//------------------------------// // Making Feathers Fly // Story: Duelists and Friendship - Seven Darknesses // by Prince Dustin Hogan //------------------------------// Talking YELLING Thinking Singing Flashback Duel Chant Making Feathers Fly! Dustin's POV It was a bright and sunny day today. And it was also Saturday, so no school today. The weather was perfect so we figured why not spend some time at the beach. I was dressed in a pair of blue jean shorts, a green t-shirt on top and a pair of green crocs. Emille wore a pink sundress with a while Emile wore a navy blue shirt and black shorts. Erena carried a cooler full of beverages and cold foods. I held duffle bag I packed our deck boxes and some sunblock. We had our duel disks on as well. "Alright. We got sunblock, spare clothes, food, drinks, duel disks and deck boxes. Anybody forgetting something?" I asked, Erena and Emille shook their heads in response. "Okay mom. We’re heading out now." I called out to mom who was in the kitchen. "Alright honey. You three be careful and have fun." Mom said as me, Erena and Emille got on our bikes and rode off. ***A few minutes later*** We arrive at the beach and got everything set up. Pinkie managed to more than enough cupcakes for each of us, Applejack brought some Apple turnovers, which to put it simply were so good you could feel your taste buds dance in sing. Rainbow brought a soccer ball, a football, mostly things to do other than dueling. The others didn't really bring anything, except their duel disks, their decks, and their Charms of Harmony just in case we run into trouble. After managing to get everything set up, we sat down and relaxed, had some idle chat. You know, just normal stuff to do on a nice day like this. "Hey Dustin. Care for a duel?" Spike asked me with his usual smile. I got up when I noticed a girl walking towards our group. This girl had light brilliant amber eyes, short white hair with big bangs with pale, light grayish heliotrope edges, a moderate gamboge jacket and matching pants and yellow gloves and shoes. All in all, this girl looks had a punk look to her. “Can we help you, miss?” I asked the girl, making the others look to her. However, Rainbow had a surprised look on her face as she looked to the girl. “Wait. Gilda? Is that you?” Rainbow asked the girl, confusing the rest of us. “Heya Dash, long time no see.” The girl named Gilda said to Dash as she went up and hugged her. “Uh…RD? You know this chick?” I asked Rainbow with confusion clear on my face. “Oh. Guys, this is Gilda. She’s a childhood friend of mine.” Rainbow introduced as Gilda gives a two finger salute. “Gilda, these are my gal pals Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Sunset.” Rainbow then walks us. “This little guy here is Spike,” Rainbow then looks to me, Emille and Erena, “And these three are my newest buds, Dustin Hoga, Erena Honjou and Emille Honjou.” “Yo.” I said to Gilda with a nod. “Care to join us?” Erena asked Gilda, who just shrugged as she sat down with us. “So, Rainbow, How long have you two known each other?” Pinkie asked Rainbow Dash. “We met in Siberia when I was six-years-old. We were at Duel Prep at the time.” Rainbow Dash said with a nudge to Gilda. “Really? What deck do you use?” Twilight asked Gilda. “Winged Beasts are my go-to monsters of choice. But Harpies and Raidraptors are my preferred archetypes.” Gilda said with a smirk of pride. “Just ask Dash, she totally got canned by me a few times.” “Hey, gimme a break. I was still learning the basics of Duel Monsters.” Dash said defensively. “So, Gilda, are you visiting from Siberia?” Rarity asked Gilda. “Just moved here two days ago, actually. Figured a new change of scenery was in order.” Gilda said with a shrug before looking to me. “And you say your name is Dustin Hogan, right?” “Yeah. That’s me.” I said with a chuckle. “I thought so. I heard you beat one of CHS’s top students and a teacher.” Gilda said with a smirk. “I actually saw the video of you thrashing that guy. I think his name was …Umbra?” “You mean Professor Sombra?” Pinkie Pie asked with a giggle, still remembering the crushing defeat I gave Professor Sombra. “Heh. You can say he got schooled.” I said with a pun, making the others chuckle. “Yo, Gilda.” Rainbow said, getting Gilda’s attention. “Care for a duel? For old time’s sake?” Gilda had grin on her face. “Sure. Why not? But I’ve been improving my deck quite a bit.” Gilda said as she went to her duffle bag before pulling out a Battle City era Duel Disk. “Aw yeah! Let’s rock!” Rainbow declared as she strapped her duel disk on and brought out her dueling deck. “This should be interesting.” Twilight said as both Gilda and Rainbow faced each other, their duel disks strapped on and powered up. “Get ready RD, cause with this new deck, I’m gonna make some feathers fly.” Gilda said as she and Rainbow drew their starting hand. “This’ll be such fun.” Rainbow said with a wide grin. “Duel!” Both Gilda and Rainbow declared as many others gathered around to witness the duel. No POV Gilda LP – 8000 Rainbow Dash LP - 8000 “I’ll give you the honors to go first, RD.” Gilda said, making Rainbow nod. “Alright, here goes.” Rainbow drew her card, and she examined her hand to perform a strategy. “First thing I’ll do is play Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, in attack mode.” Rainbow declared as a white Pegasus with a blue horn appeared in front of rainbow. [Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus/Lv: 4/WIND/Beast/ATK: 1800/DEF: 1200] “And since Sapphire Pegasus is brought out, I get to place one Crystal Beast from my hand, Deck or Graveyard to my Spell and Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell. Like my Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise!” Rainbow declared as a massive green crystal appeared beside her. “That just about does it on my part. Your move, Gilda.” “Alright.” Gilda drew her card and smirked at what she drew. “First thing I’ll do is play my feathered friend, Harpie Lady, in attack mode!” Gilda said as a red-haired woman with green feathered wings, clawed hands and feet, and dressed in a tight purple skin-suit appeared, screeching before taking flight. [Hapie Lady/Lv: 4/WIND/Winged Beast/ATK: 1300/DEF: 1400] “I don’t get it. Why would she play that in Attack Mode? It’s not a strong as Saphire Pegasus.” Spike said with confusion. “I think we’re about to find out.” Sunset said as Gilda selected her next card “Next, I play the Spell Card called Double Summon, allowing me to perform an additional Normal Summon this turn. And I’ll use it to bring out a Tuner Monster called Delta Flier in Defense Mode.” Gilda declared as a somewhat robotic dragon appeared, roaring in might. [Delta Flier/Lv: 3/WIND/Dragon/ATK: 1500/DEF: 900] “Uh oh.” Erena said in slight worry. “A Tuner?” Rainbow asked with surprise in her tone. “And one with a nifty effect. It lets me increase the Level of another monster on my field by one each turn. Like the level of my Harpie Lady.” As Gilda said this, Harpie Lady was encased in a green aura. “What good is that going to do?” Rainbow asked, a bit confused. “I think Gilda’s planning to use both monsters as Synchro Materials.” I said in shock. “Correct you are. Now I’ll Tune my Level 3 Delta Flier and my Level 5 Harpie Lady.” Delta Flier glowed green before splitting apart into three glowing green rings. The rings floated around Harpie Lady and began to spin, while Harpie Lady was engulfed in a massive tornado, causing the winds to pick up. Gilda smiled. “By aligning the power of my feathered lady and my flying dragon together, I call on the feathered femme fatale coated in metal!” She brought her arm back and raised her duel disk, her hand poised over the back of the device. A card snapped out from it and she grabbed it and placed it on her duel disk. “Synchro Summon! Join the party, Level 8, ‘Cyber Slash Harpie Lady’!” The tornado finally died down, revealing what appeared to be Harpie Lady, but she was dressed in a golden metal chest-plate, she had two golden rings her biceps, golden leggings, and the claws on her hands and feet were also encased in gold. It was truly a mix of beauty and ferocity. [Cyber Slash Harpie Lady/Lv: 8/WIND/Winged Beast/ATK: 2600/DEF: 1400] “Ooohh.” Pinkie said in amazement. “Incredible. She managed to perform a Synchro Summon.” Twilight said, just as amazed. “And a very dangerous one at that. Rainbow better be careful.” Dustin said in a mix of worry and wonder. “Next I play the Spell Card Mystical Space Typhoon, so say goodbye to Emerald Tortoise.” Gilda said as the green crystal beside rainbow shattered to bits. “But that’s not all. Whenever the effect of a Spell or Trap Card is activated, except during the damage step, my Cyber Slash Harpie Lady gets to activate her effect.” “Uh oh.” Rainbow said with slight fear. “Ah don’t like the sound of that.” Applejack said with wide eyes. “By targeting 1 monster you control or one Harpie monster I control, that monster is bounced back to its owner’s hand. So, say adios to your Sapphire Pegasus!” As Gilda said this, Cyber Slash Harpie Lady flapped her wings, making Sapphire Pegasus neigh before vanishing in a flash of light. “And with no monsters protecting you, you’re wide open for a direct attack. Cyber Slash Harpie Lady, claw at her life points, with Cyber Slash Talons!” Cyber Slash Harpie Lady’s claws glowed bright yellow before swiping down, firing a barrage of yellow energy blades at Rainbow. Rainbow Dash LP - 5400 “Ouch.” Spike winced. “I’ll end it there.” Gilda said with a smirk, and Rainbow nods in amazement. “Wow, Gilda. I’ll admit. You certainly have improved. You were good back then, but now you certainly have me on the ropes.” Rainbow said as she drew her next card. “But you’re not the only one with skill. I activate the card I just drew. And that card is Card of Sanctity. So now we both draw until we have six cards in our hand.” Rainbow said as she drew one card while Gilda drew four. ‘Sweet! Just what I needed.’ Rainbow thought to herself as she examined her hand. “I’ll play Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth in Defense Mode.” Rainbow said as a large mammoth with four tusks and an orange gemstone on its forehead appeared, trumpeting in might before kneeling down besides Rainbow Dash. [Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth/Lv: 4/EARTH/Beast/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1600 “And I’ll play two cards face-down. And that’s about it for me.” Rainbow said with a smug grin. “So that’s it, huh?” Gilda drew her card, and smirked. “I play Monster Reborn to bring Harpie Lady back from the grave.” Gilda said as Harpie lady emerged and appeared besides Cyber Slash Harpie Lady. “But now I banish both Harpie Lady and Cyber Slash Harpie lady, as well as Delta Flier in my graveyard to Special Summon a better monster.” “Huh?” Rainbow gasped in shock. “Oh dear.” Rarity said with a gasp. “This doesn’t look good.” Erena said in worry. “Say hello to one of the strongest monsters in my deck. I Special Summon…The Atmosphere in Attack Mode!” Gilda said as a massive bird like creature with four wings, long tail feathers and a green sphere in its midsection appeared behind Gilda, the creature released a bellowing caw to signify its presence. [The Atmosphere/Lv: 8/WIND/Winged Beast/ATK: 1000/DEF: 800] “Oh shit! Now RD is in for a challenge.” I said in total shock. “Why’s that? What does it do?” Pinkie asked. “What it does is that I can target 1 monster my opponent controls once per turn, then equip it to him. And the best part is, The Atmosphere gains ATK and DEF equal to that of the monster equipped to him.” Gilda said, making the others gasp in shock. “Aw man!” Rainbow said in slight fear. “But the only monster Rainbow has is Amber Mammoth.” Spike said, biting his nails in anxiety. “That’s right. Now Atmosphere! Work your magic!” and with that, The Atmosphere flew high in the sky, the green orb in its midsection glowed while pulling Amber Mammoth into it. Once Amber mammoth was sucked into the green orb, The Atmosphere glowed a bright orange color. (The Atmosphere – 2700/2400) “Aw come on!” Rainbow called out in shock. “This really isn’t looking good for Rainbow.” Fluttershy said in total worry for her friend. “And now you’re wide open. Atmosphere, attack! Typhoon of Terror!” Gilda called out at the Atmosphere opened its beak, sending a powerful tornado towards Rainbow’s direction. But Rainbow’s shocked expression changed to a smirk. “You fell for it!” Rainbow said, confusing Gilda, and us in the process. “Huh?” Gilda asked with a raised eyebrow. “I discard one card from my hand and activate one of my Trap Cards called Rainbow Life!” Rainbow said, now Gilda was the one who was shocked. “No way!” Gilda called out in shock. “That’s right. With this bad boy, any damage I would take this turn increases my life points instead.” Rainbow said triumphantly as a rainbow glow engulfed her. As soon as The Atmosphere’s attack hit her, the rainbow glow canceled out the attack while her life points increased. Rainbow Dash LP – 7800 “Wow. Now that is impressive.” Sunset said with an impressed look. “Nice comeback, dear.” Rarity said with a nod. Even Gilda was impressed “Yeah. I gotta admit RD, that was truly smart. You really had me there.” Gilda said with a nod. “Alright, I’ll finish it from there.” “Alright, then it’s my turn.” Rainbow drew her card, and she had a wide smile at what she drew. “I play Pot of Greed. So now I draw two more cards.” Rainbow drew her two cards. “Next I’ll play Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat in Defense Mode, and end it from there.” A big light purple panther appeared besides Rainbow before sitting on its haunches. [Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat/Lv: 3/EARTH/ATK: 1200/DEF: 400] “Wait! That’s all?” Spike asked in confusion. “But all Rainbow’s been doing is playing defense.” ‘I think Rainbow might be planning something.’ Dustin thought to himself as he examined Rainbows field. ‘And I have a strong feeling that other face-down card serves a vital role in her strategy.’ “That’s all you can do? I have a strong feeling you’re up to something, RD. Whatever it may be, It won’t work. Atmosphere, attack Amethyst Cat! Typhoon of Terror!” Gilda declared as The Atmosphere fired another tornado towards Amethyst Cat, the impact causing an immense sandstorm. The others covered their faces to avoid having any sand in their eyes. “Sorry Dash. But looks like I got the upper hand again.” Gilda said a smirk. “Do you?” Rainbow asked, confusing Gilda. Gilda then noticed a glowing green magical circle with seven hovering gemstones of various colors on Rainbow’s side of the field. “Wait! That circle!” Twilight gasped in surprise. “By attacking my Amethyst Cat, you’ve just triggered my second Trap Card called Ultimate Crystal Magic!” Rainbow declared, making Gilda gasp in shock. “No way!” Erena said in amazement. “When a Crystal Beast I control would be destroyed by battle, I can send seven Crystal beasts with different names from my hand, deck or side of the field to the Graveyard, then Special Summon 1 Ultimate Crystal Fusion Monster from the Extra Deck. And the best part it, the Special Summon is treated as a genuine Fusion Summon.” “Uh oh.” Gilda said, shaking in fear. “So, I send Sapphire Pegasus, Ruby Carbuncle, Emerald Tortoise, Cobalt Eagle, Topaz Tiger, Amber Mammoth, and Anethyst Cat from my deck to the graveyard in order to bring out my ace monster!” Rainbow declared as the circle sparked with electricity before a column of multicolored light appeared from the center of the circle. “When all seven Crystal Beasts are together, the bridge to a new future is forged, bringing forth a crystal guardian with no equal!” Rainbow chanted as a pair of wings emerged from the column. “Fusion Summon! Join the ranks, Level 12, ‘Rainbow Overdragon’!” The rainbow light column dissipated, revealing Rainbow’s new monster. It was a massive white and gold dragon, even larger than Rainbow Dragon, its wings spread across the field and raised its head, its eyes glowing white beneath a gold and silver horned crest. Its stomach was shining violet scales, light in seven colors pulsing within them. It hovered above Rainbow and roaring in supremacy. [Rainbow Overdragon/Lv: 12/LIGHT/Dragon/ATK: 4000/DEF: 0] “Oh… my …God!” Dustin said in both shock and awe. “Holy shit!” Gilda said in a mix of amazement and fear. “Gilda, allow me to introduce you to one of my personal favorites. Rainbow Overdragon!” Rainbow said with a smirk. “But why stop there? Since I have seven Crystal Beasts in my graveyard. I can summon another favorite of mine.” “Wait! You don’t mean…” Gilda said in total disbelief as Rainbow pulled the card in her hand. “Is she?” Erena asked, dumbfounded. “She is!” Emille said in total shock. “When the Seven Crystal Beasts are together, the light that ties the world together is reborn, here and now! Behold, the miracle of the Crystal Beasts! Be reborn! The Ultimate Crystal Beast – Rainbow Dragon!” Rainbow called out as streams of light in the colors of the rainbow rose into the air. It reached the clouds and let out a wave of multicolored light across them. The light in the air above them shone brighter, the silhouette of a long, serpentine dragon appearing within it. With the sound of a mighty roar the light cracked and broke apart. From the shards came a giant white and gold dragon in a rainbow aura, massive white wings spreading into the air, gemstones in seven colors embedded in its scales. It descended behind Rainbow Dash and coiled in the air above her, glaring at Gilda with golden eyes beneath a crested helmet of white and gold. [Rainbow Dragon/Lv: 10/LIGHT/Dragon/ATK: 4000/DEF: 0] “Whoa!” Spike called out in shock. “She managed to summon two monsters with four-thousand attack points at once!” Rarity said in amazement. "I-I'll finish from there." Gilda stuttered in shock. “Then its my move. And if you think it’s bad now Gilda, well I’m sad to say that it’s going to get much worse! First I activate Rainbow Overdragn’s effect! By banishing one Crystal Beast in my graveyard once per turn, he gains attack points equal to that banished monster’s attack! And I’ll banish my Sapphire Pegasus, therefore increasing Rainbow Overdragon’s attack power by 1800.” A transparent image of Sapphire Pegasus appeared before being absorbed into Rainbow Overdragon, its body glowed an indigo color as it roared. (Rainbow Overdragon – 5800) “F-f-fifty-eight hundred attack points!?” Gilda stammered in absolute shock. “Got that right! Rainbow Overdragon, pluck that oversized bird’s feathers! Spectrum Burst!” Rainbow declared as Rainbow Overdragon fired a beam of multicolored light at The Atmosphere. The feathered beast only cawed in agony before shattering to like glass. The blast was so intense that Gilda was pushed back a few inches. Gilda LP – 4900 “Rainbow Dragon, you’re turn! Attack Gilda directly! Rainbow Refraction!” Rainbow called out as Rainbow Dragon fired a rainbow beam at Gilda as she shielded herself from the attack as her life points plummeted further. Gilda LP - 900 “And with that, I’ll end it here.” Rainbow said as Gilda was wide eyed in shock, but she had an impressed smile on her face. “Wow, Dash. I’ll admit. You really have improved over the years. I don’t normally do this, but…” Gilda said as she placed her hand on her deck, “I’ll give you this round. “She’s forfeiting?” Spike asked. “It seems like it, bud.” Dustin said with a nod as both Rainbow Dragon and Rainbow Overdragon faded into nothing. Gilda then walks to Dash, extend her hand. “You sure kicked some ass, RD.” Gilda said as Rainbow shook Gilda’s hand. “Yeah. You weren’t too bad yourself, Gilda.” Rainbow said with a chuckle. But what none of them realized was that somebody was watching the whole duel.