Canterlot Mall.
Spike and Thorax had arrived thanks to the girls, so now it was time to go to their favorite card shop.
"We're here at last," Thorax said.
"The card shop, Dragon Booster, where you can improve your deck," Spike said as he and Thorax entered.
The card shop was sized to hold at least 50 people, it had plenty of tables to play at, but today there seemed to be not many people, just 2 guys playing in a corner, which made sense because it was usually still class time.
"Mr. Torch, I'd like to buy a booster," Spike said, speaking from behind the counter, but Mr. Torch wasn't there.
“Hmm, I think Mr. Torch isn´t here,” Thorax said.
Suddenly, from behind the counter, a girl with blue skin and dark blue hair with some white lines appeared.
“My father had to go away on a business trip, so I was left in charge for the time being,” the girl said.
"Dad? Are you Mr. Torch's daughter?" Spike asked.
"That's right, my name is Ember," the girl introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Spike, this is Thorax," Spike introduced himself.
“Hi,” Thorax greeted her.
"I guess you want boosters from the new expansion?" Ember asked to which the two nodded.
After paying for the boosters, Thorax mentioned something to her, "Umm, hey, not that I'm nosy, but we've been coming to this store for 1 month, but we haven't seen you."
“Well, I just moved here, I used to live in another city with my mother, but I received a scholarship to get into Crystal Prep, even though I hate the type of students it has, my parents thought it would be the best for my studies ,” Ember told them.
“Wow, you're going to study at Crystal Prep, we study there,” added Spike.
"Yeah, I noticed," Ember said as she gestured at their uniforms.
"Oh," Spike said, feeling a bit silly.
"At least you guys made a better impression on me of your students and with you I'm sure I won't get bored," Ember said but then changed the subject, "So, you guys are cardfighters?"
“Sure we do, we really like the game,” Spike replied.
"You are too?" Thorax asked curiously.
"Yes, and I'm sure one day I'll be the strongest," Ember declared, then glanced at Thorax and Spike, "And I'll make sure to take down anyone who gets in my way."
Thorax and Spike gulped in fear, was that a threat?
Ember started laughing, "Hahaha, it was just a joke, heck, you should have seen your faces."
"Hehehe, yeah, it was pretty good," Spike and Thorax giggled, still scared.
"But seriously, I'll become the strongest," Ember said seriously.
“That is a great goal,” Thorax told her.
Suddenly they heard the boys playing at the table, so the 3 of them approached.
They saw that the yellow guy had 4 damage and the purple guy also had 4 damage.
“Now I attack with Flash Heart Dragon,” the boy said as he brought his Vanguard to a horizontal position.
"No," thought Microchips as he looked at his hand, he had nothing to defend himself, "No Guard."
“TWIN DRIVE, FIRST CHECK,” the boy yelled as he pulled a card from his deck, it was a normal unit.
“So close, I can still survive,” Microchips said.
“I don't think so, SECOND CHECK,” the boy shouted as he pulled a card out of his deck with all his might, he smiled and then showed it.
“CRITICAL TRIGGER.”
"Oh no," Microchips thought and then drew a card from his deck, "Damage Trigger check."
It was a normal unit, “Second check.”
Microchips picked up a card again and looked at it, then smiled, the reason being because it was another normal unit, "Looks like you won, Flash."
Flash:4 (Winner)
Microchips:6
“That was a great duel Micro,” Flash said as the two of them bumped fists.
"Impressive," Spike said.
The 2 boys noticed that they were looking at them, Flash spoke, "Hi, did you enjoy the duel?"
"I admit you have some skill," Ember replied.
"Of course he does, he's Flash Sentry, he's the best cardfighter around," admitted Microchips.
Flash was embarrassed, "Well, I'm sure there are cardfighters stronger than me."
"Impossible I made a record of all your duels, and you have a 95% win rate, if that's not being a great player, I don't know what is," stated Microchips.
"Hehe, well, Microchips is very passionate, he's also a great player," Flash said, "By the way, forget to introduce myself, my name is Flash Sentry."
"I am Ember."
"My name is Thorax."
"Spike, nice to meet you."
Flash was left thinking, "Spike, I'm sure I've heard that name before."
"Flash, Micro, if I may ask, how did you discover Vanguard?" Thorax asked.
“Well, I started playing 6 months ago, it was Flash that motivated me to build a deck,” Microchips replied.
“I remember it very well, I was 12 years old at that time, a great player came to my school and taught us how to play, he lent us a deck to the students and we were able to learn, it was luck, but when I fought against him, I managed to do 5 damage ,” Flash said, “He told me I had potential and then he gave me Flash Heart Dragon, that's my most precious card, that's when I decided to become a cardfighter.”
“I even remember his name, it was….” but at that moment Flash was interrupted by the sound of a door being flung open.
SLAM.
Suddenly, a boy entered the store who, like Flash and Micro, seemed to be 16 years old, had dark red skin, orange hair and yellow eyes, he wore a red jacket with black pants and red boots.
Spike, Thorax and Microchips were nervous, that young man seemed intimidating.
Flash and Ember looked at him seriously, until Ember came over and spoke, "Welcome to Dragon Booster, can I help you with something?"
“Hmph, if you can't I wouldn't be surprised, this doesn't seem like a store worthy of my greatness,” the boy said with an arrogant tone.
They all looked at him with contempt.
"Anyway, I didn't come to buy anything, I want to know who is the strongest cardfighter in this store."
"Why?" Ember asked.
“Because my plan is to fight the strongest, only by defeating them will I improve as a cardfighter,” the boy replied.
Flash was a little doubtful, but if that was what that boy wanted, then he should accept the challenge, "Umm, I guess it's me."
The boy looked around in case someone said otherwise, but no, everyone except Ember nodded nervously.
“Hehe, looks like if you're the strongest, just look how weak the others look,” the boy said, pointing at Spike, Thorax, and Microchips.
Flash was annoyed by the comment, but remained calm, "Appearances are deceiving, I suggest you be careful, in any case, my name is Flash Sentry."
“My name is Garble, but don't get your hopes up, I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to crush other cardfighters,” replied the boy.
“Garble, oh no,” Microchips said.
"What happen?" Flash asked.
“This is Garble, he's a member of the Team Doom Rider,” Microchips replied as he pulled out his cell phone and showed them information on Garble.
"The Team Doom Rider, the ones who won the national?" Spike asked.
Microchips nodded scared.
"Oh no, this is bad, this is too bad," Spike said.
"I guess now that you know who I am, now you'll want to repent and run," Garble told Flash.
“I won't run away from any cardfights, I don't care if you won the nationals,” Flash said with a lot of determination as he placed his deck on the table.
Thorax walked over to Spike and whispered, "Spike, tell me more about the Team Doom Rider."
"Team Doom Rider, a very powerful team, they are cold and calculating, they won the national without losing once," Spike said as he showed Thorax a picture of the team members.
There were 5 of them, in one corner was Garble, next to Garble was a girl who was the same age as Spike, had orange skin and purple hair, then there was a 16-year-old boy with lilac skin and red hair combed back, next to him on one side was a 16 year old girl with pink purple skin and purple hair with blue streaks and in the center was what seemed to be the leader of the team, an 18 year old girl with pink skin and prickly yellow hair.
"Do you think Flash can handle him," Thorax asked.
"I'm sure he can," Spike said.
After that, everyone went to one of the tables, there Flash and Garble took out their decks, took a card and put it face down in the center of their fields.
After that they started shuffling their decks, the Flash and Garble took 5 cards.
“Hmm, I'll put a card back,” Flash said as he put a card back into the deck, shuffled it and drew another.
“I'll take this hand, it's very good,” Garble said.
At that moment the 2 turned their card and shouted.
STAND UP, VANGUARD.
STAND UP, DOOM VANGUARD.
Flash:0
Garble:0
"Doom? Garble added a Doom to the sentence, isn't that against the rules?" Thorax asked Spike.
"There's really no rule that stops you from saying whatever you want to start off with, my brother always says STAND UP THE VANGUARD," Spike replied.
"Doom?" Flash asked.
“It's my team's catchphrase, we all yell Doom before we yell Vanguard,” Garble replied.
“Oh, it's, interesting,” Flash added, it was all he could think to say.
That's how the fight started.
Garble's card was some kind of dragon hatchling engulfed in flames, it had black wings that weren't engulfed in flames, "FIRE HUNTER." (PWR5000/G0)
Flash's card was also a baby dragon, but this one had gloves made of gold, was yellow in color, and had little blue spikes on its head, "FLASH HEART DRACOKID." (PWR5000/G0)
“This is a Kagero VS Gold Paladdin battle,” Ember said.
“I'm still new to this, and I haven't seen those decks,” said Thorax.
"Well, Garble's Kagero deck, like my Narukami deck, is based on dragons, only his specialty is weakening the opponent through skills that remove his rear guards, while Flash's Gold Paladin deck is a knight-based deck, it specializes in in teamwork, your units support each other so you always have something to attack with,” Spike explained.
“I'm going first, DOOM RIDE,” Garble said, drawing a card from his deck, then placing a card on top of Fire Hunter, it was a salamander also engulfed in flames, but its most notable feature was its fangs, “HELL FIRE SALAMANDER. ” (PWR7000/G1)
"Fire Hunter's skill allows me to move him into a rear-guard circle," Garble said as he moved Fire Hunter right behind Hell Fire Salamander, "I'm done with my turn."
Flash took out a card from his deck, and thought "Hmm, I have to be careful."
“Very good,” Flash said as he discarded a card from his hand to search his deck for another.
"Wait a minute, what the hell are you doing?" Garble asked.
"My Dracokid's skill allows me to discard a card and search my deck for a Gold Paladin whose rank is higher," Flash said as he drew a card from his deck.
"And that allows me to Superior Ride," Flash said as he placed the card he took from his deck on top of Dracokid, it was like a grown version of Dracokid, only this one had bigger wings and spines, "FLASH HEART WYVERN." (PWR8000/G1)
“That's a good move, wait a minute, that card's ability, it can't be, it's amazing,” Spike said.
"What's amazing?" Thorax asked.
Microchips responded, "Flash´s deck is made to evolve, he will always be able to ride the unit he needs without it being in his hand."
“Whoa,” Thorax said.
"It's a simple skill, but a very powerful one," Ember replied.
“And now I call,” Flash said as he placed 2 copies of the same card in the front rear-guard circle, the card depicting some sort of knight in golden armor with a huge spear, “GOLDEN LANCER MAGNUS.” (PWR7000/G1)X2
"Alright, Flash!" Spike cheered.
"No holding back!" Thorax cried out.
Flash placed a Lancer card horizontally, "I now attack with Golden Lancer Magnus."
“No Guard,” Garble replied, to which he drew a card from his deck and placed it in his Damage Zone, “Mmm, no Trigger.”
Flash:0
Garble:1
Flash placed his Vanguard card horizontally, "I attack with Flash Heart Wyvern."
Garble was hesitant, but decided to let the damage slide, "Im not gonna guard."
Flash took out a card, seeing it he smiled, "ITS A CRITICAL TRIGGER, SPRINGER THE POWERFUL JAKHOWL."
“Grrrr, damn it,” Garble said.
"I grant the power to my Golden Lancer Magnus who hasn't attacked." (PWR 17000)
“And the Critical goes to Wyvern,” Flash said.
“This is ridiculous, Damage Trigger first check,” Garble said as he drew a card from his deck and placed it into the Damage Zone.
“Second check,” Garble said doing the same, he frowned as he saw that neither card was a Trigger.
Flash:0
Garble:3
"You're done?" Garble asked Flash.
“No, because I still have one attack left,” he placed his last Lancer horizontally, “I attack with Golden Lancer Magnus.”
“I don't think so, I'll take cover,” Garble said as he placed a Critical Trigger in the middle of the 2 fields, “BERSERK HATCHLING.” (SHLD 15000)
“My turn is over,” Flash said, smiling.
"Wow, this looks good for Flash," Spike said.
“Still, he can't let his guard down,” Ember said.
Garble drew a card from his deck, "My turn, Doom Ride."
Garble placed a card on top of Hell Fire Salamander, on it was a wingless anthropomorphic dragon who wore pants and had grenades on his belt, "GRENADE WINGBLAST." (PWR10000/G2)
“Wingblast's skill allows me to destroy one of your units other than the Vanguard when it appears,” Garble said, to which Flash placed one of his Golden Lancer Magnus in the Drop Zone.
“Then I do a Doom Call,” Garble placed a card on which was an anthropomorphic dragon with wings on his arms, wearing pants and holding a sniper rifle, “SNIPER WYVERN.” (PWR13000/G2)
“Thats insane, Sniper Wyvern is a grade 2, but it has 13000 of power,” Thorax said in awe.
“But the downside is that I need to pay a counter-blast for it to attack,” Garble replied.
"This looks bad," Flash Sentry thought.
Garble flipped one of the cards in his Damage Zone, then placed the Sniper Wyvern card horizontally, “I pay a counter-blast and attack your Vanguard with Sniper Wyvern.”
"No Guard," Flash decided to take the damage.
“Damage Trigger check,” Flash put a card from his deck into his Damage Zone, “No Trigger.”
Flash:1
Garble:3
“NOW I ATTACK YOUR VANGUARD WITH GRENADE WINGBLAST SUPPORTED BY FIRE HUNTER,” Garble yelled as he brought his Vanguard horizontally. (PWR 15000)
"I'll protect myself with Springer," Flash placed the trigger card on it was some kind of bipedal animal that looked like a blue and black canine, "SPRINGER THE POWERFUL JAKHOWL." (SHLD 15000)
“Good idea Flash, even if you pull a Trigger, you won't be able to break his shield,” Microchips said.
“Drive Trigger check,” Garble said as he drew a card, then he smiled, “Hehe,”
Garble revealed the card, on it was a kind of red snake, but on the card there was a blue icon in the upper right corner, "STAND TRIGGER, MAGMA SNAKE, I GIVE ALL EFFECTS TO SNIPER WYVERN." (PWR 23000)
"Damn it," Ember said.
At that moment, Garble brought Sniper Wyvern back to an upright position.
“I pay another counter-blast so Sniper Wyvern can attack,” he flipped it back to landscape.
“TSSCH, Damage Trigger check,” Flash frowned seeing that it was just another normal unit.
Flash:2
Garble:3
"Take that," Garble told him.
“This is just getting started, stand and draw,” Flash replied as he stood his units upright and drew a card from his deck.
"I discard a card from my hand, so I can Superior Ride," Flash placed on top of Flash Heart Wyvern, another card that showed a grown version of him, only this time he was bigger and had armor that encompassed most of his body, "FLASH HEART DRAKE." (PWR10000/G2)
“I'll move my Lancer to the back-guard, and then call,” Flash moved them, then placed a copy of Flash Heart Drake right in front of one the Lancer in the upper left corner, “FLASH HEART DRAKE. ” (PWR10000/G2)
Garble frowned, it was hard to take on a Drake, but against 2 it would be hell.
Flash placed his Vanguard horizontally, "Now I will attack your vanguard with my Flash Heart Drake."
“I protect myself with another copy of Berserk Hatchling,” Garble said as he defended himself with a 15,000 shield.
"Drive Trigger check," Flash said as he drew a card from his deck, but sadly it was a normal drive, "Oh, no Trigger."
After that Flash placed his other Drake horizontally and the Lancer behind him, "Now I attack your Vanguard, and my unit has a power boost thanks to Lancer," (PWR 17000)
“GRRRR DAMAGE CHECK,” Garble said getting angry, then he saw that it was a normal unit so he put it in the Damage Zone, “No Trigger.”
Flash:2
Garble:4
"That was nothing, now I'm going to..." Garble said but was interrupted.
“Don't think my turn is over,” Flash Sentry told him.
"What? But you already attacked with everything you had,” Garble replied in surprise.
Flash smiled, "Not exactly, my Flash Heart Drake skill allows me to pay a counter-blast to Superior Call a grade 2 unit whose power is lower, but I can only do this when an attack lands."
"Wow, Flash is really good with his units," Spike said.
“More than units, they seem like extensions of it,” Ember added.
Flash placed in the last front rear-guard circle, a card that showed a knight carrying a huge shield, in addition to wearing a red cape that highlighted the gold color of his armor, "SENTRY KNIGHT." (PWR9000/G2)
“Impossible,” Garble said.
Flash placed the Sentry Knight and his Lancer horizontally, "And he gest +3000 in this turn, my Sentry Knight attacks you." (PWR 12000)
Garble helplessly put a card from his deck into the Damage Zone.
Flash:2
Garble:5
"Yeah, just one more damage and you win, Flash," Spike said excitedly.
“And the best part is that he hasn't even ridden his grade 3 yet,” added Microchips.
“AHHHHH, YOU ALREADY MADE ME ANGRY,” Garble yelled as he stood his units upright and drew a card from his deck.
"Hey, you should calm down, just because you're a national champion doesn't mean you can't be beaten," Flash said, "Loss is inevitable at some points, that's why I always play for fun, even when you lose."
"Fun? I'LL TEACH YOU WHAT FUN IS, DOOM RIDE," Garble said as he placed Grenade Wingblast on top of it, it was a huge dark red bipedal dragon with black wings, which had claws that looked like metal, and large fangs, but the most remarkable thing was the aura of darkness around him, “SEEKER OF DARKNESS, EMPEROR DRAGON.”(PWR 13000/G3)
“TIME TO ATTACK,” Garble yelled.
"What?" Flash thought, because Garble didn't use any skills this turn.
Garble placed his Vanguard horizontally, "I attack your Vanguard with Emperor Dragon."
Flash thought about it, but decided to take the damage, "No Guard."
“Twin Drive,” Garble said, this was because 3rd graders could check the drive twice.
“First check, nothing,” Garble said as he picked up a normal unit.
"Second check," Garble frowned, it was another normal unit, "Looks like you saved yourself, dummy."
“Damage Trigger check,” Flash said as he placed a normal unit in his Damage Zone.
Flash:3
Garble:5
Garble then flipped another card from his Damage Zone, and attacked with Sniper Wyvern, "Now I attack you."
“I intercept with Sentry Knight, when I use it to intercept, it gains 5000 power,” Flash said as he moved Sentry Knight to the defense zone, it turns out that grade 2s can defend even when on the field, that's called intercepting. (SHLD 10000)
"Ugh, that was close," Thorax said.
"Flash still has the advantage in this fight, his opponent is only 1 damage away from losing, but I wonder why he didn't use a skill?" Spike asked.
"Maybe he, oh no," Ember thought.
“My turn, stand and draw,” Flash said as he placed his cards vertically and drew a card from his deck.
"It's time to show my dedication to this game, my passion for Vanguard," Flash said discarding a card.
“SHINE YOUR LIGHT OF VICTORY, SUPERIOR RIDE,” shouted Flash as he placed a card on top of Drake, the card showed a bipedal yellow dragon with golden armor, it had blue spines on its back, shoulders, and knees, on its chest it had a shield that had a lightning bolt in the center, and, furthermore, the dragon wore a golden sword, “FLASH HEART DRAGON.” (PWR12000/G3)
"Whoa, that dragon looks awesome," said Spike.
"His best card," added Microchips.
Garble looked at the dragon with hate and concern.
"I hope you are ready, because Flash Heart and I will show you our power, our bond."