//------------------------------// // Turn 19: Winds of Fury // Story: Yugioh EQG: XX // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// The second day of the Double X was coming to a close, with only ten minutes left on the clock. All over the many Duel Fields, Duellists were working to earn as many points as they could in these last few minutes. In the Forest Field, Rainbow was facing off against a bulky teen named Teddy. "I XYZ SUMMON!" Rainbow Battle Wing appeared on the field before cutting down the boy's monster. "I'm gonna get into the next round tomorrow!" Rainbow announced as one of her other monsters shot towards him and wiped out the last of Teddy's Life Points. "Oh yeah!" She cheered before looking around, only to spot Gilda leaning against a tree with her arms crossed. The girl did not look happy. Over in the Meadow Field, Flash was Duelling against a girl named Coco. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" Flash Heart Dragon X appeared out of the field besides Shining Fang Magna Wolf, then used its ability to banish Coco's monster. "I will get into the next round!" He almost yelled as Magna Wolf rushed forwards and slashed Coco, sending her Life Points to zero. Over in the Canyon Field, Twilight was facing off against a girl named Sweet Leaf and currently had Twilight Warlock on the field. "Sunset...Fluttershy...Tidal. Hope I didn't worry you guys to much." She couldn't embarrass herself by losing another Duel. "This one's for you Moondancer!" She activated Warlock's ability and drew her cards, selecting one before returning the rest and activating it. "I use the Spellbook of Power, to increase my Warlock's ATK power by one thousand!" (A3500/D2100/L7/P4) "ATTACK!" What Twilight didn't know, was that Trixie was currently watching her Duel. The girl stared at her rival and frowned before turning to walk off. Later. Once the final Duels came to an end, the teams all headed out of the stadium. Twilight had said goodbye to her team and was heading to where Spike's team was, texting her parents to tell them they'd be home soon, only to spot someone standing in front of her while leaning against a wall. "Trixie?" The girl smiled at her. "Hey," she pushed off against the wall, "you're looking happy. Considering you've now lost on both days, I figured you'd be moping or something." Twilight frowned, but quickly covered it up with a smile. "Moping's not gonna get me anywhere. So what if I lost? I'll just have to try harder tomorrow." Trixie just smirked before walking off. "You'd better. I plan on coming after you tomorrow. Knocking you out of the tournament will be a great way to earn my place in round two." With that, she was off and left Twilight with an unsure expression on her face. She wasn't sure if she was annoyed or excited at the prospect of Duelling against Trixie again. Meanwhile, Team Wonderbolts were driving back to Cloudsdale. They were riding in one of the school's minibus's, which was much more empty since it was only them and the driver. "So," Rainbow turned to the others, "how'd it go today?" "Pretty good," Soarin told her. "I got lucky and ended up facing off against five Duellists, so I managed to rack up a couple points." He turned to Gilda, "how about you?" Gilda just turned to look out the window. "None of those Duellists were any match for me. I won without a sweat." "Awesome," Rainbow said. "If we keep this up, we'll be in the next round by tomorrow." "Yeah," Gilda said, "whatever." This made Rainbow raise an eyebrow. "You okay?" Gilda was quite for several moment, but eventually she slowly turned to glare at Rainbow. "Duel me!" This wasn't a request, it was a demand. Rainbow was shocked by this, while Soarin was completely horrified. Meanwhile, Flash was on his way home. He was walking down the street, simply minding his own business, when he suddenly heard the sound of crying. This made him stop and looked around, eventually turning a corner to see the cause of the crying. Marble Pie. She was standing all alone, a look of fear and panic on her face as she looked around while her face was hidden behind her hair. "Hey," she screamed as she turned towards him. Flash was just as startled by her sudden outcry, holding up his hands defensively. "Wow. Relax. I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm Flash, Pinkie's friend. Are you okay?" Marble continued to cry. "I...I don't know." "Well...where are your sisters." "I don't know. We got separated and...and I don't know how to get home from here." Flash raised an eyebrow at this. How did a girl his age, who had lived in this city all her life, not know how to navigate it? Flash quickly scanned his brain and came up with an idea, pulling out his phone and scrolling through his contacts until he found Pinkie's. As soon as they arrived back at school, Gilda lead Rainbow and Soarin up onto the roof. Once their, they two girls took out their Duel Disks and placed them on their arms. Meanwhile, Soarin was staring at them in worry. "Is this really a good idea? We're not suppose to be up here." "Can it!" Gilda said before pointing at Rainbow, "you and I are gonna Duel." "That's fine," Rainbow said. "I never turn down a challenge. But can I ask why you're suddenly itching to get beat by me?" "Because you're the one that came up with this whole Double X idea, but so far you've been doing nothing but giving it the bare minimum." "Hey," Soarin said, "that's not true. Rainbow's been giving it her all." "Don't be an idiot!" Soarin jumped back at this. "First she loses to some nobody yesterday, then she doesn't even try and give it her all today." She pointed at Rainbow. "I kept an eye on your Duels and not once did you try to summon anything stronger then your Battle Wing Gold." "So what?" Rainbow asked, "I still won didn't I?" "But you would have won faster if you'd summoned Platinum or something else. Your Duels could have ended a lot quicker if you'd used it." "Where's the fun in that?" Rainbow asked. "Fun?" Gilda looked seriously pissed now, "we're suppose to be trying to win this tournament! It doesn't matter if you're having fun." Rainbow just shrugged, "I'm all for winning. But what's the point in winning if you don't get to enjoy it?" All this did was make Gilda growl before activating her Duel Disk. "Fine! I'll force you to give it everything you have." Rainbow smirked and activated her Duel Disk. "Bring it on." "DUEL!" Gilda: 4000 Rainbow: 4000 "I'll take the first move!" Rainbow drew her card, "I summon Rainbow Wing Pegasus in ATK mode!" The rainbow haired winged horse appeared in front of her. (A1800/D1200/L4/P5) "I end my turn!" "My draw!" Gilda did so before taking two cards and placing them on either sides of her Duel Disk, "it's Pendulum Time. I set the Pendulum Scale with Harpie Maiden and Harpie Lady Commander!" The pillars appeared before Gilda's two monsters flew up. One was a young blonde harpy with pink wings wearing a blue and black body suit, a number two appearing below it, while the others was Gilda's Commander Harpy. Once they were high up, the portal began to form between them. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before pair of lights shot out and hit the ground, taking shape before fading to reveal Gilda's monsters. "Harpie Lady Phoenix!" (A1300/D1400/L4) The other was a blue haired harpy with black wings wearing blue and purple cloths. An orb was in her hand. "And Harpy Lady Oracle!" (A1300/D1400/L4) From the side, Soarin watched the Duel intensely. "Since neither of those monsters are strong enough to take down Rainbow's Pegasus, she must be planning the Overlay them." And sure enough, the two Harpies glowed before shooting into the air. "Now watch, as with these two monster I 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) "Zephyr, ATTACK!" The Harpy flew through the air before slashing its talons into Rainbow Wing Pegasus, destroying it and making Rainbow slide back. Gilda: 4000 Rainbow: 3700 "You dare lose to some nobody!" Gilda yelled as Zephyr's ability activated, unleashing a blade of air that struck Rainbow in the stomach. Gilda: 4000 Rainbow: 3000 "You're one of the best Duellists I know, but then you go a lose to some lamo who no one's ever heard about!" Rainbow, who was still recovering from the attack, looked up at Gilda and smirked. "I'd like to see you do any better." This made Gilda frown before she ended her turn. "My go!" Rainbow drew he card, then copied Gilda and slapped two of them down onto the Duel Disk. "Now it's my Pendulum Time, go Rainbow Wing Knight Condor and Rainbow Wing Knight Osprey!" The pillars of light appeared before bird armoured warriors flew up into them, the portal forming between them as they did. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before a single lights shot out, hitting the ground and taking form before fading to reveal Rainbow's monster. "Rainbow Wing Pegasus!" (A1800/D1200/L4/P5) "And don't forget that since my Pegasus was special summoned, I get to add one level four or below Winged-Beast from my deck to my hand!" Her deck shuffled before slotting out a card, which Rainbow took and instantly summoned. "Come one out, Rainbow Wing Blue Falcon!" A tornado singled the arrival of the blue bird of prey, which flew down and landed besides Pegasus. (A1600/D1400/L4) "Alright!" Soarin cheered, "now Rainbow has everything she needs to Xyz Summon!" No sooner had he said that, that Rainbow's monsters glowed before shot into the air while a black hole appeared at Rainbow's feet. "Wings of freedom," Rainbow cried as the lights shot into the black hole. "Descend upon this land and unleash a hurricane of power!" The black hole exploded in a burst of light. "I XYZ SUMMON!" The light faded, revealing Rainbow's ace. "Rainbow Battle Wing Gold." (A2500/D1500/R4/P7) "Then I'll remove one Overlay Unit to look at the top five cards of my deck, then summon one Level four or below winged beast monster." Battle Wing crushed one of the lights, as Rainbow drew her cards. "I summon Shield Wing!" The large winged bird appeared next to Battle Wing, wrapping its wings around itself defensively. (A0/D900/L2) Gilda smirked at the move, only to hear Rainbow speak up. "Yeah, I lost to Tempest, but that's the whole reason I entered the Double X." She pointed at her Xyz Monster, "Battle Wing!" The armoured warrior leapt into the air before unsheathing its blade, "attack Zephyr!" Gilda watched as Battle Wing flew towards her Harpie Lady, his ability increasing his ATK points for every other Winged-Beast on the field. (A2800/D1500/R4/P7) Zephyr flew into the air towards Battle Wing, the Xyz Monsters clashing as Rainbow's cut through hers. Gilda: 3300 Rainbow: 3000 "I wanted to enter this tournament so I could Duel new opponents. So I could improve my skills as a Duellist. And also..." the images of her friends flashed in front of her face, "so I could Duel against some Duellists I want to have go full force against me." She looked over at Gilda, "why'd you decide to join the team? It can't just be because we asked you. You had to have had your own reason, so what is it?" She and Soarin both stared at Gilda, but the tough girl gave no answer. "Guess I'll have to Duel the answers out of you. I end my turn." Battle Wing's ATK power returned to normal. (A2500/D1500/R4/P7 As Gilda drew her card, she couldn't help but wonder what her reason for entering the Double X was. Was it just because she was bored and looking for something to kill time, or was it something more? "Whatever," the portal formed above her head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before three lights shot out, taking form and fading to reveal Gilda's monsters. "Harpie Lady Zephyr!" (A2100/D2300/R4/P3) "Harpie Lady Phoenix!" (A1500/D1200/L4/P4) "And Cyber Harpie Lady!" (A1800/D1300/L4) "And now Phoenix's ability activates!" Gilda announced as Phoenix's wings exploded, its flames flying over to Zephyr and spiralling around her. "With two other Harpie monsters on the field, Zephyr gets another six hundred points. (A2700/D2300/R4/P3) "Attack!" Zephyr flew through the air before slashing its talons into Battle Wing, who raised his sword in defence only for it to shatter upon impact and destroy him. Gilda: 3300 Rainbow: 2800 Zephyr's ability then activated, dealing her even more damage. Gilda: 3300 Rainbow: 1400 Soarin gulped. "Once Shield Wing's out of the way, Gilda's gonna attack Rainbow directly. Luckily, neither of her remaining monsters have enough ATK to take her out." "Think again loser," Gilda told him before pointing at her Pendulum Monster. "When Commander's in the Pendulum Zone, his ability let's a Harpie Lady attack once for every other Harpie Lady on the field. Since I have two more, that's two more attacks he can perform." Soarin's eyes went wide, "that's not good." He watched as Zephyr leapt into the air before flying at Shield Wing, slashing at it with her talons. But despite the attack working, Shield Wing remained where it was. "What gives?" Gilda asked, only to then groan as she remembered. "Oh yeah," Soarin said. "Shield Wing's ability lets it survive up to two attacks. Gilda's gonna need to attack it three times to destroy it, and that's one attack more then her Zephyr can do." Rainbow smirked. "And I'm also guessing your Commander's ability doesn't let you attack with any other monsters." Gilda frowned, "no he doesn't." She sighed before placing a card face down, "I end my turn." She couldn't believe she'd forgotten such an important detail about Rainbow's monster. The issue was probably to do with what Rainbow had told her before. "Gotta get my head in the game." While this was happening, Flash and Marble were in the park. After Flash had gotten in contact with Pinkie, they'd agreed on a spot to meet before he'd taken Marble there. Now they were waiting for Marble's sisters at the fountain, her sitting on it while Flash got her a drink from a nearby vending machine. Drinks in hand, he walked over to her and held out the can. Marble saw it coming into her vision and gasped in surprise, only to then realise what it was and took it. She quickly opened the can and drank it, trying to hide her face behind her hair. Flash just smirked, sitting down besides her. "You don't get out much, do you?" Marble just looked down at he lap, slowly shaking her head. "No." Flash had to wonder how such a timid girl could have the Duel skills needed to make both Maud and Pinkie see her as their superior, but then realised that if Maud's personality could shift in a Duel, then maybe hers could as well. "So how are things going in the tournament." "It's going okay," Marble replied. Flash sighed. Her shyness would put Fluttershy to shame. The next few minutes were gonna be kinda awkward if they had to just sit their in silence. It was then he had an idea and reached into his jacket. Marble heard the commotion and looked over at him, only to see him pull out his Duel Disk. "Wanna Duel?" Marble looked at him in surprise, but then both it and her shyness seemed to disappear and was replaced by a smile. "Okay." She pulled out her Duel Disk and attached it to her arm, the two walking far enough away before turning to one another and activating them. "DUEL!" Flash: 4000 Marble: 4000 "I'll take the first move!" Flash drew his card, "I summon Shining Fang Magna Wolf!" The hound appeared in front of him. (A1500/D1200/L4) "I place two cards face down and end my turn." He looked over at Marble, "go ahead. Show me what you've got." "Alright," Marble said as she drew her card. "I play Graceful Charity. So now I draw three cards and then I have to discard two." She drew and discarded her card. "I can now summon a monster from my hand." A knight like monster whose armour was made out of some kind of gravelly rock, appeared in front of her before rocks appeared around it and began sealing the knight in a moon like construction. "By banishing Gaia-Knight Corundum and one Rock monster from my graveyard, I can summon Gaia-Knight Sapphire to my field. The moon crumbled as a knight in sapphire armour appeared, carrying a lance made out of the same rock as its armour. (A3000/D2400/L8) "And since I have two Rock monsters removed from play, he gains two hundred ATK points." (A3200/D2400/L8) "I attack Magna Wolf!" The knight rushed forwards, ready to impale Flash's monster with its lance. "I activate my Trap," Flash's card flipped up. "Dimensional Prison! Say goodbye to your Gaia-Knight, because he's got a one way ticket to the different dimension." "I think not," Marble said. "Whenever you activate a Trap card, I can take a Rock monster that's been removed from play and place it on the bottom of my deck." She took out Corundum and placed in into the bottom of her deck, "this lets me negate the effect of your Trap and destroy it." Sapphire used its lance and pierced the Trap, destroying it before turning to Magna Wolf. With one less Rock monster removed from play, his ATK went down. (A3100/D2400/L8) Flash groaned before activating his next card, "the I'll use my Lightspeed Spell Card! This boosts the power of a Light monster on my field by one thousand." Magna Wolf was covered in a shining veil. (A2500/D1200/L4) "And since you have a card removed from play, his ATK goes up by one hundred points. (A2600/D1200/L4) Sapphire impaled the beast with its lance and destroyed it. Flash: 3500 Marble: 4000 Flash groaned at the loss of his monster. He was starting to see why Pinkie and Maud spoke so highly of her. "This is gonna be fun," he smirked. "It's my turn," Rainbow reached for her deck, "I draw!" The portal began to form above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out and struck the ground, taking form before fading to reveal her monsters. "Rainbow Battle Wing Gold!" (A2500/D1500/R4/P7) "And Rainbow Wing Pegasus!" (A1800/D1200/L4/P5) "Then I'll equip Pegasus with my Turbine Wing!" Light flashed around Pegasus's chest, which formed a solid mass taking the form of green chest armour and large metal wings with turbines in each one. "This bad boy increases the ATK of a Wind Monster by one thousand (A2800/D1200/L4/P5) "Battle Wing, attack Cyber Harpie Lady!" The Xyz monster flew at Gilda's monster, drawing its sword and swinging it in her direction. With Pegasus and Shield Wing on the field, his power went up. (A3100/D1500/R4/P7) "I activate my Trap!" Her face down flipped up, "Winds of Change. This card lets me change the position of one Wind Monster on my field!" Cyber Harpie Lady crossed its arms defensively, as Battle Wing slashed at her and destroyed her. "Fine, then I'll have Pegasus destroy Zephyr!" The turbines on Pegasus's robotic wings began to spin, unleashing a tornado which blew away Gilda's monster and destroyed it. Gilda: 3200 Rainbow: 1400 The Tornado didn't stop there however, quickly moving towards Gilda as Rainbow explained. "And when a monster equipped with Turbine Wing destroys another monster, you take half that monsters ATK as damage!" The tornado struck Gilda and sending her flying backwards, landing close to the edge of the school. Gilda: 1850 Rainbow: 1400 "Gilda!" Soarin yelled as he tried to run to her, only for Rainbow to hold up her arm and stop him. They watched as Gilda picked herself up, getting back up onto her legs while wobbling. "That all you got Gilda?" Rainbow asked her. "You wanted to try and push me to my limit, but I'm not even breaking a sweat yet. You on the other hand-" "Shut up!" Gilda almost yelled while wiping her brow, "I'll show you." Rainbow just smirked, "then show me." She ended her turn. Gilda let out a mighty roar as she drew her card, then smiled when she saw what card she'd gotten. The portal once again formed above her head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before unleashing a single light, which hit the ground and took shape before fading to reveal her monster. "Harpie Lady Zephyr!" (A2100/D2300/R4/P5) Soarin wondered what was making Gilda smile. "Since Phoenix wasn't Pendulum Summoned, her ability doesn't increase Zephyr's power. What's she planning?" His answer came when Gilda activated a spell card. "Go, Rank-Up-Magic Raging Storm!" Zephyr transformed into a stream of light, which flew up and into a black hole as it opened up above them in the sky. "With this I can now rebuild the Overlay Network," Gilda explained before beginning to chant. "Winds of fury, blast across the battle field and give life the mightiest of winged beasts!" A tornado shot out of the black hole and hit the field, sending a mighty gust of wind across the battle field. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!" The tornado broke apart to reveal Gilda's new monster. It looked like Zephyr, but her armour was now entirely white with purple trim. Only her eyes, stomach and upper arms could be seen beneath it. Her mask was white, while her blue hair was hidden under a white helmet with a bird on top of it. Her brown wings were gone, now replaced with a pair of arms that had white gauntlets and gloves with purple trim. She was carrying a giant toy windmill, with white and blue blades. Finally, connect to her back, were a pair of white semicircle wings with jet engine like thrusters. "Harpie Lady Zephyr Blitz!" (A2800/D2400/R5/P4) "Wow," Soarin said while Rainbow remained on guard. "I activate Zephyr Blitz's ability!" It's Overlay Unit flew into the monster's fan, which started spinning and unleashed a powerful cyclone. "By removing an Overlay Unit, I can pick a monster on your field and then destroy any monster whose ATK is less then it's Original ATK. So I'm picking you Rainbow Battle Wing!" Rainbow and Soarin both gasped, since both Shield Wing and Pegasus's Original ATK was less then Battle Wing's. They watched as the cyclone swept across the field and blew them into the air, destroying them. The windmill stopped spinning for a moment before starting up again, only in the opposite direction. Doing so created a sucking motion that pulled the remains of the destroyed monster into the staff a made the blades glow. "Also, Zephyr Blitz has another ability that'll pump him up an extra seven hundred ATK points for every monster destroyed." (A4200/D2400/R5/P4) "ATTACK!" Zephyr Blitz's engines ignited and propelled her across the battle field, finally reaching Battle Wing and cutting him in half with her buzz-saw like windmill. Gilda: 1850 Rainbow: 700 "And don't forget, my Harpie Lady Commander let's Zephyr Blitz attack again!" The Xyz monster flew forwards, ready to slash at Rainbow and end the Duel. "FINISH THIS!" But just before the attack landed, a familiar propeller wearing tortoise appeared in front of Rainbow and created a tornado that blocked the attack. "What?" "Tornado Tortoise," Soarin realised before sighing in relief. "Close one." Rainbow smirked at Gilda. "Alright, that move had me sweating. This new monster is tough." Gilda smirked, "you haven't seen everything she can do yet." She looked down at her hand, then up at her Pendulum Zones. "I think I'll use the Pendulum Ability of my Harpie Maiden to tribute Harpie Lady Phoenix." Phoenix exploded, "now I can draw one card for every six hundred ATK points she had." She drew two cards before throwing one face down, "I end my turn." Zephyr Blitz's ATK power returned to normal. Gilda looked down at her face down, which was a Trap called Defence Wind. Any attack Rainbow fired at her would would be repelled and she'd take the damage. The perfect defence. "It's my turn," Rainbow knew she needed something big if she wanted to win. Nothing in her hand could pull that off, so it was all up to this draw. "Here goes!" She drew her card and went wide eyed seeing what she'd gotten, then smiled as the portal formed above her head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before two lights shot out and struck the ground, fading to reveal Rainbow's revived monsters. "Rainbow Battle Wing!" (A2500/D1500/R4/P7) "And Rainbow Wing Pegasus!" (A1800/D1200/L4/P5) "Those cards can't save you," Gilda told her. "Maybe not," Rainbow activated the card she'd gotten. "But I'm betting this card will!" A rainbow coloured tornado exploded around Battle Wing, the light almost blinding Gilda and Soarin and forcing them to shield their eyes. "Go, Rank-Up-Magic...INFINITE SPECTRUM!" A black hole appeared above their heads, which the rainbow tornado flew up into. "With this card, I can Rank-up my Xyz monster into a Spectrum Battle Wing!" Rainbow coloured lightning began to spark out of the black hole, as Rainbow Dash began to chant. "Radiant colours of the universe, infuse your powers and give life to your new herald!" The rainbow tornado shot out of the black hole and hit the field, sending a mighty gust of wind across the battle field. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!" The tornado exploded, unleashing a blinding light. Gilda and Soarin tried to look through it, but all they could see was the outline of Rainbow's new monster. The light finally faded, allowing them to see what it looked like. It looked like Rainbow Assault Wing Platinum, only its armour was now made of crystal and it didn't have the wings on its arms. Instead, it had a pair of metal wings on its back similar to Shining Flare Wingman's. Each wing had seven crystal blades, each one being a different colour of the rainbow. "Spectrum Battle Wing...PRISM BOLT!" (A3000/D2500/R5/P6) Gilda and Soarin could only stare in awe at this new creature, as Rainbow continued her turn. "Since Prism Bolt was summoned due to the effect of Infinite Spectrum, his ability lets me destroy one card on your field for every Overlay Unit he has." Gilda's eyes went wide when she saw Prism Bolt raise its wings, as the light around it flew passed them. The crystal on its wings reflected the light from the Overlay Unit, creating a rainbow beam that flew down and struck her face down and destroyed it. "No," she groaned, "my Defence Wind." "Now for Prism Bolt's other ability," Rainbow announced as Prism Bolt crushed its Overlay Unit between its hands before Rainbow Wing Pegasus flew in front of it. "By removing an Overlay Unit, I can lower the ATK power of a monster on your field by the ATK of any Rainbow Wing, Rainbow Assault Wing or Rainbow Battle Wing on my side of the field until the end of the turn." Prism Bolt raised its wings before the crystals on them unleashed lightning that was the same colour as the crystals. The fourteen bolts of rainbow lightning wrapped around Pegasus before flying off it and hitting Zephyr Blitz, electrocuting it. The evolved Xyz Monster fell to her knees, as her power was zapped away from her. (A1000/D2400/R5/P4). "Let's end this," Rainbow cried as Prism Bolt took to the skies. Once high enough, it spread its wings and dive-bombed towards Zephyr Blitz. As it flew down, rainbow tail was left in its wake. Gilda saw this and was mesmerised. She hadn't felt this feeling in a long time. Was...was this why she wanted to compete in the Double X, so she could see incredible monsters like this? She was soon snapped out of her daydream, as Prism Bolt struck Zephyr Blitz and destroyed in while sending her flying. "WOOOOOW!" Gilda: 0 Rainbow: 700 (Winner) "Gilda!" Soarin rushed over to wear his teammate had fallen, holding out a hand to help her up. "You okay?" Gilda moaned as she rolled around, then looked up to glare at Soarin before slapping his hand away and picking herself up. "I'm fine," she dusted herself off before turning to Rainbow. "So," Rainbow told her, "still think I'm not giving it everything I've got?" "No," Gilda said, "you were definitely giving it your all." She pointed at her, "but don't think that means you can slack off from now on. That Spectrum Battle Wing better show up tomorrow." "He will," Rainbow said. "What about you? Figured out why you want to be in he Double X?" Gilda sighed, replaying that last turn in her head. "Yeah, I think I have." She smirked, "that moment you summoned that monster, I got this weird feeling. Like my eyes were opened for the first time." She looked out into the night sky. "I think I get now, why you wanted to enter the Double X. So you could face off against monsters you've never seen before, right?" Rainbow smiled and looked out at the horizon with her. "Yeah, you're right. I used to think I was the best Duellist in the world, but then I entered he Celestic Cup and I came up against Duellists with monsters mine didn't stand a chance against. Since then I've trained and improved my deck so they could handle those monsters, but I've still got a ways to go before I can call myself the best." The images of several people flashed in front of her mind, making her smirk. "Also, there are some Duellists I really wanna go up against. Ones I know are strong and will take everything I've got to beat." Gilda and Soarin both nodded, knowing who she was talking about. Gilda then through back to yesterday. "Tempest Shadows. She's really that good?" Rainbow sighed. "Better. I bet she wasn't even going all out against me." Gilda turned to her, "then we'll need to get better. Better then anyone else in this tournament." She held out her fist, "and I'll stick with you to the end." Rainbow smiled and fist pumped he girl, the two holding this before turning to Soarin. "Come on loser." Soarin smirked before rushing up to them and joining his fist with there. The three stayed like this for a while. At least until someone who had heard the noise of the Duel came up to investigate and gave them a stern lecture about messing around on the roof. Back in the park, Flash continued to Duel against Marble. He currently had Flash Heart Dragon X and Magna Tiger, while Marble had both Gaia-Knight Sapphire along with Stone Statue of the Aztecs and a Gaia-Knight that looked like Corundum except its armour was made out of Coal. Since Marble currently had five Rock monsters removed from play, Sapphire's ATK was five hundred points more. (A3500/D2400/L8) "Alright!" Flash drew his card, "I summon Bright Bounce Magna Bunny!" The robotic rabbit appeared besides the dragon and tiger. (A1200/D600/L3/P2) "Then I'll use Reserve Polarity, to swap Magna Tiger, and Sapphire's ATK!" (A3500/D2100/L7) (A2400/D2400/L8) "Attack!" The armoured fighter rushed forwards and smashed Sapphire, destroying it. Flash: 1200 Marble: 2100 "And when Magna Tiger destroys a monster on the field, his ability lets me destroy a monster with less ATK then that monster. So say goodbye to you Aztec Statue." Magna Tiger punched Marble's monster and destroyed it. "Now, Magna Bunny will attack Gaia-Knight Coal!" The robotic bunny rushed forwards before slamming its foot into its stomach and destroyed it. Flash: 1200 Marble: 1700 "And now, my Flash Heart Dragon will finish this!" His ace flew forwards, ready to sucker punch Marble's monster. But before it could reach Marble, a knight in crystal armour carrying a crystal shield appeared and blocked the attack. "Sorry," Marble said, "but by discarding my Gaia-Knight Crystal Guardian I can negate any direct attack." Flash smirked, "I end my turn with a face down." "My turn," Marble said. "I draw and now I'll banish Gaia-Knight Coal along with another Rock monster, in order to summon Gaia-Knight Diamond!" The monster Flash's Bunny destroyed reappeared before being surrounded by the small moon, which quickly broke apart to reveal a knight in diamond armour carrying a diamond war-hammer. (A2800/D2600/L8) "And with seven Rock monsters removed from play, his ATK power goes up. (A3500/D2600/L8) "And then I'll use his ability, to banish my Sapphire from the graveyard so Diamond will now gain his abilities." (A3600/D2600/L8) Flash groaned as he looked down at his face down, Defence Draw. Now he couldn't protect himself. "Gaia-Knight Diamond, attack Bright Bounce Magna Bunny!" The knight rushed forwards until it reached Flash's monster and raised its hammer, Flash smirking as he turned to Marble. "Not bad," he said while his monster was destroyed. Flash: 0 Marble: 1700 (Winner) With the Duel over, Flash walked over to Marble and held out a hand. "You've got skills. I can see why Pinkie and Maud say you're the best in your family." Marble smiled, once again hiding herself behind her hair, and shook Flash's hand. "MARBLE!" The two turned to see Pinkie and Maud running towards them. As soon as she was in arms length, Pinkie grabbed Marble and pulled her into a hug. "OW!" She squeezed her tight, "don't ever scare us like that again!" "I'm sorry," Marble said quietly. "As long as you're alright," Maud said before turning to Flash. "Thank you for looking after our sister." Flash smirked while scratching the back of his head, "don't sweat it. It was fun." He turned to Marble, "I hope we get to face off again in the tournament." Marble smiled and nodded back at him before the sisters headed off home, while Flash walked off in the opposite direction. What none of them realised, was that they were being watched. Standing atop a nearby lamppost, Tempest Shadows stared down at the group as they separated. Her vision followed the Pie sisters, focusing on one of them in particular. "Is she the one?"