• Published 14th Nov 2018
  • 3,559 Views, 681 Comments

Yugioh EQG: XX - Banshee531



A year has past since our heroes battle against Sombra. Now, a new threat appears in the form of a tournament. Will our heroes be able to overcome this evil, or is the peace they worked so hard to achieve gone forever?

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Turn 29: Written in the Stars

Celestia: Welcome to the second round of the Double X Tournament.

Luna: Sixteen teams have made it here, but only four can go through to the final round. Who those teams will be, only time will tell.

The crowd in the Freeze Stadium exploded with applause. Up in the VIP box, Misty was sitting besides Scootaloo and the rest of her new friends as they waited to hear how this round was gonna play out. The answer came when Cold and Shining appeared on the megascreen.

"Let's begin the Double X Tournament's second round," Cold announced before the screen changed to show the words he was about to say. "Duelling Royale." The screen then changed again, this time showing a bunch of round platforms stacked one atop the other. It had five layers. The bottom layer had six platform, the second had five, the third had four, the forth had three and the very final level had only one platform. Each level was connected to a lower one by white horizontal pipes, which they guessed were hollow and worked as stairways up to the next level. And with each level, the size of the platform grew smaller

Each platform had a different environment within them. Some were gardens, while others were sandy beaches. Some looked likes cities while others were large stone mazes. The very top level was just a flat surface.

"This is where our competitors will be Duelling," Shining explained. "Every competitor will start on one of the bottom platforms and try to make their way up to the top floor. Along the way, they'll Duel to earn points that they'll need to make it through."

Cold continued, as the screen changed to show a familiar watch. "The Raduels will now allow the wearer to locate any and all Duellists throughout the stadium." It changed again, this time showing the teams from top to bottom in the order they made it through. Besides the team names were numbers, with team Dominator having the number forty eight besides theirs with team V-Fighters had the number three. "Each team will be given points depending on where they placed in the first round, evenly divided between each member.

The screen now changed to show chibi versions of Cold and Shining, as Shining talked. "When Duellists come across one another, they have the choice of either challenging the opponent or running away. If one Duellists challenges, the other must Duel them."

The chibi Cold suddenly fell down while chibi Shining looked proud. "The winner will earn all of his opponent's points, while the loser must drop out of the competition. If all three team members lose a match, their team will be eliminated." This caused murmurs to spread throughout the crowd. So unlike the last round, this one was do or die. You lose, you're out. "For every team member that makes it to the top, that team will gain the points those Duellists earned. At the end of it, the four teams with the highest points will go through to the finals."

The screen changed back to show Celestia and Luna.

Celestia: And there you have it. The second round will begin in thirty minutes.

Luna: The Duellists may enter into any of level one's stadiums to begin their journey.

Both: We wish you all the best of luck.


Over in the Extra Deck, the teams were now discussing their plans now that they knew what was coming.

"This is gonna be tricky," Flash said.

"Yeah," Spike agreed, "no doubt the higher ranking teams will just try and get to the top as fast as they can."

Sunburst nodded. "With so many points, that makes them a big target."

"Guys," they turned to see teams Applejewel and Tidal Maidens step up to them.

"Hey guys," Flash waved. "Looks like we're in for a tough time, huh."

"Yes," Twilight agreed. "This is do or die. No room for error."

"Oh," Fluttershy shook, "I'm not sure I'm ready for this."

Sunset placed a hand on her shoulder, "you'll be fine. Just remember to stay calm and trust your deck."

Rarity spoke up. "If we want to win, then we can't show any mercy."

Applejack nodded, "don't expect me ta go easy on ya'h. The second a'h see one of ya'll, it's Duel time."

"No problem," Flash assured her before he spotted team Wonderbolts heading towards them. "Hey," he held out a hand to Rainbow, "here's to a good match."

Rainbow frowned, but shook his hand anyway. "Listen, guys. I've made a decision. Team Wonderbolts isn't gonna go up against team Dominator, or any of you guys." This made them all gasp. Rainbow Dash was going to turn down a challenge.

"Why?" Fluttershy asked.

"Our team only has six points," Rainbow explained. "That's two points each. If we wanna get through, he can't go up against Duellists we'll have a hard time facing off against."

"So ya'h backin out cause ya'h scared?" Applejack frowned, not liking this attitude from her rival.

"I don't like it either," Rainbow told them. "But it's what's gotta happen for the good of the team. Our entire schools backing us, so being knocked out here can't happen." She turned to walk off, "sorry guys." As they headed off, Soarin turned to Rainbow.

"You really sure you wanna do this?" Soarin asked, "you said how much you were looking forward to going up against them."

Rainbow nodded. "I know, but this is for the best. Principal Spitfire is facing heavy heat because of us, so it's better to make sure we don't give those making things hard for her more ammo."

"I guess that makes sense," Gilda said. "But even so, I don't like this wimpy strategy."

"It might seem wimpy," Soarin said. "But these kinds of strategies are well known in most military circles."

Rainbow nodded. "Besides, if they really wanna face me then I'll need to get to the next round. That's where I wanna Duel them." Soarin and Gilda nodded before they headed towards the gate.


Finally, the thirty minute mark passed and all the Duellists stepped out into the Action Field.

Celestia: Alright! Double X, round two, is now underway!

The megascreen showed several Duels were already taking place, while also showing Duellists running around looking for either an opponent or a path leading up to the second level.

Luna: On screen you can see the locations of all the Duellists. This information is also available to them thanks to their Raduels.

Celestia: How will they choose to play? Risk everything to gain points or get to the top as soon as they can?

Luna: It's going to be exciting either way.

In one of the beach locations, Rainbow pointed her Raduel at an opponent. This caused both Raduels to beep, signalling that their Duel was on.

Meanwhile, in a city field, Twilight's Twilight Warlock destroyed Pip's Dread Pirate Nightmare and wiped out the last of his points. "Yes!" She cheered as the Duel monsters faded. "That's one win for us."

Celestia: Twilight Sparkle has already won her first match.

"Oh man," Pip moaned. "I can't believe I've been knocked out already."

Luna: Young Pip had twelve points, so they now belong to Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight smiled before looking down at her Raduel. The three next to her picture increased to fifteen, making her team's total score twenty one. The screen then beeped, showing an incoming call.

She answered and saw Fluttershy one screen. "Hey Twilight. Great work."

"Thanks," Twilight smiled, "I love how we can talk with these. We can plan strategies."

"Yeah," Fluttershy agreed, "it's gonna be a great help."

Twilight nodded, "let's get out there and earn a bunch of points."

Fluttershy nodded. "By the way, have you seen Sunset?"


Over in the garden field, Sunset had just run into another Duellist.

He smiled as he stared her down. "If I beat you, all those points you have will become mine."

Sunset smirked, "those points aren't mine to give. They belong to the team. I'm sorry, but I can't let you have them." She pointed her Raduel at him, "let's Duel!"


In the maze field, a Duellist whose team had gotten through early was sneaking around.

"Idiots," he chuckled, "why Duel when the points I have should pretty much guarantee me a spot. All I've gotta do is make it to the top without being spotted." But as he turned a corner, he came to a stop when he saw another Duellist standing there. "Tempest Shadow."

The girl turned towards him, a smile on her face. "I have sixteen points. If you win, then you get them all."

"Sixteen?" The teen whispered. The logical side of his brain was telling him to run, but the greedy part of it was telling him to fight. In the end, greed won out over logic and the teen challenged Tempest. "Those points are mine!"

Tempest just smirked, "we'll see."


Within the garden field, Heath Burns was Duelling against Shining Spoon.

His Duel Disk was red with a yellow blade. On his field was Flame Ruler, along with a face down. Meanwhile, Spoon had his Rebellion Dragon out and had just used its ability to increase its ATK points.

"Rebellion Dragon, attack!" The beast flew towards Flame Ruler, as its mandibles sparked. "Lightning Disobey!"

Heath however, did not look impressed. "What a bore," his face down flipped up to reveal a Trap. "Magical Cylinders!"

"Oh no!" Spoon cried as his attack was absorbed before being redirected towards him. With a single shot, all his life points were wiped out.


Over in the VIP box, Misty was watching the Duel between Tempest and her opponent. "So that's her," she said as she watched the girl defeat her opponent. "Tempest."

"She's really strong," Scootaloo said.

"I hope none of our friends run into her," Sweetie agreed.

"As scary as it sounds," they all turned to see Cold and Shining enter the room. "It's likely that if any of your friends want to win, they'll need to defeat team Dominator at some points." Everyone frowned, not liking the sound of that at all.


"So weak," Tempest snide towards her fallen opponent. "That's all your capable of?" She stepped away, a frown on her face. "To think, these are the beings who have saved their world from darkness so many times. How weak were these evils, that they'd fall to such pitiful beings." Suddenly, the image of a certain girl flashed before her eyes and made her stop. "Moondancer." She shook her head and continued to walk away.


Over in the garden field, we find Starlight walking through the flowers.

She hadn't Duelled anyone yet, mainly because she hadn't found anyone of interest. But as she turned around a hedge, she suddenly found herself standing on a battle field.

"I set the Pendulum Scale!" Spike cried, "with scale three Flame Spear Dragon and scale seven Flame Banner Dracokid!" The portals of light appeared besides him before the monsters flew up into them. Once their, the portal formed. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened and two fireballs flew out, exploding to reveal his monsters. "Flame Sabre Dragon and Iron Tail Dragon!" The two dragons roared.

"Those won't beat my Ancient Gear Golem," his opponent told him.

"Well what if I sacrifice them?" The two monsters disappeared, and was replaced by a giant metal vault. "Break free from your iron prison. Gandora-X, the Dragon of Demolition!" The vault's locks undid before the whole thing shattered, unleashing a wave of fire that quickly faded to reveal his monster. The beast roared as the light around its body glowed red "Now for Gandora-X's skill. He can destroy any monster on the field that I choose, and then hit you with damage equal to the destroyed monster's ATK points."

The teen's eyes went wide as he watched Gandora-X unleashed a barrage of lasers from the lights on its body, destroying Gear Golem and wiping out his life points.

Celestia: He's done it. Team V-Fighter's Spike has won an impressive victory.

Spike sighed as the monsters vanished. No matter what, he had to win and get his team to the final stage. He didn't care how strong his opponents were, he'd win.

He turned to walk off, only to come face to face with Starlight. "Huh, you're from team Dominator."

"That's right," Starlight said. "I was just watching your Duel. An excellent comeback."

"Err...thanks."

Starlight hummed, as if considering something, then smiled before pointing her Raduel at him. Spike gasped, not having expected to face a member of this team so soon. "What's the matter?" She asked before pulling out a pink Duel Disk, "scared?"

Spike frowned, "I'm not scared."

"Then prove it," she placed the disk on her arm before a purple blade appeared.

"I will," Spike reactivated his Duel Disk. No matter what, he was gonna win. Beating her would earn him a significant amount of points.

"Show me what you've got," Starlight said while drawing her cards.

"No problem," Spike did the same.

"DUEL!"

Spike: 4000
Starlight: 4000


In the city field, Flash was in the middle of his own Duel when his Raduel beeped.

Activating the screen, he saw Spike and his opponent. "What?" Spike was going up against one of team Dominator. A sense of dread filled him. What if they tried to do to Spike what they did to Marble? Sombra had said their shouldn't be any more Dominates happening, but then why were these three still competing?

Flash sighed before looking up at the sky, "you go for it bud."


In the beach field, Sunburst saw this and grew just as worried. Though not for the same reasons as Flash.

"Starlight," he whispered. How he wished her could be there, to see just how much his old friend had grown as a Duellist. But by the time he got to the garden field, the match would likely be over. He'd just have to hope to meet her later.


"I'll take the first move," Starlight drew her card. "And with it, I'll summon Celestial Spirit Cancer in DEF mode!" Suddenly, a star constellation appeared in front of them that matched the Cancer star sign. Seconds later, they exploded in a burst of light that quickly faded to reveal her monster.

Said monster was what appeared to be a young boy in a red suit of crab themed armour. He had pincers instead of hands and six crab leg like appendages coming out of the side of his helmet. (A600/D1600/L4) "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"It's my turn!" Spike drew his card. "And I summon Assault Wyvern, in ATK mode!" The blue and silver dragon appeared before him. (A1800/D1000/L4) "Attack!" It then soared forwards and cut the crab knight to pieces.

"You activated my Trap!" Starlight announced as her face down flipped up. "Stardust Draw. Now I can draw cards equal to my monster's level." She drew three cards.

"Well when Assault Wyvern destroys a monster in battle, his ability lets me replace him with a dragon from my hand!" The dragon vanished in a burst of light, being replaced by a red and blue dragon. "Say hello, to Des Volstgalph!" (A2200/D1700/L6)

"And say hello to my other face down!" Starlight flipped her card up, revealing a Spell card. "Celestial Ursa Minor! This card let's me summon four Ursa Minor Tokens in DEF mode." Four blue energy bears with stars on their foreheads appeared. (A0/D0/L1)X4.

"Well since you activated a Spell card, Des Volstgalph gets an extra two hundred ATK points!" (A2400/D1700/L6) "Now attack!" The dragon unleashed a breath attack that destroyed one of the bears. "And when he destroys a monster, he deals you five hundred points of damage!" The dragon fired another blast of flames, which struck Starlight and made her stagger backwards.

Spike: 4000
Starlight: 3500

"I place one card face down and end my turn." Des Volstgalph's ATK returned to normal. (A2200/D1700/L6)

Celestia: Spike of team V-Fighters takes an early lead.

Luna: This is looking good for him, as his team finished in the previous round in last place and could use those sixteen points

"It's my turn," Starlight drew her card. "And I'll start by playing the spell card Celestial Ursa Major!" The three small bears exploded into cosmic energy, which began to swirl into a vortex of light. "By tributing my Ursa Minor Tokens, I can summon an Ursa Major Token!" The light formed a large purple energy bear, with sabre-tooth fangs and a star on its head. (A?/D?/L7)

"Well since you played another Spell card, my dragon gets a power up!" (A2400/D1700/L6)

Starlight smirked, "well my Major's ATK and DEF power becomes the number of Minors I tributed times eight hundred. (A2400/D2400/L7) "Next, I summon Celestial Spirit Libra!" Another constellation revealed a female knight in bronze armour, carrying a pair it twin swords. Sticking out of her helmet were a pair of scales. (A900/D900/L4) "And since she's in ATK mode, her DEF points drop to zero but her ATK points increase by the DEF points lost. (A1800/D0/L4)

Spike watched as Starlight began to race through the garden, jumping up as she reached a tree and grabbing an Action Card. "I play the Action Spell Skill Share." Spike's dragon once again powered up. (A2600/D1700/L6) "Now I can transfer Libra's ability to Ursa Major!" Libra glowed, the light flying over to the bear as her ATK and DEF returned to normal. (A900/D900/L4) Meanwhile, Ursa Major glowed. (A4800/D0/L7)

"Oh boy," Spike said.

"Attack!" The star on the bear's head glowed, ready to unleashed a blast of cosmic energy.

But before it could, "I activate my Trap!" His face down flipped up, "Stepping Down for the Future Generations!" His dragon glowed, "now I can sacrifice Des Volstgalph to summon two Dragon monsters whose Levels equal his!" The light enveloped the dragon before splitting apart to take form and fade. "So now I summon Ember Dragon and Flame Banner Dracokid!" (A1200/D1100/L3) (A1100/D1100/L3/P7) The two young dragons took a defensive stance.

"Alright," Starlight said, "then I'll attack Ember Dragon!" Ursa Major fired its blast and struck the dragon, destroying it before the embers created two small fireballs with eyes. (A0/0/L1)X2

"Sorry, but when Ember Dragon's destroyed, I can summon two Ember Tokens in DEF mode."

"Well they'll soon only be one. Libra, attack!" The female knight rushed forwards and slashed the fireball, destroying it. "I place two cards face down and end my turn." Skill Share's ability faded, returning the monsters to normal. (A2400/D2400/L7) (A1800/D0/L4)

"It's my turn!" Spike drew his card, "and I summon Heat Wing Dragon to the field." A small red dragon appeared on the field, it's wings radiating waves of heat. (A300/D200/L1) "Now watch," the little dragon transformed into a fireball that carved a blazing ring. "As I tune Heat Wing Dragon with Flame Banner Dracokid and my Ember Token." The two monsters flew into the fire ring. "Burning spirit, erupt into a wildfire of power!" The ring exploded and created a blazing sphere. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The flames receded, revealing his monster "Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8) "And when Heat Wing Dragon is used to Synchro Summon a Fire monster, that monster gains five hundred ATK points for his turn." The ghostly image of Heat Wing appeared above Flame Hunter and exploded into a veil of fire that surrounded the dragon, as Spike leapt up onto its back. (A2800/D1300/L5/P8) "Now attack Celestial Spirit Libra!" The dragon unleashed a burst of fire, that headed straight for Starlight's monster.

"I don't think so!" Starlight said as Ursa Major leapt in front of Libra and took the hit, exploding.

Spike: 4000
Starlight: 3100

"What happened?"

"My Interception Trap Card," She explained. "It lets a monster take the hit for one that's weaker then it, so Ursa Major protected Libra. And with his destruction, I can activate this card!" Her other face down flipped up to reveal a Trap. "Starlight Ride! Since a Light monster was destroyed by battle, I can summon two or more new Light monsters with Levels equal to it."

"No way!" Spike cried, as he watched the pieces of her destroyed monster come together into a pair of constellations.

Those constellations exploded, revealing her monsters. The first was a man wearing brown scorpion armour around his head, chest, waist and legs. He had a pair of robotic claws where his hands should be and a long robotic tail coming out of the back of his waist armour. The other was a young woman with white armour that had wool trim, with a white helmet on her head that had ram horns on it. "Say hello to Celestial Spirit Scorpio and Aries." (A1800/D600/L4) (A1400/D900/L3)

Celestia: Incredible. Starlight was able to turn a bad situation into a positive.

Luna: I wonder what these new monsters can do?

"I place one card face down and end my turn," Spike stated as Flame Hunter's ATK returned to their normal total. (A2300/D1300/L5/P8)

Starlight smiled as she drew her card. "I activate Aries's ability" She drew three cards, "I look at the top three cards of my deck and send any Celestial Spirit to the graveyard." She took two of them and placed them in the graveyard, "now I can summon the same number of Wool Tokens to the field." Aries pulled two wool-balls off her armour and tossed it onto the ground, with those wool-balls suddenly gaining eyes. (A300/D300/L1)X2. "Now I activate Scorpio's ability!" Scorpio raised its tail and fired a strange purple liquid out of the end.

Spike saw the liquid flying towards him and Flame Hunter. "WOW!" He leapt off the dragon, just as the liquid hit it and began to steam. When Spike landed, he looked up at his monster saw its ATK points were beginning to drop. (A1700/D1300/L5/P8) "What happened?"

Starlight smiled. "Once per turn, Scorpio can lower to ATK of a monster on your field by two hundred for every Celestial Spirit in the graveyard."

"Sneaky." Spike then spotted an Action Card in a bird bath, which he rushed to grab as Starlight continued.

"Scorpio, attack Flame Hunter!" The armoured man rushed forwards before using his claws to stab the dragon, destroying it.

Spike: 3900
Starlight: 3100

"I activate the Action Spell Reflective Guardian! Since a monster was just destroyed, I can summon two Reflection Tokens with ATK and DEF equal to my monsters level times two hundred." A pair of pale looking Flame Hunter Dragons appeared on his field. (A1000/D1000/L5)X2

Starlight smiled. "Libra!" The woman rushed forwards and slashed one of the dragons with her swords.

Spike: 3100
Starlight: 3100

"Aries!" The younger woman dashed towards Spike's dragon and headbutted it, destroying it and leaving Spike's field empty.

Spike: 2900
Starlight: 3100

"Now, my Wool Tokens!" The cloud-like monster flew forwards and both tackled Spike in the stomach, knocking him down.

Spike: 2400
Starlight: 3100

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

Luna: How's Spike gonna come back with Starlight's field so full of monsters?

Spike knew how. "I draw and activate the effect of Flame Banner Dracokid." He pulled the card from his Extra Deck and sent it to the graveyard, "now I can add two Dragon-Type Pendulum Monsters from my deck to my hand." His deck slotted out two cards, which he took and placed on the Duel Disk. The pillars of light appeared besides him, as Flame Core and Flame Breaker Dragon flew up into them.

"Here it comes," Starlight smirked at this.

"Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" The portal began to form above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened up before a pair fireballs shot out and hit the ground, exploding to reveal Spike's monsters. "Scorcher Dragon!" (A1200/D700/L3) "And Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8) "Now for Flame Hunter's ability!" The dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a burst of fire, which struck Starlight's field and burnt her face down to a crisp. "How's that?"

"Predictable," Starlight replied in an almost bored tone.

"What?" Spike asked, before both his dragons sudden crashed into the floor. It was as if something was pulling them downwards, forcing them into DEF mode.

They weren't the only ones effected, as all of Starlight's monsters were forced into DEF mode as well. "You like it. It's my Gravity Well Trap. It activated the moment you destroyed it and forced all our monsters into DEF position. What's more, when Libra is in DEF mode her ATK drops to zero and her DEF goes up by the same amount." (A0/D1800/L4) Starlight saw Spike wasn't happy about this. "I spent most of the first round watching every single match the rest of you played. I've seen every move you have, so there's nothing you can do to surprise me."

Spike frowned, "fine. Then do you know what's gonna happen next?"

"You're gonna use your monsters to Synchro Summon Dragonic Blazemaster," she replied.

"That was a rhetorical question!" He cried as the two cards leapt into the air before Scorcher Dragon burst into a trio of fireballs, that carved the fire rings around his Synchro Pendulum. "Cast your flames across this battle field, and burn everything that is weak to ashes!" Spike chanted as his monsters were consumed by an explosion of fire. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The flames erupted, as Spike's ace burst free and revealed itself. "Dragonic Blazemaster!" (A3000/D2000/L8) "ATTACK!" The dragon rushed towards Scorpio, as Starlight rushed towards a nearby Action Card.

Scooping it out of a pond, she turned it around and found it was an Action Trap.

Celestia: Oh! That's gonna cost her. That Action Trap will deal her two hundred points of damage every time one of her monsters is destroyed.

Luna: She probably should have just let them be destroyed. Oh well.

Blazemaster cut Scorpio in half, dealing Starlight damage.

Spike: 2400
Starlight: 2900

Spike smirked. "And since Blazemaster destroyed a card on your field, he can attack another monster you have." The dragon turned to Aries as its sword reignited, "ETERNAL FLAME!" The ram woman was destroyed, Starlight once again being damaged by the Action Trap

Spike: 2400
Starlight: 2700

Soon enough, Libra and the Wool Tokens were taken out too. And for each one, Starlight lost two hundred life points.

Spike: 2400
Starlight: 2100

Celestia: Incredible! Spike has turned to table around in this Duel. How will Starlight deal with this?

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

"Then it's my turn!" Starlight drew her card and instantly activated it, "I play Magical Mallet. Now I can return any cards in my hand back to my deck, then shuffle and redraw." She placed all her cards back into the deck, which shuffled before she drew three new cards. "Then I play the Spell card, Celestial Device Sextans. With this card, I can revive one Celestial Spirit in my graveyard. And I choose Celestial Spirit Pisces!" Another constellation appeared in front of her before exploding, the light fading to reveal a pair of barracudas, one black and one white, swimming around each other. (A2000/D500/L4)

"Those two won't beat my dragon," Spike told her.

"Patience," Starlight replied. "First, I activate Pisces's ability." (A1000/D500/L4) "By halving their ATK points, they can attack you twice."

"So what?"

"So," Starlight activated another card, "now I activate the Spell Card Reverse Polarity!" Spike's eyes went wide before he looked up at his monster and saw it's power begin to drop, while Pisces's rose. (A3000/D500/L4) (A1000/D2000/L8)

"Oh boy." Spike began to run off in search of an Action Card, while Starlight jumped onto the back of her monster.

"Pisces, attack!" The black barracuda swam towards Blazemaster, as it and Spike rounded a hedge and spotted an Action Card.

He rushed over to it and grabbed the card, activating is seconds before the attack landed. "Go, Evasion!" Blazemaster managed to dodge the fish, only for the white one to fly at it.

"Don't forget, I've still got another attack!"

"Well I activate my face down!" Spike's card flipped up to reveal a Spell card, "Shrink!" The white barracuda suddenly became halve the size. (A1500/D500/L4) It struck Blazemaster and destroyed it, knocking Spike down.

Spike: 1900
Starlight: 2100

Starlight smiled as she spotted an Action Card in a nearby tree, the black Pisces grabbing it in its teeth before swimming down to give it to her. She looked at the card and smiled. This might come in handy if Spike did what she figured he'd do. "I end my turn."

"My draw," Spike saw what he'd gotten and smiled as the portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!"

The portal opened before a fireball shot out and hit the ground, exploding to reveal his monster. "Flame Hunter Dragon!" (A2300/D1300/L5/P8) "Then I play the Spell Monster Reborn, to revive Dragonic Blazemaster!" A portal opened before his ace flew out, standing besides Flame Hunter.

Starlight smirked before activating her Action Spell, "Draw Score!" Now I can look at the top five cards of my deck and place any Spell or Trap card face down, this the rest are sent to the graveyard. What's more, I can activate any Trap or Quick-Play Spell this turn." She drew five cards, smiling as she placed four of the cards face down while sending the last to the graveyard.

Spike frowned. Even though he'd summoned Flame Hunter, she was able to get a bunch of face down out onto the field. He'd have to be careful. "I activate the Pendulum Ability of Flame Breaker Dragon."

Spike: 1500
Starlight: 2100

"I banish Armoured Wyvern, two summon to Dragon monsters whose Levels equal his!" The dragon appeared before Flame Breaker tossed its hammer into its back. As soon as it made contact, the dragon exploded and the flames split into four fireballs. "I summon Peewee Dragon and Magna Drago!" The fireballs exploded to reveal the dragons. (A300/D100/L2) (A1400/D600/L2)

Starlight frowned, knowing what was coming.

"Now," the three dragons leapt into the air, "Level Two Peewee Dragon and Level two Magna Drago will Double Tune Level eight Dragonic Blazemaster!" The Tuner's exploded into a quartet of fireballs, which quickly blazed four rings of fire. Those four rings lined up, as Blazemaster flew up into them. "Flames of Apocalypse, incinerate everything in this world!" The flaming rings exploded, wrapping Blazemaster into a ball of fire. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"

The flaming sun began to extinguish, reveal Spike's new monster. "Dragonic Blazemaster...INFERNO LEGEND!" (A3500/D3000/L12) "And with nine dragons in the graveyard, Inferno Legend gains and extra twenty seven hundred ATK points." The ghosts of Spike's destroyed monster appeared around the dragon, then exploded into flames that flew into Inferno Legend. (A6200/D3000/L12)

Celestia: WOW! Spike's really holding nothing back.

Luna: That's the best card in his deck. Starlight's gonna have trouble beating it.

Spike pointed at Starlight. "I'll start with an attack by Flame Hunter Dragon!" The dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a burst of fire, but before it could land a pink energy wave wrapped around Pisces and blocked it. "What the?"

"My Starlight Veil!" Starlight explained as he face down flipped up to reveal a Trap, "this card lets me block up to three attacks."

Spike growled. "Fine, then I'll have Inferno Legend attack!" The giant dragon drew its sword, igniting it before flying forwards and slashing at the veil. "And by banishing a Tuner from my graveyard, I can have him attack again." (A5900/D3000/L12) Inferno Legend drew another flaming sword and once again attacked the veil, this time causing it to shatter and leave Pisces defenceless. "And once again, I'll banish a Tuner monster and have him attack again." (A5600/D3000/L12) Inferno Legend drew another sword.

"I activate my Trap!" Starlight's other face down flipped up, "Celestial Weapon Scutum!" A large shield appeared in front of Pisces and blocked the sword. "This card allows me to stop one attack, as well as switch my monster to DEF mode and raise its DEF points by five hundred." (A2000/D1000/L4)

Spike frowned. "I banish another Tuner monster, which let's my dragon attack again!" (A5300/D3000/L12) Inferno Legend drew another sword and slashed at Pisces, finally destroying it and leaving Starlight's field empty. "Now I'll banish my last Tuner monster in order for him to attack you directly!" (A5000/D3000/L12) Inferno Legend drew its last sword, which it raised up high.

Celestia: Is this is? Will team Dominator, the first team to get through to this round, lose a member to the team that was the last to get through.

Luna: It sure looks like it. But then again, a Duel isn't over until the last card is played.

Inferno Legend swung the blade downwards toward's Starlight's head. But before it could make contact with her, a new constellation appeared between them. This one quickly exploded, revealing a woman in a snake charmer outfit carrying a flute with a large serpent slithering around her. (A1700/D1000/L4)

"What the?" Spike asked as Inferno Legend's blade struck the woman.

"Meet Celestial Spirit Ophiuchus, a Trap Monster."

Celestia: INCREDIBLE! She survived. By summoning that card in DEF mode, she's protected herself from Spike's onslaught of attacks.

Luna: Who would have thought it. And something tells me that card has more power then she's letting on.

The sword sliced through Ophiuchus, destroying the woman but the snake remained. "And when Ophiuchus is destroyed, her ability activates." The snake slithered up the sword and wrapped itself around the dragon's wrist, biting into it an making it roar in pain. "Now, during every single one of my Standby Phases, your monsters ATK points will decrease by one hundred points for every Celestial Spirit in my graveyard." Spike frowned, "There's more. Since you destroyed a Celestial Spirit, I can activate my Starlight Beacon Trap card." A magic circle with a star in it appeared.

"Now what?" Spike asked.

"This card allows me to now summon a Celestial Spirit with less ATK then the one you just destroyed. So I summon Celestial Spirit Gemini!" A new constellation appeared above the magic circle, then exploded. When the light faded, a pair of kids, a boy and a girl, with blue hair wearing black cloaks appeared. (A1000/D1000/L3)

Spike sighed, "I end my turn."

Starlight smiled, "it's my turn. And now that it's my Standby Phase, your dragon's ATK points weaken." Spike watched as Inferno Legend began to sway, succumbing to the poison being injected into it. (A4300/D3000/L12) "Now I'll play Celestial Device Circunis! This card allows me to add one Celestial Spirit from my deck to my hand." Her deck shuffled before slotting out a card, which she took. "By the way, did you know Gemini counts as two sacrifices when being used to tribute summon a Celestial Spirit?"

Spike frowned, "this won't be good."

"No? Well I tribute them in order to summon Celestial Spirit Leo!" The twins were consumed by a bright light, which took the form of a new constellation that quickly exploded.

Spike watched as a new monster stepped out of the light. It was a man with a mane of thick red hair, wearing black and gold armour. The armour around his shoulders was shaped like lion heads, while three long claws extended out of his wrist armour. (A2500/D2000/L7)

"Then I'll equip him with the Celestial Weapon, Orion's Sword!" A long-sword with a star shaped crossguard appeared in the mans hand. "With this, his ATK power increases by one thousand!" (A3500/D2000/L7) "Then I'll activate his ability, which lets me looks at the top five cards of my deck and discard any Celestial Spirits to the graveyard!" She drew five cards, but only sent one to the graveyard. Once that happened, she turned to Spike. "Can you see it?"

Spike raised an eyebrow at this, only for a sudden light to come out of nowhere and blind him. "Wow!" He blinked as the light quickly faded, getting the spots out of his eyes and looking around. When he did, he found that he an his monsters were in a completely different place.

They were now on some kind of battle field, with the corpses of Duel Monsters littering the field. "What is this? The future?"

"No," he turned to see Starlight and Leo walking towards her, "the past. A past of pain and suffering, in this world of hatred and anger."

"What?" Spike asked.

"I feared that this is all my life would be. But then, I found my escape." She pointed upwards, and Spike followed her finger. As he did, he spotted something in the sky that he recognised.

"Is that...the Shadow Gate?

"But my freedom from this hell hangs by a weak thread," She said. "I must find a way to make the pain end...permanently." She pointed at Spike's dragon. "Leo, attack Inferno Legend!"

"But my monster's stronger?" Spike asked, "why?"

Starlight just smiled, "because whenever Leo attacks, he gains two hundred ATK points for every Celestial Spirit in my graveyard. And currently, I have nine." Spikes eyes went wide before he looked up and saw nine different constellations appear around the man before they exploded, then light flying into him and boosting his power. (A5300/D2000/L7) "ATTACK!" He flew forwards, using Orion's Sword to stab into the beast and make it roar in pain before exploding.

Spike: 500
Starlight: 2100

"Big mistake," Spike told her. "If you'd attacked Flame Hunter, you would have won."

"And where's the fun in taking down the weaker monster?" Starlight asked, "besides, I'm still gonna win?" Spike raised an eyebrow at this. "Whenever a monster wielding Orion's Sword destroys a monster, you take one hundred points of damage for ever Celestial Spirit in my graveyard.

Spike gasped as Leo landed in front of him, pointing the now glowing crossguard of his sword at the teen. The glow intensified and unleashed a powerful burst of light, which made Spike cry out. "AAAAAHHHHHH!"

Spike: 0
Starlight: 2100 (Winner)


As Flash raced through the City Field, his Raduel beeped.

Looking down at it, he saw Spike's image with the word 'loser' above it. This made him gasp as the screen suddenly changed to show Spike's image, "I'm sorry Flash. I lost my match."

"Spike," Flash said in fear, "are you alright?" The screen then split as Sunburst appeared besides Spike.

"Your opponent, how strong was she?"

"Really strong," Spike replied. "I don't think a single thing I did surprised her at all. It was almost scary how well she knew my strategy. But...also..."

"What?" Flash asked. "What happened?"

"I don't know. It's like...I was suddenly transported to another world. I was surrounded by Duel Monsters."

"What?" Flash asked in shock.

"You sure it wasn't just another Duel near you?" Sunburst asked.

"I don't know," Spike said. "It was probably noth-"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Flash asked hastily, "no strange side effects?"

Spike looked at him in confusion, "no. I'm fine. I'm just sorry I have to drop out of the tournament so soon."

"There's nothing we can do about that now," Sunburst told him. "You just try and take it easy, okay? We'll take it from here."

"Sorry guys," Spike said one last time.

Flash sighed, "it's cool. You did great. Leave the rest to us, okay?"


"Sure," Spike replied before cutting the call. As he did, he couldn't help but let a few tears leak out.

Starlight was still watching him, standing on a bridge overlooking their battle field. As she did, she frowned. "If pain is all that can exist in this universe," the girl said. "Then it's better for everything to simply end." With that, she walked off.

The first day of the Double X's second round had begun. By its end, only four teams would remain. But who would those teams be and who will they have to beat to get to the finals? Only time would tell.

Author's Note:

And thus, Starlight's deck is revealed. Hope you liked it.

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