//------------------------------// // Turn 39: The Final Round Begins // Story: Yugioh EQG: XX // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// Fireworks filled the air above the Freeze Stadium. Inside, the place was packed with more spectators than ever. They were all here to watch as the Double X's final round finally began. Out of the hundreds of teams that had entered, only four remained. And by the end of the day, that number would be dwindled to two. Onstage, a burst of steam signalled the arrival of the commentators. The Celestic Sisters stepped out to greet them all. Both: HELLO CANTERLOT! Celestia: The big day has finally arrived! Luna: The Double X tournament's Final Round. Celestia: And I must say, it's so great to see so many of you here today. I don't think the stadium's been this packed since the Celestic Cup. Luna: A big welcome to those who are visiting from out of town, such as the pro-Duelling scouts and the students of the Wonderbolts Academy. Said students all cheered, having come to cheer their team onto victory. Up in one of the VIP boxes, Spitfire was there alongside many on the school's board of directors. With the team now in the finals, they had finally gotten off Spitfire's case about them. But even so, they would no doubt reprimand her if something embarrassing should happen. Celestia: The Final Round will consist of two lots of three round Duels. The teams that win two out of three matches will move on to the grand final, where they will face off for the title of Double X champions. Luna: Let's meet our first two teams that will be competing for the chance at the title. The megascreen switched on and showed the first team. Celestia: First off, we have team Dominator! Luna: So far in this tournament, team Dominator has held a solid lead. Will today finally be the day somebody topples them? The megascreen then changed to show the next team. Celestia: And their opponents, all the way from Cloudsdale City, it's team Wonderbolts. Luna: This team barely made it through round one, coming in second to last. But they quickly managed to pull things together and made it through round two with the most Duellists. Will they be the ones to break through the wall that is Team Dominator? Celestia: We've just received word on the Team's chosen Duel Order. So without further ado, the Duellists competing against one another are. The screen changed to show the faces of the Duellists and the order they'd be in. Luna: Starlight verses Gilda. Celestia: Heath versus Soarin. Both: And Tempest versus Rainbow! In one of the competitor's waiting rooms, the Wonderbolts were staring at the screen and seeing who they were facing. Gilda smirked, "so I'm up against that Starlight girl. Well, this won't be so hard," she turned to Soarin. "You beat her, so I shouldn't have any trouble." Soarin rolled her eyes, "just be careful. Remember, just because you've destroyed her monsters doesn't mean they won't be any trouble." "Yeah sure, whatever." With that, she headed out while Rainbow and Soarin sat down to watch. Celestia: It's time for the final round's first match. Luna: Let's welcomes our brave competitors to the stage. From two opposite sides of the stadium, two openings opened up and released a flurry of smoke. From the smoke, two figures stepped out and onto the battlefield. Celestia: First up, from team Dominator, STARLIGHT GLIMMER! Very few members of the crowd cheered, since her team's conduct in the previous round hadn't earned them many friends. Luna: And her opponent, from team Wonderbolts, GILDA! in contrast to Starlight's welcome, Gilda was met with a great amount of cheer. The section filled with her schoolmates was almost deafening to sit near, "GILDA! GILDA! GILDA! GILDA Gilda smirked as she and Starlight met in the centre of the field, where a referee was waiting. "Heads or tails?" He asked them as he held up a coin. "Heads," Starlight spoke up with Gilda just nodding. The ref nodded and flipped the coin before looking down at it. "Tail, Gilda will take the first move." The two nodded before moving back to a safe distance. Celestia: Now that that's out of the way, let's see where they'll be Duelling it out. She held up a remote and pressed the button. Suddenly the floor beneath their feet began to shine as it projected the Duel Field, as a robotic female voice said. "AUGMENTED REALITY COMBAT SYSTEM ENERGISED." In the blink of an eye, the two suddenly found themselves on a rocky area surrounded by a bunch of dying trees with large dilapidated birdhouses in them. Large storm clouds could be seen above them and the broken remains of several houses covered the floor. Luna: It's the Ruins of Griffonstone. A land that was once prosperous, now lays in ruin after its citizens were corrupted by greed and selfishness. How will our young Duellists fair in this field. Gilda and Starlight turned to one another, both smiling. "You know, I was hoping to get a chance to pay your teammate back for beating me before." Gilda smirked back, "sorry to disappoint you. But at least you get the chance to lose to me." "Oh, I'm afraid I'll have to decline that chance." She pulled out her Duel Disk and attached it to her arm, Gilda doing the same. Celestia: It looks like our competitors are ready to get things started. Luna: So now it's time to get this Duel underway. Celestia: Are both Duellists ready? They nodded, activating their Duel Disks. Celestia: Then in THREE! Luna: TWO!" All: ONE" "DUEL!" Gilda: 4000 Starlight: 4000 "ACTION CARDS DISPERSED!" "I draw!" Gilda drew her card, "and I summon Birdface in DEF mode!" A tornado exploded infront of her and faded to reveal the bird-headed man, which took a defensive position. (A1600/D1600/L4) "I place one card face down and end my turn." Celestia: Gilda's starting off strong. Luna: How will Starlight respond? "My draw!" She did so, "I summon Celestial Spirit Libra in ATK mode!" The constellation appeared before exploding to reveal the woman. (A900/D900/L4) "And since she's in ATK mode, all of her DEF points are added to her ATK points." (A1800/D0/L4) "Attack!" The female knight rushed forwards, twin blades at the ready, and slashed Gilda's monster. "Thanks," Gilda told her, "destroying Birdface activated his ability." Her deck slotted out a card, which she took. Starlight smirked, "I place one card face down and end my turn." "My turn," Gilda drew her card and smirked. "Thanks again for destroying Birdface, cause now I can set the Pendulum Scale with scale two Harpie Maiden and scale Harpie Lady Commander!" The pillars of light appeared on either side of her, the two monsters flying up into them and beginning to form the portal. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and three lights shot out, revealing Gilda's monsters. "Cyber Harpie Lady!" (A1800/D1300/L4) "Harpie Lady Channeler!" (A1400/D1300/L4) "And Harpie Lady Phoenix!" (A1500/D1200/L4/P4) "Alright!" Rainbow cheered from the team's room. "That's the way, Gilda!" Soarin announced. "Show her that being a Dominator doesn't mean anything against you." "And win our team a spot in the finals!" Gilda smirked, as if hearing her teammates. "Alright, I Overlay Cyber Harpie Lady and Harpie Lady Channeler!" The two monsters turned into lights that shot into the air, as a black hole opened up before they flew into it. "Mighty winds of battle, ever-changing and ever unpredictable, blow onto this battlefield!" The black hole exploded, "I XYZ SUMMON!" The light faded to reveal Gilda's ace. "Harpie Lady Zephyr!" (A2100/D2300/R4/P3) "Zephyr's skill!" She 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 out of it. (A1600/D1600/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) "Then I'll use the Pendulum Ability of my Harpie Lady Commander, to select Zephyr and grant her one attack for every Harpie Lady on the field." Celestia: Brilliant! With Phoenix on the field, that means she can attack twice. Luna: Though it will mean Phoenix can't attack, but with her higher ATK points and special ability it's a good trade-off. "ATTACK!" Zephyr flew through the air, talons poised to slash at Libra. Meanwhile, Starlight started rushing through the field in search of an Action Card. She eventually spotted one on the door of a birdhouse, which jumping up the tree before grasping the card. When she landed on the ground, she saw what the Action card was. It wouldn't save her monster, but it would protect her from what would happen afterwards. "I activate the Action Card Defender Current!" A strong gust of wind blew between the ruins and began to wrap around her, forming a tornado as Zephyr slashed at Libra and destroyed her Gilda: 4000 Starlight: 2900 Gilda raised an eyebrow. That card didn't save her monster or reduce the damage. What gives? "Defender Current is an Action Card that protects me from any effect damage I would usually take this turn." Gilda's eyes went wide. So that was it. She was protected from Zephyr's ability. "Whatever," Gilda told her. "doesn't matter since Zephyr has another attack and enough ATK points to take you out!" The Harpie Lady flew forwards once again, ready to slice away the last of Starlight's Life Points. Celestia: Is this it. Are we about to see the first Final Round victory after only three turns? "Sorry," Starlight said, "not happening!" Her face down flipped up before four blue energy bears appeared before her. (A0/D0/L1)X4. Luna: She used her Celestial Ursa Minor, which allowed her to summon four Ursa Minor Tokens. Now Zephyr will have to attack them instead of Starlight. Gilda growled at this setback, as her monster destroyed one of the tokens. If it hadn't been for that Action Card, she would have still won. "I'll end my turn by activating Harpie Maiden's ability and sacrifice Phoenix." The Harpie Lady exploded. "I can now draw one card for every six hundred ATK points she had." She drew two cards. "I end my turn." Zephyr's ATK power returned to normal. (A2100/D2300/R4/P3) Starlight smiled as she drew her card. "I'll start by playing the Spell card, Painful Choice." "Not good," Sunburst said. "She's trying to get as many Celestial Spirits into the graveyard as possible." Spike nodded. "Her best cards require large numbers of them there. Especially is she wants to summon that dragon card." "I hope Gilda knows what she's doing," Twilight agreed. Gilda looked up and saw the five cards as they appeared above Starlight. They were all Celestial Spirits, Leo, Virgo, Taurus, Pisces and Cancer. No matter what she picked, she'd be sending four of them to the graveyard. Might as well be the one she'd have the easiest time destroying. "I pick Cancer." Starlight smiled as she took the card and placed the rest in the graveyard. "Alright, now I play the Spell card Celestial Ursa Major." The three small bears exploded into cosmic energy, which began to swirl into a vortex of light. "By tributing my Ursa Minor Tokens, I can summon an Ursa Major Token!" The light formed the purple sabre-tooth energy bear. (A?/D?/L7) "And since I tributed three Ursa Minors, his ATK and DEF points become twenty-four hundred. (A2400/D2400/L7) Gilda began to grow worried at this. "Next, I'll summon Cancer to the field!" The constellation appeared before exploding to reveal the crab armoured teen. (A600/D1600/L3) "Then I'll play my Reverse Polarity Spell card, too swap Cancer's ATK points with your Xyz monster's," Gilda growled as she watched the two monsters trade points. (A600/D2300/R4/P3) (A2100/D1600/L3) Celestia: Starlight's not holding anything back. Luna: Can Gilda find a way to counter this? Gilda began to run off in search of an Action Card, as Starlight leapt up onto Ursa Major's head. "Ursa Major, attack Harpie Lady Zephyr!" The star on the bear's head glowed, ready to unleash a blast of cosmic energy. As it did, Gilda spotted an Action Card on the branch of a tree and leapt up to retrieve it. She managed to catch it, just as Ursa Major fired its blast. "I activate the Action Spell Magic Storm. Now, for every hundred life points I'm willing to pay, I can look at one card from my deck. Then I can select any Spell card from among them and if the activation conditions can be met, I can use it." Starlight raised an eyebrow, "so how many life points are you gonna give up. "Three hundred, which means I can look at three cards. Gilda: 3700 Starlight: 2900 She drew her cards and looked through them, spotting only one card that could help her. "Go, Blustering Winds!" A powerful gust of wind suddenly whipped up around Gilds's Xyz Monster, increasing Zephyr's power by a thousand. (A1600/D2300/R4/P3) Seconds later, Ursa Major fired its cosmic blast and struck Zephyr. Gilda cried out as her monster was vaporised, knocking her back against one of the trees. Gilda: 2900 Starlight: 2900 "Now Cancer will destroy Birdface." The crab kid rushed forwards and slashed at the DEF position monster and destroyed it. "Don't forget, destroying Birdface lets me add a Harpie Lady to my hand." Her deck slotted out a card that she added to her hand. "I place two cards face down and end my turn," Starlight announced as Cancer's ATK points returned to normal. (A600/D1600/L4) "My draw," Gilda smiled when she saw what she'd gotten. "Let's do this," the portal began to form above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and three lights shot out of it. "Cyber Harpie Lady!" (A1800/D1300/L4) "Harpie Lady Phoenix!" (A1500/D1200/L4) "Harpie Lady Zephyr!" (A2100/D2300/R4/P3) "And Harpie's Pet Dragon!" (A2000/D2500/L7) The giant chained up dragon let out a roar that made the whole field shake. In their room, Rainbow and Soarin smirked. "Gilda ain't messing around." "Heck yeah she ain't," Rainbow agreed before getting serious. "But I doubt Starlight's gonna make it easy." As she said that, she saw Starlight begin to run through the field. "She knows that with Zephyr's ability she'll wipe out her life points, so she's gonna try and stop it from attacking." "Then Gilda needs to finish this before she can do it." In their room, team Dominator was sitting and watching. "Starlight seems to be in trouble," Heath told Tempest. "She wouldn't have this problem if she could just use herself." Tempest frowned. "Well, unfortunately, she can't. Her hosts connection to the Celestial Spirits is too strong, even while Dominated she can't Duel with any other card. Honestly, it was pure luck she even had her card in her deck when she was taken over." "So she's stuck using those cards," Heath caught on. "Which means she can't Duel at full strength." Tempest sighed, "unfortunately. But she just needs to keep her control until the end of the Double X." She watched the screen as Starlight made her way through the field, "come on." "Since Phoenix was summoned from the Extra Deck, her ability lets me increase the attack of one Harpie Lady monster by three hundred points for every other Harpie Lady on the field." Phoenix's wings exploded, its flames flying over to Zephyr a spiralling around it. (A2700/2300/R4/P4) "And since I have three Harpie Ladies on the field, Pet Dragon's ATK points go up by nine hundred." (A2900/D2500/L7) "Alright Zephyr, take out Cancer!" The Xyz Harpy flew forwards with talons at the ready. As that was happening, Starlight spotted a destroyed birdhouse and got and idea. Running up to it, she started digging through the wreckage until she unearth what she expected. And Action Card...s. Her eyes shifted from one card to the other, knowing one of them was gonna be a Trap. The squawk of Gilda's monster caught her attention and she randomly grabbed one, turning it over to see it was a Spell. "Alright," she spun back around and placed the card, "Evasion!" Cancer quickly leapt out of the way, Zephyr's talons missing him completely. "Damn it!" Gilda cried, "fine then Cyber Harpie Lady will take him out!" The armoured harpy leapt into the air before swinging its wipe at the Celestial Spirit, destroying it. Gilda: 2900 Starlight: 2300 Starlight smiled, "Cancer's ability cuts any damage I take from a battle involving him in half. Plus," her face down flipped up, "I activate Starburst Draw!" She drew three cards." "Now, Harpie's Pet Dragon, attack Ursa Major!" The dragon opened its mouth and breath in, "Fiercesum Fire Blast!" It then unleashed a large fireball that shot towards the bear, Starlight leaping off it's head seconds before it struck and destroyed it. Gilda: 2900 Starlight: 1800 "I activate my Trap!" Her last face down flipped up, "Starlight Beacon!" Now I can summon one monster from my deck with less ATK then my Ursa Major!" A new constellation appeared before exploding, revealing Scorpio. (A1800/D600/L4) Gilda frowned. "I end my turn with a face down." Celestia: Gilda's all-out offensive style keeps getting road blocked by Starlight. Luna: But with all those monsters on the field, Starlight will have a hard time coming back from it. Starlight drew her card, "I activate Magical Mallet." She placed her cards into her deck before it shuffled, then drew two new cards. A she saw what it was, she smiled before turning to Gilda. "Well, this was fun, but it's time this Duel came to an end." "What?" Gilda asked before watching Starlight activate the card she'd drawn. "Feel the might power, of the Dark Hole!" A large black hole appeared above the field, creating a powerful suction. Everyone in the stadium watched as all the monsters began to be pulled into it, leaving the entire field empty. Celestia: What an unusual move. Luna: Unless she has a monster in her hand, she'll be knocked out and next turn. Starlight smiled as she activated her last card, "I play Celestial Device Sextans!" Gilda's eyes went wide as a portal opened up before Celestial Spirit Leo flew out of it. (A2500/D2200/L7) "Then I'll use his ability," she drew five cards and smiled before discarding all five of them. "They were all Celestial Spirits?" Spike asked in shock. Sunburst nodded. "That means that if Gilda destroys Leo, she'll have everything she needs to summon her dragon." "But with Gilda's field empty, is she really gonna need to?" Flash asked. "Celestial Spirit Leo, ATTACK!" The knight's fist exploded into fire before he rushed towards Gilda, his ability activating and pumping up his ATK points. (A4700/D2200/L7) But Gilda didn't seem worried, in fact smiling as she discarded a card. "Sorry, but I'm ditching a card to activate my Hysteric Party Trap card!" Two Cyber Harpie Ladies and Harpie Lady Channeler appeared on the field before taking up a defensive position. (A1800/D1300/L4)X2 (A1400/D1300/L4) Seconds later, Leo's attack struck one of the Cybers and destroyed it. Starlight frowned at this. "You got lucky." "No," Gilda said, "I'm just not gonna let you beat me. I ain't letting the team's run end here. Not after everything we've been through to get here." "Think so?" Starlight asked as she shut her eyes, "Then let me show you what I've been through to get here." With that, she opened her eyes, as a sudden light to come out of nowhere and blinded Gilda. "Wow!" She cried blinked as the light quickly faded, getting the spots out of her eyes and looking around. When she did, she found that she and her monsters were in a completely different place. It was the same thing Spike had seen. Multiple corpses littering the field, making the place look like a horror movie. "Is this...the Duel Monster Spirit World?" "Yes," Gilda turned to see Starlight standing atop a large rock, "this is the hell I've lived through." Gilda looked around, "not a pretty sight." "It wasn't a pretty experience either. It's something I refuse to live through again." Gilda almost growled, "Is that why you took over that Starlight girl?" "Oh," she raised an eyebrow, "you know about that?" "Yeah, my team were told about it. So why don't you tell me what you and your boss are up to so I can kick your butt?" "Sorry, that's a surprise." With that, another blinding light appeared and blinded Gilda once again. When it finally faded, she looked around and saw Starlight had jumped up to one of the birdhouses and plucked an Action Card out from between the window slits of it. "I activate the Action Spell Griffon's Greed. Since you have two monsters on the field, I can now draw two cards." She did so and smiled when she saw what she'd gotten, "I now play the Spell card the Dark Door. Now you can only attack with one monster." Gilda growled at this, "I place once card face down and end my turn." Celestia: Starlight's gone from barely standing against Gilda, to being the one now appearing to be unstoppable. Luna: I'm not sure how Gilda can overcome this? "My draw," Gilda saw what she'd gotten and smiled as the portal began to form. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before a pair of lights shot out, revealing her monsters. "Harpie Lady Zephyr!" (A2100/D2300/R4/P3) "And Harpie Lady Phoenix!" (A1500/D1200/L4) "And don't forget about her ability!" Her wings ignited and with a good flap, sent the flames wrapping around Zephyr and increasing her ATK points. (A3000/D2300/R4/P3) "That won't be enough to stop Leo," Starlight told her before looking at the card she'd drawn. "But just encase." Her face down flipped up, "I activate the Trap Spell Converter." A machine some mistook for A Compulsory Evacuation Device appeared before her and opened its door, unleashing a sucking force that pulled the cards in Gilda's Pendulum Zones inside. Seconds later, two cards her shot out of the top and flew into Gilda's deck. "That Trap shuffles any Face-Up Spell on your field back into your deck, then I get to draw the same number of cards." She did so. "Now you can't use Commander's ability to bypass the Dark Door." "Cleaver," Gilda said before activating her card, "but not clever enough!" Zephyr transformed into a stream of light, which flew up and into a black hole as it opened in the sky. "Go, Rank-Up-Magic Furious Storm!" "A Rank-Up card?" Starlight asked in shock. "That's right," Gilda smiled. "With this, I can now rebuild the Overlay Network! Winds of fury, blast across the battlefield 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 battlefield. "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!" The tornado broke apart to reveal Gilda's monster. "Harpie Lady, Zephyr Blitz!" (A2800/D2400/R5/P4) Starlight raised an eyebrow at this. "That's your card. It's weaker than the one you used to summon it?" "Maybe," Gilda smirked, "but it managed to get Furious Storm into the graveyard." "What?" Starlight watched as a tornado exploded around Zephyr Blitz. "By banishing it, I can lower the ATK of a monster on your field by my Xyz monster's Rank times five hundred!" Zephyr Blitz swung her staff around and sent the tornado flying towards Leo, surrounding the Celestial Spirit and lowering its ATK points. (A2200/D2200/L7) "Gah!" Starlight growled before she watched Zephyr Blitz take flight and charge towards Leo. She looked around for an Action card and spotted one on the branch of a nearby tree. "Attack!" She heard Gilda cry out. As she did this, Starlight leapt over to that tree and grabbed the card. But when she landed on the ground and turned it over, she saw it was a Trap. Celestia: Oh, that's gonna hurt. Luna: Actually, her getting hurt is what's gonna hurt. For the rest of the turn, Gilda can now draw a card every time Starlight takes four hundred points of damage. In that second, Zephyr Blitz reached Leo and swung her weapon at him, cutting the Celestial Spirit to pieces. Gilda: 2900 Starlight: 1200 Gilda smirked as she drew her card. "And whenever Zephyr Blitz destroys a monster, you take five hundred points of damage for every Overlay Unit she has." The Xyz Monster's fan began to spin around before unleashing a tornado, that hit Starlight and pushed her backwards. Gilda: 2900 Starlight: 700 "Gah!" Starlight growled as she picked herself up, then look up to see Gilda drawing another card before ending her turn. "Don't think you've won this yet," she told her. "This is only the beginning." She drew her card and smiled when she saw what she'd gotten. "I activate the Spell card Monster Reincarnation!" This made Gilda raise an eyebrow. "Now I just need to discard Aries and I can return one monster to my hand." She did so, pulling a card out of her graveyard and holding it up before began to glow. "So Leo sent it to her graveyard?" Sunburst asked. "Looks like it," Flash said. "This could be bad. "Come on Gilda!" Fluttershy cried out in support, knowing the girl would need as much of it as she could now. Gilda watched as the card's light grew brighter, frowning at the smug smile on Starlight's face "By banishing twelve different Celestial Spirit monsters from my graveyard, I can summon the ultimate Celestial Spirit!" The card fired a single beam of light into the sky, the light splitting into nine spheres before flying into formation and creating a new constellation. "Beast of the cosmos, with fury greater than a supernova, descend from the heavens and bath this world in your mighty light!" Gilda watched as each of the stars exploded, unleashing a light that flowed into one entity. Then when the light faded, she saw the orb carrying dragon slither downwards towards the field until it landed behind Starlight. "Celestial Spirit. Draco...STARLIGHT!" (A4000/D4000/L12) The beast roared in Gilda and her monster's face, pushing them all backwards. Celestia: And there it is, Starlight's ultimate monster. Luna: How will Gilda handle this. Despite the beast staring down at her, Gilda smiled. "My loser teammate was able to beat this thing, so so can I." "We'll see about that," Starlight leapt up onto the beast's head. "Draco Starlight, attack!" The beast opened its mouth and began to gather energy, as Gilda rushed off. She began to search for an Action Card, but couldn't seem to find one. Eventually, Draco finished charging and unleashed a powerful blast of light that struck Zephyr Blitz and destroyed it while sending Gilda flying. "WOW!" She cried before landing atop one of the damaged birdhouses. Gilda: 1700 Starlight: 700 Starlight smiled down at her downed opponent. "And since Draco Starlight destroyed a monster, you take one hundred points of damage for every banished Celestial Spirit I have." The dragon raised its orb before unleashing a powerful burst of light, which rained down upon Gilda. "YAAAR!" Gilda: 500 Starlight: 700 "GILDA!" Rainbow and Soarin cried from their room, as Gilda was covered in a cloud of smoke. "This is bad," Soarin said before seeing Rainbow stand up. "Come on!" She yelled before rushing out the room, Soarin following after her. Everyone watched as the smoke cleared to reveal a very beat-up looking Gilda. No doubt that attack had hurt, which made Starlight smiled. "I end my turn." As Gilda picked herself up, she looked down at her cards and saw that all she had was Harpie Lady Child and Ultimate Offering. Neither of them could help her right now. What could she do? "Come on Gilda!" She suddenly looked up to see her teammates were in the stands. "You're not seriously gonna let her take you down so easily, are you?" "Soarin nodded, "that doesn't sound like the Gilda we know. Do it for the Wonderbolts." "GILDA! GILDA! GILDA! GILDA!" She turned to where her school was sitting, now standing, as they chanted her name. Celestia: Looks like the Cloudsdale Academy doesn't want this Duel to end yet. Luna: Can you blame them. Starlight rolled her eyes at this, "how pointless." "It may seem pointless to you," she turned to Gilda. "But that's because you don't understand how powerful having the support of others can make you." She reached for her deck, "let me show you. I...DRAW!" She looked at what she'd gotten and went wide-eyed, then smirked. "I reset the Pendulum Scale, with scale seven Harpie Child and scale three Harpie Griffon!" The pillars of light appeared above her before the two monster flew up into it. Alongside Harpie Child came a brown and white griffon with purple streaks in her head feathers. Everyone watched as the portal began to form above Gilda's head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened before a single light shot out, revealing her monster. "Harpie Lady, Zephyr Blitz!" (A2800/D2400/R5/P4) "And since she was Pendulum Summon, her skill lets me look at the top five cards of my deck and add any Level four or five Wind monster to her as an Overlay Unit." She looked but none of the cards where what she needed. "What's the point in all of this?" Starlight asked. "You're monster's way weaker than mine and you don't have your Furious Storm card to weaken it." "Maybe not," Gilda said. "But I've still got cards to play. Like my Harpie Griffon's Pendulum Ability!" Harpie Child suddenly exploded, the energy beginning to swirl between Harpie Griffon's claws. "If I have another Harpie monster in my Pendulum Zone, I can destroy it to Rank-Up a Wind Xyz monster." "What?" Starlight went wide-eyed as she watched the griffon toss the sphere of light into the air, which then exploded to create a black hole. Gilda smirked as Zephyr Blitz flew into the blade hole. "I rebuild the Overlay Network to power up my monster. Ancient winds, blow onto this battlefield and give life to the ultimate harpy!" A tornado shot out of the black hole and hit the field, "RANK-UP XYZ EVOLUTION!" The tornado exploded, revealing Gilda's new monster. It was a woman in a white bodysuit with green trim, though it had openings to show off her stomach, thighs and the top of her best. She wore a purple face mask along with a helmet that had a golden bird on top that showed her rainbow coloured hair. She carried a long white rapier and her shoulders had large green metal wing-like constructs, with a pair of golden bird wings on each one. "Harpie Lady, Zephyr...MAJESTY!" (A3300/D3000/R6/P5) The crowd were in awe at this new monster, as she swung her blade through the air. The only one not amazed was Starlight. "This is your big turn everything around monster? It's strong, sure, but note strong enough to beat Draco Starlight." "Hold your horses," Gilda said. "Just wait until her ability activates." The monster slashed her Overlay Unit with her rapier, then spread the wings on her shoulders before they unleashed a blast of powerful air. "Now for every Overlay Unit I remove from her, I can flip one card on your field face down." Starlight went wide-eyed when she saw her Dark Door card flip down. "That's it?" "No," Gilda went on, "it isn't. She has another ability. Whenever an Overlay Unit is removed from her, she gains seven hundred ATK points." Now Starlight grew worried, as she looked up and saw Zephyr Majesty begin to glow a rainbow of colours. (A4000/D3000/R6/P5) "That's enough to tie her dragon," Soarin realised. Rainbow nodded. "And without her Dark Door, the rest of Gilda's monster can attack her at will." To prove it, Gilda's Cyber Harpie Lady and Harpie Lady Channeler stood up. Meanwhile, Starlight began searching for an Action Card. "Zephyr Majesty, ATTACK!" The Harpy shot forwards, sword at the ready. Meanwhile, Starlight spotted a fallen birdhouse and began leapt of it. She lands next to it and began searching through the wreckage, once again finding a pair of Action Cards. With Zephyr Majesty getting closer, she quickly grabbed one of the cards and turned it over...to find it was a Spell. "Perfect! I play, Griffon's Gamble!" "What's that?" Gilda asked, watching as a card slotted out of Starlight's deck. "Simple. I select a Spell or Trap in my deck and you have to guess if it's a Spell or Trap. You guess right, the card goes to my graveyard. But if you guess wrong, I get to play it." Gilda frowned as she looked at the card, her brain trying to pick between Spell or Trap. After several seconds, she finally picked on. "Spell." Everyone turned to Starlight, waiting to see if Gilda had picked right. And as she spun the card around, she frowned to show it was the Spell Lightspeed. "Lucky," she discarded the card as Gilda's monster reached Draco Starlight. The dragon unleashed a burst of light from its mouth, while Zephyr Majesty tossed her sword into it. The weapon flew through the light and struck the dragon in the chest, while the light hit the Harpie Lady. And in a large explosion, they were both destroyed. Celestia: Incredible, both of their strongest beasts have been destroyed. Luna: But Gilda still has monsters on her field. "Alright!" Gilda cried as she pointed at Starlight, "take that loser down." Cyber Harpie Lady leapt into the air and pulled back her whip, while Starlight grabbed the other Action Card. But when she turned it around, she saw it was another Evasion card. And without a monster, she couldn't use it. "No," she said before turning back to see Cyber Harpie Lady swing her whip towards her. With a deafening crack, it struck her in the best. "AAAHHH!" Gilda: 500 (Winner) Starlight: 0 Celestia: SHE'S DONE IT! Gilda of team Wonderbolts has defeated Starlight of team Dominator. The crowd cheered at this, as they watched the Duel Field begin to dissolve. The students of the Wonderbolts Academy screamed the loudest, while Rainbow and Soarin were jumping up and down in excitement. Luna: It was a difficult Duel, but in the end, the Wonderbolts pulled off a come from behind victory. Now, will the next manege allow them to clinch victory. In their room, Tempest hummed as the camera showed an image of Gilda. "That makes three," she said. "Nice to see we're finally getting the results we're looking for." No doubt they were watching and had added her to the list. "We only have five more Duels left. And if the V-Fighters get to the finals, that'll mean they'll only be five candidates." "Candidates for what," she turned to Heath. "What exactly are you looking for?" "It's none of your business," Tempest replied. "Just make sure you don't lose. You're opponent's already been chosen, so he no longer has to be tested. Beat him and get us to the next round." "Fine," Heath picked himself up and headed for the door. Once he was gone, Tempest stared back up at the screen. "We're running out of time. We need to find the one most suitable for our lord." As the field finished dissolving, Gilda turned to where Starlight was sitting. She also spotted she was grasping her gloved hand in pain, making her raise an eyebrow. Starlight then turned to glare at Gilda, giving her a lock that would make milk curdle. "I'll get you back for this," she picked herself up and began to stagger towards her team's entryway. Meanwhile, Gilda continued to bathe in the cheers being given to her. Spitfire turned to the directors. "So, what do we think?" The directors all hummed before one spoke up. "She did leave it to the last minute." "We'll see how well the rest of the team do before passing judgement on whether this was a good idea or not." The others all gave their own agreements, making Spitfire roll her eyes. She knew this was the best she was gonna get right now. "Alright," she turned back to the field, "you can do it, team." As Starlight staggered through the corridor, she suddenly lost her balance and had to grab the wall for support. She quickly pulled her glove off her hand and saw that the image on it was growing dimmer and dimmer. "Have to keep it together," she told herself. "Or...why don't...you just give...up." Starlight's face suddenly went blank at that voice, as in a flash of light she was suddenly inside the recesses of her host's mind. The main body went completely rigged as the two spirits controlling it opened their eyes. Starlight Glimmer, the real one, opened her eyes and weakly lifted her head to look towards the yellow light floating next to her. "Please," she said, "just let me go. You know your control over me is getting weaker." "Maybe," the light replied, "but as long I have control over this body...I will use it however I see fit. And you...will not annoy me." In that moment, the chains began to tighten around Starlight and made her cry out in pain. This gave the sphere the chance to reassert her control over the Soulinked body. In a flash of light, she was back in the corridor. She slowly picked herself up and began to make her way back down the corridor. "Just a little bit longer."