Turn 12: Filler Duel Completion
The Cyberse Tournament's filler round was drawing to a close.
So far, Fluttershy and Scootaloo had managed to make it through to the second round. At the same time, the four-way Battle Royale was drawing to a close. However, the Duel between Flash, Spike and the Paradox Brothers was only just starting to heat up.
Currently, Flash and Spike were in the lead. However, The Paradox Brothers had managed to get a seriously powerful monster onto the field. The Gate Guardian, Combined. And with its Labyrinth ability, it would attack any monster in any part of the maze. And that was exactly what it was doing.
"THUNDER STROKE ASSAULT!" A powerful blast of lightning exploded out of the Sanga section, which shot straight towards Drag-Blade.
"Ahhh!" Spike flinched at the light, "can't look!" The attack barrelled towards his monster, ready to blow him to kingdom come.
"Now you see," Para stated. "Our Gate Guardian conquers all!" But then, he noticed Flash's smirk as he flipped over a card.
"Not this turn!" He announced, showing the card in question. "Dimensional Prison!" The portal appeared between Drag-Blader and the lightning, sucking it inside. "With this, your monster will soon be removed from play!"
Spike cheered, "so much for your all mighty monster." However, as the portal moved towards the Fusion Monster, the Paradox Brothers smiled.
"Tidal Shield!" Dox stated, as a portal appeared and created a dome around Gate Guardian Combined.
"What happened?" Flash asked, as the brothers laughed.
"You fool," Para stated. "So long as the Gate Guardian Combined is on our field, any card that targets a monster can be neutralised and destroyed." A lightning bolt shot out of the water dome and struck the portal, destroying it. "And this protection can be used a total of three times a turn."
"Three times?" Spike asked, as the water domes exploded.
"Yes," Dox laughed. "And without your trap, our monster is free to continue his attack!" The water flooded into the maze, Flash Heart leaping up to avoid the wave. But Drag-Blader wasn't so lucky.
The water slammed into him and caused him to be washed away, exploding as he did so.
Flash+Spike: 1550
Paradox Brothers: 2000
Sonata: "Oh! What an upset. The Paradox Brothers dealt a huge amount of damage. And with such a powerful monster on the field, I don't see how Flash and Spike can possibly hope to defeat them."
Flash turned to Spike, looking shaken at the loss of his monster and a large chunk of life points. "Relax," Flash told him. "We're not out of this yet." Spike still looked panicked and Flash couldn't blame him. If he didn't find a way to stop Gate Guardian Combined this turn, then the next turn would result in them being hit again and hard.
"Gate Guardian Combined," Sunset frowned. "Now there's a monster that's a hundred times stronger than the original."
Sweetie turned to her. "It's not that powerful, is it?" They all watched as the move was replayed, showing Dimensional Prison being completely wiped out. "So what if it can protect itself? Lots of cards can do that."
Wallflower turned to her. "And a lot of those cards are either banned or have everyone who's lost to them demanding they get banned. A card that can protect itself from being destroyed by everything once a turn is hard to beat. One that can protect itself twice a turn is next to impossible to beat. But three times..."
Ocellus frowned. "Flash or Spike need to come up with a way to get rid of it four times in one turn. There's no way they'll be able to hold out that long." The others feared she might be right. If Flash and Spike didn't pull a miracle out of their hats, they were going to be in serious trouble.
From within the control room, Twilight watched her husband and brother struggle against such a powerful beast.
She was glad those two were the ones going up against the Paradox Brothers. Mostly because out of all the remaining competitors, those two were probably the only ones that stood a chance against such a powerful creature.
"Come on, Flash." She smiled. "You've overcome almost impossible to beat monsters before. This one's no different. So long as you picked the right cards when you built your deck." As she said that, she looked over at the other monitor.
This one showed the Battle Royale, with Gallus' dragon taking up most of the screen.
Adagio: "Talk about a powerful looking monster. The other Duelists might have a hard time against such a powerful beast."
Smolder and Yona both let out a gulp, as they stared up at the dragon currently looming over the pair. "This is bad," Smolder stated. "Really bad." Hearing that made Fizzlepop wonder what kind of power that monster could have. Especially since it's ATK wasn't as high as Scarvolt's.
"Skill of Radiant Arms Dragon!" Gallus announced. "Since he was just Synchro Summoned, he gains half the ATK of the non-Tuner monster that was just used to summon him." The ghostly form of Double-Edged Fenrir appeared before it exploded into light, which flew into the monster. (A3100/D2200/L7) "Now!" He turned his attention to Yona, "take Steel Dragon Brawler down!"
Yona gasped, as the dragon raised its laser sword before swinging it downwards. "NO!" The blade struck the Fusion Monster and destroyed it, Yona being sent even further up as her Life Points dropped.
Yona: 400
Gallus: 2000
Smolder: 2000
Fizzlepop: 2000
Gallus smirked. "Time for Radiant Arms Dragon's other ability." The cannons on the dragon's back spun around before folding up onto the beast's shoulders, which then started charging up. "Now I can deal two hundred points of damage, for every Gold Paladin in my Graveyard."
Adagio: "With four Gold Paladins, he's dealing eight hundred points of damage to everyone!"
Yona gasped, as the lasers fired and split into three streams that shot directly towards each of them. She tried to think of some way to stop it, but she couldn't. "Yona no good at Battle Royale." With that, the laser slammed into her and her pod shook. "Augh!"
Yona: 0
Gallus: 2000
Smolder: 2000
Fizzlepop: 2000
As Yona was sent up to the top of the tower, the second laser struck Smolder's pod and she was rocked about. "WOW!" She cried, her pod heading up as well.
Yona: 0
Gallus: 2000
Smolder: 1200
Fizzlepop: 2000
The final laser shot towards Fizzlepop, but she wasn't worried. And for good reason.
For as the laser was about to strike her, a force field appeared around her pod. "What?" Gallus asked, only for the laser to bounce off the pod and fly back towards him. "WOW!" The laser struck and his pod was rocked, then went up and joined Smolder.
Yona: 0
Gallus: 1200
Smolder: 1200
Fizzlepop: 2000
"Did you see that?" Sandbar asked.
"Gallus' ability got blasted back towards him," Silverstream gasped. "But how?"
"Only one way I can think," Sunset points out.
"What the heck?" Gallus asked.
Fizzlepop smirked, as her face down spun around. "Damage Deflector. Once during any player's turn, I can deal any effect damage I take back to the owner of the card that dealt that damage."
Adagio: "Amazing! Yona has lost and is the first to be sent to the top of the tower. Her next opponent has now been decided. But I don't think Gallus is done yet."
Sure enough, Gallus stood up in his pod and pointed at Smolder. "Strike Fighter has his own ability. If he's used to Synchro Summon, that Synchro monster can attack twice in this turn." Radiant Arms Dragon charged forward, its sword glowing as it got closer.
Everyone waited to see what Smolder's face down was, but the girl sighed and shook her head before the dragon cut through Flame Dragon Brawler. "AUGH!" She cried, as her Life Points dropped and she was also sent upwards.
Yona: 0
Gallus: 1200
Smolder: 0
Fizzlepop: 2000
Gallus then pointed at Fizzlepop. "Your Damage Deflector only works once, which means you're taking the eight hundred damage now!" The dragon's cannons folded up and fired, Fizzlepop bracing herself as her pod was struck.
Yona: 0
Gallus: 1200
Smolder: 0
Fizzlepop: 1200
Adagio: "Smolder has also been knocked out of the Duel. Now it's all down to Gallus and Fizzlepop."
Smolder reached the top, not looking happy she had been beaten. "What Smolder face down?" Yona asked, as Smolder let out a huff.
"It was a Trap that activates when a Dragon-type is destroyed. Wouldn't have saved my life points." Yona nodded as they watched the Duel continue below.
"I end my turn," Gallus announced. As he did, Radiant Arms Dragon's ATK points returned to their normal amount. (A2300/D2200/L7) He looked over at his face down. A Trap called Paladin's Golden Shield, which he could equip to any Gold Paladin. With it, his dragon would be indestructible and any damage he would take would be halved. 'so long as she doesn't get her monster's ATK too high, I'll be fine. I've got this Duel in the bag.'
Back with Flash and Spike's Duel, it was now Flash's turn. But with nothing in his hand to stop the Gate Guardian, he had to hope for a lucky draw
"Alright. It's my turn." He reached for his deck. 'If I don't find a way to at least slow that thing down, this Duel's gonna be over a lot sooner than we hoped.' He drew his card and smiled. "This can work. I play Graceful Charity." He drew three cards, then discarded two.
"Draw as many cards as you like," Dox laughed. "All the cards in the world won't save you."
"We'll see about that," Flash stated as he threw one of the cards into the air. "Check this out." To everyone's surprise, the card landed perfectly on the Duel Terminal. "Swords of Revealing Light!" The Paradox Brothers gasped, as a bunch of swords made entirely of light rained down from the heavens.
They embedded themselves into the ground around Gate Guardian Combined, causing the monster to freeze up.
"Thanks to this card, none of your monsters can declare an attack for three turns. And since it doesn't target monsters, your Gate Guardian can't destroy it."
"Nice," Spike cheered. "Way to go."
"Thanks," Flash nodded. "And that's not all. I'm activating another Spell. Card Restoration." Behind Blazelord, a strange machine appeared. One that looked like a printer of some kind, with a slot machine arm on the side next to a counter set on zero. "This Continuous Spell gains a Spell Counter during each and every turn. Just wait until we decide to use it. For now, I'll move Flash Heart forward to the end of the maze."
The Paradox Brothers watched as the blue and orange dragon raced through the maze, doing a few zigzags before finally coming to rest at the last spot on the maze. There, it knelt down in DEF mode.
Sonata: "Flash has stalled the Gate Guardian's path of destruction. Will three turns be enough to get them what they need?"
"What good will a three turn delay do them?" Trixie asked.
Ocellus nodded. "In a tag duel, cards like that are less effective. Spike's turn will eat up one of Flash's chances to draw. So unless Spike draws something useful, I'm not sure how well Swords of Revealing Light are gonna be."
The others nodded, as Silverstream noticed activity on the other monitor. "Come on Gallus. You just gotta survive this turn."
Fizzlepop reached for her deck, whilst looking at the card Gallus had.
'That card's obviously a Trap to keep him from losing. I need to get rid of it. But how?' She knew of several cards in her deck that could destroy a Spell or Trap, but the odds of drawing one of them was quite low. 'I can do this.' She looked up at Scarvolt, who glanced back and nodded. "Let's do this. I DRAW!" She did so, everyone staring at the card she had drawn. Then, she smiled.
"Uh oh," Gallus gulped as Fizzlepop grabbed another card from her hand.
"I summon, Storm Guard Liberator, Archer!" In a flash of lightning, a Storm Guard with a bow and arrow appeared. (A1600/D1400/L4) "And then, I activate my Storm Guard Thunderbolt." The Spell appeared and unleashed a burst of lightning, which flew into Archer. "This Spell, lets me Destroy one Spell or Trap for every Storm Guard on my field."
Gallus' eyes went wide, as Archer unleashed the lightning. It flew forward and slammed into Gallus' face down, destroying it and leaving him defenceless. "No way!"
"Yes way!" Fizzlepop cried, as Scarvolt raised her sword. "And now I attack. And with another Storm Guard monster on my field, Scarvolt's ATK rises by five hundred points!" (A3000/D2000/L7/P4) Scarvolt rushed forward and swung her swords around, cutting through Radiant Arms Dragon and destroying it.
"Augh!" Gallus cried, as his pod moved up.
Yona: 0
Gallus: 500
Smolder: 0
Fizzlepop: 1200
"Thanks for the fun Duel," Fizzlepop told him. "Hopefully, we'll get to face one another in a future round. But this Duel is ending, right now."She pointed at him. "Storm Guard Archer. Finish this!" The monster pulled its arrow back before letting it fly, Gallus unable to do anything except let the attack land and wipe out the last of his Life Points.
Yona: 0
Gallus: 0
Smolder: 0
Fizzlepop: 1200 (Winner)
Adagio: "That's it. The Battle Royale has come to an end. Fizzlepop has earned victory. But will that prove to be her undoing? Maybe she would have been safer letting Gallus take the win. Who knows."
Fizzlepop watched as Gallus began to move upwards, her own pod shifting as well. Once they were both at the top with Yona and Smolder, the tunnel below them disappeared and was replaced with a floor. Their pods opened, allowing them the freedom to move.
"That was kind of fun," Smolder smirked. "But next time, I'm totally winning this match."
"You can try," Gallus smirked. "But I'll just use my Radiant Arms Dragon and blast you again." They all smirked at this, as a light opened up behind each of them. They all turned towards the lights, which clearly led to their next opponents.
"Well, good luck." Fizzlepop finger saluted. The others nodded, clearly expecting to see at least one of them again in a future round.
They all headed into the light, getting blinded as the battlefields appeared around them.
Smolder blinked as she stepped through the portal, only to suddenly find the ground beneath her shift. "Wow!" She almost lost her balance and as she regained control, she found herself on some kind of raft. A raft that was currently racing down a long and treacherous river. "Seriously!?" She cried, holding on for dear life.
Back in the Labyrinth Duel, Para reached for his deck and drew. "My turn."
"And with your Standby Phase, my Card Restoration gains a counter." Flash looked down at his printer, the counter changing to one.
Para frowned and looked at his hand, seeing he had nothing to help them. He couldn't even place a monster down to defend. "I place three cards face down and end my turn."
"My turn!" Spike drew his card, as Card Restoration moved to two counters.
Spike looked at the field, going over everything they had. He wasn't sure what Flash was planning with his Spell Card, so Spike would leave it alone. But then, he noticed Flash's Bright Bounce Magna Bunny. He hadn't moved the monster since summoning it and now, Spike was starting to have an idea.
"Yeah, that could work." Flash turned to him, Spike smiling as he pointed at their Pendulum Card. "I activate the ability of Magna Leghorn, to increase Blazelord's Level by one!" The light flew out of its chest star, moving into Blazelord and Levelling him up. (A3000/D2000/L9/P4)
Sonata: "What's the point in that? Their monster can't move through the maze."
"Now," Spike cheered, "I tune Level three Bright Bounce Magna Bunny with Level nine Dragonic Blazelord!" Magna Bunny leapt into the air, exploding into a trio of lights that Blazelord flew into. "Of all the dragons, I call on one of the mightiest in existence. Let the spirits of your fallen brethren, help your soul blaze like never before." The monsters were consumed by light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!"
The light suddenly morphed into a fireball, which began to take a quadrupedal shape. When it started to extinguish, it revealed a four legged dragon that looked like a larger version of Dragonic Blazelord. Its body was red and covered in reddish purple armor, which covered its chest and back, front legs after the knees, shoulders, back and the entirety of its back legs. Its front legs had long golden claws, with a golden blade sticking out the top. The head was the same as Blazelord's, though it had a longer horn that curved around to have two points. Finally, its wings were made entirely out of fire.
The massive dragon stood tall and spread its burning wings, letting out a mighty roar as Spike announced its name. "Dragonic Emperor. IMPERIAL FLAME DRAGON!" (A?/D3500/L12)
Sonata: "Incredible. This is a monster I've never seen before. But at that size, there's no way it'll fit through the labyrinth. What could Spike be up to?"
"I don't think I've seen that card before," Sweetie frowned.
"Must be new," Applebloom stated. "Like that Inferno Purge monster he used on me. But this one seems different from all the other Blazelord cards he's used." The others realised she was right. It wasn't just that it was on all fours. Something about it seemed...more majestic.
"Well it doesn't matter how different it is," Trixie stated. "If Blazelord couldn't fit through that maze, I doubt that thing's gonna get through it."
The Paradox Brothers seemed to be thinking the same thing, as Spike explained its effects.
"Dragonic Emperor's ATK points, are the sum total of Dragon-type monsters in our graveyard. Since Flash and I are sharing a graveyard, the number of dragons we have comes up to eight. The dragon roared again, its power raising up an incredible amount. (A4800/D3500/L12)
The Paradox Brothers smiled. "A powerful monster," Para stated. "One we'd worry, if we had to face it."
Dox nodded. "But with it stuck where it is, you'll simply waste it."
"We'll see," Spike stated. "I place a card face down and end my turn." He looked over at the Paradox Brothers, wondering what they had planned. More than that, he wondered if Flash had a plan. And if he did, would Spike's monster help.
"My turn!" Dox drew his card, as the Card Restoration Device gained another counter. He then smiled before activating what he had drawn, "De-Spell!" Flash and Spike gasped, as the Swords of Revealing Light began to vanish.
Sonata: "Not good. Those swords were the pair's only defence."
As soon as the swords vanished, Gate Guardian Combined turned towards Flash Heart Dragon. "Now!" Dox pointed at it, "prepare to lose your monster. Gate Guardian, destroy Flash Heart Dragon!" The monster raised its hands, as water, wind and lightning began to swirl around to form a sphere between them.
It then thrust the sphere towards Flash Heart, causing it to explode into a beam that flew right towards him. The Paradox Brothers smiled, only for Spike to quickly flip a card over. "Dragon Scale Armor!" Flash Heart's body began to grow, as the attack slammed into him.
The force of the explosion sent out a powerful wave of energy, which hit the pair and made them both grunt as they barely managed to keep from being knocked over.
Flash+Spike: 925
Paradox Brothers: 2000
When the smoke from the attack faded, Flash Heart was standing there looking shaken but alive. The Duelists took a deep breath, as Spike spoke up. "Dragon Scale Armor protects a Dragon from being destroyed this turn. And it cuts any damage it would have taken in half."
The Paradox Brothers frowned. "You got lucky," Para stated. "But your luck will soon run out."
"Then you'll have something serious to cry about," Dox ended his turn as Spike turned to Flash.
"Alright, Flash. It's now or never. If we don't find a way to stop that thing, we're gonna be in serious trouble." Flash nodded, then turned to his deck.
"Come on," he reached for it. "Give me something I can use to put the finishing touches to my plan." He drew his card and his eyes went wide, a smile appearing on his lips. "Perfect." The others wondered what he got, as the Card Restoration Machine gained a fourth counter. "First, Flash Heart Dragon will exit the maze!" The dragon took one final step, now on the other starting zone and staring down the Gate Guardian.
"Ha!" Dox laughed, "your dragon stands no chance against our beast."
Para nodded. "You should have placed him in DEF at the very least."
"I don't think so," Flash smiled. "I activate the effect of Card Restoration. By removing a Spell Counter from it, I can add any card in my grave back to my hand." The machine's slot arm moved down, as the counter changed to three. As it did, a card began to be printed out of the machine.
Sonata: "Any card? With all the cards he's used so far, which one could he be choosing?"
Flash removed a card from his graveyard and instantly played it. "Go, Fissure!" the ground began to rumble again. "With this card, I can destroy your weakest monster. "And you've only got one. Your Gate Guardian!"
The ground began to break open, but the Paradox Brothers simply laughed. "Did you forget our Guardian's power?" Dox asked, as a cloud of wind appeared beneath their monster and protected it. "Our Gate Guardian can protect himself a total of three times a turn."
"I know," Flash smiled before pointing at the printer. "Card Restoration. Return Fissure to me once again!" The machine's arm moved and the counter moved down to two, a card printing as it did so whilst everyone realised what Flash's plan was.
"Oh yeah!" Sandbar cheered. "That's brilliant!"
Ocellus nodded. "Flash is gonna keep adding Fissure to his hand and use up all of Gate Guardian's defence abilities." The others counted it up. Flash could restore four cards to his hand, which meant he could use Fissure four times. And since the Gate Guardian could only protect itself three times, it was going bye bye.
Sunset frowned. "Twilight wouldn't have made it that easy." The others looked over at her. "I bet that monster has another ability. I'm only spit balling, but I bet destroying it will bring a whole bunch more problems for them."
"Activate Fissure!" Flash cried, as the crack in the ground formed again. And once again, Gate Guardian used the wind platform to keep itself from falling in. "Now, Card Restoration. Return Fissure again!" The process repeated, Flash regaining Fissure before activating it.
And once again, Gate Guardian protected itself from being destroyed. But that was the last time.
"Our monster has lost its protection," Para stated. But then, he smiled as he looked down at the three face downs he had. 'Even if the Duelists destroy Gate Guardian Combine, its final ability will allow us to summon the original Gate Guardian from our deck. And even if they have a way to power up Flash Heart Dragon, our Traps will protect us from attacks and make them suffer. Victory is within our grasp!'
As the Fissure closed up again, Flash smiled as Card Restoration used its final counter. "It's time." Flash took a card from his graveyard and added it to his hand. "First, I activate the Spell Card I just drew." He played it, "Heavy Storm!" A power gust of wind exploded onto the battlefield, sucking all the cards they had out. This included the Pendulum Cards, Flash's Card Restoration and all the Face Downs on the field.
"It can't be," Para cried.
"Our defence has ceased to be," Dox finished as Flash smiled.
"Next, I activate the card I got thanks to Card Restoration." He slapped it onto the field, "Monster Replace!" This confused them all. "This special Labyrinth Card showed up by chance when I was building my Deck. I thought it might come in handy, since it gives me the power to swap any two monster's locations."
Sonata: "When did he get that card in the graveyard?"
Spike was wondering the same thing. But then he remembered. "Card Destruction or Graceful Charity. He must have ditched it then." A glow made him look down at the field, where Imperial Flame Dragon was starting to disappear.
The same thing was happening to Flash Heart, the two slowly vanishing and reappearing where the other one had just been. Now, Imperial Flame Dragon was staring down the defenceless Gate Guardian.
"Now, I'll activate the effect of our Dragonic Emperor." The dragon opened its mouth, as Flash and Spike each took a card from their graveyards. "By banishing any number of dragons from our grave, we can de-power a monster on your field." Starbreak and Effort Dragon appeared before bursting into flames, which Dragonic Emperor sucked into its mouth.
"Alright," Spike cheered. "So your monster will lose all its abilities, as well as five hundred ATK points per dragon." Imperial Flame Dragon unleashed a blast of fire, which struck Gate Guardian Combined and burned away all its power. (A2750/D3400/L12) At the same time, Dragonic Emperor took to the air and the claws on its front legs burst into flames. As it did, Flash and Spike spoke in unison. "Imperial Flame Dragon! Destroy Gate Guardian with Blazing Royal Strike!"
Everyone watched, as the Synchro Monster flew forward and swung a flaming claw around. And with one almighty slash, it cut through the Gate Guardian Combined and completely destroyed it. Both Paradox Brothers screamed at the explosion, which wiped out the rest of their life points.
Flash+Spike: 925 (Winners)
Paradox Brothers: 0
The Paradox Brothers cried out, as the maze and all the monsters started fading away. Both fell to the ground, looking absolutely horrified. "We thought victory would be sweet," Para stated.
"But now we lie in total defeat," Dox continued.
Para looked up at Flash and Spike, the pair high fiving. "You may have won, in this contest."
Dox continued. "But you've yet to pass, your true test." They stood up, as Flash and Spike turned to them.
"For over my shoulder, you'll see a door." A door was right behind Para. "And over my brother's, you'll see..."
"One door more," Dox stated.
"Your test, a choice. But do not be hasty."
"Pick the wrong door and your future won't be tasty."
"What are they talking about?" Spike asked, Flash unsure.
"If I had to guess. We each need to pick a door. Each door leads to our next opponent. And depending on who that opponent is, we might end up losing the next round." Spike nodded, as they stared at the two doors.
As they did, the Paradox Brothers made several identical movements. "Make your pick. Make your call. Which will it be, your rise or fall?" The two walked around the room and looked up at the doors.
Flash turned to Spike. "What do you think?"
"You're asking me?" Spike raised an eyebrow.
"Why not? You've always had good instincts. We wouldn't have won if you hadn't trusted your gut and used my Tuner to summon Imperial Flame Dragon. so which door do you think leads to an opponent you can beat?"
Spike stepped forward, staring at the two doors. His eyes flicked between them, eventually landing on one of them. "This one." He stared at the door with Dox's symbol. "I'll go through this one."
Flash nodded and turned to Para's door. "Then it looks like I'm going through this one." The two shared a look and nodded, a smirk on each of their faces. "Well, guess this is it. Let's agree to keep winning, no matter what's thrown our way."
"Alright," Spike nodded. "Good luck with...whoever you end up facing." Flash nodded and the pair stepped up to the doors, pushing against them and causing said doors to open up.
They shared one final glance before walking into two different tunnels. And as soon as they were through, Spike let out a sigh.
He really hoped Twilight wasn't broadcasting this. "Flash was the one who won again." He thought back to the Duel and whilst Spike might have been the one to get the game winner on the field, Flash had made up the strategy that got it to work.
Then there was the rest of the Duel. Times when Flash had saved his butt. Using Shift to take out Labyrinth Tank. Protecting Drag-Blader from the Whispering Death. He had even tried to stop Gate Guardian's first attack. And even though it failed, it helped them learn the monster's special ability.
"Every time it seems like I'm closing in on Flash, he shoots further and further ahead." He closed his eyes and when he did, he imagined himself in a large desert.
Said desert had a powerful wind blowing, which swept up the sand and blasted it right into Spike's face. The teen cried out, as he was forced to shield his eyes. And when he did look ahead, he saw another figure walking ahead of him.
It was Flash, the man marching through the sandstorm without any problems. The sand didn't even slow him down, as he pushed ahead. "Flash!" Spike cried, trying to catch up to him. But the wind and the sand made it almost impossible to do so. "Please, wait!" He fell to his knees, as Flash got further and further away. Spike could do nothing but watch, as he was swallowed up by the storm.
Spike then opened his eyes and could only frown, as he was back in the tunnel.
"Ever since the day we met, Flash has stood ahead of me. Even back when he was a complete noob, he could Duel better than I could after years of training and practise. And whenever I tried to catch up to him, he soared ahead of me again and again."
Spike remembered all the insane events they had been through together. The Celestic Cup. Invading Sombra's base. The Doomvaders, Dominators and Zealots. Flash had faced them all, whilst Spike had been watching from the sidelines. A few times, Spike Dueled and tried to show he could be just as strong as Flash. But every time, Spike fell to the wayside whilst Flash was forced to do the impossible and save the world.
"Next time," Spike stated. "Next time, Flash won't have to do everything. I'll get strong enough to beat anyone and stop anything that tries to hurt my friends and family. And when it's over, I'll finally stand beside Flash. Not as someone who just helps. As an equal." With that, he marched forward and rushed into the light at the end of the tunnel.
When he stepped out, he found himself in some kind of large city-scape.
He looked around, wondering what the theme of this battlefield was meant to be. But as he walked through the street, he found cars and other vehicles parked in random spots here and there all around the street. "What the heck? Was there some kind of mass evacuation or something?" But then he heard a sound and looked around, his eyes going wide when he saw something walking around a corner onto the street.
It was a person. But not a normal person. Their flesh was rotting off their bodies, whilst their clothes were tattered and ruined. Its head was a skull, but somehow it had white hair on top.
"Reborn Zombie?" Spike asked, only to realise what kind of situation he was in. "Seriously? A zombie apocalypses?" He had seen enough of those movies to realise that in this situation, there was never just one zombie.
And sure enough, another Reborn Zombie appeared, followed by another and another. Soon enough, the entire street was crawling with zombies and they were slowly making their way towards Spike.
"Oh come on!" He turned to run, quickly getting atop a car and leaping from roof to roof. As he did, different zombie monsters started showing themselves. Zenki Reborn, Skull Servant and even a Dragon Zombie.
It was that last one which was the most dangerous, as it unleashed a powerful blast of fire towards Spike.
"Yeah!" He leapt off the car, which exploded as the fireball struck it. He then fell through the air and crashed into the ground, as the Dragon Zombie continued to pull itself through the street. By the looks of things, its rotting wings wouldn't allow it to fly. And that meant only one place was safe. "Time to get up high!"
He looked around and spotted an alleyway with a fire escape on the side of the building.
He ran up to it and as he got close, several Skull Servants began to march towards him. "Back off." He grabbed a trash can lid and threw it like a frisbee, the lid hitting it and knocking its head off.
Its body fell to the ground, the other skeletons tripping over it and crashing to the ground. And as Spike began to climb the ladder upwards, the first skeleton's head landed atop the pile of bones.
He reached the top of the ladder and quickly pulled it up, as the other zombies made their way into the alley. But none of them could reach the ladder, nor did they have the physical strength to pull themselves up. This allowed Spike the climb all the way to the roof of the building, where he was safe.
He took several deep breaths, as let his heart calm down. "Okay. I got away from the zombies. Now I have to find my opponent without turning into an undead dessert." He looked around, but couldn't see any sign of his opponent.
In another battlefield, Fizzlepop was making her way through a strange set of tunnels.
She turned a corner and when she did, she found herself staring at a long corridor with many holes of various sizes covering the walls. And as she walked forward, she suddenly heard a whistling sound and turned towards it.
She tried to narrow down where it was coming from, but the echoing made it almost impossible.
The sound eventually ended and Fizzlepop began to head down the corridor. She tried to keep going straight, not wanting to get lost constantly turning left or right. But whenever she came to a split in the tunnel, she would always go in the opposite direction to the last direction she headed.
First it was left, then right, left, right and so on.
After the fifth right turn, she suddenly heard the whistling again. She spun around, her eyes darting around as she tried to lock on again. And as she passed by a small hole, she felt something on her skin. A strong breeze.
She spun around and saw that the hole was acting as a pressure hose, the small tunnel causing the air blowing through it to be compressed and increasing the speed it was moving at. And that caused the whistling sound, Fizzlepop noticing the sound was getting higher and higher pitched.
And as she took a few steps back, a breeze flew through the tunnel she was in. At first, it was just a gentle breeze. But it slowly started getting stronger and stronger. And eventually, Fizzlepop found herself getting slammed by a gale three blast of wind.
She leapt to the ground, but the wind was just too powerful and she was swept down the tunnel.
She tried to make herself as small as possible, as she was thrown through the darkness of the tunnels and barely managed to avoid smashing into the ground and walls. She shifted around to go down one tunnel, then down another before finally coming to a stop with the wind beginning to slow down.
Once she was sure she wouldn't rip her arms out of her sockets, she grabbed a hole in the wall and used it to stop and ride out the rest of the wind.
And when the last of the gale died down, she fell to the ground and sighed in relief. "Twilight sure knows how to make things interesting." She pushed herself back to her feet and began to stagger down the tunnel again. Hopefully, she would find her opponent before another whirlwind blasted through the place.
Scootaloo had no idea where she was.
After completing the Duel Puzzle, she found herself in a world made entirely out of different coloured lights. There were giant buildings made of red, blue, green and so on. There were highways between the buildings made of white lights, which had streaks of yellow, pink and orange lights flying down them.
The place was completely insane. Like something out of a science fiction movie. And Scootaloo could do nothing to walk along the highway and make sure she wasn't blown over by a stray beam of light. "This place is giving me a headache," she moaned. "I hope Twilight's putting a seizure warning up." A red light shot passed her, moving so fast Scootaloo was sent spinning.
When she finally came to a stop, she moaned and held her head before continuing down the road.
Smolder continued to ride the rapids down the river, the girl having to get down on all fours and holding the side of the raft.
"Ah man," she cried as the raft started waving side to side. "Come on. I'm starting to get sea sick here." As she said that, the raft turned a corner in the river and a sound filled the air. A sound that made Smolder gulp as she looked ahead. "Don't tell me." A good hundred feet away, the river dropped and she didn't want to know how high the waterfall was.
Panicking, Smolder looked around and then spotted something.
To her right was a large stone wall, that ran right up to the waterfall. Hanging from above the wall were a bunch of vines, which were currently blowing in the wind. And in doing so, a hole could be seen with water flowing into it.
Smolder quickly started paddling, trying to get her raft to shift over to that cave. She swam, kicked and did whatever she could to get the combination of wood to move through the water. And just as she was about to pass the cave, she managed to reach the current being drawn into the cave.
"YES!" She cheered, as she flew into the cave. But as the darkness overcame her, the raft suddenly shifted downwards and she found herself racing through a downwards tunnel like a bobsled.
She could do nothing but scream, as she flew through the zigzagging tunnel. And just as her seasickness was about to make her throw up, she saw a light at the end of the tunnel and was almost blinded by how bright it was.
"WOW!" She cried, as the raft shot out the tunnel and found itself soaring through the air.
She opened her eyes and saw a large lake below her, the raft slamming down into the water and completely breaking apart. She gasped as she sank below the surface, struggling to swim up until her head broke out of the water and she gasped.
She looked around, spotting the hole she had shot out of was still spilling water through it. She then looked around and saw the river she was probably going to ride down, had she not gone through the tunnel. And as she kept looking, she spotted an island in the very centre of the lake that she started swimming towards.
She reached it and as she pulled herself up onto the shore, she spotted another river feeding the lake. In fact, it looked exactly like the one she had avoided going down. And to the side of it was another wall, with a hole also spitting out water.
"Did they just make half a lake, then copy and paste it on the other side?" As she said that, she noticed something flying down the river. It was a person, riding what appeared to be a surfboard made from broken pieces of a raft.
They soon reached the bottom of the river and was thrown out onto the lake, skidding along the surface for several moments before slowing down and sinking. As such, they started swimming towards the island. As they did, Smolder frowned.
"Seriously. I thought I just got rid of you."
Gallus shook his body as he pulled himself out of the water, causing him to shiver. "Just once, I'd like to go into a round without needing to get wet." As he said that, he noticed Smolder and smirked. "I thought I got rid of you."
"Tell me about it," Smolder frowned. "Guess the refs thought we made an interesting spectacle together. But seriously. Couldn't they have sent us to Duel anyone else?"
"Whatever," Gallus stood tall. "Looks like I'll be eliminating both my teammates from the Double X." Smolder heard this and realised what it meant.
"So you beat Silverstream?" He nodded. "Too bad. I was hoping to Duel her too."
"Who did you beat?"
Smolder smirked. "You can ask them that yourself, after I beat you." Gallus smirked back, clearly not planning on letting that happen. Only one of them would be walking away from this Duel and to do that, they would have to give it everything they had.
The Cyberse Tournament's Second round had begun. And it already looked to be an interesting set of matches.
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Well the Filler Duels are over. They were pretty fun though.
It looks like Spike is feeling a bit down though compared to his brother-in-law. Spike did have problems feeling like he wasn't as good as the rest of his family back in the first story of the series, and it looks like after all Flash has achieved over the years his feelings of being inadequate have started to come back. Hopefully he finds what he's looking for in himself during this tournament.
Like something out of The Walking Dead.
Do you mean 'Woah' when they say 'WOW'?
Definitely that final part with Spike feeling weak compared to Flash really got to me.
Especially because in the last story Spike couldn't do much, but besides that I understand how it feels, to try hard for something, but there are guys like Flash who achieve it because they already had the power, it's not bad at all, Flash is a good guy and a great example of a duelist, I just hope Spike achieves great things like him in this story.
But wow, good way to defeat the Gate Guardian, a few months ago I had a duel against him, I was winning but when my opponent summoned that monster everything fell apart, he is really very strong.
Now there are only 8 left, if I could predict anything about the other duels it is that they will be Spike VS Fluttershy and Flash VS Scootaloo.
11887262
And hopefully Spike doing great things such as against world-threatening villains too(instead of just ultimately get taken out in the end).