CHS Cup of Ages

Chapters

0. Prologue - Night of Reflection
1. Deck Set - Let the Duels Begin!
Duel! - A Roaring Engine in the Data Storm (part 2)
Egao! - A Show and a Smile for the Camera
Battaglia! - A Duel between Playmakers (part 1)
Battaglia! - A Duel between Playmakers (part 2)
2. Duel! - A Roaring Engine in the Data Storm (part 1)

0. Prologue - Night of Reflection

The night was still, save for the few chirping crickets out on the many front lawns and the idle breeze in the air. It was a calm night with a serene vibe to it. There were few scattered lights and such among the windows of the suburban neighborhood, with the few that remained shutting off as the occupants inside turned in for the night. All was calm, until the sounds of banging and exasperated groans came from one particularly pink house.

" And with that, I attack for game!"

" ARGHHH!!! Not again!"

With a resounding thump, Rainbow Dash falls onto her back as she was once again defeated by Pinkie Pie. The room fills with light giggling from the rest of the girls, still dueling each other. Grinning widely, she scoops up her scattered cards from the carpet as Rarity scribbles in her notebook. She draw a small tally mark under a box labeled "P."

" And that makes five. Really now Rainbow Dash, you must know that there is a difference between determination and...this."

" Yeah, she's right Dashie. I invited you all of the girls to this Let's-duel-and-work-on-our-decks-while-we-get-ready-for-the-CHS-Cup Slumber Party so we could have some fun and work on our decks. Winning is fun, but not when you don't have a smile on your face." Pinkie says shuffling her cards around.

Excitement was running high through the minds of the girls. After a long week of working on the school yearbook, it came as a pleasant surprise to everyone at CHS when Principal Celestia announced the new dueling competition that would be held at the newly built Illusion Stadium. It was announced that the winner would receive a sparkling new trophy and the title of "Regional Duel Champion." The scuffle that came from the Friendship Games and its following tournaments cemented CHS as having the top duelist in the region, successfully beating out even the illustrious Crystal Prep with its superb duelists. With CHS now at the top, it only seemed fitting for the company that owned the new stadium, Industrial illusions, to hold their opening ceremony with a grand duel from the very school that produced such fine duelists.

" Urghh... I know! I've been trying to fix my deck! Maybe if I remove this....and add...this..." Rainbow remarks as she pitches cards from her deck and slides in new ones. " Yeah! There we go! One more time!"

More giggles are heard from the girls as they each resume their own games. One by one, each of them finished their games, with Rainbow suffering yet another resounding defeat. Deflated, she continues to eye her deck as the rest of the girls begin to shuffle and modify their decks. Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight spots Sunset seated on Pinkie's bed, still shuffling through her deck. She had been the only one of the girls that hadn't been dueling very often and had spent more time on her deck.

" You've been really busy on your deck Sunset. Is something wrong?" Twilight asks. There was no response from Sunset.

" Hmm? Oh! Sorry Twilight. Yeah, I've been working on my deck a lot. It's been a while since I've done some editing to it. Honestly, I've been meaning to change some things ever since Camp Everfree."

" Don't sweat it SunShim! " Rainbow chimes in as she wraps her arm around Sunset. " After seeing you whip Pinkie once, I'm sure your decks as strong as ever!"

" Yer just jealous that you couldn't beat Pinkie once." Aj remarks slyly as Rainbow gives her an annoyed look before rising to her feet and complaining about "strategy" and "losing is winning."

" In a way, Rainbow is right." Fluttershy responds. " Your deck has changed a lot ever since Princess Twilight dueled you. I don't think anyone could every figure out your decks strategy now."

Sunset gives a warm smile to her friends as she stares back at her deck. Ever since that fateful day that she dueled Princess Twilight, everything about her had changed, with her deck being the most notable. Shuffling through her cards, she recalls how she had changed her ways, made friends, saved this world from numerous events caused by Equestrian magic, and her new popularity as one of the "Heroes of CHS." Her thoughts were abruptly cut off as she stopped her shuffling and stared at two cards: Bomber Dragon and Hell Dragon. Sunsets smile fades as she begins to remember her old self, her old deck, and her old title of "she-demon." The memories of the savagery and brutality of her old deck was something she had often reflected on. Her obsession with power had driven her to be corrupted by the magic of Princess Twilight's crown and brought about the birth of a demonic creature inside of her. Even after her defeat and reformation, there was always something that reminded her of her past, no matter how hard she tried to distance herself from it. These two cards and her old symbol of power, Red Demon's Dragon, were the last remnants of her original deck and the cards that remained as a constant reminder. Try as she might, she could never find herself to remove these cards from her deck. Even so, the whole school still regarded her as the best duelist there and the one most likely to win the tournament, along side Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

Sunset continues to stare at these cards as her hand hovers over them, considering for probably the thousandth time to remove them. It wasn't until a lavender colored hand suddenly waved in front of her face and snapped her out of her thoughts yet again.

" Uhmm... hello? Earth to Sunset. You ok?" Twilight asks.

" Oh! Sorry Twilight... again. Guess I'm just really focused on my deck." Sunset replies sheepishly.

" I can always help you if you want. I've already done all of the necessary editing to my deck of course."

" Thanks Twilight, but I think I've done all of the editing I need to do. I'm as ready as I'll ever be for the Cup. I think I'll step outside for a bit and get some fresh air."

Twilight gives her a smile as she goes off to start her duel against AppleJack. Rising to her feet, Sunset heads on out through the front door of Pinkie's house; grabbing her leather jacket from the coat rack as she left. There was a cool breeze flowing through her hair as Sunset slowly walked out into the front lawn. The street was quiet, save for the few scattered sounds of crickets under the dazzling moonlight. She stares up at the moon as she continues to contemplate on everything that has happened to her over her time at CHS. There was always some nagging thought at the back of her mind that kept her wondering about her own reformation. She toys around with her deck as she stares at it and continues to reflect for a few minutes.

' Maybe I'm thinking too much about this... After all, it is just some competition. I know I've changed... right?' Sunset thinks a she ceases shuffling her deck and stares at her Bomber Dragon.

" It sure is a nice night out, isn't it?" a voice behind Sunset says. Turing around, she sees Twilight slowly walking next to her.

" Yeah, it is. Need some fresh air too? Did you already beat AJ?" Sunset asks.

" Hehe, that I did. You'd think she'd know by now not to go so Synchro heavy on me. I came to check on you. Something's bothering you, isn't it? You've been lost in thought ever since we came over to Pinkie's house."

For a brief moment, Sunset wondered if she should tell Twilight how she was really feeling. She had the same conversation over her reformation with the other girls long before Princess Twilight's twin came along. Even after her friends reassurance, Sunset still held on to much of her doubts and stayed quiet about it for the longest time.

" I guess I'm just nervous. It's been a while since I've done any sort of casual dueling, you know? Dueling that doesn't have us save the world. After what happened at Camp Everfree... I'm probably being silly aren't I?"

" It's ok Sunset." Twilight says, placing her hand on her shoulder. " To be honest, I'm feeling a bit nervous myself. I've never been part of any sort of dueling competition. Not since...well, you know."

Twilight gives her a weak smile before shifting her gaze to the twinkling stars above as her smile fades. Sunset was all too familiar with what Twilight alluded to. Ever since her fall during the Friendship Games, Twilight had felt the same guilt Sunset had felt when she lost to the Princess. They were both feeling the pressure caused by their destructive pasts and Sunset knew this.

" Hey, don't beat yourself up over it too much." Sunset says as she tosses out a playful punch to Twilight shoulder. " All that matters is that we have some fun tomorrow."

" Hehe, guess you're right. Come on. Let's go back in. Call it a hunch, but I think Pinkie is itching for a duel against you."

As if on queue when turning back to face the house, Pinkie's face was plastered all over her front window. Deck in hand and with an inhumanly wide grin on her face, she tapped on the glass as she waved and made some gestures for both Twilight and Sunset to come back in. There was a soft giggling from both of the girls as they wander back towards the house. Maybe there was doubts and some insecurities and such, though Sunset kept it at the back of her mind. She had taken some time to reflect and sink back to her thoughts, but for now, all she wanted to do was to have some fun with her friends and maybe gloat in front of a certain stressed, rainbow-haired friend.

~~~*~~~

A shrill yell pierces a dark alleyways silence as a dull, wet thud is followed behind it. The ground shakes and the surrounding buildings shudder from the sudden ensuing quake. Sprawled across the muddy terrain was a mess of burnt cards and bent metal and glass. Numerous weak groans were heard from a figure lying face-up near a ruined duel disk. Walking towards the injured duelist, a dark figure clad in a tattered cloak slowly approaches their downed opponent as another hulking figure rattles next to them. A dull, emerald glow envelops the cloaked figure as the low light reveals the eerie markings under the figures face.

" D-damn...you..." the downed person sputters. 'Damn...witch..."

" Shame." The cloaked figure responds in a dark tone. " Guess you really are weak. I had hoped to get some practice in beforehand."

With a snap of their fingers, the eyes of the being standing next to the cloaked figure spring to life with an ominous crimson glow. A deep groans rings throughout the dark alley as the rumbling figure rattles towards the downed person and reaches for the persons neck. It viciously hoists its victim into the air and flings them into the nearby collection of stained trash cans. The victim lets out a guttural gasp of pain as they collapse into the scattered junk caused by their impact. A huff is heard from the cloaked figure as the turn and waltz out of the carnage they caused. Turning into the quiet street ahead, a strange wisp of light emerges behind them and gently floats into their chest as a soft green glow emanates from a strange amulet clasped on their neck. Not even the sounds of insects or wind filled the night air as the mysterious figure walked down the empty street.

" Still, weak trash is trash. I've got bigger fish to fry. Just you wait, Sunset Shimmer!"

Author's Note

And with that, we begin! It'll probably be a while before we get into the first duel of the cup, but we'll get there! I'll probably post the match-ups later on.

1. Deck Set - Let the Duels Begin!

Illusion Stadium

The thunder of sparkling fireworks and the roaring cheer of a crowd fills the air of the stadium on this special day. It had been nearly two days since the advent of the Cup's announcement and excitement was in no short supply among the bystanders seated all along the platinum bleachers. More fireworks burst into the clear blue sky past the giant monitors plastered around the stadium; each one presenting all sorts of ads for card packs and other miscellaneous items. Winding around the sizable marble dueling field was a long elliptical road that wrapped around the outer edge of the field. Static suddenly flashes across the main screen above the stadium as the crowd hushes and peers above at the monitor.

Appearing on the monitor was a tall, lanky man clad in a stylish crimson suit. Accenting his flashy suit was a crisp, clean white dress shirt and a citrus colored bow tie that drooped slightly over his lapels. His face was just as thin as he was, with a thin pencil mustache and goatee. Most prominent of all was his outlandishly styled hair that curved upward into a massive pompadour that bobbed around as he moved. He gave a confident smile as he whipped around to face the audience as he dramatically reached for his microphone.

" Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the CHS Cup; our very first Cup held here at the newly built Illusion Stadium! " the M.C declared as the crowd once again exploded with cheers and applauds. " I am your M.C, Mike Raphone, and oh boy! Are we in for some great duels today! As you all know, the illustrious President of Industrial Illusions and creator of Duel Monsters Mr. Pegasus J. Crawford is holding this Cup to to find a new Duel Monsters Regional Champion. After much consideration, Mr. Crawford has chosen a fine selection from the local Canterlot High School! 20 impressive applicants have been selected and the match-ups are complete! Starting today, we'll begin the Primary Bracket with the Ground Duels! Without further ado, let's meet the contestants!"

~~*~~

" Attention all duelists! Please proceed to the assembly area in 5 minutes!"

The screech of the P.A system shutting off rings in Sunsets ears as it snaps her from her concentration. Arriving nearly an hour ago with her friends, she met with one of the stadiums tournament officials and was placed in a small room bellow the stadium. In accordance with Cup rules, she and the rest of the contestants were told to take an hour to revise their decks and prepare for the unveiling of the dueling roster. Sighing, Sunset gets up from the ivory seat and grabs her deck off from the table in front of her and slides it into her empty duel disk. Even with an additional hour to make any fixes to her strategies, she had done all of her editing and planning back at Pinkie's slumber party and was as ready as she could ever be.

Walking past the door, Sunset walked into a long, brightly lit white hallway. As if on queue, the doors all along the the hall opened up as Sunsets friends and many other students from CHS stepped out. Standing at the end of the hall in front of a large automated door was a a hulking man dressed in a tidy black suit. The man towered above the students and even Principal Celestia herself. He wore a serious expression on his solid, chiseled face that was further solidified with the dark shades that he wore. If his height wasn't already absurd, the tall spike of hair only helped to cement his size, even if Sunset did do a double take once she spotted his hair.

" Attention all duelists!" he said in a booming voice that reverberated throughout the hallway, " Please follow me to the assembly area!"

" Attention all duelists. My hair can pierce the heavens." Pinkie whispers behind Sunset imitating the officials gruff voice. A small snicker escapes her lips.

Imposing as he was, the rest of the duelists obeyed and followed him through the automated door. Past the door was a giant empty room that was illuminated by a row of lights that surrounded the outer edges of the floor. Painted in the center of the room was a large, black letter "I" with a tiny number "2" situated to the lower right of the letter. All of the students are lead to the center of the room as the official signals them to stop. He turns his back to the students and unholsters a walkie-talkie from his hip. Whatever he was saying was unbeknownst to the duelists as the students mumbled and whispered to each other. While the Cup official continued to converse with his superiors, the rest of the Rainbooms converge with Sunset.

" Oooo! This is gonna be so much fun!" Pinkie says delighted.

" Yeah! I can't wait to see who I'm dueling first." Rainbow reciprocates with a wide smile.
" You feelin' it Sunshim?"

Sunset gives a weak smile as she hold her stomach. " I'm feeling something alright."

" Don't sweat, sugarcube. It'll all come out 'n the wash, you'll see."

The official clears his throat as he turns back around and says, " Please line up and wait here as we raise the platform."

More hushed murmurs are heard, now confused by the officials statement. They were all lined-up in a seemingly empty room, so what did he mean by "raise the platform?" Before anyone can ask for an explanation, the official walks past the crowd and leaves through the automated door behind them. There was a small period of silence, before a deep, muffled wave of sound was heard above. Suddenly, the floor shifted and shook slightly as the duelist were startled by the sudden movement. After a series of rumbles, the floor slowly begins to rise and push upward towards the ceiling. As the floor rises, the ceiling above opens up as the room is bathed in a blinding light and a single, loud voice is heard.

" -let's meet the contestants!"

~~*~~

Slamming into the stoppers near the side of the stage, the platform comes to a abrupt halt as the sounds of fireworks and roaring cheers fills the air. The entire stadium is filled with waves upon waves of people cheering and moving about as the duelists below smile and wave to the crowd. More cheers arise from the crowd as the M.C clears his throat to speak again.

" We've got quite a selection of duelists today! So let's give them all a fond introduction, starting with one of the seven elite duelists of Canterlot High; Sunset Shimmer!"

Sunset nervously steps forward and waves to the crowd. The stadium explodes in roaring cheers from the fans as Sunset smiles brightly and steps back in line with the rest of the duelists. The M.C continues his roll call as each duelist steps forward and waves to the crowd.

" Twilight Sparkle!"

" Pinkie Pie!"

"Rainbow Dash!"

" AppleJack!"

" Fluttershy!"

" Rarity!"

"Trixie Lulamoon!"

" Micro Chips!"

" Bulk Biceps!"

" Photo Finish!"

" Flash Sentry!"

" Octavia Melody!"

" Maude Pie!"

" Cloudy Kicks!"

" Lyra Heartstrings!"

" Bon Bon!"

" Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna!"

" And finally, Gi- huh?" The M.C pauses abruptly as another duel official approaches him and whispers something into his ear. The crowd slowly hushes as the M.C whispers something back to the official in a notably annoyed manner. All of the duelists simply stare in confusion at the monitor as the M.C fixes his bowtie and turns back to the crowd.

" Sorry about that folks, but there seems to be a last minute substitution. We have a new contestant that also hails from Canterlot High! Her name is... erm...well. what was her name again? Ah! Here she comes now! Ladies and Gentlemen, please divert your attention to the North Tunnel."

All of the stadiums attention is diverted to the northern tunnel as two figures approach from the darkness. One was the same Cup official that had led the other contestants to the platform, complete with his stoic expression and sharp hair. The other was a smaller figure, reaching only up to the officials chest. She was draped in a long, tattered brown cloak with flared shoulders that seemed to mimic armored pauldrons. The length of her cloak completely covered her entire body as the end of her cloak drags across the floor. A hood covered her spiked, flowing green locks of hair. Strangest of all was her face, or what covered it; A simple, white porcelain mask that had strange indigo lines above and below the "eyes" of it. The official led the cloaked girl across a long walkway that cleared the oval racetrack. A short pair of stairs at the end of the walkway unfolds and the official helps the masked duelist up onto the platform to join the rest of the duelists. Idle glances and hushed whispers arise from the other contestants as she stand still next to Celestia. Her escort reaches for a stubby microphone and taps on it gently. Once tested, he turns to the cloaked figure and says, " Attention, young duelist. Please state your name to the audience." He holds the mic up to her as she speaks.

" I am the Emerald Witch." she says with a slight muffled voice.

There wasn't so much as a clap after she spoke. The unease caused by her words fell upon the crowd and other students. A few hushed sounds from the crowd here and there, but nothing more. Sunset leans forward slightly and stares with a cocked eyebrow and a dumbfounded look on her face. She felt unnerved by the sudden interruption and introduction of an unknown contestant. Something was off and Twilight caught on to this.

" You can feel it too, right?" Twilight whispers to Sunset. " There's something off about her... well, besides the whole Witch alias."

" Yeah. Who is she? I didn't even know someone like her went to CHS. I can't seem to figure out who she is?" Sunset replies.

" Very well, Emerald Witch." the officials responds as he motions to the M.C. " With the introductions out of the way, we can now proceed with the unveiling of the dueling roster."

" Oh, right! *ahem* With all of our contestants here and accounted for, it's time for the match-ups!" The M.C sidesteps to reveal an odd machine placed on a table. The machine had the strange shape of a three-headed dragon that was a bright cyan, with the left and right heads curved downward and red arrows painted on each head. The center head jutted upward into a large glass sphere that was docked on the base of the dragon. Inside the sphere were many tiny, yellow balls that each had some writing inscribed on them. " Using our tried and true Bingo Machine Go Go, we will have our match-ups! So, without further ado, Bingo Machine! Go! Go!"

The machine suddenly roars to life as the balls inside begin to fly around the sphere in a wild frenzy. Watching them whiz around, the crowd and the duelists stare apprehensively as they eagerly await the first result. Inside the translucent orb, the main head of the dragon begins to inhale two of the balls from the swarm. Powering down, the machine coughs up the two balls into a pair of oval dishes beneath the two other adjacent heads.

' And here we have it folks, the first duel of the CHS Cup! For our first duel, it will beeee.... Sunset Shimmer vs. Micro Chips!"

Once again, the stadium exploded with the sounds of clapping and cheering from the excited crowd. A separate monitor across from the M.C's displayed an empty tournament bracket, with Sunset and Micro's faces appearing on the two smaller prongs near the bottom left. With their names called, the two duelists stepped forward and gave each other a look of esteem. Micro adjusts his thick framed glasses and extends his hand toward Sunset.

" This is quite a surprise. My first duel of the tournament will be against Canterlot High's best duelist. I look forward to our duel."

A small smirk creeps along Sunsets face as she shakes his hand and says, " Likewise."

" Sit tight Ladies and Gentlemen, because here comes the next duel! For our second duel.... Pinkie Pie vs. Photo Finish!"

Once again, the crowd cheers wildly as the bouncy pink teen sprout a mile wide grin and eagerly shakes the young photographers hand. The rapid vibrating of Pinkie's inhuman shaking nearly knocked over her newly appointed opponent.

" YAAAAAAYYY!!! THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT!!! ICAN'TWAITTODUELYOUSOGOODLUCKANDHAVEFUN!!!"

" Ehehe... ja..." Photo responds nervously. Even with her wide tinted glasses and low cut hairstyle, her expression of discomfort was far from hidden. " Zis vill be fun."

More and more balls are coughed up by the machine as the M.C continues to list off all of the match-ups. One by one, he reads them off as the crowd continues to go wild with each reveal. He reaches for the next two balls.

" Next up! Rainbow Dash vs. Cloudy Kicks!"

" Perfezionare! Just the bambina I've wanted to settle the score with!" Cloudy exclaims. " Smashing you will be fun!"

" Bring it on! I've been itching to give you a beatdown since our last duel ages ago!"

" Lyra Heartstrings vs. Bon Bon!"

" Oooo! I can't believe it Bon! I can't wait to duel you!"

" Me too, best friend!"

" Twilight Sparkle vs. Bulk Biceps!"

" Excellent. I look forward to-" Twilight begins before she notices Bulk completely ignoring her; preferring to flex his enormous muscles and pump up his chest. Twilight simply shakes her head and stands back in line.

" Rarity vs. Flash Sentry!"

" Fufufufu. Best of luck to you darling!"

" Yeah, you too!"

" Principal Celestia vs. Fluttershy!"

" Oh joy! Let's have some fun!"

" Oh umm... ok." the shy teen muttered.

" And last but not least, Trixie Lulamoon vs. The Emerald Witch!"

" Ha! I hope you're ready, Emerald Witch! Your little entrance was almost as bad as your choice in attire! The Great and Powerful Trixie will give this crowd a real show!"

"......"

" Furthermore, the remaining contestants, Applejack, Principal Luna, Maud Pie, and Octavia Melody will each be dueling the first victors of todays duels! And there you have it folks! The dueling roster is complete and we can finally move on to our Main Event! Starting today and for the next two days, our contestants will not only be dueling for the coveted tittle of Regional Duel Champion, but they'll also receive this special prize!" The M.C motions to a clear glass rectangular case situated on a pedestal next to the stage by two officials. Inside of it was a tall, slender cup styled trophy that was embedded with numerous beautiful jewels along its base. Embossed on the base itself was the words, " Regional Duel Champion " and an empty space beneath it. " So, let's get this started! Right now, our dueling officials will lead the other contestants to the nearby stands where they can observe the first duel! These first few duels will determine who will move on to the Turbo portion of the Cup, and the reveal of the new Speed World 3 field spell!"

Finishing his statement, the dueling official leads all of the duelists to the sidelines near the field. There was a long row of benches that each held 4 of the participants and many touch pads situated on short columns directly in front of each bench. There was an air of wonder and excitement as all of them eagerly awaited for the official. Another dueling official, this person being much younger with a short mustache, stepped forward and cleared his throat.

" Duelists, in front of you all is our special Duel Status Tracker, or D.S.T. for short. With this, you can view the tournament roster, receive more detail on any cards played during the duel, and call on a duel official for any ruling questions you may have. While we ready the duel field, please take this time to make any final adjustments to your decks and duel disk... or go to the bathroom and grab some snacks along the way. Yes, I see you Ms. Pie."

Most of the contestants shifted their gaze to Pinkie, who had a sheepish grin on her beet-red face. She squirmed around with her legs locked tightly, most likely due to the copious liters of soda she had indulged in just last night. If Dash was capable of inhuman speed, then Pinkie's mad dash across the bridge leading to the restrooms would put her friend to shame. A few snickers did come from this, as the others did some tests and tinkered with their duel disks. Sunset had finished toying with her duel disk as she surveyed the benches. While most were either relaxing or checking their decks again, there was one person that caught her attention. Seated at the end of the farthest bench with Lyra, Bon Bon, and Trixie was the Emerald Witch. Unlike the three that sat next to the mysterious girl who were busy chatting or doing revisions, she simply sat still and stared out to the field.

' Who is she, and what's her deal? Why isn't she doing anything?' Sunset thought as she worked her brain to figure out who the Witch was. To say that there was an air of unease from the masked girl was a light statement and Sunset could feel something else from the girl.

" She sure is creepy, isn't she?" Rainbow says as she also stares at the Witch. " She show up outta nowhere and what? Does she think she's got a chance?"

" I'm not sure. I thought it would be someone we know from CHS. If she's from school, then who is she?"

" I dunno either. I'm not too fond of Trixie and her boasting, but here's hoping she knocks whoever this is off of the roster."

" Hehe, you're one to talk about boasting."

Simply giving her friend a foul look of annoyance, Rainbow playfully gives Sunset a small jab to her shoulder as she goes back to checking her cards. While she no longer leaned in and stared, Sunset kept the image of the unflinching Witch in the corner of her eye. Out of the corner of her eye, the Witch slowly turns her head slightly and presumably keeps her eye on Sunset as well. The idle glances soon became a full on stare into each others eyes as the feeling of unease rose further in Sunsets mind. Whatever distance Sunset felt from the Witch was swiftly removed as she peered into those porcelain eyes.

" SUNSHIIIIM!" a familiar high strung voice suddenly yelled, snapping Sunset from her gaze. She was nearly knocked form her seat as Pinkie had appeared behind the benches. " Oops... ehehe, sorry about that Sunny. Just came to give the girls their snacks, give you some tasty cotton candy, and to wish you good luck!"

" Oh... thanks Pinkie." Sunset says still jittery at Pinkie's sudden appearance. She nibbles away at the fluffy, sweet cloud of delicious sugar as Pinkie gives her yet another absurdly wide smile and bonces off to her seat. Pinkie always did find a way to make her feel better, even if it did take a few sweets or so.

" Ladies and Gentlemen! The first duel of the CHS Cup will now begin!"

" Attention all duelists!" the official with the pointed hair said in a booming voice, " The dueling field has been set up. Will Sunset Shimmer and Micro Chips please proceed to the dueling platform? We will now begin."

'Game time.' Sunset thinks to herself as she quick wolfs down her treat. The official nods to her as he takes both students back up the short stairs onto the field. More and more cheers and roars arose from the crowd as Sunset and Micro took center stage. Each of them took out their cards and began to shuffle them as Sunset stared at Micro pensively. To Sunset, Micro was an odd one, as he rarely ever dueled. As far as she knew, all Micro ever did was keep to himself in the school's library, toiling away on whatever projects or experiments he had in progress. Despite his stagnant duel score, the few times he had duel always resulted in victory. From what Sunset had heard, all of Micro's cards were built with methodical precision and his moves were planned out, far beyond what most students could even think of. However, whatever deck he might be playing was lost to Sunset. The only card that she could recall him having was All-Ruling Dragon - Brain Dragon, and even that wasn't a guarantee.

" This will be an interesting duel. I'm glad that you'll be the first person to test my new deck." Micro says, shuffling his deck.

"New deck huh? Well this will be interesting." Sunset replies sliding her deck into her duel disk.

" Duelists! Please walk to your respective areas on the field and ready your duel disks!"

Both of them swiftly walk to the end of the dueling field and turn to face each other. She had to thank Twilight for customizing and rebuilding her duel disk, right down to the crimson and gold color scheme Sunset was so fond of. Even with Twilight telling her how to operate her new duel disk, Sunset still struggled to figure out what button she had to press to eject the "blade." Fiddling with the touch screen, she finally taps on the top right corner of the screen and the disk tray glows in a multicolored light. Unfolding from the bottom of the tray was a long, rectangular blade with a cold, solid grey color scheme. In a similar fashion, Micro taps something on his wrist dealer and a clear, aqua colored blade slams shut in front of him. Strangely enough, his duel disk was far more subdued than most, with the bulky graveyard and life point counter being shaved down to a small compartment on the wrist dealer. It seemed appropriate to Sunset that he'd have such a high tech duel disk. As each disk powered up and both of them drew their opening hands, a monotone female voice filled the arena as the field rose up higher.

" Duel Disk link established. Life Points: 4000. The first to go will be... Micro Chips."

"Let's Duel!"

Author's Note

And with that, we begin. As for the duel, I've been working on it and all of the other duels for a while now, since ive been revising them numerous times now. After many revisions, I think I've written just the duel I've been hoping for and I hope to write it soon

Duel! - A Roaring Engine in the Data Storm (part 2)

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Egao! - A Show and a Smile for the Camera

Author's Note

Wow. 3 months for a chapter? Surely I jest! Well... no. Guess I have some explaining to do.

Shorthand answer is that something happened to me and my family. Something personal. I won't go into details because its a pretty touchy subject, but it wasn't good. It interfered with my personal life and I'll admit it, I wasn't in a good place afterwards. After sometime recovering away from art and writing and such, I felt better. Good enough, at least, to continue this. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to stop writing this story. I have many more ideas and such to write. Its just that life reared its ugly face and got in the way for a while.

But anyway, enough about me and my issues, here's the next chapter.

Egao! - A Show and a Smile for the Camera

A soft whirring noise followed suit as the hologram of Sunsets monster faded away. The sounds of applause and cheering thunder across the stadium as Micro rises up and sits up, cleaning his glasses with a small cloth obtained from his pocket. Sunset could hear him mumble to himself as she approached him. With his glasses wiped clean, he began to sulk and look downward at his deck.

"How can this be? I had everything planned out perfectly. All of my calculations and plans just... gone."

Sunset gives him a smile as she extends her arm toward him. "Like I said before, it takes a lot more than excessive planning or even luck. It's about believing in your cards and your deck. Just like friendship, there's an inseparable bond between us and our cards and we just need to trust in those bonds."

Micro, now with a small smile on his face, takes her hand and rises to his feet. Dusting off his sweater, he shakes Sunsets hand and says, "Yes well, perhaps there are some things that you can't just calculate. Maybe I need to do more experiments. Still, the victory is yours Sunset. Congratulations."

"What a duel ladies and gentlemen! With our first victor decided, we can now move on to the next duel in our lineup; Pinkie Pie vs Photo Finish!" the M.C declares. The crowd continues to cheer as both Sunset and Micro walk back down to join the rest of the duelists. Following close behind was the duel official that led them up to the field initially. " Attention all duelists! Please be seated and wait as we set up for the next duel!" he said. Walking back to their seats, Micro sits next to Bulk, who simply pats his back and gives him a reassuring smile. Sunset went back to be seated next to Twilight as the rest of the girls crowded around her.

"Aww yeah! Way to play Sunshim! I knew you'd win!" Rainbow said, wrapping her arm around Sunset.

"Yes, indeed! That was a splendid display darling. Though I must say, it was quite close." Rarity adds.

"Waaaay to close! First Micros monster was all like 'Grahhh! I'm gonna make your monsters go boom' and then Sunnys big metal dragon was like 'Nope. KABOOM!' and then Micros bigger dragon thingy was all like, 'WHOOSH! Bye metal dragon!' And and-"

"Breathe Pinkie. Breeeathe..." Fluttershy says calming her now hyperventilating friend.

"Soooorry! I was so nervicited during that whole duel! Ooo, and I still am! I can't wait to get up there and duel! With all of these people watching, I'll be sure to give them a show!"

"I'll never know how you stay so cheery in front of such a crowd Pinkie." Sunset giggles.

"Are ya kiddin'? She could be dueling some big bad from Equestria in front of the entire world 'n' she'd have a smile on 'er face throughout the whole ordeal!" Aj says.

"Heeey, nice foreshadowing Aj! What can I say? Entertainment Dueling is one of my favorite things to do! It's a great way to have fun and bring a smile on anyone and everyone who's having a bad day! That's my dream; to be the greatest Entertainment Duelist the world has ever seen! Well that, and being a world famous baker too! It's a good thing I don't have some sort of evil alternate ego or 3 other me's that makes a giant meanie dragon to combine all dimensions with. Makes it easier to be the best without any plot contrivances!"

There was a long pause among the girls as they tried to wrap their heads around what their wild pink friend just said. They each looked at each other, unsure of what to say at that. After a long moment of silence, the girls each broke out in laughter.

"Oh Pinkie Pie, you are so random! " was the only answer Twilight gave as Pinkie smiled and blushed.

"Attention all duelists! Will the next contestants please step up to the duel arena?" the official booms.

"Oooo! That's me! Later gals! I'm off to throw down for a few minutes. Be riiiight baaaack!"

"Here they are folks! The next duel of the day will be Pinke Pie and Photo Finish!" the M.C declares excitedly.

With a skip in her step, Pinkie glides up the stairs to the field to meet her opponent. Standing front and center was Canterlot Highs resident photographer, nudging her iconic fuchsia glasses into place. The sudden pink blur that appeared before her nearly knocked her over as she fumbled with her deck.

"Hiya Photo! Ready to get decked?" Pinkie says shuffling her deck at an inhuman speed.

"Heh. Ve shall see. Don't sink zat I vill go down so easy!" Photo replies with a smile.

Decks now shuffled, each duelists walks over to their respective sides as they activate their duel disks. The dark navy blue of Photos duel disk glistened under the sun as the glittery white stars lined across the blade sparkled brightly. A puff of confetti spewed out from Pinkies vibrant pink disk as its blade swung forward. Both disks began to glow brightly as a robotic voice spoke out just as before.

"Duel Disk link established. Life Points: 4000 The first to go will be... Pinkie Pie."

"Let's Duel!"

~~*~~

"Alrighty then! I draw!" Pinkie says drawing her card in a rather dramatic fashion. A brilliant flash of neon colored stars and hearts scattered from her disk as she drew. A mile wide smile stretched across her face as she held her arms up high. " Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you all for coming to watch us all duel and have fun! Now, let the fun begin! I set my Pendulum Scales with my scale 1 Entermate Monkeyboard and scale 8 Card Gardna!"

The words "Pendulum" appear across Pinkies duel disk as two tall pillars of light shine beside her. On each side was a monster that rose high into the air, each with the numbers "1" and "8" respectively. To her left was an orange monkey riding a small unicycle, dressed in a deep blue suit and mini top hat. Strangest of all was its huge smile and teeth that appeared to be reminiscent of a keyboard; owing to the monsters name. Opposite to the simian was a sentient playing card; complete with a pair of hands, feet, and a cute face with big, round eyes and a slight blush. A single, gold star on its forehead glittered brightly and it hopped into the air. In between the pillars of light was a multitude of light strands that formed a gigantic vortex.

"Now my Monkeyboards effect activates! By playing on his lovely teeth, I can add an Entermate to my team! So I add Lizardraw to my hand!" A quick tune emits from Monkeyboards teeth as it taps on them rapidly and a card ejects from Pinkies deck. "This is where the real fun begins! With both of my monsters in my zones, I can pendulum summon any monsters who's levels are between 1 and 8! Let's get this party started! With my set scales, I pendulum summon 3 monsters! Let's go, Entermate Lizardraw and Entermate Hermit Crab Landlord!"

3 streams of light suddenly catapult themselves from the center of her pendulum scales as her monsters appear from the beams of light. First was a anthropomorphic orange lizard clad in a crimson magicians outfit and topped off with a tiny top hat, not unlike the one worn by Monkeyboard. Strapped to its back were four red cards, each with a question mark centered inside them. It twirls its scepter and taps it on the floor lightly as its counter reveals its 1200 attack points. The second monster was a large hermit crab with a hefty 2500 defense points. Lining its aqua green shell was a multitude of small rooms with the silhouette of smaller crabs walking around. It twirls its long mustache with its tiny striped claws as it waddles forward next to Pinkie.

"Finally we have the star of the show! That wondrous party animal with the dual-colored eyes, let's give it up for Odd-Eyes Dragon!"

The final light stream makes contact in front of Pinkie as a pair of green and red eyes glisten. A magenta tail suddenly sweeps across the light as a crimson covered bipedal dragon crashes down. Plastered on its chest were two large cyan orbs that gave off a deep glow as it reared its golden head and let out a screeching roar. It stamps onto the field with a hefty 2500 attack points.

"Incredible! In one fell swoop, Pinkie Pie has just summoned three monsters at once! That's the power of pendulum monsters folks!" the M.C says.

"The gang's all here now! Just wait! The real fun begins next turn. So I'll slap down a card face-down and pass it off to you!"

"Not bad. Arh! But vatch as I bring zee light of mein brilliance into aczion! I draw! Perfect! Of courze, effery brilliant mind like mine needs zee proper equipment! Zo I play zis, mein Continuous Schpell Persona Shutter 2!"

An eerie fog extends from Photos card as a strange orange and indigo colored mechanical object hovers in front of her face. As bizarre as it was, the object appeared to have some sort of camera lens on its right and a blank, crimson eye on its left. The end with the crimson eye clamps on tightly to the right lens of Photos wide shades as the masks lens whirs and snaps shut.

"Oooo! Sweet new lens!" Pinkie says.

"Vy zank yu! As an artist, I am flattered by your vords. Howeffer, zis card is more zan just a simple tool for mein genius. As long as zis card remains on ze field, all uf your cards are unaffected by ya own card effects."

There was a series of rapid taps from the duel trackers as Rainbow Dash quickly reviewed Photos newest card. Try as she might, she stared at the screen in complete confusion as she said, "Uhhhh... I'm lost here. Why did she play that card? It's not like she negated all of her cards effects."

"It means that Pinkie can't use any card effects on her own cards." Twilight replies. "No attack boosts, no equip spells or traps. Nothing."

"Oh my. So she can't do anything to her cards? What can she do now? It's not like she can make do with what she has now. What if Photo summons something stronger?" Rarity says worriedly.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Sunset says with a smirk. "It's gonna take a lot more than some simple spell card to stop any of Pinkie's fun. If anything, she'll just see it as another challenge."

"Ohh, so that's what that new fancy shmancy frame of yours does! Ah, I'm sure I'll draw the exact card I need to get rid of it later on." Pinkie says cheekily.

"As is natural. Arh ! Hoveffer, I vill make zure to vin our battle before zat time comes. Now! Ve proceed! I zummon mein C/C One-Eyed Past Eye!"

Appearing onto her field was a bizarre shaped entity that appeared to be some sort of purple crystal formation with bits and pieces of dull, grey steel plates and gold hooks scattered across its body that curved into a vague, sword shape. Placed in its center was a large mechanical eye that seemed to glisten. The strange creature hovers slowly next to Photo with 1400 attack points.

"Und mein next move is vere mein vizion begins! I play mein next Continuous Schpell, Montage Fusion! Now vith zis, I can fuzion zummon a monster uzing monsters on both zides uf our field! Und I chooze your Hermit Crab!"

A dramatic gasp is heard from Pinkie as she says,"Oh no! I just so happened to summon the exact monster you needed with the exact level and attribute for you to Fusion summon with! Huh... imagine that."

Photos card emits a bright glow as a long telephonic lens spawns from the card. With a small click, Pinkies monster suddenly disappears as Photos card displays the newly captured image of Hermit Crab. Both of Photos cards are pulled into a swirling, multi-colored vortex before exploding into a torrent of aqua green light.

"I Fuzion zummon! Arize, Level 6! C/C/C Water Sword ze Embodiment of Fused Arms!"

A circular slate of steel rapidly spins from the wave of light and hovers above. The metal plate vibrates gently as several deep panel lines of varying thickness creep across the smooth face; with each line widening around the numerous neon indigo and green orbs that appeared along side the panel lines. Embedded deep in the center was another orb, this one place in the center of a golden swords hilt as its long, odd shaped blade curved downward. A counter shows its 2400 attack points.

"Just look at that folks! In one swift move, Photo Finish has fusion summoned a monster using Pinkie Pies own monster to her advantage!" the M.C says.

"Behold Mein brilliance! Mein vizion has come forth, all zanks to your monster. Arh ! Zuch is zee beauty of mein genius! Ko, mein Water Sword! Schtrike dovn her Lizardraw!"

Each of the metallic swords orbs begin to glow vibrantly as a low hum emanates from its surface. The deep panel lines spew out a brilliant stream of aqua colored light that streaks across the field towards Pinkies monster. Suddenly, the attacks light is stopped dead in its tracks as a slender signal light crashes through the floor.

"Phew! That was a close one. Sorry, buuuuuut I'm gonna have to stop ya there! Thanks to my Trap, Entermate Signal, I can draw a card and toss it right to my graveyard! Best part is, if it's a Entermate monster, then your fancy little light show comes to a screeching halt!" Pinkie says as she swiftly draws her card and eyes it. "And lookie here! It's Entermate Longphone Bull! So your attack and battle phase goes buh-bye!"

The train signal then displays a red light as it gives out a loud "ding!" The waves of light dissipate harmlessly as Photos monster wearily returns to her side. Whistles and cheers thunder across the stage as Pinkie gives a cheeky peace sign towards the audience. None were louder than the ones from the other duelist, and especially not as loud as certain rainbow-haired teen.

"Nice going Pinkie! Way to dodge that one!" Rainbow cheers. "So what if she can use your monsters? You've got plenty of moves to stop her!"

"Ah dunno Dash. If she can just keep on usin' Pinkies monsters, she ain't gonna be able ta break through her field!" Aj responds.

Even the heavy mask she wore could hardly hide Photos annoyed expression. She let out a huff as reached for a card and said, "Yu may haffe schtopped mein attack but trust me, zis performance is far from offer! I zet one card und end mein turn.Unfortunately, due to zee effect of Montage Fuzion, mein Water Sword is destroyed." True to her words, the metallic creature scatters into pieces above her.

"Oh boy, ain't that unfortunate!" Pinkie says giddily. "Now you're fields empty! Guess its my a-go now! I draw! Hit it Monkeyboard!" At her request, Pinkies pendulum simian rattles its teeth as another cards ejects from her disk; with this card being a mimic, usually seen in most fantasy games, with a stylish bow tie and top hat. However, it was what was behind the card that caught Pinkies attention. Peeking out slightly from her newly added card was yet another card that had accidentally ejected alongside with it. While it was glued on with some sort of pink sticky goo, the words "God-Eyes" could still be seen in its corner.

'Sweet Ra! Now there's a big broken boy that shouldn't be in this story yet! Guess playing card games while shoveling down cotton candy all night wasn't such a good idea. Well, nobody noticed it, but that sure isn't fair. It's a good thing I've got just the card to help me out!' She reaches for another card in her hand as she waves to the audience and says, "Sorry folks! Looks like I don't have much of a good hand! Buuuut like every good show, sometimes all you need is a recasting of the crew, and this card right here will fix that right up! I play Entermate Cast Change! Now I can send back any number of Entermate monsters back to my deck and draw the same number of cards plus one more! So say bye-bye to Entermate Trap Mimic and Turntrooper, and say hello to three new cards!"

Drawing her new cards, her smile fades slightly as she examines her new cards. "Aww well. Not much I can do now except for some damage! Alright! Let's go Odd-Eyes! Light her up with Spiral Flame!" Pinkies dragon roars and leaps high into the air. At the peak of its jump, it opens its maw and unleashes a torrent of crimson, spiraling flames down towards Photo.

"I zink not! Ko, Persona Shutter - Instant!" Photo declares as her trap flips up. "Vith zis, I can play mein Persona Shutter - Instant as ein copy of your Odd-Eyes und halt your attack!" Yet another strange mask appears from the card, with this one being a grey plate of metal with magenta bumpers on each of its sides. Despite its bizarre appearance, what it was attached to was stranger still; a near identical version of Odd-Eyes Dragon, albeit with the mask shielding its right eye. most of its body had a slick metallic sheen to it and the two large spikes on its back had a dull, silver coloration. With its attack being halted by a robotic doppelganger, Pinkies dragon crashes back down to the field and shuffles back to her.

"Aww shoot! I almost had ya there. Ah well, guess there's always next time! You're up!" Pinkie says with a wink. The copy of Odd-Eyes then suddenly shatters to pieces as the mask slowly fades away.

~*~~

"Umm... what happened? That's the second time her own monster destroyed itself." Fluttershy asks. She looks over to her friends,who have crowded to the duel tracker.

"It says here that the monster summoned by Instant is destroyed during the End Phase. Strange... is that what her deck revolves around? Short, disruptive bursts before her monsters are destroyed?" Twilight says puzzled.

"Why that's a bit odd, don't you think?" Rarity adds. "Even if she can stop Pinkies attacks and use her monsters to summon her own, won't it be useless If she keeps losing her cards?"

There was a mutter of agreement among the girls as Sunset sat in thought, but not on the duel. While every other duelist had either cheered, looked at their trackers, or spoke to each other, there was one that Sunset stared at. Seated at the far end of the benches was the Emerald Witch who, as far as she could tell, hadn't moved an inch since being seated with the other duelists. No sounds, no movements. Nothing. Sunset could only watch as she silently stared out to the field. The more Sunset stared at her, the more and more that feeling of dread in her grew. 'Who is she?'

"..right Sunset?"

"Huh Oh... yeah." Sunset responds slowly, now snapped out of her thoughts by Aj.

"You feelin' it too? It's about that witch, isn't it?"

"Well... I don't know. It's that Emerald Witch. I can't explain it but.. something about her is just wrong."

"You too huh? Yeah, same 'ere. Sumthin' about that there witch ain't right. She just comes in up an' outta nowhere an' takes someones else spot. It ain't just you an' Twilight either. The rest of the girls are feelin' uneasy about 'er too."

" Yeah. I don't know what it is about her. Part of me wants to believe that Equestrian Magic is back again, but I just don't know..."

Sunsets gaze shifted away from the mysterious figure as she returned to spectating the duel. Try as she might, that nagging thought that something was up never left her mind. Whoever she was, Sunset would find out soon enough. For now, all she could do was observe the duels until that time came.

~~*~~

"It's mein turn. I draw! I play mein schpell, Treasured Cards of Adversity! Zince I haffe nein monsder und yu do, I can draw two more cards! Just vat I needed to "refill" mein genius! I zummon mein Film Magician!"

Leaping into the air was a mage draped in a long black robe accented with a lime green trim and an indigo hat. Its face was concealed by a grey metal mask and a dull brown steel oval ring that ran around its neck with a pattern that was reminiscent to the film reels used by older cameras. It descends downward, brandishing its staff and zero attack power.

"Und now, I zet two cards und end mein turn." Photo says setting her cards. There were murmurs of confusion and concern form the audience and the duelists alike.

"A monster with no attack or defense points?! What could she be planning?" the M.C says voicing the crowds confusion. " Is this some sort of desperate move by Photo Finish to keep Pinkie from attacking?"

'I hope Pinkie has a plan." Twilight thinks worriedly after searching for that monster on the tracker.'As soon as she attacks, not only will that monsters effect kick in and prevent it from being destroyed, but it will mirror the attack points of the monster it battles.'

There was a small smirk across Photos face as she stared across her field. She knew all too well how tricky Pinkie could be and how annoyingly stubborn her pendulum monsters could be. Stalling for time wasn't a great plan and a feeble bluff was even worse, but every bold move had to begin somewhere. 'Every snapped moment begins with a vision,' she would say, and this was no different.

"Zere. Arh ! Zat schould hold yu at bay for now! Let's zee yu attack me now!"

"Oooohh, so you wanna bait me in with your set cards eyy? Alrighty then, I'll play along! I draw! Rock them tunes for the last time Monkeyboard!" Pinkie declares a she once again adds a card from her deck to her hand. "Sorry Photo. I love your new look and all, but I got a story to progress and it doesn't involve your neat little mask! I play Twister! All I gotta do is pay 500 life points and your mask is gone!"

Pinkies life points drop to 3500 as a vicious cyclone spews out from her card. The wild funnel twists and winds across the field as it brisks past Photos face and rips her mask off of her glasses. All she can do is grit her teeth in annoyance as the strange aura that covered the field is lifted.

"Now that my fields free, let's change the scenery! I play my Field Spell, Sky Arc!"

The bright blue sky suddenly darkens as the summoning ring that appeared from Pinkies pendulum scales arcs across the sky. Unlike before, the wire meshes of light streaming across the sky are bathed in the wondrous colors of the rainbow. The sense of awe and wonder spreads across the crowd like wildfire as the multi-colored lights soar around the stadium.

"Isn't it pretty? And it's not just for show, cause by sending away my Monkeyboard, I can add Entermate Odd-Eyes Light Phoenix right to my hand! Thanks for all the help Monkeyboi, but it's your buddy Seal Eels turn now!" Pinkie says waving at her monster. The monkey gives a giddy chuckle as one of the bands of light swept it away into the pendulum circle. Wriggling out of a dark blue party popper In its place was a small orange eel dressed in a tiny green suit, blue polka-dotted bow tie, and tophat. Placed on its big brown nose was two bandages that formed an "X." A glowing number 3 appears beneath it as it takes off its tiny hat with its stubby flippers and bows respectfully to the crowd.

"D'aww, ain't he a gentle-eel? Aside from looking all cute and snazzy, he can help me out with your magician. See, once per turn, he can use that bandage on his lil schnoz to wrap up your monsters effects!" Pinkie says, Her monster responds with a cute squeak as the bandage on its nose flings forward and expands in size. The cross shape figure turns a bright red as it wraps around Photos monster in a vice grip bind. Despite its struggle, it couldn't break free of its new bindings.

"Vat? But vy vould yu-"

"-negate your monster effect? Well duh! Isn't it obvious? You play a mage with no attack points and two cards? Biiiiig red flag. My Pinkie Sense tells me that your two cards are just duds and you want me to attack your magician! So, let's try this again! Go, get 'em Odd-Eyes!"

Once more, Pinkies dragon catapults into the air as it spews its spiraling flames downward. No amount of struggling from the bound mage could halt the burning flames from striking it dead on. The flames melt away Photos monster as she braces herself from the strike. The force of the flames, however, sends both her shades and herself flying back as she lands onto her back and her life points plummet to 1500.

The M.C gasps and spurs the crowd as he says, "Woah! What a strike ladies and gentlemen! Photo finish just took a huge hit from Pinkies dragon! With only 1500 life points left and no monsters on her field, what will she do now?"

Slowly rising to her feet, Photo reaches for her tinted shades and rests them back onto her face. "Hmph... not bad. Arh ! I vas careless, but don't zing yu'll attack me akain zis turn! I play mein trap, Damage Gate! Zis card allovs me to zummon back vun monster from mein graffeyard, zo long as its attack is equal or less zan zee damage I took. I bring back mein One-Eyed Past Eye!" Appearing before her was the familiar mechanical creature, beady eye and all.

"Looks like Mr. Peepers is back again. Ahh well, guess it's your turn!" Pinkie says unfazed by her opponents move.

"Mein move... Arh ! I draw." Photo grumbles. "Yu are schtrong, Pinkie Pie... but I von't giffe in chust yet! Mein vizion vill come forth! I play Pot of Greed!"

As if by strange coincidence, nearly everyone in the arena had either checked their duel trackers or mobile devices after Photo played her spell. Plastered across the screens of the arena was the image of Pot of Greed and the card text that read "Draw two cards" beneath the creepy smile of the acid green pot. Simple murmurs of confusion and idle shrugs came from the audience and even the M.C seemed to be at a loss for words as he flipped through a thick, heavy-looking book. There was, however, one person. A single, pink, deadpanned soul that stood completely still and stared at nowhere in particular.

"Really? A Pot of Greed joke? Children's card game cliche and all, sure, but one from 2000?" Pinkie mutter under her breath in annoyance.

"*ahem* Zanks to zis card, I can draw two-"

"Yeah yeah, draw two cards. In the future we'll get a neg 9 pot that everyone will think is good, Move along!"

"Ehehe....ja. Anyvays, I schall equip mein Past Eye vith mein Scroll of Bewitchment! Vatch as I change its attribute to Earth!" A long multi-colored scroll wraps around Photos monster before fading away with a dull brown glow. "Your crab friend has been guite helpful Pinkie, und he schall help me akain! I activate mein zet schpell card, Past Tune! Zince your Hermit Crab is ein leffel 6 monster, I can treat mein Past Tune as ein leffel 3 tuner monster!" Her card scatters into 3 neon green rings as it surrounds her Past Eye.

"I Zynchro Zummon! Let's ko, leffel 6! C/C/C Rock Shooter ze Embodiment of Tuned Attacks!"

Cutting through the light was an object of immense proportions that was seemingly shaped like a crude arrowhead. The body of the mass was a deep brown with its topmost and bottoms spikes being a dull green and had the texture of what could only be described as "jagged" and "rock-like." Despite its inorganic form, the gnarled teeth and single, crimson, beady eye showed it's true nature as a monster. It propelled itself next to Photo with, what one would assume to be, its pair of engines near it end and floated gently on its 2200 attack.

"I'm not done chust yet! I play mein Continuous Schpell, Persona Shutter 1! Chust like before, zis card vill become ein copy of your Odd-Eyes!" Yet another mask appears from Photos card; this one being shaped like a stopwatch and having some sort of dial in its center. Just like before, the mask was attached to the same mechanical copy of Pinkies Odd-Eyes. "Finally, for zee small cost of 800 life points, I schall bring pack mein Wader Sword vith zis! Re-Fusion!" Photos life points drop to 700 as the vanquished steel dish spins out from an indigo portal by her feet.

"Is time I return zee favor Pinkie Pie, becauze now ve begin! Mein Perzona Odd-Eyes schall schtrike down your Lizardraw! Ko, Spiral Flame!" Photo commands as her machine leaps into the air and vomits a storm of cerulean flames. A screech of pain escaped Pinkies monster as the flames disintegrated its body. All that remained of Pinkies doomed lizard was the few scattered and burned cards from its back that fizzled away in the wind. A huff escapes Pinkies lips as her life points drop to 2200.

"Next! Mein Water Sword attacks your Hermit Crab, und vith zis attack, its effect activates! Now it gains zee attack points of your monsder!" Photo declares again as her monster once again blasts a torrent of blinding water; now boosted to 2900. The small crustacean is washed away by the stream as it slams into its shell.

"Und to finisch mein move, mein Rock Shooter schall attack your Odd-Eyes!"

"Whoopsie! Did you get all caught up in the moment? Cause my Odd-Eyes is a lot bigger than your rock gun."

"Yu must oben your mind Pinkie. Arh ! For yu zee, mein Rock Shooter alzo has ein effect I can uze. Once per tun, I can have one monster yu control loze 1000 attack points!" The two green spikes jutting from Photos living weapon glow brightly as a wave of strange energy crosses over to Pinkies dragon. The beast roars in pain as its body is weighed down by the aura around it as its strength plummets to 1500. A golden cone of energy suddenly blasts from the deep void on its face and wraps around Odd-Eyes. Despite its defiant howls, the dragon shatters to pieces as Pinkie braces herself from the damage.

"What a move ladies and gentlemen! Photo Finish just wiped out all of Pinkies monsters and cut her life points down to 1500! Incredible!" the M.C declares with his cheery nature goading on the crowd. Cheers and yells rolls across the stadium.

"As expecded, mein vizion has taken zee breaths of zee people. Arh ! None can keep zee marffelous mind of Photo Finish down! I now end mein turn. Of courze, due to zee effects of Persona Layer 1 und Past Tune, mein two monsders are destroyed. Still, I haffe more zan vat I need to vin zis duel." Photo says with a snide twang in her voice.

"Man oh man, that was a pretty sweet move! Gotta say, this is fun! Still, I've got a duel to ace and a crowd to woo, so it's time to get your game on! I draw!"

With a dramatic swing of her arm, Pinkie draws as a shower of bright neon stars, bubbles, and smiley faces spew from her deck. "It's Pendulum Time ladies and gentlemen! Let's give a round of applause for our returning actors Lizardraw and Hermit Crab, and our latest guest Entermate Odd-Eyes Light Phoenix!" Streaming downward from the spiral of dazzling was the familiar sight of a magically adept lizard and now annoyed crustacean. Soaring above them both was a fiery phoenix with long flowing strands of majestic crimson feathers, clad in a sharp black suit and matching fedora. Despite its seemingly hefty size, the burning avian simply perches itself onto Pinkies left shoulder as she suffers no discomfort from this. Landing between them, however, was yet a third beam of brilliant light with this one having a silhouette of a humanoid figure.

"Watch as the magic of pendulums gives you the greatest sorcerer there is in entertainment! May his might magic flip those frowns upside down! Let's go and work the crowd, level 7! Entermate Smile Magician!"

Daintily stepping out of the cone of light was a tall, slim man dressed an a flowing navy blue magicians coat embroidered with crimson hex marks and colorful stars across its coat tails. Draped across its shoulders was a coat, white as snow, that wavered behind the shower of pastel colored smiley faces. Flustered squeals and blushed out faces filled the stadium as ladies and schoolgirls alike fawned over the handsome face under its dark blonde hair. The warm smile and cheeky wink it gave to the audience only furthered the infatuation from the girls. Even the normally lady-like Rarity found herself fanning away at her steaming face at the sight of the gallant mage.

"Yes folks, he's a pretty face and all, but he's gonna help me out and bring a smile to all of you! Thanks to him, I can ad Smile World right to my hand!" Pinkie gives her magician a wink as he reciprocates this by tossing one of his held cards to her. "But why wait? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Smile World!"

To say that the number of neon colored smiley faces and stars that stormed all around the area was "excessive" would be an understatement. All across the stadium, the joyous giggles and excited nature of the faces spread across the audience. The younger viewers playfully touched and bounced the glowing smileys while the older audience were overtaken by laughter and joy. Even the monsters down by the duelists felt a surge of happiness from the performance above; right down to Photos slate sword forming a odd "smile" with the few bits of neon lights running through its body. Nearly all of the duelist onlookers rose form their seats as they too felt a sure of excitement from Pinkies performance.

"Look at that light show! Pinkie sure knows how to end a performance!" Rainbow says as she cheers along with the crowd. "And as a plus, that fancy light show gives all the monster a boost equal to the number of them on board! All to the tune of 500 points each!"

"Completely unnecessary, but that's Pinkie for you!" Fluttershy responds happily applauding the show.

There was a pause from Photo as she stared up at the light show above her. The streaming beams from Sky Arc, the brilliant shine and figures from Smile World, the laughs, the smiles. It all came together into an image, no, a vision of spectacular awe and whimsy and before she knew it, a huge grin had been plastered on her face. Had it not been for her shades, one would see swirling stars in her eyes. There was no doubt in her mind; this would be a loss, but one she would take with grace.

"Amasing... no, schpectacular... Arh ! Nein! Zis is your vizion?! It is apzoludely marffelous! Effen I, Photo Finish, is left in awe at your beaudiful vizion! Yu truly are zee one who vill move zis crowd vith your artistic smiles und joyous laughs! Now come! Let uz finish zis duel!"

"D'aww you! Every great vision starts somewhere right? Thanks to you, we both gave these fine people an awesome show and a rockin' finale! I got one last spell to play at this will bring down the house- er, stadium! I throw down my Miracle Rocket Show!"

A hatch behind Pinkie opens up as a gigantic red rocket ship rises above and towers over her and her monsters. Bubbles filled with what looked like galaxies floating around inside them spawned above the stadium and weaved themselves among the complex web of lights and smiles.

"Who needs any sort of training in astronomy when you've got a giant red rocket?! So long as this big guy is around, you take no battle damage and your monsters can't be destroyed! You ready Photo?! Cause this is the grand finale! Go, Smile Magician! Give her Water Sword the what for!"

Pinkies mage gives her a thumbs up as he climbs into the rocket and slams the door behind him. The engines beneath the craft roars to life as smoke billows and swamps the field with a heavy pink smog. Above the counter that displayed her magicians attack points was yet another digital panel that began to countdown the rockets launch.

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Blast Off!!!"

With a furious roar of its engines, the comical spaceship catapults into the sky and soars above the audience. As the rocket streaked across the sky, it flew through each of the galaxy filled bubbles in a shower of radiant stars and smaller bubbles that scattered above the onlookers.

"Don't you worry Hermit Crab! You can help out too! Now for every Entermate monster rout on the field, my magician get a big boost to the tune of 400 points for each one!" Pinkie says gesturing to her monster. Her monster skitters to center of the field and raises its claws up. The rooms on its shell all light up at once in a sparkling display and the lights all converge onto the high-speed rocket. Gold and silver colors cover the rocket as the counter that appeared by Pinkie show a spike to 4200. The rocket jerks downward and dives towards Photos monster. A shower of more stars, golden streams of light, and bubbles blinds Photo and most of the audience. The brilliant light dies down as Pinkies magician takes off its tiny top hat and gives Photo and her untouched monster bow that even the slated sword reciprocates by bending its form slightly. Applause and whistles of pure excitement and joy fill the arena from both onlookers and duelist alike.

"Imbreziffe numbers und yet I take nein damage!" Photo giggles, also clapping her hands.

"Weeeeelll, not quite. See, you take no battle damage but I can send my Rocket Show away and you take all of the damage you would have taken!"

Rising form his bow, the magician gestures towards Photo and opens up one of its large sleeves. Streams of tied handkerchiefs and confetti spring towards her and drape her in multi-colored cloth and glitter. Laughter was all she could muster from this. Even as her life points dropped to zero, all Photo could do was laugh. It had been a long time since she felt such joy from a duel and her bubbly pink friend had provided it to her in spades. The sights, the sounds, the experience, the joy from the crowd. All of it came into the perfect blend of entertainment. Her only regret as she fell over with laughter was that she didn't have her camera to capture this moment.

Battaglia! - A Duel between Playmakers (part 1)

"What an amazing spectacle folks! In an amazing performance, the winner of the second duel of the CHS Cup is Pinkie Pie!"

The ensuing roar of cheers, whistles, and applause that rose after the M.Cs declaration deafened the stadium as the platform lowered itself. Pinkie and her monsters all gave a bow towards the crowd as the rest of her monsters fade away. Still propped up on the ground, Photo rises to here feet with a wide smile on her face. A loss was a loss, but one she took with grace and some fun. With the audiences and her own laughter dying down, she rises to her feet and fixes her crooked shades. The inhumane pink blur that was Pinkie Pie streaked across the field and quickly shook her opponents hand.

"Vat a duel... Arh! I guess effen mein own vizion is not enough to offertake your performance."

"Heya! Now don't feel too bad about losing. That was a really fun duel! We should do this again sometime!"

"Hehe... Ja. I'd like zat."

Both of the girls are led off by the dueling official as the platform is lowered once more. There was a small but satisfied huff from Photo as she takes her seat by Lyra and Bonbon. Being knocked out of the tournament so early was far from what she had intended, but the ensuing performance had more than removed any melancholy from her mind. To Pinkies side, all of her friends crowded around her with glee.

"Alright! Way to play Pinkie!" Rainbow says giving her friend a fistbump. "Take it from me, that was pretty awesome!"

"Aww, thanks! That was pretty fun! Not as fun as what Sunny went through. I'm still super jealous that you got to go first!"

"Ahh, don't be too jealous Pinkie. You've riled up the crowd and brought smiles to everyone here. I can't think of anybody better to be a world-class Entertainment Duelist." Sunset says with a giggle.

"Hehe, thanks Sunny!"

"Attention all duelists! Will Rainbow Dash and Cloudy Kicks please proceed to the field?" the duel official boomed.

Oi, sfigato!" a loud voice suddenly yells; catching the groups attention. Out of all the girls, Rainbow Dash quickly leaped up and stood ahead of them as she confronted a familiar face. Standing in front her with a sly smirk was another blonde young girl dressed in a sleek indigo jersey with the numbers "10" emblazoned on the back. Clutched tightly between her hands was soccer ball that she occasionally tossed back and forth."Are you ready? Or are you going to run and hide?"

"Hide from you? Ha! What a joke! It's time we settled the score!" Rainbow retorts.

'Uh, I'm lost here. Who is she again and what's her problem with Rainbow?' Sunset whispers.

'Cloudy used to be the team captain and playmaker for the Wondercolts Soccer Team until Ranbow took over.' Fluttershy whispers.'During our freshman year, Dash managed to outperform her at soccer and took both of her positions. Ever since she lost her position, they've both been at each others throats trying to upstage one another.'

'I... kinda remember that. Actually, I bumped into Cloudy one before. I don't remember much since I was... busy, but she looked furious... and she was crying.'

"What a match-up ladies and gentleman!" the M.C interrupts. "A duel between Canterlot Highs former and current star athlete! Let's get this clash underway!"

The two rivals burned daggers into each others eyes as they bolted towards the center of the field. Even as they shuffled their decks and readied their duel disks, their ever present glares persisted into each other. Despite the mutual feeling the girls felt, the smirks they wore never once faded as they stared each other down across the field.

"Duel Disk link established. Life Points: 4000. The first to go will be... Cloudy Kicks!"

"Hope you're ready for dis! I've been waiting to do dis for-a 2 years now!"

"Sorry Cloudy but it looks like you're gonna be waiting forever cause I don't plan on losing!"

"Let's Duel!"

~~*~~

The cheers of the crowd slowly die down as the attention turns to a now unflinching Cloudy. Her scowl was now adverted to her deck as she stared deep in thought. This was it. Nearly 3 years of constant humiliating defeats at the hand of some egocentric hotshot finally coming to a close. 'This iz it. They will all see that she iz-a nothing! Ever since that day I have felt nothing but anger. She will finally learn her place!'

"Yo! Are you gonna play or what?!" Rainbow yells; snapping her opponent from her thoughts.

"Don't-a rush me sciocco! But if losing fast in front of everyone is what you desire, then so be it! I draw! And to begin this little game, we shall battle on-a my turf. Go, Dream Pitch!"

Shooting out from behind Cloudy came a torrent of multi-colored fireworks that exploded into the shapes of soccer balls and stars. A gust of wind spirals across the stadium and the cold grey steel of the dueling field was replaced by a serene field of flowing blades of grass and two goal nets situated near each end. Another small gale of wind quickly whipped around Rainbow Dash as it completely engulfed her. Once the wind dissipated, she had been dressed in what appeared to a a bright pink cheerleaders uniform along with two large golden pom-poms held in her free hand.

"Huh? Hey, what gives?!" Rainbow exclaims as she tosses aside the pom-poms, her face now a bright scarlet.

"Oh there iz more than just a costume change. Now that we fight on my territory, I'll show you that you are nothing more than second best! Appear, Captain Wing!"

A soccer ball from somewhere from the new fields dugouts sailed across the field and onto the grass. Sprinting onto the field came a tall orange robotic human clad in a dark blue jersey and an unfamiliar crest on its chest. It had an almost toyetic appearance due to its spherical segmented joints and glossy finish from its mechanical components. Utilizing the two mechanical wings on its back, its boosted itself towards the ball and began to perform various tricks and flips as it entertained the now cheering crowd. Satisfied with its performance, it waves to the crowd as it casually juggled the ball with is foot and its counter showed 1100 attack points.

"And that is just da beginning! I set a card and end-a my turn. Your move now."

"This is gonna be easy if that's all you got!" Rainbow says as she tries and fails to pull down the surprisingly short skirt. "I've beaten you before and I'll do it again!"

"Yes... don't remind me." Cloudy growls.

Back with the rest of the duelists, Sunset took notice of Cloudys bitterness. Out of the many students she knew during her reign, Cloudy was one of the few she had ignored. Plots of blackmail against the soccer team? Sure she had a few, but when she learned that the team captain had been replaced by who she referred to as, "some ego driven, technicolor meathead," she lost interest in Cloudy and turned her sights elsewhere.

"Fluttershy, what exactly happened that day? That day that I bumped into her. I remember it was after school and I was walking down the halls when she ran into me."

"Well..." Fluttershy began.

Canterlot High; 2 years ago

Sundown. One on one. Soccer field. The conditions were almost poetic in their nature. But this was no time for admiring the scenery. Cloudy had something else on her agenda today. Long had she felt anger and hatred for her technicolor adversary and the fervent need to stomp out her old rival suddenly reared its ugly head. 'This will be the day' she would think. Nothing but a pipe dream. All of her carefully laid out strategies laid in the dirt just as she did. There she was, thrown to the ground and drained of her life points.

"And that's game! Gotta say, that was pretty wild!"

There, kneeling before Dash, was a beaten and crying Cloudy. She remained silent for the longest time; still knelt down and shaking furiously. All she could do was slam her fist into the dirt and seethe with fury as she balled her other fist. Slowly looking up, she could see the outstretched hand from her opponent.

"Hey, don't cry! It's ok. Sure, you probably couldn't have beaten me but hey, I'm not one to kick ya when you're down. I'm sure we can still get you a position as a midfielder or something."

Sympathy? From her of all people? No. It was too much to bear. Not after this humiliation. A quick swipe from Cloudy swats away her hand as she stand up with a burning scowl on her face,"No. Nononono! I cannot lose! Not to you! Disguzting puttana! You stole my pozition from me, made me a mockery in front of de whole school and you now humiliate me by defeating me in a duel!"

"What?! You did that yourself! All you've ever done since I became the team captain is challenge me for the position again! You lost to me fair and square that day! I can't help it if I'm so awesome and amazing at sports!"

"STA' ZITTO! You and your damn pride! I hate you! You don't deserve to lead our team to victory! You don't even bother to play together as a team!"

"I'm a great team player! Just because I sometimes make goals on my own doesn't mean I'm not a team player! From what I've heard, all you ever did was push the team to be better by yelling at them. Face it, I'm more than capable of leading our team to victory than you are!"

Left hook. Impact. In a blink of an eye, Rainbow Dash was slammed into the floor. All she could do was nurse her stinging cheek and sudden nosebleed as she saw her opponent run away through the schools double doors. Wiping her nose, she stands back up and scowls bitterly. To say she'd kick her off the team was an understatement, though one that she would do with disdain. Before she could walk away to deal with her wound, the sounds of the doors slamming shut again and the sight of a familiar unsightly red-head caught her attention.

"So that's it then..." Sunset says. "That's why she was crying that day."

"Mhm. Rainbow told me everything that happened that day. She ran her off the team the next day."

"And that's why she waited so long. She finally has her chance at humiliating her in public. Still..."

During her old reign, Sunset had always been too preoccupied with her own ambitions to worry about the plight of others. All she did was brush off her run-in with Cloudy as she went on to work her deceit with Rainbow Dash. A duel filled with emotions of anger and revenge was one Sunset was all too familiar with. She wished she had a moment to talk with Cloudy and ease her mind.

"That all? Heh, you're gonna have to do better than that to beat me!" Rainbow exclaims, interrupting Sunsets thoughts on the matter. "Lemme show ya! I draw! It's a good thing you went first cause since I don't have a monster and you do, I can special summon this guy from my hand! Let's go, Speedroid Beigomax!"

In a blinding flash of light, 13 ruby colored toy tops spun wildly onto the field. One of the tops, which had two curved obsidian blades on its sides, rallied the rest of the tops behind it into a orderly line with an orange hue of energy linking them together. The collection of swirling tops stands center with 1200 attack points.

"We're just getting started here! See I've got two more Speedroids in my hand and I just set the stage for both of them to join in. Come on out, Speedroid Taketomborg and Speedroid Carturbo!"

Two more bright light suddenly appear and cough up yet two more toy-like machines. The first appeared to be some sort of helicopter rotor with vibrant red and green stripes across its blades. The blades fold and bend into the shape of arms and legs as an armored head with two bulbous blue eyes pop out. The humanoid machine stands tall with 600 attack. To its side was what appeared to be a rectangular slate of steel with a car engine haphazardly attached to the center of it. It revs its engine as it hovers next to its counter with 800 attack.

"And the best part? I still haven't used my normal summon this turn! So I'll use it to summon my Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice! Thanks to my dices effect, I can make one of my Speedroids level anywhere from one to six. So my Taketomborg gets promoted to level four!"

A fourth light spits out an oversized yellow dice that spins and tumbles onto the field and lands face-up on 1. Instead of a solid black dot, it was replaced by a single, crimson, stylized eye that quickly blinked. It hopped up and scattered six strange orbs that gently hovered around it. This monster was the weakest of the group; standing at a mere 100. Four of its six red orbs sailed into the chest of the robotic toy and imbued it with a faint aura.

"Look at that! Four monsters in one turn!" the M.C declares excitedly.

"That's our Dash. Ain't nobody as quick to the draw as she is." Aj says.

"And It's not just any form of swarming. She has two tuner monsters." Sunset adds.

"Now it's time for a little tune up! I tune my level three Beigomax with Carturbo and my level four Taketomborg with my level one Red-Eyed Dice! I Synchro summon! Let's go! High-Speedroid Magical Sword Dama and High-Speedroid Chanbarider!"

A blur of blue and red rapidly slash across the field and blink around the stadium. Despite the crowds best efforts, their eyes couldn't keep up with the insane speeds of her new monsters. The blurs finally slow down and both monsters hover next to Rainbow Dash. To her left, the one known as Dama, was a strange blue machine whose body had the shape of some sort of dagger-like glyph. Streaks of gold lined its four massive orbs that each held a wide booster. Attached to its leftmost orb was a robotic face that wore a red visor across its "face." The other machine, known as Chanbarider, was a red, gigantic steel sword with an golden hilt that curved upward into a pseudo seat. Situated when the "seat" would be was a robotic humanoid clad in a dark purple armor. It held two curved blades that it frequently sharpened. Each monster held 2200 and 2000 attack points respectively. The entire arena explodes with a roar of cheering and applause.

"Incredible!!! Two Synchro summons back-to-back!" the M.C yells.

"Oh yeah! You like that Cloudy? Hope you're ready, cause you're in for a world of hurt! I activate my Damas effect! All I gotta do remove my Beigomax from the game and I can slam you with 500 points of damage!" A solid beam of light fires off from her monsters blade and meets its mark as its pierces through Cloudys chest and drops her life points to 3500.

"Now got get 'em Chanbarider! Better brace yourself Cloudy, cause not only does my rider gain 100 attack points whenever he attacks, but he can battle twice!"

A shower of fumes and sparks crackles from its rear-mounted engine as the living blade thrusts itself towards Cloudys robotic star athlete. There was no time for any sort of response from Captain Wing as the tip of the blade pierces clean through its chest. A shrill whistle is suddenly heard as a referee steps onto the field and, with some inhumane strength, pulls both of the monsters apart. The ref then pulls out a yellow card from its pocket and presents it to Chanbarider, who then grunts and storms back to Rainbows side.

"What? But how-"

"So blind as always. I played my Offside Trap card." Cloudy interrupts. "This is-a very special trap dat I can only play when I have no other cards in my Spell and Trap zones. Now I can prevent the damage I would take and keep my Captain from being deztroyed!"

"Yeah well, you may have dodged that one but I'll get you next time! For now, I'll just set a-"

"It's-a my turn now! I draw!"

"What?! Maybe my Dama knocked a screw loose or something but It's still my turn ya know!"

"Ahh, I forgot to mention dat my Offside Trap also immediately ends your turn!"

"No way!"

"Don't be too zad about your-a turn now. For you zee, all I will do is set another card and summon my Defender Libero in defense mode!"

True to her word, another robotic athlete sprints toward the field. This new robot was much bulkier than the previous; standing nearly 2 feet taller than Captain Wing though its hunched over posture didn't make it immediately clear. Much of its armor was covered by a blue tracksuit with a few tiny buttons loosely attached here and there. It's most prominent features, however, where its gigantic shin guards and hands. Once onto the field, it takes a wide defensive stance in front of the goal net behind Cloudy with an imposing 2100 defense points.

"That all? You may have cut my turn short but if that's all you can do then I've got nothing to be worried about!"

"Team play bambina. Unlike you, I don't charge in without a plan. I don't let my damn pride take over my team!"

"Would you shut up already? Not my fault you weren't as awesome as I was to stay as team captain! But don't take my word for it. I'll show you! I draw! Now I remove Taketomborg from play to use my Damas effect again!"

The tip of Rainbows monster lights up once more as it fires off another bolt of energy. The bolt pierces through Cloudy's chest yet again as she stumbles backwards. Now down to 3000, she gives Rainbow a scowl that would unnerve any other person but was ineffective to the rainbow haired teen.

"Now lets try this again! Go, Chanbarider!" Rainbow declares as her monsters attack rises once more to 2200.

"No you don't! I play my trap, Cure Conversion! All I have to do iz releaze my Captain Wing and I can bring a stop to your Battle Phase!" Cloudy declares as her monster quickly vanishes. Once it vanished, she swipes a card from her deck and says,"Also, I can draw a card and if its-a monster, I regain life points equal to its attack. And the card I drew iz a monster; Striker Top! Striker Top has 2000 attack points, so your Damas efforts were in vain!"

"Whoa! And just like that, Cloudy has just undone all of the damage done by Rainbows high speed monsters. With 5000 life points she's finally taken the lead!" the M.C says.

All of her work was undone by one card. All of the damage and her rapid summons had done nothing but inconvenience her old rival. Gone was the feelings of confidence and bravado that had kept her spirits high as she gripped her cards tightly. "Grr, fine. I guess I'll try again next time! I set two cards and end my turn."

"Ohhh povero bambina. You try-a so hard and for what? Nothing! Now watch as I show you what a true champion can do! I draw!" A smirk suddenly sparks across Cloudys face as she stares at her card. It was just the card she needed to finally put down her rival for good. "Thanks to the effect of my Dream Pitch, I can summon my Striker Top to the field without a tribute! But he won't be alone as I also play my Spell, Team Play! With this, my Captain Wing returns to the game with-a extra level! Return, Captain Wing!"

Sprinting yet again from the dugout to the field was another mechanical player. This new being was clad in the same deep blue jersey and shorts like its teammates. It, however, sported bright gold mechanical components and armor. Atop its helmet was a tall protrusion that was vaguely shaped like a horn. It gave its goalkeeper ally a swift high-five as it took its place next to Cloudy Following close behind was the previously released Captain Wing.

"She's got three level 5 monsters now." Aj remarks. "Ain't too hard ta see what she's 'bout ta do."

"Right..." Twilight says nervously. Any monster that required so many monsters for an Xyz summon would undoubtedly have a powerful ability. Worse still was the levels present on the field.

"Dis iz where it begins! I overlay my level 5 Defender Libero, Striker Top, and Captain Wing!"All three of Cloudys monster pump their fists as the each become a swirl of golden light and spiral into the sky. The spheres suddenly jerk downward and soar into the dugout.

"Watch as the true champion of the soccer field glides in to crush you! The true king of speed! XYZ summon! Venire, Fantasista Dieci!"

No one could have anticipated the absurdly fast blur that came speeding from the brilliant dugout. Whatever came out of there quickly knocked around the soccer ball that was placed in the center and bounced it around. Once the blur slowed down, the new monster was revealed to be yet another toy-like robot that was clad in the same blue jersey. Unlike its predecessors, its armored body was painted in a dark crimson and white color, save for its black helmet. Placed firmly on its back was a pair of gigantic scarlet wings that rattled slightly as they snapped into place. The new player gives a wave to the crowd as it alternates between juggling the ball on its head and chest. Cheers and applause reverberate across the stadium as the playmaker stands by its "team captain" with 2600 attack points.

'There he is. The big cheese himself again. Its been a while since I've seen that guy again.' Rainbow muses to herself. There he stood; the last monster she had battled with years ago when she had to put down her old rival. King of speed? A smirk was as she gave it. Nobody could outmatch her in speed and some toy in a jersey wouldn't sway her. The true king of speed still lied deep in her deck. One that was itching for a rematch.

'Here we are again. Just like-a that day. Only now, things will be different.' Cloudy thinks as she stares to the cards in her hand. 'I've learned much over all this time and I've been preparing for this day. My deck is nothing like da trash you faced before! Today, da victory belongs to me!'

Only the duelists below could feel the tension radiating from the two rivals. To the crowd this was nothing more than some spat between old rivals but to the rest of the duelists, this was far more. Sunset and the rest of the girls could feel the cold hatred emanating from Cloudy. Something that the cocky Rainbow Dash had yet to catch onto. The more and more Sunset pondered on what would happen, the more she felt a sense of dread. Rainbow was still blissfully unaware of how Cloudy truly felt, a trait that Sunset and her friends have scolded her countless times for, and Sunset could only observe as the duel proceeded.

'I sure hope you know what you're doing Dash.' Sunset ponders. 'Who knows what she's capable of now.

Author's Note

New chapter, new duel. Some of you may be wondering, "Why didn't you use someone like Lightning Dust for her rival?" I wanted to try something different. Cloudy is one of those bg characters that I wanted to experiment with (i.e obscure anime deck, personal backstory, etc etc) So I whipped up a backstory, a themed deck (which is probably why I really did it in the first place) and a bit of tension between the two that will become more relevant in the next part.

Cloudy is of Italian descent if it wasn't immediately obvious

Battaglia! - A Duel between Playmakers (part 2)

Anger. Fury. Melancholy. Painful emotions one should never feel ran through her mind. Whatever pride Cloudy once felt was all but gone. Beaten and humiliated as she was, the sense of dread she felt as she struggled home lingered with her. What would she do now? Could she even face her old team and friends after this? Her pride was in pieces and her shame hung above her. But there was one thought that terrified her more than anything. A thought that shrouded her mind as she step into her home.

'I lost again... What will I tell papa and mama?'

Soccer paraphernalia strewn around the walls of the house was the first sight to greet her as she walked in. There was some comfort from the sight of many jerseys from numerous teams and eras and faux trophies. The sweet scent of baked goodies and floral scents wavered throughout the house and quickly drew her attention to her first task. With a heavy sigh and heart, she stepped into the peal-white kitchen to greet what she hoped would be her easiest task; facing her mother. The aroma of the freshly baked cookies lingered in her nostrils as her presence alerted her mother as she turned around. To say that her mother Aura was beautiful would be an understatement. From her delicate ivory skin and beautiful blonde hair to her dainty slim figure, she seemed to glow with purity. The sight of Cloudys beaten and bruised form, however, elicited a gasp from her as the warm smile across her face disappeared.

"Oh Dio! Mio povero tesoro! Quello che è successo? Stai bene?" she said as she darted over to her child and held her in a tight embrace.

"I'm fine mama." Cloudy replies as she squirms from her mothers grasp. "It's nothing. Where's papa?"

Almost as if on queue, the front door slammed shut behind them and the hulking figure that was Storm Kicks walked into the kitchen. A former athlete himself, Storm was a monster of a man; his tan muscles nearly bulging out of his tight platinum jersey. With a commanding gaze across his mustached face, one would be correct in assuming he was once a team captain and fair leader. Imposing as he was, Cloudy could only stare back up at him with a scowl on her face. The steely-jawed soccer star could returned the gesture with one as well as he stomped over to the fridge.

"So. Did you win?" he asked before chugging down an energy drink.

"I-... no... still, I did-a my best papa and I-" A dissatisfied grunt and the crunching of an aluminum can interrupted her as her father tossed the trash aside.

"Hmm... as expected. Why did I ever think you could win? You lack discipline. You lack finesse. You lack in strength! When I was your age I was team captain of every sport in school and dueling was no different! Nobody could take that away from me and any who tried were swiftly put in their place. But you? What was all that training for then Cloudy? All those days of physical and mental training. You couldn't even beat one egocentric brat whose skill means nothing to what we have."

"Storm per favore... There iz no need-"

"I lost-a today sure, but dis is far from over! My pozition on da team may be gone but I won't rest until I-"

"Forget it. It doesn't matter anymore. You lost it all because you couldn't take the initiative against her to begin with. I had honestly thought that all of the training we did would amount to something. I am very disappointed in you."

Disappointment. Perhaps that was the worst of it all. The shame. Long had she wanted to impress her father with her skills in sports and dueling. Being born to a former champion gave her a constant feeling of inadequacy that lingered throughout her childhood and a drive to be the best she could be for her father. Was it all just a fruitless endeavor? How she wished that she didn't fail this day. Her anger was now sorrow; guilt over her own weakness. Not a word was uttered from her as she stormed her way past her father and up to her room; slamming the door to ensure the raging argument between her parents wouldn't disturb her thoughts any further. The soft trickle of tears that began to stream down her face now became a torrent of emotions that ran down her face. She violently tosses her duel disk towards the wall and collapses onto her bed; still clutching her deck box tightly in her grasp.

'Damn you Rainbow Dash.' she thinks as she pauses her release of emotions for a moment. 'You'va ruined everything! Everything I worked so hard to accomplish... Just you wait. Da next time we-a battle I'll make-a sure to humiliate you! I will bring you down!'

"Yo! Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna play?!"

So lost in thought was Cloudy that she was unaware of the duel in progress. Not even the cheers of the crowd or the screeching fireworks above had snapped her out of her memories. Her gaze wanders until she eyes the one person she had hoped she'd never see in the crowd; Storm. The announcement of the CHS Cup came with its fair share of mixed emotions for her family and the tension caused between Cloudy and her father. Her mother sure but her father? Why was he here? Wasn't he disappointed in her? Shaking her head, she stares back to the field.

"Are you dat desperate to lose?! Fine then!" she screams."My turn iz far from over! My deck iz-a far stronger now and dis is just what I need! I equip Fantasista Dieci with XYZ Unit! Now my playmaker gains 200 attack for every Rank he has and he iz a Rank 5!"

The deep cerulean jersey on the soccer star fades into dust as it is replaced by a white and golden uniform. Its black mechanical components shone a brilliant gold as its visor shimmered a gallant white. Gone were the crimson steel wings on its back and in its place were a pair of elegant angelic wings that radiated with purity. The soccer ball at its feet now shone like a bright star beneath its feet as its power rose to 3600. The audience stared in awe at the elegant form of the newly transformed soccer star.

'Now those are some numbers.' Rainbow muses silently to herself. 'That card's also pretty new. Someone's been working on new tricks.

"Dis is-a where the game really begins and your Magical Blade Dama will be da first! Go, Fantasista Dieci!"

Cloudys playmaker quickly dashed forward as its foot slammed into the shimmering orb and launched it into Rainbows monster. A shower of light and smoke overtook the living machine as it detonated and scattered embers and sparks over Rainbow Dash. Despite her efforts, the force of the blast knocks her down to her knees as her life plummets down to 3300. It was the sight of numerous bubbles that broke through the smog, however, that caught the attention of the crowd. Hovering above a now smiling Rainbow was Dama; still intact and now enveloped in a sparkling bubble.

"Nice try but thanks to my Trap Half Unbreak, my Dama isn't destroyed and the damage I take is halved!"

"Even so, my Diecis effect activates now! Since it battled your monsters, I can detach an Overlay unit and have him battle again! Tiro Di Rigore!"

Cloudys monster stomps its right leg as one of its orbiting units sails into its leg. The burning light around its leg intensifies as another glowing soccer ball bounces toward its leg. With a flap of its mighty wings, it leaps into the air with its ball in tow and delivers a ferocious kick towards Rainbows protected monster. Even with the bubble barrier surrounding it, the impact made Dama groan in pain as the ball rebounded off of the slick bubble and crashed into Rainbow Dash. Quick reflexes kept the ball from slamming into her stomach but the sheer force of the ball flung her hard into the goal net behind her. A thick layer of steam gushed from where the heated ball met her hands as her life further lowers to 2600.

"This is my day! I will-a show you dat I am better than her! You must-a come!"

"Why should I go? If you can't beat some hotshot like Rainbow Trash then what chance do you have against the likes of her friends? Or even that Shimmer girl?"

"I'm not-a done! Again! Tiro Di Rigore!"

"What? Again?" Rarity says bewildered. "But Rainbows Half Unbreak is still in effect. The damage she will take is still halved."

"That's not what matters to her... she'll take damage all the same." Sunset remarks, knowing the real reason why Cloudy would continue her assault. Rainbow was many things and thick headed was one of them. Sunset could only hope that her friend would see the pain that Cloudy was in, if the fury in her eyes wasn't enough. "Hopefully that Traps effect will keep her in the game long enough for a counterattack."

Still reeling from the last impact, Rainbow Dash stumbles to her feet and readies herself once more. Solid Vision or not, those soccer balls hurt. It was made all too painfully clear as the next fiery orb ricocheted off of the bubble and slammed into her. This time, however, she was still far too dazed from the second kick to catch this one. It drove itself deep into her chest and knocked her back into the goal net; her life now dropping to 1900.

"I have more pressing matters to take care of, so your mother will take you to the stadium. Do as you like Cloudy but I won't be there."

"DI NUOVO! TIRO DI RIGORE!" Cloudy yells; her face now twisted in anger. With its final unit sailing into its leg, Cloudys monster storms across the field and delivers another devastating kick to the glowing soccer ball. The ball screeched across the field and slammed into the still recovering Rainbow Dash, sending her crashing back into the goal net and dropping her life down to 1200.

'Man... that hurt.' Rainbow thinks to herself as she stumbles to her feet. Much of the outfit she wore was tattered and scorched as she lurched back over to her monsters. Even if her monster wasn't destroyed, her Dama groaned and seemed to hover weakly above her. 'What was all that about? Don't think I've ever seen her this worked up before. Man, those new cards of hers are really beating me down. At least it's over now.'

"How barbaric..." Rarity mutters in disgust.

"I'll say! She really gave poor ol Dashie a wallop." Pinkie replies.

"Well, at least she's out of Overlay Units. And thanks to Rainbows Half Unbreak, she can formulate counter attack on her turn." Twilight adds checking the duel tracker. "Good thing too because it says here that she could send XYZ Unit to the Graveyard to activate her monsters effect again. Logically, Cloudy would want to keep her monsters attack at 3600 so I'm sure Rainbow can-"

"I activate the effect of my XYZ Unit! Go again! TIRO DI RIGORE!"

"WHAT?!" was the collective yell from Sunsets friends as the radiant aura around Cloudys playmaker dies down and sinks into its left leg. It drives another kick into the now regular soccer ball and slams it into Rainbows monster. She was completely caught off guard as the ball caught her side and sent her sailing back into the goal net; dropping her life even further to 1000. The crowd roars as even the M.C is surprised at this sudden move.

"What a move ladies and gentlemen! Who would have guessed that Cloudy would actually let her monsters attack drop back down just to get another strike in! With a monstrous 4000 life point lead, it looks like Cloudy has taken full control of this duel!"

"How iz dat for-a move?! Next turn you're done! I set one cad and end my turn!" Cloudy exclaims, still seething with anger as she slaps her card into her disk.

"Yeah? We'll see about that. I've still got a monster and all I need is the right card to turn this around!" Rainbow responds. Her body ached as Rainbow staggered to her feet and back to the field. Within five powerful strikes nearly all of her life points were gone and she stood against Cloudys 5000. Defiantly, she draws her card and gives a sly smirk as she peeks over to it. "Just what I need! Angel's Charity! So say hi to three new cards and goodbye to two more! And the best part? Since one of the cards I tossed away was Den-Den Daiko, I can banish him to summon a Speedroid monster from my graveyard! So I'll summon my level two Tuner, Speedroid Domino Butterfly!"

Fluttering from her feet was another strange machine that was some sort of vague papillon with a slim black and white body, over sized gloved hands and white helmet. Two pairs of black and white dominos hovered on its back by some unknown force as they flapped around haphazardly. Its frail nature was only further exemplified with its low 100 stats. It didn't take long for the newly revived tuner to flap into the air and scatter int two Synchro rings above Rainbows Chanbarider.

"The ruler of speed will come through here! Fly on dichromatic wings and soar beyond the sound barrier! Synchro Summon! Soar, level 7! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"

The crowd was suddenly swept in a raging whirlwind that swamped the field from Rainbows side of the field. A shadowy streak zipped across the stadium as it dragged a funnel of violent air behind it. Neither the crowd or even Cloudy herself could keep up with the column of turbulence as it flared across the sky. Whatever the figure was finally slowed down from its high flying act and scattered the winds that it dragged behind it. From the storm came a long, slender dragon clad in thick white and black scales that stacked on its body like armor. It had no feet and seemed to be held aloft by the wafts of energy pulsating from its pair of gigantic, mechanical bio-luminescent wings on its back. Amusingly, it received a solid green jersey with aqua blue trimmings due to the effect of Cloudys Field Spell. Its glowing gold eyes shimmer from its snarling face as it releases a booming roar that shakes the stands and rattles the stadium.

'There he iz... Il Capo himself... My final obstacle.' Cloudy could feel her blood boil as the looming shadow of Rainbows behemoth towered before her. Clear Wing Dragon; the ace of Rainbow Dash and the supreme ruler of speed itself. It was no secret that Dash was the fastest athlete in CHS and the commanding presence of her dragon only further solidified her authority amongst the schools various sports teams. Her symbol of pride; the final hurdle for her humiliation. 'Today, you-a die bestia.'

"Oh yeah! The big guns are here!" Pinkie says pumping her fists in the air. "Now she's got this in the bag."

"Ah wouldn't be celebrating just yet Pinkie." Aj replies. "Clear Wing only has 2500 attack points. She may have her dragon out but that there Dieci still has 100 more."

"I think you girls are already forgetting about its effect." Sunset remarks with a smirk. "Whenever a level 5 or higher monster activates its effect or is targeted by an effect, Clear Wing can destroy that card and add its attack to its own if it's a monster."

"Why of course I haven't forgotten darling but Cloudys monster is an XYZ monster. It uses Ranks, not Levels."

"That may be but that effect can be used on any level 5 or higher monster."

There was still some uncertainty from her friends as they stared out to the field. Aside from Clear Wing, the only other monster Rainbow Dash had was Magical Blade Dama who's attack couldn't come near Cloudys Dieci. Its effect could still remove a Speedroid from play to inflict a damage, albeit an insignificant amount when compared to the 5000 life points Cloudy had. The realization of what Sunset meant finally clicked. Dama was in fact a level 6 monster!

"I activate my Damas effect! By banishing my Domino Butterfly I can hit you with 500 points of damage! However, my Clear Wings effect activates also! Since my Dama is a level 6 and it activated its effect, I can negate its effect, destroy it, and add its attack to my dragon! Go, Dichroic Mirror!"

Rainbows monster roars as both of its wings glow a blazing green and spread wide. A dazzling shower of light scatters from its wings as streams of energy wash over her Dama. The living machine shatters to pieces as its shards sail into her dragons wings and convert into a deep blue aura. With its task done, Clear Wing retracts its wings and let's loose a thunderous howl as its attack points climb to 4700; far surpassing the 2600 that Cloudys playmaker held.

"Let's go Clear Wing! Attack Fantasista Dieci! Whirlwind Helldive Slasher!" Rainbow declares. Her dragon quickly spirals into the air as it forms the raging column of air that it debuted in. The tempest sweeps the soccer ball from Cloudys monster and catapults it towards her monster.

"No, you won't! I play my Trap, Guardraw! Dis puts my Dieci on the defensive and lets me draw one card!" Cloudys playmaker sprints across the field and leaps straight into the oncoming ball of wind. The crushing impact of its hands slamming into the ball echoes throughout the stadium as its launched back towards the goal net and slowly grinds to a halt; stopping just shy of what would be considered a goal in a conventional game. With its job done, it gives a silent nod to its master before shattering to pieces.

"Tch... I still have next turn to slam you for some damage! I end my turn!" Rainbow says bitterly.
Her dragon swoops back down as its power boost drains away in a red aura. 'Darn... now she takes no damage. At least her monster is off the field now... what's her deal anyway? She can't still be sore for being team captain can she? That was ages ago. Why does she keep looking into the crowd?'

"It's-a my turn! I draw!" Cloudy declares, snapping Rainbow from her thoughts. Thing weren't going as she had planned. A small glance towards the crowd showed the dissatisfied expression from her father and the worried one from her mother. She had to turn this around and fast. "I'll start with my Spell, Treasured Cards of Variation! Dis will let me draw two more cards! Just da cards I need! Xyz Revival and Stealth Strike!"

Once more, Cloudys monster comes sprinting from the dugout and onto the field. Unlike before, its body was now completely translucent and outlined by a dim white glow. One would be excuse into thinking it was a ghost as the trail of haze behind it seeps around Cloudys area of the field. Numerous afterimages trailed behind it as it stood front and center. It was also much weaker than before, with its attack cut in down to 1300.

"Thanks to Xyz Revival, my Fantasista Dieci returns to da field! Also, my Stealth Strike will allow my monster to attack you directly by cutting its-a strength in half until da end of dis turn! Go, Dieci! End this duel!"

The ghostly playmaker sprints across the field and begins to kick the ball towards Rainbow Dash. In a fit of rage, Clear Wing swoops down and attempts to stop Cloudys monster but the soccer star simply phases through the beast and continues its attack. Cloudy could only smile in satisfaction as her monster took aim at her old rival. Finally, she would have the revenge she had trained and waited for. This was it; her moment of victory! With one last ferocious kick, her monster catapults the ball towards Dash.

"This is it folks!" the M.C declares. "If this attack lands then its game over for Rainbow Dash! What will she do?!"

"I'm not letting it end just yet! I play my Trap, Iron Resolve!" Rainbow declares quickly as her card flips up. Her card shocks her with a bolt of indigo lighting as her life drops to 500 and the oncoming ball is deflected. "By giving up half of my life points I can stop all damage coming my way and the battle ends!"

There was a sigh of relief from Rainbows friends as the crowd cheered on. Even when down to the wire, Dash still found a way to stay in the game even if her own life points were cut in half. While the rest of the girls were relieved, Cloudy could only seethe as she took another glance at the stands. She already felt the scowl her father gave and the disappointment in his eyes didn't help. Her hand was running low and she was nearly out if steam as it was.

"Grr... I'll get you yet. I set-a one card and play my Spell, Take Over 5. With this, 5 cards are sent to my graveyard. Unfortunately, I can't send one card from my hand for the cost of Cards of Variation. So the cost comes from my life instead." Cloudy mutters bitterly; her anger being stuffed as a bolt of golden lighting strikes her down and cuts her life down to 2000. There were murmurs and gasps from the crowd as her monstrous life point lead had been shattered.

'Maldezione... Again she stops me... Why? All of my planning and all of my new cards won't matter if-a I can't beat her now! Why did papa have to come today? I was-a so close... Can I really not beat her?'

That was it, wasn't it? Had her time really come? Was all of her efforts in vain? She couldn't impress her father, she couldn't hold her position as a team captain, she couldn't even beat Rainbow Dash now with everything she had in store. Her arms fell to her side as her rage subsided and tears now stung her face. Her hand hovered slowly over her deck as she contemplated on ending this duel.

'So that's it.' Rainbow was many things; fast, an inspiring leader, loyal, but nobody could match her thick head and brash nature. Now, however, it finally struck her. She wasn't completely oblivious to Cloudys glances at the crowd, nor did she ignore the presence of her father. Dash was no stranger to the legacy that Storm left as an athlete, even meeting him once years ago but his lone wolf personality and harsh attitude towards even his own family had turned Dash away from him. He reminded her too much of her old self; a side Rainbow had long discarded and that only peaked when she was unaware. 'That's why she's like this. She feels like she needs to impress him. That, or he's pushing her too far.'

"Look Cloudy, I get it. You've got a pompous blowhard for a dad who's been pushing you to be the best. You don't have to impress anyone!" Rainbow says aloud. There was no response from Cloudy other than a teary eyed gaze. "And I get it. I used to be just like you. All I ever wanted was to show that I was the best and prove that no one could be better than me. It doesn't have to be like that!"

"No. You don't get it. Its-a more than just me wanting to impress my papa. So much more... You could never understand why! You ruined everything I worked so hard on. I thought I could finally win now... but I can't and now he hates me even more now. What more can I do now?"

"Keep dueling? Duh! You don't have to give up now! If there's anything I've learned when it comes to dueling is that it's not over till the last life point's gone! C'mon Cloudy! No matter what happens just have fun and duel to the very end!"

"But what's da point?! I have failed. I humiliated myself in front of everyone, including my papa. How can I ever show my face to him again?"

"So that's it then? You're just giving up then? All because of some stupid need to prove yourself to someone who isn't worth the time of day? C'mon Cloudy! Are you really gonna let your dad tell you how to play? Are you just gonna call it quits because you couldn't impress him? Duel for yourself, not for anyone else!"

Duel for herself? There was a thought that never crossed her mind yet was familiar to her. 'Duel to be the best. You're the only one that matters. Crush those in your way. Prove to me that you're worthy of my name.' Long had her mind been poisoned by her fathers pride and bravado. He never wanted a daughter. That was the heart of the matter and one that festered throughout her childhood. Could she really do that? Duel for her own reasons? Duel for herself. Words that she had heard long ago.

~~*~~

"About time Rainbow got the memo." Sunset remarks.

"Oh the poor dear. Her father really has pushed her too far, hasn't he?" Rarity replies.

"Just y'all wait. Imma give that there Storm a piece o' my mind once this is all done." Aj mutters.

"No kidding. She was even willing to cheat to get her way."

A slight gasp was elicited from Sunsets friends as Aj spoke up. "Cheat? What do ya mean sugarcube? Ah didn't see her pull anything funny."

"That's because she was swift about it. Look at her wristbands. Those aren't the standard ones most athletes use. Those are weighted wristbands. Thick, heavy, good for training and large enough to hide several cards beneath them. A card slips out of her wristband as she goes to draw and it slides onto the top of her deck. Normally, you'd be able to see that but Cloudy is way too fast for the normal eye. Well, except for Dash. Every draw and every card Cloudy played was far too convenient and Dash saw it from the beiginning. She caught on to it when she noticed Cloudy checking the audience for her father, who no doubt probably encouraged her to do something like that."

"Well, if anyone can spot somethin' at that speed then its our ol' Dash."

"I don't doubt that," Twilight adds "But if she really did spot that then why would she still keep dueling? She nearly lost the duel due to Cloudys cheating."

All of Sunsets friends nod and murmur in agreement. Rainbow had always been the fastest individual at CHS and the addition of the magic from their geodes only further bolstered this notion. Nothing was too fast for Dash, no matter how blurred or wild it was. Still, why would she let the duel continue? A girl with a plan was something even her friends knew she wasn't, yet she must have something in mind.

"Ya know our Dash. She ain't givin' up just yet. Not even to sum cheater."

"That, and she's probably trying to knock some sense into her. If Cloudy keeps up this self-destructive path, she'll never lift herself from this hole she's fallen into." Sunset replies. 'I sure hope you can help her Dash...'

~~*~~

Duel for herself. Not for anyone else. Disregard everything her father had rammed into her head. Cloudys hand trembled furiously as it hovered over her deck. What was left for her now? Stick to her anger and the ideals her father taught her or set it all aside and fight on her own terms. Her mind tossed what her old rival had said until she finally remembered it; where she had heard those exact same words before.

Fresh tears still streamed down her face as Cloudy sat atop the roof. Even the crisp night air couldn't clear her mind as she stared out at the sky. The only comfort she could find was in her mothers warm embrace as she also joined her in this moment of solace.

"Why mama? Why is noting I do ever enough? Why does papa hate me?"

"Mio piccolo tesoro... Don't-a listen to your papa. I think we both know why... You.. already know the truth, don't you"

"Yes... Papa wanted a strong boy to train and pass on his legacy. Not-a me. Im-a just a failure."

"No mio tesoro. You are mi amore della mi vitta and his words will never ring true. You are no failure to anyone. For as long as I am here with-a you, you will never be alone or unwanted. For as long as I am with you, he will never harm you anymore."Her mothers words wavered in her mind as she was propped up by Aura and met her face. The long marks where she had shed tears as well washed across her soft complexion as a warm smile met her own melancholic face. Her mother reached into her aprons pocket and pulled out a small white napkin that had been folded daintily and passed it to her. It was only what was inside the folded cloth that snapped Cloudy from her puzzled state.

"Mama... dis is-

"For as long as you have this with you I will always be with you. Remember mi tesoro, dis is your story and your life. Fight for yourself. Duel for yourself. Live for yourself."

'Mama... of course. How could I forget?'

It had been so long since she'd heard those words from her mother. How could she let her father taint her mothers words? There it was; the clarity that avoided her for so long had been brought about by the most unlikely of people. Whatever angry or vengeful thoughts that plagued her mind finally vanished as she removed her hand from her deck.

"No... Not yet! I won't-a give in yet! Foolish I may be, but now dis changes! I duel for me now and no one else! So let's-a finish dis!"

"That's what I like to hear! Lets see what you've got! I draw! And I'll start off by playing my Battle Waltz spell on my Clear Wing!" Rainbows spell hovers above her as its glare surrounds her dragon. A transparent doppelganger separates itself from the original as it gives a ghostly howl. "You aren't seeing double Cloudy cause thanks to Battle Waltz I can summon a Waltz token that's just as good as the original! But don't take my word for it! I'll have my Waltz token attack your Dieci!"

"Heh, come at me then! You forget that since my turn iz-a over, my Diecis attack has returned to normal! Fight back my playmaker!"

Wasting no time, Cloudys monster sprints across the field and effortlessly steals the ball from Rainbows duplicated dragon. It drives the ball into the dragons chest with a ferocious kick but it passes harmlessly through it and falls out of the field. The beast slinks behind the playmaker and subdues him it an inescapable vice grip. Despite its best efforts, Cloudys monster is unable to free itself as its attack plummets to 100.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that due to Battle Waltz, I take no damage from attacks involving my Waltz token. But the best part? Any monster that destroys my Waltz token also loses attack equal to my tokens! Which means my Clear Wing is free to swoop in and take out your monster!"

" Cloudy only has 2000 life points left! If this hit lands folks, then it's all over!" the M.C says excitedly as Rainbows monster swoops down and sails straight towards the immobile soccer star. Its violent winds slashed through the playmakers body and showered the field in a thick layer of smoke. The crowd and all of the other contestants held their breath. Suddenly, breaking through the smoke, a holographic counter appeared in front of a now still standing Cloudy. Her monster was no more but the display upon the screen elicited murmurs and gasps from the crowd. Instead of being at 0, Cloudys life was at 1100.

"Dat was a good move Dash but I was more than prepared! Before that attack landed I used my Trap card, Rank Gazer, which allowed me to gain 300 life points for every Rank my Dieci had. Also, since my monster was destroyed, I can summon another Xyz monster from my Extra Deck and attach my Dieci to it. I summon Fairy Cheer Girl!"

A small ball of light flutters from the dugout and settles itself in front of where Dieci once stood. Clearing through the light was a fairy that was no taller than Cloudy herself. Her little cerulean dress was replaced by a full navy blue soccer uniform and a golden scrunchy tying her huge plume of deep blue hair into a large ponytail. Its golden pomp poms were discarded in favor of two heavy wristbands similar to the ones Cloudy currently wore. Cloudys newly remade playmaker stood with the ball at its feet with its 1900 attack points and single overlay unit swirling above it.

"Well that's new. Don't think I've ever seen that card before." Rainbow muses. "Alright, I'll throw down a face-down I end my turn!"

"Dis is the turn that decides it! I draw! And I will activate the effects of the Take Over 5 in my graveyard and the effect of my Cheer Girl!" Cloudy declares as her graveyard slot begins to glow and the orbiting unit from her monster flies into her deck. "By banishing Take Over 5 from graveyard and by using one Overlay Unit I can draw two more cards!"

'And just like that, she has three new cards. No cheating this time. I knew I'd be able to knock some sense in ya.' Rainbow thinks.

She could feel it. Deep down inside was a feeling that had long been lost to. A flare of joy. A spark of pride. The mocking smirk Cloudy gave to her father had forced him away. The sight of her mothers sweet smile. In the end she was finally content. "Now I play Killer Pass on my Fairy Cheer Girl! Dis will negate your monsters effects when she battles and since your dragons defense is higher than her attack, I can double her attacks points! Now go!"

Cloudys fairy speeds across the field and charges inward towards Rainbows monster. The soccer ball it kicks around glows brightly as its attack power rises to 3800. Despite its wings, the tiny fairy opted to run on foot towards the behemoth before her. Being the spry and swift fairy she was, not even a swipe from her draconian opponent could slow her down as she flips over the smashing claw and catapults the ball into the air.

'Never thought the cheerleader would be attacking the offence. Guess she's still full of surprises even now. Looks like it's time to rely on luck... This is gonna be great.' Dash thinks as she stares at her set card. Skill may beat luck but Dash knew the best kind of outcomes were the ones made by chance. "I play my trap Counter Gate! This puts a stop to your attack and lets me draw a card. If I draw a monster I can Normal summon it straight away!"

A wide screen of light stops the oncoming soccer ball as the top card of Rainbows deck begins to glow. The crowd held its breath as she drew her card. "Aww yeah! The card I just drew is my Speedroid Pachingo-Kart and when he's summoned I can destroy your Fairy Cheer Girl!"

A giant steel ball bounces from the dugout and slams into the tiny fairy and shatters her to pieces. Rounding the field on the track was a V shaped go kart balanced precariously on two marbles attached to its front that served as its wheels. The kart suddenly jerks violently as it vaults itself into the air and towards the field. The rear end of the kart crashes onto the giant marble from the dugout and latches itself as its third wheel. It rested idly with its 1800 attack points.

"Good play as always Dash. I set two cards and end-a my turn." Cloudy says. This was the end and she could feel it. Victory was far from her grasp today but the small one over her father would be enough. Almost. There was one last obstacle in her way.

"This is it! I draw! To start off, I release my Pachingo-Kart for Speedroid Passing Rider!"

With the bizarre go-kart out of the way, a new machine swooped down from the skies and took its place. Initially there was nothing bizarre to the new monster as it appeared to be a standard grey and blue bomber festooned with rivets, panel lines, and dents. It was, however, the open canopy that revealed its android pilot that cemented its place among Rainbows other Speeroids. Despite the vehicles lack of any propeller or visible engine, a thunderous engine roar boomed across the field as it sailed round the field with 2200 attack points.

"Alright, let's go Clear Wing! Direct attack!"

"Cloudy only has 2000 life points left! If this attack lads, it's all over!" the M.C cheers.

"I still have my Trap, Xyz Reborn! Dis brings back an Xyz monster from my graveyard and uses this trap as an overlay unit! Return, Fairy Cheer Girl!" Once more from the dugout came the tiny faiey clad in its jersey and transparent wings. Cloudys trap shifts into a ball of light and slowly orbits around her monster.

There were few confused glances and murmurs from Rainbow friends but none as vocal as Twilights over this move. "What?! Why that one? She could have brought back her Fantasista Dieci! It has more attack points than both of her monsters! Hello?"

Sure, Twilight was a genius but there were still numerous small thing that eluded even her. Sunset could only giggle at her friends confusion. "It's because winning is no longer on her mind anymore. Rainbow helped her in more ways than one today. Besides, Cloudy has one last move to make before she's satisfied."

"Yeah? Alright then! Go get her monster Clear Wing!" Rainbow declares as her dragon starts to spin and dive towards Cloudys monster.

"Ha! I don't-a think so! I still have one last card to play. One dat will defeat your dragon! Go, Mirror Mail!"

The blue jersey worn by her monster suddenly becomes a reflective silver as the sun shines off of it and blinds the stadium. From the sparkling light came Cloudys fairy, now clad in much heavier padding and wearing a reflective uniform. Not wasting any time, Cloudys monster hops into the air and meets the charging dragon with a kick of her own. Sparks scatter for a brief moment before both monsters are engulfed in a fiery explosion that rocks the battlefield. Once the smoke clears, all that's left on the field is Rainbow Dashs remaining monster.

"Uhh... wut just happened? And where'd Dashs dragon go?" Aj asks.

"Mirror Mail." Twilight responds, still seemingly confused from the last move. "It mirrored Clear Wings attack so they were both destroyed. Still not a very optimal move..."

"I suppose this is it then? That was her last card." Rarity replies.

There was no response from anyone but the outcome was clear. Even Cloudy knew it but for her, this was fine. Clear Wing Synchro Dragon; the ruler of speed, Il Capo of Rainbow Dash, finally defeated on her own terms. Perhaps a true victory would have been better but for now this would suffice. She took one last look at her mother, who was now in tears but still smiling and nodding her head in approval, and fell to one knee.

"Well... dis is it for me Dash. That was my last-a move."

"You did good Cloudy. Not a lot of people can say they've taken down my best monster and even less have pushed me into a corner. Maybe next time we can have a rematch? A real one; nothing on the line, no stress no mess?"

"Sì, I'd like that. For now, it end. Make your move, Capitana."

A soft smile and a nod to her monster was all that it took. Passing Rider took off and knocked the ball on the field towards the goal behind Cloudy. The sudden rush of air knocked her on her back as the ball sailed past and crashed into the net. Fireworks erupted all across the field as a resounding Goal was screamed all across the field. All she could do was let out a sigh as her life points dropped to zero. In the future and on her terms. That would be the duel she'd wait for. For now, she was content and tired. There would be some choice words from her father but all bridges are crossed eventually and she'd deal with it then. Things would change, starting right now. This time when Rainbow held her hand to her, she'd take it with pride.

Author's Note

Wow, that was a long one. Yeah, I'm alive. Guess I've just been busy with other things again. That, and I'm not really a writer. I wanted to have more backstory and such for Cloudy (even if it was a vague to begin with.) It all seems cheesy and overly dramatic but that's the nature of Yugioh to be frank. It took a bit of thinking to write this so I hope its decent at least

2. Duel! - A Roaring Engine in the Data Storm (part 1)

Author's Note

Heya! The first part of the duel is finally up. I'm sorry if i took so long to write this. I've honestly been distracted with many other personal obligations and constant rewriting of certain duels and plot points. Hopefully now I can start to write some more and continue on with the rest of the story. Thanks for waiting guys!

2. Duel! - A Roaring Engine in the Data Storm (part 1)

" Go get em SunShim!"

" You can do it Bookworm!"

" Good luck Sunset!"

" Show em what you got little guy!"

A wave of cheers arises from the crowd and the other duelists as the first game has finally begun. The cheers did illicit few smiles and waves to the crowd from Sunset and Micro before their gaze was averted back to the field. Both of them stared pensively at their respective hands. Sunsets face scrunched up a bit at the sight of her cards. While she was thankful that she didn't brick like she did against Rarity last night, her hand wasn't the strongest at the moment. The same couldn't be said for Micro, as he had a sly smile on his face when Sunset looked back up. With him taking the first turn, he taps the top of his wrist dealer as a card ejects from the top of his deck.

" Now, seeing as how I will go first, I draw!" he declares snatching the card from his wrist. " Excellent. To start of my turn, I summon my Balancer Lord in attack position!"

Strange lines of digital code and a series of beeps and whirs suddenly erupted from from a portal in front of Micro. From the bizarre translucent ring of what appeared to be computer code was a tall, heavily armored figure that brandished a short, golden saber on it right arm. As stubby as its blade was, the grand kite shield that adorned its left was far from small. The brilliant aqua colored armor it wore sparkled under the sun as it swiftly swung its saber in a imposing motion. A counter appeared beside it to show its 1700 attack points.

' What is that? I've never seen that monster before." Sunset wonders.

" You're probably wondering why this monster seems so foreign to you." Micro says, noticing Sunset's bewildered expression. "You see, my Balancer Lord is a Cyberse type monster."

Oohs and ahhs arise from the crowd as they look upon the armored monster. Most of the duelists seated at the benches stand and walk toward the Status Trackers and tap away at the screens.

" Cyberse. A new archetype devised for the upcoming Link Format in the coming year. They are creatures born from the cybernetic code itself, known as the VRAINS, that can spam the board and quickly go into Link summons. Despite this, the deck can function without any Link assistance." Twilight reads aloud before nudging her glasses upward.

" VRAINS? What's that about?" Rainbow asks curiously.

" Let's see...it's an acronym for Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Network System. It's a new VR system that Industrial Illusions is planning on implementing in the future."

" Yeah... name needs some work."

" The new Link format may not be here yet, but rest assured Sunset, my monsters can still hold their own even against you. I activate my Balancer Lord's effect!" An indigo aura takes over Micro's body as his disk marks down to 3000. " Once per turn, by paying 1000 life points, I can normal summon another Cyberse monster from my hand! I normal summon Launcher Commander."

Raising it's short blade skyward, Balancer Lord's blade shines brilliantly as another digitized void opened up next to it. Peeking out from the portal came an array of cannons, barrels, and rockets; all painted in a clean olive green color. The new monster hovered in on a pair of boosters that replaced its legs that periodically pulsated with a cyan glow. It taps the side of its helmet as a clear visor drops in front of its face as the numbers 1700 appear next to it in a clear blue counter.

" Look at that Ladies and Gentlemen! In no amount of time, Micro has summoned out two of his Cyberse monsters!" the M.C declares.

' He already has two monsters?' Sunset thinks worriedly. ' Wonder what other surprises his deck has in store for me.'

" Now, as long as my Launcher Commander is on my field, all of my other Cyberse monsters gain 300 attack and defense points."

A translucent screen appeared in front of Launcher Commander. The monster quickly taps and swipes away at the screen, before swiping the screen away. From its back, a tall cylinder of glass filled to the brim with an odd green glow juts out and begins to pulsate. A light green aura falls across Micro's field and wraps around his other monster, raising its attack power to 2000.

" And since my Cyberse monster has a different amount of attack from its original attack, I can play Cyberse Cache from my hand. With it, I can draw two more cards." Micro draws and smiles at his cards. " I set two cards and end my turn. You're up Sunset."

' He sure seemed happy about those cards of his. What is he up to?' Sunset wonders as she stares at his set cards. Drawing for her turn, she grimaces as she views her cards. ' This... isn't good. Well, maybe I can...

" Hold on Sunset!" Micro says, interrupting her thoughts. " I activate my Continuous Trap, Discord! As long as this card is face-up, neither one of us can Synchro Summon for the rest of this duel!"

Micro's card flips face-up as Sunset's brow furrows. A wave of white energy falls over the field before it disappears entirely. ' Well then, there goes half of my Extra Deck... Still...'

" I play my Spell, Charge Fusion!" Sunset says aloud. She pitches two other cards from her hand to her graveyard as the ghostly image of two monsters appears above her among a swirling, multi-color vortex; one was a small, sickly, navy blue dragon with a spiked egg in its forelegs while the other was an over sized, living red card engine with gigantic claws and a dense fog of black smoke billowing from its smokestacks. " I fuse my Bomber Dragon and Motor Kaiser! Fusion Summon! Come on, Level 5! Heavy-Armored Panzer Dragon!"

The swirling vortex lowers itself beside Sunset as a thunderous rumbling shakes the arena. Rolling onto the field was a gigantic tank lined with golden and silver armor. With a series on turns and clangs, a snake-like dragon head unfolds itself from the tanks body and screeches as it whips its head around. Opening its maw filled with sharp steel teeth, a long, slender barrel ejects itself from deep inside its throat. The two fins that line the side of the main body twist and fold upward as the head sits down low with its bulky 2600 defense power.

" Whoa! It looks like Sunset doesn't need to worry about Micro's trap card! She just Fusion summoned a bolted behemoth to protect her life points, but will it be enough?" The M.C says.

" Impressive monster Sunset, but on the defensive side? Surely you haven't bricked, have you?"

" You have a new deck Micro. Last thing I want is to run into some effect that you so conveniently forgot to mention."

" Hmm, details, details. I'd have expected you to go on the offensive against my monsters and deal some damage to me."

" Gotta play carefully with your new deck Micro. Can't just rush in without a plan and run into any of your traps. For now, I'll just set a card face-down and end my turn." Sunset replies.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, Micro was right. With her Synchro monsters sealed away, all she could rely on was her fusion monsters and her scarce selection of bruisers in her main deck. Shifting her gaze to her deck, she reflects on her only two strong monsters that lie deep in her deck. For now, all she can do is stall until she would be able to summon stronger monsters. She nervously stares at her hand as she reaches for a card and slides it into her disk's blade.

" A smart move, but stalling won't get you anywhere Sunset." Micros says, drawing for his turn." As you'll soon see. Since I control a Cyberse monster, I can summon my Backup Secretary from my hand!"

Another digital portal opens up beside his other monsters as the figure of a young woman steps out. She wears a strange, translucent futuristic dress that was covered in a glossy black armor and accented with glowing neon patterns along its armor. A solid, black visor shields its face as two, long blue cords extend from its short, indigo hair and past its transparent cloak. The monster taps away at their digital pad as the counter displaying their 1200 attack points rises to 1500.

" However, she won't be around for too long after I use my Launcher Commanders ability! By releasing my Secretary, I can destroy one face-up monster you control! Load up, and fire at Panzer Dragon!"

Tapping a series of buttons on its screen, Commander extends its arm towards Backup Secretary as she transforms into a condensed sphere of crimson light. The sphere sails across the field and into the huge barrel of a cannon attached to Commanders left arm. The machine takes aim at Sunset's dragon, who screeches at the barrel slowly charging energy. Micro's powered monster quickly yanks at a lever beside the cannon as it blasts its molten shell towards Sunsets monster.

" I don't think so! I activate my Trap card, Metal Coat!" Sunset quickly declares as her face-down card flips up. Sunsets dragon roars as the few bits of its golden paintjob suddenly turn into a chrome, liquid-like substance. The liquid solidifies into a solid, reflective plating of armor that wraps around the living tank. The noxious burst of energy simply scatters across the steel machine and dissipates into harmless light.

" As long as Metal Coat is equipped to my Panzer Dragon, he can't be destroyed by card effects! "

" What a move!" the M.C exclaims. " Not only was Sunset able to deflect Micro's destructive blast from his monster, but she managed to protect her monster from any destructive effects Micro has in store! That tank isn't going anywhere anytime soon!"

A small irritated face is all Micro can give as he reaches for another card in his hand and says, " Not bad Sunset, but I'm not done yet! I can still normal summon a monster this turn and I intend on doing just that! I summon ROM Cloudia!"

A soft, digitized bleating reverberates from a line of code beside Micro as a small ram steps out onto the field. The quadruped beast was covered with a thick but shaggy coat of obsidian colored wool that draped over its cream skin. Most notable of all was the bright pink neon glow that it gave off from its hooves and cumbersome rack. Strangely enough and despite the heavy rack atop its head, its slender frame and feminine facial features made it seems as if it was a female ram. If it wasn't for its two-pronged mechanical tail that sputtered away with static, one would almost believe it wasn't some sort of android or robotic organism. As with Backup Secretary, the rams attack spikes up to 2100, thanks to the effects of Launcher Commander.

" Utilizing my ROM Cloudia's effect, I can add a Cyberse monster from my Graveyard to my hand. Obviously, I'll return my Backup Secretary to my hand. Go, Cloud Storage!"

Micro's monster reels back onto its hind legs and lets out a loud bleating that vibrates across the field. A card ejects from Micro's Graveyard as he grabs it and slides it into his hand.

" However, I can only special summon my Backup Secretary once per turn. So for now, I'll set one card face-down and end my turn."

~~*~~

More cheers rise from the crowd as Micro calmly sets his card onto his duel disk. Many of the duelists seated by the field tapped away at their trackers while others cheered along with the crowd. Twilight carefully studies her screen along with Rarity and Applejack as she stares, lost in thought. From the few cards that she had seen on the tracker, she attempted to piece together the playstyle and strategy behind these new Cyberse monsters. A hand comes down onto her shoulder as she's snapped from her pensive stupor as Rainbow Dash leans in to stare at the screen with her.

" So what's it look like Twi? Think he has a chance?"

Twilight continues to study the screen in front of her as she swipes up and down past each card displayed as she replies, " I'm not sure. From what I've been reading, these Cyberse monsters are just as the Status Tracker said before; a deck that can quickly swarm out monsters and make Link plays. Still, even without Link monsters, this deck can still make some strong plays."

" And with that Continuous Trap face-up, Sunset can't summon any of her Synchro monsters." Rarity adds worriedly.

"Ah wouldn' worry 'bout that, Sugarcube." Aj says with a smirk. " She's still got her Fusion monsters to back her up, an' I know she can beat 'im with them"

" I dunno about that." A voice rang out beside the girls. Hulking towards them was the muscle bound Bulk Biceps with a small dumbbell in his left hand. " Micro is a smart little guy. He's got a really strong deck, and I know about strong! I'm sure he's got this."

" You seem pretty confident dear. However, don't forget that Sunset is quite skilled herself." Rarity remarks.

" Sunset is strong, but Micro is a tough little guy. I've been training with him ever since this tournament and he's beaten me so many times I've lost count! Trust me, there is no way that he can lose!"

" Ha! We'll see about that! Sunsets gone up against her fair share of magical mishaps. You can bet that she can beat Micro!"

" Easy Rainbow. Sunset may be the best duelist at CHS, but we still don't know what else his deck has in store for Sunset. He's got her on the ropes as is. All she can do is hold out for a stronger monster or the right cards." Fluttershy says calmly as she places her hand onto her fired-up friends shoulder.

" Known' Sunset, I'm sure she's got plenty o' cards to help her out. Don't you worry Twi." Aj says reassuringly. " She sure whipped us into shape durin' last nights duels and I know she won't get stomped by some new deck we haven't heard of!"

Yeah! Aj's right! Go get 'em SunShim! Show that egghead what you've got! Err... no offense Twilight." Pinkie cheers jubilantly before turning to Twilight. Twilight simply gives her a cheeky smile and continues to watch the duel.

~~*~~

While the rest of the contestants watch on in awe with the crowd, Sunset stares apprehensively at the field and her hand. With any luck, the next card she drew would help her push against Micro's line of cybernetic monsters. With a sigh, Sunset reaches for her next card nervously.

" It's my turn. I draw!" Sunset says as she draws. Eyeing her drawn card, a small relieved smile crosses her face as she muses to herself, ' Perfect! With this, I can start to fight back. Even so, I've still got to play it safe.'

" First, I'll start off by playing my Spell, Monster Reborn! Revive, Motor Kaiser!"

A wide, indigo vortex opens up in front of Sunset as a gigantic steel claw reaches out from the void and slams down onto the field. Hauling itself from it was the same crimson living engine that Sunset had pitched away earlier. The monster heaves itself onto the field as its body shakes and revs violently; its heavy pauldrons quivering as its two smokestacks billow with a thick, black smog.

" Next, I activate my Equip Spell, Engine Tuner and equip it to my Motor Kaiser. As long as Engine Tuner is equipped, my monster gains attack equal to half of its defense!"

Three comically over sized combination wrenches suddenly spawn from the hologram of Sunset's spell as they approach her monster. The tools float over to Sunsets monster and they begin to turn the numerous bolts that lined up and down Sunsets monster. A whoosh of steam hisses out of the gaps in the engine as the billowing smokestacks cough out a cleaner, white smog. Invigorated, the machine sharpens its claws as its counter shows its attack rise from 2000 to 2700.

" Yeah! Go get 'em Shimmer!" Rainbow Dash yells with a snide grin before being pulled back down to her seat by Rarity.

' Easy there Dash.' Sunset muses to herself as she gives a cheeky smile to her friend. ' Let's see... He has two cards set on his field. As long as that Launcher Commander stays on the field, anything I summon will just be destroyed anyways. I still have Panzer Dragon and Metal Coat though...' She eyes the field as she continues to contemplate her next move. ' As much as I don't want to run into his traps, I need to get rid of his Commander.'

" Go, Motor Kaiser! Attack Launcher Commander!" Sunset declares aloud. Her monster dashes forward, claws at the ready, and leaps into the air. Fire blasts from its smokestacks as it descends and slashes downward into Micro's monster.

" I'm afraid that won't work Sunset! I play my Counter Trap, Negate Attack! This will halt your monsters attack and end the Battle Phase!" Micro responds as his card flips up. Sunset's monster slams its claws into a wide vortex and swiftly leaps back to Sunset's side. " Sorry Sunset, but I had planned on you trying to destroy my Commander and I have every card necessary to counteract all of your moves."

" I end my turn." Sunset seethes bitterly as she thinks, ' Tch... Figures. I knew he'd have something to stop my attack. Now he'll just destroy my monster on his turn.'

" What a turn of events ladies and gentlemen! Sunset was unable to put a stop to Micro's Launcher Commander! Something tells me that her monster won't be sticking around for too long!" The M.C declares excitedly.

" Desperation, Sunset? Understandable. According to my calculations, there is a 98.99% chance that I will come out victorious." Micro snidely remarks, drawing his card. " Hmm.. perhaps I was worried for nothing. I'll start off by summoning out my Backup Secretary once more! I'll use my Commanders effect once more to dispose of your Motor Kaiser by tributing my Secretary again."

Once again, Micro's Commander absorbs a flash of light from his newly resummoned monster into its lofty cannon. With precision aim, it fires a molten bolt of plasma that leaps across the field and slams into the chest of Sunsets engine. A shower of burning scrap metal erupts from the ensuing blast from where Sunsets monster once stood. All that was left of Sunsets monster was the scattered wrenches that were attached to her monster.

" And to finish off my turn, I'll summon my Kleinant." Micro says. The ground of the field rumbles and two stubby, flat mandibles crash through the floor. Dragging itself from the depths below was a mechanical, navy blue ant that stomps onto the field. A pulsating glow from behind it reveals its enormous, spiral abdomen that glows a bright, light blue. Propped up, it screeches as its attack rises to 2300. All of Micros other monsters growl and grunt as their attack is suddenly boosted even higher; Balancer Lord to 2500, Launcher Commander to 2200, and Rom Cloudia to 2600. " Impressive, isn't it? As long as it's my turn, all of my Cyberse monsters gain 500 attack. Of course, I will put them to good use. I shall now activate my Spell Reproduction to add back my Cyberse Cache and, naturally, I will use it again.""

More murmurs come from the onlookers by the field. Micro adjusts his thick-framed glasses and gives a sly smile to Sunset. Even in this pinch, Sunset couldn't help but give a small smirk to her opponent. It had been a long time since anyone gave her a tough time, with only Princess Twilight and this worlds Twilight coming close to making her break a sweat. It was only the first duel of the Cup and she was already struggling against a deck whose playstyle was foreign to her.

" It's my turn. I draw!" A golden aura radiates from Sunsets graveyard as a card ejects from it. " It's been two turns since I activated my Charge Fusion and due to its effect, I can add it back to my hand. However, I'll just set it onto my field, and then I activate my Spell, Life Shaving Treasure Cards! With this, I can draw until I have 5 cards in my hand!"

" Hmm.. Interesting. Logic dictates that you are planning to end this duel before you have to pay that cards cost."

" He's right folks! Due to Life Shaving Treasure Cards effect, Sunset has to discard her entire hand during her 5th Standby Phase! Whatever cards she draws now, she'd better make good use of them before she has to ditch them to her graveyard!" the M.C yells.

" Heh, that's the plan." Sunset replies as she draws her new hand. " And I have just the hand to break through your blockade. I'll use my Spell, Cyclone to get rid of your Discord!"

A vicious tempest blazes onto the field as a violent cylinder of winds slams into Micro's face-up Trap and shreds it to pieces. Micro covers his face from the savage winds and grits his teeth in annoyance. This wasn't what he had planned on and Sunset had broken through the one card he had to counter her Synchro monsters, which were the best that she had.

" I'll play this; Two-For-One Repair Job! Now, I can revive a Motor monster from my graveyard, so long as I banish any other Motor monsters in my graveyard. Come on back, Motor Kaiser! And I'll play my Spell, Plus Star 1 2 3 on my monster to increase his level to 6!" Standing once more onto Sunsets side was her living crimson engine. "But he won't be alone for long. I summon the tuner monster, Trust Guardian!" Appearing next to it was a small cherub wearing an oversized, red helmet and draped in a deep blue robe. Two tiny feathered wings flitter slightly atop its helmet as it flexes its second, larger pair of wings. This new little monster crosses its arms and makes a pouting face as it hovers above Sunsets other monster with a measly 0 attack.

" Whoa! What a move! Sunset now has a tuner monster and another non- tuner monster on her field! With the Continuous Trap Discord gone, it looks like she's gonna perform a Synchro summon!"

" I tune my level 3 Trust Guardian with my level 6 Motor Kaiser!" Sunset declares; her monsters leaping into the air. The small, pouty cherub scatters into a trio of neon green luminescent rings. The living engine coughs out some black smog as its pistons pump. Its entire body explodes into six brilliant orbs of light and they are engulfed in a blinding, white light. " Synchro summon! Level 9! Roll out, Drag-On Vermilion!"

The pillar of light dissipates as a deep, mechanized howl thunders across the arena. Dwarfing Sunsets other living tank was another draconic tank; this one even more gargantuan than Panzer Dragon. Molten hot streams of fire violently erupted from the numerous exhaust pipes across its wide, rumbling treads. Swiveling behind its treads was a pair of flat appendages that each held three, heavy caliber cannons. A sleek, crimson paint job coated most of the machines upper torso with only a few select areas left an unpainted white. What replaced its arms was a pair of incredibly long plasma cannons that swayed and tilted downward by its sheer weight. Paired beside the beasts small, segmented neck and head was yet another pair of smooth, long barrel cannons that jutted skyward in a resting position. The hulking tank rolls across the field and takes its place next to Sunset as its counter shows an impressive 2700 attack.

" You ready Micro? This is just the guy I need to break through your Cyberse monsters, and his effect will seem pretty similar to you! I activate my Vermilions effect! Now, by banishing my Trust Guardian from my graveyard, I can target one card on your field and destroy it! Drag-On! Take aim at his Launcher Commander, and fire!"

With a threatening roar, the two towering cannons on the dragons shoulders swing forward and take aim at Micros monster. Both of the streamlined silver barrels begin to glow a deep violet aura. The glow around the barrels intensify as a low hum emanates from them. The field was deafened from the thunderous shot of the dual charged shells as they sailed across the field and exploded into the digital commander. A shower of smoke and pieces of twisted, smoldering steel was all that remained of Micros monster. Micro seethes bitterly as he stares angrily at the charred remains of his monster as they disappear.

" And I'm not done!" Sunset declares. " Go! Attack Klieant! SturmKanone!"

More roars echo from Sunsets dragon as it swings its giant arms forward and aims each of its cannons on its hands towards Klieant. Six neon blue luminescent lasers fire from its barrels and penetrate the digital insect. The fried insect screeches and writes in pain before it detonates in a destructive blast. Micro shield himself from the explosion as his life points drop to 1800. As the smoke settles, the crowd and the other duelists cheer wildly. Even the M.C finds himself enthralled by Sunsets move.

" What a blast! In just a short amount of time, Sunset has managed to destroy Launcher Commander and has summoned a powerful Synchro monster! It looks like Canterlot Highs star duelist is making a comeback!"

" Hmm... excellent move Sunset. However, I'm still one step ahead of you! I play my Trap, Cyberse Beacon! Now, since I took damage, I can add one level 4 or lower Cyberse monster to my hand." Micro says, adding a card from his wrist dealer to his hand. " I add RAM Clouder to my hand."

Sounds of tapping and light whispering can be heard from the other duelists as they review their Duel Trackers. Twilight, along with the rest of her friends, check their own Trackers.

" Whats it say Twi?" Aj asks over her friends shoulder. " What kinda trouble does that there new monster have in store for 'er?"

" Lets see.. Twilight responds, skimming over the cards effects. Her eyes widen as she says, " Oh no. Once RAM Clouder is on the field, he can tribute it to summon any Cyberse monster from his graveyard!"

" That means he can just bring back his Launcher Commander and keep on destroying Sunsets monsters! Oh my..." Fluttershy says meekly.

"Heh, I wouldn't worry about that." Rainbow adds as she smirks at Sunset. With the rest of her friends still unsure about what she meant, the girls turn to look back at the field... only to see Sunset with a confident smirk on her face. " With a look like that, I'm sure SunShims more than ready for whatever Micro has planned."

Sunset could feel a rush flow through her body. She wasn't sure what effect his new monster would have, but she was more than ready for his next move. With his Continuous Trap Discord gone, she was free to summon any of her Synchro monsters. Even if he did find a way to destroy his monster, she knew just what to do.

' Back in the game. Good. For now, I can just hold my ground against all of his monsters. I doubt he has anything strong enough in attack power to get rid of my monsters, and even if he does get rid of my Drag On by bringing back his Commander or by some other means, I can still recover from that. As soon as my monster is destroyed by his card effect, I can add back my Trust Guardian back to my hand. Then, I can Synchro or Fusion summon a monster to counter whatever he does'

Micro simply adjusts his glasses as he eyes his hand. There was a slight glint in his eyes as he also smiles and stares back out to the field. Sunset takes notice as her smile fades into an expression of concern. The duel would soon be reaching its climax and both were far from done.

' Not bad Sunset. Looks like you've pulled ahead, but don't think you've won just yet. I've made numerous calculations and ran countless simulations of this duel on my computer. I can see through your every move. I'm well aware of what that monster of yours does and that includes its secondary effect. You believe that I have no other strong monsters in my deck to best your dragon in battle and that my only option will be to destroy it by reviving my Launcher Commander or by some other method. Logic dictates that you will recover your Trust Guardian and summon another monster from your Extra Deck. How wrong you are to think that way. There is another way, and I have just the card to overcome your deck yet again. Just you wait, for once I draw the monster I need, this duel will end in my victory!'