Yugioh EQG: XX

by Banshee531

Turn 11: The Light of Future Possibilities

Today's adventure opens up in one of Canterlot's many card shops.

Usually, the place would only house a couple of kids having table top matches while others came in and out to get boosters. But today was a different story, as the shop was hosting a micro tournament to see who would get its spot in the Double X Tournament.

It was a tournament where the three teams duelled at the same time, with a two out of three system in play. The tournament came to an end when the winning team defeated their opponents at the same time.

"Winners!" The shop owner called out as he pointed towards Twilight, Fluttershy and Sunset, "which means the Tidal Maidens are today's big winners. They'll be taking the shop's spot in the Double X."

"ALRIGHT!" Twilight and Fluttershy cheered while Sunset just smiled. "You were great Twilight," Fluttershy told her friend.

"So were you two," Twilight replied before turning to the wall and seeing a large sheet of paper that had the tournament roster on it. At the very bottom was a team name that had been crossed out with a purple pen, signifying they had forfeited. V-Fighters. "Where are they?"

---

Two of the V-Fighters were standing outside the shop, not daring to show their faces there since they hadn't been able to compete. "I can't believe he didn't show up," Spike almost yelled in frustration.

Flash was also annoyed, though he was having an easier time keeping his anger in check. He looked down at his phone again, another call to Sunburst going unanswered. "I don't get it. What's up with him?" It had been a week since Sunburst walked out on the Freeze Stadium micro tournament and since then, he'd been avoiding Flash and Spike like they had the plague.

Flash had sent him the address of the card shop yesterday and had asks that he come, but there was no sign of him. Flash then remembered what Sunburst had said back then.

"I shouldn't be on your team. I'm just...holding you back."

"But he wasn't," Flash said. "He's a really good Duellist. So why does he think so little of himself?"

"There's only one way to find out," Spike said. "Let's go find him. We have to make sure he comes to the micro tournament we signed up for tomorrow. This one's our last chance." Flash nodded and the two ran off, completely unaware of the fact that they were being watched.

In one of the alleys between a pair of shops were three figures, who were completely hidden in the darkness. They stared at Flash and Spike, glares of hatred burning in their eyes. "There he is," one of them said. "Let's get him!" He was about to jump out of the alley, but the leader of the three stopped him.

"No you idiot. Not while he's with someone. We gotta wait until he's alone to strike. But until then, we don't let him out of our sight." The other two nodded in agreement, looking forward to what they had planned.

---

Flash and Spike spent the whole day searching for Sunburst, looking in all the teen's favourite places.

But no matter where they looked, they couldn't find him anywhere. "Awe man," Spike moaned as they sat on a park bench. "This is ridicules. He can't have just vanished."

"The only place he could be that we haven't searched is his house," Flash said. "But I have no idea where he lives."

"Me neither," Spike agreed. "So what do we do now?"

Flash sighed while sitting back, "I don't know. There's no time to find someone who can take Sunburst's spot. We either find him and get him back on the team, or give up on entering the Double X." Despite not liking the second option, it looked like that was the one the V-Fighters were gonna have to pick.

But just as all hope seemed lost, the sound of footsteps brought new hope to our heroes.

"Oh," the two looked towards the voice and went wide-eyed when they saw it was Sunburst. "Hey guys."

"Sunburst!" Flash jumped up onto his feet, "where have you been!? You forget we had an appointment today."

"No," Sunburst looked away from them, "but I had somewhere I needed to be. Sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Spike yelled as he too got up. "Something's up with you and we want to know what it is. So spill it. What's up?"

"Nothing," Sunburst said, "I just realised I shouldn't be on your team." He turned away from them, "I'm not good enough."

"What makes you think that?" Flash said. "You're not just good, you're great. With your skills, you could become a professional duellist."

"No I can't," Sunburst replied while his whole body began to shake.

"Why not?"

Sunburst suddenly spun around to face them, an angry look on his face. "Because if I was any good, I wouldn't have flunked out of DUEL ACADEMY!" This outburst made Flash and Spike both jump, as they processed the information.

"You went to Duel Academy?" Spike asked. "That means you're a really good Duellist."

Sunburst sighed as he looked away. "I told you, I flunked out. When I first got in, I was a Ra Yellow and everyone expected me to make Obelisk by the end of my first year. But no matter how many tests I aced, whenever I Duelled I always lost. I was eventually demoted to the red dorm, but even then I kept losing. By the years end, I couldn't get the win record needed to return next term."

So that was it.

"I vowed that day to never pick up my deck again. It wasn't something I was meant to do."

"But you did pick it up again," Flash reminded him. "The day we met."

"And it was a mistake," Sunburst began to walk off. "I'm sorry, but I'll just end up dragging you down if I'm on your team. It's better if you just replace me." And with that, he was gone while leaving the two sighing.

"Well," Spike said, "now we know what the problem is."

"Yeah," Flash agreed, "but we've got no idea how to fix it."

Spike nodded before looking at his phone, seeing the time he turned back to Flash. "I need to be getting home. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Flash said, "I'll see if I can think of a way to get Sunburst to come." With that, the two of them headed off in different directions. As he made his way home, he continued to think of how he might be able to convince Sunburst to stay with the V-Fighters. He was so focused on this, that he didn't notice the rapid footsteps coming up behind him.

By the time he'd sensed a presence, something hard hit the back of his head with enough force to make him black out.

---

As the sun began to set, Sunburst continued walking through town.

He hadn't felt like going home, so had just been pointlessly wandering with no real destination in mind. As the street lights came on, he looked around and found he was near the harbour. He should probably get home soon.

But just as he was about to leave, his phone went off.

Picking it up, he sighed seeing who it was. He answered the call, "I already told you I don't want to be in your team anymore."

"This isn't about that," Spike's voice replied through the phone. "Flash is missing?"

This made Sunburst's eyes go wide. "What?"

"Grand just called and said he hasn't gotten home yet. He was on his way there when we split up, so I'm starting to get worried. Has he contacted you since we split up?"

"No, he hasn't. Are you sure he didn't just remember something he needed to do?"

"Yes. If he was gonna be late, he'd have called home to tell them. If Flash is missing, something must have happened to..."

"Hello?" Sunburst listen carefully, wondering why Spike stopped.

"Sorry," Spike eventually replied, "Twilight just told him Grand's using Flash's phone to trace him. Hold on." Sunburst listened carefully, getting anxious as he waited. Then finally, "Flash is at the harbour."

"The harbour?" Sunburst asked while remembering where he was, "where exactly. I'm close by."

"A warehouse near the port. I'll text you the address. But listen, be careful." Sunburst said he would be before cutting the call and running in that direction. He wasn't sure what he was planning on doing if he found himself in a dangerous situation, but he knew he needed to make sure Flash was alright.

---

The first thing Flash noticed when he woke up was a serious headache.

He moaned as he tried to pick himself up, only to find he was tied to whatever he was sitting on. His eyes opened and he looked down to find his hands and feet were tied to a wooden chair. He then tried to look around, but the place was too dark to really see anything. "Oh great," he said. "What have I gotten myself into this time?" His question was met by a light coming from behind him, illuminating the room and allowing him to see he was in some kind of warehouse.

He spun around and saw the source of the light was an old incinerator.

Before he could ask who turned it on, he suddenly heard the sound of laughter. "Well well well," he looked towards the voice and spotted three familiar teen looking teens step towards him. "Looks whose finally up." They finally stepped into the light of the fire, revealing who they were.

"Garble," Flash growled.

"Long time no see Sentry," Garble said as he and his cronies stepped up to him. "Been about a year, hasn't it."

"Yeah," Flash replied. "Last time I saw you, you were laying on the ground after my monster deep fried your ass."

This made the three frown. "That wasn't fun."

"It was fun for me," Flash smiled before he was socked in the jaw and cried out. Once he'd recovered enough, he looked up at them. "So what you been up to?"

"Wasting away in juvie," one of the other two said.

"Thanks too you," the other finished.

"How is that my fault?" Flash asked, "you're the ones who beat up a guy and damaged someone else's stuff."

Garble growled. "If you hadn't fried us, we wouldn't have been arrested. Now it's pay back."

He reached into his hoodie, "I heard you're trying to enter the Double X." This made him chuckle, "that'll be hard without this." He pulled out a familiar looking deck box, which made Flash go wide-eyed as he looked between it and the incinerator. "Exactly. You're gonna watch us toast this thing, then we're gonna beat you within an inch of your life."

"Coward!" Flash cried as they walked towards the incinerator, "needing to knock me out to do this. What, knew you couldn't take me on in a Duel?"

"I was willing to Duel you if I needed to," Garble replied. "But this way is a lot more...guaranteed." As he got closer and closer to the incinerator, Flash started pulling at the ropes while letting out cries and insults.

And just as Garble was about to throw it in, the creaking sounds of the opening warehouse doors caught everyone's attention. They all turned towards the door and saw Sunburst step inside, panting after running all the way here. "Flash?" He looked around and spotted his teammate, gasping as he saw what kind of situation he had found himself in. "What's going on?"

Garble grumbled, "so annoying." He stepped away from the incinerator and stared at Sunburst. "What are you doing here?"

"I...I came to find F...Flash," Sunburst asked while being slightly intimidated.

"Well you found him, now scram!" This made Sunburst's entire body want to run away, but before he could he spotted the deck box in Garble's hand before noticing the incinerator.

Putting two and two together, Sunburst gasped. "W...what are you doing with Flash's deck? And...and why is he tied to that chair? Let him go...now!"

This made the three begin to laugh, Sunburst's demands obviously seen as amusing. "And what if I don't?" Garble asked. "What's stopping me from torching this deck and beating the two of you into oblivion?"

"Because...the police on one their way. Flash's grandfather's a detective and his phone has a tracer." The three went wide eyed at this before looking back at Flash, who nodded.

"It's true."

Garble growled as he turned back to Sunburst. He wasn't gonna let this end that easily. "I can still torch the deck and high tail it." He turned back to the incinerator.

"NO!" Sunburst cried. He couldn't let Flash's deck be destroyed, since he knew how much it meant to him. "I won't let you." He turned back to the door and closed it, noticing the key to lock it in the lock and doing so. Everyone raised an eyebrow as Sunburst turned back to them, holding the key in his hand. "Now you can't escape."

Garble growled, then smiled. "Alright, how's this for a deal. We Duel."

Sunburst raised an eyebrow, "what?"

"We Duel. You win, I let you both go and give back the deck. But if you lose, I get the key, his deck...and yours." Sunburst went wide-eyed at this, as he took out his deck and looked down at it. Could he really bet it like this?

But one look at the deck in Garble's hands made him change his mind. "Alright," Garble said, "it's a deal."

"Good," Garble replied before turning to his friend and tossing his deck to him. "If the punk pulls anything, cremate it." They nodded as Garble and Sunburst pulled out their Duel Disks and placed them on their arms.

Sunburst grew nervous, but knew he just needed to stale long enough for the cops to get here.

"Oh," Garble said, "another thing. Since you had the nerve to come onto my turf and threaten me, you'll be starting off with a penalty."

"Penalty?" Sunburst asked, not liking the sound of that.

Garble nodded. "Starting with half your normal life points should work."

"WHAT!?" Sunburst's chances of stalling suddenly got way worse.

Flash, seeing Sunburst was starting to panic, spoke up. "You can do it!" Everyone turned to him, "just believe in your deck. It'll help you. There's no way this chump can beat you. Just play the game and you'll see what I mean."

"Shut it!" One of Garble's friends cried before punching Flash again.

"That's enough out of you," Garble growled before turning back to Sunburst. "Now let's get this over with."

Sunburst was still panicking, but quickly stole his nerve and nodded while taking a deep breath. "let's."

"DUEL!"

Garble: 4000
Sunburst: 2000

"I'll let you take the first move," Garble told Sunburst. Internally he smirk, since he'd be getting the first attack.

"Alright," Sunburst drew his card and looked through them. Already his brain was beginning to go over the multiple ways the Duel could go. After about a minute, Garble growled.

"Hurry up already!" To show he was being serious, his friend held Flash's deck closer to the furnace.

"Wait!" Sunburst cried before taking grabbing his card, "I summon Blaze Wizard!" The young fire wizard appeared infront of Sunburst. (A1200/D1100/L3) "And when he's summoned, I can add a Ritual Spell from my deck to my hand." His deck shuffled before slotting out a card for Sunburst to take. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

Garble smirked, "is that all you've got?" He drew his card, "pathetic!" Sunburst flinched at this cry, feeling highly intimidated.

"Don't listen to him!" Flash called out, only to receive a punch to the face.

"Let me show you a real turn. I summon Alexandrite Dragon!" A silver dragon appeared infront of him. (A2000/D100/L4) "Now attack that weaklings wizard!" The dragon unleashed a burst a silver fire, which headed straight for Blaze Wizard. But before it could make contact, a strange looking shield appeared in his hands.

"What?" Garble asked as Blaze Wizard lifted the shield as it created a force-field around him, which transformed the fire that struck it into a light that flew over to Sunburst.

Garble: 4000
Sunburst: 4000

"How?"

"Draining Shield," Sunburst pointed to his now face up face down. "This card let's me negate an attack and increase my life points by the attacking monster's ATK."

"Alright!" Flash cheered. Despite the penalty, Sunburst managed to get his life points back up to match Garble's.

The teen growled. How dare he, "you'll need more then some cheap tricks to save you. I place one card face down and end my turn.

Sunburst "Then I'll draw!" Sunburst did so. "And I'll summon my Sunburst Apprentice to the field!" The spellcaster appeared besides its younger teammate, the two ready to battle it out. "Next, I activate my Sunburst Gate!" The stone arch appeared behind his monsters, the two of them exploding into fireballs that flew into seven of the archway's star holes.

Sunburst closed his eyes and began to chant. "Mystical fire, that burns like the sun, give life to the wizard whose intellect cannot be extinguished!" The wooden doors of the gate flew open and unleashed a giant fireball, "I RITUAL SUMMON!"

The fireball exploded to reveal Sunburst's ace. "Sunburst Magician!" (2300/D2200/L7) Flash smiled while Garble and his cronies frowned. "Next, I activate my Magician's ability."

Garble: 4000
Sunburst: 3700

"Now I can look at the top five cards of my deck and summon any Level four or bellow fire monsters," he drew his five cards and took one of them while shuffling the rest back into his deck. "I summon Green Sun Magician!" (A1400/D1300/L4/P6) "And then I'll have Sunburst Apprentice use its ability to revive itself," the younger version of Sunburst Magician appeared besides its future self.

"Don't think you're tough with all these monsters on your field," Garble said.

"Well he'll probably look a lot tougher when he uses his Apprentice's other ability," Flash mocked.

"That's right," Sunburst agreed. Sunburst Apprentice, power up Green Sun Magician." He did so, covering the Pendulum Monster in a veil of fire (A1900/D1300/L4/P6) "Now, Sunburst Magician attack!" The Ritual Monster waved its staff and unleashed a burst of fire, which struck Garble's Alexandrite Dragon and destroyed it.

Garble: 3700
Sunburst: 3700

"Sunburst Apprentice, you're up next!" The younger wizard did the same, launching a fireball that struck garble and sent him backwards.

Garble: 2200
Sunburst: 3700

As Garble hit the ground, he pressed a button on his Duel Disk. "I play my Trap." His face down flipped up. "Dragon Guts Egg!" Three fireballs appeared infront of him, as he began to pick himself up. "I can only use this card whenever I take damage," the fireballs faded to reveal a trio of blood red eggs. "It let's me summon a Guts Egg Token for every five hundred points of damage I take." (A500/D500/L1)

Sunburst frowned before having his Pendulum Monster launch a fireball at one of the eggs, destroying them but doing no damage as it was in DEF mode. "I end my turn. Green Sun Magician's ATK points return to normal. (A1400/D1300/L4/P6)

"Then it's my turn," Garble drew his card. "And I activate Guts Egg Hatching. Now, for every Guts Egg I ditch, I can summon one level four or below Dragon Monster from my graveyard. So I'll get rid of both of them, in order to summon a pair of Golem Dragons!" The eggs shattered, unleashing a burst of fire that faded to reveal the two rock skinned dragons. (A200/D2000/L4)X2

"Two thousand DEF points," Sunburst saw as they two took up a defensive position. "No problem. If I can draw a monster with sixteen hundred ATK or more, I can use Apprentice's ability and Magician to destroy them. Then he'll be open." However, his planning was interrupted by Garble's laugh.

"Sorry four eyes, but that's not happening. As long as Golem Dragon's on the field, you can't attack any other Dragon monster. And since I have two."

"You've got an impenetrable wall," Sunburst finished in shock.

"That's right. Now, I'll summon my Blackland Fire Dragon!" A green bipedal dragon appeared between the two Golem Dragons, steam coming out of its mouth. (A1500/D800/L4) "Attack his Green Sun Magician!" The dragon launched a fireball, which struck the Pendulum Monster and destroyed it.

Garble: 2200
Sunburst: 3600

"I end my turn," Garble said.

"Then...I'll draw." Sunburst looked at the card he'd gotten and knew it might come in handy later. "I activate Sunburst Magician's effect."

Garble: 2200
Sunburst: 3300

He drew his cards and smiled before taking two cards, while placing the rest in his deck. "I summon a pair of Sunburst Guardians!" The shield carrying knights appeared besides Sunburst's Magician and Apprentice, holding up their weapons protectively. (A1400/D1800/L4)X2.

"Sweet!" Flash said, "now Garble can't attack him either." Garble heard this an suppressed a laugh, knowing he had just the card needed to destroy Sunburst's defences.

"I place on card face down and end my turn."

"Then I'll go," Garble drew his card and went wide eyed when he saw what he'd gotten. Then he started laughing, which did not fill Flash and Sunburst with confidence. "Perfect. This Duel is mine!" He raised the card above his head, as his three dragon burst into flames. "Behold, my ultimate monster!" The three fire pillars flew up and spiralled around one another. "Born from the flames of the underworld, comes a beast of hatred and destruction. Once it sees you, all hope is lost!"

Everyone watched as the flames combined into a giant fireball, which quickly faded to reveal a giant sphere of red feathers. Before anyone could ask what it was, the feathers began to pull apart to reveal that they were a pair of wings. From out of the gap came a giant blazing eye, followed by another before the rest of the creature was freed. Said creature was a blood red humanoid dragon, with black chest armor that had multiple scratches and cracks to make it look like a skull. Lava spilled out of those cracks, as well as dripping off It's claws. Its dragonic head and horns were covered in scars, while some kind of steaming liquid dripped out of its mouth. Its tail was as long as it was tall, with a large spearhead like appendage on the end. "Hellfire Apocalypse Dragon!" (A3000/D3000/L10)

Sunburst stared up and the hell beast, which was so big it barely fit in the warehouse. "No...way."

"This is bad," Flash said. Luckily, Sunburst's Guardians would keep him protected.

"Don't think you're safe," Garble said. "I added this card to my deck encase I had to Duel against your little friend over there," he pointed back at Flash. "This card is the ultimate Pendulum slayer, and he'll destroy you the same way it'd destroy him!" As soon as he said that, the feathers on his monsters wings ignited to give him a pair of burning wings.

"What's happening?" Sunburst asked.

"By skipping my battle phase, Hellfire Apocalypse Dragon has the power to destroy every monster on your side of the field!" Sunburst's eyes went wide as the dragon flapped its wings, unleashing a wave of fire that struck his field and consumed his four monsters. But before Sunburst could do anything else, a giant flaming serpent shot out of the flames and flew at him.

"AAARRRHHH!" He cried as he was sent flying backwards, his life points taking a serious hit.

Garble: 2200
Sunburst: 1400

"SUNBURST!" Flash cried as his teammate hit the ground, "what happened?"

"The second effect of my dragon," Garble boasted. "He lost one hundred life points for every level point the destroyed monsters had."

Flash growled at this. All those monsters had seemed like they were giving Sunburst the edge, but in fact they were just giving Garble more ammo. "Sunburst," he turned to his friend and saw he was still on the ground, "get up!"

Sunburst moaned, "why? There's...no way I can beat him."

"You don't know that! A Duel isn't over till the last card is played. And you've still got cards left to play. So don't give up, and don't let your past decide who you are today. If you want to get better, then you have to keep trying no matter how many time you fail!" Flash would have said more, but another punch to the face shut him up.

"Will you be quite!" Garble said. "Even if he kept trying, what card in his deck could save him now?"

That was a good question. What card in Sunburst's deck could save him? Sunburst thought about it, but nothing he came up with would give him the edge with what he had right now. It was hopeless.

And as Sunburst opened his eyes, he suddenly found he wasn't in the warehouse anymore. Instead, he was now in a black void. Was his fall making him hallucinate?

The sound of footsteps made him turn to see someone walking away from him. His prized monster, "Sunburst Magician!" He started running after the Ritual Monster, "wait!" But no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't catch up to him. Was his monster abandoning him?

A sudden light in the distance caught his attention, the mere sight of it telling him what was happening. Sunburst Magician wasn't abandoning him, he was walking towards the light of its future. Sunburst couldn't catch up, because he didn't have the drive needed to reach for his future.

"I want to get stronger," he whispered once he'd stopped running. "But I don't know how. Nothing I try seems to work. How am I suppose to grab hold of my future, if I don't know how?" He closed his eyes and looked down in shame, feeling himself be consumed by the darkness.

But before he could be completely enveloped, the ice cold of the darkness vanished and was replaced by a mighty warmth.

"Huh?" He opened his eyes and looked up, seeing Sunburst Magician standing infront of him. It was using his fire to chase away the darkness, while holding up its other fist. "What?" The fist opened to show the light they had been chasing, which seemed to fill Sunburst with a new sense of hope. "You want me to...?" Sunburst Magician nodded. It wanted Sunburst to walk beside him, as they chased after their future potential.

Sunburst raised his arms and slowly reached for the light, flinching back a few time until he looked into his monsters eyes. The two stared at one another, both telling the other the same thing. "I might not know how to get stronger...but as long as you're with me, I'll keep trying!" He grasped the light, which exploded and forced Sunburst to shield his eyes.

Seconds later, he opened them again and found he was back in the warehouse and back on his feet.

"So," Garble asked, "you still wanna fight me."

Sunburst looked down at his deck. It might have just been a trick of the light, but he couldn't help but think it was glowing. That glow once again filled him with hope, as he looked up at Garble. "I'll fight," he placed his hand on his deck. "AND WIN!" He drew his card. When he saw what it was, he gasped before smiling. "This is it." He pointed at his face down, "I activate my Trap!"

The card flipped up before unleashing a burst of light, which broke apart to reveal Sunburst Magician in DEF mode. (A0/D0/L1)

"How?" Garble asked.

"Ritual Spirit," Sunburst explained. "It let's me revive a Ritual Monster, but its ATK and DEF is zeroed out and its Level is reduced to 1."

"Then what good is it?"

"You'll see. But first, I'll activate my Magician's ability."

Garble: 2200
Sunburst: 1100

Sunburst drew his five cards and smiled at what he'd gotten. "I summon Burn Blader!" The blazing suit of armour appeared besides Magician, ready to fight the good fight."

"What's the point of that?" Garble asked. "All you're doing is giving Hellfire more monsters to destroy and hurt you with."

"Don't be so sure," Sunburst said as he took the card he'd drawn and placed it in his Duel Disk. "I activate my Spell Card. Rebirth Ritual!" A pillar of fire exploded out of the ground and engulfed Sunburst Magician.

Flash smiled at this, while Garble and his cronies stared at the fire in confusion. "What's happening.

Sunburst just smiled. "Rebirth Ritual, a card that allows Ritual Monsters to transcend their limits and take on their true forms!" The pillar grew in size, until it eventually exploded and unleashed a powerful light. "RITUAL EVOLUTION!"

The light faded to reveal Sunburst's new monster. It was Sunburst Magician, only now it was dressed in crimson armoured wizard robes. The goatee he was sporting was now replaced with a full on beard, while his staff now appeared to be made out of obsidian. He was also wearing a red wizards hat, which had metal on the rim and tip. "Sunburst...ARCHMAGE!" (A3000/D2500/L8)

"Wow," Flash said while the criminals began to worry.

Garble however, stole his nerve and growled at Sunburst. "So what. Your monster's not stronger then mine, so it can't beat it. And next turn, Hellfire Apocalypse Dragon will fry you losers."

"Don't be so sure," Sunburst told him. "Because Rebirth Ritual will grant one thousand extra ATK points to the monster it summons." (A4000/D2500/L8) "Then I'll activating Archmage's ability!" The evolved Ritual monster pointed his staff at Burn Blader before the suit of armour exploded into fire, which wrapped around the head of the staff. "By tributing a Fire monster, I can burn away your monsters ATK and DEF points."

"What?" Garble asked as he saw Archmage toss the fire at his dragon, who quickly found himself trapped in a cage of flames. He watched as Hellfire Dragon was scorched, his ATK and DEF lowering by Burn Blader's. (A1200/D2900/L10) "This can't be happening."

"There's more," Garble turned back to him. "Whenever a Fire monster leaves the field, Archmage gains half that monster's ATK power until the End Phase." The armoured parts of Archmage's armour began to glow red hot. (A4900/D2500/L8) "ATTACK!" Everyone watched as Archmage flew into the air, its staff head igniting before it unleashed a stream of fire towards Hellfire Apocalypse Dragon.

The beast roared as it was struck, the flames proving to hot for even it as it was soon destroyed. Garble saw the burning remains of his monster came flying at him, making him yell out as they collided with him.

Garble: 0 (Winner)
Sunburst: 1100

As the holograms vanished, Sunburst stared at his Archmage card in shock. Despite every piece of logic in his brain telling him it was impossible, he had managed to defeat Garble. "No way," he whispered as he look up and caught eyes with Flash. The tied up teen smiled as he gave his teammate a nod, said teammate smiling back and nodding as well.

But then.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Sunburst turned to Garble, who had rushed over to him and threw a punch before he could react.

"Ahh!" He cried as he fell back, his glasses going flying. And opened his eyes and saw the blurry image of Garble standing over him.

"Big mistake geek. Now I'm gonna beat you to a pulp and destroy both your decks." Sunburst gasped as he raised his arms defensively.

Flash saw this and frowned, seeing no other option. Looking at Sunburst's Duel Disk and focusing on the Sunburst Archmage card. And just like that, the hologram of the spellcaster appeared between Garble and Sunburst.

Garble saw this but, despite being surprised at first, he continued to try and rush at Sunburst. A little hologram wasn't gonna stop him. But he would soon learn how wrong he was, when Archmage swung its staff at him.

"AUGH!" Garble cried as the staff struck him and sent him flying, crashing into pile of crates.

"GARBLE!" His friends cried as they rushed over to him, freeing Flash to pull on the ropes binding his wrists until they finally snapped. By the time the two realised their mistake and turned back to him, he leapt up off his chair and dealt the two a quick punch and kick.

This allowed Flash to retrieve his deck before rushing over to Sunburst, as the three criminal teens regrouped.

Seeing all its foes in one spot, Archmage pointed it staff at them before unleashing a fireball. Said fireball exploded into a ring of fire, that surrounded the three as the monster disappeared.

"Here," Flash placed Sunburst's glasses back on his head.

"Thanks," Sunburst's vision returned just in time to see the trapped teens. "What the heck happened?"

"Doesn't matter," Flash replied as the sound of sirens filled the air. "Come on." He pulled the boy out of the warehouse, as police cars rushed onto the scene.

"Flash!" Grand cried as he and Scootaloo got out of the car before rushing over to them, "you alright?"

"I'm fine gramps," Flash assured him despite the aching in his face. Before anyone could say anything, the sets of screaming voices filled the air as a trio of teens with burning clothes rushed out the warehouse before leaping into the water.

"What was that about?" Grand asked, while Flash smiled.

An hour later, the three were thrown into the back of the cop cars after Flash and Sunburst explained what had happened. The fire had been blamed on them, the cops guessing they had filled the place with fuel while intending to torch the place with Flash and Sunburst in it.

Flash agreed to this with Sunburst, who had been blinded at the time, just going along with it. "Don't worry," Grand said. "Those three won't be causing any issues for a long time."

"That's good," Flash said before turning to Sunburst. "Thanks for helping."

Sunburst just shrugged. "Don't sweat it." He turned to walk away. "Well, see you around."

"Hang on," Sunburst turned and looked back at Flash. "You've still got the address of the card shop I sent you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Please, come tomorrow. I know you think you're not a good Duellist, but you saw what you were able to do back there. Your deck wants to get stronger with you, so please don't let it's wishes go unfulfilled." Sunburst just stared at him for a few seconds, until he turned and walked off into the night.

Flash sighed as Scootaloo stepped up besides him. "You think he'll be there?"

"I don't know," Flash replied before looking up. "I hope so."

Author's Note:

Well, didn't expect that now did you. Let's hope this little situation helped Sunburst get over his issues.

Comments

[Foxhelm]

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Yeah not what I expected...

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This is a 'you're gonna have to ask me my thoughts via PM' chapter

[SuperSonicHeroes]

It is kinda funny, every time Garble reappears he seems to be more dangerous than before, only to be knocked down a peg and ultimately remain a harmless villain. That is also how he was in the show before he was finally redeemed so I guess that means you’ve been writing him pretty well.

Looks like Sunburst got the confidence boost he needed. That scene with him and Sunburst Magician in the darkness was really sweet. Just like Flash said when Sunburst beat Spike, his deck heard the cry of his heart and responded. His monster didn’t want to give up on him either. Sunburst Magician evolving into Sunburst Archmage and destroying Hellfire Apocalypse Dragon was epic too.

I liked how Flash was able to bring the hologram to life too. It shows how much better he has gotten with his powers in the last year.

Sunburst Magician nodded. It wanted Sunburst to walk besides him, as they chased after their future potential.

I think you mean “beside”.

"You'll see. But first, I'll activate my Magician's ability."

Garble: 2200
Sunburst: 1400

shouldn’t it be 1100 after using his ability? Unless the total from Sunburst’s previous life points were off and that should have been 1700 instead of 1400.

It was Sunburst Magician, only know it was dressed in crimson armoured wizard robes.

now

"So what. Your monster's now stronger then mine, so it can't beat it. And next turn, Hellfire Apocalypse Dragon with fry you losers."

Replace “now” with “not” and replace “with” with “will”.

As the holograms vanished, Sunburst started at his Archmage card in shock.

stared

By the time the two realised they mistake and turned back to him, he leapt up off his chair and dealt the two a quick punch and kick.

their

[Vakama95096]

Garble doesn’t give up, does he?

[Banshee531]

9716849 Go ahead.

[Godslittleprincess]

Woohoo! Alright! Okay, just so we're clear, Flash can still communicate with Duel Monster spirits, right? I wonder who else knows that he can do that.

[King-Mac-13]

Well, that was interesting. I get the feeling this is going to be important. You all know the moment...