The Duel you have all been waiting for! Part 2
“Miss Shimmer, we are so excited to be here.” Garble fought hard to keep from groaning as he heard the voice of the head dueling committee member, a woman who rose up excitedly to shake the flame-colored girl's hand as she approached. Shimmer, from what he could see, was doing her best to keep her face more composed. But there was a bit of a prideful smile on her face as she accepted the handshake, the two beginning to talk with Garble tuning them out. Whatever they were going to say would be meaningless once the duel ended, their stupid dreams burning right in front of their eyes!
It all seemed too good to be true, his scheme working out far better than he ever would have expected. From what he knew, both of these D-Runners were being driven not by professions, but rather schoolgirls! Girls who he doubted would know what to do once the program he had placed inside the D-Runners kicked in. Whoever lost this duel would be in for a nasty surprise for everyone seated to witness first hand. Those people included not just himself but all the other heads of Kaiba Corp who were seated high as well as the losers from the dueling committee. And from this position, so high in the stands, they could see the whole track without needing to move their heads. The only one who wasn’t here was the head of security who was no doubt back at the office, jerking his thumb towards the public restroom at the front of the entrance. His absence would only help fuel Garble’s position that Shimmer was not fit to run this company!
What made all this better was the fact that one of these girls was Shimmer’s long lost sister. Oh, that made everything all the sweeter. He could almost see it now: Shimmer’s cocky smile vanishing as her sister’s D-Runner began to malfunction; perhaps throwing her off so that she rolled onto the side with the D-Runner crashing to the ground in front of her. Or the duel disk part of the bike exploding in her face, the girl crying out in shock and horror as she got some small burns as well as losing all of her cards. Whatever happened, Shimmer would no doubt feel the brunt of the blame. Perhaps that silly look-alike would even start yelling at her, screaming that Shimmer said this was safe or whatever. Garble was sure that once Shimmer was fully demoralized she would barely put up a fight once he led the rest of Kaiba Corp to oust her. Then he would remind everyone that he had been right, that had they just stuck to duel disks their reputation would not be hanging in the balance. Hopefully, that would be enough that they would all choose him to become the next president of Kaiba Corp!
Garble, still slightly grinning, turned to wish Shimmer good luck on this project only to stop when he noticed something strange. As Shimmer was sitting down, a scientist came walking down from the top of the arena towards her. Once this nerd was close enough, he bent down to whisper something into Shimmer’s ear. Straining his ears as best he could, all Garble could make out was ‘You sure about this?’ coming from Shimmer. Whoever this nerd was, he was talking fast and far too quietly for Garble to make out anything! Not without becoming too obvious. But, what was odd was that Shimmer seemed pleased.
Then, Shimmer noticed him looking at her. “Something the matter, Garble?” she asked, clasping her hands together in front of her as she spoke. Her grin seemed to double in size, sending chills down the man’s spine.
“No, just…,” he began, pondering what to say. It seemed odd that one of the geek squad would be here, talking to her in person. They were all supposed to be back at HQ, working in the labs like the good little nerds that they were. So why was one of them over here, talking to Shimmer like they were equals or something? And why not call her instead of walking up to her? So, as Garble thought of the right words, he spoke again. “Has something happened?”
“You could say that,” said Shimmer, still confident. “Let's just say that everything is going according to my plan.” Garble gave her a confused look as he turned to look at the duel that was about to happen. What did she mean by that? There was only one plan in motion: his! There was no way she could be on to him or know what he had done. If she did, well, he wouldn’t be sitting here right now. No, she was just being a stupid, cocky teenager so full of herself that she didn’t see that her downfall was right in front of her.
And, a moment later, the buzzer was sounded singling the beginning of the first, and last, duel on a motorcycle.
-x-
It all happened within seconds. The sound of the buzzer, the light turning green, tires rapidly spinning before the wind began to rush past the two girls as they sped down the track at speeds they could have never done on a normal street. “Duel link established,” came a female voice from the D-Runner, the duel disk before them coming to life before they reached the first turn. “Opponent detected. First one to make one full lap will take the first turn. Good luck.” As the computer spoke, a screen came to life right in front of the duel disk tray which showed more than just their speed and fuel gauge. From what both girls could see, it showed the layout of their opponents field. No doubt to help them keep track of what was going on. There were also buttons on the screen, one showing a tombstone and the other a question mark. It didn’t take too much thought to realize that the tombstone was the graveyard and that question mark was the help screen.
As the two rounded the turn, Twilight didn’t seem to lose any speed. Her turn looked almost dangerous, leaning into the curve so much that it looked like she might topple over. But, she seemed to know what she was doing as she quickly righted herself and sped downwards to the other side. Sunset, however, did not fare as well as she had slowed down greatly around the bend to a more comfortable speed. Not surprising as she had only been in this world for a couple of years, only recently getting her license. Still, her competitive nature would not allow her to lose so she sped up towards the other end. But even at full speed, Twilight was simply too far ahead of her as she was already around the next turn before Sunset could make it to the bend and slowing down. Then, a moment later, Twilight’s family could be heard cheering as she was the first to finish a lap.
“Looks like I’m going first,” said Twilight. Despite the rush of the wind and the roar of the engines, Sunset could hear her clearly over the speakers on her D-Runner as if the purple-skinned nerd were standing right in front of her. At the same time, the screen on their D-Runner’s began to light up again, showing a portrait of Twilight in the corner with Sunset’s right below it. A star appeared next to Twilight, as if to say ‘Yes, it’s your turn.’
“I draw!” announced Twilight, drawing her opening hand as well as a sixth card. For a moment, she looked down at her hand, a small smile hidden from view, before placing all but one of the cards on the clip. “I’ll start this duel off strong with Genex Neutron in attack mode!” After quickly slapping the card on her duel tray, a wormhole opened up next to her D-Runner and out came a monster no one there had seen since she first dueled Princess Twilight. Neutron was an android with 1800 attack points, but had a more alien appearance when compared to Twilight’s other machines. It flew next to Twilight’s D-Runner as they turned a corner, curling its long fingers while its single eye glowed orange. Colorwise, it was all over the map with mostly black armor, but red feet and belly with orange areas as well as similarly colored wires.
“Next I’ll set two cards facedown and end my turn,” said Twilight, two facedown cards appearing on either side of her D-Runner. “But before I pass it to you, the effect of Neutron activates. At the end of a turn he is normal summoned on, I can add any machine type tuner monster I want to my hand.” As she spoke another wormhole appeared besides her D-Runner. Reaching into it, Twilight pulled out a card and held it up high for all to see. “And the card I have chosen is Genex Ally Remote!”
-x-
“Huh,” went Rainbow as she crossed her arms, eyes focused on the field below. She, along with the rest of the Rainbooms, had taken seats right in front of Twilight’s family who were still cheering their support of the Genex wielding duelist. “I was kind of expecting more. Like maybe bring out one of her Synchro monsters or something. A monster with 1800 attack points isn’t horrible, but we all know she can do better than that!”
“And doesn’t Genex Neutron clash with her deck?” asked Rarity. “Besides looking so, well, bizarre. From what I can recall, Twilight’s deck is full of dark attribute monsters with support specifically for them. But Genex Neutron is a light attribute.”
“At least she was able to get a tuner to her hand,” offered Fluttershy as she brushed some of her long, pink hair out of her face. “Just a pity it had to come at the end of her turn though.”
“Don’t worry about it, Twilight knows what she’s doing,” said Sonata. The girls all turned to look at the former siren, sitting there with a smile on her face. “Twilight is like, amazingly smart! She’s been looking into new moves that she can do with her deck since before I moved in! And I think I know which one she’s going for.”
-x-
“Really, that’s it?” asked Sunset as she sped up while drawing her sixth card. A grin appeared on her face at what she saw: Rekindling! With this, as well as the other card she had in her hand, she could go full combo! “Sorry Twilight, but you’re going to have to do better than that if you want to stay in this game! Because I play my Molten Conduction Field to get things into motion! This lets me send two Laval monsters from my deck to the graveyard. I’ll choose Laval Cannoneer and Laval Volcano Handmaiden.” Sunset’s deck began to shuffle wildly before two cards on the top jutted out, allowing the flame haired girl to take them with ease before sending them to the graveyard. “Next I’ll activate the effect of Handmaiden. When she is sent to the graveyard, and I have another Laval monster in there with a different name, I can send another Laval monster to the grave. So I’ll send a second Handmaiden to the grave whose effect I’ll use again to send the third. Next, thanks to my third Handmaiden’s effect, I’ll send Laval Lancelord to the graveyard.” Sunset’s deck continued to shuffle and spit out cards, the girl only pausing in this as she made her turn.
“Now everything is set,” announced Sunset as she held up her ace spell card. “I play Rekindling! I hope you haven’t forgotten what this card does. But, in case you need a refresher, this card allows me to summon as many fire attribute monsters that I want from my graveyard as long as they have 200 defense points!” Flames began to appear around Sunset’s D-Runner as she inserted the card into her spell/trap slot, almost making her look like the Ghost Rider! Small faces could now be seen in the flames as their bodies began to form.
“Not so fast Sunset!” yelled Twilight before Sunset could shout out the names of the monsters she was to bring out. “I knew you would play that card sooner or later. Activate trap card: Magic Drain! This card can negate the activation of your spell card and destroy it. However, if you offer it a different spell card, you can prevent this.” As Twilight spoke, her trap card flipped faceup allowing a ghostly blue spirit of a vampire to fly towards her. It eyed the flames hungrily but paused to glance over at Sunset as if hoping she would give him a tastier treat. “So Sunset, do you have another spell card you can give up?”
Sunset said nothing for a moment, only gritting her teeth. “No,” she finally admitted in frustration as the vampire began to inhale the flames, sucking them all into its mouth before vanishing. If she had any other spell card, any at all, she would have gladly given it up.
I’m just glad Rekindling finally got off the Limited list, thought Sunset as her eyes looked over at her deck. Right now there are two more copies sleeping deep inside my deck, waiting to be used again. I just need to draw into it. And, luckily for me, I’m not out of moves just yet.
“Not bad Twilight,” said Sunset finally as she took a different card out of her grip. “You managed to stop that move, but I wonder if you can stop this one. I summon Red Resonator in attack mode!” Flames erupted on Sunset’s side of the field as a ghost-like monster made out of red flames carrying a tuning fork appeared next to her. Its attack points were 600. “Red Resonator’s special ability activates: when normal summoned, I can special summon one level four or lower monster from my hand. And I choose Laval Miller!” The ground around Sunset suddenly cracked, opening up to allow gases and molten rock to escape onto the field. The lava then began to quickly cool, forming into a rocky creature with a chain embedded into its head. Miller had only 300 attack points.
“Now I’ll tune my level 2 Red Resonator with my level 3 Laval Miller!” announced Sunset. As she spoke, Red Resonator broke apart as it turned into two circles while Miller became three stars. Like normal, the stars formed a straight line as they flew into the circles. However, rather than flying upward towards the sky to create a massive pillar of light, these events happened besides Sunset! As she began to chant, they became more of a tunnel that shot forwards with enough force that it almost knocked her to the side. “The fiery passion of learning burns deep within you. Share with us all you have learned throughout time. Synchro Summon level 5! T.G. Hyper Librarian!” When the tunnel vanished, a man cloaked in white futuristic robes appeared besides Sunset. This monster with 2400 attack points had a visor covering his eyes as well as a book in one hand. However, if one looked closely enough, they could see that the pages of this book weren’t paper, but rather a blue crystal substance.
“Hyper Librarian, attack Neutron!” ordered Sunset pointing ahead of her. Her newly summoned monster did not hesitate to obey, holding up its book as dozens of green rectangles flew out of it to strike Twilight’s machine. Each of these rectangles struck into its chest, pounding away and leaving an indent until they finally created a hole in the Genex monster which destroyed it. A large explosion occurred dropping Twilight’s life points down to 7400.
“Not bad Sunset,” said Twilight. “Got anything else for me?”
“No, I end my turn,” said Sunset, a small smile on her face as she felt good about her position. She knew Twilight would have to play things more carefully thanks to Librarian’s special ability. Every time a monster was synchro summoned, Librarian would allow Sunset to draw another card. She had hoped to summon it right after using Rekindling, adding to her hand as she summoned a whole slew of monsters ready to take a chunk out of Twilight’s life points. At least this way, she could benefit from Twilight’s summons. Or, better yet, having her play defensively for the time being.
“Then I draw,” said Twilight as she drew. With five cards in her grip, she glanced at her newest card before putting it to the side and pulling out a different one. “I’ll start this turn off by bringing out my Genex Ally Remote in attack mode!” A beam of what looked like data shot down from the sky like in an old Megaman game before suddenly ‘flipping’ around next to Twilight to reveal her monster. It didn’t look like much compared to Neutron, however. It was a small, mostly white sphere shaped robot with eyes appearing in the middle section. It had two feet and arms, but one of its hands had been replaced with an oversized remote controller. Its attack points were 800. Of course, in this game, looks could be deceiving.
“Now that I have a machine on my side of the field, I can activate this card: Iron Calling!” announced Twilight as she inserted her card. “With this, I can bring back a level four or lower machine type monster in my graveyard. However, its effects are negated and it is destroyed at the end of my turn. And since I only have one monster in my graveyard you can guess who I’m bringing out!” Just like that, Neutron returned to the field.
“No wonder you weren’t too shaken up when I destroyed it,” said Sunset. “You had a way to bring it back all along.” Though her voice was calm, she knew she could be in for some pain. If she knew Twilight like she thought she did, the purple duelist was going to use a card to change Genex Neutron’s attribute into fire. Then she would go into Genex Ally Triforce who would gain the effect to deal her damage equal to whatever monster it destroys in battle.
“Now things are all set,” said Twilight, Sunset’s eyes widening in surprise. “I’ll tune my level three Genex Ally Remote with my level four Genex Neutron!” Like with Sunset, Twilight’s monsters broke down with Remote becoming three green rings while Neutron became four stars. As the tunnel of green energy appeared next to Twilight, she began her chant. “Circuits connect opening new pathways to victory. With the addition of light will bring about new life. Synchro Summon Level 7: Genex Ally Triforce!” As the light faded, a metallic white figure was seen flying next to Twilight’s D-Runner. It was large, standing much taller than Twilight with a red visor covering its face. Most of its body looked smooth and well rounded except for its chest which stuck out a bit. One of its hands was not a hand, but instead a blaster with three muzzles with different colors (red, brown, and black) in a triangular design. The gun arm spun around, stopping with a loud click as the black muzzle was seated at the top. Once it was finished, Triforce turned to look at Twilight before giving her a thumbs up.
“B-Because you synchro summoned, I get to draw a card,” stammered Sunset, feeling nervous as she drew. She had been somewhat right, Twilight had summoned Triforce…but she had not changed its attribute the way she had thought. Did she not have the right cards in her hand or did Triforce have some sort of effect that needed a light monster? To be honest, she had no idea as Twilight had never used a light monster when summoning Triforce before. It was always either fire or earth as that attribute was best suited for back row heavy decks.
“Now on to battle,” yelled Twilight before doing something that made Sunset’s eyes grow wide and her jaw drop! Twilight, the bookworm and scholar, spun her D-Runner around so that it was facing Sunset and began to drive backwards! “Genex Ally Triforce, as much as I hate to say it, we have to get rid of Librarian!” Holding his weapon in front of him, Genex Ally Triforce’s weapon began to spin as a large black orb appeared in front of it before launching at Librarian. Sunset’s monster let out a single yell of pain before exploding, Twilight turning around at the same time. Sunset let out a small pant, thankful that her life points dropped only to 7900.
“With that done, I activate Triforce’s light effect,” continued Twilight as she made the next turn, Sunset following behind her. “Once per turn, I can select a light attribute monster in my graveyard and special summon it to my side of the field in defense mode! So Neutron will be coming back again!” Triforce nodded, pointing its gun at an area next to where Twilight was driving. A beam of light shone out from the gun making it look more like an oversized flashlight before a facedown card appeared there.
-x-
“Oh man, things aren’t looking good for Sunset,” said Rainbow as she gripped her knees tightly as she felt envious of both girls. The action, the speed, the people watching. More than once, she had looked behind her when Twilight’s family had begun loudly cheering for her, Mrs. Velvet even screaming ‘THAT’S MY GIRL!’ when Twilight had attacked Sunset while doing that admittedly cool trick. What’s more, Rainbow had noticed how the fancy people up top were reacting. Shimmer looked like she was about to have a heart attack when she had seen the stunt, gone unnoticed as those committee people were whooping and hollering just as much as Velvet. From the looks on their faces, they were enthralled with how the match was going even though it was still early on. As for most of the others up there, Rainbow could see that they were clearly pleased…except for one. This guy, Gibble or Garnip or something like that, looked more composed than the others as he watched with a small half smile whose smugness Rainbow could see even from all the way down here. Regardless, nearly all eyes were on the duel, leading the speedster to conclude that she needed to get a D-Runner when they came out.
“Why?” asked Pinkie, her voice muffled and thanks to having known the pink party planner for so long Rainbow knew it was due to her mouth being full. Turning to look at her, yeah, it was. In one hand Pinkie held a half eaten hot dog while in the other a large container of fries that she got from…somewhere. Honestly, Rainbow didn’t want to think about it. Seeing that Rainbow was looking at her, Pinkie began to quickly sip soda from a straw connected to her soda helmet that she had put on at some point, drinking fast enough to where she emptied both cans before speaking again. “Right now, Sunset has more life points.”
“Sure, she has the life points,” agreed Rainbow with Applejack and Rarity nodding at the same time. She could tell that the other two girls saw the same thing. “But that’s all she has right now. Twilight has two monsters on the field right now. One of which can just keep on bringing the other one back from the graveyard every turn! And she can use that monster for another synchro summon or a tribute! Heck, she might even have an XYZ monster in her extra deck now!”
“Ohhh,” was all Pinkie could say as she removed the empty cans from her helmet, putting them in her hair before replacing them with new ones.
“Told you she’s been learning,” said Sonata, who smiled proudly down at the track.
-x-
“Now I’ll set this card and end my turn,” said Twilight, another facedown card appearing next to her D-Runner.
“It won’t be there for long. I draw!” yelled Sunset, now having four cards in her grip. She looked at what she had just drawn, slightly irritated that it wasn’t Rekindling. But it was something that could help her make her move and perhaps get the card she needed. “Time to turn up the heat! I summon Laval Archer in attack mode!” The ground next to Sunset suddenly began to crack, molten rock exploding into the air in large masses all around them. One of those masses began to cool faster than the others, taking on the form of a rock man with cracks all over its body which still glowed orange due to the heat. A long tube was connected to its back going all the way up to its shoulder to form a container filled with flames. Meanwhile, on one of its arms appeared a slingshot while Archer held an arrow made of pure flames in its other hand. Its attack was 1000.
“Laval Archer is one of the newest supports given to my deck,” said Sunset, her D-Runner speeding up until she was right next to Twilight. “And he’s just what my deck needed! When normal summoned, Archer calls in reinforcements by allowing me to normal summon another Laval monster!” As Sunset spoke, Archer placed his arrow into the slingshot before pulling back and firing the fiery arrow right into Sunset’s hand. “And I just so happen to have one! Come on out Laval Lakeside Lady!” More cracks appeared on the ground, lava slipping out as a figure rose gracefully out. Lakeside Lady was a monster with 200 attack points wearing a simple blue dress with white trimming over her rocky skin. Her hair was long, seeming to be made of fire as it flickered about but never damaging her clothing.
“That’s not the only new card my deck got,” said Sunset. “Let me show you! I tune my level three Laval Lakeside Lady and my level four Laval Archer!” Lakeside Lady rose to the sky, transforming into rings above Sunset’s head. But these weren’t green energy rings like before. No, instead these were rings made of red and orange fire whose heat Sunset could feel bearing down on her. Archer became four stars, flowing in the space between the rings as a tunnel of flames came rushing over both girls' heads. But that wasn’t the only thing that seemed to be ablaze, for the wheels of her D-Runner also began to flame up. “Mighty beast birthed with the gift of flames. Bath your scales in the blood of the earth and become one with the Laval tribe. Let each wingbeat alone scorch the land! Synchro Summon level 7: Lavalval Salamander!” At that moment, all the flames dissipated to reveal a large winged dragon flying over the two girl’s heads. Long rows of bright yellow spikes ran down the creatures back as well as along its massive wings, heat radiating off of them each time it flapped them. Speaking of its wings, there were brownish-grey areas around the edges which reminded one of a mountaintop. That, along with the spikes, gave to both duelists the image of a series of volcanoes erupting at once. Its inner body was red, looking like rock that had been super heated, running from its head down to its tail. Embedded in its kneecaps, as well as both wings, were stone disks which held engraved within them the symbol of the Laval tribe. Salamander’s attack was 2600.
“Lucky you,” muttered Twilight, speeding up her D-Runner to put more distance between the two.
“Don’t be jealous,” said Sunset, a slight smirk on her face. “Let me show you what this bad boy can do! Once per turn, when he is special summoned, I get to draw two cards. Then I must discard two cards from my hand, one of them being a fire monster or else my entire hand goes back into the deck. I draw!” Sunset quickly drew her two cards, seeing that neither of them was the card she had been hoping for…but Laval Cannon was not a bad draw. And she knew just how to make the most of it. “I discard my two cards, one of them being Laval Forest Sprite as per the cost.”
After sending the cards to the graveyard, she began to think about what to do next as they rounded the corner again. Ok, I could use Salamander’s other effect to banish one of my Laval monsters to flip her Triforce facedown, she thought to herself. But there really isn’t any point to that. My monster is already strong enough to melt it a hundred times over. Or I could use Lakeside Lady’s effect on one of those trap cards. The first one…no. If it was anything that could help her out, Twilight would have used it last turn. But that one she just set could be dangerous…
“Alright,” said Sunset, quickly making up her mind. “I activate the effect of my Laval Lakeside Lady sleeping in my grave. By banishing it and another Laval monster, I can destroy one facedown card you control. So I’ll banish her and Forest Sprite in order to destroy your facedown spell/trap!” Coming out of the ground next to Twilight’s D-Runner was Lakeside Lady, her hand glowing a bright yellowish orange from the heat. Slowly she reached down as Twilight’s facedown card appeared before her, ready to burn it into ashes.
…Only then to have it flip faceup, knocking Lakeside Lady over in the process.
“Sorry Sunset, but I activate the card you were about to destroy: Metaverse!” said Twilight loudly, her voice full of positive energy while Sunset’s eyes widened in surprise. “This trap card lets me go through my deck and activate a field spell card! Welcome to the world of Heavy Metal Raiders!” Darkness began to creep over the field, despite it being a sunny day. Almost like a dark tint had been cast everywhere. But that wasn’t all for massive machines appeared on the edges of the tracks as if to form an additional barrier to keep them from going off road. Sunset jerked in surprise, nearly losing control of her D-Runner, when she saw that one of those machines was Launcher Spider, holding up a sign that read ‘We Love You Twilight’ in oil of all things. How it was able to hold up the sign using its front legs, Sunset had no idea. If they were hooves, that would be a different story. Then there was Slot Machine, wearing a blue race car cap on its tiny head along with a shirt with Twilight’s face on it! More and more old, normal machine monster cards lined up as they silently cheered on Twilight.
“Of course your cards would do that for you,” muttered Sunset softly, annoyed at how her friend's cards always seemed to act like this.
“Pay them no heed,” came a massive, gruff voice from above that nearly stopped Sunset’s heart for a moment. Looking up, she saw Salamander looking around it in annoyance. “These pitiful toys are no match for us and the power we wield. Allow me to unleash my might upon our opponent and show her the error of her ways.”
For a moment, Sunset sat there as they turned feeling better already. “Right,” she said, knowing that her cards were with her as well. She then thrusted her hand forward. “Attack Triforce now with Lava Overflow!” Salamander’s belly suddenly bulged, tripling in size before opening its mouth to allow a massive stream of lava to shoot downwards towards Twilight’s monster. The attack was so hot that Sunset hand to raise a hand over her face in order to better shield herself. Yet even though her monster was the stronger, Triforce used its gunner arm to swat away the lava away from Twilight seemingly at the cost of its entire arm. It then looked like it was going to fall over, but it righted itself at the last second before using its one good hand to gesture in a ‘come at me’ motion.
“What trickery is this?!?” roared Salamander, flapping his wings extra hard in annoyance.
“It’s the effect of my field spell,” answered Twilight, her life points dropping to 7300. “It protects each of my Dark machines from being destroyed by battle once per turn. Not only that, if I happen to take any damage, my monster gains an equal amount of attack points for as long as my field spell remains in play!” As she spoke, several machines from off to the side flew over to Genex Ally Triforce. Most noticeably the multi-armed machine Mechanicalchaser. Together they began to repair Triforce, working swiftly until his gunner arm was repaired and his attack points were now 2600.
“…I end my turn,” said Sunset as she put the pieces together for Twilight’s next play. More than likely, her friend would crash into her Salamander knowing that her machine would survive. Then she would attack with the rest of her monsters.
“Then I draw!” said Twilight, three cards now in her grip. “First off, I’ll flip my Genex Neutron faceup so I can use this card: Iron Draw! If I have exactly two machine type monsters on my side of the field then I can draw two more cards! However, there is a serious drawback in that I can only special summon one more time this turn.” Sunset grit her teeth while tightening her grip, watching as Genex Neutron reappeared on the field so Twilight could get her additional cards. Two additional ways to gain an advantage in this duel.
For a moment, Twilight looked at the cards she had drawn before putting them in her grip. “Now I summon Genex Ally Volcannon!” A pixel beam shot down close to where Twilight was driving before ‘flipping’ itself to reveal a red android wearing a welding mask. On its back was a steel drum that had tubes coming out of it that connected to a blaster-esque weapon on its shoulder. As Volcannon began to crack its knuckles and neck, something Sunset still couldn’t believe a machine could do, her eyes widened as she recalled this monster from their tag team duel.
“Now that he’s on the field, I discard my Genex Ally Chemistrer to change Neutron’s attribute to fire,” continued Twilight as she discarded her monster. At the same time, a purple machine with a yellow visor appeared on the field behind Neutron. This machine also had two tanks on his back with hoses connected to the devices in both hands. He rammed one of the devices into the back of Neutron who jerked while a red tint surrounded him. “With that done, I can use Volcannon’s effect: by tributing a fire attribute monster on my side of the field, I can destroy one of your monsters. Not only that, but you take damage equal to the destroyed monsters level times 400.”
“That means…” began Sunset, but her voice became silent as Neutron began to liquidate into a silvery goop that flew into Volcannon’s barrel. The red Genex then pointed its weapon at Salamander, firing the silver substance across the track and hitting her monster right in the chest. The Lavalval monster let out a roar of defiance, trying its best to get the goop off of it only to have it spread more and more. Soon, it was completely covered in it and despite how hot it had been the substance seemed to cool rapidly. Twilight raised a hand up into the air, snapping her fingers for all the world to see. At that moment, Salamander shattered into thousands of chunks that rained down all around Sunset. The girl cried out as her D-Runner swerved around, her life points dropping to 5100.
“I could activate the other effect of my field spell,” said Twilight as both girls heard the cheers of her family as they passed the stands. “But I’d rather use Triforce’s effect to bring back Neutron in facedown defense mode.” As she spoke, Triforce used its weapon once more to bring back a facedown card. Then, once again, Twilight spun her D-Runner around and began to drive backwards! “Now onto battle! Triforce! Volcannon! Attack Sunset directly!” Both machines nodded, with Triforce making the first move as he raised his gunner arm at Sunset. The flare haired girl watched it spin as a massive black orb of energy began to grow in front of it. Once it was big enough, it was launched right at her. More out of instinct than anything else, Sunset swerved her D-Runner to the side to just narrowly miss being hit. But her movement, along with the force of the impact, caused her to spin around several times. When she stopped, her stomach felt like it was about to turn upside down while her life points fell to 2500. But the attacks weren’t over as Volcannon raised its weapon at Sunset, firing small red orbs that splattered all over her. The holograms made her feel the impact and she could see the holographic smoke rise up from where she had been hit. Yet all she could do was grit her teeth as her life points continued to fall until they stopped at 800.
-x-
“Did you see that?! Did you see that?!” asked the committee woman as she jumped up and down like an excited child. Her face was lit up, watching as Twilight turned her D-Runner forwards again as they made another turn. “This is so…exciting! My heart hasn’t been pumping like this in years!”
Shimmer let out a chuckle which she hoped didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. “And just think what it’ll be like when we get more duelists on the D-Runners,” she said. “Just imagine the heart pounding action!” Heart pounding indeed, but probably a different reason for her. Every time one of the D-Runners was in one of those stunts, spun around, or whatever, the teenage CEO felt like her heart was being pulled on. This had to be the most nerve wracking field test she had ever been on.
Maybe it was because so much of her company was on the line. Maybe it was because her pony counterpart was the one taking most of the damage right now, being tossed around like driftwood in a storm. Maybe it was a little of both.
Looking over at the rest of the heads of her company, she felt like she was the odd duck out. All of them looked excited at the duel before them, sitting at the edge of their seats as if this were the movie of the year. Even Garble, whom she thought would be more aloof or complaining seemed more into the match now as he checked their life points over and over. So maybe she should just relax a bit.
-x-
Down on the track, Sunset was panting hard right now as she turned another corner. Things were not looking good for her. She could still do her big move, but it felt like Twilight was in some way preparing for just such an event. Twilight’s defenses were all there: a facedown card, normal summoned monster, and that damned field spell of hers! And with Sunset so close to having her life points at zero, if Twilight had Gagaga Cowboy in her extra deck then all she had to do on her next turn was to summon it and she would win!
Looking down at her deck, she knew she needed a good card if she was going to have any chance at winning.
“I draw!” announced Sunset, eyes closed for a brief moment as she drew. But, as she did, she felt like her hand was on fire…yet the flames did not hurt. Instead they felt warm as they tickled around her hand as she slowly looked at what she had drawn. It was a card she had placed in her deck once she knew she was going up against Twilight. And it was something that might help.
“Alright Twilight, time to show you what else I got,” said Sunset, her confidence growing as she now had three cards in her grip.
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t,” replied Twilight. “After all, I’m giving this duel everything I’ve got.”
“And so am I,” replied Sunset with a grin while playing a card on her tray. “I summon Laval Cannon in attack mode!” At once the ground cracked next to Sunset’s D-Runner, lava pouring out from the opening to form a humanoid monster with skin that looked like it was made out of blue stone. As this 1600 attack point monster continued to form, everyone there could see that one of its hands was missing, replaced with a cannon that dripped molten stone onto the track as it flew by. What’s more, one of its eyes was missing, replaced with a small stone disk with the Laval tribe symbol on it. “When he is summoned to the field, I can also target and special summon one of my banished Laval monsters to the field! So I’m bringing back my Laval Forest Sprite!” The ground cracked open, lava pooling out as a small boy with a brownish hood jumped out.
“Now it's time to take this duel to the next level,” continued Sunset. “I tune my level two Laval Forest Sprite with my level four Laval Cannon!” Like with Salamander, Sunset’s monsters broke apart to become a massive fiery tunnel above her head as she began to chant. “Ancient beast that flies over the fields of flames. Like the skies feel our furry as you serve the Laval tribe! Synchro Summon level 6! Lavalval Dragun!” As the chant ended, the flames exploded in every direction as another pair of large wings shot out of the tunnel. But this time, the monster Sunset had summoned seemed more like a large, yellow and red pterodactyl-like creature. Stone-like plating had been attached to its underbelly, as if to protect it from archers below, as well as a decorative necklace. On the back of this creature, standing on a stone saddle as if this were a mount, was a small rider holding its reins. It’s attack points were 2500. “Now I can use the effect of my Dragun: once per turn I can add a Laval monster to my hand and then discard one. So I’ll add Laval Coatl to my hand and then send another copy of Lakeside Lady to my grave.”
“Now everything is set,” said Sunset after discarding her card. “I activate the effect of Coatl in my hand, allowing me to special summon it to the field if I have three or more Laval monsters in my graveyard with different names.” Appearing on the field was a smaller, riderless version of Dragun which flew under the larger Laval’s wing. “And just so you know, Coatl is a tuner monster! So I synchro summon once again using my level two Laval Coatl and my level six Lavalval Dragun!” Again, Sunset’s monsters formed a tunnel of flames above her head. But that wasn’t all as her entire bike was engulfed in flames as well, leaving behind a burning trail on the track as she sped up. “Battle scared and tired, the red dragon of demons shall never give up. Let fire and lava empower you, let their might be added to yours to burn your foes asunder! Show them the might of the Queen! Synchro Summon level 8! Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend!” A roar echoed through the arena as the flames vanished, revealing a large red and black humanoid dragon flying above Sunset. The first thing the crowd noticed were its horns on either side of its head, curving backwards before moving up to its face as if to better guard its head. Yet one of the horns was broken at the halfway point. Going down its scaley body were plenty of red and yellow stripes that sort of looked like claw marks, scars from previous battles. But what caught everyone’s attention was the clawed gauntlet on one of its arms, looking like a mix of bone and metal with an orange glow coming out from the cracks. Its attack was 3000!
“Scarlight, show Twilight what you can do! ABSOLUTE POWER FORCE!” On Sunset’s command, the flames in Scarlight’s gauntlet vanished and were replaced by dark red energy. The bottom of its wings looked like they had caught on fire while its scars began to glow. And while all this was going on the dragon soared higher above the two. It then sped down, slamming its fist into the ground creating a powerful shockwave of flames that hit everything. The flames washed over the Genex monsters, destroying Twilight’s synchro.
“Triforce!” cried Twilight as the flames hit her D-Runner, pushing it towards the side and nearly off the track while her life points dropped to 6800.
“This is the power of my new Archfiend Dragon,” explained Sunset as she held up a card. “Once per turn I can destroy all special summoned effect monsters on the field with attack less than Scarlight’s. And the controller of those monsters takes 500 points of damage for each. Now I can play this card: Greed Grado! This spell card lets me draw two cards when I destroy a synchro monster you control either by battle or card effect!”
Twilight said nothing as Sunset drew her two cards, the two teens rounding the corner once more as Sunset’s speed picked up. She then looked at the card…and smiled. “I summon Laval Burner to the field in attack mode!” As before, the ground cracked open with lava shooting out and taking form in the air. Burner’s body quickly took form, a bent humanoid with massively long and thick arms that forced him to bend over. Arm guards quickly formed around its hands and wrists, catching fire as it began to run next to Sunset’s D-Runner. The way it ran, as well as its appearance, reminded Sunset of either a primitive caveman or a gorilla. As its skin cooled down, it took on a rocky tan cooler form while its long hair was made out of magma. Its attack was 2100. “Burner is a level five monster, but when I have enough Laval’s in my graveyard, he can be special summoned regardless of how many monsters I control.”
“Good show old girl, good show,” came a posh, yet gritty voice coming from Burner!
“…wait, what?!?” yelped Sunset, almost losing control of her D-Runner as she looked at her Laval monster.
“Yes, it's about time you brought me out again,” continued Burner. “Been having a bit of a chin-wag with some of the others of my tribe. Terribly rough around the edges they are, but mean well. Thought it best I came down and lend a hand they did. Just waiting for you to draw me.”
“…I don’t…I…I…what?” went Sunset as her brain tried its best to reboot. After another turn around the corner, she managed to shake her head enough so she could focus on the road and the duel. Though, she would have some questions for later.
“Burner, attack Volcannon!” ordered Sunset as she pointed to the red android.
“Tally-ho!” cried the Laval monster as it leapt into the air, raising both fists above its head. Sunset watched as gravity took over, bringing it back down to the ground in front of Volcannon where it then slammed both fists onto the robot. Twilight cried out, the force of the impact pressing against her back.
“Due to the effect of Heavy Metal Raiders, Volcannon isn’t destroyed and his attack goes up!” said Twilight as her life points dropped to 6400. At the same time, repairs were being made to Valcannon and, when it was finished, his attack had gone up to 2100.
“Yeah, but too bad for him you can’t use that effect twice this turn,” said Sunset with a devious smile. “Scarlight, finish the job!” The dragon didn’t need to be told twice, opening its mouth to unleash a torrent of red and orange flames that shot towards Volcannon. The Genex monster raised an arm as if to shield itself, but against this much awesome power it was pointless. In mere seconds Volcannon exploded, body parts flying everywhere before vanishing and Twilight’s life points dropping to 5500. “With that, I end my turn.”
“Then I draw!” said Twilight with confidence. She then looked at the now four cards in her grip for a moment, but did nothing else. “I end my turn.”
“Really?” asked Sunset as she drew, now having two cards in her grip. “Guess that’s the luck of the draw. Burner, attack Twilight’s facedown card!”
“Tally-ho!” cried Burner again, leaping into the air before smashing down on the facedown Neutron and leaving Twilight completely defenseless.
“Scarlight, attack Twilight directly!” ordered Sunset, her dragon seeming to be one step ahead of her as it had already opened its mouth with flames leaking between the gapes in its razor sharp teeth. A half second later, a massive stream of fire was launched right where Twilight was creating a massive cloud of smoke which obscured the field. Sunset began to slow down, knowing a turn was nearby and she did not wish to crash. But she did not have to wait long as the smoke cleared and…Twilight’s life points were untouched?!? “What? How?”
“I activated the trap card I placed on the field when the duel began,” explained Twilight, gesturing to the faceup card hovering next to her. “Defense Draw! With this card I take no battle damage and I get to draw a card.”
“Grr, fine,” growled Sunset as she took a card from her grip and placed it on her duel tray. “I’ll set this card and end my turn.”
“Then I draw,” said Twilight, now having six cards in her grip. She looked at them carefully before taking a card and placing it on her tray. “I’ll start out by playing the spell card One for One. By discarding a monster in my hand, I can special summon one level one monster in my deck. So I’ll discard Genex Ally Solid in order to bring out Genex Recycled!” Another pixelated beam landed next to Twilight’s D-Runner, ‘flipping’ to reveal her most banged up monster so far. It was a small machine, looking as if it could barely go past a person’s knee, with a large square head. Recycled looked like he had gone through the ringer plenty of times, having parts of his body half heartedly wielded together. It even had exposed wires wrapped around its arms and coming out of its legs as it floated there, staring up towards the sky with a dead look in its unblinking eyes.
Well, at first anyways. A moment or two after it appeared on the field, Recycled looked around to see the machines on the edges of the track cheering for him silently. He then looked behind him, spotting the two fiery monsters ready to come down on him as soon as Twilight’s turn ended. Recycled then seemed to roll over in the air before heading over to Twilight and clinging to her arm as if to beg her not to let him fight them alone.
“Don’t worry,” said Twilight gently, causing her monster to look up at her. “Help will be on the way. But first, I’m activating your effect to change your name to one of the other monsters in the graveyard. And I choose Genex Ally Solid!” Recycled looked up at Twilight, looking like it wished it could blink at her, before the metal on its body slightly shifted. A thin fin of metal appeared on its head while its rust and grim colored body began to shift closer to a shade of blue. “Now I play the spell card: Machine Duplication! This lets me target a machine type monster on my side of the field with 500 attack points or less and bring out two more copies! And since I changed my monster's name to Genex Ally Solid…”
Twilight allowed her sentence to hang as two more pixel-like beams landed near her D-Runner, summoning two blue machines with 500 attack points. However, what was odd was that they were both on their back, hands behind their heads looking like they were taking a nap. But, as they rounded the corner, the two seemed to awake with a start as they seemed to panic slightly. Both of them were smooth, well rounded machines with large red eyes but no mouth. Razor fins came out of their shoulders, feet, and wrists. They spun around, pointing what Sunset had thought were hands at first but soon realized that they had small laser cannons there in their place. The two did this for a moment or two before realizing that Twilight was there, suddenly straightening out to give the duelist a salute.
“Now I activate the effect of the Chemistrer I drew thanks to the help of my trap card,” continued Twilight. “By discarding it, I can change the attribute of one of my Solids into water.” Like before, Chemistrer appeared on the track, shoving its device into one of the Solids as a blue tint surrounded it. “With that done, I can activate its effect: Solid lets me tribute one water Genex monster on the field to draw two cards.” The blue tinted Solid pounded its chest twice before vanishing, allowing Twilight to draw twice. However, when she looked at the cards, Sunset could see her friend's shoulders slumping. Meaning it was more than likely she didn’t get what she wanted.
“O-Ok,” continued Twilight. “Let’s try this again. I activate the spell card: Pot of Avarice. With this card I target five monsters and then shuffle them back into my deck. Then I draw two more cards. I choose Solid, the two Chemistrers, Volcannon, and Neutron!” The cards slid out from Twilight’s graveyard before placing them on the top of her deck. Once she was done, the auto shuffler engaged at a rapid place before shooting out two cards. Twilight drew them before turning her head to look at Sunset with a smile.
“Time to finish this duel,” she said, in a tone that made Sunset’s fists tighten around the handles of her D-Runner. “I now tune my level one Genex Recycled with my level two Genex Ally Solid!” Sunset raised an eyebrow as Twilight’s monsters broke down to create the tunnel of green light, wondering what her friend was up to. There wasn’t a level three Genex synchro monster…was there? “Time marches on and so shall you, always moving to the tune you create. Let your song be the one that echoes forever through the heavens! Synchro summon level 3! Martial Metal Marcher!” Sunset blinked in confusion as a brass-coated machine appeared next to Twilight, a monster with only 500 attack points. But despite its low attack, this faceless machine towered over her with musical instruments used in marching bands covering it. Just at a glance, Sunset thought she saw a tuba horn and a trombone. “When this monster is Synchro Summoned, I can special summon one tuner in my graveyard with its effect negated. Return: Genex Ally Remote! In defense mode!”
“Let me guess,” began Sunset as Remote returned to the field. “You’re going to tune these two monsters together to create Triarm, right?”
“No,” said Twilight, surprising Sunset even more. “Even if I wanted to, Triarm requires that the tuner monster I use is Genex Controller. Without Remote’s effect to change the name of my other monsters to that, I can’t summon it. And even if it did have its effect, both my monsters are tuners.”
“Then…what’s the point?” asked Sunset, now genuinely confused.
“This should help make things clear. I play the spell card: Monster Reborn!” As Twilight said this, Triforce returned to the field next to her. The white robot was flying there, but without its effects making Sunset wonder even more what Twilight was going for. “Now the stage is set. I control one synchro tuner monster as well as a synchro monster. I had wanted to finish this off with Axel, using a new combo I’ve been working on…but since you’ve been showing me your new cards, it only seems fair that I do the same in kind. The circuits connect through time, upgrading the savage might of the dragon! Past and future now meet in the present bringing forth a mighty power! Synchro summon Level 10! Shooting Star Dragon T.G. Expansion!” As Twilight finished her chant, both she and her monster sped forwards at blinding speeds that would make Rainbow blush! All while the tunnel formed around Twilight! She was in the tunnel of energy, moving faster and faster until she was RIGHT BEHIND HER! Sunset turned around just in time to see a figure flying out as the passage of power began to dissipate, flying high into the sky. The shape of this monster looked like that of the famous Shooting Star Dragon, all the way from its three point harpoon shaped head to its fighter jet like wings, and its long tail. But despite this, Sunset could tell this was a different white dragon than the one she had heard about. She could see that parts of its body had been replaced with metal plating, like on the chest, along the underside of its neck, and on the legs, with wires connecting underneath its armpits. What also made this monster different was the fact that it was that it held in its claw a rectangular cannon. It’s attack was 3300!
“Shooting Star Dragon has more than enough attack points to end this duel here and now,” said Twilight as she thrusted her hand forward. “Attack Burner and end this!” Twilight’s techno dragon wasted little time, pointing its weapon at Burner as electricity began to dance upon it. At that moment, Sunset realized what it was: a railgun. The weapon then fired, sending a hailstorm of high-speed, high-tech bullets right at Burner. Only…
“I activate my trap card: Molten Whirlwind Wall!” declared Sunset as her facedown flipped faceup. At that moment, flames surrounded Burner who raised its massive arms up in time to block the attack. The flames burned at such a high temperature that the bullets seemed to be melting in the air before they could touch him. “This trap card raises the attack of all my Laval monsters on the field by 100 for each Laval monster in the graveyard. I count eleven.” Sure enough, Laval Burner’s attack rose, making her monster a whooping 3200. However it was not enough as one bullet made its way through the flames, piercing through both arms before entering its chest and exiting through the other side. The mere force of the impact next to Sunset’s D-Runner was so powerful that it almost knocked her over, just barely managing to stay up as she swerved about for several seconds.
“G-Good show,” uttered Burner as he looked at his summoner before exploding, Sunset’s life points dropping to 700.
“That was a good move Sunset,” said Twilight. “That trap card saved you from taking 1200 points of damage. But, you know you only bought yourself another turn. My next attack will end this. I end my turn.”
Sunset said nothing as she continued to ride, still panting slightly from the last attack while adrenaline pumped through her system. She gripped the handle of her D-Runner tightly as Twilight’s words sunk in. Yes, if Twilight got another turn, it would be all over. Heck, it could have been over this turn if Twilight had been able to summon her Dark Jet Fighter! All she would have had to do was tribute her Shooting Star Dragon and she would have been able to inflict massive damage to her directly. And now, Sunset was at the mercy of Twilight’s next draw. If she drew Duradark, then she could use its effect to destroy her Scarlight and then unleash a direct attack. If she drew Changer, then Twilight could make Dark Jet Fighter. Heck, at this point, drawing any monster might mean instant victory for Twilight.
As they turned once more, Sunset took a deep breath to calm herself while reaching for her deck. She needed to remind herself that worrying about the what-ifs would not help her right now. She needed to make her own play, to do her best and never back down. To give this duel her all!
“I draw!” said Sunset as she drew, creating an arc of flames as she did. The fiery-haired teen could feel the warmth again, the fire radiating from the card going through her veins and into every corner of her being. She could feel it rising within her, the power similar to when she was a unicorn and using magic. Yet so different. There were others around her, present yet unseen. They were with her, backing her up just like how Twilight’s monsters backed her up! Sunset’s heart began to pound with excitement as she placed the card on the tray, knowing what it was without looking at it. “I play Rekindling!”
Fire began to surround Sunset’s D-Runner, the earth beneath her wheels cracking and melting. “With this, I can summon back all my fire monsters with 200 or less defense points! So come back to me Red Resonator, Laval Handmaiden, Lavalval Salamander, and a second Handmaiden!” Rising from the flames came Sunset’s monsters, starting with her molten dragon followed by two girls in blue hoop skirts, and finally her Resonator who clanged onto his tuning fork as soon as he appeared. The sound waves could be seen, surrounding Sunset who grinned brightly. “When Red Resonator is special summoned, his effect kicks in, increasing my life points equal to the attack of one monster on the field.”
“You’re…You’re going to summon Red Nova?” asked Twilight, fear now creeping into her voice as Sunset’s life points went up to 3700.
“No,” said Sunset, the flames surrounding her moving towards her as she spoke and quickly covering her entire body. Above her head, her three tuners began to turn into four fiery rings, Scarlight flying into it before being washed in flames. “I have something better in mind. The fires of passion burn brightly within both our souls. Unleash it all with the same force as an exploding star! Triple tuning synchro summon! Level 12! RED SUPERNOVA DRAGON!” The fire above Sunset’s head exploded, creating a shockwave that was felt all the way in the stands as a new monster appeared on the field. A large, four winged red and black dragon with 4000 attack points flew over Sunset’s D-Runner, the air around it seeming to catch on fire. Every part of this dragon seemed to be curved in almost a blade-like fashion, from its horns to its wings and even its thighs. Fire flowed around its claws, going up its thin arms. And on its chest was a four pointed star like gem the color of lilac.
“Red Nova had gotten an upgrade,” said Sunset proudly as she speed down the track. “First of all, my new dragon gets 500 extra attack points for every tuner in my graveyard! Right now, I have a total of six. That means my monsters attack shoots up to 7000!” She then held up the last card in her hand. “Now I play my other spell card: Resonator Call. This card lets me add another Red Resonator to my hand, allowing me to normal summon him!” Again, Sunset’s fiery fiend appeared on the field grinning like mad. “Now I’ll tune my level two Red Resonator with my level seven Salamander bring out my last new monster!” The Resonator broke down into two fiery rings, however they did not move besides Sunset or above her. No, these rings grew larger and larger as they moved to the center of the track with Salamander moving right into the middle. “Lord of the Laval tribe, be reborn in molten glory. Become one with the land, forever empowered by its might as you strike with the power of the planet itself! Synchro Summon Level 9! Lavalval Exlord!” As Sunset finished her chant, the tunnel of energy did not shot into the sky but the earth below. Rumbling quickly began to shake the track as a mountain began to rise up, towering over everyone. As the two girls rounded the corner once again, the top exploded unleashing lava into the air where it quickly began to reform. Connected to the volcano was the upper body of a man, wearing a silver belt around his waist whose design looked like flames or molten rock going downward as well as equally silver spiked shoulder pads. Running up Exlord’s chest was a row of the stone disks, each one containing the symbol of the Laval tribe and on his back was a cloak made out of fire that billowed behind him. Exlord’s attack was 2900.
“Now both my monsters’ attacks go up,” continued Sunset. “Since another tuner was sent to the graveyard, Supernova gets an extra 500. Meanwhile, thanks to my trap card, Exlord gets 1200!” Everyone watched as Red Supernova’s attack became 7500 while Exlord roared, flames surrounding him as his attack became 4100!
“Sorry Twilight, but you’re not getting another turn,” said Sunset. “Because I’m ending it here! Red Supernova Dragon, attack Shooting Star Dragon T.G!” Flames began to surround Sunset’s dragon as it circled around to build up speed, moving high into the sky in order to dive bomb Twilight’s monster.
“I activate my Shooting Star Dragon’s effect: once per turn, I can negate your monster's attack!” declared Twilight as a grid of green pentagram shields appeared in front of Shooting Star Dragon. At the sight of it, Red Supernova stopped high above their heads as it looked down at the offending white dragon.
“Should have known you’d have a trick like that up your sleeve,” said Sunset who, though annoyed that she couldn’t finish the duel, was still grinning. “Too bad for you, Supernova has a super powerful effect! As soon as you activate your effect, my dragon’s kicks in to banish not only himself, but all cards you have on your side of the field!”
“What? NO!” shouted Twilight as flames seemed to fully consume Supernova Dragon while at the same time curling itself up into a ball. Then, before Twilight could do anything, the flames began to focus themselves around the dragon’s waist while turning a bright white. Once the heat grew too much for it, the dragon unleashed the fire ring as its arms, legs, tail, and wings shot out. Supernova vanished from the field as the flames he had unleashed hit the ground starting from behind Twilight, leaving Sunset’s field untouched. The wall of white quickly moved forwards, consuming everything in its path leaving nothing behind. All the monsters created by the field spell: gone. Her Shooting Star Dragon: gone. Her lone defense monster: gone. When it was over, Twilight was defenseless.
“Now Exlord, attack Twilight directly!” commanded Sunset. Exlord raised both his hands up in the direction of Twilight’s D-Runner, sending waves of heat radiation towards her that were so powerful they distorted the air. Twilight yelped from the heated, her D-Runner swaying and smoke coming out of the ports. But thankfully it didn’t last long, ending when Twilight’s life points hit 1400.
“With that I end my turn,” said Sunset, now neck and neck with Twilight in terms of life points.
“Then I draw,” said Twilight as she drew, now holding six cards in her grip. “I’ll set a monster facedown and set two more. That’s all I can do.” With that, three facedown cards appeared on Twilight’s side of the field.
Is she bluffing? Sunset wondered as she continued to ride in front of Twilight, glancing behind her shoulder to look at her opponent. Twilight's head was downcast, making her expression difficult to read. Her body looked tense, but was it because she had nothing to help her now or was she hoping Sunset would take the bait? Well, better not disappoint her, thought Sunset with a grin. If it was a trap like Mirror Force, Exlord’s effect would kick in allowing her to special summon three monsters from her graveyard to finish this match off. And if it was something else, well, she wouldn’t be left unguarded.
Sunset’s eyes hardened as she made up her mind. “I draw!” she cried out, drawing her card. “I summon my favorite monster: Prominence, Molten Swordsman in attack mode!” And there he appeared, sword in hand as he burst from the ground with a spin. “Since he doesn’t have Laval in his name, he isn’t affected by my trap card. But Exlord, he’s still fired up! Exlord, attack her-”
“Before you do, I activate my trap card: Linear Equation Cannon!” interrupted Twilight, pressing a button on her tray. Exlord, who had begun to raise his arms, paused in confusion as a large red cannon appeared at the front of Twilight’s D-Runner. The cannon sprang to life almost instantly, a tuning fork coming out of the barrel with coils wrapped around its base. “In order to use this card, I have to solve a math problem!”
Sunset blinked in confusion before a small smile appeared on her face. “What, trying to turn dueling into math class now?” she asked playfully, hearing Rainbow over the roar of the motor yelling ‘NOOOO!’.
“It’s not that hard,” said Twilight. “First I choose a number between one and six, then I multiply that number by the level of an effect monster you control. Then I add to it the number of cards you have on your field. I choose three as my number and I’ll multiply it by the level of Prominence!” As Twilight said that, a keyboard appeared next to her. Taking one hand off her D-Runner, she typed a few things in as the cannon began to bob up and down. “Three times four is twelve. Add that to the number of cards you have on your side of the field and I get fifteen.”
“…Ok,” said Sunset slowly. “And where is this all going?”
“The point is to see if I can use this equation to match the number of cards in my graveyard,” replied Twilight as both girls heard a ‘ding, ding, ding,’ noise similar to what could be heard on a game show. “Looks like my math checks out. Since I got it right, I can use my cards first effect to send the declared number of cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard. Since I declared three, that's how many are sent.” Sunset still rode there, looking over her shoulder in confusion at what Twilight was doing. It honestly didn’t make any sense why she needed to do something like this. But then, after all three cards were in the graveyard, her cannon began to glow. “And with that done, three cards on your side of the field are sent back into your deck!”
“What?!?” shouted Sunset as the cannon fired three beams, each hitting her cards. Sunset watched as her two monsters slowly began to be tinted red before they were turned into cards on the field, floating into her deck where they were then shuffled back in. The same went for her trap card leaving her with nothing. Briefly, Sunset gritted her teeth before taking a breath. “I guess I have to end my turn then.” After all, she had no more cards in her hand or on the field. Nothing she could do…but wait.
“Good, then I-” began Twilight, but stopped as fire began to form above Sunset’s head. Larger and larger it grew, taking on a very familiar form. The form of Red Supernova Dragon!
“You didn’t really think that I could give up my best monster just because you stopped one attack, did you?” asked Sunset. “When Supernova uses his effect, he returns to the field during my next end phase!”
“Well he won’t be here for long!” said Twilight as she drew, four cards in her grip. “I flip over my set monster: Genex Ally Crusher!” Appearing in front of Twilight’s D-Runner was another humanoid looking machine that looked more run down than Recycled. Crusher was a bulky machine with dirty yellow heavy duty plating that only partially concealed a system of gears inside of it. But what made this monster unique compared to Twilight’s other monsters, besides its impressive 2000 defense points, were its eyes. Instead of a visor of some kind, it had two eyes with one of them red while the other was replaced with an old style scope. “Next I summon Genex Ally Duradark!” Computer code beamed down in front of Twilight, ‘flipping’ over to reveal her 1800 attack point, Megaman like monster.
“Now I activate Crusher’s effect, since a dark type monster was summoned to my side of the field I can destroy one monster you control,” said Twilight firmly. “Unless you banish everything on the field you will-”
“Sorry Twilight, but Supernova cannot be destroyed by card effects,” interrupted Sunset.
“What?!” yelled Twilight, looking over at her monsters and then back at her hand. Finally, she had to lower her head. “I end my turn.” When she had finished speaking, Duradark floated over to Twilight and placed a hand on her shoulder. Twilight looked up to see that Duradark was giving her a nod as well as a thumbs up. It was as if to say ‘It’s alright. You did good.’
“Supernova, end this,” said Sunset as she drew. And with that, Supernova became covered in flames once more as it flew up into the sky before diving down. As it neared Twilight, it lifted up at the last moment, smashing Duradark with its tail to destroy him while bringing the purple teen’s life points to 0.
-x-
“That was incredible!” screamed the head of the dueling committee as she bounced up and down, her face bright. Any semblance of self-control having been tossed by the wayside as she babbled with joy and excitement. The others she had brought with her, while not jumping, looked excited as well, for they had all stood up to watch the final showdown between these two duelists. Arms were raised, making fists that pumped into the air while they cheered like excited fans as the holograms began to fade. And that excitement didn’t fade as they watched Twilight’s D-Runner release steam and smoke as it began to power down, allowing Sunset to zoom forward as the purple girl moved off the track.
“I can believe the upgrades with the holograms,” said another, gesturing to where Supernova had been just a moment ago. “They look so real. So much so that I thought I heard some of them talking.”
“Must have been the adrenaline,” laughed another, slapping his co-worker on the back. “My heart is racing like mad!”
“President Shimmer, I think the vote is unanimous,” said the committee head as she looked down at her followers. They looked back at her, still grinning from ear to ear as they all nodded in agreement. The head of the committee then turned to the teenage CEO and took her by both hands. “Within the next couple days, we’ll hammer out the rules for these Turbo Duels before making the announcement to the public! Once that happens, I’m positive you’ll be swarming with orders for more of these D-Runners!”
“I look forward to it,” said Shimmer, doing her best to stay professional while her insides were a mix of emotions. On one hand, she felt like doing back flips up and down the stadium! Everything had gone smoothly, no, better than she could have ever hoped for. Sunset and Twilight had put on a show that fully demonstrated just how incredible duels could be! Her company was finally moving forward with her in the lead and soon the investors would be off her back! On the other hand, she was a bit worried by what they had said about the holograms talking. Much like how Sunset’s monsters had talked during their duel, magic was at play here. Had they suspected that Kaiba Corp had upgraded their holographic technology, Sunset would have been in a real bind as she would have to deliver that same quality to them when the D-Runners hit the market or else they would have thought she was cheating them! Thankfully, the situation had solved itself…for now.
Her internal joy increased as she saw the rest of her board, looking back at her. They all seemed pleased with this development, no doubt already counting the money they would soon be racking in. Well, all except for Garble. The man had his hand gripped to the seat in front of him, staring down at the D-Runners with a look of…shock? Horror? It was a look that Shimmer took note of, her happiness diminishing greatly as a spot of darkness fell on her face.
“They work,” she heard him whisper. Like he couldn’t believe it.
And that didn’t sit well with Shimmer at all.
-x-
“Yesterday, I promised you all that I would have proof there was a saboteur among us,” said Shimmer as she led her group to the hanger where the D-Runners had been stored. All of the members of her board traveled behind her in a group, the members of the dueling committee heading out. Ahead of them were Sunset and Twilight, both bringing the D-Runners into the hangar. “I believe that now is the time to share it with you.”
“Madam President, there’s no need to lie,” said Garble as they all began to walk through the opened door. His voice was devoid of its normal sneering tone, now more than a little irritated. He had wanted to leave as soon as the duel had finished, but told he had to follow along with the group on this. “If you had any proof then you would have WHAT THE HELL?!?”
Garble’s words echoed through the hanger, hand raised and fingers pointing to what was in the middle. Standing there was a bulky man with blue skin and red eyes who seemed to exude strength and power from every fiber of his being while towering over all those assembled. This man was none other than the head of security for Kaiba Corp: Torch. But, it wasn’t the man who Garble was pointing at, but the two extra D-Runners that looked identical to the ones that Sunset and Twilight had driven. And behind them were a group of scientists.
“There are more?” asked Gostir, shocked as well. Though nowhere near as much as Garble. “But I thought that we had only two.”
“There are only two,” said Shimmer as she strode over to the D-Runners in the middle of the room. “These are the ones you all saw last night. However, they were not the real D-Runners. These are fakes, nothing more than fancy polished shells that my scientists were able to whip up quickly from some spare parts. No motor, no programming, nothing. They just had to look like the real thing. As for the D-Runners you all saw on the track, those are the real ones which I had safely stored away at a trusted friend's house until this morning.”
“But…why?” asked Garble.
“I think that should be obvious at this point,” replied Shimmer, still stroking the fake D-Runner’s while Torch stepped forward.
“I personally oversaw their transport here as well as confirming that no programming had been installed,” he stated in a rough tone, one that stated ‘Interrupt me and it will be the last thing you do’. “When we arrived this morning, I was also present as the scientists examined the D-Runners. It was easy to discover that a program had been installed into both of them. One that, after some study, would have become active once the duelist lost. Had President Shimmer not switched the D-Runners, one of those girls would have been in a serious accident. Might have even been killed.” The words sunk into the assembled group, all of them growing pale.
“The lawsuits, the public fallout, the…the everything,” murmured Cinders who looked like she would fall on her face at any moment. “If that had happened in front of the dueling committee we might have been ruined!”
“Please tell me that you know who did this!” demanded another.
Torch shook his head. “In order for this ruse to be effective we needed to ensure that it was an easy mark,” he stated. “Had I ordered my crew to place hidden surveillance, there would have been a paper trail or even chatter among the employees. The same if I had hired outside contractors, a paper trail would have existed. And, to be honest, we don’t even know if we can trust them and purging the entire department isn’t an option. We are sadly looking for a needle in a haystack.” He then let out a sigh. “The good news is that he or she wasn’t able to reach the intended target. And now we know that about this person, we can begin looking for him. Or her.”
“We will begin upgrading all of our security protocols,” said Shimmer, taking charge of the conversation. Talking about all the new security protocols that would be in effect. From creating offsite labs to new security badges, guards at every door if need be, as well as a host of other things that would be going on. All the while, she kept an eye on her board to see their reactions. None of them objected, either vocally or silently. It seemed they grasped the gravity of the situation. Good.
As she spoke, her eyes also fell on Sunset and Twilight. Both were in the back, talking to each other as they waited for her to finish. To hear if she would hold up her end of the deal. And she would…and then some. How could she not after that duel went above and beyond all she had hoped for? Perhaps they would like to keep the prototypes for themselves.
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WOOOH, this was grand. An excellent display of escalation. Seriously, there were about three or four moments I could have sworn the duel was over, yet it kept going, getting bigger and more intense all the while. The exclusion of the unique mechanics of turbo duels was...curious, to say the least, yet I suppose planning around the limited amount of speed spells that exist/inventing brand new ones would be quite difficult. Regardless, as previously stated, I loved this.
11019596
Well please remember that this was the very first Speed/Truro duel ever so the rules are different. Not to mention that Speed Spells don't exist.
Thanks for the comment and I hope you stick around
11019608
Ah, fair point.
Twilight using Linear Equation Cannon? Thar makes too much sense. Lol!
Amazing duel! Nice to see all the updates to the girls decks, showing how far they've come since the start. Shimmer's plan I guess makes sense since she didn't really know who to trust and had no hard proof that there was something going on. Though she does seem to suspect Garble.
Best part: Burner's voice! Did not see that one coming
I was hoping to see garble get carted off to jail but the sound of his ego shattering is just as good
Also if you make a brave token deck can you make the token an armor monster
11020571
You mean Shining Armor?
11020712
No think valons cards
11021458
Ah. I see what your saying now. You want the duelist to actually actually and be treated like the token
11022072
Oh yeah
That was a fun duel. Too bad Garble got off.
Finally managed to read this fully.
Your writing style is pretty good and wrote up great details when writing the duels.
Though I suggest you could bold the LP/ATK/DEF stats and card names so its easier for the readers to spot them.
Disappointed on how Spike missed out most of whats happening due to Sci-Twi not bringing him with her.
Thankfully Sci-Twi actually brought him to see the Duel runner showcase, though still a problem he missed out on the other stuff..
Doesn't help that apparently other dragons like Garble gets to be humans which really makes it come off as the universe singled Spike out for the sake of a joke by having him be a dog instead of human while ensuring he isn't equals with the girls and ensuring he's excluded from their bond..
It just felt like it made the "Spike is a dog instead of human" issue hurt worse..
Okay this has nothing to do with this chapter but I have a theory of what Starlight's deck will be.
Destiny HEROs
Now at first that might sound weird but it actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Pony Starlight takes cute marks, which is essentially the physical manifestation of that ponies destiny. And Starlight is the one MLP Villain who isn't doing what she is Becuse she is evil, Power hungry, or has been controlled by something evil. She geninuinely belives what she is doing is right, hense her playing a deck of HEROs
11283025
No he's too busy making fun of melodious and pondering over why air neo's still has not been reprinted