The sun had already set in the small country of Changeland.
In one of its larger city's, there was a lab where the country's greatest scientists worked to improve the world through the use of science and other means. But there was no science going on today. Instead, there was only a Duel taking place. One combatant was the country's young king, Thorax. And his opponent-
"Augh!" Thorax cried as he staggered backwards, falling to his knees while his life points dropped to zero. "Why?" He looked up at his opponent, a teenage girl with yellow skin with light blue hair. She wore a pink beach vest and pink shorts, along with a pair of blue fingerless gloves. "I don't...understand." With that, Thorax fell to the floor unconscious.
The girl smiled as she looked around the room, seeing the many scientists she had knocked out before Dueling the king. Now she could get on with her mission
One hour later.
KABOOM!
Half the building went up in smoke, massive chunks of it flying everywhere. Many people near the building had run away from it, the authorities rushing into action. But three people ran towards the building, those three being Grand Hoof, Pinkie Pie and Maud.
"What?" Grand asked as he looked over the destruction. He and the girls had just arrived in Changeland to talk with Thorax, hoping to use his royal connections to help in their search of the missing Marble Pie. But this is what they found instead.
"Thorax!" Pinkie cried, seeing the king carrying a man out of the now burning building while others did the same with the injured. Luckily, everyone was soon accounted for.
"Who did this?" Grand asked as he knelt besides Thorax, the teen panting and coughing from the smoke.
"I think...I think it was one of those Dominators." Grand frowned hearing this, turning back to the building. So, they were finally making their move.
Two miles away, the girl smiled as she walked down the street. "Too easy." It was then she heard footsteps and turned towards them, looking like she was ready to fight. But she eased off when she saw who it was. "Master Draconequus."
Standing before he was a middle-aged man with grey skin, with black hair that ran down his back like a ponytail. He had large white eyebrows and a white goatee, was wearing a reddish-brown long coat and had pants that were light brown on one side and dark brown on the other.
"So," the man asked, "did you get the data?"
"Of course," she knelt before holding up a flash drive. "Everything we need is right here."
The man chuckled before taking the drive. "Well done Rhodos. Your mother will be very happy to hear how hard you're working.
The girl named Rhodos smiled. "Of course. I am nothing by a humble Zealot. Anything the Omega Zealots wish of me, I will do."
"Excellent." He turned to the burning building, a crooked smile appearing on his face. "Soon the time will come," he turned towards her. "The world is about to be silenced." He started laughing, "prepare for destruction by our lord!"
Three days later.
Almost two months had passed since the end of the Double X Tournament. Despite everything that had happened, things seemed to have gone back to normal. And that included school.
We find young Flash Sentry, walking the corridors of his school looking exhausted. His brain was completely overloaded from his classwork. Math was never his best subject.
He arrived at the cafeteria and spotted the only friend he had that shared the period for lunch: Sunburst. He got his food and sat down beside him, Sunburst noticed the exhausted look on his face as well as the grilled cheese on his plate. "Tough math class?"
"All math classes are hard."
"I don't see what the big deal is," the glasses-wearing teen replied. "You do math every time you play the thing you want to become a professional at. How is doing it on paper any different?" Flash chose not to answer that particular question, instead taking a bite of his lunch. Sunburst smirked at this while looking down at his own food. "So, any idea what's happening...with the V-Fighters?" Flash stopped eating and slowly turned to him. "I mean, since we became the Double X champions, we've been getting all sorts of invites to other tournaments and events."
Flash nodded. "I think we should limit ourselves to small gatherings, like shop tournaments. At least until the issue with the Dominators is dealt with."
Sunburst nodded, "guess that makes sense."
Flash looked over at him. "By the way, how's Starlight been doing since the tournament?" Sunburst smiled back.
"The Dominators have no influence over her. She's free from them now. The biggest issue she's facing is catching up with her school work." Since her Dominator hadn't seen the need to go to school, Starlight had ended up missing a whole year of education that she now had to make up. Luckily, Sunburst was there to help tutor her.
"That's good." Flash then got a coy smile on his face, shuffling over to Sunburst's side. "So, how are things going with you and Starlight." Sunburst looked at him in confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
"You know what I mean," Flash nudged him in the arm. Sunburst slowly started realizing what he was getting at and began to blush.
"We're not like that!"
"Sure. Keep telling yourself that." Flash kept teasing him about it for the rest of lunch, Sunburst feeling very embarrassed as he tried to deny everything.
Cloudsdale.
Wonderbolts Academy was bustling with activity. The reason, almost every student was Dueling. Due to how high the school's team got in the Double X, the entire student body had gotten into the sport and were looking to compete in next year's event.
And watching them all from the sidelines were Rainbow and Soarin, both smiling at all the new players. "This is awesome!" Soarin cheered. "Now this school is officially perfect."
"Oh yeah," Rainbow agreed. But her smile soon faded, Soarin noticing this and knowing why.
"You know, I haven't forgotten about the Dominators." Rainbow looked at him while he stared out at the field. "But it's not like I can do anything about it. So I'm gonna enjoy every moment I have before they show up again. And if they do, I'll be ready to take'em down."
Rainbow smirked, "you'll have to get in line. I'm the one who's gonna take them down. You can just keep the low-level minions busy."
"Deal," Soarin smirked before looking around. "Hey, where's Gilda?"
"Oh, she has a meeting with some kickboxing professionals. They wanna talk about her going pro after she graduates."
"That's awesome. But didn't she wanna become a pro duelist."
"She said there's no reason she can't do both. The seasons are on at different times of the year, so there shouldn't be any overlap." Soarin nodded as they watched the Duels taking place.
"Hey, Rainbow." She turned to him. "I was wondering, since Gilda's busy, why don't we have a team hangout after school with just the two of us."
Rainbow seemed surprised by this. Was he....no way. "What did you have in mind?" Soarin smiled and turned to her.
"How about...ice cream. There's a really great parlour not too far from here."
Rainbow smirked, "sure. But you're buying and I intend to eat my body weight." Soarin laughed and said that was okay, the two watching as the Duels continued.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Twilight Sparkle was enjoying her time back in Paris.
She was currently in the library, studying up. "Hey, Twilight!" She looked up to see one of her classmates walking up to her. "I saw you in the Double X. Excellente."
"Merci," Twilight smiled back before the girl walked off. She got back to her studies, wanting to learn as much as she could. Who knows how useful it'd be for her future goals as a Duel manager. She planned to help Flash build the future he was aspiring for, and nothing would stop her from achieving it.
She looked up out of a nearby window, spotting the Eiffel Tower off in the distance. "Moondancer, I hope you're watching. I'll keep working hard, for both our sakes." She also knew she had to be ready for if the Dominators show up again. Flash and her brother had promised to keep her informed in they learned anything. She wasn't gonna let them destroy her world. "No way."
The bell rang and Flash headed out the school, Spike, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy besides him. Sunburst had gotten out early and had rushed off to his tutoring session with Starlight, while Scootaloo had an after school project she needed to work with her friends.
"So," Flash turned to them, "you guys free. We could head to the park and Duel."
"Sorry darling," Rarity announced. "I'm busy. Got my internship." Rarity had recently gotten a job working at a boutique under a famous fashion designer. She was now one step closer to her dream.
"Me and Mac are cleanin out the old barn," Applejack explained. "Applebloom was supposed to help too. She'd better ace that project if it's gettin her out of this."
Flash turned to Fluttershy, "today's the day I promised to help clean the hamster habitat. I've been looking forward to it for weeks." Flash nodded and turned to Spike, hoping his right hand would at least be free.
"Sorry man. I promised my mom I'd help look after Flurry while Cadance and Shining are busy." Flash understood that. In fact, maybe he'd go with him and spend his time with his goddaughter.
But as they arrived at the front doors and stepped outside, Flash spotted someone he recognized. "Tempest?"
Freeze Stadium.
At the city's biggest and best arena, we find Cold Steel entering one of the meeting rooms. Already there were Misty Vail, Sunset Shimmer, Adagio Dazzle, Shining Armor and Cadance. The lot of them took their seats around the table, Cold beginning his speech.
"I've gathered you all here today, in order to discuss how we're going to deal with the Dominators. Each of you is someone I can trust to help, with even more out there already taking actions."
"Well," Adagio smiled, "aren't I special." The others frowned as Cold pressed a button on his chair, causing four holographic screens to appear in the centre of the table.
On the screens was footage of the attack on the Changeland science building. "Three days ago, a research facility in Changeland suffered a bomb attack and a significant amount of data was stolen." This surprised them all, getting them to sit to attention.
"Do we know who caused this?" Cadance asked, her question met when the screen changed to show the yellow-skinned girl with blue hair.
"This is Princess Skystar. She is next in line to the thrown of a small island nation in the south pacific. She was there on a royal visit, but it's clear she had other objectives. Based on the information we have on her, it's a reasonable assumption that she's been Dominated by a Duel Spirit and taken over."
"Not good," Misty whispered.
"Grand is already there investigating and trying to see if he can pick up her trail. But so far, he hasn't had much luck."
Meanwhile, Flash and Tempest stood by the school statue.
The others had needed to head off, leaving just the two of them to talk. Tempest's style had changed. She'd dropped the leather overcoat and now wore a black shoal over her clothes with a grey scarf around her neck. "This weekend, I'm heading to Changeland to meet up with your grandfather."
"You are?" Flash asked, Tempest nodding.
"Yes, I'm going to help with the Dominator situation."
"I see," Flash looked down. "How are you doing since...you know."
"Better," she promised. "But what happened will be something I can never forget. All I can do is try and put it behind me." Flash nodded. "But to do that, I need to make up for everything the Dominator did while it had my body. That's why I'll keep working until whatever their plan is is stopped."
"Alright," Flash knew this was something she had to do. "Just...be careful."
"I will," Tempest nodded before standing straight and heading off. "You be careful too. I don't know what the Dominators were planning, but I know you'll be at the top of their hit list. Don't do anything stupid."
"Yeah, yeah." Flash turned to walk the other way. "Do me and favour and tell Pinkie and Maud hi and that we're happy to help if they need anything."
"Sure," Tempest agreed before the two headed off in opposite directions.
"We gathered useful information from Tempest Shadow, who was taken over by Storm King Dominator using a Soulink." Cold sat back in his chair. "Storm King was working for a group who wish to awaken the Omega Deity of Destruction, Zeronull."
"We already know all this," Adagio told him. "Get to the point."
"Adagio," Sunset chastised her.
Cold sighed. "The point is that we don't know who these people are and how they intend to strike. All we know is that they wish to awaken Zeronull in order to use its power to destroy both worlds. That's why we need to find out as much as we can before this gets too out of hand."
"Easier said than done," Shining quipped. "How are we supposed to know what they're gonna do before they actually do it? Who knows what their first plan of attack will be."
Flash was heading for Twilight's house, still intending to spend some time with Flurry. He was also trying to think of what to have for dinner after playing with Flurry. Scootaloo and his mom would both be home late, so it would likely only be him.
He stopped at an intersection crosswalk and waited for the light to turn green. But as he did he looked around, only to spot something that made him take a second look. "Marble?"
It was Marble Pie. Her clothes and hair were different, but it was definitely her. She was standing on the other side of the crosswalk, smiling at him before turning to run off.
"Wait!" He tried to chase after her and almost got hit by a car, needing to wait until the lights changed. When they did, he ran after her as fast as he could while taking out his phone.
Sunburst and Starlight were at the girl's house, both studying as his phone went off.
Starlight looked up, "who is it?" He checked.
"It's Flash." He opened the text and went wide-eyed seeing what it said, "what?" This caught Starlight's attention. "Found Marble. Chasing her now."
"What?" Starlight stood up, "he's alone with a Dominator!? This is bad," she ran for the door and Sunburst followed
Flash finally caught up with Marble and found her at the riverside where Twilight and Trixie first Duelled. The teen panted as he walked up to her. "Marble, is that you?" The girl gave him a sinister look, confirming one thing. 'She's been taken over by the Dominator, Gaia-Maiden Lady Marble. But if I can beat her in a Duel, maybe I can save her.' He pulled out his Duel Disk, "let's go! Right here, right now."
Marble smiled as she took out her Duel Disk, "fine by me. Let's do this." They strapped their Duel Disks on and activated them, drawing their cards.
"DUEL/OMEGA DUEL!"
Flash: 4000
Marble: 4000
"I'll take the first move." Marble drew her card, smiled and then placed a card on her Duel Disk. "I summon Neo Barrier Statue of the Drought, in DEF mode!" Rocks broke off the ground and came together to form a sphere that quickly crumbled, revealing what appeared to be a large stone rhino on a stone slab. (A1000/D1000/L4) "Here's the fun part. While this card's on the field, neither of us can Special Summon monsters that aren't Earth Attributes."
Flash's eyes went wide. None of his monsters were Earth monsters, meaning he couldn't Pendulum Summon or summon any of his Extra Deck monsters. He needed to get rid of that thing, fast.
"My turn!" Flash drew his card, looking down at his hand and seeing he could set the Pendulum Summon. But with that Barrier Statue on the field, doing so would be useless. "I summon Lustrous Feather Magna Leghorn, In ATK mode!" In a flash of light, the robotic chicken appeared before spreading its glowing green wings and illuminating stomach star. (A1100/D1300/L3/P8) "Now, attack!" The chicken leapt into the air and spread its wings before they glowed, Leghorn flapping them and unleashing a glowing blade of wind that cut the Barrier Statue in half and destroyed in.
However, instead of being upset, Marble smiled. "Don't think you can get rid of it that easily." Flash wondered what she meant, only to see the shattered pieces of the statue fly back off the ground before reforming into the statue again.
"What the heck?"
"You see, whenever a Neo Barrier Statue is destroyed by battle, I can summon any monster of the same attribute from my deck with fifteen hundred or less ATK points." Flash growled at this, only to remember something.
"Well, Leghorn has its own ability." He reached for his deck. "By banishing the top card of my deck, I can let it attack once more after he destroys a monster." He drew his card and saw what it was he was banishing before Leghorn leapt into the air, once again launching a glowing blade of energy that destroyed the Neo Barrier Statue.
Flash: 4000
Marble: 3900
But no sooner was it destroyed, that the rubble reformed into a third Drought Statue. "That's your last one," Flash told her as he placed two cards face down. "I end my turn." He frowned as he watched her draw her card. 'I refuse to lose this.'
"I activate the spell card Foolish Burial, in order to send Gaia Knight Corundum to the graveyard." A card slotted out of her deck, Marble taking it and placing it into her graveyard. It didn't stay in there long though. "Now, I banish Corundum and Neo Barrier Statue in order to summon Gaia-Knight Ruby!" Corundum appeared before her as rocks broke off the ground and wrapped around him, forming a moon that quickly shattered to reveal Ruby. (A3000/D2400/L8) "Attack!" The rock knight ran forward, swinging its stone sword at Leghorn.
"I'll win and get the real Marble back!" Flash cried as he activated his face down, "for Pinkie and Maud." His card flipped up to reveal a Spell. "Go, Magna Guard! This card lets me switch any Magna monster into DEF mode.
"I don't think so," Marble told him. "Because by taking a banished Rock Monster and adding it back to my deck, Ruby's ability cancels out your Spell's effect." She took out Neo Barrier Statue and returned it to the deck, ready to be summoned next time he other Statue was destroyed.
Flash frowned. "Fine, then I'll use Magna Guard's Grave Effect!" A dome of golden energy appeared around Leghorn, blocking the sword. "By banishing it, I can cut the damage I take in half." The sword shattered the dome and struck Leghorn, though much weaker the before.
Flash: 3050
Marble: 3900
Marble smiled, "not bad. You knew Ruby's ability only effects Spells on the field. But it won't help you. Barrier Statue, impale!" The rhino monster floated in the air before flying forwards, ready to stab Flash with its horn.
"Not today. Go, Defence Draw!" A force field appeared around infront of Flash and blocked the attack, Flash drawing a card from his deck. He then looked over at Marble, who smiled as she placed a card face down. 'But...what's she doing back here?' He started his turn and drew another card, 'I thought she was overseas.'
As this was happening, Scootaloo, Sweetie and Applebloom had been walking close. "So," Scootaloo turned to her friends, "where do you wanna practise today?"
"My mom and dad aren't home," Sweetie suggested. "And Rarity's at her internship. We could practise there."
"A'h don't know," Applebloom said. "Would we really get any better just Duelling each other. Maybe we should head to the card shop."
"Maybe," Scootaloo agreed. But her thoughts came to a stop when she spotted her brother down by the river, noticing he was Duelling. But it's who he was Duelling that shocked her the most. "Is that...Marble?"
"We believe that Storm King's objective was to find a vessel for Zeronull to Dominate," Cold continued. "And the participants in the Double X were prime candidates." The screen showed images of the V-Fighters, Wonderbolts and Tidal Maidens. "Any Duellists who made it to the finals need to be cautious of any encounter they may have with a Dominator."
Everyone frowned at the sight of those they cared about on-screen, Misty speaking up. "In that case, we should-"
The opening of the meeting room doors caught their attention, making them look over and gasp seeing who had entered the room. "Oh, sorry for barging in." The speaker was none other than Heath Burns, member of Team Dominator and a Soulinked Duellist. His clothes had changed to look more like a suit. A red button-up shirt under a black vest with a black-tie and pants. A single red glove was on his right hand.
"Go, Pendulum Blaster!" Flash cried as a large cannon-like device appeared beside him, Marble raising an eyebrow.
"Am I supposed to be impressed?"
"Yes. Because by banishing a Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck, I can destroy one monster on the field with less ATK then it. So say goodbye to your Neo Barrier Statue!" The image of Leghorn appeared infront of Flash before being sucked into the cannon, which began to spark with blue energy as it aimed at the rhino. "FIRE!" The weapon fired a chicken-shaped bolt of blue lightning, which struck the statue and turned it to dust. "Nice," Flash arm pumped, "with that out of the way, I don't have to worry about not doing this."
Marble growled, now regretting not using her monster's ability.
"I set the Pendulum Scale, with scale one Magna Caster Ratio and scale nine Glow Claw Magna Chimp!" Twin pillars of light appeared on either side of him, the two monsters flying up into them with the numbers appearing beneath as the portal began to form. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal opened as a pair of lights shot out. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The lights hit the ground and exploded revealing Flash's monsters. "Howl to the Moon, Shining Fang Magna Wolf!" (A1500/D1200/L4)
"Warp space, Magna Caster Stamine!" (A1800/D1000/L4)
"And how are those two supposed to help you?" Marble asked, only to see Flash smirking.
"You'll see," he explained as his two monsters transformed back into lights that shot up into the air. "As these two monsters build the Overlay Network!" A black hole appeared infront of him, the two lights flying inside as he chanted. "Shatter the chains forged by the laws of physics and burst open the door to limitless possibilities!" The black hole exploded, unleashing a burst of brilliant light. "I XYZ SUMMON!"
The light faded, revealing a new monster. It looked like the cross between a dragon, demon and robot. Its whole body was humanoid and made from black metal gears, with red light coming out of the gaps in the metal. It also had sharp metal spikes coming off its shoulders, arms and knees. It had a pair of metal wings and its head was dragonic with a pair of demon horns. In its robotic claws was a giant buster sword with jagged teeth running down the back. Two lights were circling around it. "Reality Buster Dragon!" (A2000/D2000/R4) Flash pointed at Marble's monster, "attack!"
Marble frowned, knowing he wouldn't attack unless he had some way of protecting his monster. But how? "It's ability."
"That's right!" Flash yelled as one of the lights flew into the dragon's sword blade. "When this card battles a monster stronger than itself, I can remove one Overlay Unit to negate its destruction!" The dragon and knight's swords clashed, both being knocked back by the force. "What's more, you take any battle damage I would have taken." Reality Buster swung its sword around and unleashed an energy wave, which struck Marble and sent her staggering backwards.
Flash: 3050
Marble: 2900
"Alright!" Both Duellists turned to see Team Crusaders cheering behind Flash.
"What are you doing here?" Flash asked his sister, who smiled.
"Watching my brother kick Dominator butt," Scootaloo smiled. "Now keep going." Flash nodded and turned back to Marble, his hand empty so he had to end his turn.
"My draw!" Marble drew her card and smiled, "I activate my Graceful Charity Spell card!" Flash frowned, knowing her having more monsters in her graveyard was bad news. "I draw three and ditch two." As she did this, the ground beneath them began to shake before rocks broke off the ground and formed another moon.
"Not good," Flash said while parts of the moon broke off it to create an opening. He knew what was coming.
"Queen of the earth, grace us with your glorious majesty!" The rocks then transformed into a staircase like construct, with a familiar monster stepping out of the moon to make her way down them. "Gaia-Maiden, Lady Marble!" (A3000/D2500/L8) "Now activating Lady Marble's skill!" Gaia Knight Sapphire appeared infront of the Gaia-Maiden before breaking into eight pieces before flying through the air. But they didn't hit Reality Buster, instead slamming into Gaia Knight Ruby and powering it down. (22000/D2400/L8)
Flash wondered what she was doing until he remembered his monster's ability. Seems Marble wanted to lessen the damage she was gonna take while using up its last Overlay Unit. "Attack!" Ruby charged forward, ready to slice Reality Bust Dragon in half.
Flash knew he didn't have a choice. "I use my monster's last Overlay Unit to negate its destruction and deal you the damage instead." The final light shot into the sword as the dragon lifted it up to block Ruby, pushing it back before swinging the blade and firing an energy slash that struck Marble.
Flash: 3050
Marble: 2700
Marble staggered backwards, but smiled as she looked over at Flash. "Then I'll attack with Lady Marble!" The monster tapped her staff onto the ground and caused a large chunk of earth to break off, then be sent flying towards the Xyz monster.
Flash could do nothing but brace himself as the rocks slammed into the robotic dragon and dismantled it, the parts raining down on Flash as he grunted in pain.
Flash: 2050
Marble: 2700
"Are you okay?" Scootaloo asked, Flash slowly getting back to full height.
"I'm fine," he assured her. "I'm not going down that easily." He watched as Marble placed a card face down. "I won't give up. Not until Marble's back to who she's supposed to be." He drew his card, smiling when he saw what he'd gotten. "This Duel's far from over."
Sunburst and Starlight were racing through town, trying to figure out where Flash might be. It was then they spotted Spike running around the corner, spotting them. "Hey!" He yelled, racing up to them. "Did you guys see the message Flash sent?"
"Yeah," Starlight said. "He's in danger. We have to find him."
"But we've no idea where he could be," Sunburst pointed out.
"Then we have to look everywhere!" Starlight ran off, the boys following after her.
"I activate the Spell card, Starburst Reload! Now, by banishing Magna Wolf from the grave, I can draw cards equal to his level." He drew his cards and smiled when he saw what he'd gotten. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened and a pair of lights shot out, hitting the ground and revealing his monsters. "Cast your solar spell, Magna Caster Solaris." (A1200/D600/L3/P8)
"Stampede, Charge Horn Magna Bull (A2100/D2200/L6/P4)
"Next, I summon Aura Pulse Magna Rat!" The clockwork rodent appeared beside the other two monsters. (A300/D200/L1) "Don't blink, you might just miss him." A giant portal opened up above their heads, as Magna Rat leapt up towards it. "By banishing himself, Magna Rat lets me summon any monster that's been removed from play to the field."
Magna Rat flew into the portal, as another monster flew out the other side. It was a twenty-foot high silver robotic humanoid creature, with light blue armour and orange trim on its arms, legs, chest and shoulders. From its shoulders were a pair of square jet booster like wings, and it wore a red scarf which was emblazoned with the same symbol as the one on Flash's shirt. "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon...X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4)
Marble smirked, looking forward to taking Flash's ace down.
"Flash Heart's skill!" Flash cried, a portal opening up below Gaia-Maiden. "Say buh-bye to yourself, Lady Marble."
"I think not," Marble activated her face down. "Go, Effect Reflect. This Trap lets me switch the target of a card effect to any other monster that qualifies." Lady Marble leapt back as Gaia Knight Ruby jumped into the portal, being banished in the process. "Such a good subject, sacrificing themselves for their queen."
Flash frowned. "A good ruler puts their subjects before themselves. I activate Ratio's Pendulum Ability!" He drew three cards, picked one and shuffled the rest back into the deck. "By banishing Star Fang Magna Tiger, I can increase Flash Heart X's ATK points by fourteen hundred!" The ghostly image of the tiger man appeared infront of Flash Heart X before bursting into light, the dragon absorbing in and gaining power. (A3900/D2000/L7/P4) "ATTACK!"
Marble watched as Flash Heart shot forward, ready to sucker punch her monster. "I activate Lady Marble's ability!" She raised her staff and blocked the punch, "I banished Neo Barrier Statue in order to protect her from being destroyed."
"Maybe," Flash told her, "but you still take damage."
Flash: 2050
Marble: 1800
"I place one card face down and end my turn."
"My draw!" Marble did so and smiled, "I activate the Spell card Geode Driver!" Gaia Knight Emerald appeared infront of her before breaking into eight pieces, with them coming together in twos. "This card lets me banish a Rock Monster from my graveyard, allowing us both to draw a card for every two Levels it has. Since Emerald was Level Eight, we draw four. Don't say I never give you anything." The two of them drew, Marble having five cards while Flash had one.
"That was way too nice for her," Sweetie said.
Applebloom nodded, "she's plannin some-in."
Scootaloo agreed and whispered, "be careful Flash."
"Now," Marble placed a card on her Duel Disk, "since I have five banished Earth Monsters, I can summon this without a tribute. Awaken, Blast Stone Wyvern!" The earth broke apart before a giant stone dragon pulled itself out of the fissure, spreading its winged arms and taking to the sky. (A2600/D2100/L7) "Now, Lady Marble will attack Magna Caster Solaris!" The Gaia-Maiden tapped the ground before it broke apart, sending rocks in the direction of Flash's weakest monster.
The Crusaders gasped. "If this attack hits," Sweetie started.
"Flash loses," Applebloom finished.
"Don't count my brother out yet!" Scootaloo told them. And she was right as in that moment, Flash Heart X flew infront of Solaris.
"Trap Activate!" Flash announced, "Interception!" The rocks slammed into Flash Heart, destroying it but leaving Flash safe.
Flash: 1550
Marble: 1800
"We're not done yet," Marble sang. "Blast Stone Wyvern's ability activates whenever I destroy one of your monsters." The rock dragon began to flap its wings, kicking up a dust cloud. "Now he can destroy every monster on your field with ATK less than the one I destroyed, meaning both your monsters bite the dust." Solaris and Magna Bull exploded, leaving Flash defenceless. "What's more, you lose three hundred life points for each monster destroyed."
Flash suddenly felt himself be buffed by the wind, sending him flying off his feet. "AAARRRHHH!" He yelled as he hit the ground.
Flash: 950
Marble: 1800
Marble smiled an almost innocent smile as she placed two cards face down. "This is the power I'm given as an Omega Zealot of the great Zeronull." She watched as Flash rolled over and began to push himself back to his feet. "Just give up. You can't hope to defeat me."
"I won't give up," Flash moaned as he stood up before shooting Marble a glare. "This is wrong!" He yelled, surprising Marble. "Zeronull. Omega Zealot. CUT THE CRAP!" He reached for his deck, "MARBLE ISN'T LIKE THAT!" The portal formed above his head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"
The portal opened and a single light shot out of it, revealing Flash's ace. "Shine your light of victory once again, Flash Heart Dragon...X!" (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) Flash glared at the possessed girl, 'I don't care what she's planning to do. None of that matters to me. I just need to win so I can free her.' "Skill activate!" A portal appeared behind her stone dragon. "Blast Stone Wyvern is banished!"
"So predictable," Marble told him.
"Is this predictable! I summon Bright Bounce Magna Bunny!" A flash of light singled the arrival of the robotic rabbit. (A1200/D600/L3/P2) "Then, I tune Level three Bright Bounce Magna Bunny with Level seven Flash Heart Dragon X!" The Tuner morphed into the trio of lights, which began to carve the rings around Flash Heart X. "Embrace your infinite destinies and stride towards a future of limitless possibilities!" The two monster disappeared in an explosion of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"
The Crusaders had to jump back so as to not be hit by the light. Said light then faded to reveal Flash's hyper-evolved Synchro dragon, which let out a mighty roar that caused the whole area to shake as blue lightning began to spark all around its body. "Flash Dragon...MAGNA STRIDER!" (A3300/D2500/L10/P10)
"YEAH!" The girls cheered, knowing this was gonna be good.
"Activating the Pendulum Ability of Magna Caster Ratio!" He drew three cards and frowned seeing only one monster, one that wasn't very strong. "Banish Nightlight Magna Sheep!" The little lamb appeared infront of Magna Strider before exploding into light that the dragon absorbed. (A3700/D2500/L10/P10)
"That won't be enough," Sweetie realised.
"He's not done," Scootaloo assured her.
"I activate the Spell card, Lightspeed!" Magna Strider began to glow. (A4700/D2500/L10/P10) Flash turned to his opponent. "Marble, I know you can hear me in there." His opponent frowned at that. "You have to know that Pinkie and Maud are looking for you. They want you to come back and they're not gonna stop until you're home." Marble said nothing, Flash growling. "ATTACK!" The giant dragon opened its mouth as blue lightning sparked, light then appearing in its mouth. "GOOOOO!" The light shot out of its mouth and flew towards Marble's monster like a laser, but she wasn't scared.
"Trap activate!" One of her face down flipped up.
"Sorry," Flash told her, "but no dice. On the turn he's Synchro Summoned, Magna Strider's immune to card effects."
"But my monster isn't," she told him. "My Trap is Rock Loader. I look at the top three cards of my deck and discard any Rock Monsters amongst them. And for each one sent to the grave, Lady Marble gains three hundred ATK points." She drew her card and smiled before discarding two, increasing her monster's ATK. (A3600/D2500/L8)
"That's not enough!" Flash told her, the laser hitting Lady Marble with enough force to push both her and Marble backwards
Flash: 950
Marble: 700
"I might not be enough to make her stronger, but it does give me the cards I need to keep her on the field." She banished one of the cards she'd just discarded, Lady Marble managing to survive the attack.
"I'm not done," Flash told her. "Activating the skill of Magna Strider!" He reached for his Duel Disk as the Extra Deck opened before taking out two cards. "Banish two Pendulum Monsters from the Extra Deck!" Magna Bull and Solaris both appeared on either side of the dragon and tapped their fist into its leg before they were sucked into a pair of portals, while Magna Strider's eyes glowed.
The next thing everybody knew, Magna Strider suddenly jumped up and was now standing on its back legs. "With that, Magna Strider can attack one more time!" The beast let out a mighty roar, as its boosters began to ignite.
"Magna Strider's skill! During his second attack, he gains one hundred ATK points for each of the Levels of all my banished monsters!" Magna Leghorn, Wolf, Rat, Tiger, Sheep, Bull and Solaris all appeared around Flash's Dragon in an astral form before they were sucked inside the crystal on its chest, the crystal now beginning to glow brightly. (A7300/D2500/L10/P10) Magna Strider opened its mouth as light began to fill it once again, this time with such power that if its boosters weren't firing it'd be pushed back by the force. "GOOOOO!" The dragon fired, filling the area with a blinding light.
Everyone was forced to shield their eyes, Flash included. But as he did-
"Flash!"
His eyes shot open, recognising that voice. He opened his eyes and saw he was in a black voice, staring straight into the eyes of the real Marble Pie. "Marble!" He cried, trying to float over to her. In doing so, he saw she was chained to a stone tablet.
"Help me," she whispered.
"Don't worry," he assured her. "I'm gonna get you out of here!" But before he could get close, a powerful wind blew from behind the tablet and hit him. "NO!" He cried as he was thrown backwards.
"You are not welcome here," a more sinister version of Marble's voice said from the darkness. "This Duel is not over. Trap activate!" A blinding flash of light filled the void, forcing Flash to shield his eyes again.
This time when he opened them, he saw Lady Marble knelt down with her staff blocking the attack. "Brittle Shield!" Marble cried, "I'm sure you know how this card works. Since my monster has more ATK then DEF, this card lets me switch her to DEF mode. And with Lady Marble's ability, she won't be destroyed." She banished her last monster as the attack faded, the Gaia-Maiden completely unharmed by it. "Nice try."
"So close," Flash told himself as he placed three cards face down and ended his turn. Magna Strider's ATK points returned to normal. (A3300/D2500/L10/P10)
"Not even Magna Strider was enough," Applebloom asked.
"But if Flash can just survive this turn," Sweetie started.
Scootaloo nodded. No way could Marble survive another turn like that. And with those face downs, Flash had to be able to survive.
She would be right to think that. Flash's face downs included his own Brittle Shield, Magna Guardian Arma Excess and Reverse Polarities. "Just get me to my turn," he begged his deck. He turned back to Marble and saw her draw her card, a strange smile appearing on her face as she did.
She slowly turned towards Flash, the earth symbol on her gloved hand suddenly glowing so bright that it could be seen through it. "It's time." As she said that, a powerful gust of wind exploded off her. The force was so great, Flash and the girls were all pushed back and few steps. "Prepare to witness the unbridled power of an Omega Zealot." She held up the card. "With this, I put my entire future on the line."
"What are you talking about?" Flash yelled over the wind.
"If I should lose this Duel, every card in my deck with be destroyed." This statement shocked everyone. "But in return, I can awaken an unstoppable power." She let go of the card and it began to float above her as she took another card from her hand. "First, I must tribute an Earth Attributed monster while also discarding a monster in my hand with the same name." She discarded another copy of Lady Marble as the one of her field became engulfed by rocks that formed a moon around her.
That moon flew up into the air, getting bigger and bigger with each passing second. It soon grew so big that everyone within a ten-mile radius could see it, Marble laughing as pieces of it slowly began to crumble away. "Behold the key to a perfect future. The legendary Zenith Dragon!"
"Zenith Dragon?" Flash asked as the crumbling piece of the moon-sized egg fell away to reveal...an eye. This eye was bright orange and totally huge. It was so big that you could stretch Magna Strider out from head to tail and it wouldn't even be able to touch the top or bottom.
"Awaken, beast of the earth!" Marble cried as the rest of the egg broke apart. "Zenith Dragon of Unbreakable Continents, GREATERRA!" Flash could only stare as the monster was revealed. It looked like more of a tortoise than a dragon. It had a giant shell made entirely of grey rock, with an assortment of vines wrapped around the bottom. It had six giant grey legs coming out of the side and a large bushy green tail that appeared to be made out of leaves. The back of its shell was covered in trees, while its head was taken up by a massive under-jaw. Hundreds of long vines sprouted from its chin, giving it the look of having a large green beard. Finally, on its forehead, was a round orange gem with the Earth symbol on it.
"No....freaking...way," the Crusaders whispered while staring at the monster that now turned to stare down at them.
"How strong is that thing?" Flash asked, dreading the answer.
Marble smiled. "Its ATK and DEF points become the combined ATK and DEF of the monsters used in its summoning."
"But that means..." It's ATK and DEF would be double Lady Marble's, Flash looking down at his Duel Disk and seeing the score. (A6000/D5000/L12) "That's...just too strong."
"Oh, don't worry. It's not like he'll be around for long." Flash looked at her in confusion. "A Zenith Dragon can only remain on the field for a single turn. Afterwards, they're banished and replaced by one of the monsters used in their summoning."
"So I only have to survive this one turn and that thing'll be gone?" Not that he needed to survive it, since he had his face down. With Reverse Polarity, that thing's six thousand ATK points would be his.
But before he could even think of activating them, something else caught his attention. Greaterra opened its mouth and let out a roar, so powerful it shook the earth, and in doing so it unleashed a barrage of giant rocks that flew towards Flash's field.
"WOW!" He yelled as he leapt back, the rocks slamming into his Pendulum Scale, Pendulum Blast and his face down cards. When the dust settled, each of them was buried below a large pile of rocks. "What have you done?" He asked before looking down at his Duel Disk, his eyes widening as he saw his face-up cards had been flipped face down and on the screen he saw a large red X over each of them.
"This is Greaterra's ability," Marble explained. "When it's summoned every face-up card in your Spell, Trap and Pendulum Zones are flipped down. And while he's on the field, none of them can be flipped up."
That meant they couldn't be activated. And that meant he had nothing to defend himself against. "No way," he saw his hand was empty. He was defenceless.
Marble smiled. "I told you this was pointless." She raised both her arms high into the air. "Zenith Dragon of Unbreakable Continents, ATTACK!" The beast opened its mouth as a giant rock appeared within it, Greaterra roaring with enough force to send the rock flying out and rocketing towards Magna Strider. "CONTINENTAL CRUSHER!"
"FLASH!" Sweetie and Applebloom yelled.
"Get out of there!" Scootaloo screamed. Flash turned and ran as fast as he could, the rock flying down towards his dragon like a meteor. The force alone sent shockwaves across the area, knocking Flash and the girls off their feet while crushing Magna Strider beneath it.
"AAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" Flash screamed as his life points hit zero, signalling his defeat.
Flash: 0
Marble: 700 (Winner)
The entire area was nothing but a giant dust cloud as Greaterra disappeared. The dust slowly cleared as Flash and the girls began to recover, each of them moaning as they picked themselves up. They looked over at where Magna Strider had been and gasped seeing a giant hole, the river beginning to flow into and fill it.
"That was no hologram," Sweetie realised.
"You're right," they turned to see Marble stepping around it. "It wasn't."
Flash moaned as he picked himself up, holding his left arm while one eye was closed. "Why..did you do this."
Marble just smiled at him. "You have lost a Duel against an Omega Zealot of Zeronull. As punishment, you will be sent to Void, the dimensional prison of souls." Flash had no idea what she was talking about. But before he could even ask, the ground beneath him vanished.
He only had a second to look down and see he was now floating above a bottomless pit that appeared out of nowhere before gravity took over, Flash beginning to fall. "GYAH!"
"FLASH!" Applebloom and Sweetie screamed as Flash fell into the darkness, only to stop as he felt something grab his arm.
"I've got you!" He looked up to see his sister hanging over the side, clutching his arm and trying to pull him up. "Hang on!"
"Scoot!" Flash saw his sister was starting to slide further into the hole, "let me go!"
"No way!" She cried.
"Hang on!" She then heard Sweetie yell.
"We'll getcha!" Applebloom agreed. The two girls ran towards them, but Marble wasn't having any of that.
"ENOUGH!" She thrust her arm forward and unleashed a pulse of some sort, which struck both girls and sent them flying back as they screamed in pain. Scootaloo heard his and gasped, but didn't have time to worry about it as she finally slipped too far into the hole to hang on any longer. And so, brother and sister fell into the bottomless pit and completely vanished. Seconds later, the hole shrank until it too disappeared into thin air.
Marble sighed as she turned away, "shame some trash got mixed in." She then heard groans and turned to see the other girls beginning to recover from before, Marble not caring about them and walking off. Everything was going according to plan. Project Omega Zenith was proceeding on schedule.