get a bit over-the-top with their support for me."
"It's okay, Rainbow." the orange girl told her. "To be honest, I kinda wish I had parents like yours. I mean, no offense to them, but I wish they'd be that enthusiastic for me all the time when I did stuff." Sighing a little, she then added, "But they're so busy all the time, it's like they're not even there."
"I'm sure they're very supportive of you, dear." Windy told her. "Even if they can't show it all the time."
"But if you need it," Hothoof chimed in, "I suppose we could save some cheering for you every now and then."
"Aheheh... thanks, you two." Scootaloo told them, blushing a bit, but happy to hear them say that to her.
After a few more minutes out on the road, Hothoof looked over to the side and saw a sign advertising the Fun Center; it was easy to spot, as Cheese Sandwich's grinning face was printed upon it. "Just five more miles 'til we get there, girls." the man told them. He then glanced over at his car's fuel gauge and added, "Hmmm... gas is a little low. I'll stop over at the station just up ahead. While I'm filling up, you can all go into the mini-mart for some snacks and stuff."
"Sounds good to me, Dad." Rainbow Dash responded.
"Yeah, me too!" Scootaloo chimed in. "I was in such a rush, I skipped breakfast this morning, and I'm kinda hungry."
"I suppose that sounds like a good idea to me, too." Windy agreed. "But don't get too much, girls; you don't want to get too full and not be able to have any pizza at the center later." Rainbow and Scootaloo nodded to say that they would not eat too much before they got there.
Shortly after arriving at the gas station, Hothoof got out of the car and operated the pump in order to fill the car's gas tank. In the meantime, Windy, along with Rainbow and Scootaloo, walked into the mini-mart to look for some snacks. Rainbow decided to get two small, travel-size bags of potato chips and some Colta-Cola from the soda fountain while her mother decided to get a granola bar for herself.
Scootaloo, glanced over all of the available treats on the shelves, but wasn't sure what she should pick out. But as she was looking everything over, she over heard two boys around her age talking to each other. "Hey, did ya hear what happened to Barley Grind?" one of them asked.
"Yeah, I did... Poor guy didn't know what hit him." said the other voice. "What went down, exactly?"
"Hm?" Scootaloo stayed silent so as to overhear what the conversation was about.
"Well, I don't know much about the details," said the first boy, "but there's a rumor sayin' that he got himself hurt by that bully that's been hanging out around Cheese Sandwich's place. They say it happened at the center's skate park."
"How's Barley doin'?" the second boy asked.
"Well, it's nothing really bad, but I heard the guy's too scared to go back there after what happened." the first boy answered. "I don't blame him, though; ever since that jerk showed up, everybody in the area doesn't wanna go NEAR that place."
"Well, after what you just told me, I'm certainly not goin' over there." the second boy informed his friend. "Not until that bully leaves." The two of them then left the store after they were finished with their conversation.
"...That's not good..." Scootaloo said to herself, worried after hearing all of that... especially since she were on her way over to the fun center with Rainbow's family right now.
"Hey, Scoots!" said Rainbow Dash's voice. "We're almost ready to t' get goin' again. Did you find what you wanted?"
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, uh... I did!" the orange girl stated, quickly grabbing two bags of chips before rushing over to checkout counter. As she placed her snacks on the counter (Windy offered to pay for everything), she contemplated about telling them both about what she heard... but then decided against it, fearing that doing so would spoil their day. She remained silent about the whole thing as they departed from the mini-mart...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The four of them were now only two miles away from reaching their destination. Naturally, Rainbow Dash was excited to get to the fun center. "Aw man, we're almost there!" she said in anticipation. "I can't wait! Can you, Scoots?" When she glanced over, she saw that her younger companion didn't look all too thrilled, at least by her facial expression. "Uh, Scoots? Is somethin' wrong?"
"Huh??" the orange girl said in response. Looking over at her friend, she told her, "Oh, nothing's wrong, Rainbow Dash! Everything's fine!"
"...You sure?" asked the cyan girl, a bit unconvinced. "You seemed to be spacing out."
"Oh, that? Um... Just... just a bit tired still, that's all!" Scootaloo fibbed. She still didn't want to say anything about the rumor she overheard back at the gas station. "Don't worry, Rainbow Dash! I'll be fine!"
"Um... okay then." the rainbow-haired teen responded, still a bit unsure.
Looking ahead, Hothoof then told everyone, "There it is, everyone! Cheese Sandwich's Family Fun Center, dead ahead!" Everyone was excited as the building came closer and closer to them...
But then they all noticed something a bit peculiar as they pulled in: There were very few cars parked in the parking lot, and it was oddly quiet. "That's strange..." Windy noted. "I know we left early enough to avoid the big crowds, but... but I honestly expected it to be a little busier than this."
"Yeah, that is a little weird..." her husband replied. "When I said this place was 'dead ahead' I didn't mean THAT kind of 'dead'..."
"Well... on the plus side," Rainbow began to tell him, "at least it'll be easy to find a place to park, Dad." However, she too was concerned about how deserted the place was. Scootaloo said nothing, but was becoming a bit scared by what she saw, wondering if the rumors were indeed true.
From inside the building, a young girl with light-peach skin and short, blue hair was sitting in front of a counter, leaning her left elbow on it and resting her head on her left hand as well. It was obvious that she had been sitting there bored for a while. But when she heard something in the parking lot, she immediately perked up and saw Hothoof parking nearby. "A... a customer?" she asked herself, her tone suggesting that she didn't expect to see anyone show up. Fixing her hair and taking a sip from her water bottle, she tried her best to make herself presentable for when they came in.
Rainbow Dash, her parents, and Scootaloo then entered the building together. "Hello? Anybody here?" the cyan teen asked.
"Over here!" said the voice of the girl at the counter. Everyone looked over towards her, and after seeing that she worked here, they all strolled over to speak with her. "Welcome to Cheese Sandwich's Family Fun Center." she told them. "My name is Adrenaline Rush; personal assistant to Mr. Sandwich himself. On his behalf, I would like to, um... greet you all for coming by."
"It seems a little empty in here, doesn't it?" asked Hothoof. "Is everything okay, Ms. Rush?"
"Well, we've been having a few... minor issues here." the girl replied. "But rest assured, we are doing our best to resolve them."
"Minor issues?" asked Windy Whistles, becoming concerned. "What kinds of issues?"
"Oh, nothing technical concerning our attractions; everything is operating perfectly." Adrenaline Rush told them.
"Well, if that's so, then it doesn't explain why there's no one else here..." Hothoof stated. "If everything's working right, this place should be packed." He then asked, "Could... could you allow us to speak to your boss, Ms. Rush?"
"You mean Mr. Sandwich?" asked the girl behind the counter. "May I ask why?"
"We just want to talk with him and see if he can tell us any more about why the center is so empty." Windy explained. "We happen to be friends of his, so I'm sure that if you tell him we're here, he'd come and talk to us. Is that at all possible?"
Humming a bit, Adrenaline Rush thought about their unusual request After pondering about it for a while, she then said to them, "I suppose it couldn't hurt, if what you're saying is true." Picking up the phone next to her, she then asked them, "Could you give me your names, please?"
"Windy Whistles." said Rainbow's mother.
"And my name is Bow Hothoof." her husband said next.
"Okay then, I'll see what I can do..." Adrenaline Rush replied, pressing a button on her phone that allowed her to contact her boss directly. "Hello, Mr. Sandwich?" she spoke into the receiver. "This is Addie. I'm calling to tell you that two people want to meet with you... Who are they? Their names are Windy Whistles and Bow Hothoof... Uh huh... Uh huh... Is that so? Okay then, I'll tell them... Thanks... Bye-bye." After hanging up the phone, Addie then told the married couple, "He says that he'll meet with you right away. I'll take you both over to his office."
"Oh thank you very much, young lady." Windy thanked her. Hothoof nodded to say thanks as well.
Before escorting the two of them to Cheese's office, Adrenaline Rush looked over at Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo before asking, "Are these your kids?"
"Uh, I am." Rainbow answered. "But Scootaloo here isn't. She's just a friend of ours."
"I see..." Addie replied. She then walked over to them and said, "Listen closely, both of you: I would like you both to stay here until the three of us are finished talking with Mr. Sandwich. You are welcome to play any of the games here in the arcade, but until we're done, do not go outside by yourselves. Do you understand?"
"Um... I guess so." Scootaloo replied, feeling a bit more uneasy about what she was told. Addie nodded and proceeded to direct Rainbow Dash's parents to Cheese's office. After they left, the young girl then asked, "So... what're we gonna do now, Rainbow Dash?"
"Guess we just wait and see what happens after they get back." the athletic girl replied. "Until then, I'm hittin' the arcade!" She then ran off towards a video dancing game, eager to try it out first. Scootaloo sighed a bit, but decided to try and play some games to get her mind off of everything that had happened so far.
Minutes later, the two were still hanging out in the arcade all by themselves. Rainbow Dash was still playing the dancing game, racking up high score after high score on several of the available songs. Scootaloo was playing a horizontal space shooter game, mercilessly pounding the buttons to try and wipe out all of the on-screen enemies. Unfortunately, she eventually lost her last ship while just a few points shy of beating the high score.
"Aw man... I was so close!" the young girl groaned. Scootaloo was dismayed, but not ready to give up. She reached into her pocket to fish up another token to insert into the machine, when all of a sudden, she heard a faint noise that sounded like a cry of some sort. "Huh?" Scootaloo looked behind her, trying to find the source of the noise. Glancing back over to Rainbow Dash, she asked her, "Hey, Rainbow... Did you hear that just now?"
But the cyan-skinned teen was so engaged in her game, that she didn't notice that Scootaloo was asking her something. That, and the loud music coming from the stage-like arcade machine kept her from hearing anything else anyway.
Figuring that Rainbow Dash probably didn't hear the crying sound, Scootaloo decided to investigate the matter herself. She looked around and kept her ears open in case the sound was heard again. Sure enough, it did, and the young girl looked in the direction of the sound. It had come from a door leading to some of the outdoor attractions. "It's coming from outside?" she asked herself. Despite the warning from Addie about not going outdoors without an escort, Scootaloo knew that she had to see what was going on, in case someone needed help. Making sure not to draw attention to herself, Scootaloo quietly opened the door and slipped through it, leaving her backpack beside the arcade machine she was at earlier.
Finding herself in the center's miniature golf course, Scootaloo looked around, trying to find the source of the cry she heard earlier. "I know that voice was coming from outside somewhere..." she said to herself, "but where is it? And who or what made that sound in the first place?" It wouldn't be long before she saw the answer to her questions in front of her: On the other side of a large bush there was a young light-pink girl with aqua-green, pink-striped hair and light red eyes, on the ground and trembling.
"P-please, stop!" the pink girl said with tears forming in her eyes. "L-leave me alone...!"
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" said a boy voice in a whiny, mocking tone. Laughing, the voice then said, "Ha! What a wimpy little baby!" In front of the scared girl were three older boys: One was tall and thin, with purple skin and yellow hair that covered his eyes. Another was short and fat, with dark-brown skin and short, blue hair with red streaks. The last one, in the middle, appeared to be their ringleader. He had fiery red, freckled skin, mean-looking yellow eyes, bushy eyebrows, short, orange hair, and a fanged smile. His outfit was, much like his cohorts, relatively simple in appearance, consisting of a t-shirt that looked almost like the underbelly of a dragon, along with black jeans and sneakers with a fanged mouth-like design on the fronts. On his back was a backpack of sorts that looked like it was roughed up quite a bit.
Gasping a quietly as possible, Scootaloo thought to herself, (Those guys... are they the bullies those boys at the gas station were talking about?)
Chuckling cruelly to himself, the red and orange boy said, "Lookit this wimp! We didn't even do anythin' yet and she's already starting to cry like a baby! Pah! What a wuss, am I right?"
"Heh, you got it, Garble!" said the short, chubby bully. He then asked the third bully, "What do you think, Fume?"
"Yeah, Clump! This one'll be the MOST fun t' pick on so far!" added the tall, thin one.
"But-but-but why?!" protested the pink-skinned girl. "I-I didn't do anything to you!!"
Taking a step forward towards in a menacing manner, the red-colored boy - named Garble, told her, "Listen, little girl... This place is our turf! And we don't like wimps like you runnin' around on OUR turf, GOT IT?!" Approaching her some more and showing his fist, he then told her, "And anybody who does gets a one-way trip to Painville!" The girl trembled even more, scared of what he was going to do to her.
Having seen enough, an angry Scootaloo rushed out from behind the bushes and stood between the bullies and their victim, arms stretched out wide. "That's enough!! Leave her alone, you jerks!" she shouted at the gang.
A bit startled by Scootaloo's sudden appearance, Garble rudely asked her, "Who the heck are you??"
"Someone that's not gonna put up with you picking on others, that's who!" the orange girl said.
The three bullies looked at one another, confused at first. Then they all broke out into a laugh, seemingly amused by this sudden turn of events. "Pahahahah!! Check this out, guys! This stupid little shrimp thinks she's a big superhero or somethin'!" Garble mocked.
"Bwahahaha!! That's rich!!" mocked Clump.
"Really, who does she think she is?" Fume rhetorically asked. "Goku or somethin'?"
Stopping his laugh for a moment, Garble smirked and said to Scootaloo, "You're crazy if you think you're tougher than the three of us, you little brat! Get outta the way before ya get hurt!"
Scootaloo gulped a little bit out of fear, but managed to stay strong as she said, "Y-you don't scare me...!"
"Oh, we don't, do we?" asked the orange-haired bully. "Then I guess we'll just have to pound some fear into you - quite literally!" Glancing coldly at the other girl, he then told her, "You'd better keep your eyes open for this one; consider it a preview of what you'll be gettin' later." The pink girl trembled, now more frightened than ever.
"Y-you think I'm scared of you...?" asked Scootaloo, trying to remain brave despite what she was up against. "Diamond Tiara used t' say things a lot meaner than that...!"
Garble simple huffed and said to his goons, "Hold her still."
The two other bullies nodded and before she knew it, Scootaloo's arms were grabbed by both of them, preventing her from getting away. "Urrgh! Urrgh!!" she grunted, trying in vain to get away.
She then looked up at Garble, who was walking towards with his fist raised. "Scared now, you little punk?" he asked her in a cruel tone. "Wish you kept your trap shut now?"
But Scootaloo had dealt with bullies in the past, and learned not to show any fear in front of them. She then asked him, "You think you're so tough? Can't fight me without having your buddies here holding me down?"
The orange-haired boy grumbled for a moment, but then said, "Oh, I'm SO gonna enjoy this..." Raising his fist higher in the air and aiming for her stomach, he then told her, "Say your prayers, you little-"
"Hey!! Cut it out!!"
Garble stopped his attack the moment he and everyone else heard someone shouting at them. "Who said that?!" asked Garble angrily. "C'mon, show yourself!"
"I'd be glad to!" the voice said again. Stepping out from behind the bushes was none other than Rainbow Dash. And the look on her face told everyone that she meant business. "Let her go, you punks!" she ordered the bullies. "Or I'll come over there and make you do it!"
"Grrrrrn..." Garble was all for picking on someone smaller than he was, but Rainbow was much taller than him. Grumbling to himself, he motioned his cohorts to release their grip on Scootaloo's arms. He then said to the orange girl, "Y-you got lucky, brat...! Next time, there won't be anyone t' save you!" And with that, the three cowardly bullies ran out of the area.
Once they were gone, Rainbow Dash rushed over to check on Scootaloo. "You okay, Scoots?" she asked, concerned for her younger friend.
"Yeah, they didn't hit me or anything." Scootaloo replied.
"What were ya thinkin', Squirt?" asked the athletic teen. "You heard what that Addie chick said; we weren't supposed to leave the building!"
"I know what she said," the orange girl told her, "But I-"
"I know." Rainbow said with a smile. "You heard this girl here was in trouble, and you wanted to help her, right?" Scootaloo nodded yes in response. "Well, I guess I'd have done the same thing, too." the cyan girl added. "But ya gotta be more careful next time you do somethin' like this; If I hadn't noticed your bag sitting by itself in the arcade, I wouldn't have even noticed you were gone."
"I know... I'm really sorry, Rainbow." Scootaloo apologized.
"Hey, don't worry about it, Squirt." Dash told, giving her young friend a comforting pat on the back. "The important thing is you guys are alright." She then glanced over at the other girl - the one the bullies were picking on earlier, and asked her, "You... You're okay too, right?"
"Um, yes I am..." the pink girl answered, still a bit shaken up. She then looked over to Scootaloo and said to her, "Th-thank you for protecting me from... from them."
"No problem." the orange girl simply replied. "Somebody had to stand up to those jerks." The three of them then quickly walked back into the safety of the main building together.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Back inside, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and the young pink girl - named Tulip Swirl, were all in the seating area of the fun center's fast-food restaurant, taking a rest after the distressing events from earlier. They had all gotten a soda from the soda fountain to help them relax a little, but the image of those three bullies was still fresh in their minds.
"Man, what was up those three jerks?" asked Rainbow Dash. "What gives them the right to pick on other people for no reason?!" Taking a sip from her drink and slamming the cup down onto the table in frustration, she then said, "People like that make me sick!"
"I don't know what happened, either..." Tulip Swirl told them, calmly sipping from her drink as well. "I was on my way to see the Bumper Boats when they showed up. I don't know why they came after me; I didn't do anything to make them mad at me!"
"Aw man, this is terrible...!" said Scootaloo. "I knew this was going to happen..."
"Huh? What are you talking about, Scoots?" asked Rainbow Dash, a bit confused by what her young friend had just said.
Sighing a bit, the orange girl decided to come clean and told her, "When we were at the gas station, I heard these two guys talking about a bunch of bullies hanging around the fun center. I... I didn't believe it... or maybe I didn't wanna believe it... But in any case, I was too afraid to say anything because... well, I didn't wanna risk spoiling our day here, I guess... I'm really sorry..." Scootaloo felt a bit guilty for not saying anything about the rumor sooner, feeling like she had betrayed her friend and idol.
But Rainbow Dash smiled and said, "Hey, it's okay Scoots. I totally understand where you're comin' from."
"Y-you do?" asked Scootaloo.
Dash nodded. "But there's just one thing though:" she added. "You said you were too scared to say anything about those bullies earlier. Well, from what I saw out there with you standing up to those guys, I believe you're a bit braver than ya might think."
"I... I am?" asked Scootaloo.
"You bet you are, Squirt." Rainbow Dash then told her in the most confident tone she could muster, "You've got something those punks outside'll never have in a billion years: The guts t' stand up for yourself and others! It's those guts that helped you to intervene when those guys were pickin' on Tulip over there. It's those guts that kept you feeling strong even when they were about to hurt you. And it's those guts that'll help you stand up to them and teach 'em a lesson they'll never forget!"
"But how?" asked Scootaloo. "I mean, I'd like to help get them out of here, but what's there to do?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but we'll find a way. I know it!" said Rainbow Dash. "This fun center is my parents' favorite place in the whole wide world! And I couldn't live with myself if I allowed some punk to just come around and ruin it for everybody!"
"I feel the same way." said another voice from nearby. Recognizing the voice, the three of them turned around to see Adrenaline Rush - the source of the voice that had spoken to them. With her were Rainbow's parents, Windy and Hothoof. They had just finished their conversation with the center's owner and had come down to meet with the kids. "That Garble kid needs to be stopped for the good of every employee and customer here at the center." she then told them.
"Garble?" asked Scootaloo. "Who's that?"
"I'll bet he's the guy leading that group of bullies; the red one." Rainbow Dash figured.
"That's right." Addie replied. "He showed up about a few weeks ago and has been causing problems for everyone here. Unfortunately, we've never been able to catch him in the act: All of the security cameras are inside the building, and he commits all of his actions outside. And by the time we hear that he's around, he's already gone when we get there. It's very frustrating... If this keeps up for much longer... we may have no choice but to close the center forever."
"That's terrible!" Scootaloo shouted. "We can't let that happen!"
"But what will we do?" asked Tulip Swirl. "They can't catch him, and even if they did, I don't think he'll go away quietly..."
Thinking a little, Rainbow Dash then thought to herself, (Aw man... What would Sunset do?) At that moment, an fantasy appeared in her head with her red-and-yellow friend confronting the bullies in a game of Duel Monsters...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Drawing a card, the dream version of Sunset then shouted, "I attack with Chronomaly Crystal Chrononuat!!" After calling out her order, her purple-armored Xyz Monster rushed and delivered a powerful punch to the three bullies.
"Oh no! We have lost!!" said the dream version of Garble in a somewhat monotone-sounding voice. "We are so bad at this!"
"We are so lame compared to her!" said Clump in despair.
"I wet my bed every night!" added Fume.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Rainbow Dash chuckled a bit after making up that whole scenario in her mind (especially from the last comment by the third bully). Returning back to reality, the cyan girl then asked Adrenaline Rush, "Say, does this center have a space for dueling or anything like that?"
"Dueling?" Addie inquired. She then answered, saying, "There is, actually. Right beside the rock-climbing wall. Why do you ask?"
"Because I think I might know a way to drive those jerks out of here for good." Rainbow revealed to them. "We'll challenge their ringleader to a Duel and beat him!"
"A Duel??" asked everyone in surprise.
"But, Rainbow... how do you know if they even play Duel Monsters?" asked Scootaloo.
"When I drove those guys away earlier," the cyan girl explained, "I noticed that, on Garble's backpack, there was a box attached to the side of it; it looked about the size of the boxes we use to store our Decks in. And sticking out of the backpack, there was an object that had the unmistakable shape of a Duel Pad. I figured that what I saw would be important later, so I made sure to make a note of it."
"Oh, that's my little Dashie!" said Windy, praising her daughter. "Always such an observant young lady!"
"But even knowing that," Adrenaline Rush began to ask, "how do you know that Garble will even bother to accept the challenge?"
"Trust me, I know how bullies work." Rainbow Dash explained. "Punks like him will accept ANY challenge as long they think that it'll make 'em look good. After all, if he doesn't accept, then he'll look like a big coward in front of everyone. Bullies love to make people think they're tough, so if they believe that there's a possibility that they'll look bad, they'll do anything to keep that from happening. Bottom line: all we have to do is to make him an offer he can't refuse."
"Hmmmm... I must say, that is quite brilliant." said Adrenaline Rush, impressed with how Rainbow had managed to figure all of that out.
"It sure is!" said Hothoof, always ready to support his daughter just as his wife had done earlier. "Not only is she tough, but our girl's very bright as well! We're so lucky to have a daughter like her!"
"Indeed!" cheered Windy.
A bit embarrassed, Rainbow then told them, "Alright, alright... that's enough of that..." She then asked, "The only thing is... which one of us should duel them?"
As they thought about that for a while, Scootaloo then reached into her backpack and pulled out her deck box. She stared at it for a while as she thought about a few things in her head Then, out of the blue, she said to everyone, "I'll duel him!"
This elicited a gasp out of everyone in the room. "You're gonna duel Garble?!" asked Adrenaline Rush. "Why??"
"Because of what Rainbow said earlier." she told them. "That I have something that Garble doesn't. I'm not scared of him or his buddies! I'll take him on and I'll beat him! Because I want to help save this place for Rainbow Dash and her parents! I don't want those jerks to ruin something that means so much to them, and I know that, with all of you backing me up, I'll be brave enough to stand up to him and take him down!"
"You... you're going to do this for us, Scootaloo?" asked Windy, amazed by how brave the young girl was.
"Yeah, I am." the orange girl said. "I'll admit, I'm a little scared, but Sunset always taught me that one of the things that makes a True Duelist is their reason to Duel. And right now, my reason is to help keep this center safe for everyone! So, please say that you'll let me do this!"
No one said anything for a few seconds after Scootaloo made her request. But Rainbow Dash was, like most other things, quick to break the silence. "After a speech like that, there's no way I'm gonna talk ya out of it." she told her. Pumping her fist into the air, she confidently told her, "Of course I've got your back!"
"Aw, geez... Thanks Rainbow Dash." Scootaloo replied with a slight blush.
"Well, if my little girl says it's fine, then I'm fine with it too." Hothoof told her.
"And the same thing goes for me, too!" Windy chimed in, ready to support Scootaloo like she and husband supported their daughter.
Adrenaline Rush smiled and told the orange girl, "You're a pretty brave girl, Scootaloo; I admire that. I'll admit, I had some concerns, but after that well-said speech of yours, I think the only person that should be concerned is Garble when you go up against him."
Happy to hear that, Scootaloo then turned over to Tulip Swirl and asked her, "You'll support me too, right?"
"Mhmm! I will!" Tulip replied. "It's the least I can do after you helped me!"
"Alright then!" Rainbow started. "Let's go and show that Garble jerk just who he's messin' with!" Everyone cheered in response and bravely headed out the doors to confront the bullies, intending to kick them out of the fun center for good. As they did, they didn't notice that someone was watching and listening to the whole thing. It was the owner of the center, Cheese Sandwich. He was smiling, moved by the passion and bravery of the Rainbow and the others. He then headed towards a doorway leading to the back of the building, heading for a destination that only he knew of...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Outside, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and the others searched high and low for any trace of Garble and the other bullies. pointing to the ground, Adrenaline Rush told them, "Look! There's a candy bar wrapper on the ground."
"So? What about it?" asked Rainbow Dash.
Picking up the wrapper, Addie then told them, "Garble and his friends left this here for sure; they always get this brand of chocolate."
Recognizing the area they were in as the spot where she had confronted the bullies, Scootaloo then mentioned to everyone, "That wasn't there earlier, so they must tossed this just recently."
"Look, there's another wrapper over here!" Windy stated, picking up a wrapper that looked just like the first one.
"And here!" said Hothoof, also finding another similar wrapper.
"Yeesh, those jerks don't even know how t' use a trash can?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Well, at least we know they're still around here."
Looking around, Scootaloo gasped and said in a low tone, "Hey guys! I found them!" The group hid behind the bushes and peeked around to see. Sure enough, Garble and his cronies were casually sitting on the picnic table benches like they owned the place.
"That's them alright..." Addie told them. "And this time, they have nowhere to run."
"I'm goin' in..." Scootaloo said. She still felt nervous, but her desire to help her friend's family and the fun center allowed her to ignore her fears as she stepped forward, ready to confront them once again. Only this time, she had some moral backup.
"Hm?" Garble grunted when he noticed that he and his buddies were not alone anymore. Looking up , he saw Scootaloo, along with her friends. Not intimidated in the slightest, he asked her, "So, the brat's back for more, huh? You're really pushing your luck comin' here' ya know?"
"Maybe, but YOUR luck's about to run out!" the orange girl bravely told him. "I'm kicking all of you jerks out of here!"
Laughing at that statement, Garble then told her, "Yeah, that ain't gonna happen, wimp... What makes you think you can?"
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she then shouted to him, "Garble! I challenge you to a Duel!!" She then presented her D-Pad, which was already attached to her right arm. "And if I win, you guys get out of here!"
"Me? Duel you? I can think of better ways t' waste my time!" Garble huffed not taking her challenge serious at all. "Why don't you dorks do us a favor and get lost? There ain't no way I'm duelin' you!"
Scootaloo grumbled a little, but Rainbow Dash just nodded to her, reminding her of something about the nature of bullies they had discussed earlier. Remember what they had talked about, the orange girl smirked and said, "Yeah, I guess I can't blame you for turning me down, since it WOULD be a waste of time for me to Duel you anyway."
That comment made Garble's eyes widen, as he did not expect that sort of response from her. Squinting his eyes, he then asked her, "...What's that supposed to mean...?"
"I'm just sayin' you were right: It would be a waste of my time to Duel someone that's obviously too chicken to accept my offer." Scootaloo simply replied, still smiling slyly.
"Ch-CHICKEN?!" yelled Garble, getting up out of his seat. "Did you SERIOUSLY just call ME a CHICKEN?!?"
"Well yeah, of course I did." the orange girl told him. "After all, the only reason you'd refuse my offer was if you were too scared about losing to me and looking like a fool."
"Urk...!" Garble began to sweat, wondering just who this girl was. Usually, most people who encountered him were panicking in fear by now... but not this girl. Twice now, Scootaloo was showing him that she wasn't afraid of him, and it started to worry the seemingly-tough guy.
"Uh... hey Garbs, what's up?" asked Clump, a bit confused as to why his buddy seemed a bit nervous.
"Yeah, you ain't lookin' so good..." Fume then pointed out.
(No...! This is bad...!) thought a worried Garble. (This brat's makin' me look bad in front of everyone! If I duel her and lose, I'm ruined! But if I don't take her offer, I'll look like a wuss!!) Not sure what to do, he then pondered about how he could possibly get out of this situation. Then, he came up with an idea. Smirking himself, he then told Scootaloo, "Okay then, I'll accept your challenge... but under one condition."
"What condition?" asked Scootaloo, not trusting him.
"I'll only Duel you if you do it my way." Garble told her. He then reached behind their picnic table and pulled what appeared to be a skateboard.
"What's that skateboard for?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"It ain't just any ordinary skateboard, lady." Garble responded. "This happens to be a Duel Board!"
"A Duel Board??" asked Adrenaline Rush. "You mean that-?"
"That's right." the bully finished. "If the brat still wants t' duel me, it's gotta be a Turbo Duel!"
"A-a Turbo Duel??" asked Scootaloo, not expecting this to happen. She got a little worried and for good reason: She didn't own a Duel Board for herself.
Noticing her change in expression, Garble then mocked her, saying, "Oh, but what's THIS?? You don't HAVE a Duel Board, do you? That's a shame, since you can't have a Turbo Duel without one... Heh, guess that means I win by default!" He then smirked to himself and thought, (This is perfect! I knew she didn't have a Duel Board; there's no way she could afford something that expensive! And she looks like too much of a goody-two-shoes to steal one, like I did! Now I can accept her offer... but since she can't participate, I can't lose! And I'll still look tough for simply accepting the challenge!)
"That little jerk...!" growled Rainbow Dash. "He's tryin' to weasel his way out of this! Now what are we gonna-?"
But her question was interrupted when everyone heard the sound of something rolling towards them. When they looked over they saw what appeared to be a motorized scooter with a helmet hanging off of one of the handlebars coming towards them. And it seemed to be driving itself to the spot they were all standing in. Luckily, it also appeared to be able to stop all by itself, as it did just that once it came within reach of Scootaloo.
"Wh-what's that??" asked Garble, not sure what was going on now.
"Is that a scooter?" asked Windy, curious about the object that suddenly showed up before them.
"It seems to be..." answered Hothoof. "But none like any I've ever seen."
But Adrenaline Rush knew exactly what it was after getting a good enough look at it. "This... this is a Duel SCOOTER!!" she exclaimed.
"A Duel Scooter??" asked everyone else.
Nodding, Addie then continued to tell them, "Kaiba Corp designed all sorts of different vehicles to use in Turbo Duels, ranging from the Duel Runners used by those old enough to drive, and the Duel Boards for younger people, with the smaller ones designed to connect with a D-Pad in order to Turbo Duel."
"But what's somethin' like that doing here??" asked Scootaloo.
"I'm... I'm not sure..." said Addie. In her mind, however, she felt as though she had seen something like this before...
"Aw, who cares where it came from?" asked Rainbow Dash rhetorically. "All that matters is that Scoots can Duel that jerk now!"
"Wh-WHAT?!?" yelped Garble, not expecting this to happen. "That's impossible! How lucky can one little brat get?!"
But Scootaloo wasn't about to let the bully squirm his way out of this one now. Taking the helmet and holding it in her hands, she told him, "Alright, Garble: You said you'd only duel me in a Turbo Duel, and since we both have what we need, let's get to it right now!"
The fang-toothed boy snarled a bit, frustrated that his trick had backfired. "...Fine, we'll duel." he grudgingly told her. "And after it's over, you'll wish that you stayed out of my way!" The orange girl simply gave a fierce look right back at him, not intimidated in the slightest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Right outside the fun center's parking lot, several young boys and girls were walking by on the sidewalk. But they stopped when they heard a commotion coming from the center. "Hey, what was that?" asked a boy; one of the same boys that was at the gas station that Rainbow Dash and the others were in earlier.
"Sounds like something's going on over at Cheese's Place!" said another boy, the other one that was in the station. "Think we should check it out?"
"I don't know..." answered a girl. "Aren't those mean guys still there?"
"Probably, but I'm gonna go check it out anyway!" the second boy told her. After he rushed off, the other two kids' curiosities got the better of them and they ran off after him.
They arrived at the fun center's go-kart track, where Scootaloo and Garble - who were on the track and standing next to their scooter and skateboard respectively, were about to start their Turbo Duel. Rainbow Dash, her parents, as well as several more younger kids were all standing off to the side, ready to watch the game. Garble's buddies Clump and Fume stood by themselves, away from the larger group. "Rub that wimp into the pavement, Garble!" said the tall thin bully.
"Yeah, waste the brat!" said the other.
"Go, Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash cheered, trying to make her voice louder than theirs. "Take that jerk down!"
"Do your best, Scootaloo!" Windy and Hothoof shouted in unison.
Scootaloo put on the helmet that was attached to the Duel Scooter and placed the helmet's visor over her eyes. She also had her elbow pads and knee pads on for extra protection. Garble, however, didn't seem to care about any of that, opting to just equip his Duel Gazer without using a helmet at all. Snickering, the bully teased her, saying, "What's wrong, you afraid you'll get hurt or somethin'?"
But the orange girl simply replied, "If anyone's afraid here, it's you, jerk. I saw you sweating when you got on the track."
"Urk! Yeah? Well... we'll see who sweats after this stupid Duel's over with!" Garble replied, still trying to play the tough guy act.
Adrenaline Rush then walked onto the track herself and stood on a raised podium booth overlooking the starting line; the place where an employee would sit to supervise the go-kart track and make sure things ran smoothly. "Can I have your attention, please?" she spoke using a microphone. "Cheese Sandwich Fun and Games Center is proud to present a special competition right here on the grounds: A Turbo Duel between Scootaloo of Canterlot High...!" The orange girl then waved as almost everyone cheered for her after her name was announced.
Waiting for the crowds to settle down a bit, Addie then finished the introductions, saying, "...and her opponent, Garble!" Of course, instead of the cheers that Scootaloo got, most of the crowd booed and hissed at the bully.
Not caring at all, Garble simply shouted, "Yeah, same to you, wimps!"
Again, after the crowds quieted down, Addie then said to everyone involved, "Now, I will explain the rules of Turbo Dueling..."
*******************************
Turbo Duel Rules:
All rules that apply to a normal Duel remain the same, along with the following additions:
* To determine turn order, both Duelists must race to a predetermined point on the racing path. Whoever reaches that point first is allowed the option of going first or second.
*At the start of each player's turn, if the turn player is currently in the lead during the race, they are allowed an extra Normal Summon/Set during their turn (even if they fall behind later during their turn).
* In addition to the normal conditions for winning a Duel, a player can also win the Turbo Duel if they make it to the race path's finishing point (if there is one), or if their opponent is in any way unable to continue racing (such as if their Duel Runner stops moving or is rendered unable to function).
*******************************
Looking down at the two competitors, Addie told them, "Now I want a nice, clean game, both of you. That means neither of you can physically attack each other outside of the actual Duel, understand?"
Smirking, Scootaloo then told the bully, "Hear that? You think you can win without having to run into me on the track?"
"O-of course I can, you wuss!" Garble shouted. In reality, though, he was annoyed that he wouldn't be able to do anything like that, especially with Adrenaline Rush watching them both carefully.
"In that case," Addie instructed them, "both Duelists to their vehicles!" Scootaloo ran over to the Duel Scooter and tapped a button on part where the handlebars were connected. This caused a USB cord to pop out of it. Pulling the cord out a little, she then plugged it into her Duel Pad, causing the touchscreen to display the words, "TURBO DUEL MODE ACTIVATED". Garble then did the same thing with his Duel Board.
"Be careful out there, Squirt." Rainbow Dash told her. "That jerk's not t' be trusted."
"I've got this, Rainbow!" the orange girl confidently replied. "I don't know how good that Garble guy is at skateboarding, but no one's better than me at scooter riding!"
"That's what I like t' hear, Scoots!" the cyan teen told her with a smile. "Now get out there and duel circles around him!" Scootaloo nodded to say that she would do her best.
Pointing ahead at a red line painted a short ways away from the starting line, Addie then said to the two competitors, "This Turbo Duel will begin with the two of you racing to that red line. Whoever reaches it first gets the first move." Both Duelists nodded to say that they understood. "Alright then, let the Duel begin!" Addie shouted as she pressed a button that switched on a tower where three colored lights were built upon, much like a traffic light, with the top red one lighting up first. Scootaloo and Garble started up their motorized vehicles, ready to break out once they were cleared to do so. Soon, the red light turned off, and the center yellow one came on. Then finally, the bottom green light lit up, accompanied by a horn sound.
"Ready, set, DUEL!!!" shouted Adrenaline Rush as the two rivals immediately sped off, trying to reach that red line first.
Scootaloo did her best to keep balance on her new scooter. While she had experience with riding them, this was her first time operating a motorized scooter. Luckily, the controls were relatively simple and she had the chance to try it out a bit before the Duel. Still, when she saw that Garble was pulling ahead of her, Scootaloo knew that this still wouldn't be easy.
"Heh... you're pretty shaky on that thing..." Garble taunted her. "Remember: If you fall, you lose!"
"Hmph... just worry about yourself, you jerk." the orange girl told him, doing her best not to show any fear.
"Fine then, I'll shut you up myself!" the red bully responded. Crossing the red line first, Garble drew his five-card opening hand, followed by Scootaloo (Garble: LP 4,000) (Scootaloo: LP 4,000) (Current Leader: Garble). "Looks like I'm gettin' the first move, punk! Too bad!" he told her. Taking a card from his hand, he shouted, "I'll start with my Volcanic Rocket in Attack Mode!"
The bully's first monster was a rocket-shaped, reptilian-like creature colored mostly beige, with fiery orange wings on its sides (Volcanic Rocket: Level 4 / ATK 1900 / DEF 1400).
"And since I Summoned him," Garble continued, "I can grab a copy of Blaze Accelerator out of my Deck and put it in my hand!" And he did just that, with his D-Pad auto-shuffling the remaining cards afterwards.
"What's he up to...?" Rainbow Dash asked herself.
Garble's buddies snickered to themselves. "That little twerp's in for it!" said Clump. "No one's ever beaten Garble's Volcanic cards!"
"Yeah, this'll be over real quick!" Fume commented.
Taking out another card, Garble then told his foe, "And since I'm currently in the lead in the race, I get t' Summon or Set another monster to the field! So I'll go right ahead and play this guy face-down in Defense!" Taking one more card and shoving it into his Duel Pad, he finished, saying, "Then I'll set this card and end my turn!"
"Alright then, it's my turn!" Scootaloo shouted, drawing her first card. Looking at the card she then thought to herself, (Okay, this is it... my first big Duel against someone other my friends back in the club. I just gotta keep my cool and remember everything I've learned up to this point. Just watch me, Sunset! I'll make you proud, just you wait!) Taking the card she had just drawn, she announced, "I activate the Continuous Spell, Black Whirlwind!!"
*******************************
Black Whirlwind:
(Continuous Spell Card)
When a "Blackwing" monster is Normal Summoned to your field: You can add 1 "Blackwing" monster from your Deck to your hand with less ATK than that monster.
*******************************
"B-Black Whirlwind??" asked Garble. "Don't tell me you're-?!"
"Getting nervous yet, Garble?" asked Scootaloo. "Yeah, I'm usin' a Blackwing Deck, one of the best Decks you can find!"
"So what?" asked the bully. "There's no way a brat like you can know how t' use one all by yourself!"
(Then I guess it's good that I didn't have to do it all by myself, then.) Scootaloo thought. She then told her opponent, "Now I'll Normal Summon a Level 5 monster to the field!"
"What? Don't you know the rules, dork?!" asked Garble. "You can't play a Level 5 monster without releasing a monster first!"
"Wanna bet?" asked the girl as she played her card anyway. And in an instant, a tall, human man wearing a black bird costume with a blue bird head-shaped headgear appeared on the field, ready to fight (Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn: Level 5 / ATK 2000 / DEF 900).
"What?!?" gasped Garble, caught off-guard.
"Surprise!" Scootaloo shouted. "It's my Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn! And since you're the only one that had any monsters out, his effect lets me skip the release cost and play him right away!"
"Grrr... you just got lucky to have that card on the first turn!" the fanged-tooth boy complained.
"The point is, he's there," she simply told him, "and that means I get to use the effect of the Black Whirlwind that I played earlier. And I'll use it's effect to pull a Blackwing with less than 2,000 attack points out of my Deck! And I choose Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame with 1,800 attack points!"
"Fine! Whatever!" Garble told her rudely. "I still have more monsters than you do right now!"
But the orange girl chuckled and told him, "You won't for much longer! I activate Double Summon! This lets me Normal Summon another monster this turn!"
"Hey, wait a minute!!" the bully shouted. "That wasn't supposed to happen! I was supposed to get the extra Normal Summon all by myself! Not you!!"
"Well, that's what's gonna happen, jerk!" Scootaloo told him. "And I'll use my second Normal Summon to play the Shura that I just pulled from my Deck!" After making that move, a second human man in a bird costume appeared on her field, this one mostly blue and black in color, with some blue-tinted grey in some areas (Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame: Level 4 / ATK 1800 / DEF 1200). "And because that was a Normal Summon, I can use Black Whirlwind again!" she added.
"Now what?!" Garble complained.
Taking a card from her Deck, she announced, "I'll place this card in my hand: Blackwing - Breeze the Zephyr! And because I used a card effect to put her into my hand, I can Special Summon her to the field!" And she did just that, playing the monster immediately This creature, unlike the previous two that she had Summoned, was a real bird with yellow and orange feathers covering her tiny body (Blackwing - Breeze the Zephyr: Level 3 / ATK 1100 / DEF 300).
"That's incredible!" said Tulip Swirl. "When this Duel started, Garble had her out-numbered!"
"But now the shoe's the other foot!" Hothoof told her. "Now it's Scootaloo that has HIM outnumbered!"
"Yeah, keep it up, Scoots!" Rainbow Dash cheered. "He's no match for you!"
Garble had no idea how this could have happened; he thought he had the advantage since he got to go first, and was able to Summon more than one monster last turn. But now that was no longer the case. "That's impossible! How could you get that many monsters out so quickly?!" he shouted at his opponent.
"It's called, 'being good at this game', Garble. You oughtta try it sometime!" Scootaloo said, essentially giving the bully a taste of his own brand of medicine.
Grumbling, Garble thought to himself, (Whatever, you'll get yours when you attack me, just you wait, brat...!)
"Time for my Battle Phase!!" Scootaloo shouted. "I attack Volcanic Rocket with Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn!" The strongest of her Blackwings then swooped down, heading straight towards the fiery monster.
"I activate my Trap Card!" Garble shouted, his face-down card flipping face-up. Still, the human/bird creature continued its attack, slashing at the rocket with his bird-like feet and destroying it (Garble: LP 4,000 - 100 = 3,900).
"I got him!" Scootaloo said happily. But her smile faded when she saw several small fireballs raining down from the sky upon her. "Urrgh!!" she grunted, shielding herself with her arm as best as she could as the flames struck her (Scootaloo: LP 4,000 - 500 = 3,500). "Hey, what gives?!" she asked. "What just hit me?"
"Heh heh, it was my Backfire Trap Card, twerp!" said the bully. "As long as it's out on the field, you'll take 500 points of damage every time you destroy my FIRE monsters! So just try attacking me now, unless you like gettin' rid of your own Life Points to do it! Ha ha ha!!"
Surprised, but not scared, Scootaloo then told him, "If you think that's enough to scare me, then you don't know me too well! Shura the Blue Flame, attack his face-down monster!!" Her other human-like bird monster then slashed apart Garble's remaining monster, revealing it as a tiny, beige, eye-less lizard surrounded by flames (Volcanic Shell: Level 1 / ATK 100 / DEF 0).
"You idiot!" laughed the fanged-toothed boy. "My Volcanic Shell's ALSO a FIRE-Attribute monster! So enjoy another 500 damage, loser!!" Once more, several flames struck Scootaloo, shaving off more of her Life Points (Scootaloo: LP 3,500 - 500 = 3,000). "Peh, I don't have any idea why you made that move! You should've known that I'd have another FIRE monster on the field!"
"Actually, I did." Scootaloo admitted. "And I was willing to take a hit on purpose!" This elicited a gasp out of Garble. "You see, when Shura destroys a monster in battle, he lets me Special Summon a Blackwing from my Deck with 1500 or less attack points with its effects negated! And I'll go right ahead and play Gladius the Midnight Sun in Attack Mode!" Her fourth monster this turn was an anthropomorphic blackbird with shiny, silver armor and a pair of short swords. On his head was a crest of red feathers and billowed in the wind (Blackwing - Gladius the Midnight Sun: Level 3 / ATK 800 / DEF 1500).
"I don't get it..." said Tulip Swirl. "why did she take more damage just to Summon that?"
"Because while Scoots may have lost a thousand of her Life Points with those attacks," Rainbow Dash explained, "Garble's lost both his monsters."
"Which means that he's vulnerable to a direct attack now." Windy Whistles chimed in. "And Scootaloo still has two more monsters to attack with, including the one she just Summoned." Tulip and Rainbow looked at her, surprised that she seemed to know that. The woman then blushed and told them, "Bow and I used to play Duel Monsters back when we were still dating."
Back at the Duel, Garble was beginning to sweat a bit, realizing too late that his opponent was much stronger than she looked. "You may have been ahead of me in monsters and Life Points, buddy..." Scootaloo informed him, "but that's all about to change very soon!" Pointing ahead, she then shouted, "I attack directly with Gladius the Midnight Sun and Breeze the Zephyr!"
Garble gulped as he saw the two bird monsters coming in fast behind him. Gladius used both of his swords to strike the bully and knock of some of his life (Garble: LP 3,900 - 800 = 3,100). Breeze attacked next, diving down at him beak-first and delivering a powerful blow (Garble: LP 3,100 - 1,100 = 2,000). "AAAARRRRGH!!!" Garble screamed as the attacks not only knocked off most of his Life Points, but slowed him down enough so that Scootaloo could pass him and take the lead.
"Alright!! Scootaloo's in the lead now!" cheered Hothoof. The rest of the crowd, which had since doubled in size since the Duel started, cheered loudly as well. Garble's buddies looked legitimately shocked by what they had just seen, wondering how it could have happened.
"Rrrrrgh...!" Garble did his best to recover from the powerful attacks he had just weathered. However, he still managed to stay on his Duel Board. "How'd she do that?!" he asked, still unable to believe that she had managed to get ahead of him, both figuratively and literally.
"Now that my Battle Phase is over, I still have a few more moves to make!" Scootaloo announced. "My Level 3 Breeze the Zephyr is a Tuner Monster, so I'll tune her to my Gladius the Midnight Sun, who's ALSO Level 3!" The smaller, yellow-orange bird then began to glow before splitting into a trio of lights that shot into the air. Then, three green rings came in from behind Gladius, surrounding him and transforming him into three smaller lights (Level 3 + Level 3 = Level 6) "Heroic raptor of legend, brandish the great blade of myth!" she chanted. "Ride the mighty winds and slash away the enemy! Synchro Summon!! The mighty Blackwing, Level 6! Nothung the Starlight!!"
At that moment, the three green rings and smaller lights were engulfed by a column of light that shot out from behind them all. Then, out of that light came a another half-man, half-bird creature with black and dark-purple feathers, as well as displaying an impressive set of abs. He wore black, shiny armor, and wielded a large sword that was (of course) black in color (Blackwing - Nothung the Starlight: Level 6 / ATK 2400 / DEF 1600).
"A Synchro Monster?!" shouted Garble.
"That's right, jerk!" said the orange girl. "But he's not just any Synchro Monster. You see, just by Special Summoning him, he takes off another eight hundred of your Life Points!"
"WHAT?!" the bully yelled. But he was powerless to stop Scootaloo's new monster from throwing his sword like a boomerang and hitting him for some more damage. "AACK!!" he screamed after taking the blow (Garble: LP 2,000 - 800 = 1,200).
"Alright, I think that I've embarrassed you enough this round, so I'll just set this card face-down and pass things off to you." Scootaloo told him as she continued to ride further ahead of him (Current Leader: Scootaloo).
"That does it, you stupid kid!" snarled Garble, frustrated at losing his advantage so quickly and easily. "It's about time you learned who's in charge around this place!" He then drew his next card and shouted, "First, I'm usin' the effect of the Volcanic Shell that you sent to my Graveyard last turn! By paying 500 of my Life Points, I can take another copy of it out of my Deck and put it in my hand!" (Garble: LP 1,200 - 500 = 700)
"Now's he's down to just 700 Life Points..." said Rainbow Dash. "Why'd he go and do that just to get a wimpy monster out of his Deck?"
"Next, I'm playin Pot of Desires!" said the bully. "I banish ten cards and draw two more!" After getting his new cards, he then said to Scootaloo, "Now listen up, you little twerp: You may not know it, but everyone that's dumb enough t' stand up to me is playin' with fire! And you're about to see WHY! I activate Blaze Accelerator!" After playing the Spell Card, a large gun turret seated upon a tripod appeared off to the side of the track, turning itself around as the Duelists passed by.
"So what's with the freaky camera?" asked Scootaloo.
"It ain't no camera, stupid!" Garble informed her. "Y'see all I gotta do is send one of my Pyro monsters with 500 or less attack points from my hand to the Graveyard, and after that, I can destroy any one of your monsters!"
Scootaloo gulped. "A-any one??" she asked.
"Now you're gettin' it!" Garble told her. "And now you'll get THIS!" He then sent one of his monsters to the Graveyard from his hand, which caused the gun turret to activate. "Now! Take out her Shura the Blue Flame!" The turret then fired a homing shot that struck Scootaloo's monster and destroyed it.
"Rrrgh...!" the orange girl grunted, trying to remain tough. "That's nothing! I've still got two more monsters on the field!"
"Not after this move, you won't!" the bully said with a snicker. "That's 'cause the monster I sent to the Graveyard to activate my Blaze Accelerator was Volcanic Scattershot! And after it's sent to the Graveyard to activate my Accelerator's effect, I can send the other two copies of it from my Deck to the Graveyard and get rid of your other monsters!!"
"Aw, NO!!" shouted Scootaloo as she watched three triple-headed red lizards fly towards her monsters from behind. The three of them collided together and created a massive explosion that destroyed both Nothung and Sirocco at the same time.
"And as an added bonus," Garble continued, snickering to himself as he did so, "you take 500 points of damage for each of those Scattershots!" The orange girl gasped as three large fireballs came raining down from the sky above, striking her dead-on. One hit her (Scootaloo: LP 3,000 - 500 = 2,500), followed by a second (Scootaloo: LP 2,500 - 500 = 2,000), and then a third (Scootaloo: LP 2,000 - 500 = 1,500). "Heh, so you're still hangin' on, huh?" asked the bully when he saw that she was still on her Duel Scooter and still ahead of him (though the attack did allow him to catch up to her a little more).
"Rrgh... you bet I am!" Scootaloo shouted, "And I'm staying on until I beat you!"
"Pfft, you really are stupid, aren't ya?" huffed Garble, not intimidated one bit. "I'll set a monster in Defense and end my turn!"
"Yeah, show that wimp who's boss!" shouted Clump.
"That brat's about t' get burned for stickin' her nose where it didn't belong." Fume commented.
"Yeah, well don't count on it, you jerks!" Rainbow Dash told them. "Your buddy's still behind both in Life Points and in the race, so don't get too confident!"
"You really think your little friend'll beat Garble that easily?" mocked the tall thin bully. "Then you're just as dumb as she is!"
"Grrrr... why you...!" Rainbow Dash was angry and really wanted to show them how she felt about their comments. But her parents stopped her from doing anything too rash. Taking a deep breath to relax herself, she then said in her mind, (C'mon, Scoots... you gotta show these guys just how tough you are...! Everyone here's countin' on ya!)
As if she could read her mind, Scootaloo looked over at Rainbow and her parents and said, "Don't worry... I'll stop these bullies somehow!" She then placed her fingers on her Deck and shouted, "I draw!" Looking at the card she picked up and seeing that it was something that could possibly help her, she then said, "I activate the card I drew! Cards for Black Feathers!!'
"That could help..." said Hothoof. "While it does cause her to banish a Blackwing from her hand and lose the right to Special Summon this turn, she does get to draw two more cards from her Deck."
"I hope she can draw something that will help her..." Windy commented.
Scootaloo then took a high-level Blackwing monster out of her hand and put it back into her deck box before drawing two extra cards. "Now I'll play one of them right now! I use my Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy that Backfire card!" After that, a powerful cyclone shot itself backward, eliminating Garble's Trap Card.
"Yeah!" cheered Rainbow Dash. "Now she won't take damage when she destroys his FIRE monsters anymore!"
But Garble wasn't that impressed. "That all you got, wimp?" he asked his enemy.
"Not even close!" she answered him. "I Normal Summon my Pinaki the Waxing Moon in Attack Mode!" Her newest monster was a small blackbird wearing a blue vest and a white turban with two red feathers sticking out of it. In his hands... er, wings, was an archer's bow (Blackwing - Pinaki the Waxing Moon: Level 3 / ATK 1200 / DEF 1000). "And because I Normal Summoned him," Scootaloo continued, "I can use Black Whirlwind to take Blackwing - Mistral the Silver Shield out of my Deck!" After taking her new card, she then shouted, "Go, Pinaki! Attack his face-down monster!" The small bird then shot a few feather out of his bow like an arrow, destroying another of Garble's Volcanic Shells.
"Pft, whatever." the bully told her. "My Life Points don't go down, since he was in Defense Mode. A shame, since you'll be finished next turn!"
"We'll see about that." the orange girl told him, not scared by his threat. "Since I'm in the lead in the race, I'll use the special Turbo Duel rule to play another monster! So I'll set this one in Defense Mode before ending my turn."
"That's not gonna save you, twerp!" mocked Garble. "This Duel's gonna end on my turn!" He then drew his next card... and immediately smiled an evil smile upon his face. "And with this card, I'm gonna make good on that promise!" He then shouted, "I send my Blaze Accelerator to the Graveyard!" After he said that, his gun turret self-destructed and sent itself to the discard pile.
"What'd he do that for?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"You're about to see!" Garble told everyone. "Because NOW I can play my Tri-Blaze Accelerator!!" After playing his new Spell Card, a larger gun turret manifested itself off to the side of the track. Not only was it bigger than the other one was, but it also had THREE cannons instead of just one.
"What's he gonna do with that thing??" asked Scootaloo, trembling a little.
"You won't need to worry about that, runt!" the bully informed her. "Because now that I have Tri-Blaze Accelerator on the field, I can use it to Summon my strongest card!" He then yelled, "I send Tri-Blaze Accelerator to the Graveyard to Special Summon a monster from my hand!! Erupt from the Earth now!! Volcanic Doomfire!!"
Everyone watched as the skies above began to turn red. But soon, everyone's attention was on the ground as, in the center of the go-kart track, a powerful magma geyser erupted, spewing lava everywhere. Then, the lava began to gather together into a massive clump that formed itself in a large reptile-like creature. The lava hardened, creating thick, black and brown armor around the beast, with small vents puffing out small flames every few seconds.
*******************************
Volcanic Doomfire:
(Effect Monster/Pyro/FIRE/Level 8/ATK 3000/DEF 1800)
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by sending 1 "Tri-Blaze Accelerator" you control to the GY. During your opponent's Battle Phase, Attack Position monsters your opponent controls must attack this card, if able. When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the GY: Destroy as many monsters your opponent controls as possible, and if you do, inflict 500 damage to your opponent for each monster destroyed by this effect.
*******************************
"Aw no... this isn't good...!" said Scootaloo, staring at the powerful monster that Garble Summoned on her.
"That's the understatement of the year." the bully told her. "Doomfire's my ultimate monster, and he's gonna turn you into nothing but a charred spot on the track!"
"This is horrible...!" stated Windy. "If that boy attacks with his monster now, Scootaloo will lose!"
"C'mon, Scoots... hang tough!" Rainbow urged her friend.
Garble then laughed and told his foe, "Now, I could so easily attack your wimpy little bird with Doomfire and end this now, but where's the fun in that?" Taking a card from his hand, he then added, "It'll be even MORE enjoyable to blow up your crummy monsters first and THEN hit you with everything that my monster's got!"
"What do you mean??" asked Scootaloo.
"Just watch me! I activate the Spell card, Raigeki!" he shouted. "So say goodbye t' BOTH your monsters!!" Everyone watched as a pair of powerful thunderbolts shot down from the dark sky above and vaporized both of Scootaloo's monsters.
"No!! She's defenseless!" said Hothoof, getting worried.
Garble's buddies cackled after watching Scootaloo lose her two monsters. "That oughtta teach her some manners! Peh heh heh!" Fume laughed cruelly.
"Wipe out that stupid brat for good!" shouted Clump.
Smirking as he raced ahead of his opponent and taking the lead, he then told her, "Now you're about t' see the hard way just how tough I am! Maybe next time, you'll keep outta our business!!" He then shouted, "Volcanic Doomfire!! Wipe her out!! Volcanic Cannon!!" The massive creature then let out a powerful blast of flames from its maw, striking her hard.
"No!! Scootaloo!!" shouted the crowd supporting her, fearing that she had lost the Duel.
"Ha! Take that, wimp!!" cackled Garble, confident that the Duel was over. "I win!!"
But Rainbow Dash gave out a smirk of her own and asked, "Are you sure? Then who's that behind you?"
Not sure what she was talking about, the bully looked behind him... and his heart sank and jaw dropped at what he saw. Scootaloo was not only still on her Duel Scooter, but her Life Points didn't drop by a single point (Scootaloo: LP 1,500). "WHAT THE-?!?" he exclaimed in shock.
"She's okay!!" said a relieved Windy, happy to see that Scootaloo was still in the game.
"What a relief!" added Hothoof. Everyone else was happy to se that the Duel had not ended after all. All except for Garble's buddies, who were just as shocked as he was by this turn of events.
"This Duel's not over yet, jerk!" Scootaloo told him in the most confident-sounding voice she could muster.
"It IS over!!" protested Garble, sweating a little. "I hit you directly with Doomfire! He had three thousand attack points!! That should've wiped you out!!"
"But it didn't." the orange girl simply told him. "And I have you to thank for it!"
"What?!" asked Garble, confused by what she was saying. "Why would I ever help you beat ME?!"
Taking a card from out of her Graveyard, she told him, "Because when you activated Raigeki earlier, you made a huge misplay!" She then revealed the card to him and added, "That's 'cause one of the monsters that you destroyed was my Blackwing - Mistral the Silver Shield! After it's been destroyed - like with your Raigeki card, it drops all the damage I take with your next attack to zero!"
"WHAT?!?" exclaimed Garble.
"I had a feeling you'd try to do something like that." the orange girl told him. "And it's the whole reason I chose to add Mistral to hand last turn! I laid it out hoping that you'd try and blow it up! And it looks like I was right!"
Garble growled, but even he had to realize that her surviving this turn was all because of him. (That brat...) he thought. (If I had just attacked her monster this turn, I would have... I would've... RRRGH!!!) Angry and now getting a little worried, he then played his next card. "I activate the Spell Red Medicine, which boosts my Life Points by 500!" (Garble: 700 + 500 = 1,200) Sweating a little more and looking as confidant as he was earlier, he then told her, "You got lucky last time, you dork! But next turn, this Duel really WILL be over!" He then pulled further ahead of his foe, intending to make good on his threat (Current Leader: Garble).
Scootaloo then took a deep breath and thought to herself, (He's right about one thing: One way or another, this is pretty much my last turn, and I've gotta make it count!) Looking over towards Rainbow Dash, Windy, and Hothoof, as well as all of the neighborhood children, she then said to herself, "No matter what, I'm gonna teach that bully that he can't push me around! I've gotta keep going until the end!" She then picked her next card and shouted, "I DRAW!!"
Everyone supporting the young girl hoped and wished that she would be able to pull through despite the odds. In any case, they knew that this Duel would be over soon.
Scootaloo then looked at the card she pulled and sighed a bit. (Just another Against the Wind...) she thought. (I already had one in my hand... Now what'll I do?) Shaking her head, she then told herself, (No...! I've gotta stay hopeful! I know there's some way out of this, I just need to remember what Sunset told me...)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
About a month ago...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
After a tough practice Duel with Sunset Shimmer, Scootaloo grumbled a bit to herself. "Aw man... How'd I lose that one?" she asked herself. "I never even saw that combo of yours coming! How'd you come up with it??"
"It's easy, as long as you always remember this:" Sunset told her. "Even if a card doesn't seem like something that could help you, there's always a way to make it work in your favor if you play it just right. You just have to remember to consider all possible options with your cards."
"A-all of my options?" asked Scootaloo.
"Right." the jacket-wearing teen said with a nod. "You just need to remember that as long as you have cards in your hand and on the field, you have all sorts of possibilities to try." Smiling a little, she then added, "And if you do things just right, your opponent won't be able to see your plays coming until it's too late for them!"
"Yeah, I sure got that message, that's for sure." the orange girl replied. Trying her best to smile, she then told her, "Thanks, Sunset. I'll try to remember that next time I duel. I promise!" Sunset nodded to say that she was happy to hear that as the two shook each other's hands.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Snapping back to reality, Scootaloo then told herself, "I didn't forget about what you said, Sunset... One way or another, I'll make these cards work out somehow!" She then pondered to herself, (Now think: What can I do with the cards that I drew?) Upon mentioning the word "draw", the young girl then remembered something else that was important. (Hold on...!) she exclaimed in her mind. (That card that I banished with that Spell I played last turn... What was it again?) She then tapped her D-Pad's screen to check her banished pile. After seeing what was displayed, she then got an idea. Putting on a look of sheer confidence, Scootaloo shouted, "Alright, Garble! Time to end this Duel!!"
"What? You gonna surrender?" teased the bully. "Took ya long enough!"
"Not even close." she told him, taking a card and putting it into her Spell & Trap Zone slot. "From my hand, I activate the Spell Card Against the Wind!! This lets me return any Blackwing in my Graveyard to my hand, as long as I'm willing to take damage equal to that monster's attack points!" Making her selection, she then revealed the card and told her opponent, "Since I'm taking back my Mistral the Silver Shield, however, I won't take much of a hit, since he's only got a hundred attack points." (Scootaloo: LP 1,500 - 100 = 1,400) She then placed the monster back into her hand.
"Now what is she planning?' asked Hothoof, scratching his chin.
"Whatever it is, it had better be big," Rainbow Dash stated, "or else that jerk's fiery lizard-thing'll take her down next turn!"
"C'mon, Scootaloo..." urged Tulip Swirl.
Taking the card she had just brought back into her hand, Scootaloo played it onto her D-Pad and shouted, "Now I Summon Mistral the Silver Shield in Attack Mode!" The monster then appeared on the field, revealing itself as a small, navy-blue bird with a silver face mask (Blackwing - Mistral the Silver Shield: Level 2 / ATK 100 / DEF 1800).
"You're actually Summoning such a puny monster like that now?!" asked Garble with a mocking laugh. "That little guy can't do nothin' all by itself!"
"...You're right, he can't." Scootaloo told him. "So I'll bring back one of his bigger brothers to join him! I activate the Trap Card, Escape from the Dark Dimension! It brings back any of my banished DARK monsters to the field!"
"But I didn't banish any of your monsters!" Garble reminded her in a snotty tone.
"You didn't, but I did!" the orange girl responded. "Remember when I used my Cards for Black Feathers earlier? I had to banish a Blackwing to activate it!"
"Urk! Oh yeah..." the bully grumbled, forgetting all about that.
"Now I use my Trap to bring back Blackwing - Elphin the Raven in Attack Mode!" she then shouted, bringing out another manbird creature with large, black wings and a purple cloak across his chest area (Blackwing - Elphin the Raven: Level 6 / ATK 2200 / DEF 1200). "And since the Mistral that I Summoned to the field first is a Tuner Monster, it's time for another Synchro Summon!!"
Garble gasped in shock. "What?! ANOTHER one?!?"
"I tune Mistral, Level 2 to my Elphin, Level 6!!" Scootaloo announced. The smaller bird creature began glowing with a silver sheen before splitting into two small lights, which in turn, transformed into a pair of rings. However, instead of being green, they were colored a deep crimson while retaining the same overall appearance. The rings then surrounded Elphin and transformed him into six more lights. "Darkened whirlwind, reveal my hidden wishes on your wings!" she chanted. "Rise above your limits as we fly as one! Synchro Summon!"
At that moment, the lights and rings were engulfed in a column of bright red light, which then shot up into the sky above. Everyone watched with astonishment as the large image of a serpentine dragon, stretched into a ring shape, appeared where the light beam had fired into. In the center of the image, a vortex then formed that allowed a powerful beast to fly out. It seemed to be a cross between a dragon and a bird, with a yellow, beak-like snout, large feathery wings colored black and red, a blue-and-black body, and silver-colored tail feathers. It let out a bird-like screech as it made its presence known.
"Soar now, Level 8! Black-Winged Dragon!!" Scootaloo shouted, finishing her chant.
*******************************
Black-Winged Dragon:
(Synchro-Effect Monster/Dragon/DARK/Level 8/ATK 2800/DEF 1600)
1 Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
If you would take damage from a card effect, place 1 Black Feather Counter on this card instead. This card loses 700 ATK for each Black Feather Counter on it. Once per turn: You can remove all Black Feather Counters on this card, then target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; that target loses 700 ATK for each Black Feather Counter you removed, and if it does, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK lost by this effect.
*******************************
There was a collective gasp from everyone when they saw the Synchro Monster that Scootaloo had just Summoned. "No WAY!!!" exclaimed a young boy from the audience. "It's Black-Winged Dragon! It's really here!!"
"Wow! Where did that girl get that card from?!" asked one of the younger girls.
"Well, I don't believe my eyes...!" Hothoof said in an impressed tone. "It's really Black-Winged Dragon!"
"I know... it is unbelievable, dear!" Windy told him. "I never thought that I'd ever see that card for myself! Simply amazing!" She then turned to her daughter and asked her, "Rainbow, why didn't you tell us your little friend had such a rare card?"
"...I didn't know she had it either, Mom." the cyan teen admitted. "I have no clue how she managed to get one." Turning back to the Turbo Duel, she then thought to herself, (Black-Winged Dragon... One of the Dragons used by the legendary Turbo Duel team, Team 5D's. I heard rumors that, sometime after their victory in the World Racing Grand Prix, Industrial Illusions released a commemorative set that included reprinted copies of their signature dragons. But that set had been discontinued for a long time, so they're hard to find now... I don't know where Scoots got that card from, but I'm hoping that it'll help her win this Duel.)
The only ones not happy to see this dragon were Garble's buddies... and of course, Garble himself. "You... you've gotta be kiddin' me?!" he shouted, sweating a little. "Where'd you get a card like that, you loser?!"
"You've got bigger things to worry about, you bully!" Scootaloo told her opponent. "Because I'm not gonna lose this Duel! My new monster will make sure of that!" Black-Winged Dragon chimed in with another powerful screech.
"Oh, is that so, wimp?" asked the brute, still trying to act tough. "Well too bad for you, but my monster's still got more attack points than yours does! Guess being rare and being powerful are two different things, huh?"
But the young orange girl wasn't ready to give up. (I'll find some way to use this card to beat you, Garble... I promised Sunset that I'd always remember everything she taught me... And I also promised to take good care of this card I got. I won't quit until I've taken you down, Garble! I'll show you that you can't pick on just anybody!) She then looked at her hand and saw her only other card: A second Against the Wind. (I just wish my hand was a little better than this... But this card can't help me right now... In fact, it'll actually cause me MORE damage...)
Just then, Scootaloo gasped. (Wait... "damage"?) she pondered. She then took a closer look at her Synchro Monster Card and read its effect a little more. After reading it, she exclaimed, "That's it! I know what to do now!" Taking the card, she then played it and shouted, "I activate a second Against the Wind! I target my Mistral the Silver Shield again!"
"So you're getting another Blackwing out of your Graveyard?" asked Garble. "Too bad for you! It's going into your hand, and with me in the lead, you can't Normal Summon a second time! That card's no help to you now, in fact, the damage you're gonna take will make it even easier for me to wipe you out!"
"Actually, you're wrong about that!" Scootaloo told him. "Since my Spell Card will hit me for some damage, Black-Winged Dragon's effect activates to counter it! Now, instead of taking the damage, I stick him with a Black Feather Counter instead, so my Life Points are safe!"
The powerful dragon grunted a little, as it seemed to struggle with nullifying the damage. "I... don't understand..." said Windy, not sure what Scootaloo was trying to accomplish. "If she doesn't take the damage, she can't get her Blackwing monster out of the Graveyard."
"Not only that, but by using its effect to stop the damage, Black-Winged Dragon actually ends up LOSING attack points." Hothoof then pointed out to her. "Why would she ever make a move like that?" (Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2800 - 700 = 2100 / Black Feather Counters: 1) To most of the crowd, it seemed like Scootaloo had made a huge blunder with that play. But Rainbow Dash began to think that there was something else to all of this...
Laughing, Garble then mocked his foe, telling her, "You make fun of ME for making a misplay?! Just look at you!! You actually played a card that ended up weakening your OWN monster!! I've never seen a dumber move than that in my life! You HAVE to be giving up if you would make a stupid move like that!"
But Scootaloo kept right on smiling and said to him, "It's not a stupid move, Garble. In fact, it'll be part of my best strategy so far in this Duel!" She then pointed forward and shouted, "I activate the second effect of Black-Winged Dragon! Go, Black Burst!!" The mighty dragon then let out another loud screech and flapped its wings, creating a powerful gust that struck Garble's Volcanic Doomfire.
"Wha... what're ya doin'?!" asked Garble, confused.
"Black-Winged Dragon's second effect lets me remove all of his Black Feather Counters and restore his attack power!" Scootaloo explained (Black-Winged Dragon: ATK 2100 + 700 = 2800 / Black Feather Counters: 0). "But not only that, I can target a monster that you've got on the field and drop its attack points by how many attack points my dragon had previously lost!"
"Wha-WHAT?!?" exclaimed Garble, taken completely by surprise. But with no other cards on his field or in his hand, he was unable to stop it. His mighty monster began weakening, the fiery lava veins beginning to cool down into solid rock (Volcanic Doomfire: ATK 3000 - 700 = 2300). "My monster...! It's lost its power!"
"And because it did," Scootaloo informed her opponent, "you then get hit for damage equal to every attack point your Doomfire lost!" As she said that, several black feathers struck Garble himself and dropped his Life Points by a small amount (Garble: LP 1,200 - 700 = 500).
"No...! I've only got five hundred points left...!" said Garble. "Which... which means that-"
"That you're about to lose!" Scootaloo interrupted, finishing his sentence. As she began to speed up on her scooter, she then shouted to her Synchro Monster, "Black-Winged Dragon, attack Volcanic Doomfire!!" The powerful dragon's wings then began to glow red as it powered itself up for one final attack. A giant fireball began to form in its beak-shaped maw, drawing in more energy around it with each passing second.
Looking behind him, Garble was no longer able to contain his fears when he saw Scootaloo behind him. "No...! She's gaining on me?!. At that moment, a powerful bright violet light began to form around the young girl as she sped up even more. "No...! No, it can't be!!"
"Is that-?" Windy began to ask. "Is that what I think it is??"
"That energy around her...!" said Hothoof. "There's no mistaking it! That's Sense!!" Though not everyone in the audience knew what he was talking about, they had a feeling that whatever energy was surrounding Scootaloo right now was certainly powerful.
"GO!! Black-Winged Dragon!!" the orange girl shouted loudly and thrusting her right arm forward. "Shadow Squall Blast!!!" The mighty dragon then fired a ray of fiery energy that hit Doomfire head-on and blasted it to bits. In addition, the energy that surrounded Scootaloo also shot forward, heading straight for Garble.
The bully tried his best to speed up and run away, but it was all in vain as the force of both the attack and Sense energy struck him hard, causing him to fly right off of his Duel Board. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" he screamed as he tumbled onto the asphalt, his skateboard flying right into a nearby bush and stalling. And with that, the Duel was over (Garble: LP 500 - 500 = 0) (WINNER: Scootaloo).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Aw, YEAH!! She DID IT!!!" cheered Rainbow Dash. "Scootaloo beat him!!" The rest of the children in the audience were also happy to see that Scootaloo had managed to win the Duel, cheering and clapping for her. The orange girl then drove by the crowd slowly on her scooter, high-fiving them as she did so.
She eventually stopped in front of Garble, who was bruised up from his earlier tumble. Not only that, he had even gotten a scar on the side of his face, as well as skinned knees. She then said to him, "Guess you should've worn the safety gear after all, huh?"
"Urrrgh...!" the bully grunted, trying to ignore the pain he was feeling. Glaring at the young girl he angrily asked her, "You... how could someone like you beat me?? There's no way!"
"Well, if you REALLY have t' know," she told him, "I won because I remembered how to make the best use of my cards. It was just a matter of considering all of my options, that's all."
"Well, right now, I'M considering MY options right now..." Garble said in a low tone, raising his fist as he did so, "and I'm CONSIDERING about beating the stuffing out of you!"
"What?!" exclaimed Scootaloo. "We had a deal! You're supposed to leave everyone alone now, since I beat you!"
"Well, I changed my mind!!" said the sore loser. "My buddies n' are gonna make sure that you-" But when he glanced over to where his cohorts were, he gulped when he saw that they were no longer there. "Huh? Hey!! Wh-where'd they go??"
"Heheheheh..." Rainbow Dash chuckled. She then pointed off to the side and said, "They're over there." Everyone glanced over and saw that both of Garble's buddies were currently running away from the area as fast as they could.
Breathing heavily, Clump said to Fume, "H-hurry up...! We gotta get outta here!!"
"You don't don't hafta tell me that!!" the tall, thin bully replied. "If Garble can't get that brat, we've got no chance at all!" The cowardly pair then picked up the pace, running off until they were no longer in sight.
Garble just stood there, flabbergasted after seeing his so-called "friends" ditching him to save themselves. "Uh... uh..." was all he could mutter after being left to fend for himself. But then he gulped when he saw everyone crowding around him.
"Looks like you're all by yourself now, huh?" asked Rainbow Dash with a sly smirk. "Too bad your friends aren't willing to stick up for you like we're doing for Scootaloo!"
Garble was trembling in fear now. At one point, he was the toughest kid in the neighborhood. But now he was practically begging for mercy from the very people he tormented. "Please... please! Don't hurt me!!" he said, whimpering.
"Hurt you?" asked Scootaloo. "And be jerky bullies like you? Not a chance! I don't need to hurt you or pick on you to know that I'm tougher than you are!"
"Yeah, you tell him, Scoots!" Rainbow Dash praised her.
At that moment, Adrenaline Rush walked over and towered over the bully from behind. Shaking, he turned around to face her as she told him, "But if you think you're going to get away this time, think again! It's high time you faced the consequences of your actions here..."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
One hour later...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Back inside of the Fun Center's main building, everyone, including the kids that were watchin the Turbo Duel, were having a massive pizza party in Scootaloo's honor. Music was playing, people were dancing and playing games, and everyone was having a great time. "Aw man, this is the most awesome thing to ever happen in the history of... well, EVER!" said Rainbow Dash, munching on a slice of pepperoni pizza.
"And best of all, it's all for free!" Scootaloo exclaimed happily.
"Of course it is." Addie informed them all. "After what you all did for us, it's the least Mr. Sandwich and I could do for you."
Swallowing the bit that she had taken from her pizza slice, the young orange girl then asked her, "So, what happened with that Garble guy, Ms. Addie?"
"Him? Oh, you don't need t' worry about him." she told her. "After we patched him up with the first-aid kit, Mr. Sandwich was able to call his parents and explain what happened. Needless to say, when they arrived, his folks weren't too happy with what they heard. As of now, Garble's been banned from the fun center for life, and we'll make extra-sure that he can't sneak back inside. His parents were also discussing some form of punishment; I heard something about 'grounding him until time stops'."
"That's good." Scootaloo said, sighing out of relief. "He deserves all of that for being the jerk that he was!"
"And it's thanks to you that he'll never come back here and hurt anyone." said Tulip Swirl. "Thank you so much... for everything."
"Aw, it's no big deal..." the orange girl told her, trying to remain humble. "I just did what I thought was right. I didn't like how he was picking on others and wanted to do something about it."
"And we are all very proud of you for it." said Windy Whistles. "You were very brave out there, Scootaloo, just like our Rainbow Dash!"
"Not to mention that you dueled so well against that bully!" Bow Hothoof added. "That combo you pulled off at the end was very brilliant and unexpected!"
"I'll bet Sunset'll be happy to hear about how much better you've gotten, Squirt." Rainbow told her. "But I have to ask: Where'd you get that Black-Winged Dragon card? That one's pretty hard to come by now..."
"Um... sorry, Dash. It's a secret." the young girl told her. She then asked, "But there is one thing that's bugging me: Where'd that Duel Scooter come from? It just wheeled in from out of nowhere... right when I needed it."
"I'd be happy to fill you all in on that one." said another voice from nearby. When everyone turned to look, they saw none other than Cheese Sandwich himself, with his instantly-recognizable long, curly hair.
"Mr. Sandwich?" Addie began to ask her boss. "What do you mean?"
Chuckling a little, the man then told everyone, "That Duel Scooter happens to be mine, back when I used to Turbo Duel for the fun of it. I'll never forget that Christmas day... My mom told me she got it on eBay, along with her pink bathrobe and Dad's Alf alarm clock." Standing next to the scooter and resting his right hand on the handlebars, he continued, saying, "Yep, me n' Little Lynwood here have quite a history together... And that's all I have to say about that."
"So you were the one who wheeled it over to us?" asked Scootaloo.
"When I heard that you were going to duel that bully, I figured that my old scooter would be able to help you out." Cheese told her. "I hafta admit: I was pretty impressed with how well you handled it! So, as thanks for dealing with that bully and pretty much saving the fun center, I'd like you to keep it."
"Huh?! You... you want me to have it?" asked the young orange girl. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely positive!" he replied. "It means a lot to me, but I think it's for the best. After all, I'm too big to ride the thing anymore, and besides, I'd rather take things slow at this point, such as finally finishing that internet homepage for my dog." Smiling he then told her, "So go ahead and take it."
Still shocked at the fact that she was receiving such a gift, Scootaloo sniffled a little and said, "Th... thank you so much, mister! I... I promise I'll take very good care of it!" Cheese Sandwich then nodded to her and walked away, happy to have helped her out. Looking at her new scooter, she then told Rainbow and her parents, "Did you see that?! He actually let me have this scooter! That's so awesome!"
"Well, you deserve it, Scoots." Dash told her. "You dueled so well with it earlier, and you'll only keep getting better. If Sunset were here, she'd be real proud of ya." Scootaloo then giggled a little, happy to receive such praise from her.
"We're going to go and get some more food for us all." Windy then told the young girl. "Could you watch our things while we're gone?"
"Uh, sure! I'd be happy to!" said Scootaloo. After Rainbow Dash and her parents left, the young girl then pulled out her backpack and unzipped it. Reaching into the sack, she pulled out a notebook; the same one that she had gotten signed earlier in the day. She looked at the notebook's front cover, which had a picture of seven people printed upon it, along with the words "Team 5D's" printed on the top left corner. "Thank you..." she then said while looking at the cover. "Thank you so much for believing in me... I promise I'll be a great Duelist someday, just like you!"
On the back cover of the book was the signature that she had gotten. It said, "To Scootaloo... Keep on soaring and do your best, no matter what! I hope to see you one day in the Pro Leagues!" The signed name consisted of only two very large letters: "C.H."
Meanwhile, back in Canterlot's suburbs, a small light could once again been seen coming from the desk belonging to Mrs. K (however, there was no one home that could see it). Three of the blank-colored Number cards inside the desk drawer - one pink, one violet, and one cyan blue, were displaying an image in the shape of the key necklace that Sunset wore... Now, a fourth one suddenly lit up: The one with a red background...
-- To Be Continued...