The second day of the Double X Tournament continues.
In the Arctic Field, we find Gilda facing off against Rose of Team Fighting Flora. Rose currently had a monster named Naturia Barkion on her field, while Gilda had Birdface and Harpie Harpist on her field along with a face down.
"I attack your Birdface with Naturia Barkion!" The serpent like dragon crawled towards the winged beast. "Turn that bird into compost!"
"I don't think so," Gilda said as her face down flipped up. "Go Protective Winds. This card lets me negate one attack, as long as I have a Wind monster on my field." Rose smiled before removing two cards from her deck, Barkion then unleashing a mighty roar that caused Gilda's Trap to explode. "What the?"
"Sorry," Rose said, "but Barkion's ability lets me banish two cards from my grave to negate your Trap's effect and destroy it." Gilda growled as she watched Rose's monsters eat hers.
Gilda: 1900
Rose: 1700
"Well since Birdface was destroyed by battle, I get to add a Harpie Lady from my deck to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card, which she took before Rose placed a card face down and ended her turn. "My draw and I'll summon the Cyber Harpie Lady I got thanks to Birdface." The armoured harpy appeared next to Harpist, only for them to both glow before shooting into the air.
"What's happening?" Rose asked.
"What's happening is I'm using these two monsters to build the Overlay Network!" A black hole opened up, the lights shooting inside. "Mighty winds of battle, ever changing and ever unpredictable, blow onto this battle field!" The black hole exploded, "I XYZ SUMMON!"
The light faded to reveal Gilda's ace. "Harpie Lady Zephyr!" (A2100/D2300/R4/P3) "Now for Zephyr's ability!" Gilda removed a card from her grave before her monster crushed one of its Overlay Units in its talons. "By removing an Overlay Unit, she can revive a Wind monster in my graveyard and summon it to the field in DEF mode." Zephyr flapped its wings and created a tornado, Birdface appearing from it and taking a defensive stance. (A1600/1600/L4) "And it doesn't stop there. Zephyr's ATK points also increase by half the ATK of the monster she summons. (A2900/D2300/R4/P3) "Attack!"
Zephyr flew through the air before slashing its talons into Naturia Barkion, destroying it. Rose held her arms up in defence as the remains of her monsters flew into her
Gilda: 1900
Rose: 1300
And since she destroyed a monster, Zephyr can now deal you seven hundred points of damage for every Wind Monster on the field. And last I checked, I have two." Rose went wide eyed as she watched Zephyr flap her wings and unleash a wind blade, which struck her and sent the girl flying backwards.
Gilda: 1900 (Winner)
Rose: 0
Celestia: "Another victory for Gilda of team Wonderbolts. Her team is now one step closer to round two."
Gilda smirked as she turned to her opponent, who was crying as she was sucked into the ground. "The horror!" This made Gilda roll her eyes before turning to find her next opponent.
Over in the Volcano Field, Sunset was staring down at her Raduel's holographic screen.
On it were the images of her and her teammates, Twilight's image having the word 'graveyard' next to it while Fluttershy's had the word 'roaming' next to it. In that second, the word 'roaming' was replaced with 'Duelling'. It seemed Fluttershy had found an opponent.
In the Forest Field, Fluttershy was facing off against none other then Trixie of Team Illusions.
"Oh," Trixie said with a happy smile on her face, "this'll be fun. Once I take you down, your team'll be one loss away from getting knocked out of this tournament."
Fluttershy frowned. Seems Trixie was still holding a bit of a grudge for Twilight, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was winning this Duel and getting Twilight out of the Graveyard. "Don't worry Twilight, I'll save you."
"DUEL!"
"Do I take action, or wait until I know the outcome of Fluttershy's match?" Sunset asked before her Raduel beeped to single the arrival of her next opponent. She looked around for them, only for a voice to catch her attention.
"Well hello there," she spun around to see someone step out from behind a large rock. "Small world, isn't it."
Sunset just raised an eyebrow, "Adagio Dazzle." She watched as the Dazzling stepped closer, activating her Duel Disk. Sunset did the same, still staring at the girl with suspicion. "Tell me, why did you and your team decide to enter this tournament?"
"Why not," Adagio replied. "My sisters and I are all about getting attention, so this is the perfect method to get it."
"I figured you'd be over that after the trouble it caused you last year," Sunset saw Adagio flinch at the memory. Obviously there was more to this then she was letting on.
"Enough talk," Adagio held up her Duel Disk. "Let's get this done." Sunset knew there was nothing else to say, so just did the same before they drew their cards.
"DUEL!"
Sunset: 4000
Adagio: 4000
"I'll take the first move," Adagio drew her card. "I'll start by setting the Pendulum Scale, with scale one Ocean's Idol Medley and scale eight Ocean's Idol Allegra!" The pillars of light appeared besides her before the two mermaids swam up into them, The portal forming above Adagio's head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out and struck the ground, then faded to reveal another pair of mermaids. "Ocean's Idol Nera!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8) "And Ocean's Idol Vespers!" (A1800/D900/L4/P2) "I place one card face down and end my turn."
"Ocean's Idols?" Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow, "not using your Alluring monsters?"
Adagio just smiled, "my sisters and I put those cards behind us. But don't worry, I can crush you just as easily with these cards as I could with them."
"We'll see about that," Sunset drew her card. "Now I'll set the Pendulum Scale, with scale two Magician of Radiant Sunlight and scale eight Corona Mage Marlena!" The pillars of light appeared besides her before the two magicians appeared within them, one a man and one a woman. "Burn through space time and blaze the arc of victory!" The portal formed above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened before a pair of fireballs shot out and struck the ground, exploding as her monsters appeared. "Duel Cannon Phoenix!" (A2100/D1500/L5) The second became a knight in gold armour with blue trim, carrying a golden long sword. "Corona Paladin Haslash!" (A2100/D1700/L5/P4)
Adagio smirked, "not bad. But what else have you got?"
Sunset raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was baiting her. "Only one way to find out. "Duel Cannon, ATK Vespers!" The phoenix's first cannon powered up, as it aimed it at the mermaid.
"I activate my Trap!" Adagio's face down flipped up, "Idol's Harmonic Blast!" This card lets me return a monster from my field to my hand, then lower to ATK of a monster on your field by half its ATK points. So I'll be returning Nera in order to power down your Phoenix by seven hundred!" The mermaid glowed before transforming into a light, which flew into Adagio's hand as the Trap unleashed a blast that hit Duel Cannon (A1400/D1500/L5)
"Not good," Sunset gasped.
"There's more," Adagio said. "When Nera is returned from the field to my hand, she lets me draw two cards." She did so, "and then there's Vesper's ability. Since a monster was returned to my hand, she deals you three hundred points of damage!" The mermaid began to sing a high pitched note, which created soundwaves that flew across the field and struck Sunset.
Sunset: 3700
Adagio: 4000
"And don't forget your Phoenix is still attacking!" Duel Cannon fired its first shot, but Vesper unleashed another sonic blast that hit the laser and sent it flying back. Sunset watched as her Phoenix was hit by its own attack, destroying it.
Sunset: 3300
Adagio: 4000
Sunset groaned, "well don't forget that I still have Haslash!" The knight rushed forwards and used his sword to cut Vespers in half, destroying her.
Sunset: 3300
Adagio: 3700
"And when Haslash destroys a monster, I can add a Fire monster from my deck to my hand whose Level is lower then Vespers." Her deck shuffled before slotting out a card, which she took. "I place one card face down and end my turn."
Up in the stands, Tidal was watching the Duels. He was concerned over the current predicament of his favourite team. Twilight in the Graveyard, Fluttershy going up against a pretty strong Duellist and Sunset facing off against an opponent who made it into the top eight of the Celestic Cup. "Sunset," he stared up at the screen showing her Duel.
Luna: Things are really starting to heat up in this Duel, heck I'm stating to sweat. Hey sis, it okay if I go down to the Extra Deck Cafe for a drink.
Celestia: Absolutely not. That area is reserved especially for Duellists competing in the Double X, so they can grab a drink or a bite to eat, rework their decks or safely strategies with their teams.
Speaking of the Extra Deck Cafe, that was where we find Flash Sentry taking a quick break.
He was standing at a vending machine, seeing what drinks it had to offer, when he heard a voice that caught his attention. "Flash," he turned to see Rainbow walking up to him with a sports drink in her hand.
"Hey," he said while finally picking his own drink. "I expected to see you out on the field, not in here."
"Same for you," Rainbow replied. Once Flash had his drink, the two sat down at one of the tables and began to drink.
Flash then turned to Rainbow, wanting to know something. "Rainbow, you Duelled Tempest Shadow yesterday." Rainbow stopped drinking and turned to him, "you know I've Duelled against her in the past. And I lost big time."
This made Rainbow almost spit out her drink, instead choosing to quickly swallow it and turn to him. "Tell me everything." Flash did so, explaining how he met and Duelled Tempest and the strange vision he'd seen. "I see," Rainbow said. "So your whole reason for entering the Double X, was so you could Duel against her?"
Flash nodded. "How did your Duel go?"
Rainbow sighed, "she totally kicked my butt. I don't know how, but it's almost like she knew how the match was gonna play out from the starts." She then frowned, "but that's not the weirdest thing."
Flashback
Rainbow was in the middle of her Duel with Tempest. She had Battle Wing Gold and a Dominated Rainbow Wing Blue Falcon. on her field, while Tempest had Scarvolt and a face down on hers.
"I summon Rainbow Wing Knight Kestrel, in ATK mode!" The bird armoured knight appeared besides the rest of her monsters. (A1500/D1200/L4/P5) "Then I'll equip Battle Wing Gold with the Courageous Shield of Netitus!" A bronze shield with a winged emblem appeared in her Xyz monster's hand. "This card increases the DEF of my monster by three hundred points. (A2500/D1800/R4/P7) "ATTACK!" Battle Wing took to the skies and drew its sword before flying towards Scarvolt, as its ability increased its ATK points (A3100/D1800/R4/P7)
"I activate my face down," Tempest's card flipped up to reveal a Spell. "Black Lightning. This card increases the ATK of a Tempest Rogue or Storm Guard by seven hundred points until the End Phase!"
Rainbow went wide eyed when she saw Scarvolt become surrounded by black electricity. (A3200/D2000/L7/P4) Battle Wing saw the power up and re-sheaved his sword before holding up his shield, as Scarvolt tried to slash it with her broken sword.
The lightning flew over to Rainbow and zapped her, making her cry out as her life points decreased.
Rainbow: 1700
Tempest: 2600
Rainbow panted, but continued to smile as Battle Wing landed in front of her. "Nice move, but a monster equipped with Netitus can't be destroyed by battle."
Tempest just smirked, "I see. I think I've come to understand your way of Duelling." Before Rainbow could ask what she meant, a sudden flash blinded her. The next things she knew, she was floating in space.
Flashforward
"The same thing happened to me," Flash told her. "Hard to believe someone could do something like that."
"Yeah," Rainbow said, "but if it happened to us both then it couldn't have been a hallucination." She finished off the last of her drink before tossing it into the trash, "no use fretting about it. I'm sure we'll come up against Tempest in the future, so we can figure out what the deal is with her then."
Flash smirked, finishing off his own drink and doing the same. "Yeah, not a doubt."
Celestia: And another team has made it through stage one, to go to the next round.
Luna: Now only twelve slots remain. Who will be the lucky teams to earn those spots?
Rainbow smirked. "First off, we gotta get through to the next round."
Flash nodded, "no rest for the wicked." They headed off towards the exits, but Rainbow stopped when she saw something one a nearby TV.
Said TV was showing images of the Graveyard, where she spotted a certain someone. "Twilight's in the Graveyard?"
Flash sighed. "Yeah, she lost to Spike." This made Rainbow turn to him in shock.
"You gotta be kidding me."
Down in the Graveyard, Twilight sat on one of the chairs while thinking over her last Duel.
There was no doubt Spike had improved by leaps and bounds, but she hadn't really had her head in the game. Looking back on it, she now saw several alternative ways she could have used her cards to stop Spike. But at the time, she hadn't been thinking about it.
"What am I doing here?" She asked herself. Was she just fooling herself when she decided to enter the Double X? Was this just a way to get over what had happened to Moondancer? The team, the training, the Duels she had competed in up to this point. Had it all been just meaningless distractions to get over what had happened.
Celestia: Let's take a closer look at the Duels between Sunset Shimmer and Adagio Dazzle.
Twilight looked over at the screen, which was now showing the images of her teammate's Duel. "Sunset." She had been the one to ask Sunset to join. Would she have agreed if she'd known what a burden Twilight was being?
"It's my turn," Adagio drew her card as the portal formed above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened before four lights shot out and struck the ground, fading to reveal Adagio's monsters. "Ocean's Idol Operetta!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4)
"Nera!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8)
"Allegra!" (A1000/D1000/L3/P8)
"And Vespers!" (A1800/D900/L4/P2)
"Not good," Sunset said.
"I activate Operetta's ability. By returning any number of monster from my field to the hand, I can decrease the ATK of a monster on your field by five hundred." Nera was once again returned to her hand, allowing Operetta to unleash her sonic blast and power down Haslash!" (A1600/D1700/L5/P4) "And don't forget about Nera and Vesper's abilities," she drew her cards as Vespers fired her sonic blast and struck Sunset and sent her flying back.
"Ahh!" Sunset cried as she hit the ground and rolled until she came to a stop next to a stream of lava.
Sunset: 3000
Adagio: 3700
As she picked herself up, Sunset spotted something floating down the river before hearing Adagio speak up. "Now for Operetta's attack!" Her mermaid unleashed another sonic blast, which headed straight for Sunset's knight. But at the last second, Haslash jumped out of the way of the attack. "What?"
"Sorry," Sunset said as she turned around, "but my Evasion Action Spell let my monster dodge your attack.
Adagio frowned, "well I've still got my other two monsters. "Vespers!" The other mermaid sang, hitting the knight and destroying it.
Sunset: 2800
Adagio: 3700
"And now for Allegra!" The mermaid sung, but Sunset was ready.
"I activate my Trap," her card flipped up. "Beacon of Hope. Now I can draw a card and if its a monster, I can summon it." She drew her card and smiled, "Radiant Sun Knight Scarmick!" The young knight appeared on her field. (A1000/D1000/L3/P2)
Adagio raised en eyebrow at this, "I'll still attack!" Allegra continued to sing as Scarmick rushed forwards, firing the sonic blast that struck the knight as he tossed his blade at her and hit the mermaid in the chest. They were both destroyed. "I end my turn with a face down."
"Alright," Sunset drew her card, "time for a come back." The portal formed above her, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened and a pair of fireballs shot out before exploding to reveal Haslash and Scarmick. (A2100/D1700/L5/P4) (A1000/D1000/L3/P2) "And since Scarmick was Special Summoned while another Fire monster was on the field, he gains five hundred ATK points." (A1500/D1000/L3/P2)
Up in the VIP box, Cold watched as his former ward continued to push forwards.
That inextinguishable will had always been something he'd admired about the girl. It was why he had taken her in and trained her, because he knew she could take the punishment.
He then turned his attention to Adagio. Maybe it had been a mistake to ask her to do this, but what choice did he have. He knew Sunset would have accepted if he'd asked, but he couldn't do that to her again. No, this was better.
"You can do this Sunset," he told her.
"Now I'll summon Corona Beast, Sun-Heart Lion Cub!" In a burst of fire, the helmet wearing, dagger holding young lion appeared besides her other monsters. (A800/D800/L2/P8)
"What can that pipsqueak do?" Adagio asked her.
"A lot actually," Sunset told her as her Pendulum Monster pointed is staff at the lion. "Since he's Level three or below, Magician of Radiant Sunlight can use his Pendulum Effect to turn him into a Tuner monster." The beam of light struck Lion Cub, who glowed before leaping into the air. "Now I can tune him and Haslash together!" Sun-Heart transformed into a pair of fireballs, which carved two burning rings that Haslash leapt into. "Ignite the inner flames of harmony, and let them shine for all eternity!" Her monsters were engulfed by an explosion of light, "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"
The light faded to reveal Sunset's monster. It looked just like her, but her hair was styled with and she was wearing a pink dress. A pair of golden flaming wings sprouted out of her back, while a long horn of light was coming out of her forehead. "Shimmering Phoenix Princess, Daydream!" (A2300/D2200/L7)
Adagio stared at the majestic monster in awe, though that feeling quickly vanished when she remembered she was going to be battling this monster.
"I activate Daydream's ability," Sunset took a card out of her Extra Deck. "By sending a Pendulum Monster from here to the graveyard, I can decrease the ATK of your monsters by its Pendulum Scale time one hundred. So I'll send Lion Cub to the graveyard and weaken your monsters by eight hundred." The ghostly image of Sun-Heart appeared in front of Sunset's Synchro monster before morphing into a fireball that she held in her hands.
Adagio watched as Daydream launched the fireball, which morphed into a flaming wave that struck her monsters. (A1600/D2100/L7/P4) (A1000/D900/L4/P2)
"Attack!" Daydream flew towards Operetta, her hands igniting with flames.
"I activate my Trap!" Adagio's face down flipped up, only for Daydream to toss a fireball at it and destroy it. "What?" She asked before looking down at her Duel Disk.
Sunset: 2500
Adagio: 3700
"Another ability?"
Sunset nodded. "One that lets me pay three hundred life points to negate the activation of a Spell or Trap and destroy it."
Adagio frowned at this before she and her monsters rushed off, looking for an Action Card. She eventually spotted one in a pool of lava and grabbed it, only to see it was an Action Trap.
Celestia: "Ow, Burning Heat. That card will deal her five hundred points of damage.
The lava pool exploded, the heat burning Adagio as she staggered back.
Sunset: 2500
Adagio: 3200
While this was happening, Daydream finally reach Operetta and thrust both her burning hands into the mermaid's chest and destroyed her
Sunset: 2500
Adagio: 2500
"Now Scarmick!" The Pendulum Monster rushed towards Vespers, slashing it with his sword.
Sunset: 2500
Adagio: 2100
"I place one card face down and end my turn!" Sunset announced while Scarmick's ATK returned to normal (A1000/D1000/L3/P2) "And since I'm ending my turn, Sun-Heart's ability activates. Now by removing him from my graveyard, I can destroy one Spell or Trap on your field for every Fire monster on my field. Then deal you four hundred points of damage for each one!"
Sun-Heart reappeared on the field and this time morphed into two fireballs, which Daydream and Scarmick grabbed before tossing at Adagio's Pendulum Scale. Both Allegra and Medley were destroyed, as the fireballs flew through them before striking Adagio.
She let out a cry as she was pushed back, almost falling off her feet.
Sunset: 2500
Adagio: 1200
Once Adagio manged to get her balance back, she looked over at Sunset and smiled. "Not bad bacon head," she reached for her deck. "But I'm not done yet. I draw!" She looked at what she'd gotten and smiled before slapping two of her cards onto the Duel Disk, "I'm resetting the Pendulum Scale with scale eight Ocean's Idol Nera and scale two Ocean's Idol Rhapsody!" The pillars of light appeared before the two mermaids flew up into them. Once there, the portal began to form above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened before five lights shot out and struck the ground, then faded to reveal Adagio's monsters. "Ocean's Idol Operetta!" (A2400/D2100/L7/P4)
"Allegras!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P8)X2
"Vespers!" (A1800/D900/L4/P2)
"And Medley!" (A2000/D2000/L5/P1) "Now I activate Operetta's ability!" The two Allegras returned to Adagio's hand, while her ace unleashed a sonic blast that struck Daydream and weakened her. (A1300/D2200/L7) Vesper's ability then activated, firing another sonic blast that struck Sunset.
Sunset: 1900
Adagio: 1200
"What's more, whenever Allegra is sent from the field the my hand, her ability lets me destroy one card in your Spell and Trap zone" The mermaid appeared and fired a sonic bullet, which destroyed Sunset's face down.
"No," Sunset paled at the lose of her card, "this isn't good."
"And it's about to get worse. Operetta, attack Shimmering Phoenix Princess!" The mermaid swam towards Daydream, while Sunset began to run as fast she she could to find another Action Card. She spotted one sitting on a nearby boulder and managed to grab it, but when she saw what it was she frowned.
Seconds later, Operetta reached Daydream and unleashed her sonic attack on her and destroyed her.
Sunset: 800
Adagio: 1200
"Now Vespers will destroy Scarmick!" Her mermaid swam through the air, ready to deal the finishing blow.
"I activate the Action Spell, Flame Surge!" Scarmick was encased by a veil of flames, increasing his ATK power (A1400/D1000/L3/P2)
Sunset: 400
Adagio: 1200
"Nice try," Adagio told her. "But don't forget that I still have Medley!" The final Mermaid swam at Sunset, who was still panting after her last big run. She was completely out of options, with no other Action Card in sight, so it looked like she was gonna lose.
A beeping from her Raduel made her look at it, only to gasp when she saw what it said.
Trixie: 500 (Winner)
Fluttershy: 0
Trixie laughed as she watched a sad Fluttershy descend into the earth, "I'm sorry Twilight." Fluttershy looked up at air before yelling out, "save us SUNSET!"
This was bad. If all three members of a team end up in the Graveyard, that team would be disqualified.
"What do I do?" Sunset asked herself. Was this it for their team? As she watched Medley get closer and closer, the disappointed looks of her teammates flashed in front of her eyes. Along with them, was the image of Tidal and something they had talked about a few days back.
Flashback
At the spa, Sunset and Tidal were both sitting in a mud bath while Twilight and Fluttershy were getting hair treatments. In that moment, Tidal asked Sunset a favour.
"You want me to keep an eye on Twilight?" She asked, Tidal nodding in return.
"Yes," he sighed before looking up at the ceiling. "The thing is, even if she won't admit it, entering the Double X is her way of handling the grief. A way to ignore the pain. But I doubt that'll last forever, so I want you to be there to make use she's alright."
Sunset thought about this, "why me?"
Tidal just smiled, "because you're her friend."
Flashforward
Friend. It hadn't really hit her, but she was Twilight's friend. As oppose to how things had been when they first met. Back then, the only one she cared about was Cold. But now, after everything she'd been through with Twilight, Fluttershy and the others, she couldn't deny she cared about them.
If she lost, she wouldn't just be letting the team down. She'd be letting her friends down.
"I...I can't let that happen." Digging deep, she tapped into all the energy she had and started running. This made Adagio chuckle as her monster followed.
"This might be fun." She ran after them.
Sunset ran as fast as her legs could move, looking around frantically for an Action Card. Medley meanwhile, continued to follow her. At certain points, she shot a sonic attack at Sunset but she managed to dodge them. One sonic blast hit the ground behind her and threw her into the ground, rolling to a stop besides a boulder.
Medley finally reached her, floating right above her, and took a deep breath.
Sunset looked up at the mermaid and tried to pick herself, using the boulder for support. But as she did, she noticed the boulder had a hole in it. She turned to that hole had her eyes went wide, as Medley unleashed her attack.
Adagio was running towards her monster when she saw the explosion, smirking as she thought the Duel had just been won. But when she got there, the smoke cleared to reveal Sunset was still standing.
Sunset: 200
Adagio: 1200
"How?"
"The Action Spell Emergency Trap. I let me activate a Trap in my grave, for the cost of half my life points. I used it to activate the Defence Draw Trap you destroyed."
Adagio smirked at this, but had to admit that was a pretty good save. "I equip Operetta with Raregold Armor. Now she's the only Monster you can attack." She placed another card face down, "I end my turn."
Sunset panted, feeling completely wiped as she looked down at her hand. Defence draw had gotten her her ace, along with the Sun-Ray Salamander she's had since the Duel began. If she summoned Rebirth, would that be enough? No, it wouldn't. She looked down at her deck. This all depended on what she drew next. Her teams hopes of staying in the tournament, rest on one card.
"That's all I need," she reached for her deck. "I can't lose...I WON'T LOSE! I have to win, for my friends. I...DRAW!" Time seemed to slow down as she looked at what she'd gotten, only to go wide eyed at the sight. "This is..."
"Well?" Adagio asked with crossed arms, "wotcha get?" Her confidant smile disappeared when she saw Sunset smirk.
"Let me show you," Sunset replied as the portal appeared above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened up and a single fireball shot out and struck the ground, exploding as Sunset's ace flew out. "Ignite your flame of victory, Solar Flare Phoenix!" (A2500/D2100/L7/P4) "Solar Flare's skill!" The firebird flapped its wings and created a healing fire, which flew around Sunset and doubled her life points.
Sunset: 400
Adagio: 1200
"Next, I summon Sun-Ray Salamander!" The spotted lizard appeared next to her Phoenix. (A100/D100/L1)
"They can't help you," Adagio told her before the two were surrounded by a flaming aura.
"Won't they?" Sunset asked as she held up her last card, while her two monsters shot into the air. "I now sacrifice Solar Flare and one Level one Fire monster, in order to awaken my Phoenix's ultimate power!" With that, Sun-Ray exploded into a massive burst of fire that wrapped around the bird to become a flaming cocoon.
Adagio gasped, remembering hearing something like this happening a year ago. "I can't be."
"TRANSCEND!" The flaming sun faded to reveal Sunset's new monster. It was Solar Flare Phoenix, but now it was wearing golden wing and head armour with blue trim. Its feet were encased within golden armour while its tail was extended, with blue flames burning on the end of each tip. "Solar Phoenix BLAZE-INCARNATE!" (A3000/D2500/L8)
Adagio just started the giant bird.
Completely unaware to them, a certain someone had arrived on the scene and saw what had just happened.
Flash smirked as he looked up at the evolved phoenix, knowing exactly where the inspiration for it came from. "Still copying me I see. Guess it makes sense to copy my best card. Now how are you gonna use it?" He walked off, not really in the mood for Duelling against one of them after they were done. He'd wait for the next round.
"I activate Blaze-Incarnate's ability!" Sunset removed Daydream and Duel Cannon from her graveyard. "By removing two Fire monsters from my grave, Blaze-Incarnate gains their abilities." She looked up at her monster, as the banished monsters spirits appeared in front of it. "Inheriting the inextinguishable souls of our fallen comrades, to help blaze a new future. Go, Will of Fire!" They burst into flames, which wrapped around Blaze-Incarnate as it let out a mighty cry.
"This isn't good," Adagio said before looking down at her face down. If she activated it, Blaze-Incarnate would use Daydream's ability to negate it. Her only hope was an Action Card.
Sunset leapt up onto her monster's back. "I activate the effect inherited from Shimmering Phoenix Princess Daydream!" She removed Haslash from her Extra Deck and sent it to the graveyard, as his spirit appeared in front of Blaze-Incarnate before exploding into a wave of fire that hit Operetta, Vespers and Medley. (A2000/D2100/L7/P4) (A1400/D900/L4/P2) (A1600/D2000/L5/P1) "ATTACK!"
Blaze-Incarnate took to the skies as its entire body exploded into flames, Sunset standing atop them feeling nothing but a pleasant sensation. Adagio meanwhile, continued to rush through the Volcano Field in search of a card.
She finally spotted one a ways in a lava pool, jumping to grab it as Blaze-Incarnate drew closer. She grabbed it and placed it in her Duel Disk. "Go, Evasion!" Operetta swam out of Blaze-Incarnate's way, dodging the attack.
"Lucky draw," Sunset told her. "But will that luck hold out against our second attack?" Blaze-Incarnate spun back around, ready to attack again.
Adagio turned back to her, only to notice something floating down a nearby river. She knew she could take this attack, but where was the fun in that. She rushed over to the river and plucked the card out of the lava, only to spin it around and see it was another Burning Heat card.
The river exploded, the heat singing Adagio.
Sunset: 400
Adagio: 700
Seconds later, Blaze-Incarnate's burning form smashed into Operetta and turned her into calamari. The flames raced across the field and struck Adagio, burning away the last of her life points.
Sunset: 400 (Winner)
Adagio: 0
Sunset jumped off her bird before it and the rest of the monsters disappeared, landing on the ground before moving over to where Adagio had fallen. She watched as the girl picked herself up, then looked over at the victor. "Why'd you do that? You might have won if you hadn't gone for that Action Card."
Adagio just shrugged, "just me being cocky I guess." The ground beneath her retracted, as she looked up at Sunset. "Just wait until the next round. I'll get payback." And with that, she was gone. Seconds later, the ground opened up and both Twilight and Fluttershy appeared out of it.
"Sunset!" Twilight waved at her, "you saved us."
"Thank you," Fluttershy bowed.
"No problem," Sunset replied before turning to Twilight and remembering the conversation she had with Tidal. "Are you alright?" She spotted a frown appear on Twilight's face, but it barely lasted a millisecond before being replaced by a smile.
"I'm fine," Twilight assured her before walking off. "Come on, we've got to make up the points we lost." That walk quickly turned into a sprint, with Fluttershy and Sunset following close behind. Twilight wasn't lying, she was actually feeling fine. Seeing Sunset and Fluttershy Duel so hard to save her, she realised she couldn't let her feeling keep her from doing everything she could to win. She owed it to her team, to win.