Turn 28: Soulink
Darkness. That was all Cold could see.
Floating in the vast emptiness of space, he could see nothing around him. "W...where am I?" He asked, only for a light to appear behind him. When he spun around, he saw the cause of the light was a planet he recognised as earth. What's going on?"
"Brother." Another light made him turn around yet again, where he saw another planet that looked similar to earth but was just different enough for him to tell. And there, standing in front of that planet, was a man he knew all too well.
"Sombra."
Sombra, now dressed in armour with a sword, stared at him. "Please, you must act." He pointed his sword towards the planet behind Cold, making him look around and see something. There, appearing above a section of America he knew as Canterlot, was a black dot that slowly began to grow larger.
"The Shadow Gate." Cold looked back around at Sombra, who stepped aside to allow Cold a better look at the planet behind him. Seconds later, hundreds if not thousands of bright lights shot off the planet and flew towards Earth while forming a bridge of light between them. "What's going on?"
"What you are seeing is the spirits of the Duel Monsters world. They are travelling to answer the calls of those they share an unbreakable bound with."
Cold realised what he was talking about. He'd barely been conscious at the time, but he'd read the reports. Duel Monsters, real ones, appearing in their world to help protect it. So this was what it looked like.
"However," Cold turned back to Sombra, "not all these spirits had good intentions." Cold turned back to the planets and saw several new lights fly off the Duel Monster's world towards earth. But unlike the other ones, these three lights were a dark black colour.
"What?"
"My brother," Sombra spoke up as the world around them began to fade. "Heed this warning. Find the evil that now walks among you. If not, then the peace you worked so hard to create will be lost." With that, Sombra and the planet behind began to float away whilst everything continued to fade.
"But how?" Cold asked.
"I can only give you one clue," Sombra's voice was beginning to grow quieter. "A name." Cold had to strain himself to hear the next two worlds Sombra spoke. Once that happened, Sombra and the planet vanished.
"Wait!" Cold tried to run after him, but couldn't catch up. "SOMBRA!" With that, the world went black.
Cold jolted upwards, looking around to find he was back in his office. "What?"
"You okay?" He looked up to see Shining standing next to him, a look of concern on his face. "You seemed to be having a bad dream."
Upon hearing that last word, Cold remembered said dream and what his brother had said. He sat back in his chair, "I'm okay."
Shining nodded. "I've set up a plan for the opening ceremony of the first round. And if you could just check through all the regulations, that'd be great."
Cold nodded, "of course. I'm a bit embarrassed you caught me having a nap. Apologies."
"Don't worry about it," Shining replied while handing him a bunch of papers that showed the teams that were competing in the Double X. "I don't mean to pry, but are you getting enough rest?" Cold didn't answer, instead he was staring at the photo on the first sheet. For some unknown reason, this girl seemed to stand out to him. As if there something about her, even in a picture, that gave him a bad vibe.
Looking at the top of the sheet, he saw her name written there. It was the same name he had heard his brother mention. Tempest Shadow.
Present.
"What? A dream?" Flash asked from his place in the back of the car, Misty and Adagio both laughing at his reaction. "Seriously? This threat to the Double X. It's all...based on a dream?" Cold said nothing as he drove, simply focusing on the road. "This is crazy," Flash looked around at the people in the car. "You got these guys involved, Mom, Gramps and the Dazzlings, just because of a stupid dream?"
Suddenly, the car came to a stop before Cold turned back to him. "You don't like it," he pointed to the door. "Then get out."
Flash suddenly got nervous, "I didn't mean it like that." He turned to Misty, "but still."
Misty smiled just as nervously as the car started back up. "Just because it's a dream, doesn't mean it can't be real. After all, haven't you had visions in the past that had you travel to the Duel Monsters Spirit World. How is that any different from what Cold's talking about."
Flash sighed, "guess you're right."
"And besides," Adagio spoke up. "You said yourself that you sensed something's not right. Like when you Duelled Marble." Flash sighed some more, not able to deny that.
"If it's just a dream, then fine." They turned back to Cold, "but what if it turns out to be more then a dream. We can't risk doing nothing."
"Alright," Flash said, "but how will we know for sure?"
"This is the whole reason your mother returned to our world," Cold explained. "She has the answers we seek."
Flash turned to Misty in shock, the woman laughing. "No, I don't really know anything. But I do know someone who does. That's who we're meeting." She looked out the window and nodded, "take a left here." Cold did so and the group soon drove into an old warehouse district.
After several minutes of driving through the maze of buildings, they stopped in front of one and all got out of the car. "What is this place?" Flash asked.
"This is where Sombra and his minions hid out after you guys stormed his first lab," Misty explained. She looked around and saw Adagio staring up at the building with unease, "you okay?"
"Yeah," the girl replied while crossing her arms defensively, "just not to happy with having to go somewhere I was kept prisoner."
"You don't have to do this," Cold told her.
"It's fine," she said firmly. "Let's just go in before I change my mind." They nodded and headed inside. At first, it seemed like an ordinary warehouse. But then they watched as Misty stepped over to the far wall.
"Okay," she said, "it should be right...here." She pushed a part of the wall back, causing it to open up and reveal a keypad. As the others stepped over to here, he dialled in some numbers. And when the final number was dialled, it happened.
The section of the floor beneath them began to drop, revealing it as an elevator.
It dropped them lower and lower for around thirty seconds, eventually stopping as they were dropped off in a long corridor. Misty stepped forwards and lead them along the corridor until they reached a door at the very end, which she opened to allow them entrance and found it was a setup similar to the one Flash and Cold had first met Sombra in the first hideout.
"What is this place?" Flash asked.
"The lab where Sombra created the last card in his deck," Misty stepped into the middle of the room. "Because of that, a scar in the fabric of space time exists here. And with the right stimuli, it can be reopened for a short time. Long enough for us to talk to who we need to talk too." She turned to her son and held out her hand, "I need Vail Pixie."
Flash raised an eyebrow at this, but took the card out anyway and handed it to her. Once she had it, Misty took out another card and held them both up. And before anyone could ask what was going on, the cards were suddenly covered in light that quickly exploded outwards.
Everyone was forced to shield their eyes, the light quickly dying down and allowing them to open their eyes and see where they were.
It was a place Flash knew all to well, the ruins he had visited many times and Duelled his father in. He looked down at his body and saw he was glowing, then looked around and saw everyone else doing the same. He turned to Misty, "what are we doing here?"
"You're here to talk to me."
Everyone spun around, just in time to see someone step out of the shadows. It was someone they all knew too well, for each of them were someone he'd caused tremendous turmoil for.
"Sombra," Flash whispered.
Sombra, dressed as he was when Misty had summoned his Duel card, walked up to them. "Hello again."
Flash, Grand and Adagio simply stared at him in shock, Adagio even taking a few shaky steps backwards in near fear. Seeing he wasn't going to get anything out of them, Sombra turned to Cold and Misty. "Alright, what have you found out?"
"Jurassic Raging Dragon, attack!" Scootaloo cried, as he Pendulum Xyz took flight and flew across the holo-table towards Sunburst's monster. "Then I'll activate his ability." As she removed two of its Overlay Units, the dinosaur bit down on the lights around it before unleashing a powerful breath attack that struck Sunburst Knight, weakening it enough for the beast to destroy it. "Ha!"
"Nice attack," Applebloom told her from the side. "Fierce."
"Thanks," she replied before turning back to Sunburst. "Training with us, means we're gonna train you good and train you hard."
Our heroes were currently in the Freeze Stadium, Twilight and Spike having asked them all there for some practise. Everyone except team Wonderbolt, Team Rock Party and Flash were there. Spike was Duelling against Sweetie Belle. Rarity was Duelling against Applebloom. Fluttershy was Duelling Big Mac, and Applejack was Duelling against Sunset.
Twilight was at the side, looking after Flurry and waiting for a Duel to end so she could have a match.
"Listen up!" Scootaloo said to Spike and Sunburst. "Even though you knocked us out of the Double X, you guys only just made it through to the next round by the skin of your teeth. We can't have you embarrassing us out there. Understand?"
Oh, those two understood. Spike looked down at his cards. He wanted to be able to support Flash. He wanted the three of them to work towards their future together. That had to be his focus. But there was more to it then that. Now that he'd actually participated in the Double X, he'd started to get a real taste for it. We was gonna test his skills, push himself and see how much stronger he could become.
"I SYNCHRO SUMMON!" His ace appeared on the field before flying towards Sweetie's monster. "I intend to surpass all expectations!"
"I draw!" Sunburst drew his card, seeing it was his Rebirth Ritual card. As he looked at the card, his memory flashed back to Starlight. He didn't get the chance to face her in the first round, but he was sure the opportunity will arise in the second. "I activate my Monster Reborn, and use it to revive Sunburst Magician." His spellcaster emerged from the graveyard. "Then I play Rebirth Ritual!" The pillar of flames surrounded Sunburst Magician, "RITUAL EVOLUTION!"
The pillar exploded, revealing his monster. "Sunburst Archmage!" One thing was for sure, Starling better not expect to see the same person he was when they were kids.
"Hey," everyone turned to Sweetie, "where's Flash anyway?"
"Heck if I know," Scootaloo replied. "He and gramps were gone when I got up this morning." She turned to Twilight, hoping for an answer.
"He said he had an errand to run," she said while rocking Flurry.
"Unacceptable!" Scootaloo cried, "he knows he's going into the second round and he'll need as much training as he can get to win it. He can't be wasting time on errands."
"Now now darling," Rarity told her. "I'm sure whatever he's dealing with is important."
"Must be," Spike said. "Considering he had to blow off a date with Twilight because of it." Twilight cursed under her breath as she watched them all turn to her.
"Is that true?" Applejack said.
"Yes," Twilight replied, "but it's no big deal. I know Flash wouldn't say no unless it was something really important."
"It better be important," Sunset said. "Since you two haven't got to spend any alone time together since you got back."
"it's fine," Twilight stressed. "We can hang out after he gets back from whatever it is he's doing."
"Well he'd better say what it is he's doing," Scootaloo said before turning back to her Duel.
Rarity nodded. "And if not, you can use it to guilt him into a big elaborate date in the future." This made everyone laugh before returning their focus to their Duels.
"And that's basically everything," Cold finished explaining.
Sombra thought about the new information he'd been given, looking up thought the crack in the ground that the ruins sat in. "I see."
"Well," Flash finally spoke up, "what does this all mean?"
Sombra looked back down at them, then raised his sword and tapped it on the ground. Doing so unleashed a bright light and in the blink of an eye, the lot of them were standing in space with earth and the Duel Monster Spirit World floating behind Sombra. "I'm sure it doesn't need to be said, that our two worlds have always shared a connection. Since time began, the two dimensions have shared a link and it is truly only recently that that link has become known and used."
"What do you mean?"
"The first recorded case of summoning monsters from one world to ours was during the time of Atlantis. Then there was the time when the great Crimson Dragon and his servants did battle in south america against the many evils, while in Ancient Egypt a mighty pharaoh created seven mystical items that allowed him and his subjects to summon the monsters to them against an evil known as Zorc. It was in this period where the factors that lead up to our current situation began." This caught everyone's attention. "Tell me, do any of you know of the great pharaoh known as Atem?"
Misty spoke up. "He was the pharaoh that saved the world from Zorc, leading to him sealing away the magic that linked our two worlds with himself as the seal."
Sombra nodded. "And the seal remained, for five thousand years our two worlds remained separated. But then, the seal was broken when one boy managed to complete the Millennium Puzzle. Doing so reconnected our two worlds and freed the spirit of Atem, unknowingly causing the world's very first Soulink."
"Soulink?" everyone asked in confusion.
Sombra nodded. "Two minds, inhabiting one body. This event is known as a Soulink. For Atem and the boy, the Soulink allowed the two to swap who was in control of the body and to communicate with each other. With the Millennium Puzzle working as the conduit, they were able to share a body without issue. But, unknown to them, this wouldn't be the last time a Soulink occurred."
The four knew they were about to get the answers they were seeking.
"In the years following the first Soulink, monsters from this realm discovered ways of travelling into our world and entering the bodies of humans." Sombra saw they were all still paying attention, "and thus a Soulink is formed."
So that was it. The reason Marble was so different, was because she wasn't the one controlling her body when Flash Duelled her. But, how could something like this be possible? Magic items like the Millennium Puzzle didn't exist anymore.
Sombra, appearing to know what they were all thinking, continued explaining. "I'm sure you've all felt it, the strong bond you've all developed with one particular card. It is that bond that causes the dimensions to unfold, allowing the Duel Spirits to enter our world. If the bond is strong enough, the Duel Spirit will call out through the dimension to reach a Duellist. If the Duellist responds, a Soulink occurs. Then the two, become as one."
He pointed his sword at Flash, "for example. In your case, Flash Heart Dragon." He then pointed at Flash's mother, "or for you my dear it would be Divine Sky Angel. These cards are the ones you'd have the easiest time Soulinking with. These bonds can occur naturally, or form through constant use of that card."
"So what's their purpose in all of this?" Grand finally spoke up, getting Sombra's attention. "Why would a Duel Spirit want to go through all this hassle, just to enter our world?"
In response, Sombra simply shrugged. "Who knows." This was not the answer they'd been wanting to hear. "I have only learned of this phenomenon recently. I don't claim to be an expert." Everyone frowned, hoping to get more info then that. "But I have managed to track down several Duel Spirits that have Soulinked before, with many of them saying they simply wanted to learn more about our world. To settle a curiosity and better understand the world theirs is connected to."
"You make it sound like they're here on a sight seeing visit," Adagio said.
"If that's how you wanna see it," Sombra explained before turning serious. "However, the beings we're talking about are not the ones who came to this world in the way I explained."
"Tempest Shadow," Cold stated.
Sombra nodded. "As I said, a Soulink should only be possible when both parties agree to the merger. Should a Duel Spirit attempt to force one, it's likely the internal struggle for control would leave the body comatose. However, I believe I've figured out how they managed to make it possible." He turned to Flash, "would it be okay if I use you as an example?"
Flash wasn't so sure about this, but a glance towards Cold and Misty as they nodded swayed him. "Alright."
Sombra nodded again. "Alright, let's say you got your hand on my card and our compatibility was enough to a Soulink to occur. Instead of simply asking permission, I could force the link." In that moment, a light shot out of Sombra and hit Flash.
The teen cried out as, in the blink of an eye, he suddenly found himself floating in the air looking at himself. "What the?" He asked while looking around, seeing the other's eyes flicking between the two Flash. He then noticed a thin string like light connecting him to his clone.
"What you are seeing is a recreation of what would happen when a Soulink is forced," Sombra explained. "Flash's spirit has been forced out of the driving seat, leaving it in the comatose like state I mentioned earlier. However, the Duel Spirits I warned you about have discovered a way to gain some form of control over the body...by creating a third spirit to inhabit it."
"Third spirit?" Cold asked.
Sombra didn't reply, as a string of light suddenly flowed out of his body and connected to Flash's motionless body. "By linking to two spirits within the body, they can create a new spirit that is a perfect fusion of the first two. This new spirit would have the memories of both its parent spirits, but only have the personality of the Duel Spirit. This new spirit will have complete control over the body, and share the goals and beliefs of the Duel Spirit that created it." Flash's body opened its eyes, his facial expression now one similar to what Sombra had had a year ago.
Before anyone could worry about this, Flash suddenly found himself being pulled back into his body as the string connecting it to Sombra disappeared. "Wow," Flash patted himself down and make sure he was all there. "That was weird."
"What you went through was merely a watered down version of what happened to Tempest and the others. Had I attempted to truly force a Soulink, it would have been much more painful."
"Noted."
"So," Misty said, "you're saying Tempest Shadow and the rest of team Dominator are actually being controlled by a fusion of their spirit and a Duel Spirit."
"Exactly," Sombra said. "This forced Soulink, I believe a simpler term would be...a Dominate." Everyone hearing this suddenly felt a sickening sensation in their stomachs. For some reason, using that term felt so...violating. "These Dominators now walk amongst you. They could be anyone, anyone at all."
"When did this happen?" Grand asked. "When were Tempest and the others...dominated?"
In reply, Sombra stepped away and allowed them a better view of the two worlds. Before anyone could ask what was going on, they saw the lights flowing from one world to the other. "As I'm sure you're all aware, about a year ago a phenomenon occurred where the walls between our two worlds was ripped open."
"Yes," Flash said as they all pouted at him, "we remember."
Sombra rolled his eyes before turning back to the planets. "When you all called upon the spirits of your monsters for help, those monsters responded and were able to cross over to our world. However, this opening also allowed the Dominators to enter our world." Several black lights shot off the planet and flew towards earth. "In the short time the walls were broken down, these Spirits were able to locate compatible Duellists to Soulink with and forced one. Once the domination was complete, they were able to remain in our world without issue."
The vision disappeared, the lot of them now finding themselves back in the ruins. "So they've been in our world for over a year?" Flash asked, with Sombra nodding. "Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?"
"Because," Sombra replied, "like I said before, I have only become aware of this situation recently."
"How did you become aware of it?" Cold asked.
"I told him."
The group turned towards the source of the feminine voice, only to gasp once they saw who stepped out of the shadows. "Tempest Rogue Dominator Scarvolt," Flash whispered.
Scarvolt seemed to frown at this, but quickly changed her expression before getting down on her knees. "Please, save my partner." To say they were confused by this was an understatement.
"Come again?" Adagio asked before turning to Sombra. "Excuse me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say Tempest was being controlled by Scarvolt."
Sombra shook his head. "No, I said a Duel Spirit was controlling her. I never mentioned Scarvolt being the one who did."
"That's right," Scarvolt picked herself up. "I was the one who came to Sombra, hoping he could help me save Tempest from the beast that controls her."
"I'm lost," Flash said. "I thought you could only Soulink with a monster you're most compatible with?" He turned to Sombra, "isn't that what you said."
"I never said you couldn't Soulink with more then one monster," Sombra replied.
"Allow me to explain," Scarvolt said. "A year ago, I sensed the call of Tempest and chose to go to her. But during the journey to your world, something happened."
One year ago.
Scarvolt was travelling through a tunnel of light, heeding the call of her Duellist. But as she drew closer to the human world, she sensed a new presence.
Looking around, she spotted a light flying through the tunnel towards her. Before she could say or do anything, that light unleashed a bolt of lightning at her. She gasped before drawing her sword and using it to deflect the bolt. The light then shot towards her, seeming to want to body tackle her.
Scarvolt flew towards it, ready to slash at it with her sword. And as they made contact, the blade struck the light and they began to push at one another. But then a cracking sound touched Scarvolt's ears and made her look down, seeing the blade of her sword crack.
This crack spread across the blade before the top half of it shattered, allowing whatever was in the light to move forwards and strike her in the chest. She cried as she flew backwards before the light unleashed another bolt of lightning, which struck her. "GAAAH!" She screamed as she began to fall back down the tunnel, the light flying passed her towards the human world. "Fizzy," was all she could whisper before blacking out.
Present day.
"When I awoke, I was back in this world and my link to Tempest was gone." Scarvolt looked visibly hurt telling this story. "I tried for months to reconnect to her, but I can't. That's why I came to Sombra, who I thought might know what's going on."
"Which led to my study of the Soulink and discovery of the Dominators," Sombra finished. "Once I knew everything I could, I reached out to you in a hopes that you would respond. And it looks like I was right."
"So some other Duel Spirit is controlling Tempest," Cold stated.
Sombra nodded. "It's likely she had this spirit's card in her deck when the Shadow Gate opened, allowing the connection to be made. And their compatibility level was high enough to allow a Soulink, this allowing it to Dominate her."
"That's sick," Adagio said.
"Poor Tempest," Misty shook.
"And she's not the only one," Scarvolt explained. "I've been doing my own investigation and discovered several more Duel Spirits that have had the connection to their Duellists cut, all on the same day as when Tempest was lost to me. These Duel Spirits, they're planning something big."
"How can you tell?" Grand asked.
"Because just the other day, another Soulink took place." This was not what they wanted to hear.
"How do you know?" Flash asked.
"Vail Pixie," He replied. "She has been helping me in my investigation. Her dimensional warping abilities allow her to sense when the fabric of space time is warped, as it is during a Soulink. She sensed such a warp several days ago, which is when I'm guessing this Dominate took place."
"Marble Pie," Cold realised.
"Has now become a vessel for a Duel Spirit. Which Spirit, I can't tell for sure."
"Wait," Flash said, "during my Duel with her. I saw something, a shadow of some kind. It looked...just like the monster she was playing at the time. Gaia-Maiden Lady Marble."
"Interesting," Sombra said. "It seems your natural connection to both worlds has given you the ability to see the Duel Spirit controlling the one they Dominate, though likely only when they play themselves as a card. With more focus, you should be able to see more then a shadow next time."
"And learning which monsters are controlling them will help us free them," Cold said.
"How do we do that?" Adagio asked. "How are we suppose to free them from being controlled by some evil Spirit. I doubt an exorcism is gonna work."
"Actually," Sombra said, "saving them is quite a simple matter."
"Really?" Flash asked, not expecting that.
"Yes. The way to save them, is to defeat them in a Duel. With each loss, the connection between the Duellist and the spirit grows weaker. If they lose enough times, especially after summoning the monster controlling them, the connection will eventually break and the Spirit will be forced out of the body back into this world."
So that was it. They just had to beat them in a Duel. "How many times?" Cold asked.
"It depends on their compatibility level," Sombra replied. "If the level is strong, then they could lose multiple Duels without with connection breaking. But if the level is low, like barely exists at all, then losing a single Duel could free them from the spirit that dominates them. In the end, it all depends on the one you wish to free."
Well, at least that was something to go on.
"These Dominators," Cold said. "Any idea what they came to earth for?"
"Yeah," Adagio agreed, "I doubt they came here on a sight seeing tour."
"I don't know. However, I do know one thing. According to Vail Pixie, the warp that allowed Lady Marble's Domination has closed. Because of this, I think it's safe to say that cases like Marble Pie's will not be occurring again in the Double X."
Cold breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."
"However, I doubt they are done messing with it. If they didn't need the tournament for whatever they were planning, they likely would have pulled out right away." The others nodded, agreeing with that statement. In that moment, the world around them began to fade. "It seems our time is coming to a close. The tear is beginning to repair itself."
"Wait," Flash said, "that's it?"
"I have told you everything I know. The rest is up to you. I will try and learn as much as I can and find a way to relay the info to you, but this may be all I can do to help. All I can tell you now is to be careful. There may be forces at work here beyond our comprehension."
They all nodded before Cold turned to Scarvolt. "Don't worry. We'll find a way to free Tempest and reconnect you two. No matter what it takes."
"Thank you," Scarvolt nodded before turning to Flash. "And for the record, Dominator isn't part of my name. It's Tempest Rogue Scarvolt. I don't know what that monster did to my card."
"Sorry," Flash replied, "and I make the same promise to you as Cold did. We'll save your partner. We'll save all the Dominated Duellists."
"Thank you," was all Scarvolt said before the world around them went blank.
Later.
Once they were back in their world, the five had left the lab and were now driving towards Freeze Stadium. Flash had finally noticed the texts telling him they were there and Misty had demanded Cold take them so she could see Scootaloo and finally meeting her son's girlfriend.
"So what now?" Flash asked. "how are we gonna deal with the Dominators?"
Cold sighed. "As much as I want to say we should just beat them and break the link, it's probably a smart move to try and find out what they came here for."
"And if they plan on bringing any more of their friends here," Grand said.
Adagio groaned. "I'm starting to think maybe my team should have gone to the second round as well."
Cold looked back at her. "You're the one who said you didn't want to take up space for a team who actually wanted to be in the next round."
"Yeah," she replied, "but still."
"Don't worry," Misty told her before smiling at her son. "Flash's team will be more then enough. Instead, let's see what we can do from outside the tournament." They all nodded as Cold pulled up to the stadium. As soon as he was parked, Misty almost jumped out of the car with the rest of them following. "Come on!" She practically ran towards the building.
Adagio laughed before turning to walk away. "Sorry, not big on family reunions."
"That's not what I heard," Cold said.
This made Adagio go red before she began to walk off. "Just call me when you actually need me and my sisters." With that, she was gone.
Flash and Cold began to head towards the stadium, but stopped when they saw Grand wasn't following. "Gramps, you coming?"
Grand remained stoic in his expression. He then turned to his grandson, "sorry kid. But I think I'm gonna head out and see what I can learn about the Dominators." This caused both Flash and Cold to go wide-eyed.
"What," Flash rushed over to him, "why?"
"I have a lot of contacts around the world. They'll help me in my investigation. If I can find out what they're planning, we'll have more ammo to use against them."
"I see," Flash slumped. "We just got mom back, but know we're losing you."
Grand smiled while patted him on the shoulder. "You're not losing me, but this is important and I'm the best man for the job. And with your mom back, I can go without worrying about you burning down the house." Flash rolled his eyes, but gave his grandfather a hug.
"See you gramps."
"See you son. Hug your sister goodbye for me."
"I will." With that, Grand pulled away and began to walk off. Flash watched him go, disappearing from sight before turning to Cold. As stepped up to and passed him, stopping two of three feet behind him. "Now I understand why you didn't want to say anything about Tempest in front of us."
Cold nodded. "The rules for the second round will remain the same. We can't go back on decisions that have already been made. That would look suspicious."
"So you want me to try and figure out what Tempest is planning to do, right?"
"No." This made Flash turn back to him in surprise, "don't worry. I'll be sure to use you when the moment comes. Until then, continue Duelling like you always would." Flash hummed, unsure if he'd be able to do that with all this new information given to him. "We need you to stay in the competition." Cold then smirked, "the second round won't be easy."
Cold and Flash stared at one another for several long moments, until Flash finally nodded before heading into the stadium.
Once inside, he spotted a large crowd and moved towards it when he realised it was his friends. They were all standing around his mother and sister, the two girls hugging with tears in their eyes. Scootaloo then spotted Flash and pulled away from Misty, running up towards him. "Flash!" She reached him and threw a fist into his gut, making him cry out with a loud wheeze. "What the heck you jerk! Why didn't you tell me mom was coming home!?"
Flash, still winded, looked up at her. "We...wanted it to be a surprise. Early birthday present."
"My birthday's was two months ago."
"Really early birthday present."
Misty quickly moved over to the two and got between them. "Alright you two, that's enough. Let's not spoil the moment." Her children smiled at this.
"Okay," Scootaloo replied, "I'm sorry." She grabbed Misty's hand, "come on. I wanna introduce you to my friends. Then, can we Duel." Misty laughed and agreed, returning to the group and letting Flash stand back to get his breath back.
As he watched Scootaloo give the intros, Twilight stepped up to him. "So," she said, "this is the errand you were talking about."
Errand? Flash quickly connected the dots and remembered their earlier conversation, "yes. Yes, this is the errand. Sorry I didn't tell you. I wanted it to be a surprise for Scootaloo and I didn't want you Twilighting about meeting my mom and her not liking you."
Twilight smiled as she stood next to him, Flash putting an arm around her waist. "It's alright, I get it. You wanted to spend a day with your mom. You don't need to make excuses." Flash smiled at this and kissed her on the forehead, while watching Scootaloo and Misty move over to a holo-table.
"DUEL!"
"Hey," Flash said, "you still up for going out later."
Twilight looked up at him, "don't you wanna spend time with your mom?"
"I had all day with her. Only right Scootaloo get the same chance." Twilight smiled at this and agreed, the two turning to watch the mother daughter Duel.
Meanwhile, in another section of Canterlot, Pinkie and Maud sitting outside their house. The two were still reeling from what had happened with Marble, especially with what she'd said.
"I...I don't get it," Pinkie said while her hair went flat. "Why doesn't Marble want to be with us? And...where did she go?"
"I don't know," Maud replied. Despite her usual stoic nature, she too was filled with sadness, worry and confusion.
Pinkie began to vibrate, until she jumped into the air and seemed to float their for several seconds while yelling out. "That's it!" She almost yelled while landing back on the ground with her hair returning to being fluffy. "We have to find her!" She turned to Maud, "It doesn't matter if she doesn't want to be around us anymore. She's our sister and we have to find out what happened to here."
Maud remained quiet for a moment, not even blinking, but then stood up. "I'm with you. Let's go find her."
"YAY!" Pinkie screamed before rushing into the house and coming back out a second later, now with a large travel bag on her back while carrying another in her arms. "What are we waiting for?" She put the bag on Maud, "let's get going." But before the two could take a single step, they stopped when they saw someone standing on the end of their driveway. "Grand?"
Flash's grandfather stared at the two for a second, then stepped up to them. "I need your help to find Marble."
Pinkie and Maud both shared a confused look, wondering where this was going.
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Very informative, Hopefully, Sombra's and Scarvolt's information will help Flash and Cold.
I would have just said 'my partner' because I don't think 'Tempest Shadow' is her real name, I'm calling it, her real name is Fizzlepop Berrytwist
... CALLED IT!
So we're gonna go with the 'what Limestone doesn't know can't hurt her' approach, because we all know she'd tear up the town to find Marble... and just to be clear Limestone is my least favorite Pie sister, but she is Marble's Onee-sama, Pinkie's Onee-chan, and Maud's Nee-san... just saying
Wow, never knew Sombra would mention Atem and Yugi in this chapter. So freaking Sweet!
I know you've got more plot-relevant things to write about than a date, but those two better have a nice date.
I know you said that you weren't going to break them up, but I can't help but feel this weird black cloud hovering over the two of them. I certainly hope I'm wrong.
9796516
That black cloud is Midnight Sparkle, she will be Flash's final foe, I can feel it in my marrow.
9796595
You think Midnight Sparkle is going to force a link with Twilight and break her connection with her other monsters.
(blinks twice)
By the way, which card would be considered Twilight's partner? The chapter where she dueled Moondancer seemed to imply it was Twilight Warlock, but in Shadow Gates, she summoned Twilight Sorcerer and Twilight Alicorn. Then again, Twilight Warlock could be just Twilight Sorcerer upgraded like Flash Heart Dragon X is Flash Heart Dragon upgraded. I don't know.
9796612 They're both her aces. Her best card is a combo of both of them.
9796612
I think Midnight Sparkle would more like Yami Bukura (I know I spelt that wrong) from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Manga then a duel spirit.
That explains it. The Dominators are being possessed by Duel Spirit, or at least by a fusion of their own spirit and the monster's spirit. I guess that also explains their team name, not only can Tempest's monsters "dominate", all three of them have been "dominated" themselves. It was also a surprise that Tempest's ace monster wasn't the one controlling her, and is just as much a victim in this as she is. Now the big question left is which monster is controlling each Dominator. Flash might have the easiest time determining that since he can see the spirit possessing them when they summon themselves, but he can't be expected to face all of Team Dominator himself.
I thought including brief moments from the previous Yugioh shows was clever, especially saying how Yugi and Atem created the first Soulink together. It helps understand the basic process of a Soulink a lot easier. But now we can finally begin the second round, and I have a feeling every team is going to struggle to survive.
Change the period to a comma and make the "and" lowercase.
us
Actually, you mean "Zorc". Zarc was the main enemy of Arc-V.
be
what
Put "say" between "to" and "anything".
9796516
I bet we'll still get a few moments between them. Even if they need to duel each other in the Double X at some point they would probably manage to sneak some flirting in like they did way back in their first duel in the first story.
Well, we finally get some insight on how the Dominators came to be, and we have a way to potentially defeat them, as difficult as it may seem. I can only hope that Twilight, Flash and their friends can find a way to stop this new threat before they can really pick up steam.
I still can't help but wonder... If Moondancer had never been recruited by the Dominators, is there a chance she would still be alive right now?