//------------------------------// // Just His Luck // Story: Duelist Team of Canterlot High // by Brony-wan-kenobi //------------------------------// Duel Score Canterlot High: 3 Appleloosa High: 0 Silence filled the field as Sparkle Sunshine fell to her hands and knees, cards that had been in her hands fluttering about her before landing on the ground. The gapping crowd seemed to only be able to stare in silence as they watched their fallen idol who kept her head down low so that nobody there could see her face. On the opposite side, Moondancer stood there wishing the holograms would fade a bit faster. The dress of blue flames she was wearing was a bit too revealing for her tastes, showing off the curves that were normally hidden via her sweatshirt. Her face flushed a little as she felt the eyes of her teammates staring at her backside and no doubt several in the stands. Honestly she had no idea why she let Rarity talk her into adding that program. “Darling, playing your best card should be a big deal,” Rarity had said as Micro Chips worked on her duel disk. “It’s a powerful statement and you should appear in a position of power. Take my Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins card. If togas were in season, I would have one appear on me every time I play that card. But since it’s not I have settled on simply having the crowd chant my name. Believe me; once people see you in this fabulous gown they will be unable to take their eyes off you. Especially a certain boyfriend of yours.” “Honestly, I think you just wanted to dress me up again,” growled Moondancer under her breath in the present. Shaking her head, she began to walk across the field while a trail of ghostly blue flames were left in her wake to shake her opponent’s hand. It wasn’t something that was done often in sports like this. Most of the time the duel would simply end with both duelists going their separate ways with the high chance of there being bad blood between them. Heck, it happened with Moondancer dueling that posh guy from her class. Still, despite Sparkle being incredibly annoying, she had dueled well and this was the first time their schools had ever dueled like this. So they should make the best impression they could. She only wished these holograms would vanish. With this dress still on and Cerulean Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys watching from above, she looked like some sort of evil empress or something walking over to her victim! Just as Moondancer neared Sparkle, the fallen girl threw back her head to let out an annoying whine. “WAHH,” she wailed as she got up as the hologram of her giant phoenix dropped its jaw in surprise. Before Moondancer realized what was going on Sparkle had quickly turned around to run to her teammates as fat crocodile tears fell down her face. Her target was Braeburn whom she maneuvered behind while clutching at his hips. What she said next was loud, clearly done so that everyone around could hear her. “Braeburn, did you see that? That big meanie ruined my opening show! Now all my fans are going to hate me! She’s just so mean!” As Moondancer stood there, eye twitching with her arms slightly held up, the crowd finally began to make noise. Turning her head to look at them, Moondancer saw that fists were raised in anger while they shouted ‘How dare you make Sparkle cry?!’ and ‘We still love you Sparkle!’. As they did, the holograms slowly began to fade, reverting Moondancer back to her normal appearance. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a smirk from Sparkle right before she stuck out her tongue like some sort of child. “Ok, ok everybody,” came the announcer’s voice over the P.A. as Moondancer turned to head back to her team. “Calm down. This ain’t the way Appleloosians should act in defeat. Just please calm down so we can start up the next match.” “That was awesome!” squealed Rainbow Dash from her seat overlooking the field. Her fists were clenched tightly, paper plates held a half eaten cowboy burger and fries falling to the ground without a care. With her heart racing Rainbow quickly turned to the girl seated beside her, the one who had brought her here in the first. “Did you know that nerdy girl was that hardcore?” Spitfire, who was looking at the other end of the field where the rest of the duel team was, seemed to jump a little when spoken to. Quickly she turned to look at Rainbow, appearing slightly sheepish at that moment. “Ah, no,” Spitfire admitted. “Not really. To be honest I thought she was going to lose in her second turn.” “Can’t blame you for thinking that,” said Rainbow with a grin as she slightly rocked back and forth, feeling so pumped right now. Way more pumped than she thought she would be. When Spitfire had privately informed her about the Canterlot Duel team and invited her to see the match, the rainbow hair girl had to admit she had felt so hot about the situation. A new team at school…without her on it? One that was all about dueling, something she had to admit she was pretty good at? Seriously, what were the people running the school thinking? But all that annoyance was quickly forgotten after seeing what Moondancer could do! Now all Rainbow could think about was how she and her U.A. deck would fair against her! That as well as wondering what the rest of the team comprised of. Maybe on Monday she would challenge Moondancer to a duel. That would be so epic! As Spitfire turned her head back to look at the rest of the team, Rainbow felt some of the excitement drain from her. It seemed so odd that Spitfire would drag them this far away to see some duels and then barely watch them. Heck, the last time they had been here Spitfire had stuffed her face on half of the BBQ. Now she was only drinking fountain water. Either she was on some sort of diet or something else was going on. Something that she had dragged Rainbow into. Shaking her head, Moondancer returned to her teammates who were watching her. Hunter met her before she exited the field, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and holding her tight. The gesture was enough to make her blush brightly if not for the looks that the others were giving. Namely Pharynx, whose face had darkened several shades with what looked like steam coming out of his ears. “That was so hot,” she thought she heard him muttered under his breath before turning his head to look away. “Lucky bastard.” “What?” asked Moondancer. But before she could get an answer, Lightning Dust approached her quickly with a cocky grin. The next thing she knew was Lightning’s fist connecting lightly into her shoulder away from Hunter’s hand. “Not bad four-eyes,” said Lightning as she smugly crossed her arms. “Gotta say, never thought you had it in you to be so savage.” “You were amazing,” cried Autumn as she pumped her fist into the air. “First blood belongs to us all thanks to you!” “People will remember this duel for a long time,” added Wallflower before sighing. “Lucky you.” “You should be proud of yourself,” added Vice-Principal Luna as she stepped forward. “That duel was rough, but you handled yourself well out there. I am also proud that you tried to show good sportsmanship. I would speak to Mr. Silver Star about how his own students handle defeat, but it seems he’s already on it.” As she said this, Vice-Principal Luna turned her head to look around the field in a manner that suggested that Moondancer should do so as well. When she did, Moondancer saw a sight that despite herself made the girl smile a bit. Mr. Silver Star’s face looked flushed with either anger or embarrassment as he held a finger in front of the face of Sparkle. At the moment, the girl looked like she was trying her hardest to shrink into nothingness in order to get away from the man before her. Even her teammates seemed to be trying to keep their distance from what was being said, moving several feet away. When Moondancer turned her head back to look at the V.P. and thank her, she saw that the older woman’s attention was elsewhere. Whatever she had seen had caused the woman’s eyes to narrow in a dangerous way. A look that Moondancer had only seen on a few occasions, like when this one guy had been skateboarding in the hallway and had run over a first year. Or when she found someone had taken her parking space. Curious as to what she was looking at Moondancer followed Vice-Principal Luna’s gaze finding that she was oddly looking at the crowd at the bleachers. Had she spotted someone horsing around up there? It was possible. Come to think of it, the longer Moondancer looked, the more it seemed like she knew a few of those people up there. Was that- “Time for round two everybody!” came the announcer’s voice suddenly, almost causing Moondancer to jump a little. “That’s right y’all, the next round has just been decided. Up next we have our own Troubleshoes going up against Pharynx!” Pharynx nodded before heading out into the field, his teammates patting him on the back for good luck. As he moved, the teen took notice of the odd silence that now filled the air. Before the crowd had been going wild, making as much noise as possible to show their support. Now they seemed to dial it back to zero with the only noise being a shuffling in their seats. Out of the corner of his eye Pharynx noticed some were getting up and heading towards the ends of the rows. Perhaps to get a snack or use the restroom? Keeping his eyes on Troubleshoes as he too walked onto the field, Pharynx saw that this larger than life teen had also noticed the lack of enthusiasm for this duel. If he had to guess, it was because anybody who went up after a show woman like Sparkle would be seen as a step down. That or he was the weakest person on the team. No, thought Pharynx as he stood in his appropriate spot with his duel disk already shuffling his deck. I shouldn’t think like that. Even if he is the weakest member on their team, that doesn’t mean he’s a bad duelist. Unlike us, he had to try out for this team meaning he defeated everybody else to get to where he is. I should keep my guard up until I can figure out his strategy. “Go Pharynx!” shouted Lightning behind him, her lone voice echoing across the field. Turning his head, the teen saw Lightning waving at him as the other members of the team looked on curiously. As if surprised to see this much support from the former athlete. Admittedly he too was taken aback by this only being able to stare at her as she smiled in his direction. “Seems like ya got a fan,” said Troubleshoes in a droll tone over the communicator. Head snapping back in front of him, Pharynx saw that Troubleshoes looked even more depressed. “Lucky you.” “Y-You get to decide who makes the first move,” said Pharynx quickly as he felt heat returning to his face a little. God, what was wrong with him right now? Lightning was just a teammate cheering him on. Sure she hadn’t done that when Moondancer went out there so maybe she liked him a bit more? Or was it something else? “First move belongs to you,” was Troubleshoes’ response. -Pharynx Life Points: 8000- -Troubleshoes Life Points: 8000- Turn One: Pharynx Pharynx said nothing as he drew his opening hand. Well this is fortunate for me, he thought. With this hand I would have been screwed if I went second. But going first I can put this guy in a really tight spot while ensuring my own defenses. I just need to focus on this match, put everything else off to the side until this is done. “Get ready then!” announced Pharynx (hand: 6). “I’ll start off with the spell card Allure of Darkness! This card allows me to draw two cards but then I must banish one dark monster from my hand.” A small smirk appeared on Pharynx’s face as he drew two cards. After adding them to his hand he took hold of a card on the opposite side of his hand and held up for all to see. “I banish my Steelswarm Sentinel.” “Now I summon to the field in attack mode my Steelswarm Gatekeeper!” (1500/1900) Shimmering onto the field was a creature that looked like it had the ability to walk on two legs but instead crawled on all fours. Perhaps one might have mistaken it for a very large armadillo or a small ankylosaurus minus the club like tail. However, neither of those creatures hand long human like fingers on its front limbs nor did they have glowing yellow eyes that shone in the dark eye sockets of a heavy set, featureless mask. “I’ll end my turn with three face downs and call it turn,” finished Pharynx. As three holographic cards appeared behind his monster, the Canterlot teen noticed that his opponent’s expression hadn’t changed at all. He just stood there slightly hunched over looking as tired and depressed as the moment he was first announced. Turn Two: Troubleshoes “Alright then, I draw,” said Troubleshoes slowly as he drew a card (hand: 6) “Before you do anything else, I activate my trap card Metaverse!” announced Pharynx, waving his arm out as one of his face down cards revealed itself. “This trap card allows me to search my deck for a field spell. Then I can either add it to my hand or activate it on the field. So I’ll activate my Domain of the Monarchs!” As he said this, a dark mist appeared on the field as an empty throne erupted from the ground behind Pharynx. It was a massive structure made of marble which towered over everything with the size of a skyscraper. Dully, Troubleshoes looked up at it while the dark mist reached up to his duel disk. “This field spell has an impressive effect. While I control no monsters in my extra deck as well as being the only one here to control a tribute summoned monster, you cannot summon monsters from your extra deck.” “Bit of a problem there,” replied Troubleshoes in a weary tone. “You don’t got any tribute monsters.” “Well, you’re not wrong,” admitted Pharynx as a smile slipped onto his face. “It would be a horrible misplay to activate this card right now. Unless, of course, I had a way of fixing that issue right now. Say with the card: Escalation of the Monarchs! As long as this card is on the field I can tribute summon during either your main or battle phase. And I’ll use its effect right now. I tribute my Gatekeeper to tribute summon my Steelswarm Mantis!” In a heartbeat, Gatekeeper dissolved in a flash of light only to be replaced with Pharynx’s clawed monster. (2200/0) At the same time, the black mist on Troubleshoes’ deck morphed into a clawed hand which gripped tightly on the boy’s extra deck slot. “Now I can use Mantis’ effect,” continued Pharynx. “When this monster is tribute summoned using a Steelswarm monster, I can give up 1000 life points to revive one Steelswarm monster in my graveyard to the field. That means that my Gatekeeper is returning in defense mode.” As the teen spoke, his monster’s tail attached itself to his chest while hissing like a snake. Quickly his life points were drained, the tail looking like something was pumping into the creatures main body before Gatekeeper returned to the field. -Pharynx’s Life Points: 7000- Ok, that should be enough to give him some trouble, thought Pharynx as the tail released him. Right now I’ve blocked him from XYZ, Synchro, and Fusion summoning. Most decks rely on at least one of those three without many monsters to tribute summon. Unless he had a way to special summon a high level monster from his hand, he’ll need to either get rid of Mantis or my field spell. I can protect Mantis thanks to my trap Infestation Tool, but if he gets something like a Mystical Space Typhoon then I’m out of luck. “Ya done?” asked Troubleshoes, his eyes shifting between both monsters belonging to Pharynx. “Well, ain’t this just my luck. I play the spell card Cup of Ace.” As Troubleshoes played his spell card a large silver coin appeared in mid air in front of the depressed looking teen. With a well practiced sweep of an arm it was caught effortlessly. “This ain’t no real fancy card. I flip a coin and if its heads I get to draw two cards. But if its tails then you get to draw two cards.” With that brief explanation over, Troubleshoes tossed the coin into the air. Both duelists watched it as it spun high into the air before it was caught by Troubleshoes who quickly slammed it on his other palm. Slowly he moved the hand concealing it away, his depressed expression never lifting. “Yeah, just my luck. Tails.” “Tough luck,” said Pharynx as he drew twice. (hand: 3) “I’m used to it,” replied Troubleshoes with a shrug. “But it’s ok. I got other cards I can use. Like One Day of Peace. In exchange for neither of us taking damage until the end of your next turn we both get to draw a card.” “Ok,” said Pharynx slowly as he drew again. (hand: 4) He had to admit that he was a little confused right now as to what his opponent was thinking by playing these cards. All of them were helping Pharynx by reinforcing his hand. At least One Day of Peace would give Troubleshoes an extra turn. “Hmm,” was that sound Troubleshoes made while he looked at his new card. “Think I’ll go ahead and play this: Dangerous Machine Type-6.” Rising out of the ground next to Troubleshoes was a spherical machine that stood nearly as tall as him. On its surface were six orbs, each with a question mark on them, while on its side was a lever like one found on a slot machine. “This here card is like a dice roll. I pull on the lever and the machine will shoot out a number from one to six. The number will determine its effect.” With that said, Troubleshoes pulled down causing the orbs to spin rapidly only to stop on the number four. “Was hoping for a three. Four means you get to draw a card.” “There has got to be a better way for you to draw a card,” said Pharynx as he drew again. (hand: 5) “There is,” said Troubleshoes. “I’ll set one card on the field and then play the card: Card Destruction. Now we both discard our entire hand and then draw the same number of cards we discarded.” “Works for me,” said Pharynx, discarding his hand and drawing five new cards. “Looks like I’m out of luck again,” sighed Troubleshoes as he looked at his new hand, shaking his head slightly as he did. “All I can do is set this here monster and place one last card face down. Your turn I guess.” Turn Three: Pharynx “Thank you,” said Pharynx as he drew (hand: 6). “I’ll start off by tributing both my Gatekeeper and my Mantis in order to summon up Steelswarm Caucastag!” (2800/0) A dark shadow appeared behind Pharynx as both Mantis and Gatekeeper turned into black mist which was then sucked up by the dark figure. Walking onto the field was a giant, insect-like monster with a black armor like an exoskeleton whose shoulder held several large curved spikes that were also found on its knees. On its chest and arms were several exposed areas revealing crimson colored muscles that radiated with power. Its back held large beetle like wings as well as a single tail. “Seems like your look really isn’t that great because I have two effects to activate. First, when Caucastag is summoned using two Steelswarm monsters I have the power to destroy either your entire front row or your back. I think the best option is to destroy any hidden surprises you might want to unleash when I declare an attack.” “Well shoot,” said Troubleshoes dully as Caucastag bent its knees, tail moving so that it was soon over its head. The end of said tail opened up right before hundreds of red splinters of energy came shooting out of it, sailing high into the sky before falling down towards the three spell/trap cards controlled by the depressed teen. “Guess I got no choice. I activate my trap: Present Card. Then I’ll chain it with my other trap: Gift of Greed!” “Wait, what?” yelled Pharynx in surprise, the energy splinters halting in mid air to allow the chain to resolve. “First, Gift of Greed allows you to draw two cards,” explained Troubleshoes. Slowly, Pharynx complied, adding the cards to his hand. “Good. Now comes the effect of Present Card. This trap forces you to discard your entire hand and then draw five cards.” I get it now, thought Pharynx as he got a fresh, new hand. He’s using a mill deck, trying to force me to deck out. That’s why he’s running so many cards that let me draw! Damn it, I hate playing against these cowardly decks! No wonder the crowd has died down so much, they must be bored out of their minds! At that moment, the effect of Caucastag continued, falling down onto the only card remaining on Dangerous Machine Type-6 which exploded violently. “I still have the effect of Gatekeeper,” said Pharynx, his grip on his cards tightening up a bit. “When since he was face up when I tributed a monster I’m allowed another normal summon. And you gave me a good one with that trap of yours. Go Steelswarm Sting!” (1850/0) “You might have more monsters, but it won’t matter. The effect of One Day of Peace will keep me from taking any damage.” Pharynx said nothing in reply. He knew Troubleshoes was technically correct in that he couldn’t do anything this turn. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t build up his side of the field for an all out attack. “Steelswarm Sting, destroy that face down monster!” Pharynx’s bee-like fiend launched several black spikes from its stinger at the face down card, impaling it with ease. There was then a flicker and the next thing everybody knew was that the spikes had now impaled a jar of some kind which shattered into a thousand pieces. “When my Morphing Jar is flipped, we both discard our hands and then draw five cards,” explained Troubleshoes. Letting out a grunt of annoyance, Pharynx sent his entire hand to the grave before drawing his five cards. As he did, he noticed with alarm how thin his deck was starting to look. Pharynx’s Deck: 14 Cards “I end my turn,” was all he could say at this moment. Turn Four: Troubleshoes “Then I guess I draw,” sighed Troubleshoes (hand: 6). “Course, I won’t be doing much. I summon Destiny Hero Defender in defense mode!” (100/2700) Kneeling before Troubleshoes was a human who looked like he was made of grey brick or stone, face covered by shadows as well as steel bars allowing only two red eyes to be seen. “Sorry, but I don’t think so!” yelled Pharynx. “I activate the effect of my Escalation of the Monarchs, tributing Sting in order to summon out Steelswarm Girastag! (2600/0) And when he is summoned to the field by tributing a Steelswarm monster he destroys one card on your side of the field while giving me 1000 life points. Now Girastag, destroy his Defender!” Girastag pointed its cannon arm at Defender before firing a black, sticky looking tar like substance the reeked of rotten eggs. Destiny Hero Defender remained still as it was quickly covered and then melted away leaving the field void of monsters. Pharynx’s Life points: 8000 “Guess I’ll play the spell card Gravekeeper’s Servant then,” continued Troubleshoes without batting an eye. “With this card, every time you want to attack you must first send the top card from your deck to the grave. Then I’ll play four cards face down and pass it to you.” Turn Five: Pharynx Pharynx’s Deck: 13 cards “Time to finish this,” shouted Pharynx after he drew (hand: 5). “First I’ll summon my Steelswarm Genome to the field in attack mode!” (1000/0) Now on the field was a creature that looked like an insect in its cocoon phase. If that phase included metal scales and its black eyes were visible. As Troubleshoes regarded this new monster with disinterest, Pharynx then held up a spell card. “But it won’t be on the field for long because I’ll play the spell card Double Summon. I think its name states pretty clearly what it does.” “It does,” admitted Troubleshoes. “And I won’t let you use it. I activate my face down card: Dark Bribe. This negates your spell but also lets you draw a card.” Pharynx’s Deck: 12 cards “Why you,” growled Pharynx as he narrowed his eyes. “For a guy who complains about his luck all the time, you sure seem to get the results you want!” “That’s just how it works,” replied Troubleshoes. “Wanted to play a more exciting deck, but never seemed to draw the cards I wanted and lost every gamble card I played or went up against. Luck was just never on my side. If I wanted to be on this team, I had to figure something out. This here deck just happened to be the only one that ever worked out.” That comment took Pharynx a little off guard. But it made sense as to why this guy looked so miserable even while he was winning. He was playing this deck more out of an obligation rather than a desire. “I get it,” said Pharynx after taking a breath, shoulder relaxing as he spoke. “That’s the price you pay for victory. Believe me, I can understand that.” The Canterlot teen then took a breath. “Just know that I’m willing to pay the price in order to win! Caucastag, attack him directly!” As Pharynx quickly sent one card from his deck to the grave, Caucastag raced across the field and threw a punch right into Troubleshoes’ face. Troubleshoes’ Life Points: 5200 Pharynx Deck: 11 cards Troubleshoes staggered after the blow, quickly righting himself while instinctively moving a hand across his face as if he expected there to be blood. “With each of those attacks, you draw closer to your loss. Seems mighty foolish.” “Like I said, I’m willing to pay the price if it means I win,” replied Pharynx. “Now, Girastag, you’re up!” Girastag readied his cannon arm and fired while its owner sent another card from the deck to the grave. A mass of vile tar was soon fired, hitting Troubleshoes in the gut and knocking him on his rear end. Troubleshoes’ Life Points: 2600 Pharynx Deck: 10 cards “If I had been able to summon one more big monster, I would have won here,” said Pharynx as Troubleshoes slowly got to his feet. “Guess I’ll have to wait till my next turn. Genome, attack him directly!” After sending a third card to the grave, Genome…hopped across the field in a rather cartoony style. When it reached Troubleshoes it merely fell on his foot before returning to Pharynx’s side. Troubleshoes’ Life Points: 1600 Pharynx Deck: 9 cards “Took a big chance there,” sighed Troubleshoes. “You almost got me there. But you were just a bit shy and your deck is a bit thinner than it was.” “It was either that or just stand here and do nothing,” replied Pharynx with a shrug. “And it’s not my style to just sit around doing nothing. So I’ll end my turn.” Turn Six: Troubleshoes “I’ll draw,” said Troubleshoes slowly. As he looked at the only card in his hand, his eyes widened slightly. “Looks like my luck has changed a bit. I activate my Monster Reborn to bring back Destiny Hero-Defender in defense mode. Then I’ll play Inferno Reckless Summon!” Pharynx did a double take as Defender reappeared on the field. But he wasn’t looking at the monster, but rather the card that was just flipped face up. “Y-You have that card?!” “I see you know what it does,” replied Troubleshoes. “Thanks to its power, I can now special summon as man Defenders from my hand, deck, and grave to the field. As for you, you can pick any monster on the field and special summon them.” “I guess I’ll summon up two more Girastag’s,” said Pharynx, thankful that both were in his grave. Now he had a field full of monsters and on his next turn he could tribute his Genome for Steelswarm Longhorn; a monster with 3000 attack and the power to destroy one monster on the field per turn at the cost of 1000 life points. Of course, Defender had an effect that Pharynx knew very well. During his draw phase, each Defender would force him to draw another card. Thankfully he had just enough cards so that he wouldn’t deck out. With all this power at his fingertips, he might just win this match! “I end my turn,” said Troubleshoes firmly. Turn Seven: Pharynx Pharynx’s Deck: 5 cards “Alright then,” said Pharynx as he looked at his cards (hand: 7) “I tribute Genome, who counts as two tributes when bringing out a Steelswarm monster to summon my Steelswarm Longhorn!” (3000/0) Genome quickly turned into black goo which was then sucked up by the monster that took its place on the field. It was taller than his other monsters so that their heads barely reached Longhorn’s abs. Its body was once again made of an armored black exoskeleton with exposed silver-like flesh. On its head were long antennae that curved down its back and scissor like blades on its wrists. “Powerful monster,” admitted Troubleshoes in a calming manner. “Too bad you won’t get to use him! I activate my face down card, the quick play spell card Book of Eclipse!” As his last face down card was revealed, a massive books appeared above his defenders looking like something from out of The Mummy movies. “With this card, all face up monsters are forced face down and in defense mode. Then, during the end phase, your monsters are flipped face up and you get to draw a card for each one of them.” Pharynx looked on in shock as his monsters became nothing more than the backs of his cards all in a neat. Feeling his legs about to give out by this sudden turn around, he looked at his hand to find that he had nothing to help him out. Not a single spell card that would allow him another normal summon or anything like that. He had lost. “I end my turn,” said Pharynx as he lowered his head, a shadow falling over it as his monsters were flipped face up and he drew five more cards. Turn Eight: Troubleshoes Pharynx’s deck: 0 cards “I draw,” said Troubleshoes as he kept his eyes on his opponent. “Good match. I end my turn.” And with that, Troubleshoes won.