> Yugioh EQG > by Banshee531 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Turn 1, Flash Sentry > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DUEL MONSTERS. For many years it has been the game everyone played, if you didn't own a deck you were nothing. Monsters, Spells and Trap Cards where the greatest weapon. YUGIOH EQG! In the city of Canterlot we find a teenage boy walking the streets. He had blue hair and wore a black leather jacket over a white shirt, which had a blue shield and lightning bolt emblazoned on it. His name was Flash Sentry. He was walking through the park on his way to school when he heard a loud crashing sound, which caught his attention but relaxed when he saw a couple of kids in a Duel. "I'm using my Super Conductor Tyrano to attack your Fire Princess!" a young boy said, as his robotic dinosaur charged at a woman in red carrying a staff. "I use my Trap," the girl he was Duelling against said as a card flipped up, "Negate Attack" Flash looked away from the Duel and once again walked off, he had no interest in Dueling. He had once when he was younger, but he turned out to be terrible at the game and lost so many times that he just gave up and had even thrown his deck away. Flash arrived at his school, Canterlot High, and walked inside. He reached his locker and opened it up to grab his books, but something was sitting on top of them...a deck. "What the" he said taking the deck and looking it over, "this isn't mine." Later on in class Flash sat at the back of the room half-heartedly listening to the teacher speak. "Write me an essay about your future goals before the end of class, three pages for now" the scribbling of pen to paper filled the classroom as the students wrote. Flash sighed and began writing. An hour later the bell rang signalling the end of class. Flash began to collect his things, when he suddenly felt someone standing beside him. Looking around he saw a violet skinned girl with purple hair, wearing a blue blouse and purple skirt. "Hey." she said smiling. "The teacher asked me to collect the essays." To emphasise her point, she held up the stack of papers she was carrying. Flash just looked back down at his desk as he picked up his essay and placed it on top of the pile, before walking to the door. "Thanks" the girl said. "Yeah sure, whatever" Flash replied leaving. The girl, whose name was Twilight, glanced down at his essay wondering what he had written and had to take a second look when she saw the title. Independence During lunch Flash sat in a shady area eating the last of his lunch when he suddenly heard something above him. "Don't do it." He looked up just in time to see something falling towards him, and threw his hands up in defense until the thing landed on him. Opening his eyes, he found he was covered in Duel Monster cards. "These things again." he said taking a card off his head and looking at it, the card's name was Gilford the Legend. He quickly gathered them all up into a deck, and when he was finished he heard. "You found them." Flash turned around and saw two guys, possibly his age, standing not too far off. Behind them was a younger boy looking worried. "Our cards seem to have slipped out the window." one of the older boys said with a smirk. "And they're special to us," the other guy said, "why don't you give them back." "No!" the younger boy said trying to step forward. "Their-" he stopped as one of the older boys turned around and let out and angry growl at him. Flash frowned seeing this, "I see what's going on." He said as he stood up and walked forwards a few feet, doing so brought him into the light revealing his face. The two older boys suddenly lost all their confidence, as they saw who it was. "Flash Sentry." One of them whispered in fright as the stepped back. Flash walked towards them, his face hardened. As he got closer the two held up their arms as if preparing for a beating, but no blows came. "Here you go." They opened their eyes and Flash wasn't in sight, so they turned and saw Flash had walked passed them and handed the younger boy the deck. The boy held out his shaky hands as Flash placed the cards in his grasp. The older guys frowned at this, but they returned to being scared when Flash looked around at them. "You guys got a problem?" he asked viciously. "Er, no sir." They both said shakily, obviously scared at what might happen to them. Flash just turned and walked away, unaware that he was being watched. Up in one of the buildings Twilight, along with her close friends Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, had seen the whole thing. "What's that boys name?" Twilight asked. She was new to Canterlot High and didn't know a lot of people’s names. "That's Flash Sentry." the blonde haired girl named Applejack replied as she looked out the window. "He doesn't really hang around anybody." Rainbow Dash, the rainbow haired girl, continued. "He's always been a loner." "I heard a rumour," a girl with light pink hair said "that even some of the teachers are scared of him." "Don't be silly Fluttershy." Rarity, the purple haired girl in designer clothes, replied. "I'm sure he just likes his space." Pinkie Pie, a girl with dark pink hair, nodded, "I bet all he needs is a party to turn that frown upside down." "So he doesn't hang out with anyone?" Twilight asked. "Not that we've seen." Rainbow replied. Twilight continued to watch the boy walk away, feeling sad that someone was content at being so lonely. Later after school had let out Flash was once again walking through the park. He looked down at the deck he had found earlier, wondering what he should do with it. Should he take it to the lost and found or something? Suddenly he heard something, a loud cry of pain coming from not too far off. Moving before he could think, he ran towards the area but stopped in his tracks when he saw a trio of teens, one of them wearing a backpack with the emblem of Draco High. Below them laying on the ground was a younger boy of fourteen, with purple skin and green hair, his backpack showed the Canterlot Junior High emblem. "Looks like you lost loser." the supposed leader said. He had red skin, orange hair and wore a dark red hoodie. "You were an idiot to challenge the Great Garble." one of the teens said. "I didn't challenge him," the boy said, "you guys made me." "Whatever," Garble said "you lost so hand over your deck." "I didn't agree to that." the kid said. "Well too bad." Garble said as he grabbed him by his purple jacket and lifted him up. "Weaklings don't get a say." He grabbed the boy's left arm, and pulled off a purple device, before throwing him to the floor. "Knock it off!" They all turned to see Flash walk out. "Just because you’re bigger that doesn't give you right to pick on someone." "This doesn't concern you." Garble said. "It does when your ganging up on a defenceless kid." Flash replied. "Grow a backbone and pick on someone your own size." "Like say...you?" Garble said. "You wanna go?" Flash asked. Garble would have said yes, but then he noticed Flash was holding a deck of cards and smiled. "Tell you what," he said "why don't we settle this like Duellists?" Flash wondered what he meant until he noticed Garble had a crimson Duel Disk on his arm, which he activated forming an orange energy blade. "You win and I'll hand back the deck, but if I win I get his deck and yours. Deal?" Flash looked down at the deck in his hand and then back up at Garble. He didn't feel right betting something that wasn't even his. "What's the matter?" Garble asked. "Chicken?" He and his buddies suddenly laughed and began making clucking noises. "Fine then." Flash said before realising what it was he was saying. "You’re on." "Great." Garble said tossing him the purple Duel Disk. "Let's get this started." Flash affixed the device to his arm and placed the deck in the slot, a green energy blade forming. "Hey," he turned back to see the kid standing near him, "you don't have to do this for me." "It's fine." Flash replied. "Bullies like him need to be put in his place." "Okay." the boy said. "I'm Spike by the way." "Flash." the teen said back. Meanwhile Twilight and her friends were walking through the park. Suddenly Rainbow Dash's phone began beeping. “What's that Rainbow?" Twilight asked. "My Duel app." Rainbow replied. "It goes off whenever it detects an active Duel Disk." "Cool." Applejack said looking around. "Might be a good one, let's check it out." They followed the app and looked around for any signs of a Duel until they heard. "Twilight!" They spun around and saw Twilight's little brother Spike standing not too far off, behind some trees. "Spike," Twilight said, "what are you doing here?" But she soon realised why, when she saw Flash and Garble facing off. "Looks like we found our Duel." Applejack said. "Weird." Rainbow Dash said. "I don't think I've ever seen him Duel." Flash and Garble's Duel Disks connected and showed their life points, as they drew their cards. "DUEL!" they both yelled. Flash: 4000 Garble: 4000 "I'll start off," Garble said drawing his card, "and summon Razor Scale Dragon." A green four-legged dragon appeared, it had spikes coming from its elbows, spine and tail. (A1300/D1100/L3) "I'll also throw down two face downs and end there." "There must be something more to that dragon then he's letting on." Twilight said. "Let's see what Flash does against it." Rarity said. Flash drew his card and for the first time he looked at the actual cards he'd drawn and gasped seeing two of the cards in his hand were blank. They were the same colour as effect monster cards but had no picture, name, attribute, level or attack and defense points. Flash panic as his mind wondered what to do, he'd just have to work with the other cards he had. "I'll summon...Starbreak Dragon." A humanoid dragon appeared, it was about Flash's height and wore yellow armour with jet plane wings while carrying a pair of long handled axes with star shaped blades. (A1500/D1200/L4) "And I'll attack." Starbreak Dragon launched itself at Razor Scale Dragon, swinging its star shaped axes and slicing the monster in half destroying it. Flash: 4000 Garble: 3800 "How'd you like that?" Flash said. "Idiot," Garble said as he pressed a button on his Duel Disk and one of his face downs flipped up, "you activated my Trap Card. It's called Dragon's Call and it activates when you destroy one of my dragons, by removing the destroyed monster from play I can summon two new dragons with a thousand or less attack points." "So what?" Flash said. "My Starbreak Dragon will have five hundred or more attack points than anything you summon." "But who says they'll be attacking?" Garble said as two new monsters appeared. "They'll be defending! Rise, Golem Dragons!" A pair of rock skinned dragons appeared. (A200/D2000/L4) "Two thousand defense points." Flash said before realising something, "Wait but you've placed them in attack mode, how are they gonna defend?" "Simple," Garble said, "while Golem Dragon is face up he's the only dragon you can attack." "So with two Golem Dragons," Fluttershy realised. "Flash can't attack any of Garble's dragons." Twilight realised. "And I'm betting every card in his deck is a dragon." Rainbow Dash said. Flash thought this to, "I'm trapped." "To right" Garble said, "and now I'll activate my other Trap, Dragon's Gate, which lets me add a dragon that was removed from play into my hand." He took Razor Scale Dragon and placed it in his hand. Flash sighed, "I end my turn." "My go," Garble drew his card, "and I'll activate Cost Down. By ditching one card I can reduce the level of a monster in my hand by two." "He must be bringing out something big." Twilight said. "Now I only need to sacrifice one of my Golem Dragons," Garble said as one of the stone dragons disappeared, "to summon this." A giant dark red dragon appeared. It was vicious looking with large clawed hands and razor sharp teeth, "Dark Rogue Dragon." (A?/D?/L8) Flash had never faced anything like this before. "If you think he looks scary just wait till his special ability kicks in." Garble explained. "My Dark Rogue Dragon’s original attack and defense increases by a thousand for every other dragon on my field and in my graveyard." (A3000/D3000/L8) "Not good." Flash said. He must have discarded a dragon when he used Cost Down. "Now I activate Monster Reborn to revive my Golem Dragon." the second rock dragon appeared in attack mode. "Now, Dark Rogue Dragon take down his puny Starbreak Dragon." The Dark Rouge Dragon lifted its massive claw and with a single swipe it destroyed Starbreak Dragon, the force causing Flash to be knocked back. Flash: 2500 Garble: 3800 "Then my two Golem Dragons will strike" the two rock dragons swiped and slashed Flash across the chest. Flash: 2100 Garble: 3800 "Come on Flash," Spike said, "you gotta do something." "I'm trying." Flash said as he drew his card. "I'll summon Magna Fighter Crossbolt in defence mode." A man in steampunk clothing that carried a large crossbow appeared. (A1400/D1400/L4) "And I'll end my turn." "My draw." Garble said. "Too bad my Dark Rogue Dragon won't let me normal summon, but it can still flatten your silly cosplayer." Once again the massive dragon destroyed Flash's monster. "And now my Golem Dragons will attack." Flash: 1700 Garble: 3800 "My draw." Flash said and smiled when he read what the card he'd drawn can do, "I summon Magna Fighter Arma in defense mode." A woman in steampunk carrying a large bronze shield appeared. (A1800/D0/L4) "Check this," Flash said, "while in defense mode Arma can't be destroyed by battle." "That means Flash is safe for a little while." Pinkie said. "Maybe," Twilight said, "it depends on what cards Garble has in his deck." "My draw." Garble said before smiling. "Look what I got." He placed the card in his Duel Disk as a Spell Card appeared on the field. "Dragon's Wing Beat, which will change the position of one of you monsters at the cost of five hundred points" a huge gust of wind blew causing Arma to stand up into attack mode. "Oh no." Flash said. "Now Dark Rogue Dragon destroy her!" The dark dragon once again crushed Flash's monster. Flash: 500 Garble: 3300 "Now Golem Dragons." Once again Flash was slashed which sent him flying onto his back with a cry of pain. Flash: 100 Garble: 3300 "Is he okay?" Fluttershy asked in worry. "I think so." Applejack said. "Get up!" Spike yelled. "I'll end with two face downs and pass to you." Garble said. "Come on loser, show me another lame card for my dragon to crush." But Flash just laid there. How was he gonna win now? He looked at his hand and besides the blank cards he also had two monsters which weren't strong enough to beat Dark Rogue Dragon. "This is why I hate Duelling," Flash said, "no matter what I always end up on my back and humiliated." He should just quit now since he had already lost. "Don't give up." Flash turned to see the girl he had talked to in class earlier. "You still have one turn, one draw that could change everything." she told him. "But what can one card do?" Flash asked as he sat up. "If you believe in your deck then one card can do anything." she replied. "Believe." Flash said looking down at the deck he had found. Could it be that the reason he was losing right now was because he didn't believe in it, because he thought of them as someone else's cards? But maybe that wasn't right. Maybe he hadn't found them, but had been given them. "One draw." He shakily got up and placed his hand on the deck and closed his eyes. "I believe that one draw is all I need." If his eyes were open he'd have seen his deck was glowing, "I...DRAW!" He drew his card and opened his eyes, seeing the glow he looked at the card and saw it was another blank card...but then. The card's glow intensified and in a single second the card changed. The card was now an actual Duel Monster card, complete with text, numbers and an image. The only difference was the bottom half of the card was now blue like a Spell Card. "What the?" Flash said only for his attention to drift to the Monster's name, "Flash Heart." Suddenly his eyes caught another glow coming from the other two blank cards. Like the last card, they soon changed to two Monster cards with blue bottoms. "What's going on" he asked himself but his body was suddenly moving on its own, as if by instinct he grabbed the two new cards and said "I'm using Scale eight Magna Caster Solaris and Scale one Magna Caster Lunara to set the Pendulum Scale." He placed the two cards on the far ends of his Duel Disk. On each side of him two pillars of light appeared as two monsters floated upwards, hovering once they were ten feet high as the image of a one and eight appeared below them. To Flash's left was a man in flame patterned wizards clothing, carrying a staff with a sun shaped head. To his right was a woman in silver and blue wizards clothing carrying a staff with a crescent moon head. Everyone was in shock at what they were seeing. They had never seen something like this in a Duel before. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory!" Flash chanted as the two wizards pointed their staffs up, and each shot a beam of light which connected and opened a portal above him. "I can summon monsters levelled two through seven all at the same time!" Flash explained. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" Three lights shot out of the portal, and as they hit the ground they took shape. The first became a white wolf wearing bronze armour around it's legs and chest, the chest having a crystal embedded inside. "Howl to the Moon, Shine Crest Magna Wolf." (A1200/D1100/L3) The second became a woman in steampunk carrying a bazooka. "Target sighted, Magna Fighter Radium." (A1600/D1400/L4) The final became a twenty foot high silver robotic humanoid creature, with light blue armour and orange trim on its arms, legs, chest and shoulders. From its shoulders were a pair of square jet booster like wings, and it wore a red scarf which was emblazoned with the same symbol as the one on Flash's shirt. "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) Everyone was catatonic at what they had just seen. Flash had somehow preformed an all new summoning technique that none of them had ever heard of. Before they could say anything Flash continued. "Since I special summoned Flash Heart Dragon I can use his special ability, which allows me to send the Monster on your field with the lowest attack points to the bottom of your deck." "Wait what?" Garble finally spoke as he watched a wormhole appear under one of his Golem Dragons, which it fell through. "That means Flash can attack." Spike said "And since a card was sent from the field to your deck my Magna Wolf get an extra three hundred points for this turn.” Magna Wolf's crystal began to glow. (A1500/D1100/L3) "And don't forget that with Golem Dragon gone your Dark Rogue Dragon loses some points." (A2000/D2000/L8) "Magna Wolf," Flash ordered "destroy Golem Dragon." The wolf pounced on the dragon, and with a mighty bite destroyed it. Flash: 100 Garble: 2100 "Flash Heart Dragon, attack Dark Rogue Dragon." Flash Heart Dragon's booster wings ignited and launched him at Dark Rogue Dragon. "I can't let Dark Rogue be destroyed." Garble said, but then realised he had two cards face down. He had only placed them down to scare Flash but now. "I activate my Trap, Dragon's Fury, which will increase my dragons attack by one thousand." "I don't think so," Flash said, "because I activate Solaris's Pendulum Effect, which prevents the activation of Traps when a Pendulum monster attacks." The flame clothed wizard waved his staff and fired a burst of fire which surrounded the Trap card causing it to flip face down. "Then I'll activate the quick play Spell Shrink," Garble said, "this'll cut your dragon's attack power in half." "Too bad I'm using Lunara's Pendulum Effect to prevent the activation of Spells." Like Solaris the female wizard waved her staff and sprinkled snow which frozen when it touched the Spell. "There's nothing I can do!" Garble said as he watched Flash Heart Dragon sucker punch his dragon, destroying it. Flash: 100 Garble: 1600 "Finish him Radium" Flash said as the woman knelt down and aimed her Bazooka at Garble, before firing a blast which hit Garble in the gut sending him flying onto his back. Flash: 100 (Winner) Garble: 0 As the Monsters vanished everyone was in shock. In just one turn Flash had come from behind and defeated Garble. "That was…" Rarity was lost for words, but luckily Spike had the right one. "AWESOME!" "I've never seen someone come from behind like that." Applejack said. "Me neither." Rainbow Dash agreed. Flash removed his deck from the Duel Disk and looked at the cards he had used, but the one he couldn't look away from was the one that shared his name. He was so focused on it that he didn't notice Garble had gotten up and was now charging at him, fists raised, ready to attack. Luckily Twilight did notice "LOOK OUT!" Flash looked around and then moved in an instant, spinning away from the punch while grabbing his opponent's shirt and flinging him around and into the air. Garble flew several feet before crashing into the ground and rolling to a stop. "As agreed," Garble looked up and saw Flash holding up a deck of cards, "I'll be taking these." Garble check the pocket he had put the cards in and found it empty. Somehow Flash had gotten the deck back while flipping him over. Quickly getting up he stared at Flash with hate in his eyes, before running off. "You haven't heard the last of me." And with that he and his cronies were gone. Flash turned back to the group and walked over, standing in front of Spike. For an instant, the girls wondered what was going on, before they saw Flash hold the Duel Disk and deck to him. "Here kid." "Thanks." Spike said taking the them and holding them close. "Wait," Twilight said, "what was that guy doing with your deck?" "He forced me into a Duel," Spike explained, "and when he won he took them." "Wait, so Flash was Duelling to get them back?" Twilight asked. "And he put his own cards on the line." Spike said. Everyone looked at Flash, who was now walking off, and felt very confused. He seemed like such a loner yet he helped someone he didn't even know with cards no one had ever seen before, just what was up with him? > Turn 2, Twilight Sparkle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The morning after Flash's Duel against Garble we find him in his home, an apartment building, cooking his breakfast as the TV sounded in the background. He finished preparing the scrambled egg and toast before placing it on two plates. He placed one in the microwave and took the other to the table. "And in other news," the news anchor spoke, "we're just three months away from the start of the Celestic Cup, the biggest Duelling tournament this side of the country. Anyone whose anyone will be there and we managed to get an interview with the winner of the last Celestic Cup, Shining Armour." The screen changed to a man of about twenty, with blue hair. "What do I like best about Duelling?" Shining Armour said, "I thought that would be obvious. The competition of cause, I love how every opponent I meet is different. They each have their own way of imagining the match, and I try to crush that image. And when I come across someone whose vision is as real as my own, I'm forced to reconsider my strategy. Facing a top contender like me is the ultimate test of skill." Hearing this Flash couldn't help but think back to the Duel he had had, and how alive it made him feel when he performed that Pendulum Summon. "Imagine it." Flash repeated. After breakfast Flash grabbed his backpack and headed for the door, stopping at one room before he did. Quickly knocking he opened the door and stared at the lump laying on the bed in the far corner, "Hey squirt don't oversleep or you'll be late." The person under the blanket just groaned in response. "Your breakfast is in the microwave." Flash said before closing the door and leaving, seeing the deck he had found sitting on the counter he made sure to grab it before exiting. Flash arrived at Canterlot High but unlike most days where people just ignored him as he passed, the second he stepped through the doors he had all eyes on him. "Is that him?" he heard someone say. "He's got some kind of new card type." another said. "You think he'll let us see it?" another asked. "Forget that," another said "I wanna Duel it." Flash sighed hearing all this and just stared at the floor and he headed to his class, only to be bombarded by three girls. One had rainbow coloured hair, cotton candy hair and blond hair hidden under a stetson. "Hey man," the rainbow haired girl said as she got close to his face, "you gotta show me how you pulled of that awesome Pendulum Summon." "Err." was all Flash could say not sure what to say. "Rainbow Dash," the blond next to her said as she grabbed the first girls ear and pulled her away, "you can't just go telling people to show you stuff, it's impolite." "But I gotta know Applejack," Rainbow said as she pulled away, "that technique would totally kick my game to a whole other level." "Yeah!" The pink haired girl said as she jumped around, "Pendulum Summoning looks like tones of fun." Never had Flash been so grateful then when the teacher had walked in and told them to take their seats, this class was a triple period so by the time it got out, it was lunch time. When the bell rang Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie all looked around at Flash hoping to once again get him to show his Pendulum Cards, but he had already grabbed his things and shot out the door. Flash ran as fast as he could through the halls, hoping to get out of there before anyone had a chance to surround him. Eventually he found himself climbing the stairs to the roof, the best hiding spot he could think of. He soon burst through the doors and ran straight into someone knocking them both over. "Ow." he said sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.. "Ow." he looked at who he had crashed into and his eyes went wide seeing it was the girl from yesterday. "I'm sorry," he said getting up and offering his hand to help her up, "I wasn't looking where I was going." "I can tell." She said looking up and like him her eyes went wide seeing who it was, "Flash Sentry." "Yeah," he replied trying to remember her name only to realise, "sorry I never got your name." "It's fine," she said, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, you met my little brother yesterday." "Spike?" "Yeah," Twilight said, "thank you for that." she bowed. "It was nothing." he said as he blushed in embarrassment . "It wasn't nothing," Twilight said "but anyway, why were you running?" She raised an eyebrow, "you know you’re not allowed to do that in the hallways." "Yeah sorry." Flash told her walking to the chain link fence and sliding to a seat, "I was trying to get away from all the psychos wanting to know about my new deck." "Well can you blame them?" Twilight asked as she walked up and sat next to him. "I mean I'm pretty curious about them myself. After your match yesterday I spent all night looking for any reference of Pendulum Summoning, but found nothing." Flash took the deck out of his pocket and stared at them. "So these might be the only ones." "Possibly," Twilight replied before going shy, "can I...maybe take a look?" For some reason, Flash couldn't deny her and held his deck for her to take. She cycled through the cards and marvelled when she found the Pendulum cards, "Flash Heart Dragon huh?" she said looking at the ace of the deck. "Yeah I know," Flash said as he rolled his eyes, "I got the same name as a Duel Card hahaha." "Hey you'd be surprised how many cards have actual names." she replied. "You wouldn't be the first Duellist to pick a card with their name." "That's just it," Flash replied "I didn't pick it I found it." He went on to explain the events of yesterday. "So the deck was just sitting there?" Twilight asked. "Yeah," Flash replied, "and I have no idea who left it." "But if that was the first time you used the deck," Twilight thought "then how did you know how to preform that Pendulum Summon?" "No clue." Flash said with a shrug. "I just did it before I realised what I was doing." "Like an instinct." Twilight said handing back the deck. "I guess." Flash replied taking the deck back and then pocketing it. "So what do you know about Pendulums?" Twilight said. "Just the stuff I showed yesterday." Flash replied. "Well then," Twilight said as she got up, "let's find out more." "How?" "How else," Twilight replied with a smirk, "we're going to Duel." "Twilight's going to Duel the guy with that new deck type," was what Twilight's friends heard when they asked what was going on. All the students were running through the corridors on route to the courtyard, where Twilight and Flash stood. The two were staring each other down as they prepared to Duel. Twilight pulled a light purple Duel Disk out of her backpack before to her arm, while Flash just stood there awkwardly. "Yeah so, I don't have a Duel Disk." Flash told her. Everyone just chuckled at this, making Flash blush in embarrassment. "Here." He turned to see Rainbow Dash throw something at him. He caught it and saw it was a light blue Duel Disk. "Er,,,thanks." He said fixing it to his arm. "Just make sure you use that awesome summoning we all want to see." Rainbow Dash replied. Flash set his deck into the slot as a red energy blade formed. He then turned to Twilight and the two stared each other down. "Hope you’re ready Flash." Twilight said as a violet energy blade formed from her Duel Disk. "Let's do this." Flash replied. "DUEL." Flash: 4000 Twilight: 4000 "I'll start," Twilight said as she drew, "and I summon Magician's Valkyria in DEF mode." a woman in magician's clothing carrying a hook shaped staff appeared. (A1600/D1800/L4) "And I'll end with a face down." "Then I'll go." Flash drew his card and smiled seeing he had Flash Heart Dragon and Magna Caster Solaris in his opening hand. The only problem was using them in the Pendulum Scale would only let him summon monsters Levelled five to seven, and the only monsters he had were level three and four. "I summon Aura Spear Dragon, ATK mode." A large humanoid dragon with silver scales appeared. (A2000/D100/L4) "And now I attack your Magician's Valkyria." Aura Spear Dragon brought its hands together and a ball of spiritual energy formed, before expanding into a javelin shape which it threw at the magician destroying her. Flash: 4000 Twilight: 3800 "Why did Twilight lose life points?" Fluttershy asked. "That Aura Spear Dragon must have a piercing effect." Applejack replied. "If that's true," Rainbow continued, "then Flash's dragon might have to change its battle position." And true to her word, Aura Spear Dragon kneeled down as it changed modes. "I end my turn." Flash said. "My draw," Twilight drew her card "and I'll start by activating my face down." Her card flipped up revealing a Trap. "Ritual of Rebirth, this trap card lets me revive a Spellcaster in my graveyard by discarding a card from my hand." She replaced a card from her hand, with the Magician's Valkyria in her graveyard and placed it on the Disk. The Magician reappeared on the field in ATK mode, "Next I'll summon a second Magician's Valkyria to the field." A duplicate Magician appeared besides the other. "You see Flash," Twilight explained, "when my Valkyria is out, you can't attack any other Spellcaster on my field." "That's the same ability as Golem Dragon," Flash remembered, "and with two out." "Then all of my Spellcasters are safe." Twilight finished. "Twilight's using the same technique Garble was using." Rarity realised. "Which will force Flash to use the only way he knows around it." Applejack finished. "Magician's Valkyria one will attack Aura Spear Dragon." Twilight ordered, as the first magician fired a fireball from her staff which destroyed Flash's dragon. "Next, the second will attack directly" the other magician shot a fireball that struck Flash dead center. Flash: 2400 Twilight: 3800 "I'll end my turn," Twilight said, "come on Flash you know how to get around this." "She's right." Flash said looking down at his Deck. "Okay, let's see if yesterday was just luck or if Twilight's talk about believing was true. I...DRAW!" He looked at the card and smiled. "You all asked for it," he said "so here it is. I'm using Scale one Magna Caster Lunara and Scale eight Magna Caster Solaris to set the Pendulum Scale." As he placed the cards on the far sides of the Duel Disk the two pillars of light appeared besides him, and the two magicians flew up with their numbers appearing below them. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory." The portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and two streams of light shot out. "Howl to the moon, Shine Crest Magna Wolf." (A1200/D1100/L3) "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) Everyone marvelled at what they had just seen, some students were actually recording with the intent to post online. "There it is." Rainbow said. "PENDULUM SUMMON!" Pinkie screamed. "Wow Nelly is this gonna be good." Applejack said. "Since I special summoned Flash Heart Dragon," Flash said, "his ability now activates and I get to send one of your Valkyria to the bottom of the deck." A wormhole opened below the second magician causing her to drop through. "And don't forget that when a card is returned to your deck I get to power up my Magna Wolf." (A1500/D1100/L3) "Flash Heart Dragon attack Magician's Valkyria." The robotic dragon's boosters kicked in and fired him at the magician, before he spun around using his silver tail as a flail to destroy her. Flash: 2400 Twilight: 2900 "Next Magna Wolf will attack." The wolf pounced at her, but just before he struck a force field of some kind appeared stopping him in his tracks. "What gives?" Flash asked. "My Trap card is what gives." Twilight said. "But you don't have a Trap card," Flash told her, "and even if you did Solaris's Pendulum effect should have nullified it when Flash Heart attacked." "It's true your Pendulum Monster would have prevented me from activating Traps on the field," she told him, "but I can still activate the ones in my Graveyard." "Graveyard?" "It's a trap that can only be activated in the Graveyard, so discarding it was a smart move in my opinion." "Discard," Flash thought before realising, "Ritual of Rebirth." "That's right." Twilight told him. "Soul Guard, it activated when you declared a direct attack and by removing it from play I negated the attack." "Sneaky." Flash said with a smirk. "I try." Twilight replied smirking right back. "Are they...flirting?" Rainbow asked creeped out. "Looks like it." Applejack agreed. "I'll end my turn." Flash said. "My draw." Twilight looked at her card and smiled, "Pendulum Summoning really is amazing to see, thanks for showing it to me." "Er, yeah your welcome." Flash replied. "As thanks I'll show you my favourite Summoning style." Twilight said. "I summon the Tuner Monster Shadow Charmer." A small boy in black wizarding clothes appeared, his hat was so big he had to hold it so it wouldn't cover his face. He carried a short black staff with a purple orb on the end. (A1200/D700/L3) "What's a Tuner Monster?" Flash asked. "You'll see," Twilight replied, "but first I activate Shadow Charmers ability to discard a Spellcaster to my Graveyard and in return I get to revive a Spellcaster whose level is equal to or lower than that of my discarded monster." She sent a card in her hand to the graveyard and a second later her Magician's Valkyria reappeared on the field. "Her again," Flash moaned, "she's got more lives than a cat." "Oh that's nothing," Twilight said "next I'll tune my Level three Shadow Charmer with my Level four Magician's Valkyria." Shadow Charmer glowed before transforming into three balls of light, which each circled around creating three rings which Valkyria jumped into. Once inside them Valkyria became transparent. "When two mighty magicians unite their magical power an amazing event will occur." In that moment Valkyria burst into light, "I SYNCHRO SUMMON." When the light faded Flash saw a new monster appear. He wore black clothing below a purple overcoat and a purple pointed hat, with the same star pattern as on Twilight's skirt. in his hand he carried a long wooden staff with a star carved on the end, "Twilight Sorcerer.” (A2100/D2800/L7) "Twilight...Sorcerer." Flash said in amazement. "Told you you weren't the only Duellist who shared a name with a card." Twilight told him. "You weren't kidding," Flash said "but my Flash Heart Dragon's still got more kick then him." "You should never judge a book by its cover." Twilight replied. "Do you know why Twilight Sorcerer is my favourite card?" "Besides the name thing?" Flash asked. "Like me he understands that knowledge is power, and that makes books the greatest weapon of them all." she explained. "I activate Twilight Sorcerer's ability, an ability that lets me add one random Spellbook Spell card from my deck to my hand." Her deck randomly shuffled before a card slotted out. Taking the card Twilight smiled. "Just the one I wanted." She placed the Spell into her Duel Disk "I activate Spellbook of Secrets, which allows me to add another Spellbook to my hand." Another card slotted out of her deck which she took "now I activate Spellbook of Power, this Spell empowers my Sorcerer with one thousand ATK points." (A3100/D2800/L7) "what’s more, my Twilight Sorcerer has his own ability which increases his attack strength by an extra one hundred for each Spellbook in my grave. (A3300/D2800/L7) "I'm in trouble." Flash said. "Too right," Twilight replied, "Twilight Sorcerer attack Flash Heart Dragon." The magician raised his staff and shot a powerful burst of magical energy, which engulfed Flash Heart Dragon obliterating him. Flash: 1600 Twilight: 2900 "Flash Heart!" Flash screamed seeing his best card be destroyed. "And since a monster empowered with Spellbook of Power destroyed another monster," Twilight continued, "I can add yet another Spellbook to my hand." Another card slotted out of her deck, "I activate Spellbook of Rebirth which will revive your Flash Heart Dragon on my side of the field." "Wait your reviving my dragon on your field?" Flash said in shock. "I told you I was interested in Pendulum Cards" Twilight replied, "and what better way than to use one myself." "Twilight's as good as ever," Rainbow Dash said, "she's gonna use her opponent's own moves against him." "And what's more," Applejack said "since Flash Heart Dragon is getting special summoned, his ability will activate sending Magna Wolf to the deck and will leave Flash defenceless." Flash heard this and started to panic. How could he stop her, how, how? "Where is it?" Flash looked back up at Twilight, who was staring at her Duel Disk in confusion. "Why isn't Flash Heart showing up in the Graveyard?" Flash looked down at the Duel Disk and pressed the slot that opened the Graveyard, but like Twilight said Flash Heart Dragon wasn't there. The only monsters in there were Aura Spear Dragon, Magician's Valkyria, Shadow Charmer and a monster named Maha Vailo but Flash Heart wasn't there. Flash scratched his head wondering what might have happened, had the Duel Disk malfunctioned or was this something else. He got his answer when he noticed the Extra Deck tab flashing, had Rainbow Dash left a card in there be mistake? Pressing the tab to open the folder his eyes went wide at what he saw. "Come on" Twilight said "where are you?" "You wanna know why Flash Heart's not showing up in the Graveyard" she heard Flash say, looking back up she saw he wore a smug grin. "Well I'll tell you, it's because Flash Heart isn't in the Graveyard." "Then where is he" Rarity asked? "He's right here" Flash said "safe and sound in my Extra Deck." Everyone gasped hearing this. Didn't destroyed monsters go to the Graveyard, what was it doing there. Twilight understood. "I get it, when Pendulum Monsters get destroyed they go to the Extra Deck instead of the Graveyard" Twilight smiled having learned a new piece of information about Pendulum Cards. "Since my Spell card only summons monsters from the Graveyard I can't take Flash Heart, guess I'll have to summon something else so I'll revive Valkyria again." The female magician once again appeared on the field. "Well then I guess I'll have to end my turn." Twilight said. "Spellbook of Power's effect wears off, but with three Spellbooks in my Graveyard Twilight Sorcerer will still be three hundred points stronger." (A2400/D2800/L7) "Now it's my draw." Flash said drawing a card and seeing it was a new Pendulum Card. "Once again my Pendulum Cards will carve the arc of victory." Solaris and Lunara opened the portal again. "I can summon monsters levels two through seven all at the same time, I PENDULUM SUMMON." The streaks of light shot out of the portal. The first became a new creature. It looked like a furry orange alligator with bat like wings and metal tubes wrapped around its body, it's lower jaw and underbelly were pale and two tubes around its head seemed to act like horns. "Snap to it, Lumino Jaw Dragon." (A2300/D1600/L5/P5) "Shine your light of victory once again, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "So Pendulum Summoning also summons Pendulum Monsters in the Extra Deck." Fluttershy said. "Meaning no matter how many times Twilight destroys them," Applejack said, "Flash can summon his Pendulum Monsters again and again. As long as he has the right Scale." "With Flash Heart Dragon's effect I send Magician's Valkyria to the bottom of the deck." The wormhole opened up beneath her and she fell through. "With that done Magna Wolf will get a three hundred point power boost." (A1500/D1100/L3) "Now Flash Heart Dragon attack Twilight Sorcerer." Flash Heart flew at the magician and sucker punched him causing him to be destroyed. Flash: 1600 Twilight: 2800 "Sorcerer!" Twilight called as she watched her favourite monster be destroyed. "And now Magna Wolf will attack." The white wolf pounced at her and used his claws to slash her. Flash: 1600 Twilight: 1300 "And finally Lumino Jaw Dragon will attack." Twilight watched the alligator like dragon take to the sky and fly over to her, before lowering its head and firing fire from the horn like tubes of its head. Twilight covered her face as she was bathed in holographic fire. Flash: 1600 (Winner) Twilight: 0 "Flash won." Rainbow said in amazement. "He sure did." Applejack said. "I can't believe he beat Twilight." Rarity said. Flash walked over to Twilight and held out his hand to help her up. "Thanks Twilight," Flash said, "now I know even more about Pendulum Summoning." "My pleasure," Twilight replied, "and thanks for showing me more about Pendulum Monsters." Before they could say anything else, Flash found himself swarmed by other students all asking to Duel next. While watching this, Twilight couldn't help but giggle seeing his uncomfortable face, which didn't go unnoticed. "Ooh," she heard Applejack say, "looks like somebodies got a crush." "No, no I don't." Twilight replied blushing and hoping he hadn't heard that. "Oh she does," Rarity said, "she absolutely does." "Don't be ridicules." Twilight said. "I barely know him, he's just an interesting Duellist that's all." "Keep telling yourself that." Rainbow Dash told her as the bell went off signalling the end of lunch. As everyone went back inside Twilight glanced back at Flash, who had his next class in a different part of the school, and smiled. Maybe the girls were onto something. > Turn 3, Cold Steel > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- We find ourselves on the top floor of an office building. Inside we find a man in his mid-twenty with pale blue skin and white hair, he wore a white overcoat that went to his knees with a red yolk, pockets and cuffs. He was looking out the large windows overlooking the city, before turning back towards a large desk where a deck of cards sat between two free cards. Picking the two cards up in each hand he crossed his arms before throwing them straight, sending the cards flying onto the desk where they began spinning on one of their corners like tops. "Which of you has what it takes?" he asked. "Show yourself!" The cards spun towards each other and slapped one another two, three, four times before the one on the left sent the other flying off the table. "Awesome." He took the still spinning card and added it to the deck before leaving the office. On his way out he saw a woman carrying many files walking along the corridor. "Move all my appointments, I have some special work that needs doing." He told her not stopping his pace. "Yes Mr Cold Steel." She said not getting any response from him. It was Sunday so Flash had gotten to sleep in most of the morning like he usually did. When he finally did wake up he turned to his alarm clock, which read 11:50, and decided to get up. Quickly getting dressed he left his room and went to make breakfast, er, lunch when suddenly a buzz at the door's intercom caught his attention. "Hello?" He said pressing the button. "Special delivery for Flash Sentry," the voice replied. "I didn't order anything," Flash said. "This is apartment 3C right?" the delivery man asked. "Yeah but I still didn't order anything." Flash replied. "Not my problem." he said back. "Fine." Flash unlocked the door and the delivery man soon arrived with a package. Flash signed and he was gone, leaving the teen with the box. Flash placed the box on the kitchen table and studied it. The logo on the front he recognised as Freeze Industries, the well known producer and distributor of Duelling related stuff like the cards and Duel Disks. Deciding to open it Flash found a dark blue Duel Disk. Taking the device out of the box he activated it and checked the user detail, and just like that all his info was there. His age, birthday, where he lived everything. "What is going on?" he asked himself. First he gets left a deck of cards and now someone bought, programmed and delivered a Duel Disk for him. He looked back down at the box and noticed an envelope had been sitting under the Duel Disk. Picking up and opening it his eyes went wide seeing new cards, some were normal ones and others were Pendulum cards. No doubt now this package was for him since not only did it have Pendulum cards, some were Magna Fighters like the ones in his deck. Finally in the envelope was a small map, he looked and noticed an area circled which he recognised as a nearby mall. Before he had a chance to think he was out the door, running at full speed out of the apartment and down the street on route to the mall. He was going so fast that he wasn't watching where he was going, and when he turned a corner he ended up crashing into something or someone. "Ow," he said rubbing his head. "Ow," looking at who he had hit his eyes went wide seeing it was Twilight. Twilight looked at him to and like him she was surprised seeing him. Flash laughed as he got up, "we've got to stop bumping into each other like this." he said offering his hand to help her up. "Maybe you just need to watch were you’re going." Twilight replied as she took his hand. "So what were you running from this time, more psychos." "Actually," Flash held up his new Duel Disk. "You got a new Duel Disk?" Twilight asked. "It just showed up along with some new cards and a map showing the city mall," he explained, "I think whoever sent me my deck wants to meet." "You think so?" Twilight asked. "It's the only thing I can think of." Flash said as he pulled out his deck. "I know it sounds weird but ever since I got this deck I've been seeing things in a new light. I used to hate Duelling, but now when I use these cards I get this strange feeling like this was what I was meant to do." "You talk about it like it's your destiny." Twilight told him. "You think so?" Flash thought for a moment. Now that she said it this did sound like destiny, like some greater power was pulling him back into Duelling. "Maybe you've got a point?" "Listen," Twilight said "I wish I could come with you and find out, but my mom's got me doing errands all day, so." "Oh," Flash said "that's too bad. You wanted to learn new stuff about Pendulum cards so I thought." "Yeah," Twilight said, "sorry." She then looked at her phone and realised the time, "I got to get going." She began running down the street. "If you find anything out tell me." "Sure," Flash replied watching her leave, before restarting his journey to the mall. He eventually arrived and started looking around trying to see if there was anyone suspicious, but the place was so big and there was so many people that it was next to impossible to tell them apart. "Man, I didn't think there'd be this many people." he said sitting on a bench. "I wonder why the map said to come here?" He pulled out his deck and began flipping through the cards along with the new ones. "Excuse me," Flash looked up and saw the man named Cold Steel standing not too far off, "don't mean to be rude, but I couldn't help but notice you’re a Duellist," he pointed to the cards. "I guess," Flash replied, "but who are you?" "Just someone looking to pass the time." Cold Steel replied. "I had some business in this area and was hoping to find a good Duel, what do you say?" Flash thought for a moment, since he couldn't find anyone he might as well. "Sure let's do this." Flash and Cold had gone to the mall's rooftop parking lot. "Are you ready?" Cold asked attaching a white Duel Disk to his arm, a white energy blade forming. "As I'll ever be." Flash replied attaching his own Duel Disk to his arm as an orange energy blade appeared. "Then we begin," they drew their cards. "DUEL." Flash: 4000 Cold: 4000 "I'll start," Cold Steel said drawing his card, "I activate the Spell Reasoning. You declare a level and I draw until I get a monster, and if it's level is the one you stated I send it to the graveyard but if not I get to summon it." "Okay," Flash said, "level four." Cold drew his card and smiled, "My card is level three Blazing Soul Firefly, ATK mode," a humanoid insect appeared. His skin was black and he wore flame patterned armour on his chest, waist, arms, knees, feet and face along with a pair of flame patterned butterfly wings. (A900/D1400/L3) "Why would he play it in ATK mode?" Flash asked himself. "Since my Firefly was special summoned," Cold explained, "I can summon as many other copies of him from my deck," two identical copies appeared next to the original. (A900/D1400/L3)X2 "Next I play the Spell card Blazing Soul Fireball, this will deal you three hundred points of damage for every ATK position Blazing Soul monster on my field. The three Fireflies spat a fireball at Flash, hitting him dead on as he covered his face. Flash: 3100 Cold: 4000 "I end with a face down." Cold said. "My draw," Flash said as he drew his card and saw it was one of his new Pendulum cards, "I summon Magna Fighter Lucidum." A teen in yellow armour appeared, carrying a pair of circular blades. (A1000/D1000/L3/P2) "Is that a Pendulum card?" Cold Steel asked surprising Flash. "You know about Pendulum cards?" "Of course," he said, "after all everyone is talking about them. A new mysterious summoning style, of course word would spread." "I guess," Flash replied, he remembered his Duel with Twilight and how some people had been recording, "I never thought about it." "Out of all the cards that exist," Cold continued, "why did you choose those ones? Why do you use Pendulum cards?" "I didn't," Flash replied, "I found it." "Out of convenience," Cold Steel said, "not because you were drawn to it." Something about the way he said that struck a cord with Flash, when suddenly he remembered his talk with Twilight and smiled. "Destiny," he said, "that's why I use it." "Really?" Cold Steel asked, his demeanour suddenly shifting to a more serious one. "You leave me no choice." "No choice?" Flash repeated. "I'm going to make you prove it to me," Cold Steel said, "now come and show me that destiny." "You got it." Flash said, "I activate Lucidum's ability. Once per turn I select a monster on my field, and that monster can attack every special summoned monster on your field. Since Lucidum is the only one out I select him, and attack your three Fireflies." The armoured warrior ran towards the three insects his circular weapons raised before slashing through them. Flash: 3100 Cold: 3700 "I'll end with my own face down." Flash said. "My draw," Cold Steel drew his card, "and I summon Blazing Soul Knight Gekaa." A man in red armour with long black hair appeared. He carried a long silver lance (A1600/D1400/L4). "Attack." Gekaa threw himself at Lucidum and swung his lance down striking him, but instead of being destroyed like normal Lucidum shattered like he was made from glass. "Reflection Guard activate," Flash said showing his face down Trap. "I may still take damage but my monster is safe." The mirror his trap had created disappeared showing the real Lucidum standing behind. Flash: 2500 Cold: 3700 "I end my turn." "My draw," Flash drew his card, "and I sacrifice Lucidum to summon Twin Lazor Dragon." Lucidum disappeared, replaced with a robotic brachiosaurus with two massive blasters attached to its sides. (A2100/D1500/L5) "Attack." Twin Lazor Dragon fired a blast from its left side cannon hitting Gekaa and destroying him. Flash: 2500 Cold: 3200 "Also," Flash said, "Twin Lazor Dragon can attack twice a turn. Fire," the right cannon fired a blast at Cold Steel. "I activate a Trap card," Cold Steel said, "Blazing Soul Wildfire. When you attack me directly I draw a card and if it's a monster I can summon it and negate the attack," he drew his card, "it's Blazing Soul Dragon, Burnout Dragon." A large red dragon appeared, its body covered in spikes (A2200/D1800/L6) Twin Lazor's attack disappeared. "I end my turn." "My draw," Cold Steel drew his card, "and I summon Blazing Soul Dragon, Magma Breath Dragon," a four legged dragon with rock like skin appeared. (A1800/D1500/L4) "Burnout attacks," the spiked dragon let out a burst of fire which destroyed Twin Lazor Dragon. Flash: 2400 Cold: 3200 "Magma Breath," the other dragon shot a fireball at Flash, knocking him on his back. Flash: 600 Cold: 3200 When Flash got back on his feet Cold continued. "Finally, I activate my Spell Blazing Soul Cleansing, now we both discard are hands and draw five new cards.” They did and as Flash looked at his new hand he smiled seeing Manga Caster Solaris, Lunara and Flash Heart Dragon. "I end my turn." "My draw," Flash said. "Hope your ready. I'm using Scale one Magna Caster Lunara and Scale eight Magna Caster Solaris to set the Pendulum Scale." He placed the cards on the far sides of the Duel Disk creating two pillars of light besides him, where the two magicians flew up with their numbers appearing below them. "Now I can summon monsters levelled two through seven all at the same time. Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory," the portal formed above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and three streams of light shot out. "Slice and dice Magna Fighter Lucidum." (A1000/D1000/L3/P2) "Lock and load Magna Fighter Crossbolt." (A1400/D1400/L4) "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) Cold Steel didn't seem phased by what he saw. "I activate Flash Heart Dragon's special ability and send Magma Breath Dragon to the bottom of the deck." A wormhole appeared underneath the rock skinned dragon, causing him to fall through. "Now attack," Flash Heart's boosters kicked in sending him flying at Burnout Dragon, but in that second he suddenly fell to the floor as if being pulled down by a magnet. "What's going on?" Flash asked. "My Gravity Bind Trap card is what's going on," Cold Steel said. "I activated it before you Pendulum Summoned, it creates a gravitational field so strong that no monster level four or above can escape it, meaning they can't attack." "But that means your monsters can't attack either." Flash said. "Don't be so sure," Cold said, "now if you’re done?" Flash sighed, "I'll set a face down and end my turn." He couldn't believe his Pendulum Summon was so easily stopped. "My draw," Cold drew his card and when he saw what it was he smiled, before returning to his icy demeanour. "Listen up," he said "here's your lesson. A guy like you...will never be able to beat me, not a chance." "What?" "You heard me," Cold Steel replied, "you’re finished, it's been decided. Let me show you." He took a card from his hand and placed in in the Duel Disk, "I activate my Mystical Revival. By paying a thousand life points this Spell Card lets me revive one monster for every face up Spell card on your field." Flash: 600 Cold: 2200 Flash grinned. "Looks like you wasted a thousand points, since I don't have any Spell cards." Cold Steel kept his stoic expression. "Look again." Flash was about to ask what he meant but a pair of pained screams caught his attention. Looking up he saw Solaris and Lunara glowing a dark light, wincing as if they were in pain. The next thing he knew the dark light shot out of them and flew over to Cold's field and took the forms of a pair of Blazing Soul Fireflies. "But...how?" Flash asked. "It seemed your Pendulum cards count as Spell cards while in the Pendulum scale," Cold Steel said. "No way!" Flash couldn't believe his own Pendulum cards were being used against him. "A rookie mistake to not know everything about the cards you use," Cold told him. "I am not a rookie!" Flash said while giving him an angry stare. "Do you expect me to treat you like a real Duellist?" Cold Steel asked. "Without showing me anything worth watching." "I won't lose," Flash told him. "We'll see if you keep thinking like that after you see true strength," Cold Steel said taking the card he had drawn. "Forged in the flames of hell, a great rage is born," he held it up, "now it appears to burn everything to ashes." His three monsters suddenly burst into flames which pulled together into a tornado of fire. Flash watched in shock as he saw a shadowy figure appear inside the cyclone. "Blazing Soul Dragon, Purgatory Dragon," the flames dissipated revealing a massive humanoid dragon, it wore armour that was either dark red or jet black with yellow cone shaped spikes coming from the chest. It had a demonic face with large horns, long broad shoulders and massive claws (A?/D?/L10) Flash stood in a catatonic state at the massive dragon. Never had he felt fear like this. "Purgatory Dragon's origanal ATK points become that of the sacrificed monsters levels times three hundred.” (A3600/D3600/L10) "But that means nothing," Flash said, "your Gravity Bind Trap will prevent it from attacking." "Think again," Cold said, "Purgatory Dragon's ability negates the effects of all Traps during my turn." "It what?" Flash asked, his eyes going wide. That meant not only was Gravity Bind's effect gone, but the trap Flash had face down was also useless. "There's nothing I can do." "In the heat of battle, a Duellist's true character is revealed," Cold said, "and depending on your actions, your insecurities become crystal clear to your opponent." Flash growled. "So from this one Duel you think you've got me all figured out?" "But I do have you figured out," Cold said. "Purgatory Dragon attack Flash Heart Dragon." The giant dragon brought it's claws together, as a fireball formed and grew. "No," Flash said trying to think of a way to stop him. "Imagine it," Cold said. Hearing this Flash looked at him, and as their eyes met the young teen suddenly found himself blinded by light. When his vision cleared he wasn't looking at Cold Steel, but at Purgatory Dragon. "What's going on?" He asked moving his hand up to cover his face from the heat of the fireball, only to take a second look when he realised his hand wasn't that of a human, but a robot. Looking down at his arms and at his body he realised he had somehow become Flash Heart Dragon. "What...how?" He asked. Looking behind him at where he should be standing and he was, but something was different about him. He stood perfectly still as if he was a statue, his eyes were white voids. It was as if his very soul had been removed, which Flash realised is what had happened. "What's going on?" "Look around you boy," Cold Steel said, "at the monsters you cower behind." Flash looked down at Lucidum and Crossbolt, both standing ready for the fight. But on closer inspection he saw their faces had a look of fear engraved on them. "This is why a guy like you will never beat me," Cold explained, "when you summon your monsters do you think about how they feel, about whether they want to battle?" "I...I…" Flash didn't know what to say. "You don't, you simply summon them as if they're mindless puppets, because you’re not strong enough to fight. Well I'm going to show you what your monsters must face every time you Duel." Purgatory Dragon released the fireball, which was now three times the size of the dragon, and it flew towards him. "No," Flash said trying to move, but his body refused as if it he frozen in place. The fireball finally reached him and all he could do was shield himself with his hands. "NOOOOO!" Suddenly Flash threw his arms out as a wave of energy shot out of him, the wave pulsed again and again causing the holograms to flicker. "What?" Cold said protecting his face. The holograms suddenly dissolved into data bits as the wave grew weaker. Flash, now back in his own body, fell to his knees and panted heavily. "Incredible," Cold Steel said in actual amazement, "he overloaded the Duel System." "What happened?" Flash asked. "Our Duel Disks detected a fault and have shut down for safety reasons," Cold explained, "we're done here." He turned to walk away. "Wait!" Flash said making him stop. "What's your name? You owe me that much." Cold Steel remained silent for a moment, his back still turned away, until he said "get stronger and I might tell you," and with that he left. Now alone Flash's eyes never left the spot Cold had been, not even blinking. Never had he been so completely helpless in a Duel, even back when he was young. Who was that man, and how had he made Flash see all that stuff? Back at the office building Cold Steel sat looking out the window. "He has far more potential then I had originally believed," he said aloud to himself, "but this is only the beginning." Flash was on his way home, crossing a large bridge over a river when he finally stopped. His body was shaking with pent up frustration, so much so that he couldn't take it and let out a mighty yell that caused nearby birds to spook. Many people heard it and turned to the bridge wondering who would make such a noise, and what would drive them to it? > Turn 4, Pinkie Pie > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- An annoying buzz was the first thing Flash heard as he awoke that morning. Getting up and getting dressed he walked out his room and saw a man in his late sixties standing at the stove. He had grey skin and grey hair, with a large scar over his eye. This was Grand Hoof, Flash's maternal grandfather. "Morning kiddo," he said seeing him coming out. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Flash asked. Grand Hoof was a detective for the Ponyville Police department and had recently cracked a case, involving an illegal smuggling ring for counterfeit Duel Disks. "They gave my entire team the week of after catching those criminals," Grand Hoof explained. "Great." Flash replied. "You okay?" Grand Hoof asked. "You seem down...well, downer than usual." "Just something on my mind," Flash replied. "Anything I can help with?" Grand Hoof replied. "No," Flash replied, "just something I need to figure out." He quickly ate his breakfast and began packing for school, as he grabbed his Duel Disk Grand Hoof saw it and smiled. "So you getting back into Duelling?" He asked. "I guess." "What brought this on?" He asked "Just kinda happened," Flash replied before heading to the door, stopping at another door and knocking. "Time to get up," he was then out the door. With him gone Grand Hoof sighed and turned to a picture on the mantle. The picture showed a man and a woman, the man looked like an older version of Flash with green eyes while the woman had silver skin and purple hair, they stood close showing a romantic bond. "Sometimes I wonder where he gets that sullen demeanour from, obviously not you two." Back with Flash we find him walking to school but his head was elsewhere. "In the heat of battle, a Duellist's true character is revealed," Cold said, "and depending on your actions, your insecurities become crystal clear to your opponent." That Duellist hadn't even broken a sweat during the Duel, and had read every move Flash had made. Flash wondered whether he had had any advantage over him, or had everything he'd done been playing into his hand. Flash was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't see someone walking around the corner and straight into him. "Oh, sorry." Flash instantly recognised the voice to be Twilight, who realised it was him and blushed. "We really gotta to stop bumping into each other like this," she said smiling at him only for him to give a frown and continue walking on. Noticing the downed look he was sporting Twilight ran up to him and walked besides him, before she asked, "are you okay?" "I'm fine," Flash lied, "just having a bad day." "Oh," Twilight said, "well okay. So, what happened yesterday? Did the guy show up?" "No," Flash replied, "he didn't." "Oh to bad," she said, "did you maybe find out anything new about Pendulum cards?" "Yeah," Flash replied though he didn't sound exited, "they become Spell cards in the Pendulum zone." "Really?" Twilight said her eyes going wide. "Well that explains why the bottom of the card is that colour." "Yeah" Flash replied as they finally arrived at school. "So what you doing after class?" she asked as they went in. "Gonna find someone to Duel?" "Don't know." Flash replied causing Twilight to roll her eyes. Talking to him today was like pulling teeth. The bell rang and Flash and Twilight had to go their separate ways to different classes. As she watched him walk down the hall she couldn't help but feel something was up with him, since he was back to being the same sullen guy he was when she first met him. Suddenly an idea popped into her head, that made her grin...there was only one person she knew who could make anyone laugh, and that was what Flash needed right now. Flash sat in class staring out the window remembering what that guy had said about him. "Do you expect me to treat you like a real Duellist?" Cold Steel asked. "Without showing me anything worth watching." But what else was there? Flash had his Pendulum Summon but what else could his deck do to win a Duel? "Mr. Sentry." Flash spun his head around to see the teacher looking at him not to happily. "Yes miss?" he asked. "I apologies for my lesson being so boring that you would rather look out the window," she said, "but do try and pay attention." "Yes miss." He replied as his face went red as everyone looked at him. "That's better." She said turning back and walking to the board. After school let out Flash was on his way home when he suddenly heard someone running up to him and yell. "Flash!" He turned to see Twilight running up to him. "Can you give me a hand with something?" "What do you need?" he asked. "It's hard to explain." Twilight replied. "I'll need to show you, but we need to go through the park." "Okay." Flash said. He might as well since he went through there to get home. "Great," Twilight replied with a smile, "let's go." And with that Flash and Twilight headed to the park, as Twilight lead them to the area he had Duelled against Garble at. "What are we doing here?" Flash asked. "We're here for a Duel." Twilight said. "But haven't we already Duelled?" Flash asked. "Why would we Duel again?" "First of all," Twilight said, "your allowed to Duel someone more than once. Secondly, I'm not the one your Duelling." "Then who-" Flash was cut off suddenly when a high pitched voice called out. "Right here Mr. Grumpy Pants." He spun around to see Twilight's friends enter the area. The pink haired girl he remembered as Pinkie Pie stood at the front carrying a pink Duel Disk. "You?" Flash said before looking at Twilight in disbelief. "First off don't underestimate Pinkie's skill," Twilight told him, "and secondly I think she can help you." "Help me with what?" Flash asked. "You'll have to Duel her to find out." That was how Flash found himself facing off against Pinkie. He strapped on his Duel Disk as Pinkie activated hers forming a pink energy blade. "Let's get this over with" Flash said as his orange blade appeared. "DUEL." Flash: 4000 Pinkie: 4000 "I'll take the first move," Flash said as he drew "and I summon Starbreak Dragon in ATK mode." (A1500/D1200/L4) "That's all." "MY," Pinkie said as she spun around, "DRAW! First I'll use the Field Spell Balloon Jungle." She sent a card into the Duel Disk and suddenly the area around them began to change. The ground turned into a bouncy rubber while the trees changed into balloons shaped into trees. "What the?" Flash said looking around. "And who better to have in a jungle," Pinkie Pie said as she summoned a monster "then the king himself, so say hi to Balloonimal Lion." The monster was a bunch of yellow party balloons that had been shaped into that of a lion, with orange balloons used for its mane and its face was drawn on in felt tip. (A1500/D1200/L4) "But it has the same ATK as my monster," Flash said, "if they attack it'll just result in a draw." "Let's test that," Pinkie said, "Lion attack." The balloon animal bounced towards Starbreak Dragon. "Now I activate Balloonimal Lion's special ability," Pinkie said drawing two cards, "I look at the top two cards of my deck and add one to my hand, while sending the other one to the Graveyard." And she did, taking one of them and placing it in her graveyard. "Whatever she drew is probably something important since she's giving up her monster for it." Flash said, as he watched the balloon lion pounce on Starbreak causing an explosion. "Now she's defenceless." Flash said until the smoke cleared and his eyes went wide, seeing Balloonimal Lion was still on the field. "But..why...how?" "SURPRISE!" Pinkie screamed. "As long as Balloon Jungle is in play, during my turn all my Balloonimals are indestructible." "So she can attack anything and she won't lose a monster." Flash realised. "Next I'll activate the card I drew thanks to lion, Swing of Memories." Pinkie said. "Now I can special summon a non-effect monster in my graveyard." “But she didn't have any monsters.” Flash thought to himself, until he realised she must have sent one there with Balloonimal Lion's ability. "Come on back Balloonimal Eagle." Pinkie called as a wormhole opened, and out from it came a bird made from brown balloons with white balloons for a head. "Finally, I activate this card, say hello to POL-E-MER-E-ZA-TION!" She placed a Spell into her Duel Disk, as a portal above her opened up and sucked her two monsters in. "Now watch as I fuse the mighty strength of a lion with a winged flight of an eagle, I FUSION SUMMON." From out of the portal came a new monster. It looked like a four legged eagle made from balloons with a yellow behind, brown front and white head. "Balloonimal Griffon." (A2200/D1800/L6) "Fusion Summon?" Flash asked in amazement. "Since I already attacked I'll end my turn there." Pinkie said. "Pinkie's battle style has really knocked him for a loop." Rarity said. "Yeah," Rainbow Dash replied, "I always crack up watching her Duel." "And hopefully Flash will to," Twilight said. She knew Pinkie was the only one who could show Flash the one thing he was missing about Duelling, how to have fun. "My draw," Flash drew his card and saw it was Solaris. "With Scale one Magna Caster Lunara and Scale eight Magna Caster Solaris I can set the Pendulum Scale." As he placed the cards on the Duel Disk as the pillars of light appeared besides him, his two magicians flying into place. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory," the portal formed above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and a stream of light shot out, crashing to the ground and taking the form of a man. He wore steampunk armour over a giant overcoat, a top hat with goggles strapped on and carried a giant steampunk sword as long as he was tall. He took a defensive stance holding his sword out and hide behind him "On guard Magna Fighter Gladio." (A2100/D2200/L6/P4) "Awesome," Rainbow Dash said, "a new Pendulum monster." "Since he's in DEF mode," Flash told himself, "she can't destroy him. I need to hold out until I can draw Flash Heart." That was the only monster he could use to get rid of Balloonimal Griffon. "I'll end it there." "My turn," Pinkie drew with another spin, "I summon Balloonimal Dog." A monster made out of red balloons twisted into the shape of a dog appeared. (A1000/D1000/L3) "Now Griffon will attack your monster." "But Gladio and Griffon have the same points," Flash said, "and since he's in DEF mode you can't destroy him the way you did with Starbreak." "Maybe," Pinkie said swinging her head from left to right, "it all depends on his ability." "What ability?" "When Griffon attacks I get to guess a card type and then draw, if I'm wrong nothing happens but if I'm right...then Griffon gets one thousand extra points." "Seriously?" Flash said. "YEP." Pinkie said hopping from one leg to the other. "Now are you ready, because I'm guessing it's a...Spell card." Everyone held their breath as they watched her draw her card, it felt like an eternity as she held the card up and looked at it. "Well," Flash asked, "what'd you get?" Pinkie looked up and him, and grinned a goofy grin before turning the card around showing it was a Spell card. "It's Balloon Gale." "NO WAY!" Flash said in horror. "That's one thousand extra ATK points of my Griffon." Pinkie said. (A3200/D1800/L6) "Now go." Balloonimal Griffon inflated its wings to take off, flying towards Gladio before stomping on him destroying him. "Now my doggy will attack you directly." Balloonimal Dog bounced on the ground as it made its way to Flash, before pouncing on him bouncing off his chest as he flew back Flash: 3000 Pinkie: 4000 "Ow." Flash said sitting up. "I bet that was the funnest attack Flash ever took." Rainbow Dash said smiling. "I don't think Flash thought so." Fluttershy said. "I'll end my turn there." Pinkie said. "My draw." Flash said drawing his card and saw it was Reflection Guard. He then looked up at his Pendulum cards, "Once again my Pendulum Cards will carve the arc of victory," Solaris and Lunara opened the portal again. "I PENDULUM SUMMON." A streak of light shot out of the portal and Gladio appeared once again. (A2100/D2200/L6/P4) "I'll throw down a face down and end it there." "My draw," yet another spin as she drew her card, "and I'll activate the Spell I got last time, Balloon Gale." Her Spell appeared infront of her, "The mean side of this card means I have to pop one of my Balloonimals." Her Balloonimal Dog burst creating a powerful gust of wind. "Now the YAY part," Pinkie explained, "I can return one Spell or Trap card to your hand for every level my doggy had." "But he was level three." Flash said. "So three cards go bye bye." Pinkie said. Flash growled. Since he only had three cards in the Spell and Trap zone, he had to return them. His face down and Pendulum cards disappeared as Flash put them back in his hand. "Now I activate this Spell," Pinkie said, “it's called Shuffle Party, now we both put the cards in are hands in our decks and after a quick shuffle we draw the same number of cards." As she explained she and Flash did it drawing a new hand. Looking down at his new hand he saw the only monsters he had now were Flash Heart and Lucidum, whose Pendulum Scales would only let him summon level three monsters. "Now I summon Balloonimal Fish," Pinkie summoned a monster made of blue twist balloons shaped like a fish. (A1000/D500/L3) "Now Griffon attack." The balloon fusion monster once again took to the skies, before flying at Gladio. Flash knew he had a chance to survive if she guessed her next card wrong. Pinkie placed her hand on her deck and thought for a moment. "I think it's another Spell card." She drew and smiled seeing what it was. "I got Forgotten Talent, a Spell card." "YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" Flash almost screamed as Griffon's power rose and he destroyed Gladio. "Now my fishy will attack" the fish shaped balloon flew at him like it was swimming, before slamming Flash sending him flying. Flash: 2000 Pinkie: 4000 "Ooh," Rainbow said, "that had to hurt." "I bet Flash isn't doubting Pinkie's abilities now." Rarity said. "And finally," Pinkie said, "I'll pay five hundred life points to activate Forgotten Talent." Flash: 2000 Pinkie: 3500 "Now all your monsters have forgotten how to use their special abilities." "So all my monsters are powerless?" Flash asked. That meant Flash Heart couldn't use his ability. "She's too strong." Flash said falling to his knees, he could feel it...her strength went far beyond the game. It was like she was drawing power from something else. "This is why a guy like you will never beat me," Cold explained, "when you summon your monsters do you think about how they feel, about whether they want to battle?" "Was he right?" Flash asked himself. "You simply summon them as if they're mindless puppets, because you’re not strong enough to fight." "I'm not strong enough." Flash realised. In his Duels against Garble and Twilight it hadn't been his skill that had won him the game, but luck and surprise. Garble had lost because Flash had pulled a never before seen style out of nowhere, while Twilight would have probably won had she known about Pendulum's going to the extra deck. Flash realised now that he wasn't as good as he had thought. "Lighten up." Flash was drawn from his thoughts by Pinkie. "What's the matter?" She asked. "You haven't smiled once during this whole Duel you know." "Smile?" Flash said getting back up. "Why would I smile? I'm getting my rear handed to me." Pinkie looked confused at his question, "Why would that stop you from smiling?" She asked. "Because I'm losing," Flash explained, "what's there to smile at?" "So you should only smile when your winning?" Pinkie asked. "That's silly, like saying you should only Duel to win." "Well why else should I Duel?" Flash asked. "That's easy silly," Pinkie replied, "you should Duel to have fun." "Fun?" Flash repeated. "That's what Duelling is suppose to be for." Pinkie explained. "Duelling is a game remember, and why do we play games?" "To have fun." Flash realised. "That's right." Pinkie said smiling. Flash thought about what she had said. In his previous Duels he had just been focusing on winning without even considering having fun while doing it. "Look around you," Pinkie said, "we're Duelling in a big bouncy castle." She jumped down on her butt, only to bounce back up onto her feet. "And look at my Balloonimals," she continued, "aren't they the funnest things you've ever Duelled against?" She had him there, he had definitely never had this kind of experience while Duelling. Flash's gaze moved over to Twilight and her friends as he saw then all smiling...no they were laughing. Not at him but at Pinkie, and not at her but with her. "That’s is why I love Duelling," Pinkie said, "because the more I Duel the more smiles I make." Flash got it now. This was what made her so strong, because she Duelled to make the ones watching smile. As that thought entered his head a small grin cracked on his face, not so small that it went unnoticed. "There it is," Pinkie said, "knew you had one in you." Flash's grin broke out into a full on smile. "You’re right Pinkie," he said, "I've been so focused on winning that I never appreciated the Duel itself. Well not anymore, I still indent to win but I'm gonna have fun regardless." "Atta boy," Pinkie said, "now it's your turn." "And with it I'm gonna win." Flash said as he drew and his smile widened seeing what card he had. "Now I'll set the Pendulum scale with scale two Magna Fight Lucidum and scale eight Magna Caster Solaris" he set his cards, and saw the two monsters appear besides him in the pillars of light. "I can now summon monsters levelled three through seven all at the same time. Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory," the portal formed above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and two streams of light shot out. "On guard Magna Fighter Gladio." (A2100/D2200/L6/P4) "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "You might have prevented Flash Heart's ability from activating," Flash said, "but Lucidum's Pendulum ability can still activate and raise the ATK of every Pendulum monster by five hundred.” (A2600/D2200/L6/P4), (A3000/D2000/L7/P4) "Now Gladio can get some revenge on Balloonimal Griffon." Flash ordered, as Gladio raised his massive sword and swung it at the balloon animal causing it to pop and go flying around in the air, before dissolving into data. Flash: 2000 Pinkie: 3100 "Now Flash Heart will attack Balloonimal Fish." Flash said as his dragon's boosters came to life, shooting him towards the fish as he raised his fist and smashed it into the ground. Balloonimal Fish found itself between a fist and a hard place as it burst. Flash: 2000 Pinkie: 1100 "Finally," Flash placed a card in his Duel Disk, "I activate Double Strike. When a monster on my side of the field destroys a monster, I can halve his ATK points and let him attack again." (A1500/D2000/L7/P4) Flash Heart spun around on his fist and swung his tail around, slamming the ground in front of Pinkie sending up a dust cloud which blow her off her feet. But despite this she was still smiling. Flash: 2000 (Winner) Pinkie: 0 As the field and monsters disappeared Flash deactivated his Duel Disk and looked over at Pinkie to see she wasn't getting up. "Pinkie!" Flash ran towards her hoping she wasn't hurt. But as he drew closer his worries were softened when he heard her laughing. "You’re okay." "Are you kidding?" Pinkie said between fits of giggles. "I'm great, that was so much fun." "It sure was," Flash turned to see Twilight and her friends coming up close. "So Flash, did you figure out why I wanted you to Duel Pinkie?" "Yeah," he replied,"I think I do. You wanted to show me that Duelling isn't always about winning." "That's right." Twilight said. "Duels can be intense and serious, and sometimes too much rides on them to enjoy. But if you only ever see a Duel like that, then your love for the game will disappear." "I think that's what happened to me." Flash said taking out his deck. "When I was young I used to live in a neighbourhood where Duelling was about getting respect, not just fun. I used to lose so much that I lost my love of the game, but now since I got this deck I've been feeling a little better each time I Duel." "Remember that feeling," Applejack said, "the next time a Duel becomes something other than having fun, remember what a real Duel is." "I will," Flash said before turning to them, "thanks...I needed this." "What are friends for?" Twilight said. "Friends." Flash never had any friends before, but something about these girls made him smile at the thought. Duelling had given him the chance to make friends he'd never been able to have before, and that was something he was now thankful for. > Turn 5, Rainbow Apples > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flash and Twilight were walking into school when a poster caught their eye. "What's this?" Flash asked beginning to read it, "Class Rep Elections. Anyone interested in signing up for the chance to be your Class Rep, please inform your homeroom teacher." Twilight continued, "Should you be elected it will be your responsibility to be the voice of your class. You will attend meetings and pass along any student suggestions." "Well that sounds boring." Flash said. "I don't know," Twilight replied, "I wouldn't mind trying out." "I'd vote for you." Flash said. "Aw thanks," Twilight said, "and I hope the rest of our friends will as well." But unfortunately, when they got to class they found Twilight's prediction to be premature, as they found Rainbow Dash and Applejack literally butting heads. "You’re going down AJ." Rainbow said. "No," Applejack replied, "you are." "In your dreams. You know I'm the best choice." "Don't make me laugh." "Girls," Twilight called grabbing their attention, "what is going on?" "Nothing," Rainbow said, "just letting miss second place here know who’s going to be Class Rep." "You been talking to yourself again miss second place?" Applejack replied. "So you’re both going for Class Rep?" Twilight asked worriedly. "Yeah" Rainbow said "when I'm Class Rep, I'll finally be able to get the school board to put some real focus on the sports department. Soccer, Basketball, Hokey and even Hop Scotch, our school will be the most athletic one there is." "But not everyone likes playing sports." Fluttershy told her friend. "Too right," Applejack said, "that's why when I'm Class Rep I'll have the back field converted into a vegetable patch. Then the students will be able to grow their own produce, which we can use to make healthier school lunches or sell at fund raisers." "That sounds awfully muddy." Rarity said with a cringe. "There's no way I'm letting you convert the sports field into a jungle." Rainbow almost yelled. "Well there's no way I'm letting you turn the school into a bunch of sports obsessed meatheads." Applejack replied, her own voice beginning to rise. "What'd you say?" "Okay that's enough," their homeroom teacher said, "you'll have to let the voters decide what they want." "Yeah," Flash said, "besides you guys might not even be picked since Twilight-" before he could finish, Twilight slapped her hands over his mouth. "Since Twilight is what?" Applejack asked. "NOTHING!" Twilight yelled. "I mean nothing...Flash just misspoke." "If you say so." Applejack said. When she and the rest of them turned away, Flash removed her hand and looked at her suspiciously. "What was that for? You gotta tell them you wanna sign up." "No I don't," Twilight replied, "because I'm not signing up." "Why not?" "I don't want to compete against my friends. I'd rather just stay out of it." "Even though you were really excited about it before?" Flash said. "Just drop it." Twilight ordered him before turning to take her seat. Over the next two days Applejack and Rainbow Dash's bids to be elected began. Posters of the two lined the hallways, and they had been giving speeches during break and lunch. "Vote for Applejack," the blond said, "vote for a healthier tomorrow that we will grow with our own two hands." "If you want an awesome Class Rep then vote for Rainbow Dash," the rainbow haired girl said, "follow my lead and we'll show everyone how awesome we are." "Is it just me," Flash said as he and the others watched, "or are their arguments surprisingly similar?" "They both want what they think is best for the school," Twilight said, "but they’re not listening to what the people want." "You seem to know a lot about politics deary." Rarity said. "I've done a little studying about it." She replied. "Maybe you should try-" Flash didn't get to finish as once again Twilight slapped her hand over his mouth, while giving him a look that could curdle milk. The two continued their race for the reminder of the week, with each attempt to gain an upper hand more extravagant then the next. Applejack and her sister were putting up posters that read. A vote of Rainbow is a vote of Anarchy While Rainbow Dash and her little helper Scootaloo, a thirteen year old girl with orange skin and purple hair, were putting up their own posters. A vote of Rainbow is a vote of Anarchy Rainbow's posters had anarchy written all cool and edgy symbolising how great she fought it was. "Anyone else think this is getting a little out of hand?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh we passed out of hand somewhere between the promise for a bowling alley and milkshake makers in the classrooms." Flash replied. With everything that was happening it was inevitable that something would cause the two to snap soon, and that thing happened the day before the final votes. The friends walked into the cafeteria expecting to see the twos final big gambit, but they didn't expect to see them butting heads in the middle of everybody. "I asked for that stage first." Applejack said. "So?" Rainbow replied. "That doesn't mean you own it." "Now what's going on?" Twilight asked Pinkie, who had been in the cafeteria before they had arrived. "Rainbow Dash wanted to perform a wicked guitar song about voting for her, and Applejack was going to handing out apples and stuff to show everyone what taste stuff they could grow. The problem is they seemed to have booked the stage for the same time." Pinkie said, as she stuffed her face with popcorn. "This has gone way to far." Twilight said. "I'm really starting to get sick of your stupid stunts." Applejack said. "My stupid stunts?" Rainbow replied. "What about yours? You honestly think someone would pick a load of disgusting fruit over high action sports?" "Them's fighting words." Applejack said. "You wanna go?" Rainbow asked. "You know it." Applejack replied. Everyone crowded around the two girls in the courtyard as they prepared to face off. "What do they expect to achieve with a Duel?" Rarity asked. "I get the feeling this is about more than just the election." Flash replied. "They have always been really competitive with each other." Fluttershy said. "Hopefully they can blow off some steam with this Duel." Twilight said. "So," Flash wondered, "how good are those two?" "They’re possibly the most skilled out of us all." Rarity said. "Really?" Flash asked before looking back at them. If they were as good as Twilight and Pinkie, even better, then this looked to be a really good match. Applejack affixed an orange Duel Disk to her arm as an orange energy blade formed. "You ready to go down?" "In history maybe." Rainbow replied, attaching her light blue Duel Disk on her arm as a red energy blade formed. "DUEL." Rainbow: 4000 Applejack: 4000 "I'll take the first move," Rainbow said as she drew, "and summon Rainbow Wing Red Kestrel in ATK mode." A large red bird appeared before her, it let out a high pitched cry. (A1500/D1200/L4) "Rainbow Wings?" Flash wondered. "There birds that flock together in order to defeat their opponents." Rarity explained. "Now since Red Kestrel was summoned I can summon another of my feathered friends to the field, so welcome please Rainbow Wing Orange Osprey." A large orange bird appeared hovering next to the red one. (A1200/D1000/L3) "And since he was summoned this way, I can boost him by one level." (A1200/D1000/L4) "Here it comes." Rarity said. "Here what comes?" Flash asked. "Now," Rainbow ordered as her to birds began to glow and changed into lights, before shooting into the air, "with these two monsters I build the Overlay Network." A black hole appeared below her which the lights flew into. "When birds of a feather flock together an awesome power is unleashed." The black hole exploded in a burst of light, as a new monster appeared. "I XYZ SUMMON!" The new monster was a person in black cloths with gold armour around his chest, waist, arms and feet. A single black wing was sprouted from the right side of his back while a gold metallic wing folded out of his left arm gauntlet. A scabbed carrying a long katana was strapped to the back of his hip, and a golden bird mask concealed all but his mouth. Two green lights flew around him, "Rainbow Assault Wing Gold." (A2300/D1700/R4) "Xyz Summon?" Flash asked. "Rainbow's favourite summoning style," Twilight explained, "it's very different from the others. Xyz monsters are summoned when two monsters of the same level are Overlayed, sometimes they also have to be the same type or attribute." "Xyz monsters also have ranks instead of levels." Rarity mentioned. "And don't forget the Overlay Units." Pinkie cut in "Right," Twilight said, as she pointed to the lights floating around the monster. "Those lights are the Overlay Units and in order to activate an Xyz monsters abilities you need to remove a certain number." "Wow," Flash said in amazement. Synchro, Fusion, Xyz and if you counted Pendulum that was four different summoning styles to build your strategy around. Maybe that was where he was going wrong, though he wasn't concerned with winning or losing anymore he still couldn't get what that guy had said out of his head. "Do you expect me to treat you like a real Duellist?" Cold Steel asked. "Without showing me anything worth watching." Maybe that was his answer. He hadn't really changed his deck since he got it, other than the few cards he had gotten with his Duel Disk, perhaps these summoning styles were the answer. His mind returned to the Duel. "Since Osprey was used as an Overlay Unit my Assault Wing gains three hundred points." (A2600/D1700/R4) "Then I'll throw down three face downs and call it a turn." Rainbow Dash said. "Than it's ma draw," Applejack said, "and I'll use the skill of ma Astilbe Archer. I discard a card and reduce its level by two until the end phase, so I can now summon her to the field. A woman in pink flower print clothing who carried a large bow appeared. (A2000/D1000/L3) "A level three monster with two thousand ATK points?" Flash wondered. "It was level five before the ability." Twilight said. "That monster on its own won't do a thing against my Assault Wing." Rainbow said. "Who said she's alone?" Applejack said, in that second two flashes of light created a pair of monsters that looked like apple pips with faces. (A0/D0/L1)X2 "Where'd they come from?" Rainbow asked. "My Apple Knight's special ability activated when I sent him to the grave," Applejack explained, "it created two Pip Tokens on my field." "Well those three won't do much on their own." Rainbow said. "Hold your horses," Applejack replied as she activated a Spell card in her hand, "I activate Ultra Growth. This card lets me plant my two Pip Tokens and grow a pair of new monsters." The tokens dug into the ground, as a pair of watering cans appeared and poured their contents onto the ground. Seconds later a pair of flowers shot out of the ground, and as their bulbs opened two new monsters appeared. "Now say hello to," The first was a woman dressed in green plant style clothing, vines were wrapped around her arms a flowed out like whips. "Median of Vines." (A1000/D1000/L3) The second was a boy in apple style clothing. "And Apple Kid." (A200/D300/L2) "Now she has three monsters out." Pinkie said. "But none of them can take on Rainbow's monster." Flash said. "Wait for it." Twilight told him. "When Apple Kid is special summoned, his ability raises his level by one for this turn." Applejack said. (A200/D300/L3) "Now her monsters are all the same level." Flash said only to realise what that meant. "With these three monsters I build the Overlay Network" she said as her monsters turned into lights, and shot into the black hole as it appeared below her. "As the seasons bring fourth new growth, it can also bring fourth a new power," the black hole exploded in a burst of light, as a new monster appeared. "I XYZ SUMMON!" The new monster looked like a cowboy wearing a brown poncho over a red shirt, brown pants and orange bandanna that covered his mouth. He wore a brown hat with an apple pinned to the front, along with an apple belt buckle and a pair of pistols with apples carved into handles. Three orange lights flew around him, "Orchard Cowboy." (A2100/D600/R3) "So Applejack can Xyz summon to." Flash said. "They both learned it at about the same time." Rarity explained. "Now I equip my Cowboy with Turbo Revolver." AJ activated as Spell, as Orchard Cowboy held up one of his guns it changed into a shotgun revolver. "This little fire arm will give my buckaroo one thousand extra points." (A3100/D600/R3) "Now her monster is stronger than Rainbow's" Fluttershy said. "Alright Cowboy lock and load." Applejack ordered, as he monster aimed his giant revolver at the bird man. "Fire!" He shot a blast at the Assault Wing. "I don't think so," Rainbow said as one of her face downs flipped up, "I activate Overlay Guard. By removing an Overlay Unit from my monster I can nullify your attack." One of the lights flying around Assault Wing, flew into the trap card as it created a force field between the two Xyz monsters. "Too bad I'm nullifying your nullify," Applejack replied, "I'm removing one Overlay Unit to activate Orchard Cowboy's ability to negate the effect of any Spell, Trap or Monster I chose." One of the three lights flew into the cowboy's revolver as he fired a blast that hit the trap, destroying it instantly. "That means my attack's back on." "Or is it?" Rainbow said, as her second face down flew up. "My Call of the Haunted Trap will revive the Red Kestrel I sent to the grave." And just like that her red bird was revived. "What does that matter?" Flash asked. "Rainbow Assault Wing Gold," Twilight explained, "gains five hundred attack points for every other Winged Beast monster on the field." "So Assault Wing currently has twenty six hundred points," Flash did the math, "plus five hundred is..." "The same amount as AJ's Cowboy." Twilight finished. "They'll both be destroyed." Fluttershy said. Seconds later the Cowboys blast hit Assault Wing who exploded, but from the explosion his katanna came flying out and impaled the Cowboy destroying it. "Wow," Flash said, "Rainbow gave up her best monster to destroy Applejack's." "Don't think you've seen the last of either of those two." Rarity said. "I activate my final card," Rainbow said, "Xyz Reborn. Now I can revive an Xyz Monster and this card becomes an Overlay Unit," Rainbow Assault Wing Gold reappeared in front of her, a single light flying around him. "And don't forget my Red Kestrel is still giving him a power boost." (A2800/D1700/R4) "Well I activate Trigger Trap," Applejack said, "this Spell lets me pay five hundred life points to activate a trap in my deck." Rainbow: 4000 Applejack: 3500 "Now I can activate my own copy of Xyz Reborn," Orchard Cowboy reappeared with a single light flying around him. (A2100/D600/R3) "Man I've never seen such an even Duel." Flash said. "Those two have always been on the same level," Rarity said, "when one pulls ahead in skill the other quickly catches up and keeps it even." "So who won the last time they Duelled?" Flash asked. "During their last Duel it was Rainbow who won." Twilight said. "But Applejack won the time before that." Fluttershy said. "And Rainbow won before that." Rarity said. "And Applejack before that." Pinkie said. "And-" "Okay I get it." Flash said. "Like I said," Rarity told him, "those two might be friends but their also each others greatest rivals." "I've lost count of the number of times they've Duelled each other," Fluttershy said. Rainbow and Applejack both stared at each other for several seconds, only for their scrawls to turn to smiles before they burst out laughing. "This is great." Rainbow said. "Ya," Applejack replied, "we haven't had a Duel this close in forever." "I almost forgot why we're doing this." Rainbow said. "Duelling you just got my head totally in the zone." "Same here," Applejack said, "but I still intend to win." "Me too." Rainbow said. "LET'S GO!" They both yelled as their monsters launched themselves at each other, and just as they were about to strike. RIIIINNNNGGGGG The two monsters disappeared. "Well that's the end of lunch." Twilight said getting up. "Looks like they'll have to finish this later." Rarity said. "Damn," Flash said, "I was hoping to see some more Xyz monsters." Everyone left until only Rainbow and Applejack were left, both wide eyed and still in the action pose they had done when they ordered their monsters to attack. Eventually the two moved, by collapsing onto the ground and staring up at the skies. "So who won?" Rainbow asked. "Well I had less life points." Applejack said. "Only because you gave them up," Rainbow said, "I didn't damage you at all." "Then I guess it's a draw partner." Applejack said. "Looks like it," Rainbow replied. "You know what," Applejack said, "maybe my idea to turn the field into a garden was a little extreme." "No more than my plan to make the school run ten laps before each class." The two laughed again as they sat up. "You know Rainbow," Applejack said, "if I get elected I'm going to need a Co-Rep." "Same here," Rainbow said, "no matter who gets elected we'll work together to make the school the most awesome on in the history of awesome schools." "Deal." Applejack said as they shuck hands. "Now we both are pretty much guaranteed to win." "WE LOST?!" They both yelled seeing only one piece of paper in each of the ballet boxes, compared to the mountain in the last one. Since they had each voted for each other, that meant not one other member of the student body had voted for them. "Sorry girls," the teacher said "but that's just how politics works." "I demand a recount!" Rainbow yelled. "Who is this third candidate?" Applejack asked. "I'm getting to that," the teacher said as she turned to the room, "everyone, I'd like to introduce your new Class Rep...Twilight Sparkle." Everyone turned to look at the new Class Rep, who was currently looking shocked at the announcement. "But miss, I didn't even sign up." "Well someone wrote your name down, with a PS that you'd like your ballet to not to have your name on it." she showed Twilight the sign-up sheet and instantly the teen recognised the hand writing. She turned to a blue haired boy who was currently whistling nonchalantly. "Flash," she said, "what did you do?" "Nothing," he replied, "I just wrote your name on the sign-up sheet, asked to have your ballet be anonymous and went around telling everyone that you were the unnamed candidate." "Why would you do this?" Twilight asked. "You really wanted to be Class Rep, and I saw how disappointed you were when you found out those two were competing. So I decided to do it for you." "But I didn't want to compete against them." Twilight told him. "Twilight," she turned to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash, "why didn't you tell us you wanted to be Class Rep?" "If we had known we would have helped you." Rainbow said. "But you two-" "Even we can tell you'd be a million times better than us." Rainbow said. "Yeah and don't forget," Flash said, "I only told people you were running. They're the ones who voted for you." "I guess." Twilight said. "Come on Sugarcub," Applejack said, "go make a speech." She pushed Twilight to the front of the class. She stood there for a few seconds until finally she spoke. "So yeah thanks for the votes and, er, I promise to do everything in my power to improve school life for us, including a stronger focus on the sports department." "YES!" Rainbow cheered. "And I'm sure I can convince the school board to reform the empty space behind the school into a vegetable patch." "YEEHA!" Applejack cheered. Soon the all class was cheering. "See," Flash said as she returned to his seat, "now aren't you glad I did it?" "A little." Twilight said. "I am looking forwards to it, and I know you will to." "What are you talking about?" he asked nervously. "You’re my new Co-Rep," she replied, "you'll have to sit through all the meetings with me and write down any ideas I might have." "What?" Flash almost yelled. "Remember this the next time you think to go behind my back." She said with a smirk, and then laughed when she watched him slam his head on his desk. > Turn 6, The Great and Powerful Trixie > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOOM went one of the monsters in the duel. It was midnight and a man stood trembling at his opponent. "Please," the man whimpered as he fell to his knees, "have mercy." "Sorry," his opponent replied as her monster hovered above her, "but you don't become the best by showing mercy." And with that her beast flew at the man who screamed as his life points hit zero. Moments later the Duellist was walking the streets. "Another Duellist overcome by me." She said as she held out her Duel Disk. "Now who shall be my next conquest?" She scrolled through until she came across a name. "Twilight Sparkle, who uses...Twilight Sorcerer, that could work nicely in my deck." She said with an evil chuckle. "Twilight Sorcerer attack." Twilight ordered as her magician fired a magic burst that destroyed Spike's monster. Twilight: 2700 (Winner) Spike: 0 "Ow man," Spike said as he sat down, "lost again." The two of them were by the river, Twilight helping her little brother test play a new deck recipe, while Flash watched from the side lines. "Well you did better than last time." Twilight told him. "Yeah," Spike replied, "I got your life points down past three thousand this time." "Don't sell yourself short," Flash said, "once you find the right deck you'll be beating Duellists left and right." "That's right." Twilight said. "It's all about trial and error. You think I've always been this good, I went through tones of test decks till I found the one that was best for me." "And boy was it worth it." Flash said. " you’re probably one of the best, if not the best, Spellcaster Duellists there is." "That's sweet and all," Twilight said blushing, "but I still have much to learn. I probably wouldn't stand a chance against the likes of Yugi Moto or Dimitri Kagurazaka." "You'd totally be up for it Twilight," Spike said, "you have just as much skill as them and you believe in your deck just as much as anyone else." "Thanks guys," Twilight said, "I guess I have come a long way since I started Duelling. But what I need is someway to really test myself." "TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" They all covered their ears and spun around to look up the bank. Standing there was girl their age with light blue shin and lighter, almost white, blue hair. She wore a dark blue hoodie with light blue star patterns here and there, along with a purple skirt with blue sparkles at the bottom. Blue and purple knee high boots were the last piece of her ensemble. "I challenge you." she said. "Do I know you?" Twilight asked. The girl seemed shocked at this question. "What do you mean, how could you not know the name of the greatest Spellcaster Duellist in the world?" "Greatest Spellcaster Duellist?" they all said in unison. "Indeed." The girl replied posing. "Bask in the radiance of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" After saying that she tossed something behind her and a second later smoke explosions went off. "She's quite..." Twilight was trying to get the right word. "Loud." Flash finished not sounding impressed. "Twilight Sparkle," Trixie said, "you are a Spellcaster Duellist are you not?" "I am," Twilight replied, "so what?" "So you and I shall Duel to prove who is the best." Trixie explained. "Why would she do that?" Spike asked. "To prove which of us is the best of course." Trixie explained. "I know I'm the best but simply saying that won't get me the respect I deserve. So, I'm travelling around looking for the best Spellcaster Duellists, beating them and moving on to the next one." "Seriously?" Twilight asked in amazement. "In my travels I have defeated sixteen Spellcaster Duellists, and with you I will make it seventeen." "That's actually kind of impressive." Spike said. "So Twilight," she said "are you ready to do battle?" "Pass." Twilight replied. "WHAT!?" Trixie said. "I Duel for fun," Twilight replied, "I won't Duel for such a trivial matter." And with that she began walking away with Flash and Spike. Trixie looked shocked until her face changed to one of smugness. "Oh I get it, your terrified that I will beat you." This got Spike to stop and turn back around. "What did you say?" "Just ignore her." Twilight said not stopping. "You heard me," Trixie said, "she's a chicken who knows she can't defeat me." "Twilight could Duel circles around you." Spike said. "That's enough Spike," Twilight said, "let's just go." She continued onwards. "This isn't over Twilight," Trixie said, "we will Duel." Twilight was showing Flash one of her favourite hang outs named Sugarcube Corner. "Hi guys," Pinkie, an employee, said. "Come to try one of my new strawberry vanilla swirl cupcakes?" She held up a plateful of cupcakes with pink and yellow frosting. "Sure," Twilight said as they each took one, "yum," she said taking a bite. "Best ones yet." "Could use more sugar if you ask me." Twilight froze and turned around to see Trixie, sitting at a table with the same sugary snack and hot coco. "You again," Twilight said, "what are you doing here?" "Is it against the law to be sitting in an establishment enjoying its sugary snack?" "Well no," Twilight replied, "I mean what are you still doing in town? Shouldn't you be off looking for your next opponent?" "I've found my next opponent." Trixie said. "I'm just waiting for her to grow a back bone and Duel me." "I'm not Duelling you Trixie." Twilight told her. "Well then I'm not going anywhere." She replied. Twilight sighed and turned to leave. "You could just Duel her you know," Flash said, "once it's over she'll be gone." "I'm not falling down to her level," Twilight said, "I'll just ignore her and she'll eventually get bored and leave to find someone else." "Not sure on that." Flash said, he then stopped which caught Twilight's attention. "What's up?" She asked. "Nothing," Flash said, "just got something I need to check out. I'll meet up with you when I'm done." "Okay," Twilight said before turning to walk down the street. Once she was gone, Flash took out his Duel Disk and began typing. "Okay Trixie, let's see what we can find out about you." When Twilight returned home she almost collapsed on the couch. All day Trixie had been showing up wherever she went. When she was at the library she found her there reading a fashion magazine, when she went to the store to buy groceries for her mom she was there buying low fat yogurt and even when she was going to the bathroom, she just sat at the sink filing her nails. "Twilight," her mother Twilight Velvet called walking into the room, "you'll need to set the dinner table for five tonight." "Five?" Twilight asked. "I met this delightful young girl and just had to invite her to dinner." "What did she look like?" "She's about your age and wears a blue hoodie." "Oh no." Twilight said. "Hello Twilight." she spun around and saw Trixie standing at the door. "Seriously?" Rainbow Dash asked when Twilight explained what happened to her friends at the riverbank. "It was horrible," Twilight said, "she acted all goody good when my parents were there but the second we were alone she was a nightmare." "You have got to cut her loose Sugarcube." Applejack told her. "And there's only one way to do that." Spike said. "You have to Duel me!" They all spun around to see Trixie standing at the top of the hill. "Get lost," Rainbow said to her, "Twilight already said no to your Duel." "Well I don't intend to leave until I get what I want." Trixie said, walking down to their level. "That's it," Twilight almost screamed, "I can't take it anymore. You wanna Duel, then let's Duel if it means you'll leave me alone." "I knew you'd be willing to eventually." Trixie said as she took out her light blue Duel Disk. "Let's just get on with it." Twilight said taking her own Duel Disk out. "WAIT!" Everyone turned to see Flash running down the street, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste. "You can't Duel her Twilight." Flash said. "Why not?" Twilight asked. "I did a little digging into her," Flash explained, "I tracked down her other opponents and they all said the same thing. When they Duelled her she somehow nullified their decks, and then annihilated them." "So what?" Trixie said. "There's nothing against the rules about those kind of techniques." "Except I asked for a list of the cards you used, and found you had almost four hundred different cards. I doubt one deck could hold that many, and that you just so happen to pick the deck necessary to stop your opponents every move." "Maybe I'm just lucky?" Trixie said sounding a little worried. "And one more thing," Flash continued, "after the Duels the Duellists found that their best cards were missing. And you were nowhere in sight." "WHAT?" all the girls said. "You've been stealing other players cards." Twilight said. "I never stole them," Trixie said, "I just forgot to tell them that we were playing an Ante Duel." "That's despicable." Rarity said. "How else would I prove to others that I had won?" Trixie pulled something out of her hoodie pocket, which she revealed to be sixteen cards. "Pretty impressive wouldn't you say? And after I win your Twilight Sorcerer will be joining them." "Twilight you don't have to do this." Applejack said. None of them wanted to see her lose her favourite card. "Yes I do," Twilight replied after a few seconds, "new stakes Trixie. If you win you can take my card, but if I win than you'll give back the cards you took...deal." Trixie stayed silent for a moment until, "Deal." She attached her Duel Disk to her arm as a white blade appeared. Twilight went to affix hers, but before she could it was yanked out of her hand. "Don't do this Twilight." Flash said. "I have to Flash." Twilight told him. "But she'll most likely know every card in your deck, and how to stop them." "Maybe," Twilight replied, "but I'll still win." "How can you be so sure?" Fluttershy asked sounding worried. "Because she might know my deck," Twilight explained, "but she doesn't know me." Flash saw the look of determination on her face and sighed. "Okay," he said handing the Duel Disk back, "just be careful." "I will be." Twilight replied as she placed the device on her arm and activated it. "DUEL!" Twilight: 4000 Trixie: 4000 "I'll start," Trixie said drawing her card, "and I'll start by summoning Performage Tightrope Wheeler in ATK mode." A clown on a unicycle appeared carrying a long balancing stick. (A1800/D1300/L4) "Than I'll set down three cards and end my turn." "My draw," Twilight drew her card, "and I'll summon Flame Burst Magician in ATK mode." a wizard in flame patterned clothing appeared carrying a staff that's end was on fire. (A1300/D600/L3) "And when Flame Burst Magician is summoned I can inflict eight hundred points of damage to you." The wizard shot a fireball at Trixie hitting her in the chest. Twilight: 4000 Trixie: 3200 "So what?" Trixie said. "Your monster can't hope to injure mine." "That's why I'm activating the Spell card Spellbook of Power," Twilight explained, "it powers up my Magician by a thousand points." (A2300/D600/L3) "Now attack." The wizard fired another fireball, this one directed at Tightrope Wheeler." "I don't think so," Trixie said as she discarded a card, "by discarding Performage Mirror Juggler I can negate your attack." Another clown, this one juggling hand mirrors like juggling pins, appeared infront of Tightrope Wheeler and juggled his mirrors in a circle creating a magical barrier. The fireball bounced off the mirror and flew back at Twilight almost hitting her, though the explosion forced her back a bit. Twilight: 3500 Trixie: 3200 "Did I forget to mention you also take five hundred points of damage" Trixie explained, "I know your strategy. You use your Spellbooks to power up your Spellcasters and win, well it won't work." "We'll see about that," Twilight told her, "I'll throw down a face down and end my turn. Flame Burst's ATK points return to normal." "My draw," Trixie said, "and I'll summon Performage Flame Baton in ATK mode." A clown carrying a flaming stick appeared spinning it around its body with ease. (A1200/D1400/L3) "Now I'll attack with Tightrope Wheeler." The unicycle riding monster rode its way towards Flame Burst and swung its balancing stick at him destroying him. Twilight: 3000 Trixie: 3200 "Now I attack with Flame Baton." The second Performage threw its baton at Twilight. "I activate my Trap Spirit Shackle. By removing a Spellcaster from my grave I'm able to negate the attack of a monster with less attack than it." A ghost of Flame Burst Magician appeared infront of Twilight and caught the baton, tossing it back at the monster. "I'll end my turn." Trixie said. "My draw," Twilight drew, "I summon Defender the Magical Knight in DEF mode." A knight in blue and gold armour appeared, carrying a large blue and gold shield with a red orb in the middle. (A1600/D2000/L4) "When Defender is summoned I can add a spell counter to him," the red orb glowed as a one appeared inside, "I'll end my turn." "This isn't good," Applejack said from the side lines, "she's been forced to play defensively so early in the match." "She needs to pick up the pace." Rainbow said. "She can do it," Flash said before whispering, "I hope." "My draw," Trixie drew her card and smiled seeing what it was, "this Duel is over." "What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, "are you quitting?" "Hardly," Trixie said, "but it's as good as over now I've drawn this. I have everything I need to beat you so watch as I activate the Dark Seal Ritual Spell." "A Ritual Card." Twilight's eyes went wide. "That's right. By sacrificing monsters whose combined levels reach seven or higher, I can Ritual Summon a monster who you can't stop." A magic circle appeared at her feet as the two Performages glowed as their souls were pulled out of their bodies, and into the magic circle causing it to explode as a new monster appeared. He wore a dark blue over coat with black runes patterned all over and a triangular hat on his head. His left arm was adorned with a crimson red metal gauntlet with sharp claw like fingers. "Arise Dark Seal Magician." (A2800/D1000/L7) "That's not good." Pinkie said actually sounding worried. "How is Twilight suppose to beat that?" Fluttershy asked. "She'll find a way." Rainbow said though she didn't sound so sure. "Next I'll Equip Dark Seal Magician with this." Trixie activated on of her face downs, that turned out to be a Spell. "It's called Battle Runes and it prevents me from summoning monsters, but in return it lets my Magician attack again and again until you have zero monsters on the field." "What's the point of that?" Pinkie asked, "Twilight only has one monster on the field." "Defender the Magical Knight," Rarity explained, "can prevent the destruction of Spellcasters by removing Spell Counters." "Now I activate my other two face downs." Trixie said as her other two face down flipped up. "First is Anti-Spell Fragrance which forces you to set Spell cards before activating them, and the other is Dimensional Graveyard which removes any destroyed monster instead of sending them to the grave." "So Twilight needs to wait one whole turn to activate her Spell cards." Flash said. "And any monster that Trixie destroys will be banished." Rarity said. "This isn't looking good." Twilight told herself. "Now Dark Seal Magician attack and destroy Defender." Black lightning shot out of Dark Seal Magician's gauntlet striking Defender, who held up his shield in protection. "By removing his Spell Counter Defender is safe from destruction." Twilight said. "But don't forget that Battle Runes lets Dark Seal attack again." The wizard once again fired its black lightning, but unlike last time Defender was destroyed. "This is going from bad to worse," Applejack said, "she's getting pushed into a corner." "Too right," Rainbow Dash said, "she can't activate her best cards right away and even if she could she can't summon anything in her graveyard." "It's my draw," Twilight said looking at her hand to see two Spellbooks, Valkyria Magician, Shadow Charmer and she had just drawn a monster called Mystic Mage. "I summon Mystic Mage in DEF mode." an old man in silver robes appeared. (A400/D600/L2) "Then I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." "My draw," Trixie said, "and now I activate Dark Seal Magician's special ability to target up to two cards in your Spell and Trap zone. And if those two are Spell cards they're destroyed and you take three hundred points of damage.” "What?" Twilight said as her two cards flipped up revealing her Spellbooks that were destroyed. Twilight: 2400 Trixie: 3200 "And now I attack your Mystic Mage." The black lightning was fired destroying the old wizard. "What'll she do now?" Fluttershy asked. "No idea," Rainbow said, "Trixie's shutting down every move she makes. I'd sure like to know how she got Twilight's deck recipe." "My guess," Flash said, "she hacked Twilight's Duel Disk a looked at the card stored in it." "That filthy cheat." Rarity said. "When Mystic Mage is destroyed," Twilight explained, "I can add a Spell Card from my deck to my hand." "Like it'll do you any good," Trixie said, "and to show you that I'll activate Doom Draw." she activated a spell. "I declare a type of card added to you hand and if I'm right you have to return it and redraw a card, and since I know what you just got I'll declare a Spell card.” Twilight groaned and returned her card. Her deck shuffled and then she drew a new card. "I'll place two face downs and end my turn." Trixie said. "My draw." Twilight said, but before she could draw her Duel Disk brought up a warning telling the action was prohibited. "Sorry," Trixie said, "but my Time Draw Trap will put a stop to that." Her face down flipped up. "This card prevents you from drawing this turn, but don't worry, you'll get to draw twice next turn." "So now she's stopping Twilight from drawing," Rainbow said, "what more can she do?" "I'll summon Magician's Valkyria in DEF mode," Twilight said, "and place one face down and end my turn." "Don't think so," Trixie said, "I activate Compulsory Evacuation Device which will return your magician to your hand." A machine appeared that sucked Magician's Valkyria inside, before opening and shooting her out as she changed back into a card that returned to Twilight's hand. "Twilight's defenceless." Rarity realised. "My Draw," Trixie said, "I activate Dark Seal Magician's effect and destroy your face down." Then something unusual happened. Twilight smiled. "Not this time Trixie." Her face down flipped up revealing a Trap. "Go Mystic Curse, which will destroy one Spell or Trap on the field so say goodbye to you Anti-Spell Fragrance." Trixie's eyes went wide when her Trap was destroyed. "What's more my trap will deal you a thousand points of damage, while my life points get boosted by five hundred." Twilight: 2900 Trixie: 2200 "You’re only delaying the inevitable," Trixie said, "Dark Seal attack." Her monster fired his black lightning electrocuting Twilight. Twilight: 100 Trixie: 2200 Twilight fell to her knees panting. "Twilight!" Spike, who had been remarkably quite through the Duel, said. "Are you okay?" "I...can't...beat her." she panted. "Don't say that," she heard Flash say, "remember what you taught me. One draw is all it takes to turn a Duel around." "But against her cards..." "Believe in your deck," Flash said "and you can do it." "Don't let this cheat beat you." Rainbow said. "Show her who the true master of Spellcasters is." Fluttershy said quietly. "And don't forget to smile." Pinkie said cheerily. "We're behind you Twilight." Rarity said. "You can do it Sugarcube." Applejack said. "Yeah!" Spike said. Twilight smiled and looked back at Trixie. "I won't lose to you." She stood up and went to her deck, "I...DRAW!" She looked at the two cards she had drawn and her eyes went wide seeing what she had drawn. Looking over at Flash who was smiling she to smiled realising what he had done. "Hope you’re ready Trixie," Twilight said, "because I'm using scale one Magna Caster Lunara." "What?" The girls and Spike said. "And scale eight Magna Caster Solaris to set the Pendulum Scale." The pillars of light appeared before her as the two monster floated up. "How did she get those?" Rarity asked. "Let's say I evened up the odds." Flash said. "I can summon monsters levels two through seven all at the same time." Twilight explained. "Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory." The portal formed above her. "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and two lights shoot out revealing Magician's Valkyria and Shadow Charmer. (A1600/D1800/L4), (A1200/D700/L3) "What is this?" Trixie asked. She hadn't had these cards in her deck before. "And now," Twilight said, "I'll tune my level three Shadow Charmer with Level four Magician's Valkyria." Her Tuner monster transformed into the three circles that surrounded Magician's Valkyria. "When two mighty magicians unite their magical power an amazing event will occur." In that moment Valkyria burst into light, "I SYNCHRO SUMMON." The light fades and Twilight's best monster appeared. "Twilight Sorcerer." (A2100/D2800/L7) "So I get to see the card I'll be taking." Trixie said. "No way, Twilight Sorcerer is staying put, I activate his ability and add one random Spellbook to my hand." "This whole Duel depends on which card she gets." Rarity said nervously. Twilight's deck slotted out a card. As she looked at it she realised which one it was and smiled, "I activate Spellbook of Fate. By banishing three Spellbooks from my graveyard I can banish one card on your field." "Wait what?" Trixie said. "Say goodbye to your Dark Seal Magician." A wormhole opened up below the Spellcaster sucking him in. "And since I have a Spellbook in my graveyard Twilight Sorcerer gets a power boost." (A2200/D2800/L7) "Attack." Twilight Sorcerer let out a burst of magical energy which struck Trixie knocking her back. Twilight: 100 (Winner) Trixie: 0 "SHE DID IT!" They all cheered. Twilight moved over to Trixie as she got up. "I won, so now you need to return the cards you took." Trixie sighed and went into her hoodie, only to smile as she pulled something out that wasn't the cards. "Think again!" She threw whatever it was on the ground, revealing it as a smoke bomb which covered them both. Twilight tried to grab her but instead she felt herself be pushed and went flying backward. Her friends ran over to them only to hear a splash and looked towards the river, only to find Twilight laying in the water. Luckily she had managed to keep her Duel Disk and cards dry, but the rest of her wasn't so lucky. "You okay?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah," Twilight said, "but where's Trixie?" "Gone." Flash said looking around. "She made a break for it with those Smoke Bombs." Twilight sighed hearing this. After fishing her out of the river, the eight of them walked down the street. Twilight was shivering from the water. "Once we get you home we'll get a nice hot shower running for ya'h." Applejack told her. "Thanks AJ." Twilight replied smiling, but suddenly a crash of thunder above them ruined their high spirits. "Oh that's really great timing." Rainbow said sarcastically. "Twilight could catch pneumonia." Fluttershy said. "My house is closest." They all turned to Flash who looked awkward saying this. "If we hurry we can get there before the rain starts, Twilight can dry off and you guys can call for a ride." "Great," Applejack said, "lead the way." "Gramps," Flash called as he opened the door, "you here?" "Flash," Grand Hoof said walking over to the door, "what's up?" His question was answered when he saw Twilight and the girls. "Is it okay if my friend dries off here? She got dunked in the river." Grand Hoof smiled and nodded. As they waited for Twilight to finish off, the others looked around Flash's home. It was a simple three bedroom apartment that was simply furnished with pictures adorning the walls. "Homely." Applejack said. "Thanks." Flash replied. "Hey Flash," Spike called picking up a photo of two people, "who are these two? The guy looks like you." "They're my parents." Flash replied. "My dad Trail Blazer and my mom Misty Vail." "Oh." Spike said. "So what are they like?" Rarity asked. "No idea," Flash replied, "I never met them. They disappeared about twenty years ago." They all looked sad at this, only for that feeling to change to confusion at what he had said. How could they have disappeared twenty years ago? When Flash could be no older than sixteen or seventeen. Before they could ask, Twilight walked in having dried off and now sporting a pink kitty sweater. "Hey thanks for letting us stay here Flash," Twilight said, "and thank your grandpa for the dry clothes." "No problem Twilight." Flash replied. "But I can't help wondering what you’re doing with a girl's sweater." Twilight said. "Well it's not mine," Flash explained, "it belongs to...my sister." "Sister?" They all asked, only for the front door to open. "I'm home." A familiar voice said, making them turn to see Scootaloo had walked in. "Hey," Scootaloo said looking around, "what's going on?" > Turn 7, Siblings > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The news that Flash and Scootaloo were siblings spread like wild fire. Both of them were quite well known, so the fact that the previous loner of Eleventh Grade was the older brother to one of the coolest kids in Eighth Grade was something people talked about. It had started when Applejack and Rarity had asked their little sisters Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell, who were best friends to Scootaloo, whether they knew anything about her having a brother. This lead to the two thirteen year olds asking about it to others, which lead to them asking around and before you knew it everyone knew about Flash and Scootaloo, who were the number one topic by Monday. "Do you think we might have goofed?" Apple Bloom asked. Hearing everyone gossip about the siblings wasn't what they had intended. "I'm sure it'll blow over." Sweetie Bell replied. They, their sisters, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were walking around the school courtyard listening to the rumours about the siblings. "I don't know," Rarity told her sister, "this is pretty big news." "Hey," they all turned to see Twilight and Scootaloo walking up to them. "Hey," they all replied before Rarity asked, "so where's Flash?" She was looking at Scootaloo. "He was already gone by the time I woke up." "Wait," Rainbow Dash said, "don't you two walk to school together?" "No" Scootaloo said, "all my classes start an hour after his, so he just wakes me up before leaving for school" she explained though she looked a little down. This did not go unnoticed by the others. When the bell rang, everyone headed to their classes. The girls found Flash at his locker getting his book. "Hey Flash," Rainbow Dash said marching up to him, "what's the deal with you and Scoot?" "She's my sister," he replied, "what else is there to it?" "It's more than that," Rarity said, "how come you never told us about her?" "You never asked." he replied. "Than how come we've never seen the two of you together before?" Applejack asked. "Because we're never together outside our house." Flash replied. "So you just ignore her?" Rainbow said. "Pretty much." Flash said before he closed his locker and headed off to his next class. "I can't believe that guy." Rainbow said. "There has to be more to this," Twilight said, "we know Flash." "To be fair we ain't known him that long." Applejack said. "We know he's not the kind of guy to purposely hurt someone, especially his sister." Twilight replied. "We need to find a way for the two other them to be together in one place," Rarity said, "than we can see what the problem is and try and fix it." "Should we really be butting into Flash and Scootaloo's personal lives?" Fluttershy asked. "Flash is our friend," Rainbow assured her, "and so is Scootaloo. Helping them sort out their problems is what friends do." "And you don't mind possibly losing your biggest fan to her brother?" Applejack asked. "Let's not get to ahead of ourselves." Rainbow said. "But the question is," Rarity said, "how do we get the two together? We need something fun and easy to do together." "I know," Pinkie said waving her arms around, "how about a carnival." "Oh yeah," Rainbow said, "isn't there supposed to be one this weekend?" "That's perfect," Rarity said, "no one can remain grumpy at a carnival. We go, put the two on a few rides, get them to play a though games and wallah." "Good idea," Twilight said, "I'll get Flash to go." "And I'll get Apple Bloom to invite Scootaloo." Applejack said. "Then it's decided." Rarity cheered followed by the rest of the girls. For the rest of that week the girls worked on their plan to get Flash and Scootaloo to do a little sibling bonding. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell were all for helping, especially if it involved going to a carnival, and promised to invite Scootaloo to the event. Flash had been harder to persuade. "What is it again?" He asked when Twilight told him about it. "A carnival," Twilight said, "haven't you ever been to one?" "No." Flash just said. "Well that changes this weekend." Twilight said. "I don't know." Flash replied. "Please." Twilight asked using her best puppy dog expression, something she had never tried before, until he finally gave in. "Fine," Flash lamented, "just promise to never use that again." "We'll see." Twilight said before skipping away. That Saturday Flash found himself on the train with Twilight and Spike heading to the area the carnival was being held, totally unaware that his sister and her friends were in the next car. Applejack and Rarity were with them as they looked over everything taking place in the carnival. "So if we get them on the ghost train we might be able to get a scared kid response from Scootaloo." Rarity explained. "I don't see her as the kind of kid that gets scared." Applejack replied. "Oh she'll be scared," Rarity said, "I'll make sure of it." "You’re taking a lot of interest in getting these two closer," Applejack said, "any particulars why?" "It's just," Rarity seemed to struggle with the words, "I think about how close me and my sister are now. But it wasn't always this way." "I remember," Applejack said, "you never got along." "Until you showed me what being a sister really meant," Rarity said, "I just want to show the same support you showed me." "And I know Flash and Scootaloo will appreciate it." Applejack said. "This is awesome!" Spike almost yelled looking around the carnival. It was like an amusement park, with more rides then they could count, loads of games and vending booths selling an assortment of snacks. "It is impressive." Flash said. "So what do we go on first?" Spike asked. "Just hold on," Twilight said, "we need to wait for the others to arrive." "Others?" Flash asked, "This is the first I'm hearing of this." "Did I forget to mention that?" Twilight replied feigning ignorance. "Howdy partners." they all turned to see Applejack, Rarity, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and...Flash's eyes widened seeing his sister coming up, Scootaloo doing the same. "What is she/he doing here?" the siblings said pointing at each other. Flash turned to Twilight not looking happy. "What?" she said, "Not my fault Applejack and Rarity brought their little sisters. And it's not my fault they asked Scootaloo here." "You guys set me up." Flash said. "Don't be so dramatic." they turned to see Rainbow, Pinkie and Fluttershy had also arrived. "HEY!" Pinkie screamed. "Ready for fun?" "We sure are." Applejack replied. "Then let's go." Rarity said. leading them into the park. Over the next few hours they had tones of fun. They went on several rides, played several fun games and enjoyed scarfing down anything the vendors sold. "These are great." Spike said as he munched on another hotdog. "Try the cotton candy." Sweetie Bell said offering it to him. He ripped off a chunk and tossed it in his mouth. "Nice." Spike said. "This is going pretty well don't you think." Twilight said before snacking on her burger. "Not exactly." Rarity said looking over at the whole reason they had even come in the first place. Flash was sitting on a bench eating a hotdog while Scootaloo ate hers three benches away. "They haven't spoken two words to each other." "This is going to be harder than we thought." Twilight said. "I might have an idea," Fluttershy said quietly, "maybe if Flash did something nice for her. Scootaloo will want to spend more time with him." "It's a shot." Rarity said. They headed to the games area and found a ring toss game where Twilight saw Scootaloo eye up a stuffed lion. "Hey Flash," she caught his attention, "why don't you try winning that lion for her." She pointed at the game. Flash would have objected, but he saw Twilight was about to use the puppy eyes again, and stepped over to the booth and bought three rings. Taking them in his hands he quickly threw them with barely a glance, only for one to land not only on the lion's podium but one also landed on the podiums for a stuffed cat and dog. "We have a winner!" The game manager yelled taking the toys down and handing them to Flash. As he turned around Flash saw Twilight and the others all standing slack jawed. "How?" was all Twilight could say. Flash moved over to Scootaloo, the only one not shocked, and her friends and handed them the stuffed toys. "Here." He gave Sweetie Bell the cat and Apple Bloom the dog. "Er, thanks." The girls said. "Don't mention it," Flash said as he turned to his sister and held out the lion she had been eyeing, "here." Scootaloo didn't look up at him as she took the toy, "Whatever." She said. "How about a ‘thanks’." Flash said. "Maybe if you hadn't had to be blackmailed into doing it." she replied her voice raising. "What's that supposed to mean?" "I know you don't want to be around me." Scootaloo said. Rarity chose this moment to intervene, "Why don't we calm down and go find another ride to go on?" "I'm not going anywhere with him." Scootaloo said. "That's fine with me." Flash replied. "Fine." "Fine." "FINE!" They both yelled before turning around and stomping off in opposite directions. "Wait!" Rarity called out trying to stop them. "This isn't what was supposed to happen." "Things are worse than we thought between those two." Twilight said. "We need to find out what it is." Applejack said. They found Scootaloo sitting on a bench near a pond tossing stones into the water. "You okay kiddo?" Rainbow asked sitting next to her. "I'm fine," Scootaloo said though they could hear she was upset, "it's the jerk who has the problem." "You don't mean that," Twilight said "I'm sure whatever's going on between you two, we can fix." "I don't want things fixed." Scootaloo almost yelled throwing a massive stone in the water, before she let out a sigh. "I want them back as they were before." Everyone wondered what she meant but then she continued. "A long time ago me and my brother were as close as you guys and your siblings." Me and Flash grew up in another city far away. In that city Duelling was just as popular as it was here, and if you were the best at Duelling than you had an easy life. But for the likes of me and Flash, life was hard. "Attack." A ten year old Flash slammed into the ground as his life points hit zero. "Man what a loser," his opponent said laughing along with the rest of his friends, "let's get out of here." And they left. "Flash," a six year old Scootaloo called rushing over to her brother, "are you okay?" "I'm fine Scoots," Flash replied getting up, "I lost again but next time I'll show them." "Even when he lost Flash never gave up," Scootaloo explained, "and when Gramps told us we were moving here I was so excited. I thought we'd get to make new friends and enjoy Duelling...until." "Flash." Scootaloo called seeing her brother about to leave the apartment, the day after they had moved in. "Where you going?" "Nowhere." Flash said not stopping or turning around. "Can I come?" "NO!" Flash yelled making her flinch. "Let's get one thing straight. Outside this apartment you don't know me, you don't talk to me, you don't even acknowledge I exist, okay. As far as you know, you don't have a brother." And with that he walked out the apartment, leaving a crying Scootaloo behind. "That's so sad," Fluttershy said almost crying, "why would Flash say such mean things?" "I don't know," Rarity said, "but I intend to find out.” Flash was laying on the bank of a riverside, watching the boats float by. Suddenly he found himself in shade, forcing him to look up and see a not very happy Rarity. "What now?" He asked. "You and I are going to Duel." Rarity said seriously. The others found Flash and Rarity about to face off in an empty spot of the park. As Flash attached his Duel Disk he wondered what she expected to learn from Duelling him, only for a memory to suddenly strike him. "In the heat of battle, a Duellist's true character is revealed," Cold said "and depending on your actions, your insecurities become crystal clear to your opponent." So that was it. She was trying to learn something about him while Duelling, well it wouldn't work. He'd just beat her before she could figure something out. "Hope your ready Flash." Rarity said attaching a white Duel Disk to her arm as a purple blade formed. "Bring it on." Flash replied activating his Duel Disk. "DUEL!" Flash: 4000 Rarity: 4000 "I'll take the first move," Flash drew, "I summon Magna Fighter Radium in ATK mode." The woman in steampunk appeared readying her bazooka. (A1600/D1400/L4) "I place one card face down and end my turn." "My draw," Rarity drew her card while looking at her hand and smiling, "I'll set a monster face down." A card appeared at her feet. "Now I'll play the Spell card, Gem Mining, which will flip my face down monster face up." "Why would she play a monster face down only to flip it up?" Flash asked. "Say hello to my Gem-Turtle." Rarity said as a brown turtle with a shell made of an emerald appeared. "When Gem-Turtle is flipped face up, I can add a special Spell card to my hand." A card slotted out of her deck. "And now I'll activate that Spell card...Gem-Knight Fusion." "A Fusion Summon," Flash realised as his eyes went wide. "That’s right," Rarity said, "so now I'll fuse Gem-Knight Garnet with Gem-Knight Tourmaline together." A knight in red flame patterned armour appeared, alongside a knight wearing yellow lightning armour before being sucked into a portal above Rarity. "The brilliant warrior in armour of flames and the stone warrior in armour of lightning, come together as one" and portal exploded in light. "I FUSION SUMMON!" Her new monster appeared as a knight in dark red armour, carrying a sickle like axe with a purple cape. "Gem-Knight Ruby." (A2500/D1300/L6) "So Pinkie's not the only one of you who can Fusion Summon." Flash said looking up at her monster. "Oh course," Rarity told him, "Fusion Summoning is like putting together an outfit. You take the separate pieces and combined them in just the right way, in order to create something fabulous." "Okay," Flash said completely clueless, "I'm just going to pretend I understood any of that. Are you done?" "Far from it," Rarity said, "I now attack your Radium with Gem-Knight Ruby." The knight raised his weapon and swung it at the steampunk, only for her to shatter as if made of class revealing another Radium behind her. "Sorry Rare," Flash said, "but my Reflection Guard saves my monster from destruction." "Maybe," she replied "but you'll still take the damage." Flash: 3100 Rarity: 4000 "And with this face down I'll end." Rarity finished. Meanwhile the others were watching with great interest. "Go Rarity!" Sweetie Bell cheered her sister on. Scootaloo was watching her brother closely. Something seemed different about him now that he was Duelling. "You okay Scootaloo?" She looked up at Twilight, "You seem a little confused." "It's just that… well," Scootaloo couldn't find the words. "This is the first time you've watched your brother Duel in a while isn't it?" Twilight asked. "Yeah it is," Scootaloo replied, "though by the looks of it he hasn't improved much since we were kids." "I wouldn't say that," Twilight told her, "keep watching. You might be pleasantly surprised." This confused Scootaloo as she turned back to the Duel. "My turn," Flash drew his card, "and I summon Magna Fighter Lucidum in ATK mode.” The steampunk knight appeared. (A1000/D1000/L3/P2) "Why would Flash summon a monster with such low ATK points?" Apple Bloom asked. "You should know that it doesn't matter how strong the monster," Applejack told her sister, "it's how you use it that matters." "First I'll activate the effect of Magna Fighter Radium," Flash said, "by tributing herself she grants any monster on my field Piercing Damage for this turn." Radium looked through the lens of her bazooka, before jumping over to Lucidum and whispering something in his ear as she dissolved. "Next I'll use Lucidum's own ability on himself, allowing him to attack every monster that was special summoned. And now I attack Gem-Turtle." "But it's still not strong enough." Sweetie Bell said. "Unless he uses a card effect." Rainbow said. "I activate Reverse Polarity," Flash placed a Spell card in his Duel Disk, "this card activates when a monster on my field battles while you have a stronger monster out. Now I can increase my monsters ATK points by the difference between his and Ruby's attack." (A2500/D1000/L3/P2) "Meanwhile your Ruby's points get reduced by the same amount." (A1000/D1300/L6) "He basically swapped their ATK points." Pinkie said in amazement. "Now Lucidum destroy Gem-Turtle," Flash ordered. Lucidum leaped at the reptile, raising his circular blades, and swiped it cutting it in half. Flash: 3100 Rarity: 3500 "And don't forget Lucidum can attack any special summoned monster, which includes Gem-Knight Ruby" the armoured knight threw his weapon at his opponent. Ruby tried to put up his axe in defence but it did nothing, as the blade struck him causing an explosion while the blade spun back to its owner. "How's that?" Flash said smiling. But as the smoke cleared he was horrified to see Gem-Knight Ruby was still on the field. Flash: 3100 Rarity: 3000 "How?" Flash asked. "My Gem-Knight Polish," Rarity explained gesturing to her Trap, "I activated it just before your attack hit. It prevented his destruction and granted him one thousand extra points for this turn." "Rats," Flash said, before placing a card face down and ending his turn. "My turn," Rarity drew her card, "and I'll attack Lucidum with Ruby." The knight leaped at Flash's monster and swung his axe at him cutting Lucidum in half and sending Flash flying onto his back. Flash: 1600 Rarity: 3000 "That had to hurt," Apple Bloom said, seeing the boy getting thrown back. Scootaloo was also worried, "Flash is going to lose." "Don't say that." Twilight said. "It's true." the young girl replied. This did not go unnoticed by the Duellists. "You hear that Flash," Rarity said, "your own sister doesn't believe you can win, and who could blame her?" she said as she watched Flash get to his feet. "After being abandoned like what you did to her, it would be a miracle if she did believe you had a chance." "Shut up." Flash said in a near whisper. "I'm just saying what we're all thinking," Rarity replied, "just because you don't care about your sister it doesn't give you the right to cut her out of your life." "OF COURSE I CARE ABOUT HER!" Flash yelled, "THAT'S WHY I HAD TO STAY AWAY FROM HER!" He slapped his hands over his mouth after realising what he had said. Everyone was silent after hearing Flash's declaration. "I don't get it," Rainbow said, "if you care about her why would you not want to be around her." Flash sighed knowing he would have to come clean. "I don't know how much about our past Scootaloo told you, but I'm positive it isn't the full story." "Making sure no one knew we were related was the only way to make sure Scootaloo was safe from being bullied," Flash said, "I wasn't proud of it but it worked." "So all this time you've been looking out for her." Rarity realised. "At first I kept us at a distance, but made sure she was okay. If anything happened I would have stepped in, but nothing did, so I decided to keep it that way." Scootaloo couldn't believe what she was hearing. He had been protecting her all this time and she didn't even know it. "So that's it," Rarity said, "I must say I wasn't expecting that. But Flash, just look around, things aren’t the same as they were. You need to let go of the past, and look towards the future...a future where you and your sister are together like before." "But what if it's too late?" Flash asked. "It's never too late with family," Rarity said, "and you can start right here. Your sister is watching, so show her something she's never seen, and win this Duel." Flash looked over at his sister, who had new light in her eyes. "Hey Flash," she called, "win this." Flash couldn't help breaking out in a smile as he nodded. "Okay," he said, "let's do this. I activate the Trap Starburst Draw. I can activate this card when a monster with fifteen hundred ATK or less is destroyed, allowing me to draw one card for each of his level stars. Lucidum was level three so that's three cards for me." He drew his cards and smiled seeing what they were. "I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Rarity said. "Then it's my draw." Flash said. "Hey Scoots," he called getting his sisters attention, "watch closely as I set the Pendulum Scale with scale one Magna Caster Lunara and scale eight Magna Caster Solaris." He set his cards as the pillars of light appeared and the magicians took their places, "I can now summon monsters levelled two through seven all at the same time. Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory." The portal opened above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and three lights shot out. "Slice and dice Magna Fighter Lucidum." (A1000/D1000/L3/P2) "Howl to the moon Shine Crest Magna Wolf." (A1200/D1100/L3) "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "WOW!" The three young girls let out seeing this. "I activate Flash Heart's ability. Gem-Knight Ruby to the bottom of the deck." A wormhole opened up below the knight which he fell through. "Now Magna Wolf's ability raises his ATK by three hundred.” (A1500/D1100/L3) "Now Lucidum will attack." The knight threw his blades at Rarity slashing her through the chest. Flash: 1600 Rarity: 2000 "Now Magna Wolf." The white wolf pounced at Rarity and also slashed her. Flash: 1600 Rarity: 500 "One more attack and Flash wins." Scootaloo said. "And now I…" Flash said, "end my turn with a face down." "What?" Everyone yelled. "Why didn't he attack?" Sweetie Bell asked. "I can't," Flash explained, "on the turn I use Flash Heart Dragon's ability, he can't attack directly." "I guess sending a card away leaving your opponent defenceless against such a strong monster would be unfair." Twilight said. "Then it's my draw," Rarity said, "and I activate the Spell card Graceful Charity. I'll draw three cards but must now discard two, and then I'll use this card, Gem Compression. With this I can perform a Fusion Summon using the Gem-Knights in my graveyard, by removing them from play. Now I'll fuse Gem-Knight Garnet with the Gem-Knight Emerald I just sent there, in order to Fusion Summon." The earth smashed open revealing a powerful light, and from that light came a new Gem-Knight. He was massive, with thick armour and hammer like arms. "Gem-Knight Zirconia." (A2900/D2500/L8) "Not good," Flash said. "Now I attack Lucidum with Gem-Knight Zirconia." The new knight raised its hammer arms, and brought them down towards the knight. "If this hits it's all over." Twilight said. "I activate my Trap Interception. Now I can have one of my stronger monsters take the hit, Flash Heart." The robotic dragon flew in front of Lucidum and took the attack, getting destroyed. Flash: 1200 Rarity: 500 "I end my turn." Rarity said. "Close one," Flash said as he drew his card. "Now my monster will once again carve the arc of victory, so I can Pendulum Summon." The portal opened. "Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) Rarity smiled, despite what was coming next. Flash Heart's ability sent Zirconia back to her deck, and Lucidum attacked her directly. Flash: 1200 (Winner) Rarity: 0 "Flash won!" Scootaloo cheered jumping around. "That was awesome?" "It sure was." Twilight said as she smiled. Later on, Flash and Scootaloo were at the river bank. The two sat in silence both trying to figure out what to say to the other. "So," Flash finally said, "this as awkward for you as it is me?" "Yeap," Scootaloo replied. "Listen Scootaloo," Flash said, "I'm sorry about how things have been with us over the last few years, but I only did it to-" "I know," Scootaloo interrupted, "and I forgive you. Just promise it stops now." She placed her head on his shoulder. Flash smiled and placed his head on hers, "Promise." The others were looking around for the siblings as they hadn't seen them in a while. "Anything?" Rainbow asked. "No," Rarity said. "Nothing," Applejack said. Pinkie shuck her head and turned to Fluttershy, "How about you?" She shuck her head. "Found them!" Twilight said running up to them. "Where are they?" Rarity asked. "Were they okay?" "They were more than okay," Twilight said smiling. She held up her phone showing them a picture, "And no more puppy dog eyes for me." They all looked at the picture and almost burst out laughing. It showed Flash and Scootaloo asleep on the river bank, Scootaloo curled up in Flash's arms with her new lion in her grasp. The two together looked adorable and no doubt if anyone sees it they wouldn't be coming out ridicule free. > Turn 8, Shining Armor > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "A what?" Flash asked when Twilight showed him the flyer. They were in homeroom waiting for their teacher to arrive. "Duel Festival," Twilight explained, "it's this weekend. They’re going to have booths open along with snacks and trade stations." "Sounds fun," Flash said taking the poster and reading it through, but then he read a name that sounded familiar. "Shining Armor," Flash murmured, "I think I've heard that name before." "You don't know who Shining Armor is?!" Twilight asked sounding offended. "No wait I know him," Flash told her, "I saw him on the news before. Something about...The Celestic Cup, whatever that is." "The Celestic Cup is only the biggest event this side of the Country," Twilight explained, "it's held once every three years. And Shining Armor won the last Celestic Cup, becoming its youngest champion and earning the title Duelling Paladin." "A guy that strong's going to be at this thing?!" Flash asked in surprise. "Of course," Twilight told him. "Shining Armor loves community events, and even sometimes teaches new players the rules." "That's pretty awesome." Flash said. "So you gonna come?" Twilight asked, "The girls and I are running a booth there." "And you want me to help?" Flash said. "No we're good," Twilight replied, "I just thought this would be something you'd enjoy. Maybe you and Scootaloo could spend the day there." Ever since their reconnection he and his sister had been hanging out more to make up for lost time. "Scootaloo actually has plans that day," Flash said, "but I might stop by on my own to look around." "Great," Twilight said, "if you decide to go look for us at the food section" they couldn't talk anymore as at that moment the teacher walked in. Over the rest of the week all anyone was talking about was the Duel Festival and the chance to meet THE Shining Armor. "Do you think he'll be willing to Duel me?" Rainbow asked at lunch, the day before the event. "He might," Twilight said, "he has a take on all challengers policy." "Awesome!" Rainbow cheered. "How do you know so much about this guy anyway?" Flash asked. "Er, well, er..." Twilight stuttered. "Oh I get it," Rarity said smiling, "she's a fan girl." "WHAT?!" Twilight yelled. "Bet she is," Applejack said, "I bet ya'h room's wall is papered with his posters." The rest of them laughed seeing her blush. "I only have one poster." she said. "BUSTED!" They all yelled, laughing harder. That weekend Flash was in his apartment getting ready. His deck was scattered out on the table as he scanned it, to think of the multiple combos he could use in a Duel. The only problem was every one he could think of had Flash Heart Dragon as a key component, and as much as he liked that card he couldn't keep relying on it to win. One day he would come across someone who would be able to get around his Pendulum Summon, and when that happened he wanted to be ready. "What's up?" He looked around and saw Scootaloo standing by him. "Just trying to see what else my deck can do." Flash explained. "What else do you need?" Scootaloo asked. "That Pendulum Summon of yours was awesome." "But it's not enough," Flash said, picking up Flash Heart and his Magna Casters. "I want to get better, but to do that I need more options for my deck." "Than get more cards," Scootaloo said. "I thought about that," Flash said, "but I can't just throw random cards into my deck. That could ruin it." "True," Scootaloo said before turning to the door, "I gotta get going." "Right," Flash said, "see you later." Flash himself knew he had to leave soon since the festival was set to begin at noon. Picking up his deck and returning them to his Duel Disk, he was out the door on route to the park. He arrived at the park at ten past twelve, and already the festival was in full swing. Deciding to head over to the food court to find the girls, he noticed lots of cosplayers along the way who were dressed as monsters like the Dark Magician and Neos. "COME ONE COME ALL!" An ever familiar voice caught his ear when he arrived, as Pinkie Pie was spinning around twirling a sign. "Come try our amazing Kuriboh Dumplings." "Hay Pinkie," Flash said getting her attention. "FLASH!" She cheered seeing him, "You came." "Yeah I did," he replied, "so where's the stall?" "Right there silly," Pinkie pointed at a booth were Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy were standing. Rainbow and Applejack were at a grill cooking something while Rarity and Fluttershy were at the front boxing whatever they were making. "Hey Flash," Rarity said as he and Pinkie approached, "glad you could make it." "Sure," Flash said looking down at the boxes. "So what are Kuriboh Dumplings?" "It's Takoyaki," Rarity explained "I wanted to sell the real thing, but these penny pinchers refused." "Do you know how expensive octopus is?" Applejack said from the grill, "It's just as good with apples." "Than why haven't we had a single customer?" Rarity said. "It's still early," they all turned to an unfamiliar voice and saw Twilight had arrived along with a woman with pink skin and pink, yellow and purple hair. She wore a dark green suit and dress skirt, with the only non-formal thing she wore being the trainers on her feet. "I'm sure you'll get more customers soon." "Hey everyone," Twilight said, "I'd like you all to meet Cadance. She's the one organising this festival." "Pleasure," Cadance replied. "Hey," they all said. "I'm Applejack." Applejack said. "Rainbow Dash." "Rarity." "Fluttershy." "PINKIE!" "I'm Flash," he waved. "The Pendulum Duellist," Cadance said in interest, "Twilight's told me all about you." "Not that much," Twilight said with a slight blush. "So how do you know each other?" Rarity asked. "Cadance is an old family friend, and my babysitter back when I was younger," Twilight explained. "That's right," Cadance said, "I'm also the manager of Shining Armor." "YOU ARE?!" Everyone but Twilight yelled. "I know I know," Cadance said, "but it's not that big a deal." "But you manage one of the best Duellist in the country," Rainbow said. "I know," Cadance said "but he's still just a normal guy, that's why I married him." "You're married to Shining Armor?" Rarity asked. "Yeap," Cadance said, "aren't I a lucky girl?" Before they could continue her cell phone went off, forcing her attention from them. "Hello," she said before sighing, "I'll be right there." She closed her phone and turned back to them. "Sorry to cut this short, but a situation has come up with one of the attractions. I'm needed to fix it." "That's fine," Twilight said, "we need to get back to work anyway." "Right," Cadance said before leaving. "Okay," Twilight said once she was gone, "let's get cooking." "You guys sure you don't need any help?" Flash asked. "Ya'd probably just get in the way," Applejack said pointing to the little space remaining, even with Pinkie out advertising. "Go have some fun, enjoy ya first festival." "Why don't you head over to the main stage?" Twilight told him, "Cadance said Shining Armor are supposed to show up there soon." "Okay," Flash said, "but call if you need some help." "Will do." Twilight said. Flash snacked down on his last Kuriboh Dumpling as he arrived at the main stage, where a bunch of other people were gathered. He saw Cadance on the stage with a microphone in hand. "Welcome Duellists young and old, professional and amateur alike. I'm proud to welcome you all to the Duel Festival," she said smiling, "through events like this, Duellists can come together and share in the joy of the game we all love." She turned and pointed to the back of the stage, where a spotlight appeared on the curtain showing the silhouette of a man. "And now let me introduce the man, who came all this way to meet you all. He's known as the Duelling Paladin, the winner of the last Celestial Cup...Shining Armor." The curtain was pulled back to reveal a man with white skin, blue hair and wearing a silver overcoat. As he walked forwards he smiled and waved to the crowd. "Hello," he said once he was at the microphone, "I hope you all have a good time here today and get to meet Duellists you wouldn't usually get to meet. And if anyone here wishes to try their luck against me...then I say bring it on." The crowd cheered at that and the festival was in full swing. Flash traversed the many booths that were available, seeing what was going on. There were multiple trade stations, where collectors showed off portfolios filled with cards they were willing to trade. T-shirt stands with famous Duel Monsters printed on top, and tons of different games. After winning an Ancient Gear Golem figurine at a target shoot game, Flash took pictures for people wanting photos with cosplayers and swung by the Duel Table, where little kids were playing sit down matches. "Here we go," he heard a familiar voice and turned to see Shining Armor was about to play against a young boy, he also saw Shining Armor had only three cards in his hand as they started. Flash smiled realising why Shining Armor had a take on all challengers policy. Even though he accepted the Duel, he gave himself a handicap to even the odds. "Impressive, isn't he?" Flash turned to see Cadance had arrived and stood next to him. "Yeah I guess," Flash replied, "I just wonder how much work I'd have to do to get as good as him?" "You don't really need to work hard to improve," Cadance told him, "as long as you enjoy the game than you'll get better with each match you play." "Yeah I guess," Flash said before turning to her. "I hope everything's going okay," Flash said, "with whatever problem you had to deal with." "It's nothing," Cadance said, "problems like that are common at events like this. As long as you don't panic it doesn't really cause much trouble." "That's good," Flash said, "I'd hate for the festival to be ruined." "No way I'm letting that happen," Cadance told him, it was at that moment that Flash realised they had started walking around again. "Look around you, you think I'd let all these people down?" "I guess not," Flash replied seeing all the happy faces. "You see," Cadance said, "even if you’re not a Duellist, you can still connect over the love of the game. It's that love that makes me do what I do." "But aren't you just Shining Armor's manager?" Flash asked. "That might be my main job," Cadance said, "but I also get involved with all kinds of Duel related events. I do this in order to help the game flourish." "How so?" "Without getting connected to different Duellists," Cadance explained, "the gamers will never get to experience new sensations, new challenges, new memories. I work as hard as I do because if I didn't the game I love might die out." "Wow," Flash said, "I never thought of it like that." "We all have our roles to play," Cadance said, "it's just a matter of finding it." "Well if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know." Flash said. "Well there is something," Cadance said, "something only you can help me with." Cadance took Flash to a secluded area of the park. "So what do you need me for all the way out here?" Flash asked. "I need you to help with something very important," Cadance said, before spinning around revealing a light pink Dual Disk strapped to her arm. "You want to Duel me?" Flash asked. "Of course," Cadance replied, "Twilight's gone on and on about your Pendulum deck and I want to see it for myself. I haven't had a good Duel in ages, so you think you can entertain me." Flash smiled taking out his Duel Disk and affixing it to his arm, "I can promise you have never seen anything like this before." "I look forward to it." Cadance said as a light pink energy blade formed. "DUEL!" Flash: 4000 Cadance: 4000 "I'll go first," Cadance said drawing her card, "and I'll start by playing my Crystal Butterfly in ATK mode." A silver butterfly with pink wings made out of crystal appeared in front of her. (A1200/D1000/L3) "When Crystal Butterfly is summoned I can add one random Crystal monster to my hand," Cadance's deck shuffled before it slotted a card out. "I'll end my turn there." "My turn," Flash said drawing. "I summon Magna Fighter Deck Striker," the teen in steampunk appeared, brandishing his metal gauntlet. (A1300/D500/L3) "Now I attack." Deck Striker launched himself at the insect and true to his name he decked it with his metal fist destroying it. Flash: 4000 Cadance: 3900 "I'll end my turn," Flash said. "My turn," Cadance drew her card, "and once again I'll summon Crystal Butterfly in ATK mode." Another butterfly appeared, "And like last time I can randomly add a Crystal monster to my hand." Her deck shuffled out another card, as she looked at it she smiled "I'll now set one card face down and end my turn." As Flash drew his card he wondered what she was up to. Why summon a monster that she knew he could beat? Unless she was looking for something. "I need to mix up her strategy," Flash said, only to realise his draw had given him just what he needed "I'm setting Magna Fighter Lucidum and Lumino Jaw Dragon into the Pendulum Scale." The two monsters entered the pillars of light that had appeared, a two and five appearing beneath them. "I can now summon monsters levelled three and four all at once," Flash said, "cut through space time and carve the arc of victory." The portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened as a beam of light shot out. As the light hit the floor it took the form of a robotic bird made entirely out of clockwork. "Take flight Brass-Wing Magna Hawk." (A1400/D800/L4) "So this is Pendulum Summoning," Cadance said in amazement, "but why would he go to the trouble of summoning a monster that he could easily summon?" "Because Magna Hawk's ability only activates when he's special summoned," Flash explained, "now I can pick three cards in your hand and return them to the deck." Cadance had five cards, which meant he had a three in five shot of taking the cards she needed. "The middle card and the two end cards," Cadance took those cards and returned them to the deck as it shuffled. "Now you can draw the same number of cards back into you hand," and Cadance did. "Now I'll attack Crystal Butterfly with Deck Striker." Once again Deck Striker launched at the insect, only this time a force field appeared between the two protecting Cadance's monster. "Sorry Flash," Cadance said, "but my Refraction Guard has nullified your attack." Her face down flipped up revealing a Trap. "By discard a Light Monster I take no damage and my monster is protected." "I'll throw down a face down and end it there." Flash said. "My turn," Cadance said, "smart move last turn. You realised I was looking for a particular card and tried to return it, before I could use it," she took a card from her hand and placed it in her Duel Disk. "Too bad for you the cards I needed...are the ones you hadn't picked, for now I activate Crystal Fragment. This spell revives one of my Crystals, but it's ATK and DEF points become zero." Her Crystal Butterfly reappeared alongside it's twin, but it's wings were cracked and even had chunks missing. (A0/D0/L3) "Why would she summon a monster if it can't attack or defend?" Flash asked. "Now I summon to the field," Cadance said, "the Tuner Monster Crystal Rosebud." A rose made entirely from pink crystal sprouted out of the ground. (A800/D600/L2) "A Tuner monster," Flash said as everything made sense, "she's bringing out something big." "Now," Cadance said, "I tune level two Crystal Rosebud with my two level three Crystal Butterflies." The flower glowed as it shot into the air and transformed into two rings, which the butterflies flew into as they became transparent. "Crystals are seen as little pieces of the earths heart," Cadance said, "and when they shine it feels as if that heart is beating." Her monsters exploded in a burst of light. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON!" From the light came a new monster. It was a woman with pure pink skin. She wore a pink and white gown with pink crystals sowed into the fabric, and knee high high heeled boots that were also made of pink crystal. Atop her head was a crystal tiara and large pink crystals floated around her. "Crystal Princess." (A2000/D2000/L8) "Wow," Flash said in awe, "your Synchro Summoning is as good as Twilight's, maybe even better?" "Why thank you," Cadance replied, "where do you think Twilight got it from?" "So you taught Twilight how to Duel?" "I taught her everything she knows," Cadance told him, before smiling a sinister smile, "but not everything I know." She took a card from her hand and placed it in her Duel Disk, "I activate the Continuous Spell Crystal Heartbeat. Now I can banish as many Crystal Monsters is my Graveyard as possible, and for each one I get a Crystal Heart Token. I banish my two Crystal Butterflies, Crystal Rosebud and Crystal Maiden in order to create four Crystal Heart Tokens." On her field four heart shaped crystals appeared beside her Princess. (A0/D0/L1) "I should really thank you and your Magna Hawk for helping me draw this card," Cadance said, "as thanks I'll send Magna Hawk on a trip...to the Graveyard, Crystal Princess attack Magna Hawk." Crystal Princess raised her hands as the crystals that floated around her came together above her and began to glow, just as the four Crystal Heart Tokens did the same. "A princess draws power from her subjects, and my Princess gains five hundred ATK points for every other Crystal Monster on my field." The glowing changed into an aura that flooded into the crystals, as Crystal Princess let them go flying towards Magna Hawk. (A4000/D2000/L8) "Not good," Flash said as he activated his Trap card, before his monster was destroyed at the hands of Cadance's knocking him backwards. Flash: 1400 Cadance: 3900 "I activate Starburst Draw," Flash said getting up. "Since a monster with less than fifteen thousand ATK was destroyed, I get to draw one card for each of his level points" he drew four cards and smiled seeing his best card. "With this face down I'll end my turn," Cadance said, as her Princess's attack points returned to normal. "My draw" Flash said doing so, "man it's no wonder Twilight's so good with you teaching her." "I only taught her the basics of Duelling and Synchro Summoning," Cadance explained, "everything else she figured out herself." "Well I beat her," Flash said, "and now I'll beat you." "Well to do that you'll need to defeat my Crystal Princess," Cadance said, "and as long as I have a Crystal monster on my field she can't be targeted for an attack." "If that's the case," Flash said, "I'll need to get rid of those Tokens." He looked at the card he drew and smiled realising it was just what he needed. "Once again my Pendulum monsters will carve the arc of victory, allowing me to summon multiple level three and four monsters." The portal formed again, "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and two beams of light shot out. "Howl to moon Shine Crest Magna Wolf." (A1200/D1100/L3) The second beam became a new Pendulum Monster. It was a large red fox with nine tails, yellow armour on its legs and tail tips. "Get to work Glow Craft Magna Fox." (A1600/D1300/L4/P7) "Impressive," Cadance said, "but unless you can Xyz Summon those monsters won't be much use to you." "No, I can't Xyz Summon," Flash said, "but I can summon the regular way. I sacrifice Magna Wolf and Deck Striker, to summon," his monsters disappeared replaced with a robotic humanoid. "Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "So this is the famous Flash Heart Dragon." Cadance said. "Lucidum's Pendulum ability will raise his attack power by five hundred. (A3000/D2000/L7/P4) "I now attack your Crystal Heart Token with Flash Heart," the dragons' boosters kicked in and launched him at the heart, as he smashed it to pieces. "Now I activate the effect of Glow Craft Magna Fox, which allows a single monster to attack multiple monsters while increasing its ATK by two hundred." Magna Fox's tail tips glowed, before shooting off spheres of light that spun around forming into a glowing ring. Flash Heart leaped through the ring as his power increased. (A3200/D2000/L7/P4) Cadance realised what that meant, as Flash Heart destroyed the second Heart Token. (A3400/D2000/L7/P4) Than he jumped through the ring again and attack the third. (A3600/D2000/L7/P4) Then the fourth. (A3800/D2000/L7/P4) "And now I attack Crystal Princess" Flash ordered, as his dragon flew towards the Princess. Cadance smiled at the skill he used, but that didn't mean she would lose. But as she went to activate her face down. RIIIINNNNGGGG The monsters stopped as Cadance pulled out her phone. "Hello," she said answering it, "what...how did that happen? Fine I'll be right there." she hung up and then pulled her deck out of her Disk, causing it to deactivate and the monsters to disappear. "I'm sorry Flash," Cadance said, "I thought we'd have more time but...something's come up." "It's fine," Flash said, "too bad we have to cut the Duel short." "Indeed," Cadance said. Later on, when the festival was winding down, Flash was helping the girls pack up. "Despite the slow start," Applejack said, "this was a really great day." Everyone agreed as they finished packing up the last box, only to hear. "I'm glad to hear that," they turned to see Cadance walking up to them. "Having fun was my goal for this entire event." "And you did marvellously." They all turned and gasped seeing who had arrived. "It's Shining Armor." Rarity called in glee. "Hey there," he said with a wave. "You looked like you were having fun today," Cadance said. "Can you blame me?" he replied, before turning to see Flash and smiling. "You must be Flash Sentry." He stepped over to him. "You've heard of me?" Flash asked. "Of course," Shining said, "your Pendulum cards are the talk of the town. Plus, my little sister's been talking about you nonstop since you Duelled her." "Duelled her?" Flash thought back on the girls he had Duelled, and suddenly realised only one fit the bill. Spinning around he looked at Twilight and called out, "YOUR HIS SISTER!" Twilight blushed hearing this and nodded, "Surprise." "No way," Rainbow Dash said, "why didn't you tell us?" "If people found out I was a pro Duellist's sister, they'd start treating me differently." "We wouldn't do that Sugarcub." Applejack said. "I know," Twilight replied, "but if it got out somehow...I just thought it would be better this way. Until someone blabbed." She shot her brother a sour look. "My bad," Shining said before turning back to Flash, "so what you say to a Duel kid? I'd love to see your Pendulum Summoning in action." At the sight of Flash's unsure face, he went on, "if you're worried about being overpowered I can start with a three card handicap." "That's a good offer," Rainbow told him, "go for it man." Flash thought for a moment and then said, "Thanks but no thanks, I'd rather we play on even ground." This shocked everyone. "Here's my deal, I'll challenge you but only when I'm ready to face you as an equal. Until then you'll just have to wait I guess." He held out his hand. Shining smiled and took the hand to shake. "Now that sounds like a Duel I can look forward to." Later on when Shining Armor and Cadance were giving Twilight a lift home in their car. Cadance wouldn't stop talking about Flash. "You were right about him," she said back to her, "his skills are quite impressive. I find it hard to believe he only started a few weeks ago." "He might be good," Shining said, "but he won't stand a chance against me." "Don't underestimate him Shinning." Twilight said. "Ignore him Twilly," Cadance said, "he's just annoyed because I got to face the Pendulum Duellist and he didn't." "This has nothing to do with that," Shining argued, "it's just he has a long way to go before he can be my equal." "Alright than," Cadance said, "how about a bet? If he beats you when you Duel, then you can't go into overprotective big brother mode when he and Twilight start dating." "WHAT!?" The other two occupants of the car screamed. "I saw the way you were looking at him Twilly." Cadance said smugly. This lead to a very interesting argument for the remainder of the journey. > Turn 9, The Phantom Disguise > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a dark night in an area of the city that almost no one went to, but tonight someone was there. A young man watched in horror as his monster was destroyed and his life points reduced to zero, while his opponent laughed. Said opponent was a figure in dark clothing, wearing a black hooded cape with lighting bolts on the trim. His face was covered by a theatre mask with stars and a lightning bolt painted on. "No" he said before he saw his opponent begin to walk up to him. "I win" the figure said, his voice distorted so it sounded robotic, "hand it over just like we agreed. Your identity." The boy sighed as he took out a card and held it out for the figure to take. As the figure took the card he began to laugh once again, louder than before and almost psychotic. "Did you hear" Scootaloo said to her friends the next day, "the Phantom struck again last night." "Your kidding right?" Applebloom replied. "I thought he was just a myth" Sweetie Bell said. "No way, he's real" Scootaloo said before putting on a creepy impersonation of the Phantom. "I'm going to steal your identity." "knock it off" Sweetie Bell said obviously freaked out. "What's this about a phantom?" the girls looked around to see Rainbow Dash. "Oh hay Rainbow Dash" Scootaloo said, "how could you not have heard of the Phantom? He's this freaky masked Duellist who goes around at night time, challenging others to Duels." "They say he's so scary that he can literally paralyse the monsters he Duels against" Applebloom said. "And if you lose to him, than he makes you hand over your best card" Sweetie Bell finished. "Or as he likes to call it, your identity." "Sounds like something that Trixie girl would try and pull off" Rainbow said, "why do people do this sort of thing? Duelling is suppose to be about having fun." Later on Rainbow was walking home when a very familiar voice caught her attention. "Rainbow Dash" she spun around and her eyes went wide seeing who it was. "Lightning Dust" she said to the girl with light blue skin and orange and yellow hair. "I thought it was you" Lightning said, "been to long." The two had found a bench to sit on and began to catch up. "So how have you been?" Lightning asked, "I haven't seen you since Soccer Camp." "I've been good" Rainbow replied, "but what about you? Still the fasted thing on two feet." "You know it" she replied, "once I get the ball nothing gets in my way." "I seem to remember I got in your way quite a though times" Rainbow replied. "That was then" Lightning said, "you should try me now." "Is that a challenge?" Rainbow asked. "You know it." They soon found themselves a pitch and a ball and prepared to play. The ball sat in the centre of the field with the two an equal distance away, with the objective being to run to it and score a goal before the other. "Ready?" Lightning asked. "Set" Rainbow replied. "GO" they both shot towards the ball, but Lightning got there a fraction of a second sooner and began dribbling it. Rainbow attempted to intercept but Lightning did something truly unexpected. She kicked the ball causing it to fly through Rainbow's legs, as Lightning did a side step before zooming forward under her arm. All that happened in a fraction of a second. To Rainbow it was as if Lightning had walked straight through her at blinding speed, Lightning shot the ball at the goal and scored. "Looks like you've improved your game since our last spare" Rainbow said, as they cleaned themselves up at a public sink. "You to" Lightning said "just not as much as me". "It's almost as if you were a ghost" Rainbow said. "Just lots of practice" Lightning said. "You may be better at Soccer then me" Rainbow said, "but there's one game I know I can beat you at." "You talking about Duelling" Lightning said, "I'd probably wipe you at that to." "Why don't we find out?" Rainbow said. "As much as I'd like to," Lightning said, "I don't have my deck with me. Besides I've got other places to be, so I gotta get going." "Alright" Rainbow said before watching her friend leave. It was getting late as Rainbow made her way home she got a phone call. "Oh" she said looking at who was calling, "it's Scootaloo" she answered. "Hey, what's up." "Hey Rainbow" the teen heard, "I just got word on a blog that the Phantom's just struck again in our neighbourhood." "What?" Rainbow said in surprise. "I got the address of where he was last seen." Rainbow frowned hearing this. "Where?" Rainbow arrived at the area Scootaloo had told her, but so far nothing seemed out of the ordinary...until. A loud cry was heard. Kicking into gear Rainbow rushed towards the sound of the voice, arriving in a damp and dark alleyway. "Hello" she called out, but nothing called back. Running down the alley and around the corner Rainbow froze at what she saw. A figure in dark clothing with a lightning bolt stitched black cape and theatre mask, was stood not to far off. At his feet stood a beaten and unconscious Duellist. "Hey" Rainbow called out running towards the figure, catching his attention. The figure quickly took off down the alley with Rainbow in hot pursuit. They rushed around down several routes until they came to a dead end, as the Phantom found himself trapped. "End of the line" Rainbow said. The Phantom spun around to faced off against Rainbow. "Just come quietly" Rainbow told her. "I don't think so" the Phantom said, before rushing towards Rainbow and suddenly he was gone. "What the?" Rainbow asked. "I'm right here" she spun around and saw the Phantom had somehow gotten passed her, and than ran back down the alley. "STOP" she yelled chasing after him, and he did. He stood at the end of the alley right where it opened out to the main street. This was Rainbow's chance, as she reached out for him the Phantom spun around and threw his cape at her. Instincts taking over Rainbow stopped and covered her face to protect from attack, but none came. Opening her eyes Rainbow found the Phantom nowhere in sight. She rushed out into the street, but saw no one that even looked like the Phantom. "How did?" was all she could ask. "WHAT" Scootaloo said the next day, "you let the Phantom get away" "Sorry" Rainbow said the next day. She and the others were all at the park going over the situation, "I tried to the remove his mask but he was to quick." "This is serious" Twilight said, "we need to find this Phantom guy and stop him." "Agreed" Flash said before turning to the youngest of the group, "but you three are going home." "WHAT" the three screamed, "You can't do that." Scootaloo said. "I agree with him" Rarity said. "Same ear" Applejack continued, "our house is closest so you can go there." "That's not fair" Scootaloo said. "That's final" Flash said. The three looked unhappy at this but followed the order and left. "The rest of us should split up and call if you find anything" Flash finished. The seven of them scowled the city for any sign of the Phantom. Pinkie and Fluttershy searched the parks, why Applejack and Rarity were asking around for info at the mall. Flash and Twilight were searching each of the sights the Phantom had appeared at for clues. "Anything?" Twilight asked looking around. "Nothing out of the ordinary" Flash replied opening a trash can to see if there was anything inside, but it was empty. "So let's look over what we know" Twilight said. "The Phantom appears out of nowhere, challenges and Duels unsuspecting opponents and than vanishes back into thin air." "He also manages to snag the opponents best card" Flash said, "we need to find this guy before he hits closer to home." Before Twilight could reply they were interrupted by the sound of a high pitched buzzing, which Flash instantly recognised making his eyes go wide. "What is that?" Twilight asked as she watched him take out his phone. "That's Scootaloo's distress signal." "WHAT?" Twilight almost yelled hearing that, "why does she have a distress signal?" "My Gramps might seem like a pretty laid back guy" Flash replied, "but he takes safety real seriously. So he had me and Scootaloo have danger apps in our phones, so that if we were in trouble we just press it and it sends the signal to me and Gramps." "So she might be in trouble" Twilight said, "then we need to find her." "The app also has GPS" Flash explained looking it up "Galloping Avenue." "That's between the park and Applejack's" Twilight explained. "Let's go" Flash said rushing. Meanwhile Rainbow was searching around the alley from the previous night. She still couldn't believe how the Phantom had managed to get passed her last night. "It's almost as if he was a....ghost" before she could process that thought, her phone went off signalling a text. Reading it quickly her eyes went wide seeing what Twilight had sent her, and rushed off down the street. "AAARRRR" the three girls screamed as their monsters where destroyed, and they were all sent flying. Applebloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo had been on their way to Applebloom's house when they had run into the very being none of them wanted to meet. "I win" the Phantom said walking up to them, "and now your identities are mine." "We didn't...agree to that" Scootaloo said, trying to get back up. "You have no choice" the Phantom said before, faster than they could blink, he moved up to them and grabbed their best cards before moving back to a safe distance. "Thanks for the Wild Rush Raptor, Floral Melodious Saint and Maiden of Great Bloom." "NO" they all yelled. "SCOOT" they all turned to see Flash and his friends rushing towards them. "APPLEBLOOM." "SWEETIE." The three siblings raced to the young girls and helped them up. "Are you okay?" Flash asked but his heart broke seeing her about to cry. "I'm sorry" Scootaloo whimpered, "we couldn't stop her." Flash carefully handed his sister to Twilight before turning to the Phantom. "Give my sister and her friends back their cards." "Or what" the Phantom said, he soon got his answer as Flash rushed forwards to grab him. The Phantom quickly moved out of reach before leaping onto a nearby trashcan and up onto a fire escape of the building. "You won't get away" Flash said following the Phantom's route, leaping onto trashcan and then the fire escape. "Well well aren't we nimble" the Phantom said. "Just give it up" Flash said. "Never" the Phantom as he leaped over the fire escape and back onto the ground, before rushing away. With Flash trying to make his way down the Phantom would have gotten away, had it not been for her. Rainbow had arrived and now blocked the Phantom's last exit. "Oh it's you" he said, "we played tag last night." "That's enough Lightning" Rainbow said, her statement shocking the Phantom. "Er who?" "Don't play games" Rainbow said, "I know it's you." The Phantom stood still for a moment before he chuckled "well well" he than went up and removed his mask and hood, revealing Lightning "this is a surprise. What tipped you off?" "That move you pulled last night" Rainbow said, "you used it on me when we played." "I should have known using that move on you twice was a bad idea" Lightning said. "That was your first mistake" Rainbow said, "the second was hunting my friends little sisters" Rainbow pulled out her Duel Disk and threw it on her arm. "Duel me, and if I win you return every card you stole." "Fine" Lightning said taking out a light blue Duel Disk, "but when I win you hand over your best card." "That won't happen" Rainbow said. "DUEL." Rainbow: 4000 Lightning: 4000 "Good luck" Scootaloo said as she and her friends watched in worry. "I'll take the first move" Rainbow said as she drew, "I summon Rainbow Wing Red Kestrel in ATK mode" her red bird appeared beside her. (A1500/D1200/L4) "now I can summon another Rainbow Wing to the field, descend Rainbow Wing Green Hawk" a green hawk appeared hovering next to Red Kestrel. (A1400/D800/L3) "his level also increase by one for this turn." (A1400/D800/L4) "Here it comes" Pinkie said. "I now use level four Rainbow Wing Red Kestrel and Green Hawk to build the Overlay Network" her two monsters glowed before shooting into the ground, as a black hole appeared. "When birds of a feather flock together an awesome power is unleashed." The black hole exploded in a burst of light. "I XYZ SUMMON." The light faded revealing Rainbow's best monster soaring through the sky, before taking a battle stance infront of her. "Rainbow Assault Wing Gold." (A2300/D1700/R4) "now I activate Assault Wing's ability" the monster pulled out its katanna and slashed through one of its Overlay Units, "now I can add a Wind attributed Winged-Beast from my deck to my hand." Rainbow's Deck slotted out a card, "I'll throw down a face down and end my turn." "My draw" Lightning said as she did. "I summon Lightning Wing Soar in ATK mode" a jet appeared before her that was silver in colour with yellow trim. (A500/D500/L2) "Such a weak monster" Applejack said. "Don't underestimate it" Applebloom said in fear, "she started with that card when she Duelled us." "I activate Soar's ability to add a Spell card to my hand" Lightning took a card from her deck, "now I'll activate it. Disassembly, this Spell forces me to ditch a machine type monster." She discarded a card from her hand, "but in its place I can summon monsters from my deck whose combined levels are equal to its." Four rays of light appeared before her, "I now summon four new Lightning Wings" The first light changed into a silver jet with red trim, "Lightning Wing Thrust." (A500/D500/L2) The second was a silver jet with blue trim, "Lightning Wing Boost." (A500/D500/L2) The third a silver jet with green trim, "Lightning Wing Jet." (A500/D500/L2) The last was a silver jet with pink trim, "and Lightning Wing Glide." (A500/D500/L2) "Five level two monsters" Flash said in amazement, "she may be a bully but she's got skills." "You haven't seen nothing yet" Lightning said, "now I use my five monsters to build the Overlay Network." Her five jets shot into the sky before zooming into the ground as the black hole appeared, "now watch as a storm of power begins to take shape." the black hole exploded in a burst of light, as a new monster appeared. "I XYZ SUMMON." The new monster was a large mechanical bird with was light blue, with yellow lightning bolts painted on it's wings and tail. It wore a blue mask over its face and had a lightning bolt shaped tail. It's beak was red along with its feet, which had talons in the shape of lightning bolts. A lightning bolt shaped horn pointed out of it's forehead, and five green lights floated around it. "Jetstream Thunderbird." (A500/D500/R2) "An Xyz monster with five Overlay Units" Flash said in horror. "It only had three when she summoned it against us" Scootaloo said. "It must be able be summoned with more Overlay Units then needed" Twilight explain. "Now attack" Lightning ordered, as her monster took flight. "But my Assault Wing is way stronger" Rainbow said. "Not once I activate Thunderbird's ability" Lighting said, "by removing an Overlay Unit I get to zap your monster's ATK and DEF points to zero." One of the Overlay Units flew into Thunderbird's horn before it shot a lighting bolt out which struck Assault Wing. (A0/D0/R4) "now go," Jetstream Thunderbird's body discharged electricity which zapped Assault Wing, the static hitting Rainbow as well. Rainbow: 3500 Lightning: 4000 "Lucky for you on the turn Thunderbird uses its ability it can't destroy monsters" Lighting said as she ended her turn, "but you monsters points won't return to normal until next turn." "My draw" Rainbow said, "and I summon Rainbow Wing Yellow Eagle" a yellow bird appeared. (A1700/D1300/L4) "now attack" Yellow Eagle flew up and then dive bombed the Thunderbird. "I activate Thunderbird's ability" Lighting said, as once again an Overlay Unit hit it's horn and shot out a lighting bolt that struck Yellow Eagle. (A0/D0/L4) "You can activate it on your turn to" Rainbow realised with horror. Her monster struck the Xyz monster but all that did was injure the bird as it bounced right off. Rainbow: 3000 Lighting: 4000 "This is bad" Twilight said, "all of Rainbow's monsters are getting paralysed." "There has to be a way to stop it?" Flash asked. "Well if anyone can find it" Applejack said, "then Rainbow can." "I'll throw down two face downs and end my turn" Rainbow said, as her monsters ATK and DEF points returned to normal. "My draw" Lightning said, "and I'll attack Rainbow Assault Wing Gold" Thunderbird to off yet again, "but not before activating his ability" another Overlay Unit struck its horn as a lighting bolt shot out hitting Assault Wing. (A0/D0/R4) "GO" once again Thunderbird discharged striking Assault Wing and zapping Rainbow. Rainbow: 2500 Lightning: 4000 As the electrocution stopped Rainbow fell to her knees. "RAINBOW" her friends yelled in concern. "Poor Rainbow Dash" Lightning said, "completely helpless against me" she placed a card face down before activating a Spell. "Say hello to Access Denied, this spell will prevent you from Normal Summoning a monster next turn." "Man she's good" Flash said. "Well Rainbow's better" Scootaloo told her brother, "go Rainbow." "Don't be nieve girl" Lightning said, "she's lost and she knows it" Lighting looked down at her face down which was Overlay Charger. During her next turn she could activate that Spell if her Thunderbird was out Overlay Units, it would allow her to add as many level two monsters to her Xyz monster as Thunderbird's maximum Overlays would allow. That meant five new Overlay Units to use against her. "This is my favourite part of the game" Lightning said, "when I crush any hope my opponent has of victory." "That's despicable" Rainbow said, trying to get up. "Don't be such a wet blanket" Lightning said, "I'm just enjoying myself as I prove to all the weaklings out there who the best is." "The best...you." "Of course" Lightning said, "didn't you wonder why I took the best cards away from the loser" she pulled the cards she had taken form her pocket. "It was to prove a point, that certain advantages in life are only meant for those with the skill to properly use them. I punish the ants who think themselves as giants, I crush them under my boot." "That's insane" Rainbow said, "and stealing from little kids just for fun" Rainbow finally got back to her feet and looked Lightning right in the eye. "How you treat people says a lot about you, and one day your actions will come back to haunt you. Fitting that you name yourself after a ghost, because you don't know what it truly means to live." She went to her deck, "I...DRAW" she looked at her card a seeing what it was a plan formed as she activated her face down Trap. "Go Overlay Out, with this card I can return Assault Wing to my Extra Deck and summon any Overlay Units still attached to it." Rainbow Assault Wing Gold glowed as its Overlay Unit flew away from it, he became a stream of light that flew into Rainbow's deck. the Overlay Unit hit the floor and transformed back into Red Kestrel. (A1500/D1200/L4) "Now Rainbow has two monsters that can attack" Scootaloo said. "Now I attack with Yellow Eagle" the bird once again dive bombed Thunderbird. "I activate Jetstream Thunderbird's ability" one of the two remaining Overlay Units struck it's horn as it shot a lightning bolt at the eagle, sending its ATK and DEF to zero, making the bird bounce off the Thunderbird. Rainbow: 2000 Lightning: 4000 "Now I attack with Red Kestrel" like the yellow bird the red one dive bombed. "And I activate my monsters ability" the last Overlay Unit hit the horn, making a repeat of Yellow Eagle's efforts. Rainbow: 1500 Lightning: 4000 "Sorry Dashie" Lightning said with a smirk, "but it looks like your out of attacks." "Think again" Rainbow said as she activated the Spell she had drawn, "I activate Instant Overlay. This card will allow me to use my two Rainbow Wings to build the Overlay Network once again, and Xyz Summon..." Her two monsters flew inside the black hole that had just formed, which blew up a second later release a very familiar monster. "Rainbow Assault Wing Gold." (A2300/D1700/R4) "WHAT" Lightning screamed. "Now I'll activate my other face down" Rainbow said, as her face down flipped up showing a Spell. "Overlay Booster lets me remove very Overlay Unit on my Assault Wing, and in return he gets a power boost equal to their combined attack power." "So Red Kestrel has fifteen hundred points" Sweetie said. "A Yellow Eagle has seventeen hundred" Applebloom said. "So that's" Scootaloo tried to do the math. "Thirty two hundred" Twilight finished. Assault Wing drew his katanna and slashed both his Overlay Units. (A5500/D1700/R4) "Now attack!" The bird man took to the sky and raised his sword, before diving down and slashing towards Jetstream Thunderbird. "NO...WAIT" Lightning tried to say, but Rainbow didn't listen as her monster destroyed the mechanical bird. Rainbow: 1500 (Winner) Lightning: 0 "SHE DID IT" everyone cheered. "How could I lose?" Lightning asked herself, falling to the floor, "no I won't accept it." "Lighting" Rainbow said, "return the cards you stole, or I'll have no choice but to tell everyone who you are." Lightning growled before dropping the cards and running away as fast as she could. "You haven't heard the last of me." An hour later after returning the stolen cards to their rightful owners, Rainbow and her friends were returning home. "That was awesome how you managed to beat her" Scootaloo said, "even though the odds were stacked against you." "It was nothing" Rainbow said, "I just hope Lightning's learned her lesson." "Well if she hasn't" Flash said, "you'll have us to help you teach it to her again" everyone nodded at this "Thanks guys" Rainbow replied. > Turn 10, Fight at the Museum pt1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Are we there yet?" Scootaloo asked. She, Flash, Twilight and Spike were on a train heading into the centre of the city. "Still a little longer to go" Twilight told her. "But we've been going for hours." "It's been ten minutes" Flash told his sister. "Feels like hours." "You'll just have to wait" Flash told her. "You can't blame her Flash" Twilight said, "I'm excited to see the exhibit too." The four of them were on their way to the cities museum to see a special Duelling exhibit. There would be all kinds of Duel related subjects on show, including the first Duel Disk, origanal prints of G1 cards and other artefacts. Twilight had been dying to see it and had invited her friends along. "It's to bad the others couldn't make it" Twilight said. Applejack and Applebloom had a ton of chores to do today, Rarity had recently fallen behind on a homework assignment and her parent had refused to allow her to go anywhere until it was done. Pinkie was working today at a kids birthday party, while Fluttershy had already volunteered to help out at a local animal shelter and Rainbow Dash had a Soccer game. In the end only Flash and Scootaloo had been able to accept her invitation, hence why they her and Spike were on route to the museum. "Do you think they'll have some rare cards on sale" Spike asked. "Even if they did" Twilight replied, "they'd probably cost more then a years worth of our allowance." "Drat" Spike said, "a Blue-Eyes in my deck would be so awesome." Everyone chuckled at the fourteen year olds annoyance as the conductors voice sounded, telling they were at the stop. "Welcome" a woman at the reception desk of the museum said, "how may I serve you today." "Four tickets please" Twilight said having offered to buy the tickets. "Right away" she said, "if your here for the Duel Exhibit than you'll want to head to the main hall as the first tour is in an hour." "Thanks" Twilight said, taking the tickets and returning to them. "She said the tour isn't for an hour in the main hall" she told them as she handed out the tickets and programs to them. "Great" Scootaloo said, "so what do you want to see in the mean time....Flash." Everyone turned to see Flash was looking a little uncomfortable. "Flash" Twilight said placing her hand on his arm, "are you okay?" "Yeah" Flash said, "just didn't realise it be this museum we'd be coming to." "How many museums are there in town?" Spike asked before getting a swat from his sister. "Is there something wrong with this place?" she asked him. "Gramps used to bring me and Scoots here when we were young" Flash explained. "He did?" Scootaloo asked not remembering that. "You were to young to remember" Flash said, "but this is where our dad worked before he went...missing, with mom." "It is" they said looking around. "It's one of the reasons Gramps moved us to this area." "Oh" Scootaloo said in amazement. "If this is to painful" Twilight began. "I'll be fine" Flash replied, "just feels a little weird. Come on, let's go" he headed inside followed the the other three. The four teens enjoyed themselves looking over the other exhibits until the time for the next tour arrived. Scootaloo dragged them into the dinosaur exhibit to look at all the skeletons All the while Flash still felt uneasy at the thought of being here, which was about to be even more so. "Trail" Flash froze hearing that voice speak his fathers name, and slowly he spun around to see a man in his mid thirties with silver skin and black hair. "Is it really you?" "Sorry Relic" Flash replied, "but I ain't my dad." The man named Relic's eyes widened, "Flash?" "Long time no see" he said. "My look at you" Relic said "your the spitting image of your father, except your eyes." "I have my mothers eyes" Flash said, having heard that from all of his parents old friends. "Flash" they both turned to see his friends had noticed the interaction. "Scootaloo" Relic said kneeling down to the young teen, "the last time I saw you I could hold you in one hand." "Er hey" Scootaloo said a little creeped out. "This is Relic Fragment" Flash explained, "he was my dad's best friend." "Indeed" he said, "we bonded over our love of adventure and mystery when we met in college." "It's nice to meet you" Twilight said, "I'm Flash's friend Twilight" she turned to Spike. "And with is my little brother." "Just call me Spike" he said. "A pleasure" Relic said, "so what brings you to this fine establishment today." "We came to see the Duelling Exhibit" Flash explained. "Well in that case" Relic said, "how about a private tour." "You can do that?" Twilight asked in wonder. "Being the Museum Curator has its privileges" Relic explained. That was how the five found themselves to be the first people to see the exhibit before anyone else in the public. "And here we have some of the origanal tablets the first Duel Monsters were designed from" Relic said, showing them into a room filled with stones that had carvings of monsters from Duelling origanal days. "Amazing" Twilight said. "Hey look" Scootaloo said pointing to one, "that's a Giant Soldier of Stone." "And over here's a carving of Feral Imp" Spike said. "Yes these are truly amazing discoveries are they not" Relic said. "They are" Twilight said, "they're probably worth a fortune. I hope your security can handle protecting them." "Don't worry my dear" Relic said, "this room is the most secure one in the city. Should the alarm be triggered then doors made of ten inches of titanium would slam down locking them in, and making the room air sealed. Any thieves would find themselves without air in a matter of minutes." "Impressive" Twilight said. "Thank you" Relic said, "but this exhibit not only houses the Duelling past but also the future." They walked into a new room were they found a high tech device. It was a humanoid robot that was around six foot high, and had a Battle City Duel Disk wired onto its left arm. "Is this?" Twilight asked. "A state of the art Duel-Bot" Relic said, "designed as the ultimate Duellist." "The ultimate Duellist?" Spike asked. "It has every known card in its database" Relic explained, "and wields a deck designed to stop every one of them. It also has ten skill settings, and so far not even the best Pro-Duellists have managed to defeat it passed level six." "That's awesome" Scootaloo said. "Do you want to give it a try?" Relic asked. Scootaloo spun around and looked her brother in the eye. "Go nuts" Flash replied. "Alright" Scootaloo called before moving infront of the robot and strapping an orange Duel Disk to her arm. "I'll set it to level one for you" Relic said, moving behind the Duel-Bot before opening up the back and typing on its keyboard. The Duel-Bots eyes glowed green as it activated and scanned Scootaloo. "Duellist detected" it spoke in its robotic voice, "now initialising Duelling Protocol." A slot opened up revealing a deck which it placed in its Duel Disk, activating it along with Scoot's which formed a purple blade. "DUEL." Scootaloo: 4000 Duel-Bot: 4000 "I'll start" Scootaloo said, "and play Gilasaurus in ATK mode" a brown raptor appeared infront of her. (A1400/D400/L3) "and since that was a special summon, I can now summon Rush Raptor in ATK mode" a raptor with purple fur appeared that had small black wing on its back, that were way to small to carry it. (A1200/D1400/L3) "and with him I can summon another monster out, say hello to Eggisaur" a red dinosaur appeared wearing an egg around its waist with its legs sticking out. An egg shard was on its head (A800/D400/L2) "plus I get to add a level point to him. (A800/D400/L3) "Three monsters out at once" Flash watched in amazement at his sisters skills. "And now" Scootaloo yelled, "I use these three monsters to build the Overlay Network." Her two monster changed into lights which shot into the air, before flying into the black hole that had just formed. "Watch as the ancient powers of a Dinosaur are awakened" the black hole exploded in light as a new monster appeared. "I XYZ SUMMON." The new monster looked like a larger version of Rush Raptor with darker fur and a larger wing span, and three lights floating around "Wild Rush Raptor." (A2000/D2000/R3) "Wow" Flash said. "Rainbow taught her well" Twilight said. "With Rush Raptor now as an Overlay Unit, Wild Rush gets five hundred points" Scootaloo said. (A2500/D2000/R3) "I end my turn." "Now initialising Draw Phase" The Duel-Bot said as he drew. "Main Phase, now activating Spell card designated as Reverse Engineering. Function, by sending three Machine type monsters from hand to Graveyard Duel-Bot may now add Spell card from deck to hand. He discarded three cards and then pulled out his deck, which he then flipped through before finding the card he need. "Now activating card Scrap Summon. Function, by paying half of Duel-Bot's life points it may now summon as many level four or bellow Machine monster to available Monster Zones from Monster Graveyard, but all ATK and DEF points are neutralised." "But he just discarded three" Spike said. Scootaloo: 4000 Duel-Bot: 2000 "Now summoning" three cards appeared in front of him. The first was a yellow robot in the shape of a scorpion, "A-Assault Core." (A0/D0/L4) The second was a green robotic raptor with cannons on its back, "B-Buster Drake." (A0/D0/L4) The last was a blue robotic Pterodactyl, "and C-Crush Wyvern." (A0/A0/L4) "Union Monsters" Twilight said in shock. "What's a Union Monster?" Flash asked. "Monsters that combine into more powerful ones" Relic explained. "Like Fusion Monsters" Flash asked. "Basically" Twilight said. "Now initialising Duelling Protocol twelve paragraph four subsection C, monsters combine." The Duel-Bots monsters flew up and began to transform and merge together, until they made one giant robotic death machine. "ABC-Dragon Buster, online." (A3000/D2800/L8) "Not good" Flash said. "It get's worse" Twilight said. "Now discarding card to activate Dragon Buster's effect to banish one card on field" the Duel-Bot explained, "So your saying" Scootaloo said in horror. "Wild Rush Raptor is removed from play" the Duel-Bot explained, as a portal opened up below the Dinosaur swallowing it whole. "Oh no" Scootaloo said before trying to calm herself. After that card's attack she would still have a thousand points left, which gave her one turn to find a way to save herself. "Now activating Spell card, Limiter Removal." "NOT THAT CARD" Scootaloo screamed. "Now doubling Monster ATK points." (A6000/D2800/L8) "Six thousand ATK points" Flash said in horror. "Battle Phase, now attacking with ABC-Dragon Buster" the machine aimed it's multiple weapons at Scootaloo before firing a barrage at her, sending her flying. Scootaloo: 0 Duel-Bot: 2000 (Winner) "Scootaloo" Flash called as they ran up to her, "are you okay?" "I'm fine" Scootaloo said sitting up, "if that's level one then I'd hate to see level ten." "Well like I said" Relic replied as he plugged the bot into the wall to recharge, "no one has beaten the Duel-Bot passed level six." "I can see why" Twilight said, "I'd probably have trouble against those Union Monsters." "Indeed" Relic said, "you know there's still ten minutes until the exhibit is set to open so look around as much as you like." "Thank you" Twilight said, "I think I'll go look at the tablets again." "Okay" Relic said. Flash was admiring the five piece set of Exodia the Forbidden One when Relic came up to him. "It has been good to see you again" Relic said, "I know your parents have been a touchy subject for you and coming here probably wasn't your idea." "It's fine" Flash said. "I still can't believe it's been so long" Relic said, "and there's been no info about them since that day." "The last piece proof we have that they're alive, is standing right over there" he nodded head over to the thirteen year old examining a Millennium Puzzle replica. "I know it's hard" Relic said, "but I'm sure you'll discover the answers one day." "I already know the answer" Flash said, "now I just need the question." Before they could say anything else the lights above them began to flicker, before going dead. "What the?" Relic said before taking out his phone to call maintenance, only to find it was dead. "It must have been an energy surge that deactivated the electronics, but everything should reset in a moment." "Everything" Flash said, only to realise "including the Security System?" "Yes it should...oh no." "TWILIGHT" Flash ran towards the tablet room. "Hey guys what happened to the lights" Twilight asked, still in room. "Get out of there before" but it was to late as the lights suddenly went on along with everything else. A loud clanking could be heard as suddenly a large metal door slammed down, trapping Twilight inside. "Twilight" Flash called reaching the door and pounding on it, before he kneeled down and tried to lift it. "Flash don't bother it's ten inches of titanium" Relic told him. Suddenly they heard a ringing and spun around to see Spike pull out his phone. "Twilight's facing me" Spike said answering it, "Twilight are you okay." "I'm fine" they heard. They all gathered around and saw Twilight on the screen, "what happened?" "There was a power surge that reset the system" Relic explained, "when it switched back on you must have activated the alarm and caused it to go into shut down." "That doesn't sound so bad" Scootaloo said. "Except that room is now air tight" Relic said, "if we don't open it she's going to run out of oxygen." "We have to do something" Flash replied. "Relax I can use the override" Relic said. He pulled out a card and moved to a small device on the wall, where he swiped it...but nothing happened. "Strange, that should have released the keypad so I could enter the code." "You don't think the power surge caused it to malfunction do you?" Twilight said. "It's possible the system's control signal was crossed with something else" Relic said, "but what?" "Duellist detected" they all spun around to see the Duel-Bot active, it's eyes glowing red. "I'm thinking that" Scootaloo said. "So what now?" Spike asked. "I think it means that the only way through this door" Relic explained, "is through that Robot." "So you mean if we beat it in a Duel the doors will open?" Flash asked. "If its programming has been linked to the security system" Relic said, "then yes." "Then looks like I'm Duelling" Flash said pulling out his Duel Disk. "Initialising Duelling Protocol" the Duel-Bot said placing its deck into the Duel Disk. "DUEL." Flash: 4000 Duel-Bot: 4000 "I'll start" Flash drew "and I summon Magna Fighter Crossbolt, in DEF mode" the steampunk carrying a crossbow appeared. (A1400/D1400/L4) "I'll place a card face down and end my turn. "Now initialising Draw Phase" The Duel-Bot said as he drew. "Main Phase, now activating Spell card designated as Magical Mallet. Function, select cards in hand and return them to deck then draw cards equal to number returned." The Duel-Bot did this returning three cards to the deck and drawing three new ones, "now summoning Justice Robo Mecha Fighter" a red humanoid robot appeared standing at about nine foot. (A1800/D1200/L4) "Oh no" Relic said. "What is it?" Scootaloo said, not like the sound of that oh no. "That card is part of the level ten skill set" Relic explained, "no ones ever lasted two turns against that." "But if Flash loses" Spike said, not daring to say anything else. "Now activating Spell Double Summon. Function, allows additional summoning this turn. Now summoning Justice Robo Mecha Racer," a yellow formula 1 car appeared, it's nose had a blaster inside. (A1000/D1000/L3) "initialising Union" the racer drove into the air, straight at Mecha Fighter who raised its left arm. The races nose folded up as the back opened allowing the robots arm to go through, as a bigger hand folded out. "Equipment complete, plus five hundred to Justice Robo Mecha Fighter." (A2300/D1200/L4) "Not good" Flash said. "Battle Phase, Mecha Fighter targets Crossbolt and attacks" the robot aimed it's weapon at Crossbolt and fired the racers nose blaster destroying it. "I activate my face down Starburst Draw, since a level four monster with fifteenth hundred or less ATK was destroyed then I can draw four cards." He drew and smiled seeing who he had drawn. "When card equipped with Mecha Racer destroys monster, Duel-Bot draws three cards" he did so. "Main Phase Two, set one card, End Phase." "My draw" Flash said, "time to finish this. I set Scale four Magna Fighter Gladio and Scale eight Magna Caster Solaris into the Pendulum Scale" his monsters rose up as the pillars of light formed. "Now I can summon monsters levels five, six and seven all at one. Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory," the portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and a single light shot out. "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Alright" Scootaloo cheered. "That's Flash's best card" Spike said before looking down at his phone, "he'll have you out soon Twilight." "That's good" Twilight said from within the tablet room, "because I'm starting to get light headed." She slid down until she was sitting against the door. Back at the Duel the Duel-Bot's system's were searching for any sign of Pendulum Summoning or Flash Heart Dragon. "Error error cards not found in Monster Database." "Well watch and learn" Flash said, "Flash Heart's skill. Since he was Special Summon your Mecha Fighter is getting a one way trip to the bottom of your deck." "Information obtained...analysing...counter measure detected, activating Mecha Fighter ability." The race car attachment disappeared, "tributing one equipped card to negate card effect." Flash growled, "fine then I'll summon Shine Crest Magna Wolf in ATK mode," Flash's wolf appeared. (A1200/D1100/L3) "Plus Gladio's Pendulum ability raises any Pendulum Summoned monsters ATK strength by eight hundred for this turn. (A3300/D2000/L7/P4) "now I'll have Flash Heart attack your robot," Flash Heart's boosters burst into life sending him flying at Mecha Fighter. "Quick Play Spell card" Duel-Bot said, "Emergency Shut Down. Function, switches ATK position Machine to DEF position" Mecha Fighter took a defensive stance just before Flash Heart destroyed him. "Well now my Magna Wolf attacks you directly" the wolf pounced and slashed the bot. Flash: 4000 Duel-Bot: 2800 "I end my turn with a face down." "Now initialising Draw Phase" The Duel-Bot said as he drew. "Main Phase, now activating Spell card designated as Reverse Engineering." "Not that card" they all cried realising what would come next. "Function, by sending three Machine type monsters from hand to Graveyard Duel-Bot may now add Spell card from deck to hand." He did, and like in his Duel against Scootaloo he activated it. "Scrap Summon, function..." "I already know what it does" Flash said. Flash: 4000 Duel-Bot: 1400 "Now summoning" five lights appeared on the robots field. The first was the robot Flash Heart had just destroyed, "Justice Robo Mecha Fighter." (A0/D0/L4) The second was the formula 1 card, "Justice Robo Mecha Racer." (A0/D0/L3) The third was a blue heavy loader truck, "Justice Robo Mecha Hauler." (A0/D0/L4) The fourth was a green helicopter, "Justice Robo Mecha Copter." (A0/D0/L3) The last was a white submarine, "Justice Robo Mecha Diver." (A0/D0/L3) "Five Justice Robos" Scootaloo said in horror. "There won't be for much longer" Spike said. "Initialising Ultimate Maneuver" the Duel-Bot's five monsters glowed, "UNION" they flew into the air and transformed. Mecha Hauler disengaged from it's load and transformed into a new body armour, which connected to Mecha Fighter's front while the load transformed in a pair of legs which connected the Mecha Fighter, like putting on a pair of pants. Mecha Racer and Mecha Copter connected to Mecha Fighter's left and right arms, as their nose and wing blades detached. Mecha Diver transformed into a helmet which flew on top of Mecha Fighter's head becoming the new head. Mecha Racer's nose connected to the front of the Hauler body armour, while Mecha Copter's blades connected to the back forming an X. "Ultimate Justice Robo, Mecha Union Fighter, online." (A3200/D2600/L10) Everyone looked up in fear of the new two story high monster, Flash especially. "To think that used to be my favourite part of those shows." "Activating Mecha Hauler's ability from Monster Graveyard. Remove it an two other Machines to add three cards to Duel-Bot's hand," he did so and then activated them. "Cosmic Battle Armour Level 1, all opponent's Monster effects do not effect Union Fighter." "Not good" Flash said. "Cosmic Battle Armour Level 2, all opponents Spell effect do not effect Union Fighter." "My Spells to" Flash said. "Cosmic Battle Armour Level 3, all opponents Trap effects do not effect Union Fighter." "He can't use Traps either" Scootaloo asked. "You can't do this you can't do that" Spike said, "It's like I'm listening to Twilight." "Spike" his phone yelled. "Oh right" Spike said. "Ultimate Justice Robo Mecha Union Fighter's ability plus three hundred ATK for each card equipped to it." (A4100/D2600/L10) "So much power" Relic said, "this is the full power of the Duel-Bot." "Do something Flash" Scootaloo said. "I'm working on it" Flash said. "Battle Phase, Ultimate Justice Robo Mecha Union Fighter target and destroy Magna Wolf" the robot aimed all it's weapons at Magna Wolf. "If that attack lands then Flash's life points are going down in a big way" Spike said. "FIRE" the robot unleashed all its power at Flash's monster. Flash stood frozen as the attack approached. If he couldn't find a way to stop that behemoth, then not only would his life points be done for...but so would Twilight. > Turn 11, Fight at the Museum pt2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Duel between Flash and the Duel-Bot continued. Although Flash had far more life points then the robot, he now faced a monster that was so overwhelming in power that Flash wasn't sure how he could beat it. Ultimate Justice Robo Mecha Union Fighter launched its all out attack against Magna Wolf, which would decimate Flash's life points if it connected. And what was worse was that unless he could win, Twilight would remain trapped inside an air tight room with no way out. "Do something Flash" Scootaloo called to her brother. Flash quickly jumped into action, "I activate the Trap card Interception. Now my stronger monster can take the hit in place of Magna Wolf, Flash Heart" the dragon jumped in and collided with the onslaught getting destroyed in the process. Flash: 2400 Duel-Bot: 1400 "That was a close one" Spike said, breathing a sign of relief. "But Flash's best card was destroyed" Scootaloo said. "But since it's a Pendulum Monster" Twilight said over the phone, "it'll go to the Extra Deck which he can summon it from again." "So as long as Flash has the Pendulum Scales set" Spike said, "he can continuously summon his Pendulum Monsters to protect himself." "But that won't work forever" Relic said, "and Flash is on a time limit here. He can't afford to waste his time defending." "But what can he do?" Scootaloo asked, "as long as that monster is equipped with those Spell cards Flash can't use any of his Spells, Traps or Monster effects to weaken or destroy it." "Then he has to get rid of them before he can focus on attacking" Relic said. Flash had heard that and knew he was right. Until those three Cosmic Battle Armour cards were gone, his monster wouldn't stand a chance against Mecha Union Fighter. And what was worse was the Duel-Bot might have other cards to equip to it, protecting it more and increasing the monsters ATK power. Looking down at his hand he saw he had Brass Wing Magna Hawk, Magna Fighter Deck Striker, a Trap named Code Change and Reverse Polarity. None of them could help him right now. "Turn End" the Duel-Bot said, "analysing data to calculate chances of victory....analysis complete. Chances of Duel-Bot victory one hundred percent." "It's my turn" Flash said drawing, only to see it was his Lightspeed Spell. Even if he used it none of Flash's Monsters could beat...WAIT. "I'm using my Scale four Gladio and Scale eight Solaris to carve the arc of victory," the portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and a beam of light shot out. "Shine you light of victory once more, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Why'd he play Flash Heart in ATK mode?" Scootaloo asked. "Obvious" Flash said with a smirk, "how else would I attack with him" Flash Heart flew towards the robot. "Is he nuts" Spike said. "If he attacks he'll have barely any life points left" Relic said. "Think again" Flash said, "don't forget Gladio's Pendulum Ability raises Flash Heart's ATK by eight hundred." (A3300/D2000/L7/P4) "But that's not enough" Scootaloo said. "It will be after I use my Lightspeed card" Flash activated his Spell card, "this card raises my Light attributed monsters ATK by a thousand points." (A4300/D2000/L7/P4) "That's enough to destroy Union Fighter" Spike said. "GO" Flash Heart flew at the robot, an aura of light surrounded it. "Activating Mecha Copter's ability from Monster Graveyard" the Duel-Bot said, "by removing it Duel-Bot may negate activation of Spell card and destroy it." "What" Flash said as he looked at his card as it exploded and the upwards, as the light disappeared weakening his monster. (A3300/D2000/L7/P4) Mecha Union Fighter once again fired his cannons which struck Flash Heart destroying him. Flash: 1600 Duel-Bot: 1400 Meanwhile in the air tight room Twilight was listening to everything that was happening. She could tell Flash was in trouble, and not just from the monster he was battling, but also from himself. He was so focused on beating the Duel-Bot that he wasn't thinking his moves out like he usually did, and now he was defenceless. "I change Magna Wolf to DEF mode and summon Deck Striker, also in DEF mode" the steampunk with the metal gauntlet appeared. (A1300/D500/L3) "Now initialising Draw Phase" The Duel-Bot said as he drew. "Main Phase, now activating Spell card designated as Mage Power. Function, plus five hundred ATK power to equipped monster for each card in Spell slash Trap Zone. (A6100/D2600/L10) "additionally with one new equipped Spell, Ultimate Justice Robo Mecha Union Fighter gains three hundred power. (A6400/D2600/L10) Everyone grew more scared as the Duel-Bot's monster grew even stronger. "This monster should be illegal" Scootaloo said. "Flash is in big trouble" Relic said. "Battle Phase, Ultimate Justice Robo Mecha Union Fighter target and destroy Magna Wolf" the robot aimed all it's weapons at Magna Wolf, and fired destroying it. "Turn End." "My draw" Flash said, drawing his card only to see it was Trap he hadn't used before. "I once again carve the arc of victory and Pendulum Summon" the portal formed and opened. "Flash Heart Dragon." (A3300/D2000/L7/P4) "I now summon Brass Wing Magna Hawk." (A1400/D800/L4) "I end my turn with a face down." "Now initialising Draw Phase" The Duel-Bot said as he drew. "Main Phase, now activating Spell card designated as Emergency Injector. Function, return all monsters on opponents side of the field to deck, then shuffle deck." "WHAT" they all yelled. Suddenly a machine appeared between them that looked like the machine from Compulsory Evacuation Device. It's doors opened and a vacuum force pulled Flash Heart, Deck Striker and Magna Hawk inside, before the doors closed and the machine activated and his three monsters were fired out of the chimney like top. Once they were in the air the three monsters transformed into lights which flew into Flash's Deck. "For each card returned to deck opponent gains five hundred life points" the Duel-Bot said. Flash: 3100 Duel-Bot: 1400 "Battle Phase. Ultimate Justice Robo Mecha Union Fighter attacks you directly." The giant Tokusatsu robot aimed its many weapons down on the young teen, before it unleashed hell upon him. "FLASH" Scootaloo screamed. "Watch out" Spike called. Flash felt like all was lost. His best cards had been nullified by this robot, his best friend was running out of time and he was powerless to do anything. He would do anything for a chance to turn everything around, for some hope to save...hope. Flash looked down at his face down and realised this was his only shot, and as the attack neared he activated it. The three audience members watched in horror as Flash was consumed by the blasts. "No" Spike said falling to his knees, as the chance to save his sister was lost. "Wait" Relic said, "look." Spike looked back up and saw Flash standing in the flames, his life points untouched, and he wasn't alone. A girl in Steampunk attire carrying a large bronze shield stood infront of him, blocking the attack from making contact. (A1800/D0/L4) "Thanks Arma" Flash said to his monster, who turned and smiled back at him. "Error" the Duel-Bot said, "error." "What's the matter?" Flash asked, "oh your wondering why I didn't go down. It's quite simple, I activated my Beacon of Hope Trap card" his face down flipped up. "I was able to activate it because you attacked me directly, and it allowed me to draw one card and if it was a Monster I could summon it." "So Flash drew Magna Fighter Arma" Spike said. "That has to be the luckiest draw in the history of Duelling" Relic said. "You see Motor Mouth" Flash said, "as long as Arma is in DEF mode she's indestructible. You may have your most powerful offensive monster, but I've got my powerful defensive monster." "Information obtained...analysing...no counter measure detected" the Duel-Bot said. "Alright" Spike and Scootaloo said, "the bot doesn't have a card to beat him" Spike finished. "Not yet at least" Relic said, "the Duel-Bot works by running countless Duel scenarios through its processor. With each new draw he'll analyse and try to find a way, so it'll only be a matter of time before the Duel-Bot can get around it." "What ways are there to getting around monsters that can't be destroyed?" Scootaloo asked. "Damage" they all looked down at Spike's phone as Twilight spoke. "Monsters that can't be destroyed are usually easy to give damage to under the right circumstances, and if the Duel-Bot has a card like Fairy Meteor Crush that can grant Piercing Damage." "Then an indestructible monster with zero DEF points will be useless" Spike said. Suddenly he could hear coughing from the phone, "Twilight" he looked back up at Flash. "Hurry Flash, Twilight doesn't have much time left." "You don't think I don't know that" Flash said. "Turn end" the Duel-Bot said, "analysing data to calculate chances of victory....analysis complete. Chances of Duel-Bot victory ninety eight percent." "Don't count you chickens till they hatch" Flash said. "Scanning" the Duel-Bot said, "no poultry detected." "No I mean...oh forget it, my turn" he drew his card and saw it couldn't help him but might be handy in a tight spot. "I'll throw down a face down and end my turn." "Now initialising Draw Phase" The Duel-Bot said as he drew, "information obtained...analysing...no counter measure detected. Turn End." "My draw" Flash smiled seeing his best card again, but he wouldn't do much good against Ultimate Justice Robo Mecha Union Fighter. "But he would be an okay defence if I need him" Flash said, "once again my Pendulum Monsters will carve the arc of victory." The portal formed above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and a beam of light shot out. "Shine your light of victory once again, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Flash Heart's back" Scootaloo cheered. "But he won't be much use" Relic said. "I end my turn" Flash said. "Now initialising Draw Phase" The Duel-Bot said as he drew, "information obtained...analysing...counter measure detected." "That can't be good" Spike said. "Main Phase, now activating Spell card designated as Stop Defence. Function, switch one monster from DEF to ATK." "NO" they yelled as they watched Flash Heart stand up. "If he's in ATK mode Flash's life points a vulnerable" Scootaloo said. "Battle Phase, Ultimate Justice Robo Mecha Union Fighter target and destroy Flash Heart Dragon" the robot aimed all it's weapons at Flash Heart, and fired. "I activate my Trap, Brittle Shield" Flash said as his face down flipped up. "This card switches an attacking monster to defence, as long as its ATK is more then it DEF" Flash Heart kneeled back into DEF mode just as the blast struck him. "Nice save Flash Heart, now rest up in my Extra deck" Flash told his monster." "Turn end" the Duel-Bot said, "analysing data to calculate chances of victory....analysis complete. Chance of Duel-Bot victory ninety seven percent." Spike meanwhile was still trying to comfort his sister. "Don't worry Twilight, Flash will have you out soon." "I know he will" Twilight replied. Her eyes were growing heavier as the last of the air entered her lungs, slowly her consciousness began to fade. "You'll be fine I promise" Spike said, but he received no answer. "Twilight...Twilight...TWILIGHT" Spike turned back to Flash, "you've got to end this now." Flash knew he was right, he had to finish this or it would be to late for Twilight. He looked down at his deck and spoke, "okay deck, I know you have a way to let me win. And we can lose the next hundred Duels, and I won't mind if you can just help me this once. I...DRAW." He looked at the card he'd drawn and couldn't believe it, "my Pendulum Cards will carve the arc of victory one more time." The portal formed above him, "I can summon monsters levels five through seven all at the same time. I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and two beams of light shot out. "Shine your light of victory one last time, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Snap to it, Lumino Jaw Dragon." (A2300/D1600/L5/P5) "How is Flash suppose to win with those two?" Scootaloo asked. "When Lumino Jaw Dragon is Special Summoned" Flash explained, "I can send every card in your Spell and Trap card zone to the bottom of your deck." "He can?" everyone asked in shock. "Error" the Duel-Bot said, as Lumino Jaw Dragon flapped its wings and sent the cards flying away. "Without those Equip Spells your monster loses a few points" Flash said, the Mecha Union Fighter lost power. (A3200/D2600/L10) "and now he's also vulnerable to my card effects" Flash said, as he activated the card in his hand. "I activate Reverse Polarity, which will increase Flash Heart's ATK power by the difference in his and Union Fighters while lowering you machines by the same amount. (A3200/D2000/L7/P4), (A2500/D2600/L10) "and don't forget that Gladio's ability is still in play, meaning an extra eight hundred ATK points for all of my Pendulum Summoned monsters. (A4000/D2000/L7/P4), (A3100/D1600/L5/P5) "Now Flash Heart is stronger then Union Fighter" Spike said. "Take him down" Scootaloo cheered. "Flash Heart Dragon" Flash ordered "ATTACK." Flash Heart's boosters burst into life, propelling him up towards the machine. Mecha Union Fighter fired it's many weapons in an attempt to save itself, but Flash Heart flew through them completely unscaved and with one mighty punch...he ripped through the robot forming a giant hole through its centre. Ultimate Justice Robo Mecha Union Fighter sparked and sizzled before exploding and its pieces falling on top of the Duel-Bot. "Mal-mal-malfunction" were the Duel-Bots last words as it shorted out. Flash: 3100 (Winner) Duel-Bot: 0 "HE DID IT" they all yelled. Flash didn't have time to celebrate, as he turned to the doors and waited. "Why aren't the doors opening?" Scootaloo asked. "Don't tell me the bot wasn't connected to the security system" Spike said, but his fears were quickly diminished as a clanging sounded before the doors slowly raised. "Twilight" Flash rushed towards it, sliding under the doors as the were half way up. Twilight laid unconscious on the floor. "Twilight" Flash gently lifted her up, "come on wake up." "Twilight" Spike said, standing above them "Is she breathing?" Scootaloo asked. "Ambulance please" Relic said on his phone. "Twilight" Flash placed her back on the ground, and put his ear to her chest listening for a heart beat. "No" he began chest compressions before he plugged Twilight's nose and gave one big breath into her mouth, "come on Twilight" he repeated the process until. Twilight let out a cough as Flash breathed in again, and soon that cough broke out into a full fit as her eyes opened. "Twilight" Flash smiled seeing her awake. "Hey" she said smiling back, "I'm guessing this means you won?" "Yeah" Flash said pulling her into a hug, which was joined by Spike and Scootaloo. Twilight was admitted to Canterlot hospital for check ups. Spike had phoned home and told his parents what had happened and soon they, Shinning Armor and Cadance had rushed to the hospital. "So is she going to be okay?" Applejack asked when she and their friends arrived. "She should be" Flash said, "the doctors will be keeping her in for observations." "I hope she'll be okay" Fluttershy said. The doors to Twilight's room opened and her parents, brothers and Cadance walked out. As soon as they closed the doors they were swarmed by Twilight's friends, all asking whether Twilight was okay. "She's fine" Twilight Velvet "but she won't be going anywhere for a while." She then walked up to Flash and pulled him into a hug, "She and Spike told us what you did. Thank you for saving her." "It was nothing" Flash said. "It wasn't nothing" Shinning Armor said, "I've faced that Duel-Bot and haven't managed to get passed level five. You beat it at its highest level possible." "It's not just me you should thank" Flash said pulling out his deck, "the Duel-Bot didn't have my deck's cards in its system. If I didn't have my Pendulum Cards then I might not have been able to save her, so really you should also thank the one who gave them to me. Whoever they are." "So it didn't have any card in your deck in its database?" Cadance asked. "By the looks of it" Flash said. "That's odd" Cadance said, "The Duel-Bot's systems are linked with the Freeze Industries Database. And your cards should also be in that Database since they wouldn't react to the Duel Disks if they weren't. "Really" Flash said looking down at them. "They only way your deck would be in the system and not be accessible to the Duel-Bot is if they were classified," Shinning explained. "But why would Flash's deck be classified?" Rainbow asked. "Who knows" Shinning replied. Cold Steel sat on his deck watching the recording of Flash's Duel against the robot. If he was impressed he wasn't showing it, as he rewound the footage and began to watch it again. "You seriously need to get yourself a new hobby" a female voice spoke. Cold turned and saw a teenage girl with red and yellow hair stepping into his office, before walking over to his desk. "What I do with my time is no concern to you" he replied "Considering I was the one who had to sneak that electro pulsar into the museum, wait until one of his little friends was alone in that room and then sneak the pulsar back out. I'd say I've earned a little info" the girl snapped back. "Just stick to the plan" Cold said. "To see how far that boy is capable of going, he needs to be pushed." "And exactly how many people are you willing to risk to push him." "Had he failed I would have released the doors manually" Cold said, "the girl was in no serious danger." "Aw you do care" the girl joked, "and all this time I thought there was nothing but ice in that chest." "That's enough" Cold almost yelled, "now unless you have something of actual importance to talk about. Then get out because I have things to do" he spun around and looked out his window, over looking the city. "Well I was going to hand you the new cards you designed" that got his attention, making him spin back around. "Their complete?" he said. The girl went into her pocket and pulled five cards which she placed on his desk, "hot off the presses." Cold picked them up and actually smiled a sincere smile. "Perfect, after a little practice we'll see what the boy is truly capable of." "And then what?" the girl asked. "We prepare for the coming storm" Cold replied, "it won't be long before my brother makes his move. But when he does we'll be ready." > Turn 12, Frozen Heart pt1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was almost one week after the museum incident, and in that time the story had spread like wildfire. Everyone wanted to hear about how Flash had heroically fought off a two story high robot, and brought Twilight back to life with a single kiss. Obviously the story had been exaggerated as more and more people talked about it. Flash found himself in a similar position to the one he was in when he had first gotten his deck, with people coming up to him asking about the event. It got so bad that he once again found himself hiding out on the schools roof, eating his lunch and waiting for his next class. "You don't handle crowds well do you?" a voice asked. He turned his head and saw Rainbow and the others stepping out onto the roof. "It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't swarm me like locus" Flash replied. "You have been getting very popular lately haven't you?" Rarity asked as they all sat down. "Maybe I'm cursed" Flash said. "You heading to the hospital after school again?" Applejack said. "Yep" Flash said, "if I don't Twilight will probably go steer crazy." Twilight had been in hospital the whole time since the event, and was now beginning to suffer from another illness...cabin fever. Her friends helped by coming to visit her and just talk or play some table top Duels to entertain her, until visiting hours closed. The only problem was that after they left Twilight was back to being bored. It didn't help that her only means of entertainment were the books each of her friends kept bringing her, she finished by the very next day. How someone could read seven books that fast was beyond Flash. After school they headed to the book store to each pick up a book before arriving at the hospital. By now the seven of them could traverse the hallways with their eyes closed. Flash knocked on the door and Twilight's voice replied, "come in." They opened the door and stepped inside, to find Twilight sitting on her bed reading what looked to be her last book. "Hey guys," she said as she put her book down. "Looking good egghead" Rainbow said as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Thanks" Twilight said. "So do ya now how much longer ya'll be in here?" Applejack asked. "With any luck she should be out tomorrow" they all turned to see her parents walk into the room, "the doctor says everything looks good" her father Night Light said. "YAY" Pinkie said with a clap of the hands. "I second that" Twilight said, "if I have to spend one more day in this place I think I'd go nuts." "You know it's for your own good sweetheart" Twilight Velvet said. "I know" Twilight said, "it wouldn't be so bad if I had someone to talk to. Having your own room isn't all it's cracked up to be." "We know sweetheart" Night Light said, "but you'll be out of here tomorrow." "If it's okay with you" Rainbow said, "why don't we stay over tonight." "Would we be allowed?" Fluttershy asked. "As long as you don't make much noise it shouldn't be a problem" Velvet replied. "I'll go ask the doctor" Night Light said. He left and several minutes later he returned, "the doctor said it's okay as long as you behave yourselves." "We will" Pinkie said, "cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye." "And you'll need to get your parent's permission as well" he continued. "We'll just go call them" Flash said. He and the girls all left and headed to the lobby to call home, Flash was the first to get through since Grand Hoof's job allowed him to have his phone on almost all the time. "Hey kiddo, what's up?" he asked. "Is it okay if I stay out tonight?" he asked, "me and the girls are gonna keep Twilight company." "Sure" Grand Hoof said, "just call your sister and tell her so she doesn't worry." "I'll text her" Flash replied, "see ya." "Have fun" Grand Hoof hung up. Flash returned to Twilight's room, "I'm good" he told them. Unfortunately it seemed like he was the only one. Applejack was the first to return, "sorry Sugarcube" she said "but Granny threw her hip out again and won't be able to move for a while." "That's fine Applejack" Twilight said. Rainbow was next. "Sorry Twi, but my folks said I couldn't stay. They probably think I was lying or something about you being in hospital." "Same here" Pinkie said as she entered, her hair deflated, "Ma and Pa say late nights are undisciplined." "Oh" Twilight said, looking a little disheartened now. Rarity arrived next. "I'm terribly sorry deary, but my parents have gone out and won't be back till tomorrow. I'm stuck looking after Sweetie Bell tonight." "Not you to" Twilight moaned. Fluttershy was last, not looking happy either. "I'm sorry Twilight, my parents said it was okay but my brother started throwing a hissy fit about not being allowed out." "It's okay Fluttershy" Twilight said before turning to Flash, "looks like it's just you and me." "Should be fun" Flash said. "I don't think that's such a good idea" Velvet said. "Oh come on mom" Twilight said giving them the puppy dog eyes, "I won't last without someone to talk to tonight." Velvet and her husband shared a look for several seconds before nodding, and turning back to them. "Okay Twilight, but just one night." "Thanks guys." Fast forwards several hours and we find Flash and Twilight alone in her room. Flash sat cross legged on her bed as they played a table top Duel while enjoying the snacks Flash had brought from the hospital vending machine. "I sacrifice Starbreak Dragon and Magna Hawk, to summon Flash Heart Dragon." Flash said placing his card on the wheelie table between them. "I attack your Twilight Sorcerer." "I activate my Negate Attack Trap card" Twilight replied flipping her face down up. "I end my turn" Flash said before reaching into his bag of gummy worms. "My draw" she said as she drew, "thanks by the way Flash. I know you probably had better things to do then spend your night here." "You kidding" Flash said, "staying here is better than anything I'd be doing otherwise." "I still appreciate it" Twilight said, "I'm lucky to have a friend like you." "Don't mention it" Flash replied, before he chuckled. "What's so funny?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. "Just thinking about how we've only known each other for about two months, but it feels more like I've been friends with you for years." "It is funny isn't it" Twilight said as she chuckled to, "but I'm happy we met." "Same here" Flash said, "so much has changed since then. I got back into Duelling, I reconnected with my sister and I've made so many friends." "Yeah" Twilight said, "and who knows what else will happen in the time to come." "As long as you and the others are there" Flash said, "I'm looking forward to it" he looked down at Flash Heart. "The day I met you, was the day my life changed forever. They continued their Duels until it was lights out and they had to go to bed. Meanwhile in his office building Cold Steel was busy flipping through a Duel Deck when his secretary walked in. "Excuses me sir" she said, "I have those final review documents for the Celestic Cup that you need to sign." Cold waved her over and she quickly rushed over and dropped the folder on his desk, which he picked up and skimmed through. "Everything looks in order" Cold said, "but what about the Micro Tournament?" "I made sure to save a space open like you requested" she replied. "Very good" Cold said, "and what about tomorrow?" "I rescheduled everything so you'll be free all day" she said. "Good" he replied, "that'll be all. You can go home now." "Thank you Mr Steel" she said before leaving. Once she was gone Cold picked the deck back up and looked out the window. "It's time for a true test of your abilities." The next morning Twilight awoke to the first rays of the sun hitting her face through the window. Slowly getting up she stretched and looked around the room, only to have to throw her hand over her mouth to stop from laughing at what she saw. Flash was sleeping on the couch next to her bed, using his leather jacket as a pillow, but the look on his face was the goofiest expression she had ever seen as a small bit of drool hung from his mouth. The door opened showing her parents entering. "Have a good night sweetheart?" Velvet asked. "Yeah" Twilight replied, "it was really fun." "Not to fun I hope" Night Light replied, getting a nudge from his wife. It was at that moment Flash decided to wake up. "Morning" he said before yawning. "Good morning" Twilight replied, "sorry about the couch. It can't have been comfortable." "More comfortable then sleeping on the floor" Flash said, "and since sharing your bed was out of the question this was my best option." "Well sweetheart" Velvet said changing the subject quickly, "good news for you. Your getting out of here." "Thank you god" Twilight said as she laid back on her bed. Three hours later Twilight was discharged and as they left the hospital, found her friends waiting outside along with Spike, Scootaloo, Applebloom and Sweetie Bell. "Hey guys" Twilight said. "Howdy Twilight" Applejack said, "we're mighty sorry bout yesterday." "It's fine" Twilight replied, "You all had no choice." "Well to make it up to you" Rainbow said, "we're having a whole day of fun. "And not your regular fun" Pinkie said, "but ultra mega super duper fun." "Sounds...fun" Twilight said as she sweat dropped. "Then what are we waiting for" Scootaloo said, "let's get going." "YEAH" they all cheered as they rushed of to their day of enjoyment. The eleven teens arrived at an area of Canterlot the young of the town frequented regularly. It had a real name but due to the many fun places boarding its streets. it had come to be known simply as Amusement Row. The kids headed into the first building of the street, which was an arcade. Flash and Spike played some air hokey, while Pinkie and Rarity played the several dancing games. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had a friendly competition at the hoop toss game to see who could win the most tickets. Scootaloo had convinced Twilight into playing a race game, while Sweetie Bell and Fluttershy watched in enjoyment. Once they had done everything they wanted in the arcade they moved onto the next building which was a music shop, where they listened to all the latest releases and a couple oldies. Twilight showed Flash one of her favourite Japanese bands, which he had to admit were pretty fun. He particularly liked the songs whose English titles where Bravery Flame and Believe in my Existence. After that they found the next attraction wasn't a building but a mini golf course where Fluttershy showed significant skill, probably because she had such a gentle touch. Rainbow grew more and more infuriated as her ball kept going flying into the same water hazard. "This is rigged," she said after seeing she was miles behind the rest in points. By midday they were pretty much warn out as they enjoyed the fast food lunch under a shady tree. "Man" Flash said finishing his fish and chips, "when you girls have fun you take it to the extreme." "I told you so" Pinkie said as she sucked up her ice cold soda, brain freeze be damned. "It was definitely fun" Spike said, "but if we weren't taking this break I might of keeled over from exhaustion." "Well get as much of your breath back as you can" Rainbow said, "because after we eat it's back to awesome fun." "Yeah" they cheered finishing they're lunch. They returned back out to the street to decide which activity to do next. "Maybe we could catch a movie" Applebloom said. "Or how about a game of laser tag" Scootaloo said. Flash looked around to see if they're was anything he wanted to do, when his eyes landed on a familiar face. It was him, the guy he had Duelled when he first got his Duel Disk. He stood at the far end of the street, not doing anything he just stood there as people rushed passed him he stayed perfectly still. "You okay Flash?" Twilight asked, noticing his concern. "It's him" Flash replied, not turning away. Suddenly the man turned and walked away. "WAIT" he called, his feet moving before he could think of anything else. "Flash" Twilight called, "where are going?" but Flash didn't reply as he rushed towards the end of the street. "Excuse me" he said pushing by people, "excuse me" he finally reached the end of the street and turned in the direction the man had walked. He spotted him and followed. This went on for a while, as Flash barely managed to keep up. The chase finally came to an end, when Flash ran into a construction site of a new building. The site was in its early days so it was mostly girders and machinery. But the one thing it didn't have was that man, who had disappeared into thin air. "FLASH" the teen turned to see his friends also enter the area. "What's the big idea running off like that?" Rainbow asked "I saw someone" Flash said. "Who?" Twilight asked. "Me" they all looked up to an area of the building and saw Cold Steel standing on a girder, about twenty feet off the ground. "You" Flash said. "Who is that guy?" Twilight asked. "Remember that bad mood I was in the day I Duelled Pinkie. Well he's who caused it." "Don't be so childish" Cold said. "I want some answers" Flash said, "who are you? and how did you pull off that mind trick you played on me?" Cold Steel remind silent at that moments, "ANSWER ME." Flash yelled in frustration. "Have you gotten stronger?" Cold asked. This surprised them since it was such an out of no where question. "I have" Flash replied, "I'm not the same Duellist you beat before." "Forgive me if I have trouble believing you" Cold said. "What's your deal?" Scootaloo said, "my brother is super strong." "He's beaten most of us" Rainbow said. "And that should impress me why?" Cold asked, "the weak defeating the weak is nothing impressive." "Why you" Rainbow began, but Flash stopped her as he stared up at the man. "Duel me" Flash said, "I'll show you how powerful I am." Cold stayed quite for a moment, then he spoke. "What's in it for me?" he asked, "if I should win what will you give me?" Flash didn't have an answer, but Cold then said. "If I should win, then your deck will belong to me." He pulled out his Duel Disk and threw it on his arm, "if you accept then go stand over there" he pointed to another set of girders approximately fifty feet away from him. "Are you nut?" Twilight said, "no way Flash'll Duel for such high stakes" she turned to him. "Let's get out of here Flash" she took hold of his hand and tried to pull him away, but he stayed firm. "Flash?" was all she could ask before Flash pulled his hand from her grasp, and ran towards a nearby bulldozer jumping on top. Before leaping off and onto the area Cold had pointed to. "Flash get down from there" Twilight told him. Once he was there he pulled out his Duel Disk and affixed it to his arm. "I hope your ready?" he said, "because when I win your gonna answer every question I ask you." "We'll see" Cold replied. "DUEL." Flash: 4000 Cold: 4000 "I'll take the first move" Flash said, "and I summon Brass Wing Magna Hawk in DEF mode" the mechanical bird appeared on the field. (A1400/D800/L4) "I'll throw down a pair of face downs and end my turn" he finished, "come on, I'm ready for anything you throw at me this time." "Is that so" Cold said as he drew, "alright then since you have a monster out and I don't. I can Special Summon this card to the field in ATK mode" a monster appeared that looked like a man in a suit of armour made from ice, he carried a sword and shield that were also ice. "Frozen Heart Knight." (A1700/D1500/L4) "What?" Flash said looking confused, "Frozen Heart. What happened to your Blazing Soul cards?" "I reveal to you my true Duelling Deck" Cold spoke. "So in our last Duel you didn't even use your real deck?" Flash asked. "Of course" Cold replied, "had I used this deck you wouldn't have last two round against me." "Oh you think so" Flash said. "I now summon my Frozen Heart Enchantress also ATK mode," a woman in an ice coloured dress appeared with blonde hair under an ice coloured hat. She carried a staff made of ice with snowflake carved on the end. (A800/D1600/L4) "and now Frozen Heart Knight will attack Magna Hawk" the knight charged at the bird, swinging his icy sword down destroying the bird. "Next" Cold said, "Enchantress" the ice magician pointed her staff at Flash, before a breath of ice cold wind burst out of it striking Flash. Flash: 3200 Cold: 4000 "That's cold" Flash said shaking, "are you done?" "Barely" Cold replied, "I now activate the effect of Frozen Heart Statue Norr. By discarding it from my hand, I can activate the effect of Spell card that's not even in my deck." Everyone wondered what card he would use, only to be given the answer. "I believe your familiar with this card, it's called...Polymerization." Everyone's eyes went wide hearing this. He was going to Fusion Summon without a Spell card. Cold discarded his card as a monster that was an ice sculpture of an arrow pointing upwards, with a face carved in it appeared on the field. In a second the sculpture exploded creating a wormhole, which sucked his two monsters inside. "Ice is an element that symbolises both strength and fragility, and when two pieces of ice meet they freeze together to make and even stronger piece." The portal exploded revealing a new monster, "I FUSION SUMMON." The new monster looked like a large version of Frozen Heart Knight. The only differences were that instead of a sword and shield it carried a pair of frozen cutlasses, and a long ice coloured cape flowed down its back. "Frozen Heart Lord of the Sword." (A2000/D1500/L6) "Incredible" Rarity said. "He could of Fusion Summoned from the start, but he saved it to deal Flash damage instead." "What a combo" Sweetie said. "You guys think Flash can win?" Fluttershy asked. "It's not like it's his first Duel against a Fusion Monster" Rainbow said, "he should be fine." "I end my turn" Cold said. "It's my draw" Flash said drawing and looking at his hand. Nothing in his hand could take on that monster, so he'd need a little teamwork. "I summon Starbreak Dragon in ATK mode" his dragon appeared swinging its star shaped axes. (A1500/D1200/L4) "now I activate the Spell card Reverse Polarity, which will increase my Starbreak's ATK by the difference between his and your Lord of the Sword." (A2000/D1200/L4) "meanwhile your monster loses the same amount." (A1500/D1500/L6) "Flash's dragon is stronger than the other guys" Applebloom cheered. "That Lord of the Sword is going down" Scootaloo cheered. "Don't be so sure" Twilight said, "just look at him." They looked at him and saw his face showed no fear, well it didn't show any emotion at all, as his monster grew weaker. "He doesn't have any face downs, yet he isn't worried. That means he either has a way to save it or wants it destroyed." "Then that means" Scootaloo followed. "Flash is walking into a trap" Spike finished. "Starbreak Dragon attack" Flash ordered his monster, as it flapped its wings and flew upwards before diving down and swinging its axes at the ice monster causing an explosion. Flash: 3200 Cold: 3500 "Got ya" Flash cheered, only to gasped when the smoke cleared and Frozen Heart Lord of the Sword was still standing. "But how?" Flash asked. "By discarding Frozen Heart Gardna I negated my monster destruction" Cold explained as he discarded a card. Flash growled, "I place one card face down and end my turn. Reverse Polarity's effect wares off returning our monsters ATKs to normal." "My turn" Cold said "your deck is well built, with cards that support each other meaning no mater what you draw you'll always have something to work with." "So what?" Flash asked. "That means the fault for any loss is directly yours" he answered as he drew. "Relaying on luck is a weaklings path to victory, let me show you how the strong Duel. I summon the Tuner Monster Frozen Heart Statue Söder" another ice sculpture appeared on the field, but unlike Norr this one was a downward arrow with a face almost like an anchor. (A900/D700/L3) "Did he say Tuner Monster?" Spike asked. "He did" Twilight said, "but I don't believe it." "When Frozen Heart Statue Söder is successfully summoned" Cold said, "I can revive a Frozen Heart monster in my grave by zeroing out it's ATK and DEF points." His Frozen Heart Knight reappeared on the field. (A0/D0/L4) "But that means" Flash realised. "I tune level three Frozen Heart Statue Söder with level four Frozen Heart Knight" the Tuner Monster transformed into three lights, which spun around to create a trio of circles that the Knight jumped in. "Once again two mighty pieces of ice merge into a new strength," the two monsters disappeared in an explosion of light revealing a new monster. "I SYNCHRO SUMMON." The new monster was similar to Lord of the Sword, only instead of a pair of swords he carried a long spear made out of ice. "Frozen Heart Lord of the Javelin." (A2500/D2200/L7) "He can Synchro Summon too" Rainbow said in shock, "who is this guy?" "Now Lord of the Swords ability activates" Cold explained, "since a Frozen Heart monster other than himself was summoned. I can now revive one Frozen Heart monster, so I'll revive Frozen Heart Enchantress" the snow witch reappeared. (A800/D1600/L4) "When Enchantress is Special Summoned I can revive yet another Frozen Heart monster, so appear Frozen Heart Gardna." A monster similar Frozen Heart Knight appeared, only it had a pair of large round shields on both arm gauntlets. (A800/D2000/L4) "Two level four monsters" Flash said worried, "if he can use Fusion and Synchro. Then maybe." "I now use these two monsters to build the Overlay Network" Cold said, as his monster changed into lights which flew into a black hole as it formed. "Unite once again my frozen hearted monsters" the black hole exploded in a burst of light, revealing a new monster. "I XYZ SUMMON." The new monster was similar to the two Frozen Heart Lords. The only difference was instead of swords or a spear, it carried a large chain made of ice with a giant fishing hook like object on the end. Two blue lights floated around it, "Frozen Heart Lord of the Hook." (A2400/D1200/R4) Flash and his friends looked on in horror at the sight of the three different monsters staring the young Duellist down. "No way" he said shaking. If he couldn't find a way to beat these monsters then he would lose not only this Duel, but his deck as well. > Turn 13, Frozen Heart pt2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Duel between Flash and Cold continued. While Flash had Starbreak Dragon and three face downs, Cold Steel had successfully Fusion, Synchro and Xyz Summoned three Frozen Heart Lords to his field. Frozen Heart Lord of the Sword. (A2000/D1500/L6) Frozen Heart Lord of the Javelin. (A2500/D2200/L7) Frozen Heart Lord of the Hook. (A2400/D1200/R4) And the worst thing of all was that if Flash lost, then Cold would take his deck and there'd be nothing he could do. "This is bad" Spike said. "Poor Flash must be feeling terrified right now" Sweetie Bell said. "I wouldn't blame him" Rarity said. "Duelling against just one of those summoning styles would be tough, but facing three" Rainbow said. "Whoever this guy is he's strong" Applejack said, "just wish we knew more bout him." "Same here" Twilight said, "but I feel like I've seen him before." "This is where the true Duel begins" Cold said, "Frozen Heart Lord of the Sword attack Starbreak Dragon" the sword wielding monster flew towards the dragon. It raised its swords high, before slashing them down in an X formation cutting through Starbreak. Flash: 2700 Cold: 3500 "Now Frozen Heart Lord of the Javelin is free to wage a direct attack on you" he said, as his monster flew into the air and aimed its spear at Flash. "I don't think so" Flash said, as one of his face downs flipped up. "I activate the Trap Beacon of Hope, which will allow me to draw a card. If that card happens to be a Monster than I'll get to summon it." "Once again your relying on luck over skill" Cold said. "You call it luck" Flash said, "but I call it faith. My deck's never let me down in a pinch," he put his hand on his deck. "Here we go, I...DRAW" he drew his card and smiled at what it was. "I drew Magna Fighter Arma, meaning I can now summon her to the field in DEF mode" the teen girl in steampunk appeared, brandishing her bronze shield. (A1800/D0/L4) "ALRIGHT" everyone cheered. "That's the combo that saved him when he Duelled that Duel-Bot" Scootaloo said. Lord of the Javelin threw its spear at her only for it to bounce off. "As long as Arma is in DEF mode she's invincible" Flash explained. "Then I guess it's a good thing for me that when Lord of the Javelin fails to destroy a DEF position monster, it forces that monster into ATK mode." "What?" Flash asked. Lord of the Javelin caught its spear and landed infront of Arma. He then hooked it onto her shield, and with one good yank he pulled it from her grasp forcing her to her feet. "That's not good" Rarity said. "Lord of the Hook" Cold said, "it's your turn." The Xyz monster loosened its grip on its ice chain, causing it and the hook to fall to its feet. It took hold of the end and began swinging it around, before spinning on its heel bringing the weapon around and swinging it at Arma. She tried to defend herself, but without her shield she was no match as the hook sliced through her destroying her. Flash: 2100 Cold: 3500 "I activate my other face down" Flash said, as his second card flipped up. "Starburst Draw, now since a level four monster was destroyed I can draw four cards" This confused everyone. "But Starburst Draw only works when a monster with fifteen hundred or less ATK is destroyed," Scootaloo said. "Arma's to strong for that" Applebloom said. "That's why I'm using my other Trap" Flash explained as his last face down flipped up. "Code Change, now I can change one piece of text on a card on my field. I change Starburst Draw's text from fifteen hundred to two thousand, meaning Arma now fits the bill." Flash drew four cards and smiled seeing which four he had. "I've accomplished all I intended to do this turn" Cold said, "so I will end it there." Despite surviving the last turn, Flash still felt uneasy about those Frozen Heart Lords. "I have to admit you being able to summon three different ways was a surprise for sure." "Limiting your focus to only one style limits your chances of victory" Cold said. "No one type is effective against everything, so mastering multiple Summonings will guarantee you'll have a way to win." "I remembered what you said to me during our last Duel" Flash replied. "You said I wasn't a real Duellist, that I had nothing worth seeing when I Duel and I guess you were right." Cold nodded hearing the, glad the boy understood "but things are different" Cold looked up in surprise at that. "Since that day I've Duelled countless Duellists and seen how they Duel to suit there own style. I've battle against so many different monsters, and seen those Duellists own souls reflected in the cards they wield. And in each Duel I've changed a little by little. This is what Duelling has made me, and it's what'll help me beat you." Cold frowned at this. "Is that so, then show me, show me what you've learned." "Alright" Flash said, placing his hand on his deck. "I...DRAW" looking at the card he smiled seeing what it was, he took it and a card from his hand. "I'm using Lunara and Solaris to set the Pendulum Scale" he placed the cards on his Duel Disk, as the pillars of light appeared besides him being filled by his magicians. "With these two, I now have the power to summon monsters whose levels are between one and eight all that once. Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory" his magicians each shot a beam of light from their staffs, which connected and opened a portal above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and three beams of light flew out and struck the ground. "Howl to the moon, Shine Crest Magna Wolf." (A1200/D1100/L3) "Get to work, Glow Craft Magna Fox." (A1600/D1300/L4/P7) "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) As the three monsters stood before him facing off against the three Frozen Heart Lords, the audience cheered. "Alright" Scootaloo cheered, "this guy doesn't stand a chance now that Flash has his Pendulum cards ready." "Hope your not to attached to your Lord of the Sword" Flash said, "because Flash Heart's skill is sending him to the bottom of your Extra Deck." A wormhole appeared below the Fusion Monster, which it feel through. "That's one down" Rainbow said. "I think not" Cold said. Before the wormhole closed a icy chain flew inside it, latching onto something. "What's going on?" Flash asked. "My Frozen Heart Lord of the Hook's ability" Cold said. "When a card effect that removes a Frozen Heart monster is activated, he can detach one Overlay Unit and negate the effect." Lord of Hook pulled on the chain, slowly dragging Lord of the Sword out of the wormhole. Flash growled at this, "fine then I'll take him out the old fashioned way. Flash Heart attack" the robotic dragon's boosters kicked into life, propelling him towards the Fusion Monster before sucker punching it into destruction. Flash: 2100 Cold: 3000 "And now since my monster attacked and you have other monsters on your field" Flash explained, "the effect of Glow Craft Magna Fox activates. Now Flash Heart can attack again, with a power boost of two hundred." Magna Fox's tail tips glowed, before shooting off spheres of light that spun around forming into a glowing ring. Flash Heart leaped through the ring as his power increased. (A2700/D2000/L7/P4) "attack Lord of the Hook," the dragon flew towards the Xyz monster and sucker punched it like it did with Lord of the Sword, destroying it. Flash: 2100 Cold: 2700 "And just like before Magna Fox's skill activates, letting Flash Heart attack again." Magna Fox's tail shot the light spheres again, forming the ring of light which Flash Heart flew through powering him up once again. (A2900/D2000/L7/P4) "now attack Lord of the Javelin," Flash Heart once again launched its attack and struck the final monster destroying it. Flash: 2100 Cold: 2300 "And finally Magna Wolf will attack you directly" the large wolf leaped at Cold, slashing him down the chest. Flash: 2100 Cold: 1100 The audience was cheering at Flash's come from behind lead. "Wow Nelly that was something" Applejack said. "With his best cards gone" Spike cheered, "he doesn't stand a chance." "I wouldn't be so sure" they all turned to Twilight. She looked concerned at the way the Duel was progressing. "Don't you think that was a little to easy? After all his talk about mastering those techniques, he suddenly lets his monsters be destroyed without even fighting back." "Maybe Flash just caught him by surprise" Scootaloo said. "I doubt that" Twilight said, "he's planning something. And Flash needs to be careful." "Since Magna Fox used his ability he's forbidden from attacking" Flash explained, "and the rest of my monsters are battled out for the round. So I'll end my turn." He smiled and fist pumped at what he had done, "how do you like that. I might not be able to Fusion, Synchro or Xyz Summon, but since I've mastered Pendulum Summoning I can still take you down." Cold frowned at this. "You've mastered Pendulum Summoning...don't make me laugh." "What?" Flash asked. "You've barely scratched the surface of what Pendulum Summoning can do" Cold explained, "you use it to summon multiple monsters to gang up against your opponent. That's a cowards way of Duelling." "What did you call me?" Flash replied in anger. "You say you've improved your Duelling style, but all I've seen is that you've gotten better at Duelling like a scared little boy. You still hide behind your monsters, because your to much of a coward to truly fight alongside them." "What's he talking about?" Rainbow asked. "I don't know" Rarity replied. "The fact that you'd call yourself a Pendulum Master is laughable" Cold continued, "you're a million years away from ever being able to call yourself that. I've seen what a true Pendulum Master can do, and compared to him your nothing." "What do you mean?" Flash asked. "Let me show you" Cold said, "what someone who has seen what Pendulum Monsters are truly capable of can do. I...DRAW" he drew his card and then activated it, "I activate the Spell card Icicle Crash." The Spell card appeared on the field and from it a sudden burst of cold wind blew, freezing the area around them "What's happening?" Pinkie asked, as she and the rest of them tried to shield themselves from the wind. The wind finally died down and Flash managed to see what was going on, and gasped at what he saw. The whole area was frozen solid, and from the roof five icicles hung. "What the?" he asked. "Flash" Twilight called, "look inside them." Flash did so and realised that inside each icicle was one of Cold's monsters, including the three Frozen Heart Lords, Frozen Heart Knight and Enchantress. "Icicle Crash" Cold said, "it allows me to banish up to five Frozen Heart Monsters from my graveyard. For each one I can add a card from my deck into my hand." "So he now gets access to any five cards he wants?" Sweetie asked. "He can make up any stratagy he wants with that" Rarity said. The five icicles shattered as Cold removed five cards from his deck. "Prepare yourself, as I use Sol of the Frozen Sun and Måne of the Frozen Moon to set the Pendulum Scale." "DID HE SAY PENDULUM" they all screamed. Two pillars of light appeared besides him, where a pair of monsters floated up until they were ten feet above Cold's head. To his left was a blue skinned goblin creature sitting on a throne of ice, with a large sun carved out of the top and beneath him appeared a number ten. To his right was a similar monster, except it's throne had a crescent moon carved atop the throne and a one bellow it. "Now watch as with these to monsters I can cut through space time and carve my own arc of victory." A beam of light shot out of the sun and moon, which connected and opened a portal above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON." The portal opened and three beams of light flew out and struck the ground. The three lights took the same form. A giant monster made entirely of ice, that were in the shape of a sphere. Suddenly cracks appeared on the front as the monsters fronts folded out into five points, revealing a face carved into the ice bellow. These new monsters now looked like a trio of huge stars carved from ice. "Behold my trio of Stjärna of the Frozen Star." (A2000/D2000/L8/P4)X3 "He can Pendulum Summon" Flash said looking catatonic, "how can he Pendulum Summon?" "I've never seen anything like this before" Twilight said, she to being in shock. "I now activate this Spell card" Cold placed the last card in his hand into his Duel Disk, "Frozen Crevice. Now the pair of us must select a monster" Cold waited for an answer but none came, as Flash was still in shock. "SNAP OUT OF IT." he yelled. "What?" Flash said in confusion. "I said select a monster" Cold said. "Em I chose Flash Heart" Flash said, not thinking. "And I'll select one of my Stjärna's" Cold said. "Now the rest of the monsters are destroyed" he explained, as his two other monster vanished along with Magna Wolf and Magna Fox. "What did you do?" Flash asked. "Frozen Crevice can only be activated when we both have two or more monsters" Cold explained, "it destroys all monsters on the field other than the ones we chose. It's evened up the battle field wouldn't you say?" "Hardly" Flash said, "you just destroyed two of your strongest monsters. And since my dragon is five hundred points stronger then your star, you've put yourself in a corner." "Don't be nieve" Cold said, "since my monsters were Pendulum Monsters they were sent to the Extra Deck. Exactly where I wanted them." "What?" Flash asked. "Now Stjärna of the Frozen Star attack Flash Heart Dragon" he ordered as his monster folded back into a sphere, before raising upward. "Why is he attacking?" Scootaloo asked, "his monster's just going to get creamed." "Now Stjärna of the Frozen Star's ability activates" Cold explained. "When he attack's his ATK points increase by the ATK points of every Frozen Pendulum Monster in my Extra Deck." "WHAT" everyone yelled. "But he just sent two monsters to the Extra Deck" Twilight said. (A6000/D2000/L8/P4) The Pendulum Monster began to descend towards Flash Heart Dragon. Flash stood frozen in place as the attack approached. His friends were yelling at him but he couldn't hear them over the force of the attack, as it struck Flash Heart destroying him. The force was so powerful that Flash was sent flying off the girder he stood on, and he dropped towards the ground. Flash: 0 Cold: 1100 (Winner) "FLASH" Twilight and Scootaloo yelled, as they watched him fall. "HE LOST" the rest of them said. Flash collided with the ground and came to a rolling stop. "Flash" Twilight yelled, as she and the others rushing over to him. "Are you okay?" Flash groaned as he got back up, "I'm fine" he said. "I can't believe Flash lost" Rainbow said. "He did more then lose the Duel" Applejack said looking over to where Cold had jumped down, "he lost his deck." Flash managed to shakily get back to his feet, unable to comprehend what had happened. Not only had he lost, but now he would be forced to hand over the most important thing in his life. "you can't have it" he finally said, "I won't give this deck to anyone." Cold remained stoic for a moment until he spoke, "if those cards were so important to you then why would you risk them on a Duel?" Flash grew quite. Why had he risked them like that? He had been so focused on winning and getting answers that he but something so important on the line, without even thinking. "The deck is mine" Cold said, "but I'll leave it in your care for now." "What?" Flash asked, but he received no answer as Cold turned and walked away. "Wait" he called but his legs gave out and he was forced to stop and watch him go. "I suggest you improve your skills before our next match" where Cold's last words before he was gone "You better believe I'm gonna be ready for you" Flash called, "and I'll get some answers on who you really are." Later on Cold returned to his office where the redhead teen was sitting at his desk. "Have fun?" she asked. "Just tell me what you found" Cold replied. "The scans from your Duel Disk were received" she said holding up a tablet, "the energy levels from the Pendulum Summon held steady." Cold was happy hearing this, "but" he looked up at her as she held out the tablet. "The white is your and the blue is his." Cold took the tablet which showed a bar chart with a white bar next to a blue one three times its size. "So that's it" he said, "even after all that work our Pendulum Cards are nowhere near as powerful as hers." "What does this mean?" the girl asked. "It means we have more work to do" Cold replied. Meanwhile Flash and his friends were at Sugarcube Corner, where Fluttershy was checking him over. "It doesn't look like there's any serious damage" she said, "you'll need your rest though." "Maybe you should go to the hospital?" Twilight said. "And be stuck there for a week like you were" Flash replied, "no thanks." Everyone remained quite as they all still had so many questions about that man. Suddenly the TV on the wall burst into life as a commercial came on, grabbing their attention. "Welcome one and all" someone on the TV said as a pair of women appeared on a stage. The tallest had light pink skin and hair that was pink, green and blue, while the shorter had dark blue skin along with darker blue hair. "Our sincerest greetings to you all" the taller one said. "We are your official mascots for the Celestic Cup" the shorter on said. "WE ARE THE CELESTIC SISTERS" they both sang. "I shine in the light of the glorious golden sun" the tall one said, "Celestia here." "The magic of the moonlight is my thing" the shorter one said, "the names Luna." "We are here today to announce that registration for the Celestic Cup is now open" Celestia said. "Any aspiring Duellist is welcome" Luna said. "And here to express his views" Celestia said, "let's welcome the president of Freeze Industries." "He's also a former champion of the Celestic Cup" Luna continued, "and the sponsor of this years tournament." "PLEASE WELCOME COLD STEEL" they sang as the screen cut to a very familiar face. "It's him" Flash screamed jumping up off the couch. "As Duellists it is our duty to stride to be the best we can be" Cold said, "and that is where the Celestic Cup comes in. Anyone looking for some friendly competition is in the wrong place, for this will be an all out war. And any Duellist skilled enough to make it to the finals, will be rewarded with more then just respect. They will be given custom made Pendulum cards that are being produced by my company." "Freeze Industries are producing Pendulum Cards?" Rarity said. "Guess now we know where he got his from" Twilight replied. "Prepare yourselves for the greatest Duelling challenge any Duellist has ever faced" where Cold's last words, before the screen changed back to the Celestial Sisters. "Wow what a great prize" Celestia said. "I thought Pendulum cards were just a myth" Luna said in mock confusion. "Not anymore by the looks of it" Celestia said. "I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE CELESTIC CUP" they said before the screen went blank. Everyone remained silent as they processed what they had just learned. "Cold Steel" they finally heard Flash say, "so that's his name." "I thought I recognised him" Twilight said. "To think someone that important is so interested in you Flash" Rainbow said. Flash shook in frustration. He had to find a way to talk to him again, to learn what his deal was with him. Finally he made a decision. "I'm entering." "What?" Twilight asked. "The Celestic Cup" Flash explained, "I'm entering. It's might be the only way I'm ever going to be talk to him, to find out what he knows about my deck, to Duel him again. "Then you'll need to do a lot a winning" Applejack said, "he's only going to want to talk to the top players." "Then I'll win" Flash said, "as many Duels as I need. I'll win the whole thing if it gets me the chance to face him again." "And we'll be with you" Twilight said. "I was planning on entering anyway" Rainbow agreed, "just gives me more of a reason. Besides, winning means I'll have my very own Pendulum cards." Soon everyone was in agreement. They would enter the Celestic Cup and win their way to the finals in order to speak with Cold Steel again. "Okay guys" Flash said, "hope your ready for the toughest Duels of your life?" "YEAH." > Turn 14, Grand Hoof > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "WHAT" Flash yelled hearing the news, "what do you mean I can't enter the Celestic Cup?" He and his friends were in Sugarcube Corner going over their registrations for the Celestic Cup. Unfortunately when Flash was putting his details into the website, his Duel Disk sent up an alert saying he couldn't enter. Twilight had looked over the problem and came to a simple conclusion. "You don't meet the requirements" she explained. "How?" Flash asked. "The Celestic Cup only accepts Duellists with a sixty percent win ratio, with a maximum Duelling quota of one hundred Duels" Twilight explained. "You started Duelling two months ago and so far you've only had approximately twenty or so Duels." "So I need to Duel another eighty Duellists and win?" Flash asked. "There's no way you can do that before the sign up ends" Rainbow said. "So I'm screwed" Flash said sitting back on the couch with his head held low. "There has to be someway to get you in?" Scootaloo tried to comfort her brother. "But how?" Applebloom asked. They all remained quite for a moment until Twilight cut the silence with a loud gasp, "that's right" she suddenly took back Flash's Duel Disk and started searching for something. "What are you doing?" Flash asked. "There is a way for you to get into the Celestic Cup" Twilight said, "right here" she held out the Duel Disk that was now showing an advert for something. "The Shooting Star Micro Tournament" Flash read, "all applicants welcome. The prefect tournament for those with less then the required sixty percent win ratio, for the winner...WILL RECEIVE AUTOMATIC ENTRY INTO THE CELESTIC CUP!" "It's perfect for you" Twilight said, "if you win you can still compete in the tournament." "This is great" Flash said taking his Duel Disk back to sign up, only for a part of the advert to confuse him. "Action Duel...what's an Action Duel?" this made everyone go quite. "I know you haven't been back in the Duelling world for long" Rainbow said, "but have you been live under a rock? how can you not know what an Action Duel is?" "Just tell me already" Flash said. "An Action Duel is the latest Duelling experience" Twilight explained, "it uses an ARC System to increase the action." "And an ARC System is?" Twilight sighed. "An Augmented Reality Combat System, or ARC System for short, can create hard light Duelling holograms to make the Duel feel more real. It creates a Duel Field with tons of different environments to run around in, while the monsters created using an ARC System are solid images you can touch, ride and battle with." "They're real?" Flash asked in amazement. "They're solid holograms" Twilight corrected, "they look and feel real but they're not." "So how real do they feel?" Flash asked, looking nervous. "Why'd you ask?" Twilight replied. "Well if the monsters are solid then wouldn't their attacks be solid?" Flash said, "and if so isn't that dangerous? I mean my best card uses a literal sucker punch as its attack. Can you imagine if he attacked someone directly?" They all created an image in their heads of a solid Flash Heart Dragon punching them, and shivered at the idea. "Don't worry Flash" Twilight said, "there are a ton of safety protocols to prevent actual damage. No one has ever been seriously injured during an Action Duel." "Alright" Flash said. He placed his info into the signup and pressed enter. Seconds later a message was sent back to him, signalling he was officially entered into the Micro Tournament, which was in three days time. "Okay" Twilight said, "we have three days to get Flash Action Duel ready." "RIGHT" everyone said. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?" Flash asked himself He did in fact regret it. As for the next three days he was subjected to agonistic training at the hands of his 'friends'. Rainbow had him running long distances to improve his stamina, for when he would be traversing the field. "Come on lazy bones" Rainbow called back at him after he had fallen behind on the fifth mile, "you'll never last with that dismal performance." "Don't...you think...this is...overkill?" Flash panted as he finally caught up. "Do you want to win the tournament or not?" Rainbow asked. "Yes" Flash replied, "but it won't matter if your exercise kills me before it even starts." "You wuss" Rainbow said. It wasn't just running Flash had to suffer through. Twilight had designed an obstacle course, in order to help Flash hone his already impressive reflexes. "Okay Flash" Twilight said, "Action Duels have something called Action Cards. They're scattered along the course, so the object is to pick them all up and reach the end before the timer goes off." "Got it" Flash said. "And...GO" she started the timer as Flash started running. Jumping over the barrel Flash spotted one and snatched it up before moving onto the next one. By the end of the course Flash grabbed the last card and passed the finish line, "done" he said. "Yes" Twilight said, "twenty seconds after the timer went off." "Damn" Flash said. "Again" Twilight ordered. Flash tried again and again to master the course, but always slipped up somehow. "Maybe this tournament isn't for you?" Applejack had told him after the eighth try. "I have to" Flash replied, "it's my only way into the Celestic Cup. The only way I'm ever going to talk to Cold Steel again" at the sound of his name everyone shuddered, remembering that man. "I just wish we could get some more information on him" Rarity had said. "Well I did a little digging to try and learn more about him" Twilight said, "but all I could get was basic information." "Anything is helpful" Flash said. "Well" she continued, "his family relocated to this country from Sweden a century ago. They set up Freeze Industries and have grown it into one of the richest companies in the world." "Anything else?" Rainbow asked. "Just that Cold is a Duelling prodigy, and won the Celestic Cup six years ago" Twilight said. "Then he travelled the world looking to hone his skills, up until last year. Where he took over the family business." "That's still doesn't explain his interest in Flash" Fluttershy said. "Which is why I need to get into the Celestic Cup and talk to him" Flash said. "Let's try again." The training went on for the entirety of the three days until it was the night before the tournament was set to begin. Flash and Scootaloo were sitting in their apartment, as Scootaloo pressed a large bag of ice onto Flash's upper back. "How's that feel?" she asked. "Better" Flash said, "though would it have killed Pinkie to find something other then sand to fill that bag with." "Well you knew it was coming" Scootaloo said, "next time actually try dodging it." "Whatever" Flash said, but before he could say anything else Grand Hoof walked out of his room. He was dressed more business savvy then he usually was, with a suit and tie style. "Hot date Gramps?" he asked. "I'm meeting an old business contact" Grand Hoof replied, "I'll be out most of the night. You two know the rules." "No loud music, no friends over after nine PM and get to bed on time" the siblings recited in unison. "Good" he said, "see you two later." "Later" they said. An hour later Grand Hoof stepped off the train and made his way through the city, heading towards a very unusual place. "Excuses me sir" a woman said as he headed for the entrance, "I'm sorry but the Museum is closed." Grand Hoof reached inside his jacket and fished out his police badge, which he flashed at her. "I have business with the curator" he explained. "Of course" the woman said, "go right ahead." Grand Hoof entered the building and looked around, remembering the many times when he had brought his grand kids when they were younger. "Well well well would you look who the cat dragged in" Grand smiled hearing that voice, as he turned to see Relic Fragment standing at the top of a nearby staircase. "Grand Hoof" Relic said stepping down, "I haven't seen you in years. Not since your granddaughter destroyed half the dinosaur exhibit" he chuckled. "Indeed" Grand Hoof said, "even with so many cases under my belt I still haven't the foggiest how she managed it." "So I'm guessing that you being here means you got the invitation to?" Relic said. "Yes I did" Grand replied, "though I almost didn't come." "Your not the only one" the two men turned hearing the female voice behind them. Cadance and Shining Armour walk into the room, both looking unsure about why they were there. "Well if it isn't the famous Shining Armour" Grand said, "and his lovely wife Cadance." "You've heard of us?" Shining asked. "I do follow the Duel circuit you know" Grand replied, "but even if I didn't I'd be able to recognise you both in an instant. My grandson spoke rather highly of you both." "Your Grandson?" Cadance asked. "Flash Sentry" he explained. "Oh" Cadance said smiling, "well I see where he gets his manors from." "So does anyone know the reason we're all here?" Shining Armour asked. "Your here because I asked you all here" they all turned around to see Cold Steel enter the building, "thank you all for coming." "Your lucky I did" Grand said. "My family hasn't exactly had the best experience when we get involved with yours." "I understand your caution" Cold said, "but this meeting was paramount." "Then what's it about?" Cadance asked. "A situation is arising" Cold explained, "and I require your services to help in the matter." "What kind of services?" Relic asked. "For you Mr Fragment I require your knowledge and connection in all things ancient" Cold replied. "You've studied countless ancient civilisations and have amassed a myriad of contacts in every country, which can gather the information I require." "And the rest of us?" Grand asked. "I may need your detective skill to run down leads I have" Cold said. "What leads?" Grand said. "In time" was all the twenty five year old explained. "And you expect me to just trust you?" Grand said sounding angrily. "I already tried blind faith with your family and that lost me more then I care to risk again." "And if you don't trust me, then your grandson will be in serious peril." Everyone froze hearing this. "Is that a threat?" Grand Hoof asked. "It's a warning" Cold replied, "for soon a great threat will rise, and your grandson may be the only one who can stop it." "What kind of threat?" Cadance asked. "I'm unsure right now" Cold said, "but I'm sure they will make they're move during the Celestic Cup. That's why I need you and your husband." "To do what?" Shining asked. "For now just to keep an eye out. Depending on what I learn I may require your help in other departments." "But what does my grandson have to do with it?" Grand asked. Cold remained quiet at this. "Well?" "How much do you know about your grandson?" Cold asked. "What kind of question is that?" Grand asked, "I know everything about him. I raised him." "Then let me ask you" Cold said, "where did he come from?" Grand grew quiet at that, his body shaking at the question. "I don't know." "What are you talking about?" Cadance asked. Grand Hoof sighed and with one massive breath in, he began to explain. My daughter Misty Vail had always been odd. Even as a child she had an overactive imagination "Look daddy" a five year old Misty Vail said showing her father a picture of a fairy. "That's beautiful pumpkin" a much younger Grand Hoof said, "what's it called?" "She's called Vail Pixie" she said, "she asked me to draw a picture of her so everyone knew what she looked like." "She asked you?" he asked her in confusion. "She's right here" Misty said, "but only I can see her because we're best friends." "Of course you are sweetie" Grand Hoof replied trying to sound sincere. Back then I just thought it was a child's fantasy, but as she grew older she continued to keep saying she could see creatures others couldn't. Many times I would walk into a room and hear her talking to thin air. Years went by and she never seemed to have any friends, but she never felt lonely. And then she started Duelling. "I summon Divine Sky Angel" a teenage Misty Vail said as she placed her card on a purple D-Pad. Suddenly a monster appeared that looked like a woman in white robes, with three sets of angel wings and a pink Bow in her hand. (A2300/D2600/L7) "Finish him off" she ordered as Divine Angel drew her bow and fired an arrow at Levia-Dragon - Daudalus destroying it and reducing her opponents life points. "That was amazing sweet heart" Grand Hoof said hugging his daughter. "Thanks dad" Misty replied, "but the praise shouldn't just go to me. My cards helped me out to." Grand sighed, "this again." "I'm telling you they talk to me" Misty said. "Quiet down" he told her, "if people heard you..." "Who cares what people think" Misty said, "I'm not crazy. My cards talk to me, and tell me how to use them to win." Even into adulthood she continued spouting on about it. It wasn't long until someone very important learned about it. Grand Hoof and Misty Vail found themselves in an office building where they had been invited by a dark figure who was sitting on the other side of the table. "That man was the former President of Freeze Industries" Grand Hoof explained. He turned to Cold who was staring at one of the ancient duel tablets. "My adopted big brother...Sombra." "Your big brother?" Shining said in amazement. "He ran the business until I was old enough to inherit it" Cold explained. "He had heard of Misty's claims about being able to see what he called Duel Monster Spirits" Grand said, "and he believed her. He offered her a job at his company, designing new cards for distribution. She accepted and began her work, finding much joy in it. Every monster she had seen as a kid she designed." "Sounds like a perfect job for her" Cadance said. "It was" Grand Hoof said. "What does this have to do with Flash?" Shining asked. "A year after being hired Misty Vail and I met a young man" Grand Hoof replied, "he wasn't that much older than Misty. He worked for this very museum, where he collected artefacts to put on display." "Trail Blazer" Relic said smiling at the memory of his friend. "He was brash, fool hardy and could never take anything seriously" Grand said before he to smiled, "but he was also loyal, brave and had an unshakeable sense of justice. He and Misty were drawn to each other and one year later I was walking her down the aisle." "That's so romantic" Cadance said. "But that's the end of the happy times" Grand said. "A year after their wedding Sombra asked Misty and Trail to accompany him on an expedition, to find a new world." "What new world?" Shining asked, eyebrow raised. "He believed the Duel Monsters in the game really existed, and that certain individuals like my daughter could see into their world. He also believed that there was a way to cross into that world, and that people and monsters had been traversing the worlds. People going missing and monster sightings were caused by these...breeches, and he intended to find them. He along with Misty and Trail set out on their global trek to find a way into that other world." "Did they?" Cadance asked. "Whether they did or not is unclear" Grand Hoof said, "but during an expedition in Egypt they were exploring an ancient tomb dedicated to some Pharaoh name Atim or something. There was an accident and the tomb collapsed. "That's horrible" Cadance said. "When I heard of it I rushed to Egypt, but by then they had ended the rescue attempts. They couldn't find anything under the rubble, not even a body." "But if they died" Shining asked, "then what about Flash and his sister?" Grand Hoof sighed remembering that day. Three years after his daughter and son-in-law were 'killed'. Grand Hoof was asleep in his apartment one night. Suddenly he was awakened by a mysterious light that filled his room from the outside. Getting up Grand Hoof looked out his window, but the light was so bright he couldn't see anything, so he headed out into the main room and grabbed his gun. Slowly he stepped towards the door as the light continued to shine through the cracks, before he flung open the door and was blinded as the light shot into the room in a tremendous flash. It was over within a second as the light disappeared. Grand Hoof looked outside to see if there was anything or anyone around, but no one appeared to be there. Suddenly his hears picked up on a sound below him, and as he looked down his heart almost gave out at what he saw. A small basket lay on the ground, filled with a bundle of blankets wrapped around something moving. Picking the bundle up out of the basket he opened it up to see an orange skinned baby with blue hair. He couldn't be more then a few weeks old at most, and as he opened his eyes and looked up at him Grand Hoof gasped seeing his eyes. They were the same as his long lost daughter. His eyes moved back to the basket, where an envelope sat with a seal in the shape of a shield with a lightning bolt. Inside was a note saying the child was named Flash Sentry, along with some more basic info about him. "They investigated the child" Grand Hoof explained, "they even did a DNA test between us to show we were indeed related. But even before that I knew this was my grandchild, even as a baby he was the spitting image of his father but with his mothers eyes." "I can't believe it" Cadance said. "Four years later Scootaloo arrived in the same fashion" he continued, "only this time there was no flash of light. I just opened the door and there she was, same basket, same bundle, same note telling me about her." "And you still have no clue where they came from?" Shining asked. "No clue" Grand Hoof replied, "Flash has always been a bit of mystery." "How so?" Shining asked. "Well first there's his amazing physical skill. I've often told him he could be an Olympian if he wanted to." "Anything else?" Cadance asked. "Yeah" Grand said, "the fact that he's never even had a cold." "Really?" the three asked. "Seriously" Grand replied, "when Scootaloo had chicken pox I tried everything to get him infected but nothing worked." "Incredible" Cadance said. "It is" Grand said as he turned to Cold, "that's what I know about where Flash came from. Now answer my question, what does my grandson have to do with this great threat your warning us about?" Cold Steel remained quiet for a moment, until he final explained. "The Pendulum Deck. Even after countless tests and study we have been unable to duplicate their power to the same levels. Currently your grandson is the only one who has the real thing, but I've encountered the deck long before I ever met him." Years ago Cold was traversing a snowy mountain. It was during a blizzard when he was climbing a steep cliff face looking for shelter, when his hand slipped mere feet from the top. But before he could fall something grabbed hold of him. Looking up Cold saw a figure clad in a brown cloak leaning down and holding him up. After being pulled up the figure had taken Cold to a nearby cave where they waited out the blizzard. To pass the time they played a sit down Duel, using a large flat rock as a table. Cold Steel had his three Frozen Heart Lords on the field and had three thousand more life points then his opponent. Then suddenly the figure took out two cards from his hand and showed them to Cold, revealing Magna Fight Lucidum and Glow Craft Magna Fox. It wasn't long before Cold's life points were reduced to zero. Cold was amazed at the turn around the Duel and taken, and it was all because of the Pendulum Cards. Suddenly something flew into the cave and landed on the figures shoulder. It to was covered in a cloak, but from what Cold could tell it stood at about two and a half feet. It had silver skin and a pair of sparkling insect wings on its back. "Those cards have the power to do unbelievable things" Cold said. "If your grandson has been given them then he is the chosen one." The four of them stood in quiet thinking this through. "He has proven his potential as a Duellist" Cold continued, "but he still has much further to go before he is ready." "So him being in the Celestic Cup?" Shining asked. "The best Duellists in the world will be competing, and by facing them he will grow." "I'd hate to say it" Relic said, "but it looks like we'll have to help you. If what your saying is true, then a lot of people will be in danger if we don't." "Yes" Cold said, "so can I count on you?" The four all shared a look, before they nodded. "Then let's get to work" Cold said. The next morning Scootaloo was cooking breakfast while Flash was taking on final look over his deck. "Here you go" Scootaloo said placing a full English breakfast on the table in front of him. "Er...thanks" Flash said. "Your gonna need your strength for today" she replied. "I guess" he quickly ate his breakfast before getting ready to leave. As he and Scootaloo grabbed their backpacks and headed to the door, it opened revealing Grand Hoof walking in. "Are you just getting in?" Scootaloo asked. "Long night" he replied, before pulling something out of his pocket. "This was left in the mailbox for you Flash," it was a brown envelope with his name on it. Flash took it and opened it causing his eyes to go wide seeing what was inside. Three cards were inside. The first was an odd monster card that was completely grey in colour, with a picture of a small dragon holding a round science beaker in its hand, but it had no name, level, attribute or ATK and DEF points. The other two cards were also blank like when he had first go his deck, except instead of effect monsters these the purple like. "Fusion Cards" Scootaloo said, "what's the point in sending you those?" "No idea" Flash said, but something told him we would soon find out. > Turn 15, Advance of Technology pt1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Greetings Duellists young and old" the Celestic Sisters said over the megascreen, "we welcome you all to the Shooting Star Micro Tournament." Celestia: We hope you all enjoy today's competition. Luna: And to all competitors we wish you the best of luck. To confirm your entry please head to the reception desk inside. "Well that's me" Flash said looking towards the entrance. The building where the tournament was being held was a large domed building, surrounded by two smaller domes connected by circular corridors. "You'd better get in there" Scootaloo said. "Right" Flash said as he walked in. "Hello" the receptionist said. "Hello" Flash replied, "I'm here to confirm my entry into the tournament." "Of course" she said, "just place your Duel Disk into the scanner" a slot in the desk opened up and Flash inserted his Duel Disk inside. Several seconds later it came back out, as a picture of Flash came up and her computer. "Your registration is complete" she said, "your Flash Sentry and your contestant number fifteen. Once the last contestant arrives our computer will select your opponent." "Thank you" Flash said. "You all set" he turned to see his friends arrive. "So how much longer until the first match starts?" Rainbow asked. "The receptionist said once the last Duellist arrives everything will start then" Flash replied. "Oh I hope he get here soon" Pinkie said excitedly. "Same" Flash said but then something caught his eye, or maybe the lack of something or someone. "Hey where's Spike?" He asked Twilight about the lack of her little brother. "Not sure" Twilight replied, "he said he had to go somewhere important but would try and show up later." "That's odd" Flash said, "Spike never miss an opportunity to watch a Duel." Flash couldn't think about it any longer as at that moment the megascreen above them switched on, showing the Celestic Sisters. "HELLO DUEL FAN" they said in unison. Celestia: With all contestants at the stadium we're finally ready to kick this tournament off. Luna: Here's how the tournament will work. We have sixteen Duellists who have been split into two groups of eight, with the A block Duellists in Duel Hall One and B block in Duel Hall Two. Celestia: This is a single battle knock out tournament, where the two blocks will each have three rounds to crown a Block Champion. During the fourth and final round the two Block Champions will Duel against each other, to crown the tournaments winner. Luna: Remember, the prize for this tournament is the chance to play in the Celestic Cup. I'm sure no ones wants to miss that. Celestia: Right now our computer is randomly selecting who will face who in the Tournament. Contestants take out your Duel Disks to upload your entry card. Flash activated his Duel Disk as it uploaded a new app. Opening it his Disk displayed an A4, "guess that's my number?" "Block A contestant four" Twilight said, "that puts you in the second match." "You'd better get to your designated area then" Rarity said, "each contestant has their own private room to wait for their match in." "Right" Flash said, as he began to run down the corridor. "Wish me luck guys." "We'll be cheering you on all the way" Rainbow called back. "Good luck" Rarity said. "Be careful" Fluttershy said. Flash ran as fast as he could towards his area. He was going so fast that as he turned a corner, he didn't have time to stop when he found himself heading straight at somebody. "WOW" was all he could say as he crashed into them, "ow" he said getting up as turning to the guy "sorry." "Yeah sure you are" the guy said standing up. He was a young man, possible early twenties, with cream coloured skin, brown hair, buck teeth, taped glasses, green bow tie and zits littering his face. "Why don't you watch where your going?" "look I said I was sorry" Flash replied. "Like I haven't heard that before" he said, "just stay out of my way" and with that he turned and headed back down the hall. "Man what's eating him?" Flash asked, only for the memory of his match to erase it from his memory as he once again rushed down the hall. He arrived at the A block and showed his entry card to the guard, who stepped aside and let him in. Flash found room four and walked in, looking around to see it was a very plain looking room. It had cream walls with a small black couch and table where a pitcher of water sat besides a cup. At the far end was another door which he guessed lead to the main Duel Field. Flash sat on the couch and pulled out his deck. The room was completely sound proof, so he couldn't hear what was happening in the first Duel so he instead just looked through his deck making sure he had it just the way he wanted. Then he remembered something and went into his jacket pocket, pulling the envelope he had received that morning. The three cards were still there and once he pulled them out he stared intensely at them, as if doing so would cause them to do something. But nothing happened and the three cards remained the same. Suddenly the door on the far wall opened, and a man in the same uniform as the receptionist walked in. "Your Duel is set to begin in five minutes sir." Flash nodded and collected his deck to put back in his Duel Disk. When his gaze hit the Fusion Cards he decided for the hell of it and placed them in his Extra Deck, while returning the colourless card to the envelope and into his pocket. Flash walked out the door and the man directed him down the corridor where a bright light could be seen. Told to stand just before the opening he waited as the voice of Celestia could be heard. Celestia: Wasn't that an amazing Duel. Well I hope you didn't use all your energy watching it, because we have another one starting right now. Let's welcome our Duellists to the field. Flash took that as his cue and out onto the field. Said field was the size of a football field, with a glass floor surrounded with the audience's seat. As Flash stepped out he felt a little over whelmed hearing the cheers of the hundreds of Duel Fans, and as he looked around he felt a little uneasy especially since he couldn't see his friends anywhere. But even though he couldn't see them his friends were all in the stands cheering for him. "Yeah Flash" Scootaloo cheered. "Knock them dead partner" Applejack said. "You can do it" Twilight called. As Flash reached the centre of the field where the Ref stood, he looked to his opponent who was walking from the other direction and his eyes went wide. It was the same guy he had run into earlier, with the same zit and bow tie combo. "So your my opponent" he said, "it's no surprise you were incapable of getting the sixty percent win ratio" he said. "What are you talking about?" Flash asked "A mindless oath like yourself probably can't even read the worlds on his cards" the guy said. "Mindless...oath" Flash couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. "Oh of course" he said, "mindless means having little intellect why'll oath means-" "I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS" Flash yelled out, "and I am not mindless or an oath." "Typical" he said, "can give an insult but the second you hear one coming at you you turn violent." "Who the heck are you?" Flash said. "The names Gizmo Poindexter" the guy named Gizmo said. Up in the stands Twilight grew nervous. "He couldn't be that Gizmo could he?" "You know him?" Fluttershy asked. "Not personally" Twilight replied, "but I have heard of him. Gizmo Poindexter was one of the beta testers of the ARC System, since it was his father who created it." "That guys dad built the ARC System?" Rainbow called out in shock. "Yes" Twilight replied, "meaning Gizmo has probably used every Duel Field in the system." "What" Scootaloo said, "that's totally not fair. It's basically giving him a home field advantage." "But Flash isn't at a complete disadvantage" Rarity said, "by the looks of him Gizmo isn't that physically fit. Flash will most likely be more agile, meaning he'll be able to get around better." "So it's a battle between skill and intelligence" Twilight said. Back on the field Flash and Gizmo were staring each other down. "Against my superior brain you don't have a chance of beating me" Gizmo said, as he pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Don't underestimate me" Flash replied. "It's not an underestimation" Gizmo said, "it's simply a fact. How can you expect to defeat a Duellist who knows every nook and cranny of whatever Duel Field we play on." "Even if what you say is true" Flash said, "it doesn't mean anything. The Duel hasn't even started yet." "Then why don't I just prove it to you. A theoretical explanation will probably be to confusing for your tiny brain to understand." Flash growled hearing this and placed his Duel Disk on his arm, while Gizmo did the same with a brown one. Celestia: it looks like our Duellists are ready to play. And now I'll select a Duel Field. Celestia held up a remote and pressed a button. Suddenly the glass floor beneath Flash's feet began to shine as it projected the Duel Field, as a robotic female voice said. "AUGMENTED REALITY COMBAT SYSTEM ENERGISED." In a blink Flash found himself standing in the middle of a street, surrounded by metallic buildings from some futuristic city. Celestia: it's Techno City. Flash let out a gasped of amazement as he looked around the field. He knocked on the building and just like Twilight said, it was as solid as a real building. Suddenly he heard laughter and turned to Gizmo. "If I believed in luck I'd say it wasn't on your side, since this is my best field." "It is?" Flash asked. "Indeed" Gizmo said, "Techno City is based along the idea that the future belongs to the realm of science. As it improves so does the lives of humanity." "I get enough science lectures at school" Flash said, "can we just get the Duel started?" "Very well you simpleton" Gizmo replied activating his Duel Disk, as it formed a white blade. Meanwhile in his office Cold Steel was watching the Duel on his TV. The redheaded teen named Sunset sat in a corner. "So not only did you rig the computer to give this guy possibly the worst Duellist for him to compete against, but you also rigged the ARC System to give him the best field for his opponent?" "Only through truly intense Duels will his skills improve at the rate we need" Cold said, "if he is unable to overcome this obstacle then he won't stand a chance in the battles that matter. Celestia: It looks like our combatants are ready. Then in three. Audience: TWO Celestia: ONE "DUEL!" Flash: 4000 Gizmo: 4000 Above their heads an orb filled with cards appeared before exploding, scattering the cards. "ACTION CARD DISPERSED" the voice said. "Brains before brawn" Gizmo said as he drew, "and I summon MechanicalChaser in ATK mode" a spherical robot with several arms appeared. Each arm had a different weapon attached. (A1850/D800) "Next I play the Continuous Spell card Machina Armoured Unit and end my turn." "Then it's my turn" Flash said drawing. Looking down at his hand he found he didn't have much to stand up to the machine, since the only monster he could summon was Magna Fox. His other cards were Twin Lazor Dragon and Flash Heart, which he couldn't summon unless.... "Got no choice" Flash said, "I use Flash Heart Dragon and Glow Craft Magna Fox to set the Pendulum Scale" the pillars of light appeared as the two monsters flew up. Up in the booth Celestia was commentating. Celestia: What's this? it looks like Flash can use that mysterious new Duelling Technique. "With these two cards I can cut through space time and carve the arc of victory, to summon monsters those are levelled five and six." The portal formed above his head, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and a stream of light flew out and hit the ground. "Twin Lazor Dragon, energised." (A2100/D1500/L5) The robotic dinosaur dragon let out a powerful roar as it prepared for battle. "What's Flash doing?" Rainbow asked, "he just used his best card to summon a lesser monster." "His hand must be really bad if he's using it like that" Twilight said. "Here we go" Flash said, as with one great leap he jumped up onto the dragon's back. Just like the field Twin Lazor Dragon was as solid as a rock, "okay" he said getting comfortable. "I'll attack your MechanicalChaser with Twin Lazor Dragon" the blaster on the dragons left began to charge, and a few seconds later they fired hitting the robot and destroying it. Flash: 4000 Gizmo: 3750 "When a machine monster is destroyed the effect of my Machina Armoured Unit activates, letting me summon a new machine from my deck." Gizmo's deck began to shuffle before it slotted out a new card, "I summon Technobot LV3" a new robot appeared behind Gizmo. It stood at about eight meters in height, with mostly red armour with white on the upper arms, legs, waist and head. In its chest was a cockpit with computers and a large leather seat. (A1200/D900/L3) "Level?" Sweetie asked up in the stands. "Yeah and three's the lowest" Twilight said, "if he plays this right then that robots going to get a whole lot bigger." "Then Flash needs to destroy it before then" Rainbow said. The Technobot kneeled down and held its hand down for Gizmo to step on, before it lifted him up as the canopy opened. Gizmo jumped in and detached his Duel Disk, before placing it on a computer that attached it to Technobot's systems as a pair of robot hands took his cards. "What are you doing?" Flash asked. The thrill of Action Duels" Gizmo said, sitting down. "You get to ride, or in my case, drive your monsters." He took hold of the controls and began commanding the robot. "Don't get to comfortable" Flash said, "at only twelve hundred ATK points that monster won't stand a chance against Twin Lazor Dragon. As his name suggests he's allowed to attack twice in a turn, fire again." The dragon's right blaster began charging. Gizmo smiled and using the controls he turned the robot around as it began running down the street. "Hey where you going?" Flash asked as Twin Lazor chased after them. "That dork's running away" Scootaloo said. "No he's not" Twilight said. The Technobot kept running until it reached a building that looked like it was still being constructed, and with one great punch it caused it to collapse. "What was the point in that?" Flash asked as his dragon stopped, "fire now" the dragons blaster went off. The shot hit the robot causing an explosion. "All right" Flash cheered, but he stopped cheering when the smoke cleared and the robot was still there. "But how?" "I activated the Action Spell Evasion" Gizmo said from with in the cockpit. "It allowed my Technobot to evade your attack." "But where did you get it?" Flash asked. "My Technobot retrieved it for me" Gizmo said as the robot held up its hand, showing a hole in the palm. "My Technobot's arms have vacuum tubes, which let it suck up any Action Spell it comes across. Those vacuum tubes led straight to this cockpit, meaning I don't have to lift a muscle to get the cards I need." "This is bad" Twilight said, "Flash had the physical advantage but with that robot Gizmo has taken that away." Celestia: What a turn around. Now that his monster is out of attacks, what will Flash do now? "I place one card face down and end my turn" Flash said. "It's my turn" Gizmo said as one of the robot hands drew a card. "It's time of technology to advance" he said as his robot began to glow. "What's going on?" Flash asked. "Progress" Gizmo replied, "my Technobot is getting an tune up" the robot was consumed by the light. "When inventing a device it's almost impossible to get it right the first time, so multiple versions are designed and upgraded." The light faded and a new monster was being shown, "the prototype is rebuilt and improved upon." The monster was a newer version of Technobot, with a darker red paint job. It was four or five meters taller then the previous form and had stronger looking armour, complete with large shoulders. "To become Technobot LV5!" (A2400/D1700/L4) "Oh man" Flash said looking up at the upgraded robot. "I activate Technobot LV5's ability" Gizmo said. "By discarding a card I can now destroy one monster on the field with equal to or less attack points" "What?" Flash asked. "I'll get rid of Machine King to destroy your dragon" Gizmo discarded and as did so, the robot's shoulders opened and a pair of lazor cannons folded out. They let loss a mighty ray of light which struck Twin Lazor Dragon destroying it. Flash cried out as he was sent flying off his monster. Celestia: I'm sure Flash wasn't expecting that. Now he's wide open and defenceless "And that was just his ability" Gizmo said, "I still have his attack to hit you with" Technobot raised its fist. "If this hits it'll take a serious chunk out of Flash's life points" Sweetie said. "I can't watch" Fluttershy said as she and the others covered their eyes as the robot threw its punch. Seconds passed but none of them heard Flash yell out, like he should have considering he had just take a lot of damage. Slowly opening their eyes they looked out and their eyes went wide. Technobot's fist was inches away from Flash, but it couldn't get any closer as its wrist was being held by Flash Heart Dragon. "What is this?" Gizmo said as Flash Heart pushed him away and stood between him and the Duellist. "Guess you didn't know" Flash said, "that when Flash Heart is in the Pendulum Zone and I'm targeted for a direct attack he can jump out and summon himself." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "He can?" the girls asked. "Sure I can't use his special ability when he's summoned like this" Flash continued, "but considering he just saved my hide I think it's a good trade off." He looked up and threw a thumbs up at Flash Heart who did the same, before kneeling down and picking him up to place on his shoulder. Celestia: That sure was a close one ladies and gentlemen. These Pendulum Monsters seem to go above and beyond what the rumours say about them. "Now Flash has his best card out" Scootaloo cheered. "But the problem isn't as good as it looks" Twilight said. "If Gizmo can somehow destroy Flash Heart, then Flash won't be able to resummon him like he usually does." "Magna Fox's Pendulum Scale is the same as Flash Heart's level" Rarity said, catching on. "Then we better hope Flash can end this soon" Applejack said. "Your only delaying the inevitable" Gizmo said. "Hardly" Flash replied, "because with my dragon on the field you can't attack me so you'll have to end your turn." Gizmo growled but did so. "It's my turn" Flash said drawing, "I summon Magna Fighter Lucidum in ATK mode" the steampunk knight appeared, spinning his circular blades. (A1000/D1000/L3/P2) "Now Flash Heart will attack your Technobot LV5" he held on as his dragon's boosters lite propelling them forwards, before he sucker punched the giant robot destroying it. Flash: 4000 Gizmo: 3650 Gizmo went flying as monster disintegrated around him. "Now Lucidum attacks" Flash ordered as his knight ran towards the glasses wearing Duellist. Gizmo grabbed his Duel Disk and started running, with the monster behind him. Flash knew he was running to find an Action Card but hoped his knight would hit him before he could find one. That hope was quickly dashed when Gizmo did a ninety degree turn and ran towards a lamppost, where a card was waiting. "Hurry Lucidum" Flash said. His knight leaped at his target but in that second Gizmo managed to grab the card and slotted it into his Duel Disk. "I activate the Action Spell, Trap Blueprints. Now I can take a Trap card from my deck and activate it, so I chose Defence Draw" Lucidum struck him with his attack but Gizmo took no damage. "Now I get to draw one card" he said doing so. "I end my turn" Flash said. "My draw" Gizmo said. He looked at his card and smiled at what he saw, "I activate the Spell Monster Reborn. Now I can revive one of my monsters" light surrounded him as his monster returned from the grave. The light faded and Technobot LV5 was back, with Gizmo sitting inside the cockpit. "And now it's time for the Advance of Technology to continue" he said "as I activate LV Up" he placed a Spell into his Duel Disk. "Now watch as the Beta Version's final bugs are removed" the robot was surrounded by light, "and my Technobot reaches his ultimate form." The light faded and the new Technobot towered of Flash and his monsters. His paint was now blood red, with yellow trim and grey for its upper arms and legs, head and waist. His armour was bulkier with many weapons hidden with in. His height was somewhere around eighteen to twenty meters. "No way" was all Flash as he saw the robotic behemoth. "How do you like me now" Gizmo said, "you don't stand a chance now that I have my Technobot...LV7." (A2800/D1000/L7) Flash was inclined to agree. He didn't think he had a card in his deck that could save him now. > Turn 16, Advance of Technology pt2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was the first round of the Shooting Star Micro Tournament and Flash had suddenly found himself in hot water. Sure he had his best card out, but his opponent Gizmo had summoned a monster that was way more powerful then anything Flash's deck had. "Now that my Technobot has reached his ultimate form" Gizmo said, "there's nothing you can do to stop me from defeating you." "Don't count me out just yet Gizmo" Flash said, "me and my monsters are ready for anything you throw at us." Celestia: This has been one roller coaster of a Duel. But now that Gizmo has his number one monster out on the field, it might be the end of Flash's time here and the Micro Tournament. "It looks like the crowd has already decided a winner, hey Flash" Gizmo said. "This Duel is far from over" Flash replied. "You may have the strongest monster on the field, but that doesn't guarantee you the win. My monsters work better when their together, as a team. "Is that so" Gizmo said, "then why don't we test that theory. I activate LV7's special ability, to let me discard a card and destroy every monster on your field with fewer ATK points the what I discarded." "ALL OF THEM" Flash and the girls yelled. "I discard my Perfect Machine King to destroy every monster with less than twenty seven hundred points" Gizmo said, as he discarded a card from his hand. Suddenly slots in the machines arms, legs and shoulders opened revealing multiple lazor cannons which fired into the air. Everyone watched as the blasts flew into the sky and exploded like fireworks, which suddenly began flying downwards towards Flash and his monsters like hundreds of little meteors. Flash knew he had to find a way to stop his monsters from getting destroyed, when suddenly he noticed a card on one of the buildings in a window frame. "My only chance, Flash Heart" he pointed at the window and his monster flew towards it in an attempt for Flash to grab it, which he did by holding onto the edge of his monsters shoulder. Flash snatched up the Action Card, "got yeah" he said but his excitement quickly turned to dread when he saw the card wasn't an Action Spell, but and Action Trap named Short Circuit. Suddenly he felt himself get shocked by the card as it vanished. Flash: 3500 Gizmo: 3650 "You fool" Gizmo said, "Action Cards are a mixed blessing. They can either help you or destroy you, and you just wasted your time." The meteors continued the descent towards Flash, getting closer every second. Flash Heart grabbed Flash and placed him on the ground before shielding him as the blasts finally struck, destroying both him and Lucidum. "No guys" Flash called seeing them be destroyed. Celestia: And just like that Flash's monsters are gone. Is anyone else getting a déjà vu feeling? Only this time Flash Heart Dragon won't be around to save Flash. "With your field completely empty, my LV7 is free to attack and decimate your life points." The giant robot raised its fist and threw it at Flash. "I activate my face down" Flash said, "your not the only one with a Defence Draw Trap Gizmo." His face down flipped up, as a force field appeared around him which the robots attack bounced off. "Now I get to draw one card" Flash did so. "I end my turn" Gizmo said. "My draw" Flash did so and smiled seeing what he drew, along with the card he had got thanks to his Trap. "I'm resetting the Pendulum Scale, with Scale four Magna Fight Gladio" the steampunk swordsmen appeared in the empty light pillar. "Now i can once again cut through space time and carve the arc of victory, to summon monsters levelled five and six." the portal formed above him, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and a beam of light shot out and hit the ground. "Snap to it, Lumino Jaw Dragon." (A2300/D1600/L5/P5) "Why's he playing that card in ATK mode?" Applebloom asked. "He must be intending to destroy Technobot with it somehow" Twilight replied. "First of since Lumino Jaw Dragon was special summoned, I can return all your Spell and Trap cards from the field to the bottom of your deck." The dragon flapped its wings and caused Machina Armoured Unit to return to his deck. "Now if he destroys LV7, Gizmo won't be able to summon a new monster to take its place" Rainbow cheered. "Now Lumino Jaw Dragon, attack Technobot LV7" Flash ordered. "My Technobot is far superior to your dragon" Gizmo reminded him. "That would be true if it wasn't for Gladio's Pendulum ability" Flash replied. "Since Lumino Jaw Dragon was Pendulum Summoned while I have a monster Magna in its card name, other than Gladio, I can increase my monsters attack strength by eight hundred points." (A3100/D1600/L5/P5) "What" Gizmo said in shock. "Do it Lumino" Flash said as his monster took flight as the pipes around it began to smoke. Gizmo had his monster look around, in a hope to find an Action Card. Lumino Jaw Dragon fired its flames at the robot, who quickly threw a punch at a nearby building. The fire struck the robot a second later causing an explosion. "Gotcha" Flash cheered, but as the smoke cleared his eyes grew wide seeing Technobot was still standing. Flash: 3500 Gizmo: 3450 "Nice try" Gizmo said, "but I got the Action Spell Miracle. It saved my monster and cut the damage I would have taken in half." Flash growled, "I end my turn." (A2300/D1600/L5/P5) "My draw" Gizmo said. "Since you monster is back to its original points I'll have my Technobot attack." "Why isn't he using the monsters ability?" Sweetie Bell asked. "Don't forget that ability requires him to discard a monster, whose ATK points are the same or greater than the monster he wants to destroy" Twilight reminded her. "He must not have a monster with twenty three hundred points or more." "Lumino" Flash waved to his dragon, who flew down as Flash leaped up and onto its back. Let me guess" Gizmo said, "your going to go looking for an Action card." "Hey" Flash replied, "if at first you don't succeed then try again." He and his dragon flew through the city, Gizmo hot on his tail. Despite Flash's dragon being significantly faster then the giant robot, Technobot's large size and long strides allowed him to keep up. Suddenly he saw what he was looking for, an Action Card in a window sill. His dragon flapped its wings and created a gust which dislodged the card and sent it floating through the air towards Flash, before another gust of wind hit it sending it flying in another direction. Technobot held out its hand as a vacuum tube in its palm sucked the Action Card inside. "Hey" Flash said, "that Action Card is mine." "Wrong" Gizmo said, "it's mine. Like the rules say the first Duellist to touch the Action Card can use it. Now back to your monsters destruction" the robot raised his fist and with one great punch, he knocked Lumino Jaw Dragon and Flash out of the sky. Flash: 3100 Gizmo: 3450 Flash cried out as he fell all the way to the ground. Luckily he hadn't been flying to high, so the fall wasn't that far. But it still hurt as he crashed into the ground. "FLASH" the girls cried out in worry. "Is he okay?" Fluttershy asked, petrified to hear the answer. "he's not moving" Rainbow said. As Flash finally began to pick himself up, Gizmo laughed from within his cockpit. "How does it feel? To be helpless against someone so much bigger than you. Maybe now you know how it feels." "How what feels?" Flash moaned out once he was on his feet. "How it feels to be the little guy. The guy everyone just steps on, ignores or pushes out of the way. You'll soon know what it feels like to be like the innocent victims of your bullying." "Bullying?" the girls asked. "What the heck are you talking about?" Flash asked. "Don't try and deny it" Gizmo said, "I've seen your type a hundred times over. The styled hair, the leather jacket and the way you so easily push people around. Bullies never change, no mater what you do." "But I'm not a bully" Flash tried to defend himself. "Then what do you call the stunt you pulled on my back in the corridor?" Gizmo asked. "That's what this is about" Flash said, "that was an accident. It's not like I waited around the corner to slam into you or something." "Typical" Gizmo said, "try and talk your way out of trouble because someone bigger and stronger showed up. Just like you bullies, being all high and mighty as long as your the biggest fish in the pond. But as soon as a bigger fish shows up you scurry away and hide, like the coward you are. "Anyone else thing this guy has a few screws loose?" Rainbow asked. "Sounds like he's had to suffer some pretty bad abuse concerning bullies" Twilight explained. "I guess after experiences like he's had, it can be hard not to see everything in black and white." "You sound like you have some level of experience in this?" Rarity asked. "Back in my old school I used to be picked on as well" Twilight explained. "It was so bad my parents made me transfer to Canterlot High." "So you know what he's been through" Applejack said. "Mostly" Twilight replied, "but he's going about it in the wrong way." "Listen pal" Flash said, "I don't know where you get this assumption about me? But I can assure you that I hate bullies as much as you do." "Like I'd fall for that" Gizmo said. "It's true" Flash said, "in fact I used to suffer from bullies just like you did. They'd force me into Duels and threaten my little sister, if I didn't hand over my cards when I lost. It got so bad that I grew to hate Duelling and started distancing myself from my sister. But I've never tried to be a bully like them, in fact I've gone out of my way to try and stop it when I see bullying, that's what got me back into Duelling to begin with." "Enough of the lies" Gizmo said, "it's time you felt the power of my Technobot." "Well you'll have to wait until after my turn" Flash said drawing, "once again my Pendulum cards with carve the arc of victory." The portal opened once again, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and once again Lumino Jaw Dragon appeared, powered up by Gladio. (A3100/D1600/L5/P5) "ATTACK" Flash ordered, as his dragon fired its flames again. "I activate the Action Spell card Miracle" Gizmo said, "once again my monster is safe." The flames struck the robot but it remained standing. Flash: 3100 Gizmo: 3250 "I'll place one card face down and end my turn" Flash said. "My draw" Gizmo saw what card he had and smiled. "I sacrifice Jinzo to activate my Technobot's ability" the robots blasters folded out and aimed upwards, before firing. Like before the blasts flew up and exploded, before they came crashing down and destroyed Lumino Jaw Dragon. Celestia: And once again Flash's field has been emptied. "Now Technobot attack" Gizmo controlled his monster as it raised its fist and brought it down. "I Activate my Beacon of Hope Trap card" Flash said, as his face down flew up. "With this I can draw one card, and if it's a monster card I can summon it." He went to his deck and drew, "I summon Starbreak Dragon" his axe wielding dragon appeared in DEF mode. (A1500/D1200/L4) "Not so fast" Gizmo said, "I activate the Quick-Play Spell card Hacking. It allows me to change the battle position of a monster on the field, and I chose your dragon's. Starbreak stood up as the robots fists crashed into it, causing it to be destroyed. Flash: 1900 Gizmo: 3250 Flash stood uneasily as he withstood the attack. "My draw" he drew and found he had gotten Aura Spear Dragon, which was useless against Technobot, especially if Gizmo drew a monster strong enough to sacrifice. Flash couldn't take that chance and knew he had only once other choice. "I've gotta find an Action card" he said looking around. "Even if you do find one what are you hoping for?" Gizmo said. "The odds of one Action card being able to turn this Duel around are slim to none." "That may be" Flash said, "but that still gives me a chance." He suddenly spotted a card near a construction zone, and began to run. "I pity you" Gizmo said, "it must be so painful to not have enough brains to see the facts infront of you. If only you would stop and think about the situation." "That's the difference between you and me Gizmo" Flash said, as he continued to run. "You follow your head, and I respect that, but I follow my gut. Sure it gets me in trouble just as much as it saves me, but it's just who I am. And right now my gut is telling me to grab that Action card." "Well lets see what your gut tells you to do, once that card is in my hands" Gizmo kicked his robot into high gear, as it rushed towards the construction zone. The only problem was that Flash was already at the area and would definitely get the card before him, so Gizmo used a different method. With on swift jump the Technobot came crashing down, causing the ground to shake and the many girders and steel beams began to rattle. Flash had almost lost his balance due to the shaking, but got it back in time to see the half built building beginning to rattle. Without a seconds thought he leaped onto the lowest beam, and then leaped up to a higher one. All the while the now unstable structure began to rock from side to side. "Are you insane?" Gizmo asked. "Get down from there Flash" Twilight yelled. "That's to dangerous" Rarity called. None of the other girls could bare to look, especially when parts of the building began to collapse. But Flash continued to climb upwards, drawing closer to the card and just as he was about to reach it, the whole thing toppled over. "FLASH" the girls screamed. Celestia: Oh my. Everyone remained quiet as the the dust finally cleared, showing the wreckage of the building...but no Flash. "Oh no" Twilight said, before placing her face in her hands. "Wait" she heard Rainbow say, "look" She and the rest all looked back up at the rubble which had begun to shake. Suddenly it exploded as a massive tornado shot out, and standing in the centre of it was Flash. "What's happening?" Gizmo asked. "I got the Action Spell Mad Hurricane" Flash explained as the twister disappeared, along with his Pendulum Monsters. "This card returns every card on my field to my deck, and then I can draw the same number of cards" he placed his Pendulum cards in his deck as it shuffled. Flash then drew two new cards. "Two cards won't save you" Gizmo said. "Don't be so sure" Flash said, "Because I'm setting the Pendulum Scale with Scale one Magna Caster Lunara and Magna Caster Solaris." The two magicians appeared in the pillar of light, "now I can summon monsters levelled two through seven. Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory" the portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and four beams of light flew out. "Slice and dice Magna Fighter Lucidum." (A1000/D1000/L3/P2) "Snap to it Lumino Jaw Dragon. (A2300/D1600/L5/P5) "Let your aura flow Aura Spear Dragon." (A2000/D100/L4) "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "So what if you have four monsters?" Gizmo said, "not one of them can hold a candle to mine." Suddenly his computer began beeping. WARNING, WARNING, WARNING "What's going on?" Gizmo asked, before the hood of his canopy opened and his seat ejected sending him flying. Once he 'landed' Gizmo turned back to his monster and saw it was falling through a wormhole, before disappearing into nothing. "You like it?" Flash asked, "my Flash Heart Dragon's ability activated when he's special summoned. It sent your Technobot to the bottom of your deck." "That can't be possible" Gizmo said. "Don't worry" Flash said, "Flash Heart can't attack you directly but my other monsters are happy to do that. Lucidum" the knight leaped at the Duellist and slashed him. Flash: 1900 Gizmo: 2250 "Now Aura Spear" Flash said, as his dragon took flight and formed his energy spear. "I need an Action card" Gizmo said, as he spotted one and leaped for it. He took hold of it and the second he did he felt a surge of electricity hit him, the card was a Short Circuit card like the one Flash had grabbed earlier. Flash: 1900 Gizmo: 1750 Aura Spear Dragon released its attack and it went flying straight at Gizmo, hitting him through the chest and causing him to fall. Flash: 1900 (Winner) Gizmo: 0 Celestia: AND THE WINNER IS FLASH SENTRY. "He did it" the girls cheered. Celestia: That was certainly an impressive comeback. I'm looking forward to what young Flash has in store for the next round As the field dissolved Gizmo got up, only to find Flash standing above him. So this was where the ridicule came, was the first thought that entered Gizmo's head. But instead Flash held out a hand and said, "good game." Gizmo's eyes went wide, but he took the hand and was pulled up. "Yes indeed" Gizmo said, "you to...good game." "I know you think I'm a bully" Flash said, "but I want you to know that I'm nothing like that. What happened before, that wasn't me being mean...just me being overeager and clumsy, and I am sorry." "No I'm sorry Flash" Gizmo replied, "I was wrong about everything I said about you." "Glad to hear it" Flash said. "Yes" Gizmo said, "and good luck in the rest of the tournament." With that said, Gizmo turned and left the arena. Cold turned away from the TV and sighed. "Not going to watch the other Duels?" Sunset asked. "I've already seen his next opponent's skills" Cold said, "her technique should be quite tricky for him to overcome." "He's pretty ballsy I must say" Sunset said, "pulling off that little stunt." She paused the TV on Flash's face, "and he's not bad looking either." Meanwhile Flash returned to his room and sighed as he slid down the door. He was exhausted and this was only the first match. The rest of the tournament was only going to get harder, and he would need to be ready for anything. > Turn 17, The Pound of Music pt1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flash was walking through the stadium looking for his friends. After the first round the contestants were given a half hour reprieve, before the next round started. Despite his victory Flash was still a little shaken due to how difficult it had been. Plus the fact that he was still reeling from the last Duel, after all hologram or not you didn't just brush off the fact that a building fell on top of you. Suddenly a sound hit his ears. It was a soothing melody which filled the air around him and caused all his fears and worries, to just melt away. Following the sound he found a girl sitting on a bench playing a harp. She had aquamarine skin and hair, wore a pink top and dark blue shorts and around her neck was a necklace of a harp. In he hand was a small harp which the music was resonating from. Once she finished Flash did a small clap, "that was very good" he said, getting her attention. She looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks" she said, "I find it relaxes me before a Duel." "You in the tournament?" he asked. "Yes I am" she replied, "the names Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings." "Flash Sentry" he replied, "so I'm guessing that if your trying to relax yourself then you won your Duel." "Yep" Lyra replied, "my opponent didn't stand of a chance. He actually quit halfway through." "Really?" Flash asked. "What can I say" she said, "I guess my stratagy was just to much." "Wish I could say the same" Flash said, "I won mine by the skin of my teeth." "Was it your first time on an Action Field?" Lyra asked, and when he nodded she continued. "Everyone has trouble in their first Action Duel, but once you've got the hang of it then you'll be fine." "I guess" Flash said. "Well it was nice meeting you" Lyra said, "I need to go prepare for my next match." "Well good luck" Flash said. "You to" Lyra replied before walking away. Seconds after she was gone a voice caught his attention. "Flash!" He turned to see his friends running towards him. "Hey guys...OW" he cried as Twilight slapped him across the face. "ARE YOU INSANE FLASH SENTRY?" she screamed, "pulling a stunt like that." "What's the problem?" he said, "I won didn't I?" "Only by putting yourself in unthinkable danger" Rarity said. "Look I won" Flash said, "and to me that's all that matters. So excuse me if my methods are a little extreme." "You call jumping into a collapsing building a little extreme?" Rainbow said. "Okay fine" Flash said, "I'm sorry...better." "A little" Twilight said, "but don't pull anything like that again." "I won't" Flash said, "promise." "Good" Twilight said, before smiling "then congratulations. I can't believe you pulled it off." "Wow Nelly it looked like you were out back there" Applejack said, "but ya did it." "That tornado looked super fun to be in" Pinkie said. "It was pretty cool" Flash said, "I'm just lucky I grabbed the card." "Well you can't relax yet" Rarity said, "the competition is only going to get tougher." "I know that" Flash said. He pulled out his deck and shuffled out his best card, "but as long as I've got you I know I've got a chance." "You'll need to be careful" Scootaloo said, "we saw what your opponent could do and-" "Stop" Flash said holding his hand up to her face, "I don't want to know." "But if you don't know" Scootaloo began. "I'll figure it out" Flash replied, "I'll never grow as a Duellist if I know what my opponent is going to do. It's the unexpected that'll help me get better. "I guess" Scootaloo said, though she sounded worried. "Well then you'd better get back to your room" Twilight told him. "Right" Flash said, "wish me luck." He began walking away, but then heard Rarity say. "Meet us back here after the match, so we're not aimlessly wondering around to find each other." "Got it" he said as he returned to his room, to wait for his match to start. Meanwhile Cold was in his office waiting for the match to start. Sunset arrived now carrying a bag of chips. "I got snacks. This should tie us over till after the match, then we can get lunch." "Must everything be a joke to you?" Cold asked. "Hey, until you get me a real assignment, I'll do whatever I want to pass the time. "Your mission will begin the second the Celestic Cup starts." "I still don't get why you want me to focus on that girl?" Sunset asks "she doesn't seem like anything special." "Just do as I say" Cold said. "Fine" she replied, "but since the tournament is a ways off. I'm vegging." She sat on a couch and opened the bag, as the match began. Celestia: It's time for the second round to begin. The excitement is sure to be twice that of the last round, so lets get our competitors on stage. Flash walked out onto the field where the the ref stood. And walking out from the opposite direction was none other then Lyra Heartstrings. Flash shouldn't have been to surprised since she had said she was in the tournament, so facing her would have happened eventually. He just hadn't expected it to be so soon. "Fancy meeting you here" she said with a smile. "Yeah" Flash replied, "what are the odds?" "I think this is going to be fun" she said, taking out her aquamarine Duel Disk and fixing it to her arm. "I hope so" Flash replied doing the same. Celestia: It seems our competitors are ready. So lets get this started and chose our Action Field. She pressed the button on her remote and in that second the floor glowed as it formed the Duel Field. "AUGMENTED REALITY COMBAT SYSTEM ENERGISED." In the blink of an eye Flash had been transported into a giant room filled will massive instruments. Flash felt like he had somehow shrunk since comparing himself to a nearby flute would put him at about five inches tall. Celestia: It's the Giant's Orchestra. "Just my luck" Lyra said. "What do you mean?" Flash asked. "This is my field" Lyra explained. Flash sighed hearing her say this. Twice now he had to face his opponent on a field they did well on. "Doesn't matter" Flash said, "I beat Gizmo on his field and I can beat her the hers." Up in the stands a girl walked in. She had creamy skin and blue and pink hair. She wore a white dress with yellow and blue trim. "Lyra" she said sadly, "what happened to you?" Celestia: Let's get this started. In three. Audience: TWO Celestia: ONE "DUEL!" Flash: 4000 Lyra: 4000 "ACTION CARDS DISPERSED" "I'll take the first move" Lyra said, "and I think I'll go with the Spirit of the Harp in DEF mode." A woman in a yellow robe appeared alongside a giant harp. (A800/D2000/L4) "Next I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." "My draw" Flash said, "I'll summon Starbreak Dragon in ATK mode." (A1500/D1200/L4) "And I'll play Lightspeed." (A2500/D1200/L4) "Now attack" the dragon flew up and swung its axes which slashed through the woman. "I'll set two cards face down and end my turn." "My draw" Lyra said, "I summon another Spirit of the Harp in ATK mode." (A800/D2000/L4) "And now I'll activate the Spell card Music of Reversal, which switches the ATK and DEF points of my Spirit." (A2000/D800/L4) "Now I attack" the woman strung the harp, the music creating shock waves that hit the dragon destroying it. Flash: 3500 Lyra: 4000 "I activate my trap card, Stardust Draw. Now I get to draw four cards" "I end my turn" Lyra said. "It's my draw" Flash looked at the cards he had and smiled, "I'll use Scale two Magna Fighter Lucidum and Scale eight Magna Caster Solaris to set the Pendulum Scale." The pillars of light appeared and the two monsters entered them. "Now watch as I now have the power to summon monsters, whose levels are three through seven all at the same time. Cut through space time and carve the arc of victory." The portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and three beams of light shot out. "Snap to it, Lumino Jaw Dragon." (A2300/D1600/L5/P5) "Howl to the moon, Shine Crest Magna Wolf." (A1200/D1100/L3) "Sky high, Brass Wing Magna Hawk." (A1400/D800/L4) Celestia: There it is. The amazing Pendulum Summon. How will Miss Heartstrings deal with this? "Lumino Jaw Dragon and Brass Wing Magna Hawk's abilities both activate, since they were special summoned" Flash said. "Lumino Jaw's sends every card in your Spell and Trap card zone to the bottom of your deck, and Magna Hawk's forces you to return three cards in your hand to the deck, shuffle and draw the same number of cards." Lyra did so. "Now Magna Wolf's skill. For every card returned to your deck, he gets a power boost of three hundred points. I count four cards, so that's and extra twelve hundred points till the end of the turn. (A2400/D1100/L3) "Plus Lucidum's Pendulum ability raises the attack power of every Pendulum Monster by five hundred, so Lumino Jaw's getting a power boost. (A2800/D1600/L5/P5) "If his next move works then Flash will take the lead" Pinkie said. "Do it Flash" Scootaloo cheered. "Don't be so sure of that" Twilight said, "you saw what she's capable of last round." "Magna Hawk attacks" Flash said. His mechanical bird flew at the monster, its metal talons primed. Lyra quickly spun around and ran away. Flash knew she was heading for an Action Card, but as long as his monster destroyed hers before she found one he would be fine. Lyra ran towards a large drum, which she used her monster's harp as a spring board to jump onto. The drum acted as a trampoline which catapulted her upwards towards a grand piano, where an Action Card was jammed in the lid, and she grabbed it before landing on top. "I activate the Action Card Defensive Dance Style, which will create a melody that my monster will dance into DEF mode to." True to her word her Duel Disk blurted out music which her monster began to dance to, before kneeling down. "Magna Hawk stop" Flash ordered, as his monster pulled up and soared over the monster. "Magna Wolf go" Flash's monster pounced on Spirit of the Harp, destroying her. "Now Lumino Jaw Dragon attacks" the dragon flew towards Lyra, who ran to the edge of the piano and jumped off towards a saxophone. She landed and grabbed an Action Card, "I activate Summoners Flute. This Action Card lets me draw a card from my deck, and if it's a monster I can summon it." She drew her card and smiled, "I summon Master Composer" a man in suit and bow tie appeared in DEF mode. (A1700/D1300/L4) Lumino Jaw Dragon's fire hit the new monster, destroying it but Lyra's points remained safe. "I end my turn" Flash said. "My draw" she said, smiling at what she had drawn. "First I'll activate Cost Down, so I'll ditch a card and lower the level of a monster in my hand. Now I can summon Maiden of the Enchanted Harp in ATK mode" a woman in majestic ropes appeared. She carried a hand harp made entirely out of crystal. (A0/D0/L6) "A level six monster with no ATK or DEF points?" Flash asked, "what's she planning?" Up in the stands the girls were worried seeing that monster. "This is going the same way her last Duel went" Sweetie said. "Except Flash isn't going to lose to it" Scootaloo said, confidant that her brother had the skills to beat her technique. "I activate Maiden of the Enchanted Harps ability" Lyra said, "I discard level five Grand Maestro." "Her ability is discarding a card?" Flash asked, but a second later he got his answer. Maiden of the Enchanted Harp strummed her crystal harp causing some sort of waves towards him and his monsters. "What's happening" Flash asked, but then something caught his attention. Lumino Jaw Dragon slowly began to fly towards Lyra's monster. "Lumino, where you going?" Flash asked. "He's heard the sound on my Maiden and has fallen under her spell. Now he works for me." The dragon spun around and stared at its former master, his eyes now shinning red. "Your controlling my monster?" Flash asked. "By discarding a monster of the same level Maiden of Enchanted Harp can equip herself to a monster on the field and lets me take control of it." "So she can just take my strongest monsters at will" Flash asked. Celestia: Once again Lyra is showing her alluring Duel style. This is how she achieved victory in her first round match. "It is?" Flash asked hearing her say that. It made sense that her opponent would forfeit if she stole their cards. "Now Lumino Jaw Dragon attack Magna Hawk" Flash's brainwashed monster flew towards the robotic bird and fired its flames at it destroying it. Flash: 2600 Lyra: 4000 "Why did she destroy Magna Hawk?" Applebloom asked, "Magna Wolf has less ATK points and would have caused more damage." "She's not just focusing on life points but the field" Applejack explained to her sister. "Take a closer look at the field" Twilight continued. Everyone examined Giant's Orchestra. It was basically a giant music room. "All the Action Cards are in the instruments" Twilight explained, "and since the instruments are so large getting the cards is going to be tricky. Unless you have a monster that can fly." "Oh I get it now" Applebloom said, "she destroyed Magna Hawk so Flash would be grounded." "Magna Wolf is fast but it wouldn't be get him high enough to grab any Action Cards" Twilight said, "limiting your opponents movements is a smart stratagy in an Action Duel." "I end my turn" Lyra said. "There's only one way I'm going to beat her now she has Lumino Jaw Dragon" Flash told himself, as he placed his hand on his deck. "Let's do this bud...I DRAW" he drew, and without even looking he knew who he had drawn. "Once again my Pendulum Monsters will cut through space time and carve the arc of victory" the portal formed above his head. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and a stream of light shot out. "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Now he's playing serious" Scootaloo cheered. "With him out he can beat Lumino Jaw Dragon" Sweetie Bell agreed. "Flash Heart's skill" Flash said, "Lumino Jaw Dragon will be sent to the bottom of the deck. Hate to do this but" the wormhole opened bellow the dragon, sucking it in and causing Maiden of the Enchanted Harp to be destroyed. "Now Magna Wolf's skill boosts him by three hundred points." (A1500/D1100/L3) Flash jumped onto Flash Heart's back. "Mind giving Magna Wolf a lift?" Flash Heart grabbed the wolf and threw it at Lyra, "I attack with Magna Wolf. The wolf slashed Lyra across the chest. Flash: 2600 Lyra: 2500 "I end my turn" Flash finished. In his office Cold frowned seeing the last turn. "Flash Heart Dragon" he said, "the two of them share more then just a name. I wonder how far that connection can take them? Maybe she can help me find out?" After recovering from the attack Lyra leaped onto a giant cello before staring up at Flash who had ridden Flash Heart to a large tuba. "Flash Heart Dragon" she said, "that's the card you've come to rely on. When all else fails you can trust him to save the day, am I right?" "That's right" Flash said, "no matter what Flash Heart always has my back." "Interesting" Lyra said, as she pulled an Action Card from the cello's strings. "I wonder what you'd do if you had to fight against it?" "What are you talking about?" Flash asked. "I activate the Action Spell, Musician's Comeback. This card lets me revive a monster in my graveyard, so rise again Maiden of the Enchanted Harp" her monster returned to the field. (A0/D0/L6) "That card again" Flash said, only to realise what she was planning. "And now" Lyra said, "I'll discard level seven Melodious Harpist." "Oh no" Flash yelled. "Do it Maiden" she said, as her monster strung her crystal harp and created sound waves that struck Flash Heart. "Don't listen to it" he said, but it was useless. Flash Heart shuck itself causing its Duellist to be flung off his shoulder and onto the Tuba bellow, before it flew over to Lyra. His once blue eyes now shinning red. "FLASH HEART." he screamed. "NOT HIM" the girls screamed. "To late" she said, "he's fallen under my Maiden's spell. Your number one monster is mine." "That can't be" Flash said in horror. How could his best card be so easily taken? "Face it Flash" Lyra said, as she jumped up and sat on Flash Heart's shoulder. "I've just played your Swan Song." > Turn 18, The Pound of Music pt2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was the second round of the Shooting Star Micro Tournament and Flash was facing off against Lyra Heartstrings. Thing looked like they were going okay for him, until Lyra used Maiden of the Enchanted Harp to take control of Flash Heart Dragon. Now in order to move on he would need to find a way to defeat his best monster. Celestia: It looks like Flash is in trouble. Has this Duels outcome just been decided. "So Flash" Lyra said, "How does it feel to know your best monster is now under my control?" Flash stared at his best monster in horror, before taking a deep breath and turning to her. "Your Maiden of the Enchanted Harp may have taken control of my monster for now" he said, "but it won't last long. I'll find a way to bring Flash Heart back to me, that's a promise." "Is that so?" Lyra asked, "then way don't we play a little game. The rules are simple. You have to find a way to get Flash Heart Dragon back to your side of the field, before I use him to reduce your life points to nothing." "I'll take that bet" Flash said. "Then let's begin" Lyra said, "Flash Heart Dragon attack Shine Crest Magna Wolf" Flash Heart Dragon's boosters fired propelling them forwards towards Flash's last monster. "I need an Action Card" Flash said, looking around but was unable to find one from his spot. As Flash Heart Dragon flew closer, Flash pressed the icon on his Duel Disk to flip up his face down. Flash Heart Dragon sucker punched Shine Crest Magna Wolf, destroying it. "Gotcha" Lyra said, but looked confused when she saw Flash's life points. Flash: 2600 Lyra: 2500 "Check your gear" she said, "your life points haven't changed." Flash smirked, "my gears fine. Before Flash Heart's attack hit, I activated my Defence Draw Trap card. It saved me from taking damage and lets me draw one card." Celestia: A close call for Flash. Looks like he's stuck playing defence until he can find a way to stop Lyra's strategy...if there is one. "Fine then I end my turn" Lyra said, sound annoyed that her attack didn't cause damage. Up in the stands Flash's friends watched the match closely. "Flash saved himself from taking damage" Twilight said, "but he can't win like that. "He needs to git Flash Heart Dragon back on his side before Lyra uses it to wipe him out" Applejack said, "which means he needs to destroy that Maiden of the Enchanted Harp." "But how can he?" Sweetie Bell asked "When Maiden of the Enchanted Harp takes control of a monster, she becomes and Equip Spell" Rarity explained. "Flash needs to find a way to use that against her." "But Flash already sent Lumino Jaw Dragon to the bottom of his deck" Applebloom said. "And he won't last long enough to go through his entire deck" Scootaloo agreed. "I hate to say this" Rainbow said, "but I don't think he's winning this round." "Rainbow Dash" Applejack said, "we can't say things like that." "Yeah" Pinkie agreed, "when Flash's in trouble is when he Duels at his best." "But Flash usually uses Flash Heart to win his Duels" Fluttershy said. "How is he going to win without him." "I don't know" Twilight replied, "that's one of the problems with using a deck focused on one card. Take it out and the whole thing falls apart." "So your saying Flash has no chance?" Scootaloo asked. "I don't want to say that" Twilight replied, "but based on the situation." Further down the stadium the girl in the white dress watched Lyra with a sad look in her eye. "Lyra" she said, "what happened to you? you use to respect your opponents monsters. But now. "Attack" Lyra said as Black Luster Solider-Envoy of the Beginning attacked its Duellist, reducing their life points to zero. "Looks like another win for me" Lyra said happily "Lyra" she turned to see the girl in the white dress standing not to far off. "Hey Bon Bon" she said, "did you see how I mopped the floor with that loser?" "Loser?" the girl called Bon Bon said, "that's no way to talk to someone." "Whatever" Lyra said, "I won so what does it matter." "Since when has winning been so important to you?" Bon Bon, "and since when was that part of your Duel style? You can't just take other peoples monsters like that." "Why not?" Lyra asked, "why should I try and summon a super strong monster when I can just take them from my opponents?" "Because your destroying the bond between the monster and their Duellist." "Bond" Lyra said before laughing, "don't be ridiculous. Those cards are nothing but paper and ink, so how can you have a bond with it?" "There more then just that" Bon Bon said, "all cards have a heart. Anyone can form a bond with a card if they care enough." "I've heard enough of this" Lyra said. She turned to walk away but Bon Bon jumped infront of her. "If your won't believe me then I'll show you" she said pulling out her Duel Disk. "Fine" Lyra said, activating hers. "I'll show you the power of the bonds between and Duellist and their monsters. "Agent Striker attack her directly" Lyra said. A figure in a trench coat disappeared into the shadows and then reappeared behind Bon Bon, striking her in the back and reducing her life points to zero. "No" Bon Bon said as she fell to her knees. "Wow" Lyra said, "you really showed me." She turned and began to walk away. "Where are you going?" Bon Bon asked. "To the Micro Tournament" Lyra replied, "there's some people I need to see again. They're going to be in the Celestic Cup, so I need to enter. I'm going to show them how strong they helped me become," and with that she was gone. "Lyra wait" Bon Bon asked but it was to late. "Hopefully there's a Duellist in this tournament, that can show Lyra what it means to share a bond with a monster" Bon Bon said. "Flash Sentry...Flash Heart Dragon, are they the ones who can?" "It's my draw" Flash said. He looked at his hand and frowned since he didn't hold any monsters, "I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." Celestia: Looks like Flash couldn't draw a monster, can he still keep himself in this game. "It's my draw now" Lyra said. "Since Maiden of the Enchanted Harp is equipped to a monster I can't summon any knew monsters, but with Flash Heart Dragon under my control that doesn't really matter. Flash Heart Dragon attack" the dragon's boosters ignited propelling them towards Flash. "If this attack lands Flash will only have a hundred life points left" Rainbow said. "I can't watch" Fluttershy said covering her eyes. Flash didn't look worried as his face down flipped up "I activate my Trap card, Beacon of Hope. This card works a lot like the Summoners Flute you used before, since I can now draw a card and if it's a monster I can summon it." Flash placed his hand on his deck and drew, before smiling. "I summon Aura Spear Dragon in DEF mode" the silver dragon appeared on his field. (A2000/D100/L4) "He won't be around for long" Lyra told him. She was right. But he couldn't allow his only defence to be destroyed yet. Suddenly something caught the corner of his eye, a large French Horn. "Aura Spear, give me a lift" the dragon flew down and grabbed Flash, before tossing him at the horn. "What's Flash doing?" Scootaloo asked. "Almost there" he said as Flash Heart drew closer to his monster. He reached the horn and slid right inside, and seconds later Aura Spear Dragon was punched causing an explosion. "Gotcha" Lyra said. Celestia: Once again Flash's monster was destroyed "You might want to double check that statement" Flash's voice echoed out of the horn. The smoke cleared and Aura Spear Dragon was still standing....floating. "But how?" Lyra asked. "Just before your attack hit I grabbed the Action Card I saw in this horn" Flash said as he pulled himself out. "Evasion. It let my monster dodge your attack." Lyra growled, as she watched Aura Spear Dragon flying him up to a piled of tambourines. "Your ability to clutch at straws won't save you forever." "You don't know that" Flash said, "I've always been a survivor. Clutching at straws is one of the things I do best." "I end my turn" Lyra said. "It's my draw" Flash said, smiling as he saw that he had drawn. "I switch Aura Spear Dragon to ATK mode." "What's Flash doing?" Fluttershy asked. "I hate to do this Flash Heart" Flash said, "but I activate the Spell Reverse Polarity." "Alright" the girls cheered at the mention of that card. "Now Aura Spear Dragon's ATK power will rise by the difference between his and Flash Heart's." (A2500/D100/L4) "Meanwhile Flash Heart's will go down by the same amount." (A2000/D2000/L7/P4) "Flash Heart's weaker now" Lyra said. "Do it Aura Spear Dragon" Flash ordered as his dragon flew up and brought his hands together, creating a ball of light. Lyra leaped off Flash Heart's shoulder to a nearby trumpet. She landed on one of the buttons and caused a gust of wind to blow from the instrument, which blew something out. "An Action Card" Flash said, realising what she was doing. "That's right" Lyra said, as she ran to the edge of the trumpet and leaped into the air catching the Action Card. "I'm taking a cue from you." As Aura Spear Dragon threw its weapon at Flash Heart, Lyra placed the Action Spell in her Duel Disk. "I'll also activate the Action Spell Evasion" Flash Heart Dragon dodged the attack as it passed over him and hit a nearby accordion. "Oh man" Rainbow moaned, "Flash almost had Flash Heart back." Twilight nodded, "no doubt Flash Heart is the strongest monster in both of their decks. Lyra will want to keep him on her side for as long as she can." "After Aura Spear Dragon attacks he switches to DEF mode" Flash said, as his monster kneeled down. "I end my turn." Celestia: He was so close, but yet again Lyra forces him back. "It's my draw" Lyra said, but after doing so she turned around and grabbed something off the ground. "Look what fell out of the accordion after your monster's attack" she held up the Action Card for all to see. "I activate the Action Spell Offensive Dance Style, which will cause your Aura Spear Dragon to switch into ATK mode." "What" Flash said looking at his monster who stood back up. "Flash Heart Dragon attack" Lyra said. Flash's brainwashed monster flew at Aura Spear Dragon. "I activate my Trap card" Flash said, "Brittle Shield. When you attack an ATK position monster with more ATK the DEF points, then I can switch him back to DEF mode." Aura Spear Dragon kneeled down just before he could be destroyed. "Close one." "I end my turn" Lyra said. "It's my turn" Flash said drawing and smiling, "I summon Magna Fighter Arma" the steampunk teen girl appeared. (A1800/D0/L4) "And while Arma is in DEF mode she can't be destroyed." "Is that so" Lyra said. "I end my turn" Flash said. "Then it's my draw" Lyra looked through her cards and sighed, "I end my turn" she said. "It's my draw" he said looking at what he gotten "Reflection Guard," he said to himself. "I can't use it right now, but it might come in handy later. I set one card face down and end my turn." "It's my draw" Lyra drew and her eyes went wide, seeing what it was. "This card will win me the entire match." "What?" Flash asked hearing this. "I activate the Spell card Sound Crash," she placed the card in her Duel Disk. "This card destroys one monster on the field and deals you damage equal to half that cards ATK strength." "Oh no" Flash and the girls said. A high pitched sound blasted out of her Duel Disk that struck Arma. The steampunk winced in pain before she was destroyed, and Flash was hit by it getting blown off the tambourine pile and crashed onto the floor. Flash: 1700 Lyra: 2500 "FLASH" the girl said. "One more hit and it's all over for you" Lyra said. "Tell you what, I'll give you the same offer I gave my last opponent. Surrender this Duel and I'll spare you the embarrassment, of being beaten by your own monster." As Flash got up he began to seriously consider giving up. He couldn't see any way for him to win, so why suffer. When he was on his feet he raised his Duel Disk, and began lowering his hand ready to surrender. "Don't do it Flash" Twilight and the girls all yelled. "Do it" Lyra said, "you know it's your only option." Bon Bon sighed and turned to leave, not able to watch her friend continue to act this way. Flash's hand was inches away from his deck, but has he looked up and his eyes met with Flash Heart Dragon's his hand suddenly froze. "What am I doing?" he asked himself as he moved his hand away. "There is no way I'm giving up" he said, "if I did that it means I'd be giving up on Flash Heart." Bon Bon froze hearing him say that. "What are you talking about?" Lyra asked. "If I surrender this Duel it means I'm letting you get away with stealing my best monster, and there's no way I'll let that slide. I owe everything to Flash Heart Dragon. Ever since he came into my life it's been nothing but good things. I've grown to love Duelling again, I've made great friends and I've reconnected with my love ones. I owe all of that to Flash Heart, because he's more then just a card. He's my partner...my friend. We share a bond that you'll never destroy." "Bond" Lyra said, her memory flashed back to what her best friend Bon Bon had said. But suddenly that memory was shattered by another, this one being of three individuals who had shown her the unbelievable power she now used. "That's enough" she almost screamed, "don't say I didn't warn you. Flash Heart ATTACK" Flash Heart's boosters fired sending him towards Flash. Flash spun around and ran as fast as her could. "There's only one card that can save me" he said, looking around frantically. Finally something caught his eye, and he took a great leap forwards as Flash Heart Dragon drew closer. "FINISH HIM" Lyra screamed. Flash Heart reared back its fist ready to strike. Celestia: This could be it. Flash Heart attacked, only for something to tackle him out of no where. The force of the blow caused the attack to miss Flash by inches. "What happened?" Sweetie asked. The dust cleared showing Magna Fighter Crossbolt standing between Flash Heart and Flash. (A1400/D1400/L4) "But how?" Lyra asked. "I managed to snag an Action Card" Flash explained, "you probably remember it. Summoner's Flute." "So Flash drew Crossbolt" Twilight said, "now he can defend himself." "Except Flash summoned him in ATK mode" Rainbow pointed out. "Why would he do that?" Applejack asked. "He must have a reason" Rarity said. "Fine then" Lyra said, "I'll just destroy your monster. Attack" Flash Heart re-aimed his punch and struck Crossbolt, who held up his crossbow in defence. The attack hit and shattered Crossbolt, but not like it should have, since Crossbolt appeared behind the first unharmed. Flash: 600 Lyra: 2500 "Sorry Lyra" Flash said, "but my Reflection Guard prevented my monsters destruction." Lyra growled, "fine I end my turn. It makes no difference, since I can just destroy you on my next turn." "Wrong" Flash said, "your not getting a next turn." "What?" Lyra asked. "The outcome of this Duel was decided the second I drew Crossbolt" Flash explained, "let me show you. I draw, and with it I'll activate Crossbolt's ability. When he's in ATK mode during my Standby Phase, he can take aim at a random card in your Spell and Trap card zone...and destroy it." "But wait" Lyra said, "I only have one card in my Spell and Trap card zone." Everyone looked up above the Duellists where Maiden of the Enchanted Harp floated, playing her harp. "That's right" Flash said, "meaning he's got one easy target" Crossbolt aimed his crossbow. "Ready...aim...fire" Crossbolt fired his energy arrow which struck the Maiden, destroying her. "No" Lyra said, "without Maiden of the Enchanted Harp." She turned to Flash Heart Dragon, as his eyes returned from being red to bright blue. Seconds later his boosters fired and he flew towards Flash, but not to attack. "Welcome back bud" Flash cheered and he ran and leaped onto a drum, bouncing himself straight onto his monsters back. Celestia: Unbelievable. Flash got his monster back. "How is this possible?" Lyra asked in shock. "I told you" Flash said, as he stood himself between his monsters wings. "We're connected, and it'll take a lot more then a little off key music to break that bond." "Bond" Lyra said. That word again. Is this what she had meant by it. "It's time to end this" Flash said, as Flash Heart took the position of a football player ready to charge. "Let's do this...PARTNER" Flash Heart burst forwards, and with one swift punch, he struck Lyra. Lyra screamed as she was sent flying back. Flash: 600 (Winner) Lyra: 0 Celestia: HE DID IT. Flash was behind all Duel, but he found a way to push back and win the Duel. As the field disappeared Flash went over to Lyra and held her up. "That was one tough Duel." "But you still won" Lyra said, "thank you Flash. I finally understand what it means to share a connection with your monster." "Everyone has one monster they can relate to" Flash said, "you just got to find it." "I will" Lyra said, "I'll look until I find a card that really connects to me." "And when you do" Flash said, "I want to be the first guy you face." "Right" she said, "promise." With that she turned around and left the stadium. Cold turned away from the TV. "Well that was an interesting Duel" Sunset said, "wasn't sure he would make it out of that." "Their connection is growing stronger with each Duel" Cold said. "Now if only they could take the next step." As Lyra left the stadium she suddenly noticed someone standing not to far off from her. Bon Bon stood there silently. The silence was so great you could hear a pin drop. Finally a sound broke it, as Lyra's eyes filled with tears she sniffed and finally broke out crying. "Oh Lyra" Bon Bon was by her in a second, pulling her into a hug as she cried into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry" Lyra said, "I let the need to win come between us." "It's okay" Bon Bon said, "you just got overwhelmed by those Duellists." "I promise I won't ever be like that again" Lyra said, still crying. "Thank goodness" Bon Bon said to her, "and thank you Flash" she said to herself, "I'll always be grateful for this." After the second round concluded Flash returned to the spot he and his friends agreed to meet. "Flash" he looked up to see Scootaloo running towards him, before throwing her arms around him. "You did it, I knew you could." "Thanks Scoot" Flash said, "it was touch and go for a moment though." "But you did it" Twilight said, "despite all the odds your did it." "It wasn't just me" Flash said taking out his ace. "Ever since I met you, the wheels of fate have spun. I know you'll always be there for me." "Well I'm starving" Rainbow cut in, "let's go get something to eat." "Agreed" Flash said as he returned his card to his deck. Had he by chance looked inside his Extra Deck, he would have seen it. The two blank Fusion Cards were beginning to faintly glow. > Turn 19, Might of the Sea pt1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flash and his friends were in the stadium food court getting lunch. "Two down two to go" Scootaloo said, "one more victory and you'll be the block champion." "I guess" Flash said, "but I doubt it'll be getting any easier." "Your right" Twilight said, "your next opponent is possibly even stronger then your last two." "You flatter me Señorita" a voice with a Mexican accent said from behind them. They spun around and saw a man in his early twenties. He had light brown skin, light blue hair and wore a white shirt, denim jeans and a dark blue scarf around his neck. "Can we help you?" Flash asked. "That's Tidal Wave" Rainbow told him. "Who?" Flash asked. "He's your next opponent" Rarity explained. "Yes indeed" the man named Tidal said. "It's a pleasure to meet you mi amigo" he held out a hand for Flash. Flash took it, "same to you." It wasn't long before they were all sitting at a table with their lunch talking. "So Tidal?" Twilight said, "why are you competing in the Micro Tournament? Considering your last two Duels your skills might even be on par with most Pro-Duellists "He's that good?" Flash asked. "Yeap" Scootaloo said, "I'd tell you more but you said you didn't want to know." "Well to answer your question Señorita Sparkle" he said, "I'm in this tournament because I've only recently moved to this country. I didn't have the time to gain the hundred Duel quota, for instant access into the Celestic Cup." "So your like me" Flash said, "I didn't have enough time to get the hundred Duel quota either." "I knew a Duellist of your skills had to have a reason for being here" Tidal said cheerily, "my heart beat when I watched you Duel. "Yay" Pinkie agreed "I think we've found Pinkie's long lost sibling" Rainbow said to Applejack, making her chuckle. "So Tidal?" Rarity said, "why did you decide to move here?" "I came for the Celestic Cup" Tidal replied. "To me this is my chance to make it as a Pro here in the US." "So you have professional aspirations?" Twilight asked. "Indeed" Tidal replied. "For the name of my father I aspire to reach as far as I can in the world of Duelling." "Your father?" Flash asked. "Indeed" Tidal said. "My father was Almirante High Tide. He was one of the most decorated soldiers in the Armada de México. He was the first man in our village to join the military. As an Almirante my father spent much of his time at sea, and as such." "Welcome aboard señora" a young private said to High Tide's heavily pregnant wife, Sweet Fleur, as she stepped onto the boat. "Hola mi amor" Almirante High Tide said as he embraced his wife. "Hola High Tide" Sweet said. "I'm glad you could come aboard" High said. "It's just for a couple of days" Sweet said, "then I'll be staying put back home until the bebé is born." "They say the storm came out of nowhere. The men say it was as if Chalchiuhtlicue himself was targeting their boat. For three days and night they were rocked by the raging ocean. And then." Sweet Fleur held her stomach in pain. "Oh, I think the bebé is coming." "it can't be" High Tide said in panic, "it's to soon." "Well it seems our little one is eager to meet the world." "As the storm raged my mother brought me into this world." "Almost there" the ships medical officer said, "one last push." Sweet Fleur screamed as she pushed, and a second later a new scream could be heard. "It's a boy" the doctor said, as he gave the baby to its mother. "He's beautiful" she said cradling him. "He really is" High Tide said. "Almirante" an officer yelled running into the room, "the storm." Everyone looked outside the port window, to see the sky was clear and sea was peaceful. "What an incredible story" Fluttershy said. "I've never heard of someone being born at sea before" Rainbow said. "Well it's true" Tidal replied, "It's said that people hold a strong connection to the place where they are born and I agree. All my life the ocean and I have been as one." "Really?" Twilight asked intrigued. "Sí" Tidal replied. "I can tell when a storm is about to brew, and where the best places are to fish. The sea itself speaks to me." "With all that it sounds like you should have become join the military instead of becoming a Duellist" Flash said. "You wouldn't be the first to say that" Tidal said with a smile, "everyone in my village thought I would follow in my fathers footsteps. Everyone except my father." High Tide and a ten year old Tidal Wave sat on the edge of a pier fishing. "What do I want to do in my life?" Tidal repeated his fathers question, "isn't it a little to early to ask me that Papá?" "It's never to early to decide what you want in life" High Tide replied, "as long as you feel it in your heart." "Then I..." Tidal hesitated for a second, "I want to be a Duellist." "Really?" High Tide said. "I know you think it's a silly dream" Tidal began, but his father cut him off. "Oh course I think that's a silly dream" High Tide replied, making his son frown. "But you know what...all dreams are silly, that's why their dreams. But if you want something enough, then a dream can come true." "Really Papá?" Tidal asked. "Did you think they believed I could make it as far as I did in the Armada de México. They didn't but I proved them wrong." "Wow" Tidal said. "Never forget that you are the maker of your future" High Tide continued. "If you want to be a Duellist, then become a Duellist. Just remember where it is you come from, and that I'll always be supporting you." "My father believed I could become a master Duellist" Tidal explained, "so now when I Duel in his memory." "Memory?" Flash asked. "You mean?" Tidal nodded still smiling, "not long after that my father went off on duty and his ship was caught in a surprise storm. The ship was never seen again." "Oh Tidal" Rarity said. "It's fine" Tidal replied, "it was a long time ago and I've gotten over it. Besides my father is always with me in a way." "What do you mean?" Rainbow asked. Tidal took something out of his pocket which he revealed as a Ritual Monster card. "You see." "I'll miss you Papá" Tidal said as he and Sweet Fleur had come to see him off. "I'll be back before you know it" High Tide said, before pulling something out of his pocket. "But when I get back I'll want to see you've master this" he showed his son the card. the boy took the card and read it, "Commander of the Raging Storm Soveruin." "You said you wanted to be a Duellist right?" High Tide said. "Maybe this card can help you become that Duellist." "Thank you Papá" Tidal said as he threw his arms around him. "Ever since then" Tidal said, "every time I've played this card I've felt my fathers presence." "Wow" they all said. "I entered this tournament to begin my rise to the professional circuit" Tidal finished, "my father believed I could make it and I intend to do so." "Well first you'll have to get through me" Flash said. "I look forward to it mi amigo" Tidal replied. The two bumped fists in respect, knowing they wouldn't hold anything back. Meanwhile Cold had just finished his lunch and turned back to the TV as the Duel would soon begin. Tidal Wave was one of the most promising Duellists in Mexico, and his skills would surely push Flash's. "It's time to evolve your style" he said, "or be left in the dust." Flash sat in the waiting room while the audience took their seats for the Duel. He was once again looking through his deck making sure everything was ready, but he still felt like something was missing from it. Suddenly his hand shifted to the pocket of his jacket, and pulled out the envelope he had been given that morning. Pulling out the colourless card he stared at it in confusion, still wondering what its purpose was. A thought entered his head. It was stupid, insane and dangerous but it was the only thing he could think of. As the door opened and the guard walked in Flash placed the card in his deck and returned it to his Duel Disk. Celestia: It's time for the third and final round in the A block competition. Who will be our Block Champion and move on to the final round? The crowd cheered on as the competitors entered the arena. Celestia: Will Flash Sentry's luck from the previous two rounds grant him a third victory, or will the Mexican Heart Throb Tidal Wave continue his overwhelming winning streak. As Flash walked to the centre he heard a portion of the female crowd begin to scream. "We love you Tidal." "Win this for me Wavey." "Oh man" Rainbow said hearing this. "This crowd is really eating him up." "Flash is lucky this tournament isn't about popularity" Rarity agreed. "So amigo" Tidal said, taking out a light blue Duel Disk "you ready to do this?" "You know it" Flash said taking out his own Duel Disk. Celestia: It looks like our Duellists are set to begin. Then lets see what field they'll be Duelling on. She pressed the button on her remote and in that second the floor glowed as it formed the Duel Field. "AUGMENTED REALITY COMBAT SYSTEM ENERGISED." In the blink of an eye Flash found himself under water. He almost began to panic, until he realised he could breath and the water was just part of the hologram. Looking around he found himself standing on an ancient temple like building, and around it were other ancient buildings. Tidal was standing not to far off, on a building of the same height making them eye level. Celestia: It's the Sunken Ruins. "Fantástico" Tidal cheered with a spin. "Don't tell me" Flash said face slapping. "This is my field" he said. Okay, someone in this tournament had it in for him Flash decided. "It doesn't mater" he said to himself, "I still have no interest in losing." "Then lets get this Duelo going" Tidal said. Celestia: Alright, in three. Audience: TWO. Celestia: ONE. "DUEL!" Flash: 4000 Tidal: 4000 "ACTION CARDS DISPERSED" "I'll start" Tidal said, "and summon Officer Cadet Andrew in Ataque mode." A teenager in a Navy uniform appeared, carrying a rapier. (A1000/D1000/L3) "Turn end." "My draw" Flash said, "I summon Aura Spear Dragon in ATK mode." (A2000/D100/L4) "Attack" the dragon cut through the water and created his spear of light. Tidal ran to the left and leaped off the edge of the building he had been standing on, and flew towards a nearby stone pillar. "He's flying" Pinkie said. "It's the water" Twilight said, "Flash is going to have to take that into account as he moves around." As Aura Spear threw its attack Tidal swung around the pillar and pulled an Action Card off it. "I activate the Action Spell Life Jacket." The light spear struck Officer Cadet Andrew, but even though it looked like it hurt him he remained on the field. Flash: 4000 Tidal: 3000 "I might still take the damage" Tidal said, "but my monster is safe." "Aura Spear Dragon's ability switches him to DEF mode" Flash said, "I'll place two cards face down and end my turn." "My turn then" Tidal said, "and due to Andrew's ability I get to draw one additional card ever time I draw." He drew two cards from his deck. "Now I tribute Officer Cadet Andrew for Ocean's Caviller," Andrew disappeared in a vortex of water and was replaced by a new monster. He also wore a Navy uniform only it was more extravagant, and carried a long spear. The most noticeable thing about him was he was riding a giant green sea horse. (A2300/D1400/L5) "Something to note about Ocean's Caviller, is that when he's tribute summoned he gains the ability of the monster used to summon him." "So now he's got Andrew's ability" Flash said. "Si" "So now whenever he draws a card" Scootaloo guessed, "he'll get another card as well." "He's looking for something" Twilight said. "Now I activate the Spell card Graceful Charity, which allows me to draw three new cards along the the extra card" Tidal said. "Now to discard two" he did so. Celestia: With each move his hand gets bigger and bigger. Just what is his stratagy? "Now Ocean's Caviller will attack Aura Spear Dragon" Tidal ordered. His monster raised his spear high and threw it at the defending monster, causing him to shatter into a million pieces which floated in the water for a moment. "I activate my two face downs" Flash said, "Starburst Draw and Code Change. Code Change will rewrite Starburst Draw's text from fifteen hundred to two thousand, meaning Starburst Draw's effect activates letting me draw one card for every level star Aura Spear Dragon had." Flash drew four cards. "I'll end my turn" Tidal said. "It's my turn" Flash said drawing a card and looking at his hand. He had Lunara and Flash Heart, but that Pendulum Scale only allowed him to summon level two and three monsters. He need to play defensively until he could draw another Pendulum Monster. "I summon Magna Fighter Deck Striker in DEF mode," the steam punk with the metal gauntlet appeared. (A1300/D500/L3) "I end my turn." "Flash is playing defence way to early" Rainbow said. "He might not have a choice" Twilight said, "let's just hope he can find a way to pull ahead before Tidal pulls out his ace." "I draw" Tidal said drawing two cards and smiling. His stratagy was almost complete, with just one card needed. "I attack with Ocean's Caviller" his monster raised his spear and threw it at Deck Striker. Flash ran across the temple and threw himself off towards another building, where he had spotted an Action Card. Unfortunately the water had slowed his movements and his leap hadn't been enough, so Flash ended up sinking just before the ledge which his fingertips barely caught. As he hung over the side he looked around at his monster, as he was hit by the spear destroying him. Celestia: So close but so far. Flash just wasn't able to reach the card in time. Tidal smiled seeing his opponent struggle to pull himself up. "I'll place one card face down and end my turn. It's your turn amigo." "Right" Flash said standing up, "it's my draw" Flash did so and smiled seeing what he had drawn. "It's time for me to blow you out of the water" he said, "as I use Scale eight Magna Caster Solaris and Scale one Magna Caster Lunara to set the Pendulum Scale." the pillars of light appeared as his magicians flew up above him, "now watch as with these two monsters I cut through space tie and carve the arc of victory." The portal formed above him. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and four beams of light shot out and crashed into the ground. "Swing for a win Starbreak Dragon." (A1500/D1200/L4) "Howl to the Moon, Shine Crest Magna Wolf." (A1200/D1100/L3) "Target sighted, Magna Fighter Radium." (A1600/D1400/L4) "Shine your light of victory, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) Everyone cheered seeing Flash's Pendulum Summon in action. No one more then Tidal. "My heart is...FULL" he screamed throwing his arms out. "The Pendulum Summon, such an amazing technique." "Thanks Tidal" Flash said, "and you haven't seen the least of what it can do." "Then show me amigo" Tidal challenged. "Okay then" Flash said, "Flash Heart Dragon's ability now activates and sends your weakest monster to the bottom of your deck. Then Shine Crest Magna Wolf's ability, will increase its ATK points by three hundred until the End Phase. When all my monsters attack this Duel is mine." "An interesting stratagy" Tidal said, "to bad for you that my Trap card will put an end to it." "Trap card?" Flash asked. "That's right" Tidal replied, as his face down flipped up. "My Tsunami Surge Trap will negate to effect of your Flash Heart, and force monster on the field into DEF mode." "ALL OF THEM?" Flash and the girls screamed. A vortex of water burst out of the trap, hitting all of Flash and Tidal's monsters and forcing them to take up a defensive stance or risk being blown away. "Also" Tidal continued, "my Trap card will be sticking around for three turns. In that time we aren't allowed to change to battle position of any of our monsters." "So Flash is basically trapped?" Rainbow asked. "If he can hold out for three turns" Twilight said, "then he can change Flash Heart back and attack." "But by then it might be to late" Sweetie Bell said. With all of his monsters stuck in DEF mode Flash was forced to do one thing, "I end my turn." "Then it's my turn" Tidal said, drawing two cards. Seeing what they were he grinned, "it is finally time." "What?" Flash asked. "Oh no" the girls said, knowing what was to come. "First I activate Monster Reborn" Tidal said, activating a Spell card. "With it I can revive Officer Cadet Andrew" his monster returned to the field, rapier at the ready. (A1000/D1000/L3) "And now" he held up a card, "the greatest gift I've ever received. I activate the Raging Storm Ritual," a underwater tornado appeared sucking Tidal's monsters into its centre. "Now I summon a monster whose command over the wind and seas is unwavering. A friend in the eye of the storm, I RITUAL SUMMON!" The tornado exploded revealing a new monster. He was a man in a white Navy uniform with gold trim, and a large cutlass in his right hand. In his left were rains connected to a large green sea horse in majestic golden armour. "Commander of the Raging Storm, Soveruin." (A2400/D2200/L7) "There it is" Applebloom said in awe. "This is bad" Twilight said. Celestia: Commander of the Raging Storm Soveruin. This card single handedly won the match for Tidal in the previous two rounds. "Now I activate Soveruin's ability" Tidal said. Soveruin raised his cutlass and from it came another tornado. "What's happening?" Flash asked, but then he got his answer. Lunara and Solaris found themselves transforming back into cards, before being pulled into the vortex along with Tsunami Surge. The three cards flew around until Soveruin threw the sword and the tornado down, blowing the cards at Flash slashing him. Flash: 3400 Tidal: 3000 "What the" Flash asked. "By returning every card in our Spell and Trap card zones to our hands" Tidal explained, "Soveruin deals you two hundred points of damage for every card. And now I attack Flash Heart Dragon" Soveruin rode the armoured sea horse at Flash Heart, slashing him with his cutlass destroying him. "I end my turn with a face down." "That face down" Flash said, "no doubt it's Tsunami Surge." He now realised Tidal's stratagy. During his turn he'll activate it again and force all of their monsters into DEF mode to stop him from attacking, before using Soveruin to return it and start everything over again." Looking at it from every angle, he only knew one thing for certain. "I'm trapped." > Turn 20, Might of the Sea pt2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the third round of the Shooting Star Micro Tournament, Flash faced off against Tidal Wave. Despite Flash being ahead in life points Tidal had summoned his ace, Commander of the Raging Storm Soveruin, along with his trap Tsunami Surge had him trapped. "Flash is in major trouble" Rainbow said. "Tidal's stratagy has Flash totally trapped" Twilight said. "First he uses Tsunami Surge to negate Flash's monster effects and change them to DEF mode, before using Soveruin's ability to return his cards to his hand and deal damage to Flash." "How is he going to beat him then?" Scootaloo asked. "It's not going to be easy" Twilight replied, "he needs to overcome Tidal's Trap and whatever else he puts down." Celestia: Can Flash find a way to beat the stratagy that won Tidal his last two Duels? "I gotta find a way around his stratagy" Flash said as he drew his card but nothing he had could get around it. "I'm using Scale eight Magna Caster Solaris, and Scale one Magna Caster Lunara to set the Pendulum Scale. It's time for the Pendulum Scale." The monsters returned to the pillars of light, "it's time to carve the arc of victory once again." The portal formed once again, "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and a beam of light shot out. "Shine your light of victory once again, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Sorry amigo" Tidal said, "but I activate my face down Tsunami Surge." The face down flipped up showing the trap again, before it unleashed the powerful current that forced Flash Heart and Soveruin to join the rest of Flash's monster in DEF mode. "What was Flash thinking?" Rainbow asked. "He knew Tidal had Tsunami Surge but he still triggered it anyway." "He's looking for a way around Tidal's stratagy" Twilight explained. "I end my turn" Flash said. "It's my draw" Tidal said drawing "and once again Commander of the Raging Storm, Soveruin will use his special ability." Soveruin raised his sword and created the tornado, which once again sucked the Pendulum cards and Tsunami Surge inside. He then fired the cards at Flash, slashing him again. Flash: 2800 Tidal: 3000 "Now I switch Soveruin to ATK mode" Tidal said, "and now I attack Flash Heart Dragon." Soveruin rode his armoured sea horse towards the robotic dragon and slashed him through, destroying him. "And now I'll set two cards face down and end my turn." "Two cards" Flash thought, "I have to find a way to stop him. It's my draw" Flash drew and smiled seeing what he had drawn. "This card is just what I need," he took two cards from his hand. "I'm using Magna Caster Solaris and Magna Caster Lunara to set the Pendulum Scale," he once again placed his cards in the pillars of light. "Now I will cut through space time and carve the arc victory," the portal formed above his head. "I Pendulum Summon!" The portal opened and two beams of light shot out, hitting the ground. "Shine your light of victory once again, Flash Heart Dragon. (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Snap to it, Lumino Jaw Dragon." (A2300/D1600/L5/P5) "Alright" the girls cheered, "that card is just what he needed" Applebloom said. "I'm activating Flash Heart and Lumino Jaw's ability" Flash said. "And I'll activate Tsunami Surge" Tidal said. "Well now you'll need to pick which ability your negating" Flash said while smiling. This would get rid of his combo, because if he negated Flash Heart's ability Lumino Jaw Dragon's ability would send Tsunami Surge to the bottom of Tidal's deck. But If he negated Lumino Jaw Dragon's ability Flash Heart's ability would send Soveruin to the bottom of the deck. Everything looked to be going his way, until Tidal chuckled. "You seem to be under some misconception about my Traps effect amigo." "Wait" Flash said nervously, "you mean?" "Si" Tidal said, "Tsunami Surge can nullify every active ability when it's activated." "So he's stopping both Flash Heart and Lumino Jaw Dragon's abilities?" Scootaloo asked. "It looks like it" Twilight said. Celestia: No matter what Flash tries, he just can't seem to get a handle on Tidal's stratagy. "I end my turn" Flash said knowing what was coming next. "It's my draw" Tidal said, "and once again the ability of Commander of the Raging Storm will activate." Soveruin held his cutlass high and created the tornado which blew the four cards inside, before slashing Flash with them again. Flash: 2000 Tidal: 3000 "Now I attack Flash Heart Dragon." Flash couldn't let Flash Heart be destroyed. If he could save him then maybe he could use him to break through Tidal's stratagy. He then remembered the Action Card he had tried to get before, and spun around to grab it. When his hand touched the card he suddenly had a very bad feeling, and as he picked it up his feeling was confirmed when it revealed an Action Trap. "Whirlpool" he said in shock. "Sorry amigo" Tidal said, "but that card forces you to discard three cards." As he said that a whirlpool appeared around Flash, pulling three cards from his deck which included a Spell, and two Magna Fighters, Lucidum and Crossbolt. Seconds later Commander of the Raging Storm Soveruin slashed through Flash Heart Dragon, destroying it. "And now I'll set two cards face down and end my turn." As Flash recovered from the effects of the Action Trap, he looked over his situation. Right now Tidal had Tsunami Surge face down along with another mystery card, which would no doubt be something that would stop whatever Flash decided to try against Tidal. What's more the only card that had a chance at stopping Tsunami Surge, had just been sent to his graveyard. "Come on deck" Flash said as he drew, he saw he had gotten Twin Lazor Dragon. This card couldn't stop Tsunami Surge...wait. Flash had been trying to find a way around Tidal's trap, but maybe there was a way around it that he now couldn't believe he had thought of. "With Solaris and Lunara, I'll now set the Pendulum Scale" for the fourth time his magicians appeared in the pillars of light. "Now I'll be able to summon monsters levelled two through seven," the portal formed. "I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and a beam of light shot down. "Shine your light of victory once again, Flash Heart Dragon." (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "I think Tidal's stratagy is driving Flash insane" Rarity said, "he's trying the same thing over and over again and is expecting a different result." "I activate my Trap Tsunami Surge" Tidal said, as once again his trap activated and forced all the monsters into DEF mode. Flash smiled seeing this. Everything was set, "I tribute Starbreak Dragon to summon Twin Lazor Dragon" the axe wielding dragonoid disappeared, replaced by the robotic dinosaur. (A2100/D1500/L5) "Flash got a monster into ATK mode" Pinkie cheered. "But Twin Lazor won't be enough to destroy Soveruin" Rainbow reminded her. "It will once he plays that" Applejack pointed to the card Flash placed in his Duel Disk. "I activate the Spell card Reverse Polarity" Flash said. "This card will increase the ATK of my Twin Lazor Dragon by the difference between his and Soveruin." (A2400/D1500/L5) "While it decreases your monsters by the same amount." (A2100/D2200/L7) "Now I attack with Twin Lazor Dragon" one of the dragon's two lazor blasters began to charge, as it aimed at Soveruin. "Also Twin Lazor Dragon gets two attacks in one battle" Flash explained as he looked down at his hand, which also contained Double Strike. "Very nice amigo" Tidal said, "but unfortunately I have a way to stop that. I activate the my face down Trap card, Spellbinding Circle." Suddenly Twin Lazor Dragon froze, as the magic seal encircled it. "Any monster caught in this mystical stigmata is paralysed." "So he can't attack" Flash realised. "Si" Tidal replied. Flash growled, he thought he had had it. "I end my turn. Celestia: Once again Flash is trumped. I think he's been truly beaten. "It's my draw" Tidal said drawing as he walked up a staircase, to a statue of a merman with a trident and pulled an Action Card out of his hand. "Arr my favourite Action Card, though I don't condone the act I activate Piracy. Now by discarding a card I can look at your hand and take any Spell card I want." "Any of them?" Flash asked looking nervous. "Si" Tidal said, "now show my your hand." Flash sighed and revealed his hand. Tidal looked through it and smiled, "I chose Double Strike." Flash said nothing as he took his card and threw it at Tidal, who caught it with ease. "Next I activate Soveruin's ability once again," the tornado was formed and every Spell and Trap was pulled inside before slashing Flash. Flash: 1200 Tidal: 3000 "Now I activate this equipped Spell, named Permanent Rank. This card prevents my monsters ATK from changing" Tidal explained, "so I'll now attack Flash Heart with Soveruin." Once again Soveruin flew through the water, and slashed through the dragon destroying it. "Next I'll activate the Spell I stole from you, Double Strike. Usually I'd have to half my monsters ATK to use this, but with Permanent Rank I'm safe." Soveruin turned to Twin Lazor Dragon and slashed it through. Flash: 900 Tidal: 3000 "I'll end my turn with two face downs" Tidal said, as he set the two cards everyone knew were. Flash stood there unable to even move as he looked over his situation. Right now Tidal had three cards he could return to his hand to damage Flash, and if Flash set his Pendulum Scale he would give Tidal enough cards to finish him off. "I can't do it" he said quite enough so only he could hear, "I can't see anyway out of this situation. I used to think my deck could handle anything but it can't, and it's my fault. Way didn't I ever try and upgrade my deck?" He went to his deck and drew his card, only to have a small heart attack when he saw what it was. The colourless card he had received that morning, which he had stupidly placed in his deck. "What am I suppose to do with this?" he asked himself as he fell to his knees. "What's wrong with him?" Scootaloo asked. "I think" Twilight said, "he's given up." Flash had given up. Nothing in his deck could get passed Tidal's card combo. Suddenly something caught his eye, making him look at his hand to see the card he had drawn begin to glow. "What the?" he asked but then noticed another glow, coming from Flash Heart and Lunara. Without even thinking he brought the cards together, before they burst with light causing Flash to shut his eyes or risk losing a retina. When Flash opened his eyes the first thing he realised was he wasn't in the Sunken City anymore. Now he appeared to be in some kind of ancient ruin you'd see in a Daring Do movie. It was a dilapidated area that was overgrown with plants and vines, along with crumpling statues. "Where am I?" he asked, but when he turned around his question was forgotten when he saw them. Flash Heart Dragon and Magna Caster Lunara stood a hundred foot away, side by side staring at him. "Flash Heart...Lunara" he said in confusion, "what's going on?" he never got an answer since something else caught his attention. "OW" he yelled as something slammed into the top of his head, bounced off and crashed into the ground in front of him. As Flash rubbed his head he looked down at what had hit him and found it was alive. It was around the size of an overweight house cat, and appeared to have its head stuck in the ground as its body flailed around trying to free itself. "Hold on" Flash kneeled down and took hold of it, before pulling and with on good tug he freed it. The creature purred as it was freed and flew up to Flash, revealing it was the same small dragon on the blank card he had. Now it was pure white and wore a Victorian baby hat. The dragon flew close and affectionately rubbed its head on his chest, "okay your welcome" Flash said. "But what are you doing here?" The dragon stopped and flew away from Flash, towards his monsters. It took Flash Heart's finger in its small paw and then the same with Lunara, before pulling the two hands up and then together. The second the two hands touched a great light appeared forcing Flash to close his eyes. Flash tried to open them but all could see was a bright light along with something else. A figure of a monster he couldn't make out, as the light forced his eyes closed. "Amigo" Flash opened his eyes hearing the voice, only to find he was back on the Duel Field. "Are you okay?" Tidal asked, "you zoned out for a second." "I'm fine" Flash said as he looked down at his cards, only to do a double take. The previously blank card was now glowing bright white, before the light exploded revealing a new colourful Pendulum card with the little dragon he had just met. Suddenly everything clicked in his head, as he realised what he needed to do. "Okay" he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, "this is it. The outcome of this Duel...WILL BE DECIDED ON THIS TURN." Celestia: It seems Flash is making a final turn declaration. Tidal smiled hearing this. "Do it Flash." "Alright" Flash replied, "first I'll place Solaris into the Pendulum Scale." A pillar of light appeared to his left, as the magician appeared inside. "Let me guess" Tidal said, "Lunara is going in the other one." "Not this time" Flash said, "I'm gonna rock the boat and place a new Pendulum Monster there. Making her Duelling debut it's Alchemy Dracokid," he placed his new card on the Duel Disk as the pillar of light to his right appeared and the little dragon flew up. She was now holding a round science beaker and as she reached the top, a three appeared bellow her. "It's so cute" Sweetie Bell cheered. "Let's just hope it's stronger then it looks" Rainbow said. "With they two monster I can now cut through space time and carve the arc of victory one last time," Flash said as the portal formed above him. "I can summon monsters levelled four through seven all at the same time, I PENDULUM SUMMON!" The portal opened and two beams of light shot out. "Shine your light of victory once again Flash Heart Dragon. (A2500/D2000/L7/P4) "Invoke your moonlight magic, Magna Caster Lunara." (A2400/D1200/L6/P1) "I activate my Tsunami Surge Trap card" Tidal said, as his face down flipped up and created the current that pushed the monsters into DEF mode. "Sorry amigo, but it looks like your final turn couldn't come to pass." "Who says?" Flash asked coyly, "my monsters maybe in DEF mode but my turns not done." "Is that so?" Tidal asked. "That's right" Flash said, "your Trap may have negated my monsters abilities but it didn't stop my Pendulum cards abilities." He looked up at his new monster, "you ready Dracokid?" seeing the small dragon node he looked back at Tidal. "Alchemy Dracokid's Pendulum Ability allows me to use the effects of a certain Spell card, even if it isn't in my deck." The girls became confused, especially since it felt like they had heard someone say that before. "I think you've heard of it" Flash continued, "it's called POLYMERISATION." Everyone in the audience gasped hearing this. "Flash is Fusion Summoning?" Pinkie asked. "But how?" Rarity asked. Everyone watched as Alchemy Dracokid used its mouth to pull the cork out of its beaker releasing a white smoke from inside, which flew out and consumed Flash Heart and Lunara. The two clouds of smoke changed from white to blue and silver, before being pulled back into the beaker which was corked again. As the two types of smoke mixed together Flash spoke. "Now watch as I combined the unequalled might of a Dragon, with the mystic proprieties of a Spellcaster." Alchemy Dracokid uncorked the bottle again and unleashed the now pure white smoke. Flash's Extra Deck opened, and he pulled out one of the previously blank cards. Now it shined as he held it up and then slapped it down on the Duel Disk, as the glow faded revealing a new monster. "I FUSION SUMMON!" The large cloud of smoke began to fade, revealing a new monster. It was the largest most dragonic monster Flash had ever summoned, as it was a giant bipedal lizard with purple scales, though it was hard to tell since the only part of its body you could see were its head, hands, upper arms, feet and tail. The rest was hidden beneath bronze armour with silver trim, along with bronze robotic wings with five silver blades in place of a membrane. In each hand it carried a large silver lazor cannon. "SPECTRAL NOVA DRAGON." (A3000/D2000/L8) Everyone was speechless seeing this. Celestia: Well this came out of left field. I don't think anyone was expecting that. "An impressive feet Flash" Tidal said, "but it means nothing since I'm activating my Spellbinding Circle." His Trap flipped up and fired a beam of light at the new monster, forming the magic circle around it. But then Spectral Nova Dragon flailed its body around, smashing the circle to bits. "Que pasó?" "Sorry Tidal" Flash said, "but on the turn Spectral Nova Dragon is Fusion Summoned using a Spellcaster, he's unaffected by any of his opponents Spells, Traps or Monster Effects." "I see" Tidal said. He looked down at his hand and saw Monster Reborn, so even if Flash destroyed Soveruin he could revive him next turn and use his ability to win. "I can see you think you'll survive my turn and be able to win" Flash said, "but that all depends." "Depends on what?" Tidal asked. "On my monsters abilities" Flash replied as he looked at his other monsters. "Magna Fighter Radium, lend Spectral Nova Dragon your strength. The bazooka carrying woman leaped onto the Fusion Monsters back, and looked through its sight. "By sacrificing herself, Radium can grant a monster on my field Piercing Damage." "So your monster will deal me damage even though my monsters in DEF mode?" Tidal asked. "That's right" Flash said. It was still okay. The attack would only deal him eight hundred points of damage he would be fine. "And then there's Spectral Nova's ability" Flash explained, as he leaped off the building onto his dragon's back and looked down at Tidal. "When Spectral Nova Dragon attacks, I draw a card and what happens depends on that card. If I draw a Spell card, I can destroy one card in your Spell and Trap card zone. If I draw a Trap my Battle Phase automatically ends. But if I draw a monster card, I can reduce your monsters ATK and DEF by that of the drawn cards ATK and DEF." Everyone realised what that meant. If Flash drew a strong enough monster, he could reduce Soveruin's DEF power enough to win. "Spectral Nova Dragon has three thousand ATK points" Twilight did the math, "the same amount as Tidal's life points. In order to win he needs Soveruin's DEF points to be zero." "So he needs to draw a monster with at least twenty two hundred DEF points" Rainbow said. "What are the chances of that?" Scootaloo asked. "I'm not sure" Twilight replied. Celestia: What a gamble. How will it pay off for Flash. Tidal meanwhile was looking over his situation and began shaking. "My heart overflows...WITH JOY" he yelled getting everyone's attention. "This is what a true Duel is all about. Okay Flash, it's time we let fate decide." Flash nodded and ordered his monster, "attack with Mystery Flare Cannon." The two lazor cannons it held powered up, and from them shot a thin lazor at Soveruin to target him. "Now activating Spectral Nova Dragon's ability" Flash placed his hand on his deck, he closed his eyes as he let what was about to happen run through his mind. "I...DRAW" he drew his card and held it up for all to see. Everyone looked up at the screen as the camera zoomed in on the card, and Celestia announced. Celestia: Magna Fighter Gladio. It's DEF points are twenty two hundred, the same as Soveruin's "YOUR KIDDING" everyone in the audience screamed. Soveruin flinched as it felt its power drain. (A300/D0/L7) "That's just what I needed to win" Flash said, "fire now." The Fusion Monster fired its cannons at the Ritual Monster. "I can still win with an Action Card" Tidal said as he ran further up the staircase in search of a card, and found one on an alter. He leaped for it but just as his fingers touched it, Spectral Nova Dragon's attack struck Soveruin destroying him with a force that sent Tidal flying. As his life points dropped to zero he looked at the Action Card and found it was another Life Jacket card, which would have saved his monster but he would have still lost. "Sorry Papá." Flash: 900 (Winner) Tidal: 0 Celestia: HE DID IT. Flash Sentry has defeated Tidal Wave in another amazing come from behind victory. He is now the A Block Champion. "I can't believe it" Fluttershy cheered. "I never would have seen that one coming" Rainbow said. As the Action Field dissolved, Flash fell to his knees in exhaustion. "That was intense." "It sure was" Tidal said walking up and offering a hand. "Thanks for the great match amigo." Flash smiled and took the hand, getting pulled up. "Same to you, amigo." Tidal smiled and turned to leave. "Now that you've beat me, you'll need to go all the way" and he walked off. "I will" Flash replied, "that's a promise." Back in his office Cold turned away from the TV. Though he didn't show it, he was happy. "A person holds a strong connection to the place they're born" he said. "It appears your connection is now strong enough for you to call them." As Flash returned to the foyer, he suddenly found himself surrounded by his friends. "YOU DID IT" they all screamed. "I can't believe you managed to beat Tidal, after being behind the whole Duel" Scootaloo said. "Thanks" Flash said. "And that Fusion Summon" Rarity said, "I'm amazed you were able to pull it off so flawlessly." "Thanks Rarity" Flash replied, "I just sort of...did it." "Well it sure was amazing" Twilight said. "Using a Pendulum Ability in place of a Fusion card is incredible." "PENDULUM FUSION" Pinkie screamed. Everyone agreed with that, and continued on until Applejack realised. "Hey the B Block might still be on, we can see your next opponent. Everyone agreed and ran to Duel Hall Two. But as they arrived they heard Luna's voice over. Luna: And with that our B Block Champion has been decided. "I don't believe it" Flash said, seeing who his opponent was. Luna: Let's give it up for the winner of the B Block, SPIKE. Spike waved at the crowd before his sight landed on Flash and the rest of his friends. The two stared at each other, one staring in shock and the other in joy. One thing was for sure. The finals would be interesting for sure. > Turn 21, Battle in the Dragon Sanctuary pt1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flash sat in his waiting room looking over everything he had been through in just this one day. In his first match he'd faced the seemingly unstoppable advance of technology when he'd Duelled against Gizmo and his ever evolving Technobot. In his second match the bonds between Flash and his monster had been seriously tested, when he faced Lyra and her mind controlling Maiden of the Enchanted Harp. And of course his last Duel, where he had faced the seemingly unbeatable stratagy of Tidal Wave and his Commander of the Raging Storm Soveruin. He had managed to win by pulling off a Fusion Summon. But now even after everything he had faced, he felt like this would be toughest Duel of the whole tournament. "Spike" Flash called seeing Spike enter the foyer. He and the girls rushed towards him. "Hey guys" Spike said, as they drew closer. "Spike" Twilight said, "what are you doing here?" "I'm competing in the Micro Tournament" Spike answered. "Yeah we got that" Rainbow said. "But why are you in the Micro Tournament?" Rarity asked. "Well" Spike said looking down at his feet. "Well?" Flash asked. Spike looked up into Flash's eyes, before his face turned from shy to serious. "I entered to face you." Everyone's eyes went wide hearing this. Why would Spike want to face Flash in the tournament? he could have just challenged him to a Duel. "Spike" Twilight said to her little brother, "what's this really about?" They soon found themselves sitting around the table they had had lunch at, as Spike explained himself. "The reason I entered this tournament was because I wanted to prove myself as a Duellist." "Prove yourself?" Applejack asked. "Think about it" Spike said, "my oldest brother is a Pro-Duellist and Twilight's shown her own skills multiple times. Then there's me. I'm not like them, I'm not even really part of their family." "SPIKE" Twilight almost yelled. "It's true Twilight" Spike said, "I'm not." "What are you talking about?" Flash asked. "Spike is adopted" Twilight explained, "my parents took him in as a baby after he was abandoned at an orphanage. A family friend runs it and called them, asking if they could take him and they did." "That exactly the reason I'm trying to prove myself" Spike said, "to make them forget about my family." Spike entered his classroom on the first day of the school year. "Hey look" he heard a kid say, "I think that's Shining Armor's little brother." "THE Shining Armor?" a girl squealed. "Don't get to excited" another kid said, "he's not even his real brother. He's just some nobody Shining's family took in."