RANK 53: Concerto-Crystal Clash:
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THE STORY SO FAR...:
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In Canterlot High School, every student is wild over the world's most popular trading card game: Duel Monsters! Every day, players of the card game, known as "Duelists", go head-to-head to see who among them is the best around. Among the Duelists in attendance at CHS, one of the best is a young teenager named Sunset Shimmer, a girl from another world...
A dramatic turn of events unfolded during the next Duel of the Qualification Tournament's second round. This Duel pitted Bright Mind - an out-of-town Duelist with an astounding intellect and a powerful Alien Deck - against Sonata Dusk - a member of a trio of ex-singers known as the Dazzlings that had once tried to take over Canterlot City. As the Duel commenced, several strange things began to occur; more specifically, Sonata's cards seemed unusual, as they appeared to perfectly counter any possible move that Bright Mind could muster, all the way up to the end of the game. Despite fighting very hard, Bright lost to Sonata and his time in the tournament ended.
After receiving some comforting pep-talk from his first round opponent Flash Sentry, Bright began to feel a little better about the whole thing and found a new friend in Flash that day. Bright then became suspicious of Sonata's actions during their Duel - suspicions that were shared by the Tournament Judge, Sunset Shimmer. Based on what they had witnessed, Sunset believes that Sonata had cheated during her Duel, and has also determined that Sonata's sisters, Adagio and Aria, are also in on the whole scheme. She has asked her friend and assistant, Twilight Sparkle, to investigate the matter, with additional assistance from Bright Mind.
In the meantime, there is one more Quarterfinal Duel left to go, and Sunset has to be there to oversee it, especially since the Duel is between two Duelists that she has had first-hand experience with in the past: Octavia Melody - the first Duelist to be possessed by a Number Card that Sunset battled, and Sweetie Belle - a young Duelist that Sunset had personally trained.
Now it's time to see how they fare in a Duel against each other...
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At CHS Stadium, the WCQ Qualification Tournament was ready to enter its last Quarterfinal match, which would determine which Duelists would enter the Semifinal Round. So far, the Semifinal entrants were Ember - a Duelist from Bloodstone that was the daughter of ex-Pro Duelist Torch, Gilda - from Griffonstone High School and granddaughter of Gruff, who was also a former Pro, and Sonata Dusk - who was a member of a former singing group that had once caused trouble at CHS.
At the moment, however, there was a short intermission before the next Duel, which allowed the next two competing Duelists to prepare themselves and their Decks. Most of those that were already out of the tournament congregated at the stadium food court to talk, have a snack, trade cards or even have practice Duels with each other. This was the particular case for two former contestants...
"Hmmmm..." hummed a young man with grey skin and blue-and-orange hair with a bit of a muscular physique. He was none other than Sol Burner, one of the Duelists that made it into the main tournament, but lost to Octavia in the first round. He was looking over a binder that mostly consisted of rare Duel Monsters cards, seemingly trying to find something that appealed to him. "Alright, how about this:" he then said to the person in front of him, "I'll trade you this...in exchange for a play set of Horn of the Phantom Beast."
The person Sol was talking to (as well as the owner of the binder that he was paging through) was Slid Diamond, a light-brown boy with short black hair that was another of the sixteen Duelists that had entered the tournament. He had dueled against Steel Shadows in his First Round match, but had lost to him. "Hmmm..." Slid thought about the offer for a while, then he took another look at the cards he selected from Sol's collection, humming some more. "Hmmmm...Yeah, I think that'll be fine." he finally decided, accepting the trade. "Honestly, for that Double Evolution Pill, I can part with those no problem." The two shook hands and the trade was made.
After putting their newly-obtained cards away, Sol then said, "Shame what happened to that Bright guy in the last match."
"Yeah, honestly, I thought he had that one won..." Slid replied. "He had a pretty good Deck and strategy, but that girl had the prefect counter against them somehow... I guess that's just how it goes sometimes." As he made that comment, a young girl with white skin and red-orange hair overheard the conversation and kept listening to it, sipping from her soda cup as she did so...
"Well, it looks like all of us out-of-towners are out of the tournament." Sol Burner told him next. "After all, that Steel guy you fought in the first round lost in the Quarterfinals. It's cool that he got to join the Wonderbolts, though; that's more than good enough as a consolation prize."
"Yeah, I'm happy for him; he deserved to get that chance." Slid replied, glad that his opponent was moving on to better things. "But there's still a few people left in the game that aren't from here: In fact, everyone that's made it to the Semifinals so far are from out of town."
"Oh yeah..." the grey-skinned male replied. "I guess they kinda look like they'd be from this area, that I forgot about that." Just then, Sol glanced off to the side and saw two people walking swiftly past the food court area. The only reason he noticed them was because of who they were. "Hey, Slid..." he began to ask, "those people walking by... Aren't they that Bright guy and the girl that's assisting the Judge?"
Slid Diamond turned around and saw that the two individuals were indeed Bright Mind and Twilight Sparkle (along with Spike, who was currently being held in Twilight's arms). The boys watched as the two of them left the food court area. Neither of them knew it, but Twilight and Bright were on their way to the CHS Stadium's main office to speak to Mr. Dunstan - who was the official from Industrial Illusions that was commissioned to oversee the tournament. Sunset Shimmer - the tournament Judge - suspected that Sonata had cheated to win her Duel against Bright Mind, and had asked him and Twilight to dig up any evidence to support her suspicions.
"Huh... I wonder what they're in a hurry for?" asked Slid.
"Who knows?" asked Sol. "But it seemed like they were up to something important... Maybe we ought to see what's going on."
"Huh? A-are you sure?" asked the light-brown boy. "I don't think we should disturb them."
"I get what you're saying," Sol replied, "but...well, let's just say I have this feeling that they might need help. I can't explain it, but that's just how I feel." And without another word, the Fighter/Duelist packed up his things and headed off in the same direction as Twilight and Bright. Slid wasn't sure about it, but decided to follow Sol Burner anyway.
As they left, the white-skinned girl that was sitting nearby had just finished her drink, Getting up from the table she was sitting at, she tossed the empty cup into the trash and began to follow both Sol and Slid...
Back in the main stadium, the field was being prepared for the last Quarterfinal Duel, as there were only only three minutes to go before it started. Megan Williams was sitting on a nearby bench, taking a large sip from her water bottle (after all, she had done a lot of talking up to this point, and her throat needed the refreshment). Else where, Sunset Shimmer was checking her phone clock, taking a deep breath as she mentally prepared herself to do her duty as Tournament Judge. It wasn't easy, considering what had happened during the events of the previous Duel.
"You gonna be alright, Sunset?" asked a male voice from the nearby bench. The voice was Flash Sentry's; while Twilight and Bright were investigating the matter involving Sonata, he agreed to take Twilight's place as Sunset's assistant in the meantime.
"Yeah..." the red-and-yellow teen answered. "Just worried a little about Twilight. I hope she'll be okay while getting that information from the office."
"Yeah, I hope she'll be fine, too..." Flash responded. "Same goes for Bright. If what you said is true, and considering what those Dazzlings are capable of, I'm pretty sure they aren't about to let them just walk right into the main office and get what they're looking for."
"...We'll just have to trust that they can handle themselves." Sunset told him. "Or at the very least, hope that someone around can lend them a hand if things go wrong. Our school's filled with students that look out for one another, so I guess we shouldn't worry ourselves too much, but still..." Sighing a little, she then said, "Well, anyway...I have a job to do, so for now I'll just have to concentrate on that." Adjusting her jacket, Sunset walked out to the middle of the field, ready to get to work.
Once the intermission was over, Megan returned to the arena's center and announced, "Allllllright, everyone!! Thank you so much for your patience! And now it's time to begin our next - and final - Duel of the Quarterfinal Round! So give a HUGE round of applause for our next competing Duelists: Octavia Melody and Sweetie Belle!!"
The crowds cheered as both Octavia and Sweetie entered the stadium. "Go for it, Tavi!!" cheered Vinyl from the bench. "You've got this in the bag!!" The sepia-skinned girl smiled and waved in response.
"Let's go, Sweetie Belle!!" shouted the voices of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Babs Seed from the audience, with Sooctaloo waving a large banner that said, "Sweetie Belle is Number One!" on it. Sweetie smiled and waved back, albeit a bit nervously.
"Well, here are: Sweetie Belle's next match..." said Rarity with a bit of anxiousness and nervousness in her voice. "Oh my..."
"What're you so worried about, Rare?" asked Rainbow Dash. "You're not the one dueling down there."
"Oh, just the typical worries we older sisters have for our younger siblings." the fashionista explained. "You know how it is."
"Uhhhh...I don't know, Rarity. I don't have any brothers or sisters." Dash reminded her.
"Oh dear, you're right. I sometimes forget that you're the only one of us besides Sunset to not have any siblings." Rarity replied, realizing her error.
"Soooo...whad'ya think Sweetie's chances are against Octavia?" Applejack then asked.
"I dunno..." Pinkie responded. "Octavia may not look it, but we know just how tough she is as a Duelist! Of COURSE, you could say the exact same thing about Sweetie Belle."
"Yeah, Ah agree: It's a tough call who'll win this Duel..." AJ replied. "Octy's got more experience playin' Duel Monsters, but Sweetie was trained by Sunset herself. Ah suppose the only way we'll know how the Duel will go is if we just watch it fer ourselves."
"It seems so..." Rarity chimed in, hoping with all her heart that her little sister would do well.
(Hoo boy...here we go again...) thought Sweetie Belle, sweating a little as she made her way into the main field to meet with her opponent. (Why does this part always have to be so scary...?) Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she then said to herself, "I gotta keep cool; Sunset said that if I'm too nervous before the Duel, I won't play well. I just gotta stay calm and do my best out there!"
As Octavia walked towards the center of the field, she was also pondering a bit to herself. (Hmmm...my next opponent is Sweetie Belle...) she thought. (At first, I never thought much of her... But after what I've seen from her first round Duel, I can see that she has improved significantly. After all, Sunset had said that she had trained Sweetie herself, so I suppose I should not be all that surprised of how much stronger she's become... I must say, this could be quite interesting.)
After the two competing Duelists greeted each other with a handshake, both Octavia and Sweetie cut and shuffled each other's Decks. After that was through, Sunset got out a large coin and asked them both, "We'll flip to see who goes first; who wants to call it?"
"I will! I will!" Sweetie Belle anxiously requested. "I'll say heads!"
Sunset then tossed the coin and caught it on the back of her hand. Looking at the result, she then told them, "Tails."
"Darn..." Sweetie groaned, not too keen on losing the coin flip.
"In that case, I shall make the first move." Octavia then told them. Everyone agreed, and the Duel was ready to begin. Sunset returned to the bench, sitting next to Flash while observing the Duel closely, Megan remained in the center of the field, while Octavia and Sweetie Belle took their respective positions.
"Alright! Everything's ready to go, so let the Duel begin!!" announced Megan with her usual excitement.
"Let's Duel!!" shouted both Octavia and Sweetie (Octavia Melody: LP 4,000) (Sweetie Belle: LP 4,000). The two of them drew their opening hands and took some time to look over the cards they drew and formulate a strategy. Everyone in audience waited to see what Octavia would start off things with...
"For my opening move," the cello-playing Duelist started to say, "I shall play the Spell Card, 1st Movement Solo. Since I currently do not have any monsters on my side of the field, I can Special Summon any Melodious monster from my hand or my Deck that is Level 4 or below. And I will choose to Summon Solo the Melodious Songstress from my Deck in Attack Position." In a flash, her pink-skinned, red dress-wearing Melodious monster appeared on the field as gracefully as she could (Solo the Melodious Songstress: Level 4 / ATK 1600 / DEF 1000).
"That's a pretty good opening move for Octavia..." said Flash.
"I know; she used it on me when I dueled her last." Sunset told him. "It's almost always the first move she makes, considering the conditions for activating it. And while that Spell Card prevents her from Special Summoning anything that isn't a Melodious monster for the remainder of the turn, that restriction rarely has any impact on her game."
And Octavia proved Sunset's words right with her next move. "Now I shall Normal Summon Freya, Spirit of Victory from my hand in Attack Position." Her next card was another that Sunset remembered from her Duel against her: a cheerleader-like angel girl with a blue dress and red pom-poms (Freya, Spirit of Victory: Level 1 / ATK 100 / DEF 100). "And though she may be lacking in physical strength," Octavia continued, "her effects make up for it: As long as she remains face-up on my field, all of the Fairy monsters that I possess gain 400 more attack and defense points." (Freya, Spirit of Victory: ATK 100 + 400 = 500 / DEF 100 + 400 = 500) (Solo the Melodious Songstress: ATK 1600 + 400 = 2000 / DEF 1000 + 400 = 1400).
"What?! They got stronger?!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle.
"Indeed, they have." the sepia-skinned teenager told her. "Furthermore, her other effect prevents her from being attacked as long as there is another Fairy monster alongside her. Which essentially means that you will have to defeat my other monsters first before you can even think of disposing of her." Taking another card out of her hand, she then added, "But I will not allow you the chance to do anything of the sort. So I play the Continuous Spell Card, Fortissimo!"
"What does that do?" asked Sweetie.
"Once per turn, I can select any one of the Melodious monsters I have on my field." Octavia explained, "Then, said monster gains another 800 attack points until my next Standby Phase." This elicited a gasp out of Sweetie Belle, realizing that her opponent's monsters were about to become even harder to destroy. "Since Solo is currently my only Melodious monster, I grant the additional points to her!" Afterwards, a loud (but lovely) song could be heard from Octavia's Spell Card, and seemed to further strengthen Solo, making her even more powerful (Solo the Melodious Songstress: ATK 2000 + 800 = 2800).
"That's insane!!" commented Rainbow Dash. "The Duel just started, and Octavia's already got a monster with 2,800 attack points! How's Sweetie gonna get past that?"
"I don't know, to be honest..." Rarity admitted. But then she put on a tough face and added, "But if anyone can defeat that monster, my little sister can! Don't forget: Sunset personally coached her and even gave her some strong cards to use in her Deck, so I'm certain she'll have something that can help her!"
Back on the field, Octavia then told her opponent, "Fortunately for you, I don't get a Battle Phase this turn, so my Solo will not be attacking you just yet. So you had best deal with it before my next turn comes."
(Easy for her to say; SHE'S not the one fighting it!) Sweetie Belle said in her mind. Looking over her hand, she then thought, (I only have one monster in my hand, and it's too weak to defeat that monster even WITHOUT the boost it got from that Spell Card!) But after looking at the rest of her cards, she then saw something that could help after all. (Wait! Maybe I can use this card...!)
Putting on a brave face, Sweetie Belle said, "My turn! I draw!" After putting the card she drew away, she then played the card she had spotted earlier, saying, "And since you started with a Spell Card first, so will I!"
"Hm?" hummed Octavia. "What do you mean by that?"
"I activate Crystal Bond from my hand!" the light-grey girl said, playing her first card of the Duel. "I can use this card to take a Crystal Beast out of my Deck and put it in my hand! And I'll pick my favorite one: Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" After taking the card out of her Deck, she then added, "Not only that, but my Spell Card ALSO lets me put a Crystal Beast in my back row as a Continuous Spell! So I'll go and put Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat back there!" After doing so, a large, purple jewel appeared on Sweetie's field.
"Ah've heard of that Spell Card; it's actually pretty hard t' find, if Ah recall." Applejack commented.
"Perhaps," said Rarity, "but money is no object when it comes to my sweet, little sister. I was more than happy to order a play set of them to add to her Deck."
"Woah..." said Rainbow Dash. "I'd say that I wish I was your sister, but if I was, then I'd probably have t' try on a bunch of frilly dresses all the time."
"Indeed, you would." the fashionista chuckled.
Of course, Sweetie wasn't done yet: She then played the card she added to her hand next. "Now I'll Summon Sapphire Pegasus in Attack Mode!" In an instant, her sapphire-wearing Pegasus monster (that's technically an Alicorn) entered the field (Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus: Level 4 / ATK 1800 / DEF 1200). "Then, I'll use his effect and place a Crystal Beast from my Deck in my back row as a Spell Card!" Sweetie finished.
"And which one will you choose?" asked Octavia.
"Just wait 'till you get a load of this!" the young girl told her. "I'm choosing my Rainbow Dragon!"
"Rainbow Dragon?!?" exclaimed several of the people watching.
"B-but how??" asked Flash. "Sure, Rainbow Dragon is the Deck's boss monster, but I thought it wasn't actually a Crystal Beast!"
"It's not." said Sunset. "But there is a card like it that is..."
Taking a card from her Deck with her Sapphire Pegasus's effect, she then placed it onto the field, causing a very large, white gem to appear on her field. Octavia looked at the jewel, which appeared to shine in seven different colors. (What is that...?) she asked herself. (More importantly, what is Sweetie Belle planning to do with it?)
"And now that I've done that, I'm going to play another Spell Card: Crystal Promise!" Rarity's sister then declared. "With this, I can Special Summon any Crystal Beast that I've got sitting in my back row to my front row! And I'll bring out the Crystal Beast that I just put there!" Sweetie Belle then took out the card that she had placed in her Spell & Trap Zone last and put it on the card tray alongside Sapphire Pegasus. "Come on out, Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon!"
Everyone watched in shock as the white gem began to crack and shatter in a brilliant light. In its place was a massive dragon that bared a similar appearance to Sweetie Belle's Rainbow Dragon monster, but was a bit smaller and had less jewel adornments on its body. However, it was still quite large, and its roar was just as loud as the original (Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon: Level 8 / ATK 3000 / DEF 0).
"Incredible!!" said Rarity. "Another version of Rainbow Dragon?! I never knew that there was one like this!"
"Wow...it's so pretty!" Pinkie Pie commented, eyes sparkling. "It's like if angels and sugar had a baby, and this was that baby!" Octavia was equally as shocked, not expecting her opponent to have such a powerful card in her Deck, as were everyone watching...except for Sunset, and for good reason: It was one of the cards she had given to Sweetie Belle while training her.
Entering her Battle Phase, Sweetie Belle pointed forward and shouted, "Alright, Rainbow Dragon! Attack her Songstress! Crystal Refraction!!" Her monster then charged up a powerful blast in its mouth and unleashed it on Octavia's monster, destroying her easily.
"Urrgh...!" grunted Octavia, taking a small hit to her Life Points (Octavia Melody: LP 4,000 - 200 = 3,800). "Impressive, Sweetie Belle. But as you will find out, I am not taking this match of ours too lightly. I now activate the effect of Solo the Melodious Songstress! After she is destroyed in battle, I can Summon a new Melodious monster to take her place. So from my Deck, I Special Summon my Opera the Melodious Diva in Attack Position!" Her new monster was a very young girl with short, pink hair, wearing a blue and lavender-colored dress with cyan-colored musical notes on the bottom as decoration, and small wing-like protrusions from the back (Opera the Melodious Diva: Level 4 / ATK 2300 / DEF 1000).
"What?!? A Level 4 monster with 2,300 attack points?!" asked Sweetie in shock.
"More like 2,700..." the cello player corrected her. "You forget: My Freya is still on the field, and her effect will increase her power even further." (Opera the Melodious Diva: ATK 2300 + 400 = 2700 / DEF 1000 + 400 = 1400). Sweetie Belle wasn't too happy to hear that.
"Darn...just when we thought Sweetie Belle had a monster that could help keep her in the fight, Octavia manages to Summon one that's even more powerful!" stated Flash.
"And it gets worse:" Sunset told him. "Octavia still has that Fortissimo Spell out, so she can use it on her next turn and make Opera even stronger. Sweetie will need to stay cool and play her cards right if she's planning to win this..." Rarity felt the same way, hoping that her sister could overcome this new challenge.
Nervously taking the card she drew this turn, she placed it in her D-Pad and said, "I...I set a card face-down and end my turn."
"Then it's my turn; I draw." said Octavia as she pulled the top card from her Deck. The Duel had only gotten started, but it seemed that Octavia was planning to stay in control of the game as long as possible...
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Back down in the lower sections of the stadium, a loud BANG could be heard from a dark corner. The loud noise came from Aria Blaze, who had just kicked an unlucky trash can over in frustration. Growling, she yelled, "Why that little-! That stupid Rainboom jerk! She calls US losers?!? Just gimme five seconds with her, and I'd chew out all her hair like it really WAS bacon!!"
"Yeah, that goes double for me!!" said an equally irritated Sonata Dusk.
"Calm down, both of you!" scolded Adagio Dazzle, the leader of the trio. "Don't you two realize that you're letting Shimmer get in your head already?! Trust me, she'll get what's coming to her soon enough! Right now, we need to focus on getting our job here done; THEN we can crush Sunset and her little friends like the bugs they are..."
"Yeah, SPLAT!" snicked Sonata, just thinking of the idea of literally doing such a thing. Then, putting on a slightly more clueless look, she then asked, "So...remind me again what our job was...?"
"You can't be serious, Sonata..." Aria grumbled. "We're supposed to win this tournament however we can! Why do you think we went to all that trouble making sure you were good and ready for the Bright dork?"
"You forget, Aria:" Adagio informed her. "We're also supposed to keep an eye out for any particularly strong Duelists that are here in the stadium; that's what our client told us to do. Though I will admit: I'm not sure why they asked us to do that, but as long as she's paying us well to do it, I could care less..."
"Yeah! And not only that," Sonata chimed in, "but she even gave us some really super-secret weapons to use, just in case something goes wrong. And no one even knows we've got something like that ready to go!"
"No duh, genius." Aria told her. "That's what makes it 'super-secret', so quit babbling about it before someone hears you."
Just then, Adagio caught something out of the corner of her eye. "Hmm? What's that?" She then glanced over in the other direction and saw two people walking swiftly down the corridor. "Hold on...that's that Bright Mind kid..." the Dazzlings' leader informed them. "And he's with...Twilight??"
"Wait, what?" asked Aria, unsure why Twilight and Bright were here and what they were doing. But Adagio hushed her so that they could secretly listen in on what the two of them were discussing.
"The main office isn't much further from here." Twilight said to Bright Mind. "Once we get there, we'll be able to figure out what exactly happened during your Duel with Sonata."
"I just hope that Mr. Dunstan will allow us inside." said Bright. "If my opponent did, in fact, break the rules, we must make sure that she does not get away with it."
"Sunset said that she let him know of our arrival, so we shouldn't have to worry about that." Twilight told him. "Which is good, because we have a lot of work to do as it is. Hopefully, we'll get this all figured out and put a stop to whatever the Dazzlings are trying to do."
As the pair finally left out of earshot of Adagio and her sisters, Aria spoke up and asked, "That's impossible...! How are they already onto us??"
"I guess Shimmer must have told them about it;" Adagio figured. "I'll give her one thing: She's quite brilliant to have already suspected us so quickly..."
"S-so what're we gonna do?" asked Sonata nervously. "If they figure it all out, we're sunk!"
"....While I'll admit, I hadn't planned for Shimmer to figure us out so quickly, I'm not completely unprepared for this sort of situation." the Dazzlings' leader told her. "Since I figured we might be found out at some point, I decided to recruit some...additional help to ensure that by the time we're found out, it'll be far too late... Twilight and Bright won't make it to their destination fast enough, I promise you..." Adagio and her sisters smirked, figuring that they had everything under control as they spied on Twilight and Bright Mind from afar.
Little did they know, however, someone else was spying on them as well; or rather, THREE someones...
Back in the main arena, the Duel between Octavia and Sweetie Belle had just begun. Sweetie had managed to get a small 200-point lead over Octavia, but the classical music-loving Duelist was far from finished. In fact, one could say she was just getting started. Looking at the card she had drawn this turn, Octavia thought to herself, (Excellent. With this card, I should be able to maintain control of the game indefinitely.) Placing the card in her hand for the moment, she then announced, "But first, I shall activate the effect of my Fortissimo Spell Card on the field. It allows me to grant 800 extra attack points to any Melodious monster I currently have on my field. And naturally, I will grant those additional points to Opera the Melodious Diva!"
The Spell Card on Octavia's side of the field began to glow and let out its loud melody once more, granting Octavia's monster additional power (Opera the Melodious Diva: ATK 2700 + 800 = 3500). "You've gotta be kidding!" said Sweetie Belle. "Isn't that monster strong enough already?!"
"It is, now that it can overcome your Dragon." Octavia answered. "But that's not all I shall do this turn. Next, I play Polymerization to fuse Elegy the Melodious Diva and Shopina the Melodious Maestra in my hand to perform a Fusion Summon!"
"Aw no!" said the little light-grey girl, knowing that she was in trouble now.
Placing the two monsters in her hand into the Graveyard, Octavia began to say, "The Material Recipe calls for a Melodious Maestra monster, along with any other Melodious monster!" On the field, her two monsters in her hand were drawn into a red and blue-colored vortex. "Romantic virtuoso! Somber lamentation! With the guidance of the baton, gather your power!" she then chanted. "Fusion Summon! Now come here onto the stage and sing the song of victory! Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir!"
For the second time during the tournament, Octavia Summoned her small - but powerful - Fusion Monster to the field. The young girl with slate-blue hair and a lovely blue dress made her encore appearance, immediately gaining additional power thanks to Octavia's Freya, Spirit of Victory (Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir: Level 6 / ATK 1000 + 400 = 1400 / DEF 2000 + 400 = 2400).
"What was that all about?" asked Apple Bloom, confused. "Why'd she go t' all'o that trouble just t' Summon that?"
"Yeah, that thing hardly has any attack points, even AFTER the boost it just got..." said Scootaloo.
"Dat ain't the problem." noted Babs Seed. "In case ya forgot, that's the same monster Octy used t' beat her first opponent in dis tournament. Whenevah Bloom Diva attacks a Special Summoned monster, not only does Octy not lose any Life Points, but the OPPONENT'S monster is the one that gets destroyed, and Sweetie'll take the attack point difference as damage instead!"
"Ulp...that doesn't sound good..." said Scootaloo, getting worried for their friend.
Those cheering for Sweetie Belle right now were hoping she had some way of defending herself, especially since Octavia wasted no time in going to her turn's Battle Phase. "Now Bloom Diva," she began to command, "attack Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon! Reflect Shout!!" Bloom Diva then let out a powerfully loud song, causing those in attendance - including even Vinyl Scratch - to cover their ears to buffer out the noise. Just as Babs had said, Sweetie's monster was destroyed instead of Bloom Diva, and the damage was sent to her instead (Sweetie Belle: LP 4,000 - 1,600 = 2,400). "So much for your new Crystal Beast card." the cello player said.
"He's not completely gone yet, Octy!" Sweetie Belle told her opponent. "Just like the original Crystal Beasts, this one also goes to my back row after it's destroyed!" At that moment, Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon returned to the field in its sealed gem form. "And I'll also activate my Trap Card! Crystal Conclave! After one of my Crystal Beasts is destroyed, this card lets me replace it with a new one from my Deck! And I'll choose my Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise!" And just like that, her reptilian Crystal Beast emerged on the field in Defense Position (Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise: Level 3 / ATK 600 / DEF 2000).
"Do as you wish, Ms. Belle," said Octavia. "but my Battle Phase has not yet concluded! I now attack your Sapphire Pegasus with Opera!" Her other monster then prepared to attack as well...
"Not so fast!" said Sweetie. "I'll use the second effect of Crystal Conclave! By sending it to the Graveyard, I can bounce one of my Crystal Beasts off of the field and back to my hand, along with any other card on the field!"
"I see..." said the sepia-skinned girl. "I assume that means you're returning my Opera to my hand, then?"
"...I was going to do that, but I don't think I want your Fusion Monster to stay out, so I'll send Bloom Diva back to your Extra Deck. And I'll also send Sapphire Pegasus back to my hand, too!" the younger Duelist told her. And just like that, both monsters left the field.
"That's weird... Why'd she bounce Bloom Diva and not the one that's attacking her??" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Considering that Fusion Monster was what won Octavia her Duel in the first round," Rarity began to explain, "Sweetie felt that leaving it on the field was too risky. Besides, she still escaped damage this turn by removing Sapphire Pegasus, so now Opera can only attack her defensive monster."
"That's some pretty skillful playin' she did there." Applejack complimented. "Maybe this means she's got a good fightin' chance after all."
(Hmmm...that isn't good...) thought Octavia. (By sending my Fusion Monster back to my Extra Deck, I cannot defeat her more powerful monsters nearly as easily as I could have... Not only that, but I used up all the cards in my hand to Summon her, and now I'm forced into a top-decking situation...) Still, Octavia wasn't ready to give up yet and said to her monster on the field, "Opera, redirect your attack to Emerald Tortoise! Soprano Serenade!" Her monster then sang a high-pitched note that shattered Sweetie's last monster, sending it to her Spell & Trap Zone in the form of a large, green jewel.
(Whew...that was a close one...) thought Sweetie Belle, sweating a little after all that had happened in the past minute.
"Well, I suppose that is all I can do for this turn." Octavia stated. "So I will turn things over to you."
"Alright then! I draw!" After drawing her card this turn, Sweetie Belle then thought, (Okay...I may have gotten out of that one, but I still have to get over her monsters...and one of them's got 3,500 attack points! And I don't have anything in my hand that can get over that!) Looking at another card that she was holding, the young, light-grey girl then decided, (I guess I'll have to try and bet it on this card...) Playing the card from her hand, she then said, "I activate Rare Value! Since I have at least two Crystal Beasts in my back row, I'll have you send one of them to the Graveyard so that I can draw two cards from my Deck! So which of my three Crystal Beasts are you gonna have me get rid of?"
"Hmmm...so my choices are Amethyst Cat, Rainbow Dragon, and Emerald Tortoise, I see..." pondered Octavia. "Well then the choice is obvious: I cannot afford to allow you easy access to Rainbow Dragon, so that is the one I shall have you dispose of."
Sending her powerful Dragon Crystal Beast to the Graveyard and drawing two more cards from her Deck, Sweetie looked at them, took one of the newly-drawn cards, and said, "Alright, now I'll play another copy of Crystal Bond!"
"Another one?" asked the cello player.
"Now I'll use it to get Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger from my Deck to hand," the young girl told Octavia, "and then put Cobalt Eagle from my Deck into the back row!" A large, lighter-blue gem then appeared on Sweetie's field, giving her three Crystal Beasts in her Spell & Trap Zone once more. "Now I'll re-Summon Sapphire Pegasus in Attack Mode, and use his effect to put Ruby Carbuncle in my Deck to my back row as well!" And like that, her Sapphire Pegasus returned to the field, and was joined by a red-colored gem behind it. "Last of all, I'll activate my Field Spell, Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins!"
Everyone gasped as Sweetie played the other card she had drawn with Rare Value, changing the arena around them into a Roman-style coliseum. "Yes, yes!! That's my little sister down there! Playing like a true expert!" Rarity proudly said.
"...Uh, thanks sis." Sweetie replied, a little embarrassed from her sister saying that in front of everybody. "A-anyway, I'm gonna use Rainbow Ruins' fourth effect and draw an extra card from my Deck, since I have at least four Crystal Beasts in my back row!" After drawing her card, she looked at it and thought, (Crystal Release... That could come in handy later. Anyway, that's all I can get done this turn.) Looking towards her opponent, she told her, "Your move, Octavia!"
"Very well, I draw." said the sepia-skinned girl, drawing a card to put into her previously empty hand. "And since it is now my Standby Phase, the effect of Fortissimo on my Opera has now expired (Opera the Melodious Diva: ATK 3500 - 800 = 2700). Not that it matters, of course, since on my Main Phase, I will simply reactivate the effect and increase Opera's attack once again!" Her Spell Card once again started to glow, ready to transfer its power to Octavia's monster.
"Not this time!" shouted Sweetie Belle with a smirk. "I activate Rainbow Ruins' third effect! By sending Sapphire Pegasus to the Graveyard, I can negate your Spell and destroy it!" Octavia gasped, but was helpless to do anything as her Spell Card's image went to grayscale before shattering to pieces.
"Aw no!" said Vinyl. "Now her monsters can't get tougher anymore!"
"Hmm...a nice move, Ms. Belle, but you overlooked one error on your part:" the classic music-loving Duelist told her opponent. "Sapphire Pegasus was your only monster to defend your Life Points, and Opera still has 2,700 attack points even without Fortissimo to empower her. And with only a mere 2,400 Life Points remaining, the moment Opera's attack lands, the Duel will be over." Not hesitating for a second, Octavia then shouted, "Now, Opera! Attack Sweetie directly and end this Duel!"
Everyone watched anxiously, wondering if Sweetie would survive the attack somehow, or if this would be her last moments in the tournament. Opera began her high-pitched song once more, sending powerful sound waves straight towards Sweetie...
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Around that same time, Twilight and Bright Mind were quickly making their way to the stadium's main office to hopefully dig up any evidence to use against Sonata Dusk and expose her cheating during her Quarterfinal Duel. "Are we there yet, Twilight?" asked Spike, clutching onto his purple friend's arms tightly.
"Sunset said it's just down this way." the Princess of Friendship told him. "We should get there very soon."
"And with any luck, Mr. Dunstan will be able to help us figure out what's going on concerning Sonata..." Bright Mind chimed in. Looking ahead, he then spotted something in their path. "Hm? What is that?" he asked.
Bright's question prompted Twilight and Spike to look ahead themselves. They gasped as all three of them screeched to a halt before colliding with what was ahead of them. There, standing in the passageway were three large men wearing black suits, each on wearing a tie along with it; one red, one green, and one blue. On each of the faces, a pair of shades rested on the bridges of their noses, giving them a rather intimidating appearance.
"Wh-who are these guys??" asked Spike, trembling a little upon seeing these men.
One of the men - the one with the red tie, spoke first, asking them in a low, scary voice, "State your business. Why are you here?"
"...They appear to be security guards..." whispered Bright Mind, "But...something about them seems...off..."
"I'll figure this out; don't worry..." Twilight whispered back. Gathering the nerve to respond, she then approached them and said, "My name is Twilight Sparkle, assistant to Judge Sunset Shimmer. We need to speak to Mr. Dunstan immediately."
"Mr. Dunstan, eh?" asked the green-tie wearing guard. "Yeah, I'll bet you wanna see 'im... But we're under strict orders not t' let anybody through here. Besides, how do we know you are who you say are?"
Sighing, Twilight reached into front pocket of her suit, pulling out a card. Since Twilight was working as Sunset's assistant during the tournament, she was given a laminated I.D. card from Mr. Dunstan for situations such as this. "Here," she told the guards, handing the I.D. card over to them, "This should prove who I am to you."
The blue tie-wearing guard took the card and inspected it, humming as he did so. About a second or two later, he literally tossed the card back and told them, "Yeah, this ain't provin' nothin'. You probably made this thing yourself!"
"But...but there's no way you could tell that!" argued Bright Mind. "You barely looked at it!"
"I saw enough, and it's not gettin' you past us." the red-tie wearing guard snapped back. "Now get lost before we have t' MAKE you get lost!"
"Twilight, what's going on...?" asked Spike. "Why are these guys getting in our way? They're treating us like we're wanted crooks or something!"
"I don't know, Spike..." the young Princess answered. "Bright mentioned that something was off about them, and...well I'm starting to think so too... Sunset said that she called ahead to Mr. Dunstan, so he should be expecting us to arrive... And yet, these three don't seem to be aware of that... Or are they...? Something tells me they're just trying to impede our progress."
(I agree, Twilight.) said the voice of Utopia in her mind. (I am certain that these "security guards" are not who they say they are, based on their actions. There is a strong possibility that they were sent here to make sure that you would not reach Mr. Dunstan's office.)
(I thought so...) Twilight mentally responded. (The Dazzlings must have hired them to keep us from exposing their secret. But now that we know that, what do we do now...?)
"Weren't you brats listening?!" shouted the red tie-wearing guard. "I said beat it, unless you wanna try and fight your way past us?"
"But that's not fair!" protested Bright Mind. "Besides the fact that we're not as physically strong, we're outnumbered three-to-two!"
"Yeah, it isn't fair." said the green tie-wearing guard. "That's the point of it!"
"Why don't ya whine about it t' someone who cares, ya geek?" mocked the guard in the blue tie.
"That's fine by me, because I DO care." said another male voice from out of nowhere.
"Huh?? Who was that?" asked the blue tie guard.
Twilight, Spike, and Bright Mind were also unsure of who made that remark, though they all had a feeling that they heard it before. They all got their answer when Sol Burner suddenly stepped forward from behind Twilight's group and approached the guards. "That would be me." said Sol, answering the guard's question. "And if I might say, ganging up and outnumbering someone who couldn't hope to fight back is a cowardly act."
"C-Cowardly?!?" shouted the blue tie guard in anger. "I'll show YOU who's the coward!!" The man then rushed forward towards Sol Burner, his fist raised to attack.
"W-watch out!" shouted Spike.
"...Yeah, he SHOULD watch out, shouldn't he?" Sol responded, not afraid at all. It what seemed like a split-second, Sol ducked under the guard's fist, and landed a powerful blow to his midsection. The guard grunted in discomfort, and before he could respond back, Sol grabbed the guard's arm that formed the attacking fist and threw him off to the side, right into a trash can that spilled its contents all over the brute.
Needless to say, everyone - especially the other two security guards - were shocked to see Sol knocking the bully out so easily. "Wh-wh-WHAT?!? How'd he do that??" asked the green tie-wearing guard, not believing what he had just witnessed.
"My goodness...that was incredible!" Bright Mind complimented. "He was twice your size, but you managed to overcome him with so little effort!"
"Thanks, Bright." Sol replied. "As you can see, being a trained MMA fighter does have its advantages every now and then."
"I'll say it did..." commented Spike. "That jerk didn't know what him!" Twilight smiled a bit; though she wasn't one to condone violence, she was at least happy to see someone using their fighting skills to help someone in need, especially since she and the rest of their group were the ones that needed help just now.
"Okay, so you know how t' fight, huh? So what?!" shouted the guard in the red tie. "Even you can't take us both on at once!" On cue, both he and the guard in the green tie rushed forward to attack...
...Only for the green guard to get smacked in the face by a large, red ball - the same kind often used for playing Dodgeball. He got knocked down and fell backwards, and before the other guard could say or do anything, he got clobbered by a second dodgeball to his stomach that brought him down to his knees. "Urk...!" he grunted as he rubbed the sore spot on his stomach area and coughing a little. "What was that...?"
"That means you're both out of the game; don't you know how to play Dodgeball?" said the voice of Slid Diamond, who was holding a third red ball in his left hand, revealing himself as the one responsible for tossing the other two. "Not that it'd help you much; I've been practicing and playing sports since I was a kid, so tossing a few balls like that is hardly much of an effort."
"Hold on... Now I know who you two are!" said Twilight. "You we're both in the tournament, right? Sol Burner and Slid Diamond, right?"
"That's right." Slid confirmed. "And you're Twilight, the Judge's assistant, correct?" Twilight nodded to say that this was so.
"But...what are you two doing here?" Bright Mind then asked the two boys.
"We got word from somebody that you two had something important to do." Sol Burner informed her. "And all of us figured that someone else might try to get in your way. So Slid and I followed you in secret, just in case you needed an assist..."
"That is, AFTER we made a pit stop at the gym supply closet for these dodgeballs." Slid Diamond added.
"You got word from somebody about what we're doing here?" asked Bright Mind. "Who?"
"We'll fill you in later." Sol told him. "Right now, you've got a job to finish. So hurry and get to that office while these guys are still dazed."
"He's right; we'd better hurry." Twilight told Bright. "We have to get to Mr. Dunstan so that we can figure out once and for all whether or not Sonata cheated in her last Duel."
"Yeah, so let's get moving before those guards do!" Spike suggested. Bright Mind nodded in agreement and took the opportunity to make a beeline past the security guards and continue to Mr. Dunstan's office.
Not long after Twilight and the others were out of sight, the three guards finally came to. "Wh-what hit me...?" groaned the blue tie-wearing guard, still covered in garbage from the can he was sent flying into.
"Beats me..." moaned the guard in the green tie. "Those three chicks didn't say anything like this would happen when they paid us to stand here..."
The guard in the red tie got back onto his feet first and looked around. He panicked when he saw that Twilight, Spike, and Bright Mind were no longer in the area. "No!! They got away!!" Growling in anger, he forgot about Twilight for the moment and turned his rage towards Sol and Slid. "You... YOU...!! You two don't know who you're messing with!"
"Three." Sol simply said back.
"Th-three?? Three what?" asked the guard in confusion.
"What he means is that there's actually three of us." said another voice from nearby, this one sounding mostly feminine, but had a bit of a "tough"-sounding nature to it, much like Rainbow Dash. "After all, someone had to inform both Sol and Slid here about what's going on around here." Then, walking out from behind both Sol and Slid, came a teenage girl with porcelain-white skin, medium-length, fiery red-and-orange hair, and eyes that were the same red color as her hair. Her outfit was simple, consisting of a purple jacket over top a sleeveless black shirt, a pair of shorts that were the same black color as the shirt, and a pair of yellow-orange sneakers. Stepping in front of Sol and Slid, she smirked as she eyed the three troublesome security guards.
"And who are you supposed to be??" asked the guard in the red tie, who was starting get more annoyed by the situation.
"The name's Flare Flutter, bub." the teen girl answered. "And as for why I'm here, I'm giving the Judge's assistant a hand in getting done what she needs done. I watched her passing by the food court a coupla minutes ago, and after these two decided to follow her and see what's going on, I tagged along as well. They were a bit confused at first when they finally saw me, but after I explained that I wanted to lend a hand, they were cool with it."
"We all continued to follow Twilight at a safe distance," Sol Burner then began to explain, "when we happened to see that Sonata girl that's still in the tournament, along with her coaches. We heard some stuff about them 'looking for strong Duelists' and having 'super-secret weapons' ready to use... But besides that, we heard them panicking about Twilight and the Judge about something, as well as them having 'additional help'."
"So tell us: Was whatever those girls gave you worth all the humiliation you just got?" asked Slid Diamond. "Somehow, I doubt it."
"Look:" Flare then began to explain to the three brutes, "You've already seen for yourself that you can't beat us in a fistfight, but since the three of us are feeling a bit generous, why don't we all settle this matter in a different way?"
"What're you talking about...?" asked the guard in the red tie.
The spunky young teen girl then presented a Duel Monsters Deck before the three guards and answered him, saying, "Why duel us, of course. You three win, we'll let you go scot-free. And don't even try to say that you don't duel; I can clearly see the Duel Pads on your arms."
"But if we win," Sol Burner continued, "then I'm afraid to say that your troubles will only be just beginning."
"So what do you three say? You in or out?" asked Slid Diamond. "Not that we're giving you too much of a choice here, since this is pretty much the only way you'll be able to get out of this situation."
The three guards grumbled to each other, not too pleased with how they were no longer in control of what was going on. Still the three felt they had no other choice. "Fine...we'll play along for now." said the red tie-wearing guard. "But after this is over, we'll pay you ALL back for picking a fight with us!"
As Slid, Sol, and Flare activated their D-Pads and Gazers, they each gave a confirming nod to one another for reasons only they knew. Once they were ready, they all shouted, "Let's DUEL!!"
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A massive BOOM rattled the arena as Octavia's Opera the Melodious Diva launched her attack at Sweetie Belle directly. With Sweetie's Life Points at only 2,400 compared to the 2,700 attack points of Opera, it seemed like the Duel was over. Everyone was anxious to see if the Duel had truly ended right then and there.
"This...this can't be it..." said Rarity, worried for her little sister. "It just can't be..."
Down on the field, Octavia breathed a sigh, saying, "There...this Duel is finally over."
"Yeah!! Way to go, Tavi!!" cheered Vinyl from the sidelines. "You won!! You're moving onto the next-...Huh??" Her cheers were cut short when she noticed a small silhouette appearing in the dust clouds caused by the powerful attack. Octavia noticed it too, along with the rest of the audience.
"C-could it be...?" asked Flash Sentry. Sunset, however, was smiling a little, knowing something that no one else did...
To everyone's surprise, the silhouette was Sweetie Belle, who managed to stay standing even after the powerful attack launched her way. Panting a little, she shook her head to fully regain her senses, putting on a determined look that said that she wasn't out of this yet.
"You're...still standing...??" asked Octavia in disbelief. "But how? Opera's attack power should have been enough to deplete all of your Life Points!"
"It would've been...if it weren't for my Rainbow Ruins Field Spell, that is!" the young girl told her opponent. "Thanks to its second effect, I can cut any battle damage I take this turn in half, since I have at least two Crystal Beasts sitting in my back row!"
"Which means my attack only did 1,350 points of damage..." the cello-player calculated in her head (Sweetie Belle: LP 2,400 - 1,350 = 1,050). "I admit: I didn't plan for that to happen..."
"Aw man...I thought she had this won..." said Vinyl, sad that her friend's move couldn't finish the Duel.
"Oh dear, thank goodness she's okay..." said Rarity, relieved that her sister was okay. "For goodness sake, Sweetie Belle, stop scaring me like that; I don't have my favorite couch nearby to faint on."
"Ah had a feelin' that Sweetie'd come out o' that okay." Applejack said. "After all, she's way, WAY stronger than she used t' be! Ah wouldn't be surprised if she still had a few more tricks left to use in this here Duel."
Humming a little to herself, Octavia then said, "I'll proceed to my second Main Phase and switch Freya, Spirit of Victory to Defense Position. In addition, I will also place another monster face-down in Defense Position before concluding my turn."
"Then it's my turn!" said Sweetie Belle. "I'll draw a card and activate the fourth effect of Rainbow Ruins! So I draw another card from my Deck!" After looking at her new card, she then cheerfully added, "And it's the card I was hoping to get! Crystal Promise!"
"Oh no...!" gasped Octavia.
"I'll use Crystal Promise to Special Summon my Ruby Carbuncle from my back row in Defense Mode!" the small girl said. The red gem on her field then shattered, reveal the small, blue cat-like creature inside (Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle: Level 3 / ATK 300 / DEF 300).
"Ruby Carbuncle, huh?" asked Flash. "I see what she's doing."
"Me too." Sunset added. "Thanks to that monster's effect, Sweetie Belle can now Special Summon every one of the other Crystal Beasts she has in her back row too, giving her quite the monster advantage."
Octavia gasped again as the three remaining gemstones on Sweetie's field broke apart as well, revealing the other three Crystal Beasts Sweetie had ready to go: Emerald Tortoise, which she played in Defense Position, as well as Amethyst Cat and Cobalt Eagle, both in Attack Position (Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat: Level 3 / ATK 1200 / DEF 400) (Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle: Level 4 / ATK 1400 / DEF 800). Though she knew she was slightly outnumbered, the sepia-skinned teen told her opponent, "Impressive, but none of your monsters are strong enough to defeat Opera."
"They aren't, but this one is!" said Sweetie Belle. "I Summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger in Attack Mode!" She then played yet another monster from her hand, which was a massive white tiger with a massive spike on its head (Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger: Level 4 / ATK 1600 / DEF 1000). "And before you say he's not strong enough either," she continued, "I'll play this card to make him even stronger! Go, Crystal Release!" Sweetie Belle then played the Equip Spell from her hand onto her Topaz Tiger before telling her opponent, "Thanks to this, my Crystal Beast gets another 800 attack points!" (Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger: ATK 1600 + 800 = 2400)
"But that's still not high enough to beat your monster, Tavi..." noted Vinyl.
"Perhaps not now, but I am afraid that will not be the case very soon..." said Octavia, already knowing that she had trouble coming her way.
"Alright, Topaz Tiger! Use your special ability and attack Opera the Melodious Diva!" Sweetie ordered her new monster. The powerful Crystal Beast rushed in, aiming its head spike at Octavia's monster. Thanks to its effect, Topaz Tiger gained some additional attack points during the battle (Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger: ATK 2400 + 400 = 2800), making it just powerful enough to defeat Opera and send her to the Graveyard.
"Urrgh...!" grunted Octavia, taking a small amount of damage (Octavia Melody: LP 3,800 - 100 = 3,700).
"Yeah! I did it!" cheered Sweetie Belle, happy that she was able to come up with a sound strategy to defeat Octavia's seemingly powerful monster. "And now that she's gone," the young girl continued, "that means Freya's the only face-up Fairy monster you have left, so she can't stop me from attacking her now! Cobalt Eagle, attack Freya with Cobalt Wing!" The massive bird-like monster obeyed the order and managed to take down the cheerleading Fairy on Octavia's field. "And last but not least," Sweetie said, wrapping things up, "I'll send Amethyst Cat to attack you directly with her effect! Go, Amethyst Nail!"
Octavia looked up as Sweetie's remaining Attack Position monster leapt over the face-down monster on her field and struck the cello player with mighty sharp claws. "AAACK!! Octavia screeched after taking the hit, which was only half damage due to Amethyst Cat's effect (Octavia Melody: LP 3,700 = 600 = 3,100).
"That's amazin'!" said Apple Bloom. "Not only did Sweetie Summon five monsters in one turn, but she took out two of Octavia's to boot!"
"Man...that's incredible." Scootaloo said. "Back when we were still just duelin' each other, I always used to beat her... Now, I ain't too sure if I can anymore."
"Yeah, I know whatcha mean..." Babs said to her. "Crystal Beasts might not be the most competitive Deck out there, but with th' way Sweetie's usin' hers, it might as well be. I might have t' take her on myself after dis tournament's over..."
Finishing up her turn, Sweetie Belle then said, "Now that that's overwith, I'll go to Main Phase 2. I'll use Emerald Tortoise's effect to switch Amethyst Cat to Defense Mode. Then, I'll activate Cobalt Eagle's effect: Once per turn, I can use it to send any Crystal Beast card on my field back to the top of my Deck. And I'll have Cobalt Eagle use the effect on himself!" And just like that, the bird monster vanished, and Sweetie placed the card back in her Deck.
"Not a bad move." noted Flash. "Now Octavia can't attack her lower-attack monsters to deal damage to Sweetie's Life Points, since one switched to Defense and the other's no longer on the field."
"With her Life Points as low as they are," Sunset commented, "Sweetie can't afford to take unnecessary risks. But right now, she's in a good position: She has a strong board set up, while Octavia has only a single monster on the field and no cards in her hand. Unless Octavia draws something really good next turn, Sweetie might be able to take the win."
"C'mon, Octy...you can still win this!" cheered Vinyl. "I know you can!"
(...As much as I appreciate the optimism, Vinyl,) thought the cello-playing Duelist, (the current situation says otherwise... I don't have much in the way of options, while Sweetie Belle's options are almost endless.) Looking back at her friend, and then at her Deck, she then said to herself, "But still...I refuse to just simply give up this Duel... Sunset had faith in herself when she saved both myself and Vinyl when we were possessed by the Number Cards, and I intend to have that same bit of faith as well. My chances may be close to hopeless, but I will fight my hardest nonetheless!"
Taking a deep breath, Octavia drew her top card and looked at it. (...It all comes down to this.) she thought. Playing the card immediately, she then said, "I activate my Pot of Desires. I banish the top ten cards of my Deck to draw two additional cards."
(Wow...Pot of Desires?) thought Sweetie Belle. (Talk about lucky. Now I gotta worry about what two cards she might end up getting...)
Everyone watched as Octavia removed the top ten cards of her Deck and then drew the next two. Upon seeing them, she let out a tiny gasp...and then smiled. She then looked towards Sweetie Belle and told her, "Ms. Sweetie Belle, I must say; you've proven that you belong with us here in the main tournament. Before this day, whenever I saw you Duel, you were still very much a novice. But now, you have shown yourself to be a formidable opponent..."
"Uh, thanks?" replied Sweetie Belle, a bit confused. "But...why are you saying all of that?"
"...Because it means that I have no more reason to hold back." the sepia-skinned girl answered. "So, in order to show a Duelist of your caliber respect, I plan on defeating you with my ULTIMATE monster..."
"U-u-ultimate...?" asked Sweetie, getting a tad nervous.
"That...don't sound good fer Sweetie at all..." noted Applejack.
"Gee, thanks for the info, Ms. Obvious." Rainbow replied sarcastically.
"Huh? Obvious?" asked Pinkie. "Since when did you change your name, Applejack?? Do you really think the fans would want that if they didn't like Twilight doing the whole Alicorn thing?" Naturally, no one had any clue what she was talking about.
"Say, Sunset..." Flash began to ask, "what's this 'ultimate monster' that Octy's talking about?"
"Beats me..." the red-and-yellow girl replied. "I thought her best card was that Fusion Monster, or perhaps one of the Melodious Maestras... But something's telling me that she's got something even more powerful then any of them..."
Flipping her face-down monster face-up, Octavia explained, "The monster I have out currently is my Serenade the Melodious Diva. And she has a very powerful effect: If I were to Tribute Summon a Fairy-Type monster from my hand, I can have Serenade count as TWO monsters for the Tribute Summon."
"Wait, TWO MONSTERS?!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle. "So you only need to get rid of her to bring a high-Level monster out?"
"That is correct." Octavia then sent her monster to the Graveyard, causing the monster's image to ascend into a massive light that appeared in the sky. Octavia then began to chant, "Great Goddess of love and beauty! Sister to the Earth! Descend from the heavenly planes above and grace us all with your divine form! Come forth! The Splendid Venus!!"
Everyone in attendance watched in awe as a shining figure began to slowly descend from the bright light coming from the sky. As it got closer, the figure revealed itself as a female humanoid angel covered in brilliant, gold armor and possessing two pairs of wings. In her hand was a long staff that had a jewel within ring on the top end. Truly, this monster looked as powerful as she was beautiful, and her large size gave her a commanding presence.
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Splendid Venus:
(Effect Monster/Fairy/LIGHT/Level 8/ATK 2800/DEF 2400)
All non-Fairy monsters lose 500 ATK/DEF. The activation and effects of Spell/Trap Cards activated on your field cannot be negated.
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"No way..." gasped Sunset. "Octavia has a Legendary Planet card, too?"
"You didn't know?" asked Flash. "Not that I did either, but she didn't use it on you when you dueled her?"
"No, she didn't." the red-and-yellow teen answered him. "But after what she told Sweetie about not holding back, I had a feeling she had something powerful left in reserve for something like this... Now, I'm wondering if Sweetie Belle can handle something that powerful..."
Sweetie Belle, however, wasn't sure of that herself as she stared at Octavia's trump card. "I don't believe it... Just when I thought I got control of the Duel, Octavia pulls out this thing!" she said to herself. "NOW what am I gonna do??"
"Unfortunately for you, there's not much you CAN do." Octavia informed her. "Splendid Venus is the rarest and most powerful card that my Main Deck has to offer. There are barely a handful of monsters that can overcome her easily."
"Woah...way to go Tavi...!" said Vinyl, pleased and shocked that her friend managed to summon such a powerful monster to her field.
"Now, since this seems to be your first encounter with Venus," the cello-playing Duelist began to explain, "allow me to explain her special powers: First off, as long as Venus remains on the field, all the monsters on the field that are NOT Fairy-Types lose 500 attack and defense points."
"What?! She weakens my monsters just by sitting there?!" asked Sweetie in panic, as all but one of her monsters became slightly weaker in their stats (Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger: ATK 2400 - 500 = 1900 / DEF 1000 - 500 = 500) (Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat: ATK 1200 - 500 = 700 / DEF 400 - 500 = 0) (Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise: ATK 600 - 500 = 100 / DEF 2000 - 500 = 1500).
"Indeed," Octavia confirmed, "but that is not her only function. As for her other effect, well... If you were planning on using that effect of your Field Spell to negate my Spell and Trap Cards - like you did with my Fortissimo card, I must urge you not to waste the effort: Venus's effect prevents my Spell and Trap Cards' effects from being negated as long as she remains out."
"No way! So not only is she really strong, but I can't stop your Spells and Traps anymore?!" Sweetie the exclaimed, wondering how she was going to get out of this mess.
"Correct." the sepia-skinned girl responded. "To put it simply, she is near-insurmountable." Taking the other card she drew with Pot of Desires, Octavia then announced, "I now play Cosmic Cyclone from my hand! After I pay 1,000 of my Life Points, this card can instantly banish a single Spell or Trap Card on the field!"
"That's not good...!" said Babs. "If Octy uses that card to get rid of Sweetie's Crystal Release Equip Spell, then she can attack Topaz Tiger and end the Duel right now!" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo got worried upon hearing that, as did Sweetie Belle herself.
(Hmmm...) Octavia then thought to herself, (If I eliminate that Equip Spell, Topaz Tiger will be weak enough for me to destroy it AND reduce Sweetie Belle's Life Points to zero... But, there's still a possibility - albeit a small one, that she might have something that could defeat her if I just rush in without thinking...) She then noticed Sweetie Belle's back row cards and Field Spell and pondered, (With as few resources as I have right now, I cannot afford to lose Venus too soon... I know what I must do...)
"Alright, I have made my decision:" the cello player said. "I shall use my Cosmic Cyclone to banish...your Set card!" And with that declaration (Octavia Melody: LP 3,100 - 1,000 = 2,100), a massive whirlwind that looked almost galaxy-like struck Sweetie Belle's face-down card and wiped it out of existence.
(She went after my Trap Card...? Not Crystal Release?) Sweetie asked herself, confused but relieved. The card that was banished - Rainbow Gravity - was ejected out of her D-Pad, allowing Sweetie to put it away in her deck box.
"Well, that was fortunate..." said Rarity. "At least Sweetie will survive the turn... Of course, she still has to contend with that impressive monster that Octavia has on her field."
"Well, let's not count Sweetie outta this just yet." Applejack told her. "Ah'm sure Sunset's training taught her t' keep cool in situation's such as this. Long as she keeps calm, she'll be just fine; she might even still have a chance t' win this!"
"...You're right. I just need to believe that my sister can do this. I just need to believe in her." Rarity looked towards her younger sibling, mentally urging her, (You can do this, Sweetie Belle... Believe in yourself as much we believe in you up here...)
With the way cleared for her, Octavia then shouted, "It's time, Splendid Venus! Attack the Topaz Tiger!! Holy Feather Shower!!" Her monster obeyed, raising her staff into the air and spreading all four of her wings. After that, several feathers - each surrounded by a glowing light - flew out of those wings, striking Topaz Tiger and destroying it instantly.
"Urgh...!" Sweetie Belle grunted as she took the hit (Sweetie Belle: LP 1,050 - 900 = 150). "Now what I am gonna do...?!" At the moment, it seemed hopeless for the youngest Duelist in the tournament...
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Meanwhile, another series of Duels were taking place deep in the halls of the stadium: Slid Diamond, Sol Burner, and a feisty young lass named Flare Flutter were busy dueling a trio of thuggish security guards who had earlier - for some reason, tried to use force to prevent Twilight Sparkle and Bright Mind from seeing Mr. Jay Dunstan in the office he was occupying during his time in Canterlot. Thanks to Slid, Sol, and Flare, the guards were kept out of commission long enough for Twilight and Bright to escape and continue with their mission. Now they were dueling the rogue guards to make sure that they wouldn't try to go after the two of them again...
"It's my turn! I draw!" said Slid as he drew his card for his turn (Slid Diamond: LP 1,800). He was dueling the thug in the green tie, who earlier on had a face-full of dodgeball courtesy of Slid and was eager for revenge (Guard: LP 2,000). Two monsters were currently on the guard's field: A ridiculously-massive pink furred beast with a purple back mane, horns, and razor-sharp teeth (Behemoth the King of All Animals: Level 7 / ATK 2700 / DEF 1500), and a red ape-like creature wearing brown, organic-looking body armor and carrying a club (Ancient Crimson Ape: Level 7 / ATK 2600 / DEF 1800). Slid currently had no monsters on his field, but he didn't seem too worried about it...
The guard, however, thought he had everything already in the bag as he taunted him, saying, "Heheheh! Looks like this Duel's gonna end pretty quickly now, huh?"
"Yeah, for you it will." Slid said with a smirk, not even slightly intimidated by his opponent or his monsters.
"Huh? You've gotta be kidding me! Take a look at the field!!" argued the brute. "I've got two Level 7 monsters with really high attack points, and you ain't got nothing on yours!! And you actually THINK you've got a chance?! How?!?"
"Because it's not what's on the field you should be worried about; it's what's in my hand!" And to emphasize that point, Slid played the card he drew this turn. "I activate Double Evolution Pill from my hand!" he then announced. Coincidentally, it was the same copy of the card that Sol Burner traded to him earlier; indicated by the fact that it was a different rarity from the one Slid already owned.
"Uh oh..." the guard then said, now figuring out too late why Slid was so confident.
Taking two cards from his D-Pad's Graveyard slot, the light-brown Duelist then said to his opponent, "With Double Evolution Pill, I can banish two monsters: One Dinosaur and one monster of a different Type to Special Summon another Dinosaur monster from my Deck! I'll banish both Beatraptor and Rescue Rabbit from my Graveyard...and summon my best monster! Say hello to my Ultimate Conductor Tyranno!!"
The guard watched with a bit of fear as the massive red-and-black Dinosaur monster with its purple glowing orbs rose from the ground below, belting a powerful roar that felt like it shook the very Earth itself (Ultimate Conductor Tyranno: Level 10 / ATK 3500 / DEF 3200). "Th-that's insane!!" the no-longer-confident guard said, looking up at the massive prehistoric creature before him. Then, realizing something, the thug then told his foe, "W-well so what? You can't take out my all of my Life Points this turn! So I can still mop the floor with you next turn!"
"That's...where you're wrong, bub." Slid casually replied. "First, I'll activate the effect of Ultimate Conductor: By destroying the Megalosmasher X that I have in my hand, I can switch both of your monsters to Defense Mode!"
"You WHAT!?" But the guard could only watch as Slid sent his chosen card to the Graveyard as his ace card got to work. With one mighty STOMP, the giant Dinosaur shook the ground, causing both of the opposing monsters to fall onto their backs. Afterwards, they reverted to card form, as Ultimate Conductor's ability also flipped them face-down.
"And that's not all, I'm afraid." the boy continued to tell him. "Thanks to his second effect, Ultimate Conductor can attack each of your monsters during my Battle Phase! So you'll be the one left with no monsters instead of me!"
"Th-that doesn't mean a thing!" the blockhead fired back. "Now that they're in Defense Mode, I can't take any damage!"
"Again, completely wrong." Slid calmly stated. "You see, whenever Ultimate Conductor attacks a monster in Defense Mode, you'll automatically lose your monster, along with a thousand of your Life Points!"
"HUH?!? B-but that means-!!"
"It means this Duel is indeed over, just like you said it would..." Slid said with a smirk. "Now, Ultimate Conductor! Send both of that jerk's monsters sixty feet under! Thunderous Fissure!!"
The Dinosaur roared loudly as it charged itself with powerful bolts of electricity before stomping the ground. The stomp generated two powerful lightning bolts that literally tore up the ground as they raced towards the guard's side of the field. The lightning traveled so quickly, neither of the brute's monsters could react quickly enough and fell into the fissures the bolts created. Then, a massive explosion came out of one of the fissures, striking the guard directly (Guard: LP 2,000 - 1,000 = 1,000). He barely had time to look up as a second electrical blast hit him, knocking him down for the count. "AAAAACK!!!" the thug screamed, losing the Duel and his balance as he toppled onto his back (Guard: LP 1,000 - 1,000 = 0) (WINNER: Slid Diamond).
"Whew..." said Slid, sighing a bit out of relief. "He put up quite a fight, but not enough of one." He then glanced over to his right, curious to see how the others were doing.
Sol Burner was also nearing the end of his Duel against the guard in the blue tie; the same one that he had knocked down with a single blow to his midsection. The guard had quite a powerful Insect monster on his side of the field: a gigantic centipede with black on the top and red on its underbelly (Doom Dozer: Level 8 / ATK 2800 / DEF 2600). It wasn't the only one, though, as he also had a spider-like creature next to it with mostly dark-blue and dark-red for its color scheme, and a humanoid-like upper half as well (Underground Arachnid: Level 6 / ATK 2400 / DEF 1200). He also had a face-down card in his back row, and his Life Points were also quite high as well (Guard: LP 3,700).
Sol Burner, however, wasn't exactly in the best of situations: His only monster on the field was one of his Lunalight monsters in Defense Position, who was mostly green and had wings as a part of her costume (Lunalight Emerald Bird: Level 4 / ATK 1200 / DEF 1000), along with a face-down card in his back row. He had three other monsters out with her, but two were destroyed in battle with the guard's two powerful Insect monsters, and the third was stuck to Underground Arachnid as a result of her effect. It wasn't clear which one it was, as it was fully wrapped in a spider silk cocoon and seemed to be acting as a shield. Despite this, and the fact that his Life Points were low (Sol Burner: LP 2,000), he remained calm.
"Heh, you acted SO tough when you got me with that lucky gut punch..." the bully taunted him, "but it seems you ain't so tough after all! Just lookit your Deck! Real men don't use those froo-froo girly cards like you've got!"
Drawing his card for the turn, Sol then said back, "You wanna know something else real men don't do? Pick on or try to hurt completely innocent people." That comment got a low growl out of the guard, but before he could snap back at him, the grey-skinned Duelist added, "And as you're about to see, just because my Deck isn't stuffed with big, brutish monsters that - admittedly - aren't as ugly as you are, that doesn't make it any less powerful. That's an important rule in a fight: Don't underestimate your opponent."
"Just get on with your turn!" shouted the guard. "I'd like this stupid Duel to end sometime today!"
"Oh, don't worry about that; I'm ending it right now!" Sol said, playing a card from his hand. "I activate the Spell Card Lunalight Fusion! This card allows me to Fusion Summon a Lunalight monster from my Deck! Normally, I can only use monsters in my hand or on my field for the required Fusion Materials... However..." He then pointed to Underground Arachnid and continued, saying, "since you have a monster that was Summoned from your Extra Deck - like that Synchro Monster for example, I can also use a monster from my Deck OR Extra Deck for the Fusion Summon!"
"You can WHAT?!?" shouted the thug in surprise.
"So first," Sol began, "I'll fuse Lunalight Panther Dancer in my Extra Deck...and then combine the Emerald Bird on my field with the Yellow Marten that I drew this turn!" All three monsters then entered the red-and-blue vortex in the air above them as Sol began the Summon Chant. "Elegant beast dancing on the moonlit wilderness! Graceful dancer who flies the skies! And the shy dancer in shimmering gold!" he said. "Swarm in a vortex of the moon's gravity and revive with a new power! Fusion Summon! Come forth! The king of beasts dancing atop the summit of the moonlit wilderness! Lunalight Leo Dancer!!"
The vortex then exploded with a brilliant light as the Fusion Summon was completed. The result was a human-like woman with violet skin and large, bluish-white hair that eventually ended in a black-colored ponytail-like style with large, gold rings surrounding it. Her outfit consisted of a small, maroon bathing-suit like garment with a dress-like adornment attached to her hips. Parts of her body were darker in color, imitating boots and gloves, and in her right hand was a massive sword that was almost as long as she was tall.
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Lunalight Leo Dancer:
(Fusion-Effect Monster/Beast-Warrior/DARK/Level 10/ATK 3500/DEF 3000)
"Lunalight Panther Dancer" + 2 "Lunalight" monsters
Must be Fusion Summoned with the above Fusion Materials. Your opponent cannot target this card with card effects, also it cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects. This card can make a second attack during each Battle Phase. Once per turn, at the end of the Damage Step, if this card attacked a monster: You can destroy all Special Summoned monsters your opponent controls.
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"Wh-wh-wh-huh...??" was all that the bully could stutter after witnessing the powerful monster summoned before him.
"So...still think my Lunalight Deck is too 'froo-froo'? Whatever that's supposed to mean." asked Sol Burner with a smile. "Actually, don't answer that just yet; wait until AFTER she attacks you! Leo Dancer! Attack Doom Dozer!" His monster then raced forward, her sword ready to strike.
"I'm not gonna get beat up by that girly-lookin' thing!!" the guard shouted. "I activate my Rush Recklessly card! This'll give my Doom Dozer another 700 attack points (Doom Dozer: ATK 2800 + 700 = 3500)! So they'll BOTH get destroyed! Then I can attack you with my Arachnid and wipe that smirk off your face!"
"Yeeeeeah, no. That won't happen." Sol Burner simply replied. "I'll activate MY face-down card: Horn of the Phantom Beast! Thanks to this, my monster gets another 800 attack points, meaning that she'll survive the battle, while yours won't!" His monster, now powered-up with the Trap Card's effect (Lunalight Leo Dancer: ATK 3500 + 800 = 4300), easily defeated Doom Dozer, slashing it in half. Then, the defeated Insect monster began to glow bright white and exploded.
"Urrrgh!!" grunted the guard, not sure what was happening (Guard: LP 3,700 - 800 = 2,900). But after the dust settled, he was shocked to see that not only was Doom Dozer gone, but so was his Underground Arachnid. "What the-?!? Where'd my other monster go?!?" he asked in a panic.
"That's Leo Dancer's effect:" Sol explained, drawing another card from his Deck with the effect of his Trap Card. "After she attacks a monster, she can destroy all of the other Special Summoned monsters you have out. And since Underground Arachnid's effect only protects it from battle, it wasn't able to withstand the effect. And that's not good for you, since Leo Dancer's other effect lets her attack you again."
"WHAT?!?" screamed the brute, no longer sounding as tough as he did earlier.
"Let me clue you in on something, buddy:" the grey-skinned boy told his opponent. "My Lunalights don't like being called 'girly'." And Leo Dancer showed this by letting out a powerful roar-like battle cry as she slashed her sword again, striking the guard and defeating him completely.
"Urrrgh...not...fair..." the thug moaned, defeated and humiliated as he literally fell (Guard: LP 2,900 - 4,300 = 0) (WINNER: Sol Burner).
"Well, so much for that guy." Sol simply said as he wiped his slightly perspiring forehead. Looking over to his left, he saw Slid Diamond, giving his new buddy a thumbs-up for a Duel well fought. Giving a thumbs-up back, Sol then thought, (Looks like Slid was able to win his Duel, too...) He then glanced over to his right and pondered, (That just leaves her...)
As for the girl named Flare Flutter, her Duel with the guard in the red tie - the leader of his trio - had only just begun (Flare Flutter: LP 4,000) (Guard: LP 4,000) Each of them had drawn their opening hands and were ready to fight. "Alright, bub..." Flare started, "I'll go first." Looking over her hand, she smirked a little, having already come up with a plan that she felt would help her through the Duel. "I'll start with three face-down cards...and I'll also Summon this guy in Attack Mode: Meet my Mecha Phantom Beast Raiten!"
Flare's first monster was a medium-large, golden-yellow plane with a propeller fan on its nose cone. The overall appearance of the plane was that of a marten, which lent to the monster's name (Mecha Phantom Beast Raiten: Level 4 / ATK 1500 / DEF 1500).
"Think you can get past this guy?" asked Flare with a slight taunt as she ended her turn.
"Past THAT little toy plane? That's too easy!" the thug replied as he drew his card for the turn. Putting it in his hand, he took out a different card and said, "I Summon Biofalcon in Attack Mode!" The monster that appeared was a mechanical bird with silver-blue armor and a big jet fan on its back (Biofalcon: Level 4 / ATK 1700 / DEF 1200). "Then," he continued, "I activate the Spell Card Tribute Doll!"
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Tribute Doll:
(Normal Spell Card)
Tribute 1 monster; Special Summon 1 Level 7 monster from your hand that can be Normal Summoned/Set. It cannot attack this turn.
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"I'll now sacrifice my Bio Falcon..." the guard said as the monster he had just summoned to his field vanished immediately, "and Summon my Powered Crawler in Attack Mode!" His new monster was a massive tank that was yellowish-gold in color and had long, sharp spikes on its treads. A pair of large cannons were mounted onto the front of it, giving it an even more imposing appearance (Powered Crawler: Level 7 / ATK 2700 / DEF 2000).
"So you're sending a tank to fight a plane, I see?" asked Flare Flutter. "I guess that MIGHT make this Duel a bit more interesting..."
"Oh, it'll get interesting, alright..." the brute responded. "Now I'm gonna use Powered Crawler's effect! After it's Normal or Special Summoned, I can destroy any monster you've got with less attack points! So your Raiten's gonna be makin' a crash landing!" His monster then adjusted its cannons and fired a missile that quickly brought Flare's only monster down in flames. "And now that he's out of the way, I can hit you directly! No brat's gonna make a fool out of me!"
"That's true." said Flare, not losing her smirk. "I don't need to make a fool out of you when you do such a good job of that on your own."
"Urk...! You mouthy little...!" Looking at his hand, he had another monster, a Trap Card, and the Spell Card Limiter Removal. (If I play that Spell Card...) the thug thought to himself, (I can double Crawler's attack and wipe her out right now! But...she has three face-down cards out...) Looking back at his opponent and seeing her smiling so confidently was all that was needed to make him rethink his decision. (I...I don't need to risk anything right now...! I've got her good and beat anyway!) he thought, sweating a bit. Pointing forward, he shouted, "Go, Powered Crawler! Attack her directly with your Buster Cannon!!" The Machine monster then aimed both of its cannons straight towards Flare and fired, scoring a direct hit.
Grunting a little - but still smiling, Flare then asked, "Is that all you've got?" (Flare: LP 4,000 - 2,700 = 1,300)
(She didn't activate her face-down cards...?) the guard asked in his mind. (Rrrrgh...that means I COULD have hit her with Limiter Removal!) Calming down a little, he then said to himself, "Whatever, I'm still ahead of her... I'll beat her and shut her up for good!" Taking the Trap Card he had in his hand, he placed it and his Limiter Removal Spell in his D-Pad and announced, "I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn!"
"About time you finished." said Flare. "Now it's my turn!"
As his foe drew her card for the turn, the guard then thought, (I've set Limiter Removal face-down, so I can activate it during her turn if I need to... And just in case she decides to go for a bigger monster, I've got my Trap Hole of Spikes! I'll just wait for her to bring out a more powerful monster, and then blow it up right away!)
Looking at the new card she drew, Flare then said, in a rather nonchalant tone, "Well, time for me win this Duel, then."
"Wh-wh-wh-WHAT?!?" exclaimed the guard in shock. "YOU?! WIN?!?" Even Sol and Slid were a bit surprised by what Flare had said.
"Yeah, you heard me right." she responded. "And I'll start with Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf in Attack Mode!" Her second monster in this Duel was a large, black-and-white helicopter that had the appearance of a wolf (Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf: Level 4 / ATK 1700 / DEF 1200). "Then, thanks to the effect of Tetherwolf," she continued, "I can Summon something that's known as a Mecha Phantom Beast Token to my field." After she said that, a rainbow-colored light projected out of her monster, creating a hologram of a jet plane that looked somewhat like a bird (Mecha Phantom Beast Token: Level 3 / ATK 0 / DEF 0).
"So what's so great about a monster with no attack or defense points??" asked the guard.
"We'll get to that a bit later." Flare told him. "For now, though, I'll activate one of my face-down cards, Call of the Haunted: Which I'll use to bring back my Raiten!" After her first monster reappeared on the field, she then explained, "Now, as for that Token I Summoned to the field earlier, while it's on the field, it allows both Raiten and Tetherwolf to increase in Level: Their Levels go up equal to the combined Levels of all of my Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens!"
"What?!" exclaimed the guard in surprise, not expecting that.
"That means both of her non-Token monsters go up in Level by three." said Slid (Mecha Phantom Beast Tetherwolf: Level 4 + 3 = 7) (Mecha Phantom Beast Raiten: Level 4 + 3 = 7).
"And now she has two Level 7 monsters out, which means she can try and Xyz Summon a very powerful monster." Sol then said. "And based on the Deck she's using, I think I know what she's Summoning, and why she seems so confident in herself..."
Putting her pointer finger in the air, Flare shouted, "I now Overlay my Tetherwolf and Raiten, both now Level 7 and create an Overlay Network!!" Her two monster then transformed into a pair of green rays of light that flew into a red vortex in the center of the field. "Deploy now! The powerful aircraft with the name of a dragon! Nothing and no one can stop its hi-speed flight!" she chanted. "Xyz Summon!! Launch now, Rank 7! Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack!!"
Flare's opponent could only watch in shock as the portal exploded into a massive pillar of light. When the light faded, a much, MUCH bigger aircraft was now floating over her side of the field. It was a white jet plane with a dragon-shaped head and a long "tail" of sorts. It even had a pair of clawed arms and legs, giving it even more of a draconian look. Orbiting the monster were a pair of green light orbs (Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack: Rank 7 / ATK 2600 / DEF 2200 / OLU 2).
"Y-y-you Summoned a Rank 7 Xyz Monster that fast?!" exclaimed the guard, now a bit more scared.
"That's right I did." Flare told him. "And I'm afraid that it's only gonna get worse: I'll activate Dracossack's effect by removing one of his overlay units." After her monster absorbed one of its green orbs (Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack: OLU 2 - 1 = 1), she then told her opponent, "Now I can Summon two more Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens to my field!" After that, her Xyz Monsters projected two more holograms: One was a hawk-like fighter jet, and the other was a jet plane with a few similarities to her Dracossack. All three of her Token monsters were in Attack Mode, despite not having any attack points.
Regaining his composure, the guard then reminded his foe, "You might have more monsters, but NONE of 'em are stronger than my Powered Crawler!"
"Well, one of them's about to be." Flare simply responded. "I activate Limiter Removal and double Dracossack's attack power this turn (Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack: ATK 2600 x 2 = 5200)! And last but not least, I'll activate my THIRD face-down card! Token Stampede!"
"Now I see..." Sol Burned stated. "With that Trap Card, all of Flare's Tokens will gain 1,000 attack points, so now she can defeat his monster and damage him severely." (Mecha Phantom Beast Token [x3]: ATK 0 + 1000 = 1000).
"RRGH!!" grunted the guard. Growling a bit more, he then thought, (Whatever... I'll just use MY Limiter Removal the moment she attacks! And because of Powered Crawler's effect, she HAS to attack it this turn with all of her monsters!)
"Now I'll start my Battle Phase!" said Flare. "But before I attack you..."
"Hm?" said the guard.
"...Just in case you were plannin' something with those two face-down cards in order to prevent yourself from losing in the most humiliating way possible," she continued, "I'll take the liberty of wiping them out! And I'll do it with my...Anti-Magic Arrows!" She then played the Quick-Play Spell she had drawn for the turn, causing several arrows to strike and pin down BOTH of the brute's face-down cards before he could respond with anything.
"What!?!? What happened?!" asked the guard frantically.
"Thanks to that Spell Card, neither of us are allowed to activate any Spells or Traps for the rest of the turn." Flare explained. "Which is why I played all of mine BEFORE the Battle Phase even began. Now you can't stop my monsters from attacking you!"
"No!!! That's not fair!!!"
"Yeah, well neither was picking on someone weaker than you." Flare rebutted. "Now go Dracossack!! Destroy his Crawler! Phantom Bombing Run!!" Her Xyz monster then flew higher into the air and peppered the guard's entire side of the field with massive explosives, reducing his only monster to scrap metal and damaging him in the process (Guard: LP 4,000 - 2,500 = 1,500). "And now that he's out of the way, I"ll move in with all of my Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens!" she then announced, sending the holographic planes to strike next, sending several not-so-holographic blasts in the thug's direction, knocking him out immediately (Guard: LP 1,500 - 1,000 - 1,000 - 1,000 = 0) (WINNER: Flare Flutter).
"Di-did you see that?!" asked Slid with an amazed look on his face.
"She just OTK'd that guy!" commented Sol, who was equally amazed. "I was sure she would win, but even I didn't expect her to win that Duel in just one turn...!"
Flare, however, sighed a bit to calm herself before turning to her new friends, asking them, "Well, we sure showed them, didn't we?"
"Uh...yeah, I suppose we did..." Sol responded, still a bit in shock. "I have to admit; you have some serious skills. I'm surprised you're not in the tournament right now."
"Yeah, I heard about the tournament prelims some time ago, but I wasn't able to make it." Flare admitted. "I had to participate in a laser tag competition with some friends and I didn't wanna bail out on them. A good thing I didn't skip that match, though; we totally trashed the other team easy."
"What's going on over here?" asked a woman's voice from nearby. The three of them looked over to see Vice Principal Luna coming towards them from the left. With her was Ember's father Torch. "We heard a commotion coming from over here." Looking over at the three defeated (and still dazed) security guards, Luna then asked them, "Who are these three people?"
"Well, they claimed to be security for the tournament," Slid Diamond began to explain, "but for some reason they were causing a problem for the Judge's assistant and one of the other contestants."
"The Judge's assistant??" asked Luna. "You mean Twilight?"
"Hmmm..." Torch glanced over at the three guards with that intimidating look that he always had. He strolled over to the thugs and saw a small white card sticking out of the pocket of the guard in the red tie. He pulled it out and inspected it closely. He didn't have to look at it for more than five seconds before saying, "Whatever their reason was for giving Ms. Twilight trouble, it might have something to do with the fact that this security I.D. isn't legitimate; it seems as though it was photo-copied just recently."
"Personally, I do not care what their reason for harassing Twilight was." Luna told him. "No one threatens my students on MY school grounds while I am present." Turning to Flare, Sol, and Slid, she told them, "The three of you should leave for now; we'll keep an eye on these three and try to find out what their story is."
"You really think you can get them to spill the beans on what they were trying to do?" asked Flare.
"We'll get that information out of them..." said Torch. "One way...or another." He then pounded his right fist into his left palm, suggesting that the three thugs were not going to have a pleasant time when they came out of their dazed states. That comment drew a bead of sweat out of Flare, Sol, and Slid, and they decided it was best to leave the matter in the hands of Luna and Torch as they left the area...
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Back in the main stadium, Sweetie Belle was still trying her best to remain in the Duel after her opponent, Octavia, managed to summon her Deck's strongest card, Splendid Venus. Sweetie was now down to just a mere 150 Life Points, which meant that one wrong move would cost her the game. Sweetie had just transferred her Topaz Tiger - which had been destroyed in battle with Venus earlier - to her Spell & Trap Zone, leaving her with only three monsters on her field: Ruby Carbuncle, Emerald Tortoise, and Amethyst Cat, all in Defense Position.
"Oooo...that was pretty rough..." commented Applejack. "Ah could feel that blow from all the way up here..."
"Yeah, Sweetie Belle barely survived that attack..." said Rainbow Dash. "She's still in this, but she's hardly got any points left..."
"Oh dear..." said Rarity, very worried for her younger sister. "I don't know how much more of this I can handle... Poor Sweetie..."
"...I wouldn't be THAT worried for her juuuuuuuust yet, Rarity." Pinkie Pie told her friend.
"Hm?" spoke the young fashionista. Pinkie then pointed towards the field, prompting everyone sitting near her to look in that direction. They were surprised to see that Sweetie Belle still managed to show a brave face, despite her initial shock at seeing Splendid Venus earlier. "Oh my...!"
"Told ya." Pinkie then told them. "Sweetie doesn't seem like she's ready to give up yet! Which is good, because if she did, that would be really anti-climactic and weird for the episode to end on."
Rarity didn't know what the last part of her friend's comment meant, but understood the first part of it just fine. The violet-haired teen then resumed her cheering and shouted to her younger sibling, "You can do it, Sweetie Belle! I know you will be just fine!" Sweetie was happy to hear that from her sister, and continued to keep her brave face, despite the odds against her.
"I must say," Octavia began to tell her opponent, "I am surprised to see you of all people remaining calm even while confronting my most powerful card. But I must tell you: It takes more than simple bravery to win a Duel."
"Maybe...but it's a step in the right direction!" Sweetie responded.
"...Indeed." Octavia replied back.
Taking a card from her Spell & Trap slot, Sweetie then told her, "And speaking of taking steps in the right direction, I'll use the effect of my Crystal Release Equip Spell and place Cobalt Eagle from my Deck in my back row as a Spell!"
"I see..." the cello player noted. "In any case, my turn will end here, so go ahead and draw your next card."
Sweetie did just that, drawing another Ruby Carbuncle on her Draw Phase. (I wish it were as simple as that... If I'm gonna beat her, I have to get rid of that Splendid Venus card she has on her field! And I don't have anything in my hand that can do that...) Looking at the Rare Value card in her hand, as well as the field around her, she then decided, (I guess the best I can do right now is to keep digging through my Deck until I find something that'll get me out of this.) Taking a card from her hand, she said, "I'll start my turn by activating Crystal Blessing from my hand! This lets me take any two Crystal Beast monsters in my Graveyard and put them in my back row as Spells!" And that's what she did, choosing to place Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon and Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus on her field, which both appeared as large gemstones.
"She's filling up her back row again..." Octavia noted to herself. "No doubt trying to access more effects from her Field Spell and other cards... I must try and defeat her before she can create a counter-strategy."
"Alright," Sweetie continued, "now that I've got FOUR Crystal Beasts in my back row again, I'll use the fourth effect of Rainbow Ruins to draw another card!" Sweetie Belle then did that, and was a bit disappointed that she only got another copy of Amethyst Cat. "Hmmm..." she hummed to herself before taking another card out of her hand, playing it right away. "Now I'll play another Rare Value." she stated in a less-than enthusiastic tone.
"Hmmm...another one, I see?" asked Octavia. Seeing that Sweetie Belle had just played her Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon back on the field, the cello player thought, (She must be trying to draw Crystal Promise to Summon that card... I must keep her from doing that.) She then told Sweetie Belle, "Send your Rainbow Dragon to the Graveyard, if you please."
(Urrgh... I knew she'd get rid of that one...) thought Sweetie Belle. (Now even if I draw Crystal Promise, it won't do me any good...! What do I do now?) Then after drawing her two cards with Rare Value, she seemed a bit surprised at one of them. (Huh? This card...?) she thought. (Where did-... Oh, yeah! I remember now! I got this card just yesterday! I can't believe I forgot about it!) She then recalled that moment in her mind...
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Sweetie Belle - like many other people that day, was waiting in a crowd so that she could enter the Canterlot Community Center for the tournament preliminary rounds. The Community Center hadn't yet opened to allow them inside, so most of the people there were either talking, having practice Duels, or trading cards with each other.
"Heya, Sweetie!" said a boy's voice from nearby.
Sweetie looked up, trying to find the source of the voice. She then spotted her friend Button Mash running over towards her, carrying a backpack. "Oh! Hi, Button!" she greeted him. "Glad to see you here!"
"Yeah, same here." Button told her, stopping and sitting next to her. "Though, I've gotta admit: I'm a little surprised to see you entering the tournament... N-Not that I don't think you're good enough for it, of course! I think you're a sure-win, really!"
"I know what you meant, don't worry." the girl told him. Sweetie then sighed a bit and added, "To be honest, I'M surprised a little myself... It wasn't that long ago, that me and the rest of my friends were still only dueling each other because everyone else was too strong for us..."
"Yeah, but then you told me that Sunset's been helping you and the others out a whole lot!" Button reminded her. "And you also said that you finally won against somebody else during Spring Break, right? That proves that you've been getting a lot better! That's why I'm sure you'll ace the prelims- no, better than that: You'll win the whole tournament!"
"You...really think so?" asked Sweetie Belle. "You're not just saying that because you're my friend?"
"I know you can do it, Sweetie! I'm sure of it!" Button told her. He then placed his pack down, pulled out a card binder, and added, "In fact, I've got something here that might help ya do that!"
"What is it...?" asked Sweetie, curious.
Paging though the binder for a bit, Button eventually got to the section he was looking for and pulled out three cards from one of the pages. "Here, Sweetie. Try these in your Deck. That is, if you're still using the Crystal Beast Deck."
Sweetie Belle took the cards and looked at them. "Huh? I've never heard of these cards before...! When did they come out?!"
"A while ago, but they're a little hard to come by." Button told her. "I lucked out and got all three of these, but they don't fit my E-HERO Deck. I figured you could use them much better than I can."
"You're...letting me have them?" asked the young girl. "You're serious?!" Button nodded yes to answer her question. "Oh, wow! Thanks a lot!" Sweetie then replied, overjoyed at the kind gesture. She then said a bit sadly, "Hold on...I can't just take these without giving something back."
"I-it's alright, Sweetie, you don't have to-"
"No, I insist." Sweetie Belle told him. "If there's one thing that my sister and I take seriously, it's being generous, especially when someone is generous to you. At least, that's what Rarity always tells me." Since she had some of her extra cards with her as well, Sweetie got one out of her bag and looked through it for a while before stopping on one of the pages; it was full of violet-colored cards, indicating that the section was devoted to displaying Fusion Monsters. Spotting a card on the page she was looking at, she took it out and showed it to Button, asking him, "Do you have this card?"
Gasping, he responded, saying, "That's Elemental HERO Sunrise!! I've been looking for another good Fusion for my Deck!"
"Then it's yours, Button." Sweetie told him, handing the card to him. "As my sister always tells me: 'If you do good, others will do good right back'."
"Aw, thanks a lot, Sweetie Belle! I'll take great care of it!" Button promised, giving his friend a hug.
"Oop! Aheheh...you're welcome, Button." Sweetie said, blushing a bit from the unannounced gesture of kindness.
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"...Well, if this card he gave me gets me out of this mess," Sweetie said to herself, returning to reality, "I'll have to make extra sure I thank him for it even more." Wrapping up her turn, she then said, "I'll set a monster in Defense Mode, and place another card face-down to end my turn."
(Hmmm...NOW what is she up to?) asked Octavia, remaining cautious despite the fact that she was currently in control of the game. Drawing her card and playing it right away, she announced, "I'll activate Pot of Avarice from my hand. I'll send all five of the monsters in my Graveyard back into my Deck and draw two more cards." She then did that, shuffling all of the monsters that were in her Graveyard and drawing again. Looking at what she had gotten, she smiled a bit. (Perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything better: I drew Honest, along with the Fiendish Chain that I moved out of my Side Deck for this Duel... With Honest, I can make Splendid Venus even stronger in case Sweetie Belle manages to bring out a more powerful card... And just in case, I can use Fiendish Chain to paralyze one of her monsters and negate its effects... With these, I should be able to win this Duel soon enough.)
"...What do you suppose Octavia drew from her Deck?" asked Flash.
"Not sure," Sunset replied. "But from the look on her face, it must've been something good. I just hope for Sweetie Belle's sake that she can overcome it somehow, whatever it might be..."
Looking over Sweetie Belle's side of the field, Octavia thought, (Now...Sweetie currently has four monsters on the field, so it will take a while to eliminate them all with just Venus alone... Still, I should try to attack one of them this turn to keep up the pressure.) Looking at what her opponent currently had out, she then decided, (Her face-up monsters aren't much worry right now; I can defeat them easily anytime I want... So I'll start with the monster she set last turn.) Pointing at Sweetie's face-down monster, the cello player shouted, "Splendid Venus, attack that monster!"
Octavia's powerful boss monster fired a shower of white feathers towards Sweetie Belle's monster, flipping it face-up and revealing it to be her Amber Mammoth (Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth: Level 4 / ATK 1700 - 500 = 1200 / DEF 1600 - 500 = 1100). Needless to say, it couldn't stand up to Venus's attack and was destroyed easily.
"There..." said Octavia, "that should keep you on the defensive."
"On the contrary:" Sweetie said with a smirk as she put her Amber Mammoth in her back row. "Now I can actually fight back!"
"I-I beg your pardon...??" asked the sepia-skinned teen.
As she prepared to tap the screen of her D-Pad, Sweetie silently said to herself, (Thanks, Button...). Tapping the set card on her screen, the young girl shouted, "I activate my Trap Card! Go, Ultimate Crystal Magic!!"
"What is THAT?!?" exclaimed Octavia, never having seen the card before.
"Ultimate Crystal Magic is a very, VERY special Trap Card that works whenever any of my Crystal Beasts are destroyed in battle!" Sweetie explained to her. "Now all I gotta do is send seven different Crystal Beasts from my hand, Deck, or field to the Graveyard, and when I do... I can bring out an Ultimate Crystal Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck!!"
"A-a-a-a Fusion Monster?!?" gasped Octavia.
"Wait...since when did Crystal Beasts have Extra Deck monsters?!" asked Rainbow Dash. Turning to Rarity, she then inquired, "Rare, did ya know she had a card like that before?"
"No, I didn't...!" the violet-haired girl admitted. "She must have gotten that card just recently; normally, she tells me about any new cards she picked up, so it's odd that she never mentioned it before now..."
"Ah'll bet she wanted t' keep it a secret fer th' tournament." Applejack figured. "That's why."
Taking all of the Crystal Beasts that she had on her field, Sweetie Belle showed them to Octavia and said, "I'll send every single one of my Crystal Beasts on the field to the Graveyard and Fusion Summon MY best monster!" Afterwards, the seven Crystal Beasts (including the ones that were in gem form that transformed back into monster form) flew into a red-and-blue portal in the sky, creating a rainbow-colored aura that blanketed the field.
"Wow...that sure is pretty-lookin', isn't it?" asked Apple Bloom.
"I guess it is." said Scootaloo, looking around her.
"Meh, a bit too cutesy for my likin', if I gotta be honest." Babs chimed in.
Clasping her hands together in a praying gesture, Sweetie then began her summoning chant. "When the seven Crystal Beasts combine their powers together," she spoke, "the light of the world becomes a new, greater power and Earth's greatest savior! Behold! The ultimate blessing of the Crystal Beasts! Manifest here! Fusion Summon!" After that, the rainbow-colored lights then started to coalesce into a single spot, forming a massive, dragon-like shape: Bigger than Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon, and even bigger than the actual Rainbow Dragon, it was truly a sight to behold.
"The Ultimate Crystal - Rainbow Overdragon!!" Sweetie shouted triumphantly, finishing her chant at last.
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Rainbow Overdragon:
(Fusion-Effect Monster/Dragon/LIGHT/Level 12/ATK 4000/DEF 0)
7 "Crystal Beast" monsters
(This card is always treated as an "Ultimate Crystal" card.)
Must be either Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned by Tributing 1 Level 10 "Ultimate Crystal" monster. Once per turn: You can banish 1 "Crystal Beast" monster from your GY; this card gains ATK equal to the banished monster's, until the end of this turn. (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this Fusion Summoned card; shuffle all cards on the field into the Deck.
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"In...incredible...!" said an astounded Octavia Melody. "A Fusion Monster variant of the Rainbow Dragon...!"
"Oh man..." said an equally-astounded Vinyl, her shades drooping down and revealing her red eyes. "Where in the heck did THAT come from??"
"I take back the 'cutesy' thing;" Babs then said with a smile. "That monster is REALLY cool-lookin', fer sure."
Smiling that she managed to Summon her new strongest monster, Sweetie then said to Octavia, "Alright, Octy; let's see if you can get past THIS guy!"
(Easier said than done...) thought the classic music lover. (I never expected Sweetie Belle to have such a mighty monster in reserve... Even though Splendid Venus's effect weakens that monster (Rainbow Overdragon: ATK 4000 - 500 = 3500 / DEF 0), it's still powerful enough to destroy her in one attack. And since I already attacked this turn, I cannot switch Venus to Defense Position...) Looking at the Trap Card in her hand, Octavia then said to herself, "Fiendish Chain is my only hope now... I have to set it this turn and try to spring it before Sweetie Belle's next Main Phase... And even if she overcomes it, I still have Honest in my hand to counter her next attack... I just pray that it's enough..." Setting the Trap Card in her hand, the cello player declared, "I set one card and finish my turn!"
"So...do y'all think Sweetie's gonna win this now that she's got that big Dragon on the field?" asked Applejack.
"Octavia could still try something to stop her..." thought Rarity. Then, putting on a determined face, she then added, "But my little sister can handle it, no matter what it is!"
Feeling her older sister's support, Sweetie Belle smiled, knowing that she could still win this Duel. "It's my turn! I draw!" she said, pulling the top card from her Deck.
"Hold it!" shouted Octavia, making her move before Sweetie even got a chance to see what she drew for her turn. "I may not be familiar with your monster's powers, but I shan't allow you to use them! I activate my Trap Card, Fiendish Chain!!" Sweetie gasped a little as several black chains erupted from the ground below them. "With this, I can prevent your monster from attacking me or using its abilities! So I guess we'll never learn what your Fusion Monster could have been capable of..."
"That's too bad, alright..." said Sweetie Belle, "...because if you DID know what it could do, then you wouldn't have bothered using your Trap Card to try and stop it!"
"Hm? What does that mean??" asked the sepia-colored girl.
"I chain the effect of Rainbow Overdragon!" the young girl responded. "This effect is so powerful, I have to release Overdragon to use it! And I know what you're thinking: 'Why would I go and get rid of my powerful monster just like that?' Simple: By releasing it, Overdragon can send EVERY card on the field back into our Decks!"
"It...it sends all our cards back to the Deck?!" exclaimed Octavia, having been caught off-guard.
"That's right!" confirmed Sweetie. "So that means Splendid Venus is gone, too!" Octavia and Vinyl gasped in unison as the cello player's most powerful monster vanished from the field, returning to the Deck from whence it came.
"Alright!" cheered Flash. "Sweetie got rid of Venus!"
"Not only that," Sunset told him, "but since she just cleared the field, she now has a chance to attack Octavia directly. So depending on what she has in her hand right now, she could possibly win it all on this turn!"
Taking a sigh of relief, Sweetie then said, "Now...where was I...? Oh yeah! I still haven't seen what card I drew!" Then, after getting a look at the card she drew for the turn, she jumped into the air, cheering her little heart out. "YAY!! I don't believe it! It's the best thing I could have gotten!!" Playing the card right away, she happily said, "I activate Monster Reborn!!"
"You're kidding me!" exclaimed Vinyl. "She actually got that just now?!"
"Amazing..." was all that Octavia could say in response, a bit bummed out, but honestly impressed by her opponent.
"Now, I may not be able to bring Overdragon back with this card," Sweetie told her opponent, "but I CAN bring back something that almost as good: My Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon!" And with that, her smaller (but still very large) Dragon Crystal Beast returned to the field in all its glory. "Good thing you decided to send him to the Graveyard when I played Rare Value, huh? Well, maybe not so good for you, that is."
(Not good indeed...) thought Octavia. (Without Venus, the Honest that is in my hand is practically useless now... I hate to admit it, but I am impressed that Sweetie Belle managed to overcome my best plays; she has certainly proven herself worthy of winning this whole tournament.)
"Alllllright, Rainbow Dragon, let's win this thing right now!" said Sweetie Belle. "Attack with Rainbow Beta Ray!" And with one might shot of its beam attack, Sweetie's monster took out Octavia's remaining Life Points, winning her the Duel (Octavia Melody: LP 2,100 - 3,000 = 0) (WINNER: Sweetie Belle).
"This Duel is over! Sweetie Belle wins and moves on to the Semifinal Round!" declared Sunset, proud of the young Duelist that she helped train.
"Yay! YAY! YAAAY!!!" cheered Sweetie, proud of herself as well. "I'm moving to the next round! I did it! I did it!"
"You certainly have done it, Sweetie Belle." Octavia said to her victorious opponent. "And you did a fine job of it as well." Offering a handshake, she then told her, "It was an honor to face you here, and I wish you great luck in the next round."
"Th-thanks, Ms. Octavia." Sweetie replied, accepting the handshake. "I'll make sure to give everything I've got in the next round for sure!"
Chuckling warmly, the cello player replied, "I am certain you will." She then turned around and went to see her friend Vinyl and said to her, "Oh, stop pouting, Vinyl; it was a well-fought match, and I do not regret it in the slightest. Try to be happy that we had gotten this far." Sweetie Belle giggled a bit before looking up at her sister and her friends in her club, who were all happy and cheering for her.
"Well, it seems Sweetie Belle has gotten a lot stronger to be able to make it to the next round." stated Flash.
"She certainly has." said Sunset. But then she put on a more serious face and thought, (The only bad thing about that is that next round, she'll have to face off against Sonata... And if I'm correct about what she and the other Dazzlings are up to, she'll try to cheat Sweetie in their next match just like she did to Bright Mind... That is, unless he and Twilight can get me the evidence I need to bust those three...)
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"Well, here we are..." said Twilight, looking at a lilac-colored metal door that was in front of her. Despite the attempted intervention of the three fake security guards, she, Spike, and Bright Mind managed to make it to the office where Mr. Jay Dunstan - a representative sent from Industrial Illusions - was doing his work related to the tournament. "Mr. Dunstan's office... Now we can hopefully get what we need in order to stop the Dazzlings from ruining this tournament for everypo- er, everyBODY."
"I'm still wondering what was up with those security guys that tried to stop us from getting here..." said Spike. "They were pretty weird... And scary, of course."
"Well, that doesn't matter now." said Bright. "Thanks to our Good Samaritans, we were able to come here without a single scratch." Fixing his glasses, he then added, "Now, according to Ms. Sunset, we have to access the data concerning the Tournament Entrant Data Files."
"What are those?" asked Twilight.
"As your friend had told us, those files supposedly contain all of the data revolving around every single person who entered the tournament." the smart boy answered her. "And she had said that they would provide more than sufficient evidence as to whether or not my opponent had been cheating."
"Let's hope that we can dig up some dirt on those Dazzlings once and for all!" said Spike, determined to stop the trio's plans, whatever they were.
"...Let's go. The sooner we can find that data, the better off everyone here will be." Twilight told her companions. The three of them then approached the door, then - after taking a deep breath, the young Princess knocked on the door...
-- To Be Continued...
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TOURNAMENT RESULTS (Round 2):
1. Ember vs. Steel Shadows [WINNER: Ember]
2. Gilda vs. Fluttershy [WINNER: Gilda]
3. Sonata Dusk vs. Bright Mind [WINNER: Sonata Dusk]
4. Octavia Melody vs. Sweetie Belle [WINNER: Sweetie Belle]
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