//------------------------------// // Harsh Memories // Story: Duelist Team of Canterlot High // by Brony-wan-kenobi //------------------------------// Duel Scores: Canterlot High: 6 Appleloosa High: 4   “Alright!” cheered Lightning as she began jumping up and down as she was announced the winner. Unable to control herself the amber haired teen threw her hands into the air at the same time as the holograms around her began to vanish. Out of the corner of her vision Lightning noted that Quick Strike had fallen onto his hands and knees, cards scattering everywhere as he looked down at the ground. She could also hear a chorus of boo’s from the stands that filled the evening air. But Lightning, she didn’t care one bit as her heart continued to race and adrenaline was pumped into her system.   Continuing to jump up and down, she made her way to her teammates with the biggest grin she had ever had in her life. Like her, they were quick to celebrate their victory as they crowded around her and cheered her on. As Lightning looked around her, she could see their smiling and excited faces. Even Vice-Principal Luna was getting in on the cheers, clapping and smiling at the team. With such a narrow, come from behind victory it almost felt like they had already won the tournament!   Without even thinking about it, Lightning wrapped her arms around Pharynx as she continued to jump. At first she felt his body become slightly tense, but eventually loosened up as he too jumped with her.   “Hey, Lightning,” came a voice that snapped Lightning out of her joy. In fact, it seemed to bring everyone back into the present as they all turned to look towards the bleachers. Standing there was Rainbow as she gave what was clearly an awkward smile as she scratched the back of her head. Slowly, Lightning let go of Pharynx so that she could stand before Rainbow with the rest of her teammates standing behind her.   “I, ah, wanted to congratulate you in person,” continued Rainbow. “Maybe later we can have a duel?”   Lightning raised an eyebrow at that. “For what stakes?” she asked. “You better not be using it to try and replace me or get onto the team.”   “No, no, no, no!” cried Rainbow quickly, waving her hands around wildly as she said this. “Just for fun. I’d like to see how my U.A. monsters do against those dragons of yours. I just thought it would be awesome and maybe we could get better together. You know, like in the old days.”   A small smile appeared on Lightning’s face before she held up a hand, quickly turning it to a fist and letting it hang there. “You sure about that? It’s the only team in school you’re not a part of or captain of.”   Rainbow looked at her, then at the fist, and then back at her with a smile. “It’s all yours,” she said before raising her own fist and pumping it against Lightning’s. “Trust me, this team is awesome enough without me being on it.”   “Then you better bring your A game when we duel, because I won’t go easy on your a-” Lightning managed to stop herself just in the nick of time, glancing over to V.P. Luna whose eyes began to narrow slightly. “Well, I won’t be pulling any punches when we duel is all I have to say.”   “Cool, wouldn’t have it any other way,” replied Rainbow as she, and Lightning, pulled back their fists. Lightning then watched as Rainbow turned her attention back to the bleachers. Or, rather, one particular spot. Focusing her gaze, Lightning could see Spitjerk sitting there with the crowd around her giving her some space. She was hunched over, looking like someone had put a thundercloud over her head so that it would have on her alone. Honestly it was a good look for her considering all the shit she had put Lightning through. After a moment, Rainbow turned to look at the team. “Well, I’d better get going. Good luck on your-”   “You loser!” came a shout that interrupted Rainbow.     “You loser!” shouted Sparkle, her voice gaining the attention of Braeburn as well as the rest of the team. Together they watched as the cosplaying teen stormed over to their fallen teammate whose head hung with shame. Not that it seemed to matter to Sparkle as she moved with clenched fists and looked ready to kick the poor fella before he could get up. Thankfully, she did not do any such thing yet it might have been less painful than what she actually did.   “You miserable disgrace!” she shrieked while standing over him, a hateful look in her eyes. Braeburn, Little Strongheart, and Mr. Silver Star all moved like one towards the pair but not before she let out some venom of her own. “You pathetic worm! How could you lose like that to one of them? Even after I gave you the barest of compliments a thing like you deserves you still lost! With your own boss monster out and everything!”   “I…I did my best,” muttered Quick Strike in a weak tone as he continued to look at the ground.   “Don’t you dare give me that crap!” snapped Sparkle with a dismissive wave of her arm. “You have one job on this team: to get us an instant win! Or, at the very least, get us a win. It should have been a walk in the park once you got that monster out! Now we are behind because of you! You utterly pathetic piece of slime! Vermin! No good cra-”   “That’s enough Sparkle,” said Braeburn in an angry tone, hands clenched into fists as he stormed over. Sparkle flinched at the power in his tone, turning around to look as he walked past her without giving her another look. Not even sparing her a nasty look. Instead he moved towards Quick Strike whose body was now trembling. He could hear the teen fighting back the sobs from both his defeat and the verbal abuse he had just gotten. Slowly, gently, Breaburn placed a hand on the hooded teen’s shoulder and felt him flinch as if he thought he was going to be attacked. When nothing came, Quick Strike turned his head to look up at Braeburn who still only saw his eyes glowing beneath the hood. “Ya did good out there, partner.”   “B-But I lost,” whispered Quick. There was a tremble in his tone and, while Breaburn couldn’t see it, he could tell that Quick Strike’s eyes were watering. “You w-were all counting on me.”   “Come on buddy, up on your feet,” said Breaburn as he helped Quick stand up. Gently he patted the smaller teen on the back as he led him over to where the rest of the team were standing. Yet as they passed Sparkle she puffed her cheeks before stomping her foot.   “I don’t know why you’re being nice to the little worm,” she hissed, causing Quick to visibly flinch. “He lost what should have been an easy match.”   “Funny you should say that,” said Strongheart as she moved in front of Sparkle. Strongheart eyed the other girls with an intense look as her arms crossed underneath her poncho. “I seem to recall you losing what should have been an easy match as well. You were in a much better position as well. Higher life points, a field of monsters. It should have been easy and yet you still lost.”   “Well,” began Sparkle as her face turned red. “That was…I would have won if she hadn’t destroyed my entire field like that!”   “Just like how Quick would have won had that Lightning girl not gotten rid of his field,” commented Troubleshoes as he approached, looking over at Sparkle with half lidded eyes. “Just his luck really. Can’t rightfully blame him for the same fault as your own.”   “Hey, shut it Troubleshoes!” snapped Sparkle as she sent a death glare at the larger teen. “I don’t need to hear this from the most boring player in town!”   “That’s enough there missy,” snapped Silver Star, speaking in harsh tones for the first time. “One more world like that and Ah’ll be makin’ sure you’re off the team for good. Don’t care how good ya are, Ah won’t let ya dampen the spirit of Appleloosa like that.” Silver Star then turned to Quick Strike who flinched under the man’s gaze. But when the man spoke again, it was with a much friendly and lighter tone. “Now there’s no need for tears, ya hear. Ya fought a mighty tough opponent and ya did your best. Ya should be proud of how well ya fought!”   “I did,” muttered Quick as he walked off the team, head still low. As he spoke, his voice sounded strained like he had something stuck in the back of his throat. His body swayed a little while his feet dragged a little on the ground. Thankfully, Troubleshoes appeared next to him, placing a hand behind his back to help him walk the rest of the way. “I really tried my hardest to win this for us.”   “Seriously,” muttered Sparkle as she stormed back Strongheart, intentionally bumping into her as she did. But under the gaze of both Braeburn and Silver Star, she said nothing else. She did, however, give them an evil look before making her way off the field with Silver Star following behind. Once they were on the sidelines again, Silver Star placed himself between Sparkle and the rest of the team. In a way he looked like a parent doing his best to keep a spoiled child in line. That or trying to keep said spoiled child from ruining everything for all the other kids.   After shaking his head, Breaburn paused as he caught sight of the Canterlot team. Most of them were looking away with a couple rubbing the backs of their head. It was clear that they had witnessed everything and were doing their best to pretend that they hadn’t. Even the rainbow haired girl who had joined them briefly looked like she wanted to get as far away from this uncomfortable scene as fast as possible, running back to the stands with a grimace. For a moment, Breaburn’s shoulders slumped while his stomach turned with shame. This was the first time their school had ever dueled against them, a chance for them to show off their Appleloosa pride! The pride that every citizen in this town felt. But instead the folks from Canterlot were getting an eyeful of rotten sportsmanship. It was enough for any fella around these parts to feel mighty low.   However, that feeling quickly dried up when he noticed the one teen over there who wasn’t looking away. Then again, they have a Star on their team, thought Breaburn bitterly. A surge of renewed anger began to flow through the large teen’s veins as he stared at the brown skinned teen. Chaser. Ah’ll never forget that rotten snake of a duelist till mah dying breath. Makes a rattlesnake like Sparkle seem like a baby hare with his sportsmanship! Walkin’ around the way he did, treatin’ other people like dirt, an cheatin’ all the damn time! Never did get that rematch with him ta show what. An’ that Hunter fella, bet he’s just like him. No good son of a-   “Looks like it’ll be a close match,” commented Strongheart, breaking Braeburn out of his thoughts. Startled, the larger teen looked down at his fellow teammate and vice-captain as she stared at the rest of the Canterlot duelist. Despite what she said, there was a bit of a grin on her face now and he could tell by how her arms were positioned that she had her hands in her pockets. “Don’t really mind since this will make things a bit more exciting. Three matches to turn the tide.”   “Three matches,” echoed Braeburn as he turned to look back at Hunter. “A lot can happen in that time.”   “Yeah,” replied Strongheart in an odd tone. Odd enough for Breaburn to look down at her again seeing that she was giving him a serious look on her face. “Just don’t go lookin’ for trouble if ya don’t get ta duel him.”   “I, ah, what?” stammered Braeburn, taking a swift step backward as he did. Only Strongheart was just as quick, closing the distance with two steps of her own.   “Ah was there when ya dueled Chaser, remember?” she said while grabbing Breaburn’s shirt, twisting it in her grasp. “An Ah got eyes in mah head. Ya been glancing over at that Star Hunter fella all night. Ah get ya want a piece of him an’ that’s fine by me, but don’t go throwing a hissy like Sparkle if ya don’t get ta duel him tonight. A team captain shouldn’t be actin’ like that, ya hear?!” Strongheart then let go, pushing Braeburn back a tad as she turned around. “Just remember that there’ll be other duels. Other chances ta duel him. Who knows, might get ta duel him on his home turf.”   Braeburn lowered his head a little as Strongheart walked back to the sidelines. It was so easy for her to say something like that. He could still remember how it felt that day back at regional’s.   flashback   Breaburn stood on the main dueling platform within the stadium as hundreds, maybe even thousands, of spectators watched him from every angle. Looking up at the covered ceiling, the large teen couldn’t help but think back to all the duels that had led him to this point. Over the last several days, he had faced many different opponents who used a number of different decks and dueling styles. His deck had stood against the heroic powers of the Elemental Heroes, defeating their many different fusions. He had managed to defeat the Synchro summoning of T.G.’s and even faced off against their boss monster. Then there was the creepiness of the Gimmick Puppets, which he overcame both their high attack power as well as avoiding that deck's instant win condition. But the hardest deck of them all had been the True Draco duelist. Several times in that duel alone, Breaburn had thought he was done for. That his time in this regional tournament was over. In the end, his skills and a bit of luck managed to help him scrape a win by the narrowest of margins. All of them and more, Breaburn had dueled and won just to stand here as a member of the top six.   Turning his head to look at the crowd cheering for him. His eyes fell upon his parents who were both beaming with pride in what he had done. Aunts and uncles who had been able to take time off of work as well as many of his cousins were also there. Friends like Little Strongheart, neighbors, and many others from Appleloosa were there to give him the support of the community. Even many of the duelists whom he had defeated were there to cheer him on. As he lived and breathed, that was the true sign of good sportsmanship!   Seeing all of that nearly brought a tear to his eye. With all this support, with this number of folks watching and cheering him on, he felt like he had already won. Now all that was left to do was see this through to the end. There was still a chance he could lose since everyone else had dueled just as many people to get to this point. But as long as he did his best, Breaburn knew he’d be able to head back home with his head held high.   “Attention duelists!” came the voice of the announcer as he walked on stage, a tall man with a really pointy hairdo. “We are now ready to begin the first round of the semi finals! First match will be Braeburn from Appleloosa vs. Star Chaser from Hollow Shades.”   “No, that isn’t how you do it,” said the other teen as he walked onto the stage. He was smaller than Braeburn, but that didn’t really mean much since most people were smaller than him. His skin was a light brown and his slicked back hair was more a darker shade of the same color. Despite it being warm, the teen wore a leather trench coat with a black wife beater shirt and jeans while his deck hung in a pouch attached to his belt. His yellow slit eyes displayed a smugness that didn’t sit well with Braeburn, nor did that smirk. While walking forward, the teen wagged his finger while making a ‘tisk’ sound like how one scolds a bad dog. “You’re supposed to announce the better duelist first, namely me. As for that guy, just leaving him nameless would save you time.”   “Hey now,” began Braeburn as he approached the teen who had to be Star Chasrer. But the teen only crossed his arms while tilting his head to the side to look at the crowd behind Braeburn.   “Tell me, that woman back there,” he began causing Breaburn to turn and look. “Do you call her mom or sis? Guess it doesn’t matter since to your kind they’re one and the same!” Veins began to appear across Breaburn’s body as he trembled with rage. He was used to good natured trash talk dueling a duel, but this? It was way below the belt. Even the announcer looked uneasy at that moment.   Feeling his anger get the better of him, Braeburn took a breath to try and calm down. As much as he wanted to throttle this punk he knew that he would be disqualified for doing so. Worse, he would be ruining that Appleloosa pride his town held in such high regards. It would be like spitting in the faces of everyone who had come to see him. So, Braeburn slowly extended his hand.   “How about we take the trash talk down a notch and have ourselves a friendly duel?” was all that Breaburn said. Breaburn watched as Chaser looked at him and then at the hand he held out while noticing the pleased look of the announcer out of the corner of his eye. Slowly, Chaser unfolded his arms and began to extend a hand as well. Then, much to Breaburn’s surprise, his hand was swatted away.   “Manure must have gotten into that inbred brain of yours if you think you’re good enough to shake my hand,” replied Chaser with a smirk that made him look evil. Laughing he turned, his hands throwing the back of his trench coat back as if to give it the impression that it was waving in the wind.   “You tell him son!” came the voice of a man who must have been Chaser’s father. But Breaburn did not search the crowd to look and see what the man looked like. Nor did he bother to give anyone cheering for that ass a second look. Instead he turned around to move to his position on the field.   “W-Well,” stammered the announcer, tugging on the neckline of his shirt. After clearing his throat, he seemed to get a bit more energy as he quickly raised his hand into the air. “Let the first round of the semi finals begin. Star Chaser will make the first move!”   -Breaburn Life Points: 8000 -Star Chaser Life Points: 8000   Breaburn said nothing about this as he drew his opening hand. After taking another breath to help calm himself down and keep his head in the game, he looked down to see what he had drawn. Much to his delight, it was a really good hand. Perhaps the best he had had since the tournament began!   Turn One: Star Chaser   “Going first,” replied Star Chaser as he drew his card (hand: 6). “At least this way you won’t waste any more of my time than you already have!” Braeburn let out a growl as Star Chaser played his first card. “I’ll make this quick by playing the spell card: Red-Eyes Insight! For the small cost of sending one Red-Eyes monster from my hand or deck to the graveyard, I can then add one Red-Eyes spell or trap to my hand. So I’ll send the original Red-Eyes Black Dragon in my hand to the graveyard in order to add Red-Eyes Fusion.   “Now I’ll play the spell card I just added,” continued Chaser as the crowd began to cheer. “This is a real fusion card. One that doesn’t restrict me from only using monsters in my hand but in my deck as well.” Grinning, Chaser removed two cards from his deck and sent them to the grave while the images of two black dragons rose high into the air above. The crowd began to cheer loudly and even Braeburn was getting a little excited to see what was to come. “Twin Red-Eyes, one of old and one of flare, come together to show burn away those in your wrath. Fusion summon Meteor Black Comet Dragon!” (3500/2000) As Chaser finished his chant, something large and made of black scales landed behind the smug looking teen. As the creature began to stir flames erupted from its scales as it soon took the form of a massive dragon that towered over everything in sight. The flames didn’t die down, instead they seemed to grow more intense as they spewed out, licking the tips of its many horns while also cracking many of its scales. The nightmarish dragon then opened its wings sending a wave of hot air towards Braeburn.   “Now wrap your deformed brain around this,” said Chaser with a laugh. “When this dragon is summoned, I can send one dragon from my deck to the graveyard in order to burn you for half of that monsters attack points. So by sending my last Red-Eyes Black Dragon in my deck to the graveyard you lose 1200 life points.” Braeburn's eyes widened as the Meteor Black Comet Dragon began to flap its wings, sending several orbs of fire towards him that had bits of black electricity shooting around them. For a brief moment, Breaburn heard the crowd stir in surprise only for their noise to be drowned out as the orbs exploded around him. The Appleloosa teen did his best to stand his ground yet was soon sent flying from the shock wave, landing on his stomach.   -Braeburn's Life Points: 6800   “Mighty good hit there,” grunted Braeburn as he got to his feet. “But it’ll take more than that ta keep me down.”   Chaser rolled his eyes in annoyance. “If you were smart you would have stayed down. This duel is over.”   “Really, because where Ah’m standin’ it’s just getting started,'' declared Braeburn as he pointed to the dragon. “That spell card ya used is mighty powerful, but has a hefty downside. Ya can’t summon any more monsters this here turn! An if ya think having one big bad monster is enough ta-”   “You really are stupid, aren’t you,” interrupted Chaser. “But I guess it can’t be helped given your limited gene pool. So I’ll do my best to use small words that you can understand. My fusion card, it also renames my monster to just Red-Eyes Black Dragon. So, if I use this Inferno Fire Blast I have in my hand…” Chaser’s words trailed off as he played the spell card allowing him to deal damage directly to Breaburn’s life points equal to the attack of his dragon. Said dragon opened its mouth to send a torrent of flames right at Braeburn who cried out in pain as they washed over him.   -Breaburn’s Life Points: 3300   “Now, it's time to send you back to the corn fields so you can stop wasting everyone’s time with your shitty dueling!” shouted Chaser as he played another Inferno Fire Blast. “Send my regards to your sister/cousin. I’m sure they’re the same thing.” And with that, another stream of flames struck Braeburn down ending the duel. All without him ever paying a single card.   End Flashback     A tremble ran through Breaburn’s body as he remembered how the rest of the night went. How he sat there in the stands, doing his best to be a good sport about it and watching the rest of the duels. He cheered on everyone who dueled Chaser, even when they lost on the very first turn. It didn’t stop there as Chaser felt the need to rub it in for the rest of the night, telling all those he defeated what an ‘honor’ it was just to have been defeated by the new regional champion. Had it not been for the other duelist helping him stay calm and insulting the little creep behind his back that Braeburn would have struck Chaser down with one blow. Still, Braeburn had come home with less pride than he thought he would have.   Then, it got worse.   Flashback   “Hey Braeburn, you remember that creep you dueled against a few years back? The one from regional’s?” Breaburn looked up from his lunch tray just in time to see one of his fellow classmates sitting down across the table.   “Hard ta forget,” muttered Braeburn as he picked up his spork and knife. As he began to dig into his meal, the teen’s mind began to think up how to politely end this conversation. The topic was a well known sore subject for him. It had been years since that day and, try as he might, Breaburn had never gotten as far as he did that day. Sure he had won many other tournaments and was the captain of the dueling team, but whenever the regional’s came up he could never quite make it to the semi-finals. Nor was he ever given the chance to duel that condescending jerk either. So really he didn’t want to talk about it.   “Well it looks like karma hit him upside the head real good,” continued Breaburn’s classmate before he could ask him to drop it. Curious, Braeburn lifted his head to see an amused grin on the other guy's face. “Just found out the guys got a lifetime ban.”   Breaburn felt his body stiffen slightly at that. “What happened?” The words came out so quickly that he didn’t realize what he had asked until he heard himself. His face must have looked off as well because the other teen pulled back a bit.   “Get this,” said the other teen as he moved forward, leaning over the table so to speak in hushed tones. “That guy, he tried to get into Crystal Prep. Only they suspected him of cheating then caught the weasel red handed! Messed with the auto-shuffler in his duel disk or something. Figured he must have been doing it all along since he always won pretty close to his first turn. And always with the same combo. Now that I think about it, it seems pretty obvious that something was up. So all those awards and titles the little shit won: gone! Like they never happened.”   Something inside Breaburn’s stomach began to turn in a way he didn’t like. It just…it just seemed so wrong. Not what happened to Chaser, no that guy deserved it. But what about all the people he cheated? People like him who would never know how far they would have gotten had it not been for him. That day he could never get back. There was no way everyone would be called back for a do over!   “Oh it gets better,” continued the other teen as he opened up his pudding cup. “Turns out that guy didn’t take the news so well. Long story short, got drunk and when the booze ran out tried to rob a liquor store. He’s on trial right now, trying to tell everyone that it's his brother’s fault. Guess he’s going for some insanity defense since that doesn’t make a lick of sense to me. But, hey, you never know.”   Braeburn muttered his thanks to this news as he looked down at his tray. Yeah, now he really felt cheated. He could never have a rematch to put that guy in his place. Would never know how far he would have made it that day. And it might be a long time before Chaser got out of jail.   End Flashback   Since that day, Breaburn had tried to move on as best he could. He continued to duel like normal, doing his best to tell people he didn’t want to even think about Chaser ever again. That he just wanted to move on with his life. Only, it was hard to do when Chaser made headlines again. This time he was caught poisoning athletes at his new school, taking out the competition so he could easily become the top sports star or something. His name was suddenly the talk of the school with students wondering how depraved he had to be to do something so horrible. Then he was approached by people who knew that he had dueled Chaser. Some were expressing their gratitude that Chaser hadn’t done anything like that before they dueled. Others wondered if he was worried that Chaser might come after him for some reason. True, Chaser was clearly unstable. However, to come after him Chaser would have to remember him among all the people that he had ever dueled. Something that seemed unlikely given the arrogant teen’s personality. Eventually, this too began to fade from the gossip circles as life continued.   Now, tonight, he was going up against a team that had his brother on it! While there were some differences like his voice and his calmer mannerism, he still looked too damned close to that vile tongued rattler. For all Braeburn knew, he was just as sick and twisted only better at hiding it. Some rotten apples do fall from the same tree. So, Breaburn had been keeping an eye on the other teen and only that. Did Breaburn want to duel Hunter? Well…yeah, he did. If he couldn’t have his rematch with Chaser, Hunter would be a good stand in. Maybe he could even break that front he was putting up to show everyone what he was really like. Perhaps even getting some closure.   But, would he go on a rampage if he didn’t get to duel Hunter? As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Strongheart was right. He was the team captain and carried the pride of Appleloosa within him! If they didn’t duel, how would it look if he approached the other teen in the parking lot after the matches were over? If Appleloosa won, it might be seen as the team captain trying to rub it in. If Canterlot won, would people think that he was being a sore loser or something? No, that wouldn’t do. Maybe he could wait and hope for another chance to duel him but…   Shaking his head, Breaburn pulled out his phone. His hand trembled a little as he went through his list of contacts until he reached the name he was looking for. Adrenaline was flowing through his body, making him feel a little jittery as he pressed the call button and waited.   “Hey there buddy,” came the voice of Forecast, the same voice making the announcements as the duel. “Good timing. I was just about to make the announcements for the next-”   “Yeah, listen,” said Breaburn quickly, shooting a glance over at Hunter again. “I need ya to do me a little favor.”     “Ah, hope y'all are having a great time tonight,” came the voice over the P.A. system, causing Autumn to blink. She looked up at one of the speakers as a hand went under her chin. Something felt off. Throughout the night, he had sounded energetic and confident. Like a star on stage giving the performance his all. But now he sounded like a rookie, afraid he’d messed up his lines and dreading the musical number that was to come. Kind of weird. And she didn’t seem to be the only one to notice that. Many people in the stands were also looking at each other and mumbling aloud.   “Sorry about the delay,” continued the announcer after coughing loudly. Now he sounded a bit more like himself, a bit more confident in what he was saying. Yet something still felt off. “Now Ah’m sure ya’ll are ready for the next match ta show your APPLELOOSA pride! Next up we have our Vice Captain Little Strongheart walking onto the field. And she’ll be facing off against, ah, Autumn Blaze!”   Autumn’s eyes widened as a smile appeared on her face. Any thoughts about the weird stammer at the end of that announcement quickly passed as she felt a wave of excitement hit her. Finally it was her time to shine. Instantly she whipped out her duel disk which had been painted with fall leaves all over it except on its holo-emitters.   “Alright everybody,” Autumn announced as she pumped the air with her free hand. “Be sure to cheer me on as loud as you can. Maybe even sing a song or something to help pump me up!”   “Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” replied Lightning as she crossed her arms and shook her head with a small smile.   “Ahhh,” whined Autumn as she turned to her trusted green skinned friend. “Not even you, Spooky?”   “Actually, my name is Wallflower,” the green girl said, looking like she had been put on the spot.   “Really?” asked Autumn. “Weird, I thought it was Spooky for some reason. Oh well! Wish me luck everyone!” With that, Autumn raced onto the field.   At the same time, Strongheart walked out as well with her poncho flapping in the wind. Her walk was steady and controlled with a serious look on her face. It wasn’t until she reached her assigned position that she stopped, pushing part of her poncho to the side to reveal her silver duel disk resting in something that reminded Autumn of a gun holster. In a flash, Strongheart tossed her duel disk into the air causing it to spin rapidly as she shot her dueling arm straight up. The crowd went wild as the duel disk then landed right onto the arm of its owner, activating it on the spot!   “Wow, that’s pretty neat,” cheered Autumn as she clapped too. “Wish I had thought of a neat trick like that. Bet it took a lot of practice.”   “It did,” admitted Strongheart with a slight blush on her face as she scratched her cheek. “That and plenty of bumps on the head.”   “Well, if you put the same amount of practice into your dueling as you did that little trick,” said Autumn as she paused for effect. At the same time she brought her arm up to her face, covering the lower half so you could only see her eyes like how old time evil did with a cloak. Only, well, minus the cloak. “Then this is going to be awesome!”