"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the World Champion!"
Some music began to play as Juniper and Isaac came out to do a press conference. The World Champion was currently overseas with his agent as they were doing a promotional tour along with several other duelists; Roll and Mario had the TV turned on in their dorm's living room as they saw their father. While it was morning for the kids, it was the afternoon where their father was as he was answering some questions.
"So, what's your goal for Super Showdown this year? It's the biggest PLE event in Duel Monsters history. It's gonna be the 18th one to be held since the event was first started, and you've competed at the event ten times. And with you being World Champion, you're gonna be in the main event."
"Exactly. Super Showdown is the biggest event of the year for Duel Monsters. But we still have a few months before that. And I will look forward to a weekend-long celebration for this special event." stated Isaac.
"Hey! You two coming!" shouted Zipp as there was a loud knock on the door.
"Hold yer horses, rich girl!" said Mario as Roll shut off the TV, and the pair proceeded to the door.
The girl opened the door and saw their friends as they'd been waiting for them to head over to the dueling arena building to hear Celestia's address. The entire building was soon full of students as they all sat and looked down at the field where the two women stood.
"Greetings students. First off, I'd like to welcome you back. I hope you all enjoyed your break and are fully recharged to begin your second semester here at CHS. Now there will be some changes to this semester. Tons of new events for you all to grow in. And one of those events is a school-wide competition. For now, that's all you need to know. You'll receive more details in the coming weeks." stated Celestia.
"Now, onto an important matter. For the students who did their entry test and tried out Pendulum Summoning, you'll be pleased to announce that we have found a suitable instructor for you all to learn from. As such, you'll be moved into the Pendulum dorm building and into your new classes very shortly. We are gracious because the person who recommended them was none other than the World Champion himself!" stated Luna, as that got many of the students to create chatter. Hearing that the World Champion was keeping an eye on their school caught the attention of most of the student body as they hoped perhaps they might be able to get his attention.
"Now, onto schedules…"
"I thought they would never be done!" said Zipp as she lay on the couch in Mario and Roll's dorm.
"So what do you think I should take? Chemistry this semester, or wait until we start our second year in the fall to do it? 'Cause I really do want to try drama theatre as an elective this year." said Pipp as she was trying to make her selection of what classes she wanted to take from the options provided to them by Celestia and Luna.
"And done!" said Roll as she finished picking her classes and electives for the semester and submitted it through her duel disk; it transferred the data to the main computer for the two principals to access and make along with the other students.
"Oh, clubs? So many choices," stated Pipp as she scrolled through the entire list on her duel disk.
"So, what are we going to do?" asked Zipp.
"What do you mean?" said Mario as he was in the kitchen.
"You know… what your father said? Telling Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy about our break," said Zipp as neither of them had run into their other three friends and told them about their little adventure.
"I don't know about you, but I ain't saying shit," stated Mario as he tossed some bottles of water to the girls, who all caught them, but Pipp fumbled with hers as she wasn't prepared.
"Maybe hold off on telling them," said Roll. "My father did say for us to just focus on our schoolwork, and if any new info comes up, he'll let us know."
"I know but… I'm sure there's something we can do, right?" said Zipp.
A knock on the door was heard as Roll got up and approached it. She opened it up and got a shower of glitter on her face.
"Hey, friends!" said Izzy as she appeared with a cheerful smile.
"Izzy!" stated Roll, wiping the glitter off her face.
The girl quickly hugged her friend before hopping inside.
"Hey, everybody!" said Sunny as she entered, followed by Hitch.
"Sup, Sunny!" said Zipp as the others stood up to greet their friends.
"How you doing, Hitch!" said Mario as he pulled the boy in for a quick bro hug.
"Doing alright. Uh, listen, bud, there's something I want to talk to you about?" said the boy as he had something personal to ask his friend.
The rest of the day was spent catching up with the group of friends as they shared how their break went. The following day, school was back in session. Entering their Fusion class, Mario and Pipp sat at their desks as the latter was updating her feeds and took a quick pic and captioned it as Back to School vibes before uploading it. Once she posted it to her socials, the popstar teen turned to look at Mario, who was looking through his deck.
"So. You feel anytime soon?" asked Pipp.
"Huh?" said Mario as he turned with a raised eyebrow.
"You know? The promise you made if I won the duel," smiled the girl as she leaned in closer to her crush.
"Oh… right," groaned Mario as he seriously regretted giving Pipp that as her reason to get motivated to win the duel.
"So?" said the pop star as she continued to stare at her crush while twisting a strand of her hair.
"Listen, chica. I…"
"Alright, quiet down!" said Sweetie Belle as entered the classroom. "First of all, welcome back. Hope you all enjoyed your vacation. But now it's back to work and to start off a quiz."
Most of the students groaned, hearing their professor's announcement as she placed the papers on their desks. With nothing to do but obey, the kids all began their quizzes as Sweetie Belle looked about her class. Once time was up, the professor collected the papers before putting them to the side for later.
"Nothing like a little refresher to ensure you didn't forget what I taught you while you were having fun. But we're back, and that means time to work. And speaking of that, I want to talk to you all about something. As I'm sure you've heard, we're finally getting a new instructor to teach the wonders of Pendulum Summoning. And I know a few of you wanted to study that, but since we didn't have someone last semester, you were put in here or one of the other classes. That being said if you still wish to continue learning about Pendulum Summoning, talk to me after class, and I'll jot your name down on the list to give the new instructor. If you no longer want to and want to continue with my class about Fusion Summoning, by all means. Just anybody who's gonna transfer courses, make sure you tell me before school's over."
Sweetie Belle then opened her briefcase as she pulled something out.
"Now, onto something else. Principal Celestia told me to brief you on this. But this entire semester, there's going to be a ton of things happening. A few dances and school events, even fundraisers. However, this year's biggest thing for you is a tradition here at CHS that existed when I was a student and even long before." Sweetie Belle turned to the chalkboard as she wrote something down. The students looked once she finished as on the board read three words.
"The Friendship Games!" stated Sweetie Belle.
A hand was raised as the woman called on the student.
"What's that?" asked a girl.
"A tradition. An event. It's a big event when it comes to CHS's history. You all remember when Crystal Prep came here last semester." said Sweetie Belle to her class. "Well, the Friendship Games is a competition between Canterlot and Crystal Prep. The two schools come together and compete in a series of events, all in the hopes of friendship. But in reality, it's more bragging rights."
"How come?" asked a boy.
"Because Crystal Prep always has to rub in our faces when they win. So as you can see, it's hard to get along with people who are sore winners sometimes. But it feels so good when we do it to them." said Sweetie Belle as an evil smile appeared on her face as she recalled the time when she, Applebloom, and Scootaloo won their year's Friendship Games and the fun they had shoving their win in Crystal Prep's face. "Anyways, this is a big event and will compromise a team of students to represent CHS against Crystal Prep. It happens in less than two months at the beginning of Spring and serves as the precursor for your Spring Break. So… I and the other instructors will be watching you guys; everybody will vote for the final selection of duelists, and then whoever gets the most votes will be on the team to represent our school."
The students began to create chatter as they were interested in what Sweetie Belle just said. Pipp was thinking about how stylish she could make the team uniforms as her brain went zero to a hundred with ideas that she began scribbling down. However, one person was thrilled after hearing the announcement as she couldn't contain her inner excitement.
"Friendship Games!" shouted Sunny with sparkles in her eyes as the girl was with the rest of her friend group at a lunch table.
"Yeah, we heard, Sunny," said Zipp as she tried to eat her spaghetti without noise.
"Can you picture it now? Everybody putting aside their differences. Working together in unison. In harmony. All for a common goal while having fun. All in the name of friendship. Isn't that great?" said Sunny, once again having sparkles in her eyes while holding her cheek.
"That is the cheesiest shit I've ever heard," said Mario after hearing Sunny talk like some kind of protagonist giving the cliche friendship speech.
"I like fun. And I like making new friends, and I love these crispy fries served at lunchtime," said Izzy as she grabbed the ketchup bottle, turned it upside down, and tried to squeeze some on her fries. Nothing came out as the girl tried again and even smacked the bottom; when she smacked it, she had the bottle pointed out, and the ketchup splattered all over Hitch's face, to which the boy had a perturbed expression. "Oops. May I?"
Izzy scrapped some ketchup off of Hitch and onto her fries before the boy grabbed some napkins to wipe himself off.
"So. Who else is excited about the Friendship Games?!" asked Sunny.
"That's not for another month and a half, Sunny," said Roll.
"I know. But I can hardly contain my excitement!" said the hopeful teen as the very idea of friendship and working together brightened her day.
"Ehh. I wouldn't mind showcasing my skills. Not to mention showing this bad boy off with the sweet cards that Mario's father gave me!" said Zipp as she had tested her new and improved deck already and won five straight duels in a row.
"You mean us!" said Pipp, glaring at her sister. "I was there too, you know."
"Way to steal the spotlight, sis," said Zipp.
"Hard pass."
A scratched record sound was heard as Sunny nearly fell from standing up and put her hands on the table to stabilize herself from planting her face into her food. The girl looked at her friend as Mario finished his apple pie.
"What?" said Sunny as she looked at the boy.
"I'm not much of a team player if you haven't noticed Sunny. I only duel for me, myself, and I," said Mario as he got up with his lunch tray and began to leave.
"You just labeled yourself four different variations. So technically, that counts as a team!" shouted Sunny to Mario, walking off.
"No, it doesn't, smoothie girl! Nice try!" shouted Mario as his voice trailed off.
Sunny sat down as Mario's demeanor of not wanting to be on a team and work with others made her feel sad.
"Chin up, Sunny. That's just how my big brother is. Well, is right now. Believe it or not, he did like testing his skills against other people in the past in team events." said Roll as she finished her hot dog. "Plus, he's kinda right. The event ain't even for quite a while. Ms. Scootaloo said that the entire student body votes on who should be on the team to represent CHS. So I think attitude and demeanor play a big role in that. So maybe my brother isn't CHS's student role model, unlike you, Sunny. Not to mention they never said how big the teams are. What if it's just five members? Who among us is the best five to pick?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I just… I get so excited when there's something that involves working together. You can accomplish alot when you work together." said Sunny as the sparkles in her eyes returned.
"We know, Sunny," said Hitch, as he of all people, understood Sunny since they were the ones that spent the most time together.
Just then, Pipp got a message as she opened it.
"Oh, check this out!" said the pop star as she shared the live feed.
Everyone gathered around the girl as she was currently watching Roll's father and the latest duel he was doing for the tour he was on. The scoreboard showed Isaac as having 1000 more Life Points than his opponent; his challenger currently had the monster Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon as its two overlay units circled around it. As for the World Champion, he had nothing on his field.
"Alright, World Champ! Let's see you get out of this!" said Isaac's opponent as he snickered.
"Be careful what you wish for," responded Isaac as he drew his card and looked at his hand. "It's… showtime! Time to take down your beast!"
"No offense, Roll. But I don't see how your father gets out of this," said Zipp.
"Just watch. Never underestimate my Dad," said the girl, as she had faith her father could pull a trick up his sleeve.
"I use these two cards, my Scale 1 Sorcerer Swordsman and Scale 8 Mirage Magician, to set the Pendulum Scale!" declared Isaac as he placed the two cards on the far ends of his duel disk as the word Pendulum spelled out in between in rainbow coloring.
"Hey, wait a minute. Isn't that Pendulum Summoning that new instructor that Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna said they just hired to teach that method?" said Zipp.
"To be honest, I am interested in knowing what it's about," said Izzy.
"Hope everyone is paying attention," said Isaac as the teens all turned back to Pipp's screen to see Isaac about to perform the special summoning method that caught their attention. On the World Champion's field, the two monsters he placed on the far ends of his duel disk rose in columns of light with their respective numbers in front of them. "Now, with my scale set, I'm allowed to summon monsters between Level 2 through 7 all at the same time! Alright, pendulum! You swung his way, now you're gonna swing my way! I Pendulum Summon!" A portal above Isaac opened as three shining lights crashed onto his field.
"Time for the show to begin! They say all good things happen in threes; let me introduce you to this terrific trio. First is my Rune-Eyes Illusionist, next is my Sleight of Hand Magician, and lastly is my Black Robe Mentalist." announced the World Champion.
The first magician had a ringmaster outfit as he had a relic in his left eye and wore a top hat on his head. The second magician had a deck of cards levitating around him as he wore an outfit that resembled a blackjack dealer, and his third magician was a girl spellcaster who wore a long dark robe that covered her head and body. The only thing that could be seen was her face.
"Did your father just summon three monsters at once?!" said Zipp as she couldn't believe what she saw.
"How?" asked Hitch.
Just then, the school bell rang to signal the end of lunch.
"Aw, come on!" groaned Zipp as she hated that this duel was happening while they were in school.
"Let's go, everybody!" stated Sunny as the group began to pack up and head to their next set of classes.
Twilight was shown in a room as many books surrounded her; the lavender-haired woman had managed to secure 30 minutes of personal time as she was putting it to good use to uncover some details. She wore her AI glasses as she also her AI helping her sift through the data. She was moving on to the next book on her pile as she opened it and began reading.
"Long ago, a group of knights faced a great and terrible evil. They used a unique power, once that was able to counter the evil and the darkness army that came," read Twilight as she noticed something about the black and white image. "Malus."
Twilight looked at the word description under the image as it was in Latin.
"Evil one," translated the woman.
She flipped to the next page, and it showed seven lights combined into one. Another word was written under it.
"Concordia."
"It means harmony, ma'am," said Owloysius as the AI translated the word for its creator.
Twilight turned to the next page, which had some ancient text she couldn't recognize. But she did see the image, as it showed seven special marks. The marks were all different from one another, but they each stood out. There were two marks that appeared to be clear and shaped like a circle; the next two marks next to them appeared to be shaped like a horn of sorts, and the final three marks were that of wings. And under each of the different marks, they had a word.
"Elements of Land, Sea, and Air," read Twilight as she rolled away. "Owloysius, see if you can make something of this."
"Right away, ma'am," said the AI as it scanned the seven marks while Twilight went to get herself a drink.
The AI worked on scanning the seven marks Twilight saw in the book as it projected a hologram board. It was now turning the image into 3-D structures and filled with colors as they each stood out. Twilight sipped her lemonade as she stood before the hologram board with arms crossed.
"I was able to construct the images to be clearer, Miss," said Owloysius as it showcased the seven marks.
The first two marks that were associated with Land showed some kind of crystal that was clear and a circle. The next two marks resembling the sea appeared as it was purple and shaped like a horn. And the final three marks produced another light blue crystal shaped like wings.
"And I discovered something else," said the AI as it began combining all seven marks to produce one single mark. The marks fit perfectly as they shined bright with rainbow coloring. "According to the ancients, when the seven marks are merged, they create unity."
"Unity? Mmm," said Twilight as she looked at the final image of the marks merging together.
"Time's up!" said Vice-Principal Luna as she told her students to put their pencils down. "Turn in your tests and make sure to read Chapters 5-9 for tomorrow's debate."
The kids began to file out as they placed their tests before their Vice-Principal and looked to leave. Roll, Zipp, and Pipp were exiting their American history class when Sunny approached them.
"Hey, guys!" said the girl as she caught her friend. "You won't believe this, Izzy is helping Rufus move into the Pendulum dorm, and he said he'd be willing to introduce us to the instructor that's gonna teach it. We can ask them about Pendulum summoning!"
"I would like to know since we didn't see your dad finish his duel," said Zipp. "I'm in!"
"Ditto!" stated Pipp.
"Roll?" asked Sunny.
"Yeah, sure," said the girl as all four began to head toward the Pendulum Dorm.
The Pendulum Dorm was full of many boxes and stuff being moved in as the students were starting to get settled in to their new living space. Upon arrival, the girls were all tasked with moving Rufus' entire magic collection into his room; it took a while, as well as lending a hand to the other students helping others move into their rooms, but soon Izzy and Sunny managed to get the final boxes into Rufus' room.
"Thanks so much for the help, Sunny," said the boy.
"No trouble at all, Rufus," stated the girl as she put another box down while Izzy was playing with the sleeveless handkerchief coat. "So… can we meet the instructor? We want to know what Pendulum Summoning is."
"Sure, said the boy as he led both girls to the room at the end of his hall.
The group came to a door that read: Dorm Advisor. The boy knocked on the door as a voice inside said they would come in. Upon entering, stuff was still being moved in, but Izzy knocked over a box she didn't see and caused one of the many smoke bombs to pop. It caused the girls to cough as they waved their hands about.
"Girls, meet my aunt…" said Rufus as a woman's shadow was shown behind the smoke. "Auntie Trixie."
The two teen girls looked as there stood a woman wearing a suit who had pale, light grayish cornflower blue skin that was matched by her hair that contained blue streaks. She also had a hairpiece that was in the shape of a star in her ear.
"Greetings!" said the woman.
"Hi, my name is Sunny Starscout!" said the girl as she extended her hand out. "And this is Izzy."
"You didn't tell us that the Pendulum instructor was your aunt," whispered Izzy before smiling and waving at Trixie.
"She's technically my second aunt, twice removed on my cousin's side," explained Rufus, as there was a whole long line of how he was related to Trixie.
"So, we want to know how Pendulum Summoning works?" asked Sunny.
"Then let Trixie give you a demonstration. Rufus!" said the woman to her nephew.
"Just a word of advice, she likes to address herself in the third person," whispered the boy to the girls as they nodded.
After gathering Pipp, Zipp, and Roll, the girls all stood outside the Pendulum dorm building as Rufus strapped on his duel disk, with Izzy doing the same as she would be the boy's opponent. As Rufus slotted in his deck, he was approached by his aunt, who bent down.
"You sure about this, Auntie Trixie?" asked the boy.
"Trixie is positive. Just remember what I taught you," said the woman as she patted her nephew's head.
"Ready, Izzy?" asked Sunny.
"Ready!" smiled the girl as she gave a thumbs up to her friends.
"Begin!" declared Trixie as she stood next to the group of teens with her hands behind her back.
"Opponent detected. Streaming data. Duel mode set. Initiating. Commencing duel." said their duel disks.
"Let's duel!" said both teens as they drew their opening hands.
Izzy's Life Points: 8000-
Rufus's Life Points: 8000-
Turn 1: Rufus (Hand 5)
"Guess I'll go first," said the boy as he drew his card and looked over at his aunt after looking at his cards. Trixie merely nodded as if to give the boy permission for what to do. "Okay. They want to know how it works. Better show'em." stated Rufus to himself as he picked up two cards. "To start, I use these two cards, Scale 3 Performage Bonus Dealer and Scale 6 Performage Overlay Juggler, to set the Pendulum Scale!" said Rufus as he showed the two cards and placed them on the far end of his duel disk as the word pendulum appeared in between them to show it worked. The boy's monsters then appeared in separate pillars of light as they had their respective numbers in front of them.
"So, this is what your father did before we had to leave," said Zipp to Roll.
"Perchance, is your father the World Champion?" asked Trixie to the girl.
"Yeah," answered Roll.
"I thought so. Well, tell your father I'm glad he recommended me."
"Hold on, what!?" said Zipp as the girls looked at Trixie.
"My father recommended you?" repeated Roll as she was surprised to hear that fact.
"Indeed. But back to the matter at hand. You kids want to see Pendulum Summoning? Well, take a look!" said Trixie as he directed the teen's attention to the field.
"Now I can summon as many monsters as I want from Levels 4 through 5. I Pendulum Summon Performage Wind Drainer(2100/0, Level 5, Scale 4), and Performage Ball Bouncer(1000/1800, Level 4, Scale 3)!" A portal opened, and two lights emerged, revealing the boy's monsters.
"So, the first in understanding Pendulum Summoning is to understand what a Pendulum card is," stated Trixie as she reached into her suit and pulled out her deck to reveal the top card.
"Hey, that's same the card Rufus is using!" noted Sunny as she saw that Trixie had the same deck as her nephew.
"This, kids, is a pendulum card. You can tell based on the color scheme and how much more writing there is," stated Trixie as he pointed to the bottom half of her card. "To start pendulum summoning, you must put the pendulum scales in place."
"Pendulum Scales?" asked Pipp.
"Pendulum Scales are what you use to pendulum summon," Trixie pulled out her duel disk and pushed a button, showing a play mat hologram. "So, do you notice these two zones on the play mat, the ones between the Main Deck Zone and the Graveyard and the Extra Deck and Field Zone?"
"Yeah," said the girls.
"Well, those are called Pendulum Zones, and that's where you place your pendulum cards in. Now, on a duel disk, you simply place them on the far end. Now then, Pendulum monsters are unique cards that are both spells and monsters."
"Seriously?" said Zipp, amazed at that fact.
"Indeed. It can be placed in the pendulum zone as a spell card or summoned in the monster zone as a monster card."
"Wow!" said Sunny as she soaked in all this knowledge.
"So, what do they do, exactly?" asked Pipp.
"Each pendulum card has a separate effect depending on whether or not it's in the Pendulum Zone or the Monster card zone. You can tell that the pendulum effect is written in a partially transparent below, as you can still see the artwork. Each pendulum card placed in one of the pendulum zones gives a Pendulum Scale. So look at Rufus' field. He has a monster that gives him a Scale of 3 and another that gives him a Scale of 6. You read the scale from left to right like you would reading a book. So since he has a scale set, he can now be able to summon as many monsters as he wants as long as they fall in between the scales, so in his case, Level 4 or 5."
"Is there a limit to how many monsters you can summon?" asked Sunny.
"Not at all. And it doesn't just have to be Pendulum monsters you summon. You can also use Pendulum Summoning to bring out non-Pendulum monsters." explained Trixie. "However, you can only pendulum summon once per turn. The same applies to pendulum summoning, just like you're granted only one normal summon a turn. And one last thing about pendulum monsters, when they're destroyed or would have otherwise been sent from the field to the graveyard, they go to the Extra Deck instead."
"Wait, a group of monsters that start out in the main deck but move into the Extra Deck over the course of the duel? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard!" said Sunny, her eyes lit up with sparkles.
"Now, since I special summoned my Performage Wind Drainer, it loses a Level. I'll then play the spell card Magical Pendulum Box. So now I draw two cards, and if they are pendulum cards, I get to add them to my hand; otherwise, they go bye-bye." Rufus drew his cards as they both happened to be pendulum monsters. "I'll now play one of them, I summon Performage Fire Dancer(1400/1200, Level 4, Scale 6)! Next, I'll overlay both my Level 4 Performage Fire Dancer and Ball Bouncer to build the Overlay Network!" stated the boy as his two monsters now turned into orbs of light as they hovered in the air as a portal opened up in front of him. The lights then entered the portal as a pillar of light emerged. "Direct your gaze to the skies above as I present to you a swinging star performer! I Xyz Summon! Performage Trapeze Magician(2500/2000, OLU: 2)!"
A purple pole with studded orange heads on either end spiraled over the field when a comically thick white-gloved hand snatched it, thin golden beams of light shooting out from each end to the ceiling. Hoisting onto the pole that had turned into an on-the-spot trapeze was a predominately white, lanky humanoid: Its waist and neck were adorned in a fluffy pink boa, while from its back billowed a wide, magenta cape. Its spindly legs ended in dark blue shoes curled at the toes, while a white conical hat was affixed to its masked, ever-smiling visage.
"Wow, that's so cool!" said Izzy as she saw the monster swinging above her before landing on Rufus' side and taking a bow from the girl's praise at its performance.
"If you like that, then stick out because the great Rufus has more tricks to perform," stated the boy as he set a card and passed it over to Izzy.
Turn 2: Izzy (Hand 5)
"Then it's my move, so here goes," said Izzy as she drew. "I'll start by summoning my Scrap Recycler(900/1200) in defense mode. Then, my monster's ability activates. Since it was summoned, I send one machine-type monster from my deck to my graveyard. Then I'll also activate my field spell, Scrap Factory!" The area around Izzy began to change as a recycling factory rose behind her, with tons of piles of junk nearby(900/1200→1100/1400). "Thanks to the effect of my field spell, all my Scrap monsters get a 200 attack and defense point boost."
"I place one card facedown, and that's it!" smiled the girl.
Turn 3: Rufus (Hand 1)
"It's my move, and I play the spell card, Bubble Barrier. Thanks to this spell, all my monsters can avoid being destroyed once per turn," stated Rufus.
"Oh, that's not good," said Roll, as things just got harder for Izzy.
"Now, Trapeze Magician, attack her Scrap Recycler!" commanded the boy.
With an eccentric cackle, Trapeze Magician swung down off the trapeze pole, deftly grabbing hold of it with its thin arms, the motion of which caused it to swing back and forth. Kicking its legs out, the trapeze swung further, repeating this process until it had enough force to reach Isaac's field. The trapeze's line vanished, and Trapeze Magician dropped toward Magician's Valkyria, delivering a gravity-assisted ax kick.
"I end my turn."
Turn 4: Izzy (Hand 3)
"It's my move then. I draw. And I summon my Scrap Worm(500/100)!" stated the girl as a small metal worm appeared with only an open mouth(500/100 →700/300). "And now, due to my monster's special ability, it can attack your Life Points directly!"
The metal worm began to slither its way toward Rufus. It leaped high above the boy's monsters as it went for the teen; the metal thing bit into him as he shook off any oil that fell on his before it returned to the girl's side.
Rufus' Life Points: 7300-
"Now, since my worm attacked, it's destroyed. Which triggers the effect of my Scrap Factory!" Izzy's monster rusted and broke down as the scooper from her factory picked up the pile of metal before placing it on the treadmill to enter the building. "First, since my Scrap Worm was destroyed by the effect of a 'Scrap' monster and sent to my graveyard, I can now add a 'Scrap' monster from my graveyard to my hand. So I'll take my Scrap Recycler. Then my Scrap Factory's other ability activates, which allows me to summon a 'Scrap' monster from my deck. So I choose my Scrap Golem(2300/1400)!"
A giant hand emerged briefly as it gripped the ground. Soon the monster, the hand it was connected to, began pulling itself up from within the earth as it stood behind Izzy as scrap metal fell from it(2300/1400 →2500/1600).
"I then activate my Golem's effect, which allows me to bring back my Scrap Worm!" stated the girl as her monster rose in defense mode. "I end my turn!"
Turn 5: Rufus (Hand 1)
"Not bad," stated the boy as he drew his card. "And I'll begin by activating my Trapeze Magician's special ability. By using one overlay unit, I can target a monster and have it attacked twice this turn; however, at the end of the Battle Phase, it's destroyed. So I'll target my Trapeze Magician!" Rufus' monster absorbed the orb of light as it felt the power flow through. "So, first, take out her Scrap Worm!" The monster grabbed a hold of its trapeze and swung on it before delivering a kick to Izzy's monster. "And then take out her Golem!" The monster on its swing back turned around and headed straight for the giant monster, who reeled his fist, and both made contact as they were destroyed.
"And now the other effect of my Trapeze Magician activates. When it's destroyed, I can summon a 'Performage' monster from my deck. So please welcome Performage Water Dancer(1200/1400, Level 4, Scale 2)!" stated Rufus as a circus performer twirling water staff appeared.
"And with no monsters to protect you, Water Dancer and Wind Drainer can attack you directly!" The two monsters all rushed forward as they leaped off one another and delivered a combo attack, causing Izzy to be flung to the ground.
Izzy's Life Points: 4700-
"Izzy!" said Sunny as she was concerned for her friend from the sudden attack.
"I'm good!" said the girl, giving a thumbs up before kipping up to her feet.
"In that case, I end my turn."
Turn 6: Izzy (Hand 4)
"My move!" stated the girl as she looked to get things rolling. "First, I reveal my facedown, Call of the Haunted, to bring back my Scrap Golem. Then I activate my Golem's effect also to revive my Scrap Worm!" Izzy's factory had smoke and steam exiting from the funnels on top as her two monsters appeared at the end of the conveyor belt of the building and took their positions. "Next, I play the One for One spell card. So I discard one monster from my hand to summon a Level 1 monster from my deck or hand. So I'm summoning my Scrap Searcher(100/300)! And with that, I now tune all three of my monsters together!" Izzy's worm then turned into a single giant green ring as both of her monsters leaped through, and a light surged through.
"I Synchro Summon! Rise, my metal beast! Scrap Dragon(2800/2000)!"
A shadow flashed as a giant mechanical monster appeared. Steam was released from the pipes as a roar was heard(2800/2000 →3000/2200).
"Now, Scrap Dragon, attack his Performage Water Dancer!" instructed Izzy.
"Remember, due to my Bubble Barrier, my monsters can't be destroyed!"
"Maybe, but you still take damage!"
"Not quite! See, Bubble Barrier has another effect; I don't take any damage when my 'Performage' monsters are involved in attacks!" stated Rufus as the barrier protected his monster, making Izzy's attack redirected toward the sky.
"Aw!" said Izzy, as she didn't like her attack being blocked. "Oh, well. There's always next time. I end my turn."
Turn 7: Rufus (Hand 2)
"Alright, my move!" said the boy as he drew. "I summon Performage Plushfire(1000/1000, Level 4, Scale 5)." A cartoony plush flame with little dots for eyes nestled in a pink sconce, all while a fuse line poked out from what might have been a mouth. "And now I time for the finale, Izzy. I overlay Plushfire, Wind Drainer, and Water Dancer to build the Overlay Network!" All three monsters turned into orbs of light as they hovered in the air; a portal opened up before the boy as the orbs were sucked in, and a pillar of light emerged. "Fearless showman who fears not the sting of tooth and claw; let your courage dissuade the fear of the crowd with your fiery lash! I Xyz Summon, take to the ring! Performage Magical Tamer(2300/1800, OLU: 3)!"
With the crack of a whip, onto Rufus' field emerged an all-new female monster: This one stood on long, shapely legs adorned in black, thigh-high boots, her curvaceous body clothed in a bright red leotard underneath a royal blue ringmaster's coat with golden shoulder tassels. A purple cape billowed from her back whilst on her head, covering violet hair; she wore a blue top hat, under which, on her very pink face, she wore a black domino mask. In her white-gloved hands, she brandished a long, gold-hilted whip.
"I now activate my monster's ability! By using one overlay unit, I can seize one of your monsters!" Handling her whip more like a rhythmic streamer, Magical Tamer performed a series of graceful acrobatics in a forward motion until abruptly lashing out like a coiled snake with her weapon: Izzy's dragon had the whip coiled around its body. With a yank, the monster was forced to step over to Rufus' field.
"Hey, that's my monster!" shouted Izzy.
"Well, it's mine now because the monster that's seized becomes an Equip spell for my Magicial Tamer. Boosting her attack and defense points with the monster's attack and defense points."
"Wait, what?!" said Pipp as she and the others now knew what that meant.
"So that puts Magical Tamer at 5300 attack points!" said Suuny.
"Uh-oh," said Izzy as she put together what that meant.
"Attack her directly!" commanded Rufus.
The female monster now unfurled her whip and, with a crack, sent it in Izzy's direction as it hit the girl in the chest and knocked her to the ground with a thud.
Izzy's Life Points: 0-
Winner: Rufus
"Izzy!" shouted the others as the duel ended.
The field returned back to normal as the group all slowly walked to their friend who sat up and rubbed her hair.
"How'd I do?" asked the creative girl, not being too affected by her loss.
"You did good," said Roll, patting her shoulder while smiling sheepishly. "Right, everyone?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah!" said the others in unison as they did their best not to break Izzy's spirit of losing, having similar expressions as Roll.
"Awesome!" said the girl, taking her friend's answer at face value and getting up.
"Nice work, Rufus," said Trixie as she approached her family member.
"Thanks, Auntie!" said the boy as the woman patted his shoulder.
Author's Note: So a couple of things to address. The announcement of a story arc that's coming very soon and that's the Friendship Games. An event that I'm so looking forward to doing. The second is the marks that Twilight was researching, the marks are indeed a reference to the three unity crystals from the movie. So based on the marks, it's clear which mark will belong to who. Plus, it also lets you know not only what kind of pony Mario and Roll would be but also why they have the deck they have. And the last one is the introduction of the last special summoning method for this story and that's Pendulum Summoning, not to mention, the special instructor who will be teaching it. Already, the second semester for our cast is shaping up to be bigger and grander.